Welcome to Gaia! ::

Genora found one more item on her list. Some murky water, but made sure not to get the fresh water or the salamanders would get her. She heading back with bag in hand and had a smile on her face. she put her bag in the little cavern next to the crater that Dharu was standing in. then head off to do some training for the day.

[[1. Wasteland flowers
2. Edible rocks
3. murky water ]]

Auri followed the other student to the class area. It was warmer up here. Good thing she had some thinner clothing, although I don't think Mr. King quite understood what proper desert attire was. She looked like genie in this outfit. At least she was able to get a cloak from the store room to cover up some.

When Dharu stood is when Auri first noticed her. "Oh so they don't just farm the dirt they live in it," she thought to herself. Dharu went on about surviving yatta yatta food or whatever.
"Food yeah... good stuff." Auri then realized SHE was supposed to help get this food...

Auri took her list in hand and just stared at it. They would be gathering their own food. Gathering. Not ordering or even worse waiting for, but gathering.

She looked at Dharu and back to the paper. Auri had no idea where to even start. She had heard of bringing franken-franks and beast-steak to cook while camping. But the items on this list were just, well, vulgar.

First on the list. Creeping spines. "Yeah, nothing tastier than a mouth full of needles," she said muffled by the palm over her face. Maybe the tasted better than they sound. She doubted that.

She took her time walking to the oasis where the 'ingredients' were. Auri knew she was going to get in trouble if she didn't come back with anything, and getting someone else to gather them would probably cause an even bigger fuss. So she had to do it.

"THIS SUCKKKKSSSS!" she graoned as she drug her feeet with every step. "It's hot, dim, and I have sand Jack knows where..."

She finally saw what she had come out here to get. It was a nasty looking weed, spiky and dry. "I can just starve right? Is that an option?" she questioned. Auri found a part of the plant that was not entirely gnarly and broke the stem there. She then used the bag as a glove to pick it up and wrapped it.

"Whats next on this damn thing?" She looked down to her list again.

Her second ingredient on the list was wild flowers. This might be the only edible thing here she thought. Auri looked along the rocky walls where they were supposed to be. She would find one every minute or so.

"Ooo, these smell pretty nice," she said whilst placing them in her second storage bag. Maybe they might taste as nice. Everything was going well and when had collected what she thought was enough she looked at the list for the last item she was supposed to get.

Cooking class? Really?

Mitzi was a bit put out, wishing that she'd signed up for something else. Not only was this place boring and a little gross (the bugs she'd seen in the food? Eewwww.) but now the class was something she didn't even see a real use for. When would she ever be cooking for herself?

Still, she listened with half an ear, because she had signed up for it, and she really ought to learn whatever of use they did have to teach. So when Dharu started talking about how things were not always as they appeared, and the students might get more out of it than they expected, she perked up a bit. Maybe that was true, she might as well put some effort in at least.

She glanced down at the piece of paper she'd been given, looking over the list of choices for ingredients, and realized that none of them were things she would have thought to try. Edible rocks, really? The idea seemed ludicrous... but also slightly intriguing. The ghoul hadn't realized it yet, but she was starting to get interested despite herself.

Finally they were dismissed, and she headed out into the desert to explore. She spotted plants, an oasis, and headed that direction in the reasoning that where there was water, there usually would be food. As it turned out, it was quite small, just a few scraggly trees and a murky puddle of water. As she reached down to test the water, see if she could get more than just mud, something attacked!

She jumped back with a bit of a yelp - the thing had bitten her! And then several salamanders came out of the mud, and she recognized them as one of the things on the list. She looked around, trying to decide if she could summon her spear, but decided to try something she'd learned in War - using her environment. There were several rocks around, and they looked more than large enough to kill a salamander.

She picked one up, smashing it on the head of one lizard, and pulled back again as the others surged forward. She killed several more this way, until the others decided she was too dangerous to fight and hid back in the muddy water. The she collected the dead ones, carrying them by their tails. She wished she'd brought something to put things in, that would make this a lot easier.

Mitzi then continued wandering around the sand dunes, looking for anything else to grab. She found more vines, and another oasis or two, but as hard as she looked she couldn't find the last thing on the list, the wasteland flowers. And with nothing to put her lizards and rocks in, she couldn't really go digging to see if she could find any buried in the sand.

Finally she gave up, tired and dirty and exhausted, and more than ready to get back and see if she could get her hands looked at. Some sand had gotten in the cuts, and they were feeling pretty sore. She hadn't brought anything she could use, but Alex knew FEAR-healing, maybe he could do something to make them sting less.

So she tromped back to where she had found the stones before, and scooped up even more. She put down the lizards temporarily so she could pile the rocks in the other arm, then grabbed the stupid salamanders and headed back to the crater where the class was being held. Once there, she followed the other students she saw to a cavern, where she gathered them all together in a tight pile enough apart from everyone else's, and then she headed out of the crater.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw Reiko on her way back with her own supplies. Since she didn't have anything better to do, she waved and waited for the onryo ghoul.

As she looked around, she considered. There didn't seem to be anything else on the list within her reach, so she wandered a bit more, until she came upon another rock that looked rather like the first one she had picked up. She scooped it up as well, shifting them to one hand and wishing she had some sort of bag. Her obi was good for her eyephone, but too tight for anything larger, so she was balancing them as carefully as she could in one hand while holding the list in the other. It was a bit of a...proposition, but she managed somehow.

[[Ingredients: 2 edible rocks]]

Draven joined his fellow students for the class, a bit happy to see it was outside. It was good to feel the wind, even if it was a desert wind. He didn't mind the caverns overly much...but he preferred outside. So, it was with a pleasant and excited grin that Draven listened to their instructor.

Gathering ingredients? Seemed...easy enough. It would be a nice chance to explore and poke around. "Alright!" A happy raven mocker moved off to look for ingredients, list in hand.

Rolling. Draven joined his fellow students for the class, a bit happy to see it was outside. It was good to feel the wind, even if it was a desert wind. He didn't mind the caverns overly much...but he preferred outside. So, it was with a pleasant and excited grin that Draven listened to their instructor.

Gathering ingredients? Seemed...easy enough. It would be a nice chance to explore and poke around. "Alright!" A happy raven mocker moved off to look for ingredients, list in hand.

He wandered around for a few minutes, studying the list. Surely he could find a few of the things on it--

What was that? Draven was sure he'd just seen something move, something more than just sand. Something smallish and quick. He looked at the list, and saw that there were indeed creatures on it. Perhaps he could try to catch the thing he just saw?

It was worth a shot. So the demon turned, and began looking. At first glance, there was no sign of whatever it was, but then...yes! Tracks! Draven followed the tracks, something had clearly been running over the sand. He followed them to a rock. Perhaps...if he rounded it slowly...Draven saw his quarry dart away, ending up under another rock. It was a sand rat!

The rat seemed to have gone into a hollow...that didn't look too deep. Hopefully these things didn't burrow. Draven quickly, and without thinking, stuck his arm in the hole after the rat. The rat responded by biting him.

"Ow!" Draven couldn't get his hand out fast enough. Though when he finally did, it didn't look to bad. The thing had nipped his finger. "Of course they bite," he scolded himself. That had not been the brightest move.

It did, however, strengthen his resolve. He was getting that rat. Eying the rock, he came up with a new plan. It was a smallish rock (hopefully), so Draven reached down, and flipped it. The sand rat blinked for a moment, stunned at the sudden house demolition. Then it started to run. But Draven was ready. He was already moving. He half pounce, half fell on the rat. But he caught it, and wrung it's neck.

[ 1. Sand Rat ]