FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Ilaria fluttered to a dead stop in the deeper sands of the planet's only beach and signaled for the others to halt as well. "How should we approach this, Carbon? We can't go out there without some kind of plan."

"I honestly thought ~you~ had one--aside from waiting for the enemy to thin out anyway." Carbon shifted his head back and forth as he spotted something beyond the waves, his expanded visual bracket pulling out glowing details in the odd lighting. "Scratch that. I think I see Ceylon."

«Oh, good. He can lead us to the others.» Evelyn built up a slight ultraviolet glow and then quickly propelled herself across the gap, returning just as quickly with a worried expression. «He might be hurt. He's unconscious, but breathing.»

"Yeah, Eve says that's him alright. Looks like the big guy didn't fare the explosions too well." Carbon changed course and headed for the troubled Versa. "Let's get him somewhere safe at least and then we can--"

«Friends?» Ceylon opened his eyes slowly as the group approached, then righted himself in the sand. «I passed out. What happened?»

"The bomb team is captured, but we've got the enemy confused." Ari propelled herself down to Ceylon and checked him over for wounds, finding only a few carbon scorches on his thick hide. "Are you alright? Looks like you might have been inside that blast a bit."

«I'm fine. The others did not warn me of the power of this C4. Thank you for the concern.» Ceylon stood on his back feet and pressed upward, his head barely breaking the waves above. «Such power...»

Adrian swam up to join him, only to duck his head down upon spotting unaware Yangurraa on shore. "Ceylon, get down. Don't let them see you."

«Ah, good point.» The Versa drooped downward until all six hands dug into the sand. «I cannot see our hiding spot. The remains of those machines obscure it from sight.»

"You might have been washed down the beach some when you were out." Ari swam closer to shore, engaging her cloaking once she could stand for a clear view. "Wow. We thought we wouldn't do much damage, but actually the guns are mostly toast."

"They're powered by oxydium and we basically just learned there's enough oxygen in the air for us to breathe. Their power systems might have over-charged and become unstable over time." Carbon joined Ilaria a bit further up the beach, cautiously scouting before he committed to any plans. "I see two standing near the beam cannon. They look like guards, right?"

"It's a bit dark still... Oh, yeah. I think you might be onto something." Ari let her eyes adjust enough to notice the faint green glow sneaking past the aliens' helmet visors. "Yeah, there's another walking behind those. I'd say that's our football."

"Football? Really? Your dad might have layered the military jargon on a bit thick when you were kids." Carbon rolled his eyes at the thought, then evaded back to the topic at paw. "That's all I see, so we might just be able to overpower them and nab our friends."

"Yeah. We can hit them from the shore and retreat from where we came."

Eve touched Carbon's waist and used his suit's radio. "No, they might be expecting that. Besides, beaches are wide open by their nature."

"Right. We might leave Ceylon to guard the water since he's better off in a liquid anyway. Might make for a good exit vector in any case." Carbon nudged his snout toward a cluster of trees with almost fabric-like fill instead of leaves. "Those will do. Our cloaking works best against odd silhouettes, so we should be able to just walk ourselves in from there unseen."

"Good thinking, Carbon. Hey Dee, you want to hang back or join us?" Ari slipped her head below the water and shook in a slight scare as Adrian's face met hers immediately. "Damnit, Dee... Maybe you deserve to get shot at."

"Not funny. And yeah, I'm coming." Dee swept his way to land, engaged his cloaking, and crawled to some thin brush just outside the tide's range. "I'm not losing another ~ounce~ of my husband. Let's go."

"You have a weapon, right?" Carbon followed the brave otter's lead and tapped his leg holster in self-confirmation. "Ah. A pistol won't do much, so try using it defensively. Cover us as we move up."

"S-Sure..."

Eve took a moment to inform the others before resolving back into her subtle crystal form. "I can't take damage that isn't repairable... mostly. Let me go ahead as a shield or distraction."

"You heard her. We have a point-woman." Carbon took that as a hint to lead the squad, as he carried said distraction. "Ari, cover our rear and flanks. If anyone gets noticed first it'll be your tall ass, so keep a bit behind and follow our lead."

"At least you didn't call me fat." Ari pulled her bow free of her shoulder and stayed one piece of cover behind the others. "Ceylon, you've been quiet. What's up?"

«Oh... nothing. I was trying to pick out the thoughts of our enemies from our friends, but much like Carbon there's complexities that make it tough.» Ceylon flipped around and headed for the patch of water just adjacent to the hostages, his looped tail splashing as it poked out of the water. «I'll guard the sea, and should I divine anything useful I will try to inform you.»

"Thanks, bug guy." The others moved behind the dense trees and paused, allowing Ari to nock an arrow on her string and slide into the bushes just prior. "Can we pass through that?"

"Testing that now." Carbon nudged his shotgun barrel against a thin branch and the veil of cotton-like fill stretched elastically to compensate. "Not a chance. It's... more like spider webbing than I hoped. We'll need to circle it."

Dee tested the material himself out of curiosity before following Carbon around the trees. "Might make a decent trap if we lure them in."

"I'll keep that in mind. Quiet for a sec." The hybrid got down low and cracked open his visor to listen carefully at the relative silence ahead. "Something isn't right. We should hear the others struggling or something."

"Maybe they knocked them out?" proposed Ari as she brought up the rear.

"Maybe, but... that's not their style, nor would they have a reason to do that." Carbon kept still as he examined the sound-scape, then twitched and resisted turning his head when he heard an elastic rustling to his side. "Don't look, but they're waiting for us. At least one of them is on the other side of the trees, and they're all probably cloaked. Crap."

Dee placed a paw on his holster as Carbon slowly shut his mask. "So what do we do? Retreat?"

"No. They seem to have figured out the hard way how tough those trees are to pass. They're getting into position to surround us, so our best bet is to force a new perimeter we control."

"We already have one--the beach." Ari crept up behind the others and tapped Carbon on the back with her unholstered pistol. "I'll cover you. Run a large arc to the beach and I'll hold them here. Locate the others and get Ceylon to help extracting them while we keep them busy."

"Not bad. You're exposed here though."

"These trees will work fine. I'll run circles for cover, so don't worry." Ari fired a single bullet into the tree webbing as an announcement and shoved her team forward. "Just don't forget to cover me when you hit the beach!"

A series of glowing pulses lit up in various locations, soon becoming discharged plasma rifle fire that thankfully soaked into the trees. "You got it! Dee, come on!" Carbon dashed forward, using his low stature and various rocks to weave through the hazy figures attacking them. "Eve! We could use your help any time now!"

"I'm on it. You didn't give me much notice." The singularity formed a body for herself, this one a tad larger than normal to aid in absorbing weapons fire. "Don't say we never do anything fun together, darling."

"If I ever say that you can shoot me on sight." Carbon puled Adrian behind Evelyn as his own cloaking held true in faster motion where the other otter's did not. "Keep him safe." Carbon noticed a sentry waiting just ahead and fired a blinding blast of light from his laser shotgun to drop him on his back. "Holy shit. Okay, I like this."

"Cid would too. Nifty." Another enemy tried to get in the way, breaking off a piece of Eve's shoulder but ultimately being flung aside like he'd been hit by a freight train. "S-Sorry!"

"Don't apologize!"

Eve pulled Dee more to her side as she shot Carbon a harsh expression. "I meant Dee."

"I'm fine. Minor burn. Suit's still working too." Adrian held his side and found his ideal spot between the two, dashing with all his might as the dirt turned back into sand. "I see them! Iolvin!"

"He can't hear you with the helmet, Dee." Carbon yanked Eve to slowly stop her, but let Dee continue to the water. "Get Ceylon and free them. We'll help Ari."

"But... Y-Yeah, okay."

"Do it, Dee! I'm out of ammo!" The direct hint of how desperate Ilaria had become announced itself in the form of an explosive meeting an arrowhead. "Help a girl out!?"

"On it." Carbon pulled up his shotgun and unloaded his second 'shell' of deadly light, the lack of actual ensuing death only aiding his intent of providing suppression. "Can you make your way over here?"

"That silent response made me think so. Keep that shit up."

"Will do. Be careful." Carbon cracked open his rifle and quickly exchanged spent charges for fresh ones, Evelyn taking the odd shot on his behalf. "Thanks, hon. Dee, where we at?"

«We are cutting your friends' shackles. I'm impressed by this tool of Dee's.»

"Don't just watch me. Break their leg restraints, Ceylon. I'll cut them off later."

"We're getting there. Eve, Ari:" Carbon reached into a hip satchel, pulled off a plastic security strip, and lobbed a shiny canister. "Grenade."

"What!?" A bright flash flared up with a loud snap, then Carbon and Eve cringed and covered their eyes as a flurry of various wavelengths of radiation flowed from the device. "What the fuck was that?"

"Just hurry your ass, Ari. Alien flash-bang."

"Oh, well in that case..." Ilaria dropped an arrow she was prepping and simply dashed for the beach, her unimpeded traversal of the battlefield eking a chuckle from her muzzle. "Fuck. Bring more of those to the party next time."

"Can't. That was the only one I had." Carbon brought his shotgun up as Ari crossed over to relative safety, but still had issues finding something to shoot. He thought he saw movement that wasn't the swirl of gamma particles and took a blind shot, his laser blast's heat wave clearing a slight line of sight. "Ah, missed. Oh, but there he is."

"Who?"

A Yangurra keeled over as photons scorched a large hole in his suit. "Him."

"You're having fun doing this. Now I see why you like Cid." Ari pulled an arrow to the nock of her bow and lined up a shot of her own. "How much longer, Dee?"

"Done. We need transport now." Dee cut through the final bond on his husband's wrists and pulled him into a unilateral hug. "They're unconscious and won't wake up. How do we do this?"

"Get them in the water. Drag them if you have to." Ari loosed her arrow into a blind enemy's knee, a part of her not wanting to kill potential innocents. "Once we're in the water we're home free. These guys don't have aquatic gear and we do."

"Alright. Ceylon, take my husband. I'll get--" Adrian froze when he noticed a chip missing from the corner of Sydney's aluminum visor. "Problem, guys. Cid's helmet isn't sealed."

Evelyn gave up on guard duty and took the meerkat into her own arms, her hand turning molten to seal the gap. "I'll get Cid. Take Zoë."

The enemy fire began concentrating as they regained their eyesight, leading Carbon back toward the shore. "Get in the water now , guys!"

«Done. I'll take Yoyo deeper.»

"Ari? What the fuck are you doing?" Dee lifted Zoë's arm over his shoulder and soon found the other over Carbon's. "We're leaving! You don't need to fight!"

"I'm coming. I'm just not turning my tail to these guys." Ari backpedaled between arrow shots until her heel sank into wet sand. "Right behind you!"

Carbon shoved Dee and Zoë into the water, but remained waist-deep to cover Ari with a pair of shotgun laser blasts. "We're in. Hurry up, Ari."

"Yeah, fuck these guys! I--" Ari threw her bow over her shoulder and spun around to sprint, but ended up falling forward from a blast on her back. She pulled herself forward to safety below the water, but only then realized what had taken the hit. "My... My bow..."

Carbon dropped his weapon so it rested by its sling, and helped Ari into deeper waters. "Yeah, it took the brunt of that."

"But that was a..." Ilaria fell deeper and deeper once clear of the island's shelf, focusing on reuniting the halves of her bow more than her path to the Starbreeze. "Robyn gave me this..."

"And it saved your life. That's the best gift anyone can give." Carbon corrected Ari's path with some difficulty due to their size difference. "We'll have time to mope over lost mementos later. Right now we need to get safely... inside..."

"But I--" Ari shook her mind free of its chain of thoughts when she noticed a worried look on Carbon's face. "Carbon? What's wrong?"

"We have another problem. Swim faster."

"Carbon?" Dee slowed for a moment to check behind himself. "What's that mean?"

"I said swim faster!" Carbon sped up to a frantic pace, audibly exhaling in relief when Ilaria started up her paw thrusters. "Goddess, don't let me be right... I see some kind of power source between us and the Starbreeze."

"How can you see anything? I can only see a few hundred--"

"I see more than you guys. I'm telling you, there's something trying to beat us to the ship!" Carbon broke his grasp on Ari and pointed toward the others. "You can move faster. Help Dee."

"And leave you behind?"

"I said to help Dee. I'm on recon now." Carbon stopped moving downward and focused on a direct path to the unknown object. "What the hell are they planning? They don't have subs..."

Dee shifted to accommodate Ari's aid. "But what about probes?"

"Eve would know, but she can't talk like this. Fuck. Head back while I try to stop it." The hybrid broke away completely, heading slightly upward to a hopeful intercept. "It's powered and moving. There's a bulbous shape to it. Might be a probe, but to what end?"

"Carbon?" Evelyn hacked into Yoyo's radio line. "I thought I heard my name through this suit. You need me?"

"Thank the goddess..." The probe shifted course, as if reacting to Carbon's intercept path. "What do these types of ships carry by way of probes? There's something with a lot of juice running through it and it's dodging me on the way to the ship."

"It dodged you?" There was a short silence that held with it an air of dread. "Get away from that thing, Carbon! It's an excavation buoy! It's loaded with explosives!"

"Shit... It'll blow up the Starbreeze." Carbon fumbled with his shotgun, but managed to load a fresh set of capacitors into the barrels. "I'm taking it out before it gets close."

"Your gun won't do much underwater, Carbon. You don't want to piss that thing off. I'm--"

"Worth a shot anyway." Carbon fired one shot that missed by several yards, the spread of the shotgun diffusing even worse underwater. The second shot never had time to fire, the buoy breaking open to release six secondary charges that moved far faster than their larger whole. "Oh, crap! I think I pissed it off, guys!"

"What the fuck does that mean!?" Ari forced her gravitation thrusters to their limits and hurled herself and Zoë into the waiting airlock of her ship. "Hurry before we find out, guys!"

"No time! You've got four seconds!" Carbon stuttered in his chase momentarily as he spotted Phoebe and Themis swimming toward the airlock. "Boys! Stop!"

"But we're all going... Oh--!"

"Emmi!"

Themis froze as he noticed the dim glow of the explosive 'spores' and put his position between them and the ship to the forefront of his mind. His twin brother grabbed Em and gave a useless tug, but just as the explosives sped past them the two seemed to collapse upon themselves. The spores slammed into the hull and lit up in a flash and flurry of bubbles, the explosions imploding afterward with the twins nowhere in sight.

Adrian limply sank as he stared at the ship. "No! My boys!"

"Boys!?" Iolvin snapped awake as he and Evelyn slammed into the airlock. "What's wrong with the boys!?"

Carbon gave up on his pursuit of the empty probe and swooped down to help Dee back to the Starbreeze. "As deep as we are, with that pressure... I'm surprised the hull is still intact. I'm sorry, Adrian."

"But they're... They were so young..."

The voice of a ghost sent a chill down everyone's spines. "Nn... Dad? Damn, that was... unpleasant."

"Phoebe!?" Dee broke out of Carbon's grip and checked the hull of the ship. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"Here, dad." Pho pulled his limp brother from beneath a thruster nacelle. "Emmi needs help. He was right there with me until... I forced us to revert like that."

"Revert?" Dee helped pull his sons inside and cradled the unconscious of the pair. "He's breathing. Gods... Please let him be alright..."

Uncharacteristically, Phoebe wrenched his twin from his father's arms to cradle him personally. "You wouldn't have to pray if you avoided this damned conflict. I'll take care of him. Look after dad."

"Y-Yeah..." Dee turned and hugged his delirious husband. "Honey, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"I don't think so... My head's pounding but I think that's the stun gun talking."

"Right, they've got those on civilian ships." Carbon reached out to close the airlock but halted himself for a head count. "We got everyone? Wasn't R&B out here too?"

Ari stood up and headed for the airlock hatch herself. "Rhy... Gods, please tell me--"

A knock from inside the ship drew all eyes to Rhyme's face through a peep hole in the inner hatch. "I'm in here. Clear the mechanism and we'll get you safely inside."

"I almost had a heart attack, Rhy." Ari settled against Rhyme's little window and breathed a very heavy sigh of relief. "If you were listening on the line, you could have said something earlier."

"I didn't want to clutter the feed, what with bombs flying around." The airlock sealed itself and started cycling. "I'll ring up the doc while this normalizes. Anyone else hurt?"

"A few alien tasers aside, I think only Themis needs attention. Do your thing, hon."

"Alright. Just... hurry inside. Those aliens are giving me a bad feeling."

"It'll take more than that to take us out. My girls reinforced the hull pretty well. Now scoot. We really do need Ellie." The airlock finished flushing the water out of the chamber and began equalizing the pressure next. "Hey Yoyo, you really alright? Sure you don't want to check in with Ellie after this?"

"Which translates into 'I'm forcing you to go or I'll whine about it endlessly.' to me." The chamber briefly got quite loud now that there was enough air around the gang, then slowly subsided as the system reached equilibrium with the Starbreeze's main cabin. "Let's clear out of this tin can so Ceylon can have his turn. The sooner we're all inside, the sooner we can get the hell away."

Pho pulled off his helmet as well as his brother's, wanting to touch his paw to his jaw to invoke Jeeves. "Yeah, and the sooner Emmi gets help."

The inner hatch opened and allowed Buck to reach inside. "'Ey, guys. Let me get ya' injured for ya'."

Evelyn easily took that offer and offloaded Sydney to the moose. "Thanks. I've been running on reserve for way too long."

Buck chuckled as Eve returned to her crystal form around Carbon's neck. "Lil' girl was dyin' for some shut eye?" Buck eased his gifted meerkat into the zero gravity of the elevator shaft, clearing the way for the others. "Mind ya' heads and relax. We don't need no cracked skulls at this point, ya' hear?"

"Thanks, Buck." Dee floated out of the airlock and hooked the lip of the bulkhead. "I'll help though. Slide me my husband."

"You got it."

Ari slipped past as they offloaded the weakened half of the away team one at a time. "I should see what's up on the Bridge. There might be unseen damage from that hit."

Yoyo groaned as he was fed out of the airlock. "Go on, Lulu. We're alright here."

"Doesn't sound like it. Seriously, see Ellie--for your husband's sake, and not just mine."

Yoyo removed his helmet and chucked it into the observation deck's flipped gravity. "I'm more concerned about Zoë. She doesn't have these little robots in her blood to protect her."

Carbon exited the airlock next, offering to bring Zoë with him. "Buck, why don't you go join Ari. She'll need all her officers."

Buck finished gliding Zoë into waiting paws, then moved behind the boys to help with Em. "'Cause this airlock leaks if you don't watch it good. I'm sorta good with fluid physics, after all. Had to clean up after you lot the last time."

"Ah, well good catch. I'm glad someone thought to check after we left." Carbon eased Zoë onto the observation deck and then returned to help the others. "Initiative is a good thing for an officer. Fleur knows how to pick 'em."

"Shucks... Y-Yeah, it ain't so bad now. Jus' wanna make sure my fix holds." Buck reached for the unconscious otter and nearly got his hoof bitten off. "Come on, now. Need to git you guys out an' seal 'er... up..."

Carbon tethered his tendrils to the upper deck and offered his paws to Dee and Yoyo. "Buck? Find another leak?"

"Mother of..." Buck suddenly lifted the boys away from the walls and kicked them into the elevator shaft so hard it woke Themis. "Git back!"

Phoebe shielded his brother as they banged against a wall and started rolling further away. "What the hell was that for!?"

Buck cranked a manual override lever and forced the airlock to rotate shut. He then slammed a large physical button through a sheet of glass, cutting himself badly as he sounded an alarm. "Impact!"

Carbon grabbed the two otters before him and reeled them away with all his might. "Buck! Why!?"

Another series of small explosions pelted the ship, this time directly on the external airlock hatch. "It was me or them." Buck held the airlock microphone transmit button with his good hoof, but cut out often as fear gave it a tremors. "They haven't really even lived yet, sir. I couldn't choose myself."

"We'll get you out of there. Keep calm and conserve your air." Carbon kicked off the deck and tethered himself to the safety bars surrounding the airlock. "Is there an override? We still have time."

Buck saw Carbon reaching for the override lever and braced it with his hip and legs. "I can't let ya' do dat, sir. It's me or tha' whole crew now." The external doors creaked and bent slightly inward, allowing a heavy flow of water to start flooding the airlock. "I'm not sorry for this. I only..."

Carbon tried the handle again, to no avail. "Damnit, Buck! What the fuck am I gonna say to Fleur!? You've meant everything to her!"

Visibly shaking from the cold of the sea as it engulfed his chest, Buck let go of everything to reach higher ground and buy a few seconds. "Tell her tha' truth. I love her. Tell her... I died thinkin' only o' her."

"Buck!" The water finished fulfilling its evil nature, running out of places to flow except the moose's lungs. "Buck... Goddess, no..."

"P-Papa..." Fleur stared from the opposite end of the elevator shaft, tears bubbling from her face to weightlessly scatter in all directions. "Papa... que personne n'est pas..."

Carbon watched as all life fled the chamber, leaving behind only the husk of a hero. "Damnit... Fuck!" He slowly spun around to face his daughter, who was now shivering in Elliot's arms. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Fleur."

Rhyme stared at the flashing lights near the airlock, still not quite understanding what happened. "Carbon, what just...?"

"We... We need to get Ceylon inside so we can get moving." The hybrid almost painfully pulled himself away from the hatch and towards the rear of the ship. "I'll prep the other airlock."

Rhyme looked to her side at the crying elk and burst out, "Carbon!"

"We lost a good man today, Rhyme." Carbon landed in the gravity field of the observation deck and picked up into a trot. "At this point I'm just trying to keep from losing any more in his honor."

"No. Fuck that. I'm not losing him without a fight." Ellie eased Fleur away from his chest and kicked back toward the Medical bay. "I'm prepping a room. Rhyme, go get your girls."

"Ellie..."

"There's no time for doubt, hon. Get your girls, fast. We've got eight minutes to pull off a gods damned miracle."

---

"Chleek, they're knocking at our doorstep..."

"Sheena, my mate. All will be well." Chleek Ors groaned as a siren sounded, signaling one of his manor's shields collapsed. "And ever right you are. Come, we must secure the ætir and flee."

"But this is our home. This was meant to be our child's home!"

"And it will be once we reclaim it. Our enemies would see us dead to hold our land--to sully it with their outdated beliefs and to corrupt our ætir." Chleek nodded to one of his loyal guards to signal his intended departure. "Those that believe in the harmony of the many Great Spirits would see us thrive. The choice is clear."

"Chleek... the land is everything to our people. We can't simply uproot to any random cove or cave." Sheena stepped away from her husband, unsure what to think. "Are we to live on the surface in the rocky wastes, scrounging for water? That is no life for a child, even if only temporary."

"Sheena? There are more options than those, surely. I don't..." Another siren took Chleek's attention away, the last barrier broken. "Sheena, come. Our time has run thin. We can talk about this further from orbit."

"No." The pregnant Yangurra gained an air of fear and self protection as she stepped further away, toward the direction of the invaders. "Our seedling will take root where it was conceived. If you love us, you'll prove your love of Xor isn't just for selfish reasons. You'll return for us."

"Sheena, you don't understand. There will be no leniency with these religious barbarians! They'll kill you just for loving me! They--"

"I do love you, my Chleek. Goodbye."

"No! Sheena, don't!"

A guard badged into the courtyard, glowing green splattered about his armor. "Chleek, we must go."

"I need to get my wife!"

"It's too late for that, sir." The soldier forced Chleek over his shoulder and walked towards the family's personal spacecraft. "Everyone protect our launch, then flee for the surface. Your loyalty shall be rewarded upon our return."

"No! Put me down!"

"One day you'll thank me for this, Chleek." A line of guards formed behind the two, facing twice as many attackers moments later. "Your movement requires you now. When we prevail, this moment will be seen as a turning point."

"You'll sacrifice my wife and child for this!? For a revolution!?" Chleek tried to break free, the experienced soldier easily compensating for all attacks as he entered the ship. "I refuse to let Sheena die like this!"

"I'm afraid, Chleek," the soldier nonchalantly noted as he set his master down, "that your wife has already been slain."

"What!?" Chleek clawed at the closing outer doors, yet froze stiff upon spotting the lifeless corpse of his former mate amongst the battle's massive losses. "Sheena... No, Sheena..."

"I'm... sorry for your loss, Chleek. It was not easy on me, either."

"You!? Don't you dare pretend you care when you... you..."

"Marriage is a shackle bound to the mistress of time, or so my father once said. Perhaps it is the will of Xor to change your scheduled life in this manner." The soldier found a seat as the engine roared to life, shedding his helmet and pauldrons to rest. "Come. Secure yourself."

"I'll do whatever I damn well please--"

"I have been assigned your personal guard when the last made this attack possible. I'm protecting you." The guard sighed, grabbed his master, and forced him into a seat. "I am Xor's will over you, it appears. My name is Enthol. Our fates are intertwined from this moment onward so remember it well, my Chleek."

---

Fleur trudged into her room, the exceptional weight of her love dragging in her heavy footsteps. "Sacrebleu, docteur."

"Hey, Fleur..." Rose drooped her head along with her friend, her own willpower so sapped from the news that she couldn't budge. "How's he doing? Anything new?"

"He... es a-life..."

"Seriously? No change?" Rose took a quick breath and then opened the air tent around her bed to rub her friend's back. "He'll get better. Ellie is great with these kinds of things."

"He say Boock 'as brain damage! I... I do not..."

The bunk above Rose made a little commotion until it produced Ginivieve's head from its thick covers. "People recover from brain damage. It might not be as bad as you're making it out to be... hopefully."

"Gin..." Rose shut herself inside her tent again, now sitting with her legs crossed to give Fleur all of her attention. "Once Buck's out of his coma, you'll have our full support. If you need anything, we're here to help. We want to see you two lovebirds together ~forever~."

Gin slid her legs out of her covers to sit over the edge of her bunk, though with the blankets still wrapping her upper half quite well. "Speaking of, why aren't you with Buck now? I'd think your voice would be the best thing for him."

"Elliot told me to get soom sleep." The exhausted elk found her own bunk and face-planted into it. "He may be correct, boot I do no like it all ze same."

"You've been holding his hoof all day, though. Buck wouldn't like it if you got sick or something because of that." Seeing her friend was accepting her fate, Rose joined her in laying down to sleep. "It'll be alright. Ellie is keeping an eye on him, and I'm sure he'll call you first if anything changes." She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath to relax her lungs. "So for now, try to stop crying and get a little shut eye. It'll help your mood."

"I am no crying, Rose. Papa raised me stroonger zhan zhat."

"You aren't?" Rose opened her eyes and shuffled her ears around, finding the source of the sobbing was actually above Fleur. "Carmine? Are you okay?"

"I'm... uh, I'm f-fine."

"This reminding you of--"

"Gin!"

Carmine rolled over to face the two with complete disregard for the sopping fur around his eyes. "No, she's r-right. I m-miss Adem-m."

"Shee what you've done, Gin? The poor guy's--"

"It wasn't G-Gin. I can just..." Car clutched his chest, his sadness manifesting itself in phantom pain. "I f-feel everyone. All their joy... pain..."

"Papa mention this. Carmine 'as ze abehlity to... to know our emotion." Fleur rolled off her bed and rose up to give Car a quick kiss on his forehead in appreciation. "Is sweet."

"I wouldn't call it that, b-but... thanks."

The console by the door suddenly lit up, followed by a medical override to force the a call to pick up. "Fleur? Wake up, Fleur."

"Elliot!" The elk spun around, her heart practically bursting from her chest. "Good news, s'il vous plaît!"

"Uh... Sort of? I think I know what that meant?" The otter took a moment to check something, the distinct whir of a flat-lining cardiograph shutting off worryingly. "You need to come down here. Buck's awake, but he's disoriented. I think you could help."

"Oui!"

Fleur dashed out the room without wasting a second, which immediately spurred Gin to follow behind. "I'm not missing ~this~. Some movie grade shit right here."

"Hey, wait!" Rose struggled to break out of her tent and grabbed her breathing mask as she lagged behind the others. "Carmine? You, uh...?"

"I'm fine. Enjoy it for me."

"Feel better soon, hon. Take care." Rose shot out the door at a lightning pace, making up lost ground faster than anyone else on the crew could manage save the boys. "I'm gonna shred my feet into salad, you guys! Hold up!"

Gin leaped across an elevator shaft just as Fleur landed on the opposite side. "No can do! Fleur here's on a fucking mission."

"Where the hell did she learn to move like that?" Rose leaped as well, but beat Gin slightly with the aid of her vines to pull her rather than simply rely on gliding. "I guess all those years as a butler taught her ninja balance skills or something."

"Wait, she's a butler?" Gin started laughing painfully through her loss of breath. "She's a French maid? That's way too perfect."

"Yeah, well tonight she's pure woman." Rose slide barefoot across the grated floor and rounded the corner into Medical. "What did we miss?"

"Quiet." Ellie threw out an arm to block Rose and Gin from going any further. "Let them get settled. They deserve a little time."

"Oh, y-yeah. Sorry."

Fleur slowly approached the only bed in the room, unsure what she should say. "Boock... J'ai craint le pire. J'ai pensé que vous étiez mort..."

Buck slowly lifted a hoof to silence Fleur then brought it to his temple for a slow rub. "I don't... I can't tell a word you're saying, sugah."

"Boock, I... I loove you."

"I'm sorry, but..." The moose winced his eyes from a bout of headache then fell limp in defeat. "Do I know you? Are we... close?"

Fleur's knees nearly gave out at that question. Still, she forged a bold path ahead and draped herself over her man in a loving embrace. "I will make you remembehrz, Boock. Tu es mon chevalier."

"But I don't... Chevalier?..." Buck eased off his defenses, something inside him telling him to accept the embrace as a part of him. "Ma belle? Fleur?"

"Oui! Merci dieux, oui!"