"And that should do that just fine..." I mutter, throwing the last rock into place. It clatters along the dirt, landing right where I need it to go. One side heats up immediately before the fire, the other side keeps to itself in the growing dark of the night. My foot gives it a quick nudge, making sure everything's fine and dandy about its placement.
"Can you take over, now?" Heiya asks, still spinning the makeshift spit roast. I shrug, not doing much of anything. She frowns, giving me a light, mock growl as she spins away, still stuck with it.
"I've worked enough today!" I laugh, leaning back onto my hay bale and comfort-bringing blanket. My eyes close, then slowly open again, the roar of the fire too attractive to turn a blind eye to.
"At least be ready to catch the cut here, maybe? The meat's only getting weaker with each spin of the wheel." Heiya grumbles more with her mouth than her stomach.
"We already have a tray over the fire." I point out, tempted to kick it as this fire is weaker than candles on the surface. Oh, magic, what a strange thing you are when you travel a lot around the world. Or, Jherikra, rather. Up and down, up and down, surface and underground.
"And the tray is making it cook slower..." Heiya adds on and another shrug lifts my shoulders.
"Not my problem!" I lie, enjoying the gentle whack to my feet for what it is. My clothes and the like are long dry now, but now, I just want to feel dry. Nice and warm regardless of how potent the fire is.
"I'll make it yours at this rate." Heiya insists and I'm half-inclined to take her seriously.
"Oh, stop your squealing, you're as bad as the swine there." I point out and she huffs.
"Trust me, I can be worse." she reminds me, her free hand knocking on some parts to point out the lacking key factor. No bullets. And I'm-
"And I'm glad you don't have any bullets in you, Heiya. I'm glad you don't." I tell her, my voice soft and lips up on a lovely curve that says only one beautiful thing. Sincerity.
"I'm glad for different reasons." she huffs and I let my smile grow a bit, turning my head elsewhere.
"Guess we'll have to wait and see." I say, trying to get a good view of the palace. I hop to my feet, unable to get a good view about it from my slanted posture. The grass wets my feet, slipping and catching between my nails and toes. A metal noise snaps to a halt and the grass rustles at my side. Her gentle breaths giving me all that assurance I need.
"Oh, the tray will catch it." she complains, the metal thing in question sizzling away as more fat than usual falls into its grasp.
"I wonder what he's up to right now?" I ask, looking to make light, night time conversation.
"Awfully curious about someone you hate." Heiya points out and my nostrils flare, a slight smirk to my lips.
"Don't hate him, just don't like him all that much. You know, buggy thing he is." I say.
"Sounds more like you just can't move past the idea he was our product not that long ago." Heiya points out and I shrug again.
"Eh, too much in life to care much about it." I say.
"He's our only hope to get back at Gamtambo..." Heiya reminds me, her tone low and threatening for more reasons than a teenage crush. And it's not even that, so it's a good thing my mouth is zipped!
"I know, I know." I say, once to reply, the other to remind myself with. I know...
"Lot more light about this time." Heiya points out, her small arm pointing up at the palace as it twinkles as much as it does in the night. She's certainly right, looks like there's something going on and-
An arcane fireball, almost as large as the mini-mountain itself ignites. It flies high and higher, going on and on and suddenly shutting off. Like a gas fire suddenly losing its loose valve. Whatever it is, there's only one possible source that I can name.
"Looks like Nin's found his magic source." I muse, acknowledging the brief spectacle and the lack of damage that followed it. Something that big and it seems to be only superficial damage? It's like screaming fire because someone burned ethanol on a rock.
I glance back at our spit roast, eyeing the meat as it otherwise cooks just fine. My attention comes back to the palace and a thoughtful hum goes through my lips. I'm no witch, neither is Heiya, so I'm not entirely sure of what exactly went on there. It looked big, but, I've a feeling it's not that meaningful.
"He can take his time for the moment..." Heiya says quietly and I throw an arm around her, letting her spikes prick away, regardless. I tug her close, letting her cuddle up against my lower half.
"And we'll be all ready for when he comes back." I say and she rustles my clothes, nodding her head.
"Just so long as he doesn't blow us up like that-"
"-MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!" the wind carries with it, a familiar voice and accent to the whole thing.
"Heh." I let out, almost too delighted at the sound of failure the wind is literally carrying. I turn and roughly follow the sound, watching as it echoes further and further. Waking up the whole damn village and disturbing all the animals. My quick huff turns into a chuckle and I head back to the fire. Content with what I hear.
"If the noise is carrying that far, Nin's certainly on the right path," Heiya remarks, not heading back to her prior spot as I beat her to it. I pull a knife, eager to give the meat a quick look. And, if possible, a lovely snacking taste.
"Loudest I've ever heard him, and I know that voice is not pure rage, either." I muse, cutting into the meat and letting a bit fall into the tray. It smacks down, splashing some of the boiling fat, and I stab the meat. I keep it there, letting it sear some more.
"Give me some..." Heiya whines, and I deny her the well-earned privilege. It's her kill, her deal with the butcher, her spit roast spinning, cooking skill. And she gets none of it!
"Mmm..." I let out, thinking the flavour through even as my body screams at me over the lack of magic in the meat. No witch, but I certainly need it like them.
"Well?" the jealous hwardlette asks, her tongue doing a lap across her lips.
"Could do with something else." I go, chamming on the meaty bit as the fat and lot of it otherwise makes for fine eating. Luckily, we do have some other things to go with it and I get to it. It's not exactly restaurant quality, but I can mangle some vegetables and appropriate fruits about. We've got some good hard bread, too, just perfect and begging for fatty residue.
"If you're eating it without spitting it out... Chow time!" Heiya almost swears, dishing out the plates. One for me, one for her, one for spares.
"Fair." I go, getting the knife back into the swine to chunk off a slab from the animal. First bit goes to the spare plate for no reason and I try to cut her when she goes for it. The next slices go to me and a knowing grin builds on my face. She finally gets hers and she goes off on one.
"I hate you." she finishes it up with, a poignant note to all the juicy banter.
"No, you don't." I correct, smiling as she narrows her eyes at me. Her tongue comes out and I get to filling out our plates with the other things. Bits from here on the farm, stuff from the baker when he was tossing it out. Get to it quick enough and you can avoid the bugs getting to it all. Makes one wonder how anyone starves, really, food is like life. The magic in it keeps it fresh until its life just is that way and...
Guess it's just one of many things in the world that doesn't make sense. Problems for philosophers to consider, not hungry men of the underworld. No, the only thing I need to consider is how full my belly is... And it has room!
"Good quality, you know, for being scared half to death." I remark, knowing full well a clean kill is done for more than just the conscience of the hunter. Some even kill cleanly for the sake of reputation and I've just never heard of nonsense like that before!
"Shot to death, you mean." Heiya laughs between bites, gobbling down what she can with no etiquette at all! The nerve of this lady...
"You sure it was the bullets that killed it?" I question, teasing her on her moment of intentional bad shooting.
"One right through the- Mmmmmmm- Cranium!" she reminds me, sucking on the bit of bone she surprisingly has in her bit.
"Wait... There's...?" I go, my curiosity piquing as I pay more attention to the animal and all the little limbs it surprisingly has. Like it's born to tunnel in the way a fish swims. Guess that's what I get for paying more attention to Heiya's shooting than my future food... Ah, well.
"Yeah, this thing's called a... Tunniggie? I think? Kind of swine with these little, hideous baby-like limbs. It goes about looking for truffles and digs right in to feast on them down way under." Heiya explains, her local trivia certainly something.
"Mmm... A truffle." I ponder, not thinking of the right thing at all. Much as I hate being in big towns and the like just because of the law enforcement presence... I do love me the amenities of just living in a town like that. Everyone's a walking bank account and I'm raring to go for a meal. We certainly made use of it back in that town we initially got to.
"I wonder if it will be worth heading to Nin rather than the other way around." Heiya ponders openly and I look her way, pinching a strip of meat as vegetables crunch away in my mouth.
"Why, want to try some of their food?" I ask and she shrugs, somewhat nodding.
"I guess? Most of the magic is there. Food will probably taste a lot better, anyway. Word has it, too, that the doctors all make a point of heading that way. Apparently, this so-called 'The Lord' grants them the right to carry on with their power." she prattles on and I nod along.
"Mm, certainly worth a look whenever the moment happens to come up. Can't say I'm all too bothered, as I doubt anything here is proper magic fed." I say, feeding myself just a bit more as a bunch of other thoughts pass on by.
"Certainly seems worth a try for the sake of our weapons, either way." Heiya points out and I mind my handgun. Getting our weapons that surface touch would certainly be very useful down here. Out in the tunnels, even more so. The weapons trade is the way it is for a reason. It's why all the Ibenoroccon Water-Vein colonies are as untouchable as they are. Magic rich.
Blades, armour, bullets, big guns and small and all in-between. A good blow of magic will make anything lethal in the lands of less than bountiful gain. Will certainly be worth the trip no doubt. But, at the same time, the worthwhile trip will come to us either way as we agreed upon.
Still... It's certainly worth to make sure someone is willing to keep their word.
A bone hits my head-
"Focus on your food!" Heiya complains, no doubt seeing my thoughtful expression in the shadows cast by the fire.
"Yeah, yeah..." I go, setting my worrisome thoughts aside for the moment. Instead, I look up, towards the artificial mountain sky. It's certainly a different view down here, copying what the scriptures talked about. This is what the world was supposed to look like if Ihtuntar didn't die or something like that. Hm, guess not all of this mountain resort is bad.
I guess it's not...