Chapter 16 Reunion His voice became somewhat indistinct through their skin...
Whether Catherine was lucky or unlucky was unknown. When she had only a little bit of the beast-repelling powder left and was too hungry to walk any further, she saw Tarasco.
Yes, although he looked as terrifying and dangerous as a wild beast whose ferocity had been unleashed, Catherine would not mistake his face.
Catherine, now collapsed from hunger in a nearby haystack, peered through the gaps in the tall, bushy grass at a height of about one and a half people at a time, at the alien spider slowly walking outside.
Looking into those bloodshot eyes, she wasn't sure if she should attract his attention. Her gut told her that Tarasco was in grave danger.
However, Catherine clearly did not realize that she was currently in an upwind position, and the air had already made the decision for her before she could.
Upon smelling the familiar scent in the air, Tarasco's eyes narrowed instantly, making him look like a completely cold-blooded animal.
He immediately rushed toward Catherine, and the earth trembled at the sight of the beast running.
Catherine felt she should run away. But she was so hungry that she was completely exhausted and unable to move. She could only watch silently as Tarasco approached her.
He was incredibly fast; he covered that short distance almost instantly. Only when he was almost there did he begin to slow down, until he finally stopped beside Catherine.
Somewhat surprisingly, he didn't pick her up immediately, but instead chose to stop to the side and look down at her.
His expression was cold and stern, and with those dangerous, blood-red eyes, Catherine could only pray that he wasn't observing her to see if she was palatable.
After all, nearly three days had passed since she was abducted.
This period of time was neither long nor short. She couldn't be confident that Tarasco hadn't changed at all during this time.
However, the alien spider's gaze was just too aggressive...
At first, Catherine was able to meet his gaze, hoping to react accordingly based on the few changes in his expression. But as time went on, her gaze began to drift involuntarily to the side.
To Catherine's surprise, her act of looking away seemed to provoke Tarasco, who moved instantly.
He swiftly lifted Catherine up, then, as if she were a lost treasure regained, pulled her into a tight embrace, with a force that almost made him meld her into his body.
And Catherine...
Catherine was so weak from hunger that even her screams from sudden weightlessness sounded barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.
Tarasco buried his head in the crook of her neck, the constant, slight rubbing making Catherine feel ticklish and want to laugh, but she didn't have the strength to break free. She could only try to turn her head to the side, creating an almost invisible distance between them.
Logically, Catherine should have said something at this point.
But she didn't dare to speak.
After their reunion, Tarasco's series of actions and reactions were so strange that Catherine couldn't help but wonder if he had accidentally eaten hallucinogenic plants from the Devil's Forest.
Shouldn't she just be a special kind of reserve food for him? The kind that can be eaten after successfully getting through his heat cycle.
Although his attitude toward her may have changed somewhat during their not-so-short but not-so-long period of getting along, objectively speaking, she should still be the one who relies on him more—although she is reluctant to admit it, she is currently the one in a subordinate position in this relationship.
But now, Tarasco's emotions are more intense than she imagined.
"Finally found...you..." Tarasco finally stammered after a long pause.
The atmosphere was indeed a bit sentimental. However, Catherine felt a burning sensation in her stomach from hunger and couldn't help but worry that she would starve to death.
Before this, she hadn't eaten for almost a whole day! The last meal she had was a small snack that he fed her before she set off with the silver python to the snake cave—it wasn't even half the size of her palm.
So she still broke the silence with regret.
"I'm so hungry right now..."
Her voice involuntarily trembled with a hint of tears.
To be honest, this wasn't the tone she had imagined herself to have... Catherine herself was surprised by her own voice.
Because in her original intention, she simply wanted to say this in a statement of fact.
But sometimes, human emotions are just so hard to control.
Perhaps it was because Tarasco felt closer to her than the cold snake, or perhaps it was because she had been traveling for many days, and was now hungry and exhausted, and had encountered a creature that was somewhat familiar to her...
In short, after several days of being on edge, her first words upon seeing Tarasco involuntarily turned into this tearful statement.
Her face flushed instantly, and she buried herself in Tarasco's arms with a strange sense of shame.
However, it was clear that the beast, which was clumsy in the perception of emotions, did not notice the emotional changes of the human in its arms.
He only heard an "instruction".
He finally stopped standing still and sprinted towards his nest with Catherine in his arms. The air around them swirled with the speed, becoming icy cold. Tarasco's arms blocked most of the chill, leaving only a few strands ruffling Catherine's long hair.
Catherine gradually regained her senses, went through Tarasco's emotions, and finally characterized his reaction as the unexpected joy of suddenly seeing his lost "little pet".
She had previously witnessed a nun at the church who was devastated after accidentally losing her beloved cat. When she finally found the lost kitten, she rushed over and hugged it tightly, emotionally telling the cat about her anxiety and sadness over the past two days.
However, the nun's reaction was probably a bit too enthusiastic for the kitten.
Pets often cannot understand the complex emotions of humans, and similarly, she is also temporarily unable to understand the feelings of her "owner".
The good news was that after nearly an hour of being exposed to the cold wind, she finally entered Tarasco's cave. Although everything inside was the same as before—overly simple and damp—it wasn't exactly a pleasant place for humans to live.
But ever since she saw the cave filled with bizarre specimens by the silver python, Tarasco's simple dwelling only brought her a strange sense of peace.
Catherine looked around the cave, and everything was as she expected, until... she saw the pile of roasted monster meat in the center of the cave.
A sense of crisis instantly rose in Catherine's heart.
The beasts in the Devil's Forest only eat raw meat. Or to be precise, apart from humans, there is no other species in the Devil's Forest that needs to eat cooked meat.
Could it be that during the time she was abducted by the python, Tarasco found a second "special reserve food" like her?
...
Yes, that's right. He's in estrus, and he needs a creature to help him relieve himself. And their first encounter also means that he doesn't want to provoke a female spider that might eat its mate at any moment.
She knew all of this, but wasn't it a bit too fast? She had only been gone for less than three days.
Although she hasn't met her kindred spirit yet, this pile of roasted meat undoubtedly suggests to Catherine that she is no longer special to Tarasco.
Catherine pursed her lips. She didn't want to think about the consequences of becoming a real food reserve.
The thought that arose from the pile of roasted meat made Catherine stand at the cave entrance for too long, which made Tarasco behind her approach with suspicion and push her inside.
Catherine mustered her strength and took a few steps inside, regaining her senses. She moved weakly to the barbecue, then grabbed a piece of meat...
Hmm? It's cold.
Catherine was a little surprised; she thought Tarasco had just baked it.
However, she soon became too hungry to think about such things. The aroma of meat filled her nostrils, making her want to wolf it down, but for the sake of her stomach, Catherine tried her best to control her eating speed.
Regardless, Tarasco's attitude towards herself is currently alright, which means she still has a chance to survive.
She lowered her eyes to look at the roasted meat in her hands. It was still too early to say who would ultimately survive between her and her rival.
Tarasco stood behind Catherine, quietly watching her eat. The air in the cave was sparse, and the surrounding temperature seemed to be slowly rising because of Catherine's arrival.
His breathing became heavier... He had been either searching for Catherine or hunting outside for the past few days, occasionally returning to his cave to cook and store the food he had hunted.
And now, she's back.
Tarasco gritted his teeth and patiently watched her chew her food. After she had eaten most of her usual amount, he finally couldn't resist, bent down, scooped her up, and placed her on his carapace.
Catherine still had a small piece of meat in her mouth, which she hadn't completely swallowed, and she was also holding another piece in her hand.
She was clearly unprepared for the sudden change in her location. Her eyes were filled with utter bewilderment.
But even if she was a little confused a second ago, the next second, when her arm touched Tarasco's arm, the hot, almost burning temperature gave her an explanation.
The seat was uneven, causing Catherine to shift her position uncomfortably.
God... he seems even more enthusiastic than the day they first met.
"Have you... um... taken care of something these past few days?" Catherine asked, puzzled.
While Catherine was trying to figure out her situation, Tarasco had already lowered his head and started biting her neck.
“No… I wasn’t looking for you…” Tarasco looked anxious. He clearly didn’t want to stop, so he only responded to Catherine’s question between kisses.
His voice became somewhat muffled through his skin.
A note from the author:
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