Frostbitten Wayfarer

Emma laid in her bed trying to sleep. Oliver was laying at the window, staring out at the trees that waved in the night winds. And Fennel seemed to be making it his life’s purpose to keep her from sleeping as much as possible. His sharp claws dug into Emma’s stomach as he sniffed her face and licked her eyebrows so much she wondered if her eyebrows would even survive.

“Come on, Bennel.” Emma yawned and picked up the black cat, placing him next to her on the bed. “Just stay there, it’s sleep time, okay?”

Fennel meowed and moved down to the foot of the bed where he started kneading, pulling Emma’s blanket down as he made himself a comfortable bed. Emma rolled her eyes and turned to her side, hugging a large pillow and watching Oliver.

He looked over at her and closed his eyes then turned back to staring out the window. Emma closed her eyes and fell asleep, having a bit of a nightmare where both her cats escaped and as much as she looked she couldn’t find them.

She woke to Fennel standing over her face screaming at her. Emma looked at the window, the sun just beginning to light up the forest outside again. “Yes, good morning, Fennel.” She pet his head and pushed him to the side so she could sit up.

Emma rubbed her eyes and yawned as she stretched. It was a day off for her, most were these days since they finished Moaning Point. The hundred gold they each got was enough to live off of for a while and the black boots Emma took were probably going to sell for a hefty sum as well. According to the merchant Emma visited, they were enchanted with a simple flight magic which let one drift to the ground from dangerous heights.

Zoe had taken the shield, and Joe was left with the necklace, but Emma wasn’t sure what either of them were yet. Joe might have identified the necklace, but Emma suspected Zoe had entirely forgotten about the shield she’d taken.

Oliver stretched across the foot of the bed as he was woken by Emma’s movements, and then hopped down and walked off to wherever he was going to hide for the day. Usually upstairs beneath a pile of clothes and boxes, but he’d be running down for food in a few minutes anyway Emma knew.

Fennel sat next to her on the bed, meowing at her. She wasn’t sure if he was begging for food or just had a lot to say. The little void tended to have a lot to say, a very talkative little boy.

“Guess it’s breakfast time, huh?" Emma leaned over and hugged Fennel, much to his discontent. ”Oh come on, its just a bit of cuddling. If you get to scratch me when I’m sleeping, I get to hug you, okay?"

Fennel meowed.

“Okay, okay. Breakfast. Come on.” Emma said as she got up and walked to the kitchen. The cats didn’t need to eat in the kitchen, but it just felt right for them to have breakfast together somehow.

She summoned some charcoal and placed it into the makeshift stove Zoe had made — when that girl got back, Emma was going to demand a better stove from her. She was much more capable now, she could do a lot better, she was just too easily distracted.

With a flick of flame from her Fire skill, Emma ignited the charcoal and placed a hefty cast iron pan above the grate so the flames just licked the bottom of it. Emma bent down and pet Fennel as he walked back and forth at her feet while the pan heated up.

“You know I always make my breakfast first, alright? Just be patient, it’s almost ready.” Emma said.

When the pan heated up, Emma made herself some breakfast. A simple meal of scrambled eggs, brul and some fruit. “Okay. Oliver!” She shouted. “Breakfast time!”

Oliver never came when she shouted, but she still liked to try. Maybe one day he’d learn that he always heard the sound of his breakfast being poured after she yelled for him. She summoned two small metal bowls and placed them on the ground, then filled them with dark purple pellets of cat food from a bag she kept in one of her rings.

Fennel dug in as soon as she filled his bowl, and Oliver came running down a moment later. Emma put her food onto a plate and sat down at the table to eat. The cat food stank, if she was honest. It smelled of rotting fish and wet dog, but the cats seemed to enjoy it and Emma liked her morning routine even if her own breakfast was spoiled a bit by the cats’ wretched food.

“What are we gonna do today, boys?” Emma asked. The plan was to go for a bit of a walk, maybe let Fennel hunt a bit. Since she’d gotten her new class, letting him roam free outside was a lot less terrifying than it once was. As uncomfortable as her nightmare was, the reality was that the cats were hardly capable of escaping her with all of the skills and experience she had as a hunter.

Oliver never seemed very interested in it anyway, always wanting to return home as soon as they left the immediate vicinity outside the cave. But Fennel was much more curious, much more interested in exploring the outdoors and throwing himself into danger.

The two cats meowed as they ate. “Yeah! We’re gonna go out today. You boys excited?” Emma asked.

She watched them finish eating, wondering about those fancy trays that she’d seen at some stores before. Mazes for the food to fall into so the cats would have to work a bit for their food, rolling it around on the floor and pawing at it to get all the food out. Fennel might enjoy it, but Emma thought Oliver might just decide he wasn’t all that hungry anyway.

When they finished, Emma cast her cleaning skill over the dishes to clean them all and then stored them away in her ring. Zoe had managed to get a cleaning general skill which seemed rather convenient, but Emma didn’t have the patience for all of that effort.

Emma struggled to see the point to Zoe’s obsession, years away from her friends, always throwing herself at danger in the hopes of attaining some further power and for what? To throw herself at the next big danger that comes her way? It just seemed pointless, to Emma.

She respected her friend’s choice of course, Zoe clearly got something from it that Emma just couldn’t understand. But to give up her life at home, with her two adorable cats and friends who she could spend time with whenever she wanted? Emma couldn’t understand it.

And throwing herself at a wall for months at a time just to learn a new skills? Emma tried a few times, but it was just so boring. So mindnumbingly uninteresting. Even if Emma didn’t have to sleep at all, and even if she didn’t have any responsibilities to worry about throughout the day, spending every waking hour she had on a single task for months on end just wasn’t an option.

Zoe was strange, as Joe would say. But Emma loved her none the less, a strange but very important friend. Maybe one day Emma would find a skill like what Zoe’s friend Lila had, just so they could communicate while Zoe was off on her adventures. That might be nice.

Emma got up and summoned Fennel’s harness. “Alright little Benny, you’re the annoying one even though you love it so much more. One day you’ll see this and get excited. You love being outside once its on, you know?” She knelt down and grabbed Fennel around his torso.

“Come on buddy, you’re gonna have fun. I promise.” She said as Fennel tried scratching at her arm while she wiggled the pink cloth straps onto him. He ran off to the front door when she was done, meowing in the distance.

“See! You know you’re going outside and you’re all excited now. Why do you have to scratch me so much when I try to put the damn thing on?” Emma shouted. “Just wait a sec, I gotta get your brother in his harness too.”

Oliver was usually much easier to get in his harness, at least when he was in a good mood. And today, it seemed he was. Emma slipped the blue harness onto him and then walked him up to the front door where Fennel was pacing back and forth and still meowing.

“Yes I know, it’s so exciting isn’t it?” Emma bent down and made sure his harness still still attached properly, then grabbed the leash that hung off the back of it and opened the front door. Fennel ran out, tugging on the leash a little as he sniffed and scratched at everything outside.

Oliver stayed back and sniffed at the front door a little before Emma gently pulled him forward a little. “Come on Ollie Bo Bollie, you’re gonna get all squished up if you stay there.”

Emma started walking down the path she normally took, a bit of a walk down towards the wall that now stretched all the way to the hill she lived in, and then along the wall to the gate. She liked to stay away from the town proper when she walked the cats — both to avoid the incessant greetings and interruptions from people and to let the cats explore the forest a little for themselves.

Sometimes she even left the wall and wandered through the forests a bit with the cats, but today didn’t seem like a great day for it. The glimpses Emma saw of the forest outside through her space class were filled with boars and even a wolf earlier while she was preparing breakfast. They were hardly dangerous to Emma with all of her classes, but if something went wrong and one of her cats got hurt or even worse because of her, she’d never be able to forgive herself.

When they got to the gate, Fennel started pulling the leash a little towards the gate. “No, sorry Fennel, we’re not going outside today.” Emma pulled him back and kept walking along the wall for a while, and then turned around and started back towards home. Fennel still seemed to be enjoying himself, but Oliver was beginning to pace back and forth around Emma’s feet which she always took as him saying he’d had enough.

“Okay, okay. Lets go home. I wanna get started on a garden today, I think. I bet Zoe would be okay with it. Maybe we put up a fence and you two can spend some more time outside, too.” Emma said to the two cats as she walked back.

Peter was standing outside, peering in through the windows when she got back. “Hello?” She called out from behind as she walked up.

“Oh, hey!” Peter waved back. “Lauren wanted me to come invite you over for dinner tonight. She’s made some fresh brul for some sandwiches and I’m trying my hand at baking a cake.”

“Oh? Something happening?” Emma asked.

“Yeah!” Peter laughed. “I’m baking a cake for the first time. It’ll probably be bad, but Lauren’s sandwiches will be amazing. She’s been roasting some boar meat all morning and it smells amazing. You should come, if you don’t have anything going on.”

Emma shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Who else is coming?”

“Just Joe. We were going to invite Karl but he’s busy tonight with some problem outside the walls.” Peter said.

“Wolves?” Emma asked, thinking of the wolf she’d seen wandering the forests outside Foizo.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Saw one out there earlier which I thought was a little weird. They don’t normally come that close to the walls.” Emma said.

“Apparently they’ve been creeping in more and more lately. Not sure what’s happening. Be careful with the cats, hey?" Peter said.

Emma nodded. “I always am. If anything happened to my babies I don’t know what I’d do. I’ll keep them inside the walls for now then I guess.”

“Sure, sure. Yeah anyway I’ve gotta get back to my cake.” Peter laughed. “See you at dinner then.” He bent down to pet the two cats. “And you two be good, alright?”

“Sure, thanks!” Emma said as he left, then pulled the two cats back inside and took off their harnesses. Fennel clawed at the door a bit, hoping it would open so he could get back out and Oliver ran off to fall asleep somewhere hidden.

Emma stepped through space to just outside the cave and stared at the ground. She stared at the ground outside the kitchen and her bedroom for a while, trying to imagine a garden. The day drew on as Emma pulled sticks and stones around the area to try and plan out where she’d plant things. Every so often, she’d hop back inside to check on the cats and play with them for a bit then hop back out to plan the garden a bit more.

Dinner time rolled around, and Emma fed the two cats again. This time with some brown gloopy mashed up food from a metal box that the two cats were crazy for. She had to warm it a bit on the stove and add a little more water to it, but both the cats came running as soon as they smelled it and gobbled it up in moments when she placed it on the floor for them. Emma didn’t quite get their taste, but if they enjoyed the disgusting smelling slop then she’d happily feed it to them every day.

“Okay, mommy’s gonna go visit some friends for dinner. You two be good, alright? Love you both lots!” She kissed them both on the forehead, then stepped through space to just outside Peter and Lauren’s place.

Joe was standing at the door when she arrived and jumped a bit at her sudden appearance. “Oh! Hey Emma.” He said.

“Hey. You ready for some cake?" Emma asked.

Joe laughed. “Yeah. Maybe not the cake, but the roasted boar does smell nice.”

Emma took a whiff and smelled a rich, charcoaly smell from the fire Peter and Lauren had in their backyard. “It does smell nice.”

Joe knocked on the door, and Peter opened it a few moments later to let the two friends in for dinner.