Over the course of several days, Marinna found herself constantly watching for a glimpse of the bear. To no avail, she hadn't seen him since. And if it wasn't for the way Celeb had acted, well she might have thought herself crazy. Luckily for her though, the weather had remained beautiful. And so she was able to tan her hides for leather, in which she would then craft into armor. She normally didn't wear much armor when out hunting, but with increased orc activities and now that bear, it could hurt to be a little more protected.
Today she was taking care of some chores that needed to be done around the yard, and in the house. While Celeb was out roaming his roost like he always did. Today she had to milk her goat, Aida. Then she needed to collect the eggs from the chicken's, and bring in some more wood. Plus she had some smoking she wanted to do, along with some sewing and knitting. She also had in mind a bed fle Celeb that she wanted to make for him.
She sat her stool down by her tree stump, and tethered Aida to it. It usually took her about an hour by the time she filled her milk pail, her father having taught her it's better to take your time and do it right. This particular batch was going to be separated into a small batch of butter, and a small batch of cheese. Not only did it preserve it, but gave her more supply to stock up with. There was also a wild herd of yak that roamed the valley she resided in, and so in a few weeks, she'd be able to get some yak hair and make some wool.
Over the time that she had been there, she had managed to build up enough trust with the small herd, and they'd allowed her to give them much needed haircuts. Which in turn gave her, her wool. Another natural resource that she was able to bet and stock up on, was wild honey and shed loved to make honey cakes with it. She found wild honey to be sweeter and had a better texture than farmed honey. And of course the abundance of flowers were appreciated, especially the herbal ones that she used for her tea, like camomile.
She definitely showed that she was born for solitary life, away from people and their nosy habits or their questions. She always wanted freedom and space with peace and quiet. And now she had an amazing new companion to join her, one that was loyal beyond a doubt, one that would protect and help provide for their little family, and one who loved her unconditionally. She definitely couldn't be more grateful.
Once she finished milking and letting Aida go, she moved on to gathering the eggs which never took long. As per usual Celeb helped by carrying the egg basket in his mouth, and trailed beside her at her pace. They brought everything inside and after giving him a treat, Marinna got started on churning her butter. Sighing as she sat down, rolled up her sleeves and started to churn, she couldn't help but think of how much she wished this chore could do itself.
The rest of her afternoon had gone by smoothly, and all that she wanted done had been accomplished. Now she sat just outside her door on a willow rocking chair that she made herself, and was enjoying both a hot cup of tea and a slice of her honey cake. Celeb was happily off go find a spot to bury his new bone, which he had a bad habit of doing almost every time he got a new bone. As she gently rocked in the chair while taking small bites of her cake, she watched the first of the fireflies appear and the last bit of the sun's colorful rays as it finally set.
She loved this time of night, where it wasn't too dark it was still light enough to see. Yet it was still warm enough to stay out in just a sweater. She had on one of her hand knitted sweaters and a simple yet warm pair of wool-lined pants. Not too hot yet not cold either . She was seated in the rocking chair with one leg drawn up under the other and supporting her plate at the same time, while she held her cup with one hand and used the other to eat. It was one of her favorite things to do to help her relax before bed, and allowed Celeb to let out the last of his energy.
Tonight though as she sat there, was not like any other. Once more, probably when she was about half way through her slice of cake, she got this odd feeling of being watched. And so for the next minute she looked around until she discovered the source. There it was, it was back. About twenty yards away from her, a lot closer than before, there stood the massive black bear.
He had his head raised in the air as he took large sniffs of the air. It was then she guessed that it was the sweet smell of her honey cake that must have been attracting the bear.
And so after having mustered up the courage she stood up, and walked forward very slowly a few feet. She then crouched down and set down her plate with the last of her cake.
"It's my homemade honey cake. I'm sure you'll like it." Marinna said to the bear once she had stood up. And so just like that she turned around and made her way to her small but cosy home, Celeb right behind her. And with one final look at the bear, she shut her door and proceeded to get ready for bed.
The next morning when she had woken up, she immediately went and checked out the plate. And was very happy when she saw that the bear had in fact eaten the honey cake. She picked up her plate and brought it back inside with her. She placed it in the wash basin and then got started on a hot kettle for some tea. Since she was in a rather cheerful mood she decided to go with a vanilla and cinnamon tea, which on a slightly chilly spring morning, was just right.
Today was her supply fun that she took twice a year, where sne gathered certain goods to sell, and bought any items they needed that she couldn't obtain otherwise. She packed her cart with all she needed to bring, and as she set up Celeb with food and water, she explained to him she'd be back. Once her cart was loaded and she was ready to go, Marinna locked up a d then let out a piercing whistle. Within a moment a very stocky mountain pony came bounding through the trees and pranced his way over to her. He was a six year old gelding, his coat was a dusky grey and was very stocky, perfect for pulling carts. She owned him but he was such a free spirit, that he prefered to run loose, but always remaining close to the cabin especially at night.
She harnessed him up and got him hooked up to the cart, with one final look at her inventory she climbed on and was off. By foot Lake town was about a two day trip, with Eryn it took about six hours, since it was a lot safer to take the road. She had set Eryn to a decent pace, not wanting to put any stress onto the older pony. She didn't really enjoy these trips to Lake town, even though it was necessary to do so. Which is why she made the trip twice a year, only when she truly needed to, did she go.
As they moved along through the forest with the birds singing and insects chirping, the very soft beautiful melody of an elvish song echoed through the trees as Marinna sang. It was from the only remaining memory she had of her mother, who passed away when she had her younger sisters. It spoke of their love of trees and the starlight and all things good. It was truly a beautiful song, and was something else to get to experience it.
Her younger sisters had adored her singing, yet for a few months after their passing, she found she was unable to even squeeze out a single note. But now she didn't mind so much, she found it was a soothing way to pass the time. And even Celeb seemed to love her singing. So over the two month's that she had him, she definitely noticed that she had begun to sing a lot more. She guessed that it was probably due to the fact that she found some enjoyment by having brought Celeb some peace.
When she had stumbled across him when he had been almost frozen solid, and completely starved and left to die. She had a feeling that he was sent to her from the Valar, she'd lost everyone, her whole family. And when she had gotten to a low place, there he was. It was like they were meant to have come together. Now Eryn was a different story. She had been living at the cabin for about three months, when one morning she went to go feed her goat and there he was. He was just standing outside his door, and continued to do so for about two weeks till she finally gave in and just agreed, she now owned a free range horse. After she had gotten to know him and his old snarky attitude, she named him Eryn. Which suited him perfectly.
And so, with a happy tune and a steady pace, her and Eryn were making great time on their way to Lake town. Marinna shighed deeply as she knew she had to stop in and see her Aunt Navine. She was her late father's sister, and just like her visits to town, she limited her time that she spent there. Her Aunt was a nice kinda plum woman, yet had a bad habit of always trying to talk her into marrying someone. Which she had no interest in. Unlike her, her Aunt had married at 14 and had popped out her first kid out of five at the age of 16. Nope, not Marinna, she was perfectly content with living just by herself znd her newly acquired wolf pup companion.
It would take someone tfuly special and totaly amazing to even get her interest. She was happy where she was and with her life. She was still suffering from the loss of her whole family, and she knew that she was a little bit broken. But she also knew the wait would be worth it, for if she took her time, then she wouldn't suffer from any regrets afterwards. Her father had taught her patience was a vurtue, and tnat rushing things was never a good idea. And so that had definitely been an aspect of her life she was willing to not rush and to allow it's self to take its course