Vengeful | A Rainbow Quest AU

Chapter 16: Pressure

[Rainbow's POV]

I wake up to hearing the other three downstairs, chatting. Glancing across the room, I see that Sabre's looks like he's still asleep, and he's not talking to me right now so I know he is. I probably shouldn't bother him, especially after what happened last night...

I quietly get up and walk out if the room, being very careful not to disturb Sabre. Making my way downstairs, I see Time, Dark, and Green (er, Forager- whatever, I'll ask which name he prefers later) talking with each other while Time makes breakfast. They notice me as I reach the bottom of the stairs and greet me.

"Good morning, Rainbow." Time smiles warmly.

"Mornin." Dark mumbles through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, while Time tells him not to talk while eating.

"Hey there." Green says as he pours a glass of juice.

"Morning." I reply. "Where'd all this come from? I thought there wasn't anything in the cupboards when you checked last night."

"Oh, some of the villagers were nice enough to give us some ingredients for breakfast." Time says, stirring some eggs in a frying pan as he adds spices. It smells really good. "It was very kind of them!"

"Yeah, we really need to get the village a thank-you gift. I kinda feel bad they keep just giving us stuff." Dark adds.

I walk over to the dining table and sit down while Time hands a plate of eggs to Green. I think he noticed I'm a little shaken up.

"Rainbow, are you alright? You look upset." Time asks, now with a worried look.

Green looks at me with a concerned expression, while Dark just freezes mid-bite and looks at me.

"I, uh..." I start.

You can't do this alone. Remember what happened last time you didn't help him or get him help.

"I don't want to bring down the mood, but... something happened with Sabre during the night." I manage out.

"What is it? Is he okay?" Green asks.

"He had a nightmare. About... him." I explain. "After he woke up, he had a breakdown, and then I woke up and he told me about it. Apparently Shadow's bothering him about his paralysis and trying to get into his head."

The other three look panicked for a second.

"Metaphorically. He's not literally trying to get into his head. At least, that's what Sabre told me."

They calm down.

"But... yeah. Apparently he was talking about regaining control of him, too." I sigh. "Called him a puppet. Scared him pretty badly. And now I'm worried that Sabre's actually gonna be targeted."

"It does sound probable... Shadow was always a bit of a wild card." Time says.

"What on earth would Shadow still want him for?" Green asks. "I don't mean any offense to Sabre, of course, but he's uh... not at his best right now. And Shadow is. Heck, he even has his own body now."

"No clue, I don't think Sabre told me everything." I answer. "I think he was still panicked. Maybe once he wakes up he can tell us."

"He's still asleep?"

"Yeah, he stayed up a while because he was still scared, so I stayed up with him to help him calm down. He was still asleep when I checked on him before I came down here, and I didn't want to bother him because of that and what happened. He's probably just still tired."