Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The Fourth Driver

Book II: The Fourth Driver

     "You weren't really the best chef were you?" I asked.

     "Yes!" she retorted defensively. "I just... lost my touch! That's all!"

     "Mythra you just burnt water. That shouldn't even be possible. But don't worry, I'll make the food. You just watch and then maybe you'll get better that way!" I said. She grudgingly agreed and I showed her how to fry Rhogul eggs. I let her flip a couple, which she failed at horribly, but it's ok, everyone has trouble with that their first time. By the end of it she was getting much better.

     "Look at you! Cooking like a true chef," I encouraged.

     "Yes! Now time for the best ingredient!!!" she said.

     "Oh, what's that?" I laughed.

     "MORE HEAT!!!" she said as she started shooting light at the fire.

     "NO! MYTHRA STOP!!" I laughed so hard, but she stopped.

     "I thought heat is what cooks it though!" she said.

     "Yes but you have to heat it in moderation. Too much heat and you ruin the dish, too little heat and it doesn't cook properly. You just have to find where it cooks. Take your time! It's just like when you fight. Too little won't get the job done, too much and you get a reputation," I said. Mythra, looked away for a bit, and then she finally seemed to understand and I let her cook a few herself. I went ahead and tasted them for her.

      "Wow! There you go! These are really good!" I said, they were definitely cooked well.

      Mythra jumped up and down excitedly. "Really?!" And then she stopped herself and coughed. "I mean, yeah, of course they are, I cooked them myself."

     I laughed and she sat down, obviously proud of what she'd done.

     "As much as I love moments like these, I have to ask chap," Zeke started. "What did you want to tell us this morning?"

     Mythra and I both looked nervous and soon I explained everything that had happened with Vale to them.

     There was a stunned silence and it seemed no one knew what to say.

     "Don't you think she may attack again?" Brighid asked.

     "Not yet she won't. She likes to find new ways to mess with me. I don't know what she'll do next, but it won't be the same thing she just did," I said.

     "For now I think it's best we keep going then," Zeke said. We agreed, and then packed up everything we could carry easily.

     "We should reach Tantal by the end of the day, so if you need to find a way to wear those blankets I made to protect from skeeters, then make sure you do so," I said before tying one around me like a robe using a cord I stripped from a nearby tree. Once everyone was situated, we began our melancholic walk.

     For hours we stumbled through the thick mud, trudged through the throned bushes, and fought off countless skeeters and even a stray gogul at some point. As we took a break to hydrate and eat some of the berries we collected on the way, an idea came to mind.

     "Hey Zeke," I started, all of us were breathing heavily. The humidity in the air was brutal on our lungs.

     "Yeah chap?" he responded, obviously in a lot of distress.

     "Charge your sword and hold it up, the skeeters should be drawn to your sword!" I said.

     Zeke charged it and held it out, the skeeters started flying into the sword on their own. Up until this point I didn't realize how many there were, hundreds of them seemed to be flying into the sword.