Meant To Be

Chapter Five

Hunter had already eaten but the mother slugcat still had not. While she didn't want to be a burden and insisted on finding her own food, she was eventually convinced to eat a lizard Hunter had caught the cycle before. There was enough food that it could last them cycles if it had to and the fact that there was so much of it just sitting in the corner of the den seemed to convince her that she could eat without starving Hunter.

"So, what's your name? I'm Hunter." she introduced herself, figuring that if they were going to stick together for the next while they should know each other's names. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? It's nice to properly meet you, Hunter. My name is Artificer."

They continued to eat until both of them were full. A silence filled the air, but it was not an awkward one. It was only once they had finished eating that Artificer spoke. "You're being so nice to me... Is there anything I can do in return?" Hunter shook her head, sad that she felt that she needed to repay her. "You don't need to do anything for me. I'm just glad that I was able to help you." "At least let me get some food for you!" Hunter thought for a moment before agreeing. "Alright, but only if you want to."

Artificer ran through the rubble of an old building after a scavenger that had strayed from its group. Sparks flew from the sides of her mouth, making little crackling noises. Once her prey was cornered, she threw a bomb at it, causing a loud noise that rang in her ears and sent up a large cloud of dust. By the time the dust had cleared, the creature was just a lump of fur on the ground, pelt blackened by the explosion. Artificer picked up the limp body and began to drag it back to the den when something occurred to her. Hunter is a kind slugcat and shouldn't have to eat creatures as awful as scavengers. I should find her something better!

Dropping the corpse, she began to search for something other than what she was used to killing. Of course catching a lizard wasn't unusual and she even occasionally took down a dropwig. Mostly scavengers, though. They weren't even really good tasting and their meat tended to be a lot more tough.

As Artificer wandered the ruins looking for something that wasn't a scavenger, she saw a shadow appear on the ground before her. A vulture. At first, she was annoyed by the bird before realising that while it was an inconvenience, it wasn't a scavenger. She readied her spear and turned to the giant creature as it swooped towards her, it's eyes gleaming. She threw her spear directly at its wing, piercing it and rendering it useless. The vulture was sent flying back by the explosion and it hit a pile of debris, stunning it momentarily. Artificer used this time to grab a rock off of the ground and put it in her mouth, coating it with her explosive saliva. She threw the explosive at it as it tried to get back up, causing it to crumple into a pile of writhing feathers. There was nothing it could do now. Artificer went over to it and pulled the spear out of its wing, stabbing it until it went limp. Not half bad! I'm not used to catching vultures, but it was easier than expected. Maybe I should hunt them more often? She thought this as she dragged the giant corpse back to the den. She couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of her catch.

When she arrived back at the old shelter, Artificer saw that Hunter was nowhere to be seen. She looked around the surrounding area for her but the only scent of her stopped at a body of water that she had presumably swam across. Becoming more worried for her new companion's safety, Artificer dove into the water and swam across. Calling out to Hunter, she began to cry as terrible ideas of what might have happened filled her head. Then, something hit her and she stopped moving. Oh, the only reason she let me go find food for her was so that she could leave while I was gone... She never wanted me there. She probably regrets saving me from that flood too. She sat at the edge of the small lake and wondered if maybe she had scared Hunter with her strong emotions before. As she cried, Artificer wondered what she could have done differently and if there was another possible way this could have gone. First she lost her pups, then drove away a possible mate out of fear and now this.

The angst is real in this chapter. Cover art not by me.