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Yugo never shows when he gets hurt. In all honesty, the rest of the Brotherhood hardly even know when it happens, the little Eliatrope bouncing back from practically any fall or blow with a smile on his face.
Eventually, the rest of the Brotherhood began to catch on to the little disappearing act Yugo had been springing on them (except maybe for Dally), but the fact that he always portals away before they could actually inspect anything deemed too serious by him frequently leaves them in the dark. Half of the time, none of them could even see that he had even been struck before he inevitably ran off and returned with a bandage of some kind in a random location.
But this time, Amalia had seen what had happened to Yugo first hand. As Yugo was bringing one of the bandits down, one had fired a shot towards him. It didn’t hit anywhere vital, the fact that he’s currently flying next to her with a smile on his face is proof of that, but Amalia very clearly saw the bullet tear through his shoulder, currently being hidden by his hat. Even the memory of the sight sends a shudder through her, and she comes to the conclusion that as soon as they landed their mounts, she would confront him about the injury he is hiding.
She would have asked him sooner if not for the rushing winds making it nigh impossible to hear each other, but the moment that Ruel told them to go look for firewood and the two had walked far enough away from the group, she knows she has found her moment. Spotting the way Yugo’s hands begin to glow a few steps beyond the tree line, she reacts, slamming her hands to the ground to summon her vines, wrapping themselves around the arm that Yugo isn’t hiding. He whirls around to Amalia, and she almost feels guilty at the look of confusion and slight fear on his face. She quickly shakes off the feeling, glaring at Yugo as she rises to her feet.
“Not this time, Yugo! You always do this, hiding how much you get hurt from the rest of the Brotherhood, and it’s really freaking me out! Why won’t you let us take care of you?” She yells, and Yugo winces slightly, the horns in his hat tilting back as he struggles against the vine.
“Amalia, I’m-” Yugo is cut off by Amalia jerking him towards her with her vines, and he turns to hide his injured arm beneath the end of his hat more effectively.
“I don’t want to hear any more “I’m fine”’s from you! You got shot by that bandit, and now I’m gonna patch you up!”
Panic rushes through Yugo’s body, far more potent than the pain. As she storms towards him, the vines tighten their grip on his arm and begin wrapping around his hand to prevent him from opening a portal. As Yugo pulls harder against the vines, he attempts to come up with a different excuse, some sort of reason for the princess to stay away.
“Amalia, wait-“
But it’s too late. Amalia has already taken hold of the hand on his injured arm, pulling it out from behind his back to reveal-
Simultaneously exactly what Amalia expected, and something she could never have predicted.
It’s certainly the injury she had been anticipating, bruising along the shoulder and a nasty gash where Yugo had been grazed by the bullet. What she was not expecting is the color of his injuries.
The bruises aren’t too unusual, she is no Eniripsa so she can’t quite tell that they look to be just a bit too blue to be considered normal. Not that she is focusing on anything besides the gash, the blood leaking from the wound being a bright, glowing blue instead of the deep red of a human. Amalia finds herself reminded of Yugo’s magic at the sight, the way his hands glow that same shade of blue as he opens a portal.
Yugo looks down at the ground, the horns of his hat tilted back in shame. He doesn’t want to look at her again, anticipating a look of shock and horror at what he is, what he’s been trying to hide. He knows that the Brotherhood is aware of his lineage through Qilby, but the idea of becoming even less human that they already know terrifies him.
Amalia sighs, removing her hands from his shaking arm. In fact, his entire body is shaking, but she doesn’t comment on it, electing to remain silent as she works. Yugo looks up at Amalia with a confused expression as she claps her hands and places them on the ground again, a shimmering green light shining from them. The glow pours into the ground, and from the soil a large fern emerges, covered in soft leaves. She takes one of the leaves in her hands and removes it from the plant, looking over at Yugo and gesturing for him to lift his arm again with the other.
Yugo blinks at her, then slowly lifts up his injured arm towards her, wincing at the pain. Carefully, Amalia begins using the leaf as a makeshift bandage, wrapping it somewhat clumsily around the gash (again, Amalia is no Eniripsa). Once Amalia finishes her work, Yugo looks down at the bandage, then back at Amalia, the confused expression returning in full force. Amalia simply smiles, gently taking his hands in hers.
“You don’t need to hide when you’re hurt, Yugo. And you don’t need to hide what you are either, that doesn’t matter to me, to any of us. What matters is who you are.”
Yugo looks away again, feeling the urge to jerk his hands out of hers and run off again. But this time, he chooses to be brave for her, looking back to Amalia.
“And who might that be?”
Amalia giggles a bit, as if the question was somehow humorous, a joke that Yugo didn’t get.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Yugo shakes his head.
“Well, you're our Yugo!”
Yugo’s breath hitches, eyes shining with unshed tears.
Gods above, he loves this girl so much.
“Besides, magic glowing blood clearly isn’t the weirdest thing about you”, she jokes, releasing his hands to gesture to his hat. “You really have to show us what’s under it at some point.”
Yugo huffs a mix of a laugh and a sigh. “Maybe one day.”
“Well, it better be soon! The anticipation is killing me!” With that, Amalia rises to her feet, extending her hand to Yugo once again. “Let’s get back to camp and get Eva to patch you up properly, she has more than enough experience taking care of that Iop-heads wounds.”
Yugo laughs, a full, real laugh, and nods in agreement with the princess. He takes her hand in his, and they both walk back to the campsite.
And immediately get scolded by Eva as they had forgotten the firewood.