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“They haven’t woken up at all?”
“They must have come a long way--they seem very tired. Their heart rate is normal, their vital signs are fine, they’re just…exhausted.”
Dragato sighs and crosses their arms. “Young astrals sleep a lot, but this is ridiculous. It’s been over a day.”
Bonnie puts her hands in the pockets of her white coat. “I don’t know what to tell you. They’ll wake up when they’re ready, I suppose.”
The commander turns away from her and walks to stand beside the cot.
Laying in the bed, hooked up to a heart rate monitor, is a very small astral. Their body is dark blue, with dull pink markings over their cheeks. Their back is covered in bandages.
Dragato lets out another sigh. “What are we going to do with you?” he mutters, speaking in Tenebra rather than common.
At their words, the child stirs. He perks up and steps a bit closer. They partially open their eyes--a chilling shade of silver--and start to look around the room. Once they realize they don’t know where they are, they sit up, looking more frantically. The heart rate monitor beeps faster.
“Calm down, little one,” Dragato says in a gentle voice. The child nearly jumps out from under the sheets. They back away, pulling the blanket over their face as a defense.
The commander takes off his mask and sets it at the foot of the bed. Seeing their similarities seems to calm them down, but they don’t lower the blanket. Dragato watches them quietly for a few moments before speaking again.
“I’m sorry, you must be terrified,” they say. “But you’re safe here. I promise.”
The child lowers the blanket, but their expression is still nervous, along with a fair amount of suspicion. He didn’t even think a child could look so incredulous.
“My name is Dragato. Do you have a name, little one?”
After a moment of their hard stare, they shake their head.
“That’s alright. You’ll find one you like eventually.” Dragato briefly turns away to grab a chair from beside the wall, then sits down next to the bed. “How old are you? You’re awfully small. Arthur told us you spoke to him, which would make you much older than you look.”
Their eyes widen at the general’s name. “Is Arthur okay?” they ask, leaning forward.
Dragato is momentarily stunned by their sudden change, but brushes it off quickly. “Yes, he’s fine. You both got some nasty burns from the lightning, but they seem to be healing well, according to Dr. Ambrose here.” He glances to the doctor, and the child follows his gaze. She waves at them from beside the desk. “She’s an expert on our species, and she’ll be helping you get better.”
They nod, but say nothing in response.
“I’m told you’ve been getting a lot of sleep,” Dragato continues, looking back to the bed. “What’s got you so tired?”
Their demeanor shifts again. Paws tightening on the edge of the blanket, they glance away, their eyes filled with…regret? Guilt? They shrink against the pillow, almost looking scared.
“It--it’s alright, little one,” the commander assures them. “You should be getting a lot of sleep at your age. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
They don’t look certain, but relax a bit anyway.
Dragato frowns and thinks for a moment. What kind of reaction is that? This is certainly the quietest young astral they've ever seen. Then again, they haven't seen any astrals this much younger than themself in quite a long time. Never mind that the little ones are supposed to be constant rays of sunshine. Something is off.
“Say, are you hungry?” the commander asks. “You must be, if this is the first time you’ve woken up in the past day.”
The child’s face fills with energy again, and they nod enthusiastically. Still no smile, though.
“Alright then. I’ll be right back.” Dragato stands and starts to walk away. He notices the young astral watching him, their head tilted slightly.
“Ten minutes and I need to be out of here,” Bonnie tells him as he passes.
“I’ll be quick,” they respond, and they slip out of the room.
He practically runs back--ten minutes goes by fast. As he comes through the door, Bonnie is at the desk, packing up her bag.
“Good timing,” she remarks.
“As always.” Dragato walks back to their chair with a tray in their hands and sets it down on the bed. The child hasn’t moved from their spot, but they lean forward to investigate.
“They were watching me the whole time you were gone,” Bonnie says.
“Were they?” Dragato looks back to the kid, who in turn looks up at him.
“Oh yeah. Their stare is just as creepy as yours.”
The commander huffs a laugh. “Is that so? Then I think we’re going to get along just fine.” They look back to the doctor. “Have a good day, Bonnie.”
“You too, Sir.” She shoulders her bag and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
When he looks back to the bed, the child is out from under the blankets, a little closer to the tray and looking over its contents.
Dragato is quiet for a moment. “Do you know any common, little one?”
They look up. “Common?”
“The universal common language. You and I have been speaking in Tenebra, an astral language. By your age I’d expect you to have learned at least a bit of common, unless you didn’t grow up around any others…”
There aren’t as many astrals around as there used to be.
They shrug. “No.” They turn their attention back to the tray. After a moment, their eyes set on the shiny red apple in one corner.
Dragato plucks it off the tray and polishes it with the side of his glove. “Hm. This thing’s almost as big as you. Hold on…” He looks around. There wouldn’t be any knives in this room…He shifts the apple to his other hand and draws the silver falchion at his side.
The child’s eyes go wide, turning big and round in fear as they scramble away from the blade.
“Oh--I'm sorry,” Dragato quickly apologizes. “I should’ve warned you. This isn’t the most conventional way to do this, but I don’t think I’m allowed to use the medical equipment.”
Carefully, they hold the blade against the apple and cut it in half, then a few more times to get some smaller slices.
After dropping the slices back on the tray, he swipes off the edge of his sword and puts it back in its sheath. He’ll clean it properly later.
The child takes one of the slices and puts the whole thing in their mouth. After a moment, they finally smile.
They start to poke around the tray, and Dragato finds himself smiling, too. He doesn’t smile much--stars, if their friends were here, they’d be teasing them for it. Not like any of them would be reacting much differently. Everyone was so excited to learn that the crashed ship was carrying a young astral. And they were of course excited to see that, in Falspar’s words, the child was ‘stupidly adorable, as a proper astral should be.’
A few minutes pass when the child’s excitement suddenly falters. They step back from the tray and sit down, resting their paws in front of themself, staring blankly ahead.
Dragato’s face drops. “Is something wrong?”
They shake their head, but start to look nervous again.
The commander folds his arms on the edge of the bed. “Alright,” he concedes, but he isn’t convinced. “Well, let’s talk, then. I think you’re going to be staying with us for a while. We should get to know each other.”
They give him an odd look. Must not be a fan of icebreakers.
“Where are you from, little one?”
They shrug.
“Do you have any family members who’d be wondering where you are?”
They shake their head.
“Are you feeling alright? An astral your age needs to eat more than that.”
They hesitate. “He says I shouldn’t be greedy.”
“He?”
They go silent. Their expression becomes more uneasy, and they look away, appearing to shrink again.
Dragato raises an eyebrow, trying to hide their concern. “I don’t think ‘he’ knows anything about raising astrals, whoever he is. I’d like to have a word with him.”
But that only seems to scare them more. The heart rate monitor beeps faster.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” He sits back in the chair, crossing his arms. “Here, how about I tell you more about where we are? You can talk once you’re more comfortable.”
The child doesn’t react much, but they nod lightly. Dragato gives them another small smile before he starts.
“You’re in a military base right now,” he explains. “This building belongs to the Galaxy Soldier Army, and most everyone you’ll see are Star Warriors or other soldiers.”
They start to move away again, though this time their nervous expression is joined by…anger?
“What?! You guys are supposed to be evil!” they shout, nearing the opposite edge of the bed. “I don’t wanna be here!”
“Evil? What gave you that idea?”
“Everyone says so! What are you going to do to me?”
Dragato’s brow furrows as he stares at them, trying to formulate an answer. The GSA could arguably be called a lesser evil, but they can’t really get into the ethics of war with a child this young.
“We aren’t going to do anything, little one,” he eventually responds. “Please, you don’t need to get so worked up--”
“I wanna see Arthur! What did you do with him? He said he would protect me!” They grab the blanket, now full-on glaring at him.
The commander rests his hands on the bed. They flinch at the movement. “He’s safe. I promise. He’s only a few doors down the hall--please calm down, little one. You need to breathe--”
“I am breathing!”
“You’re hyperventilating. I would hardly call that breathing--”
“Shut up!” they scream. They scramble under the sheets, pulling the blanket over their head and completely closing themself beneath it.
Dragato sits, stunned silent, watching their shape quiver under the blanket. “Little one,” he starts in a low voice, “is everything--”
“Shut up,” they repeat, but much quieter this time. Their voice is choked, and they pull the blanket even closer.
He takes a breath and slowly stands. Giving them one more glance, he crosses the room and instead sits in the other chair against the wall. They need space, but he can’t just leave them alone. They look away from the bed, trying to put their focus on something else.
The child arrived the previous morning, but no one has an inkling how they ended up here. Nonsurat has recounted the story about a million times to everyone who’s asked, and Arthur added a bit once he was conscious again.
Did they know to come here? If so, why would they be reacting like this? It must have been some kind of mistake. Especially given exactly how they landed at the base.
The same story, over and over. At this point, it’s almost like Dragato lived it, too.
Arthur and Nonsurat were on a walk through the surrounding forest in the early hours of the day. The sun hadn’t even risen yet. Things have been a bit too peaceful lately, and the Star Warriors were starting to get suspicious. Perhaps this was an attempt to calm the general’s nerves.
The pair gazed up at the sky as they went, the stars beginning to flicker out as the darkness grew brighter. One star, shining especially strong, zipped across the sky, arcing towards the horizon.
“Shooting star,” Nonsurat remarked, nudging the other and taking his hand. “Make a wish.”
“Is it wrong of me to wish Nightmare would hurry up and do something?” Arthur sighed.
“Oh, come on. I’m sure it’s fine.” They walked a few more paces before both suddenly stopping. That star sure was bright…and getting oddly close to the forest.
“I don’t think that’s a star,” the general muttered.
“Space junk, then?” the other suggested. “Or a ship?”
“What kind of ship is that small--”
BOOM!
Their heads snapped towards the trees. The star falling overhead was gone. After a moment, a thin column of smoke escaped the treeline into the open air.
“Whatever it is, we ought to find it.” Arthur released Nonsurat’s hand and hurried off the path, pushing through the bushes as the other followed close behind.
Their wandering shortly led them to a patch of vegetation that had been flattened and torn through; a trail of overturned dirt soon took them to the culprit. Crushed against the ground was a small, silver ship in the shape of a star. The hull was dented and broken open in several places, exposing the machinery within. A glass dome covered the cockpit, dark with smoke.
Thankfully, as the warriors approached it, the glass opened, and the smoke filtered upwards. A small creature tumbled out of the pilot’s seat, falling face-down in the dirt.
“Blazing stars, that’s a child!” Arthur rushed forward and dropped onto the ground to inspect them. Their body was a deep blue, and almost perfectly round. A young batamon, maybe? They’re common around here, although their bodies are typically more ovular.
Nonsurat stepped up beside him, gaze flickering between the child and the ship. From what it could see, the machinery looked impossibly complex, more so than the GSA’s own vehicles. Where did this thing come from?
“Are they alive?” they asked tentatively.
The other carefully placed a hand on them and turned them over--looking closer, they couldn’t be a batamon. An astral.
After a moment, he picked them up. “They’re breathing, but we should hurry. Who knows how long they’ll last.”
Stars, they were small. Barely larger than Arthur’s palm. At that size, they would be very young--not quite an infant, they have their colors. Probably somewhere between 15 and 20 years, but it was hard to say for sure…
Both warriors jumped when the child stirred. They struggled a bit, then turned their face towards the general and partially opened their eyes. Their sleepy, silvery gaze drifted between the two. It almost looked like their eyes were glowing in the darkness of the forest.
Arthur let out a sigh of relief and removed the bottom of his mask, revealing his face to them. “Hello, little one,” he greeted them in a soft voice, a gentle smile on his face.
They squinted at him silently for a beat, their breathing shallow and ragged. “Who…who are you?” they asked, almost inaudibly.
They can speak? That would make them at least half a century--but at that size? They should be three times larger for fifty!
Arthur seemed to have this thought as well, with the sudden concern that flashed in his eyes. He quickly covered it up. “My name is Arthur, and this is Nonsurat. Do you have a name, little one?”
They took a few more breaths before speaking again, eyes starting to close. “An…me…” Even with great effort, all they managed was a coughing fit.
The general handed his mask piece to his partner before pulling the child into a hug. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now.” He looked up, meeting Nonsurat’s gaze. “Right now, we should get you out of here.”
They said nothing in response. Once their coughing subsided, they curled up against him, resting snuggly in his gloves.
Back on the path, the sun was finally rising, casting the forest in orange and gold.
The child opened their eyes again, tiredly observing the treetops. “What if he tries to get me?” they muttered.
Arthur glanced down at them. “Hm. Whoever ‘he’ is, I’ll protect you, alright? You must be in some serious trouble if you came to us for help.”
They covered their face with their paws. “I’m in so much trouble…”
The warriors exchanged a glance, and Nonsurat pulled his communicator from his cloak.
That was when Dragato received the call.
He barely had his armor on when his communicator buzzed to life. Answering it, they were greeted by their very worried friend.
“Get Dr. Ambrose, meet us at the front of the base. We…found a kid.”
The purple warrior raised an eyebrow. “You found a kid? ” he asked, unamused.
“Yes! This is serious!”
“That’s an order, Dragato,” he heard Arthur’s voice from nearby.
“Alright, alright. We’ll be there.”
They hurried across the complex to Bonnie’s quarters and practically dragged her outside to see what was going on.
They waited. Bonnie took a tie from her coat pocket and pulled her bright orange hair into a bun. “This had better be important,” she said, sounding tired. “I just got off my shift three hours ago.”
“A Star Warrior never rests, eh?” the other remarked, shifting nervously on his feet. What was taking them so long?
“I’m a medic, sir, not a Star Warrior.”
Finally, they saw Nonsurat and Arthur appear on one of the nearby trails, heading out into the clearing. Dragato waved to them, and the teal warrior waved back. Arthur quickened his pace. As he reached the center of the clearing, though, he paused.
A breeze blew through the forest, rustling the leaves. When it reached the warriors, they froze.
The temperature plummeted, clouds gathered overhead as the wind picked up and the air was filled with creeping fear.
Despite their best effort, Dragato shivered. This was far worse than usual. What in the stars’ name could--
YOU…
Everyone looked up.
Was that…real?
The sound faded so fast. Even Arthur seemed to relax a bit when it quieted. A beat went by; the clearing stood completely still.
“…YOU!”
Wind tore through the forest as the sky ripped apart, sending an onslaught of leaves and twigs into the clearing and pelting the warriors with gravel. The clouds split to reveal the blazing cosmos, a myriad of colors violently swirling and sparkling, supernovae flashing brilliantly among the clusters of stars. The temperature dropped even further, crystals of ice twinkling in the air and frost spreading across the grass.
Arthur dug his heels into the dirt and brought his cloak around himself, clutching something close to his chest. The lower half of his mask was missing, revealing his uneasy gaze, fixed on the sky.
“DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME, STAR WARRIOR?” the voice demanded, dark and booming and filled with venom. “KILL ONE BEAST, BUT SAVE ANOTHER?”
A forceful gust of wind blasted through the clearing, nearly knocking everyone over.
“YOU’RE PATHETIC!”
“What do you want?” the general shouted, not for a moment turning his glare away from the voice’s origin overhead.
All at once, the wind stopped. The forest went silent. Everything held perfectly still for a few long seconds, as if the galaxy were deciding its next move.
INSOLENT ASTRAL.
CRACK!
“Arthur!”
The clearing filled with blinding light as a bolt of lightning struck the very spot where Arthur was standing. The others turned away and shielded their eyes, flinching at the deafening explosion scattering dirt and gravel and setting the grass ablaze.
“Arthur!”
When Dragato finally looked back, Nonsurat was already in the flaming circle. Arthur was lying at the very center, unconscious, singed, and smoking, and on the ground beside him--
Blazing stars, that’s a child.
Bzzz!
Dragato opens their eyes, broken from their thoughts. He reaches into his cloak and pulls out his communicator. Opening it, he finds a message from Falspar. He and Nonsurat have been sending them updates pretty much constantly since yesterday.
‘They awake yet? Be in in abt a week. Warp drive’s busted :( ‘
He gives a silent sigh and glances at the bed. The heart monitor has slowed to normal, but the kid is still hidden under their blanket.
‘Yes. I think I scared them.’
A few seconds pass before the screen blinks their friend’s response.
‘LOL of course you did. You’re the scariest guy I know
Except maybe Arthur’
After another second, she adds, ‘Nah definitely you. He’s a total pushover’
Dragato rolls their eyes and starts to type a reply, but shortly deletes it as more messages appear.
‘Sorry that’s probably not what you wanna hear right now
It’ll be OK they’re just freaked out. You’re a cool guy they’ll see’
He almost laughs at that.
‘Thanks. Talk to you soon.’
He closes the communicator and puts it away before looking back to the bed.
Much to their surprise, they spot the kid reaching for the tray again. They immediately startle under his gaze, then swipe another piece of the apple and disappear beneath the blanket.
Stay quiet and don’t scare them. They’ll come out on their own. Stars, this could’ve gone better. It’s not entirely unexpected. It seems like they’ve been through a lot over the past few days.
A few minutes pass in silence before they peek over the edge of the blanket again. They stare hard at Dragato, and soon he meets their gaze.
“Are you one of the nice ones?” they ask tentatively.
“That depends on who you ask,” the commander replies, “but I like to think I am.”
Carefully, they sit up again. Dragato stands and returns to his seat at the side of the bed. They watch him as he takes his place, and he notices they still have tears on their face.
He reaches forward. They flinch and freeze up when his hand grazes them and wipes at their eyes. After a moment, they relax, then rest their head against his glove.
“If you guys aren’t evil, what are you?”
Dragato hums thoughtfully. “Well, we aren’t exactly ‘the good guys,’ if that’s what you were thinking. Fighting like this is more complicated than good versus evil. But we’re trying to protect the galaxy. There are a lot of dangerous monsters out there, and it’s our job to keep everyone safe.”
They curl further into his palm. “I know those monsters. They’re scary. And they’re mean to me.”
“They’re mean to everyone, little one. That’s why we fight.”
They frown, but don’t say anything for a little while.
“I’m tired.”
“Well, you should get some rest.” Dragato pulls their hand away and picks up the tray. “I’ll be here if you need anything.”
They nod and crawl back to the head of the bed, pulling the blanket up with them. The commander brings the tray to the counter along the side of the room. When he looks back to the bed, it seems like the kid is already drifting off.
He lets out a quiet sigh and heads back to the chair against the wall.
He stays with them for the rest of the day. Once night falls and they finally get to sleep, Dragato slips out of the room with the child’s barely-touched dinner tray and starts off towards the mess hall.
There are a few soldiers hanging around when they get there, but most importantly they finds Nonsurat sitting alone with a mug clenched between his hands. It’s hard to tell if it’s coffee or tea from where Dragato stands at the door. The teal warrior soon spots him and waves him over, and he takes a seat across from it.
“So, how are things?” Nonsurat asks with a tired smile. Their mask is set aside on the table.
Dragato pushes his own on his forehead as he sets down the tray. “Not terrible, I suppose. They’ve barely eaten,” they gesture to the food, “but they’ve been getting a lot of sleep.” He glances at the other’s cup. Definitely coffee. “I take it you haven’t?”
“No,” the warrior admits with a laugh. “I got a couple hours in earlier, but that’s it. Arthur keeps waking up asking about the kid, and I have to keep telling him I haven’t left the room so I have no idea. I sent you a message at some point. Guess you didn’t see it.”
Dragato takes his communicator from his cloak and flips it open. Sure enough, a message reading ‘How’s the kid?’ is sitting unread on his screen. “Guess not. Sorry about that.”
Nonsurat waves a dismissive hand before taking a sip of coffee. “It’s alright. I just kept telling him everything was fine.” He leans forward a bit. “Everything’s fine, right?”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Dragato assures him. “They’re very nervous, but I’m sure they’ll start adjusting soon.”
“I guess they haven’t told you much, then?”
He shakes his head. “They seem too scared to speak.”
The teal warrior puts a hand on their cheek and hums thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he smiles again. “Oh! You could ask them some questions and have them draw an answer. They do that for kids’ therapy sometimes.”
“I guess it could work,” Dragato replies. “Do you really think they’ll be willing to do it?”
The other shrugs. “What kid doesn’t like to draw? Regardless, maybe they’ll be more comfortable if you let them do something fun. They’re probably gonna get bored sitting in bed all day.”
He watches as Nonsurat stands and picks up its mask. “Well, I should go. Arthur’s gonna get lonely if I’m gone for too long.”
“It’s that bad?” Dragato asks with a hint of a smile.
The teal warrior nods, eyes widened. “You should see him. They put him on so many painkillers. I mean, he wears full-body armor, I’m amazed he didn’t die!”
The other laughs, then stands and picks up the tray. “Well, I’ll be seeing you. Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’ll need it…”
Nonsurat turns away, and Dragato watches him leave before looking down at the food again.
Weird kid. They must be stressed out of their mind. And probably quite lonely, too. With the way they reacted when they learned where they were, maybe he shouldn’t be leaving them on their own already.
They stare down at the plate for a few more seconds, deliberating, before leaving the table and heading towards the kitchen.
Knock knock knock!
He carefully opens the door, a thin streak of light from the hallway flooding into the dark room.
“Little one? It’s only me.”
Looking to the bed, he can barely see their shape under the blanket. They cautiously pull it down, revealing themself, then sit up and watch him enter. He closes the door, and the room falls dark, leaving nothing but the small lights of the machines and the dull silver glow of the child’s eyes.
“You aren’t too lonely in here, are you?” Dragato asks as they walk over to the bed. He sets his mask in the chair he was sitting in before and looks at them again. They don’t say anything, but they sniffle and wipe their eyes. The warrior winces. Seems like he made the right choice in coming back.
“Would you like me to stay with you tonight?”
They stare at him for a moment, then nod.
“Alright, then. One second.”
They set their pauldrons on the chair, drop their shoes by the side of the bed, and sit down next to the kid. They watch him nervously at first, but after a minute or so, they crawl closer and start to poke at his cloak. They wrap themself in the fabric and curl up beside him, closing their eyes.
Dragato is stunned for a moment, and doesn’t say anything once he recovers. He just leans against the headboard and closes his eyes, too. After a while, he hears the child's breathing slow as they fall back to sleep. With the peaceful darkness and the gentle whirring of the machines, it doesn't take long for the warrior to follow.