Still staring at the body in front of her, Camrin hears Lila scream. Delayed response much?
When Lila goes to grab her friend and check on her, her finds her eyes hazy and blank. Nervous, Lila turns back to the creature who just stand there, then back at Camrin. Just when Lila was going to cry at her brain-dead friend, Camrin suddenly shapes her head and says, "Come on. We need to get somewhere safe. If other animals heard the place of the attack, they'll come back to check on extra food. Let's move." And with a new serious edge of her that Lila never saw before, she follows obediently after her, the creature protecting their back. After a short number of miles, Camrin collapses and declares this a safe area to sit down. Again, Lila obediently follows. Camrin stares at Lilith for a while than looks back at Lila.
"We need to eat."
"We have no food, and the jungle is bare." Camrin finally smiles, the gash on her cheek opening again.
"At least that's one thing I prepared for." Then she pulls out a bundle of leaves from her coat and shows them the fruit inside.
Camrin smiles wickedly before saying, "Don't worry this didn't get piss on it." Then.
"While I was trying to convince Lilith to leave the cave, I tripped on some vines and noticed that the cave still had fruits from the springtime the week before because it was not in contact with the outside environment. I brought all I could, but I still don't know if it'll be enough. I have no idea how long we'll be wondering in these woods."
A moment of silent passes before Lila starts hysterically crying.
"I never thought of that. I can't even help you or be of use. Oh Camrin, I'm so sorry! And the gash! The wolf almost bit your cheek right off." Camrin doesn't have time to mutter a single tired "it's ok. We're in this together" before Lila admits she peed on her when the wolf attacked because she was so scared. In the heat of the moment neither of them noticed. But when Camrin does sniff her coat, she sees that Lila really did pee all over her back, and bursts into idiotic laughter.
[Human, are you alright?]
But the laughter continues until tears run down and salt her wound.
"So, you're telling me I killed a wolf, I'm tired, I'm starving, I'm scared, I'm covered in pee and blood and dirt and I'm still alive." Camrin laughs again like a certified manic before fainting.
----------------------
It takes a lot of effort to wake up her friend. But it takes more effort to not go insane. Camrin wakes up in hazy increments before deciding to finally get up. She gets them fed, only a tiny amount to save their supply, which sends Lila into a fast slumber and Camrin to sit down for a moment of peace.
"Do you need food to survive as well?"
[No. Food is not my sustenance.]
"How are we going to stay safe when we sleep. We already got attacked once simply for peeing."
[You are going to have to hide like the beasts of this forest hide as well. For that, you'll need to find a plot of snow that gives under your feet, hollow in a way, and dig out a small opening. We do not have the necessary materials, but grab anything you can find, dry leaves, thick branches, maybe lost cloth sitting around. There are a lot more attacks that occur here than you realize. Even if the clothes are bloodied, if you find them, bring them. You will need to furnish the inside of the global you dug under the snow to prevent you from freezing to death.]
"How will you survive then?"
The creature hesitates.
[I cannot give you that information for the time being. Just focus on yourself for now.]
Camrin does not argue. She doesn't think she has a right to.
[I will lead you while you create this nest, but we must start now or else it will get too dark to build it.]
With that threat looming on them, Camrin regretfully wakes Lila up to get another set of hands. Another explaining the general gist of what must be done, Lila stares admiringly at her friend.
"Wow. You know you much. We wouldn't have survived without you."
Feeling guilty that she knew nothing, the information coming from the creature, and about how she lied to Lila about their communication ability, Camrin ushers her away.
[Do not doubt your abilities. The one who stopped the wolf by themselves was you. And the one who thought to get food for the trip was you as well. Do not feel bad for doing what you can to survive. You are not dumber for not knowing things you've never came across. Get to work. And do not drown in for thoughts.]
Camrin's first instinct is to reject Lilith's worry and tell her she doesn't feel ashamed. But the events of the day have drained on her, and she deems it unworthy to waste her energy on it. The question of whether or not Lilith could read her mind, pops up, but she decides not to bring that up either. If she faces that question, she has to face the question of why a creature can talk into her mind, and then she'll start to question her reality and past events and there really isn't any time for that.
Camrin and Lila walk together to find leaves and ripped cloth while Lilith uses her limited body structure to dig up a hole. Since she has the most knowledge of something like this and the skill of keeping the snow from collapsing inwards while they sleep, Camrin left it to her creature. It is too much of a risk to leave it to fate, who had not liked them at all the past week. Trying to remain concealed, they huddle together every few steps, check the path, then keep moving. On one of these tiny breaks, Camrin turns to her friend and remembers something she saw before the wolf had attacked.
"Lila, your hands and lips have turned blue."
"What?"
"You were doing so well and right before the wolf attacked up, you grew all cold. You're trembling even worse than me now."
Ashamed of how she's acted and how weak she is, Lila smiles. "Yeah, I don't know what was going on with me. It's ok. I'll be fine. If you took it, I can too." After another tiny hunt and finding nothing but a couple of dry leaves which they stooped up, they run to camouflage themselves with the next tree.
"I'm sorry for what I did," Lila says suddenly, "I don't know what got into me. I'm sorry for rushing us into the forest and starting this hell journey."
"Don't feel bad Lila. You did something when I wanted to sit there and waste away. You started moving. You had the determination and sanctity of mind to understand that. We wouldn't have survived without you."
Determining that this is too far from their safe area, and fearing getting lost, they turn around in the same manner they came with. With exhaustion pressing down on all of them, at least for the humans since Lilith shows no signs of feeling anything, they quickly finish their task.
The night starts off with Lila fast asleep, Camrin too scared to breath properly, and the creature still standing by their side. To pass the time, Camrin thinks aloud.
"It feels like it's the first night in this horrible forest. Like it's the only time of peace, even knowing we're not safe."
No response.
Something else then. "Where are your eyes?"
No response, again, and though she is not particularly expecting one, Camrin feels a bit ignored.
"Did you really not notice the wolf was there until Lila noticed it as well."
This lie sounds so good, and it makes logical sense. If her creature really had spent centuries in that cave, her sense would be weak. That means Lilith wouldn't have been able to help them even if she tried. But Camrin knows that's not right. The creature's eyes spot things better than Camrin's and her keen sense of hearing pick up things better than Camrin's. So much so, that Lilith warns them of their incoming environment before they can see it or hear it for themselves.
Mentally, Camrin hears her creature sign, resigning.
[I apologize my human] Lilith still does not call her by her name, [Not because of what happened or because of how I reacted. I apologize simply because it had to happened. I....You do not understand me now and you need not to. Just know that it did have to happen. You needed to experience it. You...] The creature trails off, then stops completely.
In her little hole, Camrin shivers, the air frosty enough to freeze her tears as they fall down her muddy face and turns her back on her creature that cannot even see inside their sanctuary. Finally worn out enough to sleep, Camrin thinks on how Lilith is no longer her creature. As if the universe is nodding in agreement, the creature's presence vanishes entirely from her mind.