After about a week of spending time with Ember, Kai really started to dread the day she got better. He had been talking a lot with her throughout the week. Through nods and shakes, he learned that she had run away from home, but that she had a mother who cared for her well being and safety. He knew, deep in his heart, that letting making her go back to her family — even if it meant that he lost all of the cool perks that came from her becoming his companion — was the right thing to do. 

He envied her, in a way. She had a parent that loved and cared for her. Even though she was obviously not happy with the way she was treated at home, her mother, from what he had gleaned, was not a bad parent in any way, she just seemed to not understand Ember's point of view very well. The hardest part of coming to terms with his decision though was really the fact that he had genuinely started to care for her. She was a fireball of emotions, always getting into crazy situations. 

The one thing that really solidified her place in his heart though, happened on their fifth day in the cave. He went out to collect firewood, per usual, when he was ambushed by two goblins. They jumped out of a bush to his right as he walked past, firewood in his hands. One of them had jumped far enough that he actually managed to land a hit, and blood oozed out of Kai's arm. Before he could even think about using his fire breath, Ember appeared in front of him suddenly and looked at the goblins with contempt and animosity in her eyes. 

Before they even knew what was happening, the tables had turned on the once threatening creatures. She jumped toward the first with pinpoint accuracy, ripped its head clean off of its shoulders, and then roasted the second one before it even had time to realize how fucked it was.

After each of the goblins was killed, he got a quick notification from the system, telling him: [Ember: EXP gain of 2] 

The look of horror in Ember's eyes as she looked at the blood seeping through his admittedly tattered t-shirt is something he'd never forget. She bounded over and with a look of determination, bit his collar and dragged him back to the cave.

"You know, my arm was the only thing injured, I could have walked back myself," Kai informed her politely. "But thanks." He added quietly, with his hands behind his back. "You really saved me back there, Ember." He then looked up at her with a wide smile, his whole face beaming with gratitude. He quickly put a sterilized wrapping around the wound, with the skill of a seasoned veteran.

Kai really was smiling from genuine gratitude. His eyes were closed in a crescent moon fashion, so he didn't notice the suspicious liquid coming from between Ember's legs...

After that, he started noticing smaller things, like how she would always look sadder every time he went out, how she was always extremely cooperative when he was checking her wings' progress, and the fact that her favorite spot always seemed to be right on his lap. All of the little things compiled into an unshakable feeling of connection between the two of them. They relied on each other, and that made what Kai knew he had to do significantly harder

After a couple more days, Kai decided it was finally time to take off the splint. He carefully removed the bandaging and support and got ready to reapply anything if it started bleeding again.

"Are you ready? Do you think you can stretch it out?" he asked, a little bit of trepidation showing on his otherwise calm-looking face.

She nodded her head, and slowly flexed her wing. It was astonishing. Kai had never seen Ember's full wingspan in action, and the only way he could think to describe it was majestic. She looked like something that deserved to be leading weaker creatures, not something that traveled with a nobody with a defective system and a shapeshifting stick. 

After deliberation, he decided to keep her with him a little bit longer and oversee her rehabilitation process. Flexing her wing still obviously hurt a little bit, as he could see her wincing slightly every time he asked her to do it. Over the next few days, he had her flex it constantly, and when he asked her if the pain was gone and she nodded, he finally asked if she thought she could fly again.

They went outside, and she took a running start, looked back at him once, and took off. If he thought she looked majestic before, now he was blown away. It was an amazing sight, and one that very few humans ever get to see in their entire lifetimes, not that he'd know that, but still.

She flew in a circle and looked straight at him. 

"Wait, no, no, no!" He yelled with his hands up while laughing. "Don't you dare"

She just snorted and dive-bombed him with vigor, knocking him over and rubbing against him, again reminding him of a big dog.

"You are really are a piece of work, you know that?"

She just laughed, or at least that's what Kai figured, as he could never really tell if she was laughing or something else. She then picked him up by his collar, much like when he had been injured by the goblins, and took off once again, with Kai in tow, taking him on the flight of his life.

When they got back to the cave, Ember fell asleep almost immediately, no doubt tired from carrying him for so long. Meanwhile, Kai sat, thinking about what he was going to have to do, and how much it would hurt to do it.