Mrs. Strawberry heard sounds, that was the first thing that she noticed, sounds that were not allowing her to enjoy the warm comforting darkness that she had been part of moments before. She realized that her eyes were closed, it was an odd notion to realize that she could open her eyes. She finally identified the sound that was not letting her keep her eyes closed.

It was whistling.

She opened her eyes to see a stone ceiling high above her. Another quick glance told her she was in a cell of sorts, though it felt warmer and more comfortable than she would have expected. Sitting on the other side of the bars was an older black man, wearing a crisp white tunic, dark brown leather breeches. He gave her a non-threatening smile “Hello.”

Mrs. Strawberry peered at the bearded man as he peeled the apple with a pocketknife "You are not what I was expecting.”

The man grinned up at her “I will take it as a compliment, you are much calmer and composed than I was expecting as well.”

The cook slowly sat up, there had been a blanket draped over her with some care “If there weren’t bars I would have a hard time believing that I was a prisoner.”

The man looked slightly apologetic “Well, it was more for your safety than anything. Everyone in my kingdom was wanting to cut your buddies up, luckily my personal guard found you first. I don’t suppose you are going to tell me where your comrades are?”

The ranger kicked her feet over the edge and fully faced the man “I hope that you aren’t going to waste your time trying to torture me for the information.”

The man looked visibly appalled "Gods no, torture would simply get me lies, everybody knows that, only an idiot will do it and expect otherwise. I am an intelligent man, so I will politely ask where Devourer is?"

"What happens if I don't tell you?" Mrs. Strawberry asked with an even tone.

"Well, it will be mildly frustrating." The man answered as he sliced the apple into eighths and offered her some.

She took it and nibbled on the piece "Truth potion?"

He looked intrigued "I don't know who has captured you before, but they need some serious reforms. Only a complete idiot would do these things. Good gods where are you from?"

Mrs. Strawberry ignored the question "Well, you are being very civil, you don't seem as rambunctious as the soldiers and populace. They tried to burn us alive in a cottage and then run us through with swords."

"Sometimes the populace makes their own decisions. A three-hundred-year-old dish that is ruined makes a lot of people mad, since it is part of the culture. Now that you are actually within my castle nobody is going to try to mess with you, as you are now the King’s guest. I have you here to protect you, I'm hoping to find the rest of your troop to put them here as well. Until things settle down some. Yes, Devourer did go and do some reprehensible things but it was an honest mistake. I am willing to let it slide, just no more drinking for him within my kingdom or dancing in bars."

"That is very generous of you."

"No, it's sensible understanding the context behind the action and making a decision based on that context is the logical thing to do.” He realized he was being overly logical and changed the subject by pointing at her wedding ring “Your ring it is very pretty, especially that green stone set in the top."

"Oh, yes a gift from my Late Husband." She affectionately brushed her fingertips across it.

"How did he die? Wa--"

"--excuse me sir, I know the whereabouts of the wanted fugitive Devourer." A guard wearing a large floppy hat said approaching.

Mrs. Strawberry thought the voice was familiar.

"Where?" the old king with the walrus white mustache asked, taking another bite of his apple.

"Here!" the guard shouted, throwing off his oversized hat to reveal Devourer.

The ranger could see the disaster that was about to occur, she threw her apple at the Auris as she shouted "Stop!"

The Auris froze mid spin, looking confused at the cook "But I was about to rescue you."

She pushed the door of her cell open "I don't need to be rescued dear. He has me in here to keep his people from going all crazy."

"Oh" Devourer looked crestfallen.

“I appreciate the effort though, dear.” Mrs. Strawberry looked at the king ‘’So, what now?”

The man held his arms open wide “Well, I keep you guys here for a few weeks til things settle down, then I pardon you and you go about your business.”

“You only have six days to find and defeat the terrible Colligere.” The rock warned from Devourer’s pocket. Before the three-ear could say anything, a young page walked up with a piece of paper, the king unfolded it, his face visibly changing from relaxed to strained with each word he read.

Mrs. Strawberry queried “I don’t mean to intrude, but is everything okay?”

The king twisted his mustache “No, not good at all. There is a wandering Realm Ripper that has decided to create havoc in my kingdom, been ripping open gateways to other realms and letting all manner of monsters through, they are swarming the north side of my borders. When the army deploys to catch him, he just scurries away and hides. This is the fifth incident. All our adventurers that are a high enough level to deal with him are out on other higher priority quests.” He tweaked his mustache self-consciously “I’m sorry, I started rambling, it is frustrating to see people with no attachment causing issues.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Mrs. Strawberry leaned over a little to catch Devourer’s eye “If only there was a team of fighters that could help out on short notice.” she raised her eyebrow.

The Auris took a moment to catch her drift and a smile touched his lips “I think I know such a team.”

The woman cleared her throat to get the king’s attention. Her posture shifting to exude confidence. “What if there was an adventuring group available right now to take care of your problem?”

The king sighed “Wish there was, but like I said all the elites are out with more important missions.”

Devourer picked up the cue “Not a group that you are currently utilizing, they are elite and they are captive to your every word right now.”

The king noted the expressions and made the connection finally “You would be better utilized in the field. Than sitting here doing nothing. And it would simplify all this mess” He turned to the page “Get me the border liaison then get these two some fresh clothing.”

Mrs. Strawberry was gracious “Thank you.”

It was several hours later that the two were poring over a map while sipping on honeyed mead. Their backs to the closed door, they didn’t see it open soundlessly, nor did they see the dark figure prowl inside, they did jump when the shadow spoke “For the love of all that is primal!’ Descendre’s hiss was far from pleased “How long have you both been free?!”

“Oh. Hi Descendre” Devourer said turning back to the map, he read another Realm Ripper report and placed a little x on the corresponding location on the map “We’ve been out for several hours, actually got us a quest that will take us off the wanted posters, from multiple kingdoms. You’re welcome.”

Descendre’s expression changed from annoyance to curiosity “Wait, so all good, the decimation of those five bars when you decided to ‘dance’ and started brawls…even our crushing debt created by Onion when he decided to experience high stakes gambling?”

The Auris paused “No, that would have been a good idea. I was just worrying about my mess.”

The cat rolled her eyes in annoyance as she prayed to the gods above for patience. “This is why I am supposed to handle negotiations, who did you set this up with?”

“With me.” The king said from his perch atop a tall ladder that leaned against the three-story high bookshelves “Yes the debt is negated as well, the expense to deal with your opponent is costing more than any of your debts could.”

Devourer’s singsong whispered. “Don’t be so suuuuure.”

The king with practiced ease, turned, placed both feet against the arms of the ladder and slid down to the carpeted floor. He meandered over with a book “Here is the last notes from two hundred years ago when my kingdom dealt with the last Realm Ripper.”

Descendre made some hissing snarling cough, Mrs. Strawberry looked with concern “Are you all right?”

Devourer chuckled and muttered “She’s fine, she’s cursing in the Derkaz tongue. She doesn’t like dealing with Realm Rippers.”

“You’ve fought one of them before?” the king asked with a little awe in his voice.

The cat rumbled “I helped track it as a kitten, we had some heavy hitters that did the real fighting.” She paused, walked over to a window in the hallway leading to the library and shouted to someone below “They’re in here, we’re all good, working on a quest from the king.”

There was a muted response from Onion below, the cat listened and responded “No, they are fine, they just forgot about us.” pause for muffled response “Yes, I am aware how rude that is. Now get up here where you can help, thank you.”

It took several more hours of the team to narrow down a likely area to start hunting for their quarry. By that time it was late into the evening. Luckily while they had been researching the castle staff had prepared them rations and the necessary equipment, replenishing or replacing the items in their packs that were warranted. The king had a keen eye for attention, telling his warehouse manager to switch one type of climbing rope for another to reduce weight without reducing strength “Only downside to this material is that in high altitudes it is too light while climbing.”

The cook peered at it closely when it was delivered “This is incredibly well woven.”

The king smiled “I appreciate the compliment it is one of my designs. As is this,” he held up an odd-shaped knife, then offered it to her hilt first “My people needed an easy way to deal with a parasitic creature that kills our trees and livestock. The knife is perfectly designed to be thrown at the only soft spot of the creature’s armor.”

Mrs. Strawberry hefted the blade “I use kitchen knives and the like all the time, this is elegantly balanced.” She spun the blade on her palm, then rotated it to get the heft and the feel, she corrected her statement “Perfectly balance.”

The king smiled “I am glad you like it. We have bi-yearly tournaments to see who can throw their weapon the best and most true, what it means is that one of our major sports trains our people to protect themselves, children idolize the big sports champions, and they too learn to handle the knives with respect and skill.”

Devourer accepted the blade from the cook “Craftsmanship is superb too, must take a lot of time to forge one of these.”

One of the pages spoke up beaming pride and enthusiasm “Mass produced, our king had the best blacksmiths and artisans work on a design then had them figure out a way to create them with minimum resources and effort. He is a genius.”

The king chuckled “I’m just smart enough to make trouble for myself. All that mattered was getting that parasitic creature down under control, we are at the point where they are in reduced numbers and we now simply manage the population.”

The ranger raised an eyebrow “You are doing animal conservation? I would love to hear about that, that used to be my job.”

Devourer piped up “Maybe we can have that discussion another time, we are on the clock and we probably will want to be moving out by night to avoid any unpleasant discussions with the local populace.”

Descendre raised an eyebrow “Who are you and what did you do with my friend Devourer?”

The Auris stuck his tongue out “I can be sensible, thank you very much.”

The adventurers left by cover of night in a horse drawn wagon, back the way that they had originally come. The king drove them. He wore a straw hat. A woman dressed in dull brown robe with nothing but a single eye showing rode beside him. They rode into the night, letting the four adventurers disembark just as the sun started to rise on the Tuesday morning. The king helped Mrs. Strawberry climb down, then Devourer and Onion “Be safe.”

The last to leave was Descendre, the king lifted the blanket off the large cat “Keep em alive.”

The cat smiled “Will do.”

The king turned the cart around and headed back to the castle. Mrs. Strawberry looked with slight concern “Will he be safe travelling back without a guard?”

Descendre was looking around the forested area, only paying slight attention to the question “Yes, he is fine, the woman he is riding with is a Coulro, anybody foolish enough to attack him would not live to regret it. Devourer, can you get us some good parameters to start searching?”

The Auris took the map and laid it out on a large rock to start figuring out placement, using his compass to orient the map “This looks good, about a day’s hike. Would have been nice to have some mounts to ride but it looks pretty treacherous footing and none of their steeds are built for that. We can still make good time, how are we on the fungus cottages?”

Descendre popped open her satchel “We have two more cottage mushrooms, and three protector mushrooms. I vote we keep the cottages as a reserve in case it rains.”

Onion was standing still, his root feet sunken into the ground, his leaves and flowers pointed towards the golden shafts of sunlight “Rain is my favorite weather. I don’t mind the castle but as you know my roots can’t pass through rock and it’s weird to not hear the roottalk beneath my feet.”

“Totally get it.” Mrs. Strawberry said as she adjusted her satchel filled with spices and cooking gear “I love the rain too, and the thunderstorms. The booming that surrounds me and makes me think of battling gods high above. Great way to fall asleep.”

Devourer gave her a perturbed look “Rain ruins good clothes, makes em all humid. You ever seen a drowned rat? I look like that when it rains.”