“He’s awake!” I heard Riptide’s joyous yowl.
I weakly opened my eyes to see both Shadow and Riptide staring at me, joy lit their eyes.
“You’re awake!” Shadow purred, nuzzling me. “You’ve been out for 4 days, Lance! We thought we’d lost you!”
I pulled back a bit, not because I didn’t want Shadow’s affection because trust me, I did. It was because my muzzle still really, really hurt.
“Oh, sorry,” Shadow had noticed my pain and drew back. “I didn’t know,”
“It’s fine,” I told him, surprised by the weakness in my voice as well as how weak I felt in general.
“Yeah, you’re looking real bad here,” Riptide told me, pointing to my muzzle. “It will heal, but you’ll be pretty badly scarred there for the rest of your life, and it may hurt every now and again.”
“Oh, of course. Just my luck,” I thought. “Of course it was me who almost died in Shadow’s stupid battle.”
“It’s fine, I can handle it.” Was all I said out loud.
Shadow stared into my eyes. I saw deep concern there. “You sure, Lance? I’m really sorry this all happened, buddy,”
I nodded slightly. “So am I,” I mumbled.
“Be easy on Shadow,” Riptide told us as he left the den. “He’s slept beside you every night since the battle, he refused to leave your side.”
Affection for my leader and best friend flowed through me.
“That’s so sweet,” I thought. “I never thought Shadow would do that.”
“Now I’ll leave you two to be together,” Riptide called to us from outside the healer’s den. “I’m going to go collect more herbs for your muzzle, Lance.”
I opened my jaws to answer him, but Shadow did it for me.
“Okay! Thanks, Riptide!” He called.
“I think he did that so I wouldn’t have to be in pain anymore than I already was,” I thought. “That was nice of him.”
“Now, Lance,” Shadow’s voice startled me.
“Hm?” I murmured.
“About what Frost said…” he looked at me with concern. “Did you really go to the meeting Winter made about me?”
I felt a sharp pang in my chest, not physical pain this time, this was mental pain.
“I hoped he would’ve forgotten about that…” I sighed. “Might as well tell him the truth.”
“Yes,” I mumbled. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how hard that was to get out. “I did.”
“Why?” Shadow asked me, looking outside of the den.
“Well,” I turned away as well. “I was a bit worried about you at first, but believe me, Shadow,” I looked up at him. “Those feelings are long buried now.”
Shadow covered my ears in anxious licks. “Of course, Lance. I never doubted your loyalty for a minute, trust me.”
I purred loudly. “Oh no, of course.” I murmured.