Before night had fully set, Rumble and I managed to get a bit more wood into the home. While dragging in the last piece of wood, Rumble was set upon by a red lizard that gouged up his bark quite a bit but didn’t get him below half health. That little guy is tough, so tough that it made me really wonder what he was capable of. Judging by the damage he took earlier from the same attacker that hurt me, I was able to deduce that he not only had damage reduction but was most likely resistant to the poison. I wish I knew for certain but the information just wasn’t available at this level of the Plant Familiar skill.

Having just got all the wood that we were going to get in, I approached the broken door and tried to wedge it into a shut position. The door ended up being more awkward than I had initially thought but with Rumble helping to guide it into place we were able to get it mostly shut. We did have to jam a stick into the frame to help hold it closed, but hey, it worked.

With twilight here and about to leave, I quickly started the fire with the flint and knife before it got too dark to see. Kindling and sticks alight, I added 2 larger pieces in order to get an actual source of heat and light going and soon had them catching fire. With the light and heat source acquired, I took time to review all that I had accomplished today and what it would involve tomorrow.

First off, I found out that starting today, I am a poor and barely homed wanna be farmer. I also can get my butt whooped by a vine. On the brighter side of things, I have a little pal that seems intent on protecting and helping me. Well helping when it doesn’t involve who gets the most blanket to stay warm… The little guy was really hogging it! But him being wood, he probably isn’t the biggest fan of staying near the fire.

So tomorrow, I have the "Welcoming Celebration"... I should probably assume that it will take all day. "Oh crud! I don't even know how far the town is from me!" I exclaimed to no one in particular. Well, I guess I'll start walking east along the road right after a quick breakfast in the morning.

And so with the night chill being warded off with the blanket and fire, I fell asleep upon the hard dirt floor using my arms as a pillow.

After a night of fitful sleep swapping between warm and chill as the fire needed new logs, morning finally arrived. First with light beaming in from the hole in the roof and then from a small gap left by the jammed door. As I stirred awake and Rumble noticed the light he shot up and ran to soak in the rays with his nonexistent leaves. Wait, that wasn't right.

"Rumble you're sprouting leaves, congrats!" I told the little guy.

He beamed back smiling at me, at least the little smiling emoji in my vision did. And having seen him enjoy a morning meal, my stomach started growling. So with that I grabbed the pan to start cooking.

With the basic schooling I had received, I knew how to cook some eggs, so that's exactly what I did. A quarter hour later and two eggs down, I was ready to head for town.

Wedging the door closed behind me I set down the road with the knife on my hip and Rumble looking sad in his reluctance to stay. His dedication to staying close to me was admirable and his lack of company pained my heart. I really didn’t want to leave him all alone and bored with only himself as company, but I really shouldn't bring him to town just yet. So with my mind made up I yelled back at him. “Rumble, can you please clear out some enemies while I’m away? Ill try to pick up some supplies and hopefully tomorrow we can start planting!”

Immediately his sad face emoji flipped around into a determined smile and he quickly spun around marching off towards the field. Arms pumping as he moved, he reminded me of a bodybuilder hulking off to reclaim his weights after a short break.

A whole hour later I came within a quarter mile of the town named Westbend, its wall spreading north and south looked like a quite the formidable structure. Even from the distance I was, I knew that the gate would be sizable enough to withstand a small army for at least a day. Wondering why lieutenant Dan considered this a small town, I could only imagine this place having at a minimum a thousand people. “No wonder there are so many surrounding farms, this town alone should be able to use all the produce grown locally, if not more.” I said aloud.

A little while later the gates loomed large in my vision with two lines stretching out of the town. One line filled with wagons and locals going in with goods and wares, the other filled with raggedy, hungry looking vagrants. As a guard motioned me into the homeless line, I quickly realized two things. 1, I look homeless and probably in need of a shower. 2, this line was for the new arrivals.

Joining the line behind two guys holding leashes attached to puppies, I surveyed the line in more depth. It looked like besides myself and a 4 or 5 other guys, that the line was also composed of about 6 or 7 girls. All of us sported the same ragged outfit topped with a rough button up jacket. The thing that stood out the most though was that some people in the group possessed a heavy looking pouch, all of which were kept in tight grips.

Within moments of another person arriving behind me in line, a voice rang out loud and deep over the assembled group, a voice belonging to a well fed pompous looking man with a well trimmed mustache and beard. “Welcome newcomers! I am the mayor of the town of Westbend, you can call me Mayor Black. Today we are holding an arrival celebration where you will get a chance to meet the city staff for a tour around the main portions of the town and a career advisor to help you along your way into a profession. Those of you that chose to sell your estates will also be guided to proper stores to buy supplies.”

After his short introduction, he gestured us newcomers towards the gates with a following motion and started walking into the town. The puppies in front of me being dragged by their owners was quite the funny sight up until the point that my footwear found a way to make a soft squelching noise. Just as I looked down I was greeted by a loud yell of anger next to me.

“Are you freaking serious!?” a brown haired girl exclaimed. “First I had to spend the night in the cold, then I had to eat a raw egg for breakfast, and now I step in one of the only two piles of dog poo in the road! I should’ve just sold the estate and restarted somewhere else because luck is not here.”

“Hey it could be worse.” I stated. “At least you are not the only person in the group with a smelly shoe.” A small dry chuckle tinting my also annoyed demeanor.

Staring at me dumbly, the brown haired girl’s green eyes slowly traveled from my face down to my shoe still stuck in dog poo. Within moments a sad chuckle eased its way from her chest as it slowly grew more and more relaxed. “I guess so, not sure this is how I wanted to make my first friend or a first impression, but it's better than being alone with bad luck.” She said in a slightly defeated tone. “My name is Mia, I’m a new Merchant Farmer. What about yourself?” Mia asked while extending her arm and hand towards me.

Taking her hand with a firm shake I introduced myself as well. “Hi, its good to meet you Mia, my name is Brad. I’m also a new farmer. I will say that my luck has been a bit better but I wont say that it's been easy. For one, I almost died to a stupid venomous vine monster, so I hope you feel a little more fortunate.”

Looking at me with a skeptical expression on her softly tanned face, she asked, “Don’t you mean poisonous?”

“I wish! The stupid monster slapped my leg with its vine and stuck me with dozens of its venomous needles!” I exclaimed.

“Oh my god, I sure hope I don’t have those near my farm.” she stated followed by a sudden and awkward silence. A slow question and hesitant question emerged from her lips. “Where is your farm if you don’t mind me asking?”

As I explained how to get to my property, her face slowly grew pale. As the realization of her being my neighbor started to become apparent to both of us, we also found ourselves to be the center of attention for the entire newcomer group with Mayor Black staring at us with annoyance as his voice boomed in our direction.

“I appreciate that you two are making friends with one another, but I hardly believe that standing in …refuse is a proper way to make introductions. Or for that matter, to endear yourselves to others that most certainly and hopefully do not share your admiration of such simple things. So with that being said, I hope you can pay attention to your surroundings, keep up with the crowd, and not slow down our progress any further.”

After finishing his deserved scolding of us, Mayor Black continued with his speech about the town as the group finished moving through the gate, Mia and I jogging forward to catch up.