[Flashback] A Special Stew (Bob)

[Aello]

Spring 89, 503 AV Aello stood upon a bed of green grass. The fronds swaying lightly in the breeze, crunching beneath her not-so-delicate step, as she skipped along, looking for the best place to settle her things. The sun's light trickled down from behind a wall of fluffy white clouds, tickling the girl's skin as her eyes sparkled. Everything felt unnaturally warm as she rounded a small hill. Her leg muscles starting to ache, from the journey from her family's cottage to this place between the mountains that cut Zeltiva off from other areas, and the sea. Perhaps I should settle down soon, Aello thought, as her bag bounced between her two shoulder blades. As the folds of her long dress swirled around her knees. Because if the stew takes as long to prepare as mamma's, then I may be out here for a long time. The wind circled her, sweeping her long brown hair off her shoulders as she moved steadily along. At the top of the hill, Aello put her bag down. This is as good a place as any, Aello thought, as she looked around her surroundings. She could just make out the sea on the horizon. A dazzling blue, speckled with white, what the girl assumed to be the sails of several ships, which glided silently along the water. Going about their business- fishing, transferring supplies from one area to another, and the like. Grass and mountains in the opposite direction of the sea. The town in yet another direction. Better start a fire, Aello thought, after looking around everywhere, wondering where she would be the most likely to find supplies. After realizing, her best bet was anywhere but in the direction of the sea, she shrugged her shoulders, and walked off down the hill. Whenever she passed a fallen tree branch, or even a stick, she'd pick it up. Holding it tightly in her arms, close to her chest. When her arms had grown so heavy, that they were beginning to both ache, and sink closer and closer to her knees, Aello decided to return to her bag, and drop everything in a messy pile. When everything had fallen by her feet with a muffled thud, Aello sighed, and then sank onto her knees. Better light these things, Aello thought, as she picked two sticks off the top of the pile, and began to rub them together furiously, hoping to get them to spark. She could hear them clicking. See the thin layer of brown around their edges diminishing. Growing thin. She could see several knobs breaking off as she pushed the two bits of earth against each other, as furiously as she could muster. Sweat appeared on her brow, and yet she kept working. Her heart sped up, but she kept at it. Although she was growing bored, her hands sore and numb, she refused to give up. Inside she knew, that if she simply kept at it, she would soon have a spark. A fire roaring into life before her. OOCGah... I hate how she has to be clueless, and suck at everything.

[Bob Barton]

There was always a reason for Bob to do anything even if it was something like running around the mountains instead of staying in the city or the docks like he always does. Of course he would feel a lot more comfortable being at those places but today he screwed up, bad. Never accuse a burly sailor of cheating even if you know he is blatantly doing it in your face especially when you just lost. Even if Bob was sure in playing the cards the sailor was switching cards in his sleeve possibly with a holdout device of his own, Bob could do nothing else but play until the end. Petch he should have brought his own to this game but looking at his final hand, he was not going to need it because it seemed really good with a high pair. Bob was confident that he was going to win until he saw the sailor grinning and the card at the side moving about like it has been throughout the game. But just how much could one card change the results against Bob's cards? He allowed the cards to be revealed and showed his own against his opponents and was frustrated that the sailor had a triple. Best part was that card just came up the last match! There was no way...

That people will not think that you are just random making accusations that "you are nothing but a vagik! Just like your gaming etiquette!" by being a sore loser. Even worse when that burly sailor lives most of his time with his peers and any implications to one of their hygiene would be perceived as directed to the rest of them. It was not his opponent but another which rose up asking Bob what exactly did the youth mean by vagik? Without realizing the situation he was in Bob glared at the sailor tossing the cards to the table and yelling angrily that "you know what I mean!" Then more sailors rose up to join him including the one he was playing with earlier and told him that not only he was leaving the mizas he lost but everything else he had on him because they needed to be compensated for the insult. They would prefer the mizas since they would not have to tire themselves before their job with showing a certain short person his place.

As soon as he heard this Bob looked around to see that the group was closing in on him. This looks like it was going to be it and in panic Bob looked everywhere he could to find a way out. The bad part was that it was so early in the day that there were not many people at the docks which would help him either. He was about to give in until he realized that there were still many gaps between the sailors that he could slip through. They obviously have not handled anyone like Bob before. Fingering around his pockets he told them "fine. Just let me..." not take out the mizas and run past all of them. Without warning he charged forward with his hands pointed forward. Once it was between the gaps he pushed two of the sailors apart as hard as he could and ran even harder down the docks ignoring all the angry shouts and the multitude of footsteps following him.

"Why don't you people just go back to your work?" he shouted as loud as he could to those behind him and as he was running. Those men were very driven and even if the quality of the sound was different for the footsteps from the wooden docks to the stony streets, there was without a doubt that there were still a lot following. Just how much? Bob could not tell because he did not want to know. All that matters is to just escape. It was already getting later into the day and more people started to crowd the streets helping Bob a lot in his efforts. Stepping past some, running other others and running through the streets that he should know better than sailors which were more at sea than on land, Bob made his way through until he reached the outskirts of Zeltiva and finally looked back. Finally there was no more sailors chasing him.

Still he would not make his way in just yet. Just because they could not keep up does not mean that they have given up. Bob decided to continue making his way towards the mountains until the sun has set before going home. Tired as he was, he was confident that if there were any troubles other than sailors he would still be able to outrun them. Then, maybe because of his imagination the hills started to get darker and Bob wanted to turn back but he spied on some footprints on the path which seemed to be devoid of sticks and branches like all the others and started to follow them around. His first thought when he found them was that he might find someone to sneak him back into the city away from the sailors since they would know the area. However, the longer he followed the footsteps the stranger it felt because those seemed very, very small... Was whoever it was a child? If so what is with the empty path? Either way sticks or not Bob decided it would be a lot safer taking one which was in use recently so that when the screams come he can go at the other direction.

Finally he was nearing the end and hearing a strange clicking sound getting louder the closer he got. He never heard that before so he lay flat on the ground and started crawling towards it only allowing the rubbing of his clothes to make the faintest sound. He got there...eventually since this is one of the few times he had to do this and he was pretty worried that forcing himself faster will make louder noises and alert...Aello? As soon as he saw the girl he quickly got up and walked up to her making a grab at the sticks because Bob knew that as the older male "I can do a better job!" If he got it he will start rubbing the sticks together but even if he did not he will still ask whether "are you right in the head? First haunted houses and now dark woods." Pausing to remember that incident he went and asked "didn't Uncle Marny tell you to rest after that?" because that should be a natural result from all the physical and mental trauma inflicted on the both of them by that horrid ghost.

[Aello]

"Hey! Give those back!" Aello cried, as Bob jerked the sticks away from her. "I need them to spark so I can start a fire for my stew!" Aello added, as she turned to face Bob. The midget. The one person she had searched for treasure with, and gotten into loads of trouble with another time when they pretended to be cousins, entered a haunted house, and were plagued by a malevolent spirit. The man with dark eyes and black hair. Wasn't expecting him, Aello thought, as she shouted, "can not!" Before pausing, for a moment, and then adding, "only because I warmed the sticks up for you!" as her cheeks turned bright red. As they grew warm. Certainly Bob would know that she had meant to say, 'the only way you could manage that is because I warmed the sticks up for you... if you can manage at all,' or something of the like. And even if he didn't, Aello would find a way to poke fun at him again, soon enough. The girl's hands balled into tight fists as she listened to the rest of what Bob had to say. "Of course, but are you?" Aello asked. "Since a few trees scattered about a series of rolling hills hardly makes up a forest. Let alone a dark one... when the sun is shining, and a breeze is casting its light all around." Aello paused. "They know how to share Bob, unlike you," she went on, eyeing the sticks he had taken from her. "To let everything grace us," with that, Aello reached for her bag, and opened the top flap. She rummaged through everything, until she found a small metal pot with a long black handle, and pulled it out. "He's not my uncle..." Aello growled, as she set the pan atop the pile of wood. "And thus, not worth listening to." OOCBob can't handle my ten year old pc. *giggles*

[Bob Barton]

Bob ignored Aello's protests and started rubbing the sticks together. "Click...click...click..." it went for some time until Bob started getting tired and his hands became sore. This was all Aello's fault because "you've been doing it all wrong!" Did Bob know any better about how to start fires? Not quite but he did know a fundamental truth about things. "Bigger is better!" tossing a stick at Aello's direction and choosing a bigger stick from the pile to match the one he got from Aello. "Now let me show you how it's done..." he said to get her attention and started beating them together. Rubbing the sticks right to the end on impact but instead of any sparks all he got was bits and pieces of tree skin scattering all over the place. He was supposed to show her a blazing fire! Not this pathetic display that could only be called "a warm up. That's what it is." Bob did not know what the real thing was but he knew he had to do something different. Stabbing one end of a stick deep into the ground for support he crossed it with the other stick and started rubbing again as hard as he could until he was done and dropped it either because there was a fire started or Bob's own fiery passion burned out.

But there will be a blazing fire because Aello warmed up the sticks as she just said. "That is just the stupidest thing I ever heard Aello" and tossed the big one he just got towards her. "As you can see, I heated it up all by myself." If she wanted to she could poke fun at Bob all she wanted. All she had to make sure was that she did not do it when Bob had a stick in his hands or he might poke her with it for real but the big stick now with her might say otherwise. Bob should have kept it then at least he can use it as a teaching stick to knock the fact into her head that "yes mine's right because yours left!" or she would not always put her in strange and dangerous situations. That is why meeting Aello can make his imagination run wild turning a nice, serene hill into a dark forest of gloom and doom like the house they met the ghost.

And finally he laughed because he could not believe what she was saying. "Do you think all of this is more better than what other people say?" even if it was his uncle? While Bob did not like the man there was no denying that his skills as a doctor is competent at least. Yes, to Aello "he is not your uncle, he is mine but he is...was your doctor" and his instructions for how she should take care of herself is better coming from him than his nephew of whatever the mute trees could tell her with her new branches. "So don't you think you should be going home instead of...." picking up sticks and trying to light a fire for a pot? "What exactly are you doing?" Summoning up another malevolent entity to kill everyone else?

[Aello]

"That is the most pathetic fire I have ever seen," Aello commented, as Bob finally convinced the sticks to spark, and cast a slender flame. A spiraling tendril of smoke skywards. "If you hadn't taken everything away, I'm sure I would have gotten to making one more quickly... one that doesn't look as though it were about to go out," Aello added. "You may want to blow on it a little, at least, that's what my dad does whenever a fire starts to die down... sometimes he starts a bonfire in the backyard, so the family can roast marshmallows..." Aello's voice trailed off for quite some time, as she dug through the bag again, and finally, pulled out a waterskin. "He may be your uncle Bob, but he's not exactly what one would call a doctor. You're better off looking to the University's professors for help, if they'd so much as give you the time of day... he just, doesn't seem to know what he's doing. Considering his best course of treatment is putting a wet cloth upon the brow." Aello giggled. "And insisting you get so much rest, your body begins to grow sore from all the lying down." Aello paused. "You know, he probably thinks us both crazy, after that day. Well, mainly you. You're the one who did all the explaining considering you had to carry me there. My being unconscious and all." Aello paused as she pulled the cap off the waterskin, and poured some of the water into the pot. Until it had come about two and a half inches high. Sloshing up against the sides of the metal angrily, as Aello closed the waterskin back up. "What did you say to him anway?" Aello asked. "Surely you lied. You had to have lied, you being you and all, and the truth being what it was... maybe your uncle knew, and didn't want to say anything." Aello shrugged. "Or rather, didn't want to treat something he didn't understand..." After that, Aello pulled a wooden spoon out of the bag, and set it on the bottom of the pot. She stirred absently a few times, before replying. "Trying to make stew, so that one day, I can be a skilled cook like my mother... it'd be easier if we had a recipe book, or she showed me how to or something, but she never does have time." Aello's eyes sank from the pot of water to the grassy bed that surrounded her. "Which means that I'll have to figure out how to myself." OOCThe pot is still on the pile of firewood you did not start the fire with... we can always transfer it in the next post.

[Bob Barton]

While it is the most pathetic fire Aello had ever seen, "at least I made a fire" Bob claimed rubbing in the fact that he did something that Aello could not into her face. The best part is that Bob could tell her to "don't go telling me what you could when you didn't" because it will cheapen his victory. "If you think that it is about to go out soon then why don't you let me save you the trouble?" Since from that day with the ghost, Aello would already know Bob's secret that he could make water from nothing but himself especially when she had the experience of nearly drowning from it. Bob held out his palm above the fire feeling for the heat which "seems hot enough for me. Did you bring the marshmallows?" The spot where he felt the heat was used as a focus point for Bob to accumulate his res to reduce the stinging feeling he had on it. The res accumulated there growing in size and reflecting the light from the fire for Aello to see as it spread throughout the palm of his hand. Little by little the outer layers got transmuted dropping tiny drops of water on to the fire. Not enough to put it out but weaken it a little bit since anyone would be able to tell the difference with the weak fire.

And there was enough of that. Bob held his hand up towards him and transmuted the rest of the res into water, tossing it at Aello's direction because "you better watch what you talk about my uncle. You are lucky after all that you only needed a wet cloth and some rest instead of" what Bob showed her when he pulled up his shirt to reveal the wounds on his chest by Aello's hand and a shard of glass, "this!" horrible thing. Maybe Bob really was that crazy if he could still sit down and tolerate Aello like this instead of running off and taking his chances with the sailors but craziness or what the University's professors like to call "creative ingenuity is the reason why they bother with me. If I needed the time of the day I would just look at a watchtower or the sun." Looks like Aello could use the professor's help even more if she did not know how to use things as simple as that for herself.

"Need anymore water?" Bob asked with a cheeky smile holding out his hand. No he would not make anymore today if he could help it so he will tell Aello to go and draw it from a stream by herself if she really needed it. Bob rather keep his in case those sailors really needed something to think about but why think about things which are hard to explain like what he told his uncle? "I just said you went crazy and took a glass to carve me up when you let your fear of ghosts take over you in that old house." which did have some truth in it so it was not a complete lie. "Luckily it was dark or you would have been a murderer" Bob said with a nervous chuckle remembering the whole thing. It would have had to have been a more traumatic experience for Aello so "how did it feel? Were you scared? I was quite shocked" and relieved at the same time "that you managed to fight it off" with some help of course. Even a ghost could not tolerate someone like Aello for too long by the looks of it.

Ignoring the rest of what Aello said about his uncle, Bob heard that she was making stew. "Out here?" Aello's father could afford to give his children twenty gold mizas for a treasure hunt game but not give his family a proper kitchen?. Bob did not want to make Aello angry or depressed like he felt when she badmouthed his uncle so instead he went to talk about the next best thing which was not really that better. He gave a laugh when he asked "a skilled cook? You? Instead of a recipe book, don't you need ingredients for that? I didn't think books were that tasty" but maybe that was the reason he was so hung up on that big book from before. But "it is just stew. Just throw in whatever you want and it will taste good" with a little salt. Bob lived with his uncle and the man was not married. In a house with no women it was up to the men who could not cook to save their life so stew or "dump everything you can find" as Uncle Marny would call it was the best that they could do.

[Aello]

Aello pulled her hands away from the spoon and her pot of water, and reached for her bag. She tossed it towards Bob's feet. "There, have yourself a look," Aello growled, as the contents of the sack cloth clattered together. Some small tins of various spices coming loose and rolling across the grass surrounding Bob's feet. "But you're not going to find what you're looking for in there. Marshmallows I mean... and if you had been paying any attention to me this entire time, you'd know why. We're making a stew, not dessert!" Aello threw her hands up, before letting them fall into her lap. Allowing them to settle. The girl's eyes were trained on the midget, giving him a cold, hard stare, for another moment, before she turned back to her pot, and resumed her absent stirring. "We can't throw just anything into it either. Obviously, whatever we put into this stew has to be remotely edible. So no rocks, no sticks. Nothing weird. Meat would be nice, as would a series of spices. Maybe a few green leafy things. You know, the stuff you spit out when your mother isn't looking, or try to feed to the dog or something. Not like a dog would want them either..." Aello smiled weakly. "Why don't you bring some of that stuff back over here, so we can season the water before we set it to boil... add everything else." She paused, "we shouldn't need more unless it burns off too quickly or something. But even if that's the case, there's a bit more in the waterskin." Aello paused, and looked up at Bob. "Guess this is your chance to prove that your Uncle knows far more about cooking than he does about medicine, huh?" The girl's smile widened a little. "Redeem yourself, your ability to judge others... make him seem, oh I don't know, competent..." Aello's eyes flashed, she knew Bob would challenge her now. OOCJust in case it's not clear, Aello expects Bob to pick out a few spices to use in the stew.

[Bob Barton]

As the spices rolled out of the sack cloth, Bob clapped his hands together in joy trying to make fun of the arrogant Aello because "you should know if we dump in all the sweet stuff we will have dessert stew!" It was that easy and as weird as it was would be a lot more better compared to the disgusting fish that was in his meals most of the time. Bob picked up some of the tins to look at their labels before rearranging them into a stacked up pyramid the best he could as Aello stirred her pot. "Bayleaf, paparika, oregano...see? You have some here. Mint and vanilla so how can you miss the marshmallows?" Stupid little girl. "Everyone knows that you cannot go out camping without some marshmallows. If you really wanted to we could even have marshmallow stew" reminding her again that the dessert was important. Just exactly how many people can say that they dared to attempt dessert stew?

It was disappointing that Aello no longer showed her adventurous spirit as she did in the past. It was even more disappointing that "you think I want to eat anything inedible? Of course we are not tossing rocks and sticks in there!" even if Uncle Marny told him once that the moss is actually good for the body. Bob sticked out his tongue behind the girls back when she suggested vegetables because "yuck!" those will never taste as good as dessert stew. But he agreed that "meat is good. Did you bring any with you or did you only bring spices?" Bob could not tell what was in that bag of hers and stared at it for a while expecting some meat to come rolling out but...nothing...

Aello made a pretty big mistake challenging Bob like that. When he was through with the stew, it would be too cruel to feed it to the dog though it would not stop Bob from trying to get Aello to eat some herself. Forget the sweet dessert stew. This was going to be the horrible taste of hell and everyone could only imagine how hell was like. Hot and fiery. Today Aello would get a chance to experience it for herself if only for a moment or longer if Bob was feeling particularly evil. He could try emptying the rest of the waterskin so that Aello will have nothing to soothe her tongue once she got even a little taste and...she will only have herself to blame.

Bob had a malicious grin on his his face as he chose his spices. While he did not arrange them in any particular order, he at least was smart enough to arrange them with the labels facing out making it easier for him to look through them all at once. He mumbled to himself quietly as he tried to make his choices ignoring the ones which were "too sweet...sweeter...bitter...not bitter enough...sour? How would that mix with spicy?" until he found the ones he will refer to as "spicy, spicier and are you kidding me?" Some of those spices he never even heard of before so he trusted that the red ones will be like a fiery explosion in the mouth along with the grounded peppers, curry powder and extra hot chilies.

"Just keep stirring that pot Aello" Bob cried out to keep her busy and not look at what he had. He held them in his arms and crept up quietly until he was right behind her. "It is too late for you now" he thought to himself once he was in position or she somehow decided to turn around then. Bob turned his back to Aello to conceal the spices in his arms while he sprinkled some into the pot one by one with his hand covering over the label as well. "So Aello. Does your mother make surprise stew as well?" he asked with a smile as he put in more different types into the pot until Aello said it was time to stop.

[Aello]

"Surprise stew?" Aello asked. "No, I don't think so. But she does make it whenever it gets even remotely cold out. Says it's good for the bones, to stay warm. Or something like that." The girl smiled up at Bob as she stirred the stew, as she watched him pour various powdery looking substances into their stew. Most of them red, although some appeared dark brown, or even black. A grassy green. After a few moments, the girl glanced back down at the pot. Watched as the herbal particles swirled around in the water. Were whisked away by the whirlpool she produced with the help of her mixing spoon. Watched as everything became a soaked dust. An easy surface laced with several surprises. "It looks like you appreciate a spicy stew Bob," Aello commented absently, as she stopped the spoon dead in its tracks, and allowed the seasoned water to swirl around it from the momentum it had already gained. And then, eventually, come to a halt. "You seem to be using all the dark things. The red things. Mama used to say something about them being the hottest. Or the most bitter..." The girl paused, thinking about her words, and what her mother always seemed to say. She tilted her head slightly to the side, before speaking again. "But if that's what you'd prefer, then it doesn't matter..." her voice trailed off for a while, as she absently resumed her stirring. "We may want to add some salt though. You didn't seem to put any in. Or any meat, not that we have any in that bag to work with, which means we'll have to find another way to get it. Steal a fish off the docks, perhaps? The sailors always leave a bunch lying around. It shouldn't be that hard to get..."

[Bob Barton]

No surprise stew? Then this would be a good first for her especially if the type of soup that she liked was the type which warms her up because she is going to feel very strongly about it. As she continued stirring the soup, Bob will tell her that "my mother does not make the soup, only me and my uncle which is why it is men soup!" like the one in the pot now to raise tolerance. Watching the powders mixing into the concussion was an nice sight but "is there anything else?"

For some reason Aello suggested instead that Bob way trying to get her to make spicy stew but as everyone would know "I don't like spicy stew. What do you mean?" He was not going to admit it just like that. Not when what he wanted was for Aello to find out when she took a sip of it when it was too late but the problem was that she is a girl. Girls normally do the cooking so Aello could tell from all the dark and red things what the result would be. It was lucky that Bob was a boy then since he can deny it when he claimed that "I didn't know that. Your mother must be really good" because he would not be expected to know. But "I don't think that hot and bitter would mix well do you?"

And he did not want to find that out either so "if you don't want to eat it then we can make something else because I don't prefer that." Would Aello do as he asked? He hoped not because most of the work done and the ingredients being used are all Aello's. So he tried to remind her without her knowing that "the effort is all yours really, so it is your choice if you want to make and eat this stew" so that she would see if through. "Salt would only do so much Aello..." Bob replied as he looked through the shakers in the bag taking the pepper one and shook it into the stew again as he asked Aello "how much do you want in there?" If he could, Bob would not stop until it was emptied to make sure that he got the desired taste out of it for Aello.

Then Aello suggested a scary thing of "stealing a fish?" It was dangerous, at least for Bob who already had some sailors looking for him so "how about catching an animal or something?" He would rather take his chances with those than the men of the sea. The only way Aello would get Bob along with her is if she took precautions. "We need disguises so that no one would recognize us earlier" or even before that since they were already looking for Bob. "If we don't have that then it is trouble unless you want to swap clothes?" he asked with a laugh. He was not that serious to look like a little girl just yet but there was no telling what another person might actually agree to do.

The easiest place that Bob could think of was getting the fish from the same place where Aello got the spices so "why not get some from your house?" he suggested. Fish was a staple foodstuff in Zeltiva so they should easily be able to get it from any household. "We could get in and out easily without anyone finding out and be back here with the fish before an hour" he told her. That was the safest course of action. Aello would not want to be chased by other people either just because she did something as stupid as what Bob had done.