The voices in her head, the bickering voices of a carefree bird and one too serious, grew faint as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep. She had no idea how long she slept, but when she jolted back awake from the blackness, her eyes shot to the curled up brown noodle and she felt more tired than before. She didn't know how much more she could help... But she had to get him to safety, to Eridanus. He could hide in the greenery and find places to eat and streams safe to drink from.
She hated to leave him alone, but she couldn't bare to stay away from Pisces much longer. She had no idea how much time had passed, but it made her feathers crawl to think about it. Nervously, she hopped up on her coconut and took to the air, and gently trickled some water on his muzzle. He was twitching in his sleep, perhaps dreaming. She had no idea of knowing. He didn't seem to wake up from the water and she didn't want to waste too much, so she put it back down and instead hopped up to his ear and peeped softly.
"See the bunnies sleeping till it’s nearly noon, shall we wake them with a merry tune? They're so still, are they ill? Wake up little bunnies!" She tweeted gently, her tone almost musical. She didn't want to startle him awake, so maybe the playful tune would soothly wake him up. "Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop.. Hop, hop, hop - Hop, hop, hop.. Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop.. Hop, hop, hop..."
WHAT IS THIS? TELL ME!
Aquarian's voice was just as loud, just as angry, just as wild as vivid as the fisher cat could remember. The mist was no longer mist-- though when it had changed he wasn't sure-- it was his body, wrapped around him, water and mud sloshing over and choking his body, drentching his fur. He could only stare up at the massive teeth, bright, snake-like eyes. He found he could not speak, though his mind raced to make up words in answer that he could barely follow himself.
YOU HAVE BEEN MADE A FOOL. YOU ARE NO QUARRY.
The words made no sense-- they were just his mind, saying things. He didn't know how to process someone, something, talking to him. He could only stare. Suddenly, however, he found that he was not alone in the writhing body of the great noodle dad.
Fallah was there. He saw her lithe form dance across the water beast, he caught a glistening glance of Fang's pink tooth, a vague shadow of a barkfriend-- Black. A bark that could only be Isaac, a hushing from a doe. He saw the shadow of the King of Bones, just for a moment, on the pattern of slick skin that he was surrounded by. He heard cries that sounded like Arkrael and Tamelyn, and though he could not see her, he heard a voice.
Hop hop hop ... A gentle tweet in his ear. Hop hop hop..
That bird... He was dreaming. Aquarian disappeared once more to the fog, to the whiteness-- and then the sudden blackness. He blinked back awake.
The long brown noodle woke up, slowly but surely, blinking calmly awake. She let out a sigh of relief as his eyes met hers, pupils round and full. She could only just see the ring of bright orange fire that made the color of them, and he even twitched a smile as she finished singing, "Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop..." She didn't feel the least bit silly or ridiculous for it, despite how it made her stomach flutter with butterflies.
"Hey, um.. How are you feeling? I was hoping you might be able to make it to Eridanus. I can get you some food, but then I have to go home." She hated saying that, but the practicality of the situation was too important to ignore. She had to be blunt. Her duties to Maji Walezi were, as much as she hated it, much more important than one stray gembound. She collected her things while she waited for an answer from the injured mammal.
The dream had left Fisher shaken, though he hardly showed it through his foggy, pain-riddled expression. His usually bright copper eyes were dull and bleary. The red bird held his attention long enough for him to get the jist of what she was saying, and with a deep breath he struggled to stand.
Yet his body would not listen. Pain shot through his body, his claws weakly scrabbling at the earth. He tried to move and only gasped in pain, flopping down before he even really managed to lift his head. Everything was so hard... How was he supposed to survive, how was he... It seemed impossible.
His body wanted to rest.
Bevy watched as the limp brown noodle struggled to move. She shook her head, not sure what else she could do for him. "Don't push yourself. If your body won't move, don't force it. Just reserve your strength for now... I'll think of something." Perhaps she could go find Leon, or... or...
Somehow, she felt like that might be impossible. She had no idea where her friends were, and worse, if she left him, perhaps a golem or worse would come and... kill him. She tried not to think about that too hard. They had to get to Eridanus, somehow.
"Try and conserve your strength. Maybe... Maybe you can..." She saw his gem, however, a huge crack along the usually round, smooth surface. Some gembounds had jagged gems-- but this one looked broken, not grown irregularly. She shut her beak and hummed softly, trying to figure something out.
Even if Fisher didn't want to do what she said, he found that he couldn't move so he listened. His gem, although it didn't glow, seemed to stir with an energy. He felt himself... start to feel better. His magic, usually fighting to become electricity, fell down into a state of recovery. It was hard, at first, for his gem was badly damaged, but slowly and surely, he felt a small bit of strength come back into his body.
The familiar glisten of a fighting spirit entered his copper eyes once more. He snorted softly, his breathing coming stronger. He felt... almost alive. "Y..you saved me?" He asked, his voice hoarse, but he had finally started to come back to life.
Bevy was surprised when a small shimmer seemed to go through the fisher cat's body. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but then he spoke for the first time and she felt a flicker of hope. Perhaps he would live. She hopped a bit closer, tilting her head. "I tried. My name is Bevy... Are you alright?" She peeped, keeping her voice soft.
This was a good sign, right? He was finally talking. He understood what she was saying, he was... Definitely recovering. Making progress. "How are you feeling?" She tagged on after a short pause, hoping he didn't feel as awful as he looked.
A small, tiny laugh built up in the brown noodle. It ended up as more of a wheeze than anything, but he smiled his scar torn muzzle at the bird anyway. "Better, I guess. Name's Fisher," he replied, mumbling through his teeth. She seemed to look a bit brighter, stand a bit taller. He hoped he had comforted her well enough-- everything hurt like hell and she had done enough for him already.
He took a deep breath and tried to get his magic to help him more. He had never done this before; he hadn't even known he was capable of it. Yet the effect was sudden and strong-- he felt reguvinated, alive. ".. Jus' gimmie a lil' bit... I think I can get up the strength to crawl," he babbled, the wheezing laugh coming again.
The pitohui bird nodded when he spoke. "Alright, alright, hush now. Save your strength, and in a little while I'll walk you to safety if you can make it," she told him softly, her eyes locked on his as they fluttered closed. He was still tired, but it was dangerous out in the open.
"When you feel better, come to Maji Walezi," she told him softly, hesitant. She didn't want to leave him, but she knew she had to soon. "I take care of gembounds of all sorts there... It's like a family. You'll be protected and safe there." She hated to leave him, she really did, and perhaps it came through in her voice. The way her words wobbled and she stared down at her talons.
"You know the icy, drippy tunnel outside of Polaris, the big room with the river and blue spires? If you follow that towards the sound of the dripping, you'll end up at Pisces, where we live." She told him all this while he waited and recovered, until his eyes blinked open once more and he started to move.
"Ready to go?" She asked, spreading her wings.
Fisher listened, nodding absently as she explained about Pisces and Maji Walezi. It seemed nice enough. He wanted to find a place... A safe place... To rest for a while, to recover. For now, Eridanus would have to be enough. There was plenty of food, he could take shelter in a berry bush and survive for a great while.
"Yeah... Yeah, I think I'll take you up on that. Let's get going," he murmured, stretching slightly. He struggled to his paws, and then collapsed suddenly with a grunt. He hissed through his teeth, his tail lashing.
"N-no, no. I got it. Just wait..." He woofed, reaching a paw up towards Bevy, knowing she would fret. He could do this. He could.