Chapter 5 Pink Fluffy Alien
FLUDD clung to Aqua's back in a manner that kind of reminded the princess of hugging. It was comforting, in a way; it told her that she had someone who would always be by her side, someone that would risk life and limb for her. Of course, FLUDD didn't exactly have limbs, but the point still stood.
Aqua took cautious steps while on the cliff overlooking the lake. Even with the loyal and protective FLUDD on her back, she had no idea what was waiting for her. The vibrations had been powerful, powerful enough to shake an underwater castle. That relayed to her a sign that she would eventually come face to face with something big, something ferocious. She was NOT looking forward to the idea of a fight. The stress brought upon by the party at Peach's Castle had already been enough for one night, thank you very much. She didn't want to add getting physical injuries onto the list of things wrong with this day.
"Aqua, are you scared?"
Aqua hesitated over how to answer that. Was she scared? She didn't really know. Right now, she was just mildly annoyed more than anything else. But then again, the more she dwelled upon the things that she could potentially encounter on this mission, the more her heart pumped. However, it wasn't TOO bad, at least at the moment. It was nowhere near the level that it got when she came face to face with someone like Bowser.
"Ehh. Just a little bit," she finally responded.
FLUDD shivered as he clung to her back. "Man. I wish I had the same bravery you had."
Aqua snickered. "Buddy, there's no reason to worry. With our skills, whatever's crashed into the ground has no hope of bringing us down."
"I know. It's just…" he shook his head. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Do you think I need to get my emotion chip checked?"
"Ehh," Aqua said with a shrug. "Probably not. Humans overreact all the time; it's no big deal."
FLUDD sighed. "Okay. I'll take your word for it, I guess."
Aqua continued on with her trek, her mouth in a serious line. The scent of smoke and dust filled the air, telling her that she was getting close. The sight of smoke billowing into the sky also provided a good indicator that she was making progress. The speed of her heartbeat sped up dramatically. Shivers overtook her spine, racing up and down in a linear track. Admittedly, her fear was starting to pick up. Perhaps she hadn't realized the gravity of the situation before. But now that she was getting closer and closer to the object from the sky…
She bit her lip and placed her hand on FLUDD's head. The sensation provided her with some comfort. At least enough comfort to allow her to keep going.
She trekked on. Both she and FLUDD coughed as the dirt and smoke overtook the air. What exactly rested on the other side? A fire breathing dragon? An alien with a lousy temper and even lousier outake on Mushroomers? She swallowed a lump as she made her to the top of this hill. When she got to the top…
She stopped and blinked. Blink blink, blinkety blink blink blink.
"Well," she finally said to FLUDD. "That certainly wasn't what I was expecting to see."
"I know!" FLUDD exclaimed. "It's almost…cute."
Aqua slid down the rest of the hill and approached the creature laying unconscious in the crater. It was a fuzzy pink ball. It had little feet that had cat-like claws protruding from its belly, and a tail with a pink puffball on the end protruding from its butt. Aqua picked it up. It felt like her old baby blanket. Admittedly, she did feel nostalgic with this texture on her fingers. She even managed to smile.
"It's so soft!" She turned it to face her, and she could see that its eyes were closed. She also saw a red gash on the top of its head, with blood seeping out of it like toothpaste from a tube. She turned to FLUDD, her brow furrowed. "Think we should patch this little guy up?"
"Hmm," FLUDD said. "Well, with an appearance like that, it's hard to say no." His face fell. "But it fell from the sky. How do we know its safe? How do we know it won't hurt us?"
Aqua looked back into the critters dormant face. "Well, I don't think this little guy would be capable of hurting us. The only thing close to weapons that it has are those claws, and even then, they aren't that threatening."
FLUDD still look worried. "Still, we know nothing about it. What if it has an alien virus that's going to kill us? Or worse…" FLUDD gasped. "What if it turns us into zombies?"
Aqua snickered. "You really need to stop watching zombie flicks, dude." She brushed her hand against the creature's adorably soft face. "Well, I think it's safe to say that it doesn't have an alien virus; after all, I'm in direct contact with it and haven't developed any symptoms."
"That doesn't mean anything! Your skin could turn green within the next twenty four hours!"
Aqua smirked. "If that happens, I promise I'll find someone to help." She cradled the creature in her hands, feeling like she was the mother of a very fuzzy baby. "I say we help it anyway. After all, it's hurt. We can't just let it die."
FLUDD hesitated before sighing. "Alright."
…
Aqua washed the little puffball's cut with some peroxide as it rested in a basin on her night table. The creature, even in an unconscious state, still winced as the healing ointment came in contact with the cut. Nevertheless, Aqua smiled, feeling like she was doing something good in the grand scheme of things.
FLUDD sat on her bed, still shivering up a storm as he read from an alien handbook. "I'm still worried you might turn green."
"FLUDD, it's gonna be okay." Aqua quit dabbing the creature's head and came over to her nozzely friend. "Don't worry."
FLUDD shook his head. "I can't exactly promise that I won't worry." He closed the book. "Especially seeing how we still have no idea what this little guy is."
Aqua blinked. "We don't."
"Nope." He flipped through the pages of the book. "It's not any of the alien races that we are familiar with. Whatever it is, it's from the far reaches of space."
Aqua bit her lip. "That is odd." She looked back at the unconscious alien. "But still, I don't think we have much to worry about." She turned back to FLUDD. "At least, I don't WANT to believe there's much to worry about."
FLUDD shivered. "Still. I can't shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong…" He looked into Aqua's face. "If anything were to happen to you…"
Aqua furrowed her brow as her heart melted. FLUDD really was her greatest friend. She sat down on her bed and patted him on the head.
"Tell you what," she said with a gentle tone. "If something goes wrong, we'll contact Rosalina and Aster. They're more than powerful enough to provide us with some help."
FLUDD breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, it wasn't as big as it could have been, but he did appear more relaxed. "Thanks Aqua."
"Anytime." She heard shuffling coming from the basin. "Oh! Looks like the alien's waking up."
