The Bull's Horns Oneshot Book

Burn The Cactus?

Summary: The Horn Gang group has gathered again at the beach, this time with more treats involved as they find out Mumbo enjoys eating cactuses. Inspired by a video of someone blowtorching the spikes off some cactuses and feeding them to a group of cows. Video link here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CgbBXy8Fwdw/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sat around a campfire on the beach, Horn Gang happily chatted and roasted marshmallows together. It had been a fun day of playing minigames together and were winding down their day as the sun set into the water nearby. One thing about the beach they were on was this particular one had cactus growing where the sand had met grass just a couple of feet from where they set up camp. Mumbo had been eyeing said cactuses for the last couple of minutes, his mouth watering as he stared longingly. As he stared he accidently ignored the others as they chatted, too focused on the thought of getting his hands on the delicious yet dangerous treat. Cactuses were such a rare treat for cow hybrids as they could eat the plant but it was such a pain to get the spikes off. His tail twitched at the thought of trying to de-spike-ify the plant, which was always a long and complicated process and he always poked himself a handful of times trying. Past attempts barely left him with any safe piece to eat but the small piece was still heavily appreciated, even if it was a painful process.

He was so deep in thought about whether he should attempt to get a small piece to eat that he didn't notice Tango staring at him questioningly. The blaze hybrid noticed Mumbo intensely staring at something and followed his gaze to find what he was looking at so intently. He raised an eyebrow at the cow hybrid, wondering why he was watching a cactus so intently, before speaking up, "Did the cactus offend you or something Mumbo?"

Mumbo jumped slightly and turned to sheepishly smile at the blaze hybrid, "Oh uh... no?" He nervously answered with a chuckle.

"Why are you staring at it so intently then?" The cow hybrid fidgeted with his hands at Tango's question, taking a moment to remind himself that Tango wouldn't think his cactus desire was weird or odd.

"I can eat cactuses... They're kind of like a treat for me. But it's hard to get the spikes off." He avoided the dungeon master's gaze and glanced at the cactus again before staring at his hands in his lap.

"Oh, okay! I can burn them off easily for you! Come on, watch this," Tango said excitedly as he stood and urged Mumbo to follow him, leading him over to the cactus he was staring at earlier. There excited glint in Tango's eyes as they stood next to the plant and rubbed his hands together, making two flames spark in each of his palms. He held the flames to the cactus, focusing a funnel of fire on it which made the spines start to melt and fall off, leaving the cactus spike free.

Once the whole plant was spike-free, Tango extinguished the flame and stood back, letting the plant cool down enough for Mumbo to touch it. "There ya go." He beamed at the cow hybrid with a big smile.

Mumbo tentatively touched it to make sure it wasn't too hot to eat, it was nicely warm instead which made his mouth water. "Thanks Tango!" He ripped a piece off the main plant and happily chomped down on it, his ears wiggling and tail swishing happily as he ate the deliciously warm treat. Tango took a small piece and had a small bite, curious if he would like it too. Tango immediately frowned and spit the bit out making Mumbo chuckle a bit at the blaze's reaction.

"Sorry Mumbo, but that's all yours," Tango chuckled and sputtered to get the bad taste out of his mouth.

"What are you two boys doing?" Gem called out from where the rest of the group sat, the blaze hybrid's distaste for the cactus had caught the group's attention.

"Eating cactuses," Tango yelled back with a smile as the group stared in confusion.

"Come on, let's head back so they can try some too," Mumbo suggested as he gathered up the rest of the safe-to-eat cactus before the two made their way back to the group.

"Mumbo likes cactuses and can eat them, so I burned the spikes off for him to eat it safely," Tango explained as the pair returned to their spots around the campfire.

"I think they're so good! Want to try some?" Mumbo said happily and held out a piece for Gem to try, taking a bite she soon found she wasn't fond of it either and passed it off to another hermit to try it too. After everyone had had a taste it was only Mumbo and Zeadaph who liked the taste, and the bovine was more than happy to share with the sheep hybrid.