Heathen

|12|

Elodie

I stare down at the river with my eyes fixed on my prize, determination buzzing through me. I bite my lip in concentration.

The weird alien fish flits through the water, unaware of me and Barre's growling stomachs.

The giant stands behind me, watching on. I could tell that he wanted to do this. Some primal part of him refuses to let me do anything really. I made it clear towards him that I'm not some helpless creature. I want to help.

So, Barre gave in, and he showed me how to spear a fish. It's been a long day of walking through the woods once again, but I could only take a few hours before I got tired again. My back still hurts from sleeping in that tent last night.

I hold the short spear in my hand, watching and waiting as the alien fish swims closer and closer to me unsuspectingly. I glance back at the Rytarian for approval. He simply nods his head once, and I strike.

The blade dives down through the water and into the fish. I squeal in success. After what feels like a hundred failed attempts, I finally got one!

I pull the spear from the river and show Barre with a grin. The red, wriggling fish has sharp fins and beady, black eyes.

Barre smiles at me, a gentle smile without showing his teeth. It's an un-intimidating look of pride and encouragement that boosts my self esteem more than a little.

My alien man carefully takes the spear from my hands, placing a hand on my shoulder as he brings the skewered creature to his eyes for inspection. He towers over me, so it's hard to crane my neck as I watch him right behind me.

He narrows his eyes, taking a swift bite of the still moving fish.

I throw my hands over my mouth, trying not to throw up as I begin gagging.

Disgusting.

Barre raises his eyebrows at me in question, continuing to chew on the completely raw fish. He holds the slime covered fish to me, and I cringe, taking a step back and letting his hand fall from my shoulder.

"No sushi for me, thanks." I laugh, putting a hand to my stomach to try to settle it.

Obviously, the giant doesn't understand a single word that I say. I sigh, shaking my head in frustration. This might take some time to communicate that I need to cook the meat in order to eat it.

An hour, and lots of hand signs later, we have a large fire going. Well, Barre has a large fire going. He's extremely resourceful in the outdoors.

I'm wrapped up tight in a blanket, seemingly useless beside my fish catching. I'm thankful for the heat from the fire. It's cold out tonight, especially still being damp from the river. I tried drying off, but the water seems to stick.

I sit back on my heels, watching carefully as Barre cooks the fish over the flame. He caught a few more after my successful catch as well, all of which he ate raw, straight out of the river.

The fire is large, atleast 5 feet tall. It's kind of scary.

Salsh lays next to me, equally enamoured with the food and all of the aromas coming from it. It doesn't smell fishy, for which I'm grateful.

Finally, after what feels like forever, he takes the fish from the fire. He offers it to me, putting his hand on my back as I hold the spear, inspecting the now cooked fish.

"Relinkas, shasa, felivf." He murmurs, I look at him in confusion. He then makes an eating motion. I sigh, nerves wracking me. I've never been good at trying new things, specifically strange foods.