We spent the night with Mochi’s tribe as they were on the way to this place called Umbra. Everyone go up early and we finished the journey there shortly before midday. The place was huge! The city was situated on what seemed to be a mountain, with the main road spiraling around it. As soon as we got there, Mochi and I split from the tribe to go on an adventure.
“Come on, I’m going to show you a real market, not that joke you call a market.” With that she grabbed my hand and aggressively pulled me down the main road. I stumbled behind, her determined pulling making sure that I was forced to keep ather pace despite my curiosity and want to explore every detail this place had to offer.
Shortly after walking, we made a slightly turn onto a large curved road from which many people could be heard from. After passing a small checkpoint, we were officially in the giant market that Mochi called a “Bazaar”. Overhead shade was provided by pieces of cloth that had a gauzy look to them. The light filtered through them in gentle way, the colors dying the shadows. Mochi had mentioned that the cloth helped do many things, protection from the elements and helped section out the different areas just as examples.
Both sides of us were jammed with people, bartering and buying. We past a stall filled with fragrant spices and another with beautiful crystals, some as big as me even! I followed Mochi as she went from place to place, weighing out different amounts of various things. Sometimes she just paid, other times she would make a little “tsk” sound at the price and try to barter it down. I was just stuck in amazement by the different smells and colors, everything was amazing!
“Come on, I’m done shopping. Let’s meet up with the tribe now!” She lead us out of the Bazaar and back onto the main road. After a lot of walking, we reached the living district, and found the tribe. Mochi quickly found her sister and headed towards her. I must give her the hair ties!
“HELLO! MOCHI’S SISTER! I HAVE A THING FOR YOU!” I ran towards them eagerly and Mochi’s sister gave a very confused look at me. Quickly halting in front, I presented the hair ties to her, with a big cheerful smile. “Here! We found these for you!”
“Oh thank you! I don’t think we actually had a proper introduction, now did we? Im Tsukiko, and you’re Ryuunosuke, right?” She looked pretty surprised with the present, but happy. “ Yep that's me! Although you can just call me Orca, Mochi says my name is annoying.” I laughed, just overly happy from her nice reaspone. “Can I call you Kiko?”
She looked like she was thinking it over, but quickly gave a cheerful nod. “Sure you can! You’re such an adorable lizard demon! Did you get lost in the desert when your tribe was moving? Don’t worry sweetie, we will find your parents and tribe in no time!” She patted my head when I gave her a look of confusion. Did she think I was a lost child? No, I wasn’t lost, quite the opposite!
“I’m not lost! I’m on a great adventure! I want to make many new friends! Also-” A hand covered my mouth mid sentence and Mochi pinched my cheek after removing it. “Look at this adorable kid! Isn’t he so sweet, saying he’s going on an adventure! Hey Ko, how about you head over to the tent and We will be right there in a second!”
The minute Kiko was out of our view, Mochi whipped around to look at me. She had a glare, and looked very different than when Kiko was here. “Now you listen up Lizard. You are going to act like a demon, not whatever the hell you actually are until we get this all settled. You are not to say ANYTHING about where you are from to her, or anyone else, got that?” I nodded, I didn’t really want to make my new friend mad and if this is what would make her happy, I would gladly do it!
This seemed to satisfy her and together we headed to the tent. Mochi had mentioned at the bazaar she was planning on making something special, and I would apparently like it a lot. Kiko smiled at us when we got inside and came over to give me another head pat. She was using her height over me to her advantage or she really thought I was a child. Oh well, if that makes my other friend I guess having my hair messed with doesn’t hurt me!
“Are you making daifuku??? Please tell me you are Ki!” Kiko was watching Mochi pull stuff out for whatever she was making, and Kiko seemed to know exactly what it was. Mochi smiled at her and went back to focusing on her task. “Hey Orca, get over here and help me wash these strawberries! Ko, come prepare the anko paste. And I get the great job of making the mochi!” Mochi??? Mochi is making Mochi???
“Mochi! How can you be making yourself? Is this another power, making a clone? How is this related to strawberries and whatever “anko” is?” Kiko immediately burst into laughter and Mochi gave me the most perplexed look. “Do you seriously not know what mochi is yet you’ve been calling me that this whole time? It's a sweet dough made with rice. Anko I’ll let pass, it's red bean paste and all together it creates a delicious sweet.”
I was satisfied with this answer and went back to washed the strawberries, destemming and coring them as well. Soon we all finished our respectful tasks and worked to combine our efforts. “Alright Orca, I’ll let you make the second one with me. First you take a bit of the mochi, with flour on your hands so it doesn't stick, and make it as flat as you can. Then you take a bit of the anko and stick a strawberry on top of the paste. Finally, you wrap the mochi around it to encapsulate the strawberry and paste. Tada that is how you make daifuku!”
She made it seem so easy, with her obviously practiced movements, and soon I had mochi sticking to my hands. This was incredibly frustrating as the moment I thought I had it, everything would get uncovered or a bit of paste would be sticking out. I refused to stop until I got one perfect.
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