The Water Sprite

An Eel

Pulling her dagger from its throat a gush of foul air escaped the body, but it was hers, and he wanted to give it back.  His spear was also there, though not looking overly useful, it had been left out in the elements for too long that the wood had begun to warp.  So gritting his teeth, he cut away a chunk of meat from the carcass, and threw it into the water.

Instantly the water swarmed with life.  Cutting away several more pieces, he threw them in too, until the eels could be seen gathering around them.  Then with his spear, he quickly caught two.  He would have caught more, but it broke on the third attempt. But happy with the catch, it was more than enough, so with her knife he quickly cut off the heads before gutting them.  

Looking back at the bear he sighed.  It was too big to bury and he was not strong enough to drag it anywhere. so spending a little extra time on it, he cut as much as he could from the carcass, before using the remnants of his spear to push it into the water.  It would feed the fish and be gone within a week he thought to himself before picking up his two eels and heading back towards her side of the forest.

Returning to her cave, he was surprised to find her gone and the cave cleaned.  But throwing the eels onto the kitchen bench, he quickly took her axe off the wall and returned to gather wood and twigs.  It wasn't much, but it was enough to see her through the next two weeks at least.

Once he had the fire blazing, he then set about her kitchen to prepare a meal.  He found her larder was fully stocked with all manner of wild vegetables, roots, herbs and fruit.  He could see she ate well, and this made him happy.  It also meant he had more than enough to create a nice meal for her.

Firstly he set about creating a salad with the vegetables and fruit before lighting the stove and heating the oil he found, though it seemed she also knew how to make flavoured oil.  Choosing one that had a strong scent of garlic, he decided that would be the perfect oil and because eel is generally an oily fish, he also lay out a handful of fern leaves to drain it once cooked.

And it was while he was bent over the stove removing the first eel that she walked into the cave.  

He saw her before she saw him, but the sight of her instantly caught his breath.  She was just as lovely as the last time he saw her.  But the moment she turned towards him, he noticed one thing immediately. Joy.

Rushing at him, he could not stop her from throwing herself at him.  With her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her face instantly buried into the side of his neck, he stood stunned and in shock.

"You came back." she whispered tearfully against him.

"What is this." he asked gently and forcing her back.

"You came back." she whispered again as the tears rained down her cheeks.

"Of course I came back.  You saved me, I wanted to repay your kindness." he replied still confused by her demeanor.

Not sure what else to say to him, she merely stood in front of him staring and crying .

"Alright, why don't you go and sit down by the fire.  You are cold.  I am almost done here." he said firmly before shoving her gently towards the blazing hearth.  It looked so inviting, she did as suggested and sat down on the fur rug to watch him from the other side of the room in awe.

That he had come back, even if it was to share a meal was enough for her.  She had searched for so long, that finding him again had felt as if everything was finally back to where it should be, but when he disappeared again, she truly thought it was for good and by the time she had returned she was coming to terms with it.

Now to be sitting in front of a warm fire he had made with wood he had collected while cooking a meal in her own kitchen was too good to be true.   Blushing through the hungry noises coming from her stomach, she heard him chuckle softly at it.