"Yes...if you have a death wish." She replied tartly "The flesh of the berry is edible, but bite open the seed and the poison will reach your veins faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."
"Oh." He stared at the little berries, which suddenly looked at lot more malicious. "Wait...If those things can smash you...why are you collecting them?"
She smirked. "They can be extremely...helpful...in certain cases." She kept picking them off the bush. "Of course, when used properly, they can save the lives of small animals, even humans if you're an expert." She took off the gardener's glove and stuffed the little sack of berries into her bag. "Right. That should be enough."
They continued walking through the forest. Cole pondered about Matilda, wondering about her. One thing was for sure...whoever, or whatever she was, she carried many secrets. Too many secrets for his taste...could he even trust her?
The day passed and ended without any noticeable event. As the sun was setting, the two came across a small field shielded by a grove of trees. Most of the mountain's land curved and dived in shifting patterns, sometimes rolling down and other times sloping uphill. Despite the rolling ground they managed to find a flat bit to make camp. Cole collected firewood from the forest whilst Matilda prepared the fire and set out bright blue, flower-patterned china bowls and a collection of cooking items. She had Cole do a number of tasks, despite his currently lame arm. He filled a bowl full of rice with water from the river, (after filtering the said water through a sand device Matilda pulled out,) refilled the water bottles, sorted dry twigs and sticks from the damp ones, and set out a makeshift table on a fallen log, complete with a stained table cloth.
Meanwhile Matilda pulled up a pack of chicken she claimed to have bought "the other day", chopped it up, cooked it with sesame seeds, sauces and oils over the fire, then cooked the rice.
I probably hate it more. ( I guess he or she would be the black sheep of the family then. )
Have you made your parents' lives miserable every time they sat down with you to work on your lesson, or have you thrown your textbook across the room? --Ripped the pages up? Spat on them? Set them on fire? Flushed them down the toilet? Cursed the name of all mathematicians? (XD)
I believe I've done a little less than half of those. Have you done all that?
{Spoilers} I promise, this is all the original story I copied from the MBs! I think I was playing around with the idea of yōkai at the time, and just added it in here for the sake of conversation.
{Spoilers } Wow! It matches up so well with Roots of Earth. If someone read this story and then that one they'd think you had this planned this all along.
Have you made your parents' lives miserable every time they sat down with you to work on your lesson, or have you thrown your textbook across the room? --Ripped the pages up? Spat on them? Set them on fire? Flushed them down the toilet? Cursed the name of all mathematicians? (XD)
I believe I've done a little less than half of those. Have you done all that?
{Spoilers} I promise, this is all the original story I copied from the MBs! I think I was playing around with the idea of yōkai at the time, and just added it in here for the sake of conversation.
{Spoilers } Wow! It matches up so well with Roots of Earth. If someone read this story and then that one they'd think you had this planned this all along.
"Yes...if you have a death wish." She replied tartly "The flesh of the berry is edible, but bite open the seed and the poison will reach your veins faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."
"Are they good to eat?" He asked. "Yes..." She began. "Great!" He said, popping one into his mouth and biting on the crunchy seed. "...if you have a death wish." She replied tartly. Cole stared. After a moment of shock, he stated, "Next time you have something important to say, don't use trail-off dots."
"Yes...if you have a death wish." She replied tartly "The flesh of the berry is edible, but bite open the seed and the poison will reach your veins faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."
"Are they good to eat?" He asked. "Yes..." She began. "Great!" He said, popping one into his mouth and biting on the crunchy seed. "...if you have a death wish." She replied tartly. Cole stared. After a moment of shock, he stated, "Next time you have something important to say, don't use trail-off dots."
Then Cole choked and smashed, and he never joined the ninja and Matilda went on picking berries. The End.
By the time the half moon was rising into the starry sky, Matilda had finished cooking the bulgogi and served it in the flower-patterned bowls. She and Cole seated themselves at the fallen log on small pillows, and ate the spicy chicken and rice gladly, for their stomachs had been complaining loudly for several hours. Night birds screeched and called to one another whilst they washed and dried the china dishes in river water. Cole could hear Matilda frequently mutter to herself, sometimes even humming that tune she was singing the other night.
Bellies full and thirst quenched, they sat down by the fire, Cole on one side and Matilda on the other. The latter was going through her little bag, pulling out items and rearranging them, mumbling to herself. At one point she pulled out a small, blue velvet sack and tossed on the log, just next to where Cole was sitting. Curious, he picked up the little bag and opened it, while Matilda was digging through her things. He untied the string and dropped the contents onto his palm. A handful of strange, white stones rolled onto his hand, covered in peculiar runes and squiggles. He furrowed his thick eyebrows and scrutinized the little block-like stones.
"Matilda...what are these?" He held out his hand.
She snapped her head up, stared at the stones, and growled. "Don't you know not to touch things that aren't yours? Hsst..."
"Sorry," He apologized. "I was just curious."
"Curiosity smashed the cat, you know." She muttered crossly. "For all you know, those could be explosives that are about to set off in ten seconds."
"What are they? They don't look like explosives."
She snorted. "No. They're knucklebones. Dragon knucklebones."
Cole, suddenly disgusted, hastily dropped the bones onto the log.
Her mouth curved into an amused smile. "Do I smell a hint of fear, brave warrior?"
"Shut up," He snapped. "Why are you carrying those things anyway?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Dragon knucklebones...have been known to tell one's future."
{Spoilers } Wow! It matches up so well with Roots of Earth. If someone read this story and then that one they'd think you had this planned this all along.
why don't I remember this? 
