Garthan chewed on the tough meat and swallowed it with a gulp of tea. He cleanly cut another piece out of the steak and plopped it into his mouth. He moved his jaws slowly as his teeth crushed the juices out of the meat. Then with another sip of tea, he swallowed the meat.

“Isn’t this really tough?” asked Rother. He had taken a bite of the meat and had swallowed it after chewing it with much effort. The meat was dark and lined with sinew, making it quite a chore to chew and swallow it. Shaden hadn’t gotten any but was very curious about the taste. His father was having a hard time eating it. How resilient was this piece of flesh?

“This is part of training, Rother,” said Garthan. “To survive in the wilderness, you must have strong jaw-muscles to digest monsters.”

Shaden looked up from his soup. They were eating monster meat?!

“But dad. I’m not going into the wilderness. I’m gonna be a guard like you!”

Garthan placed another piece of meat in his mouth and chewed.

“The jaw can also be a weapon in emergencies. Chewing the meat is great practice for focusing your energy into your muscles. The meat will make you stronger.”

“But…it’s too tough…” complained Rother. “It’s also a little smelly.”

“Your mother did her best to remove the stink, Rother. Back when I was a soldier, we had to eat this without seasoning, and it was many tens of times worse than this. Now, what should you say?”

“Thank you, Mom…”

Melsei patted her son’s cute brown hair.

“If you really don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself. But you can’t really lose to the cat, can you~?”

Rother glanced over at the cat who was eating some slices of the monster meat. That cat hungrily chewed on the flesh, ripping it apart like paper as its fangs cut through the raw meat. It chewed and swallowed and repeated the process greedily, stuffing itself on the feast.

Shaden really hoped his mother wouldn’t notice the cat’s savagery.

Rother looked back at the dark steak on his plate. He grabbed his fork and knife again and sliced a piece out with some effort. After inspecting it, he put it in his mouth and chewed slowly.

“That’s my boy,” complimented Garthan and gave Rother a ruffle through his hair.

Unlike Rother, Shaden greedily eyed the dark meat. He really wanted to try it. The meat he had had so far tasted no different from the ones back home, except for the fact that they had a little more odor. Meat was meat. But monster meat? That was a completely new dish for Shaden. He reached his arms out and motioned for his mother to let him try some.

“Shaden’s almost two years old, isn’t he?” said Garthan after he saw his energetic son. “Let him try some of it. He seems to want it.”

“I can give him some of mine!” enthusiastically suggested Rother. “I mean, he’s my brother so…”

Garthan gave a small chuckle at his son’s logic. It was so fun to raise kids. Unlike with Rother, Shaden had kept quiet all of the time, making taking care of him one of the easiest things he had done. The past year had been filled with calm and peace.

“Go ahead. But only a little, okay?”

Rother nodded as he sliced out a small piece of meat the size of an adult’s fingernail. He carefully positioned the fork in front of Shaden, who readily accepted the offering. The whole family kept in their laughter as they saw the baby’s face stress itself and go red as he tried to chew on the meat.

Shaden worked his jaws to crush the meat under his teeth. It felt like chewing on a soaked rag. When he chewed, juices flowed from the meat. The taste was alright and had a peculiar scent that Shaden had never experienced before. He didn’t really know. But the meat. The meat never came apart. He chewed and chewed and chewed and it persisted on like gum. He gave up and swallowed the mushed-up slice of meat and took a sip out of his small cup. How did his father manage to eat chunks of this?

He turned his eyes to the cat. It had already finished its portion and was licking its paws.

What a beast.

〄 〄 〄

“By the way, Mom, Dad. Can I name the cat?” asked Rother.

He was currently petting the cat who was sitting next to Shaden on the ground. The cat purred and meowed sweetly at Rother’s touch as it enjoyed its life.

“Well…what do you want to name it?” asked Melsei. She was washing the dishes as Garthan prepared to go out to exercise. He had to train constantly to keep his muscles in shape, after all. He also thought of it as a kind of overtime-guard duty as compensation for all the trouble he had caused.

“Um. I would name it—”

Rother looked at the cat once again.

“Rother the Second!”

“Honey, I think that name is a little…”

Melsei looked towards Garthan for help. Garthan shrugged his shoulders, but upon his wife’s intense stare, he had to interject.

“Err—ahem. Rother. You don’t usually name your pets after yourself. You use a completely different name.”

“Yes, Rother! What about naming the cat after its color? Or personality?”

“Then should I name it Blacky?” asked Rother innocently.

“Well, no…?”

The cat looked at Shaden with worried eyes. Or so he thought it did. It moved away from Rother’s hands and repositioned itself behind Shaden and curled itself up.

“It only follows Shaden,” complained Rother with a pout. “It should be named Shaden the Second then.”

“It’s okay Rother. The cat is less afraid of your brother because he is smaller than all of us,” explained Melsei. “It might feel more comfortable around Shaden.”

“But still…doesn’t the cat follow Shaden around too much?” questioned Garthan. “The other day, it didn’t even glance at me when I passed it. Shaden, did you do something to it?” he said jokingly.

Shaden looked at his father with innocent, confused eyes and shook his head.

“Maybe because he spends so much time with it?” said Rother. “Because me and Dad always go out.”

“Maybe,” agreed Melsei. Still, by that logic, the cat should follow her around as much as it did Shaden. She was the one who gave it food too. But weirdly, the cat almost never left Shaden’s side. If Shaden was in his little bed, the cat would go lie on the windowsill near the crib. It was like a—

“It’s like a shadow of Shaden,” observed Rother.

“I need to head off now, so tell me when I return,” said Garthan as he gave Melsei a kiss. He then headed down the stairs to the streets to train.

“Shadow sounds like a good name,” said Melsei, wiping the water off her hands. “Why don’t you name it that?”

“I can’t,” said Rother. “One of the kids at the Academy has a crow named Shadow. If the kids find out, they’ll make fun of me for copying.”

“How about Shade? It’s another word for shadow.”

“That sounds like ‘Shaden’ too much! It’s too weird to call a cat that.”

Rother looked at the cat. It was poking its little head out from behind Shaden’s back as if it was trying to hide from something.

Something clicked in his head.

“Hiding…hide. Like a shadow. Shadowy…?”

Rother turned his head towards his mom.

“Shidey?” asked Rother. “Should I name the cat Shidey?”

“That sounds like a great name, Rother~,” said Melsei and squeezed her son’s cheeks. “It sounds very pretty!”

Rother’s face beamed into a smile and he approached the cat that was licking itself. Rother abruptly lifted the cat from the ground and held it up before him. The cat meowed weakly without resisting.

“Your name is Shidey!”

*Meow*

“And you’re our cat!”

*Meow*

Shaden looked at his excited brother and emotionless cat as they danced around the room. Melsei was also smiling happily. His brother had chosen a name that sounded appropriate, so Shaden was glad he wouldn’t have to call the cat by a name too close to his. It would have been weird.

“Shidey! Alright, I’m tired now.”

*Meow*

Rother let the cat down. Shidey instantly returned to Shaden’s side and started licking itself again. What a special cat(?), he thought. Shaden reached his hand out and stroked the cat’s head and chin, making it purr in satisfaction. He liked the new name. Shidey.

Rother genuinely hoped that the name was a good one. He wanted to impress his friends after all.

“What if they don’t like the name?” said Rother a little worryingly. His mother patted his head and soothed his hair out.

“It’s the name that you chose, Rother. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like it. The only thing that matters is that you are happy with it.” She looked into Rother’s large eyes and smiled. “Are you happy with it?”

“Yes. I like it.”

“Good. Then that’s enough.”

Shaden took in the cozy scene unfolding in front of him and breathed out slowly. It made him emotional just watching. What a great mother, he thought. I’m glad I wasn’t born into an orphanage or left in the woods or something like that. That would have sucked.

He petted Shidey again.

Life was great.