“Are you sure it didn’t… you know? Stick?” Jacky asked in a worried tone as she and Tom made it back up to the bedroom. She was going with the hunting crew, so she needed her kit, and while Tom was sure she would want him to come along, sadly, that wasn’t really happening. There was work to do, even if he may just take some time out of his day to finish up his fishing rod project.

“Quite sure. Not a mark on me, you saw so yourself… I only felt like I was freezing to death a bit after waking up, that’s all.”

“I swear you felt cold,” Jacky protested, looking ready to strip him bare again for another exam. He knew the dragonettes took frostbite seriously, and he had woken up with chattering teeth, but it had only taken moments for his body to realize it was in fact quite warm and cozy. Incredibly uncomfortable and rather unnerving, yes. Dangerous or something they could do much about seemingly no.

“I was not cold. I just thought I was… You’re just imagining things.”

“No, I’m not, you were cold. I would know. I’m the one who feels it more.”

“Right, right. I was cold then. Still doesn’t change the fact I’m quite fine now. How about this? I promise no naps till you are back and if Paulin wants something I tell her to take it up with Shiva.”

“And you let Shiva know in advance you are having a bad day and if Paulin gets to talk to you she will be alone with Tink and Twitch for the rest of the day.”

“Yes, I can do that,” Tom promised, not actually seeing a downside to that idea. Aside from the perhaps undignified usage of Shiva as an attack dog slash angry roadblock. But she had seemed quite happy to play that role in the past so what was the harm?

“I guess that’ll do,” Jacky relented, clearly still not pleased. “I will tell Mum though… and no naps at all, and definitely not without someone there with you.”

“I don’t think she’ll mind me not sleeping on the job,” Tom sighed, trying to force a bit of humor back in his voice.

“Serves you right you lazy bastard,” Jacky snickered, picking him up into a tight hug which only got tighter till there was a crack from his back.

“Ahr there we go…” he let out in a pained voice that had more to do with struggling to breathe.

“Now don’t do anything stupid till I get back,” Jacky replied, setting him back down again.

“No no, I promise, you won’t miss a thing.”

“Damn straight.”

With the day's initial negotiating over, Jacky had grabbed what gear she needed. Which is to say what she thought she needed. After yet more friendly bickering, that had been limited to just her compound bow. No shotguns, no shotgun rounds just by themselves. No hand grenades and most certainly no blitzgel jars even if those were comparatively cheap, especially with Jarix and Glira on hand.

“You’re no fun at all, you know that right?” she had protested, slinging the bow over her shoulder and doing her best to look grumpy.

“Awww, you’re going to break my poor little cold heart. Now go on, bring home the bacon.”

“I will kill a hog for you sweetie. Or should I say sweaty?” Jacky joked as she made for the door, Tom following behind. He had work to do, especially if he wanted time to finish up his fishing rod in the evening.

“Be careful or I’ll take your buns away,” Tom replied, giving her a smack on the arse as she opened the door. One quick flick of a tail and an audible whack later and Tom was standing cross-legged leaning against the wall, life flashing before his eyes.

“That’s what you get, boyo…” Jacky snickered, looking over her shoulder, expression growing confused that he wasn’t following. “What? What’s wrong?... OOH the balls! Fuck I’m sorry!”

“Forsaten da mi kugler!” Tom complained, seeing double as Jacky tried to help him to his feet again. A very confused-looking Bo walked past looking at the two of them with a mix of curiosity and apprehension, taking as wide an arc as possible around them.

“Are you okay? I promise that wasn’t on purpose.”

“I’ll live… I think… Hoo-hoo holy shit that hurts.”

“In my defense, you slapped first,” Jacky tried, half-heartedly, clearly distraught by the results of a simple joke.

“I know, I know, but why there… Oh no no please no don’t do that,” he pleaded as Jacky picked him up in a bridal carry and quickly moved him to the bed, tail slamming the door behind her. “It’s not that bad. It’ll go away I promise.”

“You’re sure? I don’t need to get Nunuk?”

“NOooo no no. Don’t get Nunuk. Or Dakota or Unkai… But especially not Nunuk or Dakota. I can’t have kids here anyway, who cares? Hooo that stings.”

“Fair point,” Jacky conceded, tone still rather worried as she put him down before taking a step back and looking at her handiwork. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? Just in case… I could send Ray to check on you. The others are definitely waiting on me.”

“I’m fine… just… Need a minute… promise.”

“Okay… I will send Ray to check on you later… Byeee, promise I’ll be back for dinner.”

“You always are,” Tom joked, trying his best to massage some feeling back into his nether regions. Holy hell could that whip do some damage if it wanted to.

“Uhm… you sure you don’t want me to-”

“No, see you later, love you,” Tom cut her off as he kept rubbing.

“Right… don’t love yourself too much, byeee.”

‘Fucking women.’

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Ray?! You down in here?” Saph shouted out as she and Fengi descended the stairs into the kitchen. Both of them had taken the opportunity to relax a little in front of the fires in the hall after breakfast.

They had both agreed while at said fireplace that they would go and help Ray out a little in the kitchen. Saph rather doubted that she would have gotten done with all the work she had laid out yesterday, and later today they would definitely be busy with meat prep once the hunting party returned.

Saph and Fengi also agreed they didn’t really want to take part in the washing up after breakfast so they waited a very measured amount of time, that was to say roughly one nap and a round of cards, before heading down to see if they could find Ray.

“I don’t think she’s here?” Fengi responded when nothing else did, going to have a look next to the water barrel to see if there was any sign of leftover washing up. “Whoever was on dishes is done though. Maybe she’s cleaning then?”

“I guess so. Let’s check down below, she might be clearing out stuff from storage,” Saph replied with a sigh just as she heard the door to the grand hall swing open, hitting against the stone wall, the trudge of hurried boots coming down heralding Tom’s imminent arrival.

The human was walking a touch funny, well more funny than he always did. He hadn’t seemed to be in pain for breakfast, just a little melancholy, though that look was certainly gone, replaced with a pained smile as he waved to the both of them. “Hello, just passing through.”

Behind him came Ray walking briskly to keep up. “Are you sure it is alright, Tom? We could also have Unkai take a look. I am sure he would be happy to.”

“No no, I’m fine. Jacky is just making a fuss.”

“Jacky would never say she broke anything if she hadn’t. I don’t even think she would admit it if she did normally. Please, it must be very bad!” Ray tried again, and Saph honestly had to agree with the sentiment, Fengi nodding in agreement as well.

“What did she break this time?” Saph questioned, looking after the two-person procession and moving to follow, Fengi bringing up the rear.

“His balls,” Ray answered, Tom letting out a very indignant sound at the word.

“His what now?” Saph replied, trying to think back if Tom had ever talked about balls before. “Is it a tool?”

“I don’t know, but they must have something to do with walking.”

“Not important, and no she didn’t break them, I checked. And trust me I would know if she did. Now, please. I have work to do and this is embarrassing,” Tom countered, not stopping and in fact speeding up as they all carried on following.

“Oh… okay,” Ray let out, slowly coming to a stop with Saph and Fen behind her. Tom carried on down towards the workshop, almost up to a jog by now despite the odd but very evident limp he was sporting.

“I was just trying to help…” Bemoaned Ray, looking after him a little sadly, though she did slowly come to a stop, Saph and Fengi coming up beside her, Fengi laying a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine…”

I still don’t know what he was on about though…” Saph added, rubbing her chin as she tried to think back. She had heard that before. “Aren’t those the little sack thingy on the back of a buck?”

“Oh yeah, makes a decent snack,” Fengi piped up. They were a favorite of hers, Saph remembered that much. She also remembered something else.

“Yeah, those… Remember Apuma’s lesson on how baby deer are made?”

“But that would mean that…”

“Yes, Fengi. Yes, it would.”

“Oooohhhhh….that’s private!” Fengi cried out, covering the tip of her snout abashed.

“Did I do something bad?” Ray interrupted, sounding mortified, Saph getting right to calming the woman down before she could do anything rash.

“No no no. I’m sure he understands. Just, please. Don’t say it to anyone else okay.”

“Say what to anyone else?” It came from further down the corridor, Herron heading back up in about as much kit as they ever saw him wearing. “And why is Tom walking funny?”

The three girls had done their best not to clue in Herron on exactly what was going on, instead trying to substitute in a little story about how Jacky had punched Tom on the thigh thinking it was funny. Well, Saph had at least. Ray had point-blank refused that anything was wrong, while Fengi went with Tom having fallen down the stairs which only led to a very, very confused Herron who luckily decided to just give up on working out the clearly complicated situation and instead inquire as to what was for dinner.

That had also resulted in a few answers. Fengi was thinking fresh meat from the hunt roasted, depending on what they brought back of course. Ray really wanted to try a recipe for a boiled pudding she remembered, though for some reason she insisted that was a main course. Saph had rather wanted to help Ray with her pie work she had talked about yesterday and thought that was supposed to be dinner.

Herron, as always taking the easy way out, elected that the answer was all three, concluded that sounded sweet, and went off to tell the others.

“Aaaw maaan… we’re gonna be here all day now,” Saph sighed, contemplating if they could just make some sort of simple thing instead and blame Herron for being a dumb-dumb and not understanding what they were saying.

“Oh no, you don’t have to. It won't be that hard. I have some pie crust leftovers from yesterday. I wanted to bake them for breakfast, but well… didn’t get up early enough to light the oven.”

“No, you are not making all that by yourself,” Saph protested, Fengi nodding her agreement.

“Damnstraight. I’ve haven’t had a boiled pudding since… hmmm… by the gods. Years I guess?” Fengi reminisced looking up into the wooden ceiling.

“You have never made boiled pudding?” Ray questioned, seeming outright confused by the statement.

“Nope, had it a bunch though when I was little. Always wanted to make one… Do we have everything? I’m guessing it’s not that uhm… expensive,” the copper huntress carried on a little cautiously.

It made sense. Fengi was an orphan, and Ray a hopeless cripple. Any food they remembered from those times was not likely to be extravagant. Sapphire was pretty sure she had eaten it before too. Probably at an inn somewhere or perhaps back in the city when she was just starting out as a racer.

“I checked yesterday. The suet was a little dusty, but I found it, still smelled good.”

“I guess we are making puddings then. I think we have some dried fruits somewhere that should work great in it,” Fengi added, enthusiasm growing by the second.

“Plums are the best. I am sure I saw a box of them. Looks a little fancy, but I’m sure Nunuk won’t mind.”

“Not these days, no, I don’t think so. But that’s a dessert, it’s sweet?” Saph questioned, still not quite getting that part.

“Oh, we only got it on special days. Like maybe a festival or something… often it was all we got on days like that. It’s quite filling though.”

“I guess that makes sense, it’s rather dense after all. Being boiled and all,” Saph replied, not quite sure if that was a good thing or not.

“Could we maybe make one for Yldrill too… she did get us home yesterday, maybe say Maiko talked us into it,” Fengi tried, cautiously glancing between the two of them.

“I thought she tried to kill you two?” Ray questioned in an equally cautious tone. “You want to give her a pudding?”

“I don’t know. I think she just messed up and got hurt. She had such a shit day and still saved us both… and kept us warm and dry through the night. Even if she didn’t have a choice, she still did it,” Fengi pleaded, Saph believing it was as much herself that needed convincing as Ray.

“I suppose,” was all the reply Saph could think of. It wasn’t like making one more would be that much work after all. And it might do at least something to make the dragon more bearable to be around.

“We should make one for Jarix too then, since he’s out hunting,” Ray then added with a determined nod. “It is only fair.”

“You both know Glira is gonna be impossible if she doesn’t get one too then,” Saph pointed out with a sigh as she started doing the mental math. “Maybe we could get her to go get some logs if we gave her one? Think she would do that for a pudding?” she questioned, not believing for a second that it would work.

Fengi clearly shared the sentiment, putting on a courteous smile but slowly shaking her head. “I don’t think she would do that, no.”

“Well then she doesn’t get one. Fair is fair,” Ray decided with quite some determination. “We just make one for her to keep it a surprise, and if she says no everyone else gets to share her bit.”

“... Do please remind me to not be near her for the next week if she says no then,” Saph sighed, quite sure that wouldn’t end up great.

“If she doesn’t go for it maybe Yldril can have one over her. I think she would like that,” Fengi pointed out, Saph grumbling in agreement

“Yeah probably.”

“I guess three extra then… do we even have enough pots?”

“Uhm…”

__________________________________________________________________________________

He had gotten some odd looks showing up for work limping and red in the face, but soon enough they had gotten their little morning meeting going to lay a plan for the day.

To his delight, Shiva had in fact agreed to make him the rings for his little fishing pole project at some point. But he still needed the pole done. Kullinger had promised he would find something suitable even though he made it quite clear that was only so Tom may be convinced that nothing good hid beneath the surface.

After a long day of making brackets and nails, Kullinger made good on his promise. He had indeed found an old broken bow that had apparently been used to tell a wolf to fuck off by Dakota a year or so back.

That of course lead to a bit of story telling. One thing had led to another and Tom had been allowed - or more so forced - to go see the pelt of said wolf lying on the floor of Dakota’s room where it belonged. When he had first been in there he had thought it was a bear or maybe a moose. It was fucking huge, but after a bit of back-and-forth questioning Dakota had confirmed it was indeed what they considered a wolf. A brown forest wolf to be exact. It was a light color and the size of a damn pony if he had to give a guess.

“Remind me never to go out wandering those woods alone… ever.”

“Oh you haven’t seen that half of it,” Dakota added with a nonchalantness that really didn’t comfort him much, giving the rug a kick. “This bastard got sloppy. Must have been hungry, normally they are smarter than this. Lone one too, they tend to stick to packs of at least half a dozen.”

“You got worse than that?” Tom questioned, glancing at the rather large rug.

“Sure. Bears. Drakyr are never funny. You’ve met the Pjeltor. Vargulfs too for that matter. That’s about all the big stuff we need to worry about. Oh, or bees, can’t forget about bees. Don’t think we’ve seen any here for years though. All in all we’re quite lucky with the local wildlife here, all things considered.”

“Right… And the small stuff?” Tom questioned leadingly.

“Parasites, little insects. Saph got a leech once when we were picking moss in the swamps near Nalridge.”

“I don’t know what Nalridge is.”

“It is a ridge with an old ruin on it, east of here. It is quite a useful marker, but that doesn’t matter. Those things are no joke let me tell you. It was on there good and proper by the time we noticed it. Add it to the reasons never to go into the water, at least if it’s murky.”

“And what are those exactly?”

“About this big,” Dakota replied, indicating something maybe 10cm long. “Likes to stay in muddy water or swamps, you won’t feel them latch on. Saph didn’t notice till we went to leave and it was stuck on the back of her leg. Nasty I tell you.”

“Ew… is it dangerous or just, well, nasty?””

“Can be. Her leg was gray for weeks afterward. Apuma and Anchor had to watch over her in case it got worse.”

“Why Anchor?”

“In case it got worse,” Dakota reiterated, tone turning darker as she stared at Tom. “Thankfully she got better.”

“Riiight… yeah. So it spreads corruption then? Is it like the armor that dark knight had? You didn’t seem too keen on touching it.”

“Some say they do. Others claim it’s harmless. I don’t see how something that blackens skin could be good for you though. Apuma has a book claiming they are often used to turn prisoners slowly after they have been captured. A fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy.”

“Well shit,” was all of the intellectuality Tom could muster as a response. It sure sounded like a shit way to go.

“The dagger you saw was unique due to how fast it worked and the fact it apparently bound its victims to new masters almost immediately even more so if what we know is true. A person who falls to something as tragic as a simple leech may just wander about like a deranged monster until bound through some dark ritual… Much like those darklings Baron described from Cartehega actually, come to think of it,” Dakota reminisced, looking into the middle distance, likely trying to recall the tale.

“I see… And can anything be done?”

“There are treatments… some better, some worse. Apuma thinks half of them are pure claptrap and superstition, but I've got my doubts he knows which half,” Dakota sighed, evidently not liking speaking ill of her father. “But Saph did get better. We do not talk about such things normally. I am sure you understand.”

“Of course… But eeeehm- why tell me then?”

“You need to know. Can’t have you fall just because you don’t know. Assuming it even works on you,” Dakota declared, tone quite firm.

“I think we’ll put that one under ‘find out never’ if that’s fine with you.”

“Quite, No reason to tempt fate. Heaven knows we have done that plenty as of late. Often without sucsess.”

“I wouldn’t say that. We’re still here, and no one’s gotten killed or hurt too bad. for the last… If it stops raining, we might even be able to get some work done outside.”

“It has Tom… have you not looked out of a window yet today?”

“I mean, I did yesterday.”

“I see.”

“Hey, I’m an engineer. We’re afraid of sunlight.”

“... But it is not sunny?” Dakota replied blankly, not seeming quite to understand what the joke was. “It is quite perfectly overcast in fact. Of course, that means the rain could be back at any moment.”

“Right… Well, I should be fine then. A little water neve… I’ll live,” Tom dismissed, glad he didn’t quite finish that sentence as he hurried out of the room. ‘Well done Tom, fucking pro.’

__________________________________________________________________________________

“Wiperna!... You down here?” Saph called out, glancing about the buildings, looking for any sign of the farm woman. But there was no reply. “Raulf!?... Gods dammit… Right, listen up in there, you'd better behave or we will have another dish for dinner, you hear me?” she carried on before gingerly trying the door. It had been rather funny when the chickens had decided to attack Tom all those months back, but Saph definitely preferred laughing to being laughed at and she had been scratched up more than once before.

And so, with no sudden movements, she stepped inside the small building that made up their coop. About two dozen chickens called it home, though that number would soon start falling as winter progressed. A steady stream of clucking and a few more agitated calls rang out, followed by a chicken fleeing the nest as Sapphire advanced.

“Stupid fucking chickens. Right shoo, I’m here to steal your eggs,” Saph tried when faced with a particularly stubborn hen. Shooing it away achieved little save several complaints from the clucky bird, who pecked at her hand when she tried to grab the eggs from under their mother. “You bastard! This is why we don’t keep you inside even if you are nice and warm. That and you crap everywhere.”

After the third time getting her hand pecked, a little blue spot emerging at the base of the thumb, Saph grabbed the culprit by the neck and held it up at arm's length as she raided the nest. “Just one egg? That’s all you got?! Useless fucking feather ball, we’ll make stew out of you as soon as winter sets in.”

“Bakbak bakaaaw!” the chicken protested, still trying to peck and scratch at Saph, unable to escape.

“Shut it, you don’t get a say in this. Should I leave a few hoping for chicks?... They are damn delicious after a few months. You make more babies.”

With the eggs stolen, the irritated mother was placed back on the nest to brood on where her eggs had gone. Saph placed her catch in the woven basket they always used for collecting eggs and moved on. A few more nests were raided before she turned back to said basket, finding the stubborn mother now brooding on the whole basket instead. “Really?... Really? You think that’s a nest.”

Saph once more grabbed the bird and this time threw it at the roosting bars where many of the other chickens were sitting. That resulted in a mighty flapping of wings as some fled, others made room, and yet more took the chance to fly down to their empty nests. The noise was deafening and Saph decided to just hurry up with the rest of the nests lest her ears be ringing for the rest of the day.

Then, with a furious flapping of wings and a truly ear-piercing “Bakaaaaaaw!” the colorful bundle of feathers that was their rooster, Kick, landed on her neck and started pecking and scratching.

“Oh, fuck off, Kick!” Saph complained, grabbing the green and purple shiny bird by the neck as she set the basket down, off-hand going to check the back of her neck. It did indeed come back with a slight smear of blue on it. “I will revel in the day we eat you too. You and that stupid, stubborn one.” Saph let her eyes gaze about the coop, but it seemed the rest of them were content to let her be, for now, and instead just flew or walked about making one hell of a racket. ‘Better wrap this up.’

And so she did, collecting the last few eggs all while keeping a firm hold of the pissy rooster. It made 50 in total, not as many as she had hoped for, but it was getting colder. With her catch secured, she had opened the door and stepped outside, once more being careful not to let any of them escape and holding Kick at arm's length still. The rooster was then thrown back from whence he came and the door slammed in his face before he managed to fly back out to cause more trouble.

“Hah, better luck next time, dumbfuck,” Saph chuckled, feeling a touch relieved.

She remembered well enough some time last year where the troublesome bird had escaped along with several female compatriots. She really didn’t want to be the reason they all had to run around catching chickens for the next hour or so. But now she wouldn’t be, she thought to herself contently, standing outside the now sealed coop and listening to the cawing and bickering of the chickens inside, all seemingly still quite upset.

‘Still no Wiperna though?’ she wondered, looking around once more. “She normally comes running whenever there is a commotion down here. Oh well, at least she milked Daisy and Rose this morning,” Saph muttered to herself, throwing a glance at the small stable where their two oxen lived. They probably weren’t even in there right now, normally Wiperna or Raulf would take them out to a fresh bit of grass and hammer in a stake to tether them to. It was bad enough having to cut hay for them in winter, but at least they could feed themselves for most of the year.

Saph liked those two a lot more than the chickens. They were docile and really rather lazy if she was being honest. Making them do their job would at times require treats or some persuasion, but they sure could pull a plow. These days though, they were living the luxury life. First Jarix and now Yldril had more or less put them out of a job after all. ‘If ever we need those two again I’m betting money they won’t do it now they’ve gotten used to this… I wonder if they would be tough after all that work or tender after standing about munching grass all year this year? ...Hmmmm.’

Saph pondered that question as she trekked back up the stairs towards the kitchen with her delicate cargo hanging from one arm. They would need every single one for what they had planned so she was being extra careful. That and this was technically a day off, so she was taking it nice and slow.

“I’m doing this on my day off?... Why am I doing this?” Saph questioned herself as she came to a stop just short of the door. “... Because what else would I be doing… Gods I need some sun, drink, and books. Arch hurry up old boy. I’ll bake you a cake if you do,” she chuckled as she opened the door, revealing Fengi and Ray both busy with the preparations.

“We have eggs, what else do we need?”

“Perfect,” Ray cheered, face lighting up with a smile as she saw the overloaded basket of eggs. “Ohh they did good today. I am nearly done flaking the suet. I think Fengi is washing the berries.”

“Yup, we have red rolics . Most of it was for trail mix and snacks, but we haven’t been doing anywhere near as much hunting this year as normal, so we’ve ended up with too much.”

“Question, should we really be using dried berries for this? Wouldn’t it be best to save those for winter?” Saph questioned gingerly, setting the basket down. “Also those are sour.”

“We are buying so much stuff for winter we will be living like queens,” Fengi replied with a grin. “We even got some of that sticky syrup stuff we got from making the nice white sugar. It may look like tree sap, but it is delicious. Sour berries, no problem.”

“I may or may not have had a taste back when we boiled that down, yeah,” Saph admitted, a smile creeping onto her face as the plan came together. The whole kitchen seemed happy and lively, so it was hard not to let it rub off a little. It was warm too with all the pots they could manage being placed over fires and slowly being brought up to a boil.

“I wouldn’t even have sweetened it, but this will be much better,” Ray interjected, also in great spirits, “This will be even better than the ones I remember.”

“Like I said, queens,” Fengi reiterated with a girly giggle as she removed a fresh handful of berries from the bowl of water she was using to rinse them off. “Do you think Jarix has ever had one before?”

"Perhaps? It is quite easy to make a large one. And not that expensive,” Ray replied, Saph nodding a little in agreement. It was a rather simple recipe - flaked deer suet, flour, eggs, milk, assorted dried berries, and something sweet if you got it. All mixed up in a bowl and bound in cloth to be boiled for a few hours. Take it out, let it cool, cut, and serve. Easy as that.

“I am sure they will all love it after a long day. Even Yldril.”

“That is the hope I guess. Who can be mad when there is dessert?” Saph chuckled as she set to work cracking the eggs into the big bowl ready to be mixed with flour. “And if she is, we’ll damn well have Jarix fly it to Deriva instead and give it to Tiguan.”

“Damn right… so pies after this, right?”

__________________________________________________________________________________