Chapter Text
Obviously they had moved away from the scene of the fight. Mara and Julio may have both lacked experience in jungle survival, but they at least knew that such a bloody scene would attract predators. With Mara injured and Eulalia only alive due to the capture ball’s stasis, there was no way they could handle another fight. Mara couldn’t help but think it was a borderline miracle they had won this one.
During the otherwise-silent trek, Mara had identified some healing plants and used them for her wounds. As far as medicine went, they were far from the most effective, and the real source of relief came from the way they served as a barrier to save her wounds from continuing to be chewed up by insects. She also more surreptitiously gathered some edible plants which would hopefully help her stay alert throughout the night. With Mara as the only conscious Maiden in their group to stand watch and the promise of rest the next day, it seemed like a decision that made sense.
Fortunately, the next shelter they set up didn’t attract any predators, and the rest of the night was uneventful. This time they had decided to avoid making a fire, with Mara agreeing to regularly check on Julio to make sure he wasn’t getting dangerously cold. It was entirely possible somebody who actually knew what they were doing would have yelled at them for being overly reckless. As it was, however, such a person was not around to help them, and they were somehow managing to muddle through the mess Mara had created with her lies.
With these thoughts of self-blame to keep her company at night, the Elf was taken aback by Julio’s first words to her when he woke up in the morning.
“Thank you,” Julio told her.
“...Huh?” Mara let out.
“Thank you,” Julio repeated. “I don’t like the way you lied to me earlier, but you did teach my starter some useful things, saved my life from a feral, and allowed me to capture it. Given how I was set up to fail, I doubt I would have managed that much on my own. Whatever story we come up with to explain away your absence, all I ask in return is it’s something that allows me to take credit for the capture.”
…Ah. That made much more sense. That was one of the most nicely-phrased threats Mara had ever heard. If she let Julio take full credit for defeating the feral Salalexis - and thus the entirety of the money from selling her - the tamer would help prevent Mara from getting in trouble for her deceitful actions. All things considered, it was a rather reasonable ultimatum, as given the extent of what the Elf had risked with her behavior, she honestly hadn’t expected any leniency from her victim at all. She hadn’t considered that if the full truth came out, her own master would be the one receiving the money for the captured Salalexis, which the impoverished Julio would have a vested interest in avoiding.
“Sure. Whatever story you come up with, I’ll help back it up,” was all that Mara actually said in response. If her owner didn’t receive extra money from the captured Salalexis, that barely mattered to Mara, but avoiding having others learn of her deceitful actions was something she was invested in.
Julio relaxed, releasing a tension Mara hadn’t even noticed he had been holding. “Let’s get going back to civilization, then. We can work on fine-tuning our cover story during the trek,” he said.
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It hadn’t taken them long to develop a lie they could both agree upon. Mara had a book she had borrowed from a friend that she had recently finished reading but hadn’t yet returned. She would claim that she had decided to spend her day off lazily resting with the book as her source of entertainment. Mara had also had a bit too much to drink and ended up a bit closer to the fringe of the settlement than she should have. There, an encroaching feral had attacked her before Julio happened to rescue her. All of this was, of course, completely unrelated to the Salalexis Julio had captured, as this feral was a Doggirl who fled the moment Julio’s Maiden joined in the fight. (While Julio hadn’t explained why he wanted to attribute Mara’s injuries to a different feral, it was obvious he wanted to avoid her owner getting any reward money. For all that both of them surely knew of this motive, however, neither explicitly broached the topic.)
For about an hour or so afterwards, Mara thought nothing of the planned course of action. Then she stopped in her tracks, face turning pale as a certain connection was made.
“Mara? Is it a feral?” Julio hissed, misinterpreting the Elf’s reaction.
“No, it’s…” Mara frowned, stumbling over her words. “You said there were people who wanted to kill you. The sort of people who could get away with breaking major laws with nearby government officials not stopping them. Given I just saved your life and helped you catch a feral Salalexis to sell, if they find that out, what might they do to me? Who exactly might I be dealing with?”
Julio winced. “Ah. That… is a very reasonable question.” The human furrowed his brows, glancing away, besides sighing and turning his focus back on Mara. “We’ve already both agreed to keep this whole escapade a secret. What’s giving you one more secret to keep?”
Mara nodded slowly, not quite sure what to do.
“I’ll be as succinct as possible. My father owns the ranch in my hometown. The son of the local crime boss got his starter from the ranch. Said son got killed in the wilderness, and his father blamed my father. Instead of me getting the good starter you’d expect from a ranch owner’s kid, I ended up getting a recently thresholded Witch. Then I was immediately given the badge from the local gym even without battling them, and threatened into leaving for the wilderness if I wanted even a chance of survival. Got it?”
That… was quite the story. The national government in the Silver River League was certainly weak, but it at least tried to enforce certain basic laws. Regulations to ensure tamers had suitable starters and that they only could travel from their hometown after proving themselves in a gym were among them. Like most areas of Silver River, the criminal element was quite powerful- but this was a bold move even then.
Mara noticed that her hands were trembling, and she consciously worked to still them. As Julio looked at her, the Elven farmhand couldn’t read his expression. Although given how scared she was, he must have been able to read hers.
“Our only notable interaction was when Eulalia scared off that Doggirl,” Mara finally said.
Julio nodded, as the two of them started walking again. “Of course.”