The Seelie Curse

Chapter 2

The sound of rushing water fills Astrila's mind, bringing her to awareness. Her eyes open, only for a flicker of sunlight to shine right into them. She hisses in pain and squeezes them shut again. She's been awake all of two seconds and the rising sun just shone directly into her eyes. Astrila sits up, stroking the fur of her pelt. The light around her changes, shadows cover her eyes. She cracks them open. The view is strange.

There are unfamiliar objects across the river, she's never seen anything like them before. She twists to look back up the bank. The strange things are on this side of it too. Astrila frowns and stands, moving closer to them. She hesitates before she places a palm against one of them. The texture is rough, like when the wind blows the snow into hard ridges just before it can freeze into ice. It's slightly warm beneath her fingers like there is something alive beneath the rough surface.

Astrila shakes her head, sighing. She misses snow. She misses the many uses for it and the way that each snowfall is different from the last. She looks back at the strange object, then glances back at her cousin. Kyma is still sleeping, but she won't be for much longer. She's already stirring. Astrila looks at the strange thing again.

Higher up, parts of it stick out from the center, shrouded in something green. She can hear Kyma move again, the sounds of the furs being flipped off of her. There is the soft sound of bare feet padding across stone behind her and Astrila turns. Like she had thought, Kyma is walking toward her, rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes. Astrila smiles warmly at her cousin.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Kyma is frowning. "When did we get here?"

"Last night. You were falling asleep on the walk here, so I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"Oh. Why are we over here?"

Astrila shrugs. "The wind told us to come here, to this river. We're supposed to travel upstream, I think."

"Huh. Okay. Is something going on with the tree? You're looking at it funny."

Astrila twists back around to look at Kyma. "This is a tree?"

Kyma's eyes widen and she claps a hand to her mouth. "You've never seen a tree before?"

Astrila shakes her head. "No, I live too far north. I don't think they can't grow there. Can you tell me more about trees?"

"They're plants. Some can provide food and some can't. I think this one might be a hazelnut tree, actually. Hold on."

Kyma crouches to examine the ground. Astrila follows her cousin down and frowns. There are some round objects scattered over the ground at the base of the . . . tree. She picks one up. It's shiny and the material looks similar to the wood that some of the houses at Clyde River were made of, but this wood is smooth. She frowns at it.

"Kyma, what is this?"

Kyma doesn't even look up, she's looking at one of the same objects on the ground. "It's a hazelnut. They're tasty. Try it."

"How?"

"There should be some peeling at the end. Pull on it and the casing will open so you can take the nut. You can eat it raw."

Astrila turns the nut over. Kyma was right, the ends of it are peeling. Where the shiny skin used to be firmly attached to the nut, it's now coming away like paper. Astrila pulls on it and it slips right off, revealing the shiny brown nut that was hidden inside. Astrila tips the papery case over and the nut falls into her hand. She cautiously places it between her teeth and bites down. It cracks in two quite easily. Astrila frowns at the flavour. She wasn't expecting it to be sweet. She looks over at Kyma. Her cousin seems to be gathering all the hazelnuts scattered over the ground, but why? Does she expect them to eat all of them? Shouldn't they be finding some fish to eat instead?

"What are you doing?"

Kyma glances up at her. "I'm collecting the hazelnuts. Your diet may be heavy on meat, but I would like something else as well."

"Well, I'm going to catch some fish."

Kyma shrugs. "Go for it. But don't take too long."

"I won't."

Astrila stands and starts walking back to the river. She tucks the three pelts back into her bag and ties it shut again. Then she walks into the water and shifts. It's so much easier to shift when she's already in the water than to have to drag herself in from the shore or the ice. She has to bite back a sigh of relief. The water is cool on her fur, seeping through to her skin. It's so hot out there in her human form, it feels so much better in this form.

There is a silver flash from ahead of her and Astrila surges forward. There's a fish there. It darts away before she can catch it and she huffs in dismay. Her seal form isn't made for the river, she's too bulky. Another fish darts out in front of her and she lunges for it. She catches this one in her teeth. She turns back to the shore and hauls herself out, dropping the fish onto the riverbank far enough from the water that the fish can't flop back in.

Then she slides back into the water. If she stays still, its easier to catch the fish. They don't detect her until she moves and by the time she does, they don't have time to escape her. She catches three more fish that way before she stops and returns to the shore. Kyma is waiting for her and she seems to be trying to start a fire. Astrila spits the last fish out and shifts.

"Want me to help with that?"

Kyma shakes her head. "No, I've got it."

Astrila shrugs. "Okay."

It won't hurt to let her cousin try. If she can't get the fire going, Astrila can always take over in a bit.
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Astrila just saw trees for the first time! What do you think of her reaction? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.