It was only late morning but already Memphis had been awake and moving for at least five hours. She had woken early but had decided to stay awake to get as much out of her day as possible. As most know, five hours is the minimum amount of time needed for a young puppy like Memphis to expel her pent up puppy energy and begin to react to external stimulus like a reasonable creature. For that reason she wasn't bouncing off the walls of her adoptive family's home and instead was concentrating on finding something to do. She was bored. She was so bored in fact that the very word bored, which bounced happily around in her head the moment she heard an adult use it, was now boring.
It had been an unpleasant dream that had woken her, another dream much like last night's and the night before. Her parents and siblings are there, they're happy and wonderful and everything is good. She climbs into the bag, the dark but warm and comforting bag and falls asleep. When she wakes in the dream everything is horrible, bright, cold and lonely She spends time searching for her mother, her father, her sister or her brother. She's hungry and scared and then she gets sick, she can't think or move. It's then that she jolts awake. Memphis let out a little whine, even thinking of the dream was unpleasant. Pinning back her ears she scampered forward, listening for Mama and Aniichan and her tail wagging happily when she heard their occasional words to each other. Little grey Memphis had decided she'd show how happy she was being here by making lunch. She'd hunt down some meat and then give it to Aniichan to cook. Her Aniichan Kaoru was a great cook and that seemed to be the reason that he cooked everything for her and her Mama Isabella.
Going outside and slinking down in the grass she let her nose wander in front of her, ears twitching at the little noises here and there. There was the smell of not bug and not bird, a warm smell that scurried like a puppy not far ahead of her in the grass. She could see flashes of something in the grass, tail maybe but not furry like hers. It hadn't run away like the other rats, she knew this from trying to catch other rats. This one had broken something that made it walk quickly and then slowly. Reaching a tentative paw out she smacked it and it lashed at her before falling still. Smacking it again it didn't retaliate, so Memphis did the next logical thing, she bit it. Blood trickling down her fuzzy chin she scampered back inside and followed her nose to the kitchen area where Kaoru was starting some sort of meal. Dropping the rat on the ground she sat and happily proclaimed, "I caught lunch Aniichan!" Remembering Isabella she added, "Mama, lunchtime!" She was practically grown up already.
And if I cannot fit it in, I'll keep it all to myself
Isabella sat at the table she had scavenged early on in her stay in the Thistle Kingdom. Idle nails traced circles and warps in the wooden pattern, ignoring the scorch marks of constant use from ancient owners. There was no fear of putting hot pots or bottles on this table; it was so abused by some old keeper that she did her best to clean it up. It was shiny, coated fresh in the last of her beeswax combs pilfered before the bees set to sleep.
Kaoru was crouched beside the open fire pit, his back to his bored mistress. He had captured a rabbit that morning and had skinned it. The soft pelt was sitting atop the ruins, drying and stretched out with rocks. Isabella looked up to watch him stirring the thinly cut meat in the bottom of the pan, using some sage and salt on it. He had wanted to use pasta or rice, but the woman had turned him down quickly; there was no such thing here. Salsola had no rice paddies and no fields of wheat for such luxuries. What did he think this was, Japan? Instead they would simply use a few wild greens with it. Kaoru had even managed to find a few sweet berries and mushed them into a sauce of sorts. It was the best he could do with the limitations he discovered here.
The young voice startled them both out of their individual reveries. Isabella pushed aside her empty mug and looked over the table at the pup. Kaoru set the wooden spoon on a stone with a serene smile before almost visibly recoiling from what the child offered. Isabella smoothly moved from the stone chair and wooden table to hover behind the white slave as he picked up the rat by the long tail. "Is a rat," he said dumbly, dangling it up for the gypsy woman to peer at. She sniffed audibly, aware that their kind ate rats but it felt more like cat food.
Isabella set a kindly look to her face and crouched in front of the pup, taking the rat from the man's hands. She shooed him back to his cooking, and he obliged, almost relieved. "Ma chere, Kaoru has caught us some nice fat hares." She gestured to the pot where the man continued to stir the sweet-smelling frying meat. "Wouldn't you rather have some of that?" she asked kindly, trying not to upset the pup.
The rat hadn't struggled much. A little flail here and there and then it had went painfully still. Memphis didn't know much, she still had a lot to learn about almost everything but she did know from experience that most critters did a lot of struggling when they were being bit. The little wolfdog couldn't make a connection between illness and the lack of struggling but the oddness of the situation was one of the reasons she had spit the rat on the ground. Licking the blood from her chin and paws she tipped her head at her adoptive family, wondering why Kaoru looked so funny and her Mama looked almost pained to see her bold, big girl catch. Staring at the dead rodent she blinked, phantom movements from its legs making her tip her head.
Hares. Sweet, fat hares. The words rumbled in Memphis' mind and then made her stomach do the same. She was really proud of what she caught but she knew the hare meat would be even better. Perhaps it was a little bit of a comfort that she was able to catch something on her own without adult help. "I want hare. Mama don't throw the rat away. I'm brave catching it. Aren't I Mama? Aniichan?" She glanced from the rat to each relative, big green eyes pleading for some sort of validation. True she hadn't battled life and death to catch it but this was a milestone in her life that she didn't want to forget. Without eating the rat a tiny, primal part of her would forget this day. Sniffing the air she licked her chops again and gave a little sigh, that hair smelled amazing.
Parking her rump on the ground near the fire pit Memphis listened to the spitting of the fire and wondered as puppies often do, what existed beyond her immediate line of vision. A genuine idea came upon her then and she perked up. Quickly looking to Isabella, pretty pretty Isabella, she quickly spoke. "Kitty can have the rat. I watched her kill a rat, tried lots of times and then I killed one. She can eat this one." Self-satisfied with her amazing revelation she turned back to the fire getting as close as she could to the cooking meat without getting burned.
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