A Soviet's Struggle

Четы́ре

Mariya sat on the opposing side to her sister and the two sticks with meat were set onto the supports, hanging over the fire in a rotisserie style. Every now and again, Mariya turned the sticks for an even cook as they talked about how to get to their destination. Silsina reached over to the steel pot that they had found before leaving town containing the water. She picked it up and took a swig of water.

"So," Mariya said, reaching for the water with her healing skeletal hand. "We are going to need to collect as much firewood and dead leaves as we can before winter sets in."

Silsina raised her eyebrows, handing the water pot to the Russian - who promptly took a sip of water. "Do you still have the Knapsack?"

"Dah." Mariya said, mildly choking on the water, pointing to the tree behind Silsina. "It's right there."

Silsina looked at the two sticks over the fire and licked her sharp beak - as whether Hunter or Protector, the beak of an ave was mutated in such a way that made for an appearance of teeth where a flat surface around the lip would normally reside. Her stomach growled in anger as it demanded food. "Are those sticks almost done? I'm starving."

Mariya blinked at her.

"You can't rush it. They've only been on for about 8 minutes. I'd give it another 12 at most. These aren't thin slabs, you know."

Silsina moaned and laid in the grass, causing Mariya to blink again out of surprise.

"You're acting like a child, Silsina. You're almost 19."

Silsina responded with another moan; and Mariya just gave up - letting her throw her temper tantrum. The Russian turned her attention to the fire, the orange glow lighting up her face.

The remaining 10 minutes the cubes took to cook passed by in silence. Silsina rolled in the grass, trying to pass time. Mariya just began to carve into a nearby tree. She turned her attention to the open flame every few minutes to make sure the sticks weren't burning - or the meat for that matter. Looking at the crisp, tanish colour of the pork, she stood up and grabbed the sticks off of the supports.

"Hey Silsina." Mariya said, standing in place and patiently waiting for her sister to gain interest.

Eventually, she did turn around; and noticing the meat on the spit, darted for her stick. Mariya slowly nibbed at hers, looking over at Silsina - who was digging in and eating fast.

"Will you enjoy it? Holy fuck Silsina."

Silsina looked up with pork in her mouth, her wild and dilated eyes glaring up at Mariya curiously. "You heard me, yea?" The Russian frowned, and Silsina nodded in agreement - slowing down considerably.

The two didn't speak for the rest of the meal, only the sounds of chewing and shifting to get comfortable was heard from time to time. When Mariya ate food and drank water - her body used the energy to help in restoring her original, alive, look. With the meals she ate in the past few weeks, her skeletal hand began to cover up in skin, and soon, the fur that covered it originally. All of the rotting holes on her fleshy side have already healed, as well as the eyelid - which exposed her only eyeball. The goal of the restoration process was to return an undead individual to the realm of the living and to make them look normal. The only thing that remains in someone who had passed but was resurrected is a faint second heartbeat after the original beat.

Mariya sucked on the last piece of meat on her stick, sinking her teeth into the flesh. She watched Silsina chew and swallow her last piece, who let out a satisfied burp from a good meal.

Silsina turned to Mariya and smiled. "I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm stuffed."

She then stretched, preparing to lay down and make herself comfortable. Mariya swallowed her last piece of meat and tossed the stick to the side.