Yunhuo’s red eyes were full of surprise as he raised one of his front paws and wrapped it around Zhao Yunxiao, licking his face and hands. He was sorry, it must have been scary. How could I leave you behind? I will be by your side as long as you want.

“Yunhuo, I thought you were gone.”

“Woo ……” Yunhuo got down and Zhao Yunxiao immediately climbed onto his back. Yunhuo stood up and spread his wings and flew behind the rock where they were resting before. Picking up Zhao Yunxiao’s bag and handing it to him, Yunhuo was about to leave.

“Wait!”

Yunhuo folded back his winds, carrying his bag Zhao Yunxiao slid off Yunhuo’s back and went to gather the animal skins on the ground while saying: “They also must be taken away, don’t waste them.” With his back to Yunhuo’s face he smiled happily, Yunhuo wanted to take him away.

Yunhuo understood what Zhao Yunxiao meant, taking the pots, bowls and wooden spoons to Zhao Yunxiao, Zhao Yunxiao packed them before taking them away. After he finished packing, he took his “bag” and climbed onto Yunhuo’s back, grabbing his thick hair on his neck he said: “I am ready.”

The red wing unfolded and Yunhuo let out a joyful cry before flying. On his back only his mate could ride. Whether the female understood it or not, he decided that his mate for life was “her”.

“Oooh…”

“Yunhun, I want to fly to the clouds…”

“Roar–“

The lake was getting farther and farther away from him. Zhao Yunxiao looked back and said in his heart: [Father, I’m sorry, I can’t go back. Please don’t worry about me, I will live well in this strange world.] Because he believed that Yunhuo would not let him go hungry or cold.

Yunhuo flew steadily, because there was a person who was very important to him on his back. Rocks, lakes, forests were all beneath his feet, Zhao Yunxiao was not only nervous but also excited, it was quite different from flying on the plane or the spaceship. Due to a sudden impulse, Zhao Yunxiao opened his mouth and shouted: “Ah ah -, I fly up – fly up – Yunhuo fly high with Yunxiao.” This was a crazy thing he has never done before.

Yunhuo didn’t understand what the female was shouting about but he still could feel her pleasure so he roared in tandem “Roar–” It was his female – she was mine – how he wished that the person on his back could be his female.

After shouting like a maniac for a long time and scaring all the birds and animals along the way, Yunhuo took Zhao Yunxiao to his destination, a large stone cave located halfway up the mountain. This was not far from the lake where Zhao Yunxiao “fell into the water” , it was in flying distance, but with the towering rocky mountains and dense trees between them it was impossible to walk there. It was also because Yunhuo would go to the lake to drink, bath and hunt that he could find Zhao Yunxiao’s presence. It was also far away from tribe so few males would come here to hunt.

Coming down from Yunhuo and carrying his luggage, Zhao Yunxiao ventured into the cave. Outside the cave, there  was a stone cliff with an opening, which could be used as a platform. Directly opposite the cave entrance there was a fireplace made of stone, on which stood a white pot similar to his, but the bottom was already very dark so he could tell at glance that it had been used for a long time. Next to it was a simple  wooden barbecue grill with some bones and other miscellaneous items. On the left side of the cave was a large flat stone with an animal’s skin laid on it. Other than that there was nothing.

Putting the bag on the ground, Zhao Yunxiao went out from the bigger cave to the smaller cave next to it. The small cave was dimly lit, but you could still clearly see what was inside. In the cave was a pile of bones and animal skins, large and small bones were very neatly arranged while the animal skins were also stacked together. There were also animal skulls, claws, unknown hay, pots and other miscellaneous items. Before Yunhuo took away the big bag that was placed inside, this cave was just like a warehouse.

Zhao Yunxiao came out and asked Yunhuo, who had been following him: “Is this where you live?”

Yunhuo’s tail wrapped around Zhao Yunxiao’s wrist to bring him to the cave where he slept and then let go of the tail and then swept the soiled animal skin on the stone bed onto the ground with his claws. Zhao Yunxiao walked over to Yunhuo and stopped his sweeping action, saying: “I’ll do it, you go and sort out the dinosaur bones.”

Yunhuo might not understand him but there was already a certain tacit understanding between him and Zhao Yunxiao. Boldly licking Yunxiao’s face, Yunhuo went out. After another look around the cave, Zhao Yunxiao took off the satchel and put it in the corner of the bed, wrapping it around his chest – his torn  trousers and underwear were dry and ready to be cleaned up. This was from now on, his and Yunhuo’s new home…. Thinking like this Zhao Yunxiao felt a little less at a loss and even felt some longing for his future life. Lost because he may never go back and might never be able to reassure his father.

First of all, there must be water , broom and rag to clean. Taking a look at the animal skin discarded by Yunhuo. Zhao Yunxiao went out from the cave and came next door. But it was a bit strange, Yunhuo was not there and the big leather bag was not there either. No longer worried about Yunhuo leaving him behind, Zhao Yunxiao went back to the big cave. After finding a flint from his own bag, Zhao Yunxiao chose a suitable branch from the pile of debris and lit it up. Then he went to the “warehouse” again. Zhao Yunxiao wanted to see if the warehouse had the right tools.

In the process of searching, Zhao Yunxiao once again marveled at Yunhuo’s intelligence comparable to that of humans. There was some dust on the bones in the warehouse, but it was still evident that they had been cleaned when they were placed there. There were also no flesh or tendons adhering to the bones and these claws and skulls were also cleaned, and even the animal skins were  processed, although they are not yet soft and shiny,  they still could be used. Zhao Yunxiao knew that the animal fur has to go through some processing before it becomes soft and could be used on a daily basis, even with such a preliminary processing Zhao Yunxiao already felt it was incurable. Yunhuo with just claws dealt with these furs and cleaned these bones? Zhao Yunxiao couldn’t figure it out. He once again recognized that Yunhuo apart from his appearance was not much different from human beings.

Or maybe this was not the place where Yunhuo lived but someone else? Zhao Yunxiao quickly dismissed this idea, it wasn’t the first day that he noticed Yunhuo cleverness. Yunhuo could tie a knot with animal skins, not to mention cleaning bones and handling animal skins…. Thinking that he still had the work to do, Zhao Yunxiao was no longer distracted. Founding a particularly sharp claw in the pile he picked more than a dozen softer skins and moved them all to a cooler place outside the hole to dry. These beast skin were not as soft as the ones in the modern society, some didn’t smell good while others were not dry yet.

Going back to the cave, he used the claw to divide the original piece of animal skin into smaller pieces. Although the claws were sharp they weren’t comparable to modern day scissors and knives at all, and it was difficult to cut with them. It took him a long time to cut a whole piece of animal skin into ten pieces. Zhao Yunxiao took one and folded the rest before putting them aside. The rag was now ready leaving only water.

Out of the cave, Zhao Yunxiao walked a short distance before finding a small waterfall flowing down from the top of the mountain. He washed the original pot from the cave and then took the water back to use as a washbasin. With both rag and water, Zhao Yunxiao became busy. First he tied up a pile of miscellaneous items and put the needed things next door, then he moved all stove stones outside the cave, the things that he didn’t need were all put outside the “bedroom”. Then Zhao Yunxiao used a piece of animal skin to clean the bed and the ground. After sweeping twice, he began to wipe the bed and floor.

Edited by: Xiamen

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