A week has passed since we met with Ana and Astra's mother. The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, which to me is a good thing. We continued to hunt and gather for winter, and got a lot of items. We were able to hunt a lot of demonic beasts, and had 55 dead bodies stored for winter. This is a lot of food, and we are not even considering the edible plants we have also gathered. Also, we were able to get all of this in the nick of time. Snow was literally falling yesterday during our hunt. It snowed overnight, and we have been blocked into the cave, just like every other winter. The strange thing is that the underwater river is still able to flow. I'm not too sure why that is so though. My only guess is that it's source is underground, stopping the river from freezing.
"Whew. I honestly didn't think we would be able to get enough food for winter," I said with a smile on my face. "Now we don't really have to worry about surviving."
"Yeah that is true," Astra says. "We really did cut that one close. We should make sure this doesn't happen again."
"True," Ana says. "I don't want to worry about winter again."
"Well, let's think of that later," I say. "After all, we are stuck inside the cave now. We will have a long time to think about things. What are you guys planning on doing this winter?"
"I would like to work on my cooking, but we don't really have the leeway to do that." Astra starts off happily, but gets sadder as she talks. She seems like she was really excited to work on her cooking skills.
"Don't worry," I say, trying to comfort her. "When it is your time to cook, you can do whatever you like. Just try not to use too much. Well, what about you Astra?"
"I guess I'll work on expanding the house," she says. "It's not like more space will be bad for us."
"I mean it kind of can be," I say, trying not to upset her. "I mean we are only three people here. What is the point of making our house any bigger than it needs to be."
"Yeah, I agree with you," Astra says. "That is why I'm thinking of working on the storage area. Even if the house doesn't need expanding we could always use more storage. This will also help us stock up more food during other winters, which is why I want to expand the storage area. What are you planning on doing Sylvain?"
"I really want to work on my clay sculpting," I say. "That way we can have better plates, cookware, utensils, and others. In fact, I think I'll start right now."
"Okay bye then." "Yep have fun playing with clay."
With that we then go our separate ways to accomplish what we want to do. Well not actually in fact. We all head to the dismantling/storage room. I need to go there to get to the underwater river, Astra to work on expanding it, and Ana to look over the ingredients we have. Coincidentally, today is her day to cook for us. I don't really focus on what they are doing though, and instead focus on my task. I grab a huge chunk of clay from the riverbank before beginning to mold it. I have two separate ways of clay sculpting that I have used so far. The first is directly molding the clay from a huge chunk, taking out parts as needed. The second is taking out parts, before individually making the final product.
I don't know which way is better, since both ways always come out lopsided and ugly for me. Also, a lot of my works get destroyed when we try to fire them. I think this means that I don't have enough experience molding clay. Also, I didn't really need to worry about their looks, so as long as they were functional, they were fine. However, now we seem to be getting many visitors, and it would look bad if we served them with bad clay works. It would give them a negative impression of us, even though I shouldn't really care about their impressions. Either way, I will practice the faster of the two methods, so as to get better at managing clay. For me, the faster method is definitely the former. Molding a huge chunk all at once just seems faster than going through different individual pieces.
Since I am molding a huge chunk of clay, I will similarly make a bigger item. What I'm thinking of making is a big clay bowl with some intricate designs carved into it. This can be used as a centerpiece to the table, and hold something, maybe fruit. I first have to make it, and make sure it actually looks good. As such, I begin to mold the clay that I have taken from the riverbank. I use my hands to create an indentation in the center of it, before smoothing that out. I am being careful with this, and using water to help smooth it out. I run my hands over the clay multiple times, and take out parts from the middle.
Soon the clay begins to form the shape of a bowl, and it actually looks good. Okay, good may be a bit of an overstatement. It would be better to say that it looks better than what I have created previously. It isn't as lopsided, and looks pretty symmetrical. However, that doesn't make it appealing, and it is still lopsided. Well it's practice, so mistakes will be made. I go on to the next step, which is to carve designs into it. I don't really want to do anything special, so I just put some squares and circles along the base and top. They weren't perfectly in line with each other, but it is better than having no designs.
With this, I believe I have finished the first of my many attempts. I could see the things I need to improve on, but this clay bowl is not finished yet. I still need to fire it, and hope that it doesn't break down. However, that will have to wait. After all, we only have a certain amount of firewood. I will only fire it when we are cooking. That way we would be able to efficiently use the wood. In the meantime I will try to complete another bowl using the other method. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it and fire it as well.
I get another chunk of clay from the riverbank. I then split it up into different sections. I then work in the base of the bowl, adding designs into it. I then work into the sides of the bowl. To make it easier for me, I only mold squares. I then place these jutting out from the base. The base is shaped into a hexagon, so six squares were created and then angled outward to form a bowl. I used some more clay to patch in the sides before completing this bowl. I then once again added some designs on the top of the bowl. They didn't perfectly line up, but still looked nice. Also their bowl looked so much better. It wasn't lopsided, except near the base, and looked smoother for some reason. I couldn't wait to fire them up.
My two bowls were done, so I decided to look for Ana and Astra. However, they weren't inside the storage/dismantling room. While looking through, I could tell that there was a new hole being created. Astra seemed to be working hard as well. It also seemed like there was some food and wood missing. I guess this means that Ana is cooking food for us right now. Wait, if she is cooking, then I should bring my claw bowls up to be fired.
I hurriedly climbed up into the kitchen with the clay bowls in hand. I tried to make sure that my rushing wouldn't mess up the clay bowls. After all, I did spend a good amount of time on them. It would be horrible if they got destroyed after all that work. Once I was close to the kitchen, I could hear the cracklings of firewood. They were definitely cooking, and once I came in, I saw the fire itself along with Ana. Astra was nowhere in sight though.
"I'm sorry Ana, but can I fire these clay bowls while you are coming?" I ask once I have been spotted.
"Yeah that is fine sylvi," Ana says happily. "All I ask is that you give me your honest opinion on my food."
"Thanks," I say. "Don't worry, I'll give my honest impression. By the way where is Astra?"
"Oh, she should be in her room," Ana says after some deliberation. "You can go look for her. Don't worry about your clay bowls. I'll keep watch of them while I'm cooking."
"Thanks," I say. "I'll go look for Astra then. I hope your cooking turns out great."
"Oh it definitely will," she says with confidence in her voice.
"Then I can't wait to try it out," I reply as I begin to head to Astra's room. "Please tell me when it is ready."
"Oh I definitely will," she replies, her voice fading out.
"We'll time to look for Astra the ," I think to myself as I head to her room. Once I enter her room, I am able to see her on the bed. It seems as if she is resting.
"How are you doing?" I ask, a little worried, upon seeing her tired expression.
"I'm good," she says a little dejectedly. "I'm just a little tired. I'll be fine soon, and then I'll head back to expanding the storage area."
"Well, why don't I help you out with that?" I ask hopefully.
Upon hearing my question, she looks at me suspiciously. I guess she is wondering why I would help her when I have my own thing to do.
"I mean," I begin to explain, "I have already created two clay bowls today. They are getting fired up by Ana as we speak, so I don't really have anything else to do at the moment. So, if you are going to continue working, the least I can do is help you to make sure you don't strain yourself."
"Well then I shall thank you for your help," she says gratefully. "I'll tell you when I am rested up. I'm sure you want to watch, and make sure your clay bowls are being fired properly."
"Yep, I certainly do," I say. "Make sure to call me though."
"Don't worry I definitely will," she says tiredly. "Just let me rest for now."
I then leave her room, and head back to the kitchen. When I'm there I see that Ana is continuing to focus on her cooking. The clay bowls are nowhere to be seen. When I look inside the fire, I am able to see them inside. While I am watching the fire, Ana abruptly looks at me and jumps.
"Oh it's just you Sylvi," she says relieved. "Don't scare me like that."
"I'm sorry," I say. "I really didn't mean to scare you."
"It's fine," she says. "Just give me a warning next time, and don't just stand there and watch. Anyways, why are you here? I thought you would be talking with Astra more."
"She said she needs to rest," I say, "I'm guessing she got too tired from digging, so I'm going to let her rest. When she's done, I'll go with her to help her expand the storage area. After all their really isn't much for me to do, other than wait for these bowls to be fired up."
"Well, don't stay here," she says while trying to cover up whatever it is she is cooking. "I want my cooking to be a surprise."
"Fine, I'll leave then," I say as I leave the kitchen. Their really isn't anything for me to do, so I just do some training. Since I'm going to be digging later, I only do some multitasking training. That way I can save my strength for when I need to dig. Soon enough Astra comes out from her room and nods at me. I follow her to the storage area, and we soon arrive at the place she had already dug out.
"So how do you want to do this?" I ask her once we arrive.
"We just continue to dig in this direction for a little bit," she says. "Afterwards we carve it out in the same direction as the rest of the storage area."
"Okay, I'll just follow your lead," I say to her.
She starts to dig once again, and I help her out. I don't want to get in her way, so I help in a different way. I take all the loose rocks and dirt and move them. This way she can continue digging with relative ease. I put it into a pile that I had seen on my way in. She only had to do half the work now, which should make it easier for her. We kept doing this for a pretty large amount of time. I don't actually know how much time has passed. I was just completely focused on moving the dirt and stones, so I didn't really care about the time.
"Astra, sylvi, food is ready," Ana's voice could be heard coming from the kitchen. Once we here it, we both stop our work.
"Well, it's time to taste her cooking," I say to Astra. "What do you think she did, and how do you think it will taste?"
"I don't know," Astra says. "I just hope she hasn't wasted anything."
"Well we have a little bit of a surplus," I say trying to appease Astra. "So we should be fine even if she uses a little more than usual. Let's just go and see what she has made."
"Fine."
With that, we then begin to head to the dining room. The table has already been set up by Ana, and the food is all there. It seems to be some kind of stew, but the water is thick and loos unappetizing.
"What is this?" I ask Ana in a slightly nervous tone.
"It's soul," Ana says confidently. "Don't worry. Even though it looks gross, it actually tastes good."
"What did you use to make this?" Astra says.
"Just some meat, water, spices, and some vegetable." As she talks, she points to different items that are on the table. I guess these are the leftovers from her cooking. The stew shouldn't be that bad if this was all she put in. The spices weren't even that strange. The vegetable she pointed at looked like potatoes, carrots, and onions. It should be a pretty simple slip, but I can't tell why the broth looks thick and disgusting.
Trying to satisfy my curiosity I ask, "why is the broth thick?"
"Since Sylvain has asked a question, I also ask a question. You've said you've used this vegetable, but I don't see it anywhere in the soup." Astra asks her question after mine, and points to the potato-looking vegetable. Now that she has mentioned it, I also don't see the potato-looking vegetable. I thought it was only covered by the thick broth, but after searching through it, I find that is not the case. I look up at Ana expecting an answer.
"Well the answer to both of your questions is easy," Ana says. "That vegetable is what is used to make the broth thick. In order to do so, it has to be cut up very finely, so while it is inside the soup, it doesn't appear to be in it."
"Oh, okay," I nod my head to her explanation. I don't really want to confirm it by myself, and just trust her word. After that question is answered, I begin to eat the soup. Their is no talking while we are eating the food, as it seems like everyone is absorbed in eating. This soup is just really good. At least to me it brings a new and refreshing taste.
"So how was it?" Ana asks nervously once we are all done eating.
"It was good," Astra says. "Definitely gave a different taste than usual."
"I agree with Astra," I say. "However, it feels like something is missing. While eating,it felt like there is too much broth and not enough substance. I guess you could try cutting up the ingredients to fill out the soup, or maybe you can add something else to it."
"If I cut up the ingredients more, then I would have to add more of them," Ana replies. "This will make the soup unbalanced. If I want to increase the substance, then I would need something that can absorb the flavor of the broth without changing it. I don't know what that could be though."
"You still have all winter Astra," I remind her. "Sooner or later an answer will come to you. By the way, where did you put my clay bowls?"
"Oh, I left them inside the fireplace," Ana says. "I didn't want to take them out and ruin them by accident."
"If they were ruined just by being moved, then they weren't molded properly," I say, "but thanks for doing that."
"You don't need to thank me sylvi."
"Okay, then I'll go check on them right now."
Once I finish that last sentence I head straight towards the kitchen. I look into the fireplace, and see that most of the wood has turned white. I take a relatively strict looking log, and begin to sift through the ashes. Soon I hit my clay pots and slowly brought them out of the fireplace. I extend my hand to touch it, and a wave of heat emanates from the fireplace. It isn't enough to discourage me though, and I swiftly bring out my clay bowl. However, once they are out, cracks are visible on them. At the moment I noticed the cracks, the bowls split and broke.
"Uhh, my molding technique is still bad," I sigh in resignation. "Otherwise, these bowls wouldn't have cracked. The cracks seem to be originating from the designs I engraved into them, and from the areas that are lopsided. I need to practice more."
After my soliloquy had ended, Ana and Astra entered the room.
"So how did it go sylvi?" Ana asked me, not noticing the broken bowls.
"Well, they broke," I say dejectedly. "I'll make sure that they are done better though."
"Okay," Astra says. "I will continue working on expanding the storage."
"And I'll continue to think of new dishes to make."
"Yeah, let's make sure we get through a lot this winter."