Chapter 20: Two Days for One Bed

Wading back across the stream, Seraya clutched the leaf-wrapped ginger to her chest, carefully picking her steps among the slick stones, far more concerned about the fate of her find than getting her clothes soaked yet again.

Not long ago she had intended to spend the rest of the day hunting for decent stone flakes, but now all those rocks could sit right where they lay, because she had something far more important on her mind.

First I plant you, then I worry about the rest... Just don't you dare die on me on the way.

She had no idea how long the uprooted plants would endure being carried through the heat, and having managed to find something so useful, she had no intention of losing it through her own stalling.

So she scooped up the three flakes left on the bank, adjusted the leafy bundle, and headed down the slope, checking the protruding shoots every few steps as if watching them would somehow keep them alive.

Outside her cave, she set everything down in the shade and got straight to work, picking a patch of damp soil near the pond that wasn't constantly flooded and stayed sheltered from the sun for at least part of the day.

Digging up the ground with a rock and her bare hands quickly reminded her that gardening was another task far more pleasant when one owned even the simplest trowel.

"Just need a watering can and a rake, and I can open a fucking garden center," she muttered dryly, hauling out another root that had apparently decided to make her life difficult.

Despite her grumbling, she worked carefully, setting the intact rhizomes into the prepared bed and packing dirt over them. Once finished, she brought over some water, then began gathering short branches.

She drove them into the ground around the small patch, creating a crooked fence that might not stop a determined animal, but at least discouraged stray paws from digging up the dirt and made it clear that someone was looking after the spot.

Nearly an hour passed before she finally sat beneath a tree, her fingernails caked in so much dirt that she stared at her hands in grim resignation.

Then she glanced at the ginger and smiled right away.

Go on, grow nice and steady... If this works, maybe I'll finally eat something that has more than one flavor.

She picked up one of the stone flakes, checked its edge, and carefully trimmed the awkward grip, glancing up every few seconds at her first ridiculously small garden.

The satisfaction lasted right up until she thought of what she was still missing.

"Got ginger, but no salt," she sighed, resting her elbows on her knees.

Only this morning she would have given plenty for any seasoning at all, and now that she had one in hand, her stomach apparently decided it was time to open negotiations for more.

Why not a whole spice rack while we're at it? And a stove, since we're placing orders...

She turned the stone in her fingers for a moment, wondering where she could even find salt, but none of her ideas coalesced into anything remotely useful.

She remembered it could be obtained by evaporating brine, but she might as well have remembered an ice cream recipe, having no idea whether the nearest sea lay beyond the mountains or on the far side of this cursed world.

Rock salt deposits sounded promising only until she had to answer where to find them and how to tell something useful apart from a rock that would only give her a stomachache.

For a fleeting second, an absurd association with salty sweat crossed her mind, but imagining "seasoning" dinner that way was enough to make her cringe in disgust.

"No, fuck, things aren't that bad yet."

She shook her head, shelving those thoughts for later, and pushed to her feet with a sigh, because regardless of what was missing from the menu, she still intended to sleep on something other than bare dirt tonight.

***

For the rest of the afternoon, Seraya worked on the timber, trimming jagged ends and shaving down spots that might tear hide or drive a splinter into her backside the moment she sat on her future bed.

The work went slowly, every movement a sore reminder of the day before, but when she finally set the stone down, she had timber she could actually work with.

All she needed now were vines.

Before she could dust her hands off, Morra's voice carried across the clearing, approaching with several women to summon her for the evening food division.

Seraya asked for a minute, put her tools away, and followed them toward the center of the valley, rubbing a stiff wrist along the way.

Once there, she quickly learned that if she had hoped for a better dinner, she should have cleared her expectations with whoever was in charge of successful hunts.

Small game was just as pitifully scarce as before, while the fruit and edible roots looked even fewer, as confirmed when she received her share.

She looked down at what lay in her hands and frowned.

This isn't even dinner anymore - it's a teaser trailer for dinner.

This time, the other women didn't look particularly resigned to the situation either, hushed remarks and sour glares passing between the clusters of dwellers, the meaning of which Seraya couldn't yet divine.

She meant to head back to her cave before anyone decided that as First Warrior she ought to solve the food shortage with a wave of her hand, but Morra stopped her again.

"The Grand Shaman wants to see you."

Seraya looked up from her fruit.

"Again?"

The elder nodded, as if nothing about it required further explanation.

Seraya was silent for a beat, blowing air out through her nose, wondering why Vaelira only ever remembered her when the sun started setting.

A few more evenings like this and half the valley will start wondering what we're actually doing in the dark...

She glanced at Morra, but the elder's face betrayed nothing beyond plain waiting for an answer.

"Fine, just let me drop my food off at home and grab something."

The thought of the harvested ginger lifted her mood a little, so without further complaining she headed to her cave, set the fruit down, and grabbed the portion set aside for the shaman.

She was just adjusting the leaf wrapping when quick footsteps sounded outside, followed by a familiar, eager voice.

"Warrior! Seraya!"

Stepping out, she saw Niva lugging a tangle of vines so massive that for a second Seraya wondered if the girl had dragged half the woods back with her.

Several long tendrils trailed along the dirt, one snagging on her leg, and when she finally stopped before Seraya, she had to catch her breath before getting a word out.

"See if these are any good," she panted, letting the bundle drop to the ground. "If not, I'll find different ones tomorrow."

Seraya crouched by the vines, lifted one, and looked up at Niva in genuine disbelief.

"Where did you gather so much of this?"

The girl flushed pink, hitching up the slipped pelt on her shoulder.

"I didn't forage for food today, just these... I wanted to make sure there was enough."

Seraya stopped turning the vine in her hand.

Suddenly the smaller portions at the evening distribution and the sour faces formed a far less pleasant picture; she looked at Niva more closely, only now noticing how exhausted the girl was.

I only meant grab a few along the way, not spend the whole damn day slaving away...

Before she could ask if anyone had given her grief, Niva's stomach let out a growl so clear they both looked down on reflex.

The girl clapped a hand to her belly, her white ears drooping in embarrassment.

"You didn't get your share?" Seraya asked.

Niva looked away, which was answer enough.

Seraya tightened her lips, set the vine down, and pointed to a spot by the entrance.

"Wait here."

She ducked back inside, scooped up the fruit from earlier, and shoved it into the hands of the girl, who began protesting at once.

"Warrior, I can't, that's your food."

"And you gathered those vines for me, so eat."

"But I already ate a little, my mothers shared with me..."

Her stomach rumbled again, gutting any conviction from the claim, and Seraya arched an eyebrow, keeping her hands on the fruit when Niva tried to push it back.

"Apparently that wasn't quite enough, seeing as your belly is still shouting."

The girl lowered her head, cradling the food in both hands, while Seraya turned back to the vines and picked one up again.

"This is more than enough, so don't go looking for more tomorrow," she added, testing how far it would bend. "Just go forage with the others like normal, all right?"

"All right, warrior."

Niva's voice came out a bit thick, but Seraya was already too busy testing the cordage strength to notice the damp sheen in her eyes.

The vine proved sturdy, pliable, and far better than anything she had scavenged in the valley. Wrapping it around two pieces of wood and yanking hard brought a wide grin to her face.

Fucking finally... Tonight I'm really getting off this cursed dirt.

***

She carried the vines inside, kindled the fire, and laid out the timber, so consumed by the prospect of finishing the bed that the bundle of ginger stayed by the wall, clean forgotten.

Niva sat to the side nibbling on the fruit, watching Seraya fit the pieces together one by one, wrapping the joints and tightening the lashings, muttering under her breath whenever a vine stubbornly slipped from her grasp.

It didn't go as smoothly as it had in her head, but after half an hour or so, a rectangular frame lay on the ground, holding together without immediately trying to collapse when handled gently.

Seraya added diagonal bracing to the supports, cinched down a few looser knots, and set the frame onto its short legs, pressing down with both hands.

The wood creaked softly, but held firm.

Stepping back with a satisfied grunt, Seraya looked at Niva with the pride of a master mason beholding a palace.

The girl inspected the handiwork for a moment, then set the half-eaten fruit down carefully.

"Warrior... is that the bed?"

"That's it."

"Where do you lie down, though?"

Seraya followed her gaze to the empty center of the frame, through which bare dirt was plainly visible, and pressed her lips thin.

Right, might as well hang a 'mind the gap' sign while I'm at it...

"I'm not done yet," she explained, reaching for the prepared cross-poles. "Now comes the part you actually sleep on."

She began laying them side by side across the crossbeams, sorting lengths and turning uneven pieces so protruding knots wouldn't line up with where she planned to rest her back.

Where the wood wanted to shift, she added more lashings, and for the last few poles Niva held the ends so Seraya could haul the cordage tighter.

After more than an hour of labor, a bed stood before them.

Crooked, heavy, and far too uneven for anyone back in her old world to pay for, but a bed nonetheless - one that had cost Seraya two days of sweat, several ruined tools, and enough swearing to earn an extended stay in hell.

She straightened up, rubbed her lower back, and clapped her hands together.

"All right, hop on and test it out."

Niva looked at her, then at the knee-high contraption, perched carefully on the edge, and slowly shifted her weight.

When nothing gave way, she lay on her back, testing positions for a moment while Seraya hovered nearby with the expression of a baker presenting a homemade cake.

"Well?"

The girl shifted her hips, grimaced slightly, and looked up with apologetic honesty.

"It's very uncomfortable."

Seraya's smile froze.

For a beat, only the crackle of fire filled the cave, until the bed's creator slowly lowered her eyes to its surface.

Two days, for fuck's sake... Two days to build something that digs into your back worse than the ground.

"Get off for a second," she said, trying to preserve what remained of her dignity. "I forgot one thing."

She carried over the dry grass from the previous bedding, spread a thick layer over the timber, and draped it in pelts, smoothing out spots where lumps still poked through.

Only then did she gesture Niva back toward the bed.

"Now."

The girl lay down again, shifted her shoulders, and this time her face relaxed.

"Now it's comfortable," she admitted, then frowned. "Only how is this different from sleeping on the ground if the same things are on top?"

Seraya planted her hands on her hips and stared at her in disbelief.

"By the fact that you aren't lying directly on the ground," she replied, pointing to the gap beneath the frame. "It keeps you away from dampness and everything crawling around down there, and I'd rather every bug have to work for it before biting my ass."

Niva peeked over the edge, comprehension finally dawning on her face.

She knew all too well what mornings were like after a night on an ordinary bedroll, waking up with fresh, itchy welts and spending half the day trying not to scratch them.

Worse bites happened too, where gritting your teeth and waiting it out wasn't enough, so the thought of lifting her sleeping spot off the ground suddenly made plenty of sense.

"So they won't crawl up?"

"They can if they're determined," Seraya admitted. "But at least I'm not lying right in their path."

The girl sat up, took another look at the build, and gazed at Seraya with an awe that clashed completely with her earlier complaint about the discomfort.

"Warrior, how do you know these things?"

Seraya, busy smoothing out the pelt, looked up.

"What things?"

"This," Niva answered, patting the bed.

"Oh, beds... Back where I come from, that's how people sleep," Seraya said, smiling unbidden. "Only ours are way better - soft mattresses, pillows, you can stretch out without feeling every lump of wood against your back..."

She trailed off, hand still resting on the pelt.

Something nagged at her - a small, irritating sensation that work had drowned out earlier, now knocking at her mind with growing insistence.

Niva tilted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I forgot something..."

Seraya frowned, mentally retracing the evening's events, until her eyes passed over the fruit, scrap vines, and the leafy bundle left by the wall.

She froze, then snapped her head up.

"Holy shit, Vaelira!"

Niva flinched as Seraya lunged for the ginger, nearly catching her foot on a cut piece of vine.

Great, just fucking great... She calls for me, and I spend two solid hours building furniture!

"Wait here!" she tossed over her shoulder, clutching the bundle. "I have to go to the Grand Shaman!"

She bolted from the cave so fast her loose wrap fluttered behind her at the entrance, leaving Niva with only time enough to lift a hand and part her lips.

"All right, just be ca…"

She didn't finish, because Seraya was already out of sight.