Chapter 26: I Just Wanted To Go For A Walk! 1
The smell woke him up before anything else did.
The smell of meat, roasting slowly, the fat dripping and catching on the hot stone beneath. Neve opened his eyes and the cave was warm and orange from the fire in the corner and Cael was crouched over it turning pieces with the careful attention of someone who had been at this for a while.
Neve looked at the pile of uncooked meat still waiting at the side.
A lot of it. Large pieces, stacked neatly. Cael had been up early.
Neve crawled over on hands and knees and stopped beside him.
"Good morning," he said.
Cael looked at him. "You’re awake. I thought you were going to sleep through the whole day."
"I was tired." Neve stretched both arms above his head and felt his spine do several things. "Four days of crouching over a sick person apparently have consequences."
"Here." Cael handed him a large piece that hadn’t fully dried yet, still soft and hot from the fire.
Neve bit into it immediately.
It was good. Better than the first time he had cooked meat here. Cael had gotten good at this fast. He had the patience for it, which helped.
Neve chewed and looked at the setup Cael had made. The fire the right size. The pieces spaced properly. The salt in the small container nearby waiting for the right moment.
"I’ve been thinking," Neve said.
"That’s never simple," Cael said, not looking up.
Neve ignored that. "I’m going to stay here. With you. Not move to my own space."
Cael’s tail moved fast, like a single happy sweep that came very close to the edge of the fire before Cael noticed and pulled it back. He looked at Neve with an expression that was trying very hard to be normal and not quite managing it.
"You’re staying," he said.
"I’m staying," Neve said. "But—"
Cael’s tail slowed.
"I knew there was something after that."
"We need two more rooms," Neve said. "Dug out from the back wall. One for sleeping and one for a kitchen."
Cael tilted his head. "Chi... ken?"
"Kitchen," Neve said. "Not a bird. A room." He pointed at the pile of uncooked meat and fruit stacked in the corner. "Everything over there is going to rot if we leave it like that. We need a proper space for storing food and cooking. It should be organised and clean." He looked at the corner. "That pile is going to be a problem in three days."
Cael looked at the pile, looked at Neve and looked at the pile again.
"I can dig through the back wall in two hours," he said. "The rock there is soft. I’ve done it before when I expanded this room."
"Perfect." Neve stood up and adjusted the animal skin around his waist. "Finish the roasting first. Then dig. I’ll be back before evening."
"Where are you going?"
"To check on Soren and Gideon. And then a short walk."
Cael set down the skewer he was holding. "I’ll come."
"You have to finish this first," Neve said, gesturing at the meat. "And dig two rooms. Winter is in three days, Cael. We can’t fall behind."
"Someone could hurt you."
"In the leopard tribe’s territory at eight in the morning?" Neve looked at him. "I’ll be fine. No one is going to do anything."
Cael looked like he had several more objections ready and was choosing between them.
"I’ll be back before evening," Neve said again. "The meat won’t roast itself."
Cael looked at the fire and Neve before picking the skewer back up.
Neve left before he could change his mind.
.
.
Soren’s cave smelled like roasted meat and something herbal underneath.
Gideon had set up a small fire of his own near the entrance and was adding something crushed to a clay cup while Soren sat upright on the mat working through a large piece of meat with the determined focus of someone who had not eaten properly in two years and was making up for it. He devoured every part of the meat without even waiting for anyone.
He looked better this morning. His colour was more present, his eyes fully focused and his hands were steadier than yesterday.
Neve stood at the entrance and felt quietly satisfied. He was glad that his treatment had worked, even if it was the system that gave him that idea and everything. But he was the one who had done it. Without him, Soren would still be lying there unconscious. He immediately snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Soren’s voice.
"Red fruit," Soren said, looking up.
"Neve," Neve said, pressing his lips into a thin line.
"Neve," Soren repeated, like he was practising. "Sit down."
Neve sat.
Gideon handed him the clay cup without being asked. Some kind of warm herbal drink, slightly bitter, the kind of thing his medical memory recognised as a good morning-after treatment for someone whose body had been still for a long time and needed slow encouragement to start moving properly again.
"You already know what this is," Gideon said, watching him look at the cup.
"Yes," Neve said.
"Is it the right call for him this morning?"
"Yes," Neve said. "Exactly right."
Gideon nodded once happy that his opinion was confirmed.
Neve spent an hour there. Talking to Soren mostly who was answering questions like a man who had missed two years and was catching up quickly. He asked about Neve specifically. Where he came from, what he was, what the mark on his neck meant, what kind of person had put it there.
Neve answered the ones he could and redirected the ones he couldn’t.
Soren was sharp. Even after two years unconscious, even eating his way through a large piece of meat with the desperation of someone genuinely hungry for the first time in too long, his eyes were sharp and his questions were precise.
Neve could see why Cael had wanted him to be chief.
He left the treatment to Gideon... the daily sessions, the herbs, the gradual increase in movement... and said his goodbyes and headed for the forest.