Chapter 26: Civilization = Bouillabaisse

[H2]Chapter 26: Civilization = Bouillabaisse [/H2]

 

It was the smell that woke me.

Sleep remained incredibly appealing. Sleep was nice, sleep was warm, and sleep was kind. I could burrow into the comforting softness and forget the world exist, that I ached, that so much was worrying and scary in the world. Sleep was a reprieve from the storm that was my mind, which was my universe. 

It felt like here I could just be without care, without thought of the ways my memories told me how wrong things were, how nothing was guaranteed, how off the rails my life had already gone if "shipwreck survivor on deserted island" was the least unusual aspect of my life.

But the smell pierced all those thoughts.

I'd had good food before. Maybe I don't have a great amount of experience with food to compare, given it's just my Mom and what we had from Sandy's shipform and from foraging, but I liked what I'd had plus the occasional bit of canned or preserved snacks. Of course, Mom might be an abjectly terrible cook and I just didn't know any better, but I don't think that's the case. I remembered enough about food in my first life that I think she did okay.

But this simple scent infiltrated the bulwark of sleep and dreams and triggered my hunger. Rich, aromatic with scent of garlic and herbs, combined with a deeply savory, fish-y scent like the best parts of the ocean distilled and all the nastier stuff the books never talk about like rot tossed aside.

I woke up drooling. I still hurt all over, my throat felt sore, and my vision was all blurry for a moment, but I needed to eat whatever I smelled. I didn't care if it wasn't actually the world's best savory soup, I would chomp it down with gusto with a smell like that even it tasted like butt.

I slowly sat up. My back cracked and I winced as I realized I must have been here a while. I remembered waking up to see Mom and we hugged, but I must have fallen back asleep.

Which…

Endless waters stretch into infinity; a dual cat covered in gold wounds screaming surprisingly humanly in pain as her tail disintegrated and I went flying…

I gulped. That…

I owed a debt. If she hadn't done whatever she had, I would probably have not woken up.

The debts were adding up. First Mom, and now me. 

I dealt with this realization by ignoring it as my stomach growled, so, so loudly.

 

Food now, worries later.

I looked around and froze as I saw Mom. She was on a wooden chair with a curved backrest and leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. My ears perked, listening for any further sound of movement from her, but none came. I sniffed the air and picked up her scent. She was a bit cleaner than back at the seal hunting camp. She wasn't wearing the old uniform anymore, but had put on some sort of grayish blue dress. Deep rings were under her eyes.

She watched over me while I slept…

 

"Mama?" I asked, softly, but she didn't stir. I spotted Sandy in her lap, but her light was dim and faint, like before. Now that I could see, most of her sphere was back to being opaque, like when I first found her, but there was that candlelight of amethyst in her core. I waved a hand in front of her orb, but she didn't stir either.

Did ship cores sleep? I don't think Sandy had in the months since we landed, but I wasn't sure. Maybe she'd powered down for some reason? Again, she hadn't in the time we'd been here, but I wasn't an expert. Mom probably knew, but she looked really tired even sound asleep as she was.

I must've worried her, so least I could do was let her get some rest while she could. My curiosity could wait. 

I pulled the covers off. I noticed I wasn't wearing my usual hiking clothes. Instead, I had some sort of…white dress on? It came down to my ankles. The fabric was soft, like wool.

I slipped out of bed and promptly tripped over the dress I was wearing. I fell with a thud that reverberated a bit. I froze, and looked over at Mom, but neither she nor Sandy seemed to stir.

I breathed out and sat up to look around.

The room was nice. The bed was a bit thinner than the ones we had on the island, but the frame was sturdy with dark wood. Not too fancy, but comfortable. It was clean with white sheets and the wooly blanket from earlier while the furniture in the room was similarly simple but cozy. Off to the side of the bed was off to the side was a chair with just a fine stand to the side, and a table by a cloudy window that served as the only source of light. The glass wasn't clear, more opaque, but it did let light in. 

There was a chair by the window as well which made me imagine someone looking out the window wistfully… if it hadn't been cloudy glass, at least. Maybe it could be opened? I imagined it'd be nice to read next to it in the rain. Provided there was a light source, at least. Although…

That wasn't as much an issue, here, was it? Sometimes thoughts, things from my first life, really seemed true until I remembered I wasn't there. I saw much better in the dark here, compared to my first life as a human. He was practically blind in the dark!

Still… the nook would be nice with a little bit of light, cozier if nothing else. I glanced around and saw what looked like a candle holder? But it had no candle and was a bit weird, besides. It seemed to be made or even carved from some kind of spiral shell? It was pretty, though. The floor was made of simple planks but were placed with care closely together so there were little to no gaps in between. 

I picked myself up and, hunger driving me forward, stepped out the door.

Here, the savory, spicy scent was strong, enough to make me drool a little, but I also was hit by the scent of herbs; a very strong scent at that.

A closed door was across from me, maybe leading to another bedroom? At the end of the small hall was a small inset window with the same cloudy glass was at the end of the hall, letting in light. The walls themselves seemed whitewashed in here with some sort of plaster with wooden braces and touches in the corners and up top. I followed the hall and went down creaky stairs, the delectable scent growing stronger. 

Downstairs, I found what looked like a workshop? I saw shelves, wracks, and more lining the wall, each filled with a variety of herbs, bags, and the occasional simple but smooth ceramic jar, along with the odd glass jars. On the ground was a wicker basket with yet more plants that smelled vaguely mint-y to me. A small table and stool sat against one of the shelves, complete with mortar, pestle, and a number of glassware that looked kinda like a medieval take on a chemistry kit, but I wasn't sure. 

On the table a book was a book, left open on an herb with a spiraling stem with a dozen little flowers sketched. I looked over it, but didn't recognize the herb, nor the text. Figures, I had another another language to learn. At least the flowers looked pretty.

I sniffed again. The herbal scents were ubiquitous, alongside a fainter sweet aroma of dried flowers, but the rest all mixed together into a mass aroma that was a bit overwhelming and not something I could easily pinpoint individual scents. I didn't recognize most of what I was getting. Questions for later.

Of course, the solitary exception was the one that had woken me up. It, above all others, wafted by and captured my focus again; that delectable, savory scent of meat and spices. I still didn't know what it was, exactly, but I wanted it in my tummy twenty minutes ago.

I explored further, emerging into some sort of kitchen. A window let in light at the far end with the same opaque glass, but there was more. A great, black iron wood heater or stove burned merrily while a pile of dried wood sat next to it. Up in the rafters I saw hanging sausages, yet more herbs and plants, barrels, shelves, and more. At the opposite end of the room was a table with another odd spiral shelled candle holder, but this time with actual candle in it, albeit without being lit. 

My eyes fixed on the stove briefly, but then I realized there was a woman staring at me.

I blinked.

She blinked, frozen mid ladling something into a bowl of soup from that big pot.

She was a tall woman, and the second I'd seen with ears like Zenn, albeit a bit shorter. Her hair was more of a cherry blond, and her eyes were light amber. She wore a plain light green dress with a faint ruffled texture to it while atop her shoulders she wore a distinctive red and black patterned shawl. It was hard to pinpoint her smell beneath the others, but it was oddly… charged, compared to the other scents.

Magic.

 

I jumped at the realization even as she hadn't made a move, but…

That was it. I didn't smell much else, on her, with all the scents, but I could definitely detect the scent of magic on her.

It was at this point I realized she, too, was staring at me. The realization made my hair stand on end and briefly want to bolt. She didn't feel bad, I thought. Sure, I could sniff magic out on her this close, but I could do the same for Mom, and Sandy always had that scent, yet, being here in front of her, I suddenly felt very vulnerable being here, presumably in her home, without Mom. 

She opened her mouth. I tensed, but she instead closed her mouth with a little click of her teeth. She slowly, almost exaggeratedly took a step back, grabbed the bowl, and carefully ladled more soup into it. She slowly, with exacting precision, set the bowl on the table, and pushed it toward the far side, towards me where a wooden spoon had been set. She then retreated and watched me expectantly. 

I watched her, a bit suspiciously, but she simply waited and gestured.

My eyes were drawn to the soup offered. She smiled and mimed eating a spoonful.

…

The smell, that wonderful, delightful scent, was too much to resist. Plus, I figured if she didn't want me here, she probably wouldn't offer soup.

I sat at the table, eyeing her, but my belly really wanted food and it smelled good. This close, I picked up spice, garlic, some sort of pepper, and the mouth-watering sweet scent of sweet shellfish to the backdrop of a super, super, savory broth.

The soup itself was reddish orange in color and had open clams and mussels in the broth along with some veggies.

I grabbed the spoon, got a spoonful, blew on it just like I always did with Mom, and sipped it.

The world, the room, the cat folk woman, everything faded as distilled, savory, flavor of fish, herbs, and garlic yet somehow so much more flooded my sensed like a steam train.

I…

It…

It was the best thing I'd ever tasted.

Nothing in my first life, nothing in this life, not even Magister Monty's Mint Drops, remotely compared.

I found my happy place. This was nirvana.

I barely restrained myself from grabbing the bowl and gulping it down not because I was worried I'd make a mess of myself in front of a stranger, but because the soup was hot and I didn't want to get burned.

The woman moved. I paused.

She noticed my look. She carefully ripped off a chunk of bread from the dark loaf at the center of the table and tossed it to land right next to me.

I stared at her some more, but my belly wanted more. I grabbed the chunk of bread, I think the first chunk of bread I'd seen in this world that in any other situation I'd have marveled at, but here?

I dipped it in the soup and chomped into it. The savory accents hit back again, but this time with a rich, wheatey, and yet almost smokey flavor unlike any bread my first life ever had.

I growled as I tore into the bread faster and did my best to transfer the contents of the bowl into my belly.

I heard muffled giggles. I looked up to see the woman with her hand over her lips.

I wanted to glare, but I couldn't resist eating even more.

At this point, I heard a thud from upstairs, followed by rapid and heavy footfalls. 

I looked up a few moments later to see the door open to see Mom there. She looked worried but relaxed on seeing me.

"Kitten," she breathed, and walked over to me. I wrenched myself from the bowl I wasn't quite finished with, ran over, hugged her, and then jumped back in my seat.

Mom looked over at the Woman.

"Roedd eich merch yn llwglyd, felly rhannais bouillabaisse gyda hi. Dewch, mi wnaf i nôl bowlen i chi."

I blinked and my ears perked. I didn't catch all that. But something about sharing bouillabaisse? Is that what the soup is called?

I engraved the word into memory. I wanted it again and I wasn't even finished with my own bowl.

"Yes, Sasha, sounds good," Mom said back in the Ciem-Illia as she sat heavily in the chair next to me. She was tired, but the smile she gave was bright and genuine. She ruffled my hair as the woman got up to get her a bowl. "I'm so glad you're okay, Gwen, so eat up. You need to regain your strength," she said to me in Illia. The woman cocked her head but said nothing.

I nearly snapped at the woman when she came back to get the bowl but stilled as a second bowl was placed before me, with another chunk of bread. 

"Enough for seconds," the woman, no, Sasha, said, the words simple enough for me to understand.

My belly demanded more, yet the sight of this, the smells, the sheer level of satiation I was getting from this made me stop and think, for just a moment.

Tears beaded at my eyes as I thought of my question.

"Mama? Are we safe here?" I asked.

Mom's eyes widened, and she blinked. I saw they suddenly seemed wet too, but she nodded. "Yes, Kitten, I think we are."

I stilled for a moment before I buried my face in my Mom's side and hugged her while the tears fell like gentle rain.

[H3]Chapter 26: Author's Note[/H3]

 

The entire time I was writing the scene I had this video playing rent free in my head about a tiny kitten getting a big fish: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qA_jwg0cjaU .

Really had to research to get the feel I wanted right for this chapter, the dwelling Gwen finds herself in, and a surprising amount of reading on fish soups and stews that led to me discovering bouillabaisse. I figured Gwen encountering the first, safe meal in civilization that's this good is going to have a lasting impact on her, easily her favorite food at the least.

I have a few more chapters in mind including an interlude at this point, but we are getting closer to the next major time skip in this story, but it'll be a second as there's a bit of stuff to explore first.

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