The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

Spicy Mami, Hot Tamale

The next day, the trio said their goodbyes to Uki and left for El Paso. Uki had given them a tip and told them to use the newly built train station in the town. It would save them a lot of time. And so they did. They payed for it with the money they got selling furs and their old winter clothes. They also had some leftover coins from when the grateful bank-owner treated them. It was rather nice not having to walk. They could get used to this. Just hours of relaxing in a compartment coach, while actually moving at higher-than-walking speeds. Hopefully, in the future, vehicles like these would be made affordable for personal use. Now that's a nice thought.

Amaruq looked outside, the wooded mountain slopes gradually being replaced by prairies, steppes and eventually, desert. He was more interested in the animals he saw. He had never seen such large armadillos before. There were Beautiful Armadillos and also Holmesina, but there was one animal that surprised Amaruq the most. "Woah, guys, check it out," he said as he pressed his finger to the window. The other two looked and saw the biggest animals they had ever seen. They looked like woolly mammoths, except they weren't woolly and were much bigger, probably more than 4 metres tall! The almost invisible hairs on their body reminded Amaruq of his own body hair, both his androgenic hair and vellus hair.

"I think those are Columbian mammoths. I read that they're the biggest mammoths alive. Only Palaeoloxodon were bigger, but they're extinct. Then again, Columbian mammoths are endangered so..." He talked, more to himself than the other two. They were also pleasantly surprised at the large mammals. It wasn't everyday they got to see a herd. They relaxed again and even took a soothing nap. It was hours later when they woke up and saw that they had arrived.

They dropped off the station and looked around. The town wasn't much different than the ones before. Wooden houses, a few concrete ones and buildings. It was the same old, same old. The only notable difference was the temperature. It was rather warm for the trio, probably around 18° or more. Not too bad, Amaruq supposed, but definitely much warmer than they were used to. Back home, it was 0° on average, and during summer it was usually 10-15° when they had midnight Sun. 20° was very very rare for them. The trio were glad to have bought warmer clothes or else they would've melted by now. There were many people around. El Paso was a boomtown, since it only recently underwent a huge population growth.

They quickly made their way to the edge of the town and state. There, they saw the Rio Grande river, 3051 km long. It acted as the border between the US and Mexico. Amaruq remembered seeing this river back in the Grand Canyons, where it was smaller. "Amaruq Cyclone!" He picked up his two companions on his hoverboard and crossed the river before moving to drop them off. "Hold on. Could you bring us to the train station? That'd be easier," Taggak asked of him. Cyclone just went with it and did as he was told. He flew over Juárez, looking at the desert scenery around him and before they knew it, they had arrived at the train station.

When they tried to buy tickets, however, they were rejected by the ticket seller. Apparently, Canadian loonies weren't accepted in Mexico. Dang it. Luckily, there was a currency converter at the station and they were able to exchange their loonies for pesos and pieces of eight. They exchanged a large amount, seeing as they'd be stuck in Latin America for some time. Once that was done, they bought the tickets for the capital city of Mexico and waited for the 5 p.m. train. It was in 30 minutes, according to Amaruq's watch. While waiting, he decided to chat.

"So, uh. Where exactly is the 'secret' temple anyway? I just realised you've never even told us," he asked Taggak. Atsuguk was curious too. The elder male sighed and said, "It's supposed to be in Costa Rica." Amaruq thought about it for a second. "Wait, supposed to be?" He asked. Taggak nodded. "The elders weren't 100% sure it will be there," he clarified. "Well, what if it isn't?" Now it was Atsuguk's turn to ask. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," the black male said casually on the outside. Although, in reality, he was also a bit concerned about that possibility.

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The train ride was pretty smooth, but boring. All they passed through were endless deserts and a few stops at the occasional settlement. Amaruq spent his time tinkering with his watch, trying to figure out its additional controls. He found out that his other mode, the Transformation Mode, had 10 forms to choose from unlike his Elemental Mode which only had 8. He hadn't named all 10 forms yet but so far #2 was Pesky Dust, #3 was Way Big and #8 was Gutrot. He also had some names in mind for the other 6 but there was one form he couldn't name. #1, his wolf form. He had brainstormed and he still didn't have a name for it.

He also spent his time reading books he had bought, to know more of the world around him and the sciences that the Age of Enlightenment had discovered. In the seat opposite him, the two wolves weren't as concerned about being bored and were puzzled about why anyone would read to cure boredom. If anything, reading would probably cause even more boredom. The two contented themselves to lazing about and grooming their fur. The coach had fans. Curious little things that moved the air around and cooled them. Very useful for the dires in this heat.

Amaruq loved his watch dearly. You would think that it was because of its powers, but that wasn't entirely true. It contained a lot of memories. He remembered when he was 7 and a little green man came with his robot. Now he realised what the alien was talking about, the "strange energy signal coming from the area". If it wasn't for his watch, his beloved Qimmiq wouldn't have had to die. He was such a sweet dog, always playful and friendly to everyone in their pack. His dad (and literally everyone else) were at first concerned that he would keep the puppy alive instead of eat it like they would have done. But Amaruq simply told his dad that, 'carnivores aren't for eating'. It was true for him, he would never eat a carnivore, except for aquatic animals. He didn't know about the others, though, since he technically had never seen them eat a carnivore before.

He was tempted to ask them, but he resigned. They looked so peaceful napping. Kind of like Qimmiq. He sighed. Whatever. The past was the past and he should get some rest. So all three slept soundly in the carriage. When dawn broke, they had already disembarked the train and were in the capital, Ciudad de México. It was fairly large, with more people than Amaruq had ever seen in one place. They guessed that the population must've been at least 10'000 and likely much more. They had a look around and saw colourful sombreros, maracas and guitars, mostly on mariachis.

"I'm hungry," Atsuguk said aloud and the other two agreed. So they went to the Mercado de Antojitos and bought some local antojitos. Amaruq sniffed the taco, a new food for him and bit into it. It was heavenly; the meat, cilantro and onion mixing well with the soft yet crunchy tortilla exterior. And the salsa just puts the whole thing together. He took another bite and another. Atsuguk seemed to enjoy his taco as well, finishing it in a few bites. But, Taggak... he only took one large bite of his tamale, chewed it softly before burning up. He panted and croaked out, "What's... going... on?" in between pants. He looked so red, Amaruq was worried he was going to breathe fire.

The vendor just laughed at the outsider's plight. "Hahahahaha! This must be the first time this poor hombre had jalapeños in his food!" He guffawed. After some time laughing, and Taggak flailing, the man wiped his tears and handed Atsuguk a bottle of milk. "Here. Give your amigo this," he instructed. Atsuguk didn't waste any time and scurried to the elder wolf. "Here," he said handing over the bottle, "The man said-". Taggak unceremoniously grabbed the bottle and chugged the creamy liquid down his gullet. When it was all gone, he looked relieved and wiped his mouth. "Okay, what was that?!" Atsuguk asked him.

"I don't know. It was as if... my whole mouth was on fire," he gasped out. "That was jalapeño you ate, a pepper. It's very hot, but not the hottest pepper around," the vendor amusedly explained. Amaruq smacked his fist onto his palm. "Ohh... it was pungency! Peppers contain capsaicinoids!" He said in realisation. When his teammates just stared at him, he continued, "The sensation commonly interpreted as 'hot' results from the stimulation of somatosensory fibres in the mouth. Many parts of the body with exposed membranes that lack taste receptors (such as the nasal cavity, genitals, or a wound) produce a similar sensation of heat when exposed to pungent agents such as capsaicin." The other two (and even the vendor) still didn't look like they understood so he just said, "Nevermind."

After Taggak had bought a non-spicy tamale and eaten it, they immediately set forth out of the city. Taggak didn't want to waste any valuable time. Their pack might get frozen over soon. They traversed through the desert for hours and hours before stopping when the  Sun got too high. They took a break underneath the shade of a rock outcrop. Even in the shade, it was hot. Under the Sun, it was sweltering! A freaking 24° heat! Any dire probably would've broiled out there. Amaruq couldn't believe they had to endure days more of this travelling!