Chapter 112

Falling Satiation

Thrush

The sea was calmer. The sloop slipped across the water.

After refilling two of Barnacle-eyes’ barrels with dreambons, I went into the deckhouse to check on Boggo. He was still asleep and it was late in the morning. While I sat there, pondering, my belly rumbled and my Satiation decreased to 76%.

When the sun was almost as high as it was going to get, Boggo stirred in his bucket. It was his own cough that made him sit up. Once he cleared his likely bleary eyes and spent a few minutes smacking his lips while he seemed to take in his surroundings, he climbed out of his bucket and came to me.

He didn’t say anything at first. Then, “Thrush? Will you please eat?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You still haven’t eaten, have you? It’s been days.”

It had been days. But there was no desire to eat.

“Please?” Boggo continued. “You're my friend. If you’re worried about me, I’m fine. I promise.” He coughed until it turned into wheezing. He held a paw to his ribs.

“I’m just thinking,” I said.

“Thinking with a full belly makes for better thinking.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Then I’m not eating either.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and winced. After glaring at me for a moment, he crossed the deckhouse back to his bucket.

“You need to eat,” I said.

“Easier to eat with a buddy.”

“I’m sorry, Boggo. I’m not hungry.”

“Not for elodon ribs? Not even fish?”

“No.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to eat? Beer?”

“No.”

“What about those ethereal ingredients? You love those.”

He wouldn’t let up, so I said, “If I ate some ethereal ingredients, would that make you happy? You’ll eat too?”

“Maybe.”

Ethereal ingredients never filled me. I still didn’t know what they did to me, but if I could help Boggo eat so that he could recover more quickly, that didn’t cost me anything.

I spread out some of the ethereal ingredients Hawkin had given me, and then spread out some dreambons and meat for Boggo. I ate as slowly as Boggo, who seemed exhausted after a few bites. By the end of our meal, my Ethereal stat had grown to 65%. Gashes of prismatic light appeared in the air around us with every bite I took. Boggo and I silently marveled at them.

Strangely, the gashes were different now than they had ever been. I could see into them—through them. They presented a magnified view of the distance, even through the deckhouse door and through the deckhouse walls.

Those gashes had my attention for a while and I kept eating. It wasn’t until I’d eaten the entire spread of ethereal ingredients that I noticed Boggo had quieted down. I no longer heard his careful chewing and nibbling. He wasn’t even at the table anymore.

I found him back in his bucket, curled up and sleeping. A half eaten dreambon lay by his tucked tail and feet. He wheezed in his sleep.

While he slept, a fragrance invaded my mind. The scent was as strong as skunk and it contained the grass of barley, the resin of hops, the tang of yeast, fresh leather, young coconut, and broken peaches. The smell belonged to whomever hurt Boggo.

When I came out of my thoughts, I found that I’d brought out more ethereal ingredients and had been gobbling them up without thinking. My Ethereal stat read 70%. My Satiation had not moved.

As I threw the last handful of holy colored grain to the back of my mouth, the air before me ripped open.

[Nightream Summoning Portal has been activated.]

[World Marker has been placed at your current location.]

I saw Abigail through the portal. She held one of my dreambon beers. Hiccup was beside her, and beside him was a woman unknown to me. They were in a room filled with plants against windows from floor to ceiling. Only the portal and a low table separated us. Heaps of elodon meat steamed on the table. I followed my system prompts and put a world marker at my location before stepping through the portal.

“Welcome, Thrush!” Abigail said. “Good to see you!”

“Marvelous,” Hiccup said. “Welcome Thrush, we’ve got smoked elodon ribs for you! I’d also like to introduce you to Eileen, bronze rank elodon Hunter.”

I would have returned a greeting if not for the familiar scent of coconut, leather, and peach. Why was it in Hiccup’s mansion? I sniffed deeply and followed my nose around the room. The scent was elusive and weeks old.

“Is everything all right Thrush?” Abigail said “Won’t you sit with us and eat?”

I abandoned the trail and took the seat they offered across the table.

The unfamiliar woman leaned forward and said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Thrush. Heard a lot about you.”

“You’re Eileen. I can smell your experience. You smell like a hunter. And like elodons. I’ve been looking forward to meeting with you.”

With that, I fetched the Merchant’s Contract I’d drawn up for her. I passed it to her. Hiccup shifted in his seat. I employed my Merchant skills.

“I’d like to hire you as my personal elodon hunter,” I said.

[You have entered negotiations.]

[Merchant options:]

[Begin with a signing bonus.]

[Ask if there are any questions.]

[Intimidate.]

[more…]

I browsed for more options and chose to wait.

“That won’t be necessary, Thrush,” Hiccup said. “Everything’s been taken care of. I’ve already hired Eileen to hunt elodon ribs for you. We’ve got the contract signed and everything. You don’t have to worry about a thing. When Eileen returns from her hunting excursions, I could summon you with a dreambon ale. You would arrive, pick up your elodon meat, and we would trade beer for coin.”

“Well, let’s hear Thrush out,” Eileen said. “Hiccup’s only offering me five hundred gold a year. What do you have to say, Thrush?”

Hiccup gave what I thought was a surprised look to Eileen. Eileen only smiled.

“Five hundred gold a year,” I said. “I could do that. I could offer you a signing bonus to match that.”

Eileen’s smile widened and she glanced at Hiccup. “That would be nice, but Hiccup’s offering to upgrade my gear at no cost to me.”

“Why don’t you do both? Hunt elodon for Hiccup, and hunt elodon for me.”

“I’ll be honest with you,” Hiccup said. “I’d like to take care of everything behind the scenes. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything. I would simply notify you when the hunt has been successful.”

“Eileen, if you work with me directly, You could summon me on the spot. My inventory is impossible to fill up. You wouldn’t have to carry a thing.”

“Everyone’s inventory has to fill up at some point,” Eileen said. “Otherwise it would kill them. Besides, as a hunter, the carry weight of carcass and raw meat is heavily reduced.”

“How about a signing bonus of two thousand gold coin?”

Hiccup nearly rose from his seat as if to catch a falling vase.

“You hear that?” Eileen told him. “That’s a lot. Are you taking notes?” To me she said, “I made a promise to Hiccup that I would hunt for him. To be honest, he can supply me with some fantastic gear. He’s even told me that I’m welcome to live in the mansion between hunts.”

“I did?” Hiccup accused. As if relenting he said, “Yes. I suppose I can manage that.”

“A soft bed, the luxury of comforts, I can’t pass that up.”

“I’m familiar with promises,” I said. “I made a promise to my friend Hawkin, so I understand. I accept the arrangements.”

[Congratulations! Respecting another party’s promise has increased your Merchant level by 1.]

[You have reached level 2000 on your Merchant quest path!]

[You have reached gold rank.]

[New Quest Objective: Establish 5 new Merchant Contracts.]

[Reward: Merkul’s Merchant Tent Evolution Stone.]

[0/5 New Merchant Contracts complete.]

“The promise you made about the goblins, that they won’t be trouble for Hawkin?” Abigail said. “That’s the one?”

Ignoring my system notification, I said, “That’s the one. The first promise I ever made.”

“I think you’ve settled that promise.”

“Perhaps. It was my first promise and I don’t know how promises end.”

“This is grande!” Hiccup said.

“Shall we celebrate over beer?” Abigail said. “Thrush, I’m surprised you haven’t eaten half the pile yet.”

I took a big whiff, searching for the fruit and leather sinister scent. “I’m not hungry.”

At that, Hiccup and Abigail exchanged glances. I turned my attention to my system.

[Return to World Marker?]

[Y/N?]

Yes, I thought.

Then the air ripped open to reveal a picture of the sloop beneath a lowering sun. I stepped through, onto the sloop deck and into the cold wind.

Just then, my Satiation fell once more. It was at 74%.