Notes: Fermin a lot like carrots, but a bit sweeter and with hints of butter
Gratib like potatoes but smoother
Para is like pepper, but more flowery
Mint is mint
Ask about anything else.



I yawned and scratched the back of my neck, at least that burn scar like disease was gone. I was just waking up, and I had almost forgotten that everything I knew had just been lost. I pressed the button that called the nurse and stretched, my muscles weren't as tense as I thought they would be after not moving for a month.

"Hello Zylphia, how are you doing this morning?" she said as she opened the curtains letting light flood in, it sort of burned my eyes, "I'm sure you'll be ready to leave soon, there does not appear to be anything physically wrong with you. Mentally maybe, but I am sure you are just fine and fit in that cute little head of yours." she smiled at me, and I smiled weakly back.

We looked at each other for a sort while then I remembered, "What is your name? I never got it before when you came in." She opened her eyes wide in surprise. I was somewhat confused as to what had shocked her so much.

"Oh yes, sorry, my name is Nadien, pleased to make your acquaintance!" she bowed quickly for some reason.

"Nadien... I'll try to remember that, so where am I?" I looked around the room, "Is this a hospital?" I looked at my arm which had a mess of wires and tubes taped to it and began pulling the tape off and pulling the tubes out in a particular order as the nurse stared baffled.

"You uh, know what you're doing?"

"Yes"

"O-oh okay..."

I took a little bit of time to study her, the dorigin features, her face was shaped like a muzzle, but had human like qualities, she was pretty, for a dorigin. The snout was shortened so that is had a more human like appearance, and the lips weren't as floppy as a typical dorigin. Her body was mostly human like, aside from the digitigrade feet and the knees.

"So what is your race if I may ask?" I said to her and smiled a bit more confidently, this made her face light up and her tail started wagging, I didn't notice it before, but her tail was so fluffy, and her fur was white, almost bluish.

"Well I'm a Dorigkin." She closed her eyes for a second and walked to the side of my bed sitting down on the cusioned chair. "What is your race? I don't think I have ever met somebody like you. You have a beautiful fur pattern." She was looking at me and smiling, you never would have guessed she was so depressed yesterday.

"Well I am a Cirima." How I knew that was either a strange coincidence, or just beyond me. I wasn't sure how I looked, other than the fact that my hand, or maybe I should say paw looked like Hellouise's, so I was pretty sure I was a tortoise shell Cirim.

"Oh! Yes, I've heard of Cirima, and I have actually spoken to a few, I just never saw one that had a pattern that even resembled yours. Your is rather lovely if I might say."

"Thank you." I had finished pulling the rest of the tubes out, and the wires off. I sat up and faced Nadien. "So what is there to eat? I'm famished, do you have any garners, or Lynchinects!?"

"Yes! I'll bring you some right away."

"May I come along with you?"

"Of course." she held out her hand to help me up and surprisingly I managed to stand and walk, "Wow, you just got up, I thought your legs would have needed to adjust a bit."

We walked down the hall, the florescent bulbs humming and flooding the corridors with a white, bluish-grey light. I looked side to side and there were just more halls and doors leading into other patients rooms. Occasionally there was a colourful mural on the otherwise bear white walls.

"So Zylphia where are you from?"

"I'm not actually sure, I just sort of woke up. I knew exactly who I was, but no idea where I am from, or what I was doing there. If that makes any sense."

"I see, well you see, to be perfectly fit to me, physically and mentally."

"That's good, it just means you can vouch for me so I might be discharged a bit earlier."

"Yes I will, you're going to get along just fine here I think. This is probably the most advanced building in the entire city, aside from Central as the locals call it, it is the city center, where the 'magic' happens." she said magic in such a sarcastic tone I sort of giggled.

"Well I don't know anyone in the city, or probably on the continent... so I don't really have anywhere to go." I looked out the window and saw a bustling little street some rustic buildings that were probably built during the turn of the nineteenth century, "This place is wonderful looking!" I ran to the window and looked down below at the heavily chugging vehicles, and bicyclists.

Nadien laughed aloud and then walked up behind me. She ruffled my hair, "Yes it is a marvelous sight to behold. The entire city has come back to life! After the last war..." her expression darkened just as I was looking at her, but she saw how happy I was just looking out at the city and she couldn't help but smile it seemed, "After the last war the city started dieing, people were evacuating; only soldiers, medics, and military personel were left. They managed to defend the city, the entire city was fitted with cannons all around the walls and the scientists here developed a safer explosive cannon ball. So the city managed to get off pretty easily, hardly any damage was done."

I looked up at her, she was very tall, I never noticed, but she was probably a good forty five centimeters taller than I was, "Wow..."

"Yes. We should keep going though, you were hungry and there is a kitchen full of food for you just down the way."
I nodded, "Mm!"

Continuing on it was the same bleak white walls, and same dull light, I observed the walls in more detail and they appeared to be made of large bricks, this place was built like a fortress. That made sense though, as it was the hospital and well it is where the wounded end up, and where all the medical supllies are stored.

"And here we are, the kitchen, ripe for the picking." Nadien pushed the doors open and the whole kitchen was made of steel, polished to a reflective finish. I could have skipped to the walk-in cooler, but didn't, "Take whatever you want, but don't eat too much, or too fast, you could die. Remember you haven't eaten in a month."

"Okay." I nodded and wandered off into the kitchen, "Is it really okay for me to prepare whatever I would like?"

She nodded her head once and then followed me in, "I'm supervising you so it's fine, just grab what you want and create."

I felt a massive grin creeping across my face, I knew exactly what I was going to make. I walked to the dry food storage and grabbed a handful of garners, then placed them on the counter smiling all the while. Then to the fridge I grabbed lynchinects, a gralibfall, and a few cloves of starinshine, as well as a bottle of full cherimine cream. Also placing them on the counter.

"So what are you making?"

"I'll only tell you if you promise to have some." I said with what I am sure was a toothful grin.

Nadien laughed at this, "Sure." she laughed.

"Well it is Garner and Lynchinect Sweet Broth."

"Huh, I do not believe I have ever had something like that before. You should make something with protien too, you'll need the energy."

I could feel my ears perk up and I walked back to the cooler this time seeing my reflection in the polished steel. Black fur, with specks of blonde and orange. A long blond tuft of hair on the top of my head, and orange beside my eyes, I had blonde rounded triangles where my eyebrows previously were, and carbon black fur down from under my eyes. My tail flicked; black with three orange rings at the tip, between them was black of course.

After that short distraction I opened the door to the fridge again and walked in and looked around, I grabbed some kind of meat, it looked tender and very red. I decided on that one, all the meat looked the same aside from some fatty smoked orbam, I grabbed that too.

"What about veggies?" I heard Nadien say from the kitchen.

"I almost forgot!" I quickly grabbed three root looking things that smelled like they would be sweet when cooked, and 4 gratibs. Then vacated the cooler with my spoils.

"Oh very nice, some fermins, and gratibs, you'll eat very well." She nodded with her eyes closed. She reminded me of a sage.

"Nadien will you eat with me?" I smiled politely and looked her in the eye.

"Since you asked I shall."

I couldn't stop smiling Nadien was great, she was the first person I met and she seemed rather intelligent. I poured the cherimine cream into a pot that I put on the stove. Turning on the heat to a lower setting the stove didn't have nubers on it just a bar that went from a thin light orange line, to a thick red bar. Nadien was sniffing the air and smiling. I broke the shells of the garners and cut them up so they would break down easier. I started to peel the lychinects, "Should I start on this meat first? I don't know how long it will take to cook..." Nadien stood up and took the meat.

"I'll cook it, don't worry about it."

"Oh, Okay." I nodded quickly then finished peeling the fruit, and tried to cut it so it would spiral. I got a quite a few spirals, some were just flat. I ate a few of the flat pieces and gave a couple to Nadien.

Nadien was rubbing the meat with various spices and herbs. She cracked up some kind of hardened corns, and they smelled of para, and mint. She put some kind of oil in a pan that was heating up when it touched the pan it smelled great, making my mouth water, and then some in another pan while the oven preheated. I watched as she cut the meat into thinner strips and seared it in the pan. Crackling and spitting as it hit the oil, leaving for a few seconds on each side before transferring it to the next pan for a minute. After that she put it in the oven and left it in there then sat back down.

Meanwhile I was stirring lynchinects into the cream and trying not to let it burn. I grabbed a handful of garners and stirred them into the mix and it slowly started to change colour. A soft white to a creamy yellow, then to an orangey yellow, I turned it down very low. I filled another pot with water and dropped in the fermins and gratibs with some salt. Then sat next to Nadien waiting for the food to cook.

"So Zylphia where did you learn to cook? Sweet broth is hard to make properly, and those lynchinect spirals are difficult. You must have had a great teacher."

"I learned from mother. She taught my to cook, because she said she wouldn't always be around." I looked at the floor and kicked my feet, "She was right."

I could hear Nadien shift a bit, she must have been uncomfortable, "Well your mother is a wonderful person it seems."

"Yes she was. I loved her."

We both sat there in silence a while until Nadien stood up, "Well, I should check on the meat." she stood up and walked to the oven and took the meat out, "It's done, well for me, I like it to be medium rare, I hope you don't mind."

"No I much prefer it that way as well. Thank you Nadien."

"You're welcome."

I stood up and stirred the sweet broth and the vegetables, then took them both off the heat. This was nice, I have a friend and some food.

"Well... let's eat said Nadien" then she grabbed some food and walked off somewhere, I grabbed the rest and followed. There was a cafeteria, it was empty and Nadien sat at the table closest to the kitchen.

"Thanks for this Nadien. I'm glad I met you." I sat down across from her and put some food on my plate. Then passed the vegetables to Nadien. "Thanks for eating with me, and cooking with me."

"Of course! Thank you for livening my evening."

"You're welcome." we sat there as we scooped food onto our plates, silently contemplating what we would say next.

"Remember not to eat too fast. It'll hurt, and it can kill you."

"I almost forgot, thank you for reminding me!"

Nadien giggled and then dished out some meat. We sat looking at our food, then began eating, I had never eaten with my hands before. It was odd, well not odd, just new I guess. It was very easy, and seemed strangely polite.

"Well Zylphia, it was fun, but it's almost the end of my shift, and there is a curfew in the hospital. Sorry, but you have to go back to your room."

"O-oh okay. You'll be here tomorrow right?"

"Yes. I promise."

After that we ate some sweet broth and cakes, then Nadien put the leftovers in containers and placed them in the fridge. We walked back to my room after that and we didn't say much, just a small comment here and there about the buildings outside, and the vehicles.

The only thing on my mind when I was about to fall asleep was talking to Nadien the next day, my friend. Then the fuzzy images came back, and I was swept off to the world you go to when you forget you are sleeping. The images were more colourful and cheery this time.