At this rate he knew he wasn’t going to make it. Aureo laid on the grass, his wounds were bleeding out to quickly. The locals were doing their best, but even that wasn’t good enough. At least they had made him a bit less miserable than he was. “To think that I lost to a stupid cheetah. Kyros is going to be pissed when he finds out that he can’t fight me again.”

The locals didn’t say anything to him. They just let him talk. They brought him plenty of fruit that he liked. Occasionally they would sit next to him and chat with him. He would tell him about adventures he had and people he met. “I once met this dragon lady. She was horrible mean, but she could cure anything. If she was here now things would be different.”

Sendatu had come to this pride in search of their famous fruit. She wanted to study their affects on the body. Her followers were off hunting as she explored. When she worked she preferred to be alone. As she walked into the pride she noticed a large commotion and decided to check it out.

“She was a real peace of work this lady. She yelled at me because just as soon as she fixed me up I wanted to go out exploring.” Sendatu saw the lion telling stories to the crowd. She smirked as she got closer. Immediately she noticed the wounds.

“Aureo, what did you do this time?” She said angrily. It was just like their younger years. He would get hurt and she would fix him up, than he would get hurt again. Though he had never gotten this badly hurt. “Every get away from him now. I need to start working on him.”

All eyes were on her. She saw a young cub whisper to Aureo, “Is she the mean dragon lady?” Aureo laughed at the cub and nodded. The locals got away from Aureo and gave her room. She walked around Aureo.

“Txiki, you know me. I’m clumsy. I trip over my big old feet all the time.” Aureo said with a laugh. He did not expect to see his old friend, let alone in his moment of need. “What brings you all the way over here? You are pretty far from home aren’t you?”

“My name is Sendatu now. I had it changed when I left home.” She said as she pulled some herbs out of her pouch. Carefully she rubbed them into the wound. Aureo flinched from the pain. “It will hurt a little bit. Now just sit there for a little bit. We need to catch up.”

“It is amazing that you of all creatures show up here when I am injured. You weren’t in league with the guy who hurt me were you?”

“No. I came here in search of the fruit. It seems that I won’t be able to find any since it looks like you ate it all.” She was referring to the large pile of fruit next to him. “What did you do to piss that guy off? You normally don’t get into these kind of fights.”

“I was trying to get him to eat some fruit and than he wanted me to join his little group. When I refused he sort of lost it.” He really didn’t want to share with Sendatu about his lose. “How long until I will be well enough to run? I’m itching for an adventure.”

“Idiot. If you do not let your wounds heal properly you will end off even worse. Why don’t you travel with me for a little bit. I don’t expect you to hang around too long, just until you are back to your healthy self.” She offered. She laid next to him and cleaned his fur. “It has been a long time since we have seen each other hasn’t it? I think last time we saw each other you were convinced that I had cooties.”

Aureo looked away from her. He had had a crush on her when they were younger. She was smart, even as a cub. Even back than she could heal pretty much everything. He, of course, wanted to do nothing but explore. It was odd, everyone thought they would clash, but the two of them were very close.

“I guess I can travel with you for a little bit, but I don’t want it interfering with my adventures. The moment I am better I am going to leave.” Aureo said, letting her clean his fur. “You know you wouldn’t be too horrible of a mother. You would have to make sure you wouldn’t try any of your weird experiments.”

Sendatu laughed quietly. She had thought many times about becoming a mother. It would mean she would no longer travel anymore, that she would have to find a mate. She looked at Aureo and beamed at him. He had always been her top candidate to become her mate, but she knew it would never work. She would have to force him to stay in one place and make him miserable for the rest of his life. Perhaps someday he would grow up and become a good father, she thought.

“Someday I will Aureo. I just don’t think I am ready to settle down yet. There is so much I still need to learn and my favorite test subject left me a while ago.” She teased. “At least I have you for few more days. Perhaps I could accidently poison you so you could stay with me even longer.”

“No thanks Txiki- erm Sendatu. I’ll have to be careful about what I take from you. So when will we be leaving?”

“We are not going anywhere for at least a day. You need your rest. If you got up now you would make your wounds worse. I probably couldn’t even heal you. Now you behave yourself while I go and gather some herbs. I need to restock. Some idiot used up most of them.” She got up and walked away.

Aureo watched her as she left. His heart was racing in a good way. He had forgotten what it felt like to want something he couldn’t have. It only made him want it more. The cub he was talking to earlier came up.

“Did the dragon lady hurt you?”

Aureo laughed. He hoped that the cub wouldn’t call her that to her face. “The dragon lady used her healing powers to fix me up. I am going to be better in a couple days thanks to her. She is amazing.”

Sendatu was climbing up a fruit tree. She knocked a couple of the fruits down and examined them. They smelt sweet and made her hungry. She knew better than to eat strange fruit that she knew nothing about. She glanced back at Aureo. It was odd that they ran into each other, even after all those years. If she believed in destiny this would be proof of it.

She thought about her short time she would have with Aureo. There was a chance she had long enough to help him grow up and become a proper mate for her. She grinned mischievously at the thought. Only time would tell.

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