A New Companion
1239 Words
"Too bad, Donkey... You're a vegetarian. Hope I would be able to scrounge some greens for you but I can't promise you much in this season though. Hope you won't mind getting some handouts from passersby, eh?"
*BRAY* *BRAY* *BRAY*
If anyone who could translate those words, it would mean, "You'd better work harder and get me my food, kid...i won't like to starve in the seasons before that."
The teen was busily fanning the flames from the small fireplace that he had made earlier and adding twigs to keep the fire roaring slightly, in turn roasting the fishes and keeping him warm at the same time.
The fishes he had earlier caught weighed about 2 to 3 pounds each and 2 fishes would actually suffice him for the evening. Nevertheless, he thought of reserving the fishes for the time being and preserving them by smoking.
*PROD* *PROD*
The teen could feel a sharp object prodding his back and he slightly turned his body sideways and the figure that he had noticed earlier finally had shown is face to him.
"Uh, hello. Could I share the warmth of your fireplace?" a timid squeaky girlish voice came from a grey hooded cloak behind the teen. The teen turned and saw that he was prodded with a branch about 3 feet long that could be easily broken underfoot.
"Sure...by the way, do you need that wood? I could use it to stoke the fireplace and let the fire burn through the night." the teen opened up his hands towards the girl to show that he meant no harm at all.
The teen reached out and held the branch while the girl released it with a blush in her face. The teen shrugged his shoulders and patted to the ground next to him and simply said, "Come here then. This spot is yours. You have not eaten too, right?"
"Y... Yes... H... How do you know that?"
"Just Call it my intuition then. Come on, grab yourself a cup from the saddlebag bear Donkey's head. I've got enough tea to go round until the evening."
"Ah... Th... Thank you then. Sorry for intruding like this."
The girl placed her bundle of worldly possessions in the ground next to the fireplace and she went over to Donkey where she found a wooden cup in the saddlebag. Donkey opened up one of its round big eyes and peered at the stranger who was rummaging through the saddlebag.
"Sorry Donkey for waking you up. I'm here to take a cup, that's all. Sleep tight now." the girl patted the head of the donkey as it closed its eyes in contentment as the girl found the right spot to pet.
"BRAY... It feels good. Thank you..." Donkey brayed in satisfaction and was quickly translated by the girl as she sounded her acknowledgement.
As soon as she sat in the ground facing the fireplace, the teen handed her the kettle. "Don't stand on ceremony. Help yourself then. Once the fish is done, you can have your share."
"My name is Samuel, do you travel alone?"
"I'm Isabella. Yes, I travel alone. I saw your fire from afar and....."
The two teens chatted between copious cups of warm tea and once the fishes were properly roasted, it was shared between them as well.
Tales of their travels and hardships they had experienced along the way was exchanged but one major secret was withheld from one another — one of them as a seer while the other as a witch.
Within a short while, they had been acquainted but certain secrets were best kept hidden until a certain period of time. So Samuel the Seer just mentioned that he wanted to see the world after his parents had died while Isabella the Healer mentioned she too wanted to learn more about the medicinal world.
Before the sky darkened, both Samuel and Isabella went about and picked twigs and firewood to stoke the fireplace. After they had their fill, they rested for the night. Samuel beside Donkey while Isabella was curled up like a cat beside the fireplace where she periodically would toss a few pieces of firewood inside the fireplace to keep it alight.
Before the night was over, Samuel was the first to wake up and went to the pond to collect some water to boil for both Donkey and for making tea. Since its nearing wintertime, normally donkeys would not drink water if it is too cold for them. Thus it would be advisable for Samuel to heat up some water for it to drink.
Isabella stirred from her slumber and she quickly threw in some twigs and after blowing it after a while, it was ablaze and was stocked with thicker firewood before the kettle settled on top of the stones that acted as a stove.
"You had a good rest earlier? I'm going to catch some fish which I intend to smoke them. I won't be staying here in one spot for many days. I would be heading to another town up ahead about 3 hours trek."
"Oh... You won't be staying here for another day? Is the town nearby? I mean 3 hours walk would roughly be about 9 miles from here, innit?"
"I won't be staying here for another day. Frankly, it would be best to make myself scarce. People would refer to me as a nutcase if they find out who I am actually. So once I'm done fishing and smoking them, I and donkey would head-on."
"Furthermore its coming winter time and times are harsher than what it seems on the surface. You can tag along with me if you wish and if you find the town unfavourable, you may head to the next one instead."
"The choice is yours, there's no need to force yourself if you don't wish to come along."
Samuel suggested to Isabella as she spread his hands out to her as Isabella took some time to ponder. She held small firewood in her hand and poked it into the fireplace sending some sparks to float off from the fireplace.
"Alright... I would like to follow you if you may. I have no direction elsewhere and it would be good to pair up together even though it may sound and look odd at the moment."
"If there's anything yet you need me to assist you, just let me know, right? I could forage some tubers and vegetables for ourselves and I still have some pounds of grains in my possession that could share with you."
Isabella offered to share her personal stash but was stopped by Samuel as he too had his share of stash which he would sparingly consume. Not that he could acquire coins while working for others but work seems to come by harder as the month's pass.
If things could forage from nature, then he would, by all means, survive on it. Other than that, he would be able to run errands for town folks for a copper or two and he would accumulate it to buy grains and such for himself and also a bale of hay for Donkey.
So the day's work was delegated and after the tasks had been performed, they both broke camp and cleaned up the area, saddled up Donkey with the saddlebags and headed towards their new destination that my change their fate and destiny — Gracehaven.
- Writer
