Soul of a Human

Mor was brought into the longhouse, where there was a gathering of burly men, and he nervously looked around. Most were far larger than him, but some were just slightly bigger.

°Holy shit, what are those getting fed? I know, meat... but still!° The human said.

Cutter led Mor to a central spot in the house, close to the main fireplace, and motioned the boy to sit down across from the chief, whose face was eerily lit by the simmering coals. The chief mustered the boy, and Mor squirmed at the intense stare, then the chief nodded.

"Good. You learned your manners." He said, starting a low chuckling from the other men.

°What now?° Mor asked.

°If I understand it right, they allow you to speak when spoken to, so wait for a question?° The human answered.

°I guess this would match the earlier behavior.° Mor agreed and patiently waited for the questions.

The silence drew out while the chief watched the Soul-kin, and then an Ice-kin girl brought the chief a big mug of something. With the pressure of the situation, Mor almost lost control of himself and laughed. The mug looked comically oversized in the girl's delicate hands, and Mor noticed she might be shorter than him. Also, something about her felt familiar, but he couldn't explain what.

°I feel like we know her.° The human said.

°Yes, me too, but I never met a young Ice-kin.° Mor stated.

°Yeah, we only met Snow. I'll lose it if this is her daughter.° The human said, and Mor let out a slight chuckle, more of nervousness than because of the humans "joking".

"What's so funny?" The chief asked, and Mor pressed his lips together to quiet himself.

Still, the questioning stare remained, and Mor deemed it safe to answer.

"I'm nervous and thought I knew this girl. Sorry, it was involuntary." Mor answered, choosing the humble route.

The chief looked at Mor briefly and then continued his questioning, but he liked the Soul-kin's new humbleness. It was fitting for a young adult among wiser men and, in addition, an outsider among family.

"From where would you know my future daughter-in-law?" The chief asked, but before Mor could answer, another voice interrupted.

"I still haven't agreed to that," Fortress said. "My daughter will choose who she wants, and that's it."

This drew another round of hearty laughter, and the chief rolled his eyes but didn't comment further, instead looking back at Mor. Who felt uncomfortable under the girl's questioning stare.

"I don't know, it just feels like it," Mor answered truthfully, thinking the chief might not want a long-winded explanation.

The short version had proved to be the right decision, as the chief nodded, and the girl went to her father, not taking her gaze off Mor. Now that she was at his back, her intense stare prickled the back of his head. Then, outside of Mor's vision, she whispered something into her father's ear, and Fortress shook his head in disbelief.

"Now, back to the matter, what do you want?" The chief asked Mor.

"I want to help my friends. They are stuck and need rescue. We're already…" Mor quickly swallowed the second sentence before he could be rude again.

"I understand. Then what are you giving as a reward?" The chief asked.

°I have an idea!° The human said and quickly explained it to Mor.

"I helped take down the gobbler. Isn't that enough reward?" Mor said, and a shocked silence gripped the room, and the chief looked at Cutter.

Cutter smiled and gave an amused nod because the boy wasn't technically wrong and, therefore, the best way of right, which led the chief to a big smile at the boy's audacity. Humbleness is great when your superiors speak to you, but audacity is the only way to haggle.

"Then good, I have sent out a hunting party, including our expert on Soul-kin. If your kin are still alive, they will find them and bring them here. Then leave a note where you all can be found." The chief said, and Mor let out a sigh of relief.

°Yup, I think I got the measure of them.° The human stated.

"But now we need to wait until they are back, meaning because you claim to have helped in the gobbler slaying, why don't you tell everyone here the story? From the beginning, please, because Cutter told me something outrageous. He told me you fed a Dark-one to the gobbler!" The chief had raised his voice for the last part, and an exciting gasp ran through the house.

Mor shrugged, not seeing the harm in explaining. With the human to fill in the blanks, everything could be told, so he took a deep breath and was stopped by the chief's raised hand.

At first, Mor was confused but then noticed that everyone was getting drinks and snacks, which made the human laugh.

°Ok, that's my speed!°

Also, one of those big mugs was placed right in front of Mor, and a sniff revealed its evident alcoholic nature. Mor wanted to refuse it but then noticed the expectant look of the chief going from the mug to Mor and back.

°Does he expect me to drink that?° Mor asked.

°Probably, and refusing would be rude.° The human answered.

°Wait, you want me to drink that because you think it might be funny, right?° Mor grumbled, and the human let out an innocent whistling sound.

°I knew it!° Mor chided the human.

After changing his decision, Mor pushed the mug a bit further away, uttering an apology for not accepting the offer because he wasn't of age. Triggering some wiseass, probably Drop, if Mor could guess the voice correctly.

"Of course! Think of a better lie next time. If a Soul-kin minor is built like you, I'm capturing the next gobbler naked! You might be a young adult, but an adult nonetheless."

"I have to agree with the loudmouth. Refusing a gift is not the honorable way, and you might need to wet your throat. Telling can be straining." The chief added.

"But I'm…" Mor started, but the stern look of the chief silenced him.

°Now it's getting fun.° The human commented.

In the end, Mor decided to accept the "drink" and just let it sit there. He then started to tell his tale, how the prince ordered him to protect the princess, how he killed a Shadow-kin, and everything up to the point when Cutter's band of hunters found him.

While he told the tale, just as the chief had said, he got thirsty, and the mug looked more and more enticing, leading to a quick sip. The liquid was thick and smooth and coated his throat nicely while it warmed him from the inside. Now, after the first hesitation was broken and nothing terrible had happened, he was far less appalled by it.

It might have smelled like alcohol, but there was no strange taste. Something Mor's mother had told him was a sign of strong alcohol. Meaning it had probably been a test, and they gave him something light to drink. With this realization fixed in his mind, Mor continued his tale and took more profound sips of the provided drink. He was so engrossed in his story and the appreciative audience that he didn't notice the mug getting empty and being exchanged for a fresh one. All the while, the human stayed quiet and enjoyed the show.

The longer his tale went on, the more outlandish it got, as Mor lost himself in the joy of telling. After arriving at the end, he quickly decided to tell more stories from Soul-kin legends, which his audience appreciated greatly.

While everyone got good and drunk, the chief kept it moderate, instead listening intently, trying to find falsehoods in the Souls stories, and having Fortress' daughter keep the mug of the Soul-kin filled. After the third one, the young man slurred almost all his words, but the audience was just as far gone, making the chief sigh. "At least they have some entertainment." He thought.

He did have to concede one thing, though. This Soul-kin was interesting. What the chief had gleaned from that scrawny kin after seeing a representative getting black-out drunk with a half-mug of special ale was that they couldn't drink. The Jarl was quite amused by the Soul-kin representative not wanting to show weakness and drinking the whole thing in one sitting, then fumbling around and having a giant hangover the next day. Though this showing endeared the representative to the Jarl and all the present chiefs, what was his name again? Di.. Do… Da.., the chief couldn't remember something with double D's. This thought made him chuckle. He could remember it because it had been funny to the gathered Ice-kin.

His musings came to a stop when the Soul-kin grabbed the fourth mug and, under the cheers of the gathered warriors, emptied it in one go. The chief looked impressed for a second, then the Soul-kin keeled over, planting his right cheek squarely on the sitting pillow, and, with his ass high in the air, started snoring.

Everyone looked in shocked surprise, then hollered out in laughter. No one had ever seen a drunk crash like this. At the same time, further back, bone-chip money was exchanged by an impromptu betting pool. Seemingly, somebody had started a bet on how much the Soul-kin could drink, and with four mugs, the risky bets now cashed out big.

Still, the fun was over, and the chief ordered some of the young Ice-kin, allowed to accompany their now drunken fathers, to get the drunken Soul back to his holdings for now and prepare some food and water for him. After watching the Soul-kin being dragged away, the chief pondered… "Four mugs, a bit below average four our kin, still impressive for a Soul."

All that was left now was to wait for the scouts' return and, after getting their report, drink himself silly, too. Sitting out the fun because of responsibility was boring, but somebody had to do it.