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Fozy had been sent out on a mission by her Lord to a village in a surround province. They were having problems with some monster or another, and for some reason he had decided Fozy was the best one for the job. It should be a simple in and out job, but it did require one night of sleeping on the road.

It was never the most comfortable thing to do, and this fact was made even worse by the fact that Fozy had no idea how to cook anything. Their time had been spent learning the way of the sword, and honing their paladin powers--there had been no time for the womanly art of cooking!

The horse Fozy borrowed from the stables was bedded down for the night and munching on grass nearby, and Fozy had managed to get a fire going. However, they were currently staring at the raw ingredients with a distasteful look on their face. Perhaps just eating some raw vegetables for the night would suffice!

It is just then that something horrid emerges from the woods - a tall, lanky, glistening creature, its features hidden by the shadows. It makes a strange clicking noise as it approaches, not steadily, but a few sudden steps at a time. It comes closer and closer, until it can be seen with the light of the fire. It is a strange insectoid being, with twitching antennae and drooling maw.

When it gets close to the fire, it sits and crosses its arms, like it belongs there.

Fozy tensed and grabbed their sword when they first heard noises. The creature came close and sat down, and Fozy studied it with cold eyes. "If you were hoping for something to eat, you're going to be sorely disappointed." Fozy's voice didn't give away anything about Fozy's gender--it could have easily belonged to either. They were still gripping their sword, in case the creature suddenly attacked.

The answer comes in the form of a clawlike hand, grasping at a tuft of grass on the floor. It then extends that hand toward Fozy, its head tilting to the side as it offers the stuff to the human. Its mandibles click together a few times, and it stares expectantly - well, one can assume. Kr'kt does not have particularly expressive features.

Fozy stared at the offered tuft of grass, and then looked back up at the insect. "I don't eat grass. I eat cooked food." Ingredients were held up, along with a bag that presumably had spices in it. "You go on and eat the grass if you want. But if you aren't here for food why are you here?" Just because the creature hadn't spoken didn't mean it couldn't understand! Clearly it had attempted at offering Fozy food when it was mentioned, so it definitely understood some speech.

The insect takes the bag, looks at it with its compound eyes. The grass is distractedly dropped, and Kr'kt hisses with contentment. Now there's something it understands! It looks at the ingredients, too, and snatches them from its new friend's hands. It seems to forget about the question it was asked, until suddenly it looks around. Then it looks at the fire, and points at it - and that's Kr'kt's answer.

Fozy let the creature have the bag with a huff. "The fire drew you in?" Fozy shrugged, "Fine. Keeps other things away. Things I'd rather not have to deal with tonight." The paladin still seemed pretty glum though, there was nothing good to eat and the bug creature had taken the spices bag! "I don't suppose you know what to do with those spices?"

The insect tilts its head, mulling over the question, then moves a finger to draw something in the dirt. A rough, almost childlike picture of some kind of four legged animal, perhaps a horse or a cow. It clicks happily, then shakes the bag a little bit. But after it looks around, seeing there's no way to get what it needs, Kr'kt erases the drawing. It finally opens the bag of spices, drops a few on its hand and eats them, just like that. Then, it returns the bag.

"Well...I'm going to take it to assume that you want meat, and not that you want to eat my horse." At least, Fozy hoped that was the case. "I have some eggs and vegetables." Those had been sitting on the ground next to Fozy and they were offered over when the mantis creature ate some of the spices and offered the bag back. Foz wrinkled their nose, "Ew."

The insect stares blankly at the paladin for a while. It lingers for seconds even after they stop talking, but then it tilts its head again, as if it's just finished processing the information. Again its finger draws on the dirt; this time, it looks like a very crudely drawn pot or pan of some sort.

Fozy stared right back at the insect, and then leaned over so they could see what was being drawn. "Ah...yes. That is important." Fozy got up and went to their pack, to pull out a pan that was meant to be over the fire, though Fozy had no idea how to set it up. It was set down in front of Kr'kt, "Well, there you go."