Norbert entered camp again, looking in the food tent and seeing people eating inside. Moving his head about, Norbert looked for Martitia, wanting to get his report in soon before he slumped over from lack of sleep.
Seeing her at the table, he went over, notifying her of the beasts he saw last night and asking why there were so many compared to the day. Nodding and not hearing the response, Norbert waved back to her before exiting the tent.
Looking around, Norbert tried to find a place to get some shut-eye. Seeing no trees on the hill, Norbert went around to the side of a tent, at least stopping the sunlight from interrupting him and getting out of everyone's way. Reaching into his backpack, Norbert removed his coat, covering it over his head. Norbert went to sleep as his coat landed on it.
***
In the tent, everyone stared at Norbert as he left. Nancy spoke up. "Like I was tired, but I still came back when it was dark", She said, slowly going quiet at the end. Looking at her, Mathaos, next to Norbert from last night, piped up, "Are we gonna need someone to cover his shift?" looking towards Martitia.
Still eating her food, she picked up her cup, draining it. With a sigh, she put it down before looking around. "He will be fine. Give him half a rotation, and he will be back up and out there, or at least that's what the report says." The rest of the group looked at her in shock at what she had heard.
That was going to the level of not even being human. Some of them doubted what was being said; word spread to the other tables of the zombie that had gone in and out. Going around, wagers started to be placed on how long until he was back here.
***
While waking up with a yawn, Norbert looked around, seeing that the sun hadn't moved. Not believing the time in this place was wack compared to back on Earth, Norbert looked around; seeing Obsius perching on the tent, Norbert went and placed his coat back into his backpack on the ground.
Stretching as he stood up, breathing in a deep breath of air, Norbert brushed his pants, picked up his backpack and looked for everyone. Around the camp, Norbert looked, unable to see people still around. Walking, he heard the conversation from the food tent. Walking back in again, Norbert saw everyone in the same places as the last time he was there.
Sheepishly walking up to Martitia again, Norbert looked down at her. The rest of the room is quiet. "Sorry, your going to need to repeat yourself; I've forgotten what you want me to do today?"
Norbert looked around the room, everyone staring at him. Some people start to whisper again to each other, hearing the clinking of coins against each other. Not understanding why people would be changing hands, Norbert looked back to Martitia.
"Is it payday today?" Norbert asked. Everyone looked at him in the tent before laughter engulfed it. Norbert, not understanding what was happening, just chuckled a bit.
Martiita, holding her cup to her lips, waited for the sound to die again before responding, "You will do the same as you did yesterday; go over the river this time, but be careful. Dousan believes there is some creature hunting during the day, which is why there are so many beasts at night. Whatever is out there during the day is what we are after." She said, drinking from her cup. Clanking it on the table, she said, "And payday isn't for a couple of days. Now if there isn't anything else, get out there, scout."
Norbert looked around, knowing he was being dismissed. Looking towards the food on the table, Norbert just left the need for food not at him yet. Not knowing how long he would be out, Norbert looked for food that could be eaten later. Seeing some fruits, Norbert took three, one of each type. An orange, an apple and a pear. Hoping they would taste similar, Norbert waved again and left the tent.
Looking outside, Norbert first looked around the village, trying to remember the signs from Flare-dew Norbert looked until he found the one he was looking for. Pushing on the door, it slid inside, squeaking on its metal hinges as Norbert did so. Looking around, Norbert saw that he had found the right shop, for along the walls were animal hides and garments to be used.
Looking through them for leather gloves that could fit, after not even finding any section for it, Norbert went up to the woman sitting at the counter, sewing pieces of leather together.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"Good morning; I was wondering if you had any leather gloves and how much they would be?" The woman looked up, her hands pausing momentarily before uttering, "Fifty copper, and for you they would need to be made."
With a frown, Norbert replied, "I don't have fifty copper on me. How about I give you twenty-five now and the rest when I come to pick it up?"
The woman nodded in response, continuing to go back to her work. Norbert took out his coin pouch, counted his coins and placed them on the table. Making five neat piles of five coins, when the last coin was placed, the woman swiped all of them up, placing them into a draw.
As Norbert was about to leave, he turned around, asking, "How long will they take?"
"Only a few days," the woman said, nodding again. Norbert went and left, the door again squeaking when he opened it. With that done for the day, Norbert breathed in once more before turning around and heading outside the village, heading toward the river.
Now familiar with the environment and having his trusty guide Obsiu,s Norbert quickly made his way to the river, not needing to climb any of the hills and just running around the base of them. Looking up, Norbert saw the clouds from the night before had abated, giving him a beautiful clear day. Still, occasionally Norbert checked in case something would come up from behind and scoop him up.
Fortunately for Norbert, no such thing happened, and he was standing at the bank of the river looking out the other side. Looking around, Norbert tried to see a way across that would not entail a swim. Looking into the river, Norbert looked down to the bottom, seeing if he could walk over it without getting a minuscule amount wet. Seeing it not being an option, Norbert knew he would be getting wet, as there was no crossing over the side he was on.
Looking up the hill he came from, Norbert slowly climbed while breathing deeply, feeling his body rejuvenated, his hands slightly purple. Norbert looked down and sprinted down the hill. Just as he was about to touch the water, Norbert jumped for all he could. With the wind across his face, Norbert felt like he had flown until he started falling. Arms windmilling Norbert tried to get balance but, being unable to, ended up smacking into the river after crossing most of it, just the shallows on this side.
Feeling the cold water bite into his flesh Norbert quickly raised on shaky legs and walked out, looking down at himself. The water did not leave him, soaking into the cloth underneath the leather, feeling it stick to his legs.
Walking up the hill to the other side, Norbert looked at the top, seeing Obsius sitting there completely dry, the bird flying over. Walking up to the top, Norbert dropped his backpack on the ground, looking inside and happy that it was still dry, the book not ruined. Norbert started removing his clothes to ring out as much water as possible.
Wearing them again, only now feeling slightly damp but unable to do anything about it, Norbert looked across at the new land he would be investigating. The line of bushes Norbert saw previously was there, only about knee height. Looking at them, Norbert saw berries of some kind on them. Making a note of the little red balls, Norbert left them alone, not wanting to die from some strange magical poisonous plant.
Looking ahead, Norbert finally saw animals of all sizes. The other side had nothing at all there. This site was teeming with life. With precisely one type of animal, he had not seen over here. Insects.
Or what Norbert assumed to be insects; looking from his distance, he saw some that could fly, others that were walking across the land. Beetles with dragonfly wings, creatures rolling on the ground. As Norbert looked at them, he remembered his time in the trees, where he met Obsius. The size of these creatures was staggering. Some are as tall as elephants, and others are just regular size. Able to more easily identify the species as they were all vastly different, Norbert noticed that some ranged from the smallest to the biggest.
Sitting on the ground, Norbert reached into his backpack, pulling out the book and one of the fruits; looking at it, seeing it was the apple, Norbert bit in, feeling the juices run down his cheeks. Happy in his decision that it did taste like an apple, Norbert took another bite before opening up the book of beasts and seeing what he could find.
***
Closing the book, happy about what he found, Norbert looked and placed the book back in his bag, the apple's core discarded long ago. Looking back, he could identify most of the insects he found; after his multiple looks, it was at least arranged in species types. In the book, Norbert saw an entire section for underwater creatures. Flicking through, he stopped quickly, most of them having scales for size being monstrous.
Looking around at the insects moving with each other, Norbert walked along the ridge he was on, not wanting to get closer in case any followed him and not wanting to have hundreds of creatures on his tail. Walking along, Norbert saw some of them fighting with each other, allowing him to see their types; feeling the heat come at him, Norbert ducked underneath a fireball. Whipping his head around, Norbert looked, seeing that one of the insects was looking right at him.
Taking off immediately, Norbert watched them from the corner of his eye; around the bank, he heard a chitter and the movement of his legs. Turning around, Norbert saw a rainbow wave approaching him from all angles. With stealth no longer an option and wanting to try and get them off his back, Norbert dived direct away from the river to get some information about this strange place.
Obsius already taking to the sky, Norbert saw the bird flying back to the camp. Breathing in, he charged, jumping as the first insects approached him.