A day had passed from the time the two had made it out successfully into the forest, not straying far from where they had originally settled. Both of them had slept for a while, recovering their lost strength from venturing as far as they could from the kingdom's borders. Once they had both awoken, however, Dark Cacao's injury placed (Y/N) in a state of worry that couldn't be shaken, she was nowhere near being a doctor that could treat such a wound. The next thing she needed was him bleeding out from another accident and she gets blamed for his death. To top it all off, she had so much to owe him for finding a way out of the near impossible situation they had gotten themselves into.
(Y/N) glanced over at the settled prince, he had his arms folded comfortably as he leaned against the cave's walls. She felt her skin crawl seeing how bloody the fabric around his arm has gotten.
"How about we change that bandage?" she suggested.
His eyes flicked over to her, snapping him out of his content expression. "I'm down for that, it's been bothering me like crazy."
She shuffled over to his side, pinching the corners of the fabric. He flinched his arm away whenever she slightly lifted the soaked shell.
"Gah-!" he exclaimed.
(Y/N) didn't let go of the edges, only looking up at him to see whenever the pain resided. As his face calmed, he nodded for her to continue, and she resumed removing it slowly.
Soon the entire wound was present, most of it had healed over, but a lot of it was still freshly coated with a thin layer of dough. Her brows furrowed, she swore it didn't look that awful earlier. The prince noticed her concern.
"What did you do while I was asleep?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I was asleep! I swear!" he looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact. (Y/N) sighed.
"I really do want you to heal, this wound could be the death of you if you don't let it fully recover," she shook her head, throwing the dirty cloth aside out of the mouth of the cave.
Dark Cacao rubbed the back of his neck. It was more than obvious that he was hiding something at this point. (Y/N) couldn't help but feel a little frustrated with him at this point.
"Do you not understand what I'm doing? I'm trying to help you here but all you seem to do is want to do what you think is more convenient!" Her tone was firm with a sharp edge, sending pricks of guilt into him.
"I'm sorry, I was just-" he stuttered.
"If you keep all these secrets from me, then why do you even trust me in the first place?" she shook her head, amazed with his totally flawless thinking process.
The prince's silence was the loudest thing in the moment. His breath was quickened, attempting to slow itself down, but his nerves got the best of him. With a quick huff, he opened his mouth, still looking at the floor.
"I really needed to see what was outside. Something caught my eye, I swear it was worth my time!"
"Then tell me! Tell me if it was so important that you opened up your wound again just to see what it was?" (Y/N) was taken aback by her own fury.
The prince seemed to flinch at her words, proving she was becoming too demanding like somebody she knows acts towards him. By making him feel guilty, she also felt a wave of guilt come over her for being so assertive. (Y/N) wiped her hands on her clothing uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry, I just... I want you alive. You've done so much for me, it's the least I can do..."
"No," he whispered, returning his gaze, this time more understanding, "I should be more transparent with you. Hell, I ignored your orders that would help me. I think you deserve a little more respect."
(Y/N) relaxed at his reassuring tone. They were both right, she could have been more easy on questioning why he had gone out, and he could have warned her before he actually went. But that still raised a question in her mind, he still hadn't told her what was out there.
"What did you see?" she asked, ripping the clean part of the previous purple fabric into a new bandage.
Dark Cacao hesitated for a second. "I saw some wildlife," he gave a sideways smirk to her. "Thought I would go out and get ourselves some food."
She tilted her head. "But you don't have any weapons?"
"Doesn't mean you can't make one!" with that, he pulled out a crafted knife from one of his pant pockets. The handle was made from a spliced piece of branch from one of the many trees, and the blade was made of a pure cacao stone that had been sharpened against other cacao rocks. (Y/N) gaped at how crafty the weapon was as it was placed in her hands.
"You keep it for now, though, just in case you need it. Never know when you'll suddenly have a hoard of soldiers coming to take you away," he snickered.
"But I can't take this, you made it!"
"I would keep it, but I felt like you would probably have more use than I would with it," he picked up a pebble, flicking it in the air like a coin. "Besides, I'm not the one facing a death penalty for a crime I didn't commit."
She was dumbfounded at this gift from him, wondering what she would do with it. "But... why would you weapon use me if I barely know you..?"
The prince chuckled softly. "You think I'm worried about you hurting me? Look at how you threw a fit over me not letting myself heal! Besides, giving me a weapon would only make you be more on edge. You wanted me to be more transparent?" he winked, "Then allow me to be as transparent as possible."
She was dumbfounded. He really was becoming open, a little too open compared to what she was used to of people. (Y/N) quietly slid the knife into one of her pockets near her side and went back to preparing another bandage.
"And by the way... what'd you catch?"
"A jelly bunny. How about we eat?"
"Let's do it, I'm starving."
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