LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Astrid
Day 2 of Landing, Day 14 of First Landing
Population of Thornhill: 38
You really have to see it to believe it. When you arrive here, they tell you, and you won’t believe it. They show you, and you don’t believe it. They perform all these magical things in front of you that can’t be explained any other way, but you remain skeptical.
I only really believed it when I sat in front of the dark stranger and he gave me my class card: Animal Keeper.
It all started when Bianca left me with the care of the three piglets in the animal pens.
The three piglets were attached to a rope tied to a stake. Why would you need to do this when they are already enclosed in a pen? A careless man named Orion captured them, chained them here, and just left them to starve. I would need to have a little chat with this animal abuser.
I would be in charge of sweeping their poop for fertilizer and feeding them our scraps. Easy peasy, I thought. I love animals, so this would be a perfect job for me. Bianca handed me clay feeding plates she made, and together we fetched food and water for the piggies to eat.
That’s when it happened—my class reveal.
I got teleported to the place they all talk about, that dark cosmic void. Then the dealer gave me my class, Animal Keeper, and my legendary skill: Familiar: Husbandry Dog
I never had dogs growing up. My dad would never get me one, despite my constant begging.
“Too much responsibility,” he said.
Now, it looks like you have no choice, Dad. Your little girl is getting herself a dog.
Making sure there was no mistake about it after coming back into the real world, I pulled my card from my palms like everyone who had classes did before me to reveal my legendary skill.
Familiar: Husbandry Dog
A loyal companion that herds and guards your flock and home from threats and vermin, growing stronger as you level up.
“What do I do, Bianca?” I asked, looking at the card with glee.
Bianca was next to me with a bowl of water, jumping up and down in excitement, splashing water all over.
“Tap it, Astrid! Tap it, Oh my god, you are so lucky!”
A blue light came from the card at a slight touch from me. It changed into the form of a small round bundle on the ground before me. The ball of blue light then morphed into a bundle of cream-colored fur with a dark brown patch covering its head. The little dog that was born out of magic let out a yawn, which melted both of our hearts.
“Awww. Oh my god, it’s so cute,” Bianca cried, nearly in tears.
The fear, pain, and hopelessness of being stuck here on this planet all dissolved when I held the puppy in my arms. I rocked the sweet thing gently as it snuggled against me.
“What are you going to name it?” Bianca asked, running her hands through the pup’s soft fur.
“I think... I will name it... Aja,” I said, cuddling the furball against my cheeks.
We played with little Aja for a good while; she melted away our worries. Soon, others in Thornhill joined after hearing the barks from Aja while she played. The sound of a dog barking reminded all of us of our home. My little familiar was overwhelmed with attention until the Captain came over and reminded the onlookers and dog admirers to go back to work.
From my talks with others, they say Aja might be a Great Pyrenees, but she had a head covered in dark fur, so she may have been mixed with an Akita.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just focus on playing with Aja all day. I had to tend to the piglets. With my Animal Keeper card out, new cards would appear, including Livestock.
When I tapped on Livestock, three cards appeared, listing all the animals under my care that were considered livestock.
Forest Boar Piglet (♀)
Forest Boar Piglet (♀)
Forest Boar Piglet (♂)
I looked at one, a smaller one with black spots on its hind, and a card appeared in front of me showing information about it.
Forest Boar Piglet (♀) - Unnamed
Domestication - 10%
Meat - F
Fat - D
Leather - D
Wool - F
Milk - F
Other items available: Gelatin (F), Bristles (D), Adhesive (F).
It felt so wrong to look at these piggies and just think of them as meat. I knew my role here as an animal keeper was to raise them eventually to be... put down... for the village, but it still made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t like a vegan or anything, but when it came to meat, my policy is ignorance is bliss.
Maybe it'll be a little easier when they aren’t so cute.
I fed the piglets with leftover scrap and fish entrails. They ate it voraciously alongside their new canine companion who watched the piglets eat. Aja would take a bite after but kept watching as she chewed. Aja looked protective and even familial with her new pig friends, already taking her task of guardianship over livestock seriously.
A minor commotion disrupted my thoughts as the Captain stood with some intimidating men and headed towards the mess hall to confront the same animal abuser who left these piglets to starve.
I carried a protesting Aja in my arm, who licked off the remaining pig feed on her face. I would get her something good to eat at the mess hall and, at the same time, get to see Orion the animal abuser, face justice.
At the confrontation, the cook seemed unbothered by the accusations leveled at him and proceeded to work as usual. Many in the crowd seemed to be decidedly mixed on the issue. The older folks sided with the Captain’s entourage, while the younger folk seemed to either be quiet or supportive of Orion. That didn’t make sense to me that someone who openly vandalized a rescue operation would have anyone to stand for him.
While I was here in the mess hall, I grabbed a bowl of stew after the atmosphere settled into a calm normality. The stew I fed myself and Aja was rich and hearty. The pork meat in it was gamey, but it seemed the cook knew how to mask it well using wild herbs and foraged garlic. My table seemed popular today as fellow passengers came by to pet my familiar and offer her their scraps, the young pup licking their bowls clean.
During my talks with veteran passengers who have been in the village longer, I found out about the species of wildlife that lived around here. It was a mix of European and North American wildlife but altered and evolved in different ways. There were large beaver-sized muskrats, someone spotted some hares, elk with midnight black fur, birds of all kinds, weasels, turtles, frogs, and boars, and someone thought they heard a howl from wolves one night though it must have come from deeper in the forest,
Since it was my job to keep animals for the eventual harvesting of materials like wool and meat, at least that’s what Bianca told me my long-term goals were, I would prospect candidates for domestication. The young, or rather old, leader who was formerly in charge was overseeing the making of bricks to enhance the signal fire which Slate carried towards the beach for Marek and the two captains to layer the previously finished building higher to prevent night intruders from sabotaging it. All kilns were firing the bricks, and Captain made it a point to finish the newly upgraded signal tower by night’s arrival.
Bianca confided in me her complete dislike of the job assigned to her. She wasn’t averse to hard work but felt the kilns could be used to make more pots and tools, as they were running out, and the bricks could go to building more shelters. I sympathized with her, but the Captain was following standard practice. Getting a signal to the civilized world was important. People couldn’t live like this forever. Sure, I had plans for my animals but... I still wanted to go home.
I talked to Bianca about my plans for an animal farm. I wanted Slate and Marek to create a coop and two pens, with her permission.
“Two pens? What animal besides the boar do you want to raise?” Bianca asked.
“Something with wool or something we can ride. I was thinking maybe if I can selectively breed the pigs to have better fur, we can double it as a source of wool and meat. Then we can capture some elk and use them like horses.”
“Wow... you really think we can do that?” Bianca asked, placing more mud into the plank molds of bricks Marek built for her.
“Not in one generation, but if I like... keep leveling, maybe I’ll get skills that’ll help that along.”
“A coop? You mean like for chickens?” Bianca asked.
“Yes, but not chickens. We can maybe... umm... like those red birds the hunters bring in sometimes for food?” I suggested.
“Oooh... good idea. We just need to catch some chicks or friendly birds,” Bianca said. “You should ask Orion. He caught us those piglets.”
“Ugh... is there anyone else? That guy scares me, and he treats animals like crap.”
“Rye? He can be intimidating, but he’s really helpful. Just tell him Bianca ordered it, and he’ll do it,” Bianca said with a wry smile.
“Where is he right now?”
“I think he is fishing with Herman and Clark? They are by the river.”
And so Aja and I made our way uphill to the river. Three men were sitting on their asses, conversing by the river, their fishing rods pointing out with one of their feet or hands at the end, waiting for a response from the water. The older black man got up first, and when he spotted the dog, he rushed over and Eskimo-kissed Aja. The younger country bumpkin with a shaved head of brown hair came and stroked the pup as the older gentleman held it, both with huge smiles on their faces.
While they played with the dog, I made my way to the cook who had a baseball cap over his head, chewing a long blade of grass. In his rested state, he looked a lot younger than I first thought. He might have been younger than me, I thought. The minute he talked or worked, it just seemed like he was an adult rather than some freshman college kid.
“Working hard?” I asked him.
I had to admit... he was quite intimidating with all the knives on his body.
“Mmm hmm..” Orion said hazily.
“I need a favor."
“I’m closed for business today,” he responded, not looking up or bothering to open his eyes.
“Bianca ordered it,” I said.
The young man sighed and took off his cap. “What do you want? Who are you exactly and why should I help you?”
"My name is Astrid," I said, trying to hide my frustration with him and brushing aside my curly brown hair before crossing my arms. "The person who is in charge of those sweet piglets you chained up and forgot to feed."
When I showed him my Animal Keeper card, he didn’t look surprised, but I could see the gears in his head turning.
“What’s your special ability?” He asked, rubbing his chin.
I pointed towards Aja, who was playing with Herman and Clark.
“That puppy? That’s it?” He laughed condescendingly holding his sides. “That’s a responsibility, not a skill.”
You'll see, Orion. Once my dog grows up big, you won’t be laughing.
“I want to level quickly. You know how to do it. I want you to catch me some animals. Right now, one of those red bird chicks would do nicely.” I did not like talking to this dude. I wanted to get it over quickly. Something about his attitude just set me off.
“Good idea... I was craving an omelet.” Orion rested his cap back on his head and lay back down on the grass.
“So you’ll do it?”
“After Bianca makes a coop, sure. But I want payment,” Orion said, not bothering to look up.
“Payment? Why?” Now I was nervous.
“Somebody taught me a valuable lesson recently. I’m past doing things for free,” Orion said.
“Who taught you that?” I asked.
Probably some motivational nutjob on YouTube, I bet.
“The Joker,” he said with a crooked smile.
Of course. As expected of a knife-wielding psycho.
“I don’t have anything to give you unless...” I came to a realization, “You sick perv~!”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Orion sighed, outrage pouring into the accusation. “I just want your promise that the first mountable animal you breed or train will be mine.”
“You think I’ll be able to do that?” I was taken aback by his confidence in me. I had plans to work hard, and for that to be one of my goals, but it felt like just far-off dreams, much like wanting to become a singer or famous actress.
“If you have that class, in one month you’ll probably be able to get elephants to perform ballet for you,” Orion said sleepily, the blade of grass moving to the other side of his mouth as he chewed. “I’ll get you some chicks or eggs to incubate after Bianca builds a coop. Maybe tomorrow or the next.”
“Fine. Let’s shake on it,” I said, stretching out my arm. The young man pulled up his cap and opened one eye before he reached out, took my hand, and we shook.
Before I left, he said, “Go see my younger brother, Cass. Blond kid with a green baseball hat. He’ll show you where to find bees.”
“Bees?” I asked.
“Honey and wax,” He answered as if it explained anything.
My dog, Aja, came to my calls after I decided to leave the boys to their fishing. Orion stared at the puppy longingly. His wide eyes fixed on the dog hypnotically. When I asked if he wanted to pet her, he shrugged as if he didn't care and said in a way that hid his true feelings, “I guess,” before petting her and making faces at her, whispering babytalk at the puppy. I guess Orion couldn’t be that bad of a person if he passed Aja’s vibe check, but I was still wary of the young butcher.
After finishing my chores with the animals, the day’s labor involved washing clothes with Bianca and a few other women. Having Aja around made it much more bearable. We washed the clothes using ammonia that Anika created from urine—it was gross, but it worked. We had to beat the clothes and hang them to dry. We worked in shifts of two so that one of us could wear a set of loaner clothes made from flax by Roza. I received an Animal Training card when I taught Aja to perform simple tricks for a bite of my roast fish at dinner.
At night, we watched the firing of the improved signal fire at the beach at its completion. I noted a few were missing from the ceremony of the lighting of the torch, including Orion. A few people cheered triumphantly and clapped as the embers ignited at the bottom of the wood bonfire atop the bricked base. The log that came up from the signal fire’s base lit the logs piled on top of it like an orange Christmas tree with a long cloud of black smoke that trailed into the sky.
That night, I dreamed of riding an elk across an endless plain of wheat with Aja running alongside me.
I spent the next day with Cass, who showed me three areas near the camp with honey bee hives. I was terrified when I approached a hive growing in the hollow of an immense tree. A few of the black and orange insects landed on me as I approached, but thanks to my class, few dared to sting me. I reached into the hollow to pull out some honey. It tasted sweet and floral. I now had something to bribe the cook with if I wanted more animals captured. I also had a new skill that I acquired: Beekeeping 1.
When I ate lunch, I found out that the rains took the signal fire out yesterday. That would be two days in a row now something happened to it. At least I couldn't blame this one on Orion.
By the evening, however, seeing that the wet logs were useless, the Captain’s entourage commandeered charcoal and boar lard to reignite the fire for tonight’s signal.
Hopefully, nothing will manage to take it out tonight.
The morning after that, while I was feeding my piglets, who were now growing at an alarming rate, Clark, Herman’s assistant, was running from the beach yelling.
“BLACK SAILS! BLACK SAILS ON THE HORIZON! EVERYONE GET READY! BLACK SAILS ON THE HORIZON! PIRATES! PIRATES! PIRATES!” the shaved-headed man shouted as he sprinted from shelter to shelter.
Squinting into the horizon, I saw it—a tiny black dot on the blue line of the sea, getting ever closer. Beside me, my canine familiar, who had always been so easygoing until now, was growling, and barking with her teeth bared toward the ocean.