The Blood Alchemist; Chapter 10

The next day is rather uneventful. We keep to our quick pace, pausing this time for lunch. It's then that we decide we'll stop earlier than yesterday so we can hunt tonight. Tomorrow, we'll be too close to the city to risk splitting up.

As decided at lunch, an hour before the sun begins setting, we stop. Clyde begins unloading the hunting gear. Once he's done, he turns to me.

"Shall I get to hunting or do you want to go?" He asks.

I blink, pausing in my work to look at him. "I figured you were going to claim the job for yourself."

"Well, I've decided to let you choose. You can go hunting or you can stay and keep an eye on Olivia."

"I can take care of myself," Liv objects from where she sits, working at getting a fire going.

Clyde doesn't respond, eyes on me. He's not just doing this to be nice. It's a test. He wants to see which I'll pick. Though he said one thing, I know what he meant. I can either leave him with Liv or send him off and stay with her.

I can feel my eyes narrowing. My mind is replaying yesterday's conversation.

What kind of test was this? Either option meant I wasn't with Clyde. In option one, I'd only have to take care of myself. In option two, I'd have Liv to protect as well. She wasn't completely helpless but depending on what we ended up facing, her skills might not make any difference. Which would put me at a disadvantage.

But it would be smarter to stay with someone. It would increase my chances of survival. Unless our opponent severely outmatched Liv. In that case, being on my own would be better. I wouldn't have to worry about her.

Neither option seemed optimal. Just what was he trying to get at right now?

"Are you serious right now?" I look to find Liv glaring at us, a small fire going beside her. "It's not that hard of a choice. Just take the bow and go." To emphasize her point, she throws both hands towards the open area around us.

"See? She doesn't even have to think about it," Clyde says calmly.

I look back at him, feeling like I missed something. "Fine, I'll go hunting." I hold my hand out.

Clyde dumps the hunting gear into my arms. "Two hours. If you can't get anything by then, just come back."

"Or what?" I ask, slinging the quiver over my back, smirking. "You'll come looking for me?"

"Yes," Clyde says matter-of-factly.

"I'm not going looking for Bash in the dark," Liv objects. "He can take care of himself."

Clyde gives her a look. "I didn't say I was taking you with me."

Liv arches an eyebrow. "Really?" She sounds doubtful

"I'll tie you to a tree. You're nearly as bad as he is when it comes to staying put."

Liv's face darkens. "If you even try-"

"I'll be back in two hours," I quickly intervein, stopping the brewing fight from going any further. "Give me a thirty-minute grace period though, just in case I catch something at the last minute."

I take off before Clyde can comment. Hopefully, I managed to stop the fight and they wouldn't be at each other's throats in a matter of minutes. And to think they were starting to get along.

As I go along, I set up small traps where I see evidence of small animal traffic. Once I've set up a fair amount of those, I slip into hunting mode. I look, watch, and listen for signs of larger prey. It takes a while, but I finally find it: signs of a dear.

I move quickly and swiftly, following the small trail it had left, my feet making no sound on the forest floor. I freeze when I hear the soft crunching of leaves. Crouching low, I continue to move forward. The deer finally comes into my view. It's still young, smaller than a full-grown doe. Too large for us though. If we had time to process it and save the meat, it would be worth it, but we don't. I choose to watch it from my spot.

It eats calmly, pausing to listen only when some nighttime creature disturbs its quiet. It's odd to see a dear alone. I can't help but wonder where its friends are.

The dear must have had its fill as it trots off.

I notice that the sunlight is gone. My first hour must be coming to a close. Time to check on the traps.

Of the five traps I've set, two have yielded fruitful. I've caught a hare and a squirrel. Not wanting to risk drawing anything back to the camp, I take down the traps and clean the catches.

Back at the camp, Liv claims the hare and squirrel to cook. She must have more experience than me as in minutes I can smell the spices cooking on the meat. It smells better than anything I could have done.

As usual, after dinner, Liv sits in silence and draws while Clyde studies another map Liv has given him. Tonight, I sit perched on a rock between them, cleaning the hunting knives.

Hunting knives cleaned and sharpened, I set to work on my dagger. I also claim Clyde's sword and manage to convince Liv to let me take care of her dagger. I've nearly finished them all; I'm just checking the edge of Liv's blade when I hear it.

A soft rustling. It's barely perceivable to me. I flick my eyes to Clyde. He doesn't seem to have heard anything. He looks up when a leaf crunches. My eyes are already moving in the direction of the noise.

Liv sits, calmly sketching, oblivious to the rustling. She's equally oblivious to the shadow moving through the grass towards her. In a second, I've realized it's a snake. I can't tell what kind though. Liv stretches out and the snake pulls back, tongue flicking out, clearly preparing to strike if need be. Let's not give it a reason to.

"Liv, don't move," I tell her calmly, going still myself.

Liv's head turns to my, eyebrows raised, as her braid swings gently, causing the snake to pull back more. "Why?"

It takes every ounce of self-control I have no to jump up. I can't risk startling her or the snake. "Stars above, just don't move."

I flick my eyes to Clyde. He finishes rising slowly, eyes locked on the snake. "Bash move a little closer. Give it something else to look at while I try to grab it."

Something else to look at; careful wording. If the snake lunges, I have a better chance of reacting fast enough to keep from getting bit. Liv on the other hand. . . Her luck banked on the snake not being venomous.

Liv's eyes flick between Clyde and me. They're wide with confusion and slight fear. Her eyes flick to the side, trying to look at what has our attention. "Bash, what is behind me," she hisses as I edge closer.

I can see the snake's head weave between the two of us. "Don't worry, we've got this. It's just a snake."

Liv goes visibly tense. "A what?" Her voice is tense.

"A snake." I wave a hand to draw more of its attention to me.

"Don't do that!" She hisses at me. Liv closes her eyes for a second. "What's the plan?"

"Clyde's going to take care of it." I look to find Clyde slowly creeping towards it in wolf form. His eyes flick to me for a second and I know what he wants. "When I say now, you need to move this way as fast as you can." Liv nods as Clyde prepares to pounce. "Now."

Clyde moves first, so even though Liv's movement causes the snake to strike, it's too late, Clyde is already on it with a snarl. I catch Liv's arms as she stumbles, not quite balanced due to the momentum of lunging up and forward.

I pull her further back as Clyde fights the snake. The fight ends as Clyde sends the snake soaring out into the distance.

Clyde shifts back into his normal form, rising to his feet, wiping blood from around his mouth with a hand.

"Did you get bit?" Liv hazards, not moving forward though.

"No," Clyde replies, wiping his hand on his pants.

"What do you think our odds are of seeing any more. . . snakes?" Liv bites out the last word, a phantom shiver running over her.

"Do you not like snakes?" I ask.

"I don't like the idea of snakes near me," she snaps back.

"The feeling is probably mutual," Clyde comments, walking back to his spot. "I doubt we'll see another tonight."

My eyes land on the small branch by Liv's foot. I don't know why, but I point at the branch. "Oh look, another one."

Liv looks down, crying out as she jumps back. Clyde spins towards us as I laugh. He sighs, rolling his eyes as he settles back down.

Realizing it's just a small branch, Liv punches my arm. "Not funny," she growls, heading back to her spot.