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[lumberlady]

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[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?

[lumberlady]

Oh, sure-

[That seemed much easier than trying to summon ingredients for a food she's not sure of exactly. Not that she isn't willing to try, but she'd hate to get it wrong and disappoint. Setting down her retrieved basket, Konoha starts sorting out the mushrooms and putting them in a small pile, chatting while she worked.]

It's nice to be back here, isn't it? I mean, it would be nicer to be back home, but compared to that Struxta place...

[She feels like she's forgetting something... what was it...]

[tranquilforest]

Barring returning home for good [She laughs softly in agreement], I must confess that I prefer this place as well.

[She watches Konoha's preparations with interest.] Anything I can help with?

[lumberlady]

Really? Thanks- If you could cut these into more bite size pieces...

[Konoha reaches for the knife in her tool belt, pulling it out and setting it on the counter before she gathers and lifts a bunch of leafy mountain vegetables from the basket and sets them down in front of Jing before she goes back to sorting mushrooms, investigating for and rubbing off dirty bits.]

You're the one who organized the festival before, right? Is there going to be another one? Like for the Bon festival or something?

[tranquilforest]

[Very prepared. She approves. She takes up the knife to examine it for a moment, but she handles it with ease, very used to preparing vegetables for consumption.]

Ah, yes, though I had a lot of help with that. I was...considering it, but after our last journey, I don't know how much energy everyone will have to participate.