Rise [INFIDGET]

Chapter Thirteen: Appreciation

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POV: Gadget

The sun dawned and shone its warm light through the cave, it was morning.

I haven't had that good of sleep in weeks...

I noticed that my cheek was laying on soft fur and raised a brow, I lifted my head and my eyes widened as I realized that Zero slept with me due to his arms being wrapped around my small waist.

I smiled to myself at how soft Zero's fur was, for such a destructive being he knows how to keep on top on his fur.

My ears perked to the sounds of birds chirping in the morning breeze, it was a gentle song that soothed me. I also heard a small grunt and shifting, I assume Zero was waking up.

I turned around so I layed on his chest and glanced up at him, "Good morning" I looked into those heterochromic eyes, they were so entrancing.

Zero looked at me and gave a soft smile, "Morning" he replied and stroked my back with his hands. "Sleep well?" he asked.

I blushed gently, "Yeah, the best sleep I've had in weeks..." I chuckled lightly, it felt nice when he stroked my back but I tried passing that thought off.

Don't get distracted, Gadget. You're still in a rough situation with the world.

"Well, that's good" Zero replied and removed his hands from me, making me shiver from the sudden coolness of the cave. He stretched and glanced at our remaining food, "Hmm, that should do for dinner" he turned to me. "How about we go find some berries for breakfast?"

I grinned, "Sure!" I stood up too and fixed my gear. "You know the berries in these woods?" I asked curiously.

Zero nodded, "Before I...took this cave I learned how to survive on berries and wildlife, since the doctor is too busy with his empire to consider my survival" he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "So I taught myself which ones were edible and which ones were poisonous" he explained while walking out of the cave, he didn't wear his mask.

I hummed softly, "I see, how come you haven't died or gotten poisoned if you tried some wild berries without knowing if they are good for you?" I asked as I followed him out.

"The ruby helped me with that" Zero responded, walking to a nearby berry bush. "It may be a weapon of destruction but it's good for checking vitals and scanning items like wild food" he crouched to a bush and looked at the berries in it.

I crouched with him and looked at the berries. They were purple and looked like blueberries, I was about to touch them until...

"DON'T!"

I yelped and fell backwards from the yell, landing on my ass. "Ow!" I hissed.

Zero sighed and helped me up, "Don't touch them" he sternly spoke. "Their skin in poisonous, the poison can get into the body by skin contact, it's like acid" he explained. "They may look like harmless blueberries but they are very lethal"

I sat up with the help of Zero and sighed, "Sorry..." I pouted softly.

Zero chuckled, "It's okay, you didn't know" he flashed a gentle smile and stood up. "Come, let's find some more"

I nodded and walked with him before he stopped at another bush, this bush had thorns around it and the berries were incased in the thorns protectively.

"These are edible" Zero crouched to the bush and spawned in a dagger. "To get the berries in this bush, you need to cut away the thorns and gently pull the berry from the bush" he explained. "They taste sweet but fill your stomach quickly, I'd only recommend taking three as any more than that you'd have a stomach ache"