Ren stood before the roaring fire, staring at the fifty-gallon cast-iron behemoth. The cauldron was already blazing hot, the black iron radiating waves of intense heat into the cool morning air.
High above her, hundreds of feet up in the canopy, Kael and Altair were still fast asleep in the tree hut, dead to the world. It was just Ren, the morning birds, and a mountain of ingredients.
Ren tied her messy red hair up a little tighter, smoothed down the soft fur of her grey dress, and activated her chef persona.
"Welcome back to Gourmet in the Wild: Beast World Edition," Ren whispered to the empty clearing, her voice carrying a professional, dramatic flair. "Today, we are cooking for an entire clan of starving White Tigers. We are making a rustic, hearty Elk and Root Vegetable Stew. And we are starting... with the sear."
