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The taste was but a fragment of the past, and in the present time, a faint memory. But the warmth, the happiness it contained almost became ingrained into his being, wrapped around his thoughts like a billow of smoke that couldn't be dispersed.
That night, when he walked around the travelling fair, an enticing scent caught his nose. Without another thought, he followed the trail of scent, past the shops and shacks with glowing decorations or exotic foods on display, none of which caught his interest more than the scent that was leading him on.
He followed it and came across a tiny but elegant looking cart, mellow orange light coming from the inside. Lined with soft, ocean-coloured fabrics, and shiny diamond scales that adorned the rims of the counter. A wooden menu stood in front of the cart, listing a variety of food, though they all shared one thing in common- that mushrooms were one of their ingredients.
Since his favourite dish was on the menu, Silver thought to give it a try.
“One mushroom risotto, please,” he said.
He couldn’t see the person inside through the curtains, but he could tell he had a tall and slender figure. Soon, he heard the sizzling of ingredients, and along with clouds of steam, came the aroma of melted butter and spices.
The mushroom risotto’s taste was one that he should be familiar with, having eaten it so many times in his life, and yet it entranced him. Was it the spices? He had tried mushroom risottos with all kinds of seasonings in the past, but none had fascinated him as much as this. The rice was cooked to a perfect balance, but that wasn’t reason, either.
He swallowed the rice, and looked up at the cart. “This risotto… is the best I’ve had in my entire life,” he said.
He heard the guy inside the cart chuckle. “I’m glad you like the taste.”
“The mushrooms taste splendid. Where did you get them?”
“I grew them myself. This particular species came from the northern forest, but I found ways to mimic the environment there so I could grow them as I travel.”
He had a smooth and courteous way of speaking.
“Did you come from the north?” asked Silver.
“Yes, but I departed from my home around two years ago for… a change in scenery, you could say.”
“Have you ever considered settling down and starting a restaurant business somewhere?”
“Perhaps I will, when I’ve returned to the north. However, I still have many places I wish to travel to.”
“It must be nice to have seen so many parts of the world.”
“Fufu, it certainly is an eye opening experience.”
After waking up the next morning, the risotto’s impression on him still did not fade. He retraced the path he took last night to the corner of the fair where the mysterious cart was.
But the cart was gone.
He searched all over Briar Valley for traces of where it had went, but only half a year later, did he learn from the border guards that a cart with matching descriptions had passed by the gates months ago.
So, he packed his belongings and headed for the north.
The weather on the journey was similar to how it was in Briar Valley, though the further north it gets, the colder it becomes during the night. Sometimes when he departed in the early morning, the ground would be frosted over. It’d snow more often during the winter, and during those times the land would be bleak, bodies of water floating with pieces of broken ice.
In parts of land where the pine forest spreaded so wide there seemed to be no end, the temperature was a lot milder. There would be mushrooms, too, tiny patches of them sprouting at the base of boulders, or on patches of damp soil.
Winter turned to spring, then summer and fall, the cycle repeating itself time after time. He didn’t count how many days passed as he continued seeking the cart everywhere he travelled to. Only when a sudden thunderstorm stopped his horse in its tracks and forced them to seek shelter in a nearby cabin, did he realize the coming of fall.
Silver took off his soaked overcoat and hung it by the door, noting the rows of tables and chairs on the first floor, one of the seats occupied by another guy having dinner. He went to the counter and paid a few bronze coins.
The owner of the cabin gave him a large slice of pie in return, the filling creamy and meaty. Silver sent a spoonful of the pie into his mouth, feeling as warmth spread inside his body, and a wave of sleepiness crashed into his consciousness. He took another bite.
Something seemed familiar.
The pie’s taste stirred his memories, and instantly he felt awake again. He rushed to the counter.
“Where did you get the mushrooms used in this pie?” he asked.
The owner pushed up his glasses and frowned. “From a travelling guy that passed by about three or four days ago. He was wearing dark clothes and had teal-coloured hair.”
The image of the travelling food cart popped back into Silver’s mind, and he jumped up from his seat at the thought that he might be close to finding them.
“How tall was he?” he asked, a final way to make sure he wasn’t on the wrong track.
“Really tall,” the owner answered with a chuckle. “Definitely taller than me, at least. Probably around…”
He raised his hand a few inches above his dark green hair, “... here”.
The description was unmistakable. This must be the guy Silver was looking for.
“Thank you for the food,” he said, wolfing down the rest of the pie and heading straight for the door, making an attempt to shake off the water from his coat.
“Leaving so soon?” called the owner.
“I must,” he replied. “That was most likely the guy I had been chasing after all these years.”
“But it’s raining really hard,” the owner said. “I don’t think it’s the best idea to go outside right now. Maybe you should wait for the rain to calm down a bit?”
Silver went back to the seat and sat down. “You do have a point. Owner-san… ah, wait, how may I call you?”
He smiled. “Trey Clover, but you can just call me Trey.”
“Trey-san, then. Can I stay here for the night?”
“Of course, I’ll give you a room key in just a second. Oh, and here’s some dessert, on the house.”
Trey served him a slice of white powdered cake, sprinkled with cashew bits and drizzled with berry jam on top. Normally when an inn serves food for free, he’d have expected something less refined, like slices of bread, or even a piece of sponge cake would be considered luxurious.
He wondered if it was really alright to have this for free, but one glance at the person beside him enjoying the cake leisurely, and he too picked up the dessert spoon and dug in.
“The cake’s good, isn’t it?”
Silver looked up. The other customer in the cabin was sitting two seats away from him, with dark skin and black hair braided with gold hair ornaments.
“Ah, sorry for not introducing myself first,” he apologized with a smile. “I’m Jamil, Jamil Viper.”
From his appearance and the accessories he wore, Silver thought that this guy must have come from the Scalding Sands. Though, what he is doing so far away from his homeland remained a mystery.
“Silver,” he said, “it’s nice to meet you, Jamil. And I agree that the cake is quite delicious.”
“That’s because that guy, Trey, is actually a baker. He sometimes comes to help run the cabin when the owner is absent.”
Silver blinked. “So he’s not the owner.”
“A friend of the owner, is my best guess.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’ve been travelling around in this area for a few years now,” said Jamil, “and I’ve run into him a few times. He actually works in the town’s bakery.
“Ah, but speaking of running into things,” he continued, “about your conversation earlier, have you also come across the mushroom food cart before?”
Silver nodded. “The one with all its menu items mushroom-related.”
“This brings back memories,” he said with a sigh. “I remember eating their mushroom curry at a food fair back in the Scalding Sands. It was so tasty that I ended up devouring two whole servings of it.”
“Would you like to come find the cart with me, then?”
Jamil laughed and shook his head. “There are more places waiting for me to visit,” he said. “But by the sound of it, the mushrooms must have left a much deeper impression on you.
“I hope you all the best of luck on your journey.”
The next morning, Silver woke up early and quietly left the cabin, just as the sun was beginning to dye the edge of the sky pink. He quickened his horse’s pace into a gallop to make up for the travel time he had lost the previous day.
The trees grew sparse as he got closer to the edge of the forest, and at times, he would come across clearings where sunshine poured down and made the dew on grass blades shimmer like tiny gemstones.
The warmth from the sun made Silver feel sleepy, and he decided to get off the horse before he actually fell asleep and tumbled down (which has happened before, many times).
It didn’t take long for his consciousness to drift off, and his thoughts were lost in thick fog, where even time seemed irrelevant. He couldn’t tell how many hours had passed, but by the time he woke up, a sense of chill was lingering in the air.
A chirp beside his ears stirred him from his slumber. Opening his eyes, he saw a pale gray bird with dark eyes standing by his hand. He sat up abruptly.
Perhaps startling the bird with his sudden movement, it leapt upwards and took flight, wings brushing against Silver’s fingers before it flew in the direction of the setting sun. Silver watched, mesmerized, as it disappeared behind the trees. He climbed onto his horse and headed in the direction the bird went.
A light salty scent filled the air, and the forest gradually opened up. His horse halted on a long stretch of pebbles. Waves lapped in the distance, and the ocean looked like it was lit on fire.
“The ocean,” Silver breathed, almost stunned by the sight. So this is how far he had come in his journey.
He then heard someone’s footsteps on the pebbles, and the sound of someone reciting something that sounded like poems.
“A pebble ocean, bathed in hues so rare,” came the voice, “A steed and knight, oh, how his silver strands are fair!”
It sounded like the approaching person had already noticed Silver. He turned to see a guy with trimmed blonde hair and a feathered hat making strides towards him.
“Bonsoir, Chevalier d’Aurore,” the poet greeted, “you do not look like you are from around here. Another traveller, perhaps?”
“Yes.” A pause, after which he added, “have you seen other travellers pass by recently?”
“Oui,” he said, “right down the pebble beach. He makes the most delectable mushroom cuisines, a 100-points recommendation from me!”
Silver’s heart soared at the news, and despite the dropping temperature and the gustsafter gusts of cold sea wind, he couldn’t have felt warmer and more hopeful.
The blonde poet continued down the beach, walking further and further away and reciting verses about mushroom and cuisine. Silver tied his horse to a nearby tree and walked in the direction that the poet pointed him towards. The anticipation settled with an antsy feeling in his legs, and gradually his steps began to quicken, and then he was striding, then prancing, then racing towards the distance, racing against the sun dipping low into the horizon, against the non-stop wind that blew past him, slipping between the gaps in his clothes, yet he could not feel any coldness.
Finally, as the dark of the night had fully set in, faint stars glittering where the clouds didn’t loom, he stopped in front of a tiny cart with a soft orange glow.
The decorations were the same as he last saw them, ocean-coloured curtains and diamond scales, a wooden sign that must have been hammered into the pebble beach. Large pieces of driftwood were in front of the cart, which he guessed must have served as temporary seatings for the customers.
The menu hasn’t changed at all, the same dishes with mushrooms as he had seen when he first visited the cart years ago. The familiarity alone brought a smile to Silver’s face.
He walked up to the cart, where a guy stood with his arms propped up against the counter, watching the distance with a serene expression. It was the first time Silver saw his face, and learned that his hair was really teal, even more teal than the fabric that lined his cart.
As the guy noticed Silver, he perked up, and welcomed him with a bright smile.
“Good to see you again,” he said, eyes gleaming. “Here for some more mushroom risotto?”