Chapter 3.04 G PIZZA COMES TO MEA

Kingdom of Ravaryn

4th Voidday of the Full Moon

Ginka strolled up to the bar, her eyes never leaving the Bast’s crystal blue eyes. The Bast, seeing someone staring at her, chuffed as she stood in front of Ginka on the other side of the bar.

“Stop staring, please. You’re going to give me even more anxiety than I already have.”

Oh! I’m so sorry. You just look like one of my cats from when I was young,” said Ginka.

“You kept one of my kind as a pet?!”

“Oh, no, no. On my world, we have cats this big. And they kinda adopt us, Humans, as pets, really,” Ginka said, holding her hands to show the size of her old cat.

The Bast behind the bar barked out a long, loud laugh. All the patrons briefly looked up for a moment. None could recall hearing such a thing from the Bast.

“What are you?” the Bast asked, still laughing a bit.

“Oh, Hello. I’m Ginka. I’m a Human.”

“Well met, Ginka. I’m Vastra of the Bast. And I see you’ve met one of my guests, the Lamia, and her annoying furry flyer,” the Bast said, briefly staring down Zekie.

The furry-faced panda bird looked like she had been scolded. With a low whine, Zekie buried her face into her wing, eliciting a chuckle from Aelithis.

“We met her registering at The Guild. Zekie said she smelled different and flew over to investigate. The damn Pandatrice landed on her shoulder, sending the poor woman diving to the floor and yelling for her life,” explained Aelithis.

Zekie sounded like she was now crying into her wing. Ginka, feeling bad, went over and picked up the furry, feathered bird and held her.

“It’s ok, Zekie, I forgive you,” said Ginka, as she gently petted the panda’s head.

“Adorable. So what can I do for you, Ginka? Are you looking for a room to stay in?” asked Vastra.

“Well, I think I was sent here to help you.”

“Like a quest? Or something?”

“No, Bastiva sent me here to find the owner of Zippy’s Thorn. She hinted that I would be able to help the owner.”

Vastra went wide-eyed. Then bent at the waist, bowing towards Ginka.

“Honored one, I thank you for your presence. My prayers have been answered.”

“Honored one? Prayers?” Ginka asked.

“Anyone who has been in the presence of Bastiva is an honored one in the eyes of the Bast.”

“Why would she send me to answer your prayers?”

“Probably because I am not like others of the Bast. Our race enjoys the hunt, the kill. We are known as one of the apex races within The Games. The Bast are hired out as assassins and warriors to those with the coin.”

“What makes you different?”

“I...well. I faint at the sight of blood.”

Now it was Ginka’s turn to bark out a loud laugh, though she quickly held a hand over her mouth, trying desperately to stop herself from giggling.

“I’m so sorry. I think I understand why she sent me to help you now. Especially after seeing some of the food you made. If you don’t mind me asking, why do you own an Inn? And what’s with the name?”

“Long story short, I saved one of the daughters of King Thronnos, by accident. The king gifted me three buildings as part of his thank you.”

“That sounds like a story I’d love to hear every detail of,” said Ginka.

“Maybe another time, honored one.”

“Please stop with that. Call me Ginka.”

“As you wish, Ginka. Tell me why you think Bastiva has sent you to me.”

“I can cook, love to bake, and can mix one hell of a drink.”

“Why would she send someone to cook for me? I cook just fine.”

“No, you don’t,” came four, maybe five voices from around the room.

“Then what were your prayers?” asked Ginka.

The Bast became visibly embarrassed. The flush on Vastra’s skin made her white fur take on a slight pinkish hue. Ginka also noticed Vastra began to fiddle with her tail in the same way a nervous person would wring their hands. To Ginka, it made the Bast woman look even cuter than before.

Vastra’s eyes took on a faraway look, her voice barely above a whisper, “I asked Bastiva to send me someone to be a friend who wouldn’t care if I am of the Bast. Many fear and don’t trust us. To be among us any length of time is to court death itself. The violent lives of the Bast lead to many around us either becoming part of collateral damage or worse, a mark themselves.”

A moment of silence stretched over the small gathering, and then...Ginka laughed. Laughed hard. It was so loud and sudden. The poor Lamia fell from the chair she was coiled on. Ginka tried to stop when seeing Vastra cringe at being laughed at.

“I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry. I’m new to The Games, just started today. Looking at this through the eyes of the world I just came from; I have no idea why your explanation would stop someone from being friends with a Bast. But I’ll certainly be your friend. And starting today, consider me your inn’s new cook and baker. I think this is why Bastiva sent me. And probably to stop you, accidentally killing your patrons with your cooking.”

Aelithis, having reclaimed her seat, sat there stunned. This time she had the wherewithal to hold onto the bar to steady herself. She didn’t know if or much less what to say. Even Zekie kept quiet the whole time, though now he did whisper out a query of ‘Good food?’ At the news Ginka would gladly be sticking around, Vastra seemed to grow a bit more excited as each second passed. Then suddenly, the Bast had a worrying thought.

“I really can’t pay you right away, Ginka. I only have people staying at the inn because I’m one of the cheapest in the outer right.”

Ginka immediately made to assure her new friend, “Don’t worry about money. As long as I have a roof over my head and some food on my plate, I’m golden.”

Vastra looked like she would cry at any moment. The exciting turn of events had her bouncing on the balls of her feet so fast; her entire body seemed to be vibrating.

“Ok, let’s see what you have in your kitchen. Stick around, Aelithis, I’ll feed you too.”

And with that, Ginka happily strolled through the indicated door and then stopped dead in her tracks. It was now Ginka’s turn to be shocked. The room she walked into looked more like an expensive kitchen she would find in a modern-day bakery or a very wealthy person back on Earth. Closing her mouth so as not to let any flies in, she began walking around, opening every cabinet and drawer. It took a few moments for her to realize there were very little in the way of provisions here. Still marveling over luck, Ginka left the kitchen to see Vastra pouring a drink for a Turtle Beastkin.

“Hey, Vastra. Where can I go to buy staples and other food items.”

The Lamia uncurled her body from around the stool and stood at her full height.

“I’ll take her V. We’ll be back in a bit.”

“Thank you, Aeli.”

The Lamia walked Ginka down a few blocks till they came to a large open market. Ginka saw a familiar enough sight. Wooden kiosks and tables were set up everywhere in the square, with people calling out their goods. Over the next thirty minutes, Ginka used half of a Horde Voucher book and came away with more food than she had probably eaten in the past ten years. Aelithis explained how the magic bag worked and helped her store some of the supplies she couldn’t carry. Ginka stopped to think for a few, trying to make sure she had everything. Nodding to herself, she turned to speak with Aelithis.

“Ok, I think I got everything I’ll need for a few weeks. I just need one last thing. Do you guys have sugar here?”

“What is sugar?”

“A sweet white powder; grainy in texture.”

“We don’t have this sugar you speak of, but we have what’s called honey sand.”

The Lamia deftly slithered between the other shoppers, looking around at the many vendors, until she spotted what she was looking for. Aelithis brought her to a vendor who had sacks and sacks piled onto one another. The vendor himself looked bored to pieces like he hadn’t had many visitors. Seeing the two potential customers coming up to him, his face immediately brightened.

Getting closer, Ginka could see the human-looking male was sitting on furs, with one wrapping around to cover his legs.

“How may I help the two of you?” the vendor asked.

“My friend here is looking for honey sand.” Aelithis pointed to her human companion.

“Then you’ve come to the right place. How much does your friend need? A pinch, or maybe a small sack?”

“May I try it first? I want to make sure it’s what I’m looking for,” said Ginka.

The vendor was all too happy to grab a small spoon looking utensil, stick it into an open bag, and hand over its contents to Ginka. The honey sand looked just like sugar but was a bright yellow in color. It reminded her of golden brown sugar used in baking. Licking her finger, Ginka stuck it into the yellow sand and then licked her finger. Straight away, her eyes widened in surprise.

“That has to be the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” said Ginka.

“Thank you! It comes from my parent’s farm outside the city,” said the vendor.

“Why aren’t you selling out of this stuff,” asked Ginka.

“Everyone uses them damn blue floral balls now. They stay fresh forever if kept in jars. Honey sand goes bad after a while, even if kept in a cool and dry place. So sales aren’t like they used to be. My biggest buyers are those that make candies now. Even with their patronage, the price has gone down.” the vendor said.

“Well, how much can I buy with one of these vouchers?”

The vendor eyed the voucher and smiled wide.

“I’ll give you my entire stock here for that voucher, mam.”

“Call me Ginka. Could you help me carry everything back to Zippy’s Thorn?”

“Sure thing, Ginka. Names’ Bulbie.”

The young man stood up, his head quickly shooting past Ginka’s, and kept getting taller. Ginka gasped as Bulbie stood up fully, his four hooved feet clapping on the cobblestone.

“You’re a centaur!”

“Yep. Born and raised. You know of us?”

“Some. I just didn’t imagine I’d ever meet one, though.”

“Well, now you have,” Bulbie said with a laugh.

Bulbie waved his hand, and the stacks of sacks disappeared from view into the pouch at the Centaurs side.

“Voucher please?” asked Bulbie.

Ginka tore off one of the vouchers from the book in her hand. She now had four of the ten left in the first book. She handed the voucher to the beaming Centaur.

“Thank you kindly.”

With her shopping list completed, the Lamia escorted the Human and Centaur back to Zippy’s Thorn. Ginka had Bulbie stack the honey sand sacks against the kitchen’s back wall.

“Stay for dinner, Bulbie. Shouldn’t be more than an hour before it’s done.”

“Thank you, Ginka. I think I shall.”

The Centaur moved a few chairs out of the way and sat himself next to the end of the bar. Ginka went back into the kitchen and began to make a few batches of dough. While Ginka started to cook, Aelithis emptied everything she had into the kitchen’s various storage nooks. Ginka tried several different vegetables and fruits before she found the one that tasted, if not resembled, tomatoes the most. With help from Aelithis, she was able to get the runed stove started and began boiling the purple tomato-like fruit.

Ginka then set out to understand how to operate the other runed machines rather quickly. Aelithis confirmed her suspicions that the custom made kitchen was worth a king’s ransom and had been gifted to Vastra along with the inn. Unfortunately, Vastra had never learned to cook, so she always served the same bland stew.

Thirty minutes later, Ginka mashed the purple tomatoes into a sauce base and added some spices she felt would suit the sauce well. She began to roll out dough balls into circle shapes as best as possible. Pouring the purple sauce onto each doughy disc, she then used the back of a ladle to push it around, so it covered almost all of the dough. As she took a step back to admire her work, she noticed Aelithis staring at her.

“What’s wrong? I got sauce on my face?”

“No. I just never seen food look like that before.”

“It’s not done yet,” Ginka laughed.

With no grater, she had to cut the cheese with a knife into the smallest cubes possible. Ginka made a mental note to have someone make her a cheese grater in the near future. With the cheese on the three pizzas, she cut up chunks of a sausage she found at the market and placed them on one of the pizzas. Taking out another meat that seemed to have been smoked, she cut it into slices, then spread it on one of the remaining plain pizzas.

Ginka cobbled together a makeshift pizza holder using what she figured to be a cookie sheet. She placed the three pizzas into the large stone oven and closed the door. Sometime later, Ginka received a few messages via her personal pop-up screen.

Congratulations!

You have created

??? x 3

Please name your creations.

The names came easy for her.

Congratulations!

You have created

Cheese Pizza

[Cheese Pizza]

2% Health Regen p/m

Congratulations!

You have created

Sausage Pizza

[Sausage Pizza]

2% Health Regen p/m

+1 Constitution

Congratulations!

You have created

Pepperoni Pizza

[Pepperoni Pizza]

2% Health Regen p/m

+1 Constitution

“Well, that’s cool. I created pizza for the first time.”

“Is it done?”

Using the cookie sheet, Ginka slid it under the pizzas and pulled them out of the stone oven one at a time. Looking around, she found a large knife and used it to cut the pie into twelve individual slices. Using cookie sheets again, she and Aelithis carried them into the common room and placed them on the bar.

“Okay, dinner is done.”

The eight or so patrons who had been sitting in the common room all looked at one another, then over to Ginka. They got up and moved towards the bar, doubt in their mind that this inn could make anything that resembled food.

Bulbie got up as well and ‘clomped’ over to the other side of the bar.

“What is it, and how do you eat it?” asked Vastra.

“Like this,” said Ginka.

She grabbed an end of one of the slices, folded it with the edges going up, and pulled the slice away from its brothers. Ginka closed her eyes as she took a bite of the first sausage pizza made on Mea...And then broke out into a little victory dance, as the taste on her tongue was just divine.

Seeing the Human happily dancing while eating the ‘pizza,’ one of the Dwarfs reached forward and, copying Ginka, folded the slice and took a small bite.

“Oh, by the Holy Mountain, this is incredible,” the Dwarf exclaimed.

It didn’t take long before all three pizzas had been eaten by everyone present.

“How much for a full round one of those,” the Dwarf who took the first bite asked.

“I’m not sure. What do you think, Vastra, Aelithis?”

“One of those could feed an entire Dwarf. How much did the ingredients cost, Aeli?” asked Vastra.

The Lamia seemed to do the math in her head before speaking.

“I would guess, each of these pizzas would cost around 5 silver, a bit more for the ones with meat on them. Maybe 10 to 15 silver for each circle?”

“Here is 15 silver. Can Dennie and I get one with the meat circles for ourselves?”

“Here’s 10 silver. May I have one without meat, please?” asked Bulbie.

Two other groups paid to have their own circles of the new food.

“Sure, give me some time to make more,” Ginka said as she went back into the kitchen.

***

One of the Elves who paid for a sausage pizza slipped out of the inn. Not sure how long it would take to make another of the circle food, he ran the two long blocks to his friend’s blacksmith’s shop.

“Hey, Glastak! Come with me, man. I just ordered us dinner. I think you’re going to love it, you grumpy bastard,” said the Elf.

“And just where around here did you order this supposed good food,” the Dwarf shouted from the back.

“You wouldn’t believe me, but Zippy’s Thorn.”

The Dwarf groaned.

“No thanks. I still remember the last time we tried Vastra’s stew.”

“She’s got someone new working at her inn. And she made something called a pizza. I ordered us a full circle. Don’t look at me like that. You’ll understand when we get there. Just put down whatever crap you’re doing and come on. Trust me; you’re going to want to try this.”