They walked on in silence, except for Avril's frequent groan and winces whenever she tripped over a stick or a itchy leaves touched her skin. Tired of the unpleasant sounds, Dakar stood on all fours and made Avril mount his back. She carried the basket of arrows and that of the bread and water. Dakar wouldn't give her the bow and had it in his mouth.
“Why are you too silent today?” she asked after about an hour journey
“Thinking about stuff” he dimly replied
“What stuff?”
“Stuff I shouldn't be sharing with you”
“Hmm. That's strange. You usually share everything with me”
“Sorry for surprising you”
Ten minutes passed and Avril spoke up again “Won't you tell me what's wrong with you? I'm not used to seeing you quiet like this?”
“Nothing's wrong. I said I was just thinking about stuff”
“Why did you ask me to accompany you when you knew you were going to think about stuff?” Avril asked with rising anger in her voice.
“I am going hunting” he replied with a calm tone
“Thinking about stuff when you're supposed to be focused. Wow, excellent” she retorted, sarcasm very evident in her voice.
“Avril, you can just stop talking, alright?”
“Why do I have a feeling like you're hiding something important from me? Because you've never been this moody. And come to think of it, you've been acting very weird these days. Always wandering around in the dead of the night. Skipping meals. I'm sure you didn't even have breakfast”
Again, Dakar was silent and that really pissed her off.
“Stop! Stop, Dakar!” she ordered and kicked him to stop.
“Put me down” she said and began to throw off the things in her hands. Dakar stopped and she jumped down, almost hurting her legs.
“I am not going hunting anymore. Unless you're going to tell me what's bothering you” she crossed her arms and frowned at him.
“Stop being so stupid, Avril. I told you to not worry about it. Now get on and let's go” he replied, surly.
Avril scoffed “Just because you're all big and frightful doesn't give you the right to order me around”
“And just because you're all small doesn't give you the right to act stupid”
“Don't you dare insult me, Dakar!”
“That wasn't an insult”
“You know what, I'm going home myself. I rather get strangled by a giant island snake than stand here speaking to a Savage beast who's had his social senses amended after living alone for decades!”
She had blurted everything out before realizing she had gone too far
“What did you just say?” he growled and his eyes flashed red. Avril shuddered at the sight of it and began to step backwards. Suddenly, the air around them turned hot and her skin began to burn. She let out a yelp and fell to her knees with her hands lifted to her face. She felt like she was standing in an invisible fire.
Dakar stood with eyes red and fangs bare. His fur had risen on his back and his tail erect. Waves of heat were emitting from him to the environment.
Avril was still on the ground screaming. She had crouched down and her head touched her thighs. Her hands were hidden between them.
Dakar came back to his senses and his eyes changed to green. His fur fell back and he looked down at Avril.
“Oh no! Avril!” he exclaimed and jumped towards her. She jerked up immediately and mistakenly brushed her left arm against his right paw that was reaching out to carry her. Pain pierced through her nerves as his claws dug into her skin. She let out a loud yell and jumped off the ground, hugging her arm.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Avril” he apologized and tried to walk to her
“No...get away from me. Get away from me, please!” she screamed and began to run towards the direction they came. Few seconds into her run, she slumped and laid motionless on the forest floor.