A rustling of leaves was the only warning before a dark shape emerged in blur of scales, teeth, and claws. It pounced on Eddie with four of its six legs, slashing at Melanie with the three inch talons on its remaining two legs. At least one of the talons ruptured an internal mechanism in Melanie and she went down in a spray of blue fluid. Eddie fell hard on his back, the creature's weight pinning him and driving the air from his lungs.

Eddie gasped for breath while his fingers worked to free his hatchet from his belt. The creature, twice the size of Eddie, turned its extended snout toward its prey, opening its jaws to expose three rows of triangular teeth and a prehensile, violet tongue.

Melanie sprang back to her feet and lunged, shouldering into the beast before its jaws could snap closed on Eddie. Her wrist blades slid out and began working on the creature's tough hide. Hardened leather scales blunted and deflected many of the strikes like a suit of armor, but the sharpened metal cut deep enough a sufficient number of times for the creature to back away. Eddie's hatchet slammed against the beast's head, failing to lodge in the skull but lacerating a deep wound that bled greenish-black blood. The beast hissed and snapped at what should've been its meal before retreating in search of easier prey.

"I never expected to find a crosilus out here," Eddie remarked, wincing as he leaned over to retrieve his hatchet. "It must have gotten loose from a zoo. Nevertheless, we prevailed."

His victorious smile faded immediately when he looked toward Melanie. Her left arm hung limply at her side and blue liquid from her internal system was covering nearly the entire left half of her body to pool at her feet.

"Are you alright?" Eddie questioned.

"Circulator fluid," Melanie explained, taking down her storage cylinder from her back and working the controls to unseal it. The task was made more difficult by having the use of only one arm. When she opened the outer casing, her left leg collapsed under her, dumping Melanie to the ground and knocking over the canister. Items on the interior shelves fell sideways but the rear wall of the canister kept them from spilling everywhere.

Eddie was at her side before she'd even realized she'd fallen. Her mind wasn't responding as fast as it should, and she couldn't concentrate on anything for longer than a few minutes. She couldn't identify a problem with her goggles, but they appeared to have darkened around the edges to the point it was starting to affect her ability to see.

Eddie pressed the emerald stone adorning her choker twice to open her chest plates, and Melanie tried to stop him and close the panels back, but her arms wouldn't respond.

"What are you doing?" Melanie demanded as her words seemed to be the only thing still functioning at the moment.

"You've sustained critical damage," Eddie explained quickly, rummaging through his pack and pulling out several tools before finding the right one. Reaching in between the components filling her chest cavity, he worked to repair the ruptured circulation line. "I can fix this. Don't give up hope."

"I don't have any hope," Melanie replied weakly. Her vision drained away, swallowed into darkness.

***

The first sensation registering in Melanie's mind was a ticking sound. Her eyes opened, taking in the dark green of the abundant vegetation all around her. The sun was much lower toward the horizon than she'd remembered, letting her estimate many hours had passed without her knowledge.

Eddie was asleep nearby. His hands were stained blue by the circulator fluid, and she knew from personal experience the stains would last for over a week before starting to fade. When she moved to sit up, a number of fallen leaves under her crackled, and Eddie bolted awake, his hand reaching for a weapon instinctively. When he saw there was no one around but the two of them, he smiled slightly and relaxed, leaning back against a tree.

"What do you think?" he asked, stifling a yawn. "Do my repairs pass inspection?"

Melanie activated the emerald switch at her throat, opening up her chest plates before looking over the mechanisms inside. The circulation lines had been repaired properly with no weakness or potential flaw in the entirety of their length. Her mainsprings were intact and sufficiently wound. Satisfied, she pressed the emerald again to seal the panels back in place.

"Well?" Eddie prompted.

"I believe it will hold," she replied.

"You're welcome," he told her, a slight grin hiding behind his rust colored beard. He forced himself away from the tree and back to his feet. "We should get going while there's still daylight."

Melanie walked beside Eddie for some time without saying a word as she was still considering previous events and trying to come to terms with them in her mind. One unanswered question rested in the forefront of her mind and refused to be dislodged by another, so she asked it.

"Why did you save me?"

Eddie's grin widened.

"You said there was no hope," he explained. "I had to prove you wrong."

"It's not an exact quote," Melanie corrected. "However, it's close enough. Was that your only reason?"

Eddie's smile faltered as he stopped walking and turned to face her. He reached out and gently rested his hand on her shoulder.

"I couldn't watch a friend die without trying to do something," Eddie told her.

Melanie didn't know why, but she didn't object to the term friend in reference to her, and she didn't push his hand away.