image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f5b1d7ad-50a0-42ad-b58b-160a92eea989/dh0csg2-2415fbf4-2277-4e8c-8e1d-d9cb343defcf.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_359/chapter_seven_by_lizzielance_dh0csg2-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MzU5IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjViMWQ3YWQtNTBhMC00MmFkLWI1OGItMTYwYTkyZWVhOTg5XC9kaDBjc2cyLTI0MTVmYmY0LTIyNzctNGU4Yy04ZTFkLWQ5Y2IzNDNkZWZjZi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.IeJGecokT1qpmMblfWBqMoqMXqUhZg2v0m7zom1KviU]
They were being followed.
Shortly after they said their goodbyes to Celine's tearful mother and started their journey from Towne Fat Duck in the Lu’Gre Kingdom to Sa’Cardo in Sa’Xico Kingdom, Bahamut picked up the sense of being under constant watch. Eyes unseen trailing close yet far in various directions of their treading path. Bahamut decided to let their conversation meander around from Celine’s childhood to some of the lighter tales from before his imprisonment and anywhere else that wasn’t a topic that would require his complete attention. The last thing he wanted was to cause Celine to feel uneasy so soon after recovering.
He didn’t pick up on any malevolence from their stalker, just seems to be intently focused on taking from them when their guard is lowered; giving even more reason for him to not raise an alarm on their situation. Their pack mu’ass gruffed in reaction to a particularly close brush with the sneak but deftly relaxed back into its’ steady clopping along the trail.
“If I’m reading the Lu’Gre map correctly, I think we’re just a day’s walk from the next village. It may be best to find a place to camp for the night.” Celine looked up from the map to Bahamut to hear his thoughts.
“Aye, soon as we spot a large enough space off the road ahead.”
The sun was starting to graze the horizon when they were able to find a clearing just off the road with obvious camping signs from prior travelers over the years. Bahamut went about setting up their campfire while Celine started to lay out the canvas tent ready to pitch up. She glanced over as she was readying to start getting the support sticks into the tent to see Bahamut, she noticed he was lazing next to the fire that was steadily heating up in the dying sun. There was a moment of pause with bugs and rustling nature providing their atmosphere of noise as she watched him continue gazing up towards the sky.
“Are you not going to make yourself a tent?”
“I’ve been cooped up in my cave for so long that I want to spend this night admiring the sky. There’re no signs of rain this evening and by the feels of the winds, it should be just a few days before the rains do build up to fall.”
“Oh…” His response even answered her question on why he was so often outside ever since he left his cavern. “Hmmm..” She looked down at her flattened tent in consideration to finishing it then shrugged and went about rolling the canvas back up.
Bahamut made no remark on her change of mind, just continued watching the sky as the colors gradually changed from soft blue through hues of orange and pink then into the deeply rich blues and purples speckled with glistening stars of the night sky. All the while, Celine tied the rolled tent back onto their tethered mu’ass and fed their traveling beast for the evening until she finally set about making them some dinner with plans of reusing certain ingredients for their breakfast come dawn.
They would have plates of roasted vegetables, fowl meat and crock biscuits just as the night flies would sparkle about them in their nightly dance.
“I’ll stay awake this night, Celine.”
“You’ve stayed awake for so many nights as is, Bahamut, surely you’ll get some rest tonight?”
“I’ve rested enough, I want to stay awake, and I will let you know when ‘tis time for me to nap.”
“You mean sleep?”
“Nap.”
“Nap?”
Bahamut rolled his eyes from their surroundings to lock into her worrying gaze, she marveled on how his purple gaze now warmly glowed even with the light of their fire dancing on his dark skin.
“Sleeping, for me, means I will not wake for a couple moons in the least. A nap, however, is but a few hours and I can remain awake for a few days. You, Celine, are a human and require what you call sleep at least once a night, if not twice.”
“Oh… and the Elves do require their sleep every other night.”
“Mm, every creature lives differently, I am no exception to this fact.”
Celine let out a huff of a chuckle and focused on eating her meal in consideration of their conversation just now. She knew about the Elves and how they go about resting, recalling how as a child she and the other human children were teased by the younger elves about being weak for needing rest so often.
“You know, I wanted so much to argue with the Elves about how they work us humans like we’re just pack mu’ass’ with nary a break and ‘twas why they could go on for days without need for rest for they were just too lazy to do menial tasks.”
Bahamut raised a brow, “I take it there’s discourse between the races still?”
“Aye. The Hu’Ani often live as tribes in their protected territories, so I have no knowledge of how they go about their needs for rest. The Elves have always been the more present race for me, and others, and they oft treat us as no better than canines.”
“When last I roamed Ov’Rea, the Elves and Humans were believed equals of each other.”
“Oh, that must have been before the Great Rift.” Celine yawned.
“…Let us speak about this Great Rift another time, Celine. You should lay down.”
“Mm, sounds a plan, Bahamut.” She reached over to take his empty plate then stood up to walk over to the nearby creek to clean off their dishes. A moment later she tucked their dishes to the side, along with what leftovers could remain fresh come dawn. What wasn’t going to be good to eat the next morn was tossed further off from their campsite for the wilds to enjoy, with a murmured of thankful prayer that they were not the meals this night.
In another moment, she tucked into her sleeping pad and soon dozed off to slumber.
He watched over her for a moment then turned his head as he heard shuffling and scraping noises. Standing, he turned in the direction of the sounds and watched as a little creature saw to enjoying the tossed off food while aware of his presence near the fire. Turning his gaze from the critter, he looked over their surrounding landscape to see if he could find the one that’s been following them, but he couldn’t. Odd.
Throughout the night he would meander around their location, add to their fire so Celine could stay warm, and even enjoy the slow turn of the night sky as stories of the past that were inspired by the stars played out in his thoughts. He pondered on how many of those stories remained to this day but perhaps in his wanderings with his new companion he would find out.
She woke up a little before the sun ignited the sky with light, sitting up with a yawning stretch and rubbing her face. “Thank the stars we’ve had a peaceful night.” She mumbled in habit, one that he had observed since a day after her failed quest.
They were being followed still.
Once they started on their way from their campsite to the next village, he picked up on that sense of being stalked by something. Glancing down to Celine, he considered telling her what’s bothering him but ultimately decided against it. He didn’t want to ruin her happiness over something that currently doesn’t seem to be a threat to her life.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Want to talk about the Great Rift?”
“Hm? Oh, right.” Celine inhaled as she considered her words for the tale. “Some centuries ago, there was a time when Elves and Humans were equals to each other. Working together to build marvelous cities of such advanced technology. Some of that technology has survived to our present day and continue to operate according to their designed duties.”
“Are the communication crystals still in operation?”
“Aye, though they are reserved for Nobles, Royals, and those in the Higher Class. Those of us, like myself, are not given access.”
“Hm, Falken would be disappointed by that as he wanted it to be a device for everyone.”
“Oh, you knew the creator of the Comm Cystals?”
Bahamut didn’t answer, just gave her an expression that practically said, ‘Duh.’
“Right, well, from what I’ve been taught back in Fat Duck, the Great Rift came to pass because of the Greed of Humans. That it was the fault of the Humans desires for more power and more fortune that the Elves took it upon themselves to enslave all Humans and forced us to do their bidding.” She frowned at this part, looking further down their trail with doubt resting in her eyes. “’Tis but recent that the Elves have begun to relent that we Humans are capable of independence and discipline. Many of us remain as their slaves but some of us have earned our freedom, our titles as Permitted. Mame is a half-breed, daughter to a Permitted Human and a Low Class Elf. She ensured I could be a Permitted Human, too, when she finalized my adoption papers in my youngling seasons.”
Silence fell between them as Celine came to a stop in her knowledge about the Great Rift, which told Bahamut that it seemed her historical knowledge was rather limited. He felt it was expected considering they came from that small town.
“Do you want to know more about the Great Rift in our journey?”
Celine turned her grey gaze up to his with a raised brow and a half smile. “What could that information do for my dream? I’m a Permitted Human, so I can journey the lands. Albeit still limited due to my status as an NPC, but not as limited as it could have been otherwise.”
Bahamut slowly nodded then perked up to something that caught his peripheral, turning to look ahead of them and notice that the nearby village is a small farming village. “What do they grow there?”
“Root vegetables and herbs. The wheat fields are grown in the southern regions of La’an and the rice fields are found in the eastern regions where there’s more rainfall. In our current region, our fields are nutrient for low-growing edibles.”
“I take it agriculture is in good health on this continent?”
“Depends on the seasons. Some are rich, some are poor, just a matter of the flow of the Goddess’ blessings to our lands. The Merchant Guild controls a lot of the trade routes between the regions, ensuring our food stores can be well stocked with what can make the trips. If food items need to be magically protected against perishing during travel, then those carry a heavier cost. Better to find those in cities than out here in the countryside.”
“Hm… Are we stopping at this village?”
Celine tugged out the map, tapping along their designated passage to Sa’Cardo then pondered over the weight on their mu’ass. “Mm, no, we can pass on through. I feel we’ve enough to last us a week before we need to replenish our ingredients… Though… we could, perhaps, see if they’ve any recipes?”
Bahamut chuckled with a nod.
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f5b1d7ad-50a0-42ad-b58b-160a92eea989/dh0csim-020f9736-0f2f-4f46-9c61-9c18054a7946.png/v1/fill/w_1217,h_219/page_break_by_lizzielance_dh0csim-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MjE5IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZjViMWQ3YWQtNTBhMC00MmFkLWI1OGItMTYwYTkyZWVhOTg5XC9kaDBjc2ltLTAyMGY5NzM2LTBmMmYtNGY0Ni05YzYxLTljMTgwNTRhNzk0Ni5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTIxNyJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.e-Za8cOTVQHfE-LeYChKIdyfToKAI3Ogzo6OdLBnA0g]
The small farming village, Marc’Api, boasted of homes built from the stones and trees collected from their surroundings, round huts with fire pits in their centers and stacks protruding from their centers with little caps to keep the weather out while the smoke escaped. Some huts were simple while others had extra rooms protruding from their rounded sides, showing a thriving little village but not overpopulated. These homes nested amidst the staircase-like landscaping where the villagers terraformed the land for farming, each level held up by retaining walls made of the same materials as the huts.
If it weren’t for the fact that it can be difficult, and costly, to maintain such a quaint village then this could have been an ideal place to live.
Celine found it interesting how the structures of these homes differed from the stucco and wood squared buildings of her own home that’s just a couple days away.
“Now we just mash our salted steamed potatoes in the pot.” Darleen instructed Celine, handing over the masher tool.
It turned out that the village did boast of a wonderful recipe for making little potato balls that could be used in a variety of meals, a good substitute for noodles or biscuits. She discovered the village’s po’cchi when they paused to enjoy a noon meal and made a trade with the farmers to help in the field during the afternoon if they would teach it to her, they were hesitant.
It took some negotiating but when she told them that she would credit the Marc’Api village when she used their po’cchi in the competition then they were a little agreeable but still hesitated. Bahamut summoned a palm-sized rough ruby to his hand to add into the negotiations and suddenly the village was entirely on board to teach Celine how to make the fluffy starch balls.
“Ah! That’s a good consistency in your mashed potatoes!” Darleen beamed and pulled over two bowls of different colored flour. “Now we work in the tapioca and chickpea flours!”
“I recall the Po’cchi recipe would use milk or butter and eggs, so this one doesn’t use it?”
“We reserve our eggs for breakfast in the morn, it’s nutritious and light on our stomachs so we can work. Plus, our coocoos provide enough surplus that we sell to our passing merchant once a moon. As for the milk’n butter, do you see any moo’vines in our fields?”
“Oh, what about import?”
“Ugh, too expensive.”
“Well, I could write back to my Mame back in Fat Duck. We’ve a herd in our fields and maybe a deal could be struck to get you some milk?”
“Hmm, I wasn’t aware Towne Fat Duck was a dairy farm. I thought it was mainly a hunting village and sending potential fighters to the guilds, what with the Dragoon and all.”
Bahamut raised a brow at the mention of why that town has military prowess in its’ borders. He had taken up sitting at a table nestled on the curved wall and observing the cooking lesson, not that it would do him any good to learn. Resting a cheek on his propped fist, he did take in the information that he’s the reason the town went from the barely surviving village to the thriving military base it is now. Curious how places have changed over the centuries of his imprisonment, with only some moments where he could leave the cave to protect the town. Then again, it had been around two centuries since the last time he was called upon to protect Towne Fat Duck, and he did recall seeing some training grounds in his brief taste of freedom.
“’Tis indeed mainly a hunting village but my Mame saw to setting up a dairy farm just outside the village with my Pa when they first moved to Fat Duck. Sadly, we had to sell the farm when my Pa passed away so’s my Mame could continue her tavern, but she sold it to a good man and his family and keeps in good relations with them.”
Darleen tilted her head in consideration as Celine folded the two flours to the mixture until it was a soft firm state in the pot. “I’ll speak with our Village Head to start negotiations with Fat Duck. T’would be good for our children to have milk in their diet and may even add some to our recipes. Not this one, but others could do with milk. Now, we’re going to start rolling fistfuls of the mixture until they are nice lengths. We line them up like so,” She made quick work with rolling the dough into long cylinders and started setting one beneath the next until they had ten rows, “And now we cut them into smaller pieces.” They made quick work of cutting the rows into smaller pieces. “Take each piece and roll it about in your palms ‘til they are lovely balls and for fun we roll it on the back of this here fork and set down into this big bowl.”
Not long after the big bowl was filled with the little wrinkled balls of po’cchi. Darleen stepped over to the pit in the center of her hut where a stout pot on the edge was holding some vegetable oil, she reached her hand over to hold her palm up and expose her inner wrist to the heat then nodded in satisfaction. “Good, hot enough to boil our balls but not too hot we’d burn them. Now’s the trickier part, keeping watch on the balls till they brown up right nice then scooping them back out into an empty bowl with a cheesecloth.”
Celine did as she was told and carried the bowl of uncooked po’cchi over, tucking it to her side for easy grab as she instinctively dropped each ball into the oil until enough was in that they’d need only wait a quick while for them to fry into a nice warm brown tone. Darleen deftly scooped them out into another bowl that has the cheese cloth resting at the bottom to catch the excess oil.
“Phew, phew, here, try this.” She blew on a piece to cool it down then offered it to Celine to try as they waited for the next batch to cook up. “Good?”
“Mm, aye! This will be a great starch base for a meal to cook at the competition!” Celine felt excited for what she could cook with this in the recipe, the possibilities felt brimming! “Thank you so much for this lesson!”
Darleen chuckled with pride, nodding in humble appreciation as she scooped the current batch from the pot. “Tis only right we teach you after giving us such a prized gem! T’would be enough for our survival this winter season, and perhaps even the next if our Village Head is clever.”
“Three, even, if he’s smart about your village finances.” Bahamut glanced up in thought to how the village could go about surviving three winters but didn’t speak those thoughts. Just bemused himself in his own head.
“Aye, indeed. Tis getting late, perhaps you both should take a rest here for the night. Least we can do for you both after giving us that gem.”
“Only if we aren’t imposing.”
“You’re not.”
Bahamut peered at the doorway in thought as Celine looked to him for his answer. He hadn’t sensed whatever had been following them on the road since they stopped in the village, so it would seem a good idea to stay the night. If only so he could relax into a quick nap and not worry on if Celine could be in danger.
“Aye, we’ll stay the night then. Perhaps you can even have Celine assist with the cooking, I’m sure she’d much enjoy some more inspiration for that competition.”
“Then tis decided!”