Velvet Abyss

I followed Shinobu down a wooden staircase trying my hardest not to put pressure on my injured leg the pain seared with every excruciating step. Shinobu was humming a cheerful tune as she skipped from step to step.

“Hey, Shinobu answer me something.”
“Eat first, questions later.” 
“Why are you dressed as a Nun?”
“Why don’t you do what you’re told?”
“Fine forget I said anything, how much further I’m starving”
“Oh only two more flights of stairs, or is it three I don’t remember.”

After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at the bottom of the winding staircase Shinobu pushed the door open and I was greeted with an arresting sight. It was a great hall with eight wooden tables stretching from one side to the other most were filled with a combination of nuns and children. 

Honestly speaking some of the nun’s where still children themselves and Shinobu couldn’t have been much older either. 

“Hey, Caroline!” Shinobu said to one of the nun’s manning the food station. 

“Good evening, Head Sister Shinobu, How may I help you?”

“Come on Caroline, call me Shinobu’s it’s fine”

“What’s on the menu tonight?” Shinobu said.

“Potato and Rabbit stew, You know the regular”

“Eh? I hate Rabbit stew, and that’s the fifth day in a row,” Shinobu said. 

 Shinobu slumped her shoulders and let out a mournful sigh, Eating the same food every day means nothing to me I’d just be happy to quell my starving stomach. 

“Oh the dog lady is finally awake, How are you?” Caroline said. 
            

“Nothing a full stomach and a bottle of sake wouldn’t fix,” I said. 
            

“Sake? What’s that?”Caroline answered.

Oh, Christ, they don’t have sake in this forsaken world the hell hounds were bad enough but you’re telling me I can't’ even drink my sorrows away like I did back home. This might be a whole new level of hell. 

“I’m going to call you Miss Dog Lady alright?” Caroline said.

“I have a name, and it’s Mari use It or stop talking to me.”

“Oh, my apologies dog la…I mean Miss Mari.”  Caroline said. 

“Could you please tell me what this sake thing is?” 

“Yeah, I’d like to know too,” Shinobu added.

“Sake is a type of drink where I come from, people drink it when they’re stressed.” 

“Oh so it’s like a medicine,” Caroline said.

“That’s one way of looking at it I guess,” I said.

“So why are we stuck eating rabbit stew when you butchered six of those hell hounds, they had plenty of meat on their bones why not skin and cook the bastards?” I asked.

A blank expression fell over Caroline’s face as if I had just uttered the single dumbest question to ever be asked in the history of stupid questions. She continued to stare at me in stunned silence frankly it was insulting.

“Did you seriously just ask that?” Shinobu snickered. 

“Yeah, that was dumb, like really, really dumb,” Caroline said.

“Like I’m embarrassed for you,” Caroline said. 

“What it was a legitimate question.” 

“Oh no you do have amnesia, don’t you?” Shinobu said. 

“Yeah sure, whatever, probably,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll tell you why what you said was dumb,” Caroline said.

“Hellhound meat is highly poisonous to humans.”  Caroline said 

“What?” I said. 
“

Yeah, it’ll rot a hole right through your stomach.” Caroline said

“What a horrible way to die,” Shinobu said.

Come to think of it I know nothing about this world, it’s culture or food I’m completely in the dark about it all, I should quiz Shinobu or Caroline later on. Perhaps I should feign ignorance or run with the lost memory sob story. 

“Anyhow that’s enough chatter, you two must be starving.”

“Starving is an understatement sister,” Shinobu said.

“Well here you go two piping hot bowls of rabbit stew,” Caroline said.

Caroline handed two bowls of the brown watery stew it looked disgusting and smelt even worse but choosing between a full stomach or a hungry one was a simple decision. “Thanks, Caroline,” I said taking the hot bowl in my hands. 

“My pleasure” Caroline answered smiling vibrantly at both Shinobu and me, “Well let’s go find ourselves a seat,” Shinobu said already tasting the rabbit stew. I nodded and followed Shinobu to one of the tables seated to the far left of the hall. 

The table was empty save for Shinobu and me. I scooped up a mouthful of the rabbit stew blew on it to cool it down and forced it into my mouth, the meat was thick with an earthy taste. Whatever Caroline had spiced it with was balancing it out nicely and making it palatable. 

My body acting on its own scoffed down spoonful after spoonful until my bowl was empty with some residue clinging to the bottom. Shinobu was eating her food at a snail's pace making her displeasure known with each reluctant bite. 

“Hey, Shinobu can I ask you a question?” I said.

“Shoot,” Shinobu said wiping some stew from her lips.

“I want you to tell me everything about this world,” I said

“Come again?” Shinobu answered.

“Sorry I forgot my manners, Tell me everything, please,”  I asked again.

"Okay..." Shinobu said puzzled.