Gingerly, Badgerclops steered the aerocycle - Mao Mao's aerocycle, his mind, unhelpfully, supplied - into a small, green clearing within the outskirts of the valley, the black wheels easily tearing through the rain-sodden grass. He hopped from the green vehicle, grimacing when his feet immediately sank into the fresh mud coating the forest floor. When he craned his head upward, Adorabat hovered, easily, in the cool air, staring out into the wide forest before them with determined eyes.
"Hey, Adorabat," Badgerclops called, cupping a hand around his mouth. Adorabat's large ears twitched once, and she looked down at him. "Do you see anything up there?"
"Mm," Adorabat hummed, twisting in the air as she took in their surroundings. She faced away from Badgerclops and squinted her eyes at something in the distance. "I think Farmer Bun said the berry patch was somewhere over there."
"Sweet," Badgerclops said, pumping his fist with one hand and scooping up a large wicker basket from the back of the aerocycle with the other. Unintentionally, his eye lingered on the vacant spot on the worn brown seat of the vehicle. "I'll be right there."
The ride over from the valley had been uncomfortably silent between the two of them; it was something neither of them were quite used to. Typically, Adorabat, herself, or Mao Mao would've spent the entire ride chatting happily; it usually ranged anywhere from some elaborate story Mao Mao exaggerated, or one of Adorabat's endless questions. Now, Badgerclops couldn't find it in himself to say anything.
Badgerclops trotted after Adorabat, ignoring the twinge of exhaustion that threatened to swallow him. He never did get to rest after the fight earlier, and his body was choosing the worst time to let him know.
The location of the Sugar Berry bushes was given to them by Farmer Bun. (Surprisingly enough, the orange rabbit was nice to them, even with the knowledge that Mao Mao once destroyed part of his livelihood).
"And, then y'all see a small clearing," Farmer Bun had explained, pointing off into the east as he set up his vegetable stand. He leveled Badgerclops and Adorabat with a soft, pity-filled expression, setting a crate of carrots to the side. "Ah hear what h'ppened to the sheriff. Ah hope he'll pull through."
The somber way Farmer Bun phrased his sentiments made Adorabat's shoulders droop, and the back of Badgerclops' throat uncomfortably dry.
With Adorabat's back to him, Badgerclops shook his head, hopefully dislodging his thoughts; thinking about stuff like that was the last thing he needed right now. He focused his attention on following closely behind Adorabat, the ground squelching wetly below his feet. Eventually, she veered off to the left, and she led him to a small, circular patch of Sugar Berry bushes, the ripe purple-pink berries hanging off the bushes in bunches.
"Alright," Badgerclops plopped the wicker basket on the grass, effectively gaining Adorabat's attention. "Pick as many ripe berries as you can and place them in this basket, okay?"
Adorabat bobbed her little head, robotically, and she flew off to the other side of the patch. Badgerclops scowled at her distinct lack of, well, any emotion; she didn't even seem remotely happy to be picking berries to make a cobbler, like earlier. Instead, it seemed more like she was just trying to get done as soon as possible; Adorabat barely spared each berry a glance before she was tossing them into a pile to load into the basket. At the same time, it wasn't like Badgerclops wanted to be taking his sweet time or anything. (Even though he did manage to convince Adorabat, he wasn't actually too sure how long Mao Mao would be out; much less, if there wasn't something else wrong with him).
At least this way, Badgerclops could distract both of their minds from the worryingly gruesome details of their fight earlier.
Mao Mao's entire body swayed as he hunched over Adorabat's small trembling form, his signature red cape pressed close to his back from the rain. Without any kind of warning, Mao Mao abruptly tipped to the right in slow motion, his body completely parallel to the ground for a few mere seconds. He crumpled to the cobblestone streets, like a puppet freshly cut from its strings. Adorabat nearly fell with him, and she stepped in front of Mao Mao to protect him, blood dripping from the cut on her cheek. The monster loomed dangerously over them, snarling as it raised its paw for another attack -
Badgerclops' heart pounded and leaped into the back of his throat, and his vision rapidly descended into a sickening mixture of reds and rainwater. Instinctively, his mechanical hand receded, and his arm transformed into a cannon, and he directed it at the monster's hulking form. The cannon charged, a loud, piercing whine just barely drowning out the sudden torrent of rain and Adorabat's whimpers. With a growl, Badgerclops unleashed the full might of his cannon on the monster, pushing the beast away from Adorabat and Mao Mao's bodies. The surrounding world lights up in a shockingly blue-white color as the beam from Badgerclops' cannon absolutely swallows the entirety of the monster. Badgerclops kept the beam steady until the only thing that remained of the monster was a small crater in the midst of the street and a smear of black.
Badgerclops grabbed a plump Sugar Berry and twisted, the berry falling into his hand. He gathered the rest that he had in his hand, and he plopped them into the wicker basket. Out of the corner of his eye, Adorabat dumped her own pile into the basket. Before she flew off again, Badgerclops waved his hand.
"Adorabat," he said. "I think that's more than enough to make the cobbler. We should start heading back."
Adorabat nodded her head in agreement - and, wow, she really hasn't talked in a while, huh? Badgerclops mulled this particular thought over in his head as he leaned down to pick up the basket -
Adorabat was suddenly very much in his personal space.
He raised a brow at her, taking in the stricken expression on her face. "What-?"
"Y-you're," she struggled, pointing her little wing at his chest. "You're bleeding."
Badgerclops frowned; truthfully, he felt perfectly fine. He liked to think he would know if he wasn't. Still, he followed her wide-eyed stare to the section of white fur on his chest, right next to where his toolbelt usually rested. (He vaguely thought about the puddle of red that has stained the tan fabric an ugly shade of brown, and he quickly derailed the thought). He brushed his thumb up against the patch of red, and he stared at the flake of red now sitting in the palm of his hand.
Adorabat's repeating screams finally died out as she delved into full-body sobs, her little wings pressing against her eyes like she's hoping that Mao Mao would suddenly be fine if she looked away long enough. With her temporarily distracted, Badgerclops pulled Mao Mao's rain-soaked cape over the majority of his bleeding injury, suddenly very grateful for Mao Mao's choice to always wear red. With his other hand, Badgerclops patted Adorabat's head, in hopes of comforting her at least a little bit. The small bit of affection doesn't really stop Adorabat's tears, and her head bowed slightly under the weight of his hand, but her shoulders stopped trembling.
"It's going to be okay," he said, raising his voice over the rain. He wasn't 100% sure if he was saying that to Adorabat, or himself at this point.
Adorabat only nodded her head.
Badgerclops ruffled the fur on her head one last time before he returned his nervous gaze to Mao Mao. He gently slid his arms underneath the feline's body, almost fearful that Mao Mao would break into million pieces if he so much as jostled him. However, just as he picked Mao Mao up, the feline let out a grunt howl of pain, his back arching upwards in an almost perfect C-shape. Badgerclops nearly dropped him in shock, but he quickly regained his composure and smoothed his hands along Mao Mao's spine to force him to curl inwards. Mao Mao squirmed in response, his breaths shallow and pained. His eyes were open just enough that Badgerclops could see slivers of green staring up at him.
"Mao Mao, it's just me," Badgerclops decided to try, pulling Mao Mao close to him, and he shivered at the sudden wetness that bloomed across his chest. Mao Mao's movements lessened at his voice. "You're hurt, and we need to get you back home." A new weight settled on Badgerclops' right shoulder, and he could see Adorabat looking down at Mao Mao. Her eyes were wide and wet, and she bit her lip as if she was trying to keep herself quiet. "But you need to calm down, okay? You can trust me."
Mao Mao closed his eyes, and, for a split second, Badgerclops was worried that he passed out. Then, Mao Mao just barely managed to nod his head, his left hand rising up to grab at the fur on Badgerclops' chest.
"It's not mine," Badgerclops admitted, using his claw to scrape the rest of the drying blood from his usually white fur. He eyed the red flakes that drifted to the ground below his feet. "I think it's Mao Mao's," he murmured, his throat dry.
"Oh," Adorabat said, blankly, and Badgerclops suddenly realized that he said that last bit out loud.
The already tense air that's been biting at their heels since they left the HQ abruptly sours further, and Badgerclops internally fumbled for something to say that would magically alleviate it. By the time he opened his mouth, Adorabat was already backing away with a look Badgerclops can't really discern.
"Come on, Badgerclops," she called over her shoulder, her words heavy. "We should start heading back."
Badgerclops scowled, hard, because obviously there was more going on than he previously thought, but he still scoops up the full wicker basket and follows her back to the Aerocycle.
If he's lucky, maybe he could convince her to reveal what's bothering her when they returned to HQ.