No Need For A Core? - 177: Gil’s in a Pickle Now!

177: Gil’s in a Pickle Now!

No Need For A Core? by Zagaroth

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Fuyuko still felt a little dazed as she sat down at the table, but she didn't have to think clearly in order to eat. And eat she did, it was like a deep pit had opened up inside of her and she needed to keep eating to try and fill that aching void.

Most of the things that were set in front of her were meat, though some of the dishes were focused around tofu or beans instead. It was hard to not shovel it into her mouth as fast as possible, but she was still eating with unseemly haste until there was nothing left on any of the plates around her. When she lifted her gaze to look around for more, she saw Mordecai sitting across from her with his arms crossed and a small smile on his lips.

“That's enough for the moment, let your body register what you've eaten before stuffing it with more.”

She blushed at his words, feeling embarrassed about her gluttony. But it was easier to think now at least, even if it still felt like her stomach was trying to chew on her insides. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Mordecai chuckled, “Nothing to be sorry about, your body knows what it needs, but instincts can betray us occasionally. It takes time for your body to register when it has enough food, especially in situations like this, so you just need to take a break for a moment.”

“Er, okay,” Fuyuko replied as she tugged on a stray lock of hair. Then she paused and frowned before pulling the lock of hair forward enough to stare at it. “Wait, what?” She couldn't remember her hair being this long since she was a little girl.

“After effects of your partial shift, I think. Your skin started to grow some fur too, about the time that your teeth and jaws grew enough to be a serious weapon. It wasn't quite a wolf's muzzle, and the fur was more like puppy fuzz, but the hint was there.”

Fuyuko couldn't figure out if it was more embarrassing that she'd shifted like that, or that her fur had been like puppy fuzz. She wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

A booming laugh cut across her thoughts right before Gil's hand slapped her on the back, “Don't worry about it so much, you did good. Lots of shifter types go nearly berserk during their first fugue, you were in remarkable control for a frenzy. Didn't even stop using your daggers.”

Now her back hurt. Fuyuko rolled her shoulders to try and relieve the stinging sensation before she looked at the giant of a man who was taking a seat at the table along with Betty. “Um, I really don't remember it.”

“Master Mordecai can show it to you later if you like,” Betty said, "And I think you should watch it, you were fairly impressive. I'd probably have had to hurt you pretty bad in order to stop you, instead of letting you wear yourself out like he could."

Gil nodded, "That's a fair assessment. She's been growing fast, and she's got the instincts and drive that makes her better than most guard and army recruits, but there are still plenty of sergeants who could put her in her place. Good enough to be dangerous, but there's still a lot of people more dangerous."

Fuyuko rolled her eyes, "Jeez, pick a girl up then knock her down why don'tcha?"

Mordecai laughed at that, "They want to let you know that you did good, but don't want you to be overconfident either. It's a fine line to walk with most people, especially someone coming into their own as young as you are. There are adults who have been fully-fledged guards for years that would have trouble keeping up with you. But most of them also haven't been under the same pressures or had the same sort of personalized training that Gil could provide."

"Um, thank you," she replied as she scratched at her neck, trying to not squirm from the attention. "So, um, are you going to be able to show me how to change my shape properly?"

Mordecai nodded, "Yes, and we'll at least temporarily have a second trainer for you when Orchid comes back with Paltira and Kansif in tow. Kansif has been gifted with abilities from a shifter clan, which is not exactly the same as your own heritage but is close enough for training I think. She wasn't originally planning on coming back with Orchid, but I sent a message out yesterday and got a reply back this morning. Bellona will be happy to see her cousin again too. I'll want to consult with her on some training ideas for you, Bellona, and Xarlug to do together. You'll be catching up with them, but they'll also be getting better."

She bit her lip in thought before speaking, "I don't mind the idea of training, it's been kinda fun so far, but, um, I dunno, what else do you do for fun around here?" She had vague memories of playing games with others, but there had always been an edge of danger if they were running around the streets, and the hazy images she occasionally got of the sanctuary suggested things were a lot calmer indoors.

"Well, Kazue is hoping that you'll take to reading; you did see the library we have. But what you haven't seen yet are The Warrens. The bunkin have their own communities hidden away, and there's plenty of crafting and art to learn and practice with them if you want. We don't really have a good match for you age-wise, most of the rabbit clans became adults while they were dire rabbits, and the ones that have been born as bunkin or such are still babies. Both Riverbridge and Azeria visitors do bring teenagers along occasionally, I have no problem with those being extra free days for you to go and make friends."

Fuyuko wasn't sure that was exactly what she wanted, but, well, she wasn't sure what else she might be looking for. "I guess. I don't know." She shrugged, dissatisfied with her own answer.

"Eh, you're young," Gil said "You don't have to have an answer for everything."

"Yeah, don't worry about that stuff. It's boring." Li piped up from the seat next to her, causing Fuyuko to jump in surprise. She was pretty certain he hadn't been there a moment before. "Hey after we eat, you should come play with me I can show you all sorts of neat places around here I heard you played in the theater while Gil and I were playing that sounds like a lot of fun did you get to be a princess like Orchid or were you a super cool monk like Moriko I bet whatever it was you were awesome cause I heard all sorts of good things about you from Yvie."

Li's timing had been perfect, for another set of dishes were being brought to the table, and Fuyuko's stomach rumbled at the sight. She glanced between Li and Mordecai as she tried to sort out the sudden rush of thoughts in her head.

Mordecai briefly spoke over Li's continuous chatter, "Eat up, I'll talk to you more after Li has fun with you."

That sounded almost ominous, but she certainly wasn't going to refuse to eat, and it gave her the chance to listen to Li's ramblings more. Or at least try, her god spoke very, very fast, but she was pretty certain he mentioned something about dolls of Gil and making money, which caused Gil to look at Mordecai with narrowed eyes. She guessed they were going to have a talk after she was dragged off to play.

What was she thinking? This was a god, you don't just go play with a god, do you? But, the other heroes of Li's stories were always the friends that he played with. Did this mean she was going to be a hero? That was a scary idea.

She was so wrapped up in those thoughts that she didn't realize that she had started instinctively competing with Li to grab food off the plates first, the luponi's hunger driving her to practically gorge as she fueled the power growing within.

Fuyuko looked surprised when she realized that all the plates near her were empty, and Li took advantage of that moment to grab her hand, saying, "Come on it's time to play I gotta show you the mushroom forest if you changed like you did with Mordecai you'd look awesome and so cool stalking through the gloom like a pretty nightmare monster I bet you could-"

Mordecai watched the two of them leave and noted that this was the first of Li's playmates in the dungeon that the ratling took through a shadow-jump. He wondered if the girl even noticed being dragged through the shadows that way. She had the potential to become one of Li's blessed, which was rather similar to the champions of other gods. It just didn't seem fit to say she'd been chosen, Li didn't operate that way consciously.

His musings were interrupted by Gil clearing his throat. "So, if I understood our friend right, you are planning on making a profit off my visit and likeness?"

"Didn't you notice our merchandise outside?" Mordecai asked, "All our fiercest defenders have stuffed dolls and engraved images. I think the right sort of advertising could make even your visage popular." He paused at a thought and held up a finger toward Gil as he turned toward Betty, "I just realized, we have two options for you. We can sell both if you want, but I think figurines of your current form might get a, ah, different audience."

Betty considered it for a second and then shrugged, "It doesn't bother me, go for it."

Gil frowned at that, "I think that it might bother me though."

"Gil," Betty's suddenly soft voice carried a warning note that affected even that mighty warrior, "this isn't a topic you get to have an opinion on." She relaxed before continuing in a more normal tone, "You are very sweet, but we both know you can't stay and assuming that you do visit again in a reasonable time frame, you won't be able to stay for long then either. Depending on circumstances, I may welcome you back warmly, but I am not yours and you are not mine. I'll live for a very long time as I am now, so maybe in some distant time something may happen to change that, but right now, I ask that you not mar what enjoyment we might find in the rest of your visit."

Mordecai couldn't help but laugh at Gil's discomfiture. "I think you and Moriko had a few conversations during your sparring sessions," he said to Betty, who nodded in confirmation. "Well, we can go over the details of your new figurine later," though the images flashing into his mind from Kazue's core rather suggested that she was coming up with an entire product line, "but let's get back to Gil's question right now. I can give you a cut or such if you want, it wouldn't be hard to work out some numbers, but we both know you don't need the cash. So, open-ended favor, owed by us as the dungeon, recoverable as dungeon-forged goods?"

Gil looked thoughtful as he considered the option. Mordecai had just laid out a rather generous deal before Gil. Some things were hard to account for numerically, and an ongoing favor meant that Gil would essentially be able to show up and ask for custom items when he needed to, within the balance of the debt owed. Being able to claim customized treasure without any other sort of exchange was more useful than the monetary value alone.

"Done," Gil said, and reached over to shake Mordecai's hand.

"Excellent. Now, speaking of time pressures, however, your presence interacts with Li, making him press on us a lot more than when it was just him. Has he said anything yet?"

"Yeah, he's said he's got an adventure for us to go on. Something about bitter green jerks harassing fairies somewhere." Gil sighed and shook his head. "I'm pretty certain it's someplace on the Other Side, but I don't think it's even part of the Other Side near this world. Which is going to make getting there an interesting experience."

Mordecai winced in sympathy. Getting mixed up in something local with a Li shard was one thing, being taken somewhere else by Li was very different. Mordecai still wasn't sure that all of those places were real outside of Li's imagination. "If he's being that specific already, you don't have long. I'll stock you up with potions as much as I can before you leave, but we're busy so I need to take care of everyone and we may not be able to finish giving you a reward quite commensurate with the challenge we provided."

Gil waved it off, "Don't worry about it if you can't, consider it part of the favor."

"Alright, well, since Li is occupied for at least a few hours, I'll leave you two alone. I should at least be able to catch you again in the morning." With that, Mordecai dispersed his avatar and turned his attention to Kazue's ideas for a new line of figurines.