Under The Full Moon

New Memories

Gale flew for a while, carrying Broin all over her territory, sharing the sense of flight with him. She knew it was something that people didn't often get to experience, and she herself hadn't flown much. Not after the incident that caused her to come crashing down to the lake. She figured that since she had discovered where her boundaries were, she would give it another try. Finally landing near the lake, Gale huffed, beating her wings once before she drew them into her sides again, taking a few steps forward as she lost momentum. When she came to a stop, Gale looked over her shoulder to Broin, giving him a faint smile. He sat, almost looking a bit down at the adventure having come to an end. "I'll take you on another flight some time soon," She promised, Broin giving a light laugh.

"That would be amazing. I can't believe what the world looks like from so high up," Broin sounded enthused about the idea of going up into the sky again. Broin looked up to the sky, wishing that he himself had the ability to fly. it was something he wouldn't soon forget. After giving her friend a moment or two, Gale started toward the campsite again. She didn't really want to, having lost her trust in the place after the events with the Wizard, but they needed to get Broin's belongings. She was lost in thought when she heard Broin speak. "Thank you, for showing me what you have. That was incredible," Gale smiled at his words. 

Reaching the camp, Gale was hesitant to go very far, her ears back against her head and her head lowered toward the ground as though she were waiting for something to happen. Broin reached forward, setting a hand on her shoulder. Carefully, she made her way just as far in as she needed to, Broin climbing down and retrieving his bow and the bags that hadn't been trashed by the creature that had attacked them. Returning to Gale with his bow over his shoulder and carrying his bags, he sighed. "Broin?" She questioned, her head tilting a little to the side. Broin shook his head.

"It ate all of my food. I don't have any supplies left for the travel back," Broin's tone was tinged with anger again, his thoughts on the fact that maybe it had been done on purpose. If he had no food, he wouldn't be able to make the trip back to his village. It made him wonder how much of the conversation he had had with Gale about saving her that they had heard. If he couldn't get back to his village, none of that would be possible. And neither would be bringing Gale's father. 

"I can help you gather more food..." Gale offered. She had seen berries that she could determine were edible, and she could help him gather wild vegetables and even hunt down some prey animals. Broin thought this over for a moment and gave a nod. 

"Alright," Broin's voice didn't sound too much better, and Gale couldn't blame him. It was a long process to smoke out the meat into jerky. Letting Broin climb back up onto her back, she started back toward the lake. Broin slid down off her back once they arrived, setting his pack and his bow aside to start making a campfire. Gale laid an ear back, looking from Broin to the forest before she walked toward the woods. Broin watched her go, though he didn't question where she was going. She could handle herself in this form. When she returned sometime later, he had a fire going and she was carrying something in her jaws. When she was close enough to the campfire to see what it was, Broin couldn't shake the surprise from his face. She was carrying a large deer.. Getting up, he approached her as she set the deer down on the grass. "That... that's enough to dry and supply for a week..." 

Gale smiled a little. "I'm glad that it was enough to make you happy again," She purred, watching as Broin began to work on getting the deer ready. With his direction, she carried the deer to a grassless patch near the water. She watched as Broin began to clean the deer, taking care to remove the hide in one piece before he began to break the deer down into manageable pieces. From there, the pieces were broken down into jerky-sized strips. Occasionally, Broin tossed a chunk to Gale, who caught it and snapped it down. It took some time for Gale to get used to the idea of eating raw meat, having found it repulsive for a while. Now, it wasn't entirely a foreign idea to her. She couldn't exactly do as Broin was doing now. Taking some of the meat back to the campfire, Broin set it up to be cooked, returning to get the parts he was turning to jerky. Gale walked with him as he took it back to the camp, watching him curiously as he adjusted the hide over some thicker sticks he had set up almost in a tent formation. 

Noting the curious way that Gale was watching him, Broin began to explain what he was doing. "It may not look like much, but this should cure the hide well enough that I can get it home without it spoiling. I'll do the rest once I get there," He turned back to the hide, gathering up a few dry sticks that he had set aside and set them under it. Getting a stick from the fire, he lit the sticks that he had set down. Gale c****d her head to the side again at this.

"That won't cook it?" She questioned. Broin shook his head.

"No, the hide is up high enough that it won't be near the flames enough to be cooked. I'll let it burn itself down to smoke and then close the hide around it," he moved away from the hide, the flame small enough that it wouldn't scorch the hair at the edges of the hide. Gale looked at the meat that he had cut into strips. 

"And that?" She questioned, Broin following her gaze. 

"I have to cool it, make sure it's all clean. Once that's done, I'm going to cure some of it with salt that I've got in my bag that didn't get destroyed. The rest, I'll dry out with the fire. Again, that won't cook it. I'm not going to use enough heat to make it hot enough to cook," His words confused Gale at first, though it didn't take long for her to figure it out. Sitting down, she watched as he went about what he had said he was doing while the portion that he intended to eat at the time cooked. It was interesting to see what exactly he was doing, having never witnessed the acts before. She had always seen the final result. 

She had to admit, just when she thought that her friend was interesting, something else came up that made him even more so. Smiling, she couldn't help but find the resourcefulness that he had learned to be, in some ways, attractive.