With the harvest season in full blown force, the company was in the mood for a lot more cooking than usual. While Kai had been raised to know how to cook and bake, she was horrible at it and hadn’t even deemed it necessary to do once she’d landed in Tendaji. Why should she when there were so many restaurants and café and stands to just buy food from? A few times they’d tried to string her into cooking but Kaikamahine had magically disappeared or she suddenly remembered she had something very important to do.

She did not.

This time was no different, some of the other performers were gathering to make some treats for the season. As soon as Kai heard that they wanted to bake something she’d gone right back to her tent and grabbed her cloak. She’d sneaked out of their camp to head to the nearest town. There was no way they were going to rope her into baking anything today, so she was going to spend the rest of her afternoon shopping around. She was always looking for some neat fabric to use for costumes or accessories too to embellish her hair or what she wore.

The market was bustling, since the harvest had been brought in many people were now excitedly shopping for spices and seasonal vegetables. The air was filled with the smells of the warm foods that merchants offered, Kai herself bought a spicy soup with some poached fish inside. It was warm and tangy and kept her belly warm as she moved through the stands eyeing the different items for sale. She loved the deep reds, dark oranges and vibrant browns that were all on display. Kai touched warm fabrics, thicker to keep the winter cold away from the bones.

By noon, she was hungry again, her little soup having already exhausted itself. She moved about looking for other warm goods she could eat. A vendor was selling some roasted nuts and Kai got a small handful as a treat before she found another vendor who was selling a warm sandwich with an overflow of meat. The meat was juicy and spiced, the perfect lunch meal. Once she was done, she actually got to work. She’d already browsed all the fabrics and knew which ones she wanted with the accessories for it. She was still going for something seasonal with the colors and design.

She was going to make sure to bring back something sweet for the others before she left the market though. There seemed to be some sugar-coated nuts, but Kai didn’t feel like getting any of those, she was feeling something chocolatey. Maybe even some kind of bonbon that was stuffed with something. Ever since coming to Tendai, she’d discovered the wonders of chocolate. There hadn’t been any down below and she’d become almost like an addict, always having some on hand when she got a craving. She’d buy a little extra for herself and leave the rest to the company.

Kai was also looking to have dinner at the market, but it was far too early, and she wasn’t really hungry. Instead, she went about a walk to the forest around the town and through the other streets of the village. It was a small village, but it was fun to watch the villagers go about their day. She also went looking for the closes river and lake she could find to go for a swim as well. She would not need to go back for a few days so more time for practicing, even now she could swim about and do a few tricks in the water.

The rest of her afternoon was spent doing just that, in the water and enjoying the coolness on her skin. Sometimes she missed the water back home, but she also enjoyed her life here in Tendaji too. Perhaps in the following years she could take a break and travel back home.

With the sun going down and the cold water growing colder still, Kai got out and got dressed again to head to the market. She’d already grabbed the chocolate, but she was going to get herself dinner as a last treat of the day before she headed back to the tented area they were staying at. She was pleased with her food of the day and the fabrics and such that she had been able to get. She was excited to share them with the rest of the company.