Gretel slowly regained consciousness, a male’s soft voice fading in. The familiarity of it provided her a sense of comfort amid the searing pain in her back. It's okay if I rest a little longer… Efron will protect me. With those self-reassuring thoughts, she weakly curled up and let herself drift back into sleep.
When she later awakened, that voice sounded again, and this time she could distinguish his words:
“Are you up…? Don't push yourself…”
The white-and-purple wyvern opened her hot pink eyes to find the voice belonged to a green earth-seer hybrid. “Gadalik…?!” Gretel immediately sat up in spite of her soreness. “Where are we? What happened?!”
“Calm down…! We followed this light to that brown fairy dragon; we're in his den right now,” he explained.
“What? Why?! He attacked us, didn't he?”
“Y-Yeah, but he also saved you afterward… It's complicated.”
She snorted. “Whatever. Let's just leave before he changes his mind again.” The juvenile wind dragoness got to her paws, then wobbled as she felt lightheaded and collapsed.
“Gretel, you're hurt pretty bad… You can't just up and leave in your condition. Besides, I've been talking to Sebastion, and I doubt he's going to attack us again.”
Sebastion? So that's the new fairy type’s name. She let her gaze explore the small den, relieved that its owner wasn't inside. It was lined with herbs and materials much like Guinevere's hollow. Then she found the exit and spotted the rising sun with horror. How long was I out?!
“You alright?” Gadalik asked, his striped blue eyes glistening with concern.
She scowled. No, I'm not alright–but not because of my injury…! I'm a sitting duck here waiting for another predator to finish me off!
“Gretel?” he pressed, more worried by her reaction.
“Ugh, don't look at me like that,” she groaned dismissively. “I'm fine. We should go.”
“Go? Where?”
Anywhere! she wanted to yell as her anxiety threatened to surface. Don't you understand we're vulnerable here? We're at the mercy of the same dragon that just attacked us! And if any other predator smells my blood, they'll do more than just attack–we’ll be goners! She shook her head, forcing her emotions back. “I don't know…! All I know is we can't risk staying in one place for so long.” She once again gathered her purple paws beneath her and stood to leave, this time summoning a light wind to support herself so she wouldn't fall. “Come on.”
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“Wait!” he cried, and she hesitated solely due to how genuine his worry was. “We traveled miles from my den last night… There's no way you can make it that far without your wounds reopening…!”
What other choice do I have?! Gretel shook her head. “I'm fine,” she assured him, forcing herself to walk out of the den on paws that still trembled under her weight.
To her shock, Gadalik instantly moved to block her path. “No, you're not,” he argued, his voice quiet but stern as his blue eyes bore into hers.
She scoffed. “You're right. I won't be fine until I get out of here,” she halfway joked.
The hybrid didn't laugh. “This isn't funny… You almost died…!”
“So? I already told you: this isn't the first time.”
“There shouldn't be more than one time to begin with!” His voice rose slightly with desperation. “I warned you not to come here last night, but even after every single time you've nearly been killed in the past, you came here anyway! Do you want to die?!”
Gretel froze, dumbfounded. Then her striped tail whipped to and fro as she suddenly felt trapped, her eyes darting for a way out. When she found none, her anxiety boiled over and she rounded on her friend. “No–if I wanted to die, I'd stay here instead!”
He recoiled from her outburst. She instantly regretted lashing out and lowered her head apologetically, although she couldn't stop her tail; her pent up energy needed an outlet. The hybrid sighed. “If you want to leave so badly, I'll carry you,” he offered gently.
Her tail stilled and she stared at him, astonished. “...What?”
“I understand not trusting Sebastion and wanting to distance yourself from him… But you really need to let yourself recover. Guinevere and Glacia will keep you safe; you trust them, don't you?”
“I guess…?”
“Then it's settled. Get on my back, and I'll take you home.”
The young wyvern gave him a once-over, hating the thought that he saw her as someone weak enough to need carrying. But there was no trace of condescension in his body language. “Fine, I'll stay with you all… But I can make it there on my own.” To prove it, she summoned more wind to boost her stride and stepped forward. Contrarily, her weakened legs buckled; she fell against Gadalik in her attempt to pass him.
He instantly caught her. “You’re in no shape to keep going right now,” he repeated calmly.
She glowered at the leaf-covered ground, considering his offer to carry her.
“Please… For once, just let me help you…!”
Gretel felt her entire body tense, triggered by those words. Help? I'm not some pathetic, helpless piece of prey! She caught herself before she could snap at him, then took a breath to steady her nerves. “I'm fine,” she insisted, but couldn't conceal her frustration well enough this time; to her disdain, he picked up on it.
“Gretel, you have keen eyes… If you ride on my back, you can watch out for predators on our way to my den. I'm the one who needs your help, not the other way around,” he tried a new approach.
She was taken aback by that, then couldn't stifle an amused laugh. He's bad at lying… But he's not wrong; watching for other dragons is necessary, and he can't see as far as I can. “Alright,” she finally agreed.