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[b][color=DarkOrange]wordcount: [/color][/b] 2121  (+3) [b][color=DarkOrange]Location:[/color][/b] Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 15 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](325/150)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 12 [/color][/b] EXP:  [color=Aqua]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](161/110)
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It didn’t matter that the kids had recently had a second lunch, fighting worked up an appetite, and so they were inevitably drawn to the sight and most importantly smell of cooking wafting out from the yellowish meadow.

Admittedly, the smell itself wasn’t exactly of the highest quality, but food was food and so after letting the others know what was up, the two made their way there. As they did, Rika’s scout planes got a bit of a look at the culinary experiment going on, and also determined that there wasn’t going to be any danger with the crane.

Thus they strolled into the meadow casually, with Rika giving a friendly big handed wave as she asked [color=Aqua]”Hi, um, we were just wondering what you're cooking out here? It smells kinda good”[/color]

‘Kinda’ was the best she could offer as a compliment unfortunately.

Jr then chimed in on her heels to ask [color=SpringGreen]”also [i]why[/i] you're cooking out here?”[/color] because it seemed like a weird spot to be doing so to him unless she was mainly cooking bamboo or something like that, he supposed. Maybe that's what they ate? They were kinda black and white like pandas after all, so that must be it, he decided.

The crane’s long, narrow beak turned the newcomers’ way, her beady eyes examining them. Despite their appearance and manner, she did not turn tail and take flight, indicating much more confidence than the average bird. “...Salutations,” she greeted them after a moment’s scrutiny. “One has just set up and is now in the process of fine-tuning one’s latest and greatest invention. A device with vast faculties, into which one has put much personal work. The Supreme Cuisine Machine.”

She paused for admiration, but after receiving only blank stares, continued. “Be at ease, and let one explain it to you. Much lore did one read in the construction of this cuisine-making machine. Know that there are a few key points in the art of ‘making food.’ The result is a miracle device that can do everything from ingredient location to food preparation…” Cloud Retainer trailed off slightly, then cleared her throat. “Aside from temperature control, regrettably. The heating mechanism is a magic conduit, but one’s own adeptal flame is too strong to channel without warping the internal components.”

Both kids looked at the pots, and then, as one, tilted their heads 45 degrees to the side as if this would help them work out how the pots were meant to ‘locate ingredients’ as the Crane claimed. Still both kids weren't going to say no when it came to testing if the’ Supreme Cuisine Machine’ live up or not, and so they put their heads together to ponder the problem.

[color=Aqua]”Could you breathe fire on it? You know the one that leaves the little burning patches”[/color] Rika suggested, to which Jr shrugged and then shook his head while replying [color=SpringGreen]”I mean I guess? but what am I gonna do, hang around forever being a cooking fire? No thanks”[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Burning goop?”[/color] she asked, but Jr claimed that [color=SpringGreen]”The Stus’d mess it up for sure”[/color] leaving his sister tapping a cheek and tapping a foot while going [color=Aqua]”Hmmmm”[/color]

As she did this, Jr turned to the Crane and asked [color=SpringGreen]”Have you thought about, you know, using a regular fire instead of things that wander off?”[/color] gesturing at the slimes who were in the middle of doing just that.

Cloud Retainer fixed him with a rather severe look. “It is not fire that one requires, but elemental energy,” she informed him. “The Supreme Cuisine Machine is a magical artifact, after all.” After spreading her wings, she flapped them to unleash a wind current to return the fire slimes to the makeshift ash pits where they were supposed to be. The winds also extinguished the embers the fire slimes had been unwittingly spreading in the yellow grass nearby. “Insipid, self-destructive things…without ashes to feed on, they’ll sputter out like candles.”

[color=SpringGreen]”Urgh, of course its a magic thing”[/color] Jr complained with a groan, then groaned again as Rika asked [color=Aqua]”Can you train them”[/color] 

[color=SpringGreen]”I mean yeah, probably. The fire ones want, what, ash? Just gotta convince em that they’ll get more of that stuff if they stick around and they will”[/color] Jr said, before asking the Crane [color=SpringGreen]”What do the cold ones want? Ice or something? Same deal.”[/color]

As much as wrangling slimes did not appeal to Cloud Retainer, the adeptus knew that she couldn’t expect results from them if she took half-measures when it came to their care. She sighed through her beak, which had an almost musical quality, and stretched her wings as if to take flight. “One supposes that it would not be too troublesome to construct an adeptal incinerator or adeptal irrigator to make conditions more favorable for the gelatinous ones.” Flapping her wings, she conjured up swirls of orange-gold magic, pulling materials from the earth beneath her to fashion various components of great intricacy. It seemed as if this crane’s first response to any new problem was to invent something new; hopefully the process wouldn’t take so long that the cart full of ingredients nearby would begin to spoil.

[color=SpringGreen]”So is that, what, a magic wood burner and a sprinkler or something?”[/color] Jr asked as he squatted down to inspect what she was doing more closely. This sort of technical tinkering was actually of interest, and he’d be more than happy to lend a claw if it meant learning a thing or two that he could use for his own work.

Rika, meanwhile, was not very interested in the complexities of machinery, and so instead wandered over to take a look at the carful of ingredients to see what might be on the menu later. 

Unfortunately for Junior, Cloud Retainer’s adeptal arts were far more mystical than they were mechanical. Components just seemed to assemble themselves out of thin air, working in ways that he couldn’t divine at a mere glance. Nevertheless, pleased that the koopa seemed to be taking such an interest in invention at such a tender age, the crane humored him with an explanation. “That is somewhat reductionist, but one supposes that you are essentially correct. In this case, the incinerator will be both simple and sturdy enough to withstand one’s adeptal flame, so all one requires is fuel.” Her slender beak turned in the direction of some nearby bamboo stalks. “If the prospect of trying food produced by the Supreme Cuisine Machine intrigues you, one would be pleased if you fetched some bamboo for burning. As for the irrigator, the condensation of atmospheric moisture should be sufficient.”

Meanwhile, Rika could both see -and smell- the quality ingredients in Cloud Retainer’s stockpile, maybe the very items marked by the Supreme Cuisine Machine itself for retrieval beforehand. She found poultry, ham, soybeans, mushrooms, snapdragon flowers, lotus heads, tofu, shrimp, crab, sugar, salt, and of course bamboo shoots, tender and young.

The ship girl took a deep inhale of the scent, let out a sigh, and responded to the question/request the Crane had given to Jr with a call of [color=Aqua]”I’ll do it!”[/color] before taking off at a jog towards the edge of the clearing. There, she got to work, grabbing a stalk of bamboo in both gauntlets, and then using her hip mounted hull blades to hack away at the base of the plant till it was severed, before finally turning,  yelling [color=Aqua]”Catch!”[/color] and hurling the shaft Jr’s way.

The boy, having given up on learning how the ‘Kamek stuff’ the Crane was doing worked, was fortunately looking her way, and so had the time to run, jump and catch the thrown firewood. A bit of a bigger projectile than a baseball, but the skill transferred over nonetheless. 

[color=SpringGreen]”How much you need?”[/color] Jr asked, as he laid the stalk down and dusted off his hands

“That should be sufficient,” Cloud Retainer reported as she finished her incinerator. The main device appeared to be a sort of pylon, almost tall enough to reach the floating Supreme Cuisine Machine, and its stood in a wide, flat, circular collection bin. The whole device had been positioned atop one side of a disk, with the irrigator opposite it, and like a playground toy the whole thing could be rotated to bring either invention into position. Once the kids loaded up the incinerator, Cloud Retainer focused her power through it. In only a few short moments, all the bamboo went up in flames, reduced to a heap of ash. At the same time, the irrigator began to fill its basin. In no time at all, both the fire slimes and the puddle slimes had ideal habitats.

“Excellent.” The crane flapped up to her invention. “One will handle the fine-tuning. The temperature control, one leaves to you two. You must follow one’s instructions to the letter. Ready?”

[color=SpringGreen]”Yeah alright”[/color] Jr replied with a casual shrug, while Rika gave a more enthusiastic [color=Aqua]”Can do!”[/color] eager as she was to see (and eat) the results of the process.

Cloud Retainer nodded. “Then let us begin. Supreme Cuisine Machine, activate!”

The process began, with the adeptus making adjustments and calling out for changes at a blistering rate, which forced the kids to keep turning the invention wheel from side. “One needs heat. More heat, stimulate the slimes! Good. Now…cold, quickly now! We must temper the ingredients, turn up the heat!”

[color=SpringGreen]”Ease up!”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”This way this way!”[/color] 

[color=SpringGreen]”No this arg!”[/color]

[color=Aqua]”To me, to you!”[/color] 

Suffice to say, there was a lot of panicking even as they managed to stay somewhat on top of things. Luckily, the process went a lot faster than most methods of cooking, and in less than a minute, the Supreme Cuisine Machine whirred to a stop with a cheerful [i]ding[/i].

The mechanism sprung open and a platter extended, revealing three servings of [url=https://i.imgur.com/fhmWzCF.png]piping-hot oncidium tofu[/url]. The tofu, thread-thin as the autumn leaves, floated in the bowl, like mist in a forest, and the shredded bamboo shoots gave the image a sweet, lustrous sheen, while the broth combined the essence of fowl and ham, giving off an unbelievable aroma. 

“How is it? Is the Oncidium Tofu complete?” Cloud Retainer practically bowled the kids over in her eagerness to examine her machine’s handiwork. She inserted her beak into the bowl and slurped up a mouthful of bamboo-shoot tofu. “Very good! Verily do the capabilities of this machine exceed the norm!” The crane stared proudly at her masterpiece. “The fine control exercised in processing this Tofu... Indeed, one has outdone oneself.”

Cloud Retainer then peered at the Koopa Kids. “This is thanks to your aid as well, young ones. Allow one to bestow a copy of the Oncidium Tofu recipe upon you. And of course, you may sample the fruits of your efforts.” She circled around her invention to give the others space, already thinking of ways to improve the device. “Further adjustments must one make to this machine's faculties...our method of temperature control can indeed be automated and made miniature…”

The two, having just recovered from the bowling over, quickly backed up and out of the way of the circling Crane, though not before Rika grabbed the noodles and Jr the recipe. Once clear, they both glanced down at the delicious looking meal, and weighed up the superb snack the tantalizing aroma was advertising vs the fact that there had been bird beak in there.

Rika came to her decision first, ducking her head down and greedily slurping (no one here carried cutlery around with them after all) prompting a [color=SpringGreen]”Hey!”[/color] from Jr who practically shoved his sisters head back up so he too could slurp a sample too.

Suffice to say none of this was very hygienic, but the heavenly taste of the meal meant that any ick factor was swiftly forgotten.