[YOTB] Mochi Harvest

Frazzled was not a word that Huang Yi would describe himself as. He was much too proud to admit such a thing, much less acknowledge it. While he refused to recognize any such weakness, there was no denying that the prim succubun was out of his element out in the wild. When offered the chance to tag along for this mochi making adventure, he would have shot it down any other day; however, a certain green figure had come to mind at that moment. He was a bit of a gourmand, wasn’t he? While Huang Yi was never one to care about such luxuries to his taste buds, he couldn't help but wonder if he would enjoy such a rare treat? Perhaps.

That was how a short-sighted whim brought him to this poorly thought-out decision. Sure, Huang Yi never uttered a single complaint about it, but he was simply not built for strenuous treks. Had it not been for Shibani’s need for rest, Huang Yi would have never been able to keep up with Dan’s long strides through Faunt Trail. It was only through sheer stubbornness that kept him triumphant over his lack of stamina.

The sight of the expansive cavern was overwhelming, but he refused to be lulled into a stupor over the view. It wasn’t like he could see much beyond blurs past a certain point. After all, it wasn’t enough to simply make it to the caverns and sightsee it all. There was the additional task of harvesting the rice. -Not to mention, preparing it for consumption too. Yet, another task in itself.- That was the intention from the start. Alas, Huang Yi’s legs were ready to buckle beneath him from their prior journey, but he refused to say as such. If the others could continue pressing on, so would he. 

Though, Dan merely took one look at the two accompanying succubuns before sighing. It was obvious to him that these two were hitting their limits from their laborious breathing and sweat-clumped furs. They wouldn't be able to keep up at this current pace. The mochi maker resigned himself to delegating easier tasks to them. He took out a sickle and a sack, passing the latter to Shibani. 

“Shibani will come with me. Huang Yi, how about you set up camp? We’ll be having whatever broken rice is left over for dinner.”

Huang Yi gave a small nod at that. While he wished to assist the two, Huang Yi could recognize that he was more of a guest that had been brought along. This was Dan’s objective, and he was merely assisting with it. It was Dan’s decisions at the end of the day, and he’d follow them. In other words, he was the outside party, and the least he could do was be courteous and give the shopkeepers some private time to themselves.

He had watched Dan set up camp enough times to get the gist of it. While it certainly took him much longer than it would the mochi maker, he managed to get it done. It wasn’t enough to have things sturdily remain in place. His own nitpickings had him copying Dan's way of it all. No more, no less. Anything else wouldn’t have been suitable. 

In the time that it took him to finish the preparations for the campsite, Huang Yi had caught his breath from the trail’s course. It was a welcomed and much needed change from the brisk hike. Not that the prideful succubun would admit it. Dan and Shibani had yet to return from their harvesting. It was to be expected. So many steps were necessary for preparing rice to be eaten, and Dan and Shibani were busying themselves with them all, such as husking the grains.

Rather than intrude on the two’s time together, Huang Yi kept himself busy by slipping away from the camp and foraging for whatever he came across that might pair well with their dinner. Did he actually know what to look for? Of course not. He didn’t travel too far as he wasn’t particularly keen on getting lost. He stuck to recognizable landmarks, and that included a glowing crevice along the walls of the cavern. The small cave was certainly an odd sighting with how the crystals dyed everything blue, but the flora thrived in there nevertheless. Now, Huang Yi wasn’t an expert on determining what was poisonous or not, so he took what he reasonably could.

Moss? Fungi? Rice? Regardless of their unnatural hues, if it was edible, then that was good enough for him. He wandered over to a nearby stream and began to thoroughly wash his harvest. It mattered little to him that everything would be absorbing too much water from being overtly soaked and scrubbed. To Huang Yi, cleanliness took priority over taste. Besides, if congee was the planned meal, everything would already be soaking in water. At least, that was his hygienic approach and reasoning to avoid any speck of dirt making its way into his meal.

Of course, he made sure to sort them all by appearance for Dan’s appraisal later. Needless to say, when he had brought his findings back to the camp where Shibani and Dan had just finished up, bioluminescent anything was denied by Dan. The colorful rice was a different story and tucked away for another time though, so it wasn’t all for naught.

“It’s been a long day. Let’s make some congee to warm ourselves up.”

Dan suggested, already filling up a wok with spring water to heat over the campfire. Unfortunately, it still took time to make their meal. When the congee had finally thickened up and seasoned to taste, Dan nudged the dozing Shibani awake for dinner, exasperatingly alternating between feeding himself and the now groggy Shibani.

That left Huang Yi to his own devices again, not that he particularly minded. He waited for his own serving to cool down, idly watching the wafts of steam swirl to a stop. Without batting an eye, he ate every last cooled-down grain and slowly mulled over how the trip back would be on his sore muscles. No doubt it would hurt the next day. 

Would Huang Yi consider doing this again? No. Not at all. He’d rather purchase the rice instead and skip the hassle.