-CLICK!-
(Told you I wouldn't break it...)
Oh! Uhm. H-hello! Heeh...~!
/Smooth.\
Oh, hush you!
*That is right! This time, it is your turn to be silent with us!*
/Oh yeah? Like you guys totally were when I was pouring out my soul? It was almost painfully quiet. Really.\
[Don't be a jerk just 'cause we made things more fun to listen to~. You love us!]
/Whatever helps you sleep at night~.\
But they are right, Kris. You should be quiet and let me have the go of it. Otherwise, me being up on the microphone becomes me plus Mr. Krister the rude mister~.
/I'll accept only the subtitle of Rude BUSTER, thank you.\
*Pft! Alright. But really, Kris. It is time to simmer down and let Noelle narrate.*
/... ... ... Alright, Alright~. Go on, Noelle. Sorry.\
Mh hm~! Very well. Then... -sigh- Here I go...
As you know, we had been walking our way through ruins of an ancient city. The dilapidated buildings were still in sight, but we had exited out to the forest again. The giant trees loomed again overhead, scarcely affording us the sight of the sky, were oddly haunting to me...
I started to consider how many different kinds of buildings were all about.
Building styles, right up into that present time, always seemed to differ. A sign that each one or many we found in one area belonged to a different time period. Even some styles of road-ing. Anything from sheer dirt paths to very narrowly being highways meant for cars. Advancements clearly came to different highs and then... stopped... And no people of these concrete structures remained. Just the occasional critters or beasts... which almost always attacked. They were of no sapience or sentience, obviously, and so they could not be the builders.
And yet, the forest was always the same. Massive. Imposing. Dominant... or maybe oppressive is a better word...
Animal attacks nearly always came at me when I was under the shroud of that great tree line, not when I was navigating the stone and wood structures of yore. Shelter always seemed more plausible to find inside these devastated places... like animal didn't want anything to do with them. I'm sure the critters of our world share a similar sentiment. Only problem is that THEY can't avoid us. Our roads and cities are everywhere. They must trek them, for we invade their territory and stake uncaring claim...
... ... ... O-oh. Sorry. That, uh... became a little too sentimental~...! The point being... I can understand it.
It made sense to me that the animals were upset lately, because the Black Geyser- or Dark Fountain- was bringing an unwelcome change to their forever-home. They blamed people for that. It didn't matter to them if it was the rightful tribe. They were all the same or close enough to it as to not matter.
... That being said, my thought process was hit with a snag when I felt my stomach grow tight. That ended up causing me to sag a bit to the side and take to dragging my staff's butt thumping and bumping the ground behind me woodenly, half-mindedly. "Ugh..."
Ralsei and Susie both turned toward me, Susie cocking a brow at how I began holding my stomach and looking around. "The heck's up with you?"
Her question was answered when my stomach beat my mouth in making a sound, groaning audibly as I froze with my mouth open... aaand cheeks reddened...
Both Ralsei and Susie blinked at me... before turning to one another... Susie dropped her face in a raised brow and droop lipped expression, shrugging while her partner smiled in pity at me and said, "I suppose it is not surprising to be hungry. We've gone through a fair amount and walked quite a lot.'
Susie turned to me and commented, "Guess ya didn't eat real good in that village you mentioned?" Her own stomach churned while her brow narrowed, eyes lighting up visibly in annoyance.
"And we haven't eaten at all, worse yet," elaborated the goat, drawing Susie's annoyance.
"Do you maybe have just ONE lying bone in your body? I was just gonna say..." She hummed in thought, a furrow beginning to set in.
... He baited her by smiling innocently enough and asking, "Going to saaay... what?"
"That I..." She made a sheepish kind of grin despite trying to harden her face and crossing her arms extra tight. "had to.. use the bathroom! Yeah..."
The both of us besides giggled, but she still turned toward me with a huff and shrugged, nervously defensive as she asked, "What, a girl can't make that excuse? Pardon the frick outta me!"
"That's not-" The growling of my stomach made me "oh" in a faint fatigue, hand again finding itself over my belly and brain now all-too-focused upon it... Sighing, I shook my head. "Okay, well... I hate to admit this, but I can't ignore it. So, we'd better... Oh!" I suddenly perked up as I raised my staff, jangling the content-carrying sack tied under it's head and hanging over my hand itself. I smiled at it and giggled at myself. "I forgot all about it, but I actually have food! Enough for all three of us!"
"What, seriously," remarked the dragon... crock... monster girl as she took to leaning with a hand on her hip. "Well then, hell yeah! Let's have a look!"
And so, we all sat in a circle where we were as I pulled the bag up into the middle, untying it from my staff and letting all contents air out and separate from one another. Thankfully, all breads, fruits and nuts were foods that were not easily squished or ruined. Everything tumbled free, nary a single bit bruised or damaged otherwise.
We had a full meal and then some for all three of us...
Or at least... that's what it seemed... A big, fat problem was about to make itself known to two of us, hiding from the remaining one...
Ralsei smiled as he grabbed a piece of bread and set it on his lap, saying, "I think I will keep some of each of these to give to Kris when we find them." And so he went in for an orange shaped berry with a pinkish-white skin, one of those grape colored apples and handful of randomly assorted nuts.
"Hey, don't hog it!" Susie was quick to brush off Ralsei as he winced back and stared at her giving him a cocked stare. "Start stuffin' something in your cheeks if you want any more." A hand closed around a spiral-faced bread's side as she said, "The dude doesn't need a feast, Fluffy~! And I've got the biggest stomach here!" And thus did she wolf the bread after inhalation.
[Ya don't need to word it like that, ya know...]
How would YOU word it? Your whole fist went in your mouth. Also, I know they retract when you aren't trying to be-
[Keep that secret to yourself, thanks~.]
Ahem...! Regardless, I was quick to take hold of something myself, groaning about my still complaintive stomach. What I chose was an apricot... It had this smooth texture on the outside, so it could have been one, but the dark red color made me suspect...
I hummed... but shook my head in dismissal. Thoughts on where the fruit originated could wait.
I lifted the fruit to my mouth and took a bite into the surprisingly soft skin, eyes blinking at the fact that my teeth sunk through it as easily as they might into a boiled potato... But the fruity citrus juice that oozed from it- this red, almost blood like syrup... was definitely more akin to jelly. Again I was thrown off... but it tasted very nice despite the weirdness of appearance I was left with.
I pulled a chunk free and munched, humming at the texture. Soft like a potato, too... And as I looked inside the now bleeding fruit, I noted there was no core. It was a full fruit. The funny thing was that it almost looked like I had bitten into an un-drained piece of meat... but the unmistakable citrus and overall non-flesh texture was nothing alike... After a while, I began to realize the flavor was getting into my nose as well in the form of a scent almost like... a durian. A very sweet one, if that was the case.
Chewing a few times to moves the food to a cheek, I caught myself chuckling through a crooked smile. "This is the weirdest thing I have ever eaten..."
"Why- uuuh..." Our favorite purple monster stopped in her tracks as she laid eyes on me with a dripping fruit in my hand, plapping the ground thickly with it's "bloody" juices. Her eyes were bugged and her lips were smushed flat to each other... She cocked a brow and asked, "Hey, uh... you sure that's a fruit and not a HEART?"
The goat of our group turned to me and hummed as I looked at the fruit with inquisitive eyes, taking another bite without really thinking. He smiled to me and giggled. "Ah! The Ripply!" I turned to him with a hum as he put a finger up, before gracing us with a factoid. "Colloquially dubbed the "Jelly Round", it is a dark red fruit with "bloody" juices as thick as the real thing. They are quite good as a source of Calcium and all you need to do to get jam from them is squeeze!" Taking his sharp claws to a nut in his fingers, he grunt and peeled it apart to get the meat as he went on to say, "The fruit grows on bushes like a berry, has a unique-to-itself taste and can even be used to paint. The royals of Aces Kingdom delight of this oddly gory fruit. Why," he began as he gestured a hand to Susie, who blinked absently as he used the other hand to lift his treat to mouth level. "Susie here has actually tasted it before in it's jam form. Lancer's Salsa, if you recall."
Her face contorted over. "Wait, THAT'S what that stuff was? But then that ain't Salsa, it's friggin' JAM!"
Ralsei nodded with a toothy grin. "Correct!"
I cocked a brow while laughing to myself. But I suddenly found my fruit yanked from my hand as I gasped and narrowed at Susie. "Hello?!"
She was already munching on it with an inquisitive look to her face that I honestly wasn't familiar with on her... She narrowed to Ralsei and shook her head. "Alright, joker. I don't think so. That ain't nothing like that salsa! It was WAY more saucy than this."
He blinked... and oh'd as his face furrowed. "No no, it really was this fruit's jam. I know it is hard to believe, but the flavor changes upon cooking it." Relaxing his face back into an easy smile, he further explained, "Couple this with the fact that the "salsa" you ate was doctored by spices- a courtesy of Rouxls Kaard, I believe- and it produced an off flavor not intended in the jam." His brow cocked as his head shook, eyes darting from Susie. "He is the self-proclaimed Duke of Puzzles. Though I mean no offense, I believe he is a more successful cook... to an.. obscure.. degree of success~..." The goat coughed as his eyes trailed away.
"Ouch," deadpanned a smirking Susie while I was busy grabbing for another fruit of a very different sort.
"S-sorry~. That was mean..."
"Naw, that guy sucked! Who cares if it's mean?"
Shaking my head absently, I looked over the new fruit. THIS one looked almost like an eclair. A purple skinned, carrot topped one with orange foliage, but still an eclair with how the shape played out. At a curiosity, I tried to squeeze it, thinking it might gush like one. But it felt firm like a cucumber... Hungry enough not to care, I gave a shrug and put the end in my mouth, snapping it off in my teeth and tasting a blander flavor than my previous... Hard to place. It had an almost red meat taste that mixed with a soft sugary-ness.
I wasn't much of a fan, but it was palatable. And so, I kept munching it... while Ralsei and Susie kept talking... And then, I realized something a bit... off... I looked at the carrot eclair in my hand and cocked my brow... Was it just the emptiness that came with carbs or was the normally-very-satisfying vegetable and fruit blend not doing anything for me? I felt nothing in my stomach...
Nothing at all. It was still awfully empty...
Feeling pretty famished, I began eating quicker. And within a few minutes I was down to the leafy end of the "carrot" which I popped into my mouth and chewed to bits as well before a good swallow.
The feeling in my stomach didn't abate. I was still hungry...
I know it takes a while for food to settle, but... I didn't even feel like I had intaken it. Or if I had, it was not as whole as I thought it was by a wide margin...
I took a spiral-faced bread- one of only three remaining- and ravenously bit into it like it might disappear. The flavor was sweet and all, but I was not interested in that or the slightly tough bite I had to give it. In only a minute or two while the two of them were probably watching me, fearing for my sanity no doubt. I had finished the considerably sizable bread. It wasn't loaf sized or anything, but I had scarfed it down very quickly for my jaw size.
After that, I held my stomach, feeling the sweat build on my brow... That had only done so little. And it really didn't feel like much. I was still pretty hungry and would need more...
"Ugh..." Susie's grunt had me staring up and over to her as she stared at me with a grouch-ish contort. "Watching you eat that fast is making me feel fuggin' starved..." She immediately took one of the breads and ripped half of it off in her teeth as she began to inhale it...
I shook my head from watching her pig out alongside me and went back at the pile, taking a few nuts for myself before she decided those were a hot item. She seemed to be liking the bread an awful lot and I didn't want the one item I hadn't tried to fill the pit with to suddenly disappear while I knew bread wasn't working very well.
And so, using a good stomp from my hoof each, I cracked a few open and began to pop their meats a few at a time into my mouth like popcorn... I really didn't care for that flavor. It was far too much like a pecan and I didn't much care for plain. Still, this wasn't about that. It was about eliminating hunger.
And as bad as I felt for Ralsei for pigging out in front of him, he seemed less hungry than the two of us. He'd been mostly snacking on things here and there.
Needless to say, you can guess by the size of the general nut that these did very little for me... They did about as much for me as the bread, to be exact. I was still hungry. Worse yet, I was getting this sinking feeling...
And so, I took one of those apples. It had been one of the fruits I never got to try thanks to the home-wrecking Kytsaters from before. And so, I munched into the purple apple and hardly paid attention to the flavor- but for what it's worth, it was sour. Sour and sweet... I had cored the apple in record time- eaten the core as well, but that's not important- and moved on from it to another fruit. It was that apricot fruit I had from before. It went down next. I think I basically ate it near whole. And whatever I swallowed next is something I cannot remember, because it was gone very soon after. I was not paying attention to anything about it. It could have been a water fruit for all I knew, because I remember even less about the flavor.
... It was only after one more unnamed fruit that I felt... something dent-worthy in my hunger... But I knew how much I really just ate. And I knew what my stomach should have looked like for it.
Holding my hand over my still-very-normal stomach, I furrowed in a break of sweats... No matter how much I had just eaten, I didn't feel full. And I definitely didn't look like I had just eaten a fruits basket... I looked back at the pile... there were only some nuts and a single "apricot" left on the cloth that had served as the picnic blanket. And between myself and Susie, we had essentially destroyed that whole thing, not counting the small pile of food in Ralsei's lap meant for Kris...
I turned my head to look at the purple monster to my side in the face and saw that she was a bit frustrated with me, "Hey, did ya have to friggin' wolf that much down?" She then turned to rather surprised-looking Ralsei and demanded, "And what the heck's up with this stuff? It feels like all I ate was one of those breads. But I know I ate three. That's not even counting all that other crap, so what gives?"
Ralsei... honestly looked lost... "H-huh?" He shook his head at Susie and furrowed with some pretty wide eyes as he shrugged. "I-I do not know? I have never seen two people eat so much aside from Lancer... A-and he got sick after such a meal."
"So, you're still pretty hungry, then...?"
I had asked, drawing Susie to groan my way in annoyance. "Uh. Yeah. I think that's pretty obvious. Did you really need to eat so much?"
With a scrunch, I pointed out, "You ate more than I did." ... Shaking my head, I pointed out, "But that isn't why I asked..." I held my stomach as I stared down at it... "Am I the only one that feels like all of that was nearly empty calories...? Because it feels like I ate half or less of what I should have."
... Dropping her attitude for the moment, Susie looked at the very small remaining pile and sweat down her brow. "Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel. And I don't eat even half as much as that back home..."
Turning to Ralsei, I furrowed. "A-and you? Are you still hungry?"
He only shrugged and shook his head while his furrow persisted. "What I ate was filling... I did not think Lightners partook of so much."
... "We don't," I clarified, shaking my head. And that made Ralsei bit into his scarf out of nerves.
... Turning my eyes back down to my stomach with worry in my heart, I came to a worrying possibility as a conclusion... Could it be possible that food in the Dark World... was naturally unfilling to us from the Light World? If so... "This is very strange... I'm a light eater. I usually only need to eat an apple and peanut butter to feel fed at school. Salads naturally fill me up just fine, so... me eating this much just to feel half-full is... not just a little worrying. It's outright bad." I looked to Susie. "It's no surprise, with that logic, that you're still hungry in general. You mainly eat meat, right?"
She nodded, starting to look as uneasy as the gears started turning. "... Are you tellin' me... ... ...?"
I nodded, knowing how she would have finished that thought. Turning to Ral, I stated it for him. "Well, we learned something new~... The food here doesn't satisfy us from the Light World... or it won't satisfy easily... And that means that starvation is a very real issue... Without copious amounts of food to make a difference- or maybe food from our world, at least... it's very possible that we aren't going to be able to survive on Dark World food... which means that we could face that very real prospect in the near future..." ... I suddenly began to think about Kris, biting my lip. "And if that's true... We really don't have time to stop and eat." I furrowed to Ralsei and stressed as I stood up from the remains of our food. "W-we need to find Kris. The longer this goes on, the worse for us..."
Ralsei didn't need convincing. He nodded and went to tie what food he'd hoarded for Kris back up in the blanket before tucking it away into his cloak and looking up at me. "Let us go, then."
Susie was the last to rise, but not the quietest. She mumbled in annoyance and frustration. Something like, "We wouldn't be in this mess if Kris woulda just waited for me..." And then, she gave me a passing glance... her expression was a dim blank one. I couldn't have guessed what she was passing her eyes over at me for, but in retrospect... that should have been a hint... She walked passed me and looked down at the goat among us. "The castle still our best bet?"
He nodded as he turned to look up and squint... I did so as well by habit and ended up spotting what he began talking about some time in the middle of his voiced opinion. "So long as we follow the Dark Fountain's beam of light, we should find our way to the doorstep of that Castletown.
Staring up at the dark-light line along the sky just barely visible between canopies of the trees, I began to fear what we might find there, in that Castletown. Or even just what we might find out...
Though, fear was not going to get us there and I didn't have the luxury of waiting, as well I looked down, Ralsei immediately commanded, "Follow me. I have a fair mental compass." And then, he turned and began the way for us, trudged after by Susie.
I had my hesitations... but despite them, I swallowed and began to walk after the two of them, at least trying not to get lost...
None of us was so experienced with going hungry that we would be able to handle it for prolonged periods spanning more than a day or so. Not unless Ralsei hid that one well within his sleeves, at least. We were just teens attending school and one boy I hardly knew- and don't take that the wrong way. It's just the truth as it was to me.
We weren't trained survivalists. If anything, we were lucky to live the lives we did...
One extra struggle to contend with...
READ EVERYTHING BELOW. TRUST ME. IT'S NOT THE NORMAL OUTRO.
Hello!
Not dead. I actually have a LOT more written than this, but as I am working on this alone, it takes a while to finalize anything.
At current, I have 5 chapters apart from this one in their semi-complete status. They are all done as far as the beginning to end is concerned. And THAT means you won't have to wait long to see them come out. I just have to grammar correct, structure correct and hunt down any inconsistencies I can. For five whole chapters, some of which are long, some of which are short. You know how it goes. It all depends on the subject matter contained.
Next chapter is gonna be a doozy, but I think you'll all like it~...
But enough about the process. Let's talk content.
Why did I choose to go this route, you may be asking... Or maybe you aren't. I have no idea the contents unpacked in the true Chapter 2...
It was actually highlighted in this chapter, based upon dialogue present in Chapter 1, the event that made me consider this.
After Susie eats Lancer's uh... "Salsa", she complains some time after that she's still hungry, if I recall. It's been a while, but I checked. It's directly after the fight with Susie and Lancer, while they walk along.
From this, I decided to make it more interesting than just "Well, she didn't eat enough to be filled that time." Because the way she words it, "Man, I'm STILL hungry," seems to me as if she's a bit baffled by it. Remember. She took a chunk out of the Cake the Master Baker made. She took food we used on her for healing by potential as well. There's the Bake Sale event that she likely pilfered her own products from- classic Susie~. And then she junks on Salsa that Mr. Bad At Most Things made. That's a lot. But we likely don't even see ALL of what she eats even then.
To me, there has to be a reason for that text. It shouldn't just be a throwaway line. And so, it's not.
Going this route means that the Fun Gang have to be considerate about the time they take, no matter what the future may bring. But it also adds stakes. And this are always fun~.
Thus, the subject under scrutiny. Lightners are not filled by Dark World foods. I can imagine it would be alike to a Darkner in the Light World... Or maybe it's the polar opposite. We'll get there when we get there. Put it to a vote. It won't be relevant for a while, but I have decided NOTHING on that front as of now, June 24th of 2022.
(Heck, I'm sure there are some that like the idea of Darkners being absolutely Borrower sized in the Light World, but I... kinda hate that. It's very meh. In a "why would I do that" kind of way meh.)
To move on, I pose this question, as I am in the mood.
There are currently two side-story ideas I think would be a fun time for both me as a writer and you guys as the readers. And so, I'm going to pitch one of them and guarantee the other.
Here and now, I swear that if I finish this story, some time after it's time has passed in the future... I am going to write the first Side Story without a doubt. I may have brought it up before. I may have not. You'll just have to see~.
Now... This OTHER idea is more open form.
I think it would be a nice idea to write a Slice of Life side story featuring... EVERYONE. A collage of life experiences and character moments based in two settings at once: Before and After. My goal in this is to more evenly explore the many characters of Deltarune Alternative. (I still suck at names like Asgore. Shuddup..) I got this idea from the fact that this story is clearly being told in past-tense. Obviously. Everything has already happened. What follows is a foregone conclusion. But back to the point.
This conceptual side-fic would take us away from all the struggle and hardship, stress and doubt, every emotion not natural to people in a peaceful element. And in place of these things, we'd be in a place where the characters can just be themselves in a natural environment. very, very little combat and a whole lot of just living life, as with all things after a conflict leaves, just as it happened before it. Life goes on. It always did, so it follows it does.
If you like the idea of this kind of story, a much chiller endeavor that takes place in the two potential peace times, Let me know! And if you would rather I didn't touch the After at all, that's okay. It can just be Before for the time being or at the very least an unclear time. I can just save all of "AFTER" for another time... (while cheekily writing it on the side as ideas flood through from things that WILL be told in the main story. :3)
It may sound a little unreasonable to balance three stories, effectively, but realistically, that third one doesn't happen for a while yet. Either way, I know I'm game for both, so no need to be shy~.
Just one thing? If I DO make it, there is a heavy chance that within, at some point or even all over the place... there will be spoilers in some shape or form. There's a lot going on you don't know about, after all. That's bound to happen.
There is going to be subject matter inside that isn't strictly a "Oh how cute and innocent!" kind. There'll be plenty of that, sure. But ultimately, it's gotta be realistic to the source material. There have to be points where it relates back, y'know? There will be. But it IS going to remain a strictly slice of life story for the majority of the time. That won't change.
When I exhaust ideas, that will be the end of that story, like any other. However, my aim here is to paint the picture of life in Hometown and maybe even beyond. Maybe some Dark World, as well. Hard to say that one for sure just yet.
But I can at least say this: Nothing I write within that story will break continuity and rules established here. That is a rule I'm making clear, because warning~... I already know exactly where I want all of this to go. I have a very clear idea of where this all ends, even if it doesn't end for a long time. Because of the premise and rules of Deltarune, I don't see myself losing interest for quite a while. I see life being a butt, but I don't see myself losing interest.
With all of that said... let's be topical~. What do you think will happen next in THIS story? How do you think it all ends? Ending can mean.. this chapter ooor the whole shi-bang! I wanna see what you all come up with. It won't effect anything, but it's fun to read these kinds of things!
Au revoir~!