Chapter Text
Yellow had never been a good hunter at any point in her life. She had never developed the strength to properly throw her spears nor do did she ever need to. Sneaking around and finding fruits and the occasional small centipede to nab had always been enough to keep herself fed.
Yet now she had more than just herself to feed and hunting became the only reliable way to get enough food so that neither of them starved. With most of the creatures she hunted being extremely dangerous themselves she found herself in very deadly situations often.
She briefly stopped to clutch at the wound in her chest, the result of a large centipede latching onto her. She had only barely survived the encounter, and she had only had a small centipede to show for it. It wouldn’t be enough to feed both her and her mate.
The sun would be going down soon and the nocturnal predators would begin roaming about. With her time to gather more food gone she began the walk to her current, temporary, den. It was located in a tree a decent distance away from the tree that the colony resided in, and assuming no complications arose she should be able to get them both to the colony next cycle.
For now though she needed to get to get back to her current den and check up on her mate. He shouldn’t have had any issues since she left. Still she couldn’t help but worry, as in his current state practically everything was a threat to him.
When she arrived at the base of the tree she paused, briefly considering finding something to cover her wound with. Her mate was very protective of her, and even in his crippled state he would always raise a fuss whenever he saw her getting injured for his sake. It never stopped her of course, as she was more than willing to get hurt if it meant that he would get to live.
Unfortunately he was very observant and would likely notice regardless of what she did. Not to mention that it was not the only thing he would throw a fuss about. She hadn’t eaten enough this cycle and she was going to give him the last bit of food, the small centipede that she had caught earlier. Starving in her sleep wasn’t fun, but she would prefer that she went through it rather than her very sick mate.He would probably resist her feeding him the centipede, but, like the other times hes tried, she would simply force him to eat it.
With her destination above her and the sun setting behind her she set off climbing up the tree to reach her den. Her climb up this time was much faster than the last most likely due to the fact that she wasn’t carrying another slugcat on her shoulders this time. The entrance to her den was a little slit in the wall easy to miss and too small for most predators to fit through, a near perfect place for a slugcat den to be.
Crawling through the entrance she greeted by the sight of a pink slugcat peacefully resting in a nest located in the center of a small room. The nest itself was already here when they had arrived earlier this cycle. Built by her when she was still a pup it had managed to stay undisturbed for at least two years now, and while it was a bit too small for both of them it would work for just fine for a nights rest.
She hated disturbing his sleep especially when it was rare for him to find rest at all, but he needed to eat. So she walked up to him and rubbed her nuzzle against his face until he woke up.
As his eyes lazily opened she leaned back sitting down beside him. His eyes slowly scanned the room before landing on her, and almost immediately he noticed the blood stained fur on her chest. His eyes widened and he began to move to try and get a closer look.
Pushing himself off the ground using his arms he tried to push himself forward to reach her, but his attempt was short lived. As his arms gave out underneath him sending him back down towards the ground. Anticipating his fall she was able to catch him and brought him into a gentle hug. She hated it whenever he tried to do that, and even though he knew that he would fail he still tried it anyway.
Looking up at her face he let out a small whine, protesting her injury in what was an obvious attempt to get him food. He gripped her own arms while inspecting the wound himself. It wasn’t that bad and she most certainly didn’t need him inspecting it for her, but she enjoyed his company, even if she would have preferred his over-protectiveness be left for when he was well again.
After his inspection was complete he allowed himself to lowered into her lap were she begin the hard part of this, getting him to eat the centipede. If she eaten herself than this wouldn’t be a problem as he would be able to tell that she had and eat it with no problem. She had not eaten enough this cycle however, and he would notice and almost refuse to take the food.
Once he refused she would forced to stuff it into his mouth and hold it shut while plugging his nose until he forced to swallow so that he could breath. While it sounded simple and he was significantly weakened due to his illness he still managed to make it exceedingly difficult, but at this point shes had to do four other times so it shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Handing him the centipede it started off about normally as can be, with him sniffing the food before he looked over towards her tail. A slugcats tail stored food for hibernation and one could tell if a slugcat had eaten by looking at the tail. Naturally her tail wasn’t as thick as it should have been if she had eaten enough for the cycle, and he was able to tell quite easily. A low growl came from mouth, and just when it seemed that she would need to resort to force feeding him he began to eat.
Relief flooded through her. She hated forcing him to eat, something about it always just felt wrong. Perhaps her message that she wouldn’t allow him to stave under any circumstance had finally gotten through. She kept an eye on him as he continued eating though both to make sure that he didn’t fake eating his food and to make sure he didn’t have any trouble eating it.
It was slow going but eventually he finished eating the centipede all on his own before curling up on her lap. She would need to go to sleep soon as well, it was getting late and next cycle would be a big one. Not only would she be suffering from malnutrition next cycle, but they had a decent distance to go before they reached the colony.
She would finally be returning home, and while that should make her ecstatic, she wasn’t. Jumping down the pit that separated her from her family and friends had been a choice that she made. Unlike her brother she had intentionally taken the action that would have most certainly cause her parents and remaining brother much grief.
Would they accept her back after all this time? After she had caused so much grief with her reckless actions? Even worse was the fact that she was only returning to ask for aid for an outsider. Something that would make them even less likely to accept her back.
She didn’t really have a choice in the matter though. Hunting had nearly gotten her killed several times already, and if she continued trying to do so it would almost certainly result in her death. If only she had actually learned to hunt at younger age, she wouldn’t have to put her hopes on the good will of others.
“Flower”, said her mate from below her. His voice was raspy and nearly inaudible, but it was enough to snap her out of her thoughts. His paw was tugging at leg trying to get her to lay down and go to sleep. There was no point worrying about what might happen right now she supposed. Laying down beside him she pressed her back against his stomach finding comfort in his warm embrace.
If the colony was there destination then her mate would need a title and a name. Something that could describe him in a single word. She would need to make sure that she gave it to him before they reached the colony and the colony started calling him ‘the Sick’ or something along those lines.
Seeing as how titles are given by ones peers she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries by giving him one. Much like how his title for her was ‘Flower’, comparing her to a beautiful golden wheel flower, or how the colony’s title for her was ‘Monk’, meaning that she made those around her happy, she would need one that described him before he fell ill. What better title was there for him than ‘Hunter’. It was a perfect description of his skills and how he fed them both.
She smiled to herself proud of the title that she had came up for him. A name on the other hand was far more personal and once Hunter knew more of her language and its significance he would have to chose one for himself.
With that line of thought concluded she focused on trying to sleep. While she was still worried about what the next cycle would bring she was able to put it off. Sleep was more important right now, and with Hunter depending on her she needed to make sure that she ready for the next cycle.