1.4 Doughy Whiskers
Reach for the stars.
Saria Starcatcher, Cait Sith Empress of the woodlands, Starcatcher family motto
It had been nearly a week since the shop had held its open house. It had been successful, bringing the shop back from the brink of bankruptcy, not that such things held much importance for Lupe, who was much more interested in climbing trees, swimming in rivers, and skipping stones, as is typical of children. Lupe was not, in the strictest sense, a child anymore, but she didn't care.
"I beat you! I beat you!"
"You got lucky," panted Cherry, pulling herself onto the marked branch.
"Lucky my furry little tail. I won!"
"Fine, you won, great."
"Woohoo! What should we do next? It's your turn to pick."
"Hmm… Let's go visit Silver. He's still sick."
"That's so-oo-oo sweet, sis! Trolling for a boyfriend?"
"Of course not! We're both friends with him after all!" cried Cherry.
"Yup, you like him. If you didn't, you wouldn't overreact like that."
Cherry winced. Lupe sometimes demonstrated an annoying perceptiveness.
"Whatever, I don't care. If you want to visit him, then that's what we'll do."
Silver was sitting up in bed, reading a copy of "Der Löwe, die Hexe, und der Schrank." He looked up when they entered and shut his book.
"Hello, Cherry," he said happily.
"Hiya, Silver," chirped Lupe.
"How're ya doin'?" asked Cherry.
"Better. I still feel pretty weak, though."
"Let's hope you were fully recovered from that pneumonia."
"Your mum says I should be fine. She'd know if it were anything serious."
"Right," Cherry nodded.
"What'cha readin'?" asked Lupe, picking up the book. "A novel, huh? Is this a romance?"
"No, it's a fantasy-action-adventure about four humans travelling to another world where they help the people who are under the thrall of an evil sorceress."
"Sounds boring. I prefer The Tales of Reynard, but I guess you can read what you want," said Lupe, shrugging.
"Reynard the Fox? You find that entertaining?" said Cherry. "That's so childish."
"Didn't I tell you not to insult my graceful landmasses?" Lupe said peevishly.
Silver began to blush.
"Sorry, Silver," muttered Cherry. "My little sis is kinda bratty."
"Hey!"
"It's okay."
"What?" exclaimed Lupe.
"Honestly, Lupe, you cause so many-"
"I do? At least my first phase wasn't during prayer."
Silver set to making a tremendous production of moving around his water glass and book as noisily as he could.
"My phase? Yours was in the middle of the Samhain feast!" retaliated Cherry.
"Way to bring that up! You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
Had they forgotten he was in the room?
"You pretended you were stabbed and smeared blood all over me!"
Yup.
"That's it. I'm outta here," said Lupe, storming out of the room.
"Good-BYE!" shouted Cherry, spinning around breathing heavily.
She opened her eyes and noticed Silver sitting there with a rather traumatized look on his face.
"Oh. You heard that. Sorry. My sis and I don't always get along."
"It's fine, just fine."
After half a minute of silent blushing, Cherry broke the silence.
"I brought you some biscuits! That's why I came over here in the first place."
"I can tell."
"Eh? What, can you smell them from up here? I left them downstairs."
"No, it's just that you've got a bit of dough on your cheek, there," he said, brushing it off.
"Thanks," said Cherry, touching his hand before he moved it back. "So you're really reading that fantasy tale?"
"Yeah, and it's pretty good."
"Looks like it's written in some funny language. Isn't this one of those old ones used in the temples?"
"Uh-huh. It's really old. My da doesn't even know where it's from."
"Should you really be reading this? I mean, my mum told me these kinds of words can cause things."
"Words can cause a lot of things. Saying "die Tür ist kaputt" won't break the door."
"Silver!" cried the startled Cherry.
"See? Nothing happened. Honestly, Cherry, you're a little too uptight sometimes."
"Am I?" she asked, throat hairs quivering.
"Well, not really, no."
Cherry's throat hair lowered significantly.
"How about those biscuits now, yes?" she suggested.
Cherry fetched the biscuits and returned to Silver's room with them.
"They've got raisins in them."
"Great! These are my favorite kind!"
Silver took a bite out of a biscuit. He cringed for a moment, then smiled wide.
"How does it taste?"
"Wonderful. Really wonderful. Where did you learn to make these?"
"Mum showed us how. It's very simple really. Is something wrong? You're shaking all over."
"I'm just a bit cold. I'm fine, really."
"That's no good. You're ill, you need to be plenty warm."
"So?"
"I'll get you another blanket. They're in the closet, right?"
"Right."
Cherry opened the door and rummaged through the closet until she found a rather old red blanket.
"Here we go."
"That old thing? My granddad made that for my mum when she was little."
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize it had such history."
"A blanket's a blanket. Might as well use it."
"Practical," said Cherry, unfolding it. "What a pretty design!"
In the middle of the sheet was a large knotted pattern which was so convoluted that it was impossible to tell where it ended or began.
"Yeah, family crest," said Silver, taking another bite of biscuit without thinking and shivered again.
"Don't get crumbs all over it. That would be a fine mess, wouldn't it?"
"Actually, my stomach feels a bit weak. I probably shouldn't eat any more right now."
They chatted for awhile longer, but twenty minutes later, Cherry had to go.
"I'll come see you again tomorrow. Bye!"
Silver waved goodbye from the window, then laid back down on his bed, setting his paw on his book. As the day came to a close, leaving Silver to his rest and the two sisters returned to their squabbling, something was amiss in the nearby town of Caina.
The fountain in Full Moon square had stopped flowing.