The Black & White Saga

Chapter 10 - A Pleasant Evening (2)

Gaia looked around the table and saw that the adults were busy chatting amongst themselves.  After she drank from her bottle she realized her milk was just regular milk.  Remembering Lunette and her mom’s punishment for her after she ate the sap from the red bamboo, she frowned.  This milk was good, but she like bamboo milk more.  She looked over at her brother’s  seat.  Skye was drinking from his bottle with a content look on his face.  Her brother shouldn’t be punished, she thought.

Gaia poked Skye’s face with her tiny paw to get his attention.

“Mi mi miii miiii mimi,” she said to him.  To others, it sounds like childish gibberish, but Gaia was telling Skye, “Hey, let’s trade bottles brother.”

Skye looked at Gaia’s bottle.  There was only one-third of the bottle of the milk left.  His own bottle was still half full.  Wouldn’t he be losing out if they traded now.  Also, did his sister think he forgot that she was being punished?  He had yummy bamboo milk to drink.  Why would he trade it for plain milk in her bottle?  Skye decided to ignore Gaia and continue drinking.  Gaia saw he was not paying attention to her.  She took a few more sips from her own bottle and decided to try again.

“Mii, mii, miiiiii?” said Gaia as she gently shook his arm.  That translated to “Skye, Skye, please?”

Skye rolled his eyes and looked at his bottle.  There was only one-fourth of the bottle left now.  “Who asked him to be Gaia’s big brother?” he sighed to himself.  

“Miii mi miii,” Skye told Gaia.  He was telling her that he was only allowing it this time.

“Miiiii!” Gaia cheered, and gave Skye her bottle, which also had about one-fourth left.  Skye gave her his bottle and finished Gaia’s plain milk instead.  Suddenly, he felt a warm pat on his head.  He looked up at the big furry paw stroking his head, and saw his father wink at him.  Skye nuzzled Sam’s hand, and focused his attention back to Gaia’s bottle.

Gaia finally got some bamboo milk.  She closed her eyes to enjoy her brother’s gift.  She thought, “I’ll be nice to my brother tomorrow too.  This is so yummy…”

“How was your commute from the capital, Trey?” Micah asked.

“Not bad.  There are the usual wild beasts, but nothing crazy.  My friend from the Hawk Clan was heading to Double Towers City for another mission, so I got a free ride.  I was able to avoid all the traffic coming into the capital,” Trey responded.  “Steve says you guys owe him dinner.  He promises to bring his own drinks next time.”

Lunette rolled her eyes at how the crafter shamelessly invited himself over for another free meal.  “Does he think we don’t know he just wants to pursue Melinda,” she thought to herself.  “Besides, Steve’s the one that is always begging us to be his drinking buddy.”

“That wolf man is willing to step away from his forge for more than a few minutes?” Melinda asked with raised brows.

“Are you sure he’s not trying to move in?” Delos said with a smirk.  

Sue and Lulu giggled at Delos’ comment.

“He’s not bad for someone from the Wolf Clan,” Freya added.

“Is he better than me?” Sommer questioned Freya with a frown.  Freya pinched his cheeks, and told him to behave.

“At least he gave us a warning this time,” said Cierra, while the others laughed quietly in merriment, thinking of Steve’s antics when he is looking for a drinking buddy.  His love for alcohol was notorious among the crafter’s circle in Double Towers City.

“How is your independent study coming along, Lunette?” Trey asked.  “I see all the plants around your house are doing extremely well.”

“Not bad.  I have the results for the plant cultivation on my farm for the past five years already.  The results are promising,” Lunette said briefly.  The land reformation project for terrain affect by war was her independent study mission from the academy.  She used it to apply for external studies like Savana did, and was only required to return to Continental Academy once a year for annual evaluations. 

“I think promising is an understatement,” said Melinda.  “The plots of land you worked on have already recovered to their pre-war conditions.  In fact, most of the plots have improved to the extent that all the plants here are doing 100% better than those in some well-known fertile terrains in the Elven continent.”

“They only started doing better when you, Micah, Freya, and Sommer joined us,” Lunette commented.  “My wood magic alone was no where near enough to get these results by myself.  We also had Cierra, Lulu, Sue, and Delos help along the way.”

“We didn’t do much,” chipped in Micah while grabbing another roll of bread. 

“We only had to follow your orders,” added Freya, while Sommer nodded.  The four wood spirits also chimed in with their agreement while they sipped on nectar.  

Trey looked at Lunette in admiration and said, “congratulations on the successful completion of your research.  You must allow me to treat you to a meal to celebrate.”

Lunette smiled and responded, “shouldn’t I be the one treating?”

“Hey, don’t forget about the rest of us,” chimed in Nebula with a laugh.  “Regardless of who’s treating, a celebration is in order.”

The others agreed and started discussing celebration ideas for after Lunette turns in her research.  Trey quietly laments that he lost another chance for a date with just him and Lunette alone.

When Gaia finished the milk in Skye’s bottle and looked up, she saw her mother look at her with a warning look.  Gaia immediately shoved the empty bottle back to Skye’s arms and took her finished bottle back from him, while looking at her mother with a smile.  

Across the table, Lunette was watching Gaia and Skye’s exchange while eating some bread.  She hid her smile behind the roll.  Inside, she was thinking “these little imps are way too adorable for their own good,” while she looked around the rest of the table.

At the other end of the table, Lulu and Sue were fighting over the last stalk of roasted asparagus, while Delos and Cierra swept up the rest of the creamed spinach with pieces of bread.  Melinda watched their antics as she sipped on soup, trying to ignore the childish commotion next to her.  Savana, Sommer, Micah, Trey, and Sam were competing with each other in an arm wresting contest for the last chicken wing on the plate.  Freya was the referee.

“…. I feel like there are more than two children in this room….” Lunette thought with a small smile, watching the arm wrestling contest.  “How lively…..”

Once the arm wrestling champion was decided, Lunette went back to the kitchen to bring out the fruits and desserts.  Melinda went to help her bring out some herbal teas and coffee.  The others cleared the table, as they watched Savana enjoy the last of the chicken wings with a grin.