And it started in La'marri (With cake! >.>)

[Anonymous]

----- 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..."

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

----- "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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

----- "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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

----- 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?"

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

----- 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.

[Anonymous]

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."