Shattered and Shivering (A.S, NES)

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Why did I agree to this, why did I agree to this, WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS?!"

It wasn't that Natalie was second-guessing her decision to stay on Dimensional Island and fight the creatures that were plaguing it. Honestly, she had been iffy about that from the start, but she opted to go along with it because... well, between Kendall's vague foreshadowing, her friends' encouragement, and the threat these monsters posed to her home universe... really, what choice did she have? And she was going along with it just fine, all things considered.

The only thing she was protesting at that moment was her location. After venturing to Evan and Swift's apartment for supplies –a detour that also provided her with the phone she had left back home, graciously retrieved by Kendall– the three had split up to cover as much ground and eliminate as many of the remaining wyrms as possible. While Evan headed west and Swift headed south, Natalie, unfamiliar with the terrain of the island, volunteered to fly north per their suggestion.

What she found there was mountains. Miles and miles of cold, snow-tipped mountains.

She would've gladly taken the rainforest. She would' been willing to tolerate the desert. NOT THIS. NOT THE FRIGGING ICE AND SNOW AND COLD AND GOD DANG IT WAS COLD WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SO COLD NATALIE HATED THE COLD AND WHY DID SHE AGREE TO THIS?!

And to make things SO MUCH MORE BEARABLE, the first time she tried to contact Evan and Swift via the Pesterchum app they insisted she download, she discovered that she had no signal, leaving her with no means of contacting the world beyond the frigid mountain range. She knew her phone still worked in this dimension, so whether this sudden loss of connection as a result of the terrain or the red cloud that had completely blocked out the night sky was beyond her.

Either way, she felt completely stranded.

Sniffling and biting back the tears resulting from the stinging winds and her own rattled nerves, Natalie looked down at the snowy landscape she hovered over, doing her best to pull herself together so she could figure out how to get back to the city. The sooner she could regroup with Evan and Swift, the better, not just for the sake of security... but also because, during the course of her travels, she had learned something rather interesting.

"...?"

She jumped slightly and looked over her shoulder. She sensed... something. Something familiar.

[ParamountKeymaster]

The night was pitch black, not a single star visible beyond the veil of the red cloud. In this darkness, the vast landscape of the north mountains seemed to stretch on forever. An endless blanket of dull grey, the peaks and valleys blending together into an unpredictable maze.

This girl LIVED for unpredictability.

The faint roars of jets echoed across the land, growing louder and louder as something faintly rocketed into view from behind a peak, flying in loop-de-loops a mile or two above the ground. After a while, it came to a halt, hovering in place as the semi-recognizably human-shaped figure seemed to study the glowing blue fairy girl on the horizon.

"O... M... goodness."

As if the energy and the means of air travel weren't enough. Even from a distance, that voice was all too familiar. And as the figure quickly flew Natalie's way, the light of the Blue Star clearly illuminated a familiar face...

"NAT!!!" Elsa leaned back, slowing to an abrupt halt seemingly moments before she could collide with her friend, suspending herself in midair a good four feet away. "HOLY CRAP, GIRL, IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YA! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?!"

[ThePopcornFairy]

"E-Elsa!" Natalie stumbled back a bit when the flying alien princess charged at her, taking a moment to regain her balance before mustering a smile. She should've known she would be here. This place was undoubtedly a hotspot for adventure, and boy howdy did Elsa love adventure. "Wow, i-it's great to see you too!"

She awkwardly rubbed her neck. "Well, it's... kinda complicated and I'm still trying to figure it all out myself... but basically there's something on this island that's threatening both it and our home universe. I'm... sure you're very much aware of the red cloud by now. Not sure whether or not you've encountered any of the snake creatures it was dropping earlier."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Oh yeah..." Elsa smirked at the sky. "I'm familiar. Had to deal with a couple of those pests myself..."

Then her smirk turned into a hard frown. "...Or at least I tried to. Found out the hard way that they don't die when you cut 'em in half. You just make more of 'em. So I don't suppose you would happen to know of a better way to-"

A sputter from one of her jet bands cut her off, causing Elsa to flounder in midair a bit before straightening back up. "Dammit, I REALLY need to fix this thing. Sorry, I'm still listening. I just gotta drop," she said before quickly lowering herself to the ground and touching down in the ankle-deep snow.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Oh, no problem..." Natalie murmured as Elsa's malfunctioning technology forced her to ground herself. She quickly followed suit, but stayed hovering just above the ground. No way was she plunging her jeans and tennis shoes into that pit of crystallized water and discomfort.

"But yeah, in terms of getting rid of them, all I know for sure is that you gotta incinerate them entirely if you wanna kill them. So, basically, fire... and probably acid." Natalie raised her fist, covering it in blue starlight. "I don't have much of a problem with that, obviously, but Evan and Swift are using soul crystal to achieve that effect. There's probably enough leftover for you."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Fire, huh?" Elsa nodded and folded her arms. "Guess that makes sense. Well, I guess I'll have to get Swift to hit me up, then! These suckers have already caused enough damage, so whatever it takes to kill 'em is worth a shot!"

She smirked again, this time at the blue glowing girl hovering in front of her. "So if these things are also posing a threat to our home, I'm guessing you're here to fulfil your duty as the guardian of the universe, huh? Gonna stop 'em before they get there? That's cool! If that's the case, count me in! Heck, count me in even if that isn't the case! Taking down these pests and clearing that cloud away sounds like a hell of a challenge I wanna take on!"

[ThePopcornFairy]

Natalie couldn't help but cringe when Elsa described her as the guardian of their universe. It wasn't the first time she had been referred to as such, but when worded like that, it sounded so much more overwhelming than simply being called the Blue Star successor.

Regardless of that brief lapse of insecurity, she had to let out a stiff chuckle at Elsa's willingness to lend a hand, as if she would've had it any other way. "Well, we'd certainly appreciate the help. Not to mention your... particular brand of charisma. I might not know a lot about what's going on or where to even begin dealing with the long-term threat... being that cloud that the creatures came from... but we gotta start somewhere, I guess. Maybe we can talk things over on the flight back to-"

Her eyes trailed up. Her internal radar was going nuts. Up in the inky black sky, a bright light had appeared. And it was only getting bigger as its source drew closer to the island.

"Uhhhhh..."

Partway through its descent, the light split in two, half of it falling southward while the other half seemed to be falling in their direction.

"OKAY YEAH THAT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD."

Sure enough, the object in question soared over Natalie and Elsa's heads in a raging torrent of fire. As she watched it fall with wide, panicked eyes, Natalie could see that it was the heavily damaged front half of some sort of plane, spaceship, or other such vessel. And she could only continue to watch, frozen stiff and scared, as the nose of the ship violently slammed into the earth, skidding through the snow and nearly falling apart entirely in the process.

[ParamountKeymaster]

"OH GEEZ!!!" Elsa jumped back a few feet as the ship half sailed over their heads, way too close for comfort. Then, as soon as it touched down, taking even more damage upon impact, she started fiddling with her jet band until it started working again, allowing her to lift herself off the ground once more and hastily fly towards the wreckage. "C'MON!"

She wasn't sure what she would find amongst the rubble, but she still had to at least check. Not just for curiosity's sake, but if someone was in that cockpit, for their sake too.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

The nose of the ship had fallen apart almost entirely in the midst of its brutal crash landing, scrap metal littered about in the snow and the cockpit rendered little more than a hollow shell with more debris piled within it. For a while, as the two girls approached the wreckage, all seemed still and quiet, in stark contrast to the violent display mere seconds ago.

However, the closer they got, the more they might've been able to make out a faint moan.

If they didn't, the hand shoving a large piece of the ship off its owner certainly tipped them off to someone's presence.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuugh...!!!"

That someone was a young man, more than likely in his early or mid twenties, dressed in a bomber jacket and helmet. He was sitting in the pilot's seat, face-down on the remains of the dashboard, and after pushing at least some of the rubble off his body, he went completely still in apparent, agonizing pain.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"W-Whoa! Elsa! Elsa, wait!!!" Natalie scrambled to chase after the diamond girl, flying across the snowy terrain and slowing to a hovering halt near the wreckage. Sure, she was worried for whatever occupants could've been in that ship, but she was just as worried about what they were and what they could do.

She remained silent as they observed the scene. Then she stifled a gasp when the ship's pilot revealed himself.

"Oh geez..." Even from the distance she had put between herself and the rubble, Natalie could tell that the young man buried in it was in less than stellar conditions. She cautiously approached, hoping not to startle the poor guy but wanting to know for sure what the extent of the damage was. "S-Sir...?"

A soft, whining trill rang out just as what appeared to be a very small, green dragon poked its head out of the boy's jacket pocket and went limp, looking dizzy and miserable.

Natalie was completely rigid with shock and confusion, just barely keeping her voice stable by that point. "Sir...? C-Can you hear me?"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Dang, man." Elsa approached the half-conscious pilot with a bit... okay, a lot more confidence, leaning over and studying his prone form. "I've seen some rough landings before, but that was just brutal. You, uh... You okay there, buddy?"

Her eyes widened when the tiny creature in his pocket lifted its head out, then slumped over. She stared at the miniature dragon for a moment, then let out a tiny gasp as her mouth stretched into an enormous grin. "OhmyGodthatissoadorable!!!"

[Pink Moon Wolf]

"For the LOVE of GOD... SHUT... UP!!!"

The pilot limply propped himself up on his shaky arms, struggling with his helmet for a moment before he ungracefully managed to pull it off. Without it, he revealed his patchy, black and white hair, topped with distinctly feline ears.

After tossing the headgear aside, he dropped his head back on the dashboard and glared up at the two girls, his bright green cat eyes glistening with anger, frustration, and intense agony. "I just fell out of the sky. I'm buried in the wreckage of my own ship. THERE'S SOMETHING SHARP JABBING ME IN THE BACK. DOES THAT SOUND 'OKAY' TO YOU?!"

[ThePopcornFairy]

"O-Okay, okay, c-calm down!" Natalie anxiously insisted, intimidated by the cat boy's anger but still empathetic to his pain. She quickly rushed over to the scrap pile he was still buried in from the waist down and carefully started to dig him out, doing her best not to shift anything in a way that would cause him further discomfort. "W-We're gonna get you outta there, alright? Just hold on..."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Yeah, no sweat, dude," Elsa offered as she helped Natalie clear away the wreckage. "We know folks who can patch you up. You'll be fi-ohhhhhhhhhh..."

She couldn't help but cringe when she noticed all the smaller bits of metal lodged in the cat boy's back, noting one particularly large, bloodied piece jutting out of his lower back, clearly stuck in there deep.

"Or the hospital. Hospital sounds like a logical choice."

[Pink Moon Wolf]

The cat boy let out a sharp sigh, flinching occasionally at the stinging sensations as Natalie and Elsa unearthed him from the remnants of his ship. Despite the pain coursing through his body, he had to admit that the dwindling pressure was helping significantly, and with his eyes and mouth clenched shut, he could only muster a nod of agreement at Elsa's proposal to take him to a hospital.

There were a lot of things that scared him at that moment, but he was doing his best to suppress them. However, near the top of that list was the mortifying revelation that there was an especially sharp pain directly in the lower part of his spine... but everything beneath it was completely numb.