MA: 89. Lesson Thirty

Red came to realize something important that night. As they sat around the open flame, munching on freshly caught fish by the calm riverside, there was a whole world she had yet to open her eyes to.

She looked at the bear which ate alongside them, sitting on a log and sharing the same brilliant meal of fish cooked three ways; smoked, over a flame, and another that used a technology Red could only call ingenious.

“The grill.  Trapping your prey into a cage and using that cage to cook your foe. I can’t say I’m impressed.” Red muttered to herself in the dead of night, speaking to a cracking flame as she munched into a grilled fish.

Indeed. Sitting atop the open flame was a cage containing several gutted fish. Aside from one, of course. Nutrients were everything to Red.

Organs? Give ‘em here!

Even the bear had to look at Red with some level of concern. But seeing that she enjoyed the flavor caused that concern to disappear as it return to enjoying its cooked meal.

Oh. Did one expect the new world Red had found to be mercy?

Not at all.

This new world was called flavor, and the wisdom she gained was that fish were quite tasty.

“Nom. Delish. Slurp. “Bones cwunchy.” Chew.  Hey, Shnow. If a bown gwets stuck… Ahem. In my throat, then can you heal it out?”

“it’d be a bit hard without access to your throat.”

“Your hands a slim enough to fit riiiiight down my throat though!”

Snow didn’t know how to feel about this. A part of her wanted to ignore this claim and continue torturing – er, cooking the fish but she looked down at her hands and gauged whether this was true or not.

“… What are you making me check.” She murmured.

Healing magic had some peculiarities to consider. The first and most important one was that it could not bring the dead back. Once the Soul departed, as Snow described the process, then it was light’s out forever.

That was not to say that there are no methods for resurrection. Although, these methods never truly brought a person back. Only a shambling parody of what once was. Another was through the Atelier called CogitO which could take a person’s ‘Ego’ and implant it into devices, effectively letting them live forever.

But living in such a state couldn’t be called living. Snow and Red agreed on this as well.

“What’s the matter with you?” Red asked the bear who began shivering.

It made a few weird noises. Nothing human-like, but Snow seemed to understand it.

“The talk of the Ateliers unnerved him. A lot of wildlife aren’t too fond of the Ateliers or big organizations. I think they don’t mind the Associations though.”

The bear nodded in agreement.

“Huh. Were you always able to understand animals? I thought it was weird that you seemed to understand Rockie.”

“I didn’t tell you?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if you did, dummy.”

Snow desperately held onto her smile as an irritated vein popped on her forehead. Being called dummy by Red of all people managed to strike a nerve. But that suddenly faded away when Red finished up with her meal, stood up, and plopped down beside Snow.

“Wheeeew~! Thanks for the food! Be glad the fish was delicious bear. Or you would’ve been grilled. Heh. I like that word. Grill.”

A warm hand moved to her face and gently brushed scraps of food away before she was cleansed using [Cleanse]. There was rarely a need to shower or ensure their hygiene was in good order thanks to this magic.

All the rolling in blood, mud, trudging through the forest for days on end – it was almost funny to Red that they smelled like flowers.

“Snow, aren’t you a little close?” Red asked, noticing that Snow had brought her nose close to her head.

“I always thought you’d smell like a wet dog for some reason. But your natural smell isn’t that bad.” She said, squeezing a peculiar yellow fruit onto her fish.

“I thought you’d smell a bit better than flowers. There’s a hint of blood on you.”

“Can’t help it as an Honored One.” Snow sighed.

She was about to toss her fruit away, but Red took it instead.

“Why waste it? You haven’t even taken a bite out of it!”

“Wait – actually, you know what…” She was about to stop Red from taking a bite out of the fruit that was called a ‘lemon’, but instead let it happen.

Red, unbeknownst to her, was that this fruit was not like the sweet apples or the poisonous pears they had come across.

“Smells delicious. Bone apple teeth~!”

“Seriously. I can’t understand what you’re saying sometimes.”

She took a bite out of the lemon, expecting a burst of sweet, juicy flavor.

But instead, her eyes widened. They trembled as they looked down at the half-eaten lemon. Her mouth crumpled into itself as she hoarsely proclaimed:

“Poison… It’s horrible. Help me Snow…”

She dropped the lemon by her feet.

“Help me…”

“Bwa!” Three Paw came in, thinking the lemon to be a ball.

But with one lick, he was left laying on his side in a world of regret.

“You as well? Now what, lesson number twenty-nine. Not all fruits are sweet.”

“N-Note taken…” Red still hadn’t recovered from her physical damage, let alone the psychological shock of something so sour.

She couldn’t believe that wasn’t poison!

Snow suddenly excused herself from the group.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just going to pick up daisies.”

“Flowers? At this time? Again?” Red sighed.

“I won’t be long.”

Earlier, Red had checked the perimeter for daisies and had not found a single one. Yet Snow, for the last few days, had repeatedly told Red that she needed to ‘pick daisies’ before disappearing for a few minutes.

Was it a codename for something else? Were there really daisies out there?

“Three Paw. Rockie. Tasty bear. What are my options?”

Three Paw pointing to where it heard the snapping of twigs.

“I see. Rockie?”

The Forge Bug held its arms in a giant ‘X’.

“X marks the spot. You want me to go find the treasure, huh.”

Rockie shook its shead.

“You really want me to find it.”

It shook its head even more vigorously. It was about to scuttle forward and hold Red, but Red was already running to where Snow had disappeared to.

“Bwa.” Three Paw stood proudly.

In the meantime, Rockie went around to gather a few sticks to create a small grave.

Red burst through the forest in search of Snow and the coveted daisies. She heard the sound of a stream nearby, despite having left the riverside. She followed the sound, and before she knew it, it took her straight to a seated Snow.

“WHERE ARE THE DAISIES!?”

She could only see the back of Snow’s head, so she assumed she was squatting over a daisy.

“EH!? WHO!? R-RED!? GET AWAY FROM HERE!”

However, that was far from the case.

She was expecting to see a field of white in front of Snow.

And she did. Although it was a small field of white atop a pink mound that reminded her of something between her legs.

“Um… Where’s the daisies?” Red asked innocently, staring a little too hard at Snow as she covered her exposed privates.

“Red…” Snow trembled with insurmountable rage.

“Are you watering them?”

Red didn’t know any better.

It was a genuine question, and Snow knew this from the bottom of her heart. Still, it was impossible to hide her rage, which was surprising since Healers weren’t supposed to be able to get this angry at all.

Or at least Snow needed to reach the First State or become hungry to come this close.

“Red… close your eyes and look away. Please. Never, and I mean never walk in on someone relieving themselves or you’re bound to get into trouble.”

“Is it… embarrassing?” Red asked again as she turned her back to Snow.

“A lot. You really shouldn’t have followed me.”

“I’m… sorry.”

A part of Red braced herself, expecting to be whacked or at least chewed out by Snow. Thinking quickly, she began undoing her skirt.

“Wait! Red! Have some shame!”

“Shame?”

Snow dove forward to catch Red’s skirt. She held it by her waist. As much as she wanted to lash out at the girl, she had to remember that morality was a concept lost to Red.

“Yes. Shame. Those parts are only meant for people very close to you.”

“Really? Even closer than us?”

“Yes. Much closer than we are.”

“But don’t ours look the same?”

“It’s not about whether it looks the same or not.” Snow redid Red’s belt before promptly fixing her own undergarments.

Red wore a look of bewilderment. She couldn’t, for the life of her, understand why this was such a big deal for humans.

Don’t humans wear clothes because they protect them?

A pair of warm, forgiving hands slid around her waist as Snow pushed her head against her back. Her voice vibrated across her body, bringing the confused Red to ease.

“Lesson thirty. Modesty is important in humans. Very important once we reach the larger towns. A village of people who know you well won’t bat an eye. But other people will see you in a different light that you’ve never seen before.”

“Like I’m weaker?”

“Worse. Don’t ever forget that you’re a girl in the eyes of others. These parts of ours, no matter who or what you are, aren’t meant to be seen so easily. It’s humiliating for us.”

“… Did I humiliate you?”

It took a while for Snow to answer. In the meantime, Red couldn’t help but wonder what these words meant to her. Red only saw herself as a fledgling human.

Never as a ‘girl’.

This was the first time she had even considered it.

And probably the only time if she was being honest with herself.

“You did, but… It’s fine now. I can’t get mad at you. Just know that when I’m picking up daisies, I don’t mean it literally. Not everything is to be understood at face value.”

“Language is weird. Why do words have to be so… open to interpretation, and not just direct like a knife?”

“Haha. I get you. Red. Are you ok?”

“Why are you also asking me if I’m the one alright?”

Another weird question assailed her.

If anything, it should be her asking Snow this.

“It just seemed like you were worried.”

“Hm. I was?”

“You might not know it, or might not see it yet, there’s more to language than just words. C’mon Red. Let’s head back.”

Snow stood up and took Red by the hand after twirling her around.

She hesitantly took it.

“I’m not used to this.”

“It’s a learning experience. Don’t worry. It took me over twenty years to understand it, and I still feel like I’m learning new things every day.”

They pushed past the shrubbery.

Then, Snow whispered:

“Thanks to you.”

Red didn’t respond to this. She didn’t know how to. But those words felt like they weren’t meant to be heard, like they were inadvertently spoken by her heart rather than her mouth.

Was this what Snow meant by there being more to language? That not everything had to be taken at face value?

She didn’t know.

But hopefully one day…

“Oh, you wanna sleep close to me? I don’t mind. Haha~” Red snuggled beside Snow as her white-haired companion gazed up at the cosmos above.

“Is that a problem?” She smiled.

“Nope. I don’t mind it.”

… she’d come to understand it all. As much as she wanted to share the same sights as Snow, she couldn’t help but be drawn to her eyes.

Those eyes shone like stars.