♦ WF Entry: Is this...edible?

♦  Is this...edible?

Aerwyna, Isa, and Aouli were wandering through the lively fairgrounds enjoying the bubbling atmosphere and the bright juberent fair goers around them. The three members of the United Mounted Patrol had been dispatched to the fair to assist with security and their shift had finally just ended so they were now allowed to partake in the fair activities as well. The two female runners quietly marveled at and enjoyed the various stalls selling novelties and food while the excitable male puller bounced around the stalls like a newborn pup at the fair for the first time. Isa couldn’t help but chuckle at the oversized puller beaming broadly like a fool as he showed the duo some random fair themed trinket he had just paid an overly inflated price for. Even the usually stern Aerwyna merely smiled in amusement at the puller's antics where she would have normally chewed him out for behaving so immaturely. 

As the trio progressed through the fair they saw many specialty dishes and crafts that were only made in Warrenfall. Out of all the fairs that occurred this time of year, the food was definitely the best at the Warrenfall world fair. The plentiful verdant arable land allowed Warrenfall to be a central hub for the world's agriculture. No where else can you find so plentiful ingredients making the food section of the Warrenfall world fair by far the largest of the four continents. As the trio continued perusing the various food stalls the contents of the stalls also seemed to shift. From more recognizable fair food to novelty food shaped like famous reoseans or like the king’s castle. The deeper they went into the food section the stranger the food became until the trio couldn’t help but wonder if what they were looking at was actually food.

One vendor had funnel cakes and cotton candy, while the next had parfaits and crepes, the next had kabobs and skewers, while the next had hard candies in every color of the rainbow. The trio turned a corner and the next lines of stalls made them dubious as to what they were looking at. One stall had what appeared to be small houses and bottles of juice but as they watched, a patron took a bite of what appeared to be a small wooden toy carriage. The runners first reaction was disgusted horror but when the patron pulled their ‘treat’ back from their maw the trio could see that the ‘toy carriage’ was actually a hyper realistic cake. Aouli was immediately sold on the idea of eating a small house and quickly saddled up to the stall to buy his own. Isa and Aerwyna exchanged a glance with each other as they watched their companion absolutely devour a scale model of the UMP headquarters, but could only laugh at the absurdity in the end. 

Continuing on their way the next couple of stalls were more typical until they reached the imported food section. Warrenfall had many ports which allowed for easy trade between the continents so it wasn’t a surprise to see various food items from other regions but that didn’t mean they were appetizing. Isa starred in disgusted amazement as a group of brave fair goers took on an eating challenge featuring some of the most bizarre “food” she has ever seen. “That can’t taste good.” Aerwyna said from her side, a similar if not more disgusted expression on her face as she watched a vat of purple writhing tentacles squirm on the stall display. Aouli, the ever eager glutton that he is, was only momentarily deterred and eagerly approached the stall. The two female runners cringed and turned away from the akhal puller as he had to actually wrestle the more lively tentacles into his mouth. 

Out of morbid curiosity Isa asked while not looking at the source of the squelching sound, “How is it?” she had to hold back a gag as she spoke. Aerwyna on the other hand couldn’t handle the sounds and wandered a few steps away to hurl in a trash bin. Even the other brave patrons hadn’t dared to take on the writhing tentacles and upon watching the blue puller devour the creature with gusto were disturbed and backed away. When the puller finally managed to get the ‘food’ down, he liked the residual slime from his lips and pondered for a moment before answering. “Awful.” He said matter of factly. “The flavor was like really bland crab. Like, borderline gone bad crab. And the texture was like that of rubber.” A disgusted murmur rippled through the other patrons who backed away from the stall and dispersed to find more savory culinary delights. Aerwyna returned in time to hear the puller's description and covered her mouth and turned her face away again while gagging.

“If it was that bad why’d you continue to eat it?!” She exclaimed while desperately fighting her nausea, to which Aouli merely shrugged before eyeing another monstrosity of a dish offered by the stall. Isa leaned against her sick mate and activated her healing magic. A golden glow enveloped Aerwyna and quickly eased her upset stomach. The lacework runner closed her eyes and leaned into the filigree runner, enjoying the calming warmth of her magic. After a few moments Isa stopped using her magic and gently kissed her mates forehead. “Feeling better?” She asked. Aerwyna smiled and returned her mates kiss before replying, “Yes thanks to you.” The two were starting to get lovey dovey when a loud uproarious laugh cut through their mood. The stall owner was laughing heartily as Aouli took on the stalls main dish challenge. A massive bowl, that had to be delivered to the customer via magic due to how large it was, came out of the stall and was placed on a table in front of Aouli. 

The bowl was heaped to the brim with bizarre things that none of the trio had ever seen before. Some form of crustaceans tail rested along the edge of the plate, more of the purple tentacles (except these ones were not moving) filled the middle like some form of demented noodles, what appeared to be an oversized eyeball floated in a thick bubbling golden broth, and other bizarre toppings decorated the bowl as well as a small array of unknown meats. Both runners cringed at the admittedly good smelling ramen from hell as Aouli stared at the bowl in awe. The stall owner passed Aouli a set of utensils and with a broad devilish smile urged the puller, “Here ya go lad! Dig in!” As soon as Aouli had the utensils in hand he immediately started shoveling the ‘food’ into his mouth. As soon as the first bite entered his mouth the puller visibly tensed and froze. The two runners approached him out of concern, was the food so bad he died on the spot?! Aerwyna reached out to touch his shoulder, “H-hey, are you okay?” she asked as the two runners reached his side.

Now that they could see his face they were both shocked and confused to see the massive puller had streams of tears running down his face. His expression was almost unreadable, frozen in a state of shock, dumbfoundedness, and… bliss? Before the runners could prompt the puller to abandon the bowl, Aouli dropped his utensils and buried his face into the bowl like a wild animal. Bits of tentacle and broth spattered against the two runners who scrambled back from the debris field in shock. The stall owner crossed his arms and puffed out his chest proudly as he watched the puller devour his food with gusto. Seeing the pullers reaction to the food the two runners exchanged a glance, their mouths watering at the smell. The food looked atrocious but maybe… just maybe it was actually good? They ordered one more of the massive ramen bowls and sat down to share it. The sheer amount of food alone was impressive but the appearance of the food still made their stomach turn. They sat together, not touching the food just staring at it dubiously until they glanced up and saw Aouli was about half way through the bowl and was still maintaining the same fervent pace. 

Taking a deep breath Aerwyna took up one of the sets of utensils, Isa stared at her nervously for a second before also taking up a set of utensils. Together they pulled out a good chunk of noodles and brought it to their mouths to eat.