Trash Mountain Dungeon

Remi has been an outcast all his life and granted that wasn't very long as far as he was led to believe, it was the idea more than anything. Remi was hardly any different than his comrades, aside from the captain of the barrack, he was the same as any of them, with the sole difference being his incredible talent for food. While his fellows were content with simple moss and the flesh of the vermin, Remi aspired to make something more, something grand. This wasn't to say that he didn't appreciate what his maker had done and given for them all, he had created them from nothing and elevated them above the lesser vermin they feasted on, but Remi knew in his heart that the master would want them to better themselves, just as they would train in the yard for the next attack, so would he train the food of his people.

And it was so that Remi lay on his cot, contemplating the available foods before him, before him was a bundle of wet greenish-brown moss, the cleaned meat of the vermin, a large cup of cave water, and the most valuable of his possessions, an untouched haunch of ogre bull meat. It wasn't easy to acquire, the bull ranchers had rapidly become infamous for extorting others for even the toughest of pieces, it was only because of the recent attack on their home that he could secretly take away his piece. As for the rest, they were simple enough to find, moss grew everywhere, water was abundant if you knew where to look, and the vermin meat was a stable of their meals, typically boiled in the small pots they had or burnt over the fire. It might take his entire life, but he would find what he was looking for, that thing you do to make good food.

He shivered a bit, the barracks were rather cold at this time, and while their hides would keep them from injury or pain, few were comfortable staying in the cold for long, so Remi gathered his goods and made his way to the bonfire, a communal event ordered each time it got cold.

"Eeh, it's the odd one, what did he call himself Roomi, what you gonna do now with that trash?"

Sigh, his comrades weren't the most supportive of his efforts, and it would likely have turned to violence had it not been for his position as a shield-bearer. But that hardly stopped them from taunting and irritating him, finding his efforts confusing and even insulting. It wasn't an unreasonable belief of course, if the master wanted us to have better food, then he would have given it to us already, so Remi's efforts were far from appreciated. Still, he knew in his heart that things could change and that their maker would approve if he could make something worthy of him.

But as he was lost in thought he must have gotten too close to the flame as his bull haunch had caught flame and his cup had begun to boil, silently he chastised himself over his negligence, who knows how long it would be before he could get another piece this good? The cup was too hot to touch, Remi having just learned that metal got hot and stayed hot longer, making the metal cup impossible to retrieve, but the meat, on the other hand, was different. When he took it away from the heat a wonderful smell came from it, the surface was burnt too much to be making this good smell, so he took his knife and cut away some of the blackened flesh, still eating it despite the bad taste, and finding that the deeply red meat had become a very attractive pink color with some grey around the outside. Normally the ratkin wouldn't eat raw flesh, even if they could, but something about this new pinkish meat made Remi salivate just from the smell alone, so he gently cut some off a slice and took a single small bite.

From that bite came a...a... something, Remi didn't know the word, but it was a good one, it was soft but firm, gushing a strangely good-tasting mix of blood and juice, it was wonderful. But it was also missing something, and he couldn't tell what, the taste of the meat was good, but it was like it could be better. Looking through his pile of foods, he tried a bit more of the pink meat with a bit of each of everything, the moss and meat were, bad frankly, too different in feeling and taste for it to be good, next was the water, and to be honest, it was almost exactly as he expected, meat water, although it did leave a strange taste that felt oddly in place, maybe he'd look into it later. As for the last item he had no desire to dirty his precious possession with the flesh of the lesser vermin, so he came to think on what to do, and he would continue to think all the while he nudged and inched his now boiled away cup back towards him.

It was a bit annoying that he would have to go get some more water from the spring but... what's that stuff, it was a small pile of white stuff at the bottom of the cup, how did that get in there, what was it? Cautiously he pinched a small amount of it out and licked it, at first, he didn't know what to make of the taste, it was its own taste, and it made him thirsty, but after seconds for the taste to ingrain itself in his mind he nearly jumped in joy, this was what he needed for his pink meat!

Quickly he held the meat close to the flame to get it warm once again and sprinkled some of the white stuff on the exposed side, letting it turn a greyish brown color before cutting a piece and eating it. The bites before were amazing, but this new one was incomparable, the white stuff had somehow made the meat so much better, and the blood and juice tasted as if the maker had directly blessed it, he felt like he could see colors when he closed his eyes and could feel the blood in his body quicken with his excitement. He had done it; he had found what he was looking for and now he could help the others eat good food as well!

But he stopped himself short, this was just meat, fire, and the white powder stuff, what other foods could he improve with this process, what other good tastes could he bring to Clan Barracks? He didn't know what to do next, what to try, but what he did know was that he had to tell the others, the captain for sure had to know first, with her help, he would be able to get the others to help him when they weren't training and preparing for the next attack on their master's home. Oh, he couldn't wait to see what they would say!

Careful not to drop his precious food, he excitedly ran to the captain, heart full of excitement for what future foods there were yet for Remi to discover.

"Oh, captain my captain, I must tell you something!"

And so, Remi began his culinary journey, all from a little accident by the fire.