Unfit For Survival (Ark Fanfic.)

POV Change: Benedetto Traveling With Izzy Pt.1

((Benedetto's POV from Chapter 3: Too Many Questions. I hope you like it! I plan to do the other part of the chapter soon. Look forward to it if you want!))

To say I was feeling a chill would be an understatement. I was freezing. If my body collapsed into the water I was in then I would not be surprised in the slightest. But I could not get out of the river just yet. 

Rinsing myself with water once again, I turned my eyes to the woman sitting under the tree where she was cooking. Attempting to cook seemed to be the better way to rephrase it because I did not have a single clue what she was doing other than her best.

Having caught two large fish for her to cook for us, I took the time to bathe myself. It put distance between us and gave me the chance to relax myself for a minute. I didn't think she cooked a day in her life with how she gaze warily at the fish when I handed them to her. But she was doing her best to get them ready for us even if she was unfamiliar with it. I knew she was trying to hurry every time she looked my way but she didn't complain. 

It would be appreciated if she would finish soon. I will catch my death in this water.

Getting out of the river before she finished was not an option for me. Getting out would rush her and perhaps deter her from cooking in the future if she found me too eager. So I subjected myself to staying in the freezing cold water until she finished. I was thankful that the sun was high. It kept my body from turning to solid ice. She herself was sitting under the tree I chose. It was keeping her cool and the grass around it was soft so even when she got up to clean her hands from the fish, her injured feet would not be in more pain.

The turtle that she had earlier named Michelangelo wandered to some bushes near the tree which caught her attention. She slowly made her way over to him which in turn caught my attention.

What is she doing? Did she just kick the bush? She just put something into her pouches. It had better not be berries. I hope she knows the difference between the ones she can consume and the ones that she can not. I'll need to make sure she doesn't eat anything that will harm her. She really is helpless.

I was a little amused by watching her, despite my efforts to keep her emotionally apart from myself. She didn't hide her emotions at all which made her calming to look at. And she finally removed the fish from the heat. That was my cue to finally leave the water and get into my clothes again. I watched her from the corner of my eye when approaching her and saw her pleased smile. Waiting in the river had been worth it if it managed to ensure she could be happy on this island for even a moment. 

But I soon ruined the happiness that I worked hard to cultivate. I spoke bluntly to her and made her give me the pouches she filled with berries. Immediately she told me to have a pouch to myself while she shared with the beast. Was it selflessness or fear of me that made her come to such a decision. 

"Let me guess, I shouldn't even bother asking why you did that?" Her displeasure was evident when she retied the now emptier pouches back onto her waist.

"If you ate the black ones while we were moving, you'd be nothing more than beast bait. I need to keep the white ones with me for when you screw up," replying to her, I took a large bite of the fish to avoid saying anything more to her. We had been traveling together for less than a day but I never planned to use her as bait. 

We ate in silence. That was mostly due to my denying every attempt she made to start a conversation. I had injured her terribly the night before. So much so that I feared that I had killed her. I didn't mean to hurt her but I got scared of the noise she was making so late at night. I didn't want her scared of me but I needed a barrier between us. And on top of that, she endangered herself by screaming. I didn't remember getting closer to her but my hands were wrapped around her small throat before I realized it. I tried waking her but she didn't respond to me. I prayed. I cried. And I vowed to keep her safe forever on the island if she ever opened her eyes again.