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I really couldn't decide what picture would go best with this chapter-ish thingy. So I did kind of a compilation.

One thought. Cold. So cold that it hurt. Flyspur’s first instinct as consciousness slowly crept into his mind was to curl up and shiver against the frigid air. But as his groggy mind grew clearer the memory of slowly freezing faded. His nose slits fully opened and his lungs took in warm, welcome, air that held the smell of chemicals and feathers.

    “Doc! He’s waking up!”

    “Yes. Yes, I told you he would.”

    The sound of familiar voices coaxed his heavy eyelids open.

    “You-you alright, pardner?” Warm enough?” Rover Finnigan stood beside the medical bed with his cowboy hat clutched tightly in both big hands and a pained expression on his face.

    “I..I think so.” He said uncertainly, scooting up just a bit on the medical bed, instantly noticing the lack of feeling in his tail and lower arms. There was a heavy ache throughout his body and his blue skin felt…prickly.

    “Don’t be alarmed.” Flyspur turned to see Dr. Cloud, the ship’s physician and xenobiologist push what looked to be wire rimmed spectacles further up his beak with one feathered paw. “There was some fairly extensive nerve damage. But I’ll correct that as soon as your system is fully recovered.”

    “You had us mighty concerned there for a spell.” Rover shifted his wide shoulders a bit. “I mean, once that critter stopped—“

    The half-finished sentence triggered a flood inside Flyspur’s mind. Up until that point everything had been a bit fuzzy but now it all came back to him. The ice creature charging out of nowhere, huge jaws agape. The landing party scattering and fleeing for their lives. With a gasp he bolted upright. “The crew! Is everyone—“ He cut himself off as the sudden movement made his head swim.

    “Just simmer down.” Rover insisted, patting the air adamantly. “The Doc says take it easy.”

    Flyspur did as he was told and lowered himself back down and the dizziness faded. “Was anyone hurt?”

    “Everyone’s fine. You need another blanket?”

    “Everyone except you, that is.” Dr. Cloud added. “We didn’t realize you were missing until that creature, which I have classified as a glaciaderma, stopped pursuing us. You were frozen solid by the time we found you.”

    Rover winced and squeezed his hat tighter until Flyspur expected it to cry out for mercy. Rover was usually cheerfully rowdy with an endless grin that matched his energy. Now he was uncharacteristically subdued and it was rather puzzling to the recovering first mate.

    “But thanks to Yours Truly you were thawed out in no time.” Dr. Cloud ruffled his feathers in his own compliment. “After that I only had a few minutes to restart your system before your tissue would begin to decay. You can’t imagine how complicated it is to jump-start all four Jssfloon hearts in the correct rhythm.” He motioned one feathered hand toward Flyspur’s thin chest. “But I managed admirably, if I do says so myself, despite the distractions.”

    Rover managed to look even more uncomfortable. But he didn’t make up some urgent and completely improbable excuse to leave the room, as he usually did when he didn’t like the ambiance. He just squeezed his hat tighter until the servos in his left hand whined under the strain. It was over. Flyspur was fine…or would soon be fine. So why was everything inside of him tied into knots? He couldn’t seem to get one fact out of his mind. He had left his oldest friend behind where he had literally frozen to death. He could still feel him in his arms as he picked him up, the frozen fur on his face and tail shattering and falling to the snow in tiny needles. He had been so stiff and brittle he had been afraid he would break him. Roy Rogers our Gene Autry would never have let such a thing happen to Dale Evens or Smiley Brunette.

    “And by distractions I do mean our good captain.” Dr. Cloud went on, nodding his feathery head toward Rover. “He was quite worried about you. I mean you’ve never seen such a mother hen! Pacing and pestering me! I had to ban him from the surgical room or—“

    “Soup!” They all turned to see a small, ancient figure toddle into the room with a wooden tray and a steaming bowl. She scuttled up to the bed and with her stubby three-fingered hands held the tray up as high as she could. “Brrrr. Cold. Soup good. Yes? Warm you up.”

    “Um…thank you, Nana.” Flyspur gingerly took the bowl, his padded fingers still a bit tingly. He really wasn’t accustomed to all this attention.

    “What exactly is that?” Dr. Cloud stretched his long neck over to sniff dubiously at the bowl. After all he didn’t want his patient fed anything that might stunt his recovery.

    The furry housekeeper hissed at him. “Not for you!”

    The doctor ruffled his feathers in offense but stepped back nonetheless. “Well, I never!”

    Flyspur wasn’t particularly hungry. In fact his stomachs felt just a bit queasy but he took a couple of polite sips from the bowl.

    Nana nodded her approval. “Good. Yes?” Without any kind of warning she turned on the captain. “No! Stop it! No! Shame!”

    Startled, Rover leaped to the side trying to avoid Nana’s cane, which she had suddenly began swinging at his shins. “What in the blue blazes?!”

    “Oh, dear.” The doctor shook his head in disapproval and stepped out of the line of fire. “Should I get the tranquilizers?”

    Nana ignored the physician completely she was now fully focused on Rover. “I smell you guilty! Feel bad. Stop it! Good captain. Yes. Good. Not bad.”

    Rover’s ears flushed red, clearly announcing that Nana’s accusation had been accurate. Her ability to smell emotion could be sorely embarrassing at times.

    She whirled around and stabbed her cane up at Flyspur. “You. Eat soup!” With that she shuffled out of the medical bay, mumbling something in her own trilling language.

    Flyspur smiled a little. Rover’s unusual behavior made perfect sense now. The big man was usually oblivious and carefree but when he chose to be hard on himself he did a thorough job. “She’s right you know. It wasn’t your fault.”

    Rover’s thick brows came together and he shoved his hat back on his head. “Aw….eat your soup!”

    Flyspur’s smile widened and he took another sip. Suddenly his eyes crossed and his double eyebrows lowered into a befuddled frown. “Wait…Is my hair shorter?” With one hand he touched the ridge of fur that ran down the center of his face. Whereas he usually kept it neatly trimmed it now felt jagged, large hunks feeling much shorter than they should be and one of his jawline tufts seemed to be missing altogether.

    Rover’s eyes widened and he let out a very guilty-sounding: “Uhhhh.” Then he abruptly turned to Dr. Cloud. “Doc, I think he’s hallucinating. Better do somethin’ about that.” With that he started for the door.

    “Where are you going?” The doctor asked.

    “To fire up the ship. Get us off this hunk of ice. I hear there’s a planet a couple systems over with three suns, purple beaches and sentient palm trees.” A very familiar expression suddenly appeared on his face. His head cocked to one side and he squinted a little. “I’ll bet they’d be in the market for that vat of sunblock we picked up on Jida 6…” With that he wandered absently out of the room, mumbling intensely to himself.

    Dr. Cloud turned to his patient who still had a hand on his forehead. “Don’t worry. It’ll grow back.”

>>>Please don't swear in comments<<<<

Description

I really couldn't decide what picture would go best with this chapter-ish thingy. So I did kind of a compilation.

One thought. Cold. So cold that it hurt. Flyspur’s first instinct as consciousness slowly crept into his mind was to curl up and shiver against the frigid air. But as his groggy mind grew clearer the memory of slowly freezing faded. His nose slits fully opened and his lungs took in warm, welcome, air that held the smell of chemicals and feathers.

    “Doc! He’s waking up!”

    “Yes. Yes, I told you he would.”

    The sound of familiar voices coaxed his heavy eyelids open.

    “You-you alright, pardner?” Warm enough?” Rover Finnigan stood beside the medical bed with his cowboy hat clutched tightly in both big hands and a pained expression on his face.

    “I..I think so.” He said uncertainly, scooting up just a bit on the medical bed, instantly noticing the lack of feeling in his tail and lower arms. There was a heavy ache throughout his body and his blue skin felt…prickly.

    “Don’t be alarmed.” Flyspur turned to see Dr. Cloud, the ship’s physician and xenobiologist push what looked to be wire rimmed spectacles further up his beak with one feathered paw. “There was some fairly extensive nerve damage. But I’ll correct that as soon as your system is fully recovered.”

    “You had us mighty concerned there for a spell.” Rover shifted his wide shoulders a bit. “I mean, once that critter stopped—“

    The half-finished sentence triggered a flood inside Flyspur’s mind. Up until that point everything had been a bit fuzzy but now it all came back to him. The ice creature charging out of nowhere, huge jaws agape. The landing party scattering and fleeing for their lives. With a gasp he bolted upright. “The crew! Is everyone—“ He cut himself off as the sudden movement made his head swim.

    “Just simmer down.” Rover insisted, patting the air adamantly. “The Doc says take it easy.”

    Flyspur did as he was told and lowered himself back down and the dizziness faded. “Was anyone hurt?”

    “Everyone’s fine. You need another blanket?”

    “Everyone except you, that is.” Dr. Cloud added. “We didn’t realize you were missing until that creature, which I have classified as a glaciaderma, stopped pursuing us. You were frozen solid by the time we found you.”

    Rover winced and squeezed his hat tighter until Flyspur expected it to cry out for mercy. Rover was usually cheerfully rowdy with an endless grin that matched his energy. Now he was uncharacteristically subdued and it was rather puzzling to the recovering first mate.

    “But thanks to Yours Truly you were thawed out in no time.” Dr. Cloud ruffled his feathers in his own compliment. “After that I only had a few minutes to restart your system before your tissue would begin to decay. You can’t imagine how complicated it is to jump-start all four Jssfloon hearts in the correct rhythm.” He motioned one feathered hand toward Flyspur’s thin chest. “But I managed admirably, if I do says so myself, despite the distractions.”

    Rover managed to look even more uncomfortable. But he didn’t make up some urgent and completely improbable excuse to leave the room, as he usually did when he didn’t like the ambiance. He just squeezed his hat tighter until the servos in his left hand whined under the strain. It was over. Flyspur was fine…or would soon be fine. So why was everything inside of him tied into knots? He couldn’t seem to get one fact out of his mind. He had left his oldest friend behind where he had literally frozen to death. He could still feel him in his arms as he picked him up, the frozen fur on his face and tail shattering and falling to the snow in tiny needles. He had been so stiff and brittle he had been afraid he would break him. Roy Rogers our Gene Autry would never have let such a thing happen to Dale Evens or Smiley Brunette.

    “And by distractions I do mean our good captain.” Dr. Cloud went on, nodding his feathery head toward Rover. “He was quite worried about you. I mean you’ve never seen such a mother hen! Pacing and pestering me! I had to ban him from the surgical room or—“

    “Soup!” They all turned to see a small, ancient figure toddle into the room with a wooden tray and a steaming bowl. She scuttled up to the bed and with her stubby three-fingered hands held the tray up as high as she could. “Brrrr. Cold. Soup good. Yes? Warm you up.”

    “Um…thank you, Nana.” Flyspur gingerly took the bowl, his padded fingers still a bit tingly. He really wasn’t accustomed to all this attention.

    “What exactly is that?” Dr. Cloud stretched his long neck over to sniff dubiously at the bowl. After all he didn’t want his patient fed anything that might stunt his recovery.

    The furry housekeeper hissed at him. “Not for you!”

    The doctor ruffled his feathers in offense but stepped back nonetheless. “Well, I never!”

    Flyspur wasn’t particularly hungry. In fact his stomachs felt just a bit queasy but he took a couple of polite sips from the bowl.

    Nana nodded her approval. “Good. Yes?” Without any kind of warning she turned on the captain. “No! Stop it! No! Shame!”

    Startled, Rover leaped to the side trying to avoid Nana’s cane, which she had suddenly began swinging at his shins. “What in the blue blazes?!”

    “Oh, dear.” The doctor shook his head in disapproval and stepped out of the line of fire. “Should I get the tranquilizers?”

    Nana ignored the physician completely she was now fully focused on Rover. “I smell you guilty! Feel bad. Stop it! Good captain. Yes. Good. Not bad.”

    Rover’s ears flushed red, clearly announcing that Nana’s accusation had been accurate. Her ability to smell emotion could be sorely embarrassing at times.

    She whirled around and stabbed her cane up at Flyspur. “You. Eat soup!” With that she shuffled out of the medical bay, mumbling something in her own trilling language.

    Flyspur smiled a little. Rover’s unusual behavior made perfect sense now. The big man was usually oblivious and carefree but when he chose to be hard on himself he did a thorough job. “She’s right you know. It wasn’t your fault.”

    Rover’s thick brows came together and he shoved his hat back on his head. “Aw….eat your soup!”

    Flyspur’s smile widened and he took another sip. Suddenly his eyes crossed and his double eyebrows lowered into a befuddled frown. “Wait…Is my hair shorter?” With one hand he touched the ridge of fur that ran down the center of his face. Whereas he usually kept it neatly trimmed it now felt jagged, large hunks feeling much shorter than they should be and one of his jawline tufts seemed to be missing altogether.

    Rover’s eyes widened and he let out a very guilty-sounding: “Uhhhh.” Then he abruptly turned to Dr. Cloud. “Doc, I think he’s hallucinating. Better do somethin’ about that.” With that he started for the door.

    “Where are you going?” The doctor asked.

    “To fire up the ship. Get us off this hunk of ice. I hear there’s a planet a couple systems over with three suns, purple beaches and sentient palm trees.” A very familiar expression suddenly appeared on his face. His head cocked to one side and he squinted a little. “I’ll bet they’d be in the market for that vat of sunblock we picked up on Jida 6…” With that he wandered absently out of the room, mumbling intensely to himself.

    Dr. Cloud turned to his patient who still had a hand on his forehead. “Don’t worry. It’ll grow back.”

>>>Please don't swear in comments<<<<