Meant To Be

Chapter Eighteen

It's finally the day. I can do this. It's gonna hurt but I'll be better after and I can have a happy life free from the rot. Hunter had been thinking this over and over again all morning, trying to make her anxiety of what would happen this cycle more manageable. Artificer had fallen asleep beside her the previous night and her presence was the only thing keeping Hunter from completely panicking. It was only going to be a few more hours until she was put to sleep and No Significant Harassment would complete the final phase of removing the rot. For over two weeks, she had been preparing for today by taking her medications so that the rot would be weaker and easier to defeat. It was just a matter of whether the iterator's plan worked now. Slipping out of bed and being careful not to wake the sleeping slugcat beside her, Hunter walked outside and inhaled the fresh morning air. The ground was still damp with rain as the sun had not even begun rising yet and there were barely any sounds other than the scuttling of a passing eggbug. It was hard for her to breathe properly since the rot had begun to fill her lungs, but she could still breathe in all of the scents of the morning albeit with some difficulty. It was refreshing to be out this early before most other creatures and enjoy the peace and quiet of it without all of the lizards running about and vultures flying overhead. She felt the cool ground beneath her feet as she walked, taking everything in. This was the last time she would see the outside for weeks since she would have to stay inside after her operation today. No Significant Harassment was quite confident that it would work, but it was going to hurt a lot. Apparently the pain of the rot treatment would be even more painful than any symptoms the rot had ever caused her. Hunter was nervous of course, but she had been through so much painful experiences that she couldn't see this being too unbearable. After all, she had been impaled in the back by a king vulture's harpoon before and died, so she had been through many agonising experiences.

"I thought I might find you out here." Hunter looked behind her and saw Artificer approaching her, looking like she just woke up. She didn't reply and simply smiled, inviting Artificer to stand beside her as she stared off into the distance. The sun was slowly beginning to rise, casting rays of warmth onto the two and warming their fur. "Nervous?" "Yeah."

She held Hunter's paw with her own, giving it a comforting squeeze and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. Even though their relationship wasn't moving that fast right now, they had become more comfortable with random kisses. A few cycles back, they had done so while hugging without realising No Significant Harassment was watching. He had been so excited about it that he had been unable to stop himself from squealing in delight, causing him to blow his cover.

"You're gonna be okay," Artificer told her as the sun fully emerged from the buildings it had been hiding behind. And, for that brief moment, Hunter believed her. They didn't know how this was going to turn out, but it didn't hurt to believe that she would wake back up from the operation fully cured and with no side effects. All they could do was hope.

I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit overly-emotional. I've just been going through a lot these past few days and that leaked into the story. I think there was also some projection of how I felt right before a scary operation was done on me when I was younger, so this might be a vent chapter. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, I finally did it. THE ART FOR THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY BY ME!!!!!! I drew this about five months ago and it is the earliest know evidence of my Artihunter obsession.