A/N: That feel... when you realize that even the original Chapter 5 was nothing but a glorified Chess match...
That feel... when you realize all Don't Starve is is a glorified Chess match...
BUT ANYWAY, yeah... here's your helping heaping of glorified Chess match... enjoy! XD
WX-78's POV
Come on spider. Just one more stupid move. One more stupid move and you'll be dead. Victory will finally be mine. Just you wait. I see where you are looking... yes... yes fall into my trap!
Webber looked up at me with a smug grin as though he realized what I was about to do. He then ruined my plan entirely by looking elsewhere and sliding his bishop across the board that had been drawn in the dirt. "We believe that is a check?" He asked, still with his annoying smirk.
Get the stupid bishop! I though furiously. The darned things have taken me out twice in a row! I was hopelessly confused though, and I noticed Webber's eyes light up as they scoured the board. "Check...mate?"
Wilson had left earlier in the day to go find the birchnut forest I had found the birchnuts in. Frustrated as I was that he had taken the book from me, I had to admit he was putting it to good use. I thought long and hard about the conversation we had prior to his adventure as Webber began to set up the pieces again.
"We'd better be careful... I've been looking through this thing." He had flipped through a few pages of the black book, his brow furrowed in worry. "There are these... monsters... they are labeled as 'giants'." He had proceeded to tell us what the five main ones were. "The first one is the one we'd have to worry about now. It's called the Bearger... it's big." He had warned. "Like... very big. It has enormous claws and oily black and white fur. It only comes out of hibernation during the autumn though.
"The second one seems even more dangerous. It's called the Deerclops. It's bigger than even the Bearger, and can freeze you! Its hands are like claws and it has thick, gray fur across the length of its whole body. Its antlers could also do damage if it bucks at you. This one comes during the Winter.
"The third one comes out during the spring, and it's called the Moose Goose. It is most likely the largest of them all. As you can tell by her name, she looks like a large goose with antlers. Her moslings are dangerous as well." I remembered this detail specifically well because I remembered thinking Are you telling me babies are stronger than the fully grown mother?
"The fourth one... the fourth one is a summer dweller. She's called the Dragonfly. She's not as big as some of the others, but she has claws that could impale you on accident, and fire at her clawtips. She is the most territorial and the most protective of her young.
"The last one is called the Ancient Guardian but..." He had flipped through the pages again, sighing as he reached one page that looked like it had been burned out minus the name 'Ancient Guardian' at the top of the scroll. "I don't know anything about it. It looks like someone destroyed it, but I don't know why they would. It seems pointless."
"Uh hey, you ready to get your butt kicked at Chess again or are you gonna sit there all day looking off into space?" The spider waved his hands over the game. "We're completely fine with default winning- just so you know."
"WHAT? NO! JUST... MAKE YOUR MOVE."
"Okay, you asked for it." He looked at the board for a few moments then looked back up at me. "Actually, why don't you go first? You haven't so far... maybe it's giving us an unfair advantage?" He grinned as though he really did not believe that, he just really wanted me to make the first move. Suspicious of his intent, I scanned my data banks for any idea of a good first move in Chess. All the intelligent of a super computer can't help me it seems! I thought, exasperated, as nothing came up. I did a simple King Pawn opening. And I really hate the smug look he has... it's like he can read my mind...
Literally four moves later I was caught in another checkmate. I stared, gaping, at it. "HOW-"
"We had a life before all of this, ya' know. We're surprised, if we are honest without ourself, how well our Chess skills remained intact after... well, you know."
There was a few minutes of silence between us.
"...YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT..."
"What? The four-move checkmate?"
"...MAYBE..."
"So it's easier to do it if you are the starting player..." He pointed to the pawn in front of his King. "King Pawn, you know that, right?" I nodded, interested. "Okay, move it forwards twice." I did so, and he mirrored me. "Move your white-squared bishop so it threatens this pawn on our side." He tapped the top of the pawn in front of his black-squared bishop, then as I moved it he brought his knight out in a typical opening. "Move your queen four squares diagonally so it is attacking the same pawn from the corner." He took his other knight out. "Take out the pawn and there you go." He leaned back. "Checkmate."
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT?"
"It's called the Scholar's Mate... our father taught us." He paused for a second, his gaze clouding in sorrow, then sighed. "He was fantastic at this game..." He shook his head as though dismissing old memories. "You're only supposed to be able to do it as white... we learned how to change it to work as black though." He lifted the black king and palmed it for a moment before closing his fingers tightly over the carved piece.
"YOU HAVE A LOT OF HISTORY... FOR A MEATSACK."
He smiled lightly as though I had complemented him, though he still had the underlying grief he had seconds before. Then he straightened, wiping his face of any other emotion than his calm smugness of beating me several times. At this moment, I wasn't even sure if he was purposely looking smug or his cracked jaw was making him look that way.
He reminded me too much of my captor.
"Say pal, you look like you're in some trouble... I believe I know a way that can get you out of this predicament, but you'll have to trust me."
Trust him! My thoughts scoffed. What was I thinking? How desperate could I have been to listen to a radio?
And he had that very look on his face.
"COULD YOU PL-" was I about to resort to kindness? "WIPE THAT STUPID GRIN OFF YOUR FACE."
"We have no idea what you're talking about," he sneered, but did manage to change his expression to just a plain grin. "Happy now?"
"I WOULD HAVE SMACKED IT OFF BUT I FIND IT UNFAIR TO ATTACK THE CRIPPLED."
"Uh-huh, and why is that?" He sounded completely disinterested.
"IF THE BEST A ROBOT CAN DO IS ATTACK SOMEONE WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK IF HE WANTED TO, IT'S JUST PATHETIC. IT'S A MATTER OF PRESERVING SELF-PRIDE. NOT A MATTER OF ANY KINDNESS ON MY PART."
"Ooh, someone is defensive about... something we didn't ask about? You trying to convince us or yourself?"
Slightly disturbed by the way he just seemed to look right through me, I frowned. "YOU, MEATSACK."
He tipped his head slightly as though about to say something, but he stopped before he did, whiskers twitching. "Hey Wilson, find the trees you were looking for?" The kid asked into the brush around our campsite. As the scientist made himself shown, he waved his hands over the game again. "You'd be proud to know that WX only threatened us once and it wasn't even death. You should be proud."
"And how many times did you threaten him?" He asked. He had an armful of the birchnuts. They're probably edible, I mused.
"None!" He protested, scowling. His expression changed for a moment. "Shoot, just remembered... you still don't know how to gut an animal, do you?"
Wilson stopped in his tracks. "Not... particularly..."
"You still have one of my rabbits?"
"...yes..."
"Bring it over here." I saw a shudder pass through Wilson's body- he obviously held no want to prepare an animal- but he did as Webber said anyway. I flinched as Webber suddenly brandished a very sharp and very was-not-there-before knife.
"WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU GET THAT THING?"
He looked vaguely confused. "What's- nevermind. To put it bluntly, we made it. As you said, WX, you get very bored sitting around doing nothing all day..."
I had to admit I was pretty impressed. At first glance, it looked like a real knife. But with closer examination, one could determine that- it was in fact- hand crafted. The blade was not tied, but had been wedged into the smooth wood of the handle. There were small carved dents in it and it took me a second to realize that he had specifically designed it to fit him. "It's not sharp enough to hunt with, but we made it to prepare meat."
To be honest, I didn't know either, so I decided to watch. (Of course, I wasn't about to let him know he knew something I didn't)
Unlike his Scholar's Mate display, he said nothing in a silent demonstration. He mercilessly sliced the rabbit's head and paws off, making Wilson look a tiny-bit sick. It wasn't until he actually unzipped the animal that I started to feel sick as well. He still didn't look concerned in the slightest bit, ignoring our horrified looks and the blood that was staining the rabbit's brown pelt red. He paused for a moment during the actual cleaning though. "Are we just talking about the meat part or are we expected to show you the wonderful biology of a rabbit?" To my eyes, all of the intestines looked the same- pink and squishy and just disgusting- but he seemed to be able to tell the difference well enough. "Well, the heart and liver tend to be edible-"
"Don't you think about it," Wilson warned.
"Neither of you have proper survival instincts!" He taunted, but discarded the insides anyway. "You both look like you swallowed a whole frog. Trust us! It'll be worth it! WX, we're not going to lie. If you weren't a robot, you'd probably be puking right now."
I felt like I wanted to despite my distinct lack of the organs required to do so.
"You'll both see. We can't survive off of berries forever." He grinned at me. "It'll be you two doing it next."
When neither of us replied, he sighed and stuck his now bloodied dagger in the ground. "Fine. But we aren't going to be the one to feed you two. Wilson, you should know above all of us you can't survive without meat."
Protein. I mentally corrected. But he's right. I echoed his sigh. "GIVE ME THE OTHER RABBIT."
