Raxta had not planned for this.
She had not planned to care for the woman long term, had expected her to maybe sleep a couple hours and then move on, and yet she suddenly she found herself tasked with the human's survival. When she didn't wake up that night, Raxta felt her stomach sink. Had she...somehow made things worse? Would she wake up? What was she supposed to do with her?!
The wise women back home would know what to do. But Raxta wasn't home, so she found herself stumbling through figuring this out.
When it was obvious this would be no short snooze, Raxta did the only thing that seemed sensible: she carefully undressed the woman and tossed her bloodied clothes outside, fetched clean water, and washed and properly dressed her wounds. Then she tucked her back under the bundle of furs and...waited. Found little tasks to busy herself with. Checked her wound now and then and changed the dressing, adjusted the furs to make sure she wasn't too hot or cold. She hunted when she was sure Kaela would be okay alone for a few hours, and every now and then she held Kaela's head in her lap and carefully dripped water onto her lips, not wanting to risk her choking or growing dehydrated.
By day two, she was genuinely considering her options. Should she just suck it up and ask for help? This was well beyond her knowledge! She made sure Kaela was settled before she left to hunt, less because she needed to (she had speared a fat peacock the day before) and more to have a think.
How on earth had she gone from captive to captor?!
She had just returned from her hunt empty handed (for she had spent most of that time up a tree, watching a flock of parrots bicker amongst themselves as she debated what to do) and was just approaching her den when a weak voice inside made her ears perk upright. Raxta stiffened in surprise, then quickened her pace, squeezing through the roots to crawl inside.
"Kaela?" she called, and she was by her best of furs in a heartbeat, one hand on the woman's forehead to check her temperature as she had done so many times before. She leaned in, peering into her face. "You're awake?"
Because it was still possible she wasn't, and was only crying out in her sleep.