"Now what are we supposed to do with that?" Nymeria asked while pointing towards the can of stew on fire.
"Huh? What do you mean? He asked us to watch the stew. What else are we going to do?"
"And what does 'watching' it even mean? Does he want us to open the lid and stir occasionally to make sure that the stew is not burning? Or does he want us to let it be and not remove the lid at all? And are we supposed to add some logs from time to time to keep the fire going, or do we just let it slowly die down?" The more she talked, the more excited the girl got, as if she had finally found something to criticise Jon about.
"Er, when you put it like that..." Sarella said as she scratched her head with a bewildered expression, "Even I am confused about what we are supposed to do."
"Damn right, it's confusing," Nymeria said with a satisfied nod, "He should have just given us clear instructions from the start."
'What could be clearer than 'Watch the Stew',' was what Sarella wanted to say, but then she thought about all the questions that her sister had asked and felt that they were quite genuine, so she fell silent, thinking that it really couldn't have hurt Jon to say a few more words to explain.
"I am telling you, I am not taking the blame for it if the stew doesn't turn out to be good and we have to remake it,"
Thankfully, the worst-case scenarios the girls were envisioning did not happen, as no more than fifteen minutes later, Jon came back to the camp, bringing along with him two rabbits that had already been gutted and cleaned.
"How..." Nymeria's jaw dropped open at the sight, and at that moment, the girl wanted nothing more than to shout, 'How the hell did you manage to find their tracks, hunt them down and clean them up, all in under fifteen minutes in this unknown forest. HOW!!' but in the end, she stopped herself at the last moment, as she did not want to give the brat another chance to brag, so instead she asked, "Oi! What did you mean when you asked us to watch the stew? Were we supposed to—" the girl wanted to ask Jon all the same questions that had stumped her sister but he didn't even let her start.
"Just place the can on the hot coals when it starts to bubble. How hard can that be?" Jon interrupted nonchalantly as he placed the skinned rabbit on a flat stone, and then took off the lid to check the stew, "Hm, it's about halfway done," he murmured as he stirred it for a few seconds before placing the lid back on, "Enough time to add some meat."
"You could have just said that from the start," Nymeria muttered with a pout on her face as if she had been wronged.
Jon raised his head and looked at the lovely, ignorant faces of the Dornish sisters, who, from the looks of it, had never been inside a kitchen, and admitted defeat, "You are right, I should not have assumed that you would have some basic survival skills. It was completely my fault."
"You—" Nymeria instantly jumped up with an angry expression, her hand reaching for her spear, ready to fight this smug brat even if she knew that it would probably end in her loss, but then the three of them suddenly heard footsteps coming from the forest, and knowing that her father had returned, the girl reluctantly sat back down, not wanting Oberyn to think her too childish, "Hmph, I'll forgive you this time."
Jon just gave her an amused smile and turned back to the task of thinly slicing the meat, and after enough had been prepared, he gathered them in his hands and placed them inside the soup.
"You hunted rabbits," Oberyn asked as he arrived at he camp and placed the filled water pouches beside Jon.
"Yes," Jon nodded as he stirred the meat inside the can, and seeing that the stew was a bit thick, he added the freshly brought water into the simmering can before closing the lid, "After all, we can't go on our mission half-starved, can we? And nothing fills you up with energy like fresh meat, right?"
"Completely right." Oberyn nodded with a chuckle, as the Dornish man was already starting to feel his stomach growl just from the tantalising smell coming from the stew.
Seeing that there was quite a lot of meat left, Jon decided to roast them over the fire.
"What are you doing?" Sarella asked as she saw Jon placing his hand in front of the fire as if he was warming it, and then constantly taking it closer and farther away from the fire every few seconds as if he was searching for something.
"Checking the temperature," Jon replied as he finally found the perfect spot and created a Y-shaped stand by inserting a stick into the ground, before he pierced the meat pieces into a stick and placed it on the stand, "You see, food cooks perfectly at the temprature where you can tolerate the fire for just about three seconds before it gets too hot," Jon explained with a nostalgic smile, freely sharing the pearls of wisdom that he had learned in his previous from a famous youtuber.
"How do you even know all this?" Sarella asked in an amazed voice, very much surprised at the depth of knowledge this boy, who was no older than fifteen, possessed.
"I have been camping in the Wolfswood near my home since I could walk, so you could say I learned a thing or two along the way," Jon shrugged as if it was no big deal.
And it was indeed the truth, as while about fifty per cent of his knowledge came from that humble middle-aged YouTuber from his previous life, the rest he learned on his own and with the help of various teachers, such as that old hunter master back home.
"There he goes bragging again..." Nymeria murmured in a small voice, but even she couldn't deny the envy she felt at seeing the numerous useful skills the boy possessed.
'Speaking of which, let's try that guy's favourite food,' Jon thought with a smile as he took out an earthen jar from his luggage.
"What's that now?" Nymeria asked curiously, pointing at the white goey stuff that Jon was taking out of the jar in his hands.
"Bread dough," Jon answered as he took a small sticky lump in his palm and then began stretching it into a disk shape in the air using his fingers.
"Bread dough? But..." Sarella stammered, wanting to ask but did not want to sound stupid once again, as it could be something basic that only she did not know due to her ignorance; thankfully, she had a sister who was far more impatient than her.
"But there is no oven here, so what are you going to do with the dough?" Nymeria asked bewilderedly.
"Who told you that you need an oven to make bread?" Jon replied with a sly grin as he placed the thin disk of dough on hot coals and buried it under.
"Who told me? Does someone even need to tell me something simple like that? Everyone knows that! It's a fact, right?" she asked as Jon began working on his second 'bread'.
"Just because everyone knows something, doesn't mean it's the truth," Jon said in a sagely tone, "Am I right, Oberyn?"
"Oh, don't ask me," Oberyn said with a smile as he raised his hands in surrender, "Because the only fact I know about cooking is that nothing tastes better than a freshly baked bread when you are hungry. So if that is indeed bread you are cooking, then I am all for it,"
"A perfect answer," Jon said with an approving smile, "And your reward for that is this," he said as he took out a slightly burnt but perfectly cooked Flatbread straight out of the coals, roughly cleaned the soot on it, then presented it to Oberyn, "Try it."
"B-But that's not bread," Nymeria clamoured as she pointed at the flat white disk in Oberyn's hand that looked like nothing the fluffy white bread she usually ate.
"It is," Jon said as he started working on the next one, "Just not the type you are familiar with, this one is called Flat bread, and it is—"
"Damn, that's good," Oberyn exclaimed with a surprised expression on his face as he looked at the flat bread in his hand in wonder, "How is this simple thing so tasty?"
"Let me see!" Nymeria said as she jumped up and snatched the half-eaten flat bread from her Father's hand, "Hey!" and took a good, large bite.
Almost immediately, the girl's eyes widened in wonder, "It really is good, just like normal warm bread, but even tastier because of the charcoal flavour." The Dornish girl who grew up on spices had never imagined that she would praise something bland like bread so much.
"Me too," Sarella said as she grabbed the last portion of bread from Nymeria's hand and put it into her mouth before her sister could take it back. "Omph, I see what you were talking about," Sarella nodded as she closed her eyes in contentment.
"And do you know what's better than freshly baked bread on a campfire?" Jon asked the three.
"What?!"
"Bread with honey butter on it," Jon replied with a smirk as he opened another small jar, took out a wooden spoon, and, using it, he generously applied the golden goodness on a newly baked bread straight from the coals and handed it to Oberyn, "Try this."
"Hey, don't just give it all to him."
"Here," Oberyn said as he divided the dripping golden bread into three equal pieces and handed two of them to his daughter, and then the three of them simultaneously put the bread into their mouths.
"Mhh," Almost simultaneously, the girls groaned in pleasure as the wonderful flavours of the honeybutter-soaked bread burst out in their mouths, "How is it possible for something to taste this good?" Nymeria cried with a moved expression on her face.
"This food is the crystallisation of someone's years of campfire experience, so of course it tastes good," Jon said with a smile, wondering how proud that man would feel if he knew his campfire food was getting praises even in another world.
"Really? Then I would love to meet this man, someday," Oberyn said as he finished his piece of bread in just a few bites.
'Sadly, you will have to die and then be lucky enough to get reincarnated, if you want to do so,' Jon thought before shaking his head, "The stew and the meat are just about done too, so go grab the wooden plates from the luggage, because we are eating like kings today."
"I would normally call that an exaggeration, but..." Sarella said as she looked down at her wooden plate laden with thick stew filled with all kinds of vegetables and meat, warm bread, and wonderfully cooked roasted meat, "This really is almost a feast."
"No, it's even better than a feast," Nymeria said, her mouth filled with food, as her expression screamed bliss, "I don't know if it's because I am so hungry, but I don't think I have ever eaten food this good, even back home."
"I would normally be offended by a comment like that, dear daughter, but alas..." Oberyn said as he reluctantly nodded his head, "It really is better than anything I have had in a camp."
"Enough with all the praises," Jon said with a warm smile as he waved his hand, "Eat as much as you want, because we have got plenty here."
For a while after that, there was no other sound around the campfire except for chewing, as the four of them focused on putting one bite after another into their mouth.
Some created a sandwich with bread and meat, while others dipped their bread in the stew and ate every bite with relish, and someone else(Nymeria) just couldn't get enough of the sweet, savoury flavour of honey butter bread and kept their focus on that until Jon's entire stock of honey butter in the jar was wiped out.
A few minutes later, every single morsel of food had disappeared from sight, with even the stew can having been swiped clean.
"Ugh, I don't think I have ever eaten so much in my life," Sarella said as she leaned back against a rock with a lazy expression on her face.
"You know, I always thought that people from the North only ever ate tasteless meals, since they have no spices available to them." Nymeria said with a thoughtful look on her face, "But I take that back now, you people do know something about food after all."
"I don't know if I should feel grateful or get offended," Jon muttered with a helpless smile at that comment.
"Offended! Definitely offended." Sarella suddenly interjected with an eager gleam in her eyes, "I mean, I would feel insulted if someone talked about Dorne like that, in fact, I think you need to beat her up if you want to preserve the honour of the North," she finished with an egging on expression.
"Hey!" Nymeria exclaimed with a betrayed expression on her face, "What are you doing? Why do you want him to beat me up?"
"What do you mean, beat you up?" Sarella asked with a very innocent expression on her face, "Are you saying that you would definitely lose if you fight?
"W-Who said I'll lose?!" Nymeria answered defensively, now getting worked up by her sister's provocation, "In fact, after eating all that good food, I feel like I have enough energy to take on a thousand men." The girl boasted as she picked up her spear, "Come, Jon, let's have a bout."
"That's the spirit," Sarella clapped enthusiastically from her seat by the rock. The girl was feeling lazy and bored after that filling feast, and in her dictionary, there was no better after-meal entertainment than watching her sweet sister get humbled.
"Enough!"
Sadly for Sarella, their father intervened at the last moment, "We have been up all night, and we will be on the move once again in a few hours, so this is the only time we get a chance to rest." Oberyn rebuked with a serious expression on his face, "Don't waste it. You will get plenty of chances to fight later."
Sarella looked very disappointed at that, but she knew that her father was right, so she did not argue. "Ah, fine, I was feeling sleepy anyway," the girl murmured with a pout as she turned around and crawled into the shelter.
Left behind, Nymeria stood there with a reluctant expression for a few seconds, but then she too realised that she too felt quite tired and that this was not the right time for a spar, so discarding her spear, the girl went into the tent after her sister, "Make space for me."
"You go in too," Jon said to Oberyn after they both finished washing and packing the utensils and other ingredients back inside their luggage.
"What about you?"
"I'll set up a small perimeter with some rope and join you in a few minutes."
Oberyn nodded at that before he took off his armour and went into the shade of the shelter.
Even with the girls taking up the interior, there was plenty of space for Oberyn to lie down, leaving a decent amount of room on the outside for Jon to spread his legs.
Back outside, Jon didn't spend more than five minutes creating a simple perimeter alarm, and after that, he just sat on the ground with his back against the rock, his eyes staring at the dying fire, calmly enjoying the fresh morning air and the sweet calls of various native birds.
It was almost half an hour later that Jon abruptly broke out of his meditation and looked up with a smile on his face, 'You're finally here,' he thought as he saw Frost gliding circles through the clouds above his head.
Jon had, in fact, not lied before when he told Nymeria about there being tigers in the forest around them, which was why it was essential for him to keep a Warg with him at all times during their trek, to prevent them from getting ambushed by predators.
And with the situation in Pentos, Frost was busy there, so the job of protecting them went to Tweety, his hummingbird.
But this also meant that with both of his scout wargs occupied, he had no one available to keep an eye on their target.
Not that he had no idea about their whereabouts, because he did. As early as a week ago, Jon had already learned about the target's detailed travel plan and knew exactly when and how they would leave their castle and where they would stop, so it was not a big deal.
But now that Frost was finally here, Jon wanted to check on them one last time just to be on the safe side.
'Go, Tweety. Go find that Mountain for me,'
The hummingbird, which had previously been idling around on trees nearby, drinking the nectar of flowers, squealed in confirmation and took off in a flash, vanishing into the dense forest.
With them being no more than a dozen hours from the Clegane's keep, it took Tweety barely five minutes to fly into the destination, but what Jon found through her eyes was a completely different scenario than he had imagined.
"Shit! Where the hell are they?!" Jon exclaimed in surprise as he found the keep completely bereft of the Mountain and all his goons, "They were there the previous evening. How did they disappear during the night?"
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A small food interlude before action restarts. Hope you don'tmind!!
And as for the creator mentioned here, he is known as the Outdoor Boys. Wonderful guy he is, with a ton of survival content on his channel, and you just need to watch one of his videos to get hooked. So make sure to do so.
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