Sunbug stared at the multitude of footprints leading in at out of Brightheart's Grove feeling more than a little nervous. "You're sure about this? This is forever."Moonstruck shrugged next to her. "Never been more ready in my life."
"You've only been alive a da-" Moonstruck gave her a cheeky, sidelong look and she realized that had been exactly his punchline. She snorted in annoyance, but a little piece of her was thankful for the levity it brought to the situation. "I just don't want you to regret it."
"There will probably be times when we regret it," Moonstruck said, making her heart sink ever so slightly. "But, there will be more times where we're happy for it, I think. I think it would be terrible to be alone, and you chose not to be either. So we'll be okay together."
That was.... oddly reassuring. They didn't have to be perfect. They didn't have to always be happy with each other. But they could be okay and not alone, and that could be enough. She took a deep breath and took the first few steps forward. "Okay, let's do this."
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For the first while, nothing seemed particularly different about their trip than any other day Sunbug was scouting. In fact, the only thing that felt different was the weight of the small Huli Jing on her back as he had quickly tired of walking and jumped on top of her to rest. She'd complained about it at first, but quickly found that Moonstruck was particularly adept at ignoring her discontent for his own comfort.
Occasionally he would peek around her head and ask a question about something they were passing, or one about her life. She did her best to answer them as honestly as she could, and Moonstruck never seemed to question her answers - he took almost everything at face value.
When Sunbug came across a log bridge she'd have to cross to continue on, they had their first argument.
"You'll need to get off so we can pass safely. I don't think it'll hold our combined weight."
"We'll be fine, I barely add anything to your weight."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're a whole noulicorn."
Sweetpea snorted in disbelief, but she couldn't deny that he was hardly much more weight. Still, she wasn't even sure the log could hold just her. "If you don't get off we could get seriously hurt!"
"I'm not going anywhere, my paws hurt." Moonstruck held out his paw as an example, toes outstretched, but it was clearly fine.
"Stop being lazy and get off!"
"Nope. Come on, on we go," Moonstruck reached behind him and smacked her sharply on the croup with his little claws outstretched. Sunbug made a surprised noise and took and involuntary step forward onto the log.
The log crumbled beneath her hooves and her forward motion sent her careening forward and downward. They tumbled down into a ravine and splashed into the rapids of a wide stream. They both went fully underwater, and it took precious moments for Sunbug to become aware enough of her surroundings to wildly kick to the surface.
She looked around frantically and for a second couldn't find Moonstruck among all the foam churned by the water. Eventually, she spotted him struggling against the current but the water was dragging him away too fast for him to beat it. She realized she was also being carried away faster than her legs could counteract. They were both in horrible danger.
"Moonstruck! We can't beat this stream!"
"I'm aware!" He shouted, already sounding exhausted but still sassy.
Sunbug looked beyond him, struggling to keep her head above water. "There are rocks coming up behind you. Turn around and grab on to them! You can make it to the shore if you climb them." The rocks didn't extend as far toward the middle as she had landed, but if she could get Moonstruck safe she could worry about that after.
Moonstruck obediently turned around and crashed rather ungracefully into the rocks. It looked incredibly painful, but he managed to pull himself up and limp across the top to solid ground. When he finally locked eyes with Sunbug he looked panicked. "There's a waterfall! You're going to go over the edge!"
Sunbug's head went under before she could respond, but when she came back up Moonstruck was already at work. He had run toward the tree line and was dragging a massive branch back with his teeth. "Grab on!" He shouted. He braced the branch against a boulder along the side of the stream and swung it out toward Sunbug. She tried to bite onto it, but it was just out of reach. Panicked, she kicked her legs as hard and as fast as she could and was able to just barely propel herself toward the lifeline.
She got a decent grip onto the end of the branch, but didn't know what to do from there. She looked to Moonstruck, panicked, but couldn't ask him questions without letting go. He seemed to know, somehow, what she was wondering. He braced his entire body against the branch to hold her in place while he spoke. "I'm going to slowly let this branch swing so it drags you closer to the shore. DON'T LET GO. No matter what you do don't let go. Even when you feel your feet on the ground don't let go until you can walk. You understand?"
Sunbug nodded, and Moonstruck began exactly what he'd said. At points it felt terrible to be holding on. The current was so strong it felt like it was ripping out her teeth to hold on to that branch. She closed her eyes and waited, feeling herself slowly moving. Her hooves hit sand and she almost cried out in relief, but she remembered what he said. Instead, she lifted her legs a little so he could continue guiding the end of the branch toward the edge of the water. Eventually she straightened them out again and found herself actually standing. That's when she actually let herself cry out her relief.
"We did it! You did it! Thank you."
Moonstruck limped toward her slowly. "It was my fault. I'm sorry. I don't think I can walk on my own though. My ribs hurt and breathing sucks."
Sunbug shifted uncomfortably. She knew what that could mean. "Uhm, I think I can help with that?"
Before he could ask questions she reached out and touched her nose to his side with intention. Perhaps a little too hard at first, because he yelled out loudly. With whispered apologies she backed up slightly and funneled her intention into his ribs. She felt her magic sew the bones back together and breathed an exhausted sigh. The use of magic after so much effort staying alive was almost more than she could bear.
Moonstuck blinked, finally able to breathe freely. "You can mend bones?"
Sunbug nodded weakly, and laid down on her side to stop the world from spinning. "I don't like it."
"Why not? Seems handy to me."
"I don't like to see people hurt. It makes me sick."
"But you're making them not-hurt."
Sunbug let out a deeper sigh at that. Wasn't that the point? She was helping? "I s'pose. Can we rest here a while? I'm so tired."
Moonstruck hummed and curled up against her neck protectively. "Yeah, we can rest. We're okay."
He'd been right about that at least. They would be okay.
