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Leif fires off one final hail of ice, the strain twisting and pulling at their exoskeleton.
The falling beast (not his sibling never his sibling) lashes out with one final swipe, catching them right in the hole in their exoskeleton where the Dune Scorpion split them open, slamming them to the ground with a horrible crack.
They gasp at the impact- feeling a strange twist to their exoskeleton as they try to push themselves upright.
"Woohoo! It's dead!" Vi cheers.
"Leif, are you alright?" Kabbu asks, rushing to their side.
They clutch at the cracked, damaged exoskeleton over their stomach. "We- perhaps not. It seems that last hit reopened the fractures left by the Dune Scorpion."
"Oh, shit." Vi looks over it. "That looks nasty."
"…It does not hurt particularly. Though," they say before Kabbu can panic, "We think that is due to our… unique physiology, rather than the severity of the injury. None of our… innards, were hurt, just…"
Kabbu kneels down next to Leif, carefully pulling his hands away to get a better look at it. "…It looks like the fractures left by the Dune Scorpion barely healed at all."
"Wow, yeah." Vi's tiny hands gently brush up against exposed mycellium as she examines the injury- an alien shiver runs through him at the touch. "The edges are still like, completely raw."
"Hm." Leif considers. "Perhaps the mycelium is incapable of properly repairing our exoskeleton?"
"But-" Kabbu draws back. "You've healed just fine from smaller injuries before!"
"There's a lot of chitin missing." Vi says. "His other injuries- maybe it can patch up cracks but not replace missing chitin? Actually, if that's the case, I have an idea!"
She buzzes over to the collapsed corpse of Zommoth, pulling out a small dagger as she does.
Kabbu elects not to watch what she's doing too closely. "Leif- I know this must be hard for you, but- No matter what you are, no matter if you are the original Leif or not, you're still our Leif. We'll- We'll stay by your side no matter what."
Leif exhales. "…Thank you."
"TA-DA!" Vi emerges with-
"What is that!" Kabbu cries out as she holds aloft a chunk of Zommoth's exoskeleton.
"What does it look like, dummy?" Vi says. "If the mycelium can't replace chitin, but can patch cracks, we just need to replace the chitin ourselves and it can fix the rest!"
Leif chuckles. "We suppose that's as good a plan as any."
They're not particularly fond of using Zommoth's exoskeleton for that, but-
Kabbu still looks rather uncomfortable at the concept, but pushes through. "I believe we have some temporary shell glue in my pack." He pulls the pack out to begin sorting through it.
"Here, lie on your back." Vi asks them.
Leif flops backwards, careful not to put too much pressure on their wings as they do so.
Vi carefully compares the hunk of chitin she'd grabbed to the hole in Leif's chest, scoring some lines on it before pulling back to begin sawing away the excess.
Leif merely lays still as she works. The sensation of mycelium being exposed to air feels deeply wrong somehow, but-
They know they're safe with the rest of their team there.
Kabbu sets down the shell glue, taking out some basic cleaning supplies from his pack. "Make sure to clean the donor piece carefully once you're done cutting it!" He tells Vi.
"Yeah, yeah, I've got it." Vi responds.
"Leif," Kabbu begins, "hold still- I'm going to clean the edges of your chitin so the glue will adhere properly and nothing will get stuck in there."
Leif nods, closing his eyes and tensing their mandibles at the sensation of hands brushing up against their chitin, carefully rooting around against the broken edges of his shell.
"There."
"Got the donor piece all cleaned up too!" Vi crows.
"Alright." Kabbu says. "Leif, hold very still please."
They nod.
Vi meticulously applies the shell glue around the edges of the donor piece, before Kabbu gently slides it into place against the hole in their exoskeleton.
"There." Kabbu's hands leave their exoskeleton. "You should probably remain still for a few minutes for it to set properly, and we'll need to wrap it up for extra protection before we leave."
Leif breathes slowly, evenly.
They're not a bug, not anymore. Perhaps he never was- only ever a pale imitation of one.
Whatever the case, though-
Vi gingerly leans against their side, careful not to disturb the glued piece of shell. "You're in good hands with us!"