A tale of Humans and Hybrids

Chapter 3

Techno groaned in pain as he settled down near a river to rest. He had been going for most of the day, trying his best to put enough pressure on his wounds to not bleed out. It seemed like none of the other hunters had actually followed him, but you can never be too sure.

Now that he actually had the chance to sit down, he got to work on patching up his wounds. His skin was burned at the edges, showing that the bastard has fire aspect on his sword, but it also somewhat helped keep the bleeding down.

Techno sorted through his stuff and quickly found his healing supplies. He was running low, but it should be enough to last him until he finds a new village to get more. Of course his healing potions were all gone... so stitches and bandages have to do for now.

It took ages, but he did manage to clean the wound with water from the river, somewhat sew the gash back together and wrap it up as tightly as he could. At least he won't bleed out now... or he hopes so.

Techno sighed and leaned down to wash his bloody hands in the river, not wanting to risk any kind of infection on smaller cuts that litter his skin. He's in a bad enough spot as it is. No base to return to, only enough food to last him maybe a week and a badly injured body that needs better medical treatment than the one he can perform right now.

The hunter leaned back against a stone and closed his eyes, allowing his tired body to rest a bit. His mind started to wander and brought him back to that small spot in the forest, where a mess of ropes was left in the grass.

He could see the hybrid again, how it had looked so terrified when realizing it's done for. How it had bowed it's head when leaving, showing it was grateful for Techno cutting the ropes. It showed human emotions. Fear may be universal, but a level of intelligence to where it would actively thank him with a human gesture, that was what shocked Techno the most.

It made him wonder if all hybrids are like that. No, he had seen ones that are clearly just animals with no trace of any higher intelligence at all. But now, when he called back all his kills and hunts, he started to see small details, hints, that this was not a one-time thing.

"What do I do now?" His question wasn't answered, only the sound of wind and a bird chirping somewhere in the distance. His side burned as he tried to move and made him hiss, hand hovering above the wound for a second. How is he supposed to go anywhere like this?

A strong gust of wind rushed over him and made him shiver, opening his eyes so he could look for his cloak, but what he saw made him freeze. Across from him, only a couple feet away, sat the hybrid, wings still slightly spread out and their eyes focused on him.

For a second they just stared at each other, not moving an inch. Techno's fingers twitched over to where his weapon was laying on the ground and the hybrid puffed out it's feathers, a small screech leaving it's throat, the message obvious.

No weapons.

Unwillingly, he took his hand away watching the other start to move. The bird creature slowly inched closer, keeping it's eyes focused on Techno's weapons. The hunter didn't try to reach for them anymore, too curious to what the hybrid was planning to do. Why did it come back?

It stopped only a few inches away, pointing at Techno's side. The hunter took his hand away slowly, revealing the blood soaked cloth that he used as a bandage. The bird frowned and turned to rummage through a small bag it was carrying. Soon, it pulled out a potion and held it out for the hunter to take.

A healing potion.

It knows how to brew potions? Or it just stole them... but it definitely showed an even bigger evidence on the hybrid's intelligence. Techno carefully took the potion from clawed hands, watching as large wings twitch when he touched the other, obviously showing that he was ready to take to the sky the second he sees any kind of hostile behavior from the human.

Instead, Techno slowly uncovered the wound on his side, hissing at the smallest movement. The hybrid cooed and reached out to help, but pulled it's hand back immediately, remembering who exactly they were helping right now.

The action confused Techno a bit, not understanding why in the world the hybrid had come back to help him after he almost killed it. Maybe this is its way of saying thank you? But healing a potential threat seems a bit extreme for just a thank you...

When the potion made contact with his skin it started to bubble and burn, the magic slowly stitching the skin back together until it was nothing more than a thin red line. Techno sighed and leaned back, feeling the pain and soreness leaving his side.

He expected the hybrid to leave the second it sees Techno fully healed, but it didn't. Watchful eyes had observed how the wound healed itself and gave a pleased trill when seeing that it had worked. It smiled at Techno, which only confused the hunter more. Why was it nice to him?

Techno but the empty bottle away and noticed the sword he had found earlier, still safely tucked away. He grabbed it and turned back to the hybrid. It immediately shrieked and jumped back, wings flared out defensively.

"Nononono I don't want to hurt you. I want to give it back." He held the sword out for the hybrid to take. It didn't come any closer, eying him suspiciously. He groaned and placed the sword on the ground, pushing it over to the bird with his foot. That seems to do the trick as the hybrid immediately grabbed it once it was in range, putting it back in a sheath the hunter hadn't even noticed on the bird's hips.

Now it was back to them staring at each other. Techno cursed internally at the language barrier now, because there are so many questions he has now, mostly about why in the name of Prime the hybrid had helped him.

A crow cawed in the distance, catching the hybrid's attention. It chirped back at the crow before looking back at Techno, debating if it should do something else or not. In the end, it probably decided against it, as it just bowed it's head again and then took to the slowly darkening sky, quickly leaving Techno's line of sight.

The hunter stared after it for a few moments before gathering up his stuff. He needs to find a shelter for the night, so those damn mobs won't get him. All while the strange interaction with the winged hybrid played on repeat in his head.