It is almost a dream as she watches Carnifex rip into the puma with relish, that craziness that she often saw locked inside of him manifesting in this very moment. Rip, tear, swallow. His body, midnight that it is, gleams beneath the pale rays of moonlight with the blood staining him. It is as if his fur now matches his eyes, gleaming that iridescent red at certain movements, as if he is coal set aflame from the inside. He is breath taking and fearsome. She basks in it, although her body trembles from exertion - both mental and physical. The cougar had done a number on her and while he had also left some wounds upon Carnifex she did not think of him. He was bigger, after all, and much easier to heal than she. A whimper falls from her lips as she quiets to his movements. His gaze falls upon her with a curiously confused expression and she stares back at him with wide eyes, her breath falling swiftly as he moves away from her dead assailant and towards her.

Yet there is no more of that consuming fury in him. Perhaps the beast had given her a gift in the same swipe as his paw for Carnifex pauses before her and then, ever so gently, their noses touch. Her eyes close on a wistful sigh, as if this touch is the very thing that grounds her. She forgets her throbbing wounds for a moment as his neck presses around hers and she pushes her cheek into his neck, wincing as his fur pricks at her open wound. Then he pulls away and she expects him to mock her weakness, even after such a sweet display of care, but he merely begins to walk away and glance back at her.

Swift she is to stand, although she limps after him, alternating between tucking her paw beneath her and trying to delicately step on it. The trip seems to take forever. Maybe it does. Maybe this is all some damned dream and she would wake to find herself still wounded but without her beast. For now she cannot question it because she is in too much pain and yet she is also whole. How could it be that the presence of another can do such strange things to her? Only Carnifex. Her beast.

Time slips by and she weakens even as her blood congeals and crusts and she pants heavily by the time they reach the grotto. She moves close to his hip, pressing her shoulder into it for support and comfort before seating herself at the entrance of one of the many caverns. "I thought you were gone. I thought I was going to die," she says softly, feeling almost ashamed to admit it because he would know that she had almost given up. "I'm glad you came back. Don't leave me again Carni." Now her voice is demanding even while entreating. "Promise me you will not."