Sound faded in and out, and everything hurt, in an overcooked pasta kind of way. Hard, implacable, irredeemable.

“...don’t think it was a good idea. You knew they were a level zero....”

Consciousness slipped again, and her name pulled me forward slightly. “Night, they’ll be okay if you…”

Those were the only two snippets of conversation that stuck since the cold putrid ground claimed me. I could tell I had tried and failed to be a corpse, and I was very glad I had not been successful. My gummy eyes wouldn’t open, and I didn’t yet have the energy to move my tongue from its parched place in my mouth.

It was too hard. Everything was still too hard. I could feel that I was on a pad of some kind, and blankets were over me. I could smell and hear the fire nearby, flickering heat against my left side. Maybe it was nice just to be.

Wait, what?

I felt myself being lifted and realized I had lost some more time. The water trickling into my mouth created a desperate feeling in my skin. I needed it to rehydrate my tongue something fierce. The arm holding me was warm and furry. Not Mavrich then. Why couldn’t I see yet. Huh, smelled like a pleasant musk. Samir? Yes that was the ursine’s name. Before I had enough to drink I slipped back into the dark.

Warmth against my right and something heavy on my legs. There was something over my eyes, damp, soft. Couldn’t lift my hand but felt my fingers twitch. Yay I had fingers.

“Why isn’t Engli’s skill fixing them faster?” was rumbled from near my head.

“Engli’s not a God. You got them electrocuted! By a 5+! Against a zero! That they can even twitch after half a day is a blessing and you should be thankful. I won’t get in Night’s way if she decides to eat you!” Definitely had to be Chad spewing that.

Sounded like I could nap more. I felt pretty dire, but a bit less fuzzy. I needed to tell Night I was ok. Just a little brain focus, no big deal. Oh, but there was the sucked downward feeling. Be right back I guess.

“Twitch your fingers in my fur if this is coming through Shad.” My hand spasmed and then my fingers slowly closed - one on air, the other on what felt like fur.

“You’ve been out for a day and a half. Engli just cast another heal on you so you should be regaining more motor function soon.” I could feel her still hanging out in our synergy like she was waiting for something.

“I’m waiting to see if you slip deeper into unconsciousness again. The last three times I started sharing how stupid I thought you were, you decided to see how comas work.”

“Sounds like you should skip the I’m an idiot part? I’m sorry if I scared you.” I winged that thought her way as I felt life coming back into my limbs as she had predicted. I had the itchy sensation of healing skin on a lot more of my body than I remembered being zapped.

“We aren’t synced enough yet for us to join up in the next instance. You need to work on your survivability if you are going to just do stuff without thinking. You were supposed to be grinding your skills and getting rations, not playing lightning rod. I also have no idea how you are going to repay the lion for all of the healings they have given you.” Night sounded exasperated but also resigned. It was weird, like she wasn’t surprised I acted this way. I was surprised I had just gone with what Reev had suggested without even pausing to consider it!

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Night interrupted my musings. “You should open your eyes. The draken has been worried.”

I tried real hard to open my eyes. They just felt glued shut. I managed to push with all my might. Changing tactics, I pulled off a minor rotation of my head which caught someone’s attention at least.

“The elf twitched Mavrich.” It sounded like Kiaralongh.

I felt a warm scaled hand slide into mine, palm resting under my fingers. “I’ve always found it easier to come back through slight movements. You can move your fingers and I’ll keep it simple.” I twitched a digit in response. “Good. At least you can understand, that’s an improvement. I’ll skip the part Nat…your companion has probably already shared. Are there any areas of intense pain left?” He waited. Oh, I needed to try to evaluate.

Sending my attention through my body, I noticed a lot of shit that would need more time to repair, but nothing critical. Remembering my meters, I focused and saw my health and stamina bars were both only a quarter full. I kept my focus on them and watched until I saw the slight tick increase to confirm that. I understood more deeply what Night meant about owing the lion. It wasn’t normal for people to lay still for a day and a half and only a quarter of their meter to be filled. From what I had seen earlier, Engli had the skills of a journeyman healer. Shifting my focus again, I could feel the aftereffects of healing potions and the bitter aftertaste I knew came from Elixirs.

Right. Yeah, I had so nearly recycled from this instance.

This was worth words at least. “Thank you all for saving me.” My voice cracked and sounded like an infant farting through bagpipes, but it was audible.

I felt Mavrich shift positions next to me, which let me realize I was on a platform off the ground. The musky scent also was back so I imagined Samir had joined us.

“Why? Just why?” She was asking a reasonable question, and coming from her it affirmed my assessment of how close it had been.

“I have nothing to justify it really. I misjudged our level difference and what that really meant apparently.” Unvarnished honesty felt best here.

“You are an idiot.” Mavrich sighed at me.

“He’s not wrong. Go back to sleep. Next time you wake up you should be able to move about so we can start advancing again. I told Mavrich to go through the gear and take all the herbals and parse out the loot here to the others. It should pay towards some of the healing costs.” I couldn’t, and didn’t want to, disagree with any of that.

Tapping Mavrich’s palm, I mumbled out, “K, gonna nite nite again. Back soon.”

The next time I woke up it was to the smell of a gator stew. It took me a minute to get my eyes to stay open and be able to focus. Kiaralongh was patiently holding a bowl in her lap that I assumed was wafting the stew scent my way. Her gaze seemed to be a mix of encouragement and patience, which was super helpful for my sluggish brain. I levered myself up and realized there was nothing to brace against. After flopping back to my prone position a few times, I could finally manage a seated position.

Samir swung by at that point and dropped my waterskin into my lap. Looking between it and Kiaralongh, I realized I wouldn’t be doing anything other than croaking words until I hydrated a bit. Hoping her patience would last, I worked at the cork of my water bottle until I could free it and take some feeble sips.

“Thanks, Samir, Kiaralongh. I’d love to try the stew please.”

“You are still weak elf, so take your time.” She settled the bowl on my lap and placed an oversized spoon in my hand. Appreciating the thoughtfulness, I got to work on the stew. Chewing was an effort but the bowl proved to be more broth than meat so it worked out. I did manage to get through the stew, though I did make more of a mess than I would have liked.

Kiaralongh took the empty bowl and spoon from me and cocked her head thoughtfully my way. “You nearly recycled yourself spectacularly. Your companion, Mavrich and Samir have shared their thoughts about it. Here are mine. You are now mine until we leave this dungeon. You will be leveling your class skills. You will not be leaving my side. You seem aimless and lacking purpose. That changes now. Or you are leaving. I understand from Reev that you are working on your Ranger skills. I'll believe that when I see it. Get up, take a piss, wash yourself and then come tell me your choice.”

Kiaralongh got up and walked away. I felt through my synergy for Night and just felt her frustration. Got it, move the meter more visibly on my skills. Check.