Frankie nodded that he was ready and followed her back to his camp. Once again, the beautiful scenery of the hike fascinated him. It would always be an amazing sight but because of the earlier hour compared to yesterday, it was almost like a new experience again. He recognized the trail fairly easily because of his practice as a kid and tried to recognize some of the birds singing when his stomach growled loudly. He looked at Selina, his face red, hoping she didn't hear it.
His growling stomach was hard to miss, even with Selina walking in front of him. "We can stop if you need to eat," She said, dropping back to walk alongside him and slowing her pace down significantly. In all honesty, she was hungry, but she knew she could wait to hunt, Frankie on the other hand probably needed to eat something pretty soon.
He swore he felt his ears burn in embarrassment when she called him out. ”Sorry about that.” he chuckled softly, shaking his head. ”We don't have to stop. Honestly, I don't have any food left in my bag. I can wait until we get back to the cave.” he assured her.
"I could catch something," She offered gently, looking over at him, "The cave is still a ways away, but it's up to you." Selina didn't want to make him stop and eat if he didn't want to, so she left him with the choice. Catching something to eat was what she was going to do as soon as she got back anyway, so getting him something and maybe sharing it would keep her stomach happy until she could hunt.
”I mean if you want to, you can…” he trailed off a little, unsure about the idea. Frankie was sure she was a great hunter but… maybe it was just a silly thought. He had seen her eat the same kind of food he did. It was doubtful that she would find something he couldn't eat. When in Rome… He nodded, giving her a bright smile. ”Yeah. Sure. That trail mix didn't last as long as I hoped it would.”
Selina nodded, matching his smile and looking around, "Great! We could stop here by the river, if you wanted to get a fire started? And by chance do you have a knife I could borrow?" She knew that more than likely, anything she caught would be new to him, but she would try to get something he would like.
”Sure. I can do that.” Frankie nodded, taking his backpack off. ”Ummm… I have a Swiss Army knife but I don't know how much that’ll help… Oh! Hang on.” he perked up before reaching into his bag and pulling out a six-inch hiking knife with a black case around the blade. ”Here… Uhh… Please be careful with this. It was a Christmas present a few years ago. I had to actually get a permit to have this and swear I wouldn't use it… irresponsibly.” he explained softly, holding the hilt out to her.
"I promise I'll be careful with it, Frankie," She said, taking the knife gently from him and nodding in thanks. "I'll be back in a little bit," Selina said, smiling and making her way into the woods quietly. For a minute she thought about hunting just in her human form, but it would take longer, so she just stuck with changing into a wolf. She slipped behind a giant tree and got undressed, leaving the knife tucked safely under her shirt before shifting and stepping out from behind the tree as a wolf.
”Thank you.” he smiled at her promise before she left to hunt. He let out a nervous breath and started to gather some kindling for the fire. This was the first time he had let anyone use that knife, much less hold it. Even when his dad was showing him how to use it, Frankie had kept his hands on it. He trusted Selina, it was just a weird feeling.
It didn't take her long to find a good spot to hunt, away from Frankie but still close enough that it wouldn't take long to get back. She tried to think of what he would be alright with eating as she settled down to hide in the grass for some smaller prey. Two squirrels scampered down out of a tree soon enough and she figured that would be alright. Selina sprang out at them and managed to get them both before they noticed she was there. From there she scooped them up in her mouth and started back towards where she had left the knife, her tail swishing back and forth in happiness that she had caught something so quickly.
Focusing on making the fire helped distract Frankie, even though it was an easy task. He cleared a small area and pulled out his matches, glad that they had stopped by the water since there didn't seem to be any decent rocks for a fire circle. He would just have to keep a closer eye on this one as the kindling started burning.
Within another twenty minutes, Serena was back at the camp, back in her human form, and looking as happy as usual. "Have you ever had squirrel?" She asked curiously, a stick with the cleaned and ready to cook animals in her hand. Frankie's knife was gently held in her other hand, though the case was stuffed in her back pocket as she walked by him and to the river to wash off the knife and her hands.
Frankie looked up when she returned and smiled at her… Though he quickly raised a brow at the question. ”Uhhh… No. Can't say that I have. Are… Are they any good?” he asked hesitantly as he watched her clean up. He did acknowledge that he was pretty hungry at this point but he was still uncertain about eating a wild animal like this. ”You did a good job of preparing them.” he complimented with a small smile.
"They're pretty good, though there's not a ton of flavor since they don't have much fat, they're still good," She said, standing up and carefully handing the knife out to Frankie, holding onto the blade so he could grab the handle. "Thanks, I've gotten a lot of practice." Selina smiled and looked around for some other sticks to prop the squirrels over the fire on, holding out the case for the knife out to him once he took the knife.
”I guess I'll find out soon enough, huh? ” he chuckled, helping her get ready to cook them. Frankie smiled as he accepted his knife back, a little relieved to be holding it again. ”Thanks for taking care of this for me.” he said sincerely before taking the case as well and sheathing the weapon.
She nodded, flashing him another small smile, "No problem, it's a really nice knife by the way." Soon the squirrels were being cooked over the fire on a makeshift spit of sorts. Cooking them would take a little while though, as Selina wanted them to be cooked fully.
Frankie chuckled softly with a light blush. ”Thanks. I saw it when my dad took me and Cora to a Camping World store for some fishing supplies and… next thing I know it was under the Christmas tree a few years later.” he admitted, watching the fire and the… meat roasting over it. ”Oh… I found these berries while I getting the fire ready. I think they’re safe but… What do you think?” he told her as he gestured to a small napkin nearby with a pile of wild berries on it.
She listened to his story with a smile, nodding before turning her attention to the berries when he mentioned them. From where she sat, they looked safe, but she pulled the napkin over to make sure they actually were the fruit she thought they were. Her eyes sparkled when she looked closer at the berries, nodding once again, "They're very safe, I know what they are as well. They're a type of wild blueberries that grows in the park, they're the same as any other blueberry, they just don't have the ruffled top around where they grow on the plant like other species do."
He smiled at her validation, glad that he hadn't forgotten how to forage properly. ”Great! Blueberries are actually one of my favorites.” he told her as he picked up a couple and tossing one above his head trying to catch it in his mouth.
"My favorite fruit I've gotten to try has to be pear." She said, smiling happily, "The ranger that helps our pack brought some to us and I got to try some. It was delicious." Selina took one of the berries as well, popping it into her mouth and relishing the sweetness of the fruit as she turned her focus back to the fire. As much as she wanted to eat them, she would let Frankie have as many as he wanted, that way he at least at something if he didn't like the squirrel.
He nodded at her story, feeling a little bad that she had to rely on someone else like that. ”Yeah, pears are great. They don't actually get enough credit for being so good.” he chuckled a little. ”I guess I should have specified that blueberries were my favorite berry… Strawberries are close second though.” he smiled as he popped another blueberry into his mouth. Frankie had no intention of eating all of them since he was pretty sure Selina was hungry too.
"Wild strawberries are quite good, though finding them takes forever," She replied, laughing a little, "And trying not to eat them between searching for them is even harder than finding them." She glanced between the fire and Frankie as she talked, wanting to have a conversation with him but also not wanting to burn the food. "Have you tried any super weird fruits? I've heard of things called dragonfruit, have you tried any of those?"
He chuckled, nodding. ”Yeah, they are. I don't know what it is about them but they taste so much better than what you get at the store.” Frankie agreed, keeping an eye on the fire. He didn't want to burn down the park on accident. ”No, I have not had a dragon fruit but I saw one before. Umm, weirdest fruit I ever had was a jackfruit. But I don't think one person can eat the whole thing. It's huge, like this long.” he held his hands about two feet apart. ”Thankfully not that tall and it's got two flavors depending on how ripe it is. There's a sort of stringy part that has a kinda meatiness to it and a bud-like part on the inside that’s sweet like a pineapple.” he explained, smiling.
Selina thought for a minute trying to imagine the fruit and its taste. She had tasted pineapple before, canned pineapple at least, so she could guess what part of the new fruit tasted like. "That's definitely the strangest fruit I've ever heard of," She said, laughing lightly as she checked up on the fire and food for a minute, "Late breakfast should be done fairly soon, it won't take much longer to cook."
”I know. It's so weird like it doesn't even sound real but it exists, it's just hard to find.” Frankie chuckled with her, quickly smothering an ember that had popped out of the fire. ”Good. I’m actually looking forward to trying this.” he smiled, though still a little hesitant… Until his stomach growled again.
