"How did you do with the green egg that time?" Duggi asked, also excited, already licking his lips in anticipation of the taste.
"Exactly like that, yes." Hawke replied without unnecessary hesitation.
"But I need you to find and bring very dry branches and leaves to make the base campfire."
Kuggi and Duggi immediately set about hunting for the necessary items in the surrounding area, searching through the dense vegetation.
"Yuka," Hawke turned to her with a smile. "You're going to make the fire by yourself today, okay? Can you do it?"
Yuka nodded excitedly in an extremely energetic and enthusiastic yes, almost jumping up and down.
"Tairo," Hawke continued delegating tasks. "I need you to get me some specific branches, but not like the others' for lighting a normal campfire. I want branches as straight as possible and with a sharp, spear-like point, do you know how to do that?"
"Of course I can do that easily!"
Tairo replied confidently.
"And me? AND ME?!"
Kaira asked excitedly, jumping up and down, desperately wanting a task too.
"Well... we don't need anything else at the moment," Hawke said honestly, and Kaira immediately looked at the ground with visible sadness in her eyes. "...I mean! How about you separate and organize the insect parts beforehand before roasting? It would be very useful... and that way you prevent the old woman from eating everything before we're ready."
"YAY!"
Kaira cheered loudly, raising her arms.
It didn't take long ; the men efficiently gathered a good quantity of dry branches and leaves; this time Hawke was much more specific and clear about the size and type needed, preventing them from bringing giant logs again. Tairo arranged the skewers exactly as requested: straight, firm branches with perfectly sharp points. Kaira also did exactly what she had been assigned, separating the insect parts by type and size.
Yuka labored intently to light the fire on her own this time, using the technique Hawke had taught her; a thin stick rubbing intensely against a larger one with a groove carved into it and dry straw underneath. She tried with determination but constantly complained that she would never succeed, that it was too difficult, but Kaira and Hawke persistently offered words of support and encouragement.
"You can do it!"
"It's almost smoking, keep going!"
"Faster, that's it!"
When the smoke finally began to rise, followed by the small fire starting, Yuka almost screamed with joy. Hawke quickly helped her by taking the ember to the pile of dry branches they had prepared, blowing carefully, and soon they had a decent fire crackling.
"Wow," one of the men murmured, impressed.
"This always impresses me a lot," Tairo said, his gaze completely captivated by the dancing flames. "It looks like real magic."
"Congratulations, Yuka," Hawke said sincerely. "You did it all by yourself."
Yuka's face showed a truly genuine and happy smile, and her cheeks flushed red from blushing. She remained completely silent, unable to say a word, perhaps embarrassed by the attention, but visibly very pleased.
Hawke began by taking each piece that Kaira had carefully separated and skewering it with the improvised branches that Tairo had made, then bringing it close to the fire to begin roasting slowly.
"Hopefully this will work and be edible, I don't want to waste their scarce food on experimentation."
Immediately afterward, Hawke asked everyone to do exactly the same process; each one took their piece of insect, skewered it on the sharp branch, and placed it over the fire, imitating the position he maintained.
"Raise your skewer a little higher, Grandma," Hawke warned, noticing that hers was dangerously low in the fire. "Otherwise, it might burn completely on the outside and remain raw on the inside."
The old woman grumbled but obeyed, raising it.
"Now try changing the position constantly, rotating slowly like this."
Hawke clearly demonstrated the rotating motion, turning the skewer evenly, and everyone followed his steps attentively. Soon the strange texture and greenish color of the insects began to visibly change, becoming more golden, more appetizing, more... normal?
Kaira sniffed, taking a deep breath. "This smells incredibly good! Much better than raw!"
The smell was indeed spreading through the area ; a strange but not unpleasant fragrance of roasting protein, vaguely reminiscent of grilled shrimp mixed with something more earthy.
"I think it's ready," Hawke announced, carefully removing his from the fire, causing the others to immediately copy the action.
"And now can we eat?" Kuggi asked impatiently, looking at the roasted insect on the skewer as if it were something precious.
"Yes, but be careful not to burn your tongue," Hawke warned, looking specifically at Yuka, whose mouth was already dangerously close to the still-steaming food. She stopped immediately upon hearing this and gave an embarrassed smile with her eyes closed, then began to carefully blow on it to cool it down.
Excited comments began to echo as they savored the meal; "this is delicious," "it's really good," "I've never eaten anything like this". the crunching of crispy chitin being bitten, wet sounds of satisfied chewing, and lip licking were extremely frequent.
"I must honestly admit," Tairo said, finishing his piece and licking his fingers, "you really have great magical techniques."
"It's not magic at all, I've said it several times," Hawke replied, somewhat exasperated, his patience running out, still holding his own untouched piece in his hand. "Besides, if it were real magic, that means you all also master magic since each of you baked your own piece alone."
Tairo paused, processing the logic.
"It makes sense when you put it that way."
"Hey, Hok... I mean, Hawke," Kaira quickly corrected, realizing her mistake. "Are you waiting for yours to cool completely before eating it?"
"No, that's not it," Hawke hesitated, looking at the insect. "It's just that I'm still internally deciding whether or not I should actually eat this piece."
"Is it disgusting?!"
Yuka asked, startled, her eyes widening, immediately stopping chewing hers.
"No, no, that's not it; it's just that I'm not yet used to eating this specific type of thing where I originally come from."
"And where exactly do you come from?"
Kaira asked, genuinely curious, tilting her head.
"I don't know for sure."
The two of them simultaneously frowned in a clear expression of doubt mixed with bewilderment.
Hawke decided to quickly change the subject before they started asking more questions.
"So you want my piece, Kaira?"
"I WANT IT!" Kuggi and Duggi answered almost shouting at the same time, almost lunging at each other in a fight.
"No," Kaira said firmly, crossing her arms. "This piece is specifically yours and you'll have to eat it, otherwise we'll end up thinking you tricked us and made us eat something absolutely disgusting on purpose."
"That's true," Yuka pointed accusingly at him. "And your stomach is growling loudly."
It was undeniable truth - it was noticeable that every now and then, while Hawke watched them eat contentedly, his stomach made a low but audible noise of hunger.
"Okay, okay," Hawke sighed defeatedly. "You won this one."
He decided internally to give it an honest chance.
'Come on, it can't be the worst thing in the world.' "I've eaten strange things before... I think? I don't remember, but probably yes."
He slowly brought the piece to his mouth while absolutely everyone stared intently in silence, clearly anxiously awaiting his reaction. He bit into it - it was surprisingly crispy on the outside, and as incredible as it seemed...
"It's good!"