New in Towne
The rodents had fled just before the sky had lightened, with disappointment apparent in their angry shrieks. In the creatures wake an eerie silence buzzed in the air. Minion crept down first to check the premises. He gave Megamind the all clear after a while and went to help Roxanne down. She laid in the shade of the somehow untouched shelters, she was pretty out of it. She started shivering about the time the sun came over the trees behind them. She looked pale and clammy, and her breathing was fast and shallow. She was in big trouble if they didn't do something quick.
Heavy footsteps from behind called Megamind and Minion's attention, they spun around to meet the gaze of yet another rat creature but this one was different. This one was tall, at least six feet, and covered in short brown fur that looked soft and plush. His face wasn't as pointed and the nose didn't squirm as much. The eyes were smaller, more like shiny black buttons rather than watery saucers that sat atop round cheeks. He was clothed too; he wore a green-ish vest that was mostly pockets and a wrinkly fisherman's hat from which two large orange and yellow feathers stuck out. On one shoulder an old scruffy looking bag bulged with ropes and odd looking metal traps.
He cocked his head to the side taking in the sight of the disheveled strangers. They had had a hard night from the looks of it. The little pale female was sitting in the sand shaking, she smelled of blood. The blue one was trying to look menacing, but the big metal clad servant was the one he was worried about.
He cautiously approached and asked them gruffly, "Oi! Kwee quet o wert?"
The fish and the man exchanged a glance. The man spoke up, "um, do you happen to speak English?"
He nodded, "aye, that I do. And I was askin' what ye be, friend or foe?"
"Friend, if you aren't like those rodents we saw last night," He said as he stood more casually.
He smiled wryly, "Aye, that I'm most certainly not. What ye bumped into was a cousin o' mine. Nasty little things Razorbacks be. Attracted to the smell of blood, they are. By the looks of it your female got caught by one of 'em, aye?"
His ears flushed slightly as he stated firmly, "she's not mine. She belongs to no one."
"Beg your pardon, sir, I didn't intend nothin'. It's just strange happnin's to see a lovely little woman such as herself round these parts- unescorted. Best you keep her close, lest she gets snatched away by the big baddies."
"We'll keep that in mind."
"Best ye be, mister-?"
"Megamind, and this is Minion. The woman is Miss. Roxanne Ritchi. And you are?"
"Amudd De'Wart, at ye service," he shook Megamind's and Minion's hands, "but just call me Wart, everyone else does. Now let's see what the damage be, shall we?"
Wart shuffled over to Roxanne slowly. He check her pulse, raised her eyelid to look in her eye, looked at her tongue, and sniff at the make shift bandage.
Wart frowned as he faced Megamind and Minion, "well I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is she didn't get bit. They got some right nasty bugs in their chops that would have killed her. The bad news is she got the wrong end of them claws, and they be nearly as bad. She'll start havin' the walkin' dreams before long."
"Walking dreams," Minion parroted.
"Hallucinations from the fever," Megamind explained.
Wart gingerly picked up Roxanne, passing her to Minion, "yes and no. The fever plays a part, but Razorback talon is pretty much poison. She'll be babbling like a wild Poff before long. She'll be dead at sunset if she ain't treated. Best we get a move on, the compound isn't far now."
The odd troop tromped off into the jungle, following Wart's acute nose. Its twitch reminded Megamind of those creatures.
"So Wart," Megamind said breathily, "you said Razorbacks were attracted to the smell of blood, but how do you repel them?"
Wart thought a moment, "Tar plant oil is said to give 'em a hard time, the fumes hurt their noses. But as long as there's some blood scent there, they'll come in swarms. Sunlight is the only fail safe."
Megamind's thoughts wandered to the fish and the spider. That might have done it he thought grimly.
When they came to the settlement Wart spoke of, they were met with a very long ten foot tall fence made of thick sharp stakes, some adorned with skulls and bones of assorted size. Minion shuttered at the amount of fish bones that were mixed in with the remnants of other animals scattered around the outside of the walls. The sounds of a busy town floated to them beyond the barrier. Curious guards poked their head over the fence as they approached the gate.
"Who goes there!" piped a voice from behind the door.
"De'Wart here, back from the southern beaches. Found some strangers squatting on the coastline. One's hurt pretty badly, she needs a doctor. They mean no harm, they aren't Old Towne material."
A panel at Megamind's eye level opened and two large yellow eyes squinted at him and the others.
"An Azureian," the gate keeper's eyes widened at Megamind, "don't see many of you around here anymore-and what it that?"
Wart looked over to Roxanne, "don't rightly know, looks like a Glaupunk. Not enough muscle though, could be a new species. "
The guards yellow eyes narrowed at Minion, "we'll see how harmless they are when the council deliberates their status. You are to report tomorrow morning to the great hall, travelers. Enter De'Wart and company!"
The gates slowly swung open with a labored groan. Clinging to the inside of the door was a two foot tall toad like man, with brown lumpy skin that sagged and a metal helmet that was slightly too large for his head so that it leaned to the side. He wore a gray animal skin shirt and scruffy brown slacks, bone plate armor festooned his chest.
"Well? Get going," he piped when only Wart stepped through the gates, "I haven't got all day!"
They went through the first gate and the second inner gate, finding themselves in a busy market place. There were aliens of all colors, shapes, sizes, and locomotion that were buying, selling, hustling, bustling, bargaining, bartering, and basically going about their daily business. Megamind noticed the buyers and sellers were flashing colored cards of some sort with the addition of varied coinage. A few paused and stared curiously at the new comers, most were too immersed in the dealings that went on underneath the brightly colored cloth awnings.
Wart lead them away from the hustle and bustle, down narrow dirt roads to a squat little house with a bench and a strange sign out front. They ducked inside the dark house that smelled of sweet incense and smoke. Candles burned in bottles of all kinds, dimly lighting the front room.
"Oi, Doc," Wart called out, "Dr. Tim! I got a sickly person here."
A thin grey man peeped around the corner of a door way. His head was large in comparison to his bony frame, and seemingly even larger were his deep black eyes. His small, thin mouth pinched together as he 'spoke', "I know Wart; you don't need to shout so. I felt you coming from around the corner. Who are your friends?"
Megamind, though unsettled by his telepathy, introduced himself as well as Minion and Roxanne. Dr. Tim nodded and his eyes trailed to Roxanne who was now lying on one of the medical cots mumbling.
"A Homo Sapien, how peculiar a sight," Dr. Tim declared, "then again there are all kinds here."
"You know of her species," Megamind inquired.
Dr. Tim smiled fondly, "oh yes, my people have been studying these beings for many thousands of years. Such an interesting people."
Dr. Tim set to work undoing the bandage on Roxanne's leg. The wound was red and some puss was starting to leak from it. She moaned loudly in discomfort as he began pouring a foul smelling yellow liquid over the wound and began to stitch it up carefully with a large hooked needle.
"What is that liquid," Minion asked frowning pointedly.
Dr. Tim smiled guardedly, "it's effective as an improvised antiseptic, but it isn't a very fun job collecting it."
Minion frowned further, "that didn't answer my question."
"And you don't want to know, little fish," Dr. Tim said gravely, "I wish we had something better, but it's the best we've got."
There were no more questions while he smeared a green minty paste onto the wound and layered it in a strange turquoise grass, finally wrapping it in fresh bandages. He shambled over to the shelves at the back of the room that were packed with vials and jars of assorted herbs and ground substances. He chose a few with nimble fingers, sprinkling pinches of them in a mortar and grinding them with the pestle. He dumped the crushed contents into a clay cup and poured warm water into it from a steaming kettle that was setting on a small potbellied stove, letting it steep and turn dark green. He shambled back with the cup in hand and sat very carefully on the bedside. She was shaking worse now and coated in sweat. The doctor raised her head from the pillow and held the cup to her lips. She spluttered and coughed as the liquid passed her lips.
"No! What are you doing! I don't want to drown," Roxanne flailed her arms at Dr. Tim. He quickly set the cup down and tried to calm her. She continued to struggle and scream, "Help! It's gonna eat me! My leg is on fire! Oh, it burns! They've got me, it's biting me! Please help me! Megamind!"
Megamind maneuvered around the doctor who was now standing back. He grabbed hold of her thrashing wrists and brought them underneath her chin. "Miss. Ritchi," he said calmly, "can you hear me? I need you to get a hold of yourself. Do you understand? Roxanne?"
Roxanne's eyes flashed open; they were wild and scared. Her hair was plastered to her head from sweat, "Megamind…"
He held up the cup, "I need you to drink this Miss. Ritchi, can you do that?"
She nodded numbly, and took a sip from it cringing, "tastes like mud. Why's the balloon giving me mud?" She pointed at the doctor, "everyone knows that teeth taste like bubblegum."
Megamind blinked at that comment, unable to make sense of it. Dr. Tim said it was part of the effects of hallucination. He asked Megamind to get her to drink the rest of the medicine and keep talking to her so she wouldn't think that much about the aches.
Megamind did, and let her blather on about nothing in particular, before she suddenly stopped mid-sentence and closed her eyes. Megamind looked at her peaceful face, finally relaxed and without worry. He brushed a tuft of hair behind her ear tenderly, thankful that she wasn't in pain any more.
He got up to leave and just before he left he barely heard her murmur sleepily, "You're my favorite color, you know."
He smiled sheepishly and whispered, "How could I not be. I am devilishly handsome." But his remark fell on deaf ears, Roxanne had fallen asleep already. He smiled wryly and left to keep Minion company.
The day wore on with a constant thrum of activity. Wart had long since left to go set his traps. The doctor tended to walk in patients now and then as Minion assisted him. Megamind left with nothing to do, fidgeted and paced. His brain was a never ending whir of activity; he was not one for idleness. Dr. Tim suggested he go for a walk to get to know the town better rather than wear a hole in the stone floor. Minion wanted to come too, but Megamind ordered him to stay behind to keep an eye on Miss. Ritchi.
Megamind opened the door and stepped into the still busy street. Carts drawn by strange wooly creatures passed by in the streets along with the foot traffic. It made the air to be hot and dusty along main roads. Megamind took his time meandering along the avenues, listening to the different dialects and checking out the wares that some sold. One particular street vendor was very adamant about his job. He looked like a near toothless skeleton with red leather pulled over him. He sold stone and shell pendants from the small rack that was strapped to his chest.
"Hey there new comer," The red man said friendly, "you look like you're a bit down on your luck."
"Not really," Megamind said walking away.
"Well even if you aren't, my charms are guaranteed to increase your good fortune tenfold!"
"Good for you. Then you can keep them," he walked more quickly.
"Don't be like that friend; I'm selling them real cheap, half off. What do you say?"
"Not interested."
"Oh come on now-," the red man was taken up by the collar of his long tunic by a guard. The guard spoke harshly, "What do you think you're doing scum?"
"Selling my wares of course, sir," the peddler answered meekly, "is there a problem?"
"Word is that you're pushing more than jewelry, Bub," the guard dumped the pendants on the ground and removed the false bottom to reveal many vials of clear liquid tuck into little holders, "Looks like the word was right. Come with us, poison dealer."
Several citizens cheered the guard as he hauled the squirming man away. Megamind was glad to not be caught up in that mess as he continued on his way.
It was long into the afternoon when he heard a hoarse sounding trumpet at the front of the gate. The Market got a little quieter as if listening to the mournful sound before returning to the normal buzz. A constant stream of men started to pour through the gate moments later, all with loads of some sort. The Market was suddenly much more rambunctious, he found himself being jostled this way and that by a flurry of action. Somehow Wart spotted him pressed against a vendors fruit stall, and he tugged Megamind back toward the doctors.
Wart had a bag full of brown paper covered items on his shoulder and a smile on his face when he entered the doctor's office. "We'll eat like king tonight," he chuckled.
"Don't bring that in here," Dr. Tim exclaimed, "take it to the kitchen! Raw food has no place in here."
Minion and Wart prepared dinner in the kitchen, it seemed like the two were becoming fast friends. As it began to darken outside, the streets suddenly became still. The market closed up for the night, guards began their rounds, and soft rodent shrieks echoed throughout the village.
Roxanne was still unconscious when Megamind entered the recovery room, and Dr. Tim was diligently checking and redressing her wound.
He looked up from her when Megamind spoke, "It looks much better,"
Dr. Tim nodded slowly, "The infection is under control, but she is still fighting it. The only thing we can do now is wait." He got up slowly and ambled away, "come now, dinner is done."