Cassi insisted I stay in bed longer, and between my bad leg and the twin puncture wounds from the cats, I had to grudgingly agree.Outside, rain pounded on the thatched roof, filling the hut with a steady drumbeat. Cassi stayed inside, busy at his workbench, arranging herbs and brewing tonics while muttering under his breath.
Once or twice, I caught snippets of his words—though they didn't sound like English.
He brought me drink after drink, some for the pain, others "to ward off cat diseases," as he put it. He sweetened them with coconuts, somehow delivered by his army of clever birds.I itched for a pencil so I could write or sketch again. I even wondered if Cassi might teach me more about his medicine-making. But... after everything, I hesitated.
With a sigh, I flopped back onto the bed, wincing as my shoulders throbbed.Half-draped off the mattress, I stared up at the ceiling and thought of home—of Tails and me jumping on our beds until our legs went to jelly, collapsing in giggles when Father was away.
Without thinking, I blurted, "Can we play a game?"
Cassi turned from his brewing, wearing a look halfway between confusion and concern."A game?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Checkers?" I suggested hopefully.
He looked more bewildered than before, and guilt stabbed me. He didn't know checkers. He had probably never had anyone to play with.
"Do you have a flat piece of wood, some charcoal, and a few rocks?" I asked quickly.
Now he really looked at me like I'd lost my mind. But after a moment's hesitation, he humored me.From a stack by the wall, he pulled a flat piece of bark and a stub of charcoal. His birds fluttered in, dropping rocks and shells at his feet.
I grinned. "Perfect. Now, do you want to be rocks or shells?"
Cassi frowned in concentration, then said, "Be a rock?"
"Play as a rock," I corrected, biting my lip to stop from laughing. His confusion was so... endearing.
He studied me seriously. "You seem more like a shell person anyway."
Luckily, I had been hoping for the shells—each one glimmered faintly with iridescent color. Tails would have been beyond jealous.
I drew a rough grid on the bark, showing him how to set up the pieces. He listened so intently you'd think it was a matter of life and death.Then we began to play.
At first, he learned quickly, moving his rocks with careful, deliberate motions. Before I knew it, he had taken seven of my twelve pieces. His forehead furrowed with concentration, and I realized he wasn't holding back.
But then the tide shifted. I started winning pieces back, creeping closer to victory.
I stopped mid-move and frowned at him. "Cassi—you're not supposed to let me win. This is a competition."
He looked genuinely bewildered. "You won't be upset if I beat you... on our first game?"
I froze. He thought that if he won, I'd never want to play again.
"Of course not," I said, sticking out my tongue at him, just as I would've done with Tails. "I'd just have to try harder next time!"
Relief washed over his face, and in the next breath, he absolutely creamed me.
And then he creamed me again.
"You're a natural!" I exclaimed, laughing even as I reset the board.
Cassi flushed slightly and muttered, "It just... reminds me of brewing. It's all patterns."
I tilted my head at him. "You should try chess."
He blinked. "What is a chess?"
"Not a chess. Just chess," I said, laughing harder. "For a master strategist, you sound like you're from another planet."
I reached across and gave his arm a light punch. He looked down at where I'd touched him, his expression unreadable.
"Was that for beating you?" he asked.
I just shook my head and reset the board again.
This time, I studied him more carefully. Cassi played with a razor-sharp balance of caution and risk, but if I pushed just right, I could make him gamble—and overreach.Slowly, I clawed my way up.Piece by piece, I forced him back, until finally I captured his last rock with one of my two remaining shells.
He stared at the board, stunned. "You... beat me?"
"All just patterns," I said, teasing him with his own words. I shrugged. "I can teach you more games if you want."
And so I did.I taught him chess, which he mastered unsettlingly fast, and then we made a set of makeshift cards and played until I could barely keep my head up.Even when I drooped, face-first, onto the game board, Cassi looked ready to play another round.
Finally, laughing, we had to call it quits.