Halloween a Year Later

It was a nice and quiet little peaceful day in the Cloud Village for Moyasu, his brightly colored jacket keeping him warm as his tails fluttered softly to the wind, as he was looking up at the sky seeing the moon brightening up the streets. As usual he had a lit cigarette resting upon his lips as he walked, his mouth breathing out smoke rings every so often, making his way to a destination he hadn't decided upon before he had made the decision to go for a nightly stroll. This holiday, the upcoming day of Halloween, had made him realize that he had amazingly been a ninja for a little over a year for it was around Halloween last year when he had started to get serious with his shinobi duties. He didn't know whether he had wanted to celebrate by way of going to his favorite restaurant or do something else to make this a more memorable occasion but he was sure he would come up with something eventually. He had all night to come up with something though. Being a chef, however, his intuition was telling him to try some of the holiday cuisine restaurants was sure to start cooking and selling as he could smell the lingering aroma of sweets and meats in the mountain air. Not even the smoke of his cigarette could cover it all up as he could feel his mouth beginning to water at the prospects. He looked over to a dumpling shop that he was heading in the direction of and decided to start there.

WC 264

The dumpling spot in question was a small building with the front desk that the person taking orders was standing behind all while the magic of the cook happened in the background in the kitchen. Out at the front of the building were a few wooden benches that had umbrellas providing anyone who sat upon them shade from the sun that shone above the village. These would serve Moyasu nicely as he placed a order for two skewers of dumplings before taking a seat at one of the benches and waiting for the food to be freshly cooked. The umbrella indeed provided a nice little reprieve from the rays of the sun and the cool mountain breeze that ran along the village wasn't an unwelcome addition to this relaxing moment. As he was about to eat Moyasu went ahead and took his cigarette out of his mouth, taking one last drag and blowing a nice column of smoke from his mouth before rubbing the end of it on the pavement at his feet. The ashes would float away in the wind as he put the cigarette atop his ear with the full intent of continuing to smoke it later once he was done eating as the smell of the dumplings flooded his nostrils causing his hunger to grow and his stomach to growl a little louder. It wouldn't be long until the lady at the counter kindly informed him that his dumplings were ready and he got up in order to get his food.

WC 254; TWC 518

Upon receiving his dumplings he went to sit back down upon the bench, the umbrella providing just the right amount of shade for him to remain cool, as he started eating the dumplings right away and savoring their textures and flavors all as ideas of how he could make his own dumplings and how he could make them better ran through his mind. He chewed upon the dumplings slowly so that his tongue was getting all that he needed to know about what he was eating and it was indeed very good. A testament of a restaurant ran for many years by a group of cooks that definitely knew what they were doing. Upon finishing his first skewer he would toss the stick of wood into the nearby bin before taking a moment to rest and get out a bottle of water from his pouch in order to wash the remaining taste of the dumpling out of his mouth. He was preparing to savor the next one as he watched as people walked along the street, passing him by as he gave a slight nod and a wave to a couple, as he thought back on the events of the last Halloween. Would he have to go through yet another strange dream sequence like he did last time or would he be left along in order to sleep in peace? Only time would tell but either way, as of right now, he only had his dumplings to enjoy as he dove right into his second skewer.

WC 256; TWC 774

The second proved to be just as delicious as the first as he could feel the heat of the food making it's way down his esophagus and into his stomach which soothed him and helped him relax on that bench all as he continued to watch the people walking along the street and the sun in the sky moving ever so slowly across the sky above his spot. He didn't really much feel like going for a bout of exercise after this, though, which is why he chose dumplings to begin with as they weren't high in fat nor calories especially since this dumpling restaurant sold non fat dumplings. That didn't stop this restaurant from making them absolutely delicious as the difference in flavor profiles between regular dumplings and these were usually night and day but the restaurant had smartly used other ingredients to cover up the difference. He could still vaguely taste it but that didn't do anything to detract from the rest of the delicious flavors. All good things had to come to an end, though, as he finished off the second skewer and tossed it into the nearby bin before getting up from the bench and stretching his torso and arms. He took the cigarette from behind his ear and set it upon his lips before flicking his thumb up and a flame appeared upon the tips of his thumb. He took a quick drag before shaking the flame out and took a stroll down the street wandering in his mind where he was going to wind up next.

WC 262; TWC 1,036

The brisk air of the mountains blew by, strong enough to steal the ashes that rested along the end of the Meijin's cigarette, as he continued to walk down the street while looking up at the sky and watching the clouds pass by in a state of hypnotic and oblivious bliss. His natural instincts kicked in, of course, as he was able to sidestep everyone in the street so that he didn't run into them as he adjusted his glasses, which had transitioned in color to resemble a pair of light shades, before he looked back down at where he was going in order to see that he was nearby a local bookstore. This made him happy as he had recently taken up a nice novel series and he wanted to see if they were selling one of the sequels that he could enjoy for a light spot of reading. It also helped that this bookstore happened to have a cafe inside as the smells of freshly ground mountain coffee beans was reaching Moyasu's nostrils. That was enough to cause him to take the cigarette from out of his mouth and squish it in his hand, a flame surrounding his fist and burning the remains of the cigarette within his palm, before he opened his hand in order to allow the ashes to float away in the breeze. He then would step inside and go right to the proper section of books that he knew the book he was looking for would be in if the store had it.

WC 259; TWC 1,295

Fortunately for the Meijin the book he was looking for was indeed in stock as he quickly took it off the shelf and walked over to the counter of the store with the intent to purchase it. Upon doing so he walked over to the integrated cafe that was in the back of the bookstore and bought himself a nice Capuchino to enjoy before walking over to a small and private table in order to sit in it's chair, open the book, and delve his mind deep into the words along it's pages. He would slowly take sips of his caffeinated beverage while reading the writings of the book in question all as the quiet sounds of people flipping through the pages of their own books filled his ears and helped in keeping his mind clear and away from any distractions. It always calmed him being in quiet and comfortable settings like these as it kept him cool even though on the inside he knew he was anything but. He often had to count his blessings when they came and this was certainly one of them as he wound up reading a great number of pages from the book before he found that he had drank all of his coffee. Nodding that that was the cue for him to stop he would bookmark the page he left off on and get up from his chair in order to leave the bookstore all while tossing the empty cup into a bin on the way out.

WC 254; TWC 1,549

As he made his way past the threshold of the entrance of the bookstore back out onto the street of the village he wondered as to what he was going to do next in order to pass the time as he looked around the crowds that was steadily building due to the peak of the afternoon hours approaching. Moyasu placed the book he had just bought in a side pouch that he was carrying before making his way down the road, people passing him by with a few nods in his direction due to knowing him or just out of decency, as he looked at the stores and other restaurants that he passed by along the way. He stopped at a bakery next deciding that he was in need of some bread for a recipe that he was in the works of experimenting with as he stepped inside and got some of the freshest stuff that they had to offer. The smell of the bread flooded his senses as he nodded to the shopkeeper and placed a few coins of ryo on the counter to pay for the bread as they put the bread in a nice sealed bag to keep it fresh before Moyasu then put the bagged bread into his pouch right next to his book. He for some reason had developed a need to do a little shopping today and he was certainly not going to fight off this urge especially when a holiday was just two months away.

WC 252; TWC 1,801

Having gotten his day together and all of his important tasks for the day out of the way it was time for Moyasu to head on home and put everything away where it was supposed to be before anything worrying happened to them such as pages getting crinkled or the bread being smashed. Upon entering through the front door of his apartment he quickly shut it and locked the door before walking towards his kitchen counter and taking the fragile book and bread out from his pack in order to set them upon the table and out of immediate danger. Having done that he gave a light sigh of relief before he took his glasses off and set them on his bedside table before lying down on his bed and resting for a bit. He didn't get a lot of exercise often thus the reason why he was more of a skinny ninja than the other ninja in the village he knew. Mainly due to lack of trying, really, as he had always felt his chakra was more than enough to get him whatever he needed done. After a little while of resting on his bed he would get up and do a bit of stretching in order to work the kinks he had developed from walking out before walking over to his stove and putting a pot on with some water to boil. He figured he might as well try and learn the recipe that he had in mind and the bread was perfect for it.

WC 257; TWC 2,058

He began to cook right away, the pot boiling with fresh water ready for use, before he started to cut off a half of the bread and hollowed it out with a spoon. He would carefully make certain he didn't damage any of the bread's crust as he did this so as not to break the housing and make it seem like it was shoddily made. He would place the innards of the bread on the counter and crumble it into little bits and pieces before setting a pan on the stove top and putting some olive oil on it while the heat below started to rise. He would put butter along the edges of the bread shell before putting it on the top of the pan so that it would start cooking and searing. The kitchen soon smelled of toasting slowly bread as he flipped the bread over every so often while adding meats and different types of fish to the boiling water in order to allow it to stew. The intent was to make stuffed bread and he could tell that this was going to be a really good recipe if made correctly. He couldn't allow the stew to be too watery which is why he would have to add everything necessary to make it more solid yet still edible and delicious.

WC 224; TWC 2,282

After getting the saucy stuffing down to perfection he placed all of the cooked sauce into a bowl all while placing the bread chunks he had scooped out onto the pan in order to sear them and get them toasted for what he was going to do next. He swirled the pan around to allow the bread crumbs to roll around the pan and get cooked along their every side before flipping them over and doing it all over again. After cooking the crumbs into crispy pieces he would place a few on a plate before placing the rest into the bowl with the sauce and mixing them in while stirring the contents around. The smell that came from the bowl was absolutely amazing as he would stir for a little while before taking the spoon out to give a little taste. The combination of the seafood and the tang of the different meats made for a unique combination as he mixed a bit more before pouring the contents into one of the hollowed bread halved, the grip of his fingers causing the crust of the toasted bread to crackle even though he was being gentle with his strength, as he was soon holding what looked like half of a small baguette stuffed with red and chunky meat sauce. All it took was one bite to let Moyasu know that, while it was indeed messy, it was also very delicious. He would just have to implement a bit more improvisation to finish it off which is what the plated bread crumbs were for.

WC 263; TWC 2,545