Echo of a Friend

Part 14

C- Daki awakened the next morning, groggy and bleary-eyed while still having the weight in his core trying to draw him back to sleep. But he couldn't stay asleep forever.

He got up and yawned and stretched. Kaia was already awake, though it seemed she hadn't slept much either. Well at least she had been able to digest her prey. Daki had made no progress while healing his wounds.

Kaia glanced at him once he awoke, "Ah, about time. We have two options here. That weight will slow us down while we're traveling, so we either fall behind from our rotation over one prey, or you can spit them out and hide the bodies to put the hunters behind our trail a bit. Your choice."

Daki groaned audibly, then put a hand to his stomach, already not wanting the second option. He especially needed a full meal after healing his injuries.

H- Sam unconciously reoriented themselves as Daki stretched, but remained, blissfully, out cold. Their peace had been hard won, and they had no desire to wake from it.  Not that the oppresive *oven* that was his insides would allow them to at this point.

C- Daki thought over his options for a moment, frowning. "We can wait another day."

"This close to the death trap? More hunters will be after us, and they won't be the easy ones." Kaia cautioned.

Daki groaned, dragging a hand across his face. "Fine. Fine." He pressed a hand against his stomach, blinking in surprise. He could still feel their subtle breaths against the sensitive lining. That human was still alive? Damn, they were hardy. "I'll find a place to hide the bodies."

"Alright," Kaia sighed. "I smell smoke coming from the death trap. While you're at that, I'll do a quick search of the area."

Daki cringed, not liking the idea of her searching the death trap area on her own. "Alright. Just be careful."

He sighed and headed away from the cave, while Kaia parted in the opposite direction. He pressed a hand to his stomach again more firmly, trying to stir the sleeping figure again as he walked. He could smell a familiar scent as he parted from the cave, but he couldn't quite figure out why it was there. It shouldn't be something to worry about. He just had to focus on his prey.

H- Sam stirs as everything presses into them, crushing air from their lungs and waking them with a serious of coughs and gags.

They blink blearily in the darkness, lost and confused. Had they gone blind? Pain arcs through them, then settles upon them as if it were mass of burrowing insects.

They draw in a pained hiss through their teeth - and slowly, clarity returns to them.

"Why?" They rasp out weakly. Why were they even alive?

C- Daki didn't understand the question without context, though he supposed after being stuck in there for hours, they might be kind of out of it.

"Wow you are *really* stubborn. And really lucky." Daki said. He moved further down the mountainside. There was a river down there. That would work.

H- They groan. "Don't feel lucky."

They feel like shit is what they feel.

C- "Well you're alive at least," Daki said. "For now."

That familiar scent grew stronger. It was hard to tell over the sound of the roaring water of the river, but something stealthy was steadily approaching. There was a sudden burst of movement, then another giant lunged out of the tree line, tackling Daki half-way into the river. The sudden movement was probably even less pleasant for his occupant. Daki blinked up in surprise, coughing water out of his face. He was looking at... himself? What the hell was this sort of trick? Some sort of dark magic cooked up by the Legion? He had no idea. He choked from the grip around him, splashing to try to right himself.