not my fault you're weak.

'Fine?' That is all he has to say?

She lets the silence hang in the air a bit longer, the crunching of fallen leaves fill the gap. A gentle breeze stirs the trees, the branches cascading into a cacophony of rustling and creaking.

"The wild life here seems to be acting odd. I struggle to discern the cause, however. It could just be hunger changing their habits, or something else spurring them to act rabidly."

“Were you all alright with the bears?” (Nyx stood before her completely intact, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.) It is as she asks this question that she realizes where her arm has just brushed past:

Selena attempts to FORAGE: Roll: 11. POISON IVY! Roll: 2. POISONED! Selena is inflicted with MINOR POISON!

Ah. (She’d gotten careless.) Already, she can see the rash starting to form on her skin.

“More poison ivy this way,” Selena warns, stepping up and away to find somewhere else to search.

This is going to be a bit of a nuisance.

Takumi attempts to forage: Roll 1d20 = 18: Nothing

He thinks back to the flimsy wire around the Ellis' coops and hopes that the birds were okay—for the Ellis' sakes.

She stands, stretching out her back and arms, before turning to her fellow forages. Isolation and privacy were golden to Nyx, and during the war, a rare commodity to ever get a hold of.

Though after the war, in her travels, she found a new type of connection in the superficial bonds she made with people. The baker she would frequent, the helpful librarian, the kind gate guard, they all proved to be something she grew to cherish.

All that to say, this silence between the three was one that she knew she contributed to, but sought to break. Even if her opinion of the Hoshidan prince was not favorable, to say the least, she shouldn't let her preconceived notions get in the way of the group, or even Takumi, if he so wished to change them.

Though, she wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

“—nice,” Selena finishes, and the pause between words is so short one could easily think they had imagined it. (Or perhaps that Selena had merely been tripping over her own words; that it had been the ghost of a stutter or some other minimal sort.) “The land doesn’t offer much, yes, but I enjoy staying with the Saunders.”

I only wish I could do more for the less fortunate. (She had hoped that perhaps, some of Celica’s bread could be brought to the marketplace and distributed, but the horde of the previous shift had apparently consumed their stores before she could make good of them.) Selena’s foraging bears fruit:

Selena attempts to FORAGE: Roll: 8. NUTS! Roll: 2. MEDIUM! Total Medium Nuts: 2

(Not literal fruits like last time, mind you; but on the ground, she is able to find a scattering of nuts to add to their stock.) As she does so, she echoes the question:

"Fine," Takumi supplies, still hunting for any more of those nuts he'd just found. "The Ellis family are good hosts."

Truthfully, he's tired from the labor and not sleeping particularly well in the rickety old bed the Ellis family had scrounged up for him, but the situation was well out of the control of either of them. Besides, the trip was halfway over at this point. He'll grin and bear through it for one more day.

Spotting a husk under a brush, Takumi crouches down and tries to see if there's anything inside—

Takumi attempts to forage: Roll 1d20 = 16: Thorny Brush Roll 1d2 = 2: -0.5 HP

Following the two men, they at first stick to the forest paths well. But the one with the hunchback has a limp. He looks behind him and then slips off the established paths. "I'd held back when my sister was around, but if I get you, I'll make sure you don't go near her again!" the one chasing him threatens, also choosing to pursue by weaving through the trees.

But it isn't something to ponder while giving chase, especially when they veer off the worn paths into the woods- if he chases them on foot, he's sure to lose them after some time. They were, after all, more familiar with it than he was.

He takes wing- intending to follow at a distance until they slowed or stopped, not going to intervene while emotions still ran high… but the trees were not the same as the ones back home, thicker in foliage and more difficult to maneuver while keeping an eye on two moving targets.

As Zasha tries to pursue them, attempting to keep out of their line of sight, this doesn't seem to work entirely. The hunchback cries out: "Bird coming to attack you!" "What?" The hunchback takes advantage of this distraction to slip away. The other man swerves then, going a different direction as if to try and shake off whatever this threat might be, looking back to see the glimpse of Zasha's wings (or at least hear them).

They split- in a way, this was ideal- but if he were to be honest, this was more difficult to deal with than before. But, at least there would be no need to split up a fight.

(Though even that excuse sounds weak to his ears.)

Then he hears a shout from one of the men: “Bird coming to attack you!” “What?” he mutters, coincidentally in tandem with the other pursuer. Bird? That better not be Zasha.

Up ahead, Takumi finally catches sight of the winged man… and the two other men from the cabin, who split into different directions before disappearing into the forest.

Oh, so it was Zasha. 

But just as there were two men, there were two of them. Besides, Agatha had told the four of them to ‘check up’ on any locals, and Takumi wasn’t about to lose a potential source of information, either.

“We need to split up,” he says, pausing briefly to catch his breath. “Go that way. I’ll follow the other man.”

"My lodgings have been quant, but my host may not exist. Allegedly, that is." Tsubaki reports as Homura tries to move her muzzle again, towards Takumi. "A resident of this island, who had frequented the mines weekly, has never seen any activity coming from the lighthouse. My host, Katerina, is the lighthouse's keeper, however. She's quite the busy body when it comes to accommodating us."

Takumi shakes his head. “No, everything seems in order with the Ellis and Saunders families. If anything, I'm surprised their farms are still standing—the Saunders had apparently been dealing with years of poor crop yield. Rather than asking for monetary assistance, the two families seem to be putting all of their faith into their harvest goddess to help them."

Entering his prince's audience, Tsubaki opens with a deep bow. His mount follows in suit, elegant neck dipping downwards, halting there until her rider rises. Then she, too, stands at attention.

"You are quartered in the farmlands of District 2, yes?" They confirm, tone even. Behind him, one of Homura's ears flickers. Celestial mare's snout attempts to inch towards the prince, curious of vague notes of earthly scents upon his wardrobe, an action that Tsubaki subtly curbs with the slight jut of his elbow to block her.

"May I ask what brings you to the forests of District 11?" Tsubaki asks, "Many of Garreg Mach's denizens are traversing here today."

To Tsubaki's question, he nods. "Yes, I've been staying with the Ellis family—I spent yesterday helping them out, actually. Their farm is in rough condition... the least I could do was help. Today I went to help out the Saunders as well, which brought me here, and I ended up volunteering for forest patrol."

He notices Tsubaki's steed study him curiously for a moment. Did he get something on his clothes? ...He'd check later.

Nyx half stifles a grunt, trying to cover up her shock, followed by immediate embarrassment from harming herself after being explicably warned.

She glances around and makes sure to break line of sight from Takumi, putting a tree between him and her. There is no way that she can let him have any ammo against her.

Selena attempts to FORAGE: Roll: 11. BERRIES! Roll: 2. BLUE! Total Blue Berries: 1

(Carefully, they are extracted and then added to their collections. It is just a few blueberries, but with enough found, something greater could be made.) The progress is satisfactory, and it spells more of hope.

Discarded pods litter the ground around his feet. They had likely housed some kind of seed or nut, but most of them had already been claimed by the forest animals. It was a good sign, though; there may still be unopened ones around.

Takumi attempts to forage: Roll 1d20 = 7: Nuts Roll 1d3 = 1: Hard

   Zasha mentions someone returning drenched in blood. And for a moment, Chrom wonders if they were able to receive adequate medical attention. From the little Chrom understood about the Knight, he spoke only in necessity, rather than overembellishing details. It made for ease in the matter of information gathering, but actual conversation was rather difficult. To that, Chrom offers a nod, understanding.

   Then Takumi’s hypothesis, one that raises alarm in Chrom, causing hairs to stand on end. He had a good point; their arrival could line up with the recent happenings around the island… Chrom hadn’t encountered anything as strange as animals going berserk, but… “Good point, Takumi. We should keep this in mind as we press onwards.”

   It was the little lady’s personal recounting that tied everything together. “Ravaged by… Rabbits?” 

The confusion in his voice was palpable, undeniable as such a statement would give anyone pause. Her recounting, and theory, in tandem with Takumi’s hypothesis, and Zasha’s recounting… As Chrom’s feet crunched along the ground, he grew to be lost in curiosity. Perhaps that could be something to ask about? “We shouldn’t be too far from the cabins. Should we ask the locals more about their own recountings? It could strengthen or weaken all that we know right now…” 

   Blast it all, Chrom was not the mind to piece these things together so easily…

“It doesn’t seem like any of us really know anything, so asking the locals is probably our best bet. Agatha did want us to check up on any of the ones we happened to meet.”

Despite Chrom’s reassurance that they must be close to a cabin, the forest remains thick and oppressive around them. The four of them steadily walk further from where Takumi had been foraging earlier, and the unfamiliarity of their surroundings is starting to put him on edge. At the least, he’s certainly grateful to be doing this patrol during the daytime.

(While she was out here, perhaps she could see if she could recognize the hideout of Katarina’s vision.)

“I’m not certain,” Selena replies, and that is her form of optimism. No was the darker knee-jerk in her gut, knowing how little the harvests had brought; how the people of the marketplace starved; how a town like this can buckle under such weight. (It was not even a recent development, from her own investigation—for it seemed Baile may have been struggling for a long time before this.) “But everything helps,” she goes on, thinking of that which is little and that which is valued.

The monastery should not have been invited, the professor believes, but that belief is shaken in that the monastery was still helping—at least, in part. (Perhaps if only the kindest hands had come along to assist with as little burden to the people as possible…)

Selena continues her foraging, seeking to cover ground distinct from Nyx’s—and she uncovers a patch of green with clusters of three leaves and red stems running along them.

Oh.

Selena attempts to FORAGE: Roll: 13. POISON IVY! Roll: 1. NOT POISONED!

Fortunately, she had not made contact with the brush, and so she instead steps away quickly, cautious to remain unafflicted.

He heads to a different section of their chosen area, to cover as much ground as possible.

Takumi attempts to forage: Roll 1d20 = 16: Thorny Brush Roll 1d2 = 1: No Damage

He snatches his hand away from the brush before he gets pricked by the thorns.

"I didn't find poison ivy," he says, "but the plants here have some pretty sharp thorns. Be careful here, too."

"The church's little miracle came back covered in blood, so I'm here to prevent anyone else from reaching such a state." When his explanation is given, it's just as succinct as anything else, though perhaps more from a filter of unnecessary information than a lack of things to be said.

"He warned me and several others about the unruly animals."

He didn't say much about them, Zasha doesn't add, because I didn't pry further.

The statement slowly becomes a question as he finally processes what the unfamiliar winged man had just said. 'The church's little miracle'? Covered in blood? From here, the forest? There had been people assigned to bunk here, so Takumi had made the assumption that every district was safe enough, but that was presumably no longer true. Still, he agrees with the man: better that the able-bodied visitors with sufficient combat training do the investigating and scouting than the common people.

The concern that he had harbored since yesterday's investigations was only growing. Stymied by a lack of manpower, Takumi was going to have to find out what was going on by himself.

Though—

Having found yet another egg hidden in the piles of straw, he made his way across the coop—stepping only where he knew it was clear—and deposited the two of them into Leo’s basket. Then he picked up his pitchfork and continued his search.

True to his word, Leo found another pitchfork and took to combing through the straw alongside Takumi. The two of them worked in silence, save for the occasional discovery of a hidden egg. Embarrassingly, Takumi had taken to an unfortunate streak of nearly crushing the ones he happened to find. Maybe the farm work was getting to him.

After all, he was certainly starting to feel a familiar soreness in his arms and back. At least there’s one good thing about all this—I’m getting some good exercise in. 

Once the two of them had determined that there were no more egg surprises on the floor, Takumi went to clean the nesting boxes. He grimaced as he looked over the unkempt interiors. No wonder the ducks weren’t laying their eggs here. 

Which is true, but it is not the only truth. Typically Nyx would indulge children slightly, albeit begrudgingly, but the recent events on the island have proven to be troubling, enough to put her on edge.

"You seem to handle children well, is it because you resonate with them?"

Seeing the Hoshidan prince gently redirect the children's attention was impressive. She thought the Hoshidan royalty were quite pompous, and wouldn't often interact with their people. But seeing one of the princes who so fervently raged against them during the war play with the kids so honestly improved her opinion of him.

"Or is it because you are also a child at heart?"

Gods forbid he wanted to let the kids have a good time! Takumi folded his arms. “As a prince, one of my duties is to understand what it is that people need and to provide it to them, no matter how old they may be. These kids just wanted to spend time with the new people that are visiting for the festival. Was that too much for you?”

He shouldn't have let the comment get to him. He didn’t want Nyx getting any weird ideas. 

“Anyway,” he said, turning back to the kids. “It’ll be dinnertime in a little bit, right? Why don’t you go back inside and clean up?”

“Okay! Bye-bye!” the kids chorused, running back towards the house.

Takumi looked back at Nyx, and then at her shoes.

        It wasn't hard to identify the right building, but Leo paused, peering at the duck pond. The water was muddy and shallow — more like a glorified puddle than anything resembling a body of water.         "...I can't imagine that's good for them," he muttered, but it wasn't like the farm had much water to spare in the first place. As with everything else, they'd simply have to make do.

Takumi set the wheelbarrow down outside the duck coop. In contrast to the chickens, who had been quite intimidating, the ducks seemed pitiful—especially with the little mud puddle that they had for a pond. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen any sort of fresh water source from his look around, so they couldn’t do anything about it at the moment. 

“Judging by how the chickens went, letting them out of the coop is probably the better idea,” he said. “Feed them if you want. Or if they seem hungry, I suppose.” 

He hefted the pitchfork up and waited for Leo to let the ducks out of the coop. 

After they’d gone, Takumi got to work. As he scooped up matted clumps of straw, the pitchfork knocked against something… solid? Crouching down in the straw (and trying not to breathe in too much), Takumi nudged the straw away with his good glove and picked up the object he’d knocked against. An egg.

He glanced at the nesting boxes that lined the wall across from him: empty. Were the ducks... hiding their eggs? 

"Fine, but let me prepare myself first."

Taking a handful of straw, Nyx leans against the wall, magically fusing the straw the bottom of her shoes. Once the fusion is complete, she takes a few steps in place to make sure that the straw is attached properly before taking a leisurely walk around the chicken coop before returning to the front entrance.

The kids stand there, jaws hanging wide open.

"Wait that is cheatin-"

"Well, my shoes never did touch the wood," Nyx retorts. "I always stood on the straw. I am well within the rules here. Don't be upset that I found a clever way to participate."

First, Nyx had just demonstrated that he wasn’t the only one that had been given a strange power by a random voice in his head. By the looks of it, she had even been given the same “fusion” ability that he had.

Second, Nyx was a total party pooper. Not that he had expected much from the Nohrian.

He returned her pitying expression with a slight eyebrow raise. Her loss. Besides, Takumi was pretty sure she’d just waded through the less-than-clean battleground of the Great Chicken War. Slowly and deliberately, he climbed onto the coop’s nesting boxes and scooted across, then picked his way back towards the door, using various boxes and hay bales as his stepping stones. With a small hop, he landed outside. “There! I did it!”

One of the kids, still halfway across the coop, crossed his arms and stomped his feet. “No fair! Where’d Miss I'm-An-Adult find the sticky straw!” “Yeah, where’d you find that, huh?” Takumi said, throwing a glance at Nyx. Turning back to the kid, he added: “Hey, don’t worry. I’ve got an idea. Do you want to fly across instead?” The kid’s eyes lit up. “Fly??” “Uh huh! You ready?” After a nod of confirmation, Takumi hoisted the kid up onto his shoulder and jogged around the coop. Based on the giggles coming from his shoulder, it seemed the “sticky straw” had been forgotten.

At least, she is not alone. The other child dragged Takumi by the arm, leading them to the chicken coop. Nyx looks up towards Takumi and, despite their previous interactions, gives him a look of solemn solidarity.

"Okokokok! Are you two ready to play? We are going to show you our faaavorite game. Make sure that no matter what, your feet don't touch the wood! Try to go alll around the coop and back to this door!"

"Hehe, it's easy watch!"

The other child leaps from the door frame unto one of the feeding troughs, immediately loosing their footing and falls on the butt, hands braced against the wooden planks.

"Hehe oops! That's exactly what you don't want to do, so take notes alright?"

Nyx raises an eyebrow and sighs, turning to Takumi as she does, "Would you do the honors of going first? I... I need a second to mentally prepare myself."

---

Tomorrow morning, Takumi was going to leave the farm. He was going to leave and make sure that he wound up in an area with normal people.

Electing to (mostly) ignore the diminutive woman behind him, he scanned the mercifully empty chicken coop. At least Leo did a decent job cleaning. He’d rather not fall into a random pile of chicken manure. 

The feeding trough looked far too flimsy to support his weight, but there were a few hay bales stacked against the wall, presumably used to fill the nesting boxes. Carefully, he leaned over and climbed onto the hay bales, inching across them; spotting an abandoned shovel nearby, he tiptoed across its handle and clambered onto a stray box.

        Takumi's return generated a fresh wave of excitement in the flock, allowing Leo to work in peace again — up until a sudden squawk and clamor broke out.         "What in the..." Leo stopped to watch as the chickens began to scurry and scramble around the coop, pecking furiously at something on the ground. One bird broke away from the group in a flurry of feathers, chased by a few others, and Leo barely managed to glimpse a few crumbs of feed disappearing down the hen's gullet before it returned for more.         He turned to Takumi, incredulous. "...You gave them a chunk of feed without breaking it up? Scattering the loose grains would allow them all to eat their fill with less fighting, don't you think? These birds are starving."

Although his plan to distract the chickens had worked, it had worked a little too well, and now he’d apparently caused some chicken infighting. He was loath to give them more feed lest he inadvertently strain the Ellis family’s resources, but he made a mental note to let them know about the situation later that evening. And maybe to ask about proper chicken care, too—though Takumi doubted he’d be doing this again anytime soon. 

He let Leo collect the eggs and hoisted the wheelbarrow off of the ground. Slowly dragging it back towards the coop door, he set it down and stood beside it, waiting for the Nohrian to finish. 

Takumi planned to take a proper look around the farm after they’d finished with the ducks—partially to scope out the situation and partially for his own peace of mind. It seemed odd that the mayor had been investing so much into this festival while neglecting the very people that depended on him. Coupled with that dream and the voice… 

Takumi wondered if Leo had experienced the same strange things on the way here. Not that Leo would say anything about it. Nor that Takumi would either.

He’d find someone to ask about it tomorrow. Someone trustworthy.

        Wheelbarrows, as it turned out, were unwieldy things. The one in his hands was rickety and heavy, eager to dip to one side or another and especially eager to leave splinters in his gloves. Leo grimaced as he pushed it up over the threshold, peering carefully for any would-be roadkill — barrowkill? — before shoving it fully into the coop.         He pulled the door closed behind him. Great. Two princes, stuck in a musty, dusty coop with a horde of hungry chickens. What could possibly go wrong? (A question he shouldn't ask, given how much had gone wrong in the past.)

He seized the chicken on his shoulder and leaned over to put it down on the ground. The chicken immediately took advantage of this and fluttered back onto his shoulder. Had this one taken a liking to him or something? Takumi put it down again and gave it a stern look. “I need to go get your food, you know. Bother him instead,” he said, pointing at Leo, but the chicken ignored him and hopped back on his shoulder once more.

Takumi plucked it off of his shoulder, grasped it firmly under one arm, and strode out of the coop to go collect the bag of feed.

To the chicken’s credit, it did not attempt to escape—or worse, get a little too comfortable and let loose a bowel movement on his arm. Takumi dug a little bit of the food out of the bag and let the bird nibble at it. Seemingly satisfied, it fluttered away and ruffled its wings.

Takumi snorted. What a needy chicken. Now, for the rest of them. 

He glanced over at Leo. The Nohrian looked so out of his element that Takumi had to stifle his laugh lest the other hear him. Best not to disturb the active pooper scooper—especially since his pace was slow enough that Takumi suspected the chickens would be done eating before he finished. Ugh, he’d need to distract them more, wouldn’t he?

Takumi stared at the chicken feed. An idea began forming in his head. Scooping some of it into a hand, he closed his fist around it and thought about the other thing the voice in his head had told him about—item fusion? He opened his hand to reveal a large, single clump.