Dragons, Dystopians, and Denial

Jerica was pleasantly surprised. Mr.-I-Only-Give-One-Word-Answers was now suddenly rambling so freely. And giving so much information. She liked the science on Earth, it seemed like they understood it more than they did in her world.

"Wait, what's kinetic? And thermal-- is that like... temperature, right? So just like taking the energy of the universe and making fire? 'Cause the R'hyk can do that." She thought for a moment, realizing that the reverse wasn't true for them. "I don't think it goes the other way, though."

She made a mental note to try it the next time she had an opportunity -- it'd never occurred to her that that might work.

"And what do you mean in your DNA?" she questioned. "So it just happens as soon as you're born? You don't have to discover your power? Or practice it?"

That wasn't fair if that was the case -- Jerica had had to practice so much with the R'hyk and still wasn't even half-decent.

"I'm not overwhelmed," she said. "I just need answers."

"Fair enough," Elias said, giving Jerica a nod while he put extra pressure on his hips to stay on Mellie. He lost focus for a second there and felt himself slipping.

"By kinetic energy, I mean the movement of things. Thermal energy is, like you said, temperature and heat, which usually results in fire, I'm pretty sure."

It had been a long time since he thought of Alistair's power. He could have referenced his comrades' powers instead, but Alistair's power had always interested him. It was the most flashy, and the most entertaining to mess with when they were kids. He wondered what he could be doing now and if the occupation still related to his power.

"I'm not too familiar with the R'hyk, but I don't think taking energy from the universe is how we do it," he continued on. "It's more like taking energy from what's around you. I'd say most of the powers are like that, but I'm not an expert."

He paused, trying to figure out how to answer her next question.

"Our DNA dictates what power we have, but we don't get it immediately. For me, I didn't fully find out what I could do until I was fourteen."

That was mostly the truth. He awakened his healing powers at thirteen, but didn't know how it worked until a year later.

"I guess I used the wrong word," Jerica said. "We don't really take energy from the universe, we just use it. Energy never actually leaves, you know? But everything vibrates, like tiny little molecules bumping into each other, you know? And you just make them bump into whatever you want them to bump into instead of it being random is all."

She eyed him as he slid around on Mellie. He must be getting tired. That was fair -- she was tired, too. And he was just learning how to ride a horse. It probably took him more effort to keep his seat than it did her.

"How about we make camp now?" she suggested. "We're a fair distance from the town."

Elias nodded like he agreed, but frankly, he only knew the high-level detail of the science. He could explain the basics and how things appeared to work based on the fundamentals he learned, but he couldn't tell her how it worked in detail, except maybe for his own power. So he wasn't fully sure he could grasp what she was talking about with vibrating molecules.

He didn't get a chance to voice any more thoughts since Jerica offered for them to make camp. He was getting pretty tired, or rather, drained. It seemed like so much happened today, and he was still trying to process everything. He'd probably have a clearer head in the morning.

"Sure," he said, then looked down at Mellie still walking forward. "I, uh, don't know how to stop, though."

"Pull up on the reins." Jerica slipped off Evan while he was still walking and grabbed Mellie's bridle to help Elias get her to stop.

She showed Elias how to untack the horses and tie them up. Then wandered over to a little clearing and started gathering up twigs and branches.

"You unpack the saddlebags," she said, vaguely gesturing off to her right. "I'll make a fire."

She grabbed the flint and steel and then piled up some twigs and tinder together and started trying to get a spark to take. She'd never been particularly good at starting fires. She could do it -- Derik had forced her to practice again and again and again until she finally could manage it, since it was apparently a 'vital life skill' for her to have with all the traveling she had to do.

Jerica glanced back at Elias to ensure he wasn't standing over her, then turned back towards the fire and held her palm towards it and focused on sending the energy coursing through the area. She flicked the steel against the flint again and grabbed on to the energy of the spark and forced it to spread through the twigs.

"Got the fire!" She started piling bigger branches on top. "Do you have the food?"

Elias was grateful for Jerica's aid to help stop Mellie, and he wordlessly followed her instructions to unpack the the saddlebags while she made the fire.

He unrolled both bed rolls and unfolded a blanket on top. He was about to lay out the food, but then Jerica announced she was finished. He glanced behind her and indeed saw the fire flick to life.

Huh, that was fast, he thought to himself, but didn't think much of it.

"Yeah, what do you want?" he asked, setting out the vegetables on the blanket for her choosing. There were vegetables, fruits, breads, and some other items he didn't recognize, but it was probably food since they were all jumbled in the same bag.

"How about..." Jerica grabbed two ears of the corn, husk and all, and pitched them into the burbling creek several meters away. They splashed loudly but got stuck on some rocks and stayed put.

She knelt and dolled out some bread and cubes of cured meat, then walked over to the stream and plucked the corn out. She brought them back and shook the excess water off them and then pitched them both into the fire.

"They can cook while we eat this." She flopped down on one edge of the blanket and grabbed the meat and bread in one of the piles. "Then we can get you started with the basics of swordfighting."

Elias watched with disbelief when Jerica threw the corn into the stream. He thought she was throwing it away for no reason, but then understood when it was her dramatic way to soak it in water before cooking.

He nodded when she went ahead and started to roast the corn while she started to eat the food on the blanket. Bread, and something else he didn't recognize.

"Sure thing," he said and copied what she grabbed. He would reach for the vegetables first, but he was used to rationing bread, and it was nice to be able to eat more than his fair share right now.

"What is this, by the way?" he asked, pointing to the dried piece of food she was eating with the bread. He took a bite of it anyways since he wasn't a picky eater.

"It's, probably, like..." She swallowed the mouthful of meat she was chewing on, realizing she couldn't quite discern the taste. She smirked a bit. "Deer... but, you know, a vegetarian deer."

It was salty, and kind of chewy too. And, he dare say, even tasty.

But then Jerica said 'deer' and Elias turned to his side away from her to lean over and quickly spit out the bite.

"Deer?" he repeated incredulously, and then doused his mouth with water before turning to her with disbelief and hurt in his eyes. "You eat deer?"

Jerica frowned at him. He was such a drama queen sometimes.

"Of course," she said, shrugging and throwing another cube into her mouth. "It's food... this could be goat, though. I'm not quite sure."

"No, I mean—" Elias began, his brain lagging from this astonishing discovery. Somehow, finding out that Jerica ate meat was the most shocking thing to happen today... after seeing the dragon, of course.

"You eat meat?" he asked in disbelief again, his voice falling flat. "I thought you loved animals?"

"How the hell are you a soldier if you're this sensitive?" It slipped out of her before her mind had a chance to filter it. But godsdamn it, vegetarians were so annoying. "It's not like we're eating a horse. Some animals are for pets, some are for dinner."

"That's the thing," he quickly retorted. "On Earth, unless the animal is aggressive, it'd be inhumane to kill them just to eat them on Earth. Humans are better than that."

He sighed, realizing he was getting defensive, which was rare for him. It just made him sad to envision ending an animal's life just because someone didn't want to eat vegetables or other plants.

"To me, it's no different than deciding to kill Mellie to eat her right now, or another pet."

He looked down at the deer meat still in his hands and slowly put it back with the other meats.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you to not eat it, but I hope you can understand why I'd prefer to... not."

Jerica chewed as she watched his meltdown and then threw another cube of meat into her mouth as he kept ranting. It seemed like the wrong time to tell him that she'd absolutely eat Mellie if that was her only choice for food. She'd starve for Ranofer -- any other animal was fair game... although, she also wouldn't eat a Chijurru, but that was another matter entirely.

"I mean, you do you," Jerica said, swallowing. She leaned forward with a stick and pulled the corn out of the fire, then flicked one of them over to Elias. "But I would suggest getting yourself used to the idea. Our crops aren't going to last us the whole journey."