Blondie and Red

"Well..." he started, leaning back on his hands. "I am stuck between Mr. Awesome and Wonder Boy. What do you think?"

Blondie broke out into a peal of laughter.

"What!?" he asked, seemingly annoyed.

"Oh Goddess, you are serious?" she asked.

"Maybe..." he said, plucking at the grass.

"But that's like calling myself Beauty or Pretty," she said with a little giggle.

"I wouldn't mind calling you either, if you call me Mr. Awesome."

"Red!" she told him, instead.

His eyes flitted towards the water as if he wanted to confirm that his hair was indeed red. "Okay," he nodded.

She stepped towards him and gave him her hand. He took it and stood up, and she took in his form.

He was around her height, but was wide shouldered and muscular. His chest was flat, and his bronze skin rippled with toned muscles. They weren't huge, but were nonetheless quite defined. His torso was shaped like a brick, and she could easily tell that he was physically much stronger than her, but that did not worry her. His eyes were a sparkling green and seemed spirited. He had a cute button-nose that was larger than hers but seemed to fit in his face.

For some reason, she suddenly wished that he was taller.

"Heh!" he snorted smugly. "You're shorter than me," he said, measuring himself against her.

"We're the same height!" she told him stiffly, her previous wish disappearing into thin air.

"Nope," he declared, and turned towards the sun. He spread his arms wide and took a deep breath. "Herein begins THE ADVENTURE OF RED AND BLONDIE!" he yelled into the sky.

"Why not Blondie and Red? That sounds better," she wanted to know.

"Because I'm the main character, duh."

Blondie wanted to smack herself in the head. She had found herself an interesting companion.

***

After his declaration, Red plucked some fern leaves and handed them to Blondie to wrap around her feet. Soon, he began walking south along the river and Blondie silently followed him.

He had a penchant for collecting random twigs as he walked. At first, she thought they were for arrows, but the twigs he collected came in all sizes.

"What are these for?" she asked, when he handed her half of his pile.

He shrugged his shoulders and voiced something that sounded like a 'I dunno.' "I am sure we can find them a use, once we make camp tonight. Will be useful for making a fire as well."

"Where are we making camp?"

He shrugged another 'I dunno", and she felt like chucking the stone in her hand at his head. He seemed to have a devil-may-care attitude and it irritated her.

"Maybe find another cave," he said, after a moment. "We can't go back to the one I found before, as there may be another ursa around. I am not sure if they are solitary creatures."

At least he thinks.

"Why can't we sleep in the trees? I was safe while sleeping up there, before you brought an ursa along."

"Owls. I slept on a tree on my first night and was attacked in the middle of the night by those darned owls."

"Owls?"

"Yes, they are as big as us and have sharp beaks and nasty claws. I think we'd be safer if we sleep in a cave. Easier to defend the entrance," he replied, motioning with his hands.

"Do we need to do something about that?" he asked, suddenly noticing that her hand was still lightly bleeding. Blondie had washed away the ursa's blood earlier and the water had reopened the cuts on her arms.

"Maybe their claws have a poison that prevents clotting," she wondered.

"I think we should apply a plant paste to disinfect, but I dunno which plant. We don't want to apply something that's poisonous," he offered.

"Plantains. I need to find a plantain and some fiber to wrap it up," she said.

"Oh? Let's split up and find them, then. Let's meet back here in fifteen minutes. Scream if you run into something dangerous," he said, setting his twigs down and turning to the forest.

"You do the same," she said.

"Wait, what's a plantain?" he asked, turning around.

"Broad leaved shrubs that look edible," she gave him the best description she could.

The two split up in search, and Blondie found a shrub that was similar to a banana plant. She pinched a leaf and tasted it, deciding it had the right bitter flavor. She plucked some leaves and fiber with her hand-axe and returned to the spot where they had separated.

By the time Red returned, she had covered her wounds with the plantain leaf paste and wrapped them up with the leaves and fiber. He came back with a couple of long bamboo sticks and a lot of fiber tucked under his shoulders, but the leaves in his hand looked nothing like plantains.

"That's what you needed fiber for!" he exclaimed, noticing the ropes of fiber around her arm. "Can you make more?" he asked with wide eyes, dumping all of his fiber on her lap.

"Sure," she said, understanding why he wanted it. "Throw away those leaves. They are not plantains."

"Aww..."

As Blondie knotted more ropes, Red took Blondie's hand-axe and split the ends of his bamboo sticks into four. He then went in search along the bank of the river and returned with a few large pieces of stone. With the hand-axe, he worked away at chipping the stones into shape. After a few tries, he ultimately succeeded in getting the desired results.

He put his stone-spearheads into the splits in the bamboo and fastened them with Blondie's ropes. When he finished, he handed one of the spears to her.

"Thank you," she gave him a wide smile.

"We aren't done, yet. Can you shoot a bow?"

"Maybe..."

Nonetheless, he proceeded to make her a bow and some arrows. He used the fiber rope for the bowstring, though he had used a vine for his own.

She took the finished bow and practiced shooting. It turned out that she was accurate, and it seemed like she had done it before, though she had no memory of it.

They strapped the bows around their chests, picked up their spears, twigs, and fibers, and resumed their journey. Blondie's bowstring rested between her breasts, and Red seemed unable to take his eyes off them.

"I think we need clothes," she said, finally beginning to feel embarrassed by his stare.

"I tried making some, but I couldn't make anything that held together," Red shrugged his shoulders.

"Let me have a go, tonight."

***

The rest of the day was spent in travelling, and they did not run into any predators that posed them a threat. A few large spiders, small dinosaur-like birds, and other small creatures came into their path, but they either avoided them or their spears made quick work of them. However, they had no luck in finding a cave.

As the sun began to set, they decided to stop by a rocky shelter whose entrance was hidden by prickly shrubbery. It wasn't exactly safe, but Red insisted it was a better option than staying in the trees. His argument was, "We can defend a single entrance point, unless something really big finds us. In that case, even a tree wouldn't help."

They ate some berries and fruit for dinner.

After eating, Red worked on starting a fire with his remaining collection of twigs and kindling he had picked up around the shrubs, while Blondie worked on their clothes. She had picked up a bunch of broad leaves for the purpose.

By the time he was able to light a few embers, she had finished a leaf skirt for herself, and by the time he had a raging fire going, she managed to complete something that looked like a pair of drawers for Red. She had run out of fiber, so she decided to postpone making a chest wrap for herself. She didn't think Red needed chest wraps.

"Why is mine different than yours?" he asked as she wrapped the skirt around her hips and handed him his drawers.

"Because I don't have that dangling thing coming out of my groin," she responded wryly.

"Fair enough, but you do have a pair of dangling things yourself," he quipped, getting into his trunks. "These are pretty good. Thank you," he said, before sitting down and leaning against the wall of their shelter.

The fire was close to the entrance and most of the smoke drifted out of the cave. Both seemed to know that animals had an instinctive aversion to smoke and fire, so they were fine with it giving away their position.

"You're welcome. What is that thing, by the way?" she asked after a moment. She had no idea of what it was or what it did.

"My penis?" he pointed towards his crotch.

"Is that what it is called? What does it do?"

"I have no idea what it does, but why do you not know the word for my penis, when I know the word for your breasts?" he wondered.

"Maybe the place I lived before does not have your kind of creatures. Do you know the purpose of my breasts?"

He shrugged a 'I dunno'. "Maybe they are there just to look good. They seem as pointless as my penis."

Blondie couldn't agree more. "Have you wondered why we don't have our memories?" she asked, instead.

"Yes, but the more important question is why are we here? I think that would answer why we've lost our memories. For that we need to find someone who remembers. At least that is what I want to do. Tell me if you think otherwise or have a better plan."

Blondie nodded in contemplation.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" he said, after a moment. "We should take turns until a few hours before dawn. I don't think any creature hunts a few hours before sunrise and both of us can sleep then. I will wake you up in a few hours or when I begin to feel drowsy," he said.

Picking up a few of the twigs that remained, he began to sharpen them into arrows with Blondie's hand-axe.

Blondie shuffled towards the fire, lay down on the dirt, and curled up to sleep with her hand under her head. But, she opened her eyes a moment later and looked up at Red. "Can I rest my head on your lap?" she asked, to his questioning glance.

"Sure. As long as you don't mind me chipping away on the wood," he said, after a moment of thought.

Blondie shook her head and scooted to him before placing her head on his lap. Her soft hair was comfortable against his skin, but little did she know that her nearness had caused an uncomfortable problem in his underwear.

Red shook his head and focused on his work, while Blondie slowly fell asleep to the rhythmic striking of stone against wood. Their closeness made her feel safe.

***

Red shook her awake a few hours later. She sat up with groggy eyes and found a bunch of finished arrows by his side. He had gone through all of his remaining twigs, and the fire he had started had begun to dim. However, it still provided enough warmth inside the cave.

"What do I do?" she wondered as he got ready to sleep.

"I dunno," he shrugged, lying down and placing his head on her lap without bothering permission. However, she didn't mind it. It was only right that she returned the favor in kind.

As he turned his head towards the fire and closed his eyes, she reached for his bright red curls that spilled over his shoulder like a mane. His hairs were much thicker and curlier than hers, but they still felt nice.

Curling a lock around her finger, she began twirling it as she stared into the fire and began to think of what else she could do with her knitting skills. They needed quivers to hold their arrows and a couple of bags to carry things.

As the night wore on, the two adventurers switched turns sleeping, before Red's head was once again back on her lap. Before he fell asleep, he told her that she should just fall asleep after a couple of hours and not bother waking him up. He wanted to get a good rest before the start of the next day.

Blondie agreed, especially as they had not been disturbed through the night, and Red seemed sure that even nocturnal predators rested a few hours before dawn.

The fire Red had built was now reduced to smoldering embers, and though they gave some warmth, Blondie felt a light chill.

Red's sleep had been peaceful before, but maybe due to the cold, his current slumber was fitful.

Suddenly, he turned around on her lap, and his hand reached out into the air. "NO!" he cried, his face twisting in fear.

It surprised her. His devil-may-care attitude had led her to believe that he was incapable of such an emotion. He had not borne such an expression even when he faced off against the ursa.

He is just as scared as I am! She realized.

It brought warmth to her heart. She leaned down and kissed him on his forehead and that seemed to calm him down, as his hand fell back to his side.

However, she could still feel him slightly shivering. Raising his head gently, she set it on the ground before she curled up against his back. She sneaked her arm under his and wrapped it around his chest to pull him closer. The heat of their bodies brought them some comfort.

Red's body gave her warmth from the front, while her mantle of hair was a blanket against her back. So, she pulled him closer and hugged him to her bosom, trying to give him more comfort. His fitful sleep finally turned quieter, and she fell into a deep slumber.

***

Blondie woke up the next morning to the feeling for her hair being tugged. She rose up and found that, in his sleep, Red had somehow got hold of her hair and pulled it over himself like a blanket.

Annoyed, she shook him awake. "Five more minutes," he said, before opening his eyes and realizing where he was.

"We need some leaf blankets," she said, pointing at her hair in his hands.

"Huh? Yeah, sure," he muttered, seeming a little unwilling to let go of her hair.

"Red, I want to do some more knitting work today. This is a decent shelter and I want to be properly prepared before we head out again."

"Okay," he agreed. "Do you need any help?"

"I need to collect a lot of leaves and fibers. Why don't you find us some breakfast in the meantime?"

"Sure. But let's go get a drink, first. I am thirsty."

After drinking their fill by the river, the duo split up. Blondie quickly gathered all the material she could carry and headed back to their shelter.

Red returned an hour later with a dead dino-bird impaled to his spear, and three pink-fruit under his arm. He tossed the fruit to Blondie, set the bird and the spear, standing to the side. He then picked up Blondie's spear, and left without saying another word. Blood slowly drained down the spear and formed a dark red patch in the dirt, around the base of the spear.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned with twigs and kindling. He quickly set his efforts into starting another fire.

Once he had a small flame going, he sat down and began plucking the feathers off the bird. It was an average sized bird with short feathered arms and a long flowing feathery tail. Its colors shimmered a resplendent blue and purple, and it would've made a beautiful bird if not for its nasty dinosaur jaw and teeth.

"Can I have the feathers?" Blondie asked, captivated by the colors.

She had already finished making a couple of quivers out of the plant material she had gathered. She wasn't sure how long they would last, but they were easy enough to make again.

"You want to eat the feathers?" he raised a brow.

"What? No! I want to use them for my bra."

"Oh... But I wanted to use them for my arrows," he said as he plucked the last of the feathers, leaving the dino completely naked.

"I will leave you the smaller ones," she said happily, picking up the feathers, and standing up to head to the river, to wash the blood off them.

"Don't forget to take your spear."

By the time Blondie returned with the clean feathers, Red had begun roasting the dino-bird. He had speared a twig through its length and was slowly turning it around over the fire. The smell of the roasting dino had hit her even before she reached the shelter, and her mouth began to water.

"Archeop," he declared, pointing at the bird. "Smells delicious. I think I am going to hunt more of them. Pretty easy to shoot down with a bow. They think they are safe once they are up a tree."

"Is it done, yet?" she asked, her stomach grumbling.

"Just a bit more. I am not sure if the insides are done."

She set the feathers to dry and began peeling the fruit as Red finished roasting the archeop. The bird was now a brilliant, golden-brown and dripping with melted fat. He pulled it off the fire and used her hand-axe to slice a piece of meat off its arm.

"Hmm. A little bland, but it's not bad," he said, chewing on the meat. He grabbed a couple of large leaves from Blondie's stash and began slicing chunks of meat on to them. He reduced the bird to the bone, and placed equal portions on the two leaves, leaving the brains and guts out. He passed one leaf to Blondie. Blondie placed two of the fruit on Red's plate before transferring a couple of slices of meat from hers to his.

"You should eat more. You're larger," she said, to his raised brow.

"So, you agree that I am taller," he said smugly, taking his leaf and beginning to eat.

"Don't make me smack you in the head."

"Okay, mom!"

After breakfast, Blondie continued working on her knitting, while Red busied himself with practicing his spear thrusts. She spent most of the morning threading the feathers togethers, using the leaves as a base. By afternoon, she had her feathered bra ready. It had two fiber strings, through the top and bottom hems, to be tied around her back.

She twisted and rolled her hair into a top bun and held it in place by piercing it with a slimmer stone needle that she had picked up that morning. Picking up her new garment, she walked over to Red.

"I need your help tying this," she said, holding the bra over her breasts.

Turning around, he glanced at her chest and seemed a little disappointed.

"Er... okay," he said, glancing at her naked breasts one last time, before stepping behind her as she held the bra against her breasts and raised her biceps.

She sensed his eyes roving over her long, narrow back for a moment, before she felt his fingers reach for the strings. "Bottom string first," she told him.

"A bit tighter, please," she asked him, adjusting the bra over her chest. Soon, she had proper support for her dangling things-- their size had been a nuisance, while walking at a brisk pace.

When she turned around to Red to thank him, she immediately spotted the bulge in his underwear. His skin was also a shade redder than it usually was. "What's up with that?" she pointed at his groin.

"I dunno. I think it's because of you," he breathed out, picking up his spear and walking out of the shelter. "I am gonna go get us some lunch," he said, before disappearing into the forest.

Blondie felt a rush of heat rush, and her cheeks gained a tinge of red.

***

They had two squirrels and fruit for lunch and spent the rest of the day making things. Red used the remaining feathers to improve their arrows while Blondie a leaf blanket, and a couple of small bags with fiber ropes to sling across their chest and over their shoulders.

They hunted together that night and managed to bag another archeop for dinner. Based on their experience from the previous night, they collected extra wood to last through the night, and under the warmth of their new blanket they slept better.

When morning came, they were much better prepared to travel. They stored a few fruits in their bags and resumed their journey, with spears in hand and bows and quivers on their backs.

***

The next couple of days were relatively uneventful. They spent the nights under random shelters and ate anything that seemed edible. The bags proved useful in collecting items along the way. Though conversation between them was minimal due to the lack of memories, they liked each other's company and grew to depend on one another.

As they travelled, the jungle to their right grew thicker and the grasslands to their left turned into woods of bamboo. Red was excited to cross the river and find better bamboo to upgrade their spear, but Blondie kept him from taking the risk. She was still wary of the other side.