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I walked away as fast as possible to avoid her seeing my embarrassment. One of the rashipis had made it all the way to the other end of the cargo bay, staring at a container with a dazed expression. I wished I had some sheep dogs at my disposal. They would have made my life a whole lot easier, but I'd learned to shepherd both with dogs and without.
I could hear my father's voice echoing in my head. "Always move a sheep slowly, calmly and quietly. Stay outside its flight zone or it might panic. Keeping calm is half the herding done."
Realising I was smiling at the memory, I slowly approached the rashipi.
"Hey, little one. Are you lost? I will help you back. Smell this food? Yes, there's more of that where it came from. Just follow me and I will take you to the food."
The rashipi sniffed loudly, then trumpeted with what I hoped was hunger. It moved towards me, its legs almost tripping each other as it walked. Another animal nearby had heard the sound and stared at me with curiosity.
"Yes, join us, you can have all the hay you want. Yummy Christmas hay. Just follow me."
Herding could be done by making them follow or by leading them from behind. This was the easier method, so I hoped it would work. My own herd of sheep was trained to follow my voice commands as well as react to the sound of their feed bucket, but I didn't know how the rashipis would behave. Hopefully, they were similar enough to sheep.
By the time I got back to Atina, I had six rashipis following me in their strange uneven gait.
"Just stay there so they don't walk in the wrong direction," I told her without taking my eyes off my herd. "No fast movements. Once we've passed, slowly follow us so you can close the doors of the pen."
"Aye, aye, Captain of the Rashipis," she quipped, clearly enjoying this more now than she'd let on earlier. "I have to say, they suit you."
I wasn't sure if it was a compliment, but I'd take it. I loved being surrounded by animals, alien or from Earth. Once the rashipis were safely locked in their pen, I would see if one of them would let me touch it. I needed to know if its wool was as soft as it looked.
Checking every few metres that the rashipis were still following me, I led them to their pen. I put down my hay in one corner and watched with glee as the first animal started munching on it. The others caught on quickly and hurried to get into the pen so that they wouldn't miss out on food.
With a click, the door closed behind Atina. "There are a few more rashipis to catch, but I think we've earned ourselves a break. Want a snack? No, ignore that, it stinks too much in here to eat."
I couldn't understand how she didn't like the spicy scent of cinnamon and cloves wafting through the air. I could have bathed in it. Even so, everyone had their preferences. “We should finish dealing with all the rashipis first but then we could eat a snack somewhere else. Do you have more of those cereal bars?”
“How about we go for a meal instead?” Atina asked.
I couldn’t tell if that was her way of asking me on a date, but it didn’t matter, my answer was all the same. “Yes, that sounds lovely.”
10
Atina
I'd have preferred to take Heather somewhere nice but in a port like this, there wasn't much choice. We ended in a small place with cheap but cheerful food. While Sivilia wasn't known for its cuisine, there were some local dishes that were worth trying.
Heather hummed as she checked out the menu list. "I don't know what any of this is."
"Most of it is good. I wouldn't recommend the follak though."
"Why not?"
"Oh, it's a mixture of ground organ meat and some type of grain cooked in intestines. It's kind of gross and the texture is weird."
Heather's face lit up. "Sounds like haggis."
"And that's a good thing?"
"I love it. I want to try the... What did you call it?"
"Follak." Just saying the name made me shudder. "You're not seriously going to try it?"
"You bet I am. I like the food on Kyven but there are some specialties from home I miss. Haggis is definitely one of them." She seemed genuinely excited by the prospect of trying it.
With a shrug, I ordered the follak for Heather and something more palatable for myself, a double portion in case she didn't like hers so I could share it with her. If not, I'd take the leftovers to my cabin and have them as a snack later on.
The food arrived quickly and I couldn't say her sausage smelled particularly nice, but just like with the rashipis, Heather seemed delighted. She inhaled deeply and released an appreciative hum. "This smells so good. So savoury and herby."
