Twisted Wonderland - Beanfest: Survival of the Beanest

Chapter 7: Shawarma!

Meanwhile, the farmer team...

In the woods behind the school, Briar and her group are trying to come up with a plan.

"So, I know our team's objective is to retrieve the coliseum harp..." Jade says, "But I really think I should get a bean blaster if we want to solidify our chances of survival."

"Why do I feel like you're tryin' to pull one over on us? Well, forget it. I ain't givin' you squat!" Grim says with a frown.

"Goodness. I wouldn't dream of taking yours," Jade says.

Then Cater says, "The problem is that supply crates are perfect spots for the enemy team to set up ambushes. And there's no guarantee we'd even get what we want from one. We need to go in with a plan if we're hitting up a supply point."

"You're right. This is going to be very difficult," Briar says.

But then Jade says, "I have a suggestion...or rather, a promising lead."

"What is it?" Sereia asks.

"There's a certain...smith, we'll say, who I think might be willing to furnish us with a bean blaster," Jade says.

"Smith?" The girls question.

But Cater begins to think, "That a guy's name? Can't say it sounds familiar."

"Never you worry. I have information on his location from a reliable source. I'll lead the way," Jade reassures.

"Hm. Well, you are Octavinelle's vice housewarden. You guys always know what's up, and that's good enough for me. We are on the same side, after all," Cater says.

'Thank you for the vote of confidence," Jade replies, "In that case, I suggest we take a detour to the botanical garden before heading to our destination. There's something I'd like to pick up there, before we get to the bean blaster."

"Maybe the botanical garden will have some emergency fruit rations, too. That's one side trip I'm willin' to take!" Grim says.

"Is your stomach a bottomless pit, Grimmy?" Cater asks.

The girls giggle in response.

"Yeah. I have to wonder just how deep Grim's stomach is," Briar says.

Sometime later...

Broar and the others arrive at the botanical garden.

"Here we are at the garden! Phew. Made it in one piece," Cater says.

But Cater smells something, "Is it just me, or does something smell...exotic?"

Soon, Briar begins coughing after smelling the scent, "I do, and it's really spicy."

"Not so much exotic as extremely spicy. It's a smell that whets the appetite," Jade says.

Soon, Grim is drooling from the mouth, "You ain't kiddin'. I can't stop drooling!" He soon begins sniffing around, "It's comin' from thataway. Let's go see what's cookin'!" and then runs off.

"Grimmy, don't let your stomach do ALL the thinking. This could be a monster team trap!" Cater calls out.

"Grim! Wait!" Sereia calls out.

"We better go follow him. I mean, who is cooking during an event?" Briar replies.

And with that, everyone begins to follow Grim inside the garden.

Soon, they reach the Temperate Zone of the garden.

Grim searches around and says, "It's comin' from over here!"

Suddenly, everyone hears a familiar voice, "Oh, hey, guys. Did the smell lure you in?"

Briar and the others yelp and hold out their weapons to attack.

Kalim's voice soon calls out, "Ah, no need to bean me, guys! I'm on the farmer team."

The group stops to see Kalim.

Jade notices, "He's telling the truth. That orange armband demonstrates as much."

"Hi Kalim," Sereia says.

"Kalim, what are you doing here? Are you alone?" Briar asks.

Then Cater asks, "And more importantly, what's with that smell? The whole garden's, like, suffused with it."

"What smell? Oh, you mean the shawarma!" Kalim says.

"The what?" Briar questions.

"The...?" Jade questions, but soon realizes, "Oh!You're referring to the Scalding Sands dish made by fire-roasting a mix of mutton and chicken on a spit. It's gained international acclaim, or so I hear."

"Mhm. Some places call it by different names," Kalim says.

The group looks to see the meat being cooked.

"Wow. That's a big hunk of meat. It's being slow-roasted with fire," Sereia says.

"Isn't this supposed to be a battlefield?!" Briar questions, dumbfounded.

"You turn the meat over the fire to cook it thoroughly, then wrap it in bread with some veggies and pickled goodies. It's delish. You should have some!" Kalim happily says.

Everyone looks to see more farmers around.

Cater is surprised, "Sheesh... On closer inspection, clearly we're not the only farmers lured in by the smell. Look at all those people stuffing themselves!"

One of the farmers says, "Can't fight on an empty stomach..."

"Mmm! Nothing beats some good shawarma!" the second farmer says, excited.

"Right? Jamil packed this all up so I could make a proper lunch out of it," Kalim says.

"Kinda overboard, don't you think?!" Cater says.

"They even brought an infrared grill for slow-roasting the meat. That's dedication," Jade says.

"Is it? I'd say it's pretty standard for us," Kalim says with a smile.

Grim cheers, "Yow! This looks crazy good. I gotta get me some of this!"

"Sure, one sec. I'll fire some up fresh for you," Kalim says, and begins to do just that.

Everyone else is busy chowing down. All except Briar, Sereia, Jade, and Cater.

"Guys, I've got a bad feeling about this," Cater says.

"I think so too," Briar says.

"As do I," Jade says.

"So what do we do?" Sereia says.

" I think I'd better wrap up my business sooner rather than later," Jade says, "I'll be ducking out for a bit. Please excuse me."

"Okay," Briar says.

And with that, Jade takes his leave. Briar has to wonder what he's up to.