Miminga recalled these memories of the past, as she was looking for something to give Hector as a parting gift, she was eating the last slice of orange pie that he had left for her. The delicious, candied orange slices over the pie crust, the cream, and even the small amounts of sugar all came together deliciously… However, because this piece had been sitting for a while, the pie crust was a bit harder than usual, forcing her last teeth yet to change to suddenly fall into the floor effortlessly.
"Oh…"
Miminga came with the idea of using the fang she just lost! She looked into the fang and grabbed it, her eyes shone brightly, perhaps this could be a nice parting gift for her friend… Because looking back at her little tribe house, she really didn't anything more, unlike the people of that village that had metals and other precious jewels, she had nothing and the lizardmen mostly lived off things that they hunted or gathered… It wasn't as if she had anything else to do than using this fang…
"I'll cleanse it and then make a hole on it… I can use this strong thread I got here… I'll make him a necklace…" She said with a smile. In the tribe of the lizardman, gifting one another with small accessories made with each other's scales, fangs or claws was a sort of way to forge friendship between individuals, friends of childhood would usually wear the other's fangs, claws, or scales as a sign of friendship, and when these were more elaborated, they could even mean a sign of compromise or love, quite similar to the engagement ring between humans and other races similar to them.
Miminga worked all the night cleansing her fang to be as pristine as possible, it was still slightly yellow, it was very hard for her to make it shine completely white, but she had made sure it was completely clean, and then used a knife and carved a small hole, it was very hard and she sometimes slipped off the knife and it ended slightly cutting her scales and skin, making her bleed a few times, but it was nothing grave or big enough for her to stop working in her precious gift for her precious friend…
The next day, she was done… She didn't slept at all, but decided to just eat breakfast and take a bath quickly, rushing outside the village and then meeting with Hector, who was waiting for her right there.
"Miminga! How are you today? Y-You look as cute as always…" He said. "Your scales are very pristine."
"H-Hector… T-Thanks…" She said.
"Did you eat the pie I gave to you? Did you shared it with your parents? Did they like it? My mom helped making it!" Said Hector.
"I-I did, they said it was tasty too… They liked it…" She said.
"I-I see… I wish I could one day… Meet your parents- Ah! N-Not like I am forcing you or anything, sorry…" He apologized nervously.
"Don't worry… I wish I could show them to you too but…" She sighed.
"Eh? But?" He asked.
"…Here…" She said rather shyly.
"T-This is…?" Asked Hector in shock, as he received the girl's gift.
It was a thread which she had attached to a small fang with a hole she had made into it with a knife… It was very simplistic, and many people would think this was some random junk, but for Hector, it meant more, way more than that.
"Miminga this is… Your tooth?" He asked.
"Yeah… T-The other day I ate a very tough piece of meat and one of my old tooth just kind of fell off… It was an old one, and new ones already were growing, so don't worry…" She said rather embarrassed. "I-I thought that you might… want a memento of me…" Miminga came out with a tiny lie there, she didn't wanted to tell him that her fang fell off by eating just a piece of pie, even less that she made it exclusively for him for the reason of gifting it to him because this was going to be the last time… the last time they'll ever meet again.
"T-This is… It is…" Muttered Hector. Hector seemed a bit strange, for a moment the little Miminga felt a bit embarrassed, she didn't knew very well the customs of the humans, and perhaps what she did was actually of bad taste, or even rude, and she didn't wanted to offend her best friend.
"S-Sorry! Was it too poor in taste? I-In my tribe we use to gift pendants like this to those we… we hold dear…" She said, rather worriedly trying to apologize if that was the case, and waiting for Hector to answer.
However, his answer was not expected…
"No… This is perfect, it is beautiful…" He said, as Miminga suddenly skipped a beat, looking back at Hector while containing her tears, her eyes shone very brightly that day.
"E-Eh? Really?" She asked timidly, waving her tail around…
"Yeah… I will treasure it." He said, holding the pendant and quickly wearing it. "Look! It fit me right in, a bit tight, but you did a good job." Hector smiled, while petting her head. In that moment, Miminga couldn't feel happier, it was such a cute and fluffy feeling inside of her heart that it made her sigh for a bit, as sorrow quickly took over her, and the frustration that she would never be able to meet him ever again, the person that made her so happy...
"I-I see… I am glad it fit you well…" She said with a gentle smile.
That day, the two spent a lot of time in the jungle. Miminga brought a spear with her, and she showed off her spear techniques that her father taught to her, hunting down two horned rabbits, and cooking them for Hector as their last dinner.
"I-Is it good? I only roasted them with some salt and herb oil…" She said.
"I-It is amazing! I never knew you were such a good hunter and cook!" Said Hector, as Miminga smiled warmly…
"(I will miss you, Hector…)" She said internally.
