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@mounted-green-chef-blog
[ooc; 07/18]
Obviously, I do not understand the concept of activity.
I apologize to everyone who liked and replied to the last post! Evidently that didn't get me out of my laziness. A message is most likely to reach my attention, so please reach me that way if you would still like to thread. (Rolf, I've messaged you already because us bros gotta hang, y'know.)
/ollies out
[open] Trial and Error
This was probably a bad idea, but Caeda couldnât help it.
Instead of continuing to give a hand in Alteaâs restoration and doing the necessities at the castle, the princess was taking a quick trip to someplace new and off the continent. She tried to justify her actions by saying that she really needed a small break and get some new fresh air, but she couldnât help but feel a bit bad about leaving like that. Trying her best to shrug off the thought, she had her pegasus land on the ground and hopped off. Looking around, she didnât find herself to be in any particular danger here and sighed.
âGood.. At least we probably wonât have to worry about getting into fights here,â she told her pegasus as she gently stroked her mane. Nauiscaa in response let out a whinny and sneezed. Letting out a small chuckle, Caeda grabbed Nauiscaaâs reins and began to walk off in a direction, not really sure where to actually start looking or go in general. However, the answer to that was shown within a matter of seconds.
Taking a sniff in the air, Caeda paused. Was that⊠what was that sweet aroma? It smelled quite like.. The princess smiled and turned her head towards the direction of the aroma. Wanting to see if her guess was correct, she walked and followed the smell. After a moment longer, she was led to a home, peeked inside an open window and let out a small squeal. Upon the table was a tray of a certain god given goodie she had expected.
Cookies.Â
Caeda was an absolute sucker for these kinds of baked goods and found herself wanting to try one out. Moving her glance over, she saw the baker and blinked. Well.. he seemed to be a nice man, maybe he wouldnât mind letting her sample one. Moving herself entirely in front of the window, she gave a grin and leaned onto the windowsill.
âHi!â
A sudden introduction at the windowsill surprised the knight slightly, and he looked up from his cookie-cluttered table to see a head of long blue hair and a beaming face greeting him. He was expecting one of the Mercenaries to come by, perhaps tired after a mission, but to see a completely new face was a rather sudden development. And quite a forward individual, at that.
"Hello!" Oscar said, quickly masking his surprise with a smile. She was not hostile by any means, that much he could tell, although he had to wonder what she was doing in the area. The Mercenaries didn't make it a case to hide themselves, but they usually didn't see strangers in the area unless they had some kind of mission for them. As it were, the girl didn't appear to be in any sort of distress as far as he could tell, so he ruled out that possibility.
She appeared to be staring rather intently at the spread of baked goods on the table. The open window did allow for the smells to waft out into the air, after all... perhaps that was what drew her in? That was a little pretentious of him to believe, given that he didn't think these cookies were of such a high caliber, but he had to admit that the smell wasn't too bad. And seeing as she was here, why not ask her to judge his baking if she so desired? Hearing the thoughts of someone previously unexposed to his cooking would be good for his own development, after all.
"Might you be a traveler in the area, miss?" he asked politely, noting that there was a pegasus behind her. "In any case, if you'd like, you can try one of the cookies here. I've been experimenting a little, so I can't guarantee the quality, but hopefully it will be a welcome fill for both you and your partner over there." Picking up two cookies from his latest batch, he handed them to the stranger.
Oscar decided to hold off on asking any questions about the girl herself for the moment. It would be rather rude to suddenly demand information, wouldn't it? For the moment, regardless of who she was, she was a guest of the Mercenaries, and he was determined to treat her as such.
[Oscar - Rebecca]
Rebecca smiled brightly, more than happy to share her stories of Lord Eliwood. She missed those days early - the days when they were not in battle, of course. It was rare for her to speak so much about her journey across Elibe, but she felt that Oscar had gone through something similar. She had noted a slight inconsistency of his shots from time to time, and while she couldnât fully read the knightâs facial expression, she could tell that something on her companionâs mind had caused his concentration to waver. It was something every archer had to deal with, and Rebecca knew too well that she was no exception.
Turning her thoughts back to Oscarâs question, she nodded, with maybe a bit too much excitement. âI believe so. Though, to be honest, I was initially taken aback when I first met him on the outskirts of my town as he didnât look much older than myself. Iâm sure Lord Elbert and Lady Eleanora - his father and mother - raised him exceptionally. We all came to admire him as the journey continued, while watching our prince mature into the lord of Pherae that we now follow.â
Pausing, she slipped another arrow onto her bowstring, letting it fly and immediately reaching for another. Her second shot landed outside the border of the bulls-eye, definitely not where she had hoped it would go. It was hard to shoot quickly in succession; normally, an archer would wait several seconds for the residual vibration of the bowstring to disperse. It took a great deal of skill to compensate for this effect, and she was still struggling to pick up on the nuances of the technique.
Hoping her companion had not noticed the lack of precision in her second shot, she turned, hoping to find out more about the paladin. âAnd as for yourself? I would assume that you have the backing of a royal house, as a Crimean Royal Knight.â
At the very least, it seemed that most of the people he had met were fortunate to serve under worthy lords. Oscar couldn't help but think of what it would be like had he been a knight of Daein under King Ashnard - could he have possibly said he trusted in a liege like him? Of course, if he had been a citizen of Daein it would be hard to say if he would have become a knight. It was Crimea's people and ideals that had been one of his big motivations to join the knighthood, after all.
He watched Rebecca as she gave another two shots, the second one maybe a little more off-center than the first, but still a good shot nonetheless. While not terribly experienced in archery by any means, Oscar knew that firing succesive arrows was a very difficult task, one that only the most skilled of marksmen were able to pull off. A smile brightened his features as he remembered Rolf's first success in the very task that his new acquaintance had attempted.
- ah, she asked about him as well. Well, he should have expected that. It was only right to reciprocrate, wasn't it?
"That's right," he said with a nod. "I serve under House Crimea, which is the ruling house of the kingdom of Crimea. The entire continent of Tellius is currently under reconstruction, but luckily everyone's cooperating to help that happen, and Queen Elincia has been critical in pulling both the beorc and the laguz together." Fighting alongside laguz helped him to realize both the differences and similarities that the two races had, and it would seem that working together in the reconstruction was allowing more people between both races to reconcile with each other.
"Although... I haven't always been a knight," Oscar added. "Knights can only do so much. Because they only move on the crown's orders, there's a lot of suffering out there that they can't fix, even if the crown tasked them with rooting it all out. So I also act as a mercenary on occasion. For a while, I left the knights and joined a mercenary group, although that was also because I had to take care of my brothers..."
And maybe he would just leave it at that. The paladin wasn't so inclined on having to retell the story of his parents... although he supposed that he wouldn't say no if Rebecca asked.Â
He looked at the sky; the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, its rays now slightly red in hue. Maybe it was time for them to head back. Â
[open] a sick big brother
This fellow green knight is apparently free today from his duties; and thought he should be visiting a fellow knight that he met; of course, being both green appearance-wise.
Kyle makes a loud knock on the door; âIs anyone home in here?â, and while he was waiting for someone to respond; he fixes himself up, as formality is often needed when visiting someone elseâs home.
Knock⊠Knock⊠and Knock and the repeated cycles of wait just ensued; and also, his patience was tested.
Knock. Knock.
Oscar sighed a little, knowing that everyone else was out and about and that he would have to be the one to answer the door. It was a bit of a shame that he had to get out of bed, since he had been so nicely tucked in and cozy, but it wasn't like he could just ignore the person knocking. What if they had come to look for somebody? That would be terribly rude to just leave them outside.
Slowly folding over his blanket, the knight slipped out of bed and put on a robe before approaching the door. Even though it wasn't winter, it felt rather cold, and Oscar attributed that to his sickness. Shivering a little, he eventually made it over to the door, grabbed the handle and pulled, but not before -
- ah-choo!
And he promptly sneezed right into the person on the other side of the door.Â
"I'm sorry," he immediately said, aware that there was somebody there but not really sure who it was at the moment. Still in a slightly woozy state, Oscar blinked a few times (though not visibly, obviously) and waited for his mind to clear up. "I'm not really feeling very well at the moment..."
Then he finally started recognizing the figure, as his vision straightened out. Green hair like his, green armour like his and a very serious face... ah, this must be -
"Sir Kyle?"
Why, he definitely hadn't seen the other knight in quite a while! But although Oscar was rather pleased to see the knight of Renais, it wasn't exactly the best of times for him to be welcoming visitors. He couldn't even give the other man a good welcome, seeing as his cabin didn't have much in the way of cups and utensils. The only refreshment he had was his cup of tea, and even that seemed to have gone cold... Â
[open] a sick big brother
There was no way about denying it; Oscar was sick.
He had tried to remedy it by taking herb syrups, cough medicine, hot chicken soup - nothing worked, and healing staves did remarkably little when it came to the cold. His nose was unbelievably uncomfortable and occasionally dripping, and even with the cover of his blanket he was sneezing uncontrollably at times. The usually nicely brushed green hair was a bit messier than usual, and the knight's smile was slightly, but noticeably smaller. It was hard to be happy when ill, after all.
"Ah-choo!" Oscar said loudly, as he grabbed one of the many handkerchiefs he had placed at his bedside and rubbed his nose gently. He rather disliked being bedridden; it meant that there were a lot of things that he couldn't do, such as helping out the mercenaries on missions or cooking meals, both of which he enjoyed. And it was the activity that usually kept illness out of his way, but whenever Oscar got sick he would get really sick.
Well, there was not much he could except rest and get better, right? And that was all there was to it. The paladin wondered how everyone else was doing, though. Mist was probably back in the kitchen again, which would make Shinon rather disappointed...
[Oscar - Rebecca]
Rebecca had to resist the urge to clamp her hand over her mouth as she watched Oscarâs small smile. Recalling what she had just said, she berated herself mentally for letting something like that slip to a stranger that she had met just today. Granted, Oscar was a chivalrous and kind knight, but his resemblance to one of her former companions had caused Rebecca to feel a bit too comfortable around him.
âThe goddess must have smiled upon you both.â Just as Rebecca had managed to compose herself, Oscarâs follow-up statement shattered her composure for the second time. She looked away from her companion, pretending to observe the clouds as she waited for the flush in her cheeks to disperse. It didnât help that she had often been a subject of gossip in the army, as the soldiers would discuss who she had a crush on - Wil, Lowen or Dart. Most had come to realize that Dart was like a brother to her; Wil, more of a childhood friend and mentor. Not to mention that Wil always seemed to have his eyes on Lady Lyndis, anyways.
Lowen, on the other hand, was her most reliable companion during the campaign. If it hadnât been for his steady sword arm, she would never have survived the initial battles during Lord Eliwoodâs escape from Pherae. More experienced in the art of cooking and war, the two often found themselves together during the campaign, both on and off the battlefield.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief as Oscar changed the subject, she pulled an arrow out of her quiver and exhaled again, expelling all her worries and unwanted thoughts. âPherae was overrun by bandits after the disappearance of Lord Eliwoodâs father, the current marquess at the time. My village was nearly overrun before Lord Eliwoodâs contingent of knights saved us from the brutal savages. If it werenât for him, I donât know where Iâd beâŠdead, or worse - living a life of slavery. As soon as I heard his cause, IâŠI knew I had to do something. They were without a ranged specialist, and I could help with the cooking, if anything.â
âThings quickly became much more complicatedâŠsoon, the rest of Lycia was involved, and the rest of the continent followed. None of us had any love for fighting, butâŠâ Rebeccaâs eyes hardened, pulling back on the drawstring of her bow and releasing a shot. âWe all knew what we had to do, to protect the ones dear to us. Iâm sure you know what I mean, right?â Turning to her companion, she smiled, slipping into a more relaxed stance from her tense shooting form.
The knight nodded slowly as his archer companion explained the circumstances that had led her into battle. That was the way it always was, wasn't it? The innocents being swept up into war by the different powers that clashed with each other, catching everyone else in between. It had been part of why he initially joined the Royal Knights - so that other people wouldn't have to see the ugly side to such conflict.
Except that, in the end, the two people whom he had wanted to protect from this fate the most - his two brothers - wound up standing next to him in battle. But he couldn't have said no; he didn't want to be the overbearing eldest brother, and they had their own decisions to make. Maybe before, when Rolf and Boyd were young enough that they needed taking care of... but Oscar had entered training with the Knights at around the same age that Rolf was now, so he could only respect his youngest brother's wishes.
Bringing up his bow again to take a shot, the green-haired knight aimed and fired; the arrow flew through the air in a clean arc, landing slightly next to the bull's eye. He frowned - he wasn't focusing again. At least this was good practice for cleansing his thoughts, he supposed. Nothing really occupied his mind more than the thought of what his brothers were going through, even though he knew that it was something that he shouldn't, and couldn't afford to, worry about.Â
"I understand," he said finally, turning back to Rebecca and smiling slightly. "That's why I wanted to become a knight, after all. Although certain... circumstances led me down a different path, in the end part of my return to the Royal Knights was to help protect people in a way that only the crown can offer." Yes, his current standing with both the Royal Knights and the Mercenaries was a little exceptional, wasn't it? In truth, he acted as the liaison to Queen Elincia in order to keep those who knew about the confrontation with the Order Incarnate close together, but Oscar didn't mind. Knighthood indeed had its own positive aspects that he had rather missed.
Deciding that perhaps his situation was better explained in places other than an archery range, the paladin again tried to change the subject at hand. "I've heard rather good things about Lord Eliwood, although we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet," he said, referring to Rebecca's Pheraean liege. He didn't know very many nobles that would have been willing to personally come to the aid of his villagers. "It would seem he's more than worthy of your fealty?" Â
[Open Post]
Nils shivered fiercely due to the cold. He wasnât sure where he was or how he got there. The only thing he knew was that he was cold, scared and missed his sister terribly.
He looked around the abandoned fort in which he found minimal shelter from the deathly winds outside. He pulls his knees closer to his chest. He had found a tattered rug and was using it as a source of protection from the harsh winds.
To one side lay his flute. This flute was single handedly one of his most important possessions. It served as his only source of income as he would often play it in town squares for money. It also helped in his guise as a bard, hiding his true nature from most everyone that came across him.
Another shiver shook the youthâs body. The castle was old and run down, not providing much shelter from the winds. He felt his eyes droop and knew it would be pointless to resist slumber much longer. With a soft yawn, he slowly dropped of into a light sleep.
As most fairy tales start off, it was a dark and stormy night...
Oscar chuckled to himself slightly, in spite of his current situation; he was caught up in a terrible wind, and he had little knowledge of the area he was in. He had just passed by the nearest castle on his horse a while ago, and there was no house in sight. The mounted knight gently stroked his horse, asking her to bear with it for just a little longer until he could find shelter.
And then, eyes narrowed (well, more than they already were) at the sight of a small abandoned fort of sorts not too far away. The green-haired paladin and his mount slowly made their way to the shelter, and Oscar's spirits dropped a little when he saw that the castle was just barely any cover from the harsh outdoor conditions. Oh, well - at least a little cover was better than none at all.
Leaving his mare just behind the first outer wall that could offer her full cover, Oscar took his lance and his sack and slowly made it through the hallways, scouting it out to make sure it was safe. Such places were popular hangouts for bandits, and he certainly wouldn't want to be jumped on when he was asleep. Besides, the walk to him just felt like routine, especially after having to conduct these types of scans as part of his knightly training.
And then, as he rounded a corner - was that a boy?Â
Short, light green hair gently draped over the boy's closed eyelids, indicating that he was asleep. He didn't appear to have much - a flute, a rug covering his small frame... but falling asleep without more warmth was dangerous to one's health. Grabbing a spare cloak out of his sack, Oscar carefully draped it over the boy, hoping that he hadn't woken him up. He then walked a little ways off, looking for a few sticks to start up a fire. Perhaps it was lucky, then, that the run-down condition allowed for quite a few stray branches to fly in...
[Oscar - Rebecca]
Rebecca smiled as she listened to Oscarâs recollection of his time with the mercenaries, a reminder of her time with Lord Eliwoodâs army. She couldnât help but let out a soft giggle at the look on Oscarâs face - the faint embarrassment when he noticed he had slipped into a bit of a reminiscing ramble.
âHmm, Iâve been cooking for quite a while now. I often would hunt for the village, so I began by preparing rations so I would not have to return back at midday for a meal.â Leaning her bow against a wooden post, she formed an imaginary dumpling in her hand. âI know what Iâll bring next time! Iâm quite proud of my baked dumplings - theyâre not too hard to make, yet you can bring them anywhere with you as a snack.â
A whistle blew on the range and she placed her bow to the side, the other archers on the range doing the same. Walking forward to retrieve her arrows, she continued to speak as she slowly made her way to the target. âCooking was quite a challenge at first - we were on the run in Pherae with little to no supplies, so we would often eat whatever we could find or hunt. After joining the armies of Ostia and Caelin, we acquired the services of a travelling merchant who took up the role of maintaining our supplies. It would have been impossible for Lowen and I to cook for the army otherwise - near the end of our campaign we easily an army of thirty.â
Lowen. A love for cooking was just another similarity Oscar shared with her old friend and fellow chef. Both were green-haired paladins, with a strong sense of chivalry and an unexpected affinity for the culinary arts for a soldier. Noticing she had drifted into a sudden silence, she smiled and apologized to her companion. âYou remind me very much of Lowen, a fellow chef and Pheraen in our group. The green hair, being part of a knighthood, andâŠâ she trailed off, a faint blush colouring her cheeks. âAndâŠthe way he made everything more enjoyable when he was around.â Her voice had quieted to a murmur, still audible but much quieter than her usual energetic tone.
Narrow eyes caught the tinge of red creeping onto Rebecca's cheeks, and Oscar couldn't help but smile as they walked together to pick up their arrows. Well, it definitely hadn't been his intention to be so reminiscent of this Lowen, but it would seem that the comparison was bringing some very nice memories to the archer's mind. Of course, he couldn't ask her about  it - that would be so out of place, especially to someone he had just met! - so he simply smiled with a slight chuckle that he hoped wasn't terribly out of place.
"This Lowen seems to be really close to you," he said, although that was pretty obvious, wasn't it? "It's nice that you two were able to stay together during your travels. The goddess must have smiled upon you both." The familiar saying just rolled off of his tongue, but it gave Oscar pause for a few moments as he thought through what he had just said. Did Elibe have a goddess? Moreover, was it even okay to invoke Ashera - well, Ashunera - now? The consequences of the confrontation with Order Incarnate had made the whole Church collapse...
... and suddenly, his mind was troubled by rather silly things, but he tried not to let it on.
Thinking that he probably shouldn't make the girl's face any redder than she was getting, Oscar decided to shift the topic at hand. "You said you were on the run in Pherae?" he asked, as they walked back to the shooting end of the range. "I haven't been to Pherae before, but I've heard about its peacefulness and its kind marquess. If you don't mind me asking... what was it that caused you to have to join the army? You certainly don't come off as the type of person to take up arms unless absolutely necessary."
Indeed, the happy and cheerful girl was not one the knight would peg for battle. Then again, neither had Rolf. It was merely circumstance that forced people to grow into their situations. Still, his own entrance into the Royal Knights had been a matter of supporting his family, and after experiencing his first battle he had come to think that it was a fate he did not wish upon anyone. To take a life was far too much to ask.Â
[open] Trial and Error
Being hungry wasnât something she was used to, entirely. No, there was another word for that⊠Yes! Tana was starving, that had to be it for sure. Achaeusâ endless whinnyingâŠwhich was really just his way of, and she knew that he was doing just that: whining, certainly didnât help any. Just a few minutes ago they were up in the skies. Still travelling, and certainly not lost, she had told herself, with no particular destination in mind.
She sighed.
âOh Achaeus, I told you, I really donât want to come home yet!â
And he whinnied some more. Tana knew her pegasus was exhausted, so down they went into another random area she thought to be safe. Safe⊠And not to mention..
That smellâŠ
Her head turned into the direction where the warm, sweet aroma seemed to be coming from. She hadnât even realized her feet began to walk slowly until she found herself looking into the eyes of aâŠsquinty-eyed man carrying the source of that aroma. Oh, perhaps his eyes were closed? Tana really couldnât tell. Normally, her curiosity would have gotten the better of her and probably would have asked. But all she could think of, and stare at right then and there, was the beauty and smell of those cookies in that tray.
Someone was approaching - a blue-haired female and her pegasus? Granted, his kitchen was set up to lead straight outside to allow for some ventilation for his oven, but Oscar often forgot that the scents wafting from the windows attracted hungry individuals as well. That was all for the better, he supposed; there were far too many cookies for him to possibly consume on his own, and perhaps the pegasus could help with eating a good chunk of them as well.
"Hello!" he called out to them with a wave, noting with slight amusement the concentrated stare that the long-haired girl was boring into his batches of cookies. She was probably staring more out of extreme hunger and craving of any food present, rather than overwhelming desire for his particular creations... although it didn't bother him too much. "Might you be interested in a cookie or two?"
While he waited for her answer, he tried to look a little more closely at who he had just greeted. She was a pegasus knight - her winged partner made that more than obvious - but she didn't appear to be a member of Begnion's Holy Guard, nor did she bear any recognizable crests. A pegasus knight of one of the other continents, then? She appeared to be well-trained, too...
"And your partner here, would he like a piece as well?" Oscar said, offering a cookie to the pegasus. On second thought, was it even okay for him to be feeding the pegasus? He was undeniably male, and pegasi had the tendency to avoid the companionship of guys - not to mention whether the cookie would be good for its health. Well, if it wasn't all right, hopefully its rider would say so soon.
[Oscar - Rebecca]
Watching the paladinâs shot, Rebecca nodded in approval at the knightâs impressive aim - easily his best shot of the day. She pulled an arrow from her quiver, flashing a mischievous grin at her companion before pulling the bowstring back. Pausing for a moment to allow for her composure to settle, she released her shot, aiming for the center of her own target.
Stepping back, she placed her free hand on her hip as she looked down the range, comparing her shot with the paladinâs. âHmm, both on the bullseye, butâŠâ she leaned forward, her keen eyes scanning the two targets. âMineâs slightly off center.â Pouting softly, she gave her fellow archer a friendly glare as she drew another arrow.
Noting the content expression on Oscarâs face, Rebecca couldnât help but look forward to their next meeting. She hoped that he wasnât a picky eater (though it was rare for an aspiring chef to be picky about foodâŠ), as it was unlikely he had sampled cuisine from an entirely different continent. It had taken her a bit of time to grow accustomed to the types of meats and other ingredients commonly used in the town. Similar types of livestock were used in cooking, but it had been quite a surprise when she discovered that Elibean chicken tasted distinctly unique compared to the species of bird commonly raised here.
Returning her focus to the target, she sighted and released her shot, letting out a satisfied sigh as her arrow buried itself into the center of the target, right beside her previous bolt. âI remember you mentioned that you cooked for mercenaries and soldiers. How was that like? Having been in a similar situation, I would expect that it would have been anâŠinteresting challenge. Satisfying picky eaters with a limited choice of ingredients was a daily chore of mine.â
[OOC: Whereâs this town located? LOL. In Oscarâs home continent? (Tellius?)]
((ooc: oops didn't think that far... haha.))
An archer's precision combined with an archer's need for perfection, Oscar noted, as he watched Rebecca's scrutiny of her own shot. She certainly had the makings of a well-trained student; it reminded Oscar of his own younger brother, who worked extremely hard under the guidance of the Mercenaries' skilled marksman, Shinon.Â
Despite how much the two tried to hide it, of course he knew it was Shinon - one would honestly have to be very unobservant to not notice the similarities. There was the implication that Boyd was therefore not very observant... but the older brother decided that that was something he didn't need to say to Boyd, smiling to himself at the thought.
At Rebecca's question, the knight was snapped out of his reverie, and he turned to face the pigtailed girl. "Well, it actually started with a bit of training in the royal barracks," he began, thinking back to the days when he was still an aspiring squire. "Because there was the probability that one of us could be separated from the rest of the group while on a mission, we were all trained in basic survival skills, which included cooking with ingredients one can find in the wild. Naturally, this drove the picky eaters mad, but eventually everyone in the Royal Knights had to stomach something." He smiled at the memory of some of his barrack-mates who couldn't bring themselves to eat their own creations.
"I guess that's where I discovered my knack for cooking," he continued. "When I left the Royal Knights and joined the Greil Mercenaries, they all just seemed to like my cooking for the most part, so I became their main cook. Sometimes they'd have special requests for me, but most of the time I could do whatever I wanted with the ingredients around the place. We had our own garden, too, so that helped with vegetables..." Oscar paused, realizing that he was rambling. Hoping that he hadn't lost Rebecca's attention, he asked, "What about you, Rebecca? What is it usually like for you when you cook?"Â
[open] Trial and Error
Oscar took a bite into his latest attempt at a spice cookie, hoping to taste something resembling the cookies that the recipe's originator had made. Not quite there... he frowned slightly at the abnormal crunch of flavours in his mouth, wondering where he had gone wrong this time. The knight had tried several times now to replicate the taste that he had savoured when he first ate the cookie, but it appeared that he had failed again.
There was a whole host of ingredients sprawled over the table in the kitchen, flour and sugar and spices all around him, not to mention various pots and pans and stirring spoons that were in various states of use. If anyone were to walk into the kitchen at this moment, they would probably be bombarded with the smells of various food items, some of which may not have made for the best combination but overall a pleasant smell. Well, at least Oscar thought so.
Looking over his small domain, he sighed. After all this time, and he still couldn't get it right? It would seem that he would have to find that old lady that had taught him... but he knew that it would probably be a waste of time. It was quite the ordeal to even manage to get the recipe in the first place.Â
What to do, what to do... well, he had batches upon batches of cookies. Perhaps someone would come buy and eat a few, and maybe tell him what they thought?
[Oscar - Rebecca]
TransformingâŠpeople? Rebecca found it hard to imagine the existence of such entities, but Oscar did not seem like the type to make up such stories about his homeland. She had expected differences between Elibe and other continents such as Tellius, but not to such an extent. Though, it was likely that Oscar had his doubts about the dragons of Elibe as well; she had not believed the legends until she witnessed firsthand the destructive power of the mighty creatures.
âIâm sure that not all dragons were like the fearsome creatures we thought. We had two young companions who were actually ice dragons in disguise, and aided us greatly in our final fight against the berserk dragons.â Grimacing as she recalled the sinister figure behind the entire campaign, she envisioned Nergalâs visage on the target and buried an arrow straight into his forehead. âMaybe they were being manipulated, or destruction was simply a part of their nature, but they had to be stopped.â
Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine the Laguz. Ninianâs transformation came to mind, but Oscar had mentioned that they could transform into much more than just dragons. The idea of transforming into a bird was intriguing - how she envied the pegasus and wyvern knights for their freedom in the sky!
She was relieved when the knight decided to change the topic, she couldnât hide the enthusiastic smile on her face when he mentioned his like for cooking. It wasnât just her, and she caught the gleam in his eyes as he expanded upon the topic. âIâd love to! I havenât met many others whoâve shared this interest of mine. Perhaps I could prepare some of my hometownâs cuisine for our next trip to the range?â
[OOC: I actually know next to nothing about Tellius or the Laguz, so it is rather easy to play dumb (: Hopefully this works out, as the only thing I make in real life on a regular basis is cup noodlesâŠ]
Oscar nodded as he listened to Rebecca's story; it only made sense, of course. It was natural human instinct to struggle to survive, especially against something so... supernatural. And their party appeared to have dragons on their side, too - just how many different realms were there out there, and how many different kinds of beings? Indeed, it sounded ridiculous that a chicken in one place was not a chicken in another, but now it seemed like an entirely possible situation.
Now, wouldn't that be weird for conversation? The green-haired knight tried to imagine the situation -Â "Do you have chickens in Elibe?"- but quickly tossed the idea to the side; after all, he didn't want to appear strange, and that was certainly a strange question. Yet, he couldn't help but keep the thought in the back-burner - what kinds of meats and vegetables Elibeans had, and what kinds of foods they could make...
Speaking of foods, it seemed like Rebecca shared in his little hobby! Oscar was delighted; his mind was already racing with a multitude of ideas - learning Elibean cooking techniques, swapping recipes, getting some constructive feedback from a fellow cook... all of this sounded wonderful to the paladin.
"That would be great! I'll make sure to bring something of mine, too," he said happily, feeling his widening grin. What would he make? Something Crimean would be best, but what could he make that he would call distinctly Crimean? He began to rack his mind for ideas, but he couldn't think of anything. And yet, just the prospects were enough to get him very excited.
Finally remembering that he had come to the archery range to practise with his bow, not deliberate on cooking, Oscar notched another arrow to his bow. Taking a deep breath, he sighted down the shaft and let the arrow fly, watching as it made a graceful arc across the range before lodging itself right in the center of the bull's eye. The paladin smiled with satisfaction; for some reason, talking about cooking always put him in a state of contentment and relaxation. If only this feeling could be replicated while he was in combat...
Recovery Mission (4b) [Oscar/Kieran]
At the same moment as Oscar swung his door open, Kieran kicked his in. In his immediate sight line were three bandits seated around a crate turned makeshift table. From the looks of it they had been in the middle of a card game.Â
There seemed to be a tangible moment where all four of them just stared at each other before the knight started running his mouth.Â
âPlaying around on the job? It would figure that a pack of delinquents would show such a lapse in diligence!âÂ
That seemed to snap them right out of their stupor. The three bandits quickly began scrambling to their feet - with nary an ounce of elegance, Kieran had to note. As the quickest of the lot lunged for the blade beside him - it had been knocked to the floor in their rush to get up, so clumsy! - the gold knight sprang into action. Heâd indulged himself enough, waiting for them to get to their feet. As much as these dirty tactics didnât sit right with him, there was honour and then there was foolishness.
âŠadmittedly the line between these two wasnât always clear to him though.
Kieran dashed towards to the first bandit, managing to kick the blade out of his reach before he managed to grasp it. Growling the man took a wild swing at the knight, which he aptly dodged. Taking the opening given to him as the force of the punch brought the bandit stumbling forward, Kieran delivered a blow to the back of the manâs head with the base of his axe. The bandit toppled over, either unconscious or stunned. Not the safest method, to be sure, but the most straightforward. Besides, a proper man should be able to take a few hits.
The other two were throwing curses at him now, and when Kieran turned around it became apparent they were also armed. Well. All the better the challenge.
Or not, as it turned out. A loud crash - what on earth was Oscar doing? - emanating from the other shack distracted the remaining bandits for a moment. Oh, for the love ofâ these men would make the most awful soldiers. It was offensive, really.Â
Rolling his eyes, Kieran rushed forwards, immediately catching the banditsâ attention. Their reflexes could use some work though, as he was almost upon them by the time they even thought to bring their weapons up.Â
Suddenly veering to the side, Kieran hooked a foot under the crate the bandits had been sitting at earlier and kicked it towards them. The crate itself didnât even come close to making contact, but the resulting flurry of airborne cards and mugs of ail disoriented the bandits well enough. From the way one of them was furiously wiping at his face, the knight had been lucky enough to splash one of them in the face.
Turning his attention to the one who wasnât blinded, Kieran quickly moved to disarm him while he was still distracted. Before the man could react, Kieran had the blade of his axe hooked under the banditâs own. Twisting, he sent the weapon flying to the side where it clattered uselessly to the ground. Wasting no time, he brought the elbow of his free arm crashing into the manâs head, sending him to the floor as well.
As he made to incapacitate the remaining bandit, however, the man began to swing his sword around blindly. The blade actually managed to nick him in the area of his upper arm left uncovered by armor. Grimacing at the sting, the knight knocked the bandit out before the latter could do any more damage.Â
Kieran took a moment to catch his breath before looking around the shack purposefully. Catching sight of a coil of rope in the corner, he snatched it up and immediately set to work tying up the bandits. If he made the knot rather uncomfortably tight, well, the filthy sheep-stealing dastards had it coming! The villagers could come deal with these thieves however they pleased later.Â
He made sure to kick the weapons, laying haphazardly where they had fallen, into a corner far out of reach before he made his way outside to join his waiting companion.
âOscar! How dare you finish your end before me! Are you sure you didnât miss anything with those squinty eyes of yours?âÂ
Oscar had been looking around to make sure that no one else would be arriving when his train of thought was sorely interrupted by that familiar jabbing voice. Well, about time anyway. He sighed and turned to the direction of the confrontation, wondering how to properly answer his accusatory companion this time that wouldn't blow up the situation. "I knocked out all of the people in the shack," he said, gesturing to the small building he had come from. "We shouldn't dawdle, Kieran. I doubt they'll remain unconscious for long, especially once we start moving the sheep." Yes, the sheep - the very reason they had come to this bandit hideout to begin with... it had almost felt like they were losing sight of what their objective was. But the small white-bundled creatures were entering the periphery of his vision, quietly bleating. Any closer, and the sound could be an unwanted wake-up call. The green-clad paladin swung up onto the saddle of his horse, stroking his partner's mane to calm it down. More than the sheep, the clop-clop of the horse's hooves and its whinny could be enough to arouse the bandits, and Oscar wanted to put as much distance between them before he began galloping. Scanning the view of the field from upon his mount, he saw a group of about two dozen sheep. That would be a difficult group to round up... "It looks like we'll need to surround the sheep and quietly urge them on first," the knight mused. "Let's approach them from both sides to get them moving, and then stay on either side of them so we can keep track." He gave his horse a slight nudge to head toward the sheep slowly. His partner whinnied slightly, as though to object to being reduced to the role of a shepherd dog, and Oscar sighed at having to resort to such tactics as well, but... well, whatever had to be done had to be done, and it was certainly easier than conducting the shepherding on foot. How had those bandits managed to get all the sheep here, anyway? There were far too few of them in the shacks to have been able to get so many of them here without losing any, let alone constitute the entire bandit population. The thought began to worry Oscar; perhaps they should hurry. With this in mind, he turned back to look at Kieran, gesturing for him to quickly help him out.
[Oscar - Rebecca]
Rebecca nodded in agreement, in total assent with the green-haired knightâs words. âRather than pride, I always felt a sense ofâŠrelief. We were always welcomed back with open arms and a celebratory mood, but I was always quietly thankful every one of us made it back. It must have been dumb luck or something, as we journeyed across the entire continent.â Thinking back to her final trip to the Dread Isle, she had to wonder of St. Elimine herself had blessed the group - every one of her companions who had departed from Fargusâ ship had returned. Everybody had been wounded in one way or another, but the lack of fatalities or permanent injuries was a testament to the skill of their tactician, and the leadership of the lords. However, there had been some scary moments, and if not for the skills of Serra, Priscilla and other stave wielders, some of her friends would have been lost on the battlefield.
âIt was not until our final battle that we lost a companion - the Archsage Athos. It was through his sacrifice that we managed to defeat the dragon and close the Dragonâs Gate, sealing the beasts away. I still remember watching him, as he held the legendary tomes of Forblaze and Aureola in either hand and calmly faced a massive, fire-breathing red dragon.â She shuddered at the memory, and sincerely hoped that she would never have to face such a menace in her life again. âAre you familiar with dragons as well? I had not thought they existed on any other continents, as they came to Elibe through a temple housing the Dragonâs Gate.â
She smiled as she recalled his comment regarding culinary mishaps, as her mother was quite prone to mistakes when she cooked. It was the reason she had taken up cooking as a hobby as soon as she could, first as a chore but later as an enjoyable pastime. âWhile they meant that as an insult, I would take up a life in the house and kitchen over a life of battle without any hesitation. To be honest, my cooking is something I have a bit of confidence in, and is another reason I love to travel. Iâve spent 15 years eating the same Pheraen cooking, so every new dish is a delight to sample.â
[OOC: Reading week!! Hopefully youâve got a weekâs break as well. Iâm either working or going out every day until the 27th, so bear with me as my replies will probably be a bit delayed. Hope exams went well for you!]
"Dragons..." Oscar trailed off, deep in thought. He wondered if the dragons that Rebecca spoke of were anything like the laguz of Goldoa? Staunch and unmoving, it was Prince Kurthnaga - well, King Goldoa now, he supposed - that presented a new ideal for the dragon tribe to follow in the aftermath of the ordeal with the Goddess. However, the details presented made it seem like the green-haired archer and her group were unable to communicate with the dragons, and that they had been forced to actually defeat one. What could have driven the dragon to bloodlust, if it was like a dragon he knew? The reason Goldoa avoided conflict at all was because their bloodlust was uncontrollable when awakened. Realizing that he must have been keeping Rebecca in suspense with his prolonged silence, he voiced his thoughts. "The dragons I know of aren't keen on fighting," the paladin began. "I believe they are native to my continent Tellius, but have you heard of the laguz? They are people who can transform - into beasts, into birds, and... into dragons," he finished. "It doesn't sound like the dragon you met was one of the dragon laguz of Goldoa, at the very least." That made the thought all the more chilling - facing a dragon who couldn't be negotiated with, a dragon in all its full might... The talk of cooking, however, perked the green-clad knight's ears. "You enjoy cooking as well?" he asked, perhaps a little more excitedly than the subject would normally elicit. "I'd love to share recipes with you! Not very many people appreciate the subtleties in some of the things I've made - well, I suppose that's what I get for living with knights and mercenaries." Oscar chuckled slightly, shrugging. "And perhaps, if it's possible... could I learn something from your home, too? If you're willing, that is."
OOC:
I have to say, I'm very sorry for not doing anything as of late >______> It's reading week for me and I have a break, but pretty much my week so far has consisted of trying to play through Tales of the Abyss on my 3DS (I suppose some of you have already seen my posts about it on my personal). Please let me know if you want a quick response on any of my pending replies! I know I'm keeping people waiting. I apologize. :( ... that being said, I don't see myself stopping until I've finished the game at least once, and the only thing keeping me from playing now is the fact that I have to study for a midterm on Tuesday, so I suppose what I'm trying to say is to not expect quality or quantity. D:
He said that I shot arrows like a girl! âŠ. So I shot one above his head!Â
Really now? Rolf, there are other ways to settle this. What if you had hit someone else with your arrow?
Boyd started it! Seriously! He did!
I really don't know what to think about this, Rolf. What on Tellius were you two doing? One moment I'm just walking around, the next I'm grabbed by you and swung in between you and Boyd...
