[--OC: ....I couldn't think of a good title. Forgive me. (//http://graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/template/smiles/icon_sweatdrop.gif)--]
----- "And one, two, juuump!" Granted, it wasn't as much as a jump, as a leap of faith, but 'jump' was a much more cheerful thing to yell. Sounded less like "I might break my leg when I land," in any event.
----- But the difference between a leap of a faith and a planned jump stopped mattering once Cerena's feet-quickly followed by her knees and then hands- hit the ground. She grinned and flipped onto her back to admire the sky and the rock she had jumped from. "And I thought the mountains had stopped a few miles ago, too." She pouted a little and watched the clouds for a few minutes, ignoring the throbbing in her knees. Her eyes, still lit up from the adrenaline rush, slowly settled to a calm green. "I hope it's not much farther. There's supposed to be a path somewhere, isn't there? I'm gonna go insane if I have to keep climbing rocks."
----- After a few minutes she sat up and pulled herself to her feet. She dusted off the dirt on her legs and resumed walking. Luckily for her, she began to find rocks that were small enough to walk around. The trek to La'marri hadn't been her plan originally, but she had been feeling too settled in Serendipity. So she'd packed up her few belongings and started to walk in a general western direction. She had gone through a forest and ended up walking not over the mountains, but in a small pass between two giant chains. She had encountered another traveler in the area by chance, and they had shared a fire for the night. He told her he was traveling away from La'marri in hopes of finding a nice girl to marry in Ketra. Cerena had wished him luck, and decided on a whim that going to La'marri would be fun. It had sounded nice when the man described it. What was the word he has used?
----- ....Safe.
----- She had found that description strange. But at the same time, after being on her own for as long as she had been, she was tired of having to be constantly vigilant to make sure she wasn't about to be jumped or stolen from. If he had been right about the town, it'd be nice to be somewhere she could rest peacefully in for a while.
<center>~~~</center>
----- She had to walk for another day before making it into the town. Someone took pity on her and offered her a few sips of their water, which she accepted gratefully. She got directions to a place she could stay for the night and places she could get food in.
----- She ended up drifting to a crowded market street and leaning against a wall and watching people shop. She couldn't spot any thieves, but that wasn't exactly surprising as they were supposed to be hard to find. She let herself entertain the thought that La'marri didn't have any thieves before dismissing it as an impossibility. There were always thieves.
----- Despite her misgivings, she let herself relax. She had promised herself she'd stay here for at least a week, she owed it to herself. Mainly to her feet. She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to figure out if she had enough money to afford to rent out a room, or if it'd be another stay with her sleeping on people's roofs or in alleyways. Her coin purse was distinctly lighter than she liked it being, and with a sigh she opened her eyes again and determined she'd be spending the night outside. She looked up at the sky, wondering if the night was going to be cold.
----- At least the sky was clear.
After a horrendous trek across the mountains, Felina finally caught sight of La'marri. She was grateful to come across a village after days of travelling, and even though her bare feet were used to days, sometimes weeks of walking and running on all kinds of terrain, she could give them a well-deserved rest. Plus, in the last town she had been in, someone had described La'marri as a "safe haven" for just about anyone.
That suited Felina just fine, because once every few days, bandits would pop up and attack her. She fought them off successfully each time, but not without sustaining a few cuts and scratches. Luckily, she knew a lot about making medicines out of herbs and spices, and that saved her life on many occasions. But she grew tired of being plagued by bandits, so the idea of a safe haven appealed to Felina.
With her pack slung over her shoulder and a smile of relief on her face, Felina made her way towards La'marri.
Felina strode into the village, her tail swaying with each step, her large ears perking at the many sounds of activity. Many, if not all of the people stared at her briefly, but then they just went back to their business. Felina didn't mind the stares; she had grown accustomed to that over the years. But she was rather surprised to see that this village was very diverse; she didn't seem to stick out at all.
Hoping that she had enough money to stay at an inn, Felina took out her coin purse and felt its weight. She had enough money for a few nights' stay, then she would have to sleep on the street. Felina sighed at the notion, but she quickly dismissed it. She was used to outdoor sleep, but every once in a while, she wanted someplace comfortable to rest in.
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice a bump in the street. She tripped over it and fell onto the ground face-first, right in front a young woman sitting against a wall. "Oof! Oww..." she moaned.
----- No, can't buy a watermelon. I will not let myself buy a watermelon. Even if I am really hungry, there is no way I can even carry a watermelon, let alone finish the entire thing. Heck, I don't even have a way to cut it open... I guess I could drop it on a pointy rock or something....
----- Then something hit the ground in front of her, reminding her remarkably of what a dropping watermelon might sound like. She blinked once and then jumped to her feet, looking at the woman on the ground in front of her.
----- "Uh.... are you okay...?" She reached out a hand, helping to pull the woman to her feet after she quickly glanced at her to make sure she'd probably be able to stand. As she reached out her hand, her eyes paused momentarily on her ears, and she had to force herself to look away because she knew it was rude to stare. She had seen a few other people with ears like that in her travels, but she'd never been close enough to really talk to them. Her hands felt remarkably soft and Cerena had to make sure she didn't try to rub it; if she had cat ears it might make sense if she had fur of some sort, and she was positive that rubbing someone's fur was not socially acceptable.
----- I hope she doesn't think I'm rude for staring... At least I didn't stare at her tail. I'm sure it'd be really awkward if she saw me just staring at her butt. The thought did make her smile, which she hoped looked like a friendly and caring smile and not a 'Haha, you fell down' smile.
----- Once she was standing, the other woman was a few inches taller and Cerena had to look up to meet her eyes. As interested as she was in her ears, she forced herself to keep her gaze on her eyes. A slight glint distracted her and she glanced down at the ground long enough to see a coin purse on the ground. She bent down to pick it up and began to offer it to her, before realizing that the other woman was still holding onto hers. Cerena blinked and stared down at the coin purse, then looked back up at her. "...So I guess this isn't yours either?"
Felina felt herself being helped to her feet by someone. She looked to see that it was a young human woman.
"Yeah...thanks a lot," she said, smiling sheepishly. "I guess I should pay more attention to where I'm going." She brushed the dirt off of her. Even though she was half-cat, her human half still made her a little clumsy, for she doesn't always land on her feet, as this situation proved.
Then the young woman who had helped her was about to hand her a coin purse. At first, Felina thought she had dropped it, only to realize that she was still holding onto hers.
"...So I guess this isn't yours either?" the woman asked.
"No, actually," Felina replied. "I still have mine." She held her coin purse up. She smiled again. "Anyway, thanks again for helping me...uh..."
----- Cerena waited a second for the woman to finish her sentence and then realized how much of a dolt she was being, and grinned childishly. "My name's Cerena." She tossed the coin purse up and then caught it, toying around with it. "And if this doesn't belong to either of us, then that means someone dropped it." She scanned the crowd around her, looking for someone who looked panicked, or at least like they were missing something.
----- She paused a moment and then looked back at her. For just a moment, she looked very unsure and almost afraid, but it was the expression was gone just as quickly, replaced with the child-like smile. "What's your name? D'you wanna help me find whoever this belongs to?" She moved another piece of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and wishing her hair would stay there for once. "I mean... if you have something else to do, don't worry 'bout it, but if you have nothing to do for a while..."
Felina smiled sweetly again. "Sure I'll help you," she said. "It's the least I can do to repay the favor. My name's Felina, by the way. Nice to meet you."
Her smile was broken when she heard a faraway voice yelling, "AUGH!!! MY COIN PURSE IS GONE!!! MY POCKET'S BEEN PICKED!!! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!?!" Her cat ears perked in the direction the voice was coming from.
"I think I know who lost it already," Felina said. "This way!" She ran off in the direction the voice came from, but stopped to make sure Cerena was behind her.
----- Cerena was about to say that she didn't have to repay the favor, because she wasn't sure if helping someone to their feet really counted as a favor, but she got interrupted by someone yelling. She saw Felina's ears perk towards the voice, which was coming from somewhere behind her.
----- That was easier than I was expecting.
----- "I think I know who lost it already. This way!" Felina past Cerena in the direction of the voice and Cerena spun around to chase her, and nearly lost her balance. She teetered for a moment before regaining it and running after Felina, dodging around people and yelling an apology to the people she didn't doge as well as she had hoped.
"S'cuse me, pardon me, coming through," Felina said while dodging unwary bystanders. While she ran, she made two close shaves, her catlike reflexes saving her from disaster both times. The third time, she wasn't so lucky. She tripped over another bump in the street and fell head over heels onto the ground face-first, in front of a very frantic-looking man. "Ow...I'm okay," she moaned as she proceeded to stand.
----- People-dodging was fun, once you got used to it. If you timed it well, you could even jump in front of someone and then spin out of their way quickly before they even knew what had just happened. Cerena only tired that once, because she learned when she slammed into someone that she wasn't very good at timing spins.
----- But focusing on people didn't leave her with much attention to pay to where she was running. Her foot caught on the same bump Felina had found, and she sprawled ungracefully to the ground, the coin purse slipping out of her hands and towards Felina.
----- "...Geez, that does hurt..."
Felina saw that Cerena had fallen down right next to her. It seemed she caught the same bump that Felina had tripped over.
"Now you know how I felt," Felina said. "Are you okay?" She held out a hand to help Cerena up.
The frantic-looking man (who appeared to be in his mid-thirties with short brown hair and a goatee) looked at the two girls who had tripped in front of him. "Are you two young girls alright?" he asked with concern in his voice.
----- Laughing a little and accepting Felina's help, Cerena felt her face getting red. She grabbed the coin purse again and tossed it lightly in the air, hoping it would draw attention away from her face. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks....." she said sorta quietly.
----- She smiled a little more enthusiastically at the man. "I'm fine, thanks for asking! I really hope this belongs to you!" With that, she held out the coin purse, hoping she wasn't shoving it in the wrong person's face.
The man looked at the coin purse for a second, then a look of relief came over him. "Yes, it does!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, accepting the coin purse. "At first, I thought my pocket had been picked, but I never realized I just dropped it. Thank you so much, young ladies. I should give you a little something in return." He opened the coin purse, pulled out ten gold coins, and placed them in Cerena's hand. "There. That's five for each of you. Thanks again!" He then strolled away, virtually melting into the crowds.
Felina looked shocked. "What just happened?" she asked, dumbfounded.
----- Cerena watched the man stroll off before she lost him quickly in the mass of moving people. "We successfully returned the coin purse," she said thoughtfully. She was fairly positive that returning a coin purse in that manner in any other city might make people think she was the thief, and that she had only returned the purse to keep the man from yelling. Of course, it depended on how paranoid the other party was.
----- "...but just as importantly, he paid us!" She grinned and handed Felina her five coins. She pulled her coin purse out and tucked the coins in, happily listening to them jingle.
----- I wonder how much watermelons cost here...
Felina's face lit up. "Really?" she said as she accepted the gold coins. "That's great!" A big smile formed on her face. Now she just might have enough for a longer stay at an inn. But maybe she should do something else before settling in...
"So...you wanna do something else?" Felina asked Cerena
----- "Well," Cerena said in an almost business-like tone, "I don't know about you, but the last time I ate was sometime yesterday. I was thinking of finding some cheap food around here, and then checking to see how much it will cost me to stay in an inn, because if they're expensive I will be camping. I don't suppose you know how much inns cost here?"
----- Her eyes softened a little and she smiled absently and gestured up towards the sky. "Not that it really matters if I'm outside...it doesn't look like it'll be raining tonight."
Felina smiled. "I don't mind the outdoors, either. I've pretty much spent three-quarters of my life outside. But I wouldn't mind spending a few nights somewhere comfortable." She put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well let's see...the past few places I've been to cost two gold for a night, and about three gold for a good meal. Though most of the time I'd make my own meals, and they're usually a lot better-tasting and more cost-efficient."
----- Cerena winced slightly. Yes, she had five gold now, which gave her a total of roughly nine gold. Sleeping in an inn was definitely out now, because you never knew if you might need money. As for finding a meal, she didn't want to spend money on that either now. Hunting was an option, but she wanted to avoid it if she could.
----- "If you don't mind me asking... what do you make yourself? I'm a little short on money, so anything I can save on..." She shrugged a little. "I mean, I'll help, I know how to cook, but I wouldn't say my cooking is typically better tasting than anything you'd pay for."
Felina gave another smile. "Oh, I'll cook just about anything. Meat, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables, stews, bread, you name it," she said. She remembered that, adding the five gold she had received, she now had a total of eleven gold, seven silver, and eight copper. She hoped that was enough for a quick trip to the market AND a room at an inn.
"Do you have a particular favorite?" she asked Cerena.
----- It had been such a long time since anyone had actually asked Cerena what kind of food she liked she had to stop and think about it. Typically she just took what she could get, and if it tasted good, even better. After all, beggars can't be choosers. Unless the beggar has a really, really pointy stick.
----- Finally she laughed a little. "Nothing in particular comes to mind, but I haven't had any fish in a long time. Maybe there's a river around here or something? I haven't gone fishing in ages."
----- Fishing was a little different from hunting, in her mind. Fish were typically pretty ugly, and if they were stupid enough to bite the big shiny hook in front of their face, then.... well. She was doing their gene pool a favor.
Felina nodded. "Yeah, fish is really tasty, especially if you cook it right," she said. "I think I saw a river on my way here, actually. It's just west of here, maybe a half-hour hike...yeah, fishing is definitely a better option than buying from a fish market, because fish tend to be very expensive."
She then gave a big grin. "So, you wanna go fishing?"
----- Cerena grinned widely. She didn't have a fishing pole or anything that would help her catch fish (other than magic, of course), but it sounded fun. She didn't know if Felina was a local or not, but if everyone in the area was as friendly as her, then she was going to have a fun time while she was in town.
----- "Sure!" She looked up at the sky, trying to remember if the sun set in the east or west, before giving up quickly and smiling sheepishly at Felina. "Lead the way?"
Felina smiled. "Why, of course," she said. "Follow me." Her intuit sense of direction told her that west was on the other side of town, so she started walking, glancing behind her occasionally to make sure that Cerena was following her.
----- Cerena was glad Felina knew what direction west was; she wasn't necessarily bad with directions, but she always traveled by landmarks. She followed after Felina, trying to focus on making sure she didn't lose her in the crowds or accidentally walk into her if she stopped. As much as she tried to keep her attention focused, she was easily distracted by just about everything. Other people, market stalls, buildings, even alleys all proved to be interesting enough to steal her attention for a few seconds.
----- As the town began to turn to forest, Cerena calmed down a little, acting less like a child and more like an adult. She kept an idle lookout for any animals, just in case she did end up getting more meals from the area, but the only animals she managed to verify was a doe and two young fawns, which she wouldn't touch if she could help it. She began wondering how unrealistic it might be to simple camp out near the river and walk into town whenever she needed supplies. If the area wasn't dangerous, it could be an easy place to stay for a few months....
Felina continued walking through the familiar quiet of the forest, occasionally listening for Cerena's footsteps to make sure she was still behind her. Soon enough, Felina heard the sound of running water, and after another few minutes of walking, the two came upon the river.
The river was about a hundred feet wide and stretched up north and south as far as the eye can see. The current wasn't too swift, flowing at a good, steady rate. Forests lined both sides of the river, but Felina's eyes spotted a tiny, grassy peninsula extending about fifteen feet into the river not too far from where they were.
She turned to Cerena and pointed at the peninsula. "That looks like a good spot," she said. "What do you think?"
----- "Wow, this river is huge..." Cerena ran to the edge of the water and watched it flow over a few rocks on the bottom. The water wasn't perfectly clear, of course, but it was clear enough to see a few little fish swimming around in the water. They were too small to make a meal, like guppies, but they were fun to watch flit around.
----- She looked over at the peninsula when Felina pointed it out, and nodded. "Looks fine to me too.... so, how are you planning on catching any?" Cerena was torn between building some sort of makeshift fishing pole or just giving up and using magic, but she didn't want to use that unless she had to. She wasn't in the mood for casting any serious spells at the moment.
Felina paused. "Y'know, I never really thought about that," she admitted sheepishly, her face going a little red. She hated it when she jumped right into a situation without even thinking about how to handle it; it really messed things up for her when she did. "We could try to make makeshift poles...but I'm open to any suggestions you might have."
----- [-- OC: Sorry it took me so long to reply.... I thought we were gonna be having a low key weekend at home and my parents ended up inviting a ton of people over. ^^;; I hope you had fun at the Renn Fest, though, I cannot wait until the one near me opens! --]
----- Drat. Cerena had really hoped that Felina was carrying some kind of magic pouch that was capable of holding fishing poles or something to that effect; but no such luck. That left either using some sort of spell, running back to La'marri to buy fishing poles, which wasn't a great option either. She bit her lip.
----- "So....Felina, you don't know any magic by chance, do you? I'm thinking we're either gonna hafta use magic, whittle ourselves some fishing poles really quickly, or run back to town and buy some. I know some magic, but... I'd have to think about how to best apply it to fishing..." She crossed her arms and stared thoughtfully down at the river, watching the fish flit around in it, safe for now.
----- Touché, fish. Touché.
((--OC: That's quite all right. Well, I did indeed have a blast at the Renn Faire, and I'd like to describe it in a PM.
Oh, and don't you just hate it when something unexpected happens and it throws your plans off? I do.--))
Magic...Felina had seen a lot of people perform all kinds of magic, and it still amazes her every time she sees someone do it. But even though she was unique in the eyes of many humans, she could not perform any magic at all.
"I'm afraid I don't know any magic, Cerena," Felina admitted. "I'm sorry."
----- [-- OC: Please, go right ahead! I'd love to hear about it. ^^
----- And yes, I hate that more than almost anything. It was fun, I'll admit, but I had planned on spending my weekend in a very different way, so I wasn't exactly pleased. --]
----- She smiled. "Don't worry about it, it's not a problem! Just lemme think for a minute..."
----- She could try to lure the fish to one particular area and then somehow pull them out, which seemed practical. It'd be more practical if they had a net, but if they had thought that far ahead they would have boughten fishing poles. A big leaf could be used to scoop a fish up, she supposed, but she had only seen leaves that big growing in jungles, and she doubted any would be growing anywhere near where she was now. It was possible Felina might be able to catch them, if she had very good reflexes and eyesight, but she wasn't sure that was possible.
----- It theoretically was possible to pull all of the oxygen out of part of the water, but it would be a huge undertaking, and it'd kill far too many fish. Everything she was thinking of was either too impractical or too wasteful. She scowled slightly.
----- "So, if I managed to make the fish swim slowly, d'you think you might be able to grab them?" She smiled sheepishly, a little embarrassed that was the best plan she could come up with.
((--OC: Okay, after this post is up, I'll PM you ^.^--))
Felina smiled at the idea. "Sure, that sounds like a good idea," she said. "If that doesn't work, then I'll think of a plan B."
She wasn't exactly too sure what her "plan B" was, but she figured she would be able to think of one in time.
----- Cerena let out a deep breath. Great, luring fish should be a pretty minor spell. At most it'd only be a small cut on her palm; nothing noticeable. Or at least easy to blame on just clenching her fists too tightly while she was concentrating. She forced herself to relax a little and smiled at Felina.
----- "I'm gonna mimick dropping bread crumbs in the water. They should go for it, cause it's food, so they'll probably stop around where they think it is when they try to eat it. If you can catch them then.... we can eat, I guess. If not, we'll have to think some more." She smiled hopefully.
Felina smiled. She had very good reflexes, so catching distracted fish shouldn't be too much of a problem for her.
"Alright, that I can do," Felina said, now reassured. "If you may?"
----- Cerena's eyes flickered shut, and she felt her nails digging into the palms of her hands. She didn't even wince as the nail finally broke the skin, and a thin trickle of blood began to seep out onto her hand. She quickly flipped her hand up and spread her palm, hoping in the back of her mind that it was out of Felina's sight, but she didn't want to risk messing the spell up by distracting herself that much.
----- She began to trace a pattern on her palm, using the blood as a thin layer of paint. The cuts she had inflicted had already began to close up; and after a moment of concentrating on her hand, she closed and opened it slowly and found herself holding a small pile of bread crumbs.
----- Of course they weren't real bread crumbs, or there wouldn't be a point in fishing. They were really just illusions that Cerena was focusing on so they'd interact with the real world in a realistic way. A bunch of bread crumbs wasn't exactly difficult magic, but doing the same with something like a dagger was much more intense. She tossed a few of the bread crumbs into the river and watched as the fish slowly began to move towards them, mistaking them for real food....
When Cerena dropped the "bread crumbs" into the water, Felina noticed that Cerena's hand was bleeding. She decided to ask her about it after she caught a fish.
Felina waited for a good-sized fish to take the bait. Then, she spotted one: a large salmon, maybe two and a half feet in length. Felina put down he pack, scimitar, and hunting knife, and crouched by the water, waiting for the salmon to drop its guard to the bread crumbs.
Then, much like a cat, she pounced, diving into the river and siezing the salmon before it knew what hit it. The salmon thrashed about wildly, trying to escape Felina's grasp, but it was no use. Felina brought it above the surface, where it kept thrashing about for a few moments until it finally gave up due to the lack of water. Grinning widely, Felina climbed back onto dry land with the salmon in tow.
"It's a big one!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "For a second, I thought it was going to drag me down the river."
----- Cerena nearly panicked when Felina jumped in the river- she hadn't been quite sure of what to expect, but she had just assumed that she would be able to reach her hands in and grab a fish or something. Not leap into the river. She was so surprised that she entirely lost her focus and the remaining bread crumbs disappeared. She would have been annoyed at herself, but judging from the size of the fish Felina was wrestling with... she wasn't going to be needing the other crumbs anyway.
----- She dipped her hand momentarily in the water, rinsing off the blood pattern and the excess blood. The cuts weren't really noticeable, but they were still there, as always. As always.
----- As Felina pulled the fish onto the land, Cerena simply stared. "I'm not sure I've ever seen a fish that big before," she murmured, watching it slowly stop flapping it's tail. "How in the hell did you catch that?" Then she grinned. "Good job! Now we just gotta cook it."
Felina smiled and giggled. "Thanks. I'm half-cat, after all." She set the salmon down and shook the excess water out of her hair. "Just let me dry off first." She had forgotten what it was like to get wet, so it felt kind of uncomfortable for her. Luckily, there was plenty of sunlight on this peninsula, so she lay down in the sunlight, hoping she would dry off soon. She loved the warmth of the sun beating down on her; it relaxed her so much.
"So, how are we going to cook this fish?" she then asked after a moment.
----- "Cooking it'll be much easier," Cerena promised. "It's basic magic to light a fire, as long as you have some sticks, and we are in a forest, so they shouldn't be that hard to find." She smiled as she watched Felina sunbathe in an attempt to dry off; it looked so nice. But Cerena preferred to do almost everything on a full stomach, so she focused her energy on collecting firewood.
----- Pretty soon she had a decent sized pile, so she set around to arranging it so it'd light easily. It was only after she was ready to light the fire up that she began to wonder the schematics of roasting a fish. If she just stuck it on a stick and stuck it in the fire, it was liable to not be fully or properly cooked. She considered building some kind of a spit so she could rotate the fish, but the chances of finding two sticks like that were slim to none.
----- "Hmm..." Well, the chances of finding two perfect sticks were slim. But magically altering some sticks- that was certainly do able. She wandered back into the forest, telling Felina she was just looking for some more sticks, searching out three long sticks. She painstakingly managed to manipulate the wood to form a makeshift spit, but she had to spend a few minutes washing her hands afterwards, leaving a faint red trail in the river. Altering plants- especially dead plants- wasn't an easy feat, and it certainly wasn't her specialty.
----- She returned triumphantly and set up her little cooking spit, examining it with pride. The only thing left to do was light up the fire... and actually cook the fish.
Felina continued to lay in the sunlight, smiling at the warmth that bore down upon her. She loved bathing in the sun; it made her feel so relaxed and content. It made her just want to forget all her troubles and think about the bright side of things.
She was about to doze off when she heard Cerena come back and set up something. Felina reluctantly sat herself up, and, after examining her fur to see if it was dry, examined the spit Cerena had set up.
"Did you make that yourself? Good job," she said happily. "Now, to light the fire and cook the fish. But first..." She grabbed her travelling pack and proceeded to pull out small containers containing a multitude of herbs and spices. She pulled out at least 35 such containers and looked them over carefully, making sure the contents of each container were still fresh. She also pulled out a small grinding bowl and grinding stick.
"Now, what to season it with?" she murmured, looking over her collection.
----- [-- OC: Sorry I haven't replied; my wireless has been sorta broken... but it's apparently working now.... --]
----- "Yeah, hopefully it will stay standing long enough for us to use it; I've never tried to make one before so I have no idea how stable it is." She turned partially, to focus on lighting the fire. That was an easy spell; it didn't even require any blood. Just a moment of concentration.
----- She could hear Felina going through her traveling pack and pulling something out. She wondered if maybe she had some bread or something, to supplement the fish. Her stomach grumbled a little bit. It was one thing to be hungry; it was another thing to be hungry and only about twenty minutes away from a delicious meal.
----- She turned around to see what Felina was looking at and gaped. Spices! Herbs! So many cooking things! The only spice Cerena could even recognize (she assumed it was what she thought it was, at least) was a little jar of cinnamon. "Now, what to season it with?"
----- "...I don't really know what to flavor fish with... I don't think I've ever seen this many little jars, either..."
((--OC: That's quite alright. It happens to the best of us.
And sorry about not replying to your PM as soon as I hoped...so many unexpected things came up yesterday and the day before, but I should be able to reply today...hopefully.--))
Felina chuckled. "Well, if you're like me, you'd be having a lot of herbs and spices around with you, too," she said. "You'll never know when you'll need them and what you'll need them for. Now, let's see..." She scanned over her herbs again. Then, she decided to make a sort of spicy, flavorful seasoning for the fish.
Felina proceeded to grab containers of paprika, salt, black pepper, parsley, dried onion, dried garlic, oregano, basil, whole cumin, a cinnamon stick, and thyme, and carefully measured a small amount of each into her grinding mill. She then took her grinding stick and ground all of the ingredients together into a fine powder. A mild spicy aroma emanated from the mixture, and it could be smelled around the peninsula. Felina's sensitive nose sniffed the scent, and she smiled.
"I think that should do the trick," she said.
----- Cerena shook her head slightly, not sure she'd ever carry that many jars around. Cerena tended to not carry expensive or fragile things with her, as she was somewhat prone to doing stupid things, like jumping off rocks. She had learned that falling always hurt, but falling on broken glass always hurt just a little bit more, and the pain stuck with you. "You must cook a lot," she murmured as she watched Felina pull out seemingly random herbs and spices and apply them.
----- And she was right, it did smell wonderful. Cerena could feel her mouth watering, but tried not to look TOO hungry. "D'you know if we're supposed to...uh, gut the fish before we cook it? It's been a long time since I ate fish..."
Felina smiled and nodded. "Yup, I do cook a lot. And I don't mean to brag, but I make a lot of very tasty meals. Now, let's see...we're supposed to cut the fish open, cut out the meat under its skin, season it, and then cook it over the fire. Can you get the fire started?"
She then grabbed her hunting knife, unsheathed it, and proceeded to cut the fish open with it. She then cut a large slab of fish meat off and removed the skin from it. She then took the seasoning she made and sprinkled a generous amount of it onto both sides of the fish meat, rubbing it in so that the flavor could seep into the meat.
"Okay, all set," she said. She then went to the river to wash her hands and her knife clean of the fish-fluids.
----- "Yup, I do cook a lot. And I don't mean to brag, but I make a lot of very tasty meals. Now, let's see...we're supposed to cut the fish open, cut out the meat under its skin, season it, and then cook it over the fire. Can you get the fire started?"
----- "You certainly look like you do," she said with an almost silent sigh of relief as Felina took the fish and sliced it open. Cerena had been so hung up on the idea of having to cut the fish open that she had forgotten she was supposed to start the fire. It wasn't as if she had never gutted a fish, or seen worse things, but she was feeling childish, and to a child gutting a fish wasn't too much of a good time.
----- She turned back to the fire an made a strange hand gesture and then blew on her hand gently, directing to towards the pile of wood she had set up. A moment later a small flame sparked on a twig, and within a few moments a fire started. She leaned back against the ground, content with herself and with the fire. The scene was perfect, really, with a nice river nearby and a warm fire just as close. She closed her eyes. Nice enough to take a nap...
----- Then her stomach growled and she chuckled to herself. Maybe a nap after she had eaten.
Seeing that the fire was already started, Felina took the seasoned fish and put it on the spit, making sure it was steady enough. Satisfied, she then put all of her belongings back into her pack and sat by the fire, its warmth radiating upon her.
The feeling of warmth felt so good, whether it was from the sun or from a campfire. She could take a nap right now, but her sensitive ears picked up the sound of a growling stomach...Cerena's stomach, no doubt. Plus, she had to keep an eye on the fish so it wouldn't burn or catch fire. She turned the spit so the fish could cook evenly. The scent of the seasoning intensified over the fire, and Felina's mouth began to water.
"I can't wait to try it," she said with a large smile on her face.
----- "It's so relaxing here," Cerena murmured, half to herself and half to Felina. It was the first time in weeks she had been able to let herself feel completely relaxed in a few weeks; she was usually alert for people she didn't trust or wild animals. But for some reason, she felt very comfortable. Felina was certainly awake, and she'd probably be able to hear anything sneaking up on them. She closed her eyes for a minute, not quite alseep, but not entirely aware of her surroundings, either.
----- The relaxation wasn't what her childish side wanted; that part of her wanted to skip stones or poke the fire or even go swimming. But that part of her wasn't in control at the moment, and she was able to ignore her childish pleas.
----- The smell of the delicious fish did not help Cerena's stomach. The knowledge that food was that much closer made her even hungrier, unfortunately, to the point she began to wonder if raw fish was safe to eat, or even only partially-cooked fish. As hungry as she was, she had no desire to experiment with her own stomach.
----- "It smells so good..." She rolled over onto her stomach and opened her eyes again, watching the fish turn, silently willing the fire to burn stronger and cook faster.
Felina had to agree with Cerena. It felt so relaxing...for once. The fact that she had been plagued by bandits led her to being very alert, but today...she felt that alertness melt away. Finally, she could take things easier and not have to worry about bandits, because she was near a safe haven.
And she was glad to have Cerena as company. She had been travelling for quite some time alone, and she always felt a great need to talk to someone friendly. She felt happy talking to someone.
Felina smelled the fish again. Gods, it smelled like heaven. After a while, she removed it from the fire and inspected it carefully to see if it cooked all the way through. Seeing that it was, Felina gave a big grin.
"Okay, it's ready," she said happily.
----- Cerena had been about ready to drift into a sleep, but as soon as Felina had inspected she practically jumped to her feet. Food outweighed sleeping- this time. She fished a fork out of a traveling pouch and rinsed it off in the stream before cleaning it off magically, deciding that there was no such thing as too clean.
----- Then she paused, staring at the fish. "...Do we have anything resembling plates? Or something we can cut it on?"
Felina paused for a moment, putting a hand to her chin in thought. Then, afterr a moment, her eyes widened. "I think I do. Wait a sec." She then grabbed her pack and looked in it, hoping to find something. Then she spotted them and pulled them out; they were two flat, polished stones with a slight depression in the middle of each. They resembled something like plates. She then pulled out a fork of her own.
Felina then grabbed her hunting knife and cut the fish meat into two equal halves, put each of them on a plate, and handed one plate to Cerena. "Here you go. Enjoy it," she said enthusiastically, with a smile on her face.
----- Cerena took the makeshift plate with a grin, impressed by how much Felina had to get by on. She should have probably started carrying her own plates or something to eat off of, but she had somehow always gotten by without owning any. Eventually, she mused, she'd have to get her own, but why bother when they kept fortuitously showing up?
----- "Do you just carry these around with you? They look sorta heavy..." She asked as she bit into the fish, but as soon as she did she was distracted by the flavor. "Mmmm, this is delicious! Felina, you're a much better cook than I am!" She paused for a moment, realizing that wasn't much of a compliment. She'd wager that a good 75% of the world were better cooks than she was. "You really know what you're doing," she settled on with a smile.
Felina smiled and blushed a little. "Why thank you. I'm glad you like it so much," she said happily. She bit into her fish as well, and immediately, she loved the taste. "I enjoy cooking a lot. I've been cooking since I was little. There's always new food to make. I try to make food as interesting as I can." She took another bite out of the fish. "Mmmm, this is good."