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[img]https://i.imgur.com/kNmO8zV.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ziR5Pse.png[/img]
[b][color=DarkOrange]wordcount: [/color][/b] 1079 (+2)
[b][color=DarkOrange]Location:[/color][/b] Forbidden Kingdom - Fields of Gold
[b][color=DarkOrange]Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DarkOrange]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]//////// (81/90)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 15 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](355/150)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 12 [/color][/b] EXP:  [color=Aqua]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](194/110)
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Much to the surprise of some (and Amaterasu was certainly among them), Bowser Jr knew how to ride a horse. Not only this, but he knew how to ride one well. After a few showboating jumps over fences on a gasmask toting horse, however, his sister asked him to knock it off. She was riding on same said horse for the novelty of it, but by the time they reached the river that novelty was wearing thin. 

She eagerly slipped out of the saddle and down to the dirt, before then hopping onto the river, where she gave out a sight and a [color=Aqua]”better”[/color] despite having to sail against the current, bobbing up and down as she did so.

Jr slipped down to the dirt road as well, but rather than join his sister instead turned back and informed the group that [color=SpringGreen]”Before anyone gets any dumb ideas, no, we are not carrying everything across for you”[/color]

As for the horse, now free of passengers, it ambled down a slight incline till it reached the river and stuck its gasmask into it, slurping up the water through its filters to satiate its thirst. The divine wolf, who had elected to simply lope alongside the ridden animals, padded over to join it in drinking from the stream.

She merely rolled her eyes when Jr called this [color=SpringGreen]”Gross”[/color]

Thirst satiated, the weird headed horse got to work on chomping away at some foliage (somehow) while the divine wolf set herself to the issue at hand, namely the fallen bridge rope. 

After taking a seat jst beside it, time paused, her canvas unfurled, and the wolf set about setting the world back in order. By her miraculous power, the missing posts from the other side of the water were drawn back in, and then two lines were placed, sagging slightly, to join the opposite pairs together, reforming the supports and rope of the rope bridge.

Now all she had to do was draw the rest board by board, which would take a little while. A while enough for seekers to wander off in search of things to do, such as the Koopa children, who both wanted to look into what the farm girl and botanist trio were selling, and if any of it was snackable on.

Although the farm girl seemed somewhat bashful, with neither a strong presence nor a confident posture, she tried to offer her fellow youths a cheerful smile when they indicated the potential to become customers. “Hey there, folks. Thanks for dropping by our li’l neck of the woods. We got fresh rice, daikon, cabbage, soybeans, and wheat if you’re interested. Perfect for stir fries, tofu, stews, onigiri, you name it. And buying local means you pass less than you would going through a middleman!”

Ginseng and Honey, meanwhile, kept their silence as they unfolded and laid out a colorful rug by the roadside, then carefully placed an vibrantly colorful assortment of herbs, fungi, and bottled spices that could all speak for themselves.

That all sounded great to the kids (and it definitely smelled good as Rika crouched down to brazenly sniff at some of the interesting looking herbs and spices) but there was the slight issue of all the ingredients being raw, and neither of them having any experience with cooking.

As she wandered over to the farm girl’s produce and wondered at how hard cooking could actually be, Jr took her place and took a look for any familiar mushrooms while  asking the herbalists [color=SpringGreen]”Any of these do anything cool? Or is it all just tasty?”[/color]

Ginseng held up a bright red mushroom with white spots. “These are good for fermenting spider eyes, which make for great potions.” Next, a fly agaric mushroom. “These were brought to life by meteor dust. Take care of them, and they can fight for you like little soldiers.” Finally, toadstool with a broad, green, softly luminous cap. “These ones offer a little healing, even to machines! They are [i]slightly[/i] hallucinogenic, but it only lasts a couple seconds.” Ginseng’s mandragora companion nodded sagaciously as the botanist gestured broadly to their collection. “I could go on.”

[color=SpringGreen]”This one… fights?”[/color] Jr asked, pointing back at the fly agaric mushroom, a little sceptical, but not that sceptical [color=SpringGreen]”How well?”[/color]

Ginseng and Honey glanced at one another. “Uh…the Amanitas do pretty well against other mushrooms. Think of them like…fighting beetles!”

[color=SpringGreen]“Oh. Eh. Got fighting monsters”[/color] jr replied, now a little suspect of the quality of these wears. Before he could ask any more questions, however, Rika called over to ask [color=Aqua]“anything especialy tasty sounding over there? Like. Spicy stuff or something?”[/color]

Ginseng nodded. “Mhm! Bird’s eye chilis, siling haba, and if you’re really feeling adventurous, siling labuyo! Siling haba is about as hot as a jalapeno, if you’re in the know, but its big brother is way, way hotter.”

[color=Aqua]“Sounds neat!”[/color] she called over in reply, before requesting that her brother should [color=Aqua]“Get us some of that stuff!”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]“Huh, why do you want that?”[/color] her brother asked, turning to her in confusion, only to find her stocking up on a whole host of ingredients from the farmer, and having to add [color=SpringGreen]“or all that?”[/color] to his question.

[color=Aqua]“Coz we’re going to try cooking!”[/color]

It was only after they’d acquired a big bag of groceries that they realized  twin issues with this plan. First was their lack of cooking equipment, and second was their lack of having any idea of how they were going to learn how to cook in the first place.

Amaterasu certainly wasn’t going to be any help with that, but by the time the kids were done shopping, she was done with fixing up the bridge, and let out a howl to call the others to return from their distractions so they could get on the road again.