The sun hung high in the Manabane sky, its presence indicating it was roughly midday. The light clouds were few and far between, leaving little shelter from the sudden blast of heat that came with the arrival of summer. It had taken awhile, but Styrmir had finally found a nice clearing to take a break from her gathering session. The long blue grass was thinner, with soil poking out every so often. "I bet this was a campground at some point," Mir muttered. She looked around, but it didn't seem like anyone was here now. Oh well, this was better for her. "Gods, it's horribly hot out today." She grumbled. She hadn't been ready for the heatwave. In fact, she was donning a black, fireproof cape that seemed to only make her feel even hotter as it rested on her back. Her arms were covered in the same type of fireproof material, allowing her to better control her prokinetic abilities. Plus, they hid the burn scars that were scattered about her arms from when she was first learning how to control these powers. She wasn't ashamed of them, but she did prefer to hide them. As a protective measure, she wore a mask to keep her eyes safe from the flames. This is all to say, she didn't enjoy the coverings, but didn't want to take them off.
It didn't take long for her stomach to begin to rumble- something she had figured would be happening about now. "Alright," Mir muttered. She closed her eyes and did her best to call upon her visions. She didn't often use this power- it was something she was admittedly still afraid of. Besides, the visions she had during the day were much less vivid and much less helpful than those she had at night. But, now was not a time for dreams, it was a time for food, and as such these desires shaped her vision. Two swirled together- two potential outcomes, one of which would lead to a particularly upsetting result. In one vision, fire spiraled around Mir, dancing as it maintained under her control. The food, however, wasn't shown. In the other vision, ice crept up Mirs arm, immune to the fireproof gloves she wore. Instead, the area around her froze, leading to a gorgeous environment of frozen blue grass and glowing blue mushrooms that shone beneath a thick sheet of ice. So, it was decided that Mir would play with fire, though she wasn't sure what it would be used with.
The first thing she found nearby were bark chippings. These would make an excellent firestarter and would allow her food to have a rich, smoky flavoring. Besides, it would take less energy if Mir were to have the fire burn instead of her hands. And so, bark chippings were the first thing that she gathered and used. She took nearby sticks as well. She used a pocket knife to sharpen them into skewers so she could place whatever else she found to make a kebab.
The problem was finding things that were edible and tasty enough to actually eat. One option was a flowering field of crystal clovers. They didn't seem to appetizing, but Mir hoped that when mixed with other herbs found around Manabane, it would make for a much tastier meal. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be the case. The area appeared to be depleted of all things edible, save for the sudden sprouting of the crystal clovers all over. "I could try the mushrooms..." Mir trailed off, staring at the shining blue shrooms. "Though, maybe it's better that I don't." The last thing she wanted was to die because of an unforeseen poison or even end up in another world for a short time after consuming.
To her displeasure, Mir had to walk awhile before coming across a relatively large raspberry bush. The bright purple berries appeared to be perfect for eating, and she was confident that these would not result in her untimely death. Perfect! As she trudged through the thick blue grass, Mir focused on the floating islands in the distance. Maybe she would go there next if she could figure out a way to properly climb. It was times like these she wished she had wings.
"Alright," She muttered. She quickly started a fire, making sure that the area around the bark was stripped of grass. The soil wouldn't catch fire, so things would be fine. After the fire was set, Mir stabbed both the raspberries and the crystal clovers with the sharpened sticks and set them over the flaming bark chippings. After about 5 minutes, they were done. It didn't look the most appetizing, and Mir came to realize that they didn't taste the most appetizing either. Taking a bite led to immense disappointment- though really, what did she expect by roasting a plant and a fruit?
"Ah, well. This doesn't taste great but hey, at least I can eat /something/ to keep me going." She grumbled. "Just a little longer and I can go home. Maybe Sy will have dinner done and I can eat a real meal!"
[ 857 words ]
