PSL | test drive | sunshineverse

[snowchild]

[ It's been just days since the destruction of the nameless Mt. Odori settlement Konayuki called home, but already the scene has been coated in feet of heavy snow that obscure the splintered walls, scattered possessions and numerous graves. The only tracks are hers, her fur boots leaving light, paw-like imprints in the fresh snow from various bundles of flowers away towards a sheltered bluff away from the village proper.

Sure would suck for anyone who needed information from the Itezora clan, really. ]

Comments

[scarecrowboy]

Thank you.

[ The twitch of his mask in a smile followed his words, and he paused for a moment on the precipice of re-fastening his pack. Somehow he didn't much like the idea of such a small thing out in the snow alone with a missing-nin still potentially floating around the area. ]

Maybe we could hunt together? I'll need to get a good eye of the land to start tracking again anyway, so I could really use some of your expertise. You know this place much better than I do, after all.

[snowchild]

Of course! As someone born on this mountain, it's a part of me, so I'll show you everywhere!

[ Excuse for a moment, she's just going to hammer these hammock pegs into the cave wall. ]

[scarecrowboy]

[ Aw, look at her, hammering splints into the rock face like it's no big deal, isn't that cute? ... Wait.

He did a double take; squinting at her actions with close scrutiny. There had to be some kind of trick to it, right? Some strange way that Kakashi could be mistaking one or the two materials, making the art of hammering one into the other a simple task that even a child could perform.... Surely.... ]

[snowchild]

[ Surely- but no, too late, she was quickly done, moving on briskly to lashing the hide in place and finding an appropriately decorated blanket. ]

All done! The blizzard will get lighter again soon, so we can go out and look.

[scarecrowboy]

[ He peered at her handiwork, his hands set on his hips as he straightened up. Genius as he was, he wasn't in the habit of underestimating people, but... ]

Sounds good. Do you need any help with anything before then?

[snowchild]

Yes! Um, do you know how to make tea?

[ She doesn't. At all. ]

[scarecrowboy]

Of course. I'll show you if you'd like?

[ Well, at least he could teach her something while he was here. He'd been worried - for a very brief moment - that he would waste his time being quite useless here, what with Konayuki in her natural habitat, and him without as much as a paddle to get back to shore till the blizzard died down. ]

[snowchild]

[ A small woven box of dried tea leaves made an appearance very rapidly after that. She set it beside him with a pot and more cups, all things that she knew, theoretically, went into the production of the drink.

Extend your knowledge, sage of adulthood. ]

I'm not meant to use these because I'm a kid, but they won't mind if you make it.

[scarecrowboy]

In that case, I'll make sure to brew it perfectly.

[ He set about checking the water, which was just about boiling by now, and then arranged the pot and cups beside him, ready to be used. Upon cracking open the little box, he smelt a strong scent like burnt wood and warm coal rise from the depths, closely followed and wrapped in a sharp fruity smell. He'd never smelt anything like this before.

He wondered how they'd made it, but her lack of knowledge would have been her downfall in that regard and also, apparently, in the presence of a strainer, because there wasn't one to be seen in the little plot of items before him. ]

Alright, Kona. First, we have to brew the tea. This smells like a fruit tea-- [ He gave the box a little shake. ] --and typically you don't add anything to fruit tea, since the natural sugars make it sweet enough as it is. [ He really was using his sensei voice now, but it was much softer than was typical of him, inviting rather than instructing. ]

Got that?

[snowchild]

[ She started at the nickname, but only her quiet giggle betrayed her as she continued to listen to the explanation. He sounded like Grandmother, and the smell of the tea was the smell of family. She responded to that the same way she had responded to the elder: with dutiful questioning. ]

Yes! Um. What would you add if it wasn't fruit tea?

[scarecrowboy]

[ He honestly hadn't even noticed his use of her shortened name, and simply set about untying one of the bandages wrapped around his ankle. ]

Some kind of dairy if you want it to be more wholesome, but if you just want sweetness.. You can add honey, syrup or sap from fruit trees. But that's only if you like sweet things.

[ He looked at the girl as he pulled the fabric free and then wound it tight around his hand, strengthening the fibres. ]

Do you like sweet things?

[snowchild]

Dairy in tea? That sounds strange. [ Esoteric adult wisdom already! She watched him re-tying the bandage, and was momentarily distracted by tracking the number of wrappings around his person. ]

Uncle's clothes are strange, too-- ah, yes! We make a sweet out of sap in the summer, you can get honey in Kanna if you help with chores...

[scarecrowboy]

I'm not keen on sweet things. I much prefer bitter, or salty things. Like the fish you gave me.

[ He looked down for a moment, unfurled a fraction of the bandage and set it across the mouth of the large pot. ]

To brew the tea, we'll have to leave it in hot water for a while, but we don't want to get the leaves in our mouths and stuck in our teeth, so I'm going to make a strainer. [ And he promptly began by taking a pinch of the leaves and placing them in a little pile on the bandage-- then, once he had a fair amount, he twisted it into a small ball, wrapped and knotted the leftover fabric, and let it sit in the pot as he poured the hot water over it. ]

[snowchild]

[ That's not what your bandages are for, Kakashi, but adults know best??

She's not entirely sure why she notes this preference of his, since he's just a visitor, but she doesn't dwell on it. She'll see if she can find more of the salted fish later. ]

Children are meant to like sweet things. Big sister Mari doesn't, but she is almost an adult-- ah. Um, was.