10-10-2017, 08:26 AM
"You should keep your hands off that. It's a poisonous one."
"What about this one?"
"That one... is okay."
Malon was happy that Gamzee, Karkat, Dane and the others hadn't joined her for the foraging, because that meant having some time to herself. Time to shed the "Maru" disguise, to put on a pair of boots and gloves and to go into the forest by herself, and find food the old-fashioned way even if she would have been done sooner had she summoned them instead. Seeing how they had Discus dough cakes left from the previous evening she had decided to collect a few chanterelles as seasoning, to make something similar to a mushroom omelette for those who had the appetite for something salted for breakfast. But like Tearen had probably done, the ones who were hungry for other things could summon them.
Spending time alone, surrounded by nothing but the quiet sounds of nature originating from the forest everywhere around her, also drew out the other Malons. While they had at best been transparent and sounded as if they were speaking to her from afar or through a fog bank that swallowed their voices when she was in the camp, here they looked like they were as real as Malon herself and their voices sounded completely clear in her ears. Just like right now, when Gardener pointed out which of the mushrooms were edible and which ones she should avoid.
"The Kokiri sure taught you a lot about nature", Malon said as she put the tiny umbrella-shaped fungus into her basket. "I wish they came out of their forest more often."
"Hyrule isn't a very inclusive country, you know."
"That's not true! We had good trade relationships with the Gorons", she pointed out.
"The Gorons are an exception. Their immense physical strength and durability makes them fairly resistant to physical harassment, and their almost endearing naivety keeps them from being very affected by racial slurs, and makes them more likable. People have warmed up to them. But the Kokiri? They look like Hylian children. Most people had trouble understanding that they were speaking to adults, and it crept them out to be spoken to by what they perceive as a kid, in the same way that an adult would." She interrupted her explanation to point at a mushroom. "This one looks good, by the way. But as I was saying... humans fear what they cannot understand. And if they fear something they attempt to remove it from their life, or contain it. The Kokiri, just like the Zoras I might add, would have ended up in zoos at best, and dead at worst."
Malon swallowed. "You're painting a really grim picture."
Gardener was smiling again, back to her cheerful self. "I'm just detailing why the Kokiri chose to stay among themselves. Although, they're also children of nature - they belong to the forest just like the Skull Kids. They wouldn't have liked the cities and towns anyway."
Malon stood up and dusted her trousers off and shot Assassin a look. She, along with Chef, was sitting on a semi-rotten log and watching the work. "You have a way of destroying my remaining fond memories of home, you know", she said, but grinned as she said so.
"Hyrule's got its light and dark sides", Assassin responded simply. "Just like every country out there."
"Like the Omniverse", Chef remarked with a grim look. "You should change back before you return to the encampment."
"I should indeed." She went over to a puddle of water and looked at her reflection, then passed her hand over her face, briefly covering her eyes. When she looked again, Chef's face looked back at her. "There we go."
Five minutes later Malon stepped into the encampment. Thanks to Tearen's beacon it was very easy to find, even if the forest didn't have wild paths for her to find her way back easily. She was headed towards the kitchen tent to prepare the mushrooms when she noticed that in her absence, newcomers had joined the group around Tearen. Besides the latter stood a little girl, and both faced the other stranger, a young man who had his back to her and was just saying something about a journeyman.
"Oh... I'm sorry", she said, loud enough that the stranger facing away from her would hear her approach. "I hope I'm not intruding on anything?"
"What about this one?"
"That one... is okay."
Malon was happy that Gamzee, Karkat, Dane and the others hadn't joined her for the foraging, because that meant having some time to herself. Time to shed the "Maru" disguise, to put on a pair of boots and gloves and to go into the forest by herself, and find food the old-fashioned way even if she would have been done sooner had she summoned them instead. Seeing how they had Discus dough cakes left from the previous evening she had decided to collect a few chanterelles as seasoning, to make something similar to a mushroom omelette for those who had the appetite for something salted for breakfast. But like Tearen had probably done, the ones who were hungry for other things could summon them.
Spending time alone, surrounded by nothing but the quiet sounds of nature originating from the forest everywhere around her, also drew out the other Malons. While they had at best been transparent and sounded as if they were speaking to her from afar or through a fog bank that swallowed their voices when she was in the camp, here they looked like they were as real as Malon herself and their voices sounded completely clear in her ears. Just like right now, when Gardener pointed out which of the mushrooms were edible and which ones she should avoid.
"The Kokiri sure taught you a lot about nature", Malon said as she put the tiny umbrella-shaped fungus into her basket. "I wish they came out of their forest more often."
"Hyrule isn't a very inclusive country, you know."
"That's not true! We had good trade relationships with the Gorons", she pointed out.
"The Gorons are an exception. Their immense physical strength and durability makes them fairly resistant to physical harassment, and their almost endearing naivety keeps them from being very affected by racial slurs, and makes them more likable. People have warmed up to them. But the Kokiri? They look like Hylian children. Most people had trouble understanding that they were speaking to adults, and it crept them out to be spoken to by what they perceive as a kid, in the same way that an adult would." She interrupted her explanation to point at a mushroom. "This one looks good, by the way. But as I was saying... humans fear what they cannot understand. And if they fear something they attempt to remove it from their life, or contain it. The Kokiri, just like the Zoras I might add, would have ended up in zoos at best, and dead at worst."
Malon swallowed. "You're painting a really grim picture."
Gardener was smiling again, back to her cheerful self. "I'm just detailing why the Kokiri chose to stay among themselves. Although, they're also children of nature - they belong to the forest just like the Skull Kids. They wouldn't have liked the cities and towns anyway."
Malon stood up and dusted her trousers off and shot Assassin a look. She, along with Chef, was sitting on a semi-rotten log and watching the work. "You have a way of destroying my remaining fond memories of home, you know", she said, but grinned as she said so.
"Hyrule's got its light and dark sides", Assassin responded simply. "Just like every country out there."
"Like the Omniverse", Chef remarked with a grim look. "You should change back before you return to the encampment."
"I should indeed." She went over to a puddle of water and looked at her reflection, then passed her hand over her face, briefly covering her eyes. When she looked again, Chef's face looked back at her. "There we go."
Five minutes later Malon stepped into the encampment. Thanks to Tearen's beacon it was very easy to find, even if the forest didn't have wild paths for her to find her way back easily. She was headed towards the kitchen tent to prepare the mushrooms when she noticed that in her absence, newcomers had joined the group around Tearen. Besides the latter stood a little girl, and both faced the other stranger, a young man who had his back to her and was just saying something about a journeyman.
"Oh... I'm sorry", she said, loud enough that the stranger facing away from her would hear her approach. "I hope I'm not intruding on anything?"