This is Survival

"Merida, I don't think this is a good idea," Flynn called out from the ground, picking his way over twisted metal fragments on the ground. 

"Of course it is," she called down to him, her bow at the ready. "We need food, right? Where better than this wreck of a town?" A sharp movement caught her eye. Quickly pivoting towards it, she kept watch. There it was again. A flash of moving metal to her left.

She whistled, low and steady, and aimed her arrow. Flynn caught the sound and froze, eyes sweeping, hand at his sword. 

A bear came rambling out from behind  a dilapidated house. Merida didn't move, but kept her aim still, waiting for the right moment. It meandered 150 yards or so from her stand, coming in direct view of both her and Flynn. Taking a deep breath, she released the arrow and watched it embed in the thick hide. 

The beast cried out, and for a moment she remembered her past with bears. But the present quickly caught up to her, forcing her to move, to grab another fletching and let it fly. Food was scarce. There wasn't room for feelings.  This time the bear fell, dead. 

She climbed down from the top of the building, gaze never leaving the heap of black fur. 

"Nice shot. We might even be able to save the first one. Plenty of meat on that puppy to last us-" he stopped and looked at her. "Were you crying?"

"Back off." Merida pushed him away as she kept walking towards the carcass. 

"Hey," he called out, "Is it something I said? We already established this. When something upsets one of us, we tell the other. What was it?"

"Back OFF!" she whirled around and pulled out her small knife, and  leveling it at his heart. Flynn took a step back, putting his hands up. "Stop acting acting like there is something between us.  I barely managed to get out of an arranged marriage. I don't want romance! You had a wife! This is survival. If you want to survive, you need to learn when to shut up."

He didn't say anything, just took a few steps forward and waited for her. She shouldered her bow and walked past him with her chin held high. She kept the knife out, but it hung limply by her side. 

When they got to the dead bear, she knelt and checked its eyes. Glazed and lifeless. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took the knife and started carving through the skin, gutting it quickly and effectively like so many times before. When she found the second arrow pierced through the heart, she smiled slightly and yanked the broken bits out. It was a painless death. The first arrow, as Flynn pointed out, was savable. She wiped it on a bit of dried grass and stuck it back in her quiver. 

"Do you have your bag?" she turned to Flynn.  He nodded and unslung it from his back. Made from various clothes they found and melted plastic bags, if was fairly waterproof, with a hole in the corner to drain the blood off. It was capable of holding the meat of a full deer, but some of the bear would have to stay. 

Merida flicked an orange braid over her shoulder. She didn't want her hair in the way during the messy part. He took the hint and pulled out his own knife. They worked together in quiet, carving out meat and a bone or two to put in the bag. When they finished, they both were covered in dried blood. The bag was heavy and full, bursting at the seams, and the only parts of the bear left were the head, feet, and ribs.

Flynn took it and started heading back to their camp. 

"Coming?" He called after her. 

"Give me a minute. I want to find some bits for arrows. I'll catch up." 

"Be back before sundown."

"This is what I mean! I am not two, I don't need to be told what to do! So for the last time, BACK OFF!" She lashed out, yelling for the world to hear.