The pink monkey girl blinked and stared at the dragon girl on the ground in front of her.

"You…want my food?" She asked, sounding entirely confused.

Tear nodded rapidly.

"My food." She repeated. "The food I made. Over there."

Another nodding session.

"R-really?"

"Pleeeease?" Tear tried her best to look doe-eyed, although she looked a bit more like a chameleon than anything else.

"I-I have a bit leftover, I suppose…"

The pink monkey wandered off to retrieve a new stone bowl from a nearby hut, before climbing up the ladder and scooping a helping of the delicious-smelling slop. After climbing back down, she reluctantly held the bowl out to the Nova girl, who quickly accepted the gift.

"P-please don't be upset if it's tastes bad…" The monkey winced slightly and covered her eyes, although she was quick to peep out from behind her fingers.

Tear inhaled deeply and sighed at the aroma. Without hesitation, she quickly put the bowl to her lips and gulped the contents down. In truth it probably hadn't been all too well-made; maybe some more salt or a touch of basil. But to a hungry Nova girl who had lost her sandwich first to a giant talking rock, second to an anteater wearing a broccoli hat, and third to an idiot lion, it may as well have been ambrosia.

After a bout of unladylike slurping and a solid minute of literally licking the bowl clean, Tear put the bowl down and belched. Loudly.

"Thank you and I love you forever." She said, a goofy grin plastered on her face.

'I am now thoroughly concerned on a number of levels.' Eskalade grumbled in her mind.

The monkey girl stared in utter shock.

"Did…did you…like it?"

Tear licked her lips and nodded.

"But…wait…then…" The monkey thought for a moment. "…you're like us, aren't you?"

"Uh…" Tear frowned, not knowing what to say. "…what do you mean by 'like you', exactly?"

"You have weird tastes!" Came a voice from across the clearing. The three bird-creatures from earlier emerged from behind a bush. No longer absorbed by hunger, Tear took a good look at them.

All three had unbelievably thick eyebrows, so they must have been siblings, or so Tear thought. One had a ring of flowers stuck in its feathers, so maybe it was the sister of the bunch? And the last one, which Tear had thought was wearing an eggshell as a hat, turned out to be…upside down…completely upside down.

'But why?' Eskalade voiced her thoughts for her.

"Weird tastes?" Tear asked, tilting her head.

"Everyone in the village makes fun of us because we have weird tastes in food." The monkey girl explained. "We don't eat the normal food they eat."

Tear scrunched up her face. "You mean that disgusting goop they made me try?"

"You do have weird tastes!" The monkey cheerfully clapped her hands together.

"Er, no," Tear said, "it's definitely their tastes that are weird. Not mine. Definitely not mine."

"But the whole village likes that food and only we like our food." She extended a hand to Tear. "I'm Simia, by the way."

"Simia." Tear repeated and grasped her hand, pulling herself to her feet. "I'm Tear."

"It's nice to meet you, Tear." Simia gave a beaming smile. She pointed to the birds. "And this is Pibik, Pimi, and Pidol."

"I'm Pibik!" Said the one with a leaf in his feathers. "Nice to meet another person with weird tastes!"

"I'm Pimi!" Said the one with flowers in her feathers.

"Uehehehe…" Said the one Tear assumed was Pidol.

Simia let out a sigh. "The villagers tend to avoid us since we have weird palates. It's not like they treat us badly, or anything, but sometimes it's a bit…"

"Lonely?" Tear finished.

"A little. Most of the village is more concerned with Gulla's attacks than bullying people for having weird palates. And for good reason; Muto's been refusing Master Lyck's cooking, and if he doesn't eat something soon he won't have enough strength to fight Gulla."

"We'll be doomed!" Pibik wailed.

Tear watched as Simia hung her head and the bird-trio continued their whining. She thought for a moment, and something came to her.

"But Muto ate my sandwich recently. He won't eat Master Lyck's cooking, not that I blame him, but he seemed to enjoy my sandwich."

Simia gasped. "Muto…ate your food?!"

"That's what I said to that anteater guy," Tear explained, "but he stole the rest of my sandwich and called me a liar since he thought it tasted bad."

"But if Muto ate your food…" Simia began.

"…and you have a weird palate like us…" Pibik continued.

"Deefoodeel…" Pidol murmured thoughtfully.

"…maybe Muto has the same palate we do!" Pimi finished.

Tear grinned. "Hey, that's right! Maybe if you make Muto some of your food, he'll eat it and be able to fight off Gulla!"

Simia clapped her hands together excitedly. "Ooh, this is wonderful news!" She frowned. "Oh, but Master Lyck never lets me cook. I work in the Slurp House, but I'm only a dishwasher…"

"No way!" Tear exclaimed. "Your food is super good! Everyone I know would love to try your food!"

Tear clasped Simia's hands. "Who cares what that gross broccoli-head thinks? You can do this, Simia, I know you can!"

The pink monkey girl thought for a moment, then looked Tear right in the eye, and nodded.

"Yay!" Tear shouted.

"Woohoo!"

"Yipee!"

"Flurbleurp!"

"Since Muto really liked my sandwich," Tear said thoughtfully, "I think we should make him one of his own. One less Nova-sized and more…" She paused and made some hand gestures. "…Muto-sized!"

"Alright then!" Simia declared. "We're going to make Muto a sandwich!"

Tear and the bird-trio cheered again.

"Tear?"

"Yeah, Simia?"

"What's a sandwich?"