Chapter 13

Little By Little

Back in the village, Tyroth was helping Leona and her crew as they were working on repairing one of the houses that had been damaged during a raid before they had arrived.

"Okay, big guy, just keep that beam in just that angle, and we'll nail it good." the fox said.

"You sure that it will be enough to support the new roof?" asked Nick the Frog.

"No question about it, Nick. Just make sure you get the nails in where I showed you, and it will be a solid piece of quality work."

"I don't know, Leona. It don't look right from over here." said Cam. Leona walked over to the rhino and quickly inspected that side of the wooden beam.

"That's because it's slightly off to the side. Just need to push it a tiny bit and we're good."

"Whatever you need to do, just do it. My arms are starting to get tired." said Tyroth.

"Don't worry, chief, we'll be done in a jiffy."

A few minutes later, and the beam was secured in place, letting the crew move on to the rest of the project, and letting Tyroth continue his trek through the village, checking up on everyone, only to be interrupted again.

"Hey, honey!" he heard the lovely voice of his mate call out.

Turing towards the source of her voice, Tyroth saw Sephie walking towards him together with his mother, Jack, Heather and someone that the dragon didn't recognise.

"You're back. How was your trip in the woods?"

"Pretty good, we found some herbs, and a new guest." Sephie said, gesturing towards the elven woman.

"So I noticed."

"Your leader, and mate, is a Red Half-Dragon?" the elf asked with a frown.

"I will be hearing this a lot." Tyroth muttered to himself under his breath. "I'm not the same kind of Half-Dragon that you're used to. The name's Tyroth."

"So I have been told by Sephie here. I am Zaleria, and I was invited to see your village."

"Then I think that we should give you a quick tour, together with an explanation."

"That would be appreciated."

While Tyroth guided their new guest around and explained who they were, the rest of the village continued to work, though they also made sure to take breaks every now and then. Once such group was Michelangelo and Kate, who decided to walk down to the docks for a moment, but once there they saw that Bill sitting on the very edge of the dock, with a fishing rod in his hands and a bucket at his side.

"Hey, duck, is this dock taken?" Michelangelo asked as he and Kate walked over to the edge.

"Not as far as I can see, so be my guests." Bill replied.

"Are the fish biting?" Kate asked.

"A little, but not as much as those blasted seagulls. I bet they've taken a least on third of all the fish I've pulled up from me. If I had had a gun, I would have blown them out of the skies and given them to Louie to cook."

"Would you really do that?" said Michelangelo. "Eat them I mean. I would probably be down with shooting them too. But they're water fowl, just like you, ain't they? Is that really okay with you?"

"Honestly, it's not that big of a deal to me. All of us are still human at heart, and not very picky, so we would eat our animal counterparts if needed. Sure, some animals were next to impossible for us to get hold of, but fish, pork, bird, beef, that we got from time to time, and it was just food to us."

"Well, all but one." Kate said, and she had a hard time to not smile, to which the duck grinned.

"Right, her! I had almost forgotten about her!" Bill laughed.

"Who are you talking about? I'm getting the feeling that I've missed something here." said Michelangelo, scratching his head.

"This was long before you guys ever met us, babe." said Kate. "It was actually before Tyroth and Sephie joined us, too."

"Yeah, you see, back then, there was this one Mutopian that had been around a long time, not as long as Gramps, mind you, but she was pretty old all the same." Bill began explaining. "Called herself Arabella, and she was a turkey, but she always had this 'holier-than-thou' attitude, even against Gramps, and especially against poor Louie.

But one Thanksgiving, we actually managed to get hold of a real, frozen turkey, and so Louie cooked it for us, in all secrecy. When she saw it being served, she threw the largest fit I've ever seen! I thought she'd never stop yelling, and she didn't as she stormed out of the canteen. I can't speak for the rest of us, but I was having the time of my feathered life at that moment."

"I can't remember Louie ever having such an almost savage smile." said Kate. "He knew what he was doing."

"You should never mess with the cook!" said Michelangelo.

"True that." Bill continued. "After that little 'incident', she mellowed a bit, and I think she even managed to forgive Louie and apologise to him before she passed away a few years later."

"Other than Gramps, I think she was one of the last old Mutopians." said Kate, thinking a little. "Yeah, there were only two more, and they passed away not much later, leaving us, the current generation of Mutopians."

"And now, here we are, on an alien world, trying to catch fish." said Bill, and pulled in the line, only to see it without either fish or bait. "What have you two been up to, anyway?"

"We've got our eyes on one of the houses nearby." said Michelangelo. "We've used our spare time to clean it up properly so the two of us can move in there together."

"Ah, planing for the future, huh? Good idea."

"We hope so, yeah. But it all depends on if Tyroth will let us use that house." said Kate.

"Don't worry, babe." said Michelangelo with a smile, putting his arm around her waist. "I'm sure Jarl Big T won't have anything against it, even if it might take a little time."

"He's not unreasonable, so I don't think there'll be any troubles." said Bill. "But I think that's enough fishing for me. Better get what fish I've gotten to Louie before the gulls take another one. The fish ain't biting any longer, anyway."

"Hope we didn't scare them away." said Kate.

"Nah, I don't think it's your fault. Fishing is mostly luck. Care to tag along? You could show me the house you've been looking at on the way."

The three mutants got back on their feet, Bill grabbing his rod and bucket, and were just about to leave, when Sharky's head broke the surface with a splash.

"What's up?" he shouted, scaring the group.

The three mutants almost jumped out of their skins, and Bill even lost his balance and fell into the water next to the shark, while his bucket was thrown into the air. Kate quickly recovered her senses and managed to grab the handle of the bucket before it and its content fell into the water, but she would have fallen in herself if Michelangelo hadn't been able to grab her tail and pull her back.

"Phew, thanks, hun."

"Don't mention it, Katie. I'm not really in the mood for swimming right now."

Looking down into the water, they saw Bill resurface next to Sharky, spitting out a beak full of water.

"How's the water, fowl?" Sharky asked with a goofy grin.

"You tell me, fish." Bill retorted, splashing water in Sharky's face, but the shark only laughed.

"What are you doing here, Sharky?" Kate asked from the dock. "I thought you were fishing."

"I was, with no success at all, but then I found something that I think the boss might want to see. Got any lead on where he's hanging out?"

"I think Big T was giving a tour to a new guest. An elf of some kind." said Michelangelo.

"Elf? Like a Christmas elf? Those little guys?"

"No, an elf elf. Like Legolas elf. Pointy ears and all. Well, except for a bow, I suppose. I think she was a druid."

"Huh, first a dwarf, and now an elf. What's next, orcs?"

"We already have a dragon here, so who knows with this place."

Meanwhile, Tyroth had just finished the, rather, short tour of Mutopia, and was currently talking with the elf, Zaleria, specifically about her concerns about their impact on the surrounding forests.

"It is impressive how quickly you have settled in in this village." said Zaleria.

"We're survivors, and like I told you, we're adept at scavenging what others have left behind." Tyroth continued. "However, there is only so much that we can find here, eventually we will have to make the things we need, and that means harvesting resources from our surroundings."

"And thus the land will suffer, like always with mankind."

"I promise you, Zaleria, we will not take more from the land than we need. As much as we can, we will grow our own crops, as well as raise farm animals for other produce than just meat. But we will hunt from time to time, and what nature can provide is also something that we will take advantage of to make sure that we survive. No matter what, I won't allow my people to starve or freeze."

"I understand that, but it isn't your people that will suffer in the long run, at least not yet. The more you grow, the more you need, and one day, there will be nothing left for anyone."

"Then help us, Zaleria. As a druid, you possess powers that we do not, if any of them can help us depend on nature as little as possible, everyone would win on it."

"Are you telling me that none of you have magic?"

"Only four of us have that gift, two of which are my children, and the third is from a world different from our own. Back home, magic was so rare, that even the simplest of cantrips is either unheard of, considered a myth, or believed to be nothing but a bluff. Only the most legendary of magic have survived in stories, but nothing else. Even our magic might be weak compared to what you're accustomed to."

"You are asking me to teach you my ways."

"No, I'm asking you to stay here with us, to be part of our community, our family. You could help us so much in this matter, and we would really appreciate it."

"I am afraid that I will have to say no to that offer." Zaleria said and looked away. "You seem trustworthy, but I have been fooled by that before, and even though you are no longer human, humankind have already cost me a lot in the past."

Those words lingered in Tyroth's mind, and he wondered what had happened to the elf. But he didn't want to ask about it, as it seemed to be painful memories for Zaleria, and she continued to speak before he even got the chance.

"However, I am willing to teach a few of you what I know about living with nature. If you promise that you will not consume this land."

"I give you my word. For every tree that we have to fell, we will plant several more, and we will cultivate what pants we can and need."

"Then we are in agreement." Zaleria said with a small smile. "Now, as for whom I shall teach, I would like to request the woman named Erica."

"My mother?"

"Her, yes. She seemed to be very interested in what I am, and I think that she would want to learn what I will teach."

"I can imagine. She always tended her own garden when she had the chance back home, or so I'm told."

"What do you mean?"

"It was a way for her to cope with her grief when my family believed that I was dead. It's a long story. Anyway, I think she will do great at this, but I'd also ask you to take Patch under your wing as well."

"Patch?"

"Her name is Paula and she's a badger, but we all call her Patch. Back home, she became our head gardener, so I think she should also learn from you. She should be out on the fields, so once we've found her, you can talk to them both about this, see what they say about it."

"Hey, boss!" he suddenly heard Sharky call out from a distance, and soon after the shark came up to the dragon and elf, and a few other people gathered up around them as well.

"Sharky? Haven't seen you for a while. What's going on?"

"I found something." Sharky responded, and handed Tyroth a wooden chest the size of an average breadbox. It was at that point that Sharky finally noticed Zaleria.

"Hi there. Name's Sharky." he said with a nod.

"I can see why."

"Where did you find this?" Tyroth asked. "Last I heard you were trying to catch fish."

"Shipwrecks, boss. Dozens of 'em, just a few miles out. I found 'em while chasing fish, so I decided to check 'em out."

"So that's why you've been gone for a while."

"Well… not entirely. You see, I got trapped in one of the wrecks. The hatch closed behind me and I couldn't force it open, so I had to hack my way out of the bloody thing with my axes. Took a while, but here I am."

"You didn't happen to find a key, 'cause the chest is locked." said Tyroth, and gently shook it while listening closely. "Sounds almost like if it were coins."

"Sorry, but I didn't see any key, but I can go back and search for one."

"Please do. It would be a shame to have to break it open. Just be careful when you're out there, you never know what might be lurking in the depths."

"Yeah, ya don't want any big and scary sea-monsters to get ya!" Rattletrap piped up, mockingly wiggling his fingers over his head in a supposedly threatening manner.

"Sea monsters are a very real thing, rat." Zaleria said factually.

"They… they are?"

"Indeed. No less than three hundred years ago, a mighty fleet was assembled to hunt down and kill a Kraken not too far to the north of here. Less than one tenth of the ships made it back. I remember it clearly, and I would not be surprised if these shipwrecks are from that very fleet."

"I'm not going out on a boat, and that's final!" Rattletrap said, throwing a worried glance at the coast. "The mountains have dinosaurs, and the waters have sea monsters… is any place safe for a little rat?"

"You were around three hundred years ago?" Rose the Lynx asked, completely ignoring Rattletrap, just like the others did.

"It is not a remarkable feat for us elves. We can live for more than twice that time."

"Sounds like we might have a contender for oldest person we know." said Tyroth, which earned him a curious look from Zaleria. "I'll explain later, but for now, let's see if we can find my mom and Patch, and see if there's someone who can pick the lock on this chest."

Things are starting to come together nicely for our heroes, and they keep meeting new people every so often, so it's only a matter of time before they are discovered by someone in power, but will it be a friend or foe?

Whatever the case, they will remain busy until then.
As will I.

See you all soon, and stay safe out there.