Chapter 28: After a Buzzard's Heart
I saw Frecklewish and Splitpelt return to camp with scratches and looking thoroughly winded, but I largely ignored it because they looked happy. Frecklewish also strangely looked complete. Her translucency was gone. Her looks were a bit different from life now that I was taking the time to observe it. It was like a wisp of red energy seemed to constantly be emitted from her. Whatever completed her, it wasn't soul like an echo would be. It was just raw lifeforce like the faint energy of the Darkforest. Splitpelt looked unchanged, but his one cat conversations were taking on a whole new meaning when one of four cat outlines would appear for the response. My only guess was that Splitpelt was more in tune with the parts of himself. Regardless, I let them be. If they wanted to tell me, they would.
Working with Buzzardkit to solve the food flavor problem was proving to be a challenge. The biggest issue was language. There aren't specific enough words to describe what changes Buzzardkit advised for the change of flavor. There was no solution until I thought back on how I shared memories. With memories, I shunted away an artificially created construct with a copy of the memory into the other cat's mind. From that moment, I briefly created a bridge. In this case, I decided to make a bridge between Buzzardkit's mind and mine. The sensation was extremely odd. It was like if a den suddenly got a dividing wall. On one side was private thoughts and on the other was public thoughts. Buzzardkit obviously felt the sensation too, but I was the first to test it.
"Buzzardkit?"
Buzzardkit's eyes widened as he looked around. He then tentatively responded, "Mama?"
I purred at him for reassurance and at my own success at telepathy.
"I think I've gotten our food communication issue figured out. Buzzardkit, when you want me to modify the food, I want to think hard about how you want it to taste, what texture, and whatever else you can think of in this space like this."
I pictured hard the taste and texture of squirrel meat, the oak flavor from their acorn diet, the way it was somewhat stringy, how certain parts ripped sooner than others. I tried to picture the whole experience of eating a squirrel.
Apparently, I made the experience too realistic because Buzzardkit was dripping with drool. He shook it off, but I padded up to one of the fish he said tasted bad and put a paw on it. He read me and started to picture how he thought it did or should taste. I had to curb my own drooling as I modified the fish. The texture was somewhat flakey with the thinner bones being satisfyingly crunchy. I could taste the hint of other fish and river plant life in the fish as well. I, a Thunderclan cat and proudly so, was now jealous of Riverclan at the idea that they could have such tasty prey. I decided to share the modified fish with Buzzardkit since it was the result of both our work. The mental bridge collapsed as soon as I wasn't actively giving it attention. Despite his size, Buzzardkit has got to have the loudest purr of any cat I've ever met. I swear his whole body vibrated with his purr. The fish was so good that we unintentionally slowed our pacing on it to marvel at the flavor. Each bite felt distinctly unique like I could tell how the fish really lived from the flavor alone. If Starclan knew, they'd be jealous.
Slowly, Buzzzardkit and I went through the whole pile of prey making distinct tastes for each piece. I had recorded each one into my memories as we created them. It was an unexplainable experience, but to keep ourselves from getting stomach aches, we had to go out of our way to not eat each piece of prey in its entirety, no matter how much we wanted to.
I'd only had Buzzardkit for what felt like days and he was already looking like an apprentice. His height filled out with long legs and a rather thin frame that somehow seemed to grow and change based upon his hunger. When he was thin, he was fast and agile, while when he was thick, he was powerful and durable. His mind did not seem to change though. Anything related to food had well thought out explanations and a level of sophistication. In other topics, his intelligence or interest was subpar. One of his few non-food interests seemed to be Sunpaw. He seemed somehow enthralled with the other amalgam, sometimes asking me to help make a specific food for them and such. He definitely had a crush. Sunpaw would always respond with a radiant smile that paralyzed the poor kit.
I decided to observe the pair. Sunpaw had definitely matured over their time here. Sunpaw seemed to have the instincts of a head nursing queen. They were friends with every cat, but it seemed they took an interest in Buzzardkit as well. They'd go out of their way to play with him. They complemented his work whenever they received a gift. The two were obviously made for each other, not literally, I made them and pairing them wasn't planned.
Sunpaw took an interest in flowers, so guess who also suddenly took an interest in flowers? Buzzardkit begged me to help make him a unique flower. I couldn't say no. This cute little guy was bouncing up and down almost crying while requesting the flower. At first he tried to describe what he wanted, but I refused. He was definitely crying then, but then I clarified. He'd have to imagine the flower for Sunpaw down to the last petal, how it lived, what it ate, what kind of soil it lived in. He'd have to plan out the flower from scratch. It was frankly adorable how he requested from every cat he could knowledge about plants. Boragepelt proved to be the most useful for the kit. Eventually he came back with his plan, and using the mind bridge, I created the flower exactly as he pictured it. It was like a sunflower, but each petal was one color from a slightly muted rainbow. Its leaves were not the usual as well. They were red and resembled rose petals. The stem itself was green, but a small line of yellow lightly wound around it. I grew three of these flowers. One for an immediate gift, and two for Buzzardkit to use later.
Sun paw loved the flower, wearing it on their back almost like a pair of wings. It definitely embellished their good looks. Buzzardkit actually passed out after he saw it, the little heartbreaker. I had to faintly ponder what their kits would look like.