A spirit appears in the courtyard after learning of Auntie El's whereabouts. Apparently, Auntie El left in the middle of doing something and has to return. Surprising to know that Auntie El skips on her work too like Lord Sol. Archie and I send her off with an encouraging smile. Now then, while I'm still at the sanctuary, might as well follow Amber and lend a helping hand with her morning task which is separating corn kernels from the cob. The corn kernels will later be used for feeds. Amber and I pair up to fill as many large sacks with corn kernels as we can. Keepers with strong arms will then carry the filled up sacks to the storage room. The task of separating and tossing corns is becoming never-ending until the bell loudly chimes.
Amber toss a corn cob away and cries out cheerfully, "Lunch break!"
On our way to the dining hall, I keep receiving curious stares from the keepers. Mostly everybody in the sanctuary is acquainted with Bane, partly because of Amber boasting to her colleagues, so it is not about him. This time their gazes aren't tracing the Great Wolf's passing greyish-white figure but at the bushy brownish-red fur sitting atop of Bane's head as if its the most natural thing in the world. Thankfully, we arrive at the dining hall right before it gets too crowded. Bane stays outside while Archie jumps down and follows us inside. Today, the dining hall is serving mushroom soup, mashed potatoes with roasted corn on the cob for lunch. Those of us who's been seeing nothing but corn all morning couldn't help but feel trapped. The moment we take a seat at an empty table with our food, Archie leaps on my lap and reaches for the roasted corn. I break the corn in half and give one to Archie which he happily accepts. Not only Amber, but the keepers sitting at the surrounding tables also watch with fascination. Meanwhile, the focus of their attention is gnawing on roasted corn without care. Let's pretend that I'm not bothered by this and focuses on the mashed potatoes.
"While it's distracted," Amber quietly say.
When my eyes meet Amber's, she puts a finger to her mouth and slowly moves her hand from across the table. Her target is Archie who's focused on eating the halved roasted corn. Every elf in the dining hall is quietly and keenly watching Amber's uncounted attempt of laying a single touch on Archie. The halved roasted corn is already half-eaten. Amber needs to pick up her pace or else, she'll miss this chance.
munch, munch
Four
munch munch
Three
munch munch
Two
Every elf is at the edge of their seat and holding their breath, including me.
munch munch
The tip of Amber's fingers almost reaching Archie's pointy ears.
munch.
Archie's pointy ears twitch, slides down on its back and disappear under the table, leaving Amber's stretched out hand hanging awkwardly in front of me. The operation is unsuccessful again. Everyone releases a breath of defeat.
"So close."
"That's too bad."
That's what the keepers are muttering behind me.
Ever since Amber sees Archie hanging around me from this morning, she keeps making this attempt every chance she has and Archie always manage to deflect her touch at the very last second. It's like a game of tag for these two.
"Iris, please! Can I touch the red panda for a second? It will only be a second," Amber pleads, unaffected by her failure.
"Even if it's alright with me, in the end, it's still up to Archie, you know?"
I tell her so.
"Archie?"
"Yeah. Archie, our youngest."
The red panda pops up from under the table upon hearing its name. Somehow, Archie looks pleased whenever I mention that Archie is our youngest.
"You named him?!"
I nod.
"Naming them would only mean you two establish a contract."
Again, I nod.
Amber stare up and down at me and Archie then cries out. "No way! Two contracts?!"
After that, Amber goes into shock then incoherently mumbles, "life...no meaning...ahhhhh"
A close friend of Amber sitting on our table says, "Just ignore her. This used to happen all the time when we were training. She's probably reliving the memories of being rejected by the inhabitants during our first seven years of training."
"Seven years? That's, something."
Now I'm the astonished one.
"Back then, Amber was overly enthusiastic. Upon first meeting with the residents, her behaviour could be interpreted as, how to put it gently, repulsive that no monsters wanted to be near her. She learned to tone it down eventually and the permanent residents are used to her now."
A second keeper adds, "Although, there are still some monsters who are agitated when she approaches alone."
Amber recovers from her inner turmoil and sulkily says to me, "I'll tell on you."
That's out of the blue.
"To who?" I ask, puzzled.
Amber thinks and with a triumphant smile responds, "Tabitha will be very sad when she sees the two of you being all close and friendly. She'll think you have forgotten her."
One of Amber's friend explains."Don't mind her. It has been her dream of taming monsters and forming one or two contracts with them, but thus far, she has no luck."
Just like that, we spend the remaining lunch hour without any more drama. Then, it's back to the corn kernels. Several more keepers come to help out which made progress faster and eventually reach the last of the corn kernels. The strong-armed keepers take turns carrying the heavy sacks while the rest of us sort out the mess. Amber and the keepers are already picking up the cobs from the floor and I watch three elves sweep the corn husks into piles of small mountain by the wall using wind magic. The clean-up seems to be going smoothly that it seems there's nothing else for me to do.
"Can I use some of these?" I ask, pointing at the corn husks to the wind user keeper.
"The corn husks?"
"Yes, I'd like to make some things with them."
"Help yourself. They're going to be fertiliser either way."
"Thank you."
When it comes to corn husks, there are several things you can make with them. Grab as much of the corn husks as I can and bring them to my little corner where Bane is resting with Archie and start weaving the corn husks. At first, I made two cushions to sit on; one for me and the second for Archie. Thanks to my craftsmanship skill and past experience, I made more cushions then proceed to weave the corn husks into thick ropes and sew the ropes into a basket. The same keeper that let me use the corn husks sees what I made and silently joins in after watching how I do it.
"What were you doing over there?" Amber asks as she walks closer.
I stretch my stiff arms up in the air and groans.
Amber sees the finished basket and says, "This is well-made. We can use this to carry things around."
"We already have an item bag for that," her friend reminds her.
"The item bag is for potions and important stuff."
"I heard the caretakers at the nursery in need of baskets and cushions like these. Should we make some ourselves and deliver it to the nursery?" One of the approaching keepers suggests.
"That's good thinking. Let's do that."
Those who are finished with their task approves of the suggestion and get started on weaving the corn husks while a keeper leaves to get more threads and needles. What's with this sudden development? All I wanted to do is make some cushions and a basket for carrying the harvested fruits and vegetables from Maya's garden. With everyone's effort, the keepers weaved twenty baskets and thirty cushions in no time. I store the cushions and basket I made for myself inside my storage and help deliver the ones the keepers weaved to the nursery. As always, we receive a warm and noisy welcome. The caretakers are also delighted with the baskets and cushions. Since I come with a new friend this time, the young cubs sniff curiously around Archie. Speaking of young, I wonder how old is Archie. Let's take a look.
••••••••••••••••
Status
Name: Archie
Age: 7
Gender: Male
Race: Red Panda
Title: Iris's Familiar
Skills
Intuition
Magic Attributes
Recovery
So that's it. No wonder Archie reacts accordingly and so quickly. It's the result of a skill.
meow...
The purring and rubbing on my left leg distract my thoughts. This munchkin has a knack at appearing wherever I am at the sanctuary. Tabitha and Archie exchange curious looks. When one tilts its head, the other mirror its action. Adorable. If I could squeal without scaring the cubs crowding us. Control yourself, Iris. I crouch down between them.
"Tabitha, meet Archie. He's a new friend."
meow
Archie stands on its two feet while Tabitha walks in a slow circle.
"This is most unexpected," the head caretaker Freya comments.
"How so?" I enquire.
"Your new friend Archie and Tabitha are known to be solitary and elusive creatures respectively. Interactions between these two species are unprecedented."
"Archie, Tabitha."
They turn to look at me.
"Let's get along. Can the two of you do that?"
Instead of forcing these two to be on friendly terms, I made it sound like a request for them to consider. Furthermore, I verbally express my message in elvish. Archie gets down on four feet and quietly respond. Following that, Tabitha sniffs Archie for a few seconds and meows. And that's all they're doing while maintaining their distance.
"This is a memorable moment. Is someone noting this down?"
The caretakers and keepers present are commenting on Tabitha and Archie's actions amongst themselves like this is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Meanwhile, Amber gawks like an elf who just suffer defeat twice in a row.