Road to Tenmori

The road to Tenmori was a difficult one filled with endless walking, rock climbing, and sometimes even swimming.

"Y'know Glare, I love Root Haven and all..." Swarms of mosquitoes swarm around them as Glare and Zero swat for their lives while running away. 

"Like... I'm proud to be a Rooter." The view pans to them forcefully lifting their shoes from the heavy tar-like mud.

"But..." Pushed out branches and vines rebound and slap them in the face. 

"But..." As Zero loses his grip while climbing the mountainside he clings to the first tree branch he can... A wasp nest gets dislodged from the tree and shatters in the ground below. The furious buzzing would spell a lethal situation for most, but thankfully amidst the panic, Zero opens his palms together and releases a burst of air, push the wasps back momentarily and makes a quick run for it! 

"WHY CAN'T ROOT HAVEN HAVE TRANSPORTATION TO OTHER CITIES." yells the fleshy agglomeration of bug bites called Zero. 

"Calm down we're almost there." Chuckles out Glare. "We should be getting close if we can finally see roads."

The jungle-like trek taken by the two friends finally seems to open up into a manufactured cobblestone road. The sun was now setting in the west and temperatures began to drop. 

"Let's take a break here and follow the route tomorrow, besides I hear a river nearby."

"Oh thank Elyria... I could really use a shower. Besides... A river... Could it be? IS IT TIME FOR ME TO TRY ASHE'S FAMOUS FISH CURRY?"

"Bro get real, where would if I could get spices to make curry down here we wouldn't have been eating fruits for the past two days. Also, if you wanted my mom's cooking you should've just stayed back in Root Haven. From here on in, It's Glare style cooking only."

"Glare style cooking? You think you're ready for that eh? Alright, what are we having for dinner tonight Chef Glare?'" Remarked Zero with a smug demeanor. 

Glare pushes his face away, "If I'm gonna be cooking at the very least make yourself useful sous chef. I'll grab the fish, you gather any nearby fruits and firewood."

Zero runs out into the woods confidently spouting, "You got it Chef! I'll bring excellence!" 

"Well... Now to fish." Glare takes out his ornate wooden bow and takes his stance. Breathes in and grabs the iridescent bow string between this thumb and index finger. As he stretches out the string, bright luminous energy begins forming from his tips and as he fully tenses it, the light forms the shape of an arrow.

Swoosh. The arrow travels swiftly through the dense trees and bushes, piercing a swimming fish and pinning it to the side of the river. 

Swoosh. Another arrow is released, piercing a river prawn next to the limp fish. 

"Time to get dinner started." Glare takes out his knives and lays them out next to a large stone. Grabs his river fish and prawn, and starts descaling, deshelling and prepping the ingredients.

"Um... Glare?" Zero comes out of a rustling bush holding some leaves, a mango and some branches. "These leaves smelled good but..." A quick look at the hand showed blistered red spots. 

"Hahahaha bro, please throw those leaves away for the love of Elyria. Just get over here, I need a pot."

"Leave it to me!" Zero shouts as he tosses the leaves away. A quick search around the river and Zero picks out a sturdy large stone. "Give me like 10 minutes please!"

"I'll give you 8 and only because you're injured." Replies Glare with a smile. 

Glare gathers the firewood and sets up a makeshift fire pit. Red light begins gathering around Glare's hands as he grinds and twists two sticks together. Fire emerges from the firewood as Glare's eyes turn equally red and his hair transitions into a deep red all across... Then as he steps back from the flames the hair slowly transitions back to white. 

"You look good as a red head y'know? You should just stay that way." Yelled Zero. 

"You have two minutes left to give me a bowl, Romeo."

Whilst Glare whips up the campfire station, Zero is meticulously carving out this big stone with a chisel empowered by fast blowing winds gathered at the tip. 

"Bowl is done Chef!" says Zero doing his best impression of a military salute. 

"Great, put it there and boil the rainwater we gathered."

"Aye aye Chef. What now Chef?" 

"Will you stop with that? We'll boil some rice, and we'll cover the prawn and fish in this banana leaf to steam it. We can also make a nice mango sauce. Oh, there's something you can do, peel this mango for me." As Glare tosses over the mango Zero gathered. 

As Glare is finalizing the components to start cooking, he remembers his mom's advice to create any good cooking. A good balance of Fat (Fish, not so fatty but it'll do), Salt (he does always carry some with him), and Acid. 

"If only there was a lime or lemon tree out here..." Exclaimed Glare, thinking about how his mom would reprimand his second rate incomplete dish. 

Sniff Sniff. Rustle Rustle. A nearby rustling of the bushes quickly garnered the attention of Glare. Thinking to the many dangers of the forest such as jaguars, anacondas, and even some alligators, Zero holds the hilt of his blade while Glare continues mixing his mango sauce but spiritual energy gathers at his side, forming a spiritual white wolf. "Fenrir, go check that out for us please." 

The wolf paces himself with its head angled towards the ground, sniffing and approaching cautiously. . .

"A PUPPYYYYYY." Yelled out a feminine voice as a plump young woman tackles Fenrir to the ground.  

"Eh?" Zero and Glare say simultaneously with a confused, almost annoyed face. 

"Sorry about my daughter, she gets very excited about animals." says a deep voice pushing out the brush leaves aside, revealing a husky middle aged man with a scruffy beard and an afro. "We apologize the intrusion, we just couldn't resist the fragrant aroma, it was as if we were being forcefully dragged through our perked up noses... Ah..." 

"I know what you mean old man! Glare's cooking is the best! Haha!" playfully remarks Zero.

"Um... Fenrir?"

Fenrir's tongue limps out the side of his snout as this young woman continues to give him some belly scratches. 

"Sigh... Look, I don't mind sharing my food but I can't say it'll be good, I'm missing some ingredients..." Glare exclaims after a heavy sigh, wondering how things turned out like this.

The husky man grabs his beard inquisitively and says, "Ingredients you say? Well what do you need?" 

"Any acid really, lemon or lime would work best." 

The scruffy man chuckles, "Well if acid's what you need, we do have some vinegar made from Jurian Ants." "We made it ourselves!" retorted the plump young woman now on the floor scratching Fenrir's throat as she continues with the baby talk towards Fenrir "You're such a good booy, yesh you areeee."  

Glares eyes spring wide open, "Wait what? You really have Vinegar?" All the while thinking to himself how Fenrir is so easily bought over. 

"Well what kind of merchant would I be if I didn't make the best of the best, Ha Ha Ha! I'll hand over a bottle if you share with us whatever is making that delectable aroma."

"Deal!" The words on Glare's left his mouth without a second thought. 

A while later everyone sits next to the crackling campfire excitedly waiting for the finished result. Glare brings out the wrapped banana leaf. Oohs, Ahs and a look that resembles puppies getting their first meal is shared among the three.  The excitement is welling up within everyone and as Glare carefully opens the banana leaves... An explosion of aroma overtakes their senses. Inside is a beautifully steamed prawn and fish which Glare promptly glosses over his mango sauce made with Jurian Ant Vinegar.

"Wow!" "Oh my Elyria!" "Ah..." Exclamations are shared among the merchant and his daughter. With his chef knives he quickly slices all the food and Zero serves the rice atop the banana leaf, trying to sneak a bite of the fish while he's at it before getting swatted with the backside of Glare's knife. "All right sheesh, calm down." 

"Dinner is served. Bon Apetit." With that, atop a large flat rock covered with banana leaves, 2 stacks of rice and cut up slices of seafood all covered in a tangy sweet mango sauce. 

"Delicious!" "Amazing!" "MMMMM." Were the only sounds that were heard during the meal, everyone with their mouths too full of food to even have a conversation. As they drink up some of the nearby river water, formal introductions begin. 

"The name's Jasper Abdar, this here's my daughter Amira Abdar. We're traveling merchants on our way to Tenmori. Now, might we ask who cooked the best meal I've had in decades?"

"Are you blind? Also why do you have white hair?" exclaimed Amira.

"Amira! . . . Please excuse my daughter!"

"Haha don't worry about it. I'm not blind, and I'm not quite sure why my eyes and hair is like this. But I can control light so I feel like maybe my hair and eyes just reflect every color, creating white. That's just a theory though, sometimes they change color on their own." 

"He's definitely a weird one Amira, no question there! Nice to meet you, my name's Zero Kurogane and this is Glare Haoru. We're Spirit Threaders on our way to the tournament."

"Haoru? Like Ashe Haoru? Har Har! now that explains the meal! You hear that Amira? We hit the jackpot! Har Har!"

"Th-th-th-th-th-THE ASHE HAORU? From CARMINE SPICE?" flustered out Amira as she ran up to Glare and shook him through his shoulders. 

"Eh... Zero help me out here? Please?" 

"Tsk tsk tsk, embrace it Glare, you're in the arms of a beautiful woman. Oooh how I envy you."

Glare rolls his eyes back to the current situation and gently pushes Amira from him. "Yes, yes that's my mother."

"Well with a legacy like that and skills like yours, why are you all the way here chasing this tournament?" questioned Jasper as he looked over the pair inquisitively. 

"Look, cooking is fun for me sure, but life's too short to spend it cooking for strangers. I cook for those I love, and to be able to do that, I want to have the power to protect those I love as well. That's why I'm gonna be the next Sentinela."

"And I'm just tagging along for the free gourmet meals!" blurted out Zero with a smile.

"Well don't get used to it, since we're flat broke I might start having to charge you for the meals pretty soon."

"Wait. If you don't have any money, how do you intend to pay the entrance fee to the Spirit Tournament?" questioned Jasper.  

A moment of silence passed as both Zero and Glare stare intently at Jasper. "The what now?"