Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 3: The Winds of Life [Part 3]

"How is he?" I asked, worried. The den was surprisingly empty aside from me, Astra, and Vaskr. Moon and Shadow must've gone out together, and Anari was a bit random about where she went. The earthy smell from the dirt walls around me did little to calm my nerves as they usually did, causing the little life in my belly to twinge more often, almost as if it could sense my distress.

"He's definitely sick," Astra replied calmly. "I assume the infected wound I cleaned last night got into his system, but it's nothing too serious. All he needs is some fluids, food, and rest; he'll recover soon."

I relaxed with a sigh of relief, feeling an imaginary weight roll off my shoulders. "Thank you so much."

"Anytime," she purred, then grinned. "So... Vaskr seems very interested in you all of a sudden. He asked for you a few times, actually."

I blinked, surprised by how quickly he was taking to this. "Er, he is?"

"I don't know what you did," she continued, amused. "But one night, he was avoiding you, and the next, he's trying to convince me to let him find you when I told him to rest." She chuckled, flicking an ear toward the room behind her. "You might want to get in there before he tries to sneak out again. I need to go out and help with the nest; there's something strange going on out there." I smiled and nodded, stepping inside the room with a spring in my step.

I was instantly assaulted with the strong smell of various plants lining the herb-room's sloped walls, which was used to store the various plants that Auroon and Astra use—obviously. Each type of plant was carefully organized using many shallow holes at the base of the walls. In the center laid a nest of thick, long strands of grass from the field outside, on which Vaskr was resting, his blue eyes looking up at me joyfully, his tail wagging. It was strange how happy he was to see me after only one day of rest, compared to last night, when he was more reserved about showing any affection.

I could only assume that his semi-mature, less enthusiastic behavior back in the forest was a product of his control problems. He was probably pushing his real emotions and thoughts into the back of his mind, covering it up with false thinking and artificial emotions. I was glad that he'd quit doing something so unhealthy, but I couldn't deny that this was worrying.

This was the real Vaskr, a hatchling—or very early fledgling—in mind, but using a body that was so close to adulthood. I could see the effects of my mistake now more than ever. Because of me, Vaskr was partially behaving like a fresh fledgling. Actually... that explained why he thought jumping from a tree and landing on my back was a safe thing to do; he probably forgot how big he's gotten.

I mentally shook off my surprise, giving him a smile. If he was going to have bits of hatchling behavior, I needed to go along with it. Steady growth from the stages of hatchling, to fledgling, then to adult was required. If I tried to force him to act his age, it would only hurt him, and his brain wouldn't grow the right way. I resolved to tell everyone not to bring up his unusual behavior. I didn't want Vaskr to think that something was wrong with him.

"I wasn't gone that long," I purred. "Just a short hunting trip." I caught a bunch of fish for him, but I had to wait a bit longer before it was safe to give them to him.

"But-" He cut himself off with a sneeze, then another, then another. He sniffed and shook his head, wrinkling his nose. "But it felt like forever!" He finished. I raised a brow at that, making him look at the ground sheepishly. "I like being near you now," he admitted quietly. "I know now that I don't know as much as I thought I did. Everything is strange and scary now, but I feel safe with you." He looked up at me with a broken smile, failing to hide his fear. "Can you stay? Please?"

I bent my head down and licked the top of his head. "Of course I will," I purred, making him relax. "But there won't be any playing. You have to rest."