Food. All Ai could think about was food. They must've been in the bath house a while, because when they left the smells told her everybody was been cooking dinner. Meat. Potatoes. Gravy. Carrots. Her brain helpfully supplied her with images, tastes and names. Apparently, it was very forthcoming on this topic.

Pastry. Tomato soup. Butter. Popcorn. It continued to mock her.

Following after Tal she shivered in the cooling air. These people really needed to learn the concept of the towel.

They soon reached the house. Like the others it was wooden. Small butterflies had been painted to the right of the doorway though, in bright colours like blue and pink by a child. A while ago by the looks of it.

Inside, Tal made her take off the wraps before continuing further. There were even hooks to hang them off of. The raised floor and lack of shoes tickled at something in Ai's mind, but all she could think about was getting in to eat.

Food.

Scurrying in, the delicious aromas intensified. There was a large hole for a fire pit in the middle of the floor. A woman was stood over it cooking in a cast iron pot.

She was beautiful. Her hair was long, inky black and fell down her back in soft waves. Her eyes were light purple. The same colour as her daughters now that Ai looked, but on this woman they seemed far more striking. Long black lashes, elegantly arched eyebrows, red cupids lips and generously endowed...Ai almost found herself jealous.

Tal walked up to the woman, her mother, Ai decided when they gave one another a hug. She felt strangely isolated all of a sudden. She didn't have a mother to care for her, a father to protect her. The corners of her mouth turned down of their own volition.

Smiling the woman looked past her daughter at Ai.

"And b'rha at rhat?" Her smile was soft, gentle and...Ai concentrated on keeping a pleasant expression on her face.

"Ai." Tal supplied. "T'rhou bot grhotoud a'na ab'n dy a dard. Dod aaq a dab'n and a'nraquod rhou rob al qoordao'ntrhab."

Ai got two words from that. Clearly, she still had a lot to learn.

"T'rhou daout 'na tbouoq aor ro'nqooqou." Tal added, glancing between her and her mother.

"Rhourra Ai. I on Brandi." She said slowly, waving, then pressing a hand to her chest.

'Hello Ai, I am Brandi' Ai guessed. It wasn't hard (thankfully).

"Hello." Ai said, letting the translation do its thing. It must've worked, because Brandi gave her a perfect smile with her perfect white, straight teeth.

Ai might dislike her now (she never liked people who got by on looks) but had the feeling that this woman was going to grow on her. Even if only for the food.

Her stomach felt hollowed out at this point. She simultaneously felt like stuffing her face and puking. She was concentrating on the former.

"Ta! Ta!" Brandi commanded, pushing them towards the table.

Ais hands were trembling slightly as she sat. She was exhausted and hungry and her body felt like it was close to collapsing. She leaned back heavily, thankful the back wasn't completely solid (her tail poked through the hole).

A moment later a bowl of steaming hot soup appeared in front of her. Dark brown, with chunks of meat and vegetables she couldn't identify, it was the most appetising thing that she had ever seen. Literally.

Her stomach gave half a growl, Ai pressed her fist against it to stifle the sound. Tal wasn't eating her food, instead she was watching Ai, a small wrinkle between her brows. Looking down quickly Ai picked up the spoon and scooped as much as she could into her mouth in one go.

It was rich, the meat was tender and the veg was slightly sweet. It all balanced out perfectly. Ai may or may not have moaned.

It was the best thing she had ever tasted. There was a slightly bitter aftertaste, but it failed to make the meal any less appetising.

Brandi seemed amused as she joined them, and thankfully Tal had stopped staring at her. They ate in silence. Ai was fine with that, even though she knew it was probably because of her. Too hungry to care, she licked her bowl clean.

"Thank you. Water?" Ai asked making a drinking motion.

Brandi seemed surprised for a moment before nodding and going to fetch a cup. Ai refused to be embarrassed. They could try living in the forest alone for two days, with nothing to eat and poisoned water, then see how good their table manners were.

Brandi reappeared and set a large wooden cup of water in front of Ai. Ai reached for it, then hesitated. What if they were immune to whatever poison was in the water? What if everything in this forest was immune but her.

"Water bad?" Ai asked. She didn't have the right words, and she wasn't sure how to motion out this word.

Neither of them had a clue.

Ai motioned drinking, then clutched at her throat, stood, staggered a few steps and collapsed.

"Noydou t'rhou dro'nq ao al Fonq trouon." Tal said as Ai clambered back to her feet.

For a moment she swayed there as her head swam. Note to self, when exhausted do not stand up rapidly. Then she sat back onto the chair.

"Fonq?" Brandi queried Tal.

Tal looked at Ai, and made a swimming motion with her hand. "Fonq?"

Slowly, Ai nodded.

"Fonq dod." Tal wrinkled her nose. "Dod."

Hopping up from her seat she fetched a small round pot and showed Ai the contents. A white powder.

"Qaad." She said, taking a pinch then dropping it in Ais drink.

"Fonq." She made a wriggle hand motion then pointed to the pot. "'Na Fonq."

"Fonq dod." She pointed to the powder. "Qaad."

Dod must mean bad. Qaad good. And na probably meant no. The powder somehow got rid of the poison that the Fonq must produce. Suddenly Ai was feeling much more grateful that she didn't eat the Fonq. It would have clearly been a very, very bad idea. She wondered just how many times she had brushed with death without realising. It was not a good thought.

She also made a note to learn how to make this miricle powder.

Nodding Ai picked up the cup. The water was slightly bitter, from the powder probably, but she would take it over poisoning any day. It was the same bitterness which had been in the stew, Ai thought, which made sense. If the Fonqs poison was in the water, they had to neutralise everything they put in their mouths.

Tal sat down, and continued to talk to her mother - the word Fonq came up often. Ai wasn't sure whether they were just amazed at her lack of knowledge, or if there was actually something to worry about.

She hoped they were just amazed at her lack of knowledge.

As much as she wanted to learn more, she was done for the day. Her body was exhausted and this latest realisation made her aware that she was emotionally exhausted too.

"Bed?" She interrupted the conversation.

Ai rested her head on one hand and closed her eyes.

"Doud." Tal informed her, standing up once again. This time she showed Ai to another room. There wasn't a bed so much as two piles of furs. Perhaps they didn't have beds. Furs were probably far comfier and warmer than a roof though, so Ai wasn't going to complain.

She could probably eat some more, but she didn't want to impose too heavily on her hosts. She wondered where Kele, Tals father was but before she could follow that thought through she was asleep.

--

Ai woke up screaming.

Something touched her in the dark and she lashed out. All she could see was dead eyes. Staring at her. Accusing her. She could still feel the warm breath on her back as she ran but not fast enough. Never fast enough.

It was the muttered, unfamiliar word that knocked reality back into her. She was on the furs, she told herself. She could feel them beneath her hands. Clutched in her hands. She forced herself to realase them. Her name was Ai. She was in a house. She was safe.

"Ai?" Tals voice was quiet in the darkness.

"Tal." Ais voice was low and choked.

She was crying, she realised. Her whole body was hot and sweaty, and she had been crying in her dream. Nightmare.

She concentrated on breathing, until her heart stopped racing. The whole time Tal rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Somewhere in the house the floor creaked. Now she was listening she could hear Brandi and a male voice that must be Kele. She must've woken them up.

She felt so...guilty. It was a dark black thing that wriggled and squirmed inside her gut. She had done something terrible, survived something terrible and now she was waking up the only people who cared enough to give her food and warmth in the world. In the middle of the night. Screaming.

"Sorry." Her voice was a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Sorry."

"Bed." Tal replied, pushing her back. She let go of Ai for a moment, made a shuffling noise, then her warm hand pushed into Ais own.

She must have been moving her furs closer, Ai realised.

Eventually, Ai fell asleep without seeing Kars eyes, and Tal never let go of her hand.

--

Authors Note:

There won't be anymore updates until next Saturday earliest.

I have to write an essay (fun!). It's worth 40% of my unit so I need to take it seriously (unfortunately). Thanks for reading, and I'll be back soon.

-Corzea