Taeloh

They needed to survive.
Without the other they were neither.

An undeveloped wilderness provided the immense challenge of living in it. They almost didn't make it.

Fights were intense, and he always knew of the opponent before she, and he always fought it down quickly. She was no help it seemed, other than providing company for him, and being his match.

But he didn't tell her everything.

Secret scars, just barely enough food, tired eyes, yet she hadn't seen that. She thought he had as much as her.

A beast she'd never seen scared her horribly when she turned and saw him and it fighting already. Expecting a quick fight, horror crept in as more red blood went flying and the yellow blood of this fighting terror was only a speck on the ground. When he fell to the ground but the terror only raised a claw, she jumped and did all she could.

Yellow blood everywhere, but as she checked, there was red blood on herself. Weak but not discouraged, she checked his wounds.

Dear gods, oh save him. So many scars, such shallow breaths, too much blood and not enough heartbeats. He was far more injured than she thought, and most the injuries were old. It took her hours to piece him together, and then in her exhaustion, she fell asleep.

She woke later to get what meat she could from the terrible beast, feeding him what she could manage to get in his mouth. She finally got to bandaging her own chest with what was left of their supplies. She dragged him to cover and slept once more.

Weeks of hunting, just to keep him alive. He'd promise to always protect her but she didn't realize that meant not protecting himself. She wanted to give up but his heartbeat kept her going every day.

----

When he finally woke, he couldn't sit up, much less stand. She didn't let him go out for another week, when he could finally stand and walk on his own. For the next while, they only got as much food as was needed to stay alive. It would take time before they'd do much else.

--

With what little food they had, he helped her into a larger cave, so she could carefully lay her eggs down. His familiar and hers lay around the eggs, protecting them while they hunted. Soon a pile of food began, enabling the starting of their clan.