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Yatta was restless. That was nothing new, her energy levels were always through the roof. After a spat with her partners though? That energy multiplied tenfold, buzzing beneath her skin. Itching. She scratched at her hip absentmindedly as she trotted towards the elevator, looking around to see if anyone else wanted to go on a run. Keeping the others safe while they looked for resources was always a good distraction, one she turned to often. Probably more than she should if she thought about it too much.
A small group of toons were hanging out on the steps in front of the elevator as she wandered up, going over the supplies everyone brought with. She listened, but wasn’t paying much attention to the words being said. From what she saw, Cosmo was fully stocked on bandages and health kits as always, Gigi found a valve somewhere, Vee had jumper cables spilling out of her pockets, and Eclipse didn’t seem to have anything to add. Yatta has plenty to offer, so it’s fine. “Got room for one more?” She grinned as she dropped a couple boxes of chocolate and jawbreakers into the pile, setting a box aside specifically for Vee.
“Of course we do!” Eclipse replied immediately, tail wagging as Cosmo nodded. Gigi shot a quick ‘hang loose’ gesture, a lazy smile across her face. Everybody gathered their things and turned to head down. The rest of the group returned to their chatter as the door closed. Yatta let herself lose focus once again, hoof tapping rhythmically. She scratched.
The door opened and she came back to herself in a sudden rush of vertigo and light stinging at her hip. She looked around to see if she saw anyone out on the floor, and with a clear line of sight, stepped out of the elevator. Heading off to the left to check for the twisteds that were inevitably around as the rest of the toons stepped out behind her, scattering to raid the floor. She focused on using the short, clear stretch of floor she had to run some of her nerves out, Boxten taking interest and beginning to follow her as she did so. Slowing her pace so he could keep up, she wandered to the side she hadn’t seen yet. No sign of another twisted that she could see.
Finding a spot to casually walk around that no one else should need to go anywhere near, she focused on just leading Boxten. It was hardly necessary, everyone on the team was used to these runs and they were all quite capable, but they didn’t exactly need her help on machines. She heard Vee announce the popping of the final machine, and she ran back. Not having to worry about a twisted ambushing her on the way enabled a very short but much needed full sprint, skidding into the elevator and nearly crashing into Eclipse, who giggled and gave her a very solid pat on the back.
Gigi came over to poke her in the side a few times as well, probably looking for a snack of some sort. Not that she minded at all, she always had plenty to spare. Dandy popping up behind them and announcing himself interrupted though, so Yatta trotted to his desk to barter the 17 tapes she had managed for a can of pop. Sometimes he was feeling generous and would give it to her cheap, seeing her out as often as he did. Not this time- She suspected Vee’s presence in the elevator was the reason. No big deal, she’d find something on the floor later, she was just kind of thirsty. No one else seemed interested in anything either, so off he went, grumbling the whole way down.
Knowing Gigi hadn’t given up on the snack, she held out a chocolate bar which was promptly snatched and devoured. “Your greed sickens me!! It knows NO bounds!! You probably have five of those in your pockets right now !!” All she got in response was that signature snarky little laugh, and she was out the door.
The next six floors went pretty similar to the first, no one getting seriously hurt and friendly chatter in between. Yatta didn’t add much to conversations between floors, getting a few weird looks from the others and a particularly worried one from Cosmo when he caught her scratching at that spot again. She’d broken skin at some point, Cosmo gently pulled her claws away and placed a bandaid over the wound, scolding her softly. “You need to stop that, Yatta. Are you okay? You’ve been way too quiet.”
“I know....sorry, I’ve been spacing out. You didn’t have to use that on me, Cosmo...thank you though, I do appreciate it...”
Then the power failed, and no one could see. Eclipse howled, snarling as her form shifted, her eyes glowing brightly in the dark. She dropped down onto all fours and took off into the dark, confidence boosted by her excellent night vision. Deciding to distract the twisteds, since she had more than enough energy to do so, and Yatta could use a break by now, just for a bit. Trotting off to find a machine, she ended up in a fairly secluded corner. Right as she settled into extracting the ichor, she heard a growl behind her. Too close.
Whipping around, trying not to make any noise, she inched forward towards a crate, leaning down to make sure she was hidden behind it. She couldn’t see any shapes moving, but her night vision had always been pretty bad and Pebble could be anywhere right now. She could still hear him. She figured she’d have a better chance not being in the corner she was, and hearing a lull in the intimidating footsteps....stepped out, rushing into the open middle of the room, almost immediately regretting her decision. Pebble must have knocked over shelves while moving in the dark, which would have previously provided safety, now just unknown obstacles.
She wasn’t moving fast enough. A spine chilling snarl and a bark so loud it felt like an ice pick stabbed her in the ear. Fight or flight was already frazzling her brain. She shouted for help as she ran towards the dim glow of Eclipses’ eyes, hidden around a corner across the room, hoping the extra boost of her wolf form would have her better prepared. Eclipse heard, reacting quickly. Fortunately, the light of her eyes as she approached was enough to pull Pebble’s attention off Yatta. She began to lead him away to keep him busy, treating it a bit like a very, very dangerous game of tag.
Unfortunately, it was a bit too late for Yatta to slow down and look where she was going. Bringing her front leg forward to take another step, it connected with a crate, and suddenly she felt weightless as all of her hooves left the floor and she crashed to the ground.
The resulting crash wasn’t exactly quiet. Cosmo, who was in the next room, heard it and ran out, barely spotting the crumpled shape of Yatta’s large body on the floor. He ran over, pulling out one of the medical kits he’d brought with, falling to his knees next to Yatta’s upper body. He looked over what he could see of her in the dark, her unconscious state worrying him. Looking down he noticed the odd angle her leg was laying at as well, cringing hard at the state of the injury.
Yatta began to stir after a few seconds, blinking slowly and spotting Cosmo sitting over her. First thing she noticed was the pain in her head, throbbing through her brain as she glanced around, trying to get her bearings. Pain shot up her leg as she moved to readjust, Cosmo settling her until he could look better. “You took a super nasty fall Yatta, you shouldn’t get up yet- you might make your leg worse!”
“We can’t just- wait here though, Eclipse is in danger!”
“Just let me find something to stabilize it so we can get to the elevator, okay? I know we need to go, but you can’t like this.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “It won’t take long, I promise. You will be too if you don’t.” She settled the best she could, he grabbed a loose board off the floor a little ways away. She whimpered and writhed, doing her best not to scream as he set her leg closer to the right angle and he broke the board in half, tying each to the sides of her broken leg with some extra gauze rolls.
“Okay, that’s probably the best we’re gonna be able to do in the dark. Let’s get you back towards the elevator, I just heard Vee say something about the last machine- I’ll get her attention, she can help us.” Yatta nodded quickly, biting hard on her lip through the shocks of pain.
He yelled across the floor for both Gigi and Vee, wanting to make sure they both understood the seriousness of the situation. Vee, for her part, saw what was going on and went straight to work on moving Yatta, Cosmo sending Gigi off with an airhorn to get Pebble off of Eclipse and let her know what was going on. Vee had her tail wrapped around Yatta’s chest, hands under her armpits, pulling her towards the elevator the best she could. She was one of the strongest toons, but that didn’t make much difference with the odd shape of Yatta’s body.
Pebble’s footsteps slowed in the distance, and Eclipse was there quick, pulling on her hind legs. She looked absolutely exhausted, but together they got Yatta back to the elevator. Gigi finished the nearly done machine so the others could focus. Once the door opened and everyone was piled inside, Cosmo took another look at her leg. Yatta was shivering with pain, but there wasn’t much more that could be done for her right now. They started their way back up. They hadn’t actually gotten down that far, so the ride back to the main area wasn’t a long one.
Looey and Blot sat on the bench in front of her usual elevator, waiting patiently. Looey kicked his feet as he shifted back and forth, bumping Blot every time he did so. Not that Blot minded. They knew she’d be here as soon as she was ready. They never left things unresolved when she went out, but she always got so antsy afterwards that she wouldn’t be able to rest for the rest of the day if she didn’t go on a run. She almost always found some sort of cool trinket or extra snacks on these to bring back and share, adorably excited when it was something out of the norm.
The elevator opened sooner than they had expected. Instinctively, both of their eyes shot to where her face should have been, smiling- and then down, to where she actually was. Lower body sprawled on it’s side so she didn’t put any weight on her leg, upper body twisted at an odd angle because of that- not unnatural, just uncomfortable looking. Her claws digging deep scratches into the floor of the elevator, breathing ragged. Cosmo was sat by her leg, making sure it didn’t move too much and patting her reassuringly on the side. Immediately Eclipse was off to ask Dyle about supplies.
Looey and Blot were up and next to her in seconds, looking over what they could see of her for any other serious injuries. Bit of blood on her nose, eye looking like it was starting to swell slightly, but nothing else too bad on the surface. They hugged her tightly and she sobbed into their shoulders as she grabbed onto their shirts so hard she ripped holes into both of them, luckily missing Looey’s torso in the process. “Are you okay? What happened, oh my god- you’re shaking so hard, poor thing, you’re safe now oh my god-“
Looey spoke too quick for her to process right now, but that was okay. His voice calmed the panic slightly. She could feel both of their hands on her, gently petting her cheeks and hair. She leant into the sensations, despite it irritating her wounds, slowly catching her breath for the first time since that initial growl. Her leg throbbed, no longer being distracted by the adrenaline. She buried her nose in the spot where their shoulders met, taking a deep breath of both of their scents and centering herself. “I don’t......know exactly. It’s all fuzzy. Pebble. I think I tripped in the dark........”
“...attaY efas ereh er’uoy dalg os os m’I ,yracs os sdnuos tahT” (That sounds so scary, I’m so so glad you’re here safe Yatta...) Blot pressed a kiss to her forehead as she breathed. Two pairs of fast paced footsteps coming up from behind told them Eclipse was back and she brought Dyle. Who immediately got to work laying out a large blanket in front of her.
“It will not be easy, but this is going to be the best way to transport you for now. This will also be a four toon job, so I, Vee, Eclipse and Gigi will each grab a corner to move you. The trickiest part is going to be getting you on the blanket.” Dyle spoke slowly, making sure she understood. She hummed, nodding slightly. It was uncanny to see her so quiet.
Everyone got to work moving her as gently as they could, eventually getting her settled into the middle of the blanket with her leg outstretched. They picked her up- Dyle and Eclipse were in the front corners, Gigi following Dyle and Vee following Eclipse. Looey and Blot as close to either side as they could be without getting in the way, carrying the bag of supplies Dyle brought with. Cosmo trailing behind, worried and wanting to help but doing his best not to crowd her any more than she had to be. Slowly but surely they made their way to the trio’s room, settling her in the middle of the floor.
She shifted onto her side again, laying in both Looey and Blot’s laps. Cosmo and Dyle got to work, doing their best to make a stable cast. She wouldn’t need it long, as toons they healed pretty fast, but it would help. It was a long enough process that she fell asleep, Blot following shortly after with his head resting on Looey’s shoulder. Looey watched her for a bit, every little twinge of her face, how she settled again as he pet her. His eyes wandered to the bandage on her hip, oddly placed for an injury from one of their twisted friends. He’d ask about that later. For now he just closed his eyes and leaned against Blot, letting himself rest with the others.