Tristana was slightly embarrassed when Delanac noticed her using magic for cleaning herself up. It was a small spell that she had learned from an old man and practiced during her travels. In fact that spell specifically had aided her when she was in a bit of trouble. However she didn't really need to bring that story up at the moment. Instead she watched as Delanac put water in the pot to let it soak. Tristana quickly realized that she probably needed to do the same thing for her bowl. So she put waters in hers as well and put the bowl down. Then she returned to her seat. She listened to Delanac as he explained his reasoning for not opening up a grand bakery or store. Instead he wanted to open up a place so that the people at his home would experience the delight of foods. Delanac seemed to want to prove to his father and everybody else that he could master in the art of cooking. Yet it seemed that wasn't the only thing he wanted to do. He wanted to bring an understanding of cooking to a place that had apparently little for good food. So instead of bringing his talents to a place that didn't need it, he was bringing it to a place he knew well that did need it. Or at least he would once he was ready. 

"I see." Tristana said with an understanding tone, "That's admirable." 

Tristana didn't have the exact words in mind to describe what she meant. So she hoped the few words she did say would get the message across. That she was entirely impressed and in awe. He then spoke about his father and the way that they both were people of action rather than word. Which made sense. Now more than ever Tristana wanted to help him in any way she could. After all it wasn't everyday that you met somebody who had as much passion about a skill or learning as much as he did. Delanac's heart was obviously set on cooking and Tristana couldn't help but wish she could make sure that he was able to get to complete his goal. But she wasn't that amazing or strong to do that. Then an idea formed in her head. What if she asked the gods to help him? That would probably be a good idea that she would need to do later. She kept that thought for later as Delanac talked about the tent. She was allowed to sleep there? That was incredibly nice of him. And sleeping in a tent was a lot better than a hole in the ground. 

"Thanks!" Tristana said with a cheerful smile. 

Tristana then watched as Delanac began to leave to get more firewood. She then stood up and went over to their bowls and cleaned them out. She used her water magic spell and made droplets of water splash over and over on the bowls until they were clean. She got only a little wet but she wasn't too concerned about that. Then Tristana put the bowls in a stack and set them back on the ground. Finally she looked around on the ground and found a little seed of a flower she was familiar with. Marigold. She then used one of her spells and made the flower grow full grown with her Botanical Growth spell. The flower was beautiful and tristana let it be so that it could make the area that much nicer. Then she went into the tent and set out a blanket then flopped down onto the blanket. It was time to sleep. 

Delanac came back with a bundle of dry tinder, and went to work setting up a good-sized fire. The fast-burning grass went first, then once the flames were going he added dry sticks and twigs. Soon the bark pieces and dry wood were in, and it was burning bright like a brick oven. There was still plenty in case he needed to top the pile off. No use in throwing it all in now. While he still had time, he used the heated water and bristle brush to scrap and scrub the pot and bowls clean. The dirty water was poured a ways from the camp, to avoid any muddy surprises come morning. Dusk had arrived, and Delanac took up his turn to keep watch. With his spear in hand, he sat outside the tent, with Bran at his side.

Come tomorrow morning, he'd pack up and head down to Adeluna. Maybe he'd run into his old friend Rufus down at the docks, and catch up. It'd been a whole year since he'd seen the sea captain, and his candy-colored caravel. His next destination was what got him thinking. He'd whittled his choices down to either Nisshoki or Abed. Learning foreign cuisine was something he wanted to know, and seafood was one area he still needed practice. Maybe he could even learn how to make noodles, and other delicacies locals were famous for. He still had a lot left on his list, and he wondered if he had enough time to get it all down. It was daunting, but he couldn't stop now. He and his family were never the folk to drop things halfway.

Night passed quickly, and he dozed off in the last few hours. Waking up with Bran licking at his face, the orc stretched and yawned. "You're hungry, aren't you Bran? Hold your horses and I'll fix us up something." Checking his supplies, he found some flour, cheese, hardtack biscuits, dried herbs, and the dried apples Tristana had given him the day before. Crossing his arms he tried to think. There wasn't much, honestly. But maybe he'd find a way to make it taste good. These were the sort of challenges he'd have to learn to work with as a chef if he was holding himself true to his word.

With a bit of water, he got the flour mixed to make a basic dough. The cheese he crumbled down fine and tossed in, hoping the fats from it would help hold it all together. The hardtack didn't have much flavor aside from salt so he broke off and pulverized some to taste. The dried apples were soaked in clean water, then diced. Along with the dried herbs, it was put into the mixture. Heating up a pan with the fire, he poured his batter in. The hot, seasoned metal sizzled when it made contact, and he could smell the cheese crumbled in starting to melt down. He waited for a few minutes, watching to make sure it didn't burn. Then, he flipped it over and did the same for the other side. He repeated this a few more times until all the batter was turned into cakes.

Looking at his handiwork, Delanac was proper proud of it. They were still hot, so he had to keep Bran from gobbling them all. He waited for Tristana to wake up so they could all eat together. His ma and pa taught them to all that you weren't allowed to eat until everybody was here, and for a boy in a family of several little ones it was hard to hold by. But as he got older, he understood. It wasn't the same if they all weren't there, and that way everyone could eat as a family.

Tristana had fallen completely asleep. It wasn’t terribly hard. She was used to terrible or lack of beds. It seemed that she was having a fine dream since she wasn’t moving and her expression in her sleep was calm. But that was furthest from the truth.

——————————–(Dream)————————————————————————————–
Tristana opened her eyes. She was walking in a long empty hallway where the walls were covered with black crystals. The floor was a grey marble. There weren’t any windows, doors, or any lights. Just one hallway leading forwards into darkness. Tristana continued walking and searched for something. Any sign of life or escape from this dark cold place. She could hear the sound of her own footsteps echo around the hall. Emphasizing her isolation. However she came to the end of the long hallway. In front of her was a black ice covered door that had symbols on the door underneath the ice. However the ice was too thick for her to see or even understand what the symbols were. She touched the door’s handle and pulled as hard as she could. It was frozen shut. Panic rose in Tristana’s heart. It wouldn’t open. Was she going to be trapped here? Without anyone to talk to or any way of living? Tristana grabbed the door and pulled with all her might but it was no use. The door refused to budge. Then she could hear the sounds of somebody else. Someone else was here! Her heart felt a sudden amount of comfort. She wouldn’t be alone anymore. Her eyes gazed upon the face of somebody she once knew. A man she once knew as an uncle. Ugly. Those words came to her mind. That is what she was known as. Ugly. Dead eye. Hideous. A beast. Nobody would love her. Or care. She was alone. Forever. Then the nightmare began to fade. The world around her began to fade into white. Suddenly in the far distance were two figures standing and seemingly talking to each other. Then the figure on the left vanished, leaving the figure on the right alone. When Tristana tried to run up to this person they faded away. Tristana then looked at the ground. The ground had transformed into grass and right where she was looking was a single blue rose. Then the rose began to glow with a blinding light.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-

Suddenly Tristana awoke with a start. She quickly realized that she was inside a tent and the night’s memories came flooding back to her. Tristana had met a new friend who gave her a tent to sleep in. Which was incredibly kind of him. She hoped that she had remembered to thank him earlier. Tristana then left the tent to see Delanac already set up breakfast. It spelled delicious! Of course Delanac was the one who cooked it. Obviously it would be wonderful. She sat with the other two ready to eat. Although she had little manners even she knew that she should probably greet them.

“Good morning!” Tristana said with a cheerful smile, “Breakfast looks amazing!”

The food smelled so good and she was ready to dig in. Instead she waited for the others to start first. Since they were waiting she didn’t know exactly what they were waiting for. Perhaps it was some sort of ritual. That’s why she decided to wait until Delanac and Bran began eating. That way she wouldn’t interrupt the ritual. Tristana could remember the dream she had last night but she decided to push it to the back of her mind. It wasn’t important and wouldn't bring any good. So it seemed better to forget it entirely. Besides she needed to ask Delanac an important question.

“Delanac?” She asked, “Would it be alright if I could come with you? I won’t take up much space or anything. Besides I’m also skilled in magic so I could help you guys. I’m headed to Adeluna as well so it might be safer for us if we stuck together as a group. If that’s ok.”

In truth Tristana had no idea if Delanac would even want to go along with her plan. So far she hadn’t proven she was useful at all yet. All she’s done was show off a bit of magic. Yet she had little knowledge on how to set up tents and how to do things like cook or clean. Even physical fighting is something she knows nothing about. However when it came to magic, she knew quite a bit. She wasn’t an expert but she knew enough to be able to give her an advantage in a fight.