A Journey Across Terra

Record Restoration #5

A sparce woodland, set in the barrenlands near Victoria, two individuals sat in front of a small campfire. Their faces lit a warm orange by the dim glow of the flames, flicking up into the starry night sky.

"Hey new kid, despite us being on the same mission for the last two days, you've barely even said a single word to me." One individual spoke, a feline in particular, her long dirty blonde hair covered most of her figure as two oval shaped ears peeked out form her hair.

"Hm? Sorry about that." The other individual replied, his medium length black hair flowed out into light blue tips.

"I bet you don't even remember my name."

"I do. It's...Serval."

"You're not even trying." The feline chuckled as she prodded at the campfire with a stick, sending embers up into the sky. "It's Quercus. Now don't you forget it. Okay Coral."

The other individual gave the other a confused look before understanding what she meant. "You can just call me Yuki." He said as he looked up at the sky.

"Still not used to the whole codename thing?" Quercus chuckled. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it eventually."

"Maybe."

Quercus groaned at Yuki's blunt reply. "C'mon Yuki. You can't be all sad and aloof every day. You're gonna end up souring my mood as well you know."

"Sorry...Just a lot on my mind." He looked back at her with a soft smile.

"Like?" She enquired with an inquizitve glint in her golden pupils. "You never know. Maybe you'll feel better if you let your thoughts be known."

The Pythian boy sat there for a moment, mulling over the idea before he rested his head on his palms before speaking. "What would you do if someone you really cared about tried to sacrifice themself for you?"

Quercus raised an eyebrow at the deep question. "What's the context?"

"Let's say this person was your mentor...And you were stuck in a life-or-death situation where the best course of action was to either sacrifice someone to escape or to try and escape as a duo with the chance of both of us dying."

"Mentor, eh? Well...If they did try to sacrifice themself for me." She paused for a moment as her golden pupils stared at the fire. "I wouldn't be too happy with them. I don't think that my life is really that worth over my mentor."

"Dont sell yourself short. I heard that you are an amazing healer. And that your plant-based arts are amazing as well."

The blonde feline wryly smiled at Yuki as she retorted in playful manner. "Aren't you selling yourself a little short as well? I hear your poison-based arts pack quite the punch."

Yuki chuckled. "Touche."

"But back on topic...I don't think either you or this mentor is at fault. You both must have had your reasons."

"I know but I just can't stop feeling so frustrated."

"There's no point in losing hair over what's already done. Just...Y'know do something that'll take your mind off of it. Something such as..." Quercus scanned the surrounding area for something to talk about. "Cooking?"

"I already know how to cook." Yuki replied. "Y'know that kind of thing happens when you spend the last six years living on your own."

"But can you do more than just put a slab of meat on some hot coals?"

"No."

"There you go. You can take your mind off of things by learning how cook by using a better method."

"Like?"

"Maybe adding some spices and whatnot to your food so that eating doesn't feel like a chore."

Yuki's eyes flickered towards Quercus with an unreadable expression on his face. "I would love to learn that. It's been a long time since I had my favourite meal. I would love to eat that once again."

"Well, I can certainaly get that in order. What's this favourite meal?"

"Chicken and mushroom casserole." Yuki's gaze returned to the orange glow of the campfire as it crackled in the silence of the barren lands. "My mum would always make it for me."

Quercus nodded in understanding. "I can see why it must me so important to you...I can definitely teach you how to make that."

"You can?"

"Yeah. It's one of the meals that I have to make back in the pub I own."

Yuki gave her a satisfied nod before getting up and walking towards his sleeping bag that sat in the crook between the roots of a large tree.

"Tired?"

"Yeah." He replied as he wrapped the sleeping bag around him, trapping himself in a little burrito, nestled between the roots of the large tree.

The blonde feline chuckled softly to herself as she saw Yuki's bedtime routine. "Goodnight Yuki, I'll stay up for a bit longer."

{ - Adventures Across Terra - }

It was the next day the sun barely peeking over the horizon and through the trees. Quercus who was still fast asleep was abruptly awoken by the sound of rustling beside her.

After a few more minutes of rustling, she begrudgingly opened her eyes, seeing Yuki happily running around with various mushrooms and herbs in hand. Despite them being on the same mission for the past few days, this was the first time she saw the Pythian boy act with such eagerness.

"you're up early." She yawned, still too tired to get up from her sleeping position.

"Hm?" Yuki perked up hearing the new voice, his eyes wandering around the area before landing on Quercus. "Yeah, of course I am."

"Your attitude did a complete 180, you sure are excited to learn that dish."

"Yeah, I even got some of the ingredients before you woke up." The Pythian by happily presented an armful of herbs and mushrooms.

"Oh, uhm..." Quercus slowly got up from her sleeping position and she inspected the ingredients.

"Soooo? How did I do?" Yuki asked expectantly.

"Well that is certainly a... start." Quercus said slowly as she picked up a mushroom. "But, half of these mushrooms are deathcaps...And some of these are the right herbs, but the wrong parts of the herb."

"Wow, you sure know your stuff. I just brought the stuff that I remember my mum bringing when she would make it."

"Well I could show you what to look for." Quercus continued as she took the herbs from Yuki's arms. "Y'know with you being a wanderer and all. it would be better to know what you were looking for."

"Really, thank you Quercus." He gave flashed the feline a tooth grin.

"Hehe, well I did tell you that I was gonna teach you how to make this dish."

The rest of the day was spent collecting the ingredients and cooking the chicken and mushroom casserole. For the first time in a long time the barrenlands were filled with such great fragrances of cooking paired along with the joyous voices and laughter of two people working together to create a dish.

{ - Adventures Across Terra - }