Young Writers Society

James didn’t have much to do in the passing hours. It was a miracle he kept himself awake, replaying the same information in his head on repeat. At this point in his life, it was a habit, and was effective in keeping him alert. But he was still exhausted.

At some point, Tasha had fallen asleep. And he let her sleep for some time before he considered waking her. But just as he was about to get up, he heard a shuffling in the forest of something approaching. It wasn’t a human. It sounded like an animal. One with paws.

A sable dog somewhere between a wolf and a shepherd came out of the woods. It was long-legged and muscular with a sleek, dense coat; whoever's dog this was, they coveted it, and it was quite healthy. A wide leather collar was fixed around its neck studded with silver spikes to protect it.

The canine stopped and stared at him for a moment before raising its tail and coming forward with its hackles up to stand over Tasha, peeling back its teeth to reveal slender, pointed teeth as it uttered a quiet snarl.

James blinked, remaining frozen as the dog approached and stood over Tasha.

Tasha never mentioned having a dog. Of course, she had no reason to either. Needless to say, he was confident that the dog was not happy with being separated from its owner, or Tasha being wounded. He stayed still, avoiding direct eye contact.

The beast watched him intently as it stood over her mistress, glaring at him.

“Look, I’m not trying to hurt her, okay,” he said quietly, even though he knew the dog wouldn’t understand him.

It chuffed at him and sat down next to its mistress, laying her head on Tasha's chest and watching James.

James nodded slightly. “Okay,” he mumbled.

Tasha stirred a little at the noise and the physical contact. Her arm wrapped around her dog and she rolled over in her half-sleep towards it - and the pain promptly jerked her back to wakefulness. She sat up and fell back again, grimacing and putting a hand to her side.

She blinked and frowned. "Bane? That you, girl?"

The dog stood and wagged her tail, James forgotten as she leapt on her mistress and put her paws on her shoulders before licking her face enthusiastically. Tasha laughed - a genuine laugh - and scratched her ears, laughing shallowly through the pain.

James got up and stretched as soon as the dog relaxed, raising a brow when Tasha laughed. He wasn’t going to break up their reuinion, and decided to wait until the dog calmed down to tell Tasha they had to get moving again.

Bane dropped back to all fours and Tasha grabbed the tree behind her to pull herself unsteadily to her feet. The dog growled at James again even though he'd done absolutely nothing differently.

"Leave him," Tasha grunted, leaning heavily against the trunk and putting a hand to her side.

"It's been a while," James said quietly. "We should get moving again." He tilted his head slightly as he observed how she struggled to move. "Do you mind if I carry you again?"

"I can walk," she stated firmly.

James stared at Tasha with a blank expression. He wasn't convinced.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself more. If you push yourself too hard you'll only heal slower," he said.

She gave him a solid look. "I. Can. Walk. Is there a part of that that was unclear?" she asked curtly.

James continued to look down at her with a neutral expression.

"Okay then... get up. Let's go," he said.