Land Down Under (KJDarKnight & Treasure)

As they were coming down Peter and Pepper were coming up the other hatch into the house. Soon as Peter saw him the boy ran up and hugged his uncle "oh. Hey Peter" he smiled though he could tell the boy was upset.

Pepper pulled the rope and lifted the stairs to close up the hatch. "Hey Mat...mind if we..crash here too?" She asked. Gray had enough to worry about with the other two new comers and her brother had much more space

"Of course. You're always welcome. You know that"
 
Badru looked them over, actually stepping closer to Peter to look at him. Pepper got the same scrutiny. Badru stood back and crossed his arms before asking Mathias in his native tongue rather than English, "What has happened?"
 
Mathias shook his head in answer. He didn't know yet. "Let's get some food and then tall eh?" He said to pepper who just nodded quietly.

Mathias lead the way in "Badru found some fresh food from the surface. Maybe we can try something new hm?" That made Peter smile

"Ok Badru" he looked up at the big fella "what are we making with this stuff?"
 
Badru grunted and walked into the kitchen area where his basket sat. He dumped out the basket then pointed to Peter. "Wash," he said, his voice quieter than usual. "Get very clean. No dirt." Then he pointed to Pepper. "Take clean things and seperate. Leaf, stem, root. Place piles. Yes? I will help."
 
Peter nodded and hurried over to help washing the planta. He had helped before when Mathias tried some things from the surface like wild corn onions and garlic and different herbs and things but he was still learning what was edible and what wasn't

Pepper nodded and moved to help too
 
Badru took up the final station as he chopped and sliced. The roots he moved aside to be roasted, the greenery he set in a bowl to be eaten as a salad. Finally, he turned to Mathias for help with roasting the roots, adding a bit of herbs such as garlic mustard to bring out the flavors.
 
Mathias was happy to show him how to work the oven to roast up the vegetables, showing him egwre everything was as they worked

Cooking was a nice distraction Pepper decided, thoughts about Allen all but flitting away, she found herself even smiling a little. A nice vegan meal but he supposed most groundlings were vegan with no access to meat
 
Badru finished and had Peter help him put everything in serving dishes on the table. "There. Food for survival. Fresh and good," he grunted, his voice a low rumble in the room.
 
"Smells good!" Peter grinned as he climbed up to the table. The chairs and all big enough that Badru could comfortably join them. It was Pepper and Peter that looked out of place

"Looks..interesting" Pepper said as she picked up her fork
 
"Is what we eat when... food... other food not plenty," Badru said, not knowing the word for "meat." Contrary to Pepper's speculation, he and his clan usually had plentiful meat in both domesticated and wild animals, but that took time and preperation. He'd only wanted to see what the earth could produce, and it produced plenty.
 
Petwr tried a bite "mm!" He exclaimed with his mouth full, nodding his approval.

Pepper tentitivly tried a bite too and was surprised by the rich flavors compared to what they normally had "oh wow...oh..this is..how?"

Mathias grinned "what the earth provides "
 
"Some is good. Some is bad. Some need help," Badru said calmly. "You eat much nutrition with no flavor. This is some nutrition with much flavor."
 
Pepper smiled "I think I like the flavor better" she said and took a larger bite. She seemed happy, that was a very good sign she was calmer about things foe the moment
 
Badru watched her, his face not quite as stony now. They both seemed to be happy now. He looked down at Peter. "You wish to be on the surface also?"

~~

Meanwhile, Gray had been busy. Allen had friends in high places, but Gray had friends who had the ears of those friends and others. It was never a good idea to cross someone in communications. Rumor usually had far more baring than fact. However, Gray knew that Allen's hold was strong. It would take more than a few rumors. So... now to make those rumors of insanity a little more... plausible.

Gray found Allen on a quiet, dimly lit street and smiled. He got a good look then backed up into a lightless corner and sat down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd done this. Time to see if he could remember how... He reached out and touched the shadows.

The shadows around Allen flickered even though the lights remained steady. Whispers like rustling paper barely audible slithered up from the shadows.
 
Peter nodded "it's nice up there.. sits stuffy down here in the dark. Doesn't feel...natural " he said.

Mathiad smiled "you take after me that's why" he glanced at Pepper who rolled her eyes "he does not."

--

Allen paused and looked aroind? Confused and thinking himself alone "who's there?" He did look a bit spooked
 
Badru shrugged indifferently. "Under ground is good. Above ground is good. Good to know where you belong."

~~

Admist the chaos of a thousand whispers, two distinct voices rose up. The first on Allen's left was almost female in nature, the one on his right more masculine, although the gender of either was a bit difficult to pin down. The right one whispered soft and worried. The one on the left hissed arrogant and angry.

Why do you have to put up with the stupidity of others? Why do you have to put up with them looking down on you? You shouldn't have to put up with them, should you? Stupid little ants. They can't understand. You are the real power. They just need to be taught.

Blood! Blood! You have so much blood on you. Look! Look there! It is a spot on your hands. You must wash it clean!
 
Last edited:
"And you my boy. Belong with me. Down here" Pepper said firmly, casting Mathias a glance. He sighed but didnt argue for now

---

Allen looked both directions then briefly at his hands "what the fuck. Who ever is doing this. It's not funny" he called into the darkness before he took off at a jog. It was freaking him out more than he wanted to admit
 
Badru inclined his head in agreement. "Family is together," he said simply and finished his food.

~~

The voices stayed even with Allen. Though he was running, the voices sounded as if they were on his shoulders.

Of course it is not funny! But do you know what is? You are. Everyone else thinks you are a joke. They laugh at you. What pathetic creatures they are, and yet they laugh. Even your wife. She is yours. Yours! But she has the audacity to think she can leave you. Can take what is yours away. And no one stood up for you until you made them. How sad do they think you are?

It's still there. The blood. It is getting bigger. Why won't it wash off? It stains the skin. It tells them what you've done. It tells them how you destroyed her. Just wash it off and it will be okay. The blood cannot stay.
 
"Stop it!" Allen screamed at the voices. Was he going crazy? Was that dumb boy right? Wait..he stopped. Gray..Gray was the one doing this to him wasn't it. He had said he was crazy and right after that, hearing voices? He didn't know how but this was Grays doing. He smiled and started walking calmly, not saying another word
 
Great, now you are screaming at shadows. You know, you are starting to make that pathetic looser look right. Running blind, screaming at shadows, whining about some little brat who should be wiping your boots. Does it really matter if you are crazy? You are acting like one of them instead of the king you should be.

I want to stop. I want to stop! I wish I could stop. Please, won't you wipe away the blood? Please? Just wipe it away and I'll stop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top