CACKLE- Book 1

Chapter Sixteen

They spent the rest of the evening talking. Remi caught Anna up on her travels in this timeline from the cave to Adinna. Anna, for the most part, kept drinking, only pausing to ask the occasional question.

"A bear?" Anna's face contorted with shock.

Though everything Remi had said up to this point had likely sounded insane, this of all things made Anna's mouth fall open. Her drink sloshing over the edge of her cup, spilling on her ornate rugs. Remi looked down... the colour didn't seem to disrupt the rug's patterning. Maybe that's why she chose the maroon pattern. Or perhaps... the maroon pattern had been the direct result of similar spillage.

Remi tried to explain her reasoning. "I came across the creature in the woods, well um, truly it came upon me. It's okay though, you had taught me about familiars before and I thought..."

Anna interrupted, pointing at Remi and slurring her words, "And you just thought a bear would make a fine choice for your first familiar, did you?" She barked a laugh.

Remi's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "It didn't follow me when I reached Adinna, it chose to stay in the forest."

"Oh fancy that. Choosing to stay in the forest instead of being mistaken for a rabid animal following a small, naked girl into a village. Though I'm sure it would have made a fine rug." Anna's voice was dripping with sarcasm. And her cup was just... dripping. Remi resisted the urge to find a rag and clean up after her.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." Remi said, more to herself than to Anna. Anna, who was busying herself now with finding another jug as the pile of empties began stacking up next to her chair.

Remi watched Anna rummage through the cupboard when her attention caught on a colorful bowl of apples on the counter. Anna was attempting to uncork the jug with her teeth when Remi asked, "Can I have one of those?" She pointed. Anna turned, her gaze focusing and un-focusing on Remi's face. "I haven't eaten much since my.. erm... arrival." She continued.

"Oh my dear! You haven't eaten! How silly of me, poor thing like you." Anna missed a few times before successfully picking up the bowl of apples and wobbling over to set them on the table in front of Remi.

Remi looked at the bowl and shrugged, "Back home we would sometimes go without food for days. Never without water mind you, but we had to grow everything we ate. There were small silver fish in the cove but they were just bones and scales. No real meat on them." Remi began to gnaw her way through the apples. She had consumed three before Anna found a loaf of bread and a wedge of cheese, attempting to make a spread.

Remi could feel Anna's eyes watching her as she ate. She consumed everything placed in front her. She had never tasted cheese before... It was sweet and tangy. It squished in her mouth, setting off joyful little sparks on her tongue as it melded with the light crisp flavors of green apple.

There would be so many new foods to try here, and with such a brand new stomach she would need to pace herself. She ignored the ache beginning to grow in her swelling belly as she munched away.

"So..." Anna sighed. "An Elemental." It was more of a statement than a question.

Regardless, Remi answered, "Yup. The last one. According to you."

"And your mother?" Anna asked.

Remi's mouth was full when she replied. "She didn't have any powers. You didn't know who her family was, or my father. She gave a fake last name when she came to Adinna and sought help with the delivery of her baby."

"But she knew you were... or could be... an Elemental?" Anna tapped her nails on the table, a habit Remi knew well. She was really trying to work this out.