Chapter 18
Tuvo
It wasn’t a coincidence.
The same symbol on the card Rodger had been carrying appearing on a tree near their crash site where it hadn’t been before wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t some kind of beast either. It had definitely been a metal tool that made that mark.
So, who had been here?
Who had been so close to his mate that they were a threat to her?
And there was no doubt in his mind that this was a threat. The mark meant something, even if he didn’t know exactly what yet.
Tuvo went around the crash, checking the trees for more marks, but he didn’t see any others in the immediate area. There might be some beyond the crash site, but he wasn’t willing to go too far away. Not when it might mean leaving Hattie alone.
He returned to the plane after hunting some random animal. Hattie was giving him a searching, desperate stare. He couldn’t tell her anything new so, instead, he offered his kill. She grimaced at the sight of the furry creature.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, looking at it.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I’ll, er, make a stew or something.”
“Is this thing dangerous to eat?”
“No, I’ve just… never eaten a monkey before. It feels kind of… wrong.”
Despite her misgivings, she took the creature from him and proceeded to dress it. When Keith came over and made a sound of dismay and disgust, she turned up her nose and responded evenly to him as her hands kept working.
Tuvo wasn’t sure what taboo he had just broken, but clearly it wasn’t so important that she was willing to starve to avoid eating it. Still, he made a mental note to avoid giving her that creature again in the future.
Once Hattie finished skinning and carving the beast, he gathered the inedible remains in the skin to take into the trees to dispose of.
Hattie was now cutting up the meat and putting it in a pot to stew.
Keith was sitting away from them, still grumbling about what Tuvo had hunted – being lazy and unhelpful as usual.
“Can you bring me back more of those mushrooms?” Hattie asked when he started to walk away. “I think they’ll be good in the soup.”
Tuvo grunted in agreement. “The ones I was picking earlier?”
“Yeah. And some of those roots you brought back the other day?”
“I’ll look around.”
“Thanks,” she smiled. “You’re the best.”
“I can’t promise anything.”
“Yeah, but you’re going to look, and that means a lot to me.”
Tuvo smile, turning away-
-only to find himself on the ground. A heavy weight on his body. Claws digging into his chest. Teeth snapping at his head.
Tuvo reacted reflexively before he even identified what attacked him beyond a flash of orange. He grabbed at loose, furry skin. Hot breath struck his face as his claws gripped through his shoulders and, with a roar, he knocked the weight away.
Turning, he came up, snarling, blood dripping from his chest and neck. He didn’t feel it yet, but he would.
The creature that had attacked him snarled back.
Its bright orange body was speckled with dark brown, messy circles.
It stood on four legs, each paw tipped with wicked claws – the front ones stained as red as its wrinkled, whiskered muzzle pulled back in a deadly snarl.
Its ears were back, it was making a rolling growl that threatened death, and it had Tuvo in his sights.
It charged, fangs and claws snapping, slashing. Almost too fast to see.
Tuvo reacted, dropping back, evading the blows. He struck back with his own, driving his fist into the side of the beasts’ face.
It fell back, shaking its head, as though shocked its prey had dared defend itself. Then, it was on him again, leaping forward.
Tuvo couldn’t move. Hattie was behind him. She had cried out when the thing had taken him to the ground. He could just imagine this beast attacking her instead. Sweet, soft Hattie. Those fangs would have decimated her.
Just his luck that the creature had hit his neck. Domini had very tough necks, near impossible to choke and difficult to cut. Though, if he hadn’t moved, he imagined that the thing would have hit his head – and that would likely have done more damage.
But its element of surprise was gone.
And with it, its chance of victory.
Tuvo caught the next attack right on his chest. Claws stuck into him like blades, forcing a grunt from him as he fell back a step.
But his own claws found their marks at the same time, cutting into the beat’s chest. Through the ribs protecting its heart and lungs. He squeezed, cracking those bones, driving his claws deep. The creature roared, whined, struggled against him.
But Tuvo drove it into the ground, shoving deeper into its body. It shuddered one last time before going still, its bright red blood leaking around his fingers.
Tuvo jerked his hands free with a wet, sucking squelch and stood, turning to check on Hattie. To check the area to make sure that this thing didn’t hunt in a pack and there weren’t more, even now, approaching his female.
But their camp was empty and quiet. Hattie stood there, not breathing, crying. Keith had vanished – likely into the plane itself.
Cowardly male. Couldn’t even take Hattie with him to make sure she-
“Tuvo!” Hattie rushed him, throwing her arms around his middle sobbing. “Oh my god! Are you okay? T-That thing! It attacked you! It just- Oh, god! You’re bleeding!”
Tuvo made a low sound, putting his arms around her. “Easy, Hattie. It’s all right. I’m fine. Are you alright?”
“You’re asking me that?” She leaned back, sniffling, staring at him with wide eyes. “It had its jaws around your neck, Tuvo! Your neck!”
Tuvo grunted, reaching up to touch the punctured skin. The thing’s teeth were long and its bite was strong, but the marks weren’t very deep. The claw marks gouged across his chest were much worse, though not potentially lethal.
Tuvo stroked Hattie’s back, holding her close, as she shuddered and cried.
This reaction, it was for him. She was this worried for him. And he hated that he made her anxious like this, but he couldn’t help the warmth that filled his chest. The strength. Knowing that she cared this much made the little scratches worthless.
When she finally calmed down and, sniffling, took a step back, Keith poked his head from inside the plane and was approaching his kill.
Tuvo growled, warning him off.
That beast was his hunt. And its coat was glorious. If Hattie could skin it, he should like to keep it for himself. Keith wasn’t welcome near it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hattie asked, touching him to reassure herself.
“I’m fine, kyrya,” he assured her. “Just a few scratches. What is that thing? Is it likely to hunt in packs?”
She chuckled weakly, wiping at her eyes as she shook her head no. “It’s a jaguar. They, er, they hunt alone. I’m pretty sure. There won’t likely be another one nearby.”
“A jaguar,” he repeated, looking at it. A fitting name for such a beast. “Can you skin it? Can you cook it?”
She laughed again, a little more genuinely this time. “That’s a new one too. But I might as well. It would be a waste considering you had to kill it. Can you help me? It’s big. I won’t be able to move it on my own.”
Tuvo agreed and, after shooing Keith away with another growl, got to work helping her pull the skin away from its body.
He used the rope he had been making out of plant fibers and some long branches to make a rack for her to hang it so she could start cutting off the meat.
Some could be cooked now, but the rest she would have to smoke and preserve over their fire.
It was a big kill, a worthy one, and its meat would likely keep them fed for some time if she could keep it from spoiling.
And as Tuvo went about preparing its skin, he had to resist the urge to cook the food himself. To feed Hattie with the proof of his labors. Then drag her into the den so she could make a nest and he could breed her properly.
The rescue better get here soon, because he was starting to become feral, and he wouldn’t be able to control himself around Hattie forever.