The Blind Bandit (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 18: BB Corn part 2

Taking out her canteen, Sarafina drank a bit of water as she watched the wolf pup mark yet another spot. She poured a bit of water into Kururu's mouth as well as Toriko stopped for a moment to also grab a drink and made the comment, "Course it's hot... The jungle's a little further ahead."

'It also doesn't help your wearing pants and black knee boots. Though I wonder if you have the more accurate outfit.' She mused to herself, considering her own dark blue tank top, a pair of shorts, and a long black sash tied around her waist. Looking up at a nearby palm tree, Toriko noticed a fruit hanging on it. Course he would. The man hasn't eaten since they landed. "Oh... This's the Sakeyashi Fruit isn't it?!" The giant man said excitedly as he eyed the fruit. 

"This'll be good! Let's take a break here, you guys." Sarafina set her bag down as Toriko simply said Terry's name and in one quick flitting jump she knocked the fruit down. "What's that?" Sarafina asked. "This is a Sakeyashi palm tree. When one of its fruits is cut in half produces sake. Since the sake is fermented in nature, the liquor is a fine quality one, mild and easy to drink." Toriko explained as he caught the fruit in one hand and used the other to cut it cleanly in half.

He took a sip and practically sighed in delight. "Sure is sweet. The alcohol level is just right. Its great! Want to try some?" Taking the sliced fruit into her hands, she said, "I can never pass up a good drink." She took a sip and sighed in delight as well. "Man, that's good!" She said, happily. The blind woman glaced at a soybean-like pod beside them and plunk it. "I think these are Edamame." She said. "Great! That'll go just right with this!" Sarafina opened up the pod and the hunters shared, and ate the eyeball looking beans while drinking the sake. "Hey, Terry! Want some too?" Kururu took a piece of it and brought it over to Terry, setting it down in front of her. The female pup turned her back to him and the bean, causing him to shrug. "Hahaha. Does it creep you out?" Kururu gave a soft mew and ate the bean herself, following Terry.

Leaning against the tree, Sarafina looked over the hill they were on. "I can barely sense the jungle over there... But I can definitely feel the life running through it." She said, wiping a bit of sake off her lips. "It is a bit of trek. Good thing we're so used to walking otherwise we'd be sore afterwards." Toriko agreed, looking towards the jungle. "By the way...BB corn... I take it that it'll be fun to get it, huh?" Sarafina said as she glanced at Toriko.

"Yeah, I've never eaten it before. What on earth kind of taste does it have.. Ack! Hey! Not again!" Toriko exclaimed as she took out her handkerchief and wiped at his face again, giggling. "Seriously! I'm not a kid!" The giant hunter growled a bit at her, fighting back a blush. "It isn't my fault you're just as messy as one." She teased, finally earning a blush from him as he turned away with a "Tch" sound.

Barking was heard from somewhere up ahead and the two looked to see the young wolf and kitten standing in front of a gigantic strawberry, trying to get their attention to it. The hunter got a big smile on his face as he asked the wolf, "What is that, a strawberry?!" As he talked to the wolf excitedly. Sarafina couldn't help but get a strange vibe from it. 'Why is there a strawberry all by itself? Last time I checked there's usually a lot more of them around... This feels doesn't feel right.'  Sarafina tried to sense the area to check if there was anything hiding. Then her eye widened when she felt a beating heart below the surface. She was about to go and get to the pup and kitten, but stopped as both she and Toriko noticed that both of their flowers lost half of a flower petal as it wither and fall off.  Toriko quickly jumped up and shouted, "Terry! Kururu! Get away from there!" 

The ground around the young pup and little kitten seemed to rise up, some sort of face raising from the ground as rows of teeth not more than twenty feet from the upper jaws of the face surrounded the wolf and kitten. Within a flash, the Battle Wolf and ice kitten jumped out of the out of the way to safety as something that looked like an over grown toad came out of the ground. So the strawberry was just a lure. "What kind of creature that?" Sarafina asked. Toriko answered her by saying, "A beast that attracts its prey with a strawberry smell?" Not much of an answer to her question but it helped nonetheless. Toriko glanced at the peace flower tucked into his belt. "It's true power is nothing big."