Rain and Grey Make Food Porn

[Vinestar]

Out of all the worlds in the multiverse, one stand out in particular. The Torikoverse, an entire world dedicated to "Food". To say it was organized chaos would be a severe understatement. Even natives were boggled by the sort of shenanigans that their world throws at them, evolution itself being some sort of troll that come up with such things as Wine Camels and Rainbow Fruit. Now we will narrow our focus to the adventures of certain individuals, travelers to the devil's kitchen...

---

"Uu... Knocking is harder than I thought..." Grey mumbled under her breath as she perched upon a rocky outcropping, peering down at the large mass laying in the lake bank. The shore itself was made of some sort of golden rice instead of sand granules, and the surf would taste of mild salted green tea had one tasted the warm waters. The target laid glaring at Magical Grey (CHAMPION OF JUSTICE AND GOOD EATING), a slim white haired girl clad in a legless stage magician's costume. Said target was a giant salmon creature, albeit one with with catfish like whiskers that were reminiscent of eel. It was also twenty feet from tip to tail, and the color of blood and shadow. Its very shaped denoted that it was a predator, with raggedly sharp dorsal fins and tail and a wickedly curved maw full of teeth, the underbite more prominent than the upper jaw.

"Berserker Salmon- Capture level 38..." Magical Grey murmured as she made her across the steaming lake via icy platforms that her heels clicked on. The specimen was looking at her with saucer sized eyes filled with a malevolent gleam. "Sorry, but you're on my menu. No longer will you disturb the food chain, my little fillet." Having heard of the luxurious flesh that the fish was known for, it didn't take the aspiring chef long to take the request.

"I can't wait to eat Berserk Salmon Ochazuke... Hehe..." Just the thought of the dish gave the young mage a shudder of delight. "I'm gonna cook you poele style... Your texture will be amazing... I thank the gods that I can eat such a wonderful ingredi-" Whatever the magician was about to say was cut off as something thick and black coiled itself about her waist and yanked- hard. The sudden change came off as an unexpected shock so Grey was a bit slow in reacting to her plight. A nanosecond later, she was caught in something very strong, the salmon's whiskers.

Too late Grey realized that she was off on her Knocking, that the beast wasn't fully paralyzed. It was smart. It had wanted to lure in its prey and cut off the girl's pesky evasion that had happen previously. "Ukh..." As Grey attempted to materialize an ice spear, the second appendage lashed out and crashed against her chest like a whip. The pain immediately brought a stop to the magic, and Grey couldn't help but let out a scream at the impact. Had she not been superhuman, the blow would've drove her unconscious. The action also shredded the adventurer's shirt and jacket, revealing pale skin underneath- save for the part with the crimson welt gained from the lashing.

A cold sweat broke out on her pale skin as she regarded the colossal predator's cruel features. This was a killing machine... one that had picked up tricks of the trade. Already, she felt the black noose steadily begin tightening around her waist. Air was slowly being squeezed out of her frame and any sign of magic would result in further lashings. Red shame brightened the magus' face as she recalled how in the past, she could have simply flash freeze the thing for its impertinence. Now though... she was scared. Overconfidence had led to this scene, and she would die for her cockiness. "Gya..." Struggling against her bonds, Grey couldn't help but think about the others. How she could never see them again for this bout of stupidity. At this point, bitter tears began flowing as the mage thought about never seeing Tach and Anno's flustered faces or Moe's cheeky one, never hearing sarcasm from the twins... A howl of despair echoed erupted from her mouth even as her bones began creaking and her vision grew dim.

[Rain]

Had GS been doing this entirely on her own, exploring the Torikoverse with no-one to back her up, that would've been the end of it. Crushed to death by a salmon's whiskers and sleeping with the fishes, never to be seen or heard of again. An undignified end after surviving various calamitous battles and epic confrontations. Fortunately, one of her friends had come along with her due to having nothing better to do, and though they were still getting accustomed to an... odd reaction to a particular fact of life here, they could certainly help the unfortunate girl.

If they were around.

Naturally, they were, if a little late to the party.

"DOUBLE SKEWER!" Rain said, jumping off of the rocky outcropping and astoundingly making it far enough to reach the fish, arms piercing through both its whiskers. They were a sight she was still getting used to, a silky-looking cyan with the occasional air bubble. And, of course, the feeling of her arms' shaping into two pointed rods.

Though not thick enough to completely cut the whiskers off, the piercings gave the means to do so: mass moving from tip and shoulder to the hole and bursting the tentacles off.

Wearing only a cheap anorak, Rain placed herself between the fish and her friend, daring it to attack her. It probably would; seemingly everything in this world found the prospect of eating her well worth any potential risks. 

[Vinestar]

The beast thrashed about as its appendages were punctured and the thing's grip loosened enough for the magus to drop down like a stone into the lake of tea. Gasping and sputtering while treading water, Grey looked up at the sight of... Well... Something wonderful. Forgetting her previous trouble, the girl's eyes grew wide and a faint blush began spreading across her face.

Meanwhile, the Berserker Salmon lived up to its name and began barreling through the water at a breakneck speed towards the interloper. What remained of the whiskers bunched up like a coiled spring before being shot forward like a harpoon gun. The limbs then began waving about in a reckless pattern that crashed into anything it could. The very surface of the lake was churned and by the predator's rage as it continued its rampage toward the slime girl.

[Rain]

Well... crap, it was charging. Trust GS to pick something powerful without asking first, and a rampaging fish at that. Rain couldn't swim and she went and picked a fish. This severely limited her options to standing her ground and trying to polish it off that way. Skewering it wasn't an option at these speeds, it'd plough right through her and result in a doublekill, which meant...

The slimegirl took a deep breath as a gust of wind stirred her anorak, and grabbed the whiskers shooting towards her. The force pushed her back a little, but with her legs now extremely bottom heavy and looking like inverted icecream cones, she held her ground. And then... she twisted over backwards, pulling it.

Though she was far from the strongest person in the world, she had more than enough to use the salmon's own momentum against it as it charged, lifting it out of the water and throwing it into the rocky outcrop she'd started out from. Enemy defeated, hopefully, her body reverted to normal, and she turned around to offer Grey a hand, staunchly not looking at her torn clothing.

"Mind making a path back to the shore? I can't get there alone."

It was a weird sound. It seemed to come from Rain's entire body and not, well, her mouth. Like a sort of hum.

[Vinestar]

The Berserker Salmon realized that it was caught- but much too late. Already, its bulk was in the air and being flipped. While sleek and powerful, the skies did not belong to fish (save for a certain few) and thus the freshwater monster could do naught but slam into the rock. With finality, a snap could be heard as a crucial bone was dislodged by the impact. The angry thing continued to explode every which way in fishy fury, its vitality strong enough to fight off the injury for a long moment. Soon though, even it had to stop as whatever rage had propelled it began leeching away into the blackness of the beyond.

At Rain's request, frost spread across the lake surface towards the slimegirl. Grey herself had hoisted herself onto the bridge and was doing her best to cover up her shredded front while averting her gaze. "T-thank you..." Embarrassment at both her overconfidence and her state of undress had brought the ever familiar mist of shame back into the fore and the girl looked like she was about to cry. "I was stupid..."

[Rain]

"Well, yeah," Rain stated, sauntering cheerfully back towards the fish and tossing the anorak into Grey's arms. It had a zip; she could use it to cover herself, "You didn't want the Gourmet Cells after this happened to me, so I'm the bishokuya and you're the chef."

The blue girl sat herself down on the sand before lying down and staring up at the sky, "At least you had the sense to go after a fish and not a bird or something. Fish have an easily exploitable weakness. It's called breathing."

[Vinestar]

Gratefully taking the anorak with a blush, Grey draped the material over her body and zipped up the front. "Well, I already have something in me right now. Taking in another would just tear me apart." Glancing back at the Berserk Salmon, the magician assented. "Well, yes. Not to mention liquids are handy for my ability set." Running out of small things to say, Grey stewed in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. When that was done with, the mage made her way towards her friend and lay beside the slimegirl in companionly silence.

[Rain]

Rain continued to lay there for a few minutes, before deciding to check that the fish was dead and hopping to her feet in one smooth motion. Almost too smooth, really. Then, to check the fish was dead? Poking it. Repeatedly. In case it decided to wake up and attack them again. Getting no response, the slimegirl decided that yes, the giant, violent salmon wasn't going to be moving again.

"Why did you pick something difficult for whatever you're doing?" the blue girl whined, crouching down and closely examining the whiskers, back to Grey, "Why not something that won't try and eat you if you mess up?"

A growling stomach announced that Rain was rather hungry. Well, there was a large food source around...

[Vinestar]

"Because the higher leveled ingredients taste better..." Grey mumbled with an ashamed expression as she followed the slimegirl near the fish. Also I would get a lot of it too so..." Smacking her face with her palm to get back into the game, the magician looked fired up at the prospect of preparing a luxury ingredient for both herself and Rain. "Well, you did catch it... Want me to make something for you?"

[Rain]

"Yeah, please," Rain said, looking around. Surely Grey had brought some sort of supplies with her to cook the fish? It would taste brilliant however it was cooked... but she had to have something to cook it with. Hmm... if she was an ice mage who'd gotten in over her head, where would she have put her cooking supplies?

She had no damn idea.

[Vinestar]

Taking out a rather knife that curved slightly at the tip, Grey set about her task with efficiency. Soon, a sizable fillet had been sliced from the spine, ready to be prepared. Humming to herself, Grey began setting up her portable kitchen. It looked like a motorized kitchen cart, sparsely decorated and old fashioned looking. It even had two jutting wooden handles for pulling! Pulling the compartments open to reveal the cooking area and cupboards, Grey began setting out first the utensils then ingredients.

Eggs... rice... garnishes... Not much ingredients needed this time about for this simple dish. Soon, sizzling sounds could be heard as egg covered rice and became golden grains that were restlessly tossed into the air. Sesame seeds went into the portion to provide a boost in aroma and texture, making the air fragrant. The salmon fillet had been cut into bite sized pieces after being cooked with a special method joining the rice and being tossed about in it. Fried Rice never failed to disappoint when you need something quick.

Soon, two handsomely proportioned plates were set at the the fold up table with white porcelain spoons resting at their edges. "Thought it would be best to do it quickly and simply, since you're hungry, eheh." Grey mumbled, the enthusiasm and singlemindedness of cooking now worn off. She would only eat after Rain took a bite.

The salmon fried rice had plenty of surprises hidden behind its simple exterior. The egg coated grains were slightly caramelized, lending the savory taste a bit of sweetness. The sesame seeds were interspersed between the larger and softer grains so as to add a crunchy and solid texture while releasing a light fragrance once bit into. The fish itself had not just been fried but prepared using the French poelee method, where the flesh was firmly pressed down with the knife to cook uniformly while the scent of the fish was erased through continuous appliances of healthy olive oil. As a result, the meat would quite juicy, trapped behind a crispy exterior, especially the rind, which would have a satisfying crunch.

[Rain]

Rain dug right in, ignoring the spoon in favour of using her own hand, reshaped slightly to be the right shape. The slimegirl was rather wary of breaking such a delicate looking piece of cutlery... and besides, it was so small, and she was hungry.

Though she didn't have the same ability to put it into words as seemingly everyone else on this entire bloody planet, Rain appreciated the food. The well-cooked accompaniments to the main dish were nice but... they were so... bland. She was starting to see part of the reason behind the whole full course thing; what was the good of having one nice food surrounded by comparative dreck?

The plateful of food didn't last long at all, and the slimegirl rose from her seated position, ambling back over towards the fish, planting her foot at the base of one of its whiskers and, after a few false starts, ripping the entire rest of it off before slowly chewing her way down it. Rubbery, uncooked... and still delicious.

This was such a weird world...

[Vinestar]

"M-my fish..." Looking at first happy that Rain had wolfed down her meal and then alarmed as her friend began dissolving the giant whisker, the girl felt a blow to her pride. "Ugu..." Falling to her knees theatrically, the magician began making sounds that were similar to crying. A fog of shame began covering her up so that she singlehandedly created the legendary anime phenomenon. The only thing missing was the sound effect!

[Rain]

Rain carried over the half-finished whisker, then ripped what was left in two... before hitting Grey over the head with one and offering the non-chewed portion. "Stop that, I'm just hungry, 'sall. Just remember to cook more next time."

The slimegirl looked pensieve for a second, before reaching a hand down to her stomach and pushing a finger in, grasping a tiny ring contained in an air bubble and pulling it out. This was a magic item she'd borrowed from April; it came in especially handy now by functioning as a backpack whilst she couldn't really wear them without things constantly sliding off.

She retrieved a piece of paper and a pen from it before putting it back, and adding a few more notes to the list contained therein before speaking up: "I've decided something about this Full Course thing. If I do make one of the things, every last part of it, from the sauces to the seemingly inconsequential vegetables, is coming from that Gourmet World place. I refuse to have some immeasurable capture level main dish marred by capture level two rice or something."

[Vinestar]

"...!" Grey looked up with a pout when Rain hit her over the head with the appendage. Her later statement though... Gourmet World... Full Course Menu... Already, tears were threatening to burst forth from the magician. "I didn't know you could feel this way towards food!" Shyly bowing her head, the Glacial Master began stuttering out her wish. "I-if you need a Chef for a combo... I-I hope I'm good enough for you..."

[Rain]

The ring was swiftly retrieved in order to access... a newspaper. Outdated, for a different world entirely... but easily rolled up so that she could thwack the ice mage over the head with it. That was entirely too innuendo-filled for the slimegirl's tastes, and this was an acceptable substitute for a lack of a paper fan.

"I didn't say that. I just said that if I ever make one of the damn things, it'll all be of the same quality, and I'm hardly going to settle for the sorts of things you can buy in a shop," Rain said, sniffing and putting everything away, "I guess I'd need some sort of reputation to get in there, though, let alone not die... it's pretty dangerous, right?"

[Vinestar]

"Nyu..." Holding her head, Grey nodded twice while holding her head. "Well, you don't really need clearance to enter the hunting grounds. Fame certainly helps though with transportation, considering how vast this world is and how far away from the human cities the wilderness are. As long as it's not in IGO protected territory, you can head there."

[Rain]

"Gourmet World is outside the boundaries of the Human World," Rain said, thinking and then producing a map--infinite storage was handy--that was horribly incomplete but gave rough ideas of the nearer parts and total world size, "And it's not like there's any major settlements by the borders, not much more than, say, that sugar desert place here."

The slimegirl pointed, before continuing on, "As it is now, I don't have any money or contacts, so even if I thought I was strong enough to go there, which I'm not without going back for Lancelot's stuff, I couldn't get anywhere nearby. So building a reputation comes first, then heading off there, either paying for it or calling in a favour."

"Anything I've missed?"

[Vinestar]

"Nope, nothing much." Grey responded after hearing the explanation from the the erstwhile slimegirl. "Do you have an idea for how to build up reputation though?" Shuffling around and putting the cart's various pieces and doodads back into place, the magician looked ready for further exploration. To the giant salmon, Grey began the process of freezing- though doing it in a way that maximally preserved its original flavor and freshness. "We might need to discover a new species or something, since that's the quickest way to start things off."

[Rain]

"New species, eh? Well, it would have to be somewhere remote... and we're already halfway there, I guess. I doubt that we'd find anything friendly, like a nacho turtle, so making sure there was an escape plan handy..." Rain mumbled, crouching down and frowning. Finding new species was incredibly easy in any world--animals and plants were just tripping over themselves to make new things--but the hard part was finding something with a capture level, and delicious enough to get them proper access to gourmet society rather than hanging around in shady towns with all sorts of ne'er-do-wells. "Any nearby rainforests?"

[Vinestar]

"Rainforests..." Mumbling under her breath about creepy crawlies and the humidity, Grey nevertheless took out something that looked like a GPS device and began flipping through the touchscreen. "Well... We could always go to Flan Jungle. I've heard they have a lot of tasty tropical fruits and other sweet ingredients, and that's it's close and southeast of here. The meat of the game animal have a fragrant and fruity aftertaste and the predators don't like to share the harvest with anyone that comes into their territory. Maybe we can go bag something high on the food chain that no one's caught before?"

[Rain]

"Maybe we'll find a candyfloss spider?" Rain joked, stretching--a bizarre sight, the be sure, given that she could keep it up a lot longer than most people, "If we just head for the densest region of jungle, it should be child's play to find something new. Pity we don't have any special way to detect foods and stuff, or much in the way of attacks..."

"Well, April leant me an invisibility cloak, so we should be fine."

[Vinestar]

"But there should be predators that rely on scents and sounds too, Rain. Don't forget, this is the Torikoverse- where everything is bumped up to eleven. And the dead center does seem like the best place to go seeing as that's usually where the dungeon bosses are." Done with her packing, Grey nodded and turned towards the south. "Well, I can easily get us across the ocean, then we can begin our safari."

[Rain]

"I wish we had some way to test exactly what this cloak hides," Rain said, sighing and sinuously leaping to her feet, "I don't want to be caught out be an IR sensing lizard any more than I want to be tracked down by a bloodhound alligator or something."

Rain took the lead, despite Grey being the one that would actually get them across the ocean, just in case there was anything in their path that might... you know, try and eat them. Rain hoped that she didn't taste as delicious as she sometimes looked. Maybe she'd get lucky and taste of water?

[Vinestar]

Sometime Later

Soon, Grey's floating igloo boat glacier thingy washed up on the river banks that ran through the Flan Jungle. Stretching her sore body, the girl noted that already the air had the subtle scent of sun ripened natural fruit. "Huh, much better than a regular jungle." Turning this way and that, the mage took in palm trees and vines all bursting with fruit that almost seemed to glisten under the rays of the sun much like jewels- the bright reds and yellows contrasting with the glossy green and browns of the parent plants. A slightly hidden path wound into the foliage and the sound of bird calls echoed throughout the treetop. "...It's prettier than I thought."

[Rain]

Rain, however, had no time to admire the scenery, one arm shooting out and piercing a bulbous fruit gleaming in the afternoon sun before retracting and bringing the head-sized fruit to her mouth. It tasted like pineapple. That was good; she liked pineapple. And it was sugary, which was good for her energy levels. Well... in the short term. Maybe they'd find something more filling deeper into the jungle.

"So, you want to lead the way, or should I?" Rain asked, aware that she had no sense of direction. Not that it would really matter in this place.

[Vinestar]

"You lead since you're the Bishokuya." Nodding at that particular form of logic, Grey began radiating a chill air about her, making a deterrent for lesser insects and other pests to take a bite from her. Wrapping the aura around herself, the magician smiled before also plucking a few pieces of fruit. Soon, the girl had a fresh fruit popsicle in her mouth- filling it with tropical sweetness and aroma.

[Rain]

"Don't blame me if we get lost," Rain said, sniffing and ploughing ahead into the jungle, apparently paying no attention to her surroundings. She was trying her best to do so... but unlike the Four Heavenly Kings, she was rather lacking in any senses that would help with that sort of thing, or even the experience they had.

[Vinestar]

"Kay kay." Grey assented as she followed behind the slime, her territory drifting about. As the duo went deeper into the underbrush, the duo would find a murky brown river that frothed about here and there. The scent of cacao drifted through the air, rich and pungent. "Well, one does find chocolate in the rainforest... Following it to the source might have some sort of super ingredient too, since the flavor and intensity should be the strongest around there..." Brown logs were seen drifting about, though if one looked closely, some of them were going completely against the current and towards the bank...

[Rain]

Rain, not noticing the Chocolate Crocodiles, was staring in wide-mouthed amazement at the river. An entire river of chocolate! Now she just had to hope that it would run into a river of milk or some such further downstream, and then she could drink and drink and drink. Delicious... absolutely delicious.

Unless Grey drew her attention to the abnormal logs, it was likely that the blue girl would get at least partly eaten by them, which would be a bit of an inconvenience, to say the least.