Once I was sufficiently traumatized- I mean cleaned, we made our way back through the forest to the house; the centauress carrying the fresh water in two large containers strapped to her sides with a convenient saddle-like harness. The walk back was nice, and the view was beautiful. Uh, the forest I mean, uh, not the cent- yeah, fuck you too brain. Cheeky shit. This is why I spent most of the time with my eyes closed.
The forest was a textbook example of the kind of place I greatly enjoyed being in and around, so I was pretty stoked about the fact that I'd be living in it. It was just so peaceful and calming, doubly so now that I could sense so much more of it than I ever could before. At the risk of sounding incredibly stupid and cheesy, it was like a natural orchestra playing around me. Every aspect from the wind to animals and the plants contributing. I really, really loved nature. Probably even more so now, since I was fairly certain I had centaur instincts kicking around in my noggin. Kind of still worried about that, but my brain was still playing the catch-up game with everything that had happened in the past two days- and holy shit, that's right. I'm only two days old.
Of course I don't look anything like a two day old child. No, from the look I took of my reflection in the river I was closer to a two year old. I also look nothing like I used to, which is to be expected but still depressing. I had the puppy fat that all young kids have, of course. But beyond that, I looked quite a bit like the centauress. I had the same wide, green eyes and small upturned nose and a few other smaller features. There were of course other parts of my face that I assume came from my… 'father', but the majority of it definitely was from the centauress. My m-. Yeah, from her.
The two features I know didn't come from her, though, were my hair and skin colour. My hair was a dark brown instead of her lighter golden-brown, and my skin was a shade or two darker than her almost porcelain white. Not sure how she managed that with how often she would be outside, but I hadn't seen any tan marks wh-
...Guess we're playing the awkward memory game today then, huh brain? Wonderful.
The one silver lining in all this is that the… ugh... 'attraction' I feel towards her is all mental. I can look at her and know she is, honestly, amazingly beautiful. But there aren't any… 'reactions' to go along with that knowledge. I had a fairly good idea as of why, and I was hoping beyond hope that I would be past all of this before I reached that point.
I may now be a creature from Greek mythology but I sure as hell wasn't going to go recreating any of the stories any time soon.
Or never really. Never sounded good.
Some time into the walk back, the centauress begins to hum softly and for the first time since the river I look over at her curiously. It was a nice, happy sounding tune and I had been missing music in any form so it was a welcome change to the previous silence. She must have noticed me staring at her from the corner of her eye, as she turns to look at me. I freeze as she makes eye contact with me and she gets a playfully vindictive smile. She knew she caught me when I hadn't wanted her to. "You have finally stopped sulking about having to wash now then, my little colt?"
I look away in embarrassment and she giggles. "Did you think I would not notice you purposely ignoring me? You are not as sneaky as you think."
Hahaha, yeah lets go with that reasoning.
Her laughter stops and the next time she speaks her voice is soft and kind. "You are curious about what I was humming, yes?"
I slowly turn to look back at her and nod. She smiles and turns her upper body back forward as she hums a few bars of the song. "It is a sad song. About a cruel young man and a Dryad. The man wishes for the Dryad to be his, though it is impossible for a Dryad may never stray far from the tree of her birth. The man cuts down the tree so she may go with him from the forest, not knowing that without their tree a Dryad cannot live."
A humoured expression appears on her face. "I do not think the one who wrote the song knew much about Dryads either, or they would have known that when the young man approached her tree with an axe he would have never left. Dryads are very, very protective of their heart trees."
She turns to look at me. "If you should ever meet a Dryad, be kind and courteous but do not approach her tree if possible and leave as soon as you are able. Some are perfectly kind and friendly, but some are also not. I shall explain more when you are older, but for now just be careful."
Huh. That was something different to what I had expected. It was only a minor difference though for my theory of where I was, but it wasn't an unwelcome one. There were a few things I hope didn't exist here that were in that story. I suppose I will just have to wait and hope I get an evolution speech soon. Or I could be completely wrong and desperately grasping at straws to try and find some familiarity in a situation that is beyond anything I could have envisioned.
You know what? Who cares. I'm just going to stop worrying for now and listen to the centauress humming instead.
Once the water barrel was refilled, we both sat down inside again and had something small to eat. It was just enough to take the edge off my hunger. No meat this time sadly, just more bread and fruit with some fresh water to wash it down. I wonder if these small amounts of food are all centaurs really eat? Horses spend hours doing nothing but grazing to keep themselves fed and we're pretty much horses with extra. Unless the answer is 'magic', the amount of food the centauress and I have eaten doesn't seem sustainable. Maybe they have big dinners? I dunno.
There was a lot of stuff I didn't know. I barely knew anything about my own body or how things work!
...Huh, thinking about it now I practically am a child when it comes to this world. A lot of the things I know and have learned probably aren't even applicable anymore. I've been looking at everything with the view of an adult human from another world or dimension, when I should probably be doing so from the view of a young centaur. Since, you know, I actually was one now.
More existential stuff to think about. Yay.
Food done, I turn to the centauress to show her I've finished.
She stands up and stretches, giving me time to follow her lead. "Nilas, did you enjoy today? Helping me with the garden and learning about all the different plants?"
I thought it over for a minute. I had never really been a physical labour kind of guy back when I still had two legs instead of four, and I'd never tried my hand at proper gardening. I'd mostly stuck to indoors for all my recreation, and only really went out when I wanted to just be out in nature and to get some sun. That said, there was something very satisfying about working outside in the sun and this world's plants weren't just Earth analogues. They were honest-to-god magical fantasy plants.
I also have a feeling that this is something very important to the centauress, and I really don't want to disappoint her if I can help it.
I nod my head and watch a massive grin grow across her face as she almost bounces on the spot. Wow, this meant a lot more to her than I thought. Thank god I said yes.
She pulls me into a tight hug, practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes! I knew you would be just like your mother! My smart, amazing Nilas."
Uh, ok. Not sure what I should be feeling about all this so I'm just going to hug you back.
"Then, now I will show you just what I use those plants for. Come."
She pulls away and takes a hold of my hand, pulling me towards the only door I had not seen her enter yet. Letting go, she steps through ahead of me and I follow in after her.
Oh, wow.
I'm going to go ahead and take a wild, crazy guess and say that this is her apothecary workshop.
My first impression of it is that there is stuff everywhere. Dried plants hanging from the support beams all over the room. Several tall wooden tables covered in all manners of esoteric tools and glassware; some of them even had contents. There was a cupboard with tons of different sized drawers and couple of tall shelves that held glass jars of plants and what looked like parts of animals such as horns and even some kind of organ, and even more books. I think she owned more books than I ever had, and I had lived in modern times with easy mass-production. This was a serious collection. I had been seriously underestimating how important her job was.
The whole place was cluttered, in centaur terms at least. Any average person in here would have had plenty of space to move around. The rest of the house was spotless, but this was like a bomb had went off in it. I could understand, though, being a user of the 'chaotic organisation' method myself. And yes that was a real thing regardless of what others said.
Oh hey, that door must be the one that leads out to the garden. Makes sense to have easy access to and from.
By now, the centauress has set herself up in front of one the tables and was collecting different ingredients together. I walk up next to her, my head barely able to clear the edge of the table.
She clears her throat and looks down at me. "Now, we will start with something simple. A common healing salve, I think."
Holy shit, yes! I was going to learn to make healing items!.
It was with record timing that my excitement turned to disappointment, when I learned that I could only watch.
Turns out that being stuck in the body of a child severely limits your capabilities. In other words, I was too short and too weak to be able to properly and safely handle the tools and ingredients. There were some heavy amounts of pouting after I learned that.
As consolation the centauress would hand me the occasional ingredient to 'look after' for her. She even let me put the Blood Gilly into the mortar for her to grind!
Yeah, it wasn't 'Magic Potions 101' like I had expected but she did her best to keep me involved and feeling like I was useful. She told me the name of every ingredient, how they were prepared, why they were prepared that way and how they best worked together in the particular concoction she was working on at the time. And all in an easy to understand manner that brought my excitement back fairly quickly.
It helped that she was just as, if not even more, excited to be doing the work and teaching me about it all the while. Her enjoyment was infectious. That and the novelty of watching someone make real magic potions hadn't worn off yet. If it ever even would.
I watch as her hands work deftly with her tools. Cutting, grinding, crushing; each one of her movements exact and perfect. She barely even glances at what she is grabbing as she concentrates on what is in front of her; she knew where everything was just from memory.
Occasionally she would leave through the back door and return with parts of some plant or another to use.
The majority of what she makes are medicinal. Healing potions and salves, one potion that she says speeds up blood production and another that does the same for coagulation for wounds. That one came with an explanation on what coagulation was and how it helped the body. I already knew the general gist of it, so I don't learn anything new. It does tell me, though, that they probably have better general care of health than what the technology level would usually allow. No mention of leeches or cutting off limbs as treatment. Gotta love magic.
I also saw another example of a magic item. She had the magical equivalent of a bunsen burner. It was a small circle of metal etched with strange symbols sitting on a larger circle of stone with a red gem inserted into the centre. The centauress' gentle touch set the gem glowing and soon the metal plate began to glow as well. The water and ingredients in the glassware above the burner soon began to boil.
Noticing me staring at it curiously, the centauress began to explain. "Do not touch that, please. You will find it very painful if you do." Yeah, thanks I kind of already knew that. "That is a spirit stone. A weak fire one to be exact. Not very strong, but enough for my uses and fairly cheap. There is also an ice spirit stone in the ice box, but that one was not nearly as cheap."
Well that confirmed what I thought. Cool. And if I remembered correctly, spirit stones were non-sentient spirits contained within stones or gems. Still, I'd like to confirm it if possible, so I call to get her attention and give her my best attempt at a 'what does that mean' face.
"Hmm? You want to know what an ice box is?"
I shake my head.
"What do you wi- Oh, you want to know what a spirit stone is, then?"
I smile and nod. Yes! Glad that worked!
"You are quite the curious one. It is good. Well then, spirit stones are gems or stones that have an unintelligent spirit within them. They hold whatever power the spirit has, such as a fire spirit in a fire stone or an ice spirit in an ice stone. There are many different elements and just as many spirits and spirit stones, and they are all mined from the ground where they grow. Do you understand, little one?"
I nod my head, and she smiles and places her hand on it and starts scratching behind my ear- Ooooooh. That felt goooooood. Don't stop, don't ever stop.
She goes to pull her hand away and I grab it, butting my head against it.
She laughs and gently but firmly pulls herself from my grasp. "Let go, Nilas. I do not have time right now. But, if you behave, before we sleep I will groom you. Ok?"
I huff at her, frowning. That was cruel. You can't start scratching someone's head and then stop! I grudgingly agree though, since I don't really have much of a choice.
I set myself back up to watch as she works, once again explaining as she goes.
My new body has an amazing amount of flexibility I've found out. Lying here on the floor under a pile of blankets, I was spread out as far as I could go. My legs were spread flat out against the ground behind and in front of me in a way I was certain would hurt a horse, with my human half lying forward between my legs in a way that was a lot more comfortable than it looked.
Some experimenting also revealed that I could lay backwards over my own lower half easily and comfortably and even somehow rotate myself around almost 180 degrees to look behind me. My spine was doing some freaky shit. Even though it didn't hurt at all the sensation of it was surreal.
So here I was completely buried under multiple blankets save for my head; burned out, half-asleep and watching my mum cook dinner. I think I keep fading in and out of awareness, barely keeping awake,
I'm woken by someone gently shaking me, so I do the reasonable thing. I groan, whine and bury my face deeper into the wonderful softness of the blankets. Weird, I hadn't been lying on my side just a second ago.
Ah, I must have fallen asleep.
I hear a someone make a 'tsk' sound above me, so I turn my head and blearily look up at them. My mum stares down at me, her expression somewhere between exasperated, amused and like she was looking at something tooth-achingly adorable.
Wait, did I just call her mum? H-Haha...ha.. whoops. Guess I'm not fully awake yet…
I push my upper body up and rub the sleep from my eyes. Something smelt really good. Yawning and blinking, I look back up at the centauress who is shaking her head lightly at my antics. "Dinner is ready. And I think you have someone to say hello to, now that you are awake."
Huh? What did she mean by that?
I stand up and turn to walk towards the table, and freeze.
Sitting at the table and watching me was a man I had never seen before. More specifically, a fairly large centaur.
When I make eye contact he frowns at me. "Hello. I was beginning to wonder if you were sleeping just to avoid me."
What. I don't like the look this guy is giving me. I'm snapped out of my growing sense of worry by the centauress' scolding voice. "Mikhael. Be nice to your son. He has had a very big day, he deserved some rest."
Mikhael's expression does a complete 180 in an instant as he starts laughing, his face crinkling up with mirth. I hear the centauress walk up behind me and give me a brief hug, her expression playful as she watches the man. "Do not worry, Nilas. Your father is just upset that you were lucky enough to spend the day with your amazing mother while he was stuck swinging an axe at a tree like a brute."
Mikhael just snorts at that, though his expression doesn't change. "It would not matter even if I spent the day at home, with the way you fawn over your garden. You would not even realise I was here."
It was her turn to snort, her nose crinkling in a very adorable way. "Do not speak ill of my garden, dear. Or you will be spending the night with it, I think."
The centaur leans his elbows against the table smirking, though his eyes hold nothing but affection. "Of course, Eris. My beautiful, wonderful wife. As you say. I ask only for your forgiveness."
She walks towards him now, hands on her hips. "Do not think words will win me back over that easy. You will have to make it up to me another way."
Oh hey, I know that tone of voice. Things are getting awkward now.
Mikhael answers with the same tone as he raises himself up slightly to intercept her as she lowers herself towards him. "I will look forward to it, then."
They kiss softly, and yep this has gotten awkward enough for me. Time to break it up in a way only a child can. I let out a harsh whinny and stamp slightly, pointing at the kitchen as they break apart and look at me almost in surprise.
Eris laughs and slaps Mikhael's arm, though her hand lingers for a moment; softly rubbing it. "Your father is very cruel, Nilas. Distracting me like that. Here, come sit with him and I will get the food."
I hesitantly make my way toward the centaur, slightly fearful. While Eris made me feel small, even sitting as he was I could tell Mikhael was even larger than her. I felt absolutely tiny.
Looking him over, I could see now where I got my hair and skin colour from. His skin was a shade darker than my own, and his hair was the same dark-brown as mine, and thick and wavy; almost curly. He looked how you'd expect a stereotypical centaur to look. Big, well muscled with thick stubble and wild looking. That could have just been my own bias and current perspective, though.
His nose was slightly flat and wide, and looked like it might have been broken at one point. As I move around the table, I get a better look at his lower half. The colour is a flat brown, save for two white socks on his forelegs. And it was also huge. He had the lower body of a work horse, all thick heavy muscle and legs that ended in big hooves.
I was pretty intimidated.
When I get close, looking up at him carefully, he reaches and grabs me before I can react; making me yelp. He pulls me into a big hug and rests his head against the top of my own, breathing in.
When he speaks, his tone is full of love and affection. "Hello Nilas. I apologise if I scared you before. We have been waiting for you for a while now. Me and your mother are so happy you are with us. We love you, son."
I'm… speechless. I don't know how to react to all that, and his scent is making me feel weird. Feelings of being protected and safe are welling up in me and a voice in the back of my head is telling me to just relax and stay there were he'll protect me.
It was making me feel very uncomfortable, and I tense and stay that way until he finally lets me go. I move slightly away from him and get comfortable, though I do catch a confused look on his face before I look away.
I sit awkwardly beside him and stare straight ahead, waiting for the food to come.
A thankfully short wait later Eris brings several large bowls of some kind of stew, which lacked any meat sadly, and more bread across to the table and we all sit and eat. I shove the awkward feelings away into the back of my head and watch silently as the two centaurs talk between each other. Eris telling Mikhael about our day and how I was, and Mikhael talking about how the village was and a number of other random topics the two would go between.
Something about one of the other workers telling Mikhael that he and his wife needed more potions and the trader was nearly out; which made Eris snicker for some reason. I had a feeling it was dirty, but no clue what potions they could be talking about. He also mentioned that in two weeks the human workers would be taking logs down-river and he would have some time off working while they were gone.
It turns out that centaur's do eat a big dinner, as we went through a large pot of the stew between all three of us. By the time we were finished, I was feeling fat and lethargic. I stood and stumbled my way over to the blanket pile before collapsing into it and curling up; to the amusement of the centaurs.
I was happily dozing when I felt someone sit down next to me and lift my upper half up. "Come, little one. Sit up. I said if you behaved I would groom you before we slept, and you did as I asked. Or would you rather go without?"
Once she is happy with how I am sitting, she begins brushing what little hair I have on my head with slow smooth strokes. The bristles of the brush massage my scalp and I begin to melt into it, slowly turning into a centaur-shaped beanbag.
Until she stops.
I have enough time to open my mouth to protest, when she begins to brush my lower half and whatever I was going to say was swiftly forgotten. I slump against her and let out noises of contentment as the brush glides over my back and down my rump and back up to start again.
I slip off into sleep before she is even half done.
The walk back was nice, and the view was beautiful. Uh, the forest I mean, uh, not the cent- yeah, f*ck you too brain. Cheeky shit. This is why I spent most of the time with my eyes closed.
XD Also, Rip in pepperoni if he hadn’t liked his day. At one point you said “in afire stone”. I think that you’re missing a space. :/
thanks for the chapter
I have to pity this poor couple being treated so coldly by their own son, though at least they will remain largely ignorant to his improprieties.