Beneath the shelter of a broad tree, Leopard Cat Nimra carefully tightened another strip of torn cloth around Rhos’s forearm before pressing down firmly over the wound.
The unconscious young man flinched immediately, his face twisting into a pained grimace for a brief second before settling again.
"Sorry..."
She whispered to him.
"I know it hurts, but if I don’t close these wounds properly, they’ll open up again the moment you start moving"
Nimra wasn’t particularly knowledgeable when it came to medicine. Every Ranger learned the basics of survival at the Academy, but beyond that, she had no formal training. Most of what she knew came from tending to injured teammates during expeditions and some from the orphanage she grew up in.
Compared to Rangers assigned to rescue teams or the medical corps, her knowledge was painfully average. Still, she did everything she could.
Since she had no proper bandages, she tore long strips from her hoodied jacket before carefully wrapping them around the countless cuts and stabs covering Rhos’s body.
Even his face bore several shallow slashes left behind by the thorned vines. Yet none of them had struck anything vital. Fortunately. But the deepest injury remained the enormous wound stretching from his chest toward his abdomen.
Nimra loosened the blood soaked bandages around his torso. The moment she exposed the wound, she paused.
"It’s already closing"
The torn flesh hadn’t fully healed but compared to how she remembered it beside the river, it looked much better. The swelling had gone down considerably. It no longer looked life threatening.
A relieved smile appeared on her face.
"Thank goodness"
She let out a laugh as she finished replacing the bandages with another strip from her already tattered uniform to wrap around his shoulder.
By now, there was barely enough fabric left to properly cover herself. But that wasn’t important right now.
Only after making sure every visible wound had been treated did she finally lean back against the tree.
Night had fully descended and the forest looked entirely different beneath moonlight. Silver light filtered through the leaves overhead, painting the countless dead vines scattered across the forest floor in pale shades of grey.
It hadn’t been long since those same vines had nearly killed them all. Now, they laid there completely motionless. Nimra stared at them for a bit before her eyes shifted to Rhos.
"I really misjudged you"
Even now she still found it difficult to believe. He actually defeated a colony of wild plants by himself.
Until recently, she hadn’t thought much of Rhos. Whenever something dangerous appeared, he was always the first person to run away from it. Honestly, she thought he had survived this long because of sheer luck.
But today, he had charged directly toward a monster that could have killed him while he was exhausted.
She lowered her eyes toward a dagger that was still tightly clutched inside his hand. His fingers hadn’t loosened around it even after passing out.
"What made you do it...Red Deer?"
She genuinely wanted to know, but before she could continue thinking, branches rustled nearby. When a man emerged between the trees, Nimra immediately stood up straight.
"Keeper!"
Mountain Gorilla Taru’s condition had not improved much, but he looked better. His injuries had been bandaged as well, though fresh blood had already begun soaking through several of them
Through his squinted eyes, his expression was unreadable but he seemed to be panicked.
"We don’t have much time. Seems like you two got careless and now you have that pesky mutt on your trail"
Her face stiffened.
"The Wrath"
The Keeper clicked his tongue, his gaze shifting toward Rhos.
"Hmph, is Red Deer awake yet?"
She shook her head.
"No, Keeper. He exhausted too much spirit energy and his injuries are severe. I’ve done everything I know how to do, but I’m not trained in medicine, so I don’t know how long he’ll stay unconscious"
Taru didn’t say anything. This made her frown, especially because she couldn’t understand the look he was giving the young Ranger.
A couple of seconds had passed before he asked something unexpected.
"Tell me something, Leopard Cat..."
"Yes, Keeper?"
"What’s your relationship with Red Deer?"
That question had completely caught her off guard that she didn’t know how to respond. Seeing her confused expression, Taru followed with;
"You’ve spent the better part of almost two days alone together in this hell. I assumed you’d grown close"
The moment she realized what he was asking, her cheeks instantly turned red.
"W-Why would you suddenly ask me something like that, Keeper? This really isn’t the time to joke around, and beside, Rhos and I are simply comrades in arms. We’ve only been helping each other because leaving the other behind would’ve lowered our chances of making it back alive."
Taru quietly watched her blush and narrowed his squinted eyes.
"I promise you, that’s all there is to it"
She looked away awkwardly before quickly changing the subject.
"Regardless, we should leave immediately"
Nimra crouched beside Rhos and carefully slipped one of his arms over her shoulder before wrapping an arm around his waist.
"He won’t be able to walk by himself for a while, so I’ll carry him. Once we reach the outer patrol boundary, I’m sure someone will find us"
Rhos wasn’t particularly heavy, but in her state, he felt like he weighed a ton. But she gritted her teeth and continued to carry him.
"Put him down"
Nimra stopped moving, for a moment she thought she heard him wrong, however Taru repeated in a calm tone.
"Put Red Deer down"
She stared at him.
"Keeper, I’m afraid I don’t understand"
He sighed, his cold expression didn’t change.
"Red Deer has served Division 14 well, he’ll serve us one final time. By leaving him here, the Wrath will stop to kill and eat him, thereby buying us enough time to reach Elderwood"
Having heard him clearly, Nimra instinctively tightened her grip around Rhos.
"I don’t mind carrying him. He’s lighter than he looks, and if we take turns resting we should still be able–"
"This isn’t up for discussion, Leopard Cat!"
His sharp tone made her flinch. She took steps backward while shaking her head repeatedly.
"No...no, Keeper, this isn’t right. Rhos came back for you when he could’ve escaped with me. He saved my life too. We can’t repay him by abandoning him"
Taru’s patience visibly thinned. He slowly walked toward the woman.
"You still don’t understand the situation. We cannot outrun that Wrath far enough to reach Elderwood. If Red Deer stays with us, all three of us die. If he remains, then the two of us will survive. He’s already proven himself useful, now he needs to remain useful"
Nimra looked at him in disbelief.
"Keeper, how can you say something like that?"
He took another step forward.
"Leopard Cat, we’re both Predators. You and I possess far greater chances of surviving what comes next. Red Deer is Prey, he is bait. This is his duty. It’s unfortunate, but it comes with great honor"
Nimra was struggling to breathe. Her thoughts right now had become a tangled mess. She didn’t know what to do or what to think. She looked at the unconscious Rhos then at the Keeper. By then, he had already closed the distance.
"Listen, if you’re worried about the investigation after we return, don’t be. We’ll simply report that everyone died fighting the Wrath. The higher ups won’t question two survivors beyond the standard report, especially after losing an entire Division"
Taru’s hand closed around Rhos’s shoulder.
"Let him go. We’re wasting time"
"That’s good to know"
A tired voice suddenly sounded between them, causing both Rangers to freeze. Before they could react, there was a blur of motion which was followed by Taru stumbling backward.
"Ghaa!"
His hand pressed against his chest as warm blood poured endlessly between his fingers. When his mouth opened, a torrent of blood spilled onto the forest floor.
He looked down and saw the battered dagger he had given Red Deer was buried straight through his heart.
"Y-You...!"
Still half supported by Nimra, the young man looked back at him with exhausted amber eyes. A weak smile spread across his pale face.
"It didn’t take long.... Before you tried throwing me to the wolves again, huh, Keeper?"