Chapter 11: Fire

“You found her?” The woman asked.

“It was easy once Addie entered the stream,” the man replied, sitting on his favorite leather armchair.

The woman let out a sigh, the tension draining from her shoulders. “Good. Let’s retrieve her immediately.”

“No, she’s bonded to an otherwise unknown creature, we need to wait and observe.”

“You don’t think?” The woman’s face contorted in shock.

“It’s possible; as much as it pains me to admit, we have no idea what the state of her magical soul is right now. Honestly, this plan has gone completely off track from what we wanted.” The man leaned back, trying to relax despite this mess of a situation.

The woman bit at her lower lip. “What if I go out, watch her?”

“I already am,” the man replied. “We’ll make sure to keep an eye on her once she finds the town again, but otherwise the best thing for now is to just leave her be. It looks like she got banged up a bit, but luckily she’s still alive. That’ll have to be enough for now— hopefully the plan isn’t completely ruined.”

***

Addie easily remembered the steps for making a fire: dig a small hole, place stones around the hole, and collect tinder for starting the fire. Her father had taught her these steps, and fire-making had become a well-practiced skill during their outdoor camping trips. Though the task of collecting and carrying the big pieces of firewood usually fell to her dad, Addie trusted Squishy to do it this time. He could still see better in this darkness, after all.

Long practiced at fire-making, Addie finished her preparations long before Squishy returned, which seemed a bit off. She felt a small stab of worry pierce through her chest after Squishy still didn’t return within a few minutes. What if another Aurwolf had found him? But, they were still near the stream, so that didn’t quite make sense.

Addie anxiously called for her companion, “Squishy? Are you almost done?” she shouted into the woods.

After a few seconds of silence, Addie’s panic accelerated. Intrusive thoughts of losing her only friend in this forest made her afraid of being alone. Squishy acted as her friend but also as a protector. Potentially being in the forest without him filled Addie with dread.

Through the panic, a thought surfaced, Wait! I can still feel him through our bond. At that, relief flooded through her, and her earlier panic turned into a subdued giggle. He’s not in danger.

If she could feel him through their bond, Addie thought there should be a way to talk with him. It’s not like he speaks to me using words. She focused back on the moments Squishy had communicated with her. She remembered how it felt to be contacted by her companion through the bond. She knew what receiving a message felt like, so maybe she could reverse it to send a message herself.

Addie focused on that feeling of receiving, then pushed that feeling outward toward their bond. Sure enough, Addie knew instinctively that Squishy had felt her prod. However, in her haste to figure out how to communicate through their linked souls, Addie sent Squishy more of a mental poke than true language.

In response, Addie heard Squishy’s disembodied voice, “I am not far.”

Hearing someone talk without being nearby seemed sort of creepy to Addie, but she brushed it off since she knew it was just her Squishy, “Just having some minor inconveniences.” Though he attempted to conceal it, Addie could still tell that Squishy felt a bit frustrated over something.

To show that she heard him, she sent him back a feeling of acknowledgment through their bond then resolved to sit down and wait. No longer as active, Addie started shivering again as the night wind collided with her wet clothes.

Soon, she heard the rustling of the bushes nearby, meaning Squishy was close. Strangely, she also heard intermittent sounds of dragging.

When Squishy breached the other side of the bushes and came out into the clearing, he struggled and heaved as he dragged along a sizable log, which left long furrows in the ground. He huffed and puffed, trying to get what was basically part of a medium-sized tree over to the campsite. Though he tried to look distinguished, Addie thought he looked like a dog trying to drag around an oversized toy.

“Fret not! I have... almost... arrived,” he got out, in between grunts and bursts of movement. Addie watched with a growing smile and laughter bubbling up her throat as her sworn protector budged the tree slowly forward in stops and starts, struggling too much to move it continuously. Stop, grunt, go, but eventually, he made it to her side. He dropped the log with a thud, panting for breath.

“I have completed the task given unto me by my lady,” he said with clear satisfaction and pride in his mental voice.

After watching her usually composed companion exert himself to move that crazy log in fits and starts, Addie couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing to the point of tears.

“What did you do? Cut down an entire tree and haul it over here?” Addie wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked right at her companion with a big smile.

“Well, that is what you asked of me, was it not?” Squishy responded earnestly.

“No, you silly cat! Just getting some fallen branches would have been plenty. I don’t even know what to do with this huge log! We’d have to cut it up to fit in the firepit.” Addie gestured toward the small stone-ringed pit.

Pausing to examine the pit, Squishy seemed to realize that the log was far longer than the space available. “Ah, yes. Perhaps there was a bit of miscommunication.” Somehow, Squishy managed to sound unfazed by the situation.

***

Addie took the time to instruct her decidedly-not-a-cat companion on proper firewood collection. Though, Addie realized, Squishy never would have been the best fit for the task, due to his lack of hands. He could move a surprising amount of stuff around with just his mouth, but carrying multiple objects at once was simply impossible for the small creature.

When she thought about his lack of opposable thumbs, it actually made some sense why Squishy thought to bring back such a huge piece of wood. From her human perspective, firewood would be gathered in a pile of multiple branches. But for Squishy, who could carry only one object at a time in his mouth, it made sense to fetch a single large piece.

After some self and dual examination, Squishy told Addie that he felt certain his language abilities were somehow transferred over to him while his mind expanded during their bond. Though the ability to speak transferred over, Addie’s memories most certainly did not transfer to Squishy.

Practically, this meant he only had the context of a forest fire to think of when Addie said she wanted to build a fire. He had never seen man-made fire before, only the wild uncontrolled kind during his previous life in the forest. His lack of context when combined with his lack of hands, led to the single big tree predicament.

Regardless, now that Squishy knew the proper size to grab, and with Addie actively helping, a sizeable pile began to grow next to the pit. It was hard work to accomplish at night, especially since Addie still hadn’t been able to properly dry off from her time in the river. The cold of night and her damp clothes were really starting to get to her. The worst part was her wet hair, all clumping together and dripping down her back.

“I think that’s enough,” Addie declared, feeling proud of their hard work. “Let’s make fire!” She really wanted to get warm. She still hadn’t stopped shivering, and her fingers were so numb they were difficult to move.

Taking on the role of a teacher, Addie showed Squishy how to build a teepee structure with the firewood. “This is how it’s done, Squishy. Look here, see how I lean all the branches against each other at the top? That’s so that the pile doesn’t all fall down,” she instructed, “Once that is set up, we get to the fun part! But also, the hard part. Usually, my dad would do this, but he’s shown me how enough times that I think I can do it.” Squishy sat and watched attentively but did not interrupt his impromptu tutor.

Looking over to make sure he was paying attention, Addie then took off her left boot and plopped onto the ground, “Since there isn’t any string or rope around here, my dad always used to say shoelaces would work as a substitute.” After unthreading her shoelace, she grabbed the curved stick she picked out specially for this. It was about the length of her forearm and curved like a bow. She attached each end of her shoelace to either side of the stick, completing the bow. She had to re-adjust the knots a few times to make sure the line was taut. Then, she grabbed another stick, straight this time, and held it against the middle of the line. She twisted the straight stick and wound the shoelace around it once, then firmly planted it in the ground to prevent unraveling.

Placing her tinder pile beside her, she grabbed another piece of wood, this time slightly rotting, but perfect for the task because it was mostly flat. She retrieved her makeshift bow-drill and set the straight stick against the flat board. She picked up the flat stone she left sitting nearby and placed it at the top end of the straight stick. Now, she stuck the straight stick firmly in place perpendicular to the board. She angled the bowed stick parallel to the ground.

Addie held the straight stick in place with a rock at the top using her right hand, and she used her left hand to push and pull the bow, causing the straight stick to twirl in place, generating friction against the board. What she didn’t expect, was the spray of water hitting her face from her shoelace’s rapid movement.

“Bleh,” she spat. Then, with her head slightly turned to avoid further disgusting shoelace water, she continued to push and pull on the bow-drill.

Doing this herself seemed ridiculously more difficult than when Addie watched her dad do the same action. He could move the bow so fast that the stick would twirl incredibly fast, creating smoke on the flat board within just half a minute. Addie did not have as much luck: she kept losing her grip on the flat stone or jabbing her hand and wrist against the straight stick when she lost leverage. Another frequent problem was the stick losing its place against the board, either from spinning away from the center into the dirt, or slipping around on the board as she yanked the bow. It didn’t help that everything was slightly wet.

After a concentrated effort lasting at least ten minutes, and with her arms burning in exertion, Addie finally saw a tiny ember forming on the board. Invigorated by the progress, her efforts renewed, back and forth she tugged on the bow, the stick twirling faster than ever.

“Quick, Squishy, pass me the tinder!” she asked excitedly.

Squishy stretched out his feline form, back arching, then plodded over to the tinder pile on Addie’s right and gently scooped it up into his mouth. He dropped it down directly in front of her. She dropped the bow-drill to the side and carefully cradled the tinder pile in both hands. Placing it directly onto the coal she just made, she picked the whole thing up again and began to blow on it, feeding the fire with air from her lungs.

Continuously, she blew gently into her burgeoning fire, the smoke spreading and growing as it began eating away at the tinder. Finally, it ignited with bright flames. Addie suppressed a whoop of joy, instead, she walked over to the firepit and put the tinder below the teepee of firewood, next to a pile of small sticks.

“Over here, Squishy! Help me blow on it. If the tinder doesn’t spread to the sticks, we’ll have to start all over!” Addie hurried Squishy over in her urgency to not mess it up.

The two of them alternated blowing on the firepit, giving the fire an unending supply of oxygen until, finally, fire.

Without holding back, Addie whooped in celebration, no longer able to hold back. She had even managed to avoid most of the smoke, though her eyes were watering some.

“We did it, Squishy!,” she said with a big grin on her face. Then, she walked over and picked Squishy up underneath his front legs, causing his hind legs to dangle. Then, she squished him tight into her chest and nuzzled the side of her face into his head.

“Yes, a very exciting moment indeed. Although I admit, you must release me, you are wet,” Squishy asked patiently.

Addie put her partner back on the ground and did a little spin in place before turning back to Squishy. “I’m so glad!” Addie scrunched up her face and sniffled, “We’re going to be ok.” She realized aloud.

Squishy made his now familiar chortle and communicated through the bond, “Yes, we will, my lady.”

Finally, Addie plopped right down next to the fire; the fire had really begun to spread to the logs, now. Moving her gaze up to the clear night sky, Addie stared at the beauty of the galaxy above. She admired it as she relished the warmth of the fire, glad their campsite had few trees so she could see the stars.

Taking off her boots and socks, she laid them about a foot away from the fire. That should help dry them out. She didn’t want to take off her dress; even though it was wet, it was still better than lying on the forest dirt completely naked. Instead, she lay down next to the fire and looked back up at the twinkling sky. The warmth of the fire pleasantly licked the side of her that faced it. Unfortunately, she knew her hair was going to be disgusting after this.

She tried turning on her side to get more comfortable, when she felt something poking into her. Trailing her hands underneath her side, she felt some kind of lumpy rock in one of the pockets of her dress. When she reached down to grab it, it felt smooth to the touch and a tad warm, as well as sending a somewhat familiar tingling feeling down into her arm that reminded her of Squishy’s magic.

Pulling it out from her pocket, she held it in front of the fire to get a good look at it. Polished, blood red stone greeted her, a perfectly made miniature version of Fluffy staring at her— Christena’s bonded slyfox.

Addie gasped and Squishy rose quickly, and out of instinct more than anything, she threw the bauble away from her as fast as she could, watching it sail through the night sky and out of sight.

Her heart still pounded even once it was gone, and she couldn’t help but glance all around at her surroundings.

“Worry not, my lady. Get some rest,” he moved up to sit directly on her chest, his pleasant warmth easing her worries. “I shall watch over us tonight.”

She trusted that he would watch over her; and besides, they were still near the safety of the stream. For now, she was safe, or at least that was her last thought before sleep finally claimed her.