Acquired Tastes

[10.26.00] » by Kirkis

The sun was just starting to dip down below the earths curve, but it had long since gone out of the view of the group traveling through the sea of trees. A young blue-haired man, a Woren female, a Grass-man, and a Wyndian. The sky above was growing dark, and shaded by the trees, the forest was almost pitch black.

"We should stop here." The young man said. "Katt, we can have that Boar you killed now." He added, looking over at the young Woren.

"Alright, Somebody's gotta start a fire then. " She replied.

"Ryu, I saw a peach tree a few meters back there, I'll go get some desert." The Wyndian girl said softly.

"Ok, But be careful Nina." Ryu replied, gathering small pieces of wood for their fire. Katt tossed the boar off her back, and rushed to help Ryu. Spar also walked around picking up various pieces of dead wood.

"There is a dying tree a few meters to the north that wishes to aid in your journey. It is not long for this world and is suffering." Spar said pointing in the direction of the tree. Ryu straightened himself, and looked north. "It's the only one with no leaves." He added.

"Ok, I'll be back in a minute, Katt, when Nina gets back, have her use a spark to start the fire." Ryu said.

"Right." Katt said. It was her personal belief that people had become to dependent on Magic for everyday life. Starting a fire wasn't hard to do without magic. But people still insist on using sparks to start them.

Ryu walked about twelve meters north before finding the aged tree. He looked up and down its trunk. "This tree must've been sick for years. Its life force will not suffer any longer." He thought, drawing his sword. "My apologies, spirit of life, I must take this life to provide warmth and nourishment for me and my friends." He said. He slashed through the base of the trunk with one stroke. The tree, wavered and tipped to the left, crashing down to the ground. Ryu cut away most of the larger limbs of the tree. "This should be enough." He though, he tied a rope around seven of the limbs and started dragging them back to the encampment. Back at the camp, Nina had returned with armfuls of the fuzzy fruit. Katt looked at them curling her lip a little. She never cared for plants, much less fuzzy ones.

"What are those?" She asked.

"Peaches, there very good. You'll have to try one after dinner." Nina replied. Katt's sneer grew.

"No thanks, I don't like plants, especially when they have fur." She said.

"But, Katt, these don't taste like beans or asparagus. They're sweet, like candy."

"Yeah, well Rand told me that yellow kilea leaves were sweet, and they still tasted like plants." Katt said in rebuttal.

"Katt," Nina said, almost laughing. "This is a fruit, It's nature's candy, Rand is a vegetarian, so naturally he thinks some plants are sweet." She finished, laying down the peaches carefully on a towel.

"Well, I just don't like plants." Katt said, trying to close the subject. Nina looked up from the peaches.

"You can at least try one, Katt. You never know until you try." Katt ignored her. She stared into the forest waiting for Ryu to return. "I can't believe you! You are so stubborn that you're not even going to try one bite!?" Nina said, standing up. Again Katt remained silent.

"Sometimes you can be so Childish!" Nina said. She walked over to the small pile of sticks and twigs surrounded by a border of rocks. She stood calmly in front of it, concentrating.

"…Spark." She said, flashing a small ball of flames at the pile. The dried grass smoldered and eventually caught fire.

"What's keeping Ryu?" Katt said, still staring into the woods.

"I'm sure it'll take a while to cut a whole tree down." Nina replied. Nina was a little upset by Katt's refusal to try a peach. It was her favorite food, and she'd gotten more than enough for her and Ryu to eat. She knew Spar would not eat them, it would be like cannibalism to him. So if Katt didn't eat any, then there would be five peaches that would rot before anyone could eat them.

"Ryu!" Katt yelled, rushing to help him pull the tree limbs back into the camp. "Good, now we can get the fire going really good." She said.

Using Ryu's dagger, she carved the cooked boar from its spit. She'd gotten good at this since joining Ryu in his journey. She heaped a thick piece of meat onto Ryu's small metal plate. Spar would not again not be eating with them, he'd gone to sleep.

"Go ahead and get yours first Nina, I want to cut my own ok?" Katt said, smiling. Nina, though a bit hurt, got herself a small thin slice and placed it on a small porcelain plate. Katt usually cut her own before it was fully cooked, but this time, she'd let it cook completely. Katt took the dagger and jabbed it deep into the side of the boar. Both Nina and Ryu looked on, wondering what she was doing. She dragged the blade through the cooked flesh, in a "C" shape, then pulled open the flap she'd made.

"It's been a long time since I've had Dy'oth. " She said. Nina and Ryu looked at each other. "Dy'oth?" "Dy'oth?" They both said.

"Katt what is Dy'oth." Ryu asked. Katt reached inside the hole she'd made.

"Guts, It's really good, you should try some." She said, pulling out intestines. The reaction from them was the same, Total disgust and shock.

"Katt, how can you eat that?!" Nina asked, holding her hand over her mouth.

"It's good, I'll bet it's better than your Plant." Katt said defensively. Nina looked over at her peaches. A small grin found it's way to her face.

"Ok then Katt, I'll bet you I can eat a mouthful of that, before you can eat one big bite off a peach." Nina said, smiling.

"Oh c'mon, Dy'oth is a Woren dish, most other clans find it way to salty." Katt said.

"Well, I'll have to see what I think of it." Nina replied, softly. "Now, will you accept my challenge or are you to chicken to try a peach?" she finished, smiling at her Woren companion. Katt's left eyebrow twitched a few times before she reached over and picked up a small soft fuzzy fruit, and raised it up to her nose.

"It smells like perfume! This fruit is so bad it has to cover up its bad smell with perfume." She thought, curling her upper lip at the sweet smelling peach." She'll never put guts in her mouth, and even if she does, she'll spit em' out pretty quick." Nina, in the meantime, had picked up a fork and was busy entwining it with a small length of tripe.

"This stuff looks and smells awful, but I guess I should keep an open mind, it could be very tasty." She thought, as she raised the forkful of intestine level with her mouth. "On the other hand, it could be the worst thing I'll ever taste."

"Nina, are you really gonna eat that?" Ryu asked looking at the mess of guts on Nina's fork. Katt glanced over at her for a moment, then turned her attention back to the peach. She opened her mouth and brought the peach up to her teeth. Katt brought the peach back away from her mouth, inspecting it again, trying to find a more pleasant looking place to bite. Nina glanced over at Katt, and then back to her tripe.

"Well, down the hatch." She said, stuffing the whole forkful in her mouth at once. Ryu leaned over looking her in the face to see her reaction. There was a second of calmness in her face, until her tongue got a taste of what was on it. Nina's face immediately soured, as she brought both hands to her mouth. Katt watched, waiting for Nina to spit it out. Nina began the near impossible task of chewing up the tripe. A few seconds passed and Nina swallowed. Maintaining her grimace, she shifted the remaining amount in her mouth around, and chewed a little more. When Nina managed to swallow the last bit, she opened her mouth and one word came out.

"ALE!" She yelled, holding both hands out toward Ryu. Caught off guard, Ryu reached over to is side and grabbed the bottle he'd been drinking from for most of the night. Nina turned up the bottle taking six or seven big gulps. Nina was no drinker, mind you, she didn't like alcohol, but for some reason, she'd asked for ale, instead of her usual water. Katt sat holding the unscathed peach, staring in astonishment that Nina actually ate a forkful of classic Woren cuisine. She returned her gaze to the little perfume scented peach. She closed her eyes, and took a big bite. Ryu looked over at Katt for any reaction from her. Instead of chewing, Katt held it in her mouth for a second keeping both eyes firmly shut. As the flavor leeched down onto her taste buds, one eye crept open, followed by the other. Katt, shifted her tongue around letting it touch the peach in other places. She took a bigger bite, chewing quickly, and swallowing.

"I think she likes it." Ryu said, looking at Nina. Katt finished off the peach, tossing the pit aside. She leaned over to Nina, and smiled.

"Nina, Can I have another?"

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