TAERIC

Jace scoops sand to the side and jams a couple stick into the ground. Emara had already built a fire, and I am working on cutting and preparing the creature that she calls a fish.

I can tell that this place is special to Emara. She had mentioned her father when we were walking by, and before then, she had only brought him up to sympathize, revealing both he and her mother were dead. This place holds memories. Memories that more than likely are bitter sweet for her.

"You know, I used to come here with my dad a lot." Emara smiles. "Sometimes we would even start a fire and cook some fish like we are doing right now."

I almost startle out of my crouched position and drop the fish. Could human females read thoughts? It is almost eerie how perfect the timing was.

"Only a few times, though. We hated to leave my mom out, and she was the best at cooking the trout anyway." A soft chuckle escapes her lips.

She must have been thinking about them. There was nothing to say, so instead we fall into a silence, the only sound Evey and Lilly's laughter and the crackle of the fire. It is still bright outside, but the shade afforded by the trees shadows Emara's face, making the flames dance over her features. It highlights the brush of freckles along her cheekbones.

A glimmer fills her eyes, and she glances down. A beautiful, but pained smile dances on her lips. "My dad had the most infectious laughter. I can still remember its sound." She touches her mouth as laughter lights up her eyes. "He had a terrible mustache. It was like a caterpillar across his face."

I have no idea what a caterpillar is, but I smile anyway.

"My mom would tease him mercilessly about it," she continues, "he would tease her right back about her Irish brogue, and her face would turn red, her accent only getting thicker when she was flustered. But I could also see the love in their eyes whenever-" She let out a choked sort of cry. "They loved each other a lot. They loved me a lot."

I place my hand on hers, not knowing what else to do but that to comfort her. My words would mean nothing to her, since she can not understand me. And I know no words can take the pain away. My own parents' death still hurts. But I also know what a comfort it is to talk about them.

Emara looks down at my large hand over hers. It is almost absurd to see just how much her hand is dwarfed by mine. Her hand turns up in my palm and she gives my fingers a soft squeeze. "Thank you." Her hand pulls away just as quickly. I wish she hadn't. Her delicate hand in mine felt so right. The moment is over too quickly. "You know, I never asked, how old are you? Random, I know, but if we are going to be spending a lot of time together, we should probably know the basics."

I have a feeling I could spend a whole lifetime getting to know every little thing about you, Emara. My thoughts whisper through my mind. I don't even bother trying to stop them. It is true. I find everything about her fascinating. I am glad she likes to talk and tell me things, because my lack of ability to ask questions with as much ease as I would have liked is grating.

"I believe I am around 25 of your Earths years. Our planet rotations are very similar."

The computer hums and loads, drawing my simple words out. She nodded with a smile after my words were translated. "Ahh, so not that much older then. I am '20 Earth years'." She chuckles, teasing my wording. "I will be 21 about 8 months from now... pretty much a staple for adulthood on Earth in America, at least. Doesn't matter much now, though."

My eyes widen, and I nod. That sounds similar to a coming-of-age ceremony called duklbaev. I wonder how different Earth ceremonies were. Perhaps they already have their markings before- I blush and let out a choked sound as thoughts overtake my mind. It is not pure of me to think about what a female's markings could look like. They are not for anyone to see until she has a mate, and he is to be the first to see them outside of her own kin once they are coupled. Seeing them before then is as good as a promise for much more than she could possibily agree to with me.

"Are you alright?" Emara half stands, clearly worried.

I wave a hand and lean backward and away from her, trying to push my thoughts away as I put a distance between us. Hopefully, human females could not actually read thoughts. Lilly and Evey drag themself out of the water, collapsing on the sand next to Emara and Jace. "I am hungry!" Evey announces. Her stomach growls as if in agreement.

I let out a breath, the kits giving me a perfect distraction. I grab another fish and start up the preparations again. Bear trots up curiously, his snout poking around. I prop my leg up, effectively keeping the curious creature away from our meal.

The fire crackles as Emara sets another branch of wood on top of the flames. "I am gonna grab a can of beans, and then we can have lunch in a few minutes." She stands and dusts her legs off before making her way over to the cart.

I nod and grab another fish from the pile and make a slice to the underbelly of the slippery gilled creature. I slide my fingers along the spine, loosening all the bones. The meat of the creature practically falls into my hand and I set it onto the plank of wood with the others.

"How do you cut on the fish?" Lilly watches my movements, shooting me a short glance as she pulls herself up.

I would explain with the translator, but my hands are covered in the creature's insides, so instead I grab another fish and point to the fin, just before it starts getting to the meat of the creature. It was just like a kekr, though this one had an interesting array of colors. A yellow-green covered most of it, but speckles decorated the top, fading downward, and a pink strip lined the side.

I make a circular slice all the way around by the tail. Then I point to the back of the gills, looking up to make sure she is watching. Her eyes are glued to the creature, and she leans forward with rapt attention. I chuckle at the little kit and make another cut at the head, just below the gills. Then one more along the under belly, but only little nicks so as not to puncture the insides and make more of a mess.

Lilly nods slightly, as if understanding is dawning. I hold out the fish, and she looks at it tentatively before grabbing it. I rub my fingers back and forth in the air, showing her the movements, before running a pointed finger along where the spine is.

"Oh! To get rid of the bones?"

My attention is stolen for a few moments as Emara sits back down by the fire. She makes a few short punctures along the can to open it before setting it on the warm embers close to the flames to warm it.

I nod, forcing my attention back to Lilly. The little kit does as I had shown and soon the flesh is separated from the guts and bones along with anything else we couldn't eat. It is a little messy, but a wonderful first try.

"I did it!"

Emara looks over at Lilly's prepared fish and claps. "Awesome job! Now let me show you how to cook it." She winks and Lilly smiles, turning slightly as Emara grabs some sticks and creates a sort of rack to lay to flesh on. Emara stabs one end of it into the ground, letting it lean over towards the fire.

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UNKNOWN

The overwhelming musky and sweet smell practically drips off of me, but if it kept him tame and unaware, then fine by me. His laughter reverberates through the trees as one of the children made a comment. The same kid tries to jump onto a dog's back, but it scoots out of the way. Strange, my scent isn't attracting the animal either. Must be working then.

A tinkling sound joins his laughter. A young woman who didn't look much younger than him is close by. A grin fills my face as my eyes rake over her. I would have to let them know about her, am sure they would appreciate another for their experiments. She bends down and out of my view but as she stands up again, there is a blond kid in her arms.

There he is. That brat is gonna cost me my life-

The giant takes in a deep breath, and I close my mouth as if it would hold back anything that could alert him of my presence. I had enough warnings to know that if he caught me out here, I would wish I was dead. The only thing keeping me from his monster senses are the oils I am practically drenched in. But he doesn't look my way. He simply hands one of the little kids some more food.

My lip curls as I watch this bastard that is causing me all these problems. I don't know exactly what is so special about him, but it is enough to worry the higher ups.

I swat at a bug that buzzes by my ear and narrow my eyes, watching the blond brat. That kid should have been dead. I curse under my breath, wanting to wrap my hands around his scrawny little neck till it snaps. I should have done that from the beginning and then I would be stuck having to deal with all this bullsh-.

The dog lets out a short bark, and it makes me slip forward, almost landing on my face. I curse under my breath as he eats some fish that is thrown in his direction. I need to get out of here. Eric will not be happy about this. And neither will the higher ups. Shifting in my stance, I sink back into the treeline. 

Not Quite Back to a normal updating schedual yet...

But I hope you enjoy this short update 

Until next time my lovely readers,
and thank you for your patience 🖤