forum The Tale of a Woman Trapped in a Cave and the Poor Soul that Finds Her (Closed OxO with Kai)

Started March 18, 2023 by Deleted user

tune

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She shakes her head and mumbles under her breath. “Less…”

Nishida looks astounded.

"Less?" she repeats.

She nods, silent. She had this almost…guilty look in her eyes as she ate.

Nishida notes the guilty look and her face softens. "Don't worry about it, kid. It doesn't hurt my feelings. It's just more food for later, right?"

She digs into her own food, finishing it in about 5 minutes before grabbing some more food.

Aphrodite was still on the same plate she was given, hardly even touching her food. It wasn’t that she felt guilty about hurting anyone’s feelings, it was that she felt guilty about eating. She loved food, but she was always punished when she ate when she was younger. Even to this day people would ask why she was eating at such random times of the day, only reminding her of her past.

Nishida tilts her head at Aphrodite.

"Hey, why don't you eat?" she asks softly. She looks closer at Aphrodite than she had earlier, noting how pale she looked and how thin she was. "Nobody's here to judge you. Not even Zi."

Aphrodite sighs, “I’m not worried about that.” She sets her plate aside. “Thank you.”

Nishida sighs softly. "Eat now, or I'll force feed you."

Aphrodite laughs, “Oh dear, if you do I’ll cut you.” She smiles dangerously. She didn’t mean to be…well…mean…but she also didn’t want to come off as helpless. Especially to this powerful seeming woman. “I don’t eat much because I don’t need as much food as everyone else. And if you decide to touch me then we’ll have some problems.”

Nishida raises an eyebrow. "I've had worse happen. cut me, stab me, beat me, nothing you can do will trouble me."

"And as for not needing as much food as other people, that's a load of bullshit. I can tell you're underweight. You're pale and your shaking just slightly. All signs of hunger. So either start eating the meal that I just cooked for you, or I'll knock you out, turn it into a smoothie and force it into your stomach with a tube." she snorts.

Aphrodite stands, holding Zi in her arms. “Get out of my house if you’re going to threaten me.” She says softly, glaring at Nishida.

Nishida stands as well.

"Just eat the damn food." she says quietly, almost pleading.

Aphrodite huffs and walks off, leaving her plate on the small table by her chair. She didn’t care if she was being rude…she just wanted to get out of this situation. Why did this woman even care? Was she going to kill her and do something? Not like she’d care much…it would end her constant worrying.

Nishoda sighs.

"Damn her. . ." she mutters, sitting back down. She herself was still hungry, so she finished off the rest of the food that wasn't Aphrodite's, leaving her food where it was.

She looks over at her sword, and shakes her head. You bring back bad memories, yet I can't stand to get rid of you. . .

She gets up and walks over to it, lifting it up.

She goes outside, to the base of the rocky slope, and utters a quick Japanese prayer before slamming the sword, blade first, into the largest boulder she could find. It slips in like a hot knife through butter, and into the slope itself.

She goes back to the house and starts cleaning it, as well as the kitchen.

Aphrodite decides to lock herself in her room for the rest of the night and into the morning the next day. It was impossible for her to sleep with the hunger pains she was having to deal with, but she’d gotten better at ignoring them so she was somewhat able to rest. She lays in her bed till the afternoon, still not coming out of her room.

Nishida cleans the kitchen, then the living room, then the hall, then the guest room.

She leaves Aphrodite alone, for now, but she knocks on the door gently the next afternoon.

"Hey. I'm sorry about last night. I just don't like watching people pur theirself in this much pain. . ." she says, loud enough to be heard through the door.

Aphrodite doesn’t answer for a while, then finally says, “Don’t bother yourself with me.”

Nishida sighs.

"I will bother myself whoever I damn well please. Are you okay?" she asks.

Aphrodite stays silent.

"Please just answer me, Aphrodite." Nishida says quietly.

She still remains silent, not wanting to start anything else. In all reality, she was far from okay. But she wasn’t just going to tell a stranger that.

Nishida sighs. "Fine."

She sits down in front of the door, her back leaning up against it. She doesn't say another word.

Aphrodite stays in there for the rest of the day, ignoring her rumbling stomach as she stayed in bed and read all day.

Nishida was also feeling hungry, but she didn't move from her spot in front of Aphrodite's door. She'd gained a lot of patience, being trapped in a cave for more than 300 years.

After a long while, almost night, Zi started scratching at the door. Aphrodite sighs and opens the door slightly to let her needy cat go run and play.

Zi scampers out and stops right in front of Nishida. He looks at her and blinks slowly right before running off.

Nishida blinks back at Zi, but doesn't move from where she is in front of Aphrodite's door. She wants to say something but doesn't know what, so she stays silent. The woman probably hadn't even seen her anyways.

Aphrodite closes her door again, silent. No way in hell did she want to talk to anyone. She sighs softly and sits back down onto her bed. She knew she was being rude…but she didn’t want to come off as weak. So she stayed stubborn. The last thing she wanted was to start crying in front of a stranger.

Nishida leans her head back against the door.

Time to see how long she can wait. . .

Aphrodite spent the rest of the day in her room, all the way until dark. Her stomach only growled louder and louder as time went on, but she refused to leave her room. Eventually she just stayed curled up on her bed, waiting for the hunger pains to go away.

She already knew where this behavior came from. All those years of starvation from her parents. Sure most people wouldn’t stop eating if they got out of s situation like that…but for her…it was the exact opposite. She feared actually eating something. This honestly was funny for her, since she loved watching people cook, smelling the food and even the sound of cooking. But she hated actually eating.

After the second time night falls, Nishida grows more concerned.

"Aphrodite, please. . ." she pleads softly.