Familiar

In the afternoon, the side door opens and a brisk draft circulates through the room as Dieter enters with his nose and cheeks reddened from the cold. He closes and latches the door before setting down his hunting gear and sack of assorted small game on a nearby work table. Then, Dieter binds the feet of the fowl, squirrels, and rabbit with scrap bits of leather that can be found about the chilly workroom. After doing so, he hangs them up in pairs on the meat hooks within the room and situates a metal bucket under each group. Realising he'll need another for scraps, Dieter makes for the kitchen. He's about to push open the door that leads to the open area of the house when Dieter glimpses a scene that gives him pause.

Across the house, where he'd been sleeping earlier, Dieter sees Ren dressed in nothing but the cream smock whilst crouched over in an undignified manner thoroughly scenting the area.

Dieter's face heats up and his ears redden in his fluster. 'Wh-what is she-?'

Ren abruptly looks up towards Dieter, her icy blue eyes giving him chills.

'Did she always act in such a...strange manner?' Dieter ponders to himself as he attempts to act casual. Straightening himself, Dieter leaves the workroom to retrieve the last bucket he needs. 'I guess she's always been a bit...odd,' he surmises after brief consideration.

When Dieter returns to the workroom, he notices that the rabbit beginning to stir. The furry creature quickly shakes off its stupor and starts to awkwardly struggle to reach up towards its bound legs. Not letting it needlessly struggle long, Dieter sets aside the bucket he brought with him and grabs a dagger from his hunting bag. Dieter unsheathes it as he approaches the small animal attempting to contort itself to freedom. Firmly grabbing hold of its long ears to straighten it out, Dieter mutters the apology, "Es tut mir leid,1 little one," before swiftly decapitating the rabbit. The detached head is tossed in the newly brought bucket while the hanging body bleeds into another. Without hesitation, Dieter continues on to decapitate the rest and soon all the game he caught are bleeding out into the buckets situated below them.

Several minutes later, when they've bled dry, Dieter collects the blood into a single bucket to set aside before skinning the carcasses. Next, while dressing the game, he uses one of the now empty buckets to sort out the offal2 he knows to be edible while the others are tossed into the bucket of heads.

Meanwhile...

A sneeze escapes Ren who once again finds herself perplexed by Dieter' scent. Trying to place it, Ren continues to sniff about until she's led to the spot Dieter slept. There, in a crouched position, Ren continues to smell fervently with a tight face. The mixture of repulsive and pleasant smells confuse Ren' senses. 'It came to me before. Why elude me now?'

Closing her eyes, Ren focuses on the fleeting familiarity.

The musky cocktail of animal smells.

The acrid smoke that plumes from the firepit.

Even sound.

It's all blocked out except for the subtle familiar notes.

Immersing herself for several minutes, a memory gradually surfaces.

At first, it's a vague image of a small boy with fluffy chestnut curls. A few moments later, as if his eyes are merely opening, a pair of vivid green eyes with a small mole accenting the left and thick lashes appears. When his eyes fixate on her, a smile blooms on his face that causes his eyes to scrunch up due to the fullness of his cheeks and he calls out, "Schneeweiß."3

Caught up in the memory, Ren feels her lips move on their own to respond with a soft, "Jägi,"4 which startles her out of the immersion. As a result, Ren's head snaps up and the first thing her eyes fixate on is the door of the workroom before scanning the smokey space for anything else that might be familiar. A moment later, Dieter walks stiffly from the workroom to the kitchen and then back with a bucket in hand as Ren watches with a quirked brow. '...Jägi?' After doing a quick mental comparison, Ren ponders, 'Was that him? Was he not lying about being my brother? Or was that some strange conjuring of my mind?' The invading sunlight encroaching through the window causes Ren to retreat into the fur blanket that surrounds her and settle into a more comfortable position as her mind continues to question the unknown.

After a while, Ren drifts off.

...

Having finished his preparations, Dieter exits the workroom to set up a cauldron over the firepit and feed the flames before going to fetch water. When he's waiting for the water to boil, Dieter goes to the well and draws up water to clean the tools he used and then store them away. It's only then, when he returns to check on the water's progress, that Dieter notices Ren now sleeping where he had prior and stutters out "Wha-? Why?" as a strange feeling spreads within him and causes his cheeks to feel warm. After a moment of stunned bewilderment, Dieter ruffles his brown curls and mutters "Honestly..." with the rest lost as he continues on with what he'd been doing prior to his discovery.

...

Ren awakens to a familiar smell. A smell of '...home?'

Groggily her eyes squint open and emerge amongst a mop of messy black hair from under the protective fur blanket to investigate. Peering through the smokey space that's tinged orange by the setting sun, Ren sees Dieter testing the contents of the cauldron cooking over the firepit. Two metal buckets are at the base of the firepit beside it, one of which Dieter ladles some liquid into from the cauldron and stirs the contents for a moment before noticing Ren's attention. Upon doing so, he ladles the contents of one bucket into a bowl and the contents of the other into a cup which are subsequently placed on the table. Dieter then fills another bowl from the cauldron and a cup from the small cask situated in the corner of the kitchen before placing them on the other side of the candlelit table. All the while, Ren's pale eyes follow him.

Looking towards Ren, Dieter finally speaks up to ask, "Are you hungry?"

Giving a nod in response, Ren abandons the protective shielding of the furs to approach. Dieter sits down in one of the chairs and Ren mirrors him. As Dieter starts eating, it's only then that Ren becomes aware of the contents before her. Thick, warm, familiar red liquid fills the cup while the bowl is filled with steaming reddish brown liquid that seems much thinner than the other and contains unknown chunks.

Noticing her staring for several minutes at her bowl of soup that contains extra organs, Dieter encourages, "Try it. If you don't like it, then at least drink this." The latter half is said while he pushes the cup of blood a bit closer to Ren. Somewhat sheepishly, Ren gives a silent nod and takes the cup with both hands. The warmth of the drink can be felt through the container. Gingerly the cup is brought to her mouth where she inhales the mellow, sweet undertones and metallic tang of her beverage before finally taking a cautious sip. And another. Then a gulp. And then she found herself continuously drinking from the cup until being interrupted by Dieter asking, "How is it? Is it...delicious?"

"It's alright," Ren responds impassively. Putting the cup down and licking her lips, her eyes move to Dieter as she finishes the thought internally, 'but I'd rather eat you.' While the drink was palatable, it wasn't nearly as good as the other meals she's had so far.

"Why don't you try the soup?" Dieter suggests between bites of his own serving.

Ren copies him in eating the soup and it isn't long before they've both consumed their meals whole. The soup was milder than she would have liked but had a light tangy sweetness that accented the umami profile quite well.

"Are you full?" Dieter asks and Ren shakes her head 'no' in response. "There was a bit left over. I'll get it for you," he says while standing and grabbing the cup she's been using before walking back to the firepit where he empties the remaining contents of one of the buckets into the cup. When he returns, he places the cup in front of her while explaining, "This is all that remains. You can try having some of the soup in the cauldron but I'm not sure you'll enjoy it nearly as much as the one I served you." Ren's eyes move to him and he suddenly decides to add, "I-I've also heard that overeating isn't good. So, k-keep that in mind."

Ren retracts her gaze and wordlessly downs the contents of the cup.

...

Later, when Dieter returns from washing the dishes, he finds Ren, once again, asleep on the furs. Deciding to rest early, Dieter extinguishes the candles that he had lit earlier when daylight started to wane and is subsequently plunged into near darkness. The remaining dusk light is heavily diffused by the clouds that persistently obscure the sky. Despite this, Dieter finds himself having no trouble seeing as his green eyes glow a fiery white in the darkness. He then approaches the resting area and lays down on the furs near Ren. For a while, his gaze remains transfixed on the fur blanket that covers Ren — as if he'll be able to see through it if he stares long enough — lost in thought.

'Why was she so quiet earlier?'

'Was she upset by the small amount?'

'Did it taste worse than she let on?'

'I don't know what I'm doing...'

'I'm happy she's alive.'

Eventually Dieter, too, drifts off.