While Iharu had exited the cabin to get food from the great outdoors, Fang held back. “I know that she can be a little much." He offered her a warm, encouraging smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure that you will do fine, considering that Tavras has raised you. Just believe in yourself and your training. We will both be there in case she goes too far."

"Thanks." If anything, his reassurances made her dread the upcoming fight even more. Val supposed that Iharu could be expected to go too far.

"Listen to Fang," Tavras said. "Don't worry about her. If you were able to deal a fatal wound to one of my sea serpents, you can take on Iharu. She will give you good material to work with for Divine Judgement."

A tight swallow slid down her throat. Val supposed that she already had a lot of moral qualms with Iharu's behavior towards others, especially the way that she always seemed to treat Fang.

"Val, did what?" Fang asked, half choked.

In the serious voice of a disclaimer, Tavras said, "No sea serpents were killed in her completion of my trial."

"I know. You would never let anyone kill a creature of the sea, Uncle. I am just a little mortified that you would have her hurt it. Also, I'm mildly impressed that she even could."

Her eyes dared to lift up to Fang, just so that she could see the look of surprise on a lesser god's face. Maybe there would be some hope for Val in this upcoming fight if she could already impress another god.

Even though she felt better, Fang still hung around in front of her. "Um, do you have any dietary restrictions?”

“No.”

“I just thought that I would ask. For me, I’m vegan,” he informed her, as if she had not already picked up on that fact many times. Fang went to the kitchen and moved around some pots and pans. He started up a fire for the wooden stove and set to cooking something. “You should consider restricting animal products from your diet, especially meat for the ethical impact that it has—”

Thankfully, Tavras stopped Fang’s advertisement for veganism with some nonsense of his own. “You know, I’m personally a pescatarian. Normally, I eat fish and nothing else.”

“Uncle, that’s not what a pescatarian is—” Fang tried to say.

Tavras cut him off again. “Please feel free to eat whatever you want, Val. Fang will basically think you are a murderer if you eat an egg, and Iharu will yell at you for being weak if you avoid meat. Trust me, our family get-togethers are the worst.” In more of a mutter, he added, “Where did I ever go wrong in raising these two? I'm telling you that fish are the answer to everything.”

“I’m perfectly accepting of all dietary choices,” Fang tried to say. “I only wanted to help encourage the right choices in case Val was unaware. Iharu is the only one who is judgmental here.” He got the last word in the conversation for once. Then, he quietly continued cooking.

Val exchanged a glance with Tavras and mouthed a silent 'thank you' to him.

While Iharu and Fang may be recluses, they lived a much more civilized life here on their island than Tavras did on his. They had a real roof over their heads, an actual stove to cook by, and some common comforts like these chairs. All of this brought Val a twinge of hope.

“Do you have electricity here, by any chance?” Val asked.

“Nope, I'm sorry. Neither Iharu nor I like technology very much.”

It had been worth a shot. Val returned to sulking in her spot, looking down to Foofy to cheer herself up. “So much for taking before and after pictures of you for your transformation into a divine beast.”

Soon enough, Iharu returned with meat and set to searing it. This caused the occasional fights to break out between Iharu and Fang, but they somehow managed to set their food on the table without killing each other.

Val ate both the meat as well as the plant-based dishes that Fang had prepared.

The meat was savory and juicy. Val held bits of it on her tongue and sucked the flavor out. Then, she enjoyed chewing slowly. Compared to the soft cuts of fish that she usually ate, Val appreciated having a new texture in her mouth.

Surprisingly, the vegan food was not as bad as she had feared. If anything, Val craved vegetables and the carb-dense, vegan pasta more than anything else. After over a month of eating a monotonous diet of too many fish, her body desperately required anything other than protein. She definitely ended up eating more of Fang’s food than anything else.

"Your cooking is really good, Fang!"

He beamed, probably even more so that she only complimented him and not Iharu.

Foofy received thick slabs of meat set down for him on a plate.

“Who’s a good carnivore?” Iharu said as she watched Foofy drool. She gave him more meat than the Dobie should ever eat in one meal.

He set to wolfing it down all at once.

“Dogs are actually carnivorous scavengers,” Fang tried saying. “They can reasonably eat more than just meat—”

Iharu launched herself halfway across the table and slammed her palm down. “Weak.”

With a roll of his eyes, Fang shut his mouth, sat back, and enjoyed his own food in peace.

“What?” Val asked, confused as to their exchange.

“Oh, Iharu just called me weak from not having meat in my diet. She always does this. I am content with taking the high road, as usual.”

Tavras steered the conversation away from the food on the table, but Iharu and Fang always found a way to fight. Even so, it felt nice to sit around a table and talk with other people. Despite being a charged dinner, it could not have left Val feeling more refreshed.

“Now that I have a full belly, onto the fight.” Iharu shoved herself back from the table and left her chair sticking out.

Fang made sure to push both her chair in and his own while he picked up the dishes. “I will be there momentarily. I will stay here to clean up for the time being.”

Val handed her plate to Fang, almost feeling bad for him. “Thanks.” For a supposed god, he let himself be pushed around to an extreme. In her mind, that was another strike for Tavras on how horrible of a father he had been, letting anybody grow up to become such a wet blanket, especially his adoptive son.

At any rate, she said, “Come on Foofy.”

Her favorite dog gave his empty plate a last, few licks and trotted after her. Outside, Foofy stuck close to her heels just like the behemoth that had returned to following Iharu around.

Despite the imposing form of their adversaries, she set her jaw square. Val and Foofy followed them to the site of their duel.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Fangarus (Fang) Title: Brother Wolf Rank: God Attributes: wilderness Abilities Name Class Description Bend Plant combat, practical

- move plants at will

- can grow new plants out of the ground

Plant Sense tactical - can feel through plants to know who is in the vicinity and what they are doing Plant Tongue cognitive - communicate with plants and gain new information Vegan practical - it might as well be an ability at this point Unknown n/a - probably has a lot more abilities