I COULD JUST BARELY FIT THIS ALL HERE TELL ME TO STOP YAPPING (sobs) part 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1134911264/ part 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1142187905/ -------------- Terios wakes with a sharp gasp, sitting up fast and immediately regretting it. His whole body hurts--but luckily, he realizes, examining himself as best he can, that’s all. He’s in one piece. He looks down and sees a blue-furred hedgehog. His brow furrows. He doesn’t remember who this hedgehog is, but he feels like he should. They feel familiar. And it seems like they saved his life, because Terios is in their arms, and as he looks back, he sees a long trail into the trees that stops where the two of them lay--so long that even his keen eyes can’t see the end--that made it look like they’d skidded through a forest after a hard fall. That must have done numbers to the other hedgehog’s back. Well, Terios thinks, having a long look at the trail, then turning back to the blue hedgehog. He might as well repay the favor. The other hedgehog’s left leg is twisted in a way that definitely doesn’t look natural. Terios grimaces at the sight, moving to pick up the hedgehog. His current plan is simple: find a safer place. He needs some kind of shelter, a spot where he can make this other hedgehog more comfortable. The fall erased a lot of things, but ingrained deeply upon him is one thing: that he needs to protect. To heal. This is no exception. It’s not simply a matter of returning a favor, but Terios’s own nature. And, when the hedgehog wakes up, maybe they could give Terios some answers. As Terios’s claws brush the hedgehog’s fur, something sparks in the back of his head. He blinks, and now he’s looking at something else. The surface of a world--he can only assume it’s the one he’s on now. His gaze moves to the side, and there’s the blue hedgehog. Terios blinks again. The image is gone, just a brief flash. But something lingers on his tongue as he returns to himself, a word flitting tentatively behind his teeth. A name? His eyes fall back on the broken leg. The small pool of blood that steadily grows larger the longer he sits there. Right. As he picks up the other hedgehog, Terios worries that they’re actually dead. They don’t stir or make a sound. But when he lifts them, Terios can hear a faint pulse, and if he looks closely enough he can see the soft rise and fall of their chest. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Terios begins looking for shelter. The cave is probably not the best place he could have found, but it’s his only option. The sun is starting to rise when Terios ducks through the mouth of the cave and sets the hedgehog down on the ground. Unsure of what he’s supposed to do next, he tries to turn the hedgehog’s broken leg the right way, setting it back down gently on the stone. Still, there’s no response--no sound, no movement. The hedgehog is in a deep sleep, and Terios has no idea how long it will take for them to wake up. His mind is addled. A feeling that’s only increased in the short time since he’s been awake. Clenching his fists until his claws dig into his palms, Terios tries to compile everything he knows. Like the name. His name? Terios rolls the word over in his head. Tries it out on his tongue. His voice is rough, but as he says it aloud, it sounds right. Yes, Terios is his name. He’s surprised enough by having a memory return so quickly that he sits there in silence for a long time, as if waiting for another to rise to the surface. Then he realizes that he probably looks like an idiot, and also, that broken leg won’t heal on its own. Well, not the right way. And Terios definitely doesn’t have the right materials. He needs to find them somewhere. Terios turns, watching the sun as it rises above the treeline. The sky goes from hues of pink and orange to the most beautiful blue he’s ever seen. Shaking his head quickly, Terios tries to formulate a plan. Alright. So, there isn’t much he can use here in the cave. He has to keep the leg straight, he knows that. And when the hedgehog wakes up, they’ll eventually need something that can last while their leg heals. Even Terios can see that. A tree branch can probably work as a splint. There’s no shortage of those around here. The first step is to find one that’s sturdy, and long enough to actually be useful. Keeping it in place is another matter, and Terios finally resolves to figure that one out later, when he’s looking around the forest. Surely there’s something here that he could tie around the branch.
(cont.) It doesn’t take him long to pick out the right branch, but the second part is harder. Leaves are too short to wrap around, and if they are the right length they aren’t pliable enough to use. The grass is another no-go: it’s too thin, even if he figured out a way to weave the blades together. It’s after nearly an hour of searching--definitely not aided by the fact that Terios is nervous about venturing too far from the cave--that he finally finds something promising. A vine. It grows around the trunk of a tree, and when he pulls it off, he’s pleasantly surprised by its flexibility. It should work just fine, he thinks with a small nod, before looking up to search for more. Terios returns to the cave with an armful of balled-up vines, and then he sets to work. He tries to clean the scrapes around the bone as much as he can; he uses water from a stream he discovered while exploring the forest and tries to scrub gently while washing away as much matted blood from the fur and skin as possible. His mouth is a hard line as he watches the blood and water pool on the stone and trickle out of the cave--he hopes that the hedgehog isn’t in pain now. Their face still doesn’t change, and Terios isn’t sure whether to be relieved that they’re asleep during this makeshift procedure or sad that they haven’t stirred yet. He fumbles a little with the branch, but eventually he manages to line it up with the leg and secure it with the vines. He sits back on his haunches and observes his handiwork. Terios waits for something--anything--to happen. For the other hedgehog to wake up suddenly, sit up, ask what they’re doing in a cave with Terios. If they remember anything, then maybe tell Terios a little bit about himself, and fill in all the empty space in his head. But the hedgehog, oblivious to Terios waiting so expectantly for him to come to, stays quiet. Silent as a stone, Terios notes with a huff, as he takes in the cave around them. What next? Terios taps his fingers on the cave’s floor as he tries to think, his claws making little scraping sounds against the stone. It takes him much too long to get his thoughts in order, and even then the order is shaky and ready to fall apart at any given moment. The hedgehog will be hungry when they wake up, right? Surely anyone would be, after being asleep for so long. Terios himself doesn’t feel like he needs anything to eat, but he tries to push that out of his mind before his scattered thoughts can latch onto it and pull him down a rabbit hole. That’s a problem for another day. For now, he should look for food. He doesn’t know if the hedgehog will actually want it when they wake up, but he should be ready for anything. Just in case. And maybe once he finds something to eat, Terios will realize he’s hungry too. With the next step in his on-the-fly plan formed, Terios begins looking around the forest for anything that looks edible. He tries a couple different leaves, but they just leave him with a bitter taste on his tongue as he spits them back out again. He rubs at his mouth with his arm to get as much of the taste off as he can before moving forward. Leaves are out. Bark has about the same result—probably edible, but not really that tasty. Within the small circle of forest that Terios has mentally drawn for himself, there’s not much that qualifies as food. Which means…he’ll have to go out further. Terios is uncomfortable with the idea of putting even more distance between himself and the cave, but if he wants to find something that’s truly food, that’s what he’ll have to do. But what if…? Terios turns, looking back at the mouth of the cave. His sharp eyes can just barely glimpse it; the outside is sheltered for the most part with different plants. What if the hedgehog wakes up while he’s gone? What if someone finds the cave? Food, or assurance that his companion is safe? Ear flicking, Terios tries to weigh his options, figure out which one takes priority. Is it a good thing to have this much of an attachment to someone he only barely remembers? Why should he care this much if he only has a vague idea of who they were to him? Should he even be considering them at all? Couldn’t he just walk away right now? He shakes his head. No, he doesn’t want to abandon the hedgehog, no matter what their relationship was before he lost his memories. He wants to make sure they’re okay before he makes any other calls. So if he’s going to stay with them, what should he do? Terios, after lots of deliberation, finally decides that getting food would mean taking care of the hedgehog, which ties into his commitment to helping them heal. And so, with one last look back at the cave, Terios walks deeper into the forest to forage. -------------- THIS ISN'T EVEN THE FULL CHAPTER??? I HAD TO SPLIT THIS INTO TWO PARTS GAHH art: yours truly! music: planet wisp act 1 lofi - hotline sehwani au: starfall please please please ask me stuff about this au bc i would love to talk about it :pray-hands:
