Another hour passed by before William’s party arrived at the Agriculture section. William was annoyed that he didn’t ask if there was a map of some form he could have. He could then use it with his [Cartographer] skill and never need directions in Everglade again. “Yet another thing for me to do”, he cursed to himself. Stacey stood to his left and looked on over the several moderately sun lit fields. William glanced upward and noticed that the canopy was neatly trimmed above the fields of crops ahead of them. He was impressed that they had made the clearing in the canopy look natural instead of a crude circle or square cut out. He caught movement in his peripheral vision at the same time as Stacey let out a gasp of surprise. William snapped his head to the disturbance and noticed a small rodent leaping up at one of the vine trellises, trying to get the berry bushels higher up. It appeared their task could be summarized as rat catching. “And slaying.” William thought, turning to look at Stacey before mentally adding, “And burning.”
Stacey seemed eager to get to it, but William put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“We should speak to the owner or farmhands first. It wouldn’t do to make people panic unnecessarily when you microwave a warren near them or I slice one suddenly, making them fear an attack of some kind,” William said, giving her a warm smile that showed admiration for eagerness.
He wasn’t often one to advise caution normally, but he wanted to make sure the relationship between Everglade and Greenwell was the best it could be. Stacey looked a little bit sheepish, but she nodded her affirmation. They started their approach down a muddy path that led to a space of open ground that connected to two buildings. One was a large barn, and the other was a multi-floor cabin. The barn was painted green. William looked closer at it and noticed that the green matched the color of the tree canopy. He wasn’t sure why it was painted to match, but it wasn’t really important. His focus shifted to the main cabin that William assumed was the farmhouse. He noticed that parts of the building had the same glowing moss sprinkled around it as the trees did. An idle curiosity came to him then as he wondered what the building looked like at night. Stacey pulled on his sleeve trying to get his attention and William realized he had started to get distracted again. He sometimes lost focus or had his mind wander back on Earth, but it seemed more common since coming to GAEA.
Before he could go down that tangent, a big man with a confident gait to him exited the cabin and approached with a seemingly easy smile. William had to force down his laugh at the sight of the man. He had blue overalls, cotton clothing, a straw hat, and was chewing a bit of straw in the corner of his mouth. William was waiting for some farmhand to run up with a spittoon and for the big man to eject some chewed tobacco. William was able to regain his focus before the thoughts of banjos and moonshine took over and strengthened the foundations of his perceived view of the man.
“Hello friends, You here to buy produce?” The big man said, sounding professional and courteous.
William had expected a deep southern accent, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that this man would be easy to understand.
“We’re here for your... uninvited pests,” William said, trying for a polite pun.
It seemed lost on the man and got him a free side eye from Stacey. He had a feeling she would tease him later.
“Ah, you’re here to rid us of the Limber-rat problem. Excellent.”
William inwardly sighed at the naming convention. It was a name made from what the rat did. It wasn’t very original. William didn’t get too critical however. They had named their settlement Greenwell after all.
“That we are, my friend. Anything you need to do before we get to it?” William said, hoping the guy would just wave the workers away or get them to leave the fields in question.
“Just give me a couple minutes to get the lads out of the field so you can do what you need to do.”
William nodded and then quickly winced as the farm’s owner yelled, “TAKE A BREAK LADS! BE BACK IN AN HOUR!”
William took a long moment to recover and caught a similar expression of pain on Stacey’s face. Ashen had wrapped his wings over himself and Echo had his tiny hands on his equally tiny ears.
The big man noticed their plight and paled slightly before he said, “Oh! I’m so sorry. Bad habit of mine. It’s not a massive farm, so a shout like that gets the message across.”
William watched as several people in similar attire to the big man walked away in all directions, dropping their tools into several empty wooden casks at the perimeter as they left. The message had gotten across to them.
William clapped his hands with a smile and said, “We’ll get to it then. Oh sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“The name’s Fore.”
William and Stacey nodded and gave their own names before getting to work in the fields. They noticed that Fore didn’t hang around before going back into the cabin. William smiled at the mental image of Fore sat on a swing chair with a banjo. It was a smile that was quickly diminished as he and Stacey got to work. Their quarry was oddly enough disinterested in dying as they bounded around William and kept dipping in and out of the warrens in the ground. William had a brief wandering thought at why these things were called rats yet lived in warrens. Wasn’t that a rabbit thing? His thought faded quickly however as a headbutt to the groin from one of the bastards made a hatred for rodents blossom in William. He recovered after a brief recovery period and some snickering from Stacey.
“If I can’t use it any more, I’m sure you’ll be sad,” William said, getting to his feet.
“True, whilst I’m good with my hands, I much prefer your...ability,” Stacey replied, a cheeky grin almost splitting her face in two.
He could have swore she was getting cruder or more dirty minded as time went on. Not that he was complaining. William waited a few more moments for the pain to abate and once it had, he became much more attentive.
William pointed to a nearby warren and got Stacey to use a [Fire-Bolt] down it. A loud shrill sounded before a small flaming bundle of fur leaped out of the hole; straight onto William’s blade. A low squeak sounded briefly before the body slumped. William shook the dead creature from Sharpie and kept his sword in a half guard, pointing to the next warren.
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A half hour and a bit over passed by when the final rodent was skewered down William’s sword. He and Stacey would have needed longer if it wasn’t for their bonds. Echo had used his Echo Location skill to stun the ‘Jumpy Food’ as he put it whilst Ashen swooped down and clasped several with its talons for Stacey to kill with one of her daggers. The bonds were exceedingly helpful with their current skill sets. Their reward was that they could eat what they caught. William watched Stacey wipe her dagger off on her sleeve and sheath the blade. William made a mental note to use his own side daggers more as he had become heavily reliant on just his Mythril daggers. They were designed to work with his [Dagger Toss] as they were a throwing implement, but the ones by his side were an up close and personal type of weapon. William would make sure that if something makes it through his thrown daggers and his sword, that those twin daggers would be ready and waiting for his foe.
William wiped off his sweat and approached Stacey. She looked up at him with sweat on her own face and smiled with an expression that told William she gave it her all. William pulled her into him and kissed her on the lips.
They shared the moment for several seconds before Stacey lightly put her hands on his chest and said, “We should probably tell Fore that his pest problem is solved.”
William pressed his forehead to hers, not caring about the sweat and agreed with her. They walked back to the cabin holding hands and called out to Fore. The man emerged quickly, clearly worried something had gone wrong.
“All done,” William said, getting the announcement out early before any misunderstanding could occur.
Fore slowed then and his eyes narrowed before he said, “That was...rather quick.”
As if in answer, Echo crunched down on what remained of one of the creatures, it’s still twitching back legs visible from the creature’s mouth.
Fortunately, that was all Fore needed for confirmation.
“Well done both of you!” Fore said, eliciting a reaction from the two bonds. Echo stopped chomping and Ashen uncurled from under his wings. Both creatures locked eyes on him, making William struggle to hide his mirth. A gleam in Stacey’s eyes when he caught them showed something similar.
Fore cleared his throat and spoke once again, “All of you. All four of you. I suppose I’ll let you go and finish off the rest of the fields then.”
William went cold then. What other fields? As if reading William’s mind and expression, Fore spoke once again, “Oh, from the looks of your faces, you didn’t get the full work required for the Task. Other than me, there are six other plots of land, similar to my own within Everglade. All of us have had to deal with these vermin for a month now. I’d get to it quickly if you want to finish within the day.”
William cursed internally at their bad luck. It wouldn’t be difficult, but it would be tedious instead. That was something that felt far worse to William. They had to see it done though.
“We’ll get right on that, Fore. Thanks,” William said, starting to walk away, with Stacey and the bonds following.
Well, with Echo following at least. William refused to let the little guy eat a rat with blood leaking from it on his shoulder. Ashen was seeming content curled back up on Stacey’s shoulder.
When Fore said that they should be quick about the Task if they wanted to see it finished within the day, William hadn’t expected the man’s words to be eerily accurate. The cool night air caressed their skin and cooled them comfortably. They had learned that the canopy and thick outer walls lead the town’s internal temperature to be a couple degrees higher than outside or in the immediate area. The breeze as such, was welcomed. The rest of the day had been a nightmare. Echo and Ashen both got full up from the first two farms, Excluding Fore’s own. This meant that they had to digest and rest for the next two farms, causing the process to take longer. By the final two farms however, the bonds were back in top form. This was a saving grace for William and Stacey as otherwise their night would be a good amount longer.
Once they were finished, both agreed it would probably be too late to catch the councilors that day, so they started making their way back to the Inn, relying on William’s [Cartographer] skill to get them there. On the way, they noticed a sign that said ‘Fresh Pasta’. Their bellies rumbled and the two agreed that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to eat out for the night. William eyed the entrance, noticing that it was a set of stairs leading down into the base of a rather thick tree trunk. It wasn’t even close to Serendipity in thickness, but it was definitely one of the bigger ones. The walkways above their heads indicated that this tree was one of the main anchor points for the walkways of the upper tier.
William led his group into the restaurant, feeling a warm gust of air on his face as he reached the bottom of the steps. Inside was a circular room with solid wooden walls that had candlelit alcoves in them and a large drinks bar creating a semi circle at the back of the room. Behind that was a cabinet of bottled drinks, two doors, and a well robed individual, cleaning a tankard with a rag. Tables for one, two, four, and six were visible and some of each had people on them. It wasn’t overly busy so they were able to rush over towards one of the few booths available.
Sitting down, William felt the soft cushion underneath and let out a delighted sigh of relief. It was the first time that he had sat down in hours. Stacey mimicked his sigh as she sat beside him. Echo and Ashen lay down under the table, getting comfy on a fur rug that lined the floor of the booth. The walls of the booth had three alcoves with candles in them and a deep brown wooden table, circular in shape.
“What do you fancy?” William asked with a smile.
Stacey put a finger to her chin in thought and then shrugged immediately after.
“The pasta I guess. There was another sign that said ale is complementary with a main meal. Did you see it?” Stacey said, pointing to the sign that was on the opposite wall.
How had he missed that? He didn’t give himself time to get caught up in the surprise however as a waiter appeared in the same garb as the guy behind the counter.
“How can I take your order today?” The waiter said, baring a smile that didn’t reach the eyes and a semi bored tone present in his voice.
“Two of your main pasta dish please. With the complementary ales too. Thanks,” William replied, giving what he hoped was a polite smile back.
The waiter nodded simply and waved to the guy behind the bar. William and Stacey saw the man lift two fingers up and then did a drinking motion with the same hand. The bar man nodded and pulled out two tankards. The man walked over to a keg that had a tube and cork stopper on it. William watched as an amber liquid poured from the keg and filled their tankards up tot he brim, leaving a light white foam on the top. The bar man put them down on the counter for the waiter to collect. Moments later, two tankards the size of William’s head were in front of the pair’s wide eyes. The waiter told them that food wouldn’t take too long and moved on to the next table. It was another ten coppers gone, but the ale alone seemed worth the price to William, so he had high hopes for the pasta.
The pasta arrived in two wooden bowls with the typical yellow colour, but covered in a green paste. William and Stacey took in the sight and smell, then shared a knowing glance. They both tested the pasta to try and confirm their suspicions. It was as they thought. The dish was pesto pasta. William and Stacey were wide eyed now before they dug in with vigor. The taste of a dish from their home planet was a pleasant experience. William fell in love with the Ale too. It had a mild hop taste that was complimented with a nice citrus note. A couple bits of the pasta had secretly found their way onto the floor where the bonds were. The four of them then ate and drank with good cheer and high spirits.
William had a long day of annoying bouncy rats, groin shots from said rats...yes there were a couple more over the day, and long work in the sunlight, but the final meal and rest of the day were well worth it.