“-of the stupid rock!” Devourer finished with a perturbed tone. He took another nibble of his food as the smoke faded and the group stood in the backyard of Mrs. Strawberry. The Grand Tetons of Idaho off in the distance. The abrupt shift from dark night sky to full daylight caused everyone squint their eyes for several minutes until they adjusted.
Eli squirmed in the cook’s arms and and she put him down to wander about the yard. Within a few seconds he was nosing his way into the strawberry patch with a happy little woof. The beetle rattled its carapace in agitation at the abrupt shift. It turned slowly in a circle to survey the area when it saw no danger was in sight it chittered and followed after the Frozen Death that was foraging for strawberries. The ant-horse didn’t even stir beneath Gus.
Onion’s tail sprouted thin leaves with edges that curled up so high they almost looked like tubes. His eyes brightened as he exclaimed “Ooh, goodie, new experiences.” He dove into the grass sinking beneath the earth.
Gus stretched, climbed down from his steed. “Ah, nice safe place to slumber,” he wandered beneath a giant squat tree and settled between the roots to doze with only the barest of comments “Wake me if needed.” The ant-horse meandered through the grass and made a beeline for a squirrel that was flicking her tail as she looked at the new intruders to her territory.
“Don’t eat my squirrels!” She warned the insect, the armored steed stopped to blink at the cook. It turned back to with mandibles extended towards the curious tree rodent. “No!” Mrs. Strawberry warned, she grabbed the bug by the chin and pulled it down to her eyelevel “You eat any of my forest friends and I’m making you into jerky.”
“Best you listen to the cook.” Gus muttered to his mount.
The ant-horse chittered in annoyance and turned away from the taunting snack. Mrs. Strawberry scooped up a large slug from a nearby leaf, “Eat all you want of these though.” The ant-horse delicately took the proffered morsel and started meandering through the vegetation for more of the squishy food.
Descendre eyed the birds and other critters meandering about the backyard. “What is off-limits here? Food wise.”
“I’ll make it easier, you can eat the moles that have been making holes in the ground (had a friend twist an ankle on one of those mole hills) and they have been eating all my root vegetables.” She pointed at a hole in the ground. “Hunt to your heart’s content with them. Same with the mice.”
Descendre grinned wide, licked her sharp teeth, and prowled away into the bushes. Mrs. Strawberry refilled the bird feeders and the squirrel feeders. Birds landed on her outstretched fingers to take some seeds then flitted away. The cook, Onion and Devourer went inside the cool house. A short time later all the windows were open, the air conditioner turned on and a pot set to boil tea. Devourer opened his jacket in front of the air conditioner to enjoy the frigid chill. Descendre entered and wriggled in front of the cold air. She bumped the Auris out of the way “Move over bub, this artic breeze is claimed by me.”
They started to tussle, and Mrs. Strawberry said from a cupboard as she started sorting through ingredients for the return meal, “It is fine if you want to roughhouse but take it out back for more room.” The two exited while still locked in combat.
A short while later Gus and the blue cub entered with sticks and leaves covering both of them, the Mottoy saw the questioning looks and explained “The cat decided my tree was a good tactical position.” Eli shot a withering glare out the door towards the backyard and woofed in annoyance. Gus chuckled and added “It was getting too rough out there for our taste.” He carefully picked off each leaf and fed them to Eli “There ya go buster, enjoy.” A short time later Gus had retreated down to the root cellar, while Eli trundled around at her feet. He looked up eagerly while she pulled meats from the freezer. When she went outside, she didn’t give the two battling friends a second glance as she harvested vegetables, berries and fruits from her garden. She sidestepped when Devourer was sent sailing through the air with a wail of dismay. Upon returning to her kitchen, she started cutting up vegetables with Sister Blade’s black knife, the metal slicing through them with ease.
A while later Mrs. Strawberry’s neighbor (Mr. Hoffman) brought over some fresh ingredients, staring in stupefaction as the large blue cat ran pail mail away from the spinning blue gentleman in a three-piece suit, she noticed his stare “Oh, my travel companions, very nice folks.”
“Ah.” The bearded man smiled in relief “Well, if they’re friends of yours, they must be good folks.” Eli trundled up and batted the man’s leg with his head. The man crouched down to scratch around the little blue creature’s horns. Mr. Hoffman spent the next several minutes doting on the creature. Eli making a rumbling, purring growl. “I don’t recognize his breed.” The man noted.
Onion perked up at this “He’s a Frozen Death!” with pride in his voice.
“What a grim name.” The neighbor commented, it didn’t seem judgmental simply matter of fact. “What is the context behind that decision?”
Mrs. Strawberry had just finished mixing dough and was now kneading it to create the necessary air bubbles to allow it to rise properly. “It was an arbitrary decision, Onion and I had decided that the next unnamed creature we saw would be named ‘Frozen Death’, it just so happened to be Eli.”
“Hello.” Hoffman said towards the Silken, he extended a hand and the two shook.
The granny sliced off a section of dough and plopped it into a buttered metal pan to allow it to rise. “Okay, you two I am needing some extra hands, we have a lot of dough to make for the party tomorrow tonight. Plus, twice baked potatoes, pies and tarts.”
“Party?” Onion asked with curiosity.
Mr. Hoffman chuckled “Mrs. Strawberry likely wants to introduce you all to the neighborhood and friends. She did the same thing for me and Sabeen when we moved into the neighborhood. Now best we start helping”
In short order they were covered in flour as they mixed, pounded and prepared food. Eli was covered with dripping dough, after he successfully climbed atop a step stool, onto a chair, onto a table and finally onto the tile counter. He had smacked down on the edge of a bowl with enthusiasm and now had the appearance of the swamp thing attacking a bakery. Mrs. Strawberry had promptly taken the small dough covered cub into the bathtub while Onion and Mr. Hoffman worked away.
“You took all of us in stride pretty well.” Onion noted, he was scooping out the steaming insides of a baked potato, careful to not damage the skin.
Mr. Hoffman was mincing the green stems of chives with a normal knife. “We don’t judge people much here. We all have enough going on in our lives to bother with making a big deal about someone’s appearance.” He scooped the tiny, green rings into the gigantic mixing bowl with more of the steaming potatoes. He threw in sour cream, salt and started to mix the ingredients. “We are all about community here. A large part is thanks to Mrs. Strawberry and her husband. They took us in when a hurricane swept through our city, helped us get back onto our feet. Even helped us build our house we now live in.”
“That smells divine.” Onion said as his leaves expanded to take in the scent. He scooped the last of the baked potatoes contents into the mixing bowl and started grating cheese. “That does seem to follow with what I have seen of her, very generous.” Onion added as he took the now mixed contents and started to fill the potato skins. Once finished he started to sprinkle the grated medium cheese onto the tops with a flourish. Once that step was completed, he put them on trays and popped them back into the oven.
Mrs. Strawberry returned with a freshly washed Eli under her arm. He wriggled to get free and was not the happiest of critters when he was unable to escape. She placed him on ground beside her and firmly said “Stay!”
The Frozen Death started to move but at a glance at the cook he returned to his seated position and made a huff that sounded suspiciously like a pout.
Mr. Hoffman rinsed his hands off in the sink and asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
“No, thank you, Simon.”
“Not a problem at all. I had best be heading then. The wife wants me to clean out the shed out back and I have put it off long enough.”
Mrs. Strawberry handed him a plate of fresh baked peach tarts. “Be sure to say hello to Sabeen for me. And spread the word about the party tomorrow, starts at four PM sharp.” Once the man left the cherubic woman turned to making the meal for tonight.
“I liked him.” Onion commented as he started wiping down the counters with a wet washcloth.
“You’ll likely like everyone tomorrow.” Mrs. Strawberry cleaned a fish with the long thin blade of the Sister Blade. She added a rub of spices into the meat and then covered the fish with an herb reduction and left it sitting on its tray too soak up the aromatic flavors that caused Onion’s mouth to water in anticipation. With that preparation done, she started peeling potatoes using the small knives from the Twin Blade. “Now.” She said to the Silken that had finished cleaning and was now sampling a fresh strawberry from the garden bounty. “If you could hand me those strawberries we can also start prepping for tonight’s dessert.”
It was a brief time later than Devourer pelted in from the front door and pressed himself against the wall.
He saw the curious look of the two cooking and held up a finger against his lips “Shhhh, don’t look at me.” Descendre ran past the large front window, when she was out of sight the Auris hurried over to the counter and sat down against the fridge to hide from the cat’s line of sight “She hasn’t been this playful in a long time. I actually need a breather.” There was a smile on his face, a genuine smile, Mrs. Strawberry hadn’t been sure until now what his true smile looked like, it was more relaxed around the cheeks where his lips twisted up.
“If you started helping me,” She smiled herself and handed the three-eared gentleman one of the smaller pairing knives “She would have to stop chasing you anymore. Give you a moment or two to breathe.”
He eagerly took the blade and started peeling the potatoes, they were mostly hacked up at first but he started watching the granny’s smooth elegant rotations of tuber and metal’s edge, once he started mimicking that motion the potatoes stopping looking like a vegetable serial killer was on the loose. A short time later he had cleaned his feet and was holding another knife in his foot and peeling. He had a look of smug brilliance now that he could peel two potatoes at once.
Descendre pelted past the kitchen window overlooking the garden. A focused determination on her face as she searched for the Auris. A moment later she pelted past even faster. A short time later she ran past but here she was leaping through trees and along the stone garden wall.
“Should I tell her that I am in here?” Devourer asked, looking a little guilty as the cat made an eighth circuit.
Mrs. Strawberry shook her head “Nah, let her enjoy the chase.” She took the fish (still covered in the herb reduction) and slid it into the oven to start baking. “Let’s put those potatoes into a pressure cooker with some salt and set it to boil for mashed potatoes.”
A few minutes later the cat shambled across the backyard; her feet padding through the green grass. Her head lifted as she sniffed the air. She lowered herself down to peer up at the shadows of the trees and under the eaves of the house. and looking into shadows.
Onion watched with an amused smile and returned to focusing on his peeling when the Derkaz looked into the kitchen.
Descendre skulked out of sight.
Devourer hopped up onto the countertop to lounge while he peeled “What did you think of Silver the ten-ear?”
Mrs. Strawberry had a pleasant laugh, one that caused the Auris to blush self-consciously. She noted the blush and evaded the question to prolong the teasing. “I was wondering when you were going to bring Silver up.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“So?” Devourer queried.
The cook locked down the sides of the pressure cooker and turned on the heat. “Silver was pleasant to me and seemed very smitten by you.”
“But?” Devourer nudged.
“No ‘but’, if Silver makes you happy then you should pursue the relationship.” Her matronly nature got the best of her, and she added “Just don’t go jumping in head over heels without testing the waters and making sure your personalities are compatible. You need to know each other well enough that you both understand what irritates you about the other and that you both can tolerate those irritants.” She set the pressure gauge on the pot and then started rolling out crust. “Especially important to be reasonable when adding in a whole pod of Aurises.”
Devourer was meditative as he pondered her advice. “Yeah, still have to get hot coal for Silver too, I mean it is a really complex ceremony.”
“What the coals are for?” Onion asked as he popped several blackberries into his mouth. The berries gleamed under the fluorescent lights of the kitchen as they tumbled through the air and into his waiting mouth.
The Auris caught a thrown berry in his mouth without missing a beat in his peeling “Ten-ears carry the skin searing coals in a shallow metal bowl with their bare hands, to prove their magic is strong enough to resist. Much like I walk on my bare feet to prove my magic is strong.”
“Ten-ears are immune to flames?” The cook asked. She took a moment to sit and sip some chilled apple cider that tickled across her tongue.
“Yes…” Devourer finished the last of his potatoes and started wiping down his hands and feet from the starches. “My Tentra used to show off their ability to withstand immense heats when they were forging my ear blades, a Tentra is always the one to help craft their child’s head armor. A very special bonding moment where they collaborate on the design of the bladed ears. Watching the Tentra stand on molten coal in the middle of the flames, using their fingers to pinch the blades to razor perfection, using a nail to peel away metal and craft these intricate patterns.”
“Your head armor/blades were crafted by your ten-eared parent?” Onion looked ponderous at the explanation. He leaned forward to look at the equipment crafted by a Tentra.
The Auris shook his head to cause the armored ears to jangle “A Tentra is vital to crafting equipment for the pod; as I mentioned, a ten-ear’s magic is around heat immunity, three-ears like me train for travelling magic. And—" before he could finish Descendre pounced in through the back door.
“That’s cheating!” she snarled out the complaint, though there was a hint of humorous defeat.
“If it’s not part of the rules then it isn’t cheating.” The Auris stuck his tongue at the Derkaz. Then leapt into the air and spun to catch the berry as it sailed past him; he and Onion had started trying to do more complex tricks when catching the juicy snacks “Besides, I am helping with dinner.”
The cat rolled her eyes. She turned curiously to look at the rest of the house. She started opening doors to see where they led. Onion joined her and both were making oohs and ahs as they opened and closed closets and bedrooms. When they found the basement door, they commented on the beautiful paintings that hung on the walls as they pattered down the stairs.
“Speaking of helping with dinner…” Mrs. Strawberry held up her magic aging spoon. “I have been wanting to experiment with this more.”
The gentleman did not look convinced “I don’t trust that thing.”
“But we can age all sort of ingredients.” She challenged. She grabbed some cheese, threw it into a bowl and started rolling it around with the spoon. “It will be amazing.”
The three-ear scratched his bowler hat as he contemplated the ramifications (both positive and negative) of the spoon “That seems like such an oddly specific magical ability on that spoon. I wonder who made it.”
“Beats, me.” She put aside the aged cheese and started aging various other items. “But it is super handy for sure.” After some cooking she took a taste testing bite. She smiled and held out the plate of food. The Auris sniffed it and looked disgusted. Mrs. Strawberry was not deterred. “Don’t be so easily dissuaded.” When he still looked resistant her voice turned more coaxing. “Try just a little bit.”
She handed the Auris his own spoon.
The Auris took a very small spoonful of food. He nibbled tentatively; his eyes changing from disgust to awe “This is amazing!” he took another bite. “Umami, spice and a very slight hint of sweet notes.” Without meaning to his pinkie rose into the air.
Mrs. Strawberry beamed and took another bite. “I wholeheartedly agree.”
The two started aging various foodstuffs. They then started matching those ingredients with unaged addendums; oyster crackers, versus a Pringles sour cream and onion chip (Mrs. Strawberry’s favorite). Once they finally had found a few different appetizers to taste, they called Onion and Descendre up to try the different flavors. They enjoyed their meal in contented silence. Gus even came up to try a few of the different aged foods that were palatable to the diet of a fungus.
Once mildly sated the adventurers started putting the finishing touches on the evening meal. They moved in amicable silence, only speaking to have someone taste a dish and ensure it wasn’t under seasoned or missing a spice. As each dish was completed it was placed on a large wooden table that was covered with a thick tablecloth. There were steaming potatoes with a dollop of butter melting on the top. The fish was uncovered from the sauce and the aroma of herbs wafted throughout the house. Various plates of steamed vegetables were added as well. The motley crew were setting down the last plates of food on the table when there was a loud bang on the door.
Bang!
Mrs. Strawberry didn’t look up “That must be my Late Husband, Marshall.”
Devourer looked at her, then the door. Then back at her again. He put down his plate of chilled blueberries onto the finely embroidered tablecloth and asked with curiosity “Does your husband visit as a ghost a lot?”
“He did visit the neighborhood as a ghost for one Halloween.” She commented as she took a plate from Onion and started setting the table.
The doorknob rattled ominously.
The Auris removed his bowler hat and shook his head to keep his ear blades from catching.
Mrs. Strawberry didn’t pay any mind and continued to set the table. “My, he really is having a difficult time today.”
Descendre flicked her tail, purple poison now coating her nail claws.
Onion looked from the door back to the woman.
The Derkaz sidled up to the door with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
The door flung open to show a portly man with his arms full of groceries, “I’m home!”
The Auris leapt from a banister; blades spinning.
Descendre’s tail whipped through the air.
“Stop!” The cook ordered without looking up.
Devourer made an attempt to halt his momentum with a mid-air reverse twist and crashed into a wall with a surprised whimper as he landed on a porcelain dog.
Descendre turned her entire body at the last moment; causing her tail to change its arch and sending her nails above the man and cutting two furrows in the wood of the heavy door. Her rotation smacked her into a piano and dropped her like a sack bricks.
The rotund man looked at the two crumpled on the ground, his voice was deep and had a pleasant tone to it as he noted “Awfully clumsy friends you have here.”
Mrs. Strawberry beamed at the man “Hello dear, nice to have you home, late as usual I see.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and turned back towards the kitchen, “These are my comrades in combat and reappropriation, everyone this is my Late Husband.”
“Wait…” Devourer mumbled from his upside-down position among the remains of the porcelain canine. He righted himself as he processed the words “Late husband! You said Marshall was dead!”
“I said nothing of the sort” she responded snippily. She took a bag of groceries from her husband; allowing Marshall to circumnavigate the limbs of Descendre as she wobbled to her feet. The cook set the groceries on the counter as she added “You know, if you just rang the doorbell or knocked on the door, I would just open it for you. You don’t have to try all your various tricks to hold the bags while trying to open the door.”
“Wait!” Descendre started.
“But then I don’t get to feel all clever.” Marshall countered with an affectionate kiss on her cheek. It was clearly an old argument and it seemed he hadn’t even noticed the cat’s interruption. He had a full white beard that made him look like Santa Clause. His worn shirt that said ‘Let Me Tell You A Fish Story’ gave a feeling of Santa Clause on a fishing vacation.
“You said late husband!” Devourer interrupted with an edge of irritation; he had discovered a small cut in it from one of his ear blades. “A late husband means dead husband.”
“You told them I was dead?” The bearded man asked mildly. His baseball hat that said ‘This is my wife’s hat’ on it.
Onion looked at Devourer in confusion. His leaves opened wider as he absorbed the nuances of sounds from Devourer’s words. “You are pronouncing it ‘late husband’. It is pronounced ‘Late Husband’ see?”
“I did nothing of the kind.” Mrs. Strawberry grabbed some knives to set on the table. “Oh, this is Eli. Our new pet.”
Eli that was sniffing at the newcomer’s old sneakers. The bearded man knelt down to scratch the cub’s head. His hands were calloused from working on wood, cutting down trees and various other projects. “Pleased to meet you, Eli.”
“Mruff!” Eli barked and leapt into the air to lick the man’s nose. He overshot and sent the man’s baseball hat tumbling to the ground.
Devourer and the rest of the adventuring party was ignoring the interaction of the cook, her husband and Eli. The Auris asked aloud the question on all their minds. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh, that pronunciation of ‘late husband’ was intentional.” Onion blinked in surprise then ponderously said “I thought you all knew, she was saying her nickname for him ‘Late Husband’ and not ‘late husband’… You can tell because of the inflections in her voice.”
The three-ear was sarcastic “Inflections in her voice.”
“Right.” Mrs. Strawberry agreed as she scooped up her husband’s hat. She looked at her friends “I call him ‘Late Husband’ because he always gets distracted by whatever project he is working one and is late to things.”
“Enough about my nickname.” The round bellied gentleman announced. “Would you introduce me to your friends?”
Introductions were made and a short time later they were all sitting down enjoying the meal. There was the clinking of cutlery as they devoured savory fish, creamy mashed potatoes, spicy chicken in a red curry and vegetables prepared with various methods. Glasses were filled and refilled with apple cider, milk from a nearby farm or orange juice from the groceries Marshall had brought home. While they ate various members of the team regaled Marshall with stories of their seven-day adventure. Mrs. Strawberry gave a short version of her battle with the Tattered Siblings when Devourer blurted out “You skipped over the best parts.”
“Best part?” the cook asked.
Onion nodded “You skipped the part with the spiders.”
“And the twins!” Gus added.
Descendre was last to speak though it was clear the rest of the adventurers had the same thought “And the guillotine!”
“Guillotine?” Her husband asked.
“Yes.” Devourer prodded. “Remember, he was hiding on the ledge and then you—”
“-oh!” The woman mused “That part didn’t seem very important.”
“Guillotine!” the adventurers said in unison. “Please!”
“Very well.” The ranger said with a smile. “I had just pulled myself from flooding area by way of the large chain. When I finally reached a floor that was not crawling with spiders I kicked in the door and swung inside.”
The adventurers, Marshall and even Eli leaned in wide eyed as she told the story of the guillotine.
-
The story continued as the meal was completed and food put away. It had become dark outside as they washed the dishes and they had put out lawn chairs as the story started to wrap up. They were sipping hot chocolate and staring out at the stars. Mr. Strawberry emerged from the kitchen with piping hot strawberry tarts as she wrapped up the tale by saying “And that is how I beat the last Tattered Sibling.”
“Here we go everyone.” Marshall said right behind her with the second plate of strawberry tarts. “I’m not surprised you used the pan like that in your fight with the Tattered Siblings; it reminds me when we were in Yellowstone national park on our fifteenth anniversary.”
Devourer’s ears perked up at that. “Oh, she hadn’t told that story.”
“Well grab some dessert and I will tell you all about it.” Marshall offered. The team crowded around the tray eagerly taking their tarts. They lay on their backs on the cool grass and looked up at the twinkling lights in the dark sky.
“This is beautiful.” Devourer murmured happily once Marshall finished his engrossing story. The Auris withdrew his sketchbook and a quill with ink from his inner pockets and started to draw the night sky.
Mr. Strawberry peered at the drawing “That is beautiful.”
“Hmm?” The three-eared gentleman asked distracted. He glanced up and realized the man was speaking to him. “Oh! Thank you!”
“May I see the rest?” Marshall asked.
Devourer handed him the book “It is the designs for my cookbook I decided to make one after seeing the ones your wife had. It has sketches of the things we’ve experienced and the food we’ve cooked and tasted. Some of them are really rough sketches.” He added with a self-conscious tone.
“Sometimes the point of a sketch is the mistakes and fun of the exploration and not the perfection.” The man corrected gently.
Mrs. Strawberry looked up at the stars “I can’t wait for our next adventure.” she paused, her hand finding her husband’s, “Though I am completely and totally content to just lay here and enjoy the peace for a good long while.”
They lay there beneath the stars, enjoying the majesty and beauty while cricket chirps echoed all around them and frogs gently croaked.
Onion’s leaves shivered with relish as they absorbed the sounds of the world around them. “I would also enjoy having more time to partake of more food that is made in a kitchen and not on the battlefield.” He took a large bite of his tart. He quickly licked the strawberry juices that coated his green fingers.
“Agreed.” The adventurers said together.
Eli grabbed Marshall’s hat and scampered off with it. Mr. Strawberry hot on his heels with an amused shout for the cub to bring it back.
Devourer took a sip of his hot cocoa before dabbing his mouth with his embroidered handkerchief. “I do need more inspiration for my cookbook.” He watched the man and Frozen Death running about the yard. He took another bite. “This tart is decadently divine!”
“Just wait until you see what we are cooking tomorrow!” The ranger said with smile in her voice. “We are going to need to go hunting.”
The adventurers started making plans while Eli was finally caught and carried back by the bearded man. He joined in the planning, and it was late into the night before they all headed to bed.
Devourer and Descendre offered to wash the last of the dishes and they leaned against each other as the Auris washed the mugs and Descendre dried them. He handed the Derkaz a cup as he said. “We were lucky to find a cook as powerful as her.”
“Can you imagine what would have happened if you had been the one cooking?” The cat dried the dish with a towel, her blue fur standing out in stark contrast to the white fabric.
“It isn’t that bad!” The Auris countered.
The feline snorted in derision. “Your food should be a war crime.”
They washed the dishes and Devourer hugged the cat “I love you.”
“I know.” The Derkaz responded.
The gentleman raised an eyebrow. “Do you love me?”
“Of course.” Descendre said as she bumped her head against his chest. “To the moons and back again.”
The Auris had a wistful smile “Aw. You are sentimental.”
“Well not that far.” Descendre said hurriedly. She saw his hurt expression and explained with another bump to his chest “If I went that far I would miss out on some of the cooking of Mrs. Strawberry.”
“That would be a tragedy.” Devourer agreed with a smile.
The End