[Why don't I combine my 3 new favorite interests: Fantasy stories, Bondage stories, and now Cooking.]
[Into one thing?]
[I've seen Fantasy Cookbooks, I own a Fallout Cookbook and it's been a blast using it.]
[But what about some rope and story added into it?]
[So stick around until the end of each part to find out how to make these dishes for yourself!]
-----
"Welcome weary traveler, to my humble wagon diner. How may I serve you today?""Oh, you're a new face around these parts aren't ya? Well, where are my manners?"
"I'm Nadia, pleasure to meet you. I'm a wandering chef, traveling far and wide for the best ingredients this world has to offer."
"Ah, Glacier Dewberry Fruit Salad. One of my healthy favorites. That'll be 15 Green Astrals."
"Eh? You want to know how I came up with that dish?"
"Well, if I have to be honest... It's kind of embarrassing..."
sigh
"If you insist, traveler."
Part 1: Glacier Dewberry Fruit Salad
Nadia sat atop her wagon, the uneven dirt road made her ride a bit bumpy, but nothing she couldn't handle.
She squinted in the distance, and in front of a large mountain range stood a small village.
"Alright boys," Nadia called to her horses pulling the wagon. "We're almost there."
When Nadia arrived at the village, many curious villagers arrived at her mobile restaurant.
"A moving restaurant?" One elderly villager said. "That seems inconvenient, doesn't it?"
"It is sometimes." Nadia replies. "But staying on the move means new customers and ingredients."
Upon hearing the word 'ingredients,' the elderly man suddenly lights up.
"Oh, so you must be here for our Dewberries!" He says. "It's been many suns since an outsider has been interested in them."
"I'm sorry, but I do not believe I've heard of your Dewberries." says Nadia. "However, I am curious. Please tell me more."
The elderly man is all too happy to. After Nadia secures her wagon and horses, she follows him inside his thatch-roofed hut.
"Sorry for the mess." He says with a chuckle, walking over cluttered kitchenware. "I was not expecting visitors."
"You do not need to apologize." Nadia says.
The man grabs something off of a bookshelf. A thick leather bound book.
He blows off the thick layer of dust on its cover and pats off the remaining dust.
"Here it is." He says. "When I was still a young lad, I too was a chef. I was just as, or maybe even more, enthusiastic as you when it came to new ingredients."
He opens the book and flips through a few pages.
"Here it is." He says, showing Nadia the pages. "Glacier Dewberries. One of the finest ingredients I had ever stumbled across. And it grows on the very mountains that overlook this village."
Nadia looks at the pages in awe, and reads a few lines:
"The glacier dewberry is an exotic fruit that only grows at low temperatures. It is a small berry with many small spheres of flesh that has a translucent, icy-blue exterior that sparkles in the light like frozen dewdrops. The skin is slightly firm to the touch, but yields easily to the bite, revealing a sweet and juicy interior that is the color of a clear summer sky."
"Its berries grow on a low-lying shrub, and is often found growing on the rocky slopes of mountains, or in the shadow of glaciers and icebergs."
"The bush has a gnarled and twisted appearance, with rough, woody stems that are coated in a layer of fine brown hairs to help protect it from the icy winds that whip across the landscape. The leaves of the bush are a dark, glossy green, and are serrated along the edges."
Nadia looks up. "And you said these grow right on these mountains?"
The elderly man laughs. "Of course! Do you not believe me? I would take you up there myself to prove it to you if I could."
Nadia shakes her head. "No, I believe you, that's fine."
"But, I would like to see them." Nadia says.
"Well, then I'll call my granddaughter." The old man says, putting the book on a table.
After a few preparations, Nadia is dressed in a thick fur coat and pants with warm and fluffy boots and gloves.
"It's kinda stuffy in here." Nadia says, already sweating.
"We haven't left the village yet." Eliza, the elderly man's granddaughter, says. "But you'll need it up there."
[6 hours later.]
The cold wind lashed at Nadia's face, her legs were sore and she couldn't feel her fingers.
"How much longer?" She asked Eliza.
"Not long." She replied.
How is she not tired? I'm half dead and she's not even breaking a sweat! Nadia thought to herself.
"Ah! We're here!" Eliza exclaims. "Just over this hill!"
Nadia picks up the pace and looks over the hill. The mountain dipped downwards and into a large crater-like formation.
In the center was a large glacier, towering over the snow.
Nadia looked around, she saw the bushed of the Dewberry, scatter everywhere.
They were growing in the snow, on the rocky cliffs, and even on the glacier itself.
Eliza trudges ahead and begins gather them, putting them into a large basket. Nadia picks a few samples.
"I'm going back to deliver these Gramps." Eliza says. "They go bad pretty quickly once off the vine and out of the cold, so I'll come back to meet you on your way down."
"Alright." Nadia says, opening up a small glass vial.
Eliza walks down the mountain, and Elisa carefully opens up the fruit with a knife. It's clear blue juice drips down blade but Nadia sees no seed.
"Alright, so it's a seedless berry." Nadia says, taking mental notes. "Got it."
She puts the small vial away and grabs a bigger one from her bag. She stuffs about 5 or 6 berries into the vial and puts it into her bag.
Nadia stands up and notices another berry bush. This one had bright and lush green leaves and bright orange berries.
She'd never seen these before, nor had Eliza told her about them. She wandered closer.
She put down her bag again and took out another glass vial.
However, as soon as she touched one of the berries, large vines shot out of the bush and began to restrain her.
One vine wrapped around her wrists and tightly bound them behind her back. Another tied her ankles together.
Nadia dropped the vial in shock and opened her mouth to yell, but a vine wrapped around her mouth and forced her to bite down on it, effectively gagging her.
Nadia struggles violently, trashing and squirming, but the vines only seem to constrict more.
Luckily her thick clothes prevent the vines from truly digging deep into her skin, but they're still secure.
More vines snake out from the bush, one binds her elbows, another wraps around her thighs, and a third coils itself around her arms and under her chest, pinning them in place.
Nadia's struggles grow weaker. And she eventually surrenders.
Suddenly Eliza returns, and sees the bound Nadia. She quickly jumps into action.
"Nadia!" Eliza calls out.
"Mmph?" Nadia replies through her gag.
Eliza takes out a large machete and begins hacking at the vines, with just one swing, two vines are sliced cleanly off.
The other vines recoil in pain, and let go of Nadia. They retreat back to the bush as the bush itself retreats under the snow.
Nadia goes for her bag and grabs her vial.
"Quickly! It'll be back soon with its friends." Eliza warns.
The two girls run away from the glacier as more green bushes pop up from beneath the snow. They run down the mountain and back to the village.
"W-What... was that?" Nadia wheezes.
"Grappling bush." Eliza pants.
[Later...]
"Take care Nadia." The elderly man says as she begins to depart.
"Thank you." She replies.
"Oh, before you go." He says, grabbing the leather book from before. "I'd like you to have this. I know it'll serve you well."
He hands it to her.
"I can't accept this." Nadia says, holding it in her hands. "You'll need it more than me."
"I'll already have it even if you take it." The elderly man says.
He taps his forehead. "I have it up here."
Nadia thanks the man, and hops onto her wagon.
"You know, I never got your name, sir." Nadia says.
"My name isn't that important." He replies. "Now go, there's more waiting for you out there than here."
So Nadia departs the village. She looks back into her wagon, and looks at a glass enclosure.
The elderly man had helped her construct it. It simulated the cold environments inside the glass, and allowed for a small Glacier Dewberry bush to grow within.
-----
"And that Dewberry bush is still with me. Look!""Pretty neat isn't it?"
"I- Yeah... I know. I got tied up by a plant because I didn't know any better."
"It's embarrassing! Don't laugh!"
"Oh, so you made up your mind on what to order?"
"Alright. One order of the Glacier Dewberry Fruit Salad, coming right up!"
-----
RecipeIngredients:
- 2 cups of blackberries
- 2 cups of strawberries
- 2 cups of watermelon cubes, about an inch in thickness
- 2 oranges, peeled and segmented
- 2 kiwis, peeled and cut into chunks
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup of finely chopped mint
- About a tablespoon of honey
Instructions:
1. Rinse and dry the blackberries and strawberries. Cut the strawberries into bite-sized pieces. (I like to cut them into fourths)
2. Combine the blackberries, strawberries, watermelon cubes, segmented oranges, and cut kiwis into a large bowl
3. Whisk together the lime juice and tablespoon of honey in a small bowl
4. Drizzle the mixture over the fruit and toss gently, making sure to coat the fruits
5. Sprinkle the mint leaves over the fruit salad and enjoy
