Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Wolf Headed Trout

 

"Brown sparkle dirt." She frowned a bit. "Dirt in salt, brown sparkle." Gei looked at the plateau and pursed her lips. "Stone brown sparkle."

"Jump up.  Safe.  Door here, not safe." She nodded after her simple speech. It was a basic outlook she took. On the ground level, it would not be safe to sleep in the long term. Up high, unless they prepared extremely long ladders, most people couldn't get up onto the plateau. Gei nodded, hefted the two sacks, and jumped up onto the plateau. Her pack was already up there, which made her look around.

"Open air. Make tunnel? Big place. Lot room." Gei put down her sacks, chose a place in the middle of the width of the plateau, and aimed down. She frowned.

"Make tunnel. Make hole or bricks?" She sat down on her tent, and thought for a few minutes. "Stone blocks. Make walls. Try." She nodded, and stood up, took her finger, and ran it along the stone surface.

"Ahh!" She jumped back. She ran her finger along the stone, just to trace a line in the dust, but what appeared was a deep line in the stone as wide as her finger. It was such a surprise, she jumped back a little.

"Line. One more?" She asked and groaned as she traced the line. "Crooked!" She growled and sat down. She laid on her tent.

"Need hole. Need practice." She shrugged. "Make hole." Gei closed her eyes for a few minutes.  She felt a bit frustrated and wanted to smash something, but decided against it.

"Need home. Not give up!" She stood up and decided to just dig a trench until it became a tunnel.

Inch by inch, she skimmed off the top of the stone until she was below her knees. She lengthened the trench and sloped it downward until it was a tunnel on a slope that was as wide as her arms spread, and taller than herself.

Once under the surface, she continued to shape, absorb, and remove the elements until her tunnel was deep in the stone. When she looked back, she smiled.

"Straight tunnel. Like roof." She looked up the ramp and smiled. It was like the slope of a roof, a smooth angle with straight walls. She walked back up the tunnel and realized just how deep she went.

"Wow. Two me deep." She was happy. Her feet were now standing on stone that as twice as deep as she was tall. With one more of herself deep, she would feel comfortable enough to say that was deep enough to start to build.

She continued to excavate until she made the tunnel another five feet below the surface.

"Make room." Gei thought for a moment, and looked down at her feet.

"Stairs?" She pictured the area from her spot right up to the surface. "Hall. Room. Need lamp. Dark here."

 

* * *

 

Gei jumped down off the plateau, now comfortable with how easily she was able to do things, and made herself a fourth pool. She filled it with pure water, and sat down in it.

"Bath!" She washed herself carefully, and rubbed off the dirt on her skin. The happiness she felt in being able to have a bath quickly faded. The last time she had a bath was when she was five.

Her mother gave birth to her younger brother, followed by her younger sister. From that point onward, her life changed.

She washed her skin, and at the same time, her body began to heat up from the anger that inflamed her. The anger was growing in strength.

"Baths. Food. Clothes. Beast cores." She bared her teeth and looked at the town. Slowly, she cleared her anger, as she realized something that was now her truth.

No one could take her new home away from her. She could make salt, and no one could steal it. It belonged to her, and even the king could not take it.

If they wanted her to pay taxes, they would have to come and take it. Her trench could be opened up wider, and allow the sea monsters to come close. Let them try to gather taxes from the barras.

Gei processed a few pools of water, and cleansed enough salt to fill a sack for Lise, and one for Sala. She would take it to her in the morning. As she still didn't trust that people wouldn't try to mess around with her even out here, she took the sack up on top of the plateau with her.

"Need lamp. Sleep outside. Sleep inside tomorrow." Gei said as she laid down on top of her tent.

Gei pulled a long loaf of bread out of her sack, and some cheese. Along with a piece of jerky, she ate the bread and cheese, and smiled.

"Food. Not worry. Safe sleep."

 

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* * *

 

"Yawn. Ahhhh." Gei sat up on the plateau with the sun rising over the wasteland in the east, with the water to her west. Stormwall bordered on a bay, while the continent continued far to the west.

If she went further south, there would be another series of towns and cities that belonged to another country, while if she went east, she would find a series of mountains.

The mountains contained a massive forest, while the massive remnants spilled out in all four directions.  The forest on the east side of Stormwall was a part of that ancient forest, while the area around the mountain was the home of the elemental beasts. No one knew how far the forest went, or if it continued passed the mountains as no one was strong enough to go over them.

"Mm, nice sleep." She said quietly, and grinned. "No pain. Safe. Love safe." She got to her feet, stretched, and picked up the bags of salt.

"Jump easy. Strange.  Not Used to." She said as she landed on her feet lightly. "Need more water?" She walked over to her pool where she separated the salt from the water, and frowned.

"What in pool?" She growled, bent down, and picked up a large stone. She used the knowledge she's gained, and elongated the stone like it was made of soft material, and turned it into a six foot long spear.

Gei slowly walked up to the pool, and was startled as a four foot long fish jumped out of the water at her. She jabbed her spear forward, into its open mouth, and down through the middle of the fish, all the way out the tail.

"Fish! Nasty fish!" She said with a growl. The fish was impaled, but still alive. She looked at the sharp inch and half long teeth, and growled. The fish had a narrow snout like a dog, with a high forehead, and wide cheeks.  It was the strangest creature she had ever seen.

"Bite me?" Gei quickly punched the fish, stunned it, slid the stone spear out, and jabbed the spear up through the bottom jaw, and into the brain.

"Stupid fish." She thought for a moment. "Sala know?" She rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She picked up the bags of salt, and carried the fish over her shoulder.

"Sell fish Sala. Sell Lise. Same."

 

* * *

 

Gei wasn't aware of the looks the guards gave her as she passed with that large fish over her shoulder.  If she saw them, she might have wondered how she managed to scare them.  Since she was so young, she wasn't as mindful of how much of a monster the sea was, even if she could see how people have always avoided the sea.

"Sala!" Gei called out as she entered the herbalist's shop. Bini walked out from the back room.

"Gei? Sala's working on some herbs she just got. Is there something I can help you with?" She asked.

"Bini. Fish. Fresh. Oh, Sala." Gei said as Sala ran out from within the inner room once she heard the word 'fish'.

"By a stone bear's balls. That's a wolf headed trout." She whispered. She pointed at the fish over Gei's shoulder.

"Yep." Gei grinned. "Caught morning. Use eyes?" She asked. Sala came right over, and looked the fish over.

"Four silver per eye, and ten for the organs!" She didn't hesitate to offer a really good price. Gei blinked.

"Spear in throat. Open. Check." Gei grinned. "Sala friend. Sala check." Sala frowned.

"What have I taught you about business?" Sala asked her firmly. Gei grinned.

"Got salt." She lifted a sack and put it on the counter. "Not cheat Sala." Gei smiled. "Business. Check. Buy, no buy." She folded her small arms over her chest. Sala chuckled, and took a breath.  Just the opportunity to buy these rare ingredients made her extremely excited.

The gall bladder, the kidneys, and the liver could be used for a variety of medicines.  Her business would primarily acquire the ingredients, and provide them to the healer's hall.  This was a great opportunity to acquire premium materials.

"Then let me take a look."

 

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