[se] more strength of will

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Content with survival, the young, stalwart Honeybee had taken to haggling along the market for meat and spices, figuring she could take some proportions to the festival later. But for now, it’d be a lovely thing to place along her tastebuds and fill her stomach, and it didn’t take long to parse through an array of delicacies through kiosks and market squares.

By the time she’d completed her miniature quest, the tide had rolled in softly and surely, and taking hold of one of the bonfire pits not being used, trusting Fangorn to guard the array of packages lined up along rocky sitting places, she’d snagged a few more pieces of wood. “All right Sila, you’re up!” The dragon had been working on her incantations, and unfurling her wings to gain a greater vantage point, unleashed an adorable barrage of embers and sparks from her mouth. Enough to ignite the kindling, at least. “Beautiful,” Melita cooed, and then began setting up the meat along the metal pole. “It’ll be ready in no time,” was an echoing promise to each carnivorous companion.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

After his culinary adventure with Evie, Hadama was curious to experiment with some dryland cuisine of his own. He had been shopping in a different section of the market that day, obtaining fresh vegetables and a number of different herbs sealed in carefully waterproofed bottles and jars.

Now, however he was slowly heading towards home, back through the canals and into the welcoming tide that rose around him.

Except... there was a hint of smoke in the air and a flicker of flame a little ways away, just down the beach. Light reflected auburn off of hair and scales and the mermanta moved leisurely in that direction until he could confirm who was there.

Familiar faces (and snouts) had him breaching the surface once more as he swam as far up the beach as the waves allowed him to comfortable come. "Melita. Fangorn. Sila," he greeted politely with a dip of his head. "How are you?" And there was a flicker of curious eyes towards the fire and the meat hung over it, but he held himself back from asking about it... for now.

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Accustomed to seeing Hadama’s head pop over the waves and canals every now and again, there was no sense of surprise upon the youth’s features. If anything, there was a routine widening of her eyes and a singular greeting of a smile as she poked at the fire pit and accompanying spit. “Oh, hi Hadama!” She rotated the metal pole for a moment or two, before resuming her position on the rock, gaze cast upon the mermanta. “I’m pretty good.” Considering she’d recently battled a dragon-sized landshark and lived to tell the tale – along with everyone else in their party. “How’ve you been?” There was a quip about finding any good rocks lately settling somewhere along her embers, but she refrained for the moment, noticing his curiosity.

But she’d wait him out.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

He didn't smile, but there was an easing of his expression as only happened among friends; a relaxation of muscles and a lowering of the barriers he placed between himself and strangers - and strange drylanders most of all.

Strange Melita might sometimes be to a sea dweller, but she was no stranger any more and Hadama nodded in quiet contentment that she was well. There was a certain bliss in ignorance; the tale of the Big Daddy landshark hadn't made it undersea yet, and he took her at her word, innocent to the dangers she had braved.

"It has been quiet," he said with the satisfaction of someone who appreciated how rare those times could be on Caido. "I am content." He glanced again to the skewered meat, amusement twinkling in his eyes as he tilted his head in acknowledgment. "I thought I would learn how to cook food in the oversea way. Is that what you are doing today?"

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

How quiet was it under the waves, where most of the land dwellers couldn’t interfere? Melita figured there were probably still inter-mermaid politics or some other dramatics that made up worlds, or perhaps some monsters dredging up trouble (did they have as many problems with ghost whales?). The Honeybee wouldn’t know much about hushed platitudes, given her recent ventures and who she was as a person, but maybe it was nice. Like the calm before a storm.

Her head shifted, eyes glancing away from the food cooking over the open flame and back to Hadama. “Mhm! I’m roasting some ramphire!” Fangorn, with his long, strong vines, aimed to turn the spit this time, twirling it a couple successions as the embers rose and the kindling cracked. “What do you guys have for meat?” She presumed not much else besides fish, fish, and more fish.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones.

---

You've encountered the OG random event! This allows you to skip one levelling requirement with the character in this thread. (Unfortunately does not count for characters over level 10, how sad.)

Politics were what you made of them. Or avoided of them. But those troubles had been going on for long enough that so long as there weren't any new developments the undersea held an uneasy peace. Either way, it was nothing for land dwellers to worry about. Not yet, at least.

Not for awhile, hopefully.

"Ah." Hadama nodded in understanding and took an appreciative sniff of the sizzling meat. Rhampires didn't usually wander into the ocean, but stranger things had happened. Her question earned a thoughtful tilt of his head as he considered the drylander, and emerald eyes sparked with mischief.

"Crab and lobster," he said slowly, drawing out each word. "Mussels. Turtles. Squid and octopi. Seal. Occasionally pelicans and hels that are slow to fly out of reach." A longer pause and then he looked at her solemnly. "Sometimes, fish."

There was silent laughter there, though it was mostly in the softness around his eyes and lazy, relaxed swishing of his slender tale through the shallow surf.

"I have never eaten rhampire before. Would you accept vegetables for some of it?" He shifted to set his waterproof bag onto the wet sand in front of him and opened it in offering of several more ingredients to the cookout.

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Her brow arched at the list, comprised mostly of seafood, stifling a snort at the notions of pelicans and hels. “Do you guys just grab them right off the waves?” Because that’d be pretty boss, actually, the more she thought about it.

While Fangorn kept turning the spit, and Sila fed the flames a little more, Melita considered his offer, giving off great airs as if the proposition would take a delicate, noble hand. Rubbing her chin, she contemplated, pondering over the circumstances, some manner of teasing embedded in the movements. “Depends on the kind of vegetables,” because what if he deigned to offer her some weird, icky variety of seaweed? And she couldn’t be certain of what lingered beneath the waves, after all.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

"They can be speared from below," he acknowledged. "Or, for a challenge, some shifts can leap out of the water and carry them under." The sharks and dolphins, of course, but swordfish and mantas, too, as it turned out. Though he looked innocent enough while relaying the information that it was impossible to tell whether he had personal experience at that particular game.

He had, but not in recent years.

As always, Hadama was content to relax in silence while his companion thought. Fangorn's clever vines were always intriguing to see in action, and it seemed like Sila was growing bigger every time he saw her. When Mel made her offer the merman tilted his head again, the corners of his eyes crinkling in the ghost of a smile. "I would have brought some fine kelp if I had known," he rumbled. "But all I have are the oversea vegetables I bought today..."

He flipped the satchel open to reveal the zucchini, cucumber, winter squash (because Flowerbirth was well behind schedule this year), carrots, and potatoes, along with the jars of herbs and spices that had been recommended to him. "Will any of these do?"

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita rather liked the mental imagery she’d summoned at the concept of spearing enemies and adversaries from below – smirking a little at the thought of some newfound challenge. How amusing would it be to propel herself upward and knock out some infidel with her staff? Or even shoot an arrow underwater with her bow? The strength itself would be difficult, considering the way water slowed down the mechanics –

And then her attention flickered back to the task at hand, which was inspecting vegetables. While Fangorn grumbled and turned, she maneuvered along the rock, peering at the mermanta’s wares. While not an overly picky individual, she also had to think of what would pair well with ramphire meat when she stuffed it all into her mouth. Perusing and analyzing, she eventually came to an offer. “How about some carrots and those spices, for a slab of meat?” Then her eyes flickered back to the sea-dweller, uncertain of his haggling endeavors.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

He watched Melita's face as she considered his offerings, curious as to her thoughts. If he was surprised that she only named one of the vegetables that he'd procured he didn't show it. Hadama merely handed half of the bunch of carrots up to the honeybee girl and then paused as he held onto the spices she'd indicated.

"These... if you explain why you are using them as you add them," he rumbled, seeing no reason not to learn a little more while he studied the searing of the meat.

Though of course he handed the spices up regardless of the answer, his curiosity piqued as he sniffed again at the scent of the cooking rhampire. One he'd smelled often in Haulani from vendors along the canals, but out here on the beach without the scents of the city to compete, he was able to appreciate it on its own.

"I have heard that the food at the Flowerbirth celebration is... questionable." Spoken delicately, the word chosen with care. "I would like to bring something to contribute. But I do not think raw fish would be appreciated," he admitted, a touch of amusement in his voice.

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

“Why I’m using them?” Her hands went to the bundle of carrots, an appreciative smile there all the same, though based on the statement, the curiosity intermingled into her gilded gaze. “To make it taste better.” Half of an inquiry stuck and held fast in her throat – figuring the sea must’ve had some form of seasoning. If not a constant array of salt in their diet. “Don’t you guys use it?” Maybe not – because she couldn’t picture a pan searing or a pot boiling, not under the waves.

But the Honeybee had been wrong before.

Turning back to the ramphire, and smiling as Fangorn continued to eagerly turn it (it seemed some portion of amusement to him), and Sila aided by melding a few more sparks, the other responses, while not being a question per se, seemed to hold some manner of inquisition. “I mean, it can be. Or has been, in the past. But a lot of us have baked or cooked things to bring.” A bit like a potluck, if Caido even had the words for such a practice. “Maybe some would like fish? It's in the swamps again, so…” probably anything that wasn’t rat would suffice.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

Emerald eyes blinked once, and then Hadama nodded slowly at her answer. "Yes," he agreed. "But how does each one change the taste?" Why salt and not paprika? Why garlic powder and not cumin? Why basil and not mint? He paused at her question and then gave a regretful shake of his head. "Rarely," he admitted. "Dried, like these... float away." He shrugged one shoulder. "Others dissolve, or the current washes them off immediately." A tilt of the head as he met her eyes. "There are some thick pastes that can be spread. But they are hard to make without air magic, and dilute swiftly." Not a common condiment, alas.

He joined her in examining the roasting rhampire haunch and Fangorn's helpful antics. "Hmm." A noncommittal answer at the reminder of the type of water he'd be swimming through once more. It didn't seem to bring him much joy. "Perhaps. But if you can teach me, I would like to bring something like this." And he nodded towards the haunch being so expertly browned on all sides.

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

The seasoning would probably be better and easier if she had a pan, but the Honeybee didn’t care in the end, as long as the product was fine for her less than delicate palate. Hadama’s inquiry was laced with a craving for understanding that she didn’t really have though – no expert on the matter. “I don’t know. Maybe the chemicals in them or something.” She paused, shrugging her shoulders – thinking the mermanta would be better off asking an expert in the field…like one of the merchants through the markets. “As long as they taste good is enough for me!” Fangorn continued rotating the spit, and she tilted her head, watching the sear on the meat.

A rarity of seasoning below the waves was a bit disappointing though. She’d been half hoping they’d managed to find a way to make it all work, but floating away, dissolving, or being washed off sounded depressing. No wonder Hadama always came up for food.

At his question, she wrinkled her nose and her shoulders went up once more. “Sure, I suppose. But I’m not very skillful at it,” not like her bow or her staff. No formal training, save for her mother’s whispers, and those had been gone for many years.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun