Haha...Oops
So that whole 'weekly update' thing was a lie. Not intentionally, mind you, but a lie all the same. I didn't really realize just how brain dead i'd be with this whole project, on top of all the other usual stresses of life. So here's the regularly scheduled monthly post, with under a week to finish the 50,000 word count. I say word count and not novel, since this novel is not going to be done by 50k words. I've become too invested in the story and characters now, and it's going to go until I tell their full story! Does that mean that work on The Kin-Slayer is stalled for the moment. Yep. Am I sorry? Nah. I can't only do moody vampire drama and expect to ever grow, so here we are! Yelena's story is going to be much more condensed than Sigmund's, don't worry, but I still want to do it justice and write something that I'm satisfied with, especially since I've already come this far. I'm well on track to hit the 50k goal though, so long as I don't get distracted by EVERYTHING.
You may be wondering, how is the story going? Well, its becoming much more in depth than I initially thought it would. Its always been a problem for me, getting way too stuck in tiny details to make the world or character feel more real, sometimes to the detriment of what I'm actually trying to do. I've tried to keep things toa realistic level and not go overboard, and I'm happy with how things are going so far. I'm thinking I'll be able to finish her story by the end of the year though, and then work on book two will continue in earnest. If nothing else, working on this project has allowed me to form a habit, and I'm hoping it'll stick once I don't have an arbitrary obligation at the end of the month. Even if I don't though, I know that I can pump out some stuff at a rapid pace, which is kind of neat. I had faith that I could do this, but it was still a big 'probably'. Now I know that, if given the right motivation, I can actually do something challenging that not a ton of other people can. I mean, still a lot of people, but still.
It's almost Thanksgiving now, and after that comes Christmas and the like. Living in Texas means that I fully expect to have a hot holiday season, but that won't stop me from putting on some Skyrim ambience of The Forgotten Vale (if you know the OST for that area, you know the vibe I mean) and imagine being somewhere cold and lost to time. There's something about that area that still gives me goosebumps even today. Anyway, expect lots of cold or snowy motifs in my writing coming up. I may not actually get to experience it, but I can pretend to for a little while.
I've got less than 7k words left for the last five days of the month. Split that up, I should be done in under four days with the 50k word count. I hope that everyone enjoys this fun little detour from the norm for me, because I know I did. And am still, actually. We'll see how things go once this story is done. Maybe it could be something to put my foot in the door of traditional publishing? Who knows. Guess my next post will be right around Christmas time. Hopefully I'll be back in full swing on The Kin-Slayer, or maybe I'll be taking a writing break to give myself time to come up with new ideas. Either way, I'll see y'all soon. Don't worry though, I'll be posting big chunks of my current novel throughout the month so that y'all can read it. I will again remind you that some parts are placeholders because I haven't spent the time to think of good names for some stuff yet, and I am well aware that it is littered with typos. I ain't got time to write and edit, ya dig? Anyway, let me know what you think of Yelena and her journey to becoming a full fledged witch!
Make your own fate
J. M. Prigmore
Ch. 3
Over the next few days, as Yelena recovered, she learned frustratingly little from her familiar. It had refused to give her its name, so now she simply referred to it as 'Cat'. It had also refused to help her learn any kind of magic, claiming that her body needed time to recover from the bonding experience. She had to admit, she still felt quite weak despite the effects of her near death beginning to fade, due almost entirely to Sonya's nursing. Yelena had to admit to her that she'd had no cooking experience, as that duty had fallen to her mother and older sister back home. She was utterly incapable of feeding herself just yet, and so she had to rely on Sonya's generosity in the meantime. Luckily, Sonya seemed to have taken a liking to her. Conversation had become easier, and Yelena had even shared her story with her. Sonya was understanding, treating her with care when she had begun to tear up. Yelena was grateful to have been saved by such a kind soul.
She was finally feeling like she could move around without issue today, and as she made her way outside the cabin, she nearly ran into Sonya as she went to enter. She had a large axe slung over her shoulder, likely the one she had used to chop firewood for them both. Despite Yelena offering to let her take the bed multiple times, she had refused and slept on the hard floor with only a ragged burlap covering as a blanket. The fireplace had kept them warm, but she still felt guilty for hogging the bed this entire time. It couldn't have been comfortable.
"Sorry," Yelena said, holding the door open for her.
"Aw, you taking care of me now? What a treat," she said, continuing the growing trend of teasing her anytime she tried to help.
Yelena scoffed, but said nothing. She had a feeling that Sonya treated her friends that way, and that was fine with her.
She took a long look around the area around the cabin. The decrepit thing was almost completely shrouded by the tall pines growing all around, and the forest floor hidden under ferns that stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was a quiet, serene place. The smell of nature was strong, with the pine needles crunching underfoot as she slowly tread along the soft dirt. She was still dressed in her simple brown tunic, and she had yet to bathe. She was grateful that the weather was cool this time of year, lest she start to stink up the little cabin they had been sharing. Since the day she had awoken she'd had her long hair tied up in a bun, but she felt the urge to let it down and let it flow in the soft breeze. She pulled the leather strap free, and her bundled silver hair fell to her side, lazily waving as the cool wind washed over her. She spread her arms out and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply the scent of the forest. It was the best she'd felt in a long time. Out here, she was free.
"It is good to be one with the land, Yelena."
Yelena's moment of solace was interrupted by Cat's voice. Instead of the harsh shock of its words in her head the first time they had spoken, his voice was now like that of a subtle passing thought, reassuring and soft. She opened her eyes and looked at her feet. Cat was standing between her legs, brushing past her ankles with its tail. Its deep purple hair shined in the early morning light, almost sparkling with jewel-like brilliance.
"Am I recovered enough to learn something now?" she asked, impatience seeping into her words.
"Nearly. It is unwise to rush things."
"Can you at least tell me what the words in the book mean?"
"Should you speak them unprepared, you risk dangerous consequences. Many who would claim to be prodigious warlocks have cut their careers short due to a simple phrasing mistake," Cat said, further adding to the catalogue of worrisome warnings it had shared with her.
"What if I promise not to speak them?"
Cat looked up at her, meeting her gaze. She had lowered her arms, putting them on her hips now.
"Should you fail to heed my words, know that the consequences will befall you alone. We may be tied together, body and soul, but I will return to the forest. You will simply perish, human."
Yelena rolled her eyes. It was like talking to her Grandpa, who had never let her touch a sword for fear of her cutting herself.
"I'll be careful, I promise. Now please, just teach me what the words mean for the first page," she begged.
Cat sighed, then turned and walked back between her legs.
"Come along then."
Yelena grinned like a child, filled with joy over the idea of her learning truly beginning. This is what she'd always wanted, ever since she was a kid.
For the next hour, Cat patiently went over the first page. It was difficult for her to grasp all the concepts, but in essence, it was a simple spell used to imbue a basic concoction with a supernatural healing capacity. It would be able to quickly mend things like animal bites, cuts, and lacerations. It was far from the pinnacle of magic, as Cat explained, but it was a basic conceptual spell that could be expanded to heal maladies such as diseases and wounds from arrows or blades.
"But remember, Yelena. There is no cure for the bite of a shadow beast. Should we encounter one, until you are able to ward them away, you must flee. They are afraid of fire, but no physical weapon can harm them," Cat explained, sprawled across her shoulders as she held the book in her lap.
"Where do they come from?" she asked.
"They are a natural force, born from strong human emotion. Wherever mankind has established its presence, and wherever they in turn cause each other to suffer, shadow beasts are capable of spawning."
"Can they be killed?"
"Yes, and no. Once a shadow beast is born, being an avatar of pain or grief, its very soul is constructed from intangible concepts given form. The flow and weave of magic that permeates the lands are what give rise to the shadows, and when they are warded away by a human's magic, they simply return to the nexus from which they were made. In time, they will return, thought their shape may change."
Yelena understood almost none of what Cat had just said, but nodded her head anyway. The important thing was that in time, she might be able to at least make them go away for a while. That's what she got from all that, anyway.
"I believe that will be enough for today. I am hungry. I will return in a while," Cat said, leaping down from her neck and making for the open window to her left.
It must have been able to feel how exhausted she was. She had no idea that learning could be so tiring. Perhaps Cat actually knew what it was talking about.
Yelena was left alone now in the cabin. A subtle breeze flowed through the room via the window, flipping the pages of the book a few times to a page she hadn't spent too much time on yet. There was a surprisingly well drawn rendition of a human body, with various labels written to either side. It must have been some kind of medical section, but all the words were in that strange language again. She'd have to ask Cat about it later. For now, a nap sounded quite nice. She set the book down beside her in the bed, pulled the heavy blanket over her chest, and closed her eyes, enjoying the cool weather and soft birdsong in the distance.
She had taken her first steps towards being able to use magic, and she had a nice friend and a weird little cat who where helping her. Despite everything leading up to here, she had to admit, this was the happiest she'd been in a long time. Was it selfish to think so? She knew that some might view her disobeying her parents, refusing to just follow their rules and settle down with a husband to raise a family, as a terribly self-serving act, but to her, abandoning her dreams was the truly incomprehensible idea. She had no desire to live her entire life birthing children and making food for a husband who only came home for food and sleep. She was sure that her sisters would find such a miserable life enjoyable, but even as a child, she had never aspired to be just like her Ma and Pa. She'd desired something more, something greater. If she had to forsake her ties to that dreary old life, so be it.
Still, she couldn't help but miss her brothers and sisters. She was the one of the many middle children, with seven of them in total. She'd enjoyed playing with them, and they'd been nothing but supportive of her. One of her sisters, Letty, had been the only one to have defended her when her parents had confronted her about the book. She'd always been closer to Letty than the others, since Letty was the next youngest after her. Yelena could only hope that she wouldn't receive any backlash from her leaving. If she ever did go back, it would be to see her.
A sudden sound in the distance caught her attention. It sounded vaguely like that of a deer, but rather than a sharp bark, it was more like a high pitched cry. She had only been lying down for a few minutes, not quite having fallen asleep yet, so she begrudgingly pulled the blanket off and made her way to the open window to gaze around. She found nothing, but poked her head through to get a better listen, waiting patiently for a repeat call. For a minute, she heard nothing but the wind through the leaves.
"Help."
That was a voice! Did Sonya get hurt out there? She needed to go find out. Without delay, Yelena pulled on the meager coat that Sonya had given her and rushed out towards the source of the cry. If something had happened to her out there, she had no idea what she'd do. Even still, she had to do something.
With reckless abandon, Yelena pushed through the underbrush of the forest, gaining more scratches and cuts on her mostly exposed legs. She at least still had her shoes, but none of that mattered. Another cry rang out, weaker this time, but closer. She was headed the right way.
"Hello!? Is someone there!?" she called out.
She waited for a response and looked around the forest floor. There was no sign at first, until she noticed a patch of ferns rustling just a few feet ahead of her. She pushed through the thick foliage and finally found the source of the disturbance. Curled up in a ball on the ground was a child, blood pooling beneath them on the dirt. Yelena gasped at the sight, but quickly snapped out of it. She had taken care of her siblings when they were hurt. She could do the same now.
"Hey, I'm here to help, okay? Where are you hurt?"
She pushed the brush aside as best she could to get a good view, but as she crouched down to investigate, she realized that the child was completely unresponsive. Yelena brushed some of the child's hair from his face, seeing what seemed to be a boy no older than ten years. His hands were clutching his side, slick with fresh blood. He must have been unconscious. Yelena did her best to stay calm. What should she do right now? How could she best help this boy?
She took a moment to breath and think. She knew that she needed to get him off the ground and lay him somewhere flat. She'd need to be careful not to make whatever wound he had worse though, so she couldn't run or throw him over her shoulder. She would have to delicately carry him like a sleeping child all the way back to the cabin, then hope Sonya returned soon to help. She should be able to carry this boy. Probably.
With as much care as she could muster, she rolled the boy over. There was a deep gash across his side, but she had no indication as to what may have caused such a wound. She could tell at least that it wasn't a shadow beast. Their bites immediately took on a sickly bluish hue, spreading their poison rapidly. The boy still hadn't responded to her, so she had no choice but to move him. She took a deep breath, then scooped her arms underneath him, picking him up as smoothly as she could. He wasn't heavy, but neither was she particularly strong. His head fell against her chest limply, and his breathing was shallow. She needed to hurry.
Yelena made her way back to the cabin, only losing her way once. She had made no discernable markers to find her way back, but she'd always had a strong sense of direction. The boy didn't so much as twitch, which was worrisome. From the amount of blood that had spilled onto her already soaked tunic, he must have lost a lot even before she'd found him.
Eventually the cabin came back into view, and Yelena let out a sigh of relief. Her arms were burning, and her back felt like it would give out at any second, but the sight of the cabin was enough to give her one final boost of energy. She staggered to the door, yanked it open with one weak hand, then all but dropped the boy onto the small table in the center of the room. He still hadn't woken up, and his face was growing more pale by the second. Now that he was here…
What was she supposed to do?
She had no idea how to treat a wound this severe. The most she'd dealt with was a scraped knee or a light cut from a sharp stone. For something like this, she needed proper bandages, some kind of salve, and most importantly, time. She currently possessed none of those things.
Her mind raced, but her body was frozen. What was the best course of action? How could she save this boy? Every second she spent thinking, his chances of recovering slipped ever further away. She had to act. She needed to do something, anything.
Then, she had an idea. It wasn't a good one. But it was the best one she could come up with.
She rushed over to her bed, throwing the blanket off to reveal her book. She snatched it up and flipped it to the page she and Cat had been studying earlier, the page describing the simple healing remedy. It spoke of how to brew a potion, but she knew she didn't have time to do that. She would have to take some shortcuts. Her eyes sprinted down the page, skimming past the fluff and focusing on the keywords, on the words used to cast the spell. She could do this. She had to.
She grabbed a small jug of wine that they had been slowly witling down. It would make for the base. Next, she found one of the empty bowls. She set the jug in the bowl on the floor, then knelt down beside it. With both of her arms outstretched, palms out, and eyes closed, she began to recite the words aloud that she had promised not to to Cat just a few hours ago today.
"Sláintúil comhlat…sláintúil aigne?"
She tried to say the words as clearly as possible, but she knew that her pronunciation was off. The way Cat had said the words in her head was so much more precise, so much clearer. She felt nothing, and she saw no change in the jug. It had failed. She tried again.
"Sláintiúil comhlacht, sláintiúil aigne."
She said the words more confidently this time, refining her speech, but something was off again. She had felt a slight tingle in her stomach again, but that faded just as quickly as it had come. She had failed again, but she was close. One more time. She could do this.
"Sláintiúil comhlacht, sláintiúil aigne!"
This time, she felt the same welling of power in her body as she had when she and Cat had bonded, and she could see, even with her eyes closed, something wispy and cloudy flow from her fingertips into the jug before her. The jug rattled back and forth, shifting as the invisible magic energy swirled around inside of it, mixing into the wine.
She opened her eyes and stared at the jug for a moment. Had she just used magic?
She did!
A smile crept onto her face, and she felt giddy like a child. She could hardly believe that she had cast her first spell, and it hadn't backfired.
But right now wasn't the time for celebrating. She turned back to the boy on the table, magically infused jug of wine in hand. He was in the same state as before, barely breathing and fading quickly. She'd have to help him swallow the wine.
Hang on.
How did she know the spell had actually worked? Just because she had felt something happen, that didn't necessarily mean that the spell had truly created a healing draught. She raised the jug, hearing the wine within slosh around as she felt the weight of what she was about to do sink in. Cat had warned her that improper use of magic could result in terrible things, including but not limited to instant death. She was so caught up in everything that she hadn't considered that she may have accidentally harmed this boy even worse with her inexperience.
She had no time to test it properly, even if she knew how to in the first place. There was one way however.
She pulled the cork from the jug, making a satisfying pop! noise as she did so. She inhaled a whiff of the contents, and it smelled like normal wine, slightly earthy and a little too strong for her taste. She raised the rim of the jug to her eye, and the dull red color seemed perfectly normal. To her senses, it appeared like nothing was amiss. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
Yelena took a deep breath. She had to do this. For herself partly, but mostly for the boy bleeding out on the table.
Without a second thought, she raised the jug to her lips and took a deep drink of the wine. It splashed over her tongue, its flavor a little more bitter than she remembered it before, but it otherwise went down just fine. Had she actually failed to cast any magic?
"Yelena! What have you done!?"
Cat's voice was sharp and loud, both behind her in the doorway and echoing in her skull. She turned and saw it, standing in the open doorway, hair raised and eyes narrowed, staring at her.
"I found this boy! He's hurt, and I didn't know what else to do!" she said, trying to explain quickly. She needed to give this to the boy now, seeing as there was no issue with herself.
"What did I tell you!?" Cat demanded, leaping onto the table in front of her, blocking her from the boy.
"I know what you told me, but I couldn't just leave him to die out there! Now move, I'm going to heal him," she said, using her free hand to pick Cat up. Much to her shock however, Cat retaliated by slashing across her forearm with razor sharp claws. Yelena yelped in pain, jumping back and holding her arm to her chest.
"What you have made will kill him, you fool," Cat hissed, its voice low and cold. The look in its eye was like that of a predator now, not the playful calm of a housecat.
"Why did you cut me? Do you want him to die?" she asked, looking now at the wound on her arm. Cat had got her with three of its claws, a long straight set of parallel red lines that ran up her arm. It stung something awful, but she tried to ignore it as best she could.
"Because unlike you, I do not make mistakes when I cast magic. Look at your arm again."
Yelena was confused, but did as she was told. That's when she noticed, her blood seemed to be leaking out of the wounds much faster than it should have. It poured out like water, thin and runny. That wasn't how blood was supposed to flow.
All at once, a strong bout of dizziness fell over her, and she stumbled as she struggled to keep her balance. The room began to spin, and she felt like she would vomit.
"What…what's going on," she tried to say, her balance quickly failing her. She fell on her rear, barely able to pull the jug in before it clashed with the wooden floorboards. Everything started to go fuzzy, and her entire body felt like it was floating.
"You don't know how to cast spells yet, Yelena. I don't know exactly how you botched it, but its clear that you've thinned your blood. Had you made the boy drink this, he would have died in seconds from that wound," Cat said, leaping down now, slowly approaching her.
She could hardly see anymore, and her hands and feet were numb. Her mouth sent slack, and everything was quickly going cold.
"Pl..please help…him," she barely managed to mumble out. "S-s-save…the boy."
Yelena could feel her body shutting down, and her eyelids felt too heavy to hold up. She could hear something talking, probably Cat, but she couldn't understand the words anymore. It wasn't dissimilar to how she'd felt the day Sonya had found her. She'd managed to, foolishly, kill herself with a botched draught. Exactly like Cat had warned her not to. What an idiot she was. She'd thrown away her second chance, all on overconfidence.
Yelena's consciousness faded to nothing, and all she felt was shame as the darkness fell around her.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but as her eyes shot open and air filled her lungs once again, Yelena was once again filled with nothing but confusion. She coughed hard, and her eyes were filled with little speckles of light, flickering in and out of her vision. She was lying flat on the floor, and as her hands brushed along the old wood, she started to remember what had happened.
"Cat," she said weakly, trying to get up to a sitting position.
"What," she heard it reply, only in her head.
"Is the boy okay?"
Cat sighed.
"Yes. I cast the correct spell and closed his wound. He lost a great deal of blood, but if he is strong, he will recover in time."
She rubbed her eyes, then blinked the weird fuzziness away. She could barely see, but she could make out the blurry image of Cat sitting on the table beside the young boy. It was looking at her, its eyes predatory still. It must have been absolutely livid with her. She couldn't blame it, but she wasn't sorry. All that mattered was that the boy was okay. She breathed out a sigh of relief, happy that there was at least a chance that he might survive. Now that he was stabilized, she could worry about herself. She flexed her hands and toes, trying to see if she could feel all her digits again. There seemed to be no issue, and even the cuts on her arms from where Cat had slashed her seemed to be gone.
"Did you heal me too?" she asked.
Cat didn't answer immediately, instead turning its head away.
"Yes. Despite my better judgement."
"Thank you, Cat. I'm sorry I disobeyed you, but I'm not sorry that I tried to help him. I only wish that I was smarter," she said, her voice growing quiet. It wasn't like she was proud of her mistake, but she was only doing the best she could do with what she had. She was glad Cat had stopped her. If not for it, there would be two bodies on the floor.
"I leave you for a few hours, and you very nearly up and die on me. You truly are just as foolish as I was worried you'd be, Yelena," Cat said.
Its tone had lightened somewhat, but she could still tell it was upset. She knew she would have to work hard to rebuild what little trust she had broken already.
"Unfortunately, I am stuck with you. Now come on, get up and start cleaning this mess. Your friend will be quite displeased with all this spilt blood."
Yelena looked around, just now noticing how gory the cabin had become. She wasn't exactly easily repulsed, but as the adrenaline high finally faded, she felt a spell of nausea quickly make its way back to her gut.
Just then, Yelena heard a voice call out, "What in the hells?"
Too late.
Ch. 4
After some apologetic explanations, Yelena got to cleaning up the bloody mess she'd tracked in as Sonya went about making food for now three mouths, Cat not included. She had scolded Yelena alongside Cat, going so far as to give her a nice pop on the top of her head to make sure the lesson sank in and made a wrinkle. She couldn't blame either of them. She had made a foolish, completely avoidable mistake. She would make sure she never did something so stupid ever again, especially when someone's life was on the line.
The boy was unconscious for a few days, but after constant nursing from Yelena and Sonya both, he had awoken at last and recanted what had happened to him out there in the Deep Forest. Apparently, while searching for a certain special kind of berry that he loved, he had gotten lost. He had wandered for over a day on his own before he had managed to run into a sleeping deer, a buck with a massive rack of antlers. If the boy was to be believed, the buck had charged him, causing the grisly injury Yelena had found him with. It was an odd tale, but Sonya and Yelena had agreed that it seemed far to specific for him to be lying about it. Regardless of the validity of the story, everyone was glad that the boy was awake and talking again. The next day, the four of them, including Cat, made for the village after the sun had risen.
They had been greeted with some confusion, quickly followed by elation as a worried mother broke through the small crowd of villagers, crying out her son's name. Sonya, having the reputation of the local hunter, sheriff, and lone authority that all looked up to beyond the village elders, was immediately showered with thanks. Yelena had no intention of telling them the truth of her near failure, but much to her surprise, Sonya had suddenly flipped the narrative, telling the small crowd that it had been Yelena who had found the boy. If not for her, he would have never made it, she claimed. The crowd had grown quiet, but after the boy, whose name was Alex, confirmed that it was her who had saved him from the Deep Forest, they had surrounded her and thanked her with warm smiles and kind words. Yelena had no idea how to react to such acts of generosity, and she had simply defaulted to smiling and nodding to each and every one of the villagers who offered thanks.
The rest of the day was spent socializing and, after so long without, bathing. Yelena washed her hair and body, scrubbing away nearly two weeks of grime. It was a divine experience, and her silver-white hair was finally able to shine in the afternoon sun like it had when she had still been at home. One of the villagers, a kind, hunched-over older woman named Agatha, had given her a set of clothes. She said that her late daughter had only worn them for a time before moving away to marry some no-good mercenary, and she instead had wanted Yelena to have them. Despite some hesitation, she'd accepted the gift and found that with only some minor adjustments, the clothes fit her quite well. A pair of brown boots that rose to just below her knees, covered slightly by the hem of a dark purple dress that fell comfortably over her. The dress had long sleeves and a high collar, perfect for the cold nights even during the summer months. It was simple, but clearly made with care and love. Yelena would be sure to treasure it, thanking Agatha emphatically.
After their stay in Village, Yelena and Sonya returned to the meager cabin together. Cat was in tow somewhere, but it had remained completely incognito throughout their overnight stay. Yelena was able to feel his presence when he was near, though she wasn't entirely sure as to how or why. Still, it was comforting to know that Cat was near, even when she couldn't see it. Sonya was going to help Yelena clean up the cabin and get it to a livable state, then let her have it. In was an incredibly kind gesture, and Yelena promised that she would turn it into something beautiful in time.
A few weeks passed without issue, the days filled with diligently working with Cat on renovating the cabin. Sonya was still stopping by every few days, dropping off food and drink until Yelena was able to properly store things herself. She helped on the days she was able, but all of her time spent with them when she'd first found Yelena had left the food quota in Village a bit short, so she was working hard to make up for it. No one was starving, but with winter quickly approaching, now was hardly the time to be lacking in reserves. Cat had been helping by using some basic magic to manipulate objects, simple telekinesis, to move materials around as Yelena did her best to repair the dilapidated cabin. She wanted to have it done before the first snowfall of the year, which was quickly approaching. Despite the occasional bickering match or argument, Yelena and Cat got along well with each other. Progress on the cabin had started coming along well, and with the occasional help from Sonya's survival mindset and experience, they were on track to meet their goal. Still, Yelena felt as though her own lack of physical strength was becoming a hindrance. She wanted to learn some of the magic Cat used to move things with such ease, and complained everyday to Cat that things would go much faster if she could use her own magic to help too. Adamant at first, Cat had refused to divulge any further secrets until the cabin was completed. Yelena figured it was a sort of punishment for disobeying its admittedly simple orders before. She understood, but that didn't mean she was going to be happy about it.
Regardless, every morning, she would wake up, eat a simple breakfast of bread and wine, then get to work on replacing floorboards, patching holes and cracks in the walls, and rethatching the roof. She could worry about furnishings once she knew that she wouldn't die to hypothermia during the first freeze of the year. This morning though, she was feeling a little blue.
"Cat," she said, her mouth still full of slightly stale bread.
"Hm?"
"Why won't you tell me your name now?"
Cat was lounging by the fireplace, sprawled out across a small rug made from deer hide. It lazily rolled its head over its shoulder to face her.
"Why should I?"
"Because I'm tired of calling you 'Cat'."
"Is it not an accurate descriptor?"
She sighed.
"Yes, but it makes it sound like I don't like you," she explained, taking a sip of wine to wash the taste down. The wine was a little old too. Gross.
"What does it matter if others believe that you do not enjoy my company?"
"If people think I don't like you, then they might not treat you well."
"I am more than capable of handling any who would dare mistreat me, Yelena."
Yelena scoffed at Cat's audacity.
"See? You get to use my name, but I don't get to use yours! That alone isn't fair! Why won't you tell me?"
She knew that she was being a bit petulant, but she was determined. She didn't like just calling her familiar such an impersonal thing, especially if it had a name that was lovingly given to it. It seemed wrong to her, if only because she would hate only being called 'woman' all the time.
Cat stood up and turned towards her, sitting perfectly between the flame in the fireplace and her own vision to perfectly silhouette itself to her.
"To know my true name is to wield great power over me, Yelena. It is not something so easily used, and even less so freely given. To speak my name is to command me. Humans would not understand this, as your names are simply powerless words thrown around with reckless abandon."
She hadn't considered that. If using magic was as simple as saying the right words in the right way, then it would make sense that a magic creature like Cat would be subject to such rules as well. It had a point…but she still didn't want to keep calling it Cat.
"So then what if I gave you a name? That way you get to keep your real name secret, but people can start referring to you with something more personal?"
Cat sat still, considering her offer.
"Very well, Yelena. But if I think the name is unsuitable, I will reject it."
"So no Mr. Fluffybutt then?" she said, snickering.
Cat's eyes narrowed to tiny slivers of yellow.
"No 'Mr. Fluffybutt'. Not only is it demeaning, but it is also objectively incorrect. I have no fluff on my…behind."
Yelena giggled a bit, waving the idea away with her hand. She would have to put in some serious thought, and she didn't want to just go off the cuff.
"Okay, give me some time then. Once I've got one, I'll run it by you. Sound good?"
"For now," Cat said.
She grinned, accepting the small victory for the time being.
The work continued, and as the days got shorter and shorter, Yelena could feel the chill in the air as winter made its quick approach. The cabin was nearly finished in its renovation, but there was still plenty of little things to do. One of which involved getting up onto the roof to make sure that all the new thatching was good and secure, but after her last trip up, the rickety ladder she'd been using had nearly snapped in half on her. It was beyond saving, and she didn't have time to go back to Village to borrow a replacement today. She'd need to figure out a different way up and down.
If she stacked up the few scraps of furniture still inside, she might be able to climb up, but she had no guarantee that the pile of old wood would stay up. She could probably get down without breaking anything, but it was still close to ten feet high. The planks were too smooth to climb up on too, so that wasn't an option. There had to be some way up there. Perhaps she could use…
No. She couldn't use magic for something so trivial. She was just going to have to head into Village and borrow a ladder from someone. Cat was starting to trust her, and she couldn't do something so foolish to ruin that. She had to prove that she could handle things without using shortcuts.
A strong wind suddenly pushed through the forest, sweeping the branches and leaves in a dull roar. The gust nearly knocked her over, and she had to steady herself on the doorframe she was standing in to keep from falling back. She had noticed that the sky had been overcast all day with a dreary gray color, but it hadn't quite registered in her head quite yet what that meant. A storm was coming.
She swore under her breath. Stacking furniture was her only real solution.
She quickly went about dragging the old dresser, nightstand, and kitchen table into the yard. If she could stack the table on the dresser, then prop the nightstand on top, she should be able to hop over to the roof. If Cat was here, she would have asked for its help, but it was once again out hunting for its own lunch. She didn't have time to wait for it to return.
With some effort, she managed to get her jungle gym of sketchy furniture constructed, and as she climbed atop the table, she could feel the entire thing shifting as the wind kept pushing at a worrying pace. If she was going to do this, she needed to hurry it up. She tested the nightstand with her weight, and it felt somewhat steady with both her arms holding her up. Her hair was shipping back and forth now. She made a mental note to remember to start putting it up when she was working from now on.
Yelena climbed up and leapt off the nightstand in one quick motion, and though she landed on the hay thatch easily with a light thud, the force she'd needed ended up sending the nightstand tumbling down the makeshift ladder, crashing to the ground and breaking into two distinct parts.
Well…crap.
First things first. She went about pulling long lengths of rope across the rougher sections of the thatch, doing her best to be quick without compromising the integrity of her lines. She had helped her Pa repair their roof countless times, but that had always been done with support, and never while fighting an oncoming storm. She had to lay flat and hang on tight as hard gusts buffeted the side of the cabin's roof, threatening to send her tumbling down like a loose pine cone. It was hard, but she knew she could do it. She ran the rope back and forth, tying off the ends on the lower eve line of the cabin, cinching them tight each time with all her strength. With every passing minute though, the sky grew darker, and the wind blew colder. The storm couldn't have been more than thirty minutes out now. She really needed to finish this before all of her hard work was blown away and the interior of the cabin was soaked. She was so close too. To lose all this progress now…
No! She was going to do this, on her own. There was no room for doubt now. She'd received so much help this whole time, and while she would be forever grateful, she needed to prove to not only Cat, but herself, that she could survive out here. She couldn't live on handouts for her entire life.
With redoubled effort and a full spirit, Yelena shifted into gear. Spool off, lash, pull taught, tie, repeat. She only had the last quarter of the roof left now, and she knew she could do it. Even as the first few drops of chilling rain landed on her cheek, immediately dried by the gusting winds, she didn't slow down. She knew that even her Pa would've been proud of her now, working as fast and efficiently as she was. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was being foolish. She didn't need to finish the thatching right now, but she felt motivation like never before to get this done. Even something as simple as this, as the last piece of the renovation, she could sit down tonight in her own home and bask in the pride of having done this with her own hands. Sure, she had had some help, but she'd never gotten bored and wondered off, taken any shortcuts, or given up. This was the final stretch, and she would see it through, no matter what.
Her hands were raw from the rough twine of the rope, and as the rain began to come down in earnest, her grip began to give way on the last bit of rope. Despite the pain, she gritted her teeth and pushed through, pulling the line taught and tying it off. She had done it! Now, she needed to get off this roof. The wind had somehow grown even stronger, and the rain was coming down in sheets at a sharp angle. She could barely see, and the frigid rain was making her hands go numb. It would be a struggle to get the fire inside started, but it would be oh so satisfying when she did. She clutched with white knuckles onto the thatch as she crossed the length of the small cabin to get back to her furniture pile. In the downpour, she couldn't even see beyond a few feet in front of her. She could only squint as rain drops slammed into her face with such force as to sting, and as she neared the far corner, she struggled to peer down for her safe descent.
Only to find it gone.
The table was about twenty feet away from the cabin, broken into three pieces. The dresser had a massive tree branch stuck right through the back, skewering it like an arrow through prey. It must've shattered the table as well, and who knew where the poor rickety nightstand was at this point. She couldn't believe she hadn't heard such a powerful impact as it must've caused, but with the wind blasting into her ears, she couldn't exactly say it was impossible. Regardless, she now had a big problem. If she landed wrong from this height, she could easily break her leg. All the confidence she'd had built up inside from before began to leech away, sucked out by fear and worry. Her entire body was trembling as the rain sapped away her body heat, and the wind continued to threaten to throw her from the roof she clung to with such fervor, her grip growing ever weaker with each passing second. If she didn't get inside soon, this cold would cause her more harm than a broken leg. She knew she needed to act, but her body seemed to be stuck. She couldn't will herself to move now, with almost definite danger in any possibility she could think of.
When was Cat going to be back? Was Cat even okay? If it wasn't in the cabin, that meant that it was out in this storm right now too. Would it be okay? If she hurt herself, she wouldn't be able to help it if it got hurt. She might not be able to go and look for it, especially in this storm.
Fear gripped her throat, and she found it hard to breath. She couldn't feel her hands or feet, and her shaking body was at its limit. But what was she supposed to do here? There wasn't a good solution, just different levels of bad! She had to move. She had to act. She had-
A monstrous roar hit her ears a few seconds before she could even process what it was, but by then, it was too late. A gust rushed through the trees, their wooden trunks groaning and creaking under the strain, sending the pelting rain in a straight horizontal motion. Yelena turned just in time to see the wave as it slammed into her frail body, sending her spiraling through the air like a ragdoll. She screamed, but she couldn't even hear herself through the deluge. The world was spinning, the ground flying past her in blurry pictures too fast to recognize. She flailed her arms to try to grab onto something, but all she felt was cold rain and rushing air slipping through her fingers.
Then, something hard.
Yelena's body crashed into a pine tree, her back curling around the thick trunk. Had it not been for the deafening wind, the sound of her spine cracking would have made for a sickening melody. She bounced once, then fell into the mud with little grace, face first. Her body was limp, and her eyes were dim, barely open. She felt nothing, and everything sounded fuzzy. She was alive, somehow. She needed to get up and get inside, but when she tried to move her arms, she found them to be unresponsive. Same for her legs. And her neck.
Yelena lay half awake, barely breathing, her face half submerged in a muddy puddle, alone in a torrential downpour. She couldn't even close her eyes, and as her vision filled with dirty brown water, she was at least thankful that she would be spared the pain of drowning.
***
A violent coughing fit woke Yelena up, and everything hurt.
Her mind was hazy for a few minutes, but when she finally realized that she was in her bed, under sheets and comfortably warm, she was more confused than anything.
"You are too clumsy to be left alone, Yelena."
It was Cat, but its voice was in her head. Her hearing was oddly distorted, as if she had gotten water in her ears.
She coughed again, this time spitting up some dark liquid, and struggled to speak.
"What happened?"
She felt a light shift on the blanket to her left, and Cat suddenly appeared in her vision.
"You very nearly died. Again. What were you doing outside in this storm?"
Yelena hadn't noticed until just now that there was a heavy, steady rumble of falling rain on the roof.
That's right. She had been on the roof, finishing the thatching when-
She gasped, suddenly sitting up as best she could, though the pain in her back was immense.
"Stop, Yelena. You are okay now. I healed you, but you must recover some on your own, naturally. I could only do so much," Cat said.
She looked at Cat, her eyes wide and glossy.
Without thinking, she reached out and snatched Cat up, pulling it to her chest, burying her head in its soft coat, ignoring its quiet protesting meow.
"I was so scared, Cat! I thought I was going to die, but I couldn't feel anything!" she said, the tears beginning to fall from her bloodshot eyes.
Cat didn't struggle in her arms, instead letting her stroke his head. She rocked back and forth, pulling her knees up to fully capture Cat in her embrace. All she wanted right now was to feel safe. She'd never felt more terrified than when that wave of air had hit her. Something about it had seemed so incredibly awful, like a beast opening its maw to swallow her whole.
Yelena felt a gentle nudge against her collarbone. It was Cat. She relented, if only a tad, and loosened her grip.
"Please, cease doing risky things when I am away. You knew that could have waited," Cat said, softly reprimanding her.
"The wind would've ripped it all off though," she argued. "Did you feel the big one? The one that knocked me off the roof?"
There was a long pause.
"I did. I do not know if it was part of the storm."
"What do you mean?" she asked, her curiosity now rivalling her fear.
"I do not wish to speak on conjecture alone, but that wave of air was pushing against the storm, not with it. It seemed as though someone was testing something, primarily their own hubris," Cat said, its voice low and contemplative.
Yelena hadn't actually been this close to Cat yet, and she was able to catch the scent of its fur. It was…a little musty, to be honest. Like wet earth.
"Hemlock."
Cat turned its head, craning it over its back to look at her.
"What of it?"
"You. Your name."
"My…name?"
"Yeah. Hemlock."
The two sat and stared at each other for a long minute.
"You realize that hemlock is poisonous, do you not?"
"Yep."
"And that many believe its scent to be rather…unpleasant?"
Yelena cocked her head.
"Not to me," she said. "I think its nice. And I think it suits you. A little dangerous, a little comforting."
Cat blinked for the first time since they'd met.
"You are an odd one. Fine. You may address me as Hemlock."
Yelena smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. Despite the terrible ordeal she'd just gone through, she was overjoyed that she had such a good partner in Hemlock. They were going to make a good team, she was sure of it.
"Now let me go, Yelena. I do not enjoy human touch without consent," he said, wriggling from her grasp at last.
She didn't fight, releasing him freely. He leapt down from the bed, and as Yelena watched him walk away, she couldn't help but notice that his gait was a little crooked. He must've hurt himself out during the storm, she figured. She was sure he'd recover in no time.
