Chapter 102: Cooking Against Infection

Lus looked at the selection of plants he'd found with the [Ingredient Selection] skill. Supposedly they could all be used to cure an infection, but he had no idea how to make them into a medicine..

Sighing, he separated them by type. He set roots in one pile, greenery in another, and fruits in the last. He had two small, rough, tan roots. He also had a handful of small, purple leaves and two handfuls of large, ruffled, green leaves.

Most promising were the three small, squishy, purple fruits and the handful of firm, green berries. He was sure he could make something with those at least.

Lus picked up one of the berries and prepared to pop one in his mouth.

[Cook for at least 10 minutes in boiling water first]

He sighed and set the berry back down. He picked up the fruits one at a time, preparing to take a bite of each and making piles based on whether his [Chef's Intuition] intervened.

The purple fruits were sweet but a little fibrous, with a small, hard pit in the middle. The roots were tough and starchy. The purple leaves had a very subtle, fresh taste.

Picking up the roots, Lus tried to decide how to make it into something for the infection.

[Boil into mush, cool, and mix with boiled and mashed berries, then apply to affected area]

He smiled as his [Chef's Intuition] came to his rescue once again. Grabbing the rough bowl he'd used to bring water to Varyna, he decided it would have to do. He could cut the roots into pieces and fit at least a few in the stone bowl.

Using his [Ingredient Selection], he made his way back to the water, then returned to Varyna, only getting turned around once this time.

With the bowl over half-full of water, he now needed a heat source. Thankfully, the all-in cutter had a laser on it, so he used that to light a few dry twigs. He took those and made them into a large fire, making sure to clear a space in the leaves and undergrowth so it wouldn't spread.

Once the fire was going well, he took a fairly flat stone and set it on one side of the flames, then set the bowl on that. His fingers tingled with the heat and he knew he was going to have to find something to protect his hands.

Lus looked around. There were still a few strips left of his torn shirt, so he grabbed those and wrapped them around his hands, then sat and watched for the water to boil. While he sat, his stomach gave another loud rumble.

In his worries for his rescuer, he had forgotten how hungry he was. Now he looked around, hoping something edible might appear on the horizon. He patted his pockets and froze. 

He had completely forgotten about the chocote chunk cookies. Pulling out the small, wrapped package that contained more crumbs than actual cookies, he began dumping it into his mouth.

The cookies were certainly a bit stale, but they staved off the worst of his hunger.

[+5 Charm]

Lus had nearly forgotten that the cookies came with a stat boost. Not that it mattered. The only other person here was unconscious and unlikely to appreciate his increased Charm.

When he finished the cookie bits, he shoved the wrapper back in his pocket and turned his attention back to the stone bowl. To his surprise and relief, he found the water furiously bubbling. He didn't have a timer, but the roots needed to boil into mush, so he figured he had a while to wait.

While he sat, he pulled out the all-in cutter and looked around. He found another, larger stone and began hacking away at the center to hollow it out. If he could get another bowl ready, he could get the berries boiling while the roots cooled, instead of having to wait for the bowl he already had.

He cut pieces of stone away, thinking about how he might use the rest of the ingredients he'd gathered. Thankfully, his [Chef's Intuition] again came to his rescue as he considered each plant.

For the purple leaves, he got [Use the leaves to hold the berry and root mixture on the wound].

The green leaves had to be boiled and then he would [Strain from the water, then administer the leaf juice to the wounded].

The purple fruits could be eaten raw and would apparently boost Varyna's ability to fight infection as well. He would give them to her as soon as she came to again.

In the meantime, his second bowl was done. He dumped out the dust as well as he could. He'd rinse it well when he got to the water.

Before he left, he checked on Varyna and found her still sleeping soundly. The roots looked very much like they had reached the mush stage, so he also quickly pulled them off the stone and set them away from the fire to cool. The shirt around his hands kept him from getting badly burnt, though it was still uncomfortably warm.

Lus made his way quickly back to the water. He still had to use the [Ingredient Selection], but the path was becoming more familiar.

He rinsed out the larger bowl quite a few times, then filled it and carried it carefully back to the fire. He added the green berries and set the bowl on the stone next to the fire, which was reduced nearly to embers.

Gathering some more dry wood from around the bottoms of the trees, he built the flames back up.

He was about to sit and wait for the berries when he heard Varyna groaning. Grabbing the fruit, he hurried to her side.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked as her eyes opened a slit.

She nodded weakly. He took the fruit and held it to her lips as she took a few small bites. Some juice dripped down her cheek and he used the fabric still wrapped around his hands to wipe it away.

She finished one, then turned her head away when he held up another. He set it aside.

"Do you want anything else?" he asked.

She managed a small head shake and groaned again.

"Try and go back to sleep. I'm working on something that should help your wound, then we'll see about getting out of her."

Varyna didn't speak, but she closed her eyes and her breathing evened out.

Lus stepped away and checked on the berries, which had started boiling. He then grabbed the now-cool bowl of roots and held the roots in while he poured out the excess water.

With the squishy roots left in, he needed some way to mash them. He considered using a rock, but he'd have to go back to the water to wash one off, so instead he just plunged his hands in and began squishing the roots.

They were a little slimy and unpleasant to touch, but they came apart easily and he soon had a bowl full of root mush.

He checked the berries again, wondering if they were done.

[The berries must boil until they turn white]

Lus' eyebrows rose and he looked more closely at the berries. They were getting paler as they boiled, though it was hard to tell because the water was taking on a greenish hue.

He stepped back and looked around, wondering what else he could work on. Once the berries were done and cooled, he would add them to the mashed roots and mix them together. Then he could put the mixture on Varyna's wound and get the green leaves boiling to make her the nourishing leaf juice.

Since he didn't have anything else to do, he paced next to the fire, checking the berries every minute or two.

Finally, they seemed white enough. He reached for the bowl, hesitating in case his [Chef's Intuition] interrupted, but nothing happened. Lifting the bowl from the rock, he set it away from the fire. While he waited for it to cool, he took the green leaves to the water to wash them, just to be safe.

When Lus returned, he found the berry bowl cool enough to strain the berries out of. They were no longer firm and, when he got them out of the water, were completely white.

He dumped the green water out of the bowl and dropped the white berries into the roots. Only after he had started mixing it by hand did he realize that he should have mushed the berries first. He had to mix for quite a while to make sure that he had properly squished every berry, but eventually he felt confident that the paste was well-mixed.

Taking a handful of the paste, he headed to Varyna. She was out again, and he tried not to rouse her as he carefully lifted the bandages around her wound and applied the herbal mixture. She gasped in her sleep and flinched at his touch, but quickly calmed down.

He grabbed the clean, green leaves and laid a couple over the top of the paste. The wound had stopped bleeding for the most part, so he just had to hope that the mixture would get rid of the infection.

Lus tied the bandages back over the leaves to hold everything in place, then grabbed the largest bowl and headed back to the water. He rinsed the bowl thoroughly multiple times to make sure that none of the berry water remained, then filled it and returned to the fire.

Adding the purple leaves, he set the bowl on the stone again and waited.

After a few minutes of waiting, he got up and started pacing again. He needed to decide his next move. Once he got the tea into her, was he going to stay here until she started to come to? But they needed to get back to the other volunteers if they wanted to get off this blasted planet.

He'd have to see how she was doing, but hopefully he could get her up enough to make it back to the crawler. If they did that, she could rest while he got them back to relative safety.

His planning distracted him so well that he didn't even notice how long the leaves had been boiling until his [Chef's Intuition] popped up.

[Remove leaves from heat]

He gasped and hurried to the fire, quickly lifting the hot bowl and placing it away from the heat. While Lus waited for the juice to cool, he tried to decide what to do with the leftover paste. He felt his pockets and pulled out the empty wrappings from the Revelation Cake. Shaking it to make sure all the crumbs were out, he scooped the rest of the herbal mixture into it and put it back in his pocket.

Into his other pocket went the rest of the green leaves. He considered adding the last purple fruit, the one he'd taken a bite of, but decided it wouldn't survive in his pocket well. Instead, he finished it off himself and tossed the pit aside.

By the time he'd finished with that, the leaf juice was cool enough for him to strain out the purple leaves. He dumped them in the underbrush and carried the bowl carefully to Varyna. She wasn't awake, but she was tossing and turning restlessly.

"Varyna," he said softly, trying to wake her without startling her. She didn't respond, so he kept calling her name louder and louder until she finally opened her eyes a crack.

"Hot," she whispered.

"Probably from the wound. I think it's… a little infected," he told her hesitantly. "But I've got something that should help. Can you sit up?"

With his arm around her, she managed to get into a near sitting position. He held up the bowl and helped her drink the juice. She flinched after the first sip, but dutifully drank most of it up before turning her head away.

"You can rest more now," he said, helping her lay back down. "We'll need to get going soon, but hopefully that will help you get feeling better."

Instead of going to sleep, she watched him with half-closed eyes as he put out the fire and finished cleaning up what he needed to. She seemed a bit more alert and less feverish when he went to help her up. With his support, she managed to walk slowly through the underbrush and together they started back towards the crawler.