Hurt and Heal (Arknights)

Chapter 18: Lungmen part 4

A/N: Here we go!

Sebastian heard the crackle of the fire burning next to him and its gentle warmth radiating off him, as well as the cold and wetness of the snow around him. He felt himself emerging from the darkness as if after a long sleep, as he kept his eyes closed he realized that he was far from sitting in the armored car with Misha by his side and Hoshiguma holding his hand. Then he opened his eyes and immediately felt strange.

A flood of information reached his brain. First of all in his body he didn't feel the same weight on his bones as his thirty five year old body, just as his bones were probably shorter, his heart younger and his muscles less developed. Then after that microsecond when he noticed these changes in his body the information from his eyes finally came to him, he was in the middle of a snowy clearing, resting his back against a tree stump with a campfire burning right beside him. But that was what he saw out of the corner of his eye, his attention was focused on his hand... He tried to see the wrinkles in them but his hand was caught in a gauntlet of armor... Immediately he recognized the black damas iridium and could see that it was one of his creations. The fingers of the gauntlet were elongated like claws giving an intimidating look to his hand. He looked down his body to see that the armor was all over his body. He looked at it and began to wonder. Where had he seen this armor before? He also noticed that he was covered in snow, a sign that he had just fallen asleep in the snow. But soon, a familiar voice sounded next to him.

???????: Ȳ̷̨̢̲͔̥̠̠̫̻́̈́́̂͘u̶̡̍͂̀̋́̌̈́̈́̅r̸̢̛̻̙̤̿̂̈̇͂̈̿̾͠i̵̥͕̘̹̘̖͈͙̊͂̾͗̈̓̾͑̍̇̚͠ͅͅ

He did not recognize what was said by the voice next to him, but he managed to understand that it was him who was being addressed. He turned his head in the direction of the voice, which was standing on the other side of the campfire. Immediately he was filled with fear when he saw this person. But strangely.

His face would not move.

Nor did his whole body.

In fact it was as if his mind had no influence on his movements. And yet his body was moving by itself, so that in the end he sat down in front of the wendigo colossus in front of him...

Sebastian: Buldrokkas'tee...

Patriot: Mh. It will always amuse me how you pronounce my name without getting it wrong.

Sebastian: Many exaggerate its complexity... 'How...?!'

Even his words came out of his mouth without his control and when he recognized his voice he could hear it much younger... This time his voice did not testify to his build, which was more like that of the gorilla than that of the average human. And the wendigo in front of him was also very different... Less tired, less hoarse and especially with less cuts. The doctor then assumed during this microsecond of analysis that it was the oripathy of the Wendigo that had caused such an effect on his voice, the crystallization having to touch the vocal cords of the sarkaz.

Patriot: That's right...

Sebastian: How long was I out?

Patriot: A good six hours at the most.

Sebastian: Already? Shit...

Patriot: Calm down, boy. You can rest for a while, the five days of fighting the snow priests without interruption must have been hard even for you.

Sebastian: I should have checked on my men before I collapsed, where are they?

Asked the young man, slightly panicked and looking around, until he heard footsteps in the snow at his back.

He turned in that direction, to see a man approaching him, the doctor recognized the armor and shield that resembled those of the guerrilla soldiers of the reunion. But still... There were also symbols and stripes of the ursus army... And that's when Sebastian realized that Patriot was also wearing army stripes...