Private Western Brisshal A Delicious Adventure

[Kyanna Wynne]

Western Brisshal
Deep into the Forest

"Mmm mmm mmmm~! Mmm mmm mmmmmmm~!" Kyanna hummed, holding @MAI's hand firmly as she swayed her other free arm in an expressive gesture of excitement.

Noctua followed along, holding Kyanna's broom-staff with its mechanical claws, tagging the two girls.

By the joy of the witch, it would seem like those two were in a very wild date, deep into the forest. But the truth was that they were in a very important mission: To collect the Very Greatest Ever Bestest ingredients to make a Mandragora Spicy Stew. A wonderful delicacy that needed magical ingredients of the best quality.

Of course, the ones who were chosen for that mission were both MAI and Kyanna. The magia had her accute tasting skills that would prove to be incredibly necessary to appraise the quality of the ingredients, while the witch had her great herbalistic skills to make sure they were fetching the right ingredients. After all, most of the ingredients they had to forage were plants.

"Okay MAI. The list isn't too long, but finding the right ingredients will be tough..." She said, probably for the third time in their walk into the forest. "We will need a Dead Tongue Pepper, Magical Moss, any type of berry, and last but not least..." Kyanna huffed with a grin.

"A full grown mandragora!"

 

[MAI]

‎

With Kyanna's pep in her step, the ever-stoic MAI would almost have some trouble following in the witches' step, only dragged along by the force of the other's hand. But, thankfully, this magia was hardly an ordinary piece of walking scrap, and whenever she started falling behind a bit, her next step would have her glide just above the ground without effort. Not that she would find this ideal… it would take some getting used to before she could naturally match pace with someone as energetic as the witch guiding the way.

"Reminder - This unit had stored the recipe inside of its data bank. Availability is permanent until the task is finished."

It was unlikely to change much, but it was a reminder nonetheless, that MAI was probably capable of remembering far more than Kyanna was. Although the witch's knowledge and practical skills in the area of herbology would undoubtedly come in handy, as the magia would otherwise be destined to rely on trial and error alongside purely theoretical knowledge.

"Worry - This unit also reminds Kyanna that some of these ingredients could prove harmful to other living organisms, such as oneself…"

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

If she figured @MAI was having to do extra work to keep up with her pace, Kyanna would tone down her excitement. At least in the sense of not letting it dictate her legs moving around too much. Kyanna looked at MAI, with a hint of surprise crossing her face.

"Oh, that's true. You have a very powerful data center right in here." She poked MAI's forehead very gently, slipping a giggle before squeezing her hand softly, rubbing it softly with her thumb.

"It will be alright, I have great eyes for plants and ingredients. They just aren't as good as my eyes for cute robot girls." Kyanna winked while slipping a jestful flirt, pausing to give a good look around.

"Now, peppers and Mandragoras usually grow in sunny spots, while berries and moss need more humid places..." She hummed, smiling at MAI.

"Do you prefer to finish our job with a sunbath or a lake bath?" Kyanna asked.

 

[MAI]

‎

MAI was still getting used to Kyanna's teasing, something new that she had never quite had to deal with before. Teasing from friends and schoolmates back in the physical world was certainly quite a bit different, and even here in Arcia, the witch only started doting on her like this after… well, after they made things official. So as the finger pressed against the artificial skin, the magia's body almost floated backward in its weightless state, like a balloon from a carnival resting firmly in the other girl's hand.

"…this unit hopes that Kyanna will not use her talent to search for other cute robot girls..."

As for MAI herself, she couldn't help but be a bit tsun about it all, though she did her best to also accept those feelings. After all, she knew that it might have been a cute trope in fiction, but in reality, it would get very annoying and unworkable very quickly. At least her rosy cheeks and wandering eyes certainly betrayed her true feelings.

Not to mention that Kyanna's choice of words brought about different thoughts than she might have wished to. Lake bath… while the magia knew that they would search around a lake, perhaps even admire and take in the beauty of a reflective body of water as the sun's golden rays would glimmer on top, the other obvious possibility crept in, and she would chase it away with a shake of her head.

"Convenience - This area already offers clearings with plentiful sunlight. We might be able to find what we need first before proceeding."

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna narrowed her eyes at @MAI for a moment, raising an eyebrow before letting out a giggle. "As if. But I will make sure to use this talent to charm you over and over~" She responded, finding the overall reaction of her girlfriend to be cute. Though, she did wonder where that jealous-type reaction came from. Was she trying to tease her back?

At the options presented, MAI seemed to pick the option of going for the sunlight first. There was a handiful of clearings, that was true, so there was hope that they would find the ingredients with ease.

"Very well, let's go for the peppers and Mandragoras then. The peppers need us to handle them with a lot of care. Do not, under any circumstance, rub your eyes after touching the peppers, keep it in mind." Kyanna explained, knowing that it was always at the most inconvenient times that an eye or another got itchy.

"As for the Mandragoras... Touching and handling them is fnie, but we need to be careful about them." Kyanna said. "If they wake up while outside of the ground, they are going to make sure our ears will bleed." She grimaced at the thought.

 

[MAI]

‎

"...redundant."

That was the single word that came out of MAI as she tried to avoid direct eye contact a tiny little while longer, wholly convinced herself that there was simply no need for Kyanna to even try to charm her again. It was a spell that did not have any time limit, and the magia could not see herself breaking out of it.

But flirting aside, they did have a goal in mind. And while the magenta-colored machine-girl did not have a whole lot of experience with cooking, but in-game and out of it, she did know enough to be aware of what rubbing one's eyes with pepper would result in. Mandragoras were equally famous in the world of fantasy literature, though from what Kyanna had said, these seemed to deviate in the fact that they would not scream the moment they were pulled out.

"Safety - This unit's body is made out of artificial components with the goal of mimicking organic lifeforms of Arcia. Effects of pepper on artificial eyes may differ from the effects imposed upon organic body parts. However, this unit will be careful."

She would definitely let the witch handle the screaming veggies, thought. So with their little pause over, MAI scooted closer… and, perhaps a bit bravely, grabbed her girlfriend's hand and squeezed it a bit.

"Information - Sunny clearing detected nearby. This unit will lead the way."

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna giggled at @MAI's flat reply, but her cheeks flushed slightly as well. Even if the flirting was started by her, the way MAI responded always endeared her.

The response regarding her warnings about the pepper made her pause and think. MAI's body was exceptionally different from hers. Despite the humanoid shape, the composition was clearly different, and Kyanna could only wonder how distant they were, physically. This prompted her to look MAI up and down, only to be interrupted by her initative.

"A clearing?" Kyanna smiled, nodding. "Lead the way, MAI!"

Her cheeks flushed slightly, once again, feeling the touch of MAI's hold and being guided by her to their destiny.

As they moved closer to the clearing, the sun rays lit up the path toward it, with an arc of treetops working as an entrance to it. The clearing was a little flowery, with a large fallen tree crossing half of the clearing, having ground vegetation taking over it. Between it all, there were small bushes, and some of them had an intense looking violet peppers.

Kyanna's eyes locked on them immediately, hugging MAI's arm with a hand while pointing at it.

"Love, look! I think those are the peppers! Hmm, though it looks a little more pinkish than the book described." Kyanna narrowed her eyes, looking at it.

 

[MAI]

‎

With one more affirming nod, and Kyanna's hand gently squeezed in her own, the magia would slowly walk them toward the location where her sensors picked up elevation in sunlight levels. Sure enough, they arrived there soon, the brilliant sunrays illuminating everything around them, and as always, causing the girl's normally magenta-colored hair to start dancing with a variety of other vibrant colors depending on the angle one looked from.

But the magia did not have much time to even look around and take the sights in, analysis of the clearing having to come later, as her company pointed to an object of interest. Peppers that, alas, looked different to what they were looking for. This gave the girl a bit of a pause. A difference in color meant that this was either a different species, or perhaps that the sample they discovered was not mature enough yet. But there was a definite way of finding out…

"Analysis."

Just like that, even with Kyanna hanging on to her arm, MAI would lean forward to pick out one of the peppers, and without any hesitation, put it in her mouth. The same trait that allowed her to taste food again even as a magia also allowed her to thoroughly analyze anything she did consume, which would allow her to determine exactly what they were working with. Now it was merely the question of her being able to withstand the taste…

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna watched the pepper with curiosity. Why it color looked a bit off? She truly hoped it wasn't because it was ill or infected. The shape and the size was exactly what was on the book, but the color wasn't exactly what it should be. Was it the lightning of the area?

She pondered deeply about it, but before she could reach to any conclusion, @MAI quite suddenly reached for it. Kyanna glanced at her, not expecting MAI to just toss the pepper into her own mouth. The little witch squeezed MAI's arm softly while she did the action, half opening her mouth to protest against the idea, but it all happened so fast that she couldn't interrupt her girlfriend.

"M-MAI?!" Kyanna went pale. Even more paler than she already was. Did MAI just decide to eat that thing?!

When the pepper went in, a sudden spike of spiceness surged, but it was quick and abrupt just like a wasabi, before turning unbearably bitter. The analysis would show that this pepper haven't reached the proper maturity. It needed a few more days to have its proper strong flavor.

"MAI..? Are you alright? MAI..!" Kyanna was still worried, holding MAI's arm tightly while looking at her with a concerned gaze.

 

[MAI]

‎

MAI didn't quite expect for the flavor and spiciness to arrive this fast, but for all the potential worry, it didn't wrack the magia as much as it could have. She withstood it rather well, with her usual poker face, only her other hand twitching a bit. What ended up being much worse was the bitterness that followed. Quickly swallowing the unripe pepper, the girl would stick her tongue out, her expression souring ever so slightly.

"Safe - This unit is alright… this unit's operator enjoys spicy foods… bitter… not so much…"

She coughed a few times before finally composing herself enough to convey what she learned from the bud she ingested. It might have not been the most… sane way of doing things, but it sure has been efficient in the end. The analysis was quick and accurate.

"Result - This is the correct species we are looking for, however, it is unripe."

"Proposal - This unit and Kyanna could look for a ripe specimen, or this specimen could be encouraged to ripen via external means, such as application of nature magic or another mastery that may be able to accelerate the process of of plantlife maturing."

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna calmed down when @MAI reassured to be safe and sound, but part of her description made her frown a little. "... Bitter?" She tilted her head. "It shouldn't be bitter. It is extremely spicy, and ends with a small hint of sweetness when the spiceness fades out." She explained. However, as soon as MAI spoke out the results, Kyanna perked up.

"Unripe, eh..?" She pondered about it, and a bout MAI's suggestion as well.

She very much preferred to find a proper, matured pepper instead of trying to force it to mature, but tinkering some biomagical engineering wouldn't be a bad idea if they wanted to make things faster and more convenient.

Kyanna smiled at her girlfriend. "We could go with both, whichever is the first we find!" She said at first, and then fidgeted her fingers on MAI's, playing a little with them.

"I'm not really in a rush to finish it, I don't mind staying like this and taking longer than we need at all..." She admitted in a slightly shy tone.

 

[MAI]

‎

Kyanna wasn't wrong, they were in no real rush. The only question was - how exactly should they continue looking for what they were looking for? Them finding these unripe peppers was really more of a luck than anything else. Should they just walk around and keep their eyes open? It would make for a good walk, if nothing else…

As MAI felt the witch's fingers start fidgeting, she would suddenly tighten her grip and jump, dragging Kyanna with her. Though, there was little of any actual dragging… as if the gravity stopped being a law and merely became a suggestion for the both of them, the magia would take them both into the air for a brief moment before making them land on the large fallen tree, giving them a bit of a vantage point.

"Caution - Moss growing on the bark can be slippery. Kyanna should mind her step."

The grip loosened again, as if an indication to the other girl that she was free to separate and look around from their new perch if she so wanted.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

As soon as the grip tightened, Kyanna looked at @MAI with a hint of curiosity. But then, her weight felt non-existent, and her foot lost any sense of terra firma— and soon, she noticed herself up in the sky, just about to land on a large tree.

"I will be careful. Thank you, MAI!" She smiled brightly, with her foot being slightly entangled by the moss as soon as it touched its surface. Soon it would look like Kyanna's feet was one with the bark and the moss as she walked on it, making sure she was being held on the surface so she wouldn't slip and fall.

The witch's eyes shifted around, trying to spot more peppers, and eventually, she would perk up, pointing at a particular direction where she saw a handful of violet dots from afar.

"Hey, maybe those are some peppers? They don't look too pinkish either." Kyanna said, narrowing her eyes as she hoped that what she was looking at was what they needed.

 

[MAI]

‎

Perhaps any worry was unfounded. After all, the fungus witch was practically one with the nature at times, and it seemed that today was no different, as MAI observed whatever little trick she had used to increase her stability as she moved around.

The only problem was that the magia herself did not quite know the exact color of a mature pepper they were looking for, so she let Kyanna do all the looking for now as she seated herself on the edge of the fallen trunk, eyes scanning the area at large. It was… really quite peaceful here, with only the occasional chirping of birds and a few butterflies and other insects flying around.

"Observation - This clearing is tranquil."

Such a dry statement… if only her little speech quirk was not in the way, it would have a normal, if a bit quiet exclamation of the wonder that sprawled all around them. Regardless, she started paying attention again, her head snapping in the direction that Kyanna had pointed out.

Pushing herself forward with her arms, she landed back on the solid ground before moving over to the other girl and extending her arms toward her, an indication that she would catch the witch if she opted to jump down as well.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

"It really is." Kyanna nodded at @MAI's words, taking a moment to appreciate the sight while the magia landed down. Her gaze shifted to the height she would need to jump— and while she could use her broom to just fly her way down there, it sounded much more fun to jump on MAI's arms.

And so she did, jumping down and giggling upon being caught, looking at MAI's eyes. "Hello~" She sing sang, eventually getting on her own feet to take MAI's hand, guiding her at the direction of the dots she had spotted.

As soon as they got there, the small bush with violet peppers, but also some pinkish peppers, appeared. The shape was identical to the ones they had found a few minutes ago.

"Ooh, there we are! The Dead Tongue Pepper!" Kyanna grinned looking at the peppers.

In comparison to the pink ones, the violet, 'mature' ones were rather big, almost having the size of a banana, dwarving the pink ones by the double of the size.

"Honestly this looks much bigger than I expected. I thought they would have the size of these unriped ones." She gestured at the pink peppers.

 

[MAI]

‎

MAI was a tiny bit worried that the cute gesture would end up in an awkward bump of their foreheads as they collided, but in a world where they were both nothing like their physical world selves, it appeared to be of no issue. So as Kyanna jumped down, they ended up in a more of a hug before the magia spun the other girl around before she would safely land on her feet and was let go. Only for her to grab MAI's hand again, of course.

"Observation - This name appears to carry certain implications with it."

Hopefully they weren't about to commit manslaughter by using it as an ingredient and it proving too much for… whoever would be ingesting the final produce. It was with all of that in mind that MAI made a proposal most absurd.

"Proposal - If Kyanna is still not absolutely certain that this is what we are looking for due to abnormal size, this unit can attempt to perform another analysis."

The keyword being 'attempt', as there was simply no knowing what would happen when ingesting something like the Dead Tongue Pepper.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna giggled heartily at @MAI's observation. "Yes it carries a lot of implication, just as much as it carries spiceness!" She covered her mouth after another laugh, that only died off when MAI suggested doing another 'analysis'. If MAI haven't tried to eat it right away just like she did with the pink pepper from before, Kyanna could only guess that she hesitated for a moment, which was when she rose a finger.

"But well, if you think you can handle it, I won't stop you." Kyanna said, then giving a slightly stern expression at MAI. "Don't do anything that will hurt you though. This pepper has its name for being so spicy that it numbs your tongue before its sweet aftertaste."

What were the implications in the body of a magia? Kyanna couldn't know. The herbalism books only ever mentioned the effects on beings of flesh, mostly humans. She didn't even know if the effects would change on a faerin, or an elf.

 

[MAI]

‎

That was much less denial than she had expected. As in, there was none to be had. And while it was unlikely to be the case, that made it almost seem like Kyanna was, in one way, looking forward to what would happen if MAI did try the pepper. The magia narrowed her eyes as she stared at the thing… well, it was unlikely to be bitter like the one before, right? Thus the only question was, just how spicy would it really be? The immature one was plenty manageable…

Taking one of the peppers and separating it from the rest of the plant, MAI paused for a moment before bitting roughly half of it off and chewing. Was this the part where an unseen entity in the background would roll a set of dies, seeing if the fate had rolled hight enough for the girl to survive? And if she did, would the eventual sweetness that was promised by Kyanna be worth it? Or would she merely deliver the completed analysis as her last words…

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna watched @MAI intently as the magia was getting ready to take a bite on the pepper. Deep down, she was very worried about what could occur, but at the same time, the fact she managed to handle the unriped pepper well and the fact that her body was different from Kyanna's eased down the witch's concerns.

Still, she was more than ready to aid MAI if needed.

When the bite came, Kyanna felt a sense of immediate regret, as if she had allowed something terrible to happen. Her lips squeezed shut, and she took a single step closer to MAI.

As for the magia, she would feel a pleasing taste at first, that was soon followed by a breathtaking spiceness. And by 'breathtaking', it was quite literal. One would very much suffocate due to the sheer strength of the spiceness, with both tongue and throat becoming vaguely numb in the process. But as it became numb, it was possible to breath once again as the spiceness disappeared, only leaving the very sweet and pleasing taste from the start of the bite.

 

[MAI]

‎

Whether Kyanna was approaching or even making any expressions of worry had become rather secondary to MAI after the bite, as the girl's entirely world shrunk to merely the inside of her mouth and throat. Though, perhaps amusingly, her expression remained stone-still throughout the entire ordeal. The exterior, on the other hand...

As the heat kicked in, the witch would be able to notice subtle steam starting to raise from the magia's body, though her skin remained as pale as ever. It was the moment that MAI started fighting the internal heat ravaging her systems. The suffocating feeling would normally give raise to a coughing and wheezing fit as she would attempt to force some, any air down into her lungs, but it was the very mechanical body that allowed her to remain visibly indifferent despite the internal struggle.

And once it all finally subsided, she let out a single cough... One that caused a plume of dark smoke that even ignited toward the end to escape between her lips. Afterward, she very slowly turned her head to look directly at Kyanna and gave a thumbs up.

"Conclusion - Correct specimen detected. Internal core temperature... Stabilized..."

@Kyanna Wynne