Chapter Text
When she awoke in the morning there wasn't a trace of the other,and when the sun had risen to signal mid-morning, there was still no sign. Now the sun is high in the sky, and she still isn’t back. She isn’t sure why she’s expecting her to be. She’s probably run off to be with the others of their kind, which is understandable. After all, the jungle cookie did not speak the other’s language and did not know any of her customs, so why would she stay when she could easily find those who could?
She herself had often thought about seeking out her kind. She had seen a long clearing of trees before, with pressed down dirt that looked like it had been made, and not formed by nature. If she were to follow it, she was sure to find them. But for the same reasons as before, she knew she would be an outsider. And she was happy here anyways. Really!
Disregarding that trail of thought, something draws her to the back of her den, to a medium sized rock. Her tiger pads along besidesher, and watches as she lifts the rock up and retrieves a small bundle of cloth from underneath. It’s a small, dark turquoise dress, heavily torn and stained. This is what she was found in, and what she wore for her first few years in the jungle. It is her only connection to the place she used to live, and, until recently, her only connection to her kind at all.
She has spent hours looking over it, memorizing every frill and ruffle. She has no idea how it was made or what it is made of, although she can see the strings of fiber interlocking with each other. Her best guess is a much more intricate version of the baskets she makes for gathering. She presses it to her chest and leans back against her tiger, a wave of sadness washing over her. Seeing it had given her an odd sense of sentiment.
Suddenly her tiger jolts up, its ears pricked to the side, having heard something. Soon she hears it too. Something is crashing inelegantly through the forest, heading straight towards her den. She grabs her spear and rushes out the front of the cave, tiger bounding behind her, ready for a fight. The leaves to the side rustle and out pops…the other!
Her heart soars. She came back! The other stumbles towards her, nearly losing her balance. She rushes forward to catch the other, wrapping her arms around her slim frame. What’s wrong with her? She seems disoriented and normally she’s as silent as can be, but just now she was making so much noise the whole jungle could probably hear her. Where did she go? Has someone hurt her? She’s ready to throw caution to the wind, to chase after whatever had caused the other to behave so strangely, when the other pops her head up with a huge grin. She says something and then presses a small, round object into the jungle cookie's hand before dropping down, like a pile of rocks.
Alarm shoots through her, and she lowers the other to the ground. After checking over her, she comes to the conclusion that she’s just sleeping. Taking care not to drop the thing she had given her, she drags her to the cave and lays her down on the ground. Her tiger comes up behind her and sniffs at the girl’s pale head, before curling up around her.
She settles down besides the sleeping form of the other, and inspects the thing she had been given. It’s a clear container made of some sort of hard material that makes a clinking sound when she taps it. It has a top made of a shiny gray material dotted with little holes. Inside is a grainy white substance. Curious, she shakes some out onto her hand and gives it a sniff. She can faintly make out…something. It smells kinda like the patches of earth large animals dig up and lick. Hesitantly, she gives it a lick of her own, and recoils at the taste.
She doesn’t think it’s meant to be eaten. Perhaps you put it on something? But what? Setting it to the side, she decides to leave it for now and wait for the one who got it for her to wake up and explain. Speaking of her, she turns to look at her resting body.
She’s a mess, but sleeping soundly. She’s still a little worried about the other, because something had clearly been wrong with her. But nothing is visibly amiss. Watching her, she has the sudden urge to go to the other.
She decides to crawl over, and gently places the white-haired head on her lap. Then she leans back against her tiger. Sighing, she looks down at her. Now that she’s closer and paying better attention, she can see that her hair has been taken out of the two parts it had been in earlier, and put into some sort of intricate weave. It’s pretty messy though, and she hesitantly moves to undo it.. Threading her fingers through it, she untangles the many layers of soft, fluffy hair. Once it’s all out, she continues running her fingers through it, not really wanting to stop.
There’s a strange feeling in her chest right now, a light, fluttery one. She’s mesmerized by the other and feels her hand come down from her hair to trace her face. Her fingers glide over smooth skin and hard ridges. She isn’t sure how long she would have stayed like that if it weren’t for a pair of bright red eyes snapping open. She jerks her hand back, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. But the other girl just smiles at her and sits up.
She puts a hand to her head and feels her newly undone hair. Had she wanted it to stay braided? She feels a wave of embarrassment wash over her, but the other’s grin only widens and she makes a light sound. So she doesn’t mind? That’s a relief.
Then, the pale haired girl makes a motion to her stomach and then her mouth. Was she hungry? Fortunately, the jungle cookie had a bit of leftover meat from lunch that would hopefully still be good. She prepares it by roasting it over the fire, and when it’s done she hands it to the other. The white haired girl looks around, searching for something. Her eyes land on the small container sitting a little ways away. Realizing she probably wants it, she reaches over and hands it to her. She sprinkles a generous amount on, and then takes a large bite. She feels herself recoil in disgust, but the other seems to enjoy it. The white-haired girl notices her watching, and she must have a funny expression on her face because the other chuckles lightly to herself. She then reaches the hand holding the meat out, offering her some. She stares at her, unsure if she should take it. It had been pretty gross, but the other didn’t seem to mind it…
She decides to go for it, grabbing the meat and biting into it. To her surprise, it isn’t awful. In fact, it’s much more flavorful than before. She hurriedly devourers the rest, before realizing she had just eaten the others food. She looks up with a sheepish grin, but the other just seems amused. They stare at each other for a moment until the other bursts out into laughter, and she soon follows.
…
They fall into a new routine after that night. The other leaves during the day, and returns around sunset, often bearing gifts. She knows for sure now that their kind must live somewhere nearby, for her to be able to make daily trips. She doesn’t plan to go find them, but it’s kind of nice to know that they’re so close.
The other’s gifts vary greatly. She’s received braided wreaths of flowers, muddy brown pots made of who-knows-what, and a great variety of powders and plants that the other likes to toss on their food. Sometimes it works and they have a great feast, other times she has to go out and catch an emergency meal after their previous food became inedible.
Throughout their time together, the other is always making noise. She doesn’t seem to care that she can’t understand her, she just keeps chattering away to herself. But as she does so, she begins to notice patterns. She repeats certain sounds, especially when referring to specific objects. It’s something that she thinks she can figure out, so with hope in her heart, she decides to try something.
One day, after the other has returned, they sit in her cave, looking over the flower circles she brought back. She decisively points at one of the blossoms, wanting to see what noise she makes. The other looks at her for a moment before making a noise that sounded like,
“That’s a flower.”
Unsure of what she’s doing, she picks the flower from its stem, holds it up to the other and repeats.
“Th..ats…ah…flow…ear…?” She can't quite replicate the sound, but it’s enough for the other to understand, judging from the shocked expression on her face. She quickly nods and says.
“Yeah, a flower.”
Well that’s odd. She made a mostly different sound, but repeated the ‘flower’. Is that specifically what it’s called? She tries again, holding it up again.
“Flow…ear”. The other rapidly nods. Excitement building in her, she sets the flower down and points at a nearby stone.
“Rock.” The other says, understanding dawning on her.
“Ro..o..ck”. Another nod. She jumps up in excitement, startling her tiger, which she proceeds to point at.
“Tiger.”
“Ti..i..ger”. She runs outside, both her tiger and the other bounding after her. She begins pointing rapidly at almost everything around her.
“Grass”
“Tree”
“Stick”
“Berries”
“Pot”
“Sun”
Finally her finger lands on the other, and she waits expectantly.
“Kumiho Cookie”
“Ku..mi.o.. Co..kie.” And then, anticipation coursing through her veins, she slowly points at herself. The other just shrugs. She points again, and the other, no, Kumiho, shrugs again. She growls in frustration, and Kumiho makes a sympathetic face.
But the excitement of this new discovery soon overrides her disappointment. She can learn this language. She knows she can, and the urge to run through the jungle and point at everything is overwhelming. But she knows that she won’t really learn anything that way, as she’s already struggling to remember some of the sounds she’s already been told. Maybe she can just take it slow and memorize a few things at a time.
She lowers her arm and smiles at Kumiho. She smiles back, clearly also excited. She points at something she’s already learned, grass, she thinks it’s called, just to make sure she has it right.
“Grass.”
“..Grass”
They continue like that, her pointing at things and Kumiho answering. Sometimes she repeats the sounds, and she hopes that she's getting more accurate in her pronunciation. They decide to quit once the sun goes down and they can’t see, and head back to the cave to sleep.