Yogscast One Shots.

Moonlight

TW: Alien! Xephos, SoI, but Peculiar's there. Xephos is also kind of like a plant and gets energy from the sun.

A/N: This was originally going to be Christmas but eh

Xephos placed down yet another torch as he and his friends traversed through the frozen dwarven caves. Peculiar himself had taken a torch, only not for light but warmth. Honeydew had taken the lead but Xephos could see the dwarf was shivering and had become flushed from cold. Xephos, having coming from a cold planet, had no problem in the freezing air. However, being underground for so long without any sunshine was beginning to take its toll. He felt weak and wasn't quite sure how much longer he could support Peculiar. His skin flared up at the light from the torch, eager for any kind of light to consume.

Suddenly, Peculiar let out a hoarse cough and stopped. Xephos paused beside him immediately. "Dew, stop for a second." He called up to his friend. If he wasn't preoccupied with Peculiar, he'd be concerned about how weak his voice sounded.

The stocky dwarf did and ran back beside them.  "No!" Cried Peculiar. "We...we have to-" the old man was interrupted by a fit of coughs.

Honeydew winced before placing a hand on Xephos' shoulder. "You alright, friend?" He murmered gently.

The spaceman shrugged. "I'm fine." He said.

It was a lie, they both knew that, but they had to focus on Peculiar.

"Easy friend." Xephos said gently, easing the old soldier into a sitting position.

Peculiar fought against him. "No, no. We have to keep moving. If I rest, I don't think I'll be able to get up."

"If you don't rest, you might die, K.P." Dew argued.

Xephos loathed the idea of resting now. They had to be close to the surface now, so close to the sun. They couldn't afford to have 2 of the 3 in their party weak and unable to fight. Especially if Israphel decided to finally finish them off.

But as much as Xephos hated the idea of staying underground, Honeydew was right. Peculiar was in an awfully bad way. They had rescued him not too long ago from the corrupted dwarf King Finbar, and he was still wounded.

"Please...we cannot delay any further, just a little further and then I will rest. I promise." Peculiar pleaded.

Honeydew sighed. "Fine. But only a little further."

The dwarf cast an apologetic gaze at his tall lanky friend, but Xephos only smiled in turn. Any chance to get outside was good enough for him.

They journeyed only a little while longer before Xephos saw moonlight through holes of the cave ceiling. He let go of Peculiar momentarily to to stand under one of the spotlights that lit up the cave. His skin flared up as the pale light shone down on him. It wasn't sunlight, but it was still better than a torch. A tremble ran down his spine as energy began slowly building back up in him.

Peculiar leaned up against the wall as he watched the tall space man soak in the moonlight as if it were the most precious thing he'd ever seen. The stout dwarf beside  let out a sigh and touched old Peculiar's hand. 

"I think we should take a break now." Honeydew spoke gently, easing Peculiar down on the wall.

There was no argument as the three seated themselves to rest underneath soft moonlight and torches. Xephos looked out at the night sky through the hole and sighed. Someday he could go back to his home, but for now, all he could do was bask in another moon's light and pray for safety. Pray for his new friends, pray for himself, and pray for a planet that wasn't his.

It was all very strange, he had noticed. Crash landing on a planet full of hostiles and yet calling some of them friend, and what a strange word it was. "Friend." A person rest beside, a person to share your secrets with, and a person  to share the burden with. So many feelings and thoughts wrapped into one word= "friend."

And quite the friends did he have. An exiled dwarf, an former innkeeper, a zombie of all things, and several others. They called him spaceman and often laughed about his sense of amazement in the simplest things, a wonder compared to that of a child.

Xephos smiled. Yes, he was a child wasn't he? Crashing space ships and fighting monsters with swords and dwarves, even saving the world. It all felt like some story his father would make up to put him and his siblings to sleep.

His siblings. His father.

They were all gone. He couldn't go home now, not ever. They didn't even know he was alive. How could they? He had no way to tell his mother that her son was alive. He wouldn't ever see if his brother made it into the army like he had. Oh god, and what about Strife? They were going to live happily ever after. They had made plans, calculated, spoken happily of it under the warmth of their own Lumian suns.

The smile was gone. It was replaced with illuminated tears and sniffling. A crippling sense of loneliness found him and struck him in his heart. He felt himself trembling and cold hands of fear tightening his lungs. The shadows grew, he was surrounded by darkness. Where was the light? Where was the light?!

"Xephos!"

Xephos blinked. The darkness was gone, and he was back in the cave wirt moonlight on top of him along with the worried gazes of his friends. His face felt wet and his breathing was coming out in heaving pants.

"Xeph?" He heard Honeydew ask worriedly, a thick calloused hand on his shoulder. "You with us?"

After a few seconds, Xephos made a sigh and grasped at the hand gently, trying to still his own heart. 

"Yes, yes." He took a breath. "I'm with you, friend."

He was, for now. And perhaps, it would be just fine.