The morning sunlight was blocked by thick gray clouds, giving the heart-wrenching scene a gloomy vybe. The adrenaline and faint glee at killing one of those horrifying beasts faded away like a wisp of smoke.

Tai ran to Tziporah and, without hesitation, carefully dragged her out. With each movement, her body twitched, yet her eyes remained unfocused.

He gently laid her slumped body sideways on the tree root and assessed her injuries. The gash on her arm is fine for now, but the slice in her back...

He really didn't know what to do.

The warm blood flowed with unnatural ease from the long, narrow and deep wound. If he didn't act now, Tziporah would definitely die.

Think.....think...

That incident when Tito got a deep cut while they were frolicking about in the city popped into his mind. Based on what he remembered, the wound has to stop bleeding first, then you clean it, then bandage it.

He knew how to do none of those, let alone for such a large, deep slice. He looked around. Maybe he could use a leaf to cover it then apply pressure?

He swiftly placed his plan into action, to no success. As a result of his actions, he agitated the wound.

Pressure won't work...maybe he could seal it? But with what?

He could stuff a leaf in it...

Tai pondered as his eyes caught a gooey, sticky substance that oozed from the scratches of the abused tree. His eyes lit up.

He immediately scooped a handful and hastily made his way towards Tziporah. He slathered it all on her wound thoroughly.

He looked at his handiwork. It was messy. He admitted it.

An unnecessarily thick coating mixed with blood covered the slice wound that stretched along her frail ivory back. He tried as best as possible to remove the strands of hair mixed in the coating, but instead made the remaining goo in his hand mix with her hair further.

He's killing her at this point, if she's not already dead.

Thank goodness she's still breathing.

Now that he temporarily solved that emergency, he could finally assess their situation.

He scanned their surroundings. Due to the earlier scuffle, a small, messy clearing laid around him. The bits of bush were scattered across the scene. The injured wolf was nowhere to be seen, save the faint whimpers in the distance.

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If these animals wanted to eat them so badly, then with the bloody state Tziporah was in, nowhere on the forest floor would be safe.

Tai stared at the branches of the colossal trees. He heard the echoing chirps of birds, but never saw one. Those winged creatures might be more dangerous, but he'll never know if he doesn't try.

The morning sun shone ever so brightly as insects, rodents and other creatures made the forest pulse with life.

His heart ached for the destroyed fauna. Despite the heartbreak he felt earlier—and still feeling now, the abundance of greenery excited his inner wannabe gardener, though the emotion was buried under the throbbing pain of his chest.

He wished he could go back in time—to the time when his parents wanted him. He took a deep breath and shoved his thoughts away. He touched Tziporah's forehead. She was hot.

I need to get Tziporah to high ground.

Being this tiny didn't allow him to see a lot of trees due to the blocking bush and grass, but he remembered this weird, wide spreading tree he glanced at yesterday. Its branches were thick enough to move around comfortably with room to spare.

Most importantly, there are some odd, rope-like things that draped from the sides of the branches, touching the ground. If he could climb those, they would be safe.

With his destination locked, Tai propped Tziporah over his shoulders and ran as quickly as he could without draining his energy too quickly.

If that tree was safe enough, they could use it as a base for a few days.

Bypassing the torn-up bush, he retraced their path, just past the branch they slept in. He stopped and peered inside. The risk was great, but if the tree proved dangerous, they could lodge here again.

Before he could react, an elongated insect creature with innumerable legs pounced out of the darkness and bit at him with two sharp, pointy mandibles.

Tai fell backwards in a start and Tziporah's limp body cushioned the fall. Thank goodness the ground here wasn't rocky.

Tai kicked at the creature with his foot immediately and besides the painful recoil he felt, the creature bore no reaction. Its shiny, beady eyes stared at him coldly. It bit into his shoulder.

Tai screamed as blinding pain assaulted his senses. He felt pain rattle violently throughout his body and his eyes bulged. He watched in terror as the creature yanked at his flesh. The pain multiplied.

He hugged the creature in a desperate attempt to keep his body intact. The insect swung its body left and right aggressively in retaliation, but Tai held on by sheer will to live.

He had to live.

Tai tried but failed to latch his feet unto the bug. Its numerous sharp legs attempted to scratch him to no avail.

Blood gushed from the wound in his shoulder, and the bug shook more aggressively. Tai gritted his teeth and released one arm. His twin wounds opened even further and he yelled angrily as he smashed his fist into every animal's weakness—the eyes.

The bug shrieked and slammed his body on the ground repeatedly. The aggravated wound got deeper. Tai blacked out.

When he regained consciousness, he felt his body slam into the ground once again. The beast was still in a frenzy.

He gave one more push through the pain and used his right arm to forcibly loosen one of its mandibles from his skin. Blood gushed even more from his wound as he strained to barely unhook the mandible from his flesh.

The beast continued its frenzy and Tai, hooked by one mandible, was flung away as the latched mandible was ripped out of his flesh. He landed in a bed of dried leaves.

The insect loomed over him, shaking its mandibles. He could almost feel its glee at his suffering.

Tai couldn't help but softly chuckle at that moment. If his parents wanted him to die, they really chose the right place.

If he died here, no one would know, let alone care.

Despite that, he was going to live.