The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 15: Faked Bravado

The day's rolled on as Raven steadily made her way east through the Great Woodland Valley; it would take her a bit over a week to cross it and reach the mountain range that would take her to the borders of Nightingale Prefecture. Raven had not been in a rush as she moved through the forest and she often stopped to cultivate or hunt along the way.

As she went she had even fought against a couple of low level spirit beasts, winning with ease. Of course, she had made sure to avoid those beasts who seemed beyond her abilities, relying heavily on her instincts and recovering spirit connections to judge the danger they possessed. As a result, Raven had since long mastered the Deafening Sweep and even gained some insights to the next level of her Sonic Sword, the Shrill Rift.

With only a day's travel left before reaching the edge of the Woodlands, Raven sat cross legged by a rather calm river. Next to her were a couple of newly caught fishes skewered over a small fire. It was still bright out but Raven had nonetheless checked that no dangerous beasts were close enough to be drawn by the fire.

"Aarg, those smell so nice!" Hoatzin sounded quite defeated.

"Sorry, big Brother..." Raven glanced at the fish guiltily. "I can eat them raw if it helps."

Raven couldn't imagine how hard it must be to be confined with the Life Link all the time. Sure, Hoatzin might be grateful to be alive at all, but still...

"Naw, don't worry about me, Sister." Hoatsin reassured.

"..." she wasn't convinced.

"Well, when you eat, I can nearly taste it too." Hoatzin joked and Raven could almost feel him winking within the ring.

"If you say so..."

She sat quietly for a while. Once the fishes were done Raven practically swallowed them hole.

"Hey, hey! I was supposed to taste the flavor through you; don't gobble them down like a hungry hound the moment they're done!" Hoatzin's complains echoed in Raven's head.

Raven's face became saintlike as she blinked innocently.

"Why, Big Brother, I noticed that the fishes had been slightly burnt over the fire. Fearing that I'd give you a bad experience, I figured that the best course of action was to eat them quickly, so as to not invade your tongue with the vial taste of ash."

Silence, and then, after a while: "Well, did they taste bad?" Hoatzin asked disbelievingly.

"No, they where quite divine." Raven answered without hesitation, still smiling like an angel.

"Why you...! You were just hungry, right?" A cynical sneer was obvious in his voice.

"Indeed."

Both were silent for a while, and then, simultaneously, broke out in laughter.

"Haha, Sister, your eating style alone would convince anyone that you're a boy!" Hoatzin cried between laughs.

Coughing, Raven stilled her laughs.

"So, tell me, once we figure out how to restore you body, what will you, Hoatzin the boy, gobble down?"

The question caused Hoatzin's laugh to die down as well. With an unwavering voice he answered: "Burnt fish."

And the laughing started once more.

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Later, as the sun slowly started to set, Raven still sat by the riverside, cross legged. The laughing had stopped hours ago and Raven had chosen to cultivate for a bit before finding a good place to rest for the night. Usually she would do this for one, perhaps two, hours, but this time was different.