Chapter Twenty-One: Cage
Hollis didn't expect to find himself exploring the underground facility again. The halls were dark, and the evidence of what these rooms had been used for was mostly gone, worn away by age and looting. This was the section where the hospice members lived. They stayed much closer to the entrance, however.
"These rooms go on for a while," Dakota said. He had brought a torch with him, though he never used it. Willo was bright enough to light the way. "Honestly, I'm not sure why we need the cages. It's nothing we can't build ourselves without having to go spelunking in this creepy old place."
To distract himself from his failures at growing his own walking stick, Hollis had turned to his primary mission in Beckett's Sound: investigating the fog. Unfortunately, he found himself ashamed to run off for days when the hospice risked going hungry. He had come up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Or two rabbitines, rather.
"I'm telling you," Hollis said. "There were dozens of these things. Maybe hundreds. I couldn't tell. You said winters are pretty bleak. Wouldn't hurt to have a stock of rabbits."
"Ain't no rabbits 'round here," Otis grumbled as he pushed farther into the facility's western halls. This section was sealed off from the squirming skeletons. Otis himself had plumbed its depths to make sure no creepy crawlies were about. He reported it safe, and pretty much everyone trusted the mountain man's word. If they could understand it, that was.
The three Kaziers followed him into the darkness lit only by Willo's tail.
"Otis says there are no rabbits to the east," Royle said. He rode Jaq in horse form, though he had to constantly duck down to get through doorways. Hollis wasn't sure how he knew when they were coming. "Otis is never wrong about these things."
"He's wrong about this," Hollis said. "They went every which way, phasing into and out of each other like a ballet."
He had inquired whether hutches could be built to convert the rabbitines into livestock. They weren't nearly as ideal as the muskrats had been, but they were deemed worthy of the effort. Hollis figured that while he was off catching rabbitines, he might be able to look more thoroughly into the fog that plagued the land.
First, they would need to build a place to keep the rabbitines. Second, Hollis would need to prove that a wild population had somehow survived the nightly fog that had taken most other game.
"Up here," Otis growled as he scratched his beard. He stared into an enormous laboratory lined with dozens and dozens of metal cages.
Hollis surveyed the lot. They were more than he could have hoped for. All metal construction, well-preserved, though some rust was to be expected. They had been painted white, and most of that remained intact. No one had perturbed this room in hundreds of years.
"Makes you wonder where the animals went," Dakota said as he walked around the lab.
"They didn't go anywhere," Hollis said. "Not all at once, at least."
The facility had been abandoned with little notice, as he had observed in his previous exploration. Fortunately, hungry insects and fungi had cleaned the cages as best as could be expected.
"This place is depressing," Dakota said as he picked up a clipboard that deteriorated to dust in his hands. "What were they even trying to do in here?"
Hollis looked over the facility. All that survived were the metal and glass objects, plus the occasional well-crafted wooden contraption. He could imagine what they did in a place like this. Periapt was a world where magic flowed through the vines and veins of the flora and fauna. Humans wouldn't let that go to waste.
Tawny, with her endless bag of tricks, had tested all open corners of the facility's western wing for pathogens and spores using her botanicals and know-how. Any place that was dangerous to be in was closed off. Still, this laboratory was not the sort of place anyone would want to stay too long.
"We only need one to start," Hollis said. "If we need more, we'll know where to look."
They wouldn't scale their operations until fall. There was no use capturing the rabbits in summer, only to have to feed them and care for them until winter. The beasts could fend for themselves; they could get fat on the land. Then, they could be trapped. The initial population would only be needed to learn about the species and their suitability as livestock.
They may very well end up as pets or simply be eaten if they didn't have the right properties.
Hollis had thought of this when he prepared his pitch for the rabbitine ranch idea. Otis had beaten him to the punch, explaining much the same in fewer words. "Ain't no rabbits," he had said. "No good to catch 'em now anyhow."
But the experiment moved forward. Dakota helped him carry the cage. It was large and spacious. Its construction was not by the forge; it was grown like a crystal in the earth. Hollis could see the fractal quality in the metal even after all these years. It looked like it belonged in a Victorian greenhouse housing a colorful bird, not a cold, heartless laboratory.
"Why would you go through so much trouble to build a cage?" Hollis asked after they had discussed the craftsmanship of their new hutch. It stood on four sturdy curving legs. Periapt had magic, sure, but they also had metallurgy and smithing that would be faster and cheaper for this project.
"Maybe they put something in it they didn't want getting out," Royle suggested. "Something that would chew through normal bars like they were maple candy."
He didn't know how right he was. Hollis thought he could see bite marks in the metal itself, though that could have been from several things.
They needed to quickly remove the cage from the hospice area while the residents were out. Even if the rabbitine ranch was doomed from the start, it would be best that the residents not know they were trying to build it.
They passed through multiple rooms used as patient dormitories and for other important purposes before emerging from the facility through the spot where the wall had long since given way. It was the area that was converted into the dining hall.
Hollis preferred things much more out here.
They took the hutch south toward the sea, where they had prepared a space for it where none of the residents would ever roam. Unfortunately, the residents wouldn't roam there because it required quite a climb, a climb the three of them now had to make.
They ended up needing to use Jaq to haul it up. He resented it. Royle convinced him with a handful of sugary cubes. He was not a workhorse, but he was strong and sure-footed thanks to his mouse claws.
When they got all the way up, Dakota's bonded hoveleer was sitting around waiting. He had built a waterproof alcove into the side of the canyon with mud and reeds. They were industrious little creatures, those giant muskrats. Adept at fishing, building, and bickering.
"We'll be able to grow food for them up here in this plot over here," Hollis said. Rabbits could eat things humans could not, things like plant shoots and grasses, things that were trivial to grow. That might make them an efficient food source, but it wasn't clear.
Otis had disappeared long ago to help with the patients down at the river. That was the same place the three Kaziers were supposed to be. Instead, they kicked back next to the new rabbit hutch and watched the sun move behind the clouds as evening came. All things considered, it had been a light day.
"You're telling me that none of you knows anything about giving a plant Spirit?" Hollis asked. He had asked before. It was still hard to believe after how many years they had been here.
"If I had known how things would turn out, I would have become a Survivalist or a Craftsman," Dakota said. "Wasn't nobody asking for a Craftsman though. Certainly weren't asking for farmers. There were too many farmers, too many laborers among the settlers. They wanted protection on the trail west. They wanted fighters. That's what we chose."
Stolen story; please report.
He and Royle had gotten to Periapt back when players could choose a "class," which would assign all twelve of their initial stat points around a theme.
"You picked Watchman, right?" Hollis asked Royle.
"That's right," he responded. "Somebody needed to keep an eye on things."
Hollis thought through the various preset builds. There were plenty. From "Cookie," the culinary specialist, to "Sightseer," the tourist, and dozens of things in between. The combat builds were numerous, each with their own variations. Things like "Big Game Hunter" or "Reaver" had their appeal.
"What did you choose?" he asked Dakota.
He didn't get an answer at first.
Royle started to laugh.
"What?" Hollis asked. "What did you get?"
Dakota sat, pursed-lipped, staring at the sun in the western sky. His hoveleer bickered at him as if it were weighing in on the conversation.
"Go ahead and tell him," Royle said.
Dakota huffed and said, "Prizefighter."
"Oh," Hollis said. Dakota was not a big guy, despite his large muskrat cloak suggesting bulk.
Royle laughed even harder.
"Okay," Hollis muttered as he tried to remember what skills the prizefighter came out of the box with. "That's Brawling, Shielding, some Vigilance at least, what else?"
"Bartering," Dakota said.
"Bartering," Hollis repeated. "That makes sense, because of the economic element of the prizefighter. What else?"
"Sneaking and Storytelling," Dakota said.
"Storytelling?" Hollis repeated, less sure. "What does a prizefighter need storytelling for? Like boasting at the beginning of the fight, getting the crowd on their side?"
Dakota shrugged. "It's more than that. Prizefighters do a lot of back-alley, illegal fights where you need to deceive your opponent. Might have to use underhanded tactics. The prizefighting master said it was an easy way to get hired on a caravan and to make money in settlements and cities. He sounded really convincing."
He seemed ashamed of his choice.
"Well, he was a good storyteller, after all," Royle said with another laugh.
Storytelling was the skill used for deception.
If Hollis remembered correctly, the default Temper that came with prizefighter was called Bounty, which rewarded major accomplishments such as defeating strong opponents. It probably meant that Dakota had been locked in on the prizefighter path, only growing as he fought bigger, more dangerous animals.
Hollis' Temper, Curiosity, couldn't command the large level growth of Bounty, but it was far more versatile. That didn't even account for the fact that he was far more prepared when he arrived in Periapt. It was possible or even likely that he outleveled them both in many ways.
He thought better than to inquire. Something about it felt deeply personal.
Dakota stood up suddenly and turned around to the other two. "So we gonna go help bathe some old people or what?"
"What?" Hollis asked. He wasn't even trying to be funny.
Dakota had meant it when he said they were bathing old folks, but not in the way Hollis had interpreted it.
Most of the patients had been left a ways upriver of the grebe coop under the supervision of Jane. A large canopy was deployed over a few dozen seats where patients could wait. Hollis didn't know what they had been brought out there for. It seemed an awful long walk for people in ill health.
Royle and Dakota knew the drill. They started helping some of the patients make their way back toward the hospice. Royle even let one woman ride behind him on Jaq.
"What am I supposed to do?" Hollis asked.
"Bring the pickled folks back home, leave the dry ones here," Dakota said as he helped an older man back down the riverside path.
Hollis looked more closely at the patients. They were dressed in old-timey swimming wear, waiting their turn for something. Jane stood there holding the prized blunderbuss that he had only seen Otis carry before. She was there to defend them in case something attacked.
Otis himself was there too, Hollis later realized, crouching down on a rock outcropping up the canyon wall. Ever vigilant.
"Does anyone need an escort?" Hollis asked, unsure which patients might already have been treated.
"I'd like one, but Miss Tawny would surely kill me," one older man, Joe, said.
The ladies rolled their eyes and groaned at him.
Hollis turned to Jane. "I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing here."
She looked him in the eye. Was she annoyed with him?
"I don't know what you're doing here either," she said. She had a lot more vinegar than Hollis knew what to do with. After a few moments, she added, "You can guard them. I'll go help Tawny with their treatment."
"Sounds great," Hollis said. "I even brought my own gun."
That didn't do much to soften Jane. She turned and began heading upriver.
"Excuse me," a voice called from the back of the waiting area. "Miss Jane."
Jane stopped short and turned to face the woman. It was Old Mae, as she was called. She had been the one to tell Hollis the story of the fog.
"Yes, Mae?" Jane said, all sweet again.
"I hope I'm not a bother. You young folks do so much for us. It's only that this might be a wonderful time for brave Hollis here to see the healer's craft with his own eyes," Mae said. Her long white hair was let loose, and her shawl moved in a breeze of its own.
"It might," Jane said, hesitantly.
"To watch Miss Tawny work her craft is to see a master at work. Ain't so often a Kazier gets to see such a thing. He won't deliver us to the Great Pass if he stays ignorant of the healing arts."
Jane shot Hollis a heated look. He much preferred it when she simply ignored him and went about her duties. She was young, still a teenager, and even in this world, they had angst.
"I would like an opportunity to observe," Hollis said. He didn't fancy himself a doctor or medic, but he did have curiosity.
Jane nodded.
"If you would be so kind as to escort me," Mae said. "I was due half an hour ago, but I needed a moment to build up the courage."
Hollis glanced over the group of people and saw weary faces. He wondered what they might need to build up courage for. They seemed perfectly content when they took their morning potions and tinctures. What about this had them in such a sad state?
"Of course," he said as he held out his arm for Mae to grab. She latched on like it was the only thing holding her up.
With one last look at Jane, he began walking Mae north up the river path, not an easy walk for anyone, much less an elderly woman.
Their destination was nearly a mile away. Hollis wondered why they needed to travel this far in such a dangerous land. Not only was the path treacherous, but mountain lions and creatures far deadlier than that stalked the canyon.
As they walked, Hollis spotted Otis' dogs standing guard along the way. They were well-trained pooches, especially when they were separated and couldn’t rile each other up. It really was all hands on deck.
"This must be an important treatment to come all the way out here," he said.
"Oh yes," Mae said. "The most crucial medicines cannot be taken in comfort, but that's true anywhere. You'll need to remember that on your journey."
Ah yes, the journey to the Great Pass, that mystical place at the end of the trail, Hollis thought.
"What's at the Great Pass?" he asked.
"A legend," Mae said matter-of-factly. She reached up to brush the hair from her face, and Hollis felt a cold breeze off her shawl. He needed to get himself one of those. It was a wonder that she mostly used it to set the scene while telling stories. He would have fanned himself with it non-stop.
Hollis laughed. "A legend? Every place on this continent has one of those."
Mae nodded. "If we are to see Olivia's promise come to pass, we must get there first. For when the settlers of the forgotten continent reach the Great Pass, this land shall be tamed."
He was worried the answer might be vague, but then every bit of lore about Olivia Gordon had been, in his experience.
"Olivia's promise was to help restore the world from whatever happened three hundred years ago, right?" Hollis asked. He knew every bit of lore he could from the cursed disk, but it only revealed so much.
"It was," she said. "She has always come to save us in our times of need, and she will again. For now, though, she sent you. We are relying on you. Royle and Dakota, too, in their own ways. The Kaziers have a great destiny here in Periapt."
A terrible feeling rose up in Hollis. Was it shame? He had devoted his life to this mission, yet he had not expected such trust.
"What do you know about Earth?" he asked. "I mean, about the Cat's Eye. What do you think things are like there?"
Mae breathed in deeply. "It is a world like all others, filled with mortals living simple lives, never knowing the plots or plans they serve as pawns in."
That was a surprisingly cynical take from the town storyteller, Hollis thought.
"You know," he said, "I'm one of those simple people. I'm not special back home. I never was. I'm just some guy… I don't want you being disappointed."
Mae began to laugh as they walked down a steep trail. Hollis noted that a large, white bird flew overhead. He was certain it had been following them all the while.
"Yes, most every Kazier comes to this world as ordinary as a stable boy and far less handy. Many know not the sting of a blade, nor the ache of a day's work, nor the pang of hunger; some especially so. But there is potential in the ordinary; great men are never so bold as to abandon their destiny, after all. Only average men and women will do that.”
She laughed all the richer. Is that what he was? A man who had abandoned his destiny?
“A Kazier is an explorer free from all assigned fate. I know that you are only a man. We, humble people of Periapt, learned long ago not to believe in men. We believe in stories. We know that all stories in Periapt are true, including the one where a fog spills over the edge of a canyon and kills a group of old, dotty settlers. I think we'd rather follow your story for now. It might not end with a feast at our expense. Pay attention now," she said, nodding toward the lazy swirls of the shallow wetland ahead. "The next chapter of your tale is a gruesome one."
Hollis looked ahead to see Tawny lifting an older gentleman out of a stony pool with the help of another patient. He looked all but lifeless. His legs dripped with water and blood. She waved a smoking, loosely rolled wand over his face.
She stood with the water up to her chest as the man rested on a wet rock shelf beside her. Herb candles were lit all around as if she were performing some arcane ritual.
The entire cove was dark now that the sun had gone far west. Something large swam just beneath the water's surface behind Tawny. Hollis had seen some healing when he played the game, but he had never seen anything like this.