I’m staring without seeing as I wait for the trees to clear and my little house on a hill to come into view. Screaming Red keeps their grip on me as a trio of hooded figures, hands clasped and heads bowed respectfully, shuffle over. We’re out of the woods in a plain I don’t remember, so I’m assuming that they’ve been cutting the trees and flattening the area. There’s a couple of sod houses, smoking covered pits, no trees, no farm, no river, and no house. I idly scan as they greet me and tell me their chosen names.

Red and black and purple, mottled fur, female. Pretty sure she might’ve been of the sideways jaw. She says her name is Strong Claw. The next hulking figure is red and black, their hair an even mix of colors, and I think they were the melty boy with the twisted spine. Apparently she has chosen the name River’s Shores, and I cringe as I let out a bark of laughter. I can’t help it! She had a curvy spine and she’s like, I’m a river!

Screaming Red, my second apparently, the Keeper of the Lore, my Ambassador to the outside, the Land Manager busy body who won’t stop bopping my butt is calling himself Heaven’s Fire. Apparently he was the runt that sat in the tree and whined until I figured stuff out, the one who had it easiest. Last of the survivor’s – holy shit, the four survived? -- is Gentle Fish. I’m sure the information is noted accurately in my logs, but I’m not going to call them by their names anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

-Where’s my house and who the fuck are the ‘Light Bearers’?- I finally snap after the introductions are done and we’re not moving.

“Your what?”Jaws frowns before trying to smile politely while looking to the others.

-My house? Big wood building with a kitchen and stoves and --.- There’s no way in hell they haven’t found my house yet. -How long was I asleep?-

“From our understanding you were asleep for three years,” Red, the only one of them that is just natural deep red, says slowly, voice lowered, and I swear to the gods if they tell me I’m making a scene I’m going to find their shit--.

I deflate as I realize that anything they have was probably made by me, in me, and eating it would just be repossessing their shit.

-Wait, you’ve been --. Ugh...- I trail off and slump.

Persephone was in me for longer, – heh, – but that’s still a lot of developing time. So they’re adults not just jumped up, overfed, bebes. Good to know.

-Fack,- I stare up at the sky, waiting for them to figure out that I’m asking about my personal abode, my kitchen, with all my--. -Poison!- I tense up and try to thrash free. -For the love of all tell me you didn’t destroy my kitchen!-

“Ah! The toxic woods,” Red says, the others making sounds of understanding while nodding knowingly.

-This is stupid.-

I get over being polite and trying to understand whatever the fuck, and just go up. A shift to the sky to hover over everything and I’m treated to the sight of some farmland, some woods, a forest, a lake, and I want to puke in rage when I realize that these fuckers somehow leveled my void. Mountains mean power. Mountains are progress! I just got up to tall hills and these assholes --.

Did they do this by hand or ask me to trash my own shit in my sleep? Oh, no, I’m going to rage puke. No, oh--. I touch down in some random field of –.

Are they growing grains? Are they making bread or just boiling them? I didn’t see a mill, then again I didn’t see much of anything. They’ve got a couple of small mounds and some pits, and did they turn my river into a shallow field? They dug out my river and planted rice. What about my fish? My void! These assholes are worse than Broadband Chicken!

I don’t care that they tracked me down by following my wails. I don’t care that I’m on my back kicking and screaming. And they can kiss my unshaved, silky ass if they think I’m going to calm down because they’re watching.

“River’s Shores cultivates poisons similar to those that were found in the raised wooden burrow,” Red says consolingly. I keep thrashing, punching and slashing at the air while glaring at Red.

Red turns to Scoliosis and gives a nod before Bendy Straw shuffles off. I start thrashing more as Red comes to scoop me up. Try it, asshole! I know I brought them here, and I know they had help fucking me over, but where’s my shit?!

I freeze and realize that they might have traded my shit to the assholes outside my void. There’s no guarantee that the dumbasses from my party understood who Trinity was or even kept renting out the room. Red said I leaked, right? That they were passing notes back and forth? Did they trade my hard won spoils for some --. Didn’t they request foods from me? Wait. They wouldn’t know what to request. Ah.

I calm, legs splayed as I go limp. I could groom. I sigh and start grooming as I look around. Do they harvest this shit or do they request for me to harvest and replant?

Bendy Straw comes back carrying a pottery jar with what looks like rough stone or mud plugging the opening. They set it down nearby, Red backing up as they pull out a little club – literally a bulbous mini-baseball bat. Or is it a pestle? -- and break the mud off with small taps. Oh, there’s a lid. They sealed the pot with mud?

“This poison is a liquid, but I’ve got a few powders as well,” Bendy Straw carefully removes the lid with one hand, the other arm raised to cover their mouth and nose as they back away.

I sigh, flip over and give a little shake before wandering over. They try to gently tell me not to get too close, to be careful, and I reach up and tip the jar to drink from it. There’s screaming, there’s panic, Red charges at me then stops when they try to figure out how to move me without tipping the jar, and I think these fuckers made Black Blood Moonshine. This shit is strong, less tea like, -- I take another sip, -- tastes more like what I remember flavored liqueurs tasting like. I tried branching out into different kinds of booze and syrups, but I’ve always been simple. Guess I stayed simple.

-Not bad, but I prefer regular Black Blood Wine,- I inform them, righting the pot and backing away so they’ll stop freaking out. -The stuff in the wood place? That wasn’t poison, that was food. For me. Poison for you, I guess, but that’s what I eat. It’s why it was so fucking hard trying to figure out what to do with you guys besides letting hunters train you or some rando’s figure out how you guys were made.-

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I start grooming as Bendy Straw hastily recovers the jar, packing dirt around the edge after making sure I didn’t spill any of it.

-Got anything else?- I ask. I’m hungry and I don’t want to chew on some fucking grass. -What did you do to my house? Give me the good information or I’ll just wander around and figure it out myself. With snacks.-

How’s that for a threat? I go back to grooming as Red and Bendy get into a shouting match over whether or not I should be allowed into Bendy’s burrow to mess with their stuff, destroying their hardwork, and ruining their research before I go into my bank to see if I have any of my shit left.

I’m going to eat their “delicate” and “expensive” gourmet poisons. Fack, I ate everything. I don’t have pastes --. Where’re my mill clouds?

-One, I’m going to eat your poisons and rebuild my void,- I interrupt them as the other two start coming over to see what all the noise is about. -Two, I’m hungry, and I want to know where all my shit’s gone.-

I also plan on finishing the lake and what not, but that’s neither here nor there. I groom, they convene and consult, and I have fish. Smoked, grilled, fried, raw, and living. It’s in my bank, and the number for some of them are going up. What the actual fuck. How? Where?

-Did you guys build a fish farm?- I ask, idly dropping a living thing of snaggle-teeth and spiny fins on the ground to see what the hell kinda fish this is. -Oops.-

The fish thrashes and flails, somehow powering through the loose dirt of the farm like it’s swimming in shallow water, slapping me and knocking the shit outta the quad. They’re screaming as this thing, -- fuck, it’s the size of a bus. Where the hell were they breeding these? -- starts devastating the crops. It’s not even eating them, just plowing through and tearing them apart. The bits that git hit by the fins on its sides get sliced, the crops hit by the tail turn to confetti. Shoo-ie! That’s a whole lotta fish!

[Piercing Shot Successful]

[Successful Use: 94/100]

[Qi -30]

[Karma -5]

[Feeding Unsuccessful]

[Successful Use: 1,625/100]

[Con. Qi +1]

[Qi +50]

[Karma +5]

[Current Condensed Qi: 1,831,067/23,816,974]

[Current Qi: 1,811,502/957,945,100]

[Current Karma: 95,267,897/107,275,977]

[Mortal Wallet: 12E,692K,180P,687R,179Da,155De,105k]

[Spirit Wallet: 0Dr,0Ph,0Th,1325Di,126Co,10680St]

-Hmm?-

I lay down as the debris settles, banking a few scales to get access to the fish’s skin. I’ve been feeding on what for how long? Oh! The lake! Right… I enjoy my simple sashimi, ignoring the Quartet as they lament the loss of their wheat, -- is it though? Do they really have wheat or is this just how my brain is translating it? --, and I mumble about the loss of my everything before I keep eating.

So… Fish. No. Wait. Feeding. Feeding? Quests! Boards! Gimme da cheese! I grunt rhythmically, a not so silent cheer of “Go!” -- without the words, but to the same rhythm. What is wrong with me? -- as I dive into the Boards while stuffing my face on --. I pause to stare at the fish, it’s grey and black scales are just grey. I swear it had a dark shimmer to it.

-Is this a demon fish?- I ask out loud.

Why the hell are they breeding demon fish in my void?

“A side effect of bank propagation, or so we were told,” one of the smaller ones says. It’s not Bendy, or Red, or Jaws. Was this Guts? The eager beaver that got ripped to ribbons trying to eat me? That’d be hilarious! Keeps going for the safe bet on food and finding monsters? Ha! Poor bastard. Bitch? I think the fish monger is a girl. Wait. How many girls do I have?

-Not mine!- I remind myself. They’re not my kids, and neither were the triplets. -I still haven’t eaten them...- I mumble to myself before turning back to the fish.

Should I just climb into it? Wouldn’t be the first time I ate something from the inside out… No. That’d be rude. I’m still waiting on the quartet to update me, and I’m kinda interested in what Guts is --. Oh, she was talking this whole time. Um… Something about my energy affecting fish grown. They’re crossbreeding the fish? In my bank? Like not in my void but stored away? Then what the fuck is all this grain --.

I stop myself as I remember I too enjoy flavored breads and baked goods what for dipping in tasty fish paste. Huh. I didn’t make these guys, but I kind did, didn’t I? They were shaped by my energies in my bank as they developed. Well, my energies and the poisons, lightly sculpted by some outside help, but otherwise they are kinda mine. But not really.

I shake myself before I can go to far down that line of thinking and focus on stuffing my face. While the quartet carve the fish up around me. Gods bless --. Ugh! And they’re banking. But it’s cheap. Free? Why the hell can they bank for free? Is it ‘cause we’re in my void space? No. Requests!

Holy shit. That’s a lot of fish. And noodles. What the fuck? Scrying Glass? Oh, the --. I sit and fume, chewing angrily on a scale that feels more like metal than fingernail or chip as I read that they fed me some of the spatial storages I was saving. Fack! Yay, Smorgas-Board? At least this is easier to read than just walls of text. Is it because it’s dynamic? I can move this around, there’s formatting, different colors, fonts, sizes.

-Hmm?-

I look around as Red picks me up and moves me and my bus steak, -- they banked the rest already? -- out of the devastated fields with some really crude loaves of coarse milled bread. Were they processing the grains with a rock? Hold on. Nearly two-thousand fish, most of them “crossbreeds”, and only a hundred or so grain things. So the farming is fairly recent, but what were they eating before? Just fish? That doesn’t seem healthy.

So they’ve been feeding me fish, there were requests to “make more fish”, and that somehow evolved into demon buses? Why not make bread? And there were noodles. Are the noodles outside food? I could ask. After I eat.

-If I pooped I’d be afraid of this stuff coming out,- I mumble. The bread has so many whole grains in it, this has to wipe as it comes out. Exfoliates on the inside, too. -Why?-

I get picked up and set off to the side as big Bertha, -- why is she so big? Is that Guts? I feel like that’s Side-Snapper, but that might be Guts, -- is just plowing through the debris, leveling the ground with idle kicks and requests --. Wait, they’re making requests right now? Am I just auto-approving this shit?

I check permissions to see that, yes, I’m auto-approving requests under a specific amount based on accrued and current points, with a lovely note to “Fuck off, and let me sleep”. Fuck, I’m an idiot. No, wait! I put limits! Fuck, yes! I’m a genius!

How the hell is leveling my house under the approval limit? Why would I level my house? Do I have any wine? I scream loudly in annoyance as I see that I’m out of wine. Bet the creepy kid messing with poisons took all my good shit. For “research”.

“What are you --,” Red storms over and I whip around and screech at them.

-Did Bendy Straw take all of my wine for “experiments”? Black Blood Wine and – Did I have Saint Wine?-

I stop mid tirade, sit down and just try to remember what all I had in the way of drinks. There was water, yeah, but I can make water. I was manually brewing a lot of shit.

-There were different kinds of Blood Wine!- I crow standing up again. -I remember! I was trying to flavor it with berries and shit! Where’s my wine?!-

I glare at Red and I swear they look concussed. Did I hit them?

-You ‘kay?- I ask while going into my combat logs.

Did I hit them? No, last thing I did was put a straw on the bus. Huh. I refocus on them to see them holding their hands to their face, palms flat but their nose in the way. Are… Are they facepalming right now? I narrow my eyes and wait, just watching them. Yeah, they’re taking deep steady breaths. I’m sorry, are you done with me already? I wake up to find out all my shit is gone and some condescending asshole grammar-nazis me, and you’re over my shit?

“Would you like to take a nap?” Red suggests helpfully, hands clasped in front of their chest as they tilt their head at me.