Chapter 20: Chapter 17: How to Sister?

Lucillia

 

Allllllrighty, that's enough vacationing for me, bring me my books, now!

We've been here like a week now, and everyday was pretty much the same stuff: I woke up, played with some turtles in the water, ate food, and went to sleep. Oh, I guess I was bored a lot, too.

No wait, I'm still bored, so that doesn't count. Mmmmm, or does it? What do you think, Mr. Birdie?

 

"*SQUAWK!*" [Seagull]

 

Good day to you, too. Hmmm, he didn't answer the question though, so I guess the world may never know. Meh, oh well. I'll just find something else to bother.

Let's seeeee...nope, not that one. Not that one either. That one's a rock. Ah, run away, that's a Big Sis. Haaaahh, there's nothing to dooooo.

I can't read any books, I can't eat any of these tasty-looking fishies without permission, and I can't go anywhere because there's a dragon watching me. Hwaaaaahh...alright, that's it! It's time!

Time for what, you ask? Time to...uh, go bother one of my sisters again? Look, I don't exactly have many options here, okay?!

Ugh, whatever. It's not a new tail, but I know and love it at least, so maybe it'll be fine...

 

"Beeg Siiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssss~" [Lucillia]

"Hm? What's up, Lia? And why did you run away from me 10 seconds ago?" [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"Weren't you just exploring the beach a minute ago?" [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"You know, you've been saying the exact same thi-" [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"..." [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"Are you-" [Caelenia]

"I'm b-LEHHH." [Lucillia]

 

*Tap tap tap, shake shake shake*

 

"Hm, did that work? Are you fixed yet?" [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"Eh, I tried." [Caelenia]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"Yeah yeah, I heard you, just hold on for another minute or so." [Caelenia]

 

.....

 

"Hey Silvie." [Caelenia]

"Yes?" [Silvania]

"Take this and fix it, will you?" [Caelenia]

"Uhm, isn't that Lia?" [Silvania]

"Yep. You can consider this one of your first 'big sister trials.' Have fun~" [Caelenia]

"But what exactly-aaand she's gone, great. Oh well. So what's the matter with you?" [Silvania]

"I'm bored." [Lucillia]

"I see. Do you want to help me make lunch? We're having sandwiches today, so it'll be really easy." [Silvania]

"Mmmmmmmm, kay." [Lucillia]

"Alrighty then, why don't you start by washing the lettuce? Just peel them into nice leaves and rinse everything thoroughly? Caaaaarefully. We're not having shredded lettuce today, 'mkay?" [Silvania]

"Fiiiiiinnnneee." [Lucillia]

 

I wasn't gonna break it, I swear. I've done this before, you know. It might've been an actual head instead of lettuce, but that should still count, right?

 

"Please don't peel anyone's head anymore. If someone bothers you like that, I'll do it myself~." [Silvania]

"Ehhh? But that's boring." [Lucillia]

"It is messy though, and I don't think you want to know how everyone else would react if they saw you doing that. " [Silvania]

"I'm not messy!" [Lucillia]

"I'm serious, you know. Hm, I wasn't that much older than you...maybe 50 or 60 when I miiiight've accidently 'peeled' open a head and drank all the blood that came out. I still remember everyone's faces when they found me." [Silvania]

"Why you do dat?" [Lucillia]

"Well, I was really thirsty, and, uh, I could've sworn that head was an actual watermelon and not a fruit boar...ahaha..." [Silvania]

"Was it tasty? That sounds like fun! I wanna do it, too!" [Lucillia]

"Gah! Nonononono, no no, bad! BAD! No peeling heads and no more talking about this subject!" [Silvania]

"But you told me to peel this lettucejuuust in case you haven't caught on yet (though I'm sure you already have), refer to the term 'a head of cabbage', but how can I do that if you won't let me peel heads?" [Lucillia]

"..." [Silvania]

 

Uhh, Big Sis? Helloooo, is anyone there? Oops, I think I broke her. Is there a reset button somewhere? I can see this weird spinning thing above her head.

...

Eh, whatever. I finished peeling the head(?) while all that was happening, so now I don't know what to do. Hmm, ooh I know, I'll just do whatever Big Sis was doing before she broke.

Let's see...oh look, a knife! I should play with it!

*reeeeeeeeeeeeach-*

 

"AH! What do you think you're doing?!" [Silvania]

"Getting the knife?" [Lucillia]

"And what were you going to do with it?" [Silvania]

"Mmmmm, run around while pointing it at things?" [Lucillia]

"NO!!! No more knives!! It's too dangerous!" [Silvania]

"Eh? But I'm used to using knives. I'll be fine!" [Lucillia]

"I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about the knives, because apparently, we sisters have a tradition of destroying the first knives that get put in our hands when we start learning how to cook. Mother said that Elder Sister Solis ended up chopping the entire counter while Elder Sister Luna split the butcher block when they first held a knife. Of course, both knives completely shattered as well." [Silvania]

"Whoa, cool. What about you and other Big Sis?" [Lucillia]

"Well, ours weren't as crazy as the first two since Mother had a bunch of special cutting boards and stuff made from the World Tree and also some black iron knives for us to use, but we still ended up snapping the knives in half." [Silvania]

"Whoa, Big Sis is stronk!" [Lucillia]

"Haah, so are you, you know. We are dragons after all. Anyways, my point is that you need to be extra careful when handling knives, okay? No stealing them without permission!" [Silvania]

"SIR, YES, MA'AM!!" [Lucillia]

"Good. Now that should be all the veggies prepped, so come with me to get the other ingredients." [Silvania]

"Kay." [Lucillia]

 

Adventure time! I...don't have any friends right now, but I'm sure I'll go to many distant lands!

And on this adventure, it looks like we're in the pantry.

Pantry, huh.

Pantry.

Paaaantry...

Why do they call it that if there aren't any pans in it? All I see is a bunch of jars and bottles and stuff, but no pans! 

This is blasphemy! I demand to speak with whoever invented that word!!

 

"Lia?" [Silvania]

"Hai." [Lucillia]

"Hold this cheese wheel. Oh, and these pickles. And this oil we'll use for the mayonnaise, aand...I forgot, do you like mustard?" [Silvania]

"What's a mustard?" [Lucillia]

"Hmm...you know what, just take it just in case." [Silvania]

"Kay." [Lucillia]

 

It's a good thing this cheesy thingie is so big, cuz it makes it really easy to stack everything on top of it.

*Sniff sniff* 

Uwaaa, it smells really good...mayyybe if I just take a teeny tiny little bite, Big Sis won't notice...

*Choooooooom-*

 

"Lia!" [Silvania]

"HAII!!!" [Lucillia]

"Ouch, too loud. I'm right here, you know. There's no need to shout when we're indoors." [Silvania]

"Sowwy." [Lucillia]

"It's fine, but as punishment, no taste-testing!" [Silvania]

"BWAAAH?!...*Activate puppy-dragon eyes*" [Lucillia]

"O-oh, come on, Lia. T-that kind of thing w-won't work on me..." [Silvania]

"*puppy...Dragon...EYESSSS*" [Lucillia]

"Nnnnnggg..." [Silvania]

"*EYESSSS*" [Lucillia]

"OKAY, FINE, YOU WIN!! Just stop it with the eyes!" [Silvania]

 

Heh~, works every time. For a job well done, I think I deserve my snack now~

*Choooo-*

 

"Hey, what are you doing?" [Silvania]

"Ehh, but you said I could taste it." [Lucillia]

"Not right now, especially when you're still holding all that stuff. We also still haven't even gotten the bread yet because someone was too distracting." [Silvania]

"Sowwy." [Lucillia]

 

Now that I think about it, we've been standing here in the hallway for like two whole minutes now because I was doing the thingy with the eyes. Uhh, oops. 

A-actually, you know what, two minutes isn't all that long anyways. That just means we need to walk a little faster, r-right? Because if we don't, then the bread's gonna-GYAAA??!! THE BREAD!! NYOO-UWEHH?!! MY CHEEKS!!

 

"Haah, did that finally get your attention? You have a really bad habit, you know, of shouting out randomly, and it always gives me a mini heart attack." [Silvania]

"...Sowwy." [Lucillia]

"It's fine, I know it's not exactly your fault, but are you still unable to speak properly without your tea? You've been using it for a while, haven't you? Have you even practiced talking without it?" [Silvania]

"Uhhhh, nope. But that don't matter. Save the bread!" [Lucillia]

"Hold it! Not one step further! Haah, where does all that energy of yours come from? Whatever. There's no need to worry about the bread because Mira's been in there all morning." [Silvania]

"Really?" [Lucillia]

"Mhm. She's been working reaaaally hard to make the best bread you'll ever taste, so we have to make sure to walk in nice and slow and calm so we don't ruin the bread while it's nice and hot, mkay?" [Silvania]

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"Mmm!" [Lucillia]

 

Did you hear that? The bread's okay!

Yay!

And, AND, Mira's the one making it!!

Double yay!!

 

"Oh, that reminds me, we just tried out a bunch of new recipes for different meats, which should be done by now. Even after we get the bread from Mira, it needs a bit of time to rest, so that'll be the perfect chance get some samples ready." [Silvania]

"!!!" [Lucillia]

"Is there anything you have to say?" [Silvania]

"TRIPLE YAY!!!" [Lucillia]

"Hehe~, I knew you'd like that. Come on, let's not keep her waiting any longer." [Silvania]

 

One walk to the outside world later

 

"MIRAAA~!!" [Lucillia]

"Yes dear, I can hear you. I have your samples ready right here. Now, what should you say before eating them?" [Mira]

"I love you~ (this is a link to a youtube video in case you couldn't see) <3" [Lucillia]

"Good enough, I suppose." [Mira]

"*om nom nom*" [Lucillia]

"I hope you saved some for me." [Silvania]

"Of course, Your Highness. Here you go." [Mira]

 

Nom nom nom, nom nom nom...?

Hmm...

Hmmmmm...

Hm?

HM!!

I've got it! The secret behind all these meats is....they're all tasty!

This fishy looking fish is a little weird because it feels like it's still raw, but it tastes like it's cooked, so I'm not really sure how to feel about it. BUT, it's tasty and that's all that matters.

This other one looks a little more normal. It's just a pink-ish slice of meat with a little bark thingie at the edges. And, nom, it tastes like meat, but a little sweeter than usual. Hm, then again, there's also this other flavor that I don't know how to describe that goes really well with the sweetness, sooo...yeah. It's tasty.

Anywho, this last thing of meat looks kinda weird compared to the others. It has kinda the same barky thingie as the previous one, but the inside feels iffy. I mean, why is the meat still red inside after it was cooked?!

Actually, I guess it doesn't really matter cuz it still tastes good. It's a little salty though, but maybe it'd be better with some bread or something.

Hmm...eh, that's something for future-me to figure out. Time for more meat!

*nom nom nom nom*

 

---

 

Meanwhile

 

Laid out across the kitchen island were several dishes of various ingredients ranging from meats to loaves of bread to different types of spreads.

The little one was given a large plate with copious amounts of sliced meats and cheeses and the like to act as a distraction.

While the menace of a dragon was having snack time, the other two were also sampling some of the ingredients. Unlike the child, however, they were far more graceful with their consumption.

 

"*Nom* Hmm, the smoked salmon didn't quite turn out how I wanted it. The texture's fine, but I'm only getting flavor from the smoke and nothing from the brine." [Silvania]

"Perhaps we should leave it brining for longer? Wet brines do take much longer to have any effect. Or we could try a dry brine instead, though I doubt the texture would remain the same."Personally, I'm Team Dry Brine. [Mira]

"Maybe. We'll just have to keep experimenting." [Silvania]

 

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind the island. It wandered around, searching for a nearby plate, until it finally found one and immediately snatched it away. 

 

"Make sure to chew that one really well, Lia. I don't want to pluck out any bones from your teeth later!" [Silvania]

"With all due respect, Your Highness, that is my job, so I should be the one complaining." [Mira]

 

What the hungry dragon grabbed was the carcass from the salmon that was coated in corn starch, deep fried, and seasoned with head and tail still attached.Disclaimer! Different species of fish have different types of bones. Some have softer ones that are easier for humans to consume while others do not. Proceed with caution! When you eat it, it should feel like a cracker or so and get munched up nice and easy!

 

"*CRUNCH*" [Lucillia]

"Oh whatever. Let's just move onto the next one." [Silvania]

 

The next one was the honey-glazed and smoked ham that came from a fruit boar. Due to their unique diet, their meat has a natural sweetness that gets further accentuated by the honey.

Perhaps that was part of the reason why the ham instantly became the little dragon's favorite.

In total, six hams were prepared for the day's lunch while the rest of the boars happened to be the previous night's dinner. Though now, it remains to be seen whether or not six will be enough to appease the child.

 

"*Om, nom, gulp* Ooh, this one turned out really well. Not too sweet, and a good smoke to it as well." [Silvania]

"Indeed. On its own, however, the sweetness is a bit overwhelming, but that may be due to the adult palette. I believe a child's palette would enjoy this flavor a bit more." [Mira]

 

Speaking of which, the child had already managed to finish all her snackies and went back for more. Her eyes were particularly focused on the large chunk of ham that still had the bone sticking out.

 

"Beeeeg Siiiiiss~" [Lucillia]

"Eh? You finished it all already?" [Silvania]

"Moar!" [Lucillia]

"We can't. If you eat any more, then there won't be enough for everyone else." [Silvania]

"*PUPPY-*" [Lucillia]

"GAHH, STOP IT! Mira, can you help me?" [Silvania]

"I cannot do that, Your Highness." [Mira]

"Why?!" [Silvania]

"I was given an explicit order from Lady Caelenia to not interfere with your 'trial.' I am afraid you will have to get through this ordeal on your own." [Mira]

"UGHH, why must you do this to me, Big Sis?!" [Silvania]

 

As she said that while grabbing her head and facing the ceiling, the big dragon could see the image of her sister giving a thumbs up and winking with a smile.

However, said smile only had the effect of adding to the big dragon's misery.

And of course, the little dragon continued using the puppy dragon eyes throughout her sister's mental breakdown.

So now, the big dragon was trapped on all sides with a puppy dragon on one front, the mental image of her sister on another, and a smiling fish holding down the final escape.

 

"Nnngh...just one? Only one and no more until lunch...please?" [Silvania]

"Mmmmm...hm!" [Lucillia]

 

Negotiations complete. The child quickly claimed her prize and went back to her corner. 

The big dragon, on the other hand, was still reeling from the mental damage and did not move from her spot. Thus, the fish took it upon herself to prepare lunch with a smile still on her face. 

Some more minutes passed until the big dragon finally composed herself and resumed whatever it was she was doing earlier. 

 

"Haah, what was I...oh right, I'm in the kitchen. Wait Mira, did you try the pastrami yet?" [Silvania]

"I have. It was quite salty." [Mira]

"Really? I guess I didn't wash off enough of the brine. I thought I did that pretty well though..." [Silvania]

"If I may, Your Highness, I recall seeing Gruul soak the product in clean water overnight after brining it. That always proved to be quite effective." [Mira]

"I see. I'll try that next time, but for now, we'll just not use salt on everything else." [Silvania]

"That will not do, Your Highness." [Mira]

"Why not?" [Silvania]

"The little one does not like tomatoes in her sandwiches unless they are salted." [Mira]

"Ah...actually that's understandable. I used to be like that as well." [Silvania]

 

With that, the round of taste tests were complete, and the big dragon joined the fish in making sandwiches for everyone. Or at least, they tried to make as many as they could before the little dragon ate all the ingredients. 

 

.....

 

'Twas then a certain hour of the day, one that shines like no other. In some cultures, this time of day is perhaps the most valuable and sacred of them all. 

Some would say it was a HIGH-ly regular noon.

Several baskets were filled to the brim with packed sandwiches, jars, and a large variety of snacks.

The gang was gathered out on the beach with the little one trying to break into the baskets while her younger big sister did her best to prevent that from happening. Meanwhile, the bigger dragon was laying on a beach chair, sipping a coconut, and just enjoying the show. 

As for the fish,  she was waiting out by the water. Her patience quickly bore fruit as a turtle soon rose from the grand depths of the shallows. But unlike the ridiculously snappy turtle, this one was much more graceful in nearly every aspect possible. 

Whether it be her form gliding through the water, or her freshly scrubbed scutes, or even the barnacles lining the top of her carapace, she was simply the embodiment of elegance, or at least however much a turtle could be.

The turtle made her way to the bank where she was fortunately able to skip most of the trek on land since it was high tide. Once the turtle plopped onto the sand, the fish went over and unhooked the watertight box that was on the turtle's back.

 

"You came alone, Scutla? I thought your brother would join you as usual." [Mira]

"*turtle shrug*" [Scutla]

"I take it Alex scolded him again? Haah, you would think that he'd grow up by now and stop those antics, but he never does. Oh well, I suppose it would be out of character for him to do so." [Mira]

"*turtle nod*" [Scutla]

"Anyways, thank you for coming dear. Give my regards to everyone else as well. I know it's difficult not being able to see each other off in person, but I'm afraid the little ones will have to be a bit older before they try to come to the surface. I'll be counting on you and Alex to keep them in check as always." [Mira]

"*turtle...HUG!*" [Scutla]

"Oh my. Hehe~, it seems you haven't grown out of your habits either. Alright then, make sure to get enough hugs to share with everyone else." [Mira]

 

Hugs.

Lots of hugs.

All the hugs for the huggy turtle.

 

.....

 

At some point, the turtle decided she had enough hugs and went back to the ocean. The fish also went back to her compatriots where she found a very tired dragon holding her struggling sister in her arms while carrying the baskets with her tail and another dragon that drained the coconut of its blood and was now feasting on its insides.

The chaos continued for a bit until a large crack appeared in the local space-time continuum. With such a convenient escape route, the tired dragon went through with both her sister and the goods to finally achieve salvation. And since everything else was already taken care of, the other dragon and the fish followed.

All in all, 'twas just another ordinary day in the life of dragons and co.