I Am Alone

Chapter 19: The Sound in the Bushes

Aphmau is starting to get more stable, she can walk for awhile before her legs give out, though she's gotten into the habit of calling me 'Ronny' which I actually enjoyed.

I think it cute that she is that comfortable with me, then again, I don't really know what we are anymore, are we still friends? Or are we past that point?

You kissed her, twice, you told her you loved her, what do you think?

"Aaron?" She asks as we both ride on Fang, Crimson trailing behind us and with her hanging onto my shirt, I have my hood up, it had started to snow a little.

"Yeah? Are you still holding up?" I feel her snuggle against my back, making my cold face heat up, but I can't help but smile a little.

"Yeah, I'm okay.....It's just.....nevermind." I hear her sigh, and Fang suddenly stops in his tracks, sniffing and making a very curious sound.

Crimson does the same, we were still in the swamps, just on the outskirts, about to enter the redwood forest that lined the our snowy hill.

I hear a strange noise, and the hiss of a smaller Alligator, there are two types of Alligator, a smaller, faster version, and the larger, much more dangerous version.

"Aaron....That sounds like....." She gasps and jumps off Fang with speed and agility I didn't know she had, and she parts cattails.

I follow her, knowing that she could easily overwhelm herself with how much she's moving, she hasn't fully recovered yet.

She pulls out a crossbow and shoots at something, An alligator, its trying to get to a small basket that's hung on a limb.

I tell her to stop shooting and I take out my tranquilizers, made by dipping the tip in narcotics. I was gonna knock this thing out, it would be useful navigating the swamp if we ever needed to come back.

"Come at me." I glance at the basket, its lodged in the branch good, so it wasn't going to go downstream.

The Alligator rears back and jumps at me, I dodge it, pulling the trigger on my crossbow and the arrow hitting it's scaled side. It would take more than one to take down the beast.

Aphmau runs for the basket, grabbing it and gently pulling it off the branch, she grins at it, I'm not sure why, but whatever it is it's with us now.

The narcotics start working, the alligator becomes more sluggish, and I bury another tranq in its head, It pounces, and misses by a long shot, and before it can pounce again it slips and falls, falling into a med induced sleep.

It would stay asleep for awhile, so I drag it out of the muddy water and onto solid land, I also figure out it's a girl, which is always important in naming.

"Hey. What was in that basket?" I ask as I leave some meat in front of the Alligator, it eagerly excepts and gobbles down a large chunk.

Aphmau is staying completely still with a huge just dumbfounded expression, I wonder why, until I see two small pairs of hands reach out from the basket.

I sprint over, there, laying comfortably in the basket, is a toddler with hair the color of ash, and bright caramel brown eyes. I can tell it's a boy, and you could tell he had been crying.