I threw my head back and laughed. It was, I admit, a bitter sound. Then I reached out and pulled her back into hug. She growled but didn't resist, too much. “And your friend. Just how tired of the world was she?” I tilted my head down to stare into her gold-ringed eyes. Good. That color was back. It suited dawn girl far better than the pure, pitch black they had been. I let her go, and she shifted, confused, and thinking.
As I let her think about my words, I turned to the corpse. The Saw-Spear clicked and I tucked it away, instead pulling out an overly sharp, short knife. I slid it in the wound I'd made earlier, and slowly began skinning it. Slower work than usual, but then I had never tried to skin a dragon before.
She came up behind me, “I don’t understand you.” She said. I paused, knife under a scale, and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. I flexed my wrist and the large scale popped free. I brought the knife up and rolled my hand, indicating for her to go on, then stabbed the blade back in.
“What are you trying to gain with this? With doing this with me?” She reached out and stopped me from doing my job, her hand wrapping around my wrist. Even now I could feel that burn. “Fil’ayn.” She said, her voice holding a bite to it. “Do you think you can stop me from falling? That a few kind actions will suddenly save me? I’m a tool. A weapon. A Monster. Wouldn’t it be easier to just sit back and enjoy the ride?” I sighed, and let go of the hilt of the knife, and turned to face her.
“Do I think, a few kind actions will save you?” I snorted and shook my head. “No. I don't. I have no idea how long I will have to work with you, to give you the help you need. Hell. I don't even know if I can do it alone. But you - Amari. You are no monster. You are what they forced you to be. A weapon, a tool. Scarlet. But - Amari? She is hurt, and scared. And clings to her child, and to the hope that someone, anyone, will reach out a hand to her, and not wrench it away.” I stared at her. “So this is my hand, Scarlet. I will not let you slap it away. It will be here, when you need it.” I gently pulled my wrist from her grasp.
I stared at her for a long moment, seeing the gamut of emotions that ran across her face. I knew she considered that part of herself long dead - but it remained. If it was dead, then she would not be able to heal. There would be nothing good left for her child hold on to. If Amari was truly dead and completely gone - I had no doubt that Scarlet would have already gone past her limits.
“That name…” she muttered dryly then shook her head. “Eye for an eye I suppose. Let’s just...that thing was barely a month old. I don’t want to face its mother right now.” I nodded. Then I gripped the cuts I had been making - and my muscles bulged, then the flesh was ripped up, peeled up. I turned to her, holding a chunk of the scale covered flesh. I cracked my neck - and thrust the meat and scales into her arms.
“Good. Hold that. We’ve slowed down enough as it is.” I turned my attention back to my work - gripping the knife and resuming hacking through the flesh, carving away the strips and chunks. I also cut out its largest fangs, ripping them free. Fuck. This - emotions. Fuck them. The distracted from the hunt. I should have already cleared away the carcass. But she had - needed to hear that. Needed to hear where I stood.
I shoved the fangs into my belt to hold them, then tore and cleaved more scales away. She had cried out that the hide was valuable - so, I would get her as much as I could. Distantly, I heard a noise, and redoubled my efforts, tearing more flesh from bone and throwing it at her. She had recovered enough, at least physically, not to fall over, so I would ignore the rest right now. She needed to think on what I had said, not have me throw more in her face.
And besides. She looked good covered in blood. Even if it wasn't her own. There. That was enough - the dragon’s mother would likely be approaching soon, looking for its child, and we did not want to be here when it arrived. So I grabbed Scarlet, crushing her and her load to my chest - and took off, throwing force through my legs with explosive strides. I didn't care if the tight carry hurt her - I cradled her to me as I jumped through the trees, cracking them with each stride.
-----
I ran, carrying the quiet woman, for half an hour. I had stopped at a river, and set her down beside it. I took the meat from her and swirled it in the river, watching the blue blood flow down stream. When the water ran clear, I dropped the hide down, and dove in, feeling a sharp, almost painful chill run through me. Damn, this was cold. I came up with a shuddering gasp, then climbed out of the water.
“You tracking, dawn girl?” I tilted my head. If she was still lost in thought, I was just going to have to go into the water carrying her. Maybe I should just throw her in - the shock might bring her back to the present.
“Eh?” She turned to me, not hearing my question. “Oh. I like the feeling of being covered in blood. I mean, not when its in my eyes but..I’m fine.” I shook my head.
“As fucking sexy as you look like that, you need to wash off. We don't want the dragon’s mother hunting us based off of its child’s blood.” I jerked my thumb at the river. “In, dawn girl.”
She shot me a glare and tore off her dress and I had to force down a groan. Fuck did she look good drenched in blood. She threw it into my face before stepping into the water. She splashed it into her face and sighed. “We did good today. That was quick. Efficient.” I grunted. It had been a good kill. I would have preferred having an actual ranged weapon to use - not throwing her.
“We did. A finely done hunt.” Ah. Her clothes weren't treated to be fluid repellant like my own. Damn. That meant they would still have the smell of blood. I frowned.
“You don't look happy about that.” She mused, leaning her head against the riverbank. “I don’t need the scales. Keep them. I just wanted to get you out of your damn funk.” She turned to me, her eyes and those brilliant golden rings. “I’d take one o those teeth though.”
“About wha-oh. No, the hunt, while it could have gone with less damage to you, was splendidly done. I'm concerned the dragon will follow us based on the blood on your dress.” I - well. I didn't want to think about why she'd said. She'd wanted to get me out of my funk? My - the funk from this morning? That - it had been because she'd gotten up and stopped cuddling me. Damn it. No way I could tell her that.
“Then leave it behind. I’ll borrow your coat.” She said, clearly not caring about the thing or her...nudity. I blinked - then tossed the dress into the river. She had looked good in it - but there was definitely a part of me that loved the way she looked in my coat. Small, and - sheltered. I shrugged it off, letting the dark, oiled fabric fall from my shoulders. I did not, though, look away from her.
She took it from me and hauled herself out of the river, she placed her gorgeous, thick ass on the riverbank and started to wring out her hair. She caught me looking at her but didn’t seem to care. So I folded my arms over my chest and watched her. Oh yes. Definitely attractive - less than when the liquid on her skin was blood, but still not bad at all. The cracks on her skin would have distracted from that for most people - but I knew what they were. And that they had become at least somewhat smaller than they been before. As she wrung her hair dry, I pulled one of the fangs from my belt, and rolled it back and forth between my hands. Something to distract myself from the urge to make her bleed.
