11-12-2017, 01:12 PM
The night was peaceful, well except for Alton stumbling him drunk halfway through the night. The had stumbled into Ryu’s bed, shaking the ninja awake. He hazily remembered reached for his katana before realizing Alton was simply a sloppy drunk and rolling back over. A rooster crowed awakening the ninja, The light of the sun poured in through the missing roof and Ryu sluggishly got up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and exited the shack he called home for the next few days. He had agreed to help but didn’t expect manual labor to be required. Maybe he should have listened to the knight more carefully the day before, maybe he mentioned it. Ryu shook his head and started walking. He didn’t have any place in mind, but if he was to spend the next few days here, he might as well get a feel for the area.
He took a right from the cabin and made his way down towards what appeared to be a fire pit. One single table, at least twenty feet long sit next to a massive pit, embers still hot from the previous night. A few villagers, mostly women were out early, setting places and preparing a meal. He passed the table and fire pit, nodding to them as he passed and continued to a fork in the road. Veering to the right it ended up leading down to a stream. He noticed a few others, cleaning cloths, or fishing, it appeared this village might not be all bad. Ryu stepped close to the stream and knelt down, cupping his hands to fill with water. When he had his hands overflowing with the liquid he brought it to his face, splashing the cold refreshing water against his bare skin.
The temperature shocked the shinobi a bit, even further waking him up. He got back up, and turned, heading back up the hill he had descended from. As he got back to the main square he noticed Gus and Alton sitting across from one another in the center of the table, deep in discussion.
“I’m just one man Alton, and I’m not as young as I once was, neither are you. If the King could just send two maybe three men to help...nevermind that, look who's back, looks like I owe you 20 gold Alton. I thought you’d turn tail and run once you found out the help we needed but Alton here assured me you were well aware before you agreed, he laid out everything for you. Sit, sit you must be famished. Let me grab you a plate. Ryu took a seat at the table next to Alton who gave him a hearty slap on the back as he did.
“Gus is a good people, but he’s seen much. He doesn’t easily trust newcomers, even at the word of an old friend.”
Ryu shrugged, he didn’t care what Gus or any of them thought of him. He’d finish his work here and be on his way. Gus returned with a plate stacked full. Eggs with bacon, burnt black. A wedge of bread and a goblet of ale. The ninja was starving but didn’t quite want to show just how famished he was, he ate slowly. The food was fine, bland, but he hadn’t expected much. After washing everything down with the ale he turned to Gus.
“What type of repairs are we talking about?”
“Oh, nothing too hard for a Prime I would assume. The last storm that blew through was a doozy, took out a few houses and damaged plenty more, as I’m sure you’ve noticed from your quarters last night.”
Ryu remembered all too well. “Alright, well let's get started,” he said, rising from the table as he did.
“That's the spirit boyo!”
They set off from the table and made their way east. A small patch of trees had been cleared. Before them lay two ruined estates. Walls and roof collapsed in on the plot. The ninja couldn’t help but hope that the occupants either hadn’t been home when the storm hit or that they at least made it out safely. Three or four men were already at work, clearing away rubble, by the looks of it trying to salvage anything they could to make the rebuilding that much easier.
“This is one affected area. We’ll be rebuilding two houses here. I’ll have you start with gathering the lumber needed.” Gus handed Ryu an ax. “Head out of the village in any direction and you’ll come across some trees, trust me they’re hard to miss. I think, twenty should be good. Come back when you’re done, I can send a few men back with you to bring them back.”
The ninja grabbed the ax and set out. He would rather be swinging the ax at someone rather than a tree, but his word was his word. Whether Alton had actually told him the truth, he would never know. He was here now, so he would finish what he started. His word was his bond. After traveling for ten or so minutes the ninja came across one said patch of trees. Each oak stood nearly twenty feet high. No wonder Gus had said such a few amount would do.
He took the ax in hand and reared it back. With a powerful swing, he dug deep into the trunk. The tree damn near split at the spot as his ax drove into the bark. Impressed by his strength he tugged the ax free and switched sides. Rearing back once more he took another shot at the trunk. His ax connected with his mark and his cleaved through the trunk, through his previous cut, and out the other side. The tree crashed down due to the missing bit of trunk and teetered for a moment before crashing down upon the groves grassy ground with a deafening thud. Without a moment's pause, he turned to the next tree and began the same routine. Hacking and chopping the trees was at least calming for the ninja. Out here he didn’t have to answer questions or feel the stares on his back from the townsfolk.
It took him the rest of the morning, but by noon the shinobi had cut down his quota and twenty trees lay on the grassy floor of the clearing. Ryu looked around. He brought an arm to his brow to wipe the sweat away. Clutching the ax he threw it to the ground, planting the blade within the grass and the handle sticking upwards. He looked at the massive trees he had cut down and wondered if this new place offered him any sort of extra strength. Surely it offered some, he doubted he would have been able to cleave trees the way he did back home, but maybe that was all his strength was good for. He bent at the knees over a single tree and wrapped his arms around it. Forcing himself to stand up straight he was amazed that the tree came with him, it wasn’t quite as heavy as he imagined. Or maybe it was his own strength had seemed to quadruple in the Omniverse.
He didn’t stop to think much about it as he arraigned the tree so it sat on his shoulder with his arm curled around the outside, gripping as much of it as he could. He picked the ax up by the handle as he passed and walked back towards the village. Arriving he could see many sitting down at the long table, digging into what looked like dozens of roasted chickens. He made his way closer, before dropping the tree and ax and heading over to eat. He had worked up quite the hunger chopping down those trees and would likely not hide it at this time. A place was open again next to Alton and the ninja quickly claimed the spot.
“Trees all chopped down,” he started, before shoving a whole drumstick in his mouth. As he pulled it back the meat was entirely gone from the bone. He chewed, continuing to talk while he did. “Shoodent ‘e oo ong br’ng ose rees ‘ack ‘ere,” his mouth was still full of food, Gus looked at him as though he seemed to understand, although Alton and a few nearby showed confused looks, not quite aware of what Ryu had forced out between the chicken meat.
Gus didn’t seem to mind. “It looks like it. Perhaps after we eat I’ll have you bring the lumber up here by yourself,” he started, looking over the ninja’s shoulder at the one tree already returned. “It appears you don’t need help with it. That will leave me the extra pair of hands here to finish clearing the rubble. We didn’t expect you to be done so soon.” Ryu agreed between two more bites of chicken and then piled some corn onto his plate, he was going to make sure he got his fill before being sent back to work.
He took a right from the cabin and made his way down towards what appeared to be a fire pit. One single table, at least twenty feet long sit next to a massive pit, embers still hot from the previous night. A few villagers, mostly women were out early, setting places and preparing a meal. He passed the table and fire pit, nodding to them as he passed and continued to a fork in the road. Veering to the right it ended up leading down to a stream. He noticed a few others, cleaning cloths, or fishing, it appeared this village might not be all bad. Ryu stepped close to the stream and knelt down, cupping his hands to fill with water. When he had his hands overflowing with the liquid he brought it to his face, splashing the cold refreshing water against his bare skin.
The temperature shocked the shinobi a bit, even further waking him up. He got back up, and turned, heading back up the hill he had descended from. As he got back to the main square he noticed Gus and Alton sitting across from one another in the center of the table, deep in discussion.
“I’m just one man Alton, and I’m not as young as I once was, neither are you. If the King could just send two maybe three men to help...nevermind that, look who's back, looks like I owe you 20 gold Alton. I thought you’d turn tail and run once you found out the help we needed but Alton here assured me you were well aware before you agreed, he laid out everything for you. Sit, sit you must be famished. Let me grab you a plate. Ryu took a seat at the table next to Alton who gave him a hearty slap on the back as he did.
“Gus is a good people, but he’s seen much. He doesn’t easily trust newcomers, even at the word of an old friend.”
Ryu shrugged, he didn’t care what Gus or any of them thought of him. He’d finish his work here and be on his way. Gus returned with a plate stacked full. Eggs with bacon, burnt black. A wedge of bread and a goblet of ale. The ninja was starving but didn’t quite want to show just how famished he was, he ate slowly. The food was fine, bland, but he hadn’t expected much. After washing everything down with the ale he turned to Gus.
“What type of repairs are we talking about?”
“Oh, nothing too hard for a Prime I would assume. The last storm that blew through was a doozy, took out a few houses and damaged plenty more, as I’m sure you’ve noticed from your quarters last night.”
Ryu remembered all too well. “Alright, well let's get started,” he said, rising from the table as he did.
“That's the spirit boyo!”
They set off from the table and made their way east. A small patch of trees had been cleared. Before them lay two ruined estates. Walls and roof collapsed in on the plot. The ninja couldn’t help but hope that the occupants either hadn’t been home when the storm hit or that they at least made it out safely. Three or four men were already at work, clearing away rubble, by the looks of it trying to salvage anything they could to make the rebuilding that much easier.
“This is one affected area. We’ll be rebuilding two houses here. I’ll have you start with gathering the lumber needed.” Gus handed Ryu an ax. “Head out of the village in any direction and you’ll come across some trees, trust me they’re hard to miss. I think, twenty should be good. Come back when you’re done, I can send a few men back with you to bring them back.”
The ninja grabbed the ax and set out. He would rather be swinging the ax at someone rather than a tree, but his word was his word. Whether Alton had actually told him the truth, he would never know. He was here now, so he would finish what he started. His word was his bond. After traveling for ten or so minutes the ninja came across one said patch of trees. Each oak stood nearly twenty feet high. No wonder Gus had said such a few amount would do.
He took the ax in hand and reared it back. With a powerful swing, he dug deep into the trunk. The tree damn near split at the spot as his ax drove into the bark. Impressed by his strength he tugged the ax free and switched sides. Rearing back once more he took another shot at the trunk. His ax connected with his mark and his cleaved through the trunk, through his previous cut, and out the other side. The tree crashed down due to the missing bit of trunk and teetered for a moment before crashing down upon the groves grassy ground with a deafening thud. Without a moment's pause, he turned to the next tree and began the same routine. Hacking and chopping the trees was at least calming for the ninja. Out here he didn’t have to answer questions or feel the stares on his back from the townsfolk.
It took him the rest of the morning, but by noon the shinobi had cut down his quota and twenty trees lay on the grassy floor of the clearing. Ryu looked around. He brought an arm to his brow to wipe the sweat away. Clutching the ax he threw it to the ground, planting the blade within the grass and the handle sticking upwards. He looked at the massive trees he had cut down and wondered if this new place offered him any sort of extra strength. Surely it offered some, he doubted he would have been able to cleave trees the way he did back home, but maybe that was all his strength was good for. He bent at the knees over a single tree and wrapped his arms around it. Forcing himself to stand up straight he was amazed that the tree came with him, it wasn’t quite as heavy as he imagined. Or maybe it was his own strength had seemed to quadruple in the Omniverse.
He didn’t stop to think much about it as he arraigned the tree so it sat on his shoulder with his arm curled around the outside, gripping as much of it as he could. He picked the ax up by the handle as he passed and walked back towards the village. Arriving he could see many sitting down at the long table, digging into what looked like dozens of roasted chickens. He made his way closer, before dropping the tree and ax and heading over to eat. He had worked up quite the hunger chopping down those trees and would likely not hide it at this time. A place was open again next to Alton and the ninja quickly claimed the spot.
“Trees all chopped down,” he started, before shoving a whole drumstick in his mouth. As he pulled it back the meat was entirely gone from the bone. He chewed, continuing to talk while he did. “Shoodent ‘e oo ong br’ng ose rees ‘ack ‘ere,” his mouth was still full of food, Gus looked at him as though he seemed to understand, although Alton and a few nearby showed confused looks, not quite aware of what Ryu had forced out between the chicken meat.
Gus didn’t seem to mind. “It looks like it. Perhaps after we eat I’ll have you bring the lumber up here by yourself,” he started, looking over the ninja’s shoulder at the one tree already returned. “It appears you don’t need help with it. That will leave me the extra pair of hands here to finish clearing the rubble. We didn’t expect you to be done so soon.” Ryu agreed between two more bites of chicken and then piled some corn onto his plate, he was going to make sure he got his fill before being sent back to work.
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