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7. morsel: a small piece or amount of food; a mouthful.
The lalafell crouched by the bank of the river in the Dravanian Forelands. She’d set up a small array of rocks as a mock-firepit, and now had a nice little fire going. A flat slab of stone lay set over the top of the fire, where she had just finished arranging some seasoned steaks so they would cook nicely.
The woman inhaled the scent beginning to waft through the air, and nodded her satisfaction, fiery orange hair bouncing lightly in a tight ponytail. “Aye, tha’s a good start…” Little said to herself, then gingerly lifted a bowl besides her that she’d covered with a thin sheet. The unbaked rolls inside she’d prepared were nice and proofed now
“Gramma! We’re done!” Three young girls came running up to her, a basket clutched tightly in the arms of the middle child. The youngest of the three still sort of toddled a bit when she walked, and thus took up the rear, although she didn’t seem to mind. The eldest, Lulu, was about 5 now, and was beginning to remember that anything needing to be carried was much safer in the arms of Sylva, who despite being a year younger was much more careful. “We picked a TON!”
Sylva carefully held the basket full of a myriad of berries out to Little. “We washed ‘em too…and we only picked from the bushes you said were safe.” Little was struck again by how similar Sylva looked like her dad…and couldn’t help but wonder if Vallerin looked exactly like this at his age.
That was her only regret in life, really. Her life of adventure kept her moving constantly, and had she known they would ban all outsiders from Ishgard, she never would have left Vall in that city with his biological father’s family. Due to that, she hadn’t gotten to see the boy grow up…she only hoped she could at least help out with her granddaughters, now that he had children of his own.
“Good, I’ve jus’ put the meat on,” Little told them with a smile and a small pat on each of their heads. “These’ll go nice in the rolls as a dessert.” Three pairs of young eyes watched intently as she mixed the berries together in a bowl with some sugar she’d brought along in her traveling pack, and then poured a bit of the mixture into the middle of each dough ball. The balls were then re-shaped, stuck in a cast-iron, and buried among the coals of the fire.
“‘N now, we wait fer it to cook,” Little sighed in satisfaction and sat on the ground to oversee the process. Her fourth grandchild was sound asleep, bundled up in a series of blankets and laid on the ground in a comfortable grassy patch. Normally Little strapped the baby in a carrier to her front, but had removed her when the cooking began.
‘Truly, those two’ll ‘ave enough kids to start a village at this rate.’ Little thought, gently adjusting the baby to be more comfortable.
“Gramma, is it done yet?” Lulu was already in need of more direction of her energy, it seemed.
“Not yet, it’ll take a bit,” Little told her, then began rummaging through her bag, “But while ye wait…ye can chew on this.” She held out three pieces of homemade jerky; one for each girl. It wouldn’t spoil their appetite to have a small morsel before dinner, and it might help them ignore the delicious scents mingling around them too. Small, grabby hands snatched the treats from her in an instant, and soon they all were happily munching on the meat.
“Thank you, Gramma!” the three chorused, being polite as they were taught. It wasn’t long until Ellie, the third girl, let out a yawn. She silently handed the remainder of her jerky to her older sisters to share amongst themselves, and trod over to sit by the baby. She inserted herself into the bundle of blankets, and soon drifted off to sleep. Her curly locks of hair, the color a dark chocolate brown, moved lightly in the breeze and drifted across her face, but it didn’t seem to bother her. Lulu gladly broke Ellie’s remaining jerky into two pieces and split them with Sylva, neither surprised by Ellie’s sudden decision to take a nap.
Ellie seemed to sleep a lot, although Little couldn’t blame her with older sisters like Lulu and Sylva. Lulu was nothing but pure energy personified, and while Sylva was more calm while alone, she easily got caught up in Lulu’s mood when together and could be equally exhausting.
The oldest two were placated for a good bit, as jerky took quite a while to chew, just like Little planned. Their dads have left the girls in her care for the day, and she was getting rather good at keeping the lot entertained. Really, it didn’t take much more than what Little enjoyed doing every now and again; taking a hike in the wilderness. Or, ‘going on an adventure’, as Lulu called it. Little had spent years traveling on her own all across Eorzea and beyond, mostly camping and cooking her own meals. Turns out, the girls loved it as much as she did, or at least a lot more than sitting inside a house all day. She was pretty sure their dads took them on travels too, but unfortunately as the ‘Warrior of Light’ and a former Scion, the two were often invited to places the girls couldn’t go. Today it had been a visit with Stephinivian (Lulu wasn’t allowed near firearms), a meal with that Aymeric fellow (Lulu also wasn’t allowed near expensive furniture), and likely a few more chores in Ishgard that the girls would be bored out of their minds to attend. So, Little had taken the girls somewhere herself.
“Gramma! Can we play in the river?” Lulu, her snack finished, suddenly jumped to her feet.
“Sure, but take off yer shoes first, so they don’ get wet. N’ no splashin’ me or the fire, okay?”
Lulu and Sylva were quick to slip their shoes off and immediately jump in the water. “I’m gonna catch a fish, like Da!” Lulu exclaimed.
“Da uses that stick, though, with the wire. We don’t have one…” Sylva pointed out.
“I bet we could get one with our hands!”
Little chuckled at the conversation, and set a small kettle on the fire to brew herself a cup of tea while she waited.