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[lumberlady]

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[tranquilforest]

Not until I arrived here. Lady Astoria apparently decided to gift me with a new ability as well.

It's... [Kinda weird and hard to explain. Only one person had recognized it immediately upon arriving, and she hadn't shown it to a lot of people.] It's a way to carry things without their being seen.

[lumberlady]

[Yeah, that... sounds confusing.

Konoha puzzles over the idea in her head, but eventually has to ask, even as she ducks down low to get inside the Temple's kitchen past the lower door frame.]

Like... the things in your hand become invisible?

[tranquilforest]

[She follows after Konoha is safely through, making sure she has plenty of space.]

It might be easier to demonstrate. Would you mind lending me your basket for a moment, Konoha?

[When Konoha turns around, she may note that the colorfully wrapped package Jing had been holding earlier when they first met has disappeared, apparently into thin air.]

[lumberlady]

[Hadn't she been holding a package earlier? ... Maybe she'd tucked it away somewhere.

Completely oblivious, still having trouble believing in magic even as she talks about it, Konoha offers the shallow basket over.]

Sure.

[tranquilforest]

[Pretty much, yes, that is exactly what happened.]

Thank you. [She nods and takes the basket that Konoha hands over. She makes a motion like she's tracing and opening an invisible door in the air, and then the basket disappears entirely from sight.]

It's something like that. But I can also... [She holds her hand out for Konoha's, smiling gentle encouragement and asking permission at the same time.]

[lumberlady]

[WHERE DID THE BASKET GO, MA'AM?

Konoha practically jumps out of her skin even though she had been told something like that was going to happen, all four hooves actually leave the ground for a moment, eyes wide, but she tries to not freak out like she had when she realized she could... make food appear. Be cool, Konoha, be cool-]

A- Ah...

[Her ingredients...

But. She could bring it back, right, so... She shakily gives her hand.]

Please don't vanish my hand, though...

[tranquilforest]

I promise not to, Miss Konoha. [She says with a small smile.

When she takes Konoha's hand, there is a brief, strange sensation, as if there were another smooth surface between them. But even when she pulls her hand away, Konoha should still be able to note an invisible curved wall in the air close at hand, that stays just out of reach unless she's otherwise thinking about it.]

Try opening it again. [Cryptic instructions, Jing...]

[lumberlady]

[That feels... so weird...

The hairs are standing up on the back of her neck but Konoha does her best not to panic or look too scared, concentrating fiercely. There... feels like there's something there, just out of reach, but...]

Opening it...

[YEAH THAT IS REAL CRYPTIC, JING. ... But Konoha tries.]

[tranquilforest]

You just need to think about your basket again. [Jing attempts, smiling in what is hopefully an encouraging way.] I promise it's still there, and you can pull it back out when you need it.

[lumberlady]

[Well, at least thinking isn't exactly hard.

Konoha tries to... invision??? her basket and its contents. Wild mushrooms. Gathered nuts. A few wild root vegetables and stalks.

Wait, was that it?

WAIT, WAS THAT THE BASKET BACK IN HER HANDS???]

A- Ah... there it is...

[tranquilforest]

[It's back! And none the worse for wear.]

And that's...more or less my power from Astoria. [Yeah, she hasn't actually figured out an elevator pitch for this. Though at least in Struxta she'd been introduced to elevators.]

[lumberlady]

[Well, she has to hand it to her... It's definitely something easier experienced than just... told about.

Still, she can't help but examine the basket and the forage just to be sure before she finishes clopping over to the kitchen counter to set it down.

As weird as she found it still... she supposed it was her turn??? And she'd been planning to do it anyway, so-]

Mine is... uh,

[She frowns in concentration, cupping her hands together flat on the countertop, thinking of apples...

Until one is between her hands, and she holds it up for inspection.]

This.

[tranquilforest]

[She really shouldn't be shocked by any of these seeming miracles, considering, but she blinks slow surprise anyway before plucking the apple from Konoha's hand and inspecting it herself.]

Does this work on anything you can think of? You said it only works on raw foods, but is that limited by fruit or vegetable or meat or anything like that?

[lumberlady]

Ah, so far... it's worked on anything I've tried. Meat, fruit, vegetables, grains...

[As shocked as she'd been when she first realized she had a power, she had tried to experiment a little since...]

Do you want something in particular? I can try.

[tranquilforest]

Does it have to be something that you already know about yourself? [What if they accidentally summon the meat of some kind of creature from another world? Or a plant that was edible for some, but poisonous to others?]

[lumberlady]

I... don't know?

[That's a good question...]

I've only tried with food I've eaten before.

[Mainly because she could picture it pretty well... maybe she could picture something if someone described it?]

[tranquilforest]

[She's getting super curious about this now.]

There was a spiced bread at the inn in El Minha, the world Lady Astoria sent us to before Struxta. It was made out of a grain I've never heard of before, on waist-high stalks with maybe a handful of seeds that could be ground down into flour. I wonder...[Well, she can't recall the name of the plant at the moment. Maybe they should save the experiment for later.]

[lumberlady]

[A spiced... bread? Grain makes sense, she knows about rice, of course, but-]

What's bread?

[... Actually, if she doesn't even know that maybe it's a lost cause.]

[tranquilforest]

[The mun is just making stuff up at this point. Jing is briefly taken aback...]

Have you ever had a steamed bun? Mantou? It's a little bit like that.

[lumberlady]

[Steamed buns...]

The... ones with red bean in them? Like rice cakes but you use buckwheat?

[tranquilforest]

Yes. Just like those. Or regular white wheat, sometimes.

[lumberlady]

Huh...

[She'd had those a few times, so she's confident she could imagine all the ingredients that went into them. Red beans... sugar... buckwheat... white wheat... rice...]

I could get the ingredients for those... Do the same ones make bread?

[tranquilforest]

More or less. The most important would be the white wheat flour, and perhaps some yeast?

[lumberlady]

I... think I could do it.

[Hmmm...]

Did you want to make "bread"? I was going to make rice balls, but I could get those ingredients, too, if you want.

[tranquilforest]

I'm a little more curious about what you might be planning on making. [She confesses with a smile.] But perhaps we could experiment together some other time?