The Ranch

Miscalculation 2x (4)

Tih walks up the spiral staircase with the crate. He looks up to see a long line of soldiers in groups, watching carrying their own crate. The pace is as slow as a snail's and Tih simply stands on the railing before continuing to walk up the stairs. He puts the crate on his side, carrying it with one hand, so  it's out of the way and won't hit any of the soldiers. Moving at a faster pace, Tih bypasses the slow soldiers.

The soldiers watch the newbie balance the crate in his hands as he climbs up the skinny railing on the outer edge of the stairs. They become embarrassed as Tih surpasses them.

Not wanting to lose, the soldiers hasten their pace. Tih unknowingly lessened the time it would have taken to get all the crates to the fifth floor.

By the time they reach the top floor, the soldier collapse on the ground with pained muscles. Hearing a commotion, a man's frustration peaks. He walks over to the panting soldiers staining the floor with their sweat," What do you think you're- Tih?" The man's eyes light up when he spots the boy.

Tih walks towards the kitchen as he carries the crate at his side. He sees Instructor Maddox walk up to him, so he stops to face the instructor, which can only be seen as a respectful attitude.

Instructor Maddox looks at the boy carrying a crate half his height," Ah, if you're busy, you don't have to bother with me. I do want to talk to you at a later time though."

At this moment, Instructor Raphael enter the fifth floor. Spotting Instructor Maddox and Tih, he pulls the latter into the kitchen while saying," I'll have your meal out in a moment, Instructor Maddox. Thank you for your gracious patience."

Speeding into the kitchen, he orders all the workers to bring the other ingredients before telling Tih what he needs to do," All I need is for you to peel and cut the ingredients. Do you know what mincing looks like? Finely diced? Julienne?"

Tih shakes his head.

"That's fine. I'll show you." He takes a knife and demonstrates all the necessary cutting techniques needed for the meal.

Tih somehow found the knife he used when he was here last. After watching Instructor Raphael only once, Tih is able to copy him to the same degree of ability. The cuts are clean and even, creating equally sized parts in a short amount of time. A skill that usually takes years to master, Tih is currently accomplishing it.

Sighing in admiration, Instructor Raphael quickly focuses, gains control of the kitchen, and creates an orderly machine comprised of efficient workers, producing dish after dish.

They immediately serve the impatient customers, then make preparations for future customers, and start preparations for lunch and dinner with the day's ingredients.

Busy with the food and his workers, Instructor Raphael only had time to check on Tih after the rush slowed down. He walks over to Tih to see the raw ingredients for all three meals cut up. The instructor orders for some worker to store it in the walk-in refrigerator before it starts to brown. With most of the day's mes en plas complete, the staff will have less work they have to do.

Seeing the child's ability, the workers start complementing Tih, praising him and joking with Chef Raphael about hiring him before another kitchen snatches him. The instructor chuckles, handing Tih a plate of food," Good work. You're done for the day, but if you ever want to help us again, I'll have a free meal ready for you. Ah, of course I haven't forgotten about the month worth of food I owe you." He roughly pats Tih's shoulder as he chuckles, vibrating like a shaking egg.

He twirls his handlebar mustache as he watches Tih leave the kitchen. He recalls the worker that told him to hire Tih. Although Tih is exceptional at cutting and peeling, he uncommunicative. A larger part of working in a kitchen is being able to communicate with other. Instructor Raphael shakes his head, getting back to work.

Tih walks out of the kitchen with a plate in hand. Instructor Maddox, who's been intently staring at the door the entire time, calls out to him," Come sit over here." A gleeful smile appears on his face. If anyone else saw this smile, they would probably shiver in fear. The only times Instructor Maddox ever smiled was when he was about to inflict personal punishment, according to the rumors. Most people have not had the delight of seeing him smile.

Tih sits down with his tray and starts eating. Stuffing his cheeks like a chipmunk. He stares at the instructor in silence, listening to him speak,"Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that the new recruit, Axel, was in the wrong, so after you left, I reprimanded him, but that does not mean you are entirely free either. I'm not entirely clear on the matter, but you ended up provoking him by cutting off his ear. You might have had your reasons, so I will not blame you for that, but the fact of the matter is that you fought in restricted area. You will be charged with a small fee as a warning." He looks at the uncaring child," Just make sure this doesn't happen again." Finishing up his lecture, get gets up and leaves. He had finished eating a long time ago and had waited to talk to Tih, even though he could easily get someone else to tell Tih his punishment.

Tih also finishes eating and leaves the fifth floor. He meet back up with Kai, who's with Lucien and Sherlock. They decide to go back to the market to finish finding the parts needed for the communication watches.