After calming Amara, Borin pulled them both out of bed earning a groan from Amara. He was eager to start the day and to get Amara's mind off of everything. He had observed her and has seen that she is incredibly curious and lights up at the chance to learn new things. Almost as soon as they were standing a loud grumble came from Amara's stomach, making her embarrassed. She put her hands on her stomach and looked away from him.
"Haha" laughed Borin gently, while caressing Amara's face, he thought she was very cute with her reaction.
"Shall we go eat some food?" Said Borin gesturing to the rest of the house.
"Sure." Replied Amara with a faint smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Walking out of the bedroom Borin could see Amara admiring the design of the house. They didn't have much chance to look at the interior last night…
Standing in the hallway between the bedroom and kitchen, in front of the door for the storage room. Amara began touching the clay walls. Her fingers ran down the stones that decorated the walls.
"How did you build this ?" Asked Amara amazed.
Borin smiled, he was glad she asked, he put a lot of effort in finishing the house quickly before she woke up.
"I used wooden posts as the frame and foundation. Then I used a thick clay mixed with various grasses to fill in the space between the wooden posts. As I did that I placed many large stones to take up space and to make a unique design. For the roof I tightly wound long dry grasses in many layers to the wooden frame of the roof then secured it to the body of the building." Explained Borin pridefully.
"That's amazing! I didn't know you could build things that way. Back home our houses were all stone! " said Amara. Finished marveling at the walls Amara and Borin made their way to the kitchen.
"I have never seen buildings made completely of stone. Your builders must've been very impressive." Replied Borin. He paused but quickly spoke again.
"Take a seat here I'll grab you some meat." Borin said again while pointing to a spot on the ground with many hides laid out.
Amara nodded her head and sat down obediently. Borin walked to the east wall of the kitchen. The bottom half of the wall had clay cubbies built into it for storage. He reached into one of them and pulled out some meat wrapped in thick leaves. Borin could feel Amara's curious stare on him as he did this. He walked back to her, sat down, and unwrapped the meat.
"Here you go I hope you like it." said Borin He hunted this elk with great difficulty and was proud to serve it to his mate. Amara stared at him then at the meat.
"Do you always eat your meat raw?" asked Amara in an incredulous tone but Borin didn't understand her question. This is how they always ate meat. What was wrong?
"Is there another way to eat it?" asked Borin innocently. Amara gave him an odd look but smiled.
"A few ways but thank you I'll enjoy it this way too." said Amara as she took a bite of the meat. She winced but continued to eat. Borin felt bad he wanted her to enjoy it, but he was glad she was eating. He would have to feed her lots of meat so she wouldn't starve during the cold season.
"How did you eat meat before?" asked Borin earnestly
"We would cook it with fire and it could be made into many different dishes." replied Amara, her face twisting after taking another bite of the meat.
"Y-you would use fire? How did you tame such a volatile element? " asked Borin with surprise in his voice. He was shocked on how such a brave clan could get wiped out. Anytime fire is spotted it's treated very seriously and put out immediately. Amara looked slightly uncomfortable at Borin's question.
"We just have always used it." said amara avoiding eye contact. Borin knew she must be hiding something but why push her? They would be together forever. There was time to learn everything.
"Ah okay, Well I will be out during most of the day hunting. The dormant season is coming, then the cold season. There will be little food so we have to eat as much as we can before then." said Borin, memories of hunger during the cold season sending chills down his back. Amara stared thoughtfully into the distance for a moment, then turned to Borin.
"Does your tribe not preserve food for the cold season?" asked Amara inquisitively
"I'm not familiar with that so I would say no. What is preserving?" asked Borin. He was excited to learn more about Amara's people's ways; they seemed to be intelligent and brave.
"Preserving food means you do something to the food to make it stay edible longer. My tribe had several ways of making food last." said Amara cheerfully obviously happy to share her knowledge.
"I see that's what it means! we have a way in the bear tribe it's the leafs of the black oak, but it only makes it last a few days, a little longer in the cold season," said Borin while gesturing to the leaves the meat was wrapped in. Amara nodded and quickly went to say something else.
"My tribe could make meat and some vegetables stay fresh for seasons at a time we would use fire to help us to do that." spoke Amara confidently. Borin shifted in his sitting position with a flabbergasted look.
"A whole season? That's amazing. Do you know how to do it? This could completely change how the cold season is for us." said Borin in an enthusiastic voice.
"I was the chief's daughter. I was educated on everything in my tribe so yes I do know how to do it." replied Amara solemnly. Borin didn't want to invalidate Amara's loss but this was very important to the survival of the tribe. Even his own father passed away several cold seasons ago from starvation.
"Would you talk to the chief about preserving food?" requested Borin sincerely. Amara looked away for a second, making Borin feel nervous. He couldn't be mad at her if she didn't want to help but he hoped she would.
"Of course, if it will help the tribe then I'll be glad to share my knowledge," said Amara resolutely looking back at him. A wave of relief washed over Borin; he really hoped they could preserve food for everyone. He didn't want to waste any more time. He felt they should go see the chief immediately.
"Are you okay to head out now Amara?" asked Borin gently.
"Sure that sounds good" replied Amara.