"Things are tense around here..." Hokey lamented as he continued cooking, occasionally tossing in a spice or two when necessary. He glanced over to his crew, checking to see if anyone responded to his attempted conversation starter, but they paid him no mind. The young chef grimaced and turned his face back to the pot.
'Ugh, what does a guy need to do to get some small talk around here? I don't want much but a "Hi there Hokey, how's your day going?" from my colleagues would make me cry and hug that person out of happiness... I wish someone from the factory were here... they're not as cold...' Hokey thought, sagging his shoulders disappointedly.
Unbeknownst to the young man, his unfortunate habit of thinking out loud and grumbling decided to rear its face when he thought this about his co-workers, they all looked towards him and furrowed their eyebrows; none of them had a good impression of the rookie.
*BOOM*
The kitchen door blasted opened and a giant bulky man stumbled into the room, faintly smelling of liquor with a few mystery stains on his apron.
"Ah, Raph! A- are you ok?" Hokey rushed to the old chef's side and held him around the shoulders, stabilising him as to prevent him from bumbling over and destroying the kitchen.
"Arghmm ffyiiinnnnnneeee! Yearrp..." Raphael managed to spout out a few words, slurred speech indicative of the "fun" he had just been having.
Hokey tried to walk along with Raphael out of the kitchen, but the old man stood his ground, shrugging off his protégé.
"Iuurrrgggoonnaaaa cuurkk."
"What?" Hokey found it immensely difficult to understand what Raphael was saying, most times it was due to Hokey's lack of prowess with the language of this kingdom, but add in slurred speech and Hokey might as well be trying to decipher what a blender's screaming as it whirs.
Raphael arched his back and stood up tall and mighty, grabbing an onion off the counter and holding it up high, his eyes ablaze with motivation.
"EEAAYY!"
"AAYEEMMM!"
"GGORRNNAA CUUURRRRKKKKK!!!!" Raphael announced loudly, a grin appearing on his face. Everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing, sounds of dropped knives and utensils filled the room. 'Raph's gonna cook?! Even after he denounced the mere thought of it after the calamity?' this shared thought ran across every chef's mind after Raphael's declaration, some felt hope for the old man, some felt pity and others silently laughed at his futile efforts.
Hokey was ecstatic.
"YEAH! Raph that's fantastic! Did you come up with an idea?! Tell me how I can help!"
The bubbly chef jumped up and down due to his excitement, Raphael regaining his presence in the kitchen meant that Hokey would finally get to resume his "schooling" and re-receive the elevated status in the kitchen he had lost after Raphael quit.
Raphael dropped the onion and slumped his shoulders, placing his hands over his thigh as if he were exhausted.
"Fuursst.... HGLEM"
Raphael turned and made a beeline for the heavy-metal door that stood between him and the garden; he quickly punched in the passcode and ran outside, spewing the contents of his stomach out onto an unsuspecting bush.
Hokey reluctantly followed his teacher outside, wanting to show support, but also wanting to stay clear of the stench the garden would soon be filled with. Hokey plugged his nose and patted Raphaels back as the last of the veteran chef's breakfast left his body in a graceful fashion.
Hokey glanced over at the half-eaten, and now rotting fruits that surrounded Raphael's old pond, it was a horrid reminder of the harsh times both he and Raphael had shared, it had especially done a number on poor 'Raph.
"Time to bury that part of our life... for good!" Hokey yelled out.
With renewed hope and fury, he ran towards the fruits and kicked the nearest one as hard as he could, a mushy speckled ball was sent flying off into the distance.
"Take that, ya wretched fruit! Hmph!" Hokey crossed his arms and cursed the fruit he had previously cherished, kicking some leaves that remained on the ground onto the pond, hoping they'd sink.
Hokey turned his attention back to Raphael when something caught his eye, he quickly glanced back and did a double-take.
"Is that... Woah..."
A pair of green-skinned humanoids emerged from the thickets, they bumbled forwards, slowly making their way towards the chefs.
"Dryads! Actual Dryads!" Hokey jumped up and down once again, he hadn't seen another race in ages.
Raphael turned up from the elegant imploding of his guts to see what the fuss was about. The chef's eyes widened as he realised what Hokey's screams meant, he ripped off his apron and activated his Soul Power, swiftly jumping forwards and placing himself between the stranger and Hokey.
"State your business Dryad." Raphael's usual anger or playfulness was nowhere to be seen, his tone was devoid of emotion. Hokey looked up inquisitively at his teacher, this was a side of him he hadn't seen before.
The older one was swaddling the younger one close to his chest; they both wore clothes made of leaves and twine. His feet had deep cuts and scars across them, malnourished limbs stuck out of his body.
The older of the two slowly placed down the younger one down, putting his hands in the air. "Please..." he said, talking in a weak and haggard voice, sounding as if he hadn't eaten or drunk in days.
"What? State your business clearly... now!" Raphael's heart would not be melted by seeing a pair of troubled youths, he was well aware of the relationship his kingdom and the Dryad kingdoms shared, during his stint as an adventurer, he had even fought a few.
"Please... help us!" cried the older one, seemingly using all the energy he had left in his tired body to ask for help; he slapped his hands together and made a praying gesture, his pleading eyes darting between Hokey and Raphael as he begged. The Dryad's arms slumped to the side and he collapsed, joining his brethren on the ground.
Hokey started to run towards them, his face etched with worry; Raphael grabbed his collar and pulled the young man back, much to his dismay.
"What? Let me go!" Hokey grunted as he squirmed to try and get Raphael's hands off him.
"It's too suspicious... call the guards." Raphael's gruff voice returned, he dragged Hokey's collar and Hokey along with it back towards the kitchen.
"No! Look at them! They're a step away from death's door!" Hokey had stopped squirming and tried to reason with Raphael, but the old man just turned his face away and refused to answer.
"Raphael... do you think that those two will be taken care of by the guards? They're already almost dead, being placed in a room of people who hate their kind won't do them any good." Hokey pleaded to Raphael.
"..." Raphael remained silent.
"Please Raph... they're just ki'-"
Raphael quickly interjected. "Kids? Are you about to say that they're just kids? Boy, do you know how much damage a child could cause? Especially one from a rival kingdom that has a habit of dispatching spies?!"
Raphael continued his rant, "Hokey, we bring them in, and then what? If they turn out to be spies or fugitives, you'll be tried for treason! They might have explosives on them to bring down the building! They could even be disguising their age, for all we know, you're pitying a 50-year-old war veteran out for our blood!"
Hokey tried to interject with his own reasons, but Raphael's points were hard to dispute.The previous fire he had from his self-righteousness had been put out, he glanced back at the two impoverished Dryads, and memories of his brothers and sisters at the orphanage flooded his mind. Was he now just like the adults who would turn a blind eye to the suffering of children? Should he fight to help or not? Hokey tried to step inside the kitchen, but he remained rooted to the ground.
"Raph... I wanna help them..."
Raphael scratched the back of his head furiously, glaring down his protegé as he did so. He glanced back and forth between Hokey and the pair of Dryads.
"..."
"Argh... shi*."