Under An Autumn Sun (Khida)

[Colt]

First came the kindling, formed in a pyramid with a nest of tinder in the center. It caught ablaze quickly, and Shahar added larger twigs and grass, until at last the flame was large enough to handle a twisted grass-rope under a thick branch and brick of dung. The fire ate away at its fodder, growing in size and luminance until Shahar was confident raising the spit. Sturdy metal supports on either side of the firepit, then a rod across them, and then he could hook the pot to hang over the coals without directly sitting on them.

With that done, Shahar settled to wait. He picked up the purslane and rifled through it, rubbing off the dirt when he saw it and tossing the clean leaves into the heating water. He did not hurry through his task, having had the previous misfortune of accidentally chewing sand when he hadn’t cleaned the food properly; it was not an experience he wished to repeat, and so he took care in making sure the purslane was clear of unwanted additions.

When the purslane had all been tended to and tossed into the pot, Shahar turned to the ferret. He wasn’t certain what such meat would taste like, having never eaten ferret before, but taste wasn’t in the forefront of his mind––as long as he was hungry and something was edible, he would eat it. The concept of “good” or “not good” wasn’t something he could afford to dwell on. Any mammal, if cleaned and cooked properly, was edible.

His knife was unsheathed and he turned over the corpse; he didn’t want to boil the entire thing so much as he wanted to add it to a stew––the largest staple of their diet––bit by bit. And so he simply sawed off chunks of flesh and pitched them into the water with the purslane, not really paying much mind to the size and method aside from avoiding the bone.

Again there was the shortening of distance in his heart as his bondmate began her return journey, and sent a quick, vague welcome to her as she drew nearer.

[Khida]

Khida's irritation hung over her like a gloomy mist as she trekked back home, invisible and yet a palpable weight. With humans, the simplest things became so complicated -- she just wanted some vegetables for the stew. Even that, she only wanted because of other humans -- though she begrudged her family nothing, and blamed them not at all.

Dealing with their needs and wants was nonetheless frustrating at times. Like now. But frustration was a passing thing.

As she came nearer, the place in her heart occupied by her bondmate brightened with warmth and welcome, banishing her residual frustration. Her hands shaped some semblance of greeting and gratitude around their burden, though he could not see; she had not yet reached the camp. But both sentiments reflected within, heartfelt as they were.

Home again, where the people still had their moments, but at least they were her people. She arrived to find the hunter, cutting up the last of the carcass, that meat being added to the pot. The Kelvic joined him beside the firepit, offering her basket so he could survey its contents and approve their addition to the stew -- if he had an opinion either way about the plants. "Herbs go in. I cut these," she added, indicating the fresh hopniss tubers. "Done after?" They must be done; there wouldn't be much room left in the pot after the additions were made.

It was a straightforward agenda, and upon his affirmation, Khida scooped the greens and dried roots into the pot, then sat down with her own knife and the hopniss. They just needed to be cut so they would cook faster; even she knew better than to put them in whole. The tubers were no longer than her thumb, and not more than twice as thick; she simply halved the smaller ones and quartered the larger.

Tucking her knife back into her sash, she then went to put the basket away. It would be bells before the stew was done, which left them with the interim to put to other use. Like checking her own traps; she had skipped over that this dawn. Trap go, she informed her bondmate. Sell do. Bow after.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Colt]

There was a vague, open negativity within her approach, although the proximity to home seemed to inspire better feelings than Endrykas had. Shahar paused and looked her way--for he knew it was where she was, even though she had not yet come into sight.

When she returned, she bore a basket filled with things that she soon offered for him to look at. Vegetables and herbs, presumably to eat; it flashed vaguely across his mind that perhaps it would be a good idea to create stockpiles of such plants, so that they didn’t have to make such frequent trips to Endrykas for them.

He was re-anchored to the present as she voiced her intentions for the plants, and Shahar nodded in acknowledgement. The herbs were dumped into the pot and Khida sat down to attend to the hopniss.

Shahar examined her for a moment, then hesitantly went back to the ferret; he didn’t want Khida to be irritated, as she seemed to have been upon her return, but that emotion had faded. If she wanted help with whatever the cause had been, she would have asked for it, and so he accepted that her gloominess had ended.

He tossed another strip of meat into the pot, but paused when his eye fell on what lay within. The herbs and meat had all risen into each other, forming a shapeless clump rotating in the middle of the water. While Shahar couldn’t exactly say why it bothered him, he stilled acted upon it; pausing in his work, he reached into the pot with his knife and poked at the mass within, jabbing and turning until it had separated. The bits and pieces continued to move about as the water hovered on the edge of boiling, but at least they weren’t all in the same place anymore. Shahar stirred it a bit more with his knife, then went back to the ferret.

Khida had finished with the hopniss soon enough, and sheathed her knife to stand. She signed her intentions, and Shahar returned with positive acknowledgement. They could both sell their respective items, and if she wished to continue with her bow then that would be a good time for him to begin a more serious hunt. He told her so with a quick, [color=darkolivegreen]both sell, then you bow, I hunt.

As if in response to the thought, there was a stirring from underneath the travois as the sun urged the cats into consciousness. Banti and Kabek seemed quite content to stay where they were, although Tuka tumbled out of the tawny pile and sleepily trekked towards Shahar with a tremendous yawn. Upon deciding that there was enough meat in the pot––it was getting full enough that any more would risk overfilling it––Shahar handed off the rest of the corpse to the hunting cat, who rumbled in pleasure and curled up next to the hunter to devour it.

From there, it was mostly a matter of waiting next to the hearth as the stew cooked, occasionally stirring it around with his knife when the clumps became too thick to accept.

[Pulren Marsh]

A Grade is Coming
Your Wave

If only all couples could claim such synchronicity...

 

Colt

XP

• Wilderness Survival 2
• Trapping 1
• Hunting 1
• Stealth 1
• Planning 1
• Herbalism 1
• Leatherworking 2
• Socialization 2
• Cooking 2

Lores

• Leatherworking: Ferret Pelts Are Easy to Skin
• Wilderness Survival: Burying Entrails Away from Camp for Distraction
• Cooking: Washing Individual Ingredients
• Cooking: Stirring the Pot
• Herbalism: Purslane

 

Khida

XP

• Weapon: Shortbow, Composite 2
• Socialization 2
• Organization 1
• Negotiation 1
• Cooking 1
• Herbalism 2
• Body Building 2

Lores

• Body Building: Bow Drawing Repetition
• Archery Gloves Save the Fingers
• Herbalism: Tubers: Hopniss,Timpsula
• Herbalism: Timpsula: Pale, Larger than Hopniss
• Herbalism: Nettle Leaves
• Negotiation: A Human Game

Your ledgers are accurate as to your buying and selling, so I will leave it at that.
Sorry you were overcharged. I think you are that pretty!

Your Grader,


Pulren Marsh

A Firenze Template