Chapter 6: Evaluation and Cultural Osmosis
Okay! So! Some time has passed a little for me, and I went through the rest of my evaluations with most of the other patriarchs!
The summary for Calic's evaluation went as thus:
All I had to do was 'invent' stuff. That or craft something that would benefit or help the yinglet enclave. Not to brag, but my arts-and-crafts skills is not too shabby. I could make something pretty nice if I had access to some colored paper, scotch tape, scissors, glue, and some glitter. ... And that's about the extent of my actual crafting ability. Worse still is that the 'crafting workshop' that Calic maintains doesn't exactly have such resources on hand.
I asked Calic about what I might need for Grabba'lot and Flick's evaluations, and he said that I might need a 'sneaking cloak', a 'grass whistle', and my own spear. With that in mind, I went to work making my own gear. However, I found that actually crafting the items took me longer than I thought. It was mostly because my arm and hand strength is now a fraction to what it was, and somewhat because of Calic constantly asking me about my past life with personal questions, which ended up distracting me as I was trying to craft my gear. Strangely enough, he kind of looked like he went over the moon after he asked me how the humans from my homeland would react to him. I think I made his day when I responded with "Zhey'd probably want to find out what yinglets are, and maybe even become friends with zhem." After that, it was nothing but a whirlwind of questions, and I wasn't able to make a 'grass whistle' in time, whatever a 'grass whistle' was.
Overall, I think I passed his evaluation.
And next is the summary for Grabba'lot and Oggie's evaluation:
With spear and sneaking cloak equipped, I tagged along Grabba'lot and Oggie as they made their usual rounds around Sharp Rock Enclave. They told me that it was a scavengers job to gather resources from the environment. Anything like bones, grass, herbs, edible plants, molluscs, small animals, and even chunks of dead carcasses were brought back to the enclave.
Scavenging yinglets typically travel in packs, typically pairs of two or greater, which usually carried some form of weapon with them for either self-defense or to carve up some prey that couldn't get away from them in time. If they discovered a particularly big corpse or a plentiful amount of resources, the fastest scavenger would report back to the enclave and tell them where to find it. The entire enclave would then swarm the location and do everything to bring it all back. Apparently, being skilled at scavenging, gathering, and hunting is a necessity for a yinglet to survive in this harsh world.
When it was time for me to be evaluated by the scavenging patriarch and his heir, I must have surprised them when I said I had no experience on how to scavenge. Thank goodness they gave me some quick tips, pointers, and tricks! Did you know that bite-snails are bastards? I didn't when I got a hold of one. I was supposed to eat it quick before it had the chance to chomp on me instead! Thank goodness that it went after my finger-nail and nothing else. Also, did you know that snaprats are bastards too? Apparently, if I don't hold them firmly by the tail, they would lurch up and bite at my fingers. If Oggie didn't point that out in time, I would have came back to the enclave with some war wounds, while the other yinglets would laugh at my failings. And finally, did you know that being a scavenger, gatherer, OR a hunter is a life-threatening job occupation? Well, it's especially so for yinglets. Not exactly a world-breaking revelation, but I really wanted to point that out.
Oh, and I happened to fail BOTH of their evaluations. Thankfully, if Matriarch Rhondy passes me in the final evaluation, I will be allowed to stay in their enclave. Sadly, the evaluation of my scavenging abilities would heavily factor into my final evaluation. For example: Ever went to a school where you had a science class, and the grade on your science project contributes greatly into your overall final grade? Well, Rhondy's evaluation is going to be like that apparently.
I'd have to succeed with flying colors with Flick and Mazhink's evaluations, or else I'd have to find a new home elsewhere. No rush or anything. Weh.
Thankfully for me, Patriarch Flick didn't have anything lined up for any sneaking excursions, which would occur during the night time. That left me with a lot of free time. Oggie suggested that I hang out with his brother while the patriarchs and Matriarch Rhondy plan for the next 'expedition'.
Oggie's brother, whose name is Uggie, looked quite different from Oggie. They had the same fur pattern, but not fur color, as Uggie's fur was white, black, and shades in between. His chin, and chest was a mottle white, while his back and his head hair was pitch black. Unlike Oggie's green eyes, Uggie's eyes are a scarlet red. His black hair parted in the middle and was swept to both sides of his head. One of the tips of his ears was chewed off. And his left foot-hand's thumb was missing, due to an unfortunate run-in with an animal called a hill-dog. Not a cheery fellow, all things considered. Also happened to be the leader to a group of seven yinglets. After some idle talk about me being a newcomer, and how I was being evaluated by the patriarchs and matriarch. Uggie eventually warmed up to me, accepted me as a new member of his group, which brought up the number of overall members of his gang to eight.
And as for the six other members of Uggie's group, I'll go down the list of their names in order of smartest to dumbest, with a brief description of their appearance.
Greggy. He has gray, black, white, and orange patches of fur all over his body. His right ear is black while his left is orange. Both of his eyes are blue.
Zhepper. His fur is a light gray, with the exception of his belly and back that is a creamy brown. His head hair is a dark brown, while his eyes are steel gray.
Marklet. His fur is bright orange, while his head hair is more an orange-brown. He seemed like the youngest of the lot. His eyes are a pale yellow, which is a common eye color.
Yogs. His fur is completely black, save for some gray and white mottles on his belly and chin. He has hairless forelimbs, meaning that his legs and arms had no hair from the elbows and knees onward. He has a small nick on the tip of his tail, which was a scar from some injury of his past. His eyes are a golden yellow, but his irises are pure black, making him look like he forgot how to turn off the 'puppy dog eyes' look.
Drompa. His fur is colored rusted red on his back, but transitioned into a striped orange on his sides, and then turned into a coffee cream color on his belly. He has short ears, and several feathers tied to his tail. His eyes are bright yellow.
And Daggat. His fur was chocolate colored, except for his face, his belly, and his arm and leg limbs, for he had no fur on those parts of his body. (Though it is considered normal for yinglets to have bare fur-less legs). His face and belly is bare of any hair, looking like his fur had been shaven off of him, yet he explained that it was like that when he hatched from his egg. His head, oddly enough, has blond hair. His eyes are constantly spaced-out and looking in two directions at once, otherwise known as being 'wall-eyed'. His eyes are orange in color. And he is the stupidest yinglet I have ever met.
We were all currently in the kitchen area, since it was Uggie's group's turn to use the kitchen and feed themselves. Apparently, the entire enclave functioned in a shift system, where one group would cover for the other and ensure that the enclave was constantly protected by active patrolling yinglets. It was a system created by Rhondy, and is enforced by Zagoon and Flick.
Even though I was grateful to eat some food once more, each and every one of the members of Uggie's group asked questions about me as we ate. I barely had time to answer them as I stuffed my mouth with what could hardly have been considered food for the human palate.
"Wow~!" Greggy said as he was roasting half a snaprat in the fire under the cooking pot. "So you used ta live wizh za humans? Sounds very very fanciful! What it like?"
I shrugged as I gulped down a 'worm-wrap' while I was trying not to think too hard about what I was eating. "*Gluk* - Um... I guess it was normal? Ordinary? I moved around a lot when I was younger, and I ended up moving into places zhat had humans as my neighbors."
"Were zhey nice humans?" Marklet asked, laying down next to me while gnawing on a small bone.
I chuckled. "So long as I was nice to zhem, zhen zhey would be nice to me. But zhat wasn't always zhe case."
Yogs tilted his head. "So what was zhe case when zhe humans weren't nice to you?" He asked before throwing some offal into his maw.
I scoffed at the air. "Oh, I can name a few people zhat were not nice to me. In fact, I know of one human in particular who was responsible for ruining my life, now zhat you mention it."
Zhepper snarled at the air, nearly spilling a bowl of soup. "Ooh, he sounds like a bastard. Do you know zhe human's name?"
I sighed. "Uh... No. I was so mad zhat I didn't bozher learning his name. All I know about him is zhat he is a wizard."
"Wizard man sounds very, uhh... very bad. If we meet zhis wizard, can I stab hims?" Drompa asked while licking out the marrow of a large bone.
I shook my head. "I don't zhink he'll even let you. I suggest staying away from him as much as possible."
Uggie rolled his eyes as he stirred the cooking pot. "Oggie didn't mention about you meeting some dumbo wizard zhat screwed your life up. Why is zhat?"
"I guess it's supposed to be a secret, but I say fek it. If I'm going to be staying wizh you guys, zhen zhe least I can do is tell you a bit of my backstory." I said, shrugging. "Besides being such a bastard, he did say zhat he didn't mean to ruin my life. But zhat's besides zhe point. If you woke up to a bad day zhat tops all ozher bad days, and some bastard tells you zhey were responsible for zhe day you have woken up to, how would you feel about it?"
Uggie paused for a few seconds before he gave his answer. "Pretty mad about it, probably. But if I calm down and zhink about it, I'd maybe see zhat zhe bastard is not who I should be mad at. Maybe he didn't mean to put me in zhat position in zhe first place. Wouldn't be fair to zhe bastard wizard if I'm angry at him just because I'm having a bad day zhat he didn't intend to cause. Now, if he went out of his way to make up for zhat bad day, zhen I might find it in my heart to forgive zhe bastard."
I growled at Uggie. "Well zhe bastard, ozherwise known as zhe wizard zhat ruined my life, didn't go out of his way to fix zhe damage he caused. He just pointed me east and told me to walk zhere. Zhat was how I found zhis enclave."
Uggie looked up at me and paused. "... Mm. Zhat seems pretty bastard-y to me."
"Bastard-y sound bad! Bash his head on rock! Make him look at his own brain! Yellow Roy friend is good yinglet and no deserves bad days at alls! No yinglets deserves bad days at alls! Except maybe exiles and bad yinglets. BUT MOSTLY GOOD YINGLETS GET NO BAD DAYS YES!" Daggat shouted as he bashed his dead snaprat's head on the ground.
I stared at Daggat for a few seconds. "... Um. Yeah. Zhank you, Daggat. How eloquent of you."
"Roy yellow friend zhink I is elephant? Hee, I zhink zhat animal is funny sounding! What is elephant?" Daggat replied.
"... Is he normally like zhis?" I asked Uggie's group, pointing at Daggat.
Uggie shrugged. "He probably got hit on zhe head a few times when he was a younglet. Makes zhem so so unstable when zhey grow up sometimes."
"Is Daggat dangerous?" I asked.
"Only if you're a target." Uggie explained as he poured a bowl of soup for himself. "He may be dumber zhan a rock, but he's crazy good at cutting, stabbing and gouging zhings wizh a knife or a spear. Nobody likes being around him zhough, cuz he's kinda crazy in zhe head."
"I hear ringings in my ears and IT MAKES ME WANT TO HURTY ZHINGS!" Daggat shouted.
Zhepper chuckled. "Zhat's Daggat for ya! Just don't make him mad and everyzhings is fine."
Uggie raised a finger up. "And don't let him near any females."
Zhepper nodded his head in remembrance. "Oh, right. Yeah. Zhat too."
"Why?" I asked.
Uggie shook his head and shrugged. "It's a long story." He then took a seat next to me on the floor. "So you're good wizh zhe wormy-wrap I made for ya?"
"Never had one before, to be honest." I replied. "But uh... Zhank you."
"Zhat's sad." Uggie replied back.
"Brains are like wormies in a way, except big and lumpy and squishy! Brain wormies sounds so so good! I wonder if females like wormies?" Daggat stated, only to swallow a mashed snaprat skull whole afterwards.
Marklet chuckled as he patted Daggat's head. "Oh I'm sure most of zhem will. We just got to find zhem."
I stared up at the bare dirt ceiling. A thought had crossed my mind just now. "You know, now zhat you mentioned females, I'm curious to ask you about somezhing."
"Which is?" Uggie asked.
"Is Matriarch Rhondy zhe only female yinglet in zhis enclave?" I asked.
Greggy got up and finished the rest of his snaprat. "Yeah, she is. It been like zhis when we moved here. Our enclave's leaders and zhe High Elders decided to pool zheir resources togezher to make a secret enclave and hide it near Arisota's Hold. Rhondy said zhat zhere are uh... a hundred yinglets in zhis enclave. I don't know how big a hundred is, but she says it's a big number. Anyway, Rhondy is smart, but she still doesn't know where our captured females are kept. Zhe ozher patriarchs are helping her as best zhey can, but eh... it's been pretty slow."
Zhepper sighed. "I hope we find zhe females soon. Drompa's a good preener, but getting some good times wizh zhe females would be good too."
Drompa whined at Zhepper. "What? Am I not good enough for you no more?"
Zhepper pawed at Drompa. "No no no! You is good! Still good! So so good! It's just zhat humping you is getting very boring sometimes."
Drompa pouted before getting up and discarding his hollowed bone. "Well you isn't getting humpin's wizh me today. I is too mad at you nows." He then scampered away.
Zhepper stared at Drompa as he left. He then sighed with his hands in his face. "Oh. I've said a bads."
Greggy shook his head at Zhepper. "Such a bad humpin' buddy. You's got to be more nice or nobody wants to have good times wizh you. Roy, a bit of advice. If you is a seeker, zhen you have to treat your preener like a friend zhat is special to you. Or like a female. Unless you's a preener."
Zhepper blinked a few times before he began to stare at me with his head cocked. "Is Roy a preener? Is he up for a humpin'?"
I blinked a few times. "... Uh. No zhank you. I'm uh... I'm flattered, but I'm not up for humpin'." I replied politely.
"Aw." Zhepper said with a frown.
And thus, I was reminded of another detail about yinglets. Not only are they a bunch of dumb and hyperactive ratbirds, but they are also quite promiscuous. So much so that the males of the yinglet species evolved to be biologically compatible to one another when access to females are blocked or limited. Think of the slogan 'Make love, not war', but applied to the literal sense, since the males used to fight each other just to have access to the females. Despite this evolutionary trait, even if the males of the species pair with each other for... 'good times', it doesn't enable the yinglet species to reproduce. The ability to bring offspring into this world is a trait only female yinglets have, save for any mutations that would otherwise manifest in their bloodlines. It is due to their limited numbers and their fertile nature that a female yinglet capable of laying eggs is considered more important than a male yinglet.
Which made me wonder. Why would someone go out of their way to steal female yinglets and cull the males from the fringe enclaves?
Uggie patted Zhepper's back. "Don't get too friendly wizh Roy just yet. He still needs to be evaluated by our new enclave's patriarchs and matriarch."
"Oh." Zhepper replied.
"Maybe I should check back wizh Rhondy and zhe ozher patriarchs? Mazhink might be back already." I said as I got up from sitting on the ground.
Uggie looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "Zhe enclave's leaders won't go anywhere."
"I know. I just want to get my evaluations over and done wizh as quick as possible." I replied.
Yogs smiled at me excitedly. "Maybe you tell us more about your life wizh zhe humans maybe?"
"Maybe!" I answered. "See you around!" I then began my trip back to the hidden tent at the center of Sharp Rock Enclave's leadership.
Once I came into the main foyer, I could see that many of the leaders of Sharp Rock Enclave were inside. Grabba'lot and Oggie were striking up a conversation with each other as they sat on floor mats. Zagoon seemed preoccupied with a practice dummy, using his daggers to spar with his false opponent. Rhondy was pacing left-and-right, looking as though something was concerning her. I was unable to see Flick, which could have meant that he was either sleeping or off on a sneaking mission of great importance. In either case, he wasn't going to be in the main tent. Calic was also absent, which meant he was either in his own tent or at the crafting workshop.
Oggie was the first to notice me enter. "Roy! Good to see you! Do you haves business wizh us?"
I shook my hand with a so-so gesture. "Sorta. I was wondering if Mazhink is back yet."
Grabba'lot shook his head. "He's not here, but he may turn up at some point. We'll tell you if he comes back, so don't you worry about him much."
"Why do you want to see Mazhink so badly?" Zagoon asked, even while he was training himself with his dummy. "Did Oggie's brozher made fun of your fur color or somezhin'?"
I shook my head and groaned in disgust. "No, but one of zhe yinglets in his group flirted wizh me. I zhink his name was Zeppy or Zhepper or somezhing."
Zagoon chuckled. "Heh. So he flirted wizh ya? How'd zhat go?"
"I politely declined his offer. And zhat's also when I decided to see if Mazhink came back yet." I said as I sat on an unoccupied mat.
"Yeah, Zhepper is one of zhose yinglets zhat zhinks about nozhin' but humpin'. He probably made Drompa upset again or somezhin'." Zagoon said, striking at his practice dummy with a flurry of stabs and cuts.
Oggie scooched up next to me with a bright smile. "So! What do you zhink of my brozher? Was he nice to you?"
I nodded and smiled back. "Yeah, he's okay for zhe most part. A bit ornery, but ozherwise alright. Weirdly smart too, now zhat I zhink about it."
"And Daggat didn't give you much trouble?" Oggie asked.
"He did seem like a handful, but he didn't do anyzhing bad when I was zhere." I answered.
Oggie nodded. "Zhat's good. Daggat can be a nuisance sometimes, but Zagoon likes to keep him around. No yinglet in zhis secret enclave loves to stab zhings more zhan Daggat does!"
"Which is part and partial zhe reason why Uggie seems so so ornery." Grabba'lot stated with a nod. "He was appointed to watch over Daggat, after all. If he wasn't so good at stabbing, we would have exiled him a long time ago. Uggie certainly has his hands full wizh him."
"Mm." I leaned forward to look at Rhondy pacing around the foyer. I was curious on why she was pacing. "Is somezhing bozhering Matriarch Rhondy?"
Grabba'lot looked at Rhondy and sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. She is deeply concerned wizh somezhing. However, Roy, it's nozhing to trouble yourself over."
"I'm back." A voice from behind me said. I turned around to see Patriarch Flick, whom was wearing his black sneaking gear and is accompanied by two other yinglets that are dressed in their own simpler sneaking gears.
Rhondy practically ran toward Flick, nearly pushing me down as she rushed to meet him. "Did you find him?" Okay, it looks like a bit of drama is happening here.
Flick sighed. "It's worse zhan we zhought. Some hill-dogs moved into zhe neighborhood and broke up Mazhink's party. Everyone else returned, but Mazhink still hasn't came back."
"Did he get hunted by zhe hill-dogs?" Rhondy asked.
Flick shook his head. "I checked Mazhink's last location several times. I didn't smell blood or see any yinglet bones, or fallen equipment zhat belonged to him. I'd say he's still alive. Zhat, or captured."
Rhondy hissed. "Dammit. Flick, I want you to spread out your search patterns. Do everyzhing you can to find Patriarch Mazhink. If he ends up dying, zhen we would have no way of knowing where or when zhe future trade-meets will happen. Patriarch Mazhink is too smart to be hunted by hill-dogs, or captured by Arisota's guardsmen. Understand?"
Flick bowed. "I understand, my matriarch." He then turned to me and huffed. "Looks like zhis is your chance to prove yourself to me, Roy. Ready for your evaluation?"
I blinked. "Uh... I guess so? I mean... I didn't know zhat Mazhink was in some sort of trouble."
Rhondy turned around and blinked at me. "... Roy, how did you get in here? I zhought you were wizh Uggie and his group?"
I shrugged. "I wanted to see if Mazhink is back yet, but it looks like he's been held up by somezhing."
Flick nodded at me. "Indeed. Wizh zhe night coming, we will have less of a chance being spotted as we search for Mazhink. Do you need to borrow some gear before we leave?"
I shook my head. "Calic helped me make a sneaking cloak and my own spear, but I didn't have time to make a 'grass whistle'."
Flick grunted in acknowledgement. "Zhen we'll make one along zhe way. Every yinglet in zhis enclave knows how to make zhem just in case one of zheir own breaks. we'll have to make one as we travel to Arisota's Hold. We'll leave once you collect your cloak and spear."
I stood up and patted my face. This is quickly becoming a tense situation, and I can feel my heart quickening at the thought. "Okay, uh... Suddenly feeling a lot of pressure here."
Flick raised an eyebrow at me. "If you don't feel up to it, I can leave you here while I go wizh my scouts."
"I'm just mentally preparing myself, Flick." After taking deep breaths and releasing my anxiety with a slow exhale, I then turned toward Flick, feeling calmer than I was a few seconds ago. "I'll have to swing by Calic's crafting workshop and get my gear."
Flick nodded. "I'll meet you at zhe bushes souzh of here. I'll bring some sneaking yinglets wizh me. Your evaluation starts zhe moment we leave. And remember, Roy. Be sneaky!" Flick then turned away and quickly headed outside of the tent foyer, his two companions following after him with equal speed.
Rhondy walked up to me and patted my shoulder. "Are you sure about zhis? If you get caught once, you'll fail Flick's sneaking evaluation. And worse, we might not find Patriarch Mazhink."
I turned and smiled at Rhondy. "Zhank you, but I need to do zhis. If I am going to live as a yinglet, zhen I have to test myself and discover what my limits are. What better way to do zhat zhan to go on zhis mission?"
Rhondy paused, and then smiled. "... Just be careful. To have someone of your determination and willpower helping us is a rare zhing."
"And don't get eaten by a hill-dog." Zagoon snorted. "I hear zhey like to bury zhe remains of zheir prey."
I grimaced at Zagoon. "... Gee. Zhanks for zhe vote of confidence." I said sarcastically.
"Do be careful zhough, Roy!" Grabba'lot exclaimed. "If a hill-dog senses you in its territory, it'll eizher chase you away or rip you to shreds!"
"Oh! And don't handle any raw meat too! Zhey can smell blood from very far away!" Oggie added.
"I'll keep zhat in mind. Wish me luck!" I said as I waved to everyone and left for Calic's crafting workshop.
Deep down inside me, I hoped that this mission would be as easy as cake. But if you consider the size and muscle strength of the average yinglet, then... yeah, I guess I have a lot to prove in this mission. I REALLY hope it doesn't go horribly wrong.
A/N: Been playing a bit of Sea of Thieves. Did you know you can be a pirate in that game? Not the historically accurate ones though. But still a pirate!
