Elunium Chef Comodo - Sana Banana Cooks!

Graham Yeung had always been an enigma to the one known as Sana Banana. The one known as Sana Banana sometimes thought she could understand the one known as Graham Yeung as easily as she could understand other creatures. The one known as Sana Banana, while not conventional by any stretch of the imagination, had a hobby in common with Graham Yeung. At least she suspected they had a hobby in common. Actually, she had yet to ask him and could not be sure in the slightest.



They were both people watchers. Both of them found people very fascinating. Their reactions. Their non-reactions. Their body language. The pitch of their voices. People were interesting. Even if Sana had a difficult time actually becoming close to people, she did find them interesting, and she suspected Graham did as well. Although she had often wondered, if she and Graham were people watchers, did anyone ever watch them, the people watchers? Sana had no idea if anyone ever looked at her and tried to figure out her motives, but she did know that she was very curious about other people's motives.



Other people like Graham Yeung, or Gray, as his friends and guild called him. Sana never did feel sure if they were friends or just polarizing magnets, but as a member of the same guild, she felt she had permission to refer to him as Gray.  In any event, she felt very curious about Gray. Not the warm, friendly face that Gray wore for the sake of the world. Everyone in the world wore a face like that. A face to hide their true thoughts and feelings. In Sana's narrow view of the world, everyone felt a strong urge to hide their true thoughts and feelings in order to protect themselves, which she could understand, but seeing the face on the surface did little to further her understanding of other people. Even if Sana did not always crave conversation and companionship, she did feel a need to understand the world and the people in it. Maybe just for curiosity. Maybe just to protect herself from them as best she could. In any event, she felt curious about Gray, and Sana had decided that today had revealed the perfect opportunity to discover more about the enigmatic Gray.



As far as Sana understood, the keys to understanding someone was to either see them angry or sad. Both states seemed to be a time when most people would stop caring about what society considered to be proper, and when a person stopped caring about what society thought, that was when their true selves would be revealed and Sana could learn all she wanted about them.



Then again, Sana did not feel so sure that she wanted to see Gray in either state. She had just narrowly escaped his wrath with her life. While the potential to learn more about Gray did lie in that direction, so did Sana's certain death, and that was not something that Sana desired. Curiosity, like justice, had its limits.



As Sana and Gray gathered up the ingredients that his faithful furry friends had 'borrowed' for the purposes of fixing him a grand feast, Sana wondered how she could exploit this opportunity to learn more about the sword-wielding priest of the Guild of Misfits in her efforts to understand him better. Staring down at the delicious food gave her another idea. She had challenged Gray to a duel after all. Not one involving combat, of course - Sana wanted to continue living for the purpose of eating more delicious food in the future - but another kind of duel. Another method of seeing a person's true self.



"Gray!" Sana announced suddenly and without warning, as she was wont to do. "Gray, let's have a cooking battle!"



Even though Gray towered over Sana and most people that he met and actually had to look down at most people who spoke to him, he had never given Sana the impression that he looked down at people on an intellectual level. Although he did look a bit puzzled by her suggestion. "What happened to making a feast together?"



"We'd still be cooking together! Just on opposite ends." Sana nodded as though her thought process was completely straightforward and logical.



Gray kept his face completely free of incredulity and simply took the situation at it was. His expression was probably one of the many reasons he was the guild leader. That and his ability to understand even the most nonsensical member of his guild. "Hrm. Sure, okay. Your dish against mine?"



Sana nodded. Clearly, Gray had latched onto her bait and would soon reveal his deepest, most carefully guarded secrets to her and her plan was completely foolproof and clever. "Yeah! We'll see which one tastes better before we hand it off to the mystery judges in Comodo! Like a mini competition between us!"



"According to whose tastes?"



Curse Gray and his ability to point out the flaws in her complex and clever scheme. "Er," Sana quickly glanced around to see who could possibly be a judge of their food beyond the chefs themselves. "Your furry friends!"



"Lemme get this straight. You wanna cook for the cats so we could inevitably give our same dishes to human judges." Gray laid out the very complex, clever and not at all rushed scheme of Sana's.



Sana nodded. "Yes!"



Gray scratched the back of his head. Somehow his expression remained perfectly calm and in control, the same way a parent might look when talking to a small child. "Sana, why don't we just bring the ingredients back to the judges in Comodo and cook for them there?"



Then again that made much more sense, and the judges in Comodo probably had a more varied palate than a group of carnivorous felines. "You're right Mr. Guild Leader. Let's do that!"



Gray merely nodded, as though he was used to the ramblings of his blonde guild mate and simply waited for her to come out of her illogical tailspin before she saw the simple and straightforward logic he had laid out for her. He turned to his furry friends, who had been carrying the ingredients for them. "Come, cats. To Comodo!"



The priest dropped a blue gemstone on the ground, which smashed and turned into a bright pillar of light, opening a portal to Comodo. The cats eagerly walked in, however Sana felt a need to hang back and question the obvious and simple as she always did. Rather than give her a chance to open her mouth, Gray patiently pushed her into the portal while he followed close behind her.



-



When Sana reappeared on the other side of the portal with Gray and his cats, her jaw dropped at the sight before her. She could tell that they had returned to Comodo by the sight of palm trees, the pleasant sea breeze and the sand beneath their feet. Yet all of those paled in comparison to the sight before her. The sight before her was so incredible, it made her forget to ask Gray how he had the foresight to memorize the location so conveniently for their purposes.



In what had to be the northern part of Comodo was a simple wooden patio, yet that was not what amazed Sana. What amazed Sana were the sight of two fully equipped outdoor kitchens. Everywhere Sana looked there seemed to be some incredible piece of cooking equipment, a variety of pots, plates and pans, and judging by the gigantic hut just beyond the kitchens, a convenient pantry. Truly this place had been created for the sole purpose of providing an arena for their cooking battle.



While Sana continued to appear dumbfounded, Gray walked past her as though he had seen the sight so many times by now that the feeling of wonder bypassed him altogether. Or, and more likely, he chose to keep his feelings under control so he could focus on the competition and keep his opponent guessing. Yes, that had to be the answer. No seasoned veteran in the world could outdo the seasoning that Gray had endured.



Sana continued to be slightly dumbfounded as Gray simply went into the hut beyond the kitchens. He appeared not even a second later, carrying a basket full of ingredients and carrying one plate in particular. Sana went over the ingredients in Gray's basket very quickly as he made his way over to his side of the arena without so much as a glance at her. Clearly the word 'competition' had flipped a switch in Gray's brain, and he had switched from his usual hard to read self into someone very focused and deadly. Sana could see mushrooms, garlic, a big shallot, something that looked like various herbs and spices and a bottle of what seemed to be wine. For a moment she completely forgot about the fact that Sana herself had suggested the competition and wanted to eat some of whatever Gray planned to make.



At least, until he placed the plate down on the counter and Sana could see the main ingredient. The delicious ingredients and their tempting sights instantly vanished from Sana's mind as she locked eyes with the empty eye sockets of a beef head. Sana felt a mixture of horror and fascination at the sight of the formerly alive head of an animal staring at her, or maybe even seeing right through her. The blonde soul linker startled when Gray grabbed the shallot and slammed it down on the counter and proceeded to chop it into little bits, as though it were not a shallot at all and merely a foe in his way. She continued to be mesmerized as Gray swiftly and expertly sliced the shallot into bits so small, Sana suddenly felt bad for any human opponents he had ever faced. She wondered if Gray had given the opponents the same kind of treatment. She felt a chill go up her spine as the mushrooms became the next victim to Gray's blade of fury.



Then it happened. Gray stopped his slaughter of the mushrooms to glance at her. He did not even move his head. He simply flicked his eyes towards her. "Sana! Stop gawking and start chopping!"



The sound of Gray's voice snapped Sana out of her reverie. Indeed, they had agreed to a competition with a time limit. Which meant she had to get to work immediately or lose the competition by default. With a squawk, Sana sprinted through the kitchen, somehow without knocking anything over, and straight into the doors of the pantry that Gray had left open for her. Most likely he had expected her to run head first into the door and had opened it for her in advance.



Once inside the pantry, Sana darted her head around quickly. There were a great variety of ingredients all around her, from delicious looking fruits, ripe vegetables, a cabinet full of spices and a fridge that had to be full of meat and dairy products, and many other things that Sana could not absorb all at once. Of course, the most important ingredients were the main ingredients, which were on the table before her with a sign that clearly read 'main ingredients'. As Sana's eyes ran over the ingredients, she wondered what ingredient she could use to make one of her masterful recipes in her limited repertoire of cooking: sorbet, sorbet or sorbet.



Picking up the most potent ingredient, the mastela fruit, and rushing around to pick up sugar and lemon juice, Sana rushed back outside to place her handful of ingredients on her side of the arena, then rushed back in to grab the next part of her incredible plan, which was a variety of steel bowls and a freezer can.



By the time Sana got outside and prepared to set to work, she glanced up to see that the beef head she had stared at earlier had lost all of its flesh. Sana could see Gray masterfully shaking a frying pan and tossing what appeared to be thinly sliced pieces of meat. Another of Gray's enemies had been vanquished.



Sana thoroughly washed her hands and raised them into the air. Sure she had wasted some time, but she felt certain that she could use the power of the elements to make up for her lost time and still make a delicious, magical sorbet.



-



Sana's sorbet had truly become magical. A complete and utter magical disaster. It seemed that the one and only dish that Sana could actually prepare did not necessarily show her mastery of it. Rather, it displayed that it was the only dish she understood, and it turned out exactly as she had in life. Roundabout and illogical.



The soul linker tried very hard to hide her extreme disappointment and strong sense of abysmal failure, she bit her lip and pulled her hat over her eyes, but in the end she simply sat down against the counters and whimpered as quietly as she could. Gray still had to work on his dish, and his side of the arena smelled delicious. Sana had wanted a competition, but she had no desire to resort to petty tactics to turn the tables around somehow. Gray deserved more respect from her than that. She did not want to distract him in any way.



Even with her hat pulled over her eyes, Sana's sensitive ears worked as well as ever. She heard a dial turn and footsteps approach her. Gray had noticed her after all. The guilt welled up inside her and boiled over and her whimpering grew loudly and her shoulders started to shake due to her sobbing. Sobbing that quickly became louder and more haggard.



A gentle touch caught her off guard. An arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her over against somebody's warm but firm side. Sana glanced up to see that Gray had not only come over, he had sat down beside her and pulled her close. The way Gray rubbed her shoulder and looked gently at her made Sana feel as though her own father had come to her rescue. If she had ever had a father. Well, that was beside the point at the moment.



"Hey, hey, Sana. What's the matter? Speak to me."



Sana gestured to the magical water with chunks of mastela fruit that she had created. She sniffled and sobbed. "I-I messed up! I-I made it too watery and then I couldn't get it to freeze." She then gestured to the bowls and other utensils she had knocked over in her attempts to use a combination of mild win and esma to try and freeze her 'sorbet' even faster. "I'm a screw up.."



"No you're not. There's still some time left. You can still make it. C'mon." Gray stood up and gently pulled Sana along with him. "At what step did everything go wrong? You got enough ingredients to make a second batch?" He glanced around the battle-worthy mess that Sana had made in her station.



Sana sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I-I think there's more mastela fruit."



"Then just start all over. Even if it's just a cup it'll still be delicious. You can do it." Gray rubbed her shoulder again. "All right, I'll help you clean up. Let's start with.."



With Gray's help, Sana's kitchen instantly went from being a complete and utter mess to clean and sparkling. Even cleaner than what it had been before. Even after Gray had helped her clean her kitchen, Gray helped his soul linker 'opponent' to gather all the ingredients she needed again and coached her through making her sorbet again. With the coaching of her guild leader, the next batch of sorbet came out perfectly, and somehow within the time limit. The second Gray saw the sorbet had turned out fine, he raced back to his own station and proceeded to work his magic with his side of the kitchen.



Sana quickly tested her sorbet again to make sure it had also turned out edible as well as being frozen. To her delight, it actually tasted good, which had probably resulted from Gray's coaching more than anything. Glancing back at her guild leader to once again thank him, Sana's eyes fell upon yet another ingredient on Gray's side of the kitchen. A bag of jasmine rice. Sana glanced around Gray's kitchen to see that his beef and vegetables had been put to the side, steaming and looking perfectly cooked. Broccoli and carrots had never looked so appetizing. It looked now as though Gray scrambled to attempt and salvage what he had started to make before, but had stopped.


Stopped to help Sana.


Sana bowed her head as Gray scrambled. She debated going over to try and assist in any way that she could, but in the end Sana figured she would probably be a burden more than anything. And she had already burdened Gray as it was.


After some more furious working of his frying pan, tasted the rice. He glanced at the clock they had used for their little competition and saw that there were only two minutes left. "Eheheh... ewps." Gray merely shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to arrange his meat, vegetables and rice on a plate. Seeing Gray do that reminded Sana that she had to dish out her sorbet and run it over to the judges.


"What happened?" Sana asked as she carefully put somewhat rounded scoops of sorbet into little glass bowls.


"The rice is kinda hard. Oh well, that's what I get for not paying attention. But hey, the meat and veg get an A+!" Gray said cheerfully as he gave Sana a thumbs up.


Sana bowed her head, pouting down at her purple sorbet. The second time around, she had perfectly pureed the mastela fruit into oblivion, and that had created the nice purple colour. When she tasted the sorbet once it firmed up nice and frozen, it had a sweet but light taste. In short, it had become a perfect sorbet, and she never could have done it without Gray snapping her out of her sobbing fit and encouraging her all the way through.


"If you hadn't come over to help me...I bet it would have been fantastic.." Sana muttered down at her sorbet.


"No it wouldn't, 'cause then your sorbet woulda sucked. Can't have that. Dessert is the most important. It's what they're gonna eat last." Gray spoke very matter of factly as he picked up his serving tray with his plate in one hand and easily carried it over to where the judges would be expecting them.


Sana scrambled to put her glass bowls on a serving tray and followed suit, using both hands to carry the tray just in case. Especially considering her luck today. "I see…" She smiled up at her guild leader. "Can I try some meat and veggies?"


"After the judges, of course." Gray replied.


"Oooh, fine!" Sana puffed her cheeks and looked away. She had hoped for a sneak bite before they even reached the judges. She would have gladly allowed Gray a spoonful of the delicious sorbet that he had helped her to make.


As they walked along the path, though, Sana realized that regardless of who won their little competition, she had achieved what she had originally wanted from the competition. She did get to know Gray better. She had discovered the most shocking thing she had ever learned about the powerful, mysterious priest. It had taken a small competition between them for Sana to realize the obvious truth that had been in front of her all along.


Graham Yeung, on top of every other ability and trait he possessed, had to be one of the nicest men in the world, and one she felt honoured to call a friend.