A Change of Diet

The Plains Region treated Linaeve well. After the hard work of the Equinox, she had opted to stay and get to know the other magic-blessed youngsters, as well as enjoy all that Torre had to offer.

There was something particularly charming about the street vendors and shops, and how everyone seemed to have a purpose.

Lin supposed she would be considered a princess of Snowhaven, or perhaps even in line to be heir to her sire, but here in Torre, Lin could be simply Lin and enjoy the anonymity.

It was on her way to meet up with Sidra and the others that she was stopped by two youngsters, the strange carousel poled filly Evaline, and her quiet companion Clover.

“Hey there Linaeve!” Evaline cried out. “What you doin?”

Linaeve smiled and stepped around them, gesturing for them to walk with her; she didn’t want to be late!

“Meeting up with Sidra and the others,” Linaeve replied. “We were going to practice our magics together.”

“You should come with us!” Evaline said with a grin. “Jagmeet stopped by earlier and talked with Sirona, and now she is making all kinds of health conscious foods and drinks!”

Lin grimaced slightly. “I don’t want to be late meeting the others….” she trailed off.

“All good, we will bring them too!” Evaline said with a grin, and Lin winced.

A soft laugh had Lin glancing over at Clover, who gave her a slight shake of the head. Lin took that as Clover feeling the same way about Evaline’s idea as Lin did.

If the others were surprised by Lin’s tag-alongs, they hid it well.

“Hello, Lin,” Sidra greeted with a smile, before tilting her head in curiosity. “What brings you two youngsters out here?” she directed the question to Evaline and Clover.

“Health food!” Evaline grinned.

Sidra gave a confused look to Lin.

“Apparently Jagmeet said something to Sirona, and now Sirona is making some kind of healthy dishes. And we get to be guinea pigs, I guess,” Lin said with a sight.

Sidra glanced at Sulien, Lothair and Neith, who had been watching the others with varying degrees of reaction.

“I guess we can….” Sidra trailed off, clearly suspicious of any kind of healthy food that Sirona might be making. The mare wasn’t quite known for having good tasting tonics and medicines; the group could only imagine what kind of mixtures Sirona had come up with.

“I guess we must,” Sulien said, dubiously.

The walk back to the tower took them through the markets, and Linaeve felt her stomach growl at the enticing scents that came from the vendor stalls. Evaline was talking more than enough for all of them, so Lin walked quietly with Lothair in the back of the group.

“I feel like this is a bad idea,” Lothair said quietly, and Lin nodded.

“Those look real beautiful, by the way,” Lothair said and Lin startled, before realizing she was fluttering her wings slightly in discomfort.

Among the great things the Plains region had brought, Lin had discovered her familiar, as well as her regional form here. Lin was quite glad to have not inherited the Icy regional form of her mother; while she liked swimming, her heart had yearned for the skies. The delicate, fae like wings were a surprise; she had expected bird wings like her Nightingale familiar.

As if the thought summoned her, the small bird came flying through the streets and landed on Lin’s rump, holding a piece of some kind of bread in her foot that she pecked at as they walked.

“At least someone is having some good food,” Lin commented with a chuckle, and Lothair joined her.

“There they are!” Evaline called out. “Come on lets go!”

Lin looked forward again to see Evaline rush off to where a very rickety table was set up, around the back of the tower. Lin stared at the mishappen thing with curiosity; who made a table that bad? It looked like it could barely be standing!

But Evaline was by it already, chatting Sirona’s ears off as the rest of the group caught up.

“Yes, we have some real healthy options,” Sirona was saying to Evaline as they approached, looking quite pleased with herself. “All are very good for you with plenty of nutrients!”

Lin approached the table and stared at it in shock. “What…. Is that stuff?”

“That’s a cold soup of spinach, artichokes, and brussel sprouts! And that's a healthy smoothie full of green things! And a salad, with a special twist! I made all of this, the food, the bowls, and the table!” Sirona said with pride. “It’s all edible! Well except the table cloth, that was an added touch!”

Lin stared at the mess, noting that the ‘table cloth’ was more like a bunch of fabric scraps tossed over the potentially about to fall apart table. None of this seemed safe, let alone healthy.

“Uhm…. Ok….” Lin replied, looking at the hopeful look on Sirona’s face. She shared a glance with the others, who looked a mixture of stricken or disgusted, with the exception of Evaline who looked thrilled.

“Let’s dig in!” Evaline said, bouncing over to the table and pulling plates and bowls out of who knows where.

Everyone got passed some, even the familiars. Lin watched the others' reactions, noting how Sidra and Sulien’s familiars immediately spat back out the food, and the two Quirlicorns grimaced. Lothair was dubiously watching as part of his salad moved, and Neith was tossing bites behind her as she pretended to eat, her Sugar Glider hiding in her mane.

Evaline was coaxing Clover into eating some, and Lin sighed before trying the smoothie in front of her.

It was hard not to immediately gag. Linaeve forced herself to swallow it when she noticed Sirona watching with hopeful eyes.

If this was health food, Lin was certain she wanted to be unhealthy for the rest of her life.

“This is great!” Evaline exclaimed, eating everything with a huge grin.

Lin watched with surprise as Evaline went for seconds, and shared a glance with her quiet friend, Clover, who was watching with horror in her eyes.

“Really?” Sirona sounded so happy as she looked to the others.

Sidra choked down another swallow and gave a slightly pained smile. “Truly,” Sidra agreed, and Lin winced.

“Please have all of it! I saved the recipes and can make it more often! We really have gotten lazy over the long winter, it's time to get back into shape!” Sirona said with a nod, her Kitsune wincing behind her back.

Linaeve gave a long sigh, wishing she had ignored Evaline when the young mare had come to find her.

But she took a deep breath, and took another bite.