Hey all readers. I think it's obvious that the names of the Bladebreakers in this story are not mine. However, Sam Coredori and her bitbeast Drazema. Along with the team the Carnivora Catz and their bitbeasts are all mine so please don't take them without my position. Thanks bb4564
Chapter 8 – Strange Remembrances!
The rest of the Bladebreakers followed Kai as he led the way back to the house. Sam hung back a bit, looking at the ground. 'Why Drazema, of all days, did you have to do that today?' Sam thought, glancing at her blade. It glowed lightly in response to her voice. Sam stared at it for a while before becoming aware of someone talking to her. "Hey Sam?" Glancing up, Sam saw Max waiting for her. "Don't worry about Kai," he said cheerfully when she reached him, "he doesn't get on with anyone. Especially Tyson!" Sam smiled slightly. Max smiled back before adding, "guess I just wanted to welcome you to the team." He walked off to join the others then. When he had only taken a few steps Sam called out to him. "It was Max right?" Max turned around and nodded. Sam smiled. "Thanks Max!" Max smiled back before entering the house. Sam followed after him, stopping at the door to take one more glance around the garden before disappearing inside.
All the Bladebreakers were seated around the table, except Kai who was leaning against the wall. Sam walked past the confused teens without a backward glance. Entering the kitchen she poured herself a glass of water and drank it thirstily. "When's our flight leave?" she asked. Kai folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. Sam looked around at each of the boys but when no one answered she asked again. This time all eyes looked towards Kai. Feeling their eyes on him, Kai cracked one eye opened and looked at the from under his eyelid. "Mr. Dickenson said he would contact us here in order to inform us on our next flight," he answered after a moment, "Until then it looks like we're stuck here." He said the last line as if disappointed and Sam had to bite back a sharp reply that was building in her mind. In the end she just prayed that he would leave anyway.
"Well, while you're here, can I get you guys anything?" All faces lit up at the prospect of food. "I take that as a yes," Sam commented, looking around at the teens. "What do you boys like?" Before anyone could answer, Tyson jumped in. "Whatever you've got!" he cried enthusiastically. Sam stared at him in surprise.
"He has this slight obsession with food," Ray explained. "That's an understatement," Kai mumbled from against the wall. Tyson glared at him, and Sam found herself smiling despite her dislike of Kai.
"Ok…" she said after a moment. Walking over to the large pantry, she started scanning through it. "Ummm…one of you guys might want to give me a hand. Then glancing around the door, she added: "Anyone but him," she looked directly at Tyson. This made everyone laugh, except Tyson, who was just about to run over to Sam but now instead sat down on one of the chairs and sulked, and of course Kai. In the end Max went over to help Sam. Standing slightly behind Sam, he looked through the contents of the cupboard but didn't know what to ask for. Just then Sam had an idea. "I'll tell you what," she said, "you all sit down and I'll cook you guys a traditional Chinese meal. How's that sound?"
"That sound's great," Max replied, "but we don't want you to go to too much trouble." Sam smiled warmly. "No trouble at all," she replied, "I was about to fix breakfast for me and Grandpa anyway."
Going back into the pantry, she proceeded to take out some the ingredients she would need and place them on the bench. This included: two different kinds of noodles: angel hair pasta and crunchy noodles, a small bottle of canola oil, a bottle of soy sauce, some chicken stock, a bag of cornflour and some vegetables: celery, red capsicums, mushrooms, onions, mung bean sprouts and snow peas. She then went to a smaller cupboard beside the pantry and grabbed a large wok, saucepan, mixing bowl, chopping board, two serving trays and large serving plate. Finally she went back over to the bench, pulled out a sharp cutting knife and wooden spoon from the cutlery drawer and set to work. First she plugged the wok in and left it to heat up, then she placed the two saucepans on the stove, filled them with water and left it to boil. She then started dicing the capsicums into long thins strips. She was about to do the same to the celery when Ray walked over to her. "Let me give you a hand," he offered. Sam smiled,
"Thanks," she said. Handing him the knife, she got another one out of the drawer for herself, and while Ray sliced the celery and mushrooms, she did the onion. Cutting them in half, she then went and ran them under cold water for a moment before returning to the bench to cut them. "It stops the onions from irritating your eyes," she explained to Ray, who was looking at her quizzically and sliced the onions quickly. Once the vegetables were done, she turned to Ray. "You know how to cook noodles?" Ray nodded. "Great," Sam exclaimed, "then would you mind taking care of these for me? The drainers are in that cupboard over there if you need them" She indicated to the drawer where she had taken the saucepans from and held up the packet of pasta. Ray shrugged; "Sure," he replied taking the pasta off her and going over to the oven he set to work while Sam began preparing the rest of the meal.
First she combined the soy sauce, chicken stock and corn flour into a small bowl and mixed it together well. Then placing that to one side, she poured two tablespoons of canola oil into the wok and let it heat up, before adding the celery, mushrooms, capsicums and onion. She proceeded to sauté (or fry) that for about three minutes, until the celery was crisp and tender. She then stirred in the bean sprouts, snow peas and the mixture from the bowl she had done earlier. She then cooked that for four minutes, until the mixture thickened and was almost boiling. She then spent the last minute stirring the mixture continually.
Turning off the wok she turned to Ray. "How are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Ray replied, "In fact…" he poured the angel haired pasta into the drainer, "I'm done."
"Great," Sam replied. Taking the pasta off him, she shook it to make sure it was drained properly, before adding it to the vegetables and mixing thoroughly. "Ok!" she called from the kitchen, "everyone sit at the table! You too Ray," she added. Ray obediently left the kitchen and sat down at the table with his team mates. When he had left, Sam pulled out seven traditional Chinese bowls and cups that her Grandfather had bought as a set, which consisted of ten plates, bowls and cups. He had been very proud of the set, them having been hand carved and painted, and had bought them immediately. Now Sam aligned them around a tray, one for each teen, plus her and her Grandfather. She then poured the vegetable and noodle mix onto a large serving plate and sprinkled the crunchy noodles over the top. Placing that on another serving tray, she added a serving spoon and seven sets of chopsticks, lifting one into each hand, resting most of the weight on her arms, she carried them into the dining room where the boys sat. The moment she entered Ray jumped to his feet. "Let me give you a hand with that," he said. Sam shook her head. "Sit down," she laughed, "I've been doing this for ages." She placed the meal in the middle of the table and began to hand out the bowls, while Ray sat back down. Once all the bowls, cups and chopsticks were all handed out, she went to the door and called for her Grandpa. He came soon after and they all started eating. Everyone picked up their chopsticks and proceeded to use them traditionally. Everyone, that is, except Tyson. He fumbled with the chopsticks, unable to pick up the food long enough to place it into his mouth. Once he realised this, he tried to shish kabob the food. This didn't work to well either. Giving up all hope, he lifted the bowl to his mouth and proceeded to use the chopsticks to spoon the meal into his mouth. Sam watched this in a mixture of amusement and disgust. Finally she decided to help. "Do you want a fork?" she offered before adding, "and a spoon?" Tyson glanced up at her and lowered his bowl. "Yes please," he mumbled, his mouth still full of food.
Sam excused herself and went and grabbed a fork and spoon for Tyson. Handing them to him, she took her seat and started her own meal. Kai glanced at her as she ate and noticed she picked out the onions that were through her meal and examined it carefully before eating. Kai stared at her for a moment longer before he finished his own meal. All were satisfied after one serving, except Tyson, who would have had thirds if Kai hadn't stopped him by threatening a five o'clock start tomorrow morning. Tyson obligingly sat back down. Once all were finished, Sam cleared the table in the same waitress-style that she had served it. A few minutes later she returned with a tray, on top of which was a teapot full of tea, along with a small pitcher of milk and container of sugar. Along side it was a plate of assorted biscuits. Placing it on the table she placed some teaspoons down beside it and started pouring everyone tea. Once she got to Kai, she poured his then hesitated. "White and one, right?" Kai glanced at her.
"What?" Sam coughed.
"You like your tea white and one, don't you?" Kai narrowed his eyes. "How did you know that?" Sam shrugged, and continued pouring everyone else's tea.
Tyson immediately went for a chocolate chip cookie and ate it in one bite. Kai glanced at him in disgust before picking up his tea and taking a sip. Sam took her seat again and helped herself to a biscuit too. It was at that time, that Tyson took a large drink of his tea and swallowed it. "Aughh, hot," he gasped, quickly using his hand to fan his tongue. Unfortunately he hadn't put the cup down properly and it spilled over and onto his lap. "Auuuggghh!!" he cried, jumping to his feet and dancing around. Sam quickly placed down her biscuit and ran to get a damp, cold cloth. Handing it to Tyson, she took her seat again and picked up her biscuit. Taking a small bite, she tried not to stare at Kai but couldn't stop herself. She seemed to remember him. But how? And from where?