WARNING: *Small* amount of violence
Unfortunately, Bud's friend didn't know who did it. He didn't even know that his drink was poisoned, thinking that Bud just had bad resistance against alcohol. This made sense to Bud, as he had never seen him drinking. So he asked the bartender, the same one yesterday, or ereyesterday, a guy he actually knew the name of.
"So, Yirt," Bud said, getting Yirt's attention. Yirt was a big man, one who towered among most men, some woman too. The few talks he's had with him told Bud that Yirt was a laidback guy who just didn't care, so long as money was involved. Bud inched closer to Yirts' face, to which he also got close, and asked, "You were there yesterday, right?"
Yirt nodded, saying, "Yeah. I saw you leaving, all sick and that. Glad to see you're doing great." He paused, gesturing to a cask. "You want another drink?" Bud shook his head.
"What I want is to know who poisoned me," he replied, looking down into his cup; some alcohol was pooling at the bottom.
Yirt paused, then shook his head. "You're doing fine now, right?" Yirt leaned in closer. "But there have been cases like yours, where other bartenders have noticed more and more guys being sick." Bud saw Yirt's eyes' scanning the room. "We've been calling them the Witch Poisoner. The one who poisoned, not those-" Yirt stopped there, seeing Bud's stare. And, of course, to serve another drink to someone else.
Someone tapped Bud's shoulder. Turning around, he was stunned by who it was. Porea Ali, the biggest woman in the entire tavern, best drinker too, was standing there, followed by two of her posse's that were only a little shorter. Porea, though, wasn't just tall. She was obviously well-toned, being in one of the richer families in this town. Also Bud's cousin, someone who stayed in the main family. Bud instantly grimaced, but stood his ground as she smirked at him.
"How are you doing, brother?" she asked, almost breaking into a mocking grin.
"We're not siblings, Pory," Bud replied, bracing himself for the imminent punch. The punch hit him square in the chest, with no one trying to save Bud. The one who punched, though, was not Porea, but the one to her left; a woman with a lighter skin tone than Porea and, extensively, Bud. She had a little less muscle, but clearly wasn't much weaker. Bud wouldn't have a chance against any of them, yet he wouldn't give in to whatever was happening.
"Don't be disrespectful to your big sis, dear brother," she replied, a full-blown laughter coming out of her mouth. Bud saw words coming into his vision.
[Guitar of Missing Notes: Absorbed
Rank: Myth
Description: One of the favourite prizes of The Big Man because of how 'artful' it is, it's usually kept in the hole he sits on. It has been used by the Pied Piper, as well as other lesser-known legends. If The Big Man notices that it is missing, he will surely come for the thief who took it.
Abilities:
Missing Note: Plays a mysterious note that humans cannot hear, but also cannot disobey whoever plays it (NOTE: Fire Lighter cannot make people do things they absolutely do not want to do).
Partial Mastery: The player of the Guitar of Missing Notes has an inherent Mastery over playing the Missing Note. However, those who are tone-deaf cannot play the Missing Note, nor use this Instrument in The Orchestra.]
When those words disappeared, one of the girls looked confused. But that look quickly went away, replaced by the same, smug look in the other girls' eyes. Truly, he hated it. "Us Ali's heard you were back in town," Porea said, cracking her knuckles. "Now, there better be a good reason for that, or else..." Porea let it hang in the air. She always knew when to do that in order to be scary.
"Would you believe it if I told you The-" Bud paused for a second, thinking of what to say, "Big Man sent me?" He crossed his fingers that he was known by someone here, as well.
"Never heard of him," Porea responded, quickly getting her friend to hit me. Well, shit, Bud thought. The rest of the people had already left the tavern, not wanting to be a witness. Except for Yirt, who was facing the other way, cleaning tankards. While he was down, they started kicking him.
They didn't stop until they were sure he was on the verge of dying. "You better leave before sunrise," Porea spat, before walking out of the tavern. Her group followed her. After they left, Yirt came Bud's side, picking him up before dropping him on a stool. He placed a drink in front of Bud, nodding to him. Bud saw something while he was being kicked, but couldn't be sure if his theory was correct.
So he asked Yirt, "It was Porea, wasn't it?" Yirt looked at him. "Who poisoned me." Yirt didn't deny it, but also didn't agree with it.
"That's the theory," he answered as customers began entering. Bud finished his drink at once, slamming it on the table. "Final drink, Bud?" Yirt offered, but Bud waved him off, limping to the door.
When Bud left the tavern, he headed right back to the Campfire he woke up at. He sat on a stump and thought about the Guitar of Missing Notes. Instantly, it appeared in his hands. He fell backwards, hurting himself again. It was already painful enough just walking here, he thought. He strummed it with his fingers, although he couldn't tell if he played it properly. When he wanted it to go away, it did.
Bud then thought about the Upgrade point he has. Words were being written on his arm again. Quickly checking what they said, he felt conflicted:
[Upgrades Available: 2
Creepier Firelight: A proper firelight will set the tone for a story; setting it darker will make it scarier, whilst making it brighter would make them relax. An experienced Storyteller can find out the difference and how to use it, while the Campfire of Legends will allow it to be controllable.
Upgrade Cost: 1
Upgrade Levels: 0/100
Healing Light: A proper Campfire is where people rest, in order to feel comfortable and heal from a long journey, while the wind is cold and the Night is, also, cold.
Upgrade Cost: 2
Upgrade Levels: 0/10
Fire's Tenacity: The Fire of Visions is weaker than some ordinary campfires, as it goes out at first light. Increasing the Fire's Tenacity will increase its duration in daylight.
Upgrade Cost: 5
Upgrade Levels: 0/12]
Next, he thought about the wheel that he could spin, deciding he would truly try to understand all of this later.
[Wheel of Stories: 3 spins
Description: The Wheel of Stories is, like the name says, a wheel. Only the Fire Lighter may spin it to get a random Story Item, ranging from Common--Legendary. The Items acquired will be just like how other Story Items are, including abilities. However, no repeated Items will be acquired.
Spin? YES/NO]
Bud decided not to spin right now. When he looked up, he saw a person walking towards him. It was, surprisingly enough for Bud, Porea, walking towards him. Well, a little faster than a walk. And a little more aggressively.
She sat on the closest stump to me, asking me, "I thought I told you to leave Trudge before sunrise." Bud must've spent more time than he thought because, just like she said, it was sunrise.
"But am I really in Trudge?" Bud shot back, receiving an answer from the words appearing on his eyes.
[The Campfire of Legends belongs to the Wild, always staying out of towns unless certain conditions are met. The conditions have not been met.]
Porea was silent, looking at the distance between the concrete and the Campfire. "I guess not." She gave up. "But still, what is this place? It even has stumps." She kicked the stumps absentmindedly, staring into the Campfire.
Lying as naturally as he breathed, Bud told her, "It's just a couple stumps. Not really anything important."
"Then, who's the Big Man you mentioned earlier?" Her face tensed up while saying that and she started fiddling with her hands.
[Tell the Story of The Missing Day? YES/NO
(NOTE: For the first Story Telling, the Campfire of Legends can speak in the Fire Lighter's stead. Otherwise, the Fire Lighter has to tell the Story. The Story Telling can be saved for later.)]
The words made Bud visibly nervous, which Porea misunderstood. "Don't worry. You can tell me about him," she said. "I won't tell him you told me."
Bud whispered out, "Yes." Instantly, he felt his control of his body disappear. His consciousness had moved to a seat from across the Campfire of his body.
He smirked, leaning closer to the fire. His face hidden from Porea's view, yet shone with firelight, had made Bud shiver. He didn't even have a body to shiver with. It spoke, a deeper, raspier voice coming out of the body, "Just yesterday, I woke up at this very Campfire, wishing to go back to sleep. But still, I got up, heading into town.
"My first stop was at Hickery's Books; a popular bookstore. Usually, there were dozens of people in there every single day, buying books, speaking to others, or buying more books. But when I looked in there that day," he paused for a second, letting tension build up, "No one was in there. Not a single person; not Durthy Gool, the resident bookworm; not Hyth Slaw, the clerk who worked for hours on end and only earned a little more than minimum wage; and most certainly not Hickery himself." Porea was obviously just as engrossed as Bud, as they both leaned in, wanting to hear more. It was weird, since Bud was there.
"Without going in, I moved to the laundry mat next door, Blothe's Cleaning Clothes. Again, no one was in there. But I could see different clothes in the washbasin's they used to scrub the clothes, along with what looked like fresh soap. Then, I turned around."
Without any warning, he turned towards Porea, arms outstretched, as if to grab her. "Zombies! Zombies everywhere!" he cried. Porea almost stumbled off her chair, while Bud jumped a little. A raspy chuckle came out before continuing, "The zombies were normal people, although they didn't seem to have a mind of their own. They bumped into bins, tripped over the sidewalk, and bumped into each other. When they did, the quicker one attacked the slower one, sometimes ending in death.
"But there was a plague of zombies, now surrounding me from every angle! Although, there was something off about them. They didn't try to attack me. In their eyes was a faint hint of fear, even somewhat visible in their movements." A cold wind caressed the listeners' backs, sending shivers throughout their body. "They moved away from the city. Curious, I advanced into the town. After hours of walking, there began a pulsing beneath my feet.
"Despite it, I continued walking, seeing no other living person for hours. Eventually, however, that changed, as a long line that didn't exist before came into sight. From one horizon to the next, people lined up, whispering among themselves. I couldn't- wouldn't hear what they were saying. And the pulsing? It changed into the Earth beneath me shaking even the buildings, along with the trees. Everything shook. Except for one area. The long line of people stayed the same, standing perfectly still without so much as a breath going through them. Desperate to see what was at the front, I kept walking.
"Eventually, I crawled my way, seeing the fattest man in the world." Over the Campfire existed the image of The Big Man, almost a picture-perfect replica. "It shoved person after person after person into its mouth, chewing quickly, and swallowing faster. Then, the day ended, and everything returned to normal." Just like that, the Campfire no longer had the image of The Big Man hovering over the Campfire; Bud's consciousness was returned to his body; and Porea was visibly shaken.