Dilecto Meo

|| two ||

With the sunrise came the early morning, lighting the entire forest in golden light. Dew clung to the ferns and the pine needles dripped water onto the forest floor as it seemed to awake after the long night.

As soon as the bright light hit their eyelids, Amarantha slowly began to wake up. As much as they like sleep, they like the mornings even more. Sitting up in their bed, the witch tried their best to stretch their limbs until they heard the familiar cracks and pops come from their tired joints.

Walking over to their window, they opened the glass panes and learned out. Taking a deep breathe in, Amarantha savored the crisp, autumn air as they awoke for the day. How each breath was cool, and how it carried the smell of pine needles and wood.

It was at this moment that Amarantha's mind drifted back to Avalyn. They were debating about if they should check on her or leave her to rest. While rest was good for her, the witch had to check up on her condition, as they hadn't during the night.

Quietly, Amarantha opened their door and crept over to Avalyn's. Peering in, they could see that Avalyn was now sitting upright at the end of the bed, clearly confused as to where she was.

"Hey there-" Amarantha began to speak, but quickly was cut off by Avalyn's surprised jump off the bed.

Clearly she didn't realize the witch was there.

As soon as she did, Avalyn winced in pain as she nearly toppled over from some unknown injury. Amarantha rushed to her side, and Avalyn didn't put up a fight.

"What's wrong?" Amarantha questioned worryingly.

"Nothing, just my leg hurts," Avalyn replied. "I think I pulled something last night."

The witch gently palpated the girl's leg, taking note off where it hurt the most. Rushing back to their room, Amarantha grabbed a bottle of healing elixir and went back to Avalyn's side.

"Here, try this. It should help with your leg."

Avalyn took the bottle and drank it's red contents. She partially gagged at the bitter taste, but didn't fuss too much about it. Amarantha helped her back to her feet. While her walk was a bit of a limp, Avalyn felt better.

The duo walked into the kitchen, where Amarantha decided to start working on breakfast for her new counterpart. The familiar was there too, of course. As they turned around, the witch noticed that Avalyn and the cat were staring out the window, as something had caught their eyes.

Some deer had wandered about the treeline as they grazed, unaware they were watched.  The large mammals had a blue tone to their fur, indicating that they were Skrys. Skrys were thought to be spiritual creatures, but Amarantha knew it was only folklore and they were really just blue colored deer.

Turning back to their kitchen, they had to decide what to make. The witch was not the best cook, but at least  they could make decent food. Amarantha decided on a mushroom stew, as they always had mushrooms.

While they waited for the water to boil, Amarantha brought out a cutting board and a container of mushrooms and laid them on the counter. Once they had grabbed a knife they began to chop up the first few shrooms.

As they chopped, the witch would put the pieces in a small bowl. Everytime they turned to add to the collection, Amarantha caught a glimpse of Avalyn. She was still watching the Skry, but now she was petting the familiar. She gently stroked it's black fur all the way down, and then she would carefully bring her hand along the cat's tail. Even from their point in the kitchen, beside the boiling pot, Amarantha could here it purring.

Going back to the food, they carefully dumped the bowl into the boiling pot, careful of the hot water splashing their arm. Although they could instantly heal themself with a potion or elixir, it still hurt them.

A savory aroma soon filled the small cabin. Along with mushrooms, Amarantha added in some other vegetables and herbs they'd found in their yard and the forest surrounding them. That's what they had been doing last night. There was a special herb that only blossomed at night, and the day prior they had discovered it's location along that road.

They weren't expecting to run into the guards or Avalyn, though, that just happened.

Not that they were complaining too much.

By now the the stew had finished cooking, so Amarantha started to spoon the contents into two bowls, plus a smaller one for the familiar. Avalyn pushed her, the cat, and their chair back over to the table. The Skry were walking back into the brush, disappearing into the woods.

Carefully, the witch brought over the dishes and placed them on the table. They turned and reached for the drawer and grabbed two spoons. Avalyn thanked her host and blew on the hot liquid before eating it.

Must be better than normal, because she quickly repeated the process.

As Amarantha watched, they noticed something about Avalyn. She had a light dusting of freckles across her face and down her neck. Her ears were slightly pointed, but a lot of kids around her age have those. Pointed ears are common within the world, many within the Imperial Empire.They don't fully point until their early to mid twenties, sometimes longer.

As the two finished their stew, some light conversation were held. Avalyn mainly wanted to know what happened after she past out. Amarantha told her how they had to carry her all the way home, and she -while slighty giggling-  apologized for passing out. The witch told her there was nothing to apologize for.

Once they were done eating and had put their dishes in the sink, Amarantha invited Avalyn to join them outside. She agreed, of course, and once the witch grabbed their basket, the two (three with the familiar) were out the door.

While it was only September, winter was coming soon, and most of the herbs and roots and other things would be buried under snow. Right now, they were looking for certain herbs that they were either low on, or running out of.

As they walked, Avalyn followed behind, the familiar sitting on her shoulders. The witch felt that the cat liked Avalyn more then them, as the familiar didn't do this for them.

How dare it.

Word count: 1064 words