Nothing in this world was free. Well, maybe the birds.

But nothing else. For the rest, it was give and gain. Envy did not mind this, it made a perfect sense in her mind. At the bottom of the pyramid, with no authority to simply take, this was the way of life she had grown used to. The metaphorical scratching of backs, looped back around and around. She had always prepared her bargains accordingly, used to anyways. Here, she had nothing to bargain with beyond herself, and even then, what could've been offered? He was not injured, she was a lousy hunter and she would've been too inclined to keep any food for herself. To talk, this was all she had left to her.

She was a skilled enough healer, if he returned with the herbs she required, she could've tried to mend it herself, though the placement was not exactly going to make that easy. Even now, she felt the teeth sliding into the back of her neck, cold like ice and burning like fire in her flesh, they ripped and ripped and her breath grew shorter, laboured, squeezed.

She let in another breath, quiet. Blood trickled down her neck and dripped into tiny pools in the dirt. She craned her head to look down at them. What a strange place she found herself in. Even here, when her neck dripped her vitality in droplet after droplet, curiosity tempted her. Her eyes followed his form into the woods.

As he disappeared into the undergrowth, he let his words linger. What cost suited her? Courteous, but she did not know. She would mull over it again and again. What must she do? grovel? degrade herself? Whatever it was it would be done, she dismissed it and diminished all meaning with a swish across the ground of her crooked tail. She could be an actress, a performer, whatever was called for, and yet first, she had to put her head back on her shoulders. She shook her head with vigour, scattered her thoughts in the most physical of ways and took in a soft breath. The pain had begun to set in, adrenaline far away now. She lowered herself to her stomach and let her head rest on outstretched paws while she waited.