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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | Cerethan, Glyphe, Kalhidai, Natlee, Slicket meet their first pandaren, Lihua, just in time for a pirate attack! They're just the team to handle pirates and cannons and riverboats -- as a reward, their next task will involve an dessert-based empire. ~4400 words. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Arc: Kalimdor Newbies
Having just scavenged a ton of parts, the team is gathering in Jinky Twizzlefixxit’s workshop.
"This place is very interesting," Lhilhi says. "I haven't seen anything like it."
Slicket sits over in the corner with a pile of scrap, trying to piece things together, when the barge suddenly shakes.
Glyphe comes down the ramp and up to Jinky, adjusting her goggles. "This place better be more stable than it looks or we're in trouble."
Jinky, who's putting the finishing touches on our boat, nearly loses her balance.
Natlee comes running over not long after the shake. "WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON??" she says in a very non-priestly voice.
Jinky looks over. "I think that's cannonballs hitting us."
Slicket drops his scrap and stands up. "Wait, what now? Why?"
From outside the room comes a feminine voice with a strange accent: "No, no noooo! This is terrible! All this heat will ruin the fish!"
Jinky sniffs. " I'd say the Southsea pirates are getting more accurate… the ship is on fire!"
"Oh fantastic," says Natlee, tugging at her pigtails. "This is just GREAT."
"Quick, Go talk to Mazzer Stripscrew and borrow one of his ships. Put those fires out!" Jinky says, grabbing onto a metal tubing for balance.
"What do you mean the ship is on fire? Why are you so calm about it?" Cerethan says, looking rather… Calm himself.
"Uh.. pirates…" Slicket says.
"Why are you like, the worst luck ever, Slicket?" Natlee accuses. "You are like a vortex of misfortune."
"I am not, babe," Slicket says, looking wounded. "I didn't bring pirates with me."
"Is that not the first time it's happening to you?" Cerethan asks, staring at Slicket. Is he a vortex for misfortune.
They head out to help, only to run into a pandaren.
Slicket double-takes the pandaren as they step out of the room. "Whoa. Are you a pirate?"
"What the —" Natlee blinks at the pandaren.
Glyphe blinks at Lihua. "Cooooooool. Can I pet it?"
Lihua looks around…then down at Slicket. "A pirate? No, I am a chef."
"Oh my gosh! It's a pandaren!" Natlee stares at Lihua for a minute. Then… right, pirates.
Lhilhi gasps in delight. "A chef! An adventuring chef?"
"Greetings, chef!" Cerethan bows. "You are a pandaren, for certain."
"Oh right", Glyphe says. "Sinking ship. That first."
Lihua points at Glyphe's tabard. "Cobalt Company wings! Hello! I am also of Cobalt Company!"
"Oh, perfect," Slicket says, gesturing onward. "You can join us. We're due for some heroism. Chef, we're gonna go deal with some pirates. You game?"
"If the pirates are the ones ruining the fish," Lihua frowns deeply, "then I am a game!"
"Oh great, you must be qualified to help with pirates!" Natlee says.
"I should get one of those tabards," Kalhidai observes.
"You should, Lhilhi," Slicket nods. "Helps people know who to go to for help."
"Oh yes, you should totally get a tabard," says Natlee. "It would look amazing with your complexion."
Lhilhi looks very pleased at this.
"A fellow member of our mercenary group?" Cereethan explains. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Lord Cerethan Starflight." He shakes his head. "Right, the pirates. You will introduce yourself later, we lack the time."
"OMT, fire EVERYWHERE," Natlee moans.
The team hastily heads down to the little dock.
"Mazzar, you got a boat for us to borrow?" Slicket asks.
"Yes, yes!" Mazzar cries. "Stop the pirates!"
"Look at this boat! Wait. Is this a boat or a ship?" Kalhidai asks.
No one here knows, Lhilhi.
"This is a very strange boat…" Lihua looks concerned.
It is very strange. It’s a gnomish steam-powered riverboat cobbled together from rocket car scrap. Don’t worry, it probably won’t sink!
"Quick, man the fire hoses," Slicket says. "Let's get the fires under control first."
The team expertly uses narrow jets of water to eliminate fires on the speedbarge.
Natlee is weirdly adept with putting out fires.
"Now it's time to take the fight to the pirates," Slicket says with enthusiasm, and the boat takes a turn towards the pirate rowboats.
"Are there explosives on this thing?" Natlee looks around.
"Yeah, looks like it's got a cannon!" Slicket says, gesturing. "Quick, take out the rowboats!"
Glyphe gets to it, she’s great at explosions.
Glyphe yells, "BOOM!" every time a pirate rowboat sinks.
Natlee just sits back and lets other people do this bit.
Lihua startles the first time a cannon goes off.
"I'll blast them with the power of the snake constellation!" Cerethan uses Arcane Blast. It's not very effective against boats. He looks at the others. "Oh. Right. Explosives. There is no time for form, we must do it the barbaric way."
Glyphe yells, "CANNON BALL!"
"Barbaric sometimes means effective," Slicket says. "We've got to stop those pirates."
Glyphe is clearly having a great time.
Natlee giggles at Glyphe and files her nails.
"Snake consolation?" Lihua tilts her head at Cerethan.
"Not consolation, I said-" his voice is lost in the sound of the explosives.
Slicket grins at Glyphe's enthusiasm.
Cerethan's big gestures he's making as he's trying to explain are, however, not lost in the sound of the explosives.
"WHAT?" Lihua tries to shout over the kabooms.
"The— ake— ste— tion, I— id!" Cerethan repeats.
Slicket stares at Cerethan in incomprehension.
"MAYBE THIS IS NOT THE BEST TIME FOR A CHAT!" Natlee yells in an unfortunate silence between explosions.
Lihua nods along, trying to understand. Between explosions, she repeats, "The akelastation!"
"Kaboom!" Glyphe yells. "Swim for it, you sodium chloride ocean canines!"
"Yeah, pirates, you heard her!" Slicket shouts in encouragement. "Take that, you salty sea dogs!"
Cerethan throws his hands up in the air in exasperation and goes to sit somewhere on the boat.
Natlee gives her fist an encouraging little pump in the air before going back to filing her nails.
Once all the rowboats are handled, the team sails the boat back to the speedbarge and hops ashore. (Because why would we parachute, that's silly.)
"Let's head up to Jinky to give her the news," Slicket suggests.
Natlee leads the way.
Cerethan looks around at all peace having come back in this place… relative peace. It's a goblin and gnome place, after all.
"Hey, Jinky," Slicket says. "The pirate situation is handled."
"You did it! You all really did it!" Jinky exclaims.
Jinky grabs Slicket and gives him a big smooch on the cheek! She then regains her dignity and smooths her clothes.
"We can do it again if you want us to!" Glyphe says enthusiastically.
"You doubted us?" Natlee says, preening her pigtails.
Slicket blushes, his mouth falling open a little.
Jinky clears her throat. "Thank you for saving the Speedbarge, I mean."
Lihua giggles at Jinky's moment of kissiness.
"No need to thank us, we only did what had to be done," Cerethan nods. "We're good people like this."
"Somebody had to save the fish," Lihua nods firmly.
"I didn't doubt you," Jinky says, with such firmness that it almost sounds true. "Not for a second. That's why I finished up your boat in the meantime."
"Oh boy, our own boat!" Glyphe says.
"… Our own boat," Cerethan repeats. He knows he's going to be the one responsible one here to handle all the financial costs to keep it clean and functional in the future. He's the dad of the friend group, in his mind.
"It's waiting for you down at the dock — and I recommend you to use it to do something about those darn cannons up on the bluffs to the east!" says Jinky.
"Oh wonderful," Natlee says dryly. "More cannons."
Lihua's ears droop, "More cannons…"
"Seems to be a theme today…" Slicket says with a snort.
"Oh boy, more cannons!" Glyphe says.
"Indeed," Jinky says. "If you'd be so kind, hop into your boat and cruise on over to the Southsea Holdfast. Up top you'll see a bunch of cannons firing down on us." Jinky snickers, and adds, "Those pirates don't know squat about engineering. It shouldn't be too difficult for you to clog 'em up and make them explode."
Natlee looks between Finder and Noodle. "Are we… is this like, a double-fox day? Did Finder find a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? I don't want to make like, presumptions about Finder."
"Whoa! It's like Finder and AntiFinder," Slicket says, staring at the pale-colored fox.
Lihua giggles. "This is Noodle! And this is Dumpling. And I am Lihua Lightseason, of the Gui Wei."
Lihua bows to the group.
"I'm Natlee. I'm a priestess of the Holy Light." Is she though? Is she?
"Hi Noodle! Hi Dumpling! Hi Lihua Lightseason!" Glyphe waves at them all.
"Oh right. I'm Glyphe!" She almost forgot that part.
“Finder finds." Lhilhi says. "She's very good at it."
"Pleased to meet you, Lihua!" Slicket says with a wide grin. "Sorry we didn't have much time for introductions before. Pirates, you know. I'm Slicket Throttleblast."
"Noodle…looks like a noodle," Lihua replies. "He is very good at it, too."
"Ah, right! A most proper moment to introduce yourself," Cerethan nods at Lihua. "I'll do it again as well. I'm Lord Cerethan Starflight, Highborne astromancer. A noble, but you don't have to use my title all the time, I wish to remain humble."
Natlee is modestly veiled, and above the veil are a pair of genuinely quite captivating baby-blue eyes with eyelashes almost too long to be real.
"I understand. Humility is the face of wisdom," Lihua says. "Or so some of the old masters say."
"We're a pretty humble and modest group," Slicket says in explanation. "But you've already seen how badass we are, and it's kind of obvious how pretty the girls are, even though Natlee's wearing the veil."
"Yes, that's why I wear this veil," Natlee says solemnly. "Humility and modesty and stuff."
"Natlee's very pretty," Glyphe assures one and all.
"I don't want to distract people from the Light with my prettiness,” Natlee explains further.
Lihua smiles brightly. "Yes, you are all very beautiful!"
"A bit…thin. But very beautiful," Lihua adds.
"I vastly prefer your proportions to those of the humans and elves," Natlee says to Lihua. "I try not to mention it much, but the way they're all stretched out kind of gives me the willies."
Cerethan smiles. "I don't suppose you are noble as well, as you said you're a chef. Kitchen work is a task befitting a servant, most times." Cerethan pauses for a second. "There are some very… talented servants, please don't misunderstand me!"
Slicket raises his eyebrows. "I don't think anybody'd get far without food, would they? Kind of one of the most important things."
Lihua smiles, unperturbed. "We have no nobles on the Wandering Isle. I am proud to serve all people."
"Gnomes don't have nobles either!" Natlee informs Lihua. "We're a meritocracy!"
"Nope, no need for 'em. Come on, beautiful people! I think it's time to clog up some cannons," Slicket says, gesturing towards the door.
Cerethan shakes his head at Slicket. "I worded this wrong, I believe. But see? Lihua here understood what I meant."
"What is…marry tockra see?" Lihua asks.
"Oh um, meritocracy means the best people get to be in charge. You have to actually be good at stuff," Natlee explains.
"Oh!" Lihua nods. "We are also like this, I think. We listen to the elders and respect their wisdom."
"Yeah, that," Slicket nods. "Nobody gets their role just based on who their parents were."
"Which is pretty good, in my case," Natlee grumbles.
"I will say that nobility doesn't mean that incompetent people are in charge," Cerethan moves his inexistent glasses up his nose. "An incompetent noble that doesn't serve his people may be disposed of. There are many things we nobles have to do."
"Sure, sure, I'm sure other people's systems work great… for them," Slicket says reassuringly. He doesn't quite seem to believe it.
Cerethan nods at Slicket. He seemed to have understood what Cerethan meant.
"One of my parents is great," Natlee informs Lihua, "but the other one was a CRIMINAL." Her eyes are so huge. Imagine, doing crimes!!!
"A criminal?" Lihua pouts. "I am so sorry."
Natlee nods at Lihua gratefully for her sympathy.
"So those kinds of elders we don't honor," Slicket adds. "Because it all depends on what you do to define who you are."
"Okay," Natlee says, rubbing her little four-fingered hands together. "Where are those cannons?"
"Those must be the bluffs, just ahead," Slicket points. "I guess we'll need to try out our new riverboat to get over there."
The boat is a nice little seaworthy vessel of wood and metal. Multicolored lights are strung across the masts instead of sails, since they're steampowered.
Natlee examines the lights, poking one.
Glyphe examines the engine.
"This has become an unexpected adventure," Lihua comments. "I came here to see what ocean fish might have come into this new sea."
"Oh stick with us and you'll have loads of adventure," Natlee says to Lihua. "By which I mean, Slicket here will attract all possible trouble."
"Well, I'm glad you ran across interesting people!" Slicket says, gesturing at the group. "And yeah I'm a trouble mag—wait no, it's not my fault."
"Forgive us, Lihua," Cerethan bows his head. "But disposing of pirates cannot wait, as members of the prestigious Cobalt Company!"
We come ashore just below the bluffs, and are promptly attacked by a pirate.
"Wow," Glyphe says, "pirates are mean."
"You will have the time in the world to play with fish later," Cerethan smiles warmly.
"Glyphe, I think you're up for sabotaging their cannons when we get there," Slicket nods to her.
Lihua gawks at the monstrous macaw flying overhead. "Oh my…I have never seen such a bird!"
"Oh boy!" says Glype.
"The parrot?" Slicket asks. "Yeah, it's kind of a pirate-type bird."
"It is true however that they are particularly big," Cerethan frowns.
Lihua blinks. "Birds can be pirates?"
"Anyone can be a pirate," Cerethan nods. "That is the issue with free will."
"No, birds are for pirates what little dumpling pigs are to cooks, see," Glyphe explains.
Lihua nods. "I understand. I was just wondering how it would taste with some lemon sauce."
Glyphe stuffs some goop into the firing mechanism of the cannon.
"… I did not mean to say free will itself was an issue,"Cerethan's eyes widen. "I just meant that some people happen to use it erroneously."
Sure, Cerethan. That clears everything up.
"Nice one, Glyphe," Slicket grins.
"At least something went boom," Glyphe sighs.
Slicket turns to Lihua. "I should warn you that parrots are smart birds. Like, some of them can talk, a little."
"Really?" Cerethan raises an eyebrow.
"They can talk!" Lihua lights up, astonished. "Perhaps they will understand my prayers before I give them rest."
"Yeah, for sure," Slicket nods. "There was one at the Raceway once who'd say 'Who's a pretty bird?' anytime someone got near 'im."
Glyphe hums happily to herself as she continues down the line, messing with firing pins.
"I assume… he was expecting people to tell him he was the pretty bird?” Cerethan suggests.
"And uh, yeah, maybe they'll hear the prayers," Slicket looks warily at Lihua.
"Fishing for compliments before there was even a sea there?" Cerethan shakes his head. "How gauche."
Lihua collects the dead parrot, wrapping it in a cloth and tucking it into a pouch. Lihua digs into another pouch, producing another wrapped bundle. She unwraps it, "Would anyone like a wonton?"
Glyphe eyes it. "What is it?"
"A… wonton?" Cerethan narrows his eyes at the food.
"What is that?" Kalhidai asks.
A wonton!" Lihua repeats. "It is a dumpling filled with minced pork and seasoning."
"A wanton?" Slicket asks, a little warily, and a little bit drunk. Those pirates sometimes punch with ale mugs. "I think that might be one of those wordsh that means different thingsh in different languages."
"A… Dumpling?" Cerethan says, in the exact same tone as he asks what a wonton was.
Dumpling squeals.
"Isn't that your pig's name?" Glyphe asks.
Natlee's eyes suddenly go wide.
Lihua nods. "It is! Doesn't he look like a little dumpling with legs?"
Cerethan looks at the dumplings, then at the Dumpling, then back at the food again.
Dumpling does not especially look like a dumpling.
"Um, maybe I haven't seen enough dumplings," Natlee says awkwardly.
"Maybe if you tilt your head," Slicket says generously.
Natlee makes a little goo-goo face at Dumpling.
"Have you tasted enough?" Lihua grins, giving the offered food a little enticing wiggle.
"I disagree with your assessment of their resemblance, but…" Cerethan tilts his head at Slicket's comment. "It's not like you would rename it anyway, right?"
Natlee blinks at Lihua. "I uh, am not going to eat a pork dumpling right in front of a pig named Dumpling."
Glyphe giggles at Natlee.
Dumpling gives Natlee heart-eyes.
Natlee gives them right back.
"It is alright," Lihua says. "He is used to it."
Slicket chuckles.
"Okay," says Natlee. "But if you start eating any gnome dumplings, I'm out."
Cerethan waits for the others to try the dumplings before he takes one.
"I'm game," Slicket says, reaching for a dumpling. "If you're sure the pig won't be upset."
Glyphe points at the ogre. "That's one big pirate."
Slicket grimaces. "Yikes, ogres. They recruit all types, seems like."
Lihua giggles. "I would not eat gnome. I promise."
"I'm told we don't taste very good anyway," Natlee says casually.
Slicket boggles at Natlee. "You've talked to somebody who ate a gnome?"
"Yeah, my mom and I lived with some trolls in Stranglethorn for a few months," Natlee explains.
Slicket makes a yikes face.
"I do not eat anything that is spiritually unfit to be eaten," Lihua explains. "It ruins the flavor. Also, I am not a cannibal."
Having sabotaged many cannons, the group heads back through the pirates, to the riverboat, to the speedbarge… and continues to chat.
"I'm sure gnomes taste just fine, don't sell yourself short," Cerethan nods, his words reassuring.. ? He blinks. "I would have said the exact same thing to races that are taller."
Natlee glares silently at Cerethan.
"Don't worry, I usually don't sell myself at all," Slicket says with a nod.
Natlee cackles.
Lihua blinks at Cerethan. "Why would they sell themselves? Slavery is not ethical."
"You're going to have too soon if you don't figure out your situation," Natlee says to Slicket with a smirk.
"No no no, 'sell yourself' doesn't mean slavery, Cerethan." Natlee looks offended. "It means prostitution."
"What is…this word?" Lihua doesn't even try this one.
"DON'T listen to what Natlee just said!" Cerethan answers in a panic.
"I guess it could mean either?" Slicket offers. "Depending on the context."
"Um it's people who do sex for work?" Natlee helpfully explains.
Glyphe is just blushing like crazy.
"To sell yourself short is an idiom, meaning that you say something to make you seem 'less than what you are', you understand?" Cerethan explains, blushing from the implication of Natlee. "Short in this context means 'less'."
Lihua's eyes widen. "OH. Like…a concubine?"
"Yeah! Like that! Though usually a concubine just works for one particular person," Natlee says.
"And also short doesn't always mean less," Slicket adds casually. "Take gnomes, for example."
"Gnomes are the best," Natlee says confidently.
Lihua just nods to Natlee…and asks no further questions on the subject.
"Yes, of course, I didn't mean to imply that short always means less, that would be quite rude. It only takes on this meaning in most contexts," Cerethan says.
"Or that specific context," Slicket corrects. "Because the saying was clearly made by someone abnormally tall."
"I'm hoping this is the last I have to deal with pirates for a long while," Natlee mumbles.
"I mean, let's be honest here, the sentence comes from somewhere," Cerethan chuckles politely. "'Don't sell yourself tall' would be a ridiculous way to express this idea."
Glyphe blinks innocently at Cerethan. "Why?"
"Perhaps to sell yourself tall would be to think too much of oneself?" Lihua posits.
"Or to just be an inconvenience to people who design doorways," Slicket says idly, and then raises a hand in greeting to Jinky.
"Well… it's simple," Cerethan pauses. "Because… Um…" he is saved by Lihua's comment here. "This, yes! What an impressive grasp of the Common language you have already!"
Lihua bows her head to Cerethan. "Thank you. I am learning more every day."
Jinky looks up from whatever it is she was building and wipes a grease-smudged hand across one cheek. "Heya! You got the cannons, right? I can tell, because they're not shooting as much."
"We told you that you could count on us," Natlee says.
"Sure can," Jinky grins, but doesn't kiss anyone this time. "So I got you your riverboat, and Fizzle says you're looking for gold-making opportunities."
"Yep, that's right," Slicket nods.
"I'd suggest you talk to Mazzer about ice cream," Jinky says. "He's been looking for some help getting a promising venture off the ground."
"Ooo, ice cream," Glyphe says with a sigh.
Lihua's eyes widen. "Ice…cream?"
"He's just down the ramp," Jinky says. "You can't miss him. Yep, ice cream."
"Ah, it's our turn to make you try one of our delicacies!" Cerethan’s still holding the wonton in his hand. He's scared to try to eat it. He's a picky eater.
"Do you have ice cream in… pandarenlandia?" Natlee asks.
"The Raceway used to have the best strawberry ice cream," Slicket enthuses.
Lihua looks more excited by the moment. "I do not know it by that name. But perhaps it is like binglao?"
"Who's Bing Lao?" asks Glyphe.
"An ice spirit, perhaps?" Cerethan hypothesizes.
"Um, given the context," Natlee says, "I can only assume it's ice cream. Or some reasonable facsimile."
Lihua giggles. "It is not a who. Binglao is…maybe you would call it 'iced cheese'?"
"Oh, wow, okay." Natlee blinks.
"Iced… cheese," Slicket's eyes are wide. "I gotta try this."
"Eww!" Glyphe says with a laugh. "Iced cheese!"
Natlee giggles.
"Iced… Cheese?" Cerethan is still holding the wonton. The more Lihua explains her people's cuisine, the less he's tempted to try it.
"Hey, Mazzer! Good to see you again, my man," Slicket says. "We hear you're looking for help in an ice cream venture?"
"I WILL HELP!" Lihua offers…enthusiastically.
Mazzer looks over and brightens. "Slick! Back to the track, I see! And yeah, absolutely. I have a new business partner, my best buddy Brivelthwerp. Even as we speak, he's building up the infrastructure for our new ice cream empire!"
"Wow, an empire even," Slicket says, impressed.
"Ice cream…empire," LIhua whispers in awe.
"Yeah, we have imperial aims," Mazzer nods. "He took our coolant tug, inventory, and employees southwest to the Sunken Dig Site."
"Dessert-related imperialism is the only sort I approve of," Natlee says.
"Many empires rose and then have fallen," Cerethan warns.
"And melted," Natlee adds dryly.
"How can we help?" Slicket asks.
"This one would melt, I guess." Glyphe laughs at Natlee.
Natlee gives Glyphe a high four.
"Unfortunately, I don't currently have a way to deliver something to him… something extremely important: our super-secret I-Scream Cryocannon! You wouldn't mind taking it to him, do you?" Mazzer looks at them hopefully.
Lihua bows deeply. "It would be my honor to do this."
"Oh yeah, that sounds really important," Slicket agrees.
Awestruck, Glyphe repeats, "An ice cream cannon…."
"That ice cream cannon will get to its emperor as soon as we can manage," Slicket nods firmly.
Cerethan blinks. He's lost for words.
Mazzer looks curiously at Lihua. "You're one of those pandaren, right? You seem alright."
Cerethan realizes that he's standing RIGHT next to the outhouse. He moves to the other side of the group.
"Yes! I am a pandaren,” Lihua says.
"It's weird," Natlee says. "I've been ALL over and met all kinds of weird people, but you're my first pandaren."
"Mine too!" Glyphe pipes up.
"Well, I mean, that's not surprising for you Glyphe, but I'm like, super well traveled," says Natlee.
Glyphe nods glumly. "That's true."
Natlee pats Glyphe.
"There are not many of us that have visited your lands." Lihua says, "But I think now there will be more. The Gui Wei have…how to say…opened the door?"
"It is just as less surprising that you are my first pandaren as well, as my people were hidden deep in a forest in exile for a long time," Cerethan says.
"Yeah, his people blew up the world," Natlee says. "He's the reason we have multiple continents.”
"Accidentally, may I add!" Cerethan clutches his pearls.
Lihua glances from Natlee to Cerethan and back again.
"They got too tall of themselves," Glyphe says proudly.
"Yeah, they accidentally blew up the world when they were really ONLY trying to summon the lord of demons," Natlee says.
"The world blew up? Like Draenor?" Kalhidai asks.
Natlee nods sadly at Kalhidai.
"Uh, not quite that much," Slicket says, looking up at the sky that is still sky. "Maybe kind of a smaller explosion."
Cerethan squats to be at Glyphe's level, which he assumes is a very polite gesture. "See? That rolls off the tongue just fine this way, doesn't it?"
Glyphe nods happily at Cerethan.
"I'll admit," says Natlee, "Draenor is somewhere I have not been. Yet."
"It is…still beautiful,” Kalhidai says. “but not as it was."
Lihua adjusts the straps of the device on her back. "Do you mind if we go to deliver this now? I am eager to meet the other Ice Cream Emperor."
"Yeah, that does sound fun," says Natlee. "Let's go!"
"I would also like to meet this emperor," Kalhidai says.
"Yeah, let's get ready to head back out," Slicket nods.
Cerethan looks up at Lihua. "I believe they haven't earned that title yet," he explains. "Ice cream and nobility don't go hand in hand, as far as actual power goes."
Lihua bounces excitedly, her belly jiggling a little.
"Woohoo!" says Natlee, happy to be dealing with ice cream instead of pirates.
"Actually…legend says that binglao used to be a secret imperial recipe!" Lihua explains.
"Uh," Cerethan says, perplexed. Maybe ice cream and nobility do go hand in hand.
"Yeah?" Slicket asks. "Maybe one day, whatever Brivelthwerp's doing will be a legend, too."