The army was obviously not her only choice. Perks of having been born not that long ago and having the memories of a past life that seems far more technologically advanced than the current one is that life prospects are practically infinite. But the fact that what she saw of her village screamed army camp made her feel like that was a likely best option.
While lost in her thoughts, Myr hadn't noticed her mother, Bell, coming up from behind and got surprised when she suddenly wasn't on the floor anymore.
'How come this old wooden floor never creaks for her? I can never hear her coming!'
"There you are my little cub. Come help mama cook, we're expecting a very special person today. Can you guess who it is?"
As they got closer to the cooking pot Myr got a whiff of the food and her mouth started to water.
'This person has to be very special if mama is pulling out the spices. The cooking is usually a bit bland, and I've never smelled any on mama's food.'
Bell placed Myr on the dining table that had a small assortment of vegetables and some meat. Then she grabbed two potato looking vegetables and held then up to Myr.
"Potato or sweet potato, what do you think?"
'I think it's a bad idea to have your toddler decide your food. But if you're ganna ask me anyway I might as well have a try of what's in the pot first.'
"Nam naaam."
Myr stretched her arms and reached out as if trying to grab the pot behind Bell.
Bell giggled at her adorable daughter.
"Of course, you just want the one that smells good. Ok, I'll let you have a try but the rest comes after I've finished it."
Bell grabbed a small wooden spoon, took a bit from the pot, blew on it a couple of times and presented the thick pasty liquid to the child.
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"Say ahhhh."
Myr sipped a bit of the stew from the spoon, ignoring the embarrassment of having Bell clean some off her chin, and her eyes widened.
'Damn, it's only been a few months but I had almost forgotten how food with spices tasted. Buuut...'
Bell couldn't help but smile when she saw her daughter's shock after tasting food with more flavor. 'Maybe I should make spice trades a bit more common around here.' But then confusion came over her when the child got a serious expression and started looking around the table, only to grab the two types of potato and, after a few seconds of deliberation, place the normal one down and hand her the sweet one.
Bell stared blankly for a second, clearly not expecting and actual answer from her daughter in regards to the food. But she recovered quickly enough and started cutting it up for the stew.
"Guess we have a little cook on our hands, huh?"
Myr just answered with a smile.
'I don't really wanna hide the fact that I'm smart for my age but I get the feeling I should be a bit careful later on.'
Like that they continued making the stew. Myr tried stealing a bite out of the different vegetables every once in a while, but was stopped by her lack of jaw strength and baby teeth. Apparently, whatever species she was was able to eat soft solids since way younger than any animal that she knew of back on earth. After it was almost done, Bell put out the fire and put a big lid on the pot.
"Okay Myr, time to head out. We have to get to the gates early if we don't want to have to push past everyone."
Myr could only tilt her head in confusion since she still had no idea what was happening today, though she didn't mind an excuse to head out and see the village. Bell put on a small woven baby holder and plopped Myr in the sac on her back, then they were off.
The village was small but sturdy looking, it had a wooden wall surrounding it that was around as tall as the houses and had a platform for guards with bows to keep an eye out. Myr hadn't gotten many chances to be outside and while the sun was a painful contrast to the dim house she was used to, the gentle wind hitting her face and excited atmosphere was a welcomed change, despite it being colder. Everyone was outside their homes. Many women were carrying their children in a similar way to Bell. Many of the older children were running to the gates excitedly with wooden swords. The mood was definitely a lot more playful than the first time Myr saw the outside.
'We're all heading to the gates... oh, are we greeting the returning soldiers or something?'
Once they got to the gates Bell went to the second most front position of the crowd and took her place. It seemed like everyone was slowly making a kind of triangle formation. Bell looked back at Myr and smiled.
"Get excited my little cub. Soon you're going to finally meet your papa."