What followed was the most awkward conversation over a meal in the history of the Fifskae.

I had agreed to the champion's entry on the condition that we kept the bolt as collateral, which as the conversation continued and he got hungry, we found out was moot.

He asked one more time if we had anything to eat, preferably not meat because he was tired of it.

Everyone in the room looked at him in shock at that suggestion.

How do you get tired of the meat here?

Is he honestly suggesting that he's eaten so much of it that it's begun to bore his palate?

After I regained my composure, I asked him to provide some of the food if he wanted that.

He told me that it was only fair and left.

He came back after about an hour with a multitude of creatures that looked like a kiltricur but with a smaller head and a curved tail... the champion apparently called them 'scorposquirrels' for some unknowable reason.

It occurred to me to ask how he caused such massive holes in each one.

Apparently, he had five more bolts in his side-satchel under some food he had packed for the exploration mission.

This champion was exceedingly cunning to mask extra ammunition with a strong-smelling thing such as food, we'll have to be more careful to check him in the future.

We had brought out the plants we knew we could eat in exchange as promised.

The champion immediately stuffed his face with several different types of plants, not even checking them for poisons... perhaps his kind was immune?

It certainly seemed like it, as the worst reaction he had was to our most powerful toxin was this:

"Woah, that's real spicy! Man, I missed spiciness!"

"Spicy? What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's a flavor that simulates the burning sensation of a freshly cooked food. Did you guys not want any?"

We had to handle the plants we brought with towels in order not to be wracked in pain, we were even planning on throwing the towels away because we had no way of washing them without hurting ourselves significantly afterward. "No, we brought all of this for you."

"That's a shame, I thought we'd being having a lunch date... wait that's not what I meant to say." The champion seemed embarrassed for some reason.

"What is a 'lunch date'?" Or even 'lunch' for that matter, but it'll likely be evident soon.

He squirmed in his seat for a moment, before finally answering. "It means to... wow how do I even put this... it means to find a prospective mate... over a noonday meal."

This was the second time he called me a prospective mate, I wasn't sure whether or not to be flattered, he wasn't completely unattractive, even if most of inhabitants here would have fun at my expense for being a 'smoothy'.

Mostly, it put me on guard, as he's a champion, clearly he could just...

I forced the thought out of my mind, we need to find out what can hurt him before it comes to anything of the sort.

I noticed he hadn't touched any of one of the plants. "Why haven't you eaten any of that one?"

"The poison ivy?"

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He literally just told us that one of the plants we eat to supplement our diets as it was rich in a necessary chemical for us to survive, was poison.

I was oddly offended by this. "Poison?!" Oh no! I did it again! I didn't mean to take such a tone, but he's just so infuriating to talk to!

"Yeah, it gives us humans a nasty rash if we touch it..." He suddenly looked at me very seriously. "You didn't rub it on any of the other plants right?"

My face went slack as I lost all emotion at once, just by the sheer stupidity of this situation. "It gives you... a rash...?"

"Yeah, if we touch it... it could be bad if I eat it though... back to my question about whether you touched the other plants with it."

I looked to our poisoner who shrugged.

"We're not sure."

He nodded morosely, touching his fingertips to his forehead. "If you didn't take any special precautions the answer is probably 'yes'... I should have checked with you sooner!" He began to cry. "I'm going to die, not because of all of the horrible things that tried to kill me, but because I was so hasty to eat something different that I didn't check if it was poisonous!"

We had succeeded in our goal of poisoning the champion, and he somehow didn't even suspect us... but for some reason, it felt wrong. "Is there anything we can do for you?" I asked, mostly to gauge his reaction.

He shrugged, consigned to his fate. "I don't know." He exhaled deeply as he came to terms with current events. "I'll tell you what, if I die, you guys can have my stuff."

Everyone's eye's shot open in surprise and joy.

Except me.

This was great news. We finally have a weapon that can kill the champions, and this one will likely even explain how it works to us...

...So, why did it hurt me to hear...?

The champion explained that he didn't know how long it would be until the poison the took effect, so he elected to stay with us until the end.

He told us stories about his life here thus far, and when he ran out of those, he started telling us some things about his homeworld.

His homeworld sounded like a very strange and intensely dangerous place, but he made absolute light of it, as if it wasn't even worth noting in some cases.

Once he ran out of funny stories, he told us about some he made up.

The other Fifskae were smiling because of the stories, faces finally showing signs of hope after so long.

I was afraid I couldn't join them, no matter how much I tried to force myself to smile... I just couldn't do it.

After about ten hours, the champion started wheezing and coughing a little bit.

That's when explained to us how to use the crossbow, without even having to be asked.

The next hour was full of his increasing discomfort, as he struggled more and more to breathe.

When I originally thought of this plan, I didn't expect for him to survive so long.

It's clearly not my fault for his constitution that keeps him alive for so long to suffer.

It's not my fault that he has to die so painfully.

It's not my fault...

By the twelfth hour, he couldn't even stand anymore, so we laid him down on his deathbed.

His entire face was swollen, along with his throat.

His breathing was labored, barely even there.

Even despite that, he smiled at me.

I exploded at him. "Why?! Why won't you blame me for poisoning you?!"

He shook his head slowly, barely audible. "You... didn't... know..."

I tried to kill you!

Why are you so trusting of us?!

The only reason you can even say that is because you happened to be immune to the kind of poison I tried to kill you with!

So why?!

Why is it so hard for you to hate me for it?!

I was fighting back tears then, trying my best to keep my composure.

"It... was nice... knowing... all of you..."

It was nice?

How dare you tell me you liked it here?!

We were here struggling from day one to survive this hideous place, and then you showed up it and...

...You made all of our lives better...

Damn it!

I'd be so much easier to hate you if you hated me!

Something inside me tore, and I started to cry.

Suddenly, he started gasping for air, clearly not getting any.

I couldn't watch this.

I had to think fast... what could I do to stop this?

He's physiology is backwards, maybe something that would kill us would help?

That's it!

"Juohen! Fetch me your poisons!"

----------------------------------------

Andrew

I couldn't breathe, nothing was in my lungs.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't.

Then it was silence, and I felt numb.

Everything went dark.

It felt like I was floating... kinda like I was immersed in water.

After a moment, the numbness went away again, my throat and face were engulfed in pain.

I breathed in.

My lungs accepted the air.

My vision returned to see the cat-satyr lady, she looked like she had been crying.

I lifted an arm to attempt to wipe her tears, but she shied from my hand, so I brought it back to my chest instead.

After a moment, she spoke. "I figured that you would probably take it well, your species is so backwards.."

I tried to say something and she put a hand-paw over my mouth.

"No, don't speak, you barely have enough air right now as it is." She swallowed hard. "We just saved you with one of our deadliest poisons... one that makes your blood so thin you can't breathe... I guess they canceled out."

I gave her a smile.

Yeah, I like her a lot I think.