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Wind could actually somewhat cook. Actually, most of the Links could, save for Hyrule and Time. No one was as good as Wild though, so they always had Wild making the meals when they settled for camp. But Wild was injured at the moment. And Wind could cook. And more importantly, Wind wanted to cook.
Wind had managed to get his hand on a whole kilogram of dried noodles when they were in Warriors' Hyrule, and Wild was able to stock up on some milk when they visited Lon Lon Ranch in Time's, well, time (Malon insisted that Wild didn't need to pay a single rupee, so he had Wind reverse steal a pouch of them into Malon's pocket while she and Time weren't looking). And aside from the milk, Wild had been having a field day shopping around at in all the different Hyrules and he was certain that the Champion's slate contained a whole farmer's market of meats and produce. And some of that produce was cabbage. And he also knew that the cook always always had onions and garlic that slate of his, as well as carrots and bird meat and a variety of different seasonings and sauces, including patis.
And Wind had been missing home lately, too…
So: One out-of-commission cook + all the correct ingredients + homesickness = Wind wanting to make sopas.
It wasn't his favorite food - his Lola's original soup recipe was way better by, like, infinity - but this came at a close second. It was the one recipe he remembered his mom making before her passing and it was the first recipe that Wind's Lola actually taught him how to make. And it was something that he was one hundred percent certain that the other Links would enjoy.
So after the Links had set up camp and were debating on who gets to make dinner with the Cook not up to the task at the moment, Wind was quick to jump up and down with his hand raised exclaiming "Me me me! I'll make dinner tonight!"
The other Links were suspicious at the kid's sudden enthusiasm to make dinner. Not just because Wind has literally never volunteered to do the task before but also because as far as they knew, Wind was just a 14-year-old who had never touched a stove in his life.
"Wind, why don't you let one of us handle the cooking for tonight?" Sky said with a tinge of what sounded like distrust hidden under his sweet, gentle tone.
"Yeah, Sailor. We can handle gettin' dinner an' stuff prepped," Twilight followed up. "Just go hang out 'round the fire er go wander 'round fer a bit."
Other placating, dissuading words were tossed around the camp and Wind could feel a familiar rage at the indignity bubbling beneath his skin. But just as he opened his mouth to give them all a piece of his mind, the Champion spoke up instead with a tired voice.
"Hylia, let the kid cook! And if you're worried about him around the pot then I'll supervise him, for the Goddess' sake!"
His anger still simmered, but it was no longer the boiling wrath that it was just a minute ago. Wild shakily stood from where he was laying on his bedroll, Hyrule and Warriors scolding him for standing while injured, but the Champion just shot them a disapproving look before limping over to the Sailor and handing his bag and slate to him.
"You remember how to get stuff from the slate, right?"
"Yep! And I already know what ingredients I need!" Wind exclaimed before his gaze softened and he gave the Champion a warm smile. "Thanks, Wild."
"No problem, Sailor. Now go get cooking." Wild said, gently ruffling Wind's hair before sitting down not too far from the fire. Not so close to be in the way, but just close enough to be easy to talk
Wind scrolled through the slate and started pulling out his equipment (really just a large pot, knife and cutting boardand ingredients. Normally he doesn't need to make so much, but having nine people in a group, with all of them being very active, requires a greater amount of food. He's not looking forward to cutting so many carrots, but there are necessary evils he supposed. He nearly pulled out the bird meat, since it was usually poultry that he used for meat, but decided to use boar meat instead since Sky wasn't allowed to eat bird. It'll taste a bit different than he likes, but again, necessary evils. Luckily, the broth was covered thanks to Wild keeping a pretty hefty collection of of stocks so he just set that aside. Onion, garlic, three carrots (endura, because they somehow tasted better and they energized everyone), a whole head of cabbage (usually he only uses half but again, large group), butter, milk, and noodles.
He started with the carrots since they would take a while to cut up anyways. He peeled and cut them into diagonal circles, though the thickness of each one was a bit inconsistent. Once they were all cut into circles, he stacked three at a time and cut them into matchsticks, just like his Lola taught him. It took a couple minutes but he was soon done, so he set them aside and gets to cutting up the cabbage, slicing the head in half first before cutting each half into large strips, leaving the core alone.
"Store the peels and core into the slate, and do the same for whatever leftovers you get from the meat and onions," Wild said just as Wind was about to throw them into the fire. "I can use them for something in the future."
Wind nodded and did as he was told. He diced the onions and garlic, stored the onion bits into the slate, and then cut the boar into small cubes, trying to keep them all the same size, not needing to store anything since everything was usable.
He cut off a bit of the butter from the block and tossed it into the pot, letting it melt before putting in the onions. He let those sizzle a bit, mouth watering at the savory-sweet smell before throwing in the garlic and letting it soften. Once that was done, he threw in the chunks of pork and covered the lid, letting the meat properly brown before he added the carrots. Plus, it helped to reduce the porky taste, something he wasn't really a fan of.
Actually — and don't tell Wild this because he's already made enough "special meals" for people due to pickiness (cough cough Four-)— but Wind honestly didn't like pig or boar all that much. Bacon and ham, sure, but pork? Not a fan. Yeah, it means he doesn't like too many foods since Windfall Island is sorta known for boar farming, but he powers through it.
But anyways, he uncovered the lid, letting the piggy smell waft away into the air and tossed the boar meat around a bit, making sure to let it brown all the way. In between, Wind looked around the camp, observing everyone's behavior.
Time seemed to be taking a nap for once, which good for him. Old Man's always tense these days, it's honestly worrying. He is definitely snitching to Ms. Malon the next time they see her. Twilight, as Wolfie, was curled up at his side, but not sleeping. Just chilling there. Warriors and Four were discussing about sword techniques or something, though it looked like it was getting real heated between the two of them. Sky was leaning against a tree, whittling away at some wood and making occasional glances towards Wind at the pot. When their eyes met, he sheepishly looked away, clearly feeling kinda bad for denying Wind the opportunity to cook earlier. He wasn't mad anymore, but the annoyance did linger (What? Wind held grudges). Hyrule was sitting on the grass with his head in Legend's lap, the Vet playing with his successor's unruly (snrk-) curls. At some point Legend pulled a fat (like, really fat) grub and grimaced as he threw it away. And Wild was slowly crawling over to the pot to watch the meat sizzle.
"What kinda dish are you making, anyways? You've never expressed interest in cooking before." Wild asked, not taking his eyes off of the pork. "These should be mixed a bit more by the way."
Wind returns to the pot and stirs the meat around a bit. "It's called sopas. My Lola was the one to teach me the recipe, actually," Wind makes a grabby motion with his hands in the direction of the carrots, which Wild hands to him. Carefully, Wind tosses them in but still manages to get a few leaves of cabbage accidentally added to the pot too early. Whatever. "It's one of my favorite dishes, actually. Though usually we use some kinda bird meat instead of boar, but I don't want Sky to feel left out." Because even though he's a little salty towards the Skyloftian, he still cared about him.
"One of your favorites, you say? How come you never mentioned it before?"
"Well, the whole bird meat thing for one. But also 'cause noodles are kinda hard to come by in most places, and they're super important." Wind explained, tossing the carrots around just a bit more before grabbing the broth and dumping it into the pot. All sizzling ceased as soon as the liquid came in contact with the bottom of the pot. Wind placed the lid back on, letting everything come to a boil before he would add the noodles. "Plus, it's different when I or my Lola makes it versus when someone else makes it. Though… I could teach you the recipe."
Wild smiles. "I'd love that. Thank you, Sailor."
Wind felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment and he turned away bashfully. "I haven't even given it to you yet, idiot." Wild only laughed at the action.
The Sailor hears the liquid in the pot starting to bubble, so he removes the lid and takes the noodles, dumping in about half of the bag before leaving it to cook. Given the wait time, he decides to lean back against the log and rest for a bit, letting the cool night breeze flow over him. He thinks to himself for a moment before suddenly shooting up from where he lay, smacking himself on the forehead.
"Shit!"
"Why, what's up? Something happen?"
"No, I just forgot to add the patis before I added the broth. It shouldn't change much but, guh… Whatever!" He flops back onto the log and stares up at the stars peeking out from between the trees. The stars are bright, though harder to see than if he was on his ship, floating about on the Great Sea. He thinks about Aryll, standing out on the lookout and staring at the stars as well, listening intently as he listed out the constellations. He doesn't know where in the timeline they are, but was she looking at the same night sky as he is? Has the pattern of the stars shifted so much between where he is and where she is? Was it even nighttime when she was?
"You've been quiet," Wild says from beside him. Wind doesn't turn to face him, but makes a small noise to let the Champion know he's listening. "Rupee for your thoughts?"
"Nothin', just… Thinkin' about home."
"Ah, homesickness. I understand that feeling."
Wind huffs a laugh and wipes a tear from his eye that he didn't notice was there until then. "I think we all do. But, I was just thinkin' about my sister 'nd stuff. I wonder how she's doin' and all that," He sighs and rolls over to lean on his side, facing Wild. The Champion had his usual stoic face on, though his eyes betrayed curiosity and care within their deep aqua. "I know we came from Windfall just a few portals ago, but I just… I wanna see her again. It's kinda why I wan'ed to cook 'nd stuff tonight, y'know? I used to make sopas for my sister whenever she was feeling sad or upset. It's the number one thing to improve her mood, and I just… I dunno. I've been sad and I we had all the ingredients and… yeah."
"I get it." Wild says with a soft smile. "Keep this a secret, but whenever I make a spicy meat and seafood fry, it's because I'm thinking about Zelda and everyone back home. It's her favorite dish, and every time I make it, it reminds me of her."
"Nothing like food to remind you of home, huh?"
"Oh, certainly."
Wind smiled and pushed himself upright, moving over to the pot, opening the lid and breathing in the aroma. It didn't smell as it usually did due to the difference in meat, but it still smelled delicious. He took the wooden spoon and grabbed a couple noodles, popping them in his mouth and clicking his tongue in slight disappointment that they were overcooked. But other than that, the sopas tasted great.
"Wild, can you help me get the pot off the fire?"
"Yep. One sec."
Wild grabs a long kitchen rag from his bag, followed by a large, round stone from his slate and setting it on the grass. Wind makes a grabby motion towards the cloth, which Wild hands over. Hands now protected from burning, the Sailor wraps the cloth around the pot handles and places it on the stone, grunting in effort as he did so. Once the Sopas was balanced on the stone, Wind pours in the milk and gives the pot a stir. Afterwards, he tosses in the cabbage, losing a few leaves to the grass, and presses them into the liquid of the soup before he covers the pot once more to let the vegetables to wilt.
"Two-ish minutes and it's ready to serve!"
"Sweet. I can't wait to see how the Hero of Winds' very own…," Wild trailed off. "What's the dish called again?"
"'Sopas.'"
Wild smiles and playfully ruffles Wind's hair. "Yeah. Sopas."
Wind doesn't actually know if it really had been two minutes like he said by the time he was calling everyone for dinner, but the cabbage looked cooked when he opened the lid so it was fine. He copied what Wild always did for mealtimes, serving everyone elses' portions first before serving himself and joining the rest of them on their makeshift seats.
The Sailor tried not to take offense at the way people stirred the soup around suspiciously as if he may have put something weird in there. But when he looked from the corner of his eye and watched Wild carefully lift the spoon to his mouth, lightly blow on it, take a bite, and give him a bright, proud smile, warmth spread from his chest and warmed his cheeks. And soon, the others were eating it as well, hums of appreciation and praise arising from the group.
"Wind, this is act'ally really good," Twilight said, shoveling another spoonful of the soup into his mouth. "Ya gotta name fer this dish?"
"It's called Sopas." Wind flushed and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by the flattery.
A faint snrk sound could be heard from Legend. "Yeah, we know it's a soup, Sailor. What's it called
"Yeah, that is the name, Veteran. It's name is Sopas." Wind couldn't help but snark at the other Link, even though the confusion made sense. It's not the first time the dish's name confused someone. "I learned it from my Lola not long after my first adventure. She wanted to make sure that I knew how to cook at least one thing, an' I chose this 'cause it's… it's, like, a comfort food, y'know."
"Yeah, I get it," Four spoke up. "My grandfather showed me a couple recipes before I moved to the castle when I was thirteen. He didn't want me 'forgetting my roots' or something. Scared I'd become like those snobby nobles that visit us time-to-time. Maybe I can make some of them some time?"
Wind saw Legend lightly elbow Warriors with a teasing smirk on his face, to which the Captain elbowed him back and said something about not being snobbish.
"I think we all should take a turn making our own comfort foods some time. I mean as much as I love cooking, I could use a break from time to time." Wild suggested with a chuckle. Wind couldn't help but notice how some of the other Links' expressions varied from delight at the idea of making a food they've always wanted to share to horror at what in the Gods' names did the others have planned for the rest of them.
"Or you could make Wind your sous chef." Time said flatly from where he sat, causing Wind to flush red in embarrassment. And worse, the others vocalized their agreement, and the Sailor wished he still had a hat so he could bury his red face.
"It wasn't that good, c'mon guys!" Normally Wind would bask in the praise, soaking it up like a sponge, but now he just felt flustered by it all. It was a little overwhelming, given that cooking was something he rarely did.
(That wasn't to say he wasn't basking in the praise, of course.)
Despite his embarrassment, dinner was filled with praise and gentle slurping, and Wind couldn't feel more content.
He takes a bite of his own bowl and smiles as warmth courses through him. Memories of gentle sea-breeze and comforting hugs pass his mind as he dug into his meal. He hoped that maybe they'd have leftovers for the morning.