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The forest is a majestic place, every tree and flower seems to have been placed by the most talented artist in all the lands, but all Rose can do is stare at it. Sure she did that every day, but each day it felt more special. Each sound of the flying birds made the liontaur feel even that more alive.
This time however, the noises of the jubilation of creation were muffled by shouting, swearing, and groans of pain. Not knowing quite what to expect, Rose walked carefully along the clearing. The carrying on and pleas for assistance grew only louder. It was the most beautiful noise that had ever hit Rose’s ears, if only it were heard in better circumstances.
Crouched and peering through a bush Rose could see the source of the din, a deertaur stuck in what looked to be a metal implement. Bent over and grabbing at it, the other creature’s arms were just too short to get a grasp on the trap with its teeth clamped into either side of her left hind leg. In Rose’s estimation it must have been broken, the lack of howling and moaning must have indicated either intense strength or a bout of shock from the trapped individual.
The deertaur in front of Rose had impeccably groomed fur, save for the blood staining her front hoof. Her coat shimmered under the midday sun and Rose couldn’t help but to stare.
“Just my luck.” The deer winced in pain as she leaned down to attempt to no avail to free herself from the trap. A loud groan, her movements appeared to be excessively precise, which only added to her exasperation at her circumstance. “I could at the very least die quickly, then all this never-ending torment will all be over.”
Rose clicked her teeth, and as she sympathetically shook her head she rustled the bush in front of her.
“Who’s over there? Are you the one who set this forsaken trap? My leg may be broken, but my antlers are still dangerous weapons!” The deer let out an “ow” as she turned abruptly to face the bush Rose was watching from.
“Oh no, please, I’m not here to hurt you.” Rose pleaded as she made her way out of the bush, brushing the spare leaves from her mane as she approached. The deer seemed reticent and began to back up as far as she could manage (which was not much) as Rose approached.
“And just why should I trust you?” The deer leaned down, her antlers pointed straight at Rose.
“You certainly don’t have to, you barely know me. But please trust that I am here to help, you wouldn’t want to die out here would you?” Rose lowered herself, her hands extended in a gesture of goodwill. As she got closer Rose could see the clear age that was present in the trap, its spring was old, and its teeth were rusted over. Clearly placed ages ago by some sort of hunter. It was perplexing that the trap even worked at all, but unluckily enough for the poor deer it did.
“At-at least make it quick then.” The deertaur craned her head to direct her antlers as far away from Rose’s body as she could. Sweat beading on her forehead as her bottom lip trembled, her eyes clamped shut. Rose could feel her deep breaths against her ears as the deer braced herself for the coming pain.
Rose’s hands brushed up against the other creature’s hoof, wetting them with blood as she pried open the trap, a loud clanking sound accompanying it, the deertaur winced, nearly falling to the ground as Rose hooked her arms under the deer’s, keeping her slightly propped up. “See now, it’s not that bad is it?”
The deertaur rested her head on Rose’s mane. “It is -ah- I should be fine, thank you for your assistance.”
“Where are you going?” The speed in which the deertaur began walking away was faster than Rose anticipated, even using just three of her legs…it was amazing she was still standing. “I never even got your name?”
“There’s…” She put her hand to her head. She seemed to be wobbling a lot. “My name? It’s…”
THWUMP
The deertaur fell flat on her face, her legs buckling from under her. It made sense, as she had lost a lot of blood. Rose cried out, scampering over to her and slumping her body over Rose’s back. She was quite heavy, and it took some time to arrange her so that her antlers wouldn’t drag along the ground. She was already down one leg, there needn't be any more loss of extremities.
Luckily enough, Rose’s cabin was close by, and luckily there was slim chance of anyone else seeing Rose carry the unconscious, bleeding, deertaur around the forest. It would certainly not do to have people thinking Rose was a killer, walking around looking like a crime scene. “Don’t worry;” Rose whispered to the creature who certainly could not hear her; “I’ll have you right as rain in no time!” A declaration almost to steady herself as much as her unexpected passenger.
The journey was quite uneventful, luckily enough, the journey stalled somewhat by the large weight on her back, but was still surprisingly quick. The cottage was quite small, a little cramped for two to inhabit it; tiptoeing over the mess on her floors, Rose was able to slide the deertaur slowly down onto her bed.
Heading off to her kitchen, Rose took a couple handfuls of vegetables and began to cook them over the fire. It would hopefully be ready by the time the deertaur awoke. Rose did some preliminary cleaning of the wound to prevent infection and wrapped it with a bandage. Leaving the deertaur be for the time being Rose went outside to tend to her garden. Filled with all sorts of exotic plants, the garden was meticulously polished. Even though Rose let the interior of her cabin get rather messy, she took great care to make sure the plants grew in the best environments.
Through the weeding however, Rose couldn’t help but worry about the injured creature on her bed, walking back inside periodically to see if she was awake. It seemed as though she was sleeping soundly, which was a relief.
“Where am I?” The deertaur winced as her antlers scraped slightly against the bedframe accompanied by the still present pain in her leg. “How did I get here?”
“I carried you of course;” Rose walked over to the disoriented creature with a shallow dish of water. “I couldn’t leave you to bleed out on the forest floor could I?”
“I…I suppose not…” The deertaur achingly inched off of Rose’s bed, who immediately nudged her back down, fearing she would fall on her face a second time.
“I don’t recommend walking in this state, who knows what will happen to you.” Rose held the bowl up to the deertaur’s lips.
The creature timidly took the bowl from Rose with a put upon expression, tilting it slightly from side to side, staring intently at it, letting some of the water drip out of it, and reacting as if she was spilling acid on her fur. “What is this?”
“It’s…water?” Rose tilted her head sideways to signal her confusion, her tail appearing to curl into a question mark. “What else would it be?”
The deertaur scoffed, sipping from the bowl. “I suppose that should have been obvious, thank you.” Her first sip was taken with great hesitancy, as if she was expecting to be greeted with a mouthful of hot lava. Each subsequent sip was quicker and less cautious as she became sure of its safety. Rose stifled a chuckle as the deertaur sipped.
“The leg should be good enough to walk on in a few days, but it’s gonna take weeks to heal fully.” Rose placed a hand on the deertaur’s leg, the wound still throbbing under her palm. Immediately responding to the hand’s presence on it, the deertaur jerked her leg out from under it. Rose sucked in some air at that reaction but the bandage was luckily still well affixed to the leg so Rose would have to be fine with that. “On that note, you should probably eat something.”
Rose pranced over to the pot in her kitchen, her tail swishing happily behind her as she scooped some of the soup into another, deeper bowl before proudly presenting it to the deertaur who took it skeptically, looking down into it, mixing around the contents inside with a finger before putting it into her mouth. “There’s no meat in here is there?”
“Why would there be?” Rose chuckled, lacing her fingers together; “Unless you’re the only carnivorous deertaur out there.”
“But you eat meat right?” The creature began to eat the soup slowly, taking great care not to slurp the broth.
“Oh no! Not anymore.” Rose began to twiddle her fingers as her guest looked on in surprise.
“I did not expect to hear that, don’t you need it?”
Rose chuckled, unsure why her guest was surprised by that. “That’s a long story.” Certainly not something this visitor needed to hear. Rose began to knead the fur on her tail. “Please, keep eating the soup, I put some herbs in it to speed the recovery along.” Rose went back into her kitchen to give herself some soup.
The other creature sipped from the bowl gingerly. “My name is Pearl by the way, I realize I forgot to tell you, what’s yours?”
Oh what a lovely name, certainly one that matched how wonderful her guest looked right now. “Rose.”
***
The liontaur that took Pearl in was an odd one for sure, her mannerisms and timid demeanor did not suit her type. Carnivores that didn’t eat meat were almost unheard of where Pearl was from, it was almost as if she was in a different world from the one she was used to. The immense pain coming from inside her leg still bothered her immensely, but the soup Rose had fed her acted quite the treat.
Stranger still was her tendency to avoid questions that Pearl asked, usually by taking care of Pearl, which she seemed to be oddly thrilled to do. Looking around her cabin, it didn’t seem like she got many visitors, if any at all, so Pearl’s…let’s say visit…to her humble home was very welcome. Strewn about the floor were tons of odd knick knacks, Pearl had no idea how she moved across the floor without stepping on at least one of them, in fact, the care taken in her navigation showed that she prized each and every one of the tchotchkes on the ground.
“Are you sure you’re fine with me stealing your bed? I would hate the idea of you sleeping on this rather messy floor.” The liontaur did little other than make sure all of Pearl’s needs were met, it wasn’t that she was ungrateful, but Pearl was slightly worried that she was intruding.
“Don’t worry, I will manage…” (another non-answer) “...how did you find yourself caught in such a situation anyway?” Rose lay her head down on the side of the bed, looking up to Pearl expectantly as if she was the most interesting person the liontaur had ever laid eyes upon.
Pearl could feel her face get hot, causing her to look away. Now that she thought of it, the story behind her injury was certainly not a glamorous one, it was rather embarrassing to think of it in retrospect. This liontaur must already think that Pearl was clumsy…(not that she cared what she thought.) “I got rather bored of the village I came from, too noisy, nowhere really to train without being hounded by busibodies telling me that I can’t.” Pearl took a breath before “so I went to your forest to train and…well…” letting out a dry chuckle, Pearl continued, “...you saw how that ended up, maybe they were right after all.”
Rose compassionately laid her hand on top of Pearl’s, making her face grow hotter still. “If it means anything to you, I think you’d be a great fighter…after your leg heals.” Rose got up. “That reminds me, I should check on the wound.” This stranger’s reassurance was worth more than anything to the wounded deertaur, as it was not something she was remotely used to hearing.
Pearl winced as Rose removed the bandage from her leg. “How does it look?” Looking down at her injury with disgust, Pearl curled her fingers and placed her hand on her nose.
Rose leaned in close, her soft mane brushing up against Pearl’s side as she studied the wound intently; Pearl couldn’t help but notice how nice she smelled. “It will scar, but at least it's not infected. You should be free to go in two days I think.” A carnivore with such impeccable bedside manner was not something Pearl was used to, they mostly looked down on the deertaur, whereas Rose made doubly sure to align herself to Pearl’s eye level.
“I can’t thank you enough for your kindness, there must be something I can do for you in return?” Pearl could hear Rose’s ears twitch at her question.
As Rose’s eyes looked up to meet Pearl’s, she could almost feel her heart skip a beat when she smiled. “All I want is for you to get better,” Pearl blushed as Rose laid a kiss on the marks on Pearl’s leg before running her finger along it. “Now, you should probably get some rest.” Pearl looked outside to see the moon peering through the windows.
“But where will you sleep?” Pearl had to ask another time, otherwise she’d never be able to get to sleep.
“Let me worry about that won’t you?” Rose smiled as she walked away, her tail uncoiling itself from Pearl’s hand as she went. Pearl didn’t even notice its introduction, but could feel Rose’s fur against her arm as she slowly drifted off.
***
A thunderclap woke Pearl with a start, she was always a light sleeper, brought on by decades of worrying about if a nearby predator decided that they were hungry. Thunder did it to her every time, it wasn’t that she was afraid of the thunder (certainly not) but her senses were dulled by the noise, and it was certainly not something she needed to be without. Outside the thunder, Pearl became acutely aware of a loud snoring beside her.
The liontaur, Rose, seemed to be sleeping on the floor beside the bed Pearl was resting on. When she said that her sleeping arrangements weren’t to be given a second thought, Pearl certainly didn’t think that the liontaur meant that she would decide to sleep on the floor. Rose’s head was facing Pearl (was she watching her?) and she could see Rose’s tongue poking out of her mouth as she snored. It was adorable, Pearl had to admit. Looking at Rose, Pearl’s breath started to calm down. Her leg was still in pain, but mobility seemed to be returning slightly. Those herbs that Rose gave her must have been working wonders. Pearl couldn’t stop thinking about how curious this creature sleeping next to her was. Her temperament was serene but slightly aloof, nothing like most of the predators Pearl had known, who were always deeply focused on one thing at a time, Rose however took in all of her surroundings, almost like she was prey. Pearl couldn’t help but notice how the moonbeams illuminated Rose’s fur and mane.
Almost as if her ears were on fire, Rose’s eyes fluttered open catching Pearl’s gaze, making her heart jump. The deertaur immediately looked away which caused Rose to laugh. “Having trouble sleeping, Pearl?”
“Are you? You’re the one sleeping on the floor.”
Rose moved over, resting her head sideways on her hands. “Not afraid of a little thunder are you?”
“Certainly not!” Calm down Pearl “I…I mean…no?” Pearl blushed deeply as she meekly calmed back into a more restful position as Rose looked on.
“You’re absolutely adorable.” Pearl’s blush only deepened, Rose’s voice was heavy, she had just woken up after all, and her words tickled Pearl’s ears.
“I’m not used to being safe where I sleep.” Pearl admitted she had only known Rose for about a day but the liontaur’s soft disposition made Pearl want to surrender all of her secrets to Rose. “I never know when the night might be the one I get attacked while I sleep.”
Rose giggled again, boastfully pressing her thumb to her chest. “Never you worry, they’ll have to get past me first.”
The deertaur couldn’t help but crack a smile at that remark; “That’s reassuring…are you sure you want to be sleeping on the floor?”
“I do only have the one bed, silly.”
“There’s room…as long as you don’t sleep on my leg.” Pearl backed up to the very side of the bed, giving Rose the choice.
The liontaur extended her hand to Pearl, who immediately offered hers in return to allow Rose to hoist herself up onto the bed, flopping immediately to her side, one hand hanging off the edge of the bed, and exposing her belly to Pearl to show she meant no harm. Pearl could feel Rose’s warmth next to her, her large mane taking up a huge amount of the bed’s space. In an attempt to not poke the liontaur with her antlers in the middle of the night, Pearl rested her head on Rose’s chest (how is she possibly this warm) her fur felt like the thickest blanket anyone had ever slept on.
“You know;” Yawned Pearl loudly, eliciting a giggle from her companion, “I’ve never fallen asleep next to a predator before…”
“Stranger things have happened.” Rose had almost fallen asleep again before she got her sentence out, Pearl could feel the vibrations from Rose’s respiration on her chin, a rumbly purr of contentment.
Despite the thunder, Pearl’s eyes slowly closed again. Stranger things indeed. There was still much to learn about the creature sleeping under her, but those lessons would have to occur in the light of day.