Ash struggled with everything he had to drag the dead elk close to the hole of the cave they previously stayed at and made camp in front of it instead of going inside. His anger and pettiness a powerful source of motivation.
'I'm eating you, you prick. I know your dead, but you kicked my ass, and for that.... I'm gonna eat your ass.' The elk's eyes completely empty but Ash looked at it every once in a while, with hate, Grim looked on in confusion at the ordeal.
He had already dug out the eyes and core of the panther leaving the meat due to insufficient ability to carry it. Ash's anger grew and he was eager to bite into the beast that nearly cut him to pieces. Every step a reminder of the elk's wound to his ribs.
The abandoned goblin caves gave him the creeps but he did not plan for a different spot to settle... or the event that he would be immediately injured.
He caused so much blood to fall in the area he battled that he thought it better to retreat and go to a safer place to heal up.
Ash was mad and his little raven was too. That was their first fight and it went badly; it was ok that they won but the injuries they sustained… Ash's fractured ribs were healing as he took a healing pill and they ate the meat of that elk.
A physical attribute beast really helped heal and rejuvenate. Grim had an unpleasant looking cut on his wing that was still healing but with the elk's meat it was healing smoothly.
Ash hefted the heavy prick or lunch onto the cave floor and kneeled exhausted and sweaty. His eyes intense, he looked at his comrade hefting a bloody wing and overall exhaustion, similar to him.
'I can't be mad at him. It's not his fault.' Ash bit his lip and focused on breathing.
Ash knew he need to reflect on both himself and his partner. He was too excited to fight his first monster with his bond that he neglected some of the basics. He should have stuck to avoiding the creature but was tempted by the usefulness of its meat.
Ash then looked at how uncoordinated the two were. The elk wasn't something the two could take on individually but together they should have been able to kill it with far more ease.
Additionally, he and his bond needed better usage of their current skills and a variety of different skills in order to improve in combat. The two of them together only had four total. Hell, Ash hadn't even performed a status check just in case.
He should have watched out for any of his opponent's desperate attacks, thus his current broken ribs. This was the second time in the last few days his ribs were messed up and it was getting old. Ash looked at Grim who looked back at him unhappily.
Ash tapped into their bond by focusing and tried to listen to his bond's thoughts on the situation. He wasn't surprised that Grim had such a negative reaction to the fight, he was critical of both of them.
Ash assured his companion that they would go back out there and do even better. His bond was still down, though less so than before. They continued to eat the elk's meat until full. They had about two thirds left which would last them the next couple of days.