Re: A Time To Heal - Makshim, Shiezin 119 4A

[Nara-pyon]

A part of Wren wasn't sure that she trusted him and was tempted to go along with him and make sure he came back, but the other part of her recognized the resignation in his tone and trusted that he would indeed return.

"I'll just go grab my bag and cloak," she grinned at Miyuki. "I'll meet you and Hikaru in the foyer."

She ran off to her bedroom to get her bag and cloak, and by the time she made it to the foyer, she had both of them around her shoulders and was ready to go.

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki was already waiting in the foyer, but she only had to grab her bag, and she tended to keep her going out bag in her workshop which was mildly closer. She also didn't need a cloak, as she felt warm enough to travel without.

When Hikaru entered the foyer, he was clutching his bag and wearing his cloak. Though Miyuki suspected like her, the cloak was unnecessary. Though she was pleased that he was still a kitsune, she could see the tails making the cloak bellow as they swished around.

"Are we ready?" Miyuki asked.

[Nara-pyon]

"Set," Wren nodded, making sure her bag was closed. "Lead the way."

She didn't know where exactly Miyuki wanted to go, but truth be told, she didn't particularly care. She was just happy to be going out.

Outside, the weather was cool, as predicted, but the sun was shining and only a few clouds were passing overhead. The snow was still melting on the ground, and while the soil areas of the ground were a bit muddy, the areas of rock were slushy puddles. Birds were singing in the trees when the three of them emerged from the tent, and they did not flee at the travelers' appearance. Green buds were beginning to grow along the tree limbs, a promise of a beautiful Spring to come.

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki grinned as she led the way to town, making sure Hikaru would not linger too far behind.

"The tropics are nice, but it's nice to actually see a familiar Spring," Miyuki commented.

Hikaru nodded, he couldn't deny that, "What are you looking for?"

The younger of the two kitsune shrugged, "Nothing in particular. Not really looking for trade, but I wouldn't mind telling a few stories. The last few towns we were in didn't really lend itself well for the kind of story telling I like to do."

Ones that were full of illusions and about far away places.

[Nara-pyon]

"Last town I was in, it was so hostile I couldn't be myself," Wren commented dryly, fingering her still-very-short hair. "I was one of the lucky few though - at least I could go outside."

She looked around. "Here, at least we're treated more or less well. Ahkshi's mother had some choice words for us, so I heard, but aside from that, this area is quite pleasant." She smiled.

Suddenly a thought hit her, and she pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Miyuki, do you mind if we make a stop at the currency exchange?" she requested. "I'd like to pick up a local dessert for dinner tonight."

[Kara Winters]

"I don't mind, what did you have in mind?" Miyuki inquired.

She wasn't sure what local dessert Wren was thinking about.

[Nara-pyon]

Wren grinned and shrugged. "No idea. Whatever smells and looks the best and that they have enough of for all of us. And if theren's not enough of something, then maybe I'll ask Lashrael if she would be interested in making something chocolate for tonight. Just for the fun of it."

After a pause, she added, "Besides, those who make the meals deserve a break. Desserts are the most work."

[Kara Winters]

"That is true," Miyuki agreed thoughtfully, "I do like making desserts more than other dishes, but they can be time consuming."

Though that might be Miyuki's sweet tooth talking.

"You have chocolate on hand? Or just the cocoa to make chocolate?" Hikaru asked, "I know they're available in the more tropical areas, but I rarely get it myself."

Miyuki blinked at that, suddenly curious she asked on a lark, "What is your favourite dessert?"

"Western or Eastern?" Hikaru asked, because for him Eastern tastes always won out.

"Either or, it doesn't matter if it's your favourite," Miyuki replied, "Something with chocolate?"

The man laughed a bit, "Actually no, I do like it on occasion but I find chocolate too sweet. My favourite is Japanese cheesecake, or... in the summer there is... what did we call it? It's been so long since I've used my mother tongue... ah! Kakigori!"

"I don't think, I'm familiar with that...." Miyuki knew the translation but the translation didn't make much sense.

"It's shaved ice, that uses some sort of syrup flavour and a sweetener, it's just you can't transport ice here so the places that have ice would never make such a food, and the places where that sort of thing would be nice to have, it's too hot to produce ice."

[Nara-pyon]

"Of course, you've never been to those places with people like Mailon or Daenis," Wren pointed out, a sparkle in her eye. "Ice is not hard to come by for us. Mailon especially is skilled at creating it."

She wondered if there were a way for Lashrael to make chocolate that wasn't too sweet - it seemed to be a common theme for the native-born Gaians that they didn't like their sweets to be too sweet - Kaito being the obvious exception to the rule. And Lashrael was the one who knew how to make chocolate in various forms. Or was it Jassin? She really didn't know. They'd made that particular feast together.

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru chuckled at that, "That is true."

"Though..." Miyuki spoke up, "I don't think condense milk is something we could create without some specialized tech... but with ice we can make ice cream! I've been tempted to try and sell that sometime! I think it would be fun!"

Hikaru had the sudden thought of Miyuki with an ice cream cart selling ice cream and waffle cones. That made him laugh.

"Now that is quite an image."

"Well, it would get people's attention," Miyuki grinned.

[Nara-pyon]

"Not that the sight of two kitsunes wouldn't," Wren pointed out with a grin. Though she hadn't had the pleasure of enjoying ice cream, she'd heard stories back at Haven. That had been a long while ago, back before Haldia and Celeb had been married.

"Don't you need milk for that, though?" she asked. "I mean, cream ... is from milk ... you might have to wait until we've got our own milk supply."

[Kara Winters]

"Yes," Hikaru replied with a nod, "Otherwise all you can make is sorbet, which is pureed fruit, sugar and juice... and ice. I think... I've never made it, but I think that's the basic ingredients."

"I can wait," Miyuki grinned.

The trio made their way to the currency exchange, since Miyuki wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere in particular.

[Nara-pyon]

Wren was used to currency exchanges by now, as she seemed to be one of the only ones in the group who bothered trading for local currency, and she did it in every country they came to where there was an economy. She changed her Kelian coins for those of Shiezin in short time, and then rejoined Miyuki and Hikaru.

The odd thing was - and she didn't realize this until after they'd left the currency exchange again - that despite there now being two kitsunes in the group, no one was looking at them any differently than they had when there had been only Miyuki.

"So where to next?" she asked as they headed down the street once more.

[Kara Winters]

"I hadn't really thought that far ahead," Miyuki admitted to Wren.

"Try the market, I know it's not that busy this time of year, but those that forage will be bringing in things that only grow this early in the spring," Hikaru suggested, "Others will be selling any surplus they may have stored for winter but don't need anymore."

So there would be a few things to see, but the marketplace was still the most fun in the summer and fall.

[Nara-pyon]

The streets of the market area were completely empty of wares. There were a few people wandering the street, but the outdoor market, as the group had seen it on their last visit, had vanished. The shops themselves were open, small golden banners hanging above each of the doors.

"Looks like business is slower than you let on," Wren commented to Hikaru.

Even as she spoke, a door opened, causing a bell to tinkle pleasantly, and a group of five youths stepped out, talking and laughing together as they enjoyed what looked like maple sugar lollipops.

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru smirked, "It's maple sap season."

He motioned for them to follow, even though he was still uncomfortable with being himself, he wanted to show them the place to be during this time of year. Even though he didn't like very sweet things he didn't mind having maple sap on occasion...

He would prefer it in a baked good as opposed to candy but well...

[Nara-pyon]

Wren followed Hikaru, her mouth already watering in anticipation. Maple was one of the things they hadn't gotten a lot of on this trip that she missed from home. Of course, there were many other things to make up for it, but sitting by the fire and sipping hot maple drinks with her father and grandparents was one of the things she had always loved.

Maybe she could introduce the tradition to Khetal ... not that there were many fires in the tent that they could sit by. Perhaps an outdoor fire some evening? That would be quite nice, she decided, and made a mental note to set that up sometime soon.

The door opened with another friendly tinkle of the bell, and a warm voice called out in the Fire Elven tongue, "Good day! Come in and take a look around - maple season is upon us, and we've all sorts of treats for you!"

The speaker was one Wren had met before, the year previous when the group had stayed here for Kyrie's sake. She smiled warmly at the proprietor, a friendly gentleman, as she recalled.

The entire shop smelled of maple. There were more maple products than everything else put together: bottles of maple syrup, rows of hard maple candy and maple sugar candy, bags of maple sugar, a painted sign of maple taffy, small jars of maple butter, unwrapped bars of maple soap ...

And so much more.

"By the Valar, this is going to make me homesick," Wren laughed softly as she moved to browse the shelves.

[Kara Winters]

"The harvest was really good this year," Hikaru commented as he eyed the products on the shelves.

"I wonder what it's like to bake with maple sugar," Miyuki murmured eyeing the bags.

She hadn't thought of buying anything, though she didn't have any of the current currency at the moment so she may have to wait until later to get something.

[Nara-pyon]

"It works just the same as regular sugar, though with more flavour," Wren grinned. "Of course, you can just use syrup rather than the crystallized sugar."

She was already making a list in her head of the items she wanted to buy.

"We should add a maple grove to one of the gardens," she murmured, more to herself than the others.

The shopkeeper was watching the group curiously as they browsed the wares. He was familiar with Wren, and had seen Miyuki around, but Hikaru of course was a new sight to him - at least, looking as he did now. And yet he was looking at Hikaru as if trying to remember where he might have seen him before.

[Kara Winters]

"If you want to start a maple grove for syrup you'll need a place where the climate actually changes though," Hikaru warned, "So the plant has time to grow and gather food, and then it needs to be cold, and then just warm up enough to start tapping."

Some syrups were useful enough to be used in medicine, so it wasn't a surprise that Hikaru knew this. While maple syrup was the most popular, there were other trees that could be tapped for sap.

[Nara-pyon]

"I know," Wren nodded, frowning gently. "That's the problem ... although ... Lancaeriel mentioned something about either adding another garden to do just that, or to do that for all of the ones that already exist. The plants, she and Khetal agree, would all do better with cycling seasons rather than the static seasons that we have now. I mean, for the hottest gardens it wouldn't make a difference, but for the others ..."

She trailed off as she picked up a tin of the powder for hot maple drinks. Tea, she thought with a grin.

It would be worth the extra work, in all honesty. And even if they couldn't produce everything they would need year round, the vegetables and fruit grew best in the hottest humid climate anyways - so that wouldn't be a problem.

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru rummaged around in his bag, he always kept some of the currency for this country on hand because he liked traveling through here.

"Ah, here it is," he got out his pouch, "Perfect..."

"You're going to get something?" Miyuki inquired.

"Well... see I am going to be traveling with all of you and now have a place to call my own, I can properly indulge in my hobby of tea blending. Maple sugar is a good ingredient, not a common ingredient, but in some more modern blends it's a good addition."

[Nara-pyon]

"Modern as in however long ago it was that you came here," Wren teased Hikaru, grinning.

She kept looking around, and picked up a few more things.

"I should get a bottle of syrup," she murmured. "It can be used for so many things ..."

Though at that rate, she should get more than one.

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru chuckled, but didn't mention that traditionally sugar was not normally added to a tea blend. Sugar was something to add by taste afterwards. Still he grabbed a small bag of the sugar, he didn't need a lot. He wondered if anyone had any apples still, apples was one of those foods that lasted months as long as you kept a close eye on them and kept them stored in a cool dry area. Then he would need cinnamon, now that sounded like a fine idea...

"You should, then we can have pancakes," Miyuki grinned.

She liked pancakes, even though she preferred pancake sandwiches with fruit in the middle.

[Nara-pyon]

"We haven't had those in a while," Wren murmured with a smile. "Maybe we should mention it to Kaito. They're one of his favourites, I think."

She also picked up a little bag of sugar, as well as a handful of the candies.

"Would you like a basket?" the shopkeeper called, a trace of laughter in his voice.

Wren looked down at her hands, which were quite full by now. Her eyes bright, she grinned back at the shopkeeper. "Please."

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