"How much water would you need until your sister brings more?" Ralph asked, hoping that this answer would be one that they could actually work with. Though, thinking that it would be another runaround, made Ralph start to consider strangling the kid out of sheer aggravation.
"We're not using as much as we used to," the boy said quietly, looking at the others who were sick. Amelia was looking at the last of the children aside from the infant.
"Okay, could you spare a pot full of water?" Ralph asked, not sure what unit of measurement to use.
The boy looked at Ralph quizzically. "Yeah… why?" he asked.
Ralph clapped the boy on his shoulder. "You'll find out," he said, turning his attention to Amelia. "Hey, Amelia, we don't need more water. They have enough for us to use."
"Great," Amelia said distractedly.
–Wes.– Ralph used his magic to talk with him.
–What is it? Need a pizza to go with the mushrooms?–
–No, we just need the mushrooms. Don't worry about the water. We got that covered. Though, we do need a pot.– Ralph replied.
–How?–
–Don't worry about that.– Ralph chided. –Just get us the mushrooms. If you come inside the… uh, house? If you come inside then you can see how we got the water.–
It felt like Wes shrugged, even though Ralph couldn't see Wes doing that. –Alright. We have the mushrooms, so we'll be right back.–
–Thanks.– Ralph said to Wes, then to Amelia and the boy. "They got the blue speckled mushrooms. They'll bring them soon."
The boy looked at Ralph in alarm. "E-even though the spotted p-plague doesn't h-have many survivors, there st-still are some," the boy choked. "We d-don't need to die. R-really."
"What are you going on about now?" Ralph asked, a bit confused.
"Blue spotted mushrooms are poisonous," the boy said flatly. As if that's all there was to say about the matter.
"What's he going on about?" Amelia asked.
Ralph sighed. He was wondering if there was a way he could convince the others to stay here for a while if those living here would let them. It might be a little light on privacy, but it would let them learn the language by immersion. The best way Ralph had heard to learn a language. He just hoped the his friends relying on him for translations wouldn't make that go slower. It would be so nice to not have to be in that role.
"Ralph, you in there?" Amelia pressed.
Shaking his head, he turned to Amelia. "He's saying that the blue spotted mushrooms are poisonous," he answered, trying to keep his annoyance in check.
"Tell him they're only poisonous if you eat them. We're using them to make a topical," Amelia instructed.
Like I know what a 'topical' is, Ralph thought to himself as he turned back to the boy, who was watching them warily. "She said that it's only poisonous if you eat them. We're making a topical with them," he told the boy.
"What's a topical?" the boy asked.
Thank you! Ralph yelled in his mind, unable to hold a smile in. "Amelia, he wasn't to know what a topical is," he said as he turned back to Amelia.
"You mean both of you, right?" Amelia asked, as she moved to check the infant. "Well, a topical is something you put on your skin and have it absorbed that way."
"Uh," Ralph hesitated, not sure if he really understood that as well. He turned to look at the boy and wondered if he might understand it better than he would. While it wouldn't help his ego, he had some times where kids younger than him caught onto things like that faster than he did. "Okay. A topical is something that you put on your skin and it gets absorbed that way, I guess."
The boy looked at Amelia then back to Ralph. "You'll use it on me first," he said.
Ralph grinned as he shook his head, looking towards the ceiling of the house. He didn't really trust them, but was at least willing to see what they were going to do. That was at least a good sign, right?
Ralph looked at Amelia, wondering how much longer it'd take her to finish up and how long it'd take their friends to arrive with the mushrooms. Would it be quick or were they going to have to wait a while for it?
Either way, Ralph suspected that it was going to mean he had time in which he had nothing else to do. Which meant he better find something for himself to do while he waited. He wasn't sure if they'd be able to get something to eat tonight, but at least he could see a possibility for the following days for them to get some real food.
Worst case they'd be able to have some mushroom soup, with the red mushrooms, that is. Ralph waited as patiently a he could, That is to say that he sat down by the door for a few minutes before he got up and started pacing around the room, earning a glare from Amelia.
It wasn't long after that, that Wes knocked on the door, making Ralph jump. When Ralph answered the door, he was surprised to see Wes. He'd expected that they'd be gone much longer than that.
"How're you back so fast?" Ralph asked.
"It wasn't like the mushrooms were hard to find," Wes replied, holding out two smaller ones that were about a quarter of the size of the one Charlie had gotten. "Though, these do look a little old from the one Charlie had. We thought about looking for better ones, but it's not like we'd know how to go about doing that."
"So, you want to see where the water will come from?" Ralph asked, ignoring Wes' speech about the mushrooms. Some things he really didn't have the energy to deal with.
Wes sighed, he was acting like it was as if he was having his arm twisted behind him. "Alright, but this better be interesting," Wes said, looking like he was as bored as Ralph was starting to feel.
"Whatever," Ralph said. "You have the pot, right?"
"No, but I have a cooking utensil," Wes replied holding up a pot.
Ralph rolled his eyes. He should have seen that one coming. "Anyway, here's where the water is," Ralph said, walking Wes over to the fireplace and showed Wes the barrel that the occupants of the house had their water.
"Okay, makes sense there's that much there," Wes remarked as he dipped the pot in the water before setting it on the fire as Ralph tossed the mushrooms in it.
"It's on the fire now," Ralph called out to Amelia.
"Okay," Amelia said, but then paused and looked at Ralph. "Uh, any idea how long Charlie had it on the heat before she started using it?"
Ralph shook his head. "I assume she had it boiling by the time she started using it."
Amelia nodded. "Well, it shouldn't take too long then, right? I mean, there's the fireplace with a fire already going and it's already heated up the stone around the fire, so maybe a few minutes," Amelia said, though Ralph had a strong sense that she was hoping it wouldn't take long.
Was she getting tired? Ralph couldn't help but wonder.
"Oh, by the way, where're the others?" Ralph asked Wes.
"They decided to wait until the situation's resolved," Wes replied offhandedly. "Though, my guess is that they just don't want to be around others with the, uh… spots." As Wes finished his answer, his gaze landed on the boy in the dress who was checking on what Ralph assumed were his siblings.
"How is she still able to move around like that?" Wes asked. "None of us could do anything without passing out after less than a minute of actual effort."
"He said that some people just don't have any effect from the disease other than the spots," Ralph answered, refusing to say anything about the lethality he'd learned about the disease. He didn't want the others to really know about that if he didn't have to. At least not now. Maybe he'd tell Amelia if she asked, but only because she probably already had guessed it had a rather high mortality rate.
"I'm sure all of us wish we could have had that happen for us," Wes remarked.
"Hey, if one of the girls, like Amelia or Charlie had to wait on us hand and foot, I might not have minded," Ralph whispered.
Wes grinned. "Yeah, that might have been nice, but what if it was Tim?" Wes asked.
Ralph shuddered. "Please, don't ruin the fantasy for me," Ralph requested.
Wes merely laughed. "Yeah, I'll let it go," he said. "Just remember, whatever you might like to have happen, there could always be something that happens to screw it up."
"Only if I let it," Ralph retorted, though silently he accepted what Wes said. After all, he wouldn't care to have Tim or Wes to have been the ones waiting on him while he was sick with that disease.
While it really didn't take long for the water to start boiling, but since he didn't have anything else to do, he couldn't help but essentially watch the water. He hoped that the age of the mushrooms wouldn't affect how this came out, as he remembered in some games how when on a messenger or delivery quest, there was a time limit, simply because it was supposed to spoil or something. Most of the time it was medicine, but sometimes not.
However, this was essentially being used to make medicine, so he couldn't help but worry that the age of the mushrooms would make this worthless. Yet, at the moment, it was all they had. Besides, if it was him, he'd have gone looking until he found a mushroom and then headed back rather than looking for one in better condition.
As the water started boiling, Ralph pulled the pot off the fire and set it down on the dirt floor, so it could start to cool a little.
"Amelia!" he called out. "It's as ready as I think it's gonna get."
"Alright," Amelia said, standing up from where she was. "Though, both of you might want to leave for this. I'm going to have to wipe it over the entire bodies of everyone here."
Ralph glanced at Amelia in alarm. She was right. He certainly didn't want to be in here when they work on that part of the process. Besides, he was sure she wouldn't need any translation to get the boy to do what she needed him to do. Though, he wasn't sure what she'd do about the others, since they looked so lethargic that he wasn't sure what she'd do about them, since he was sure even with a translation they wouldn't do anything.
Yet, that was Amelia's problem. One he was more than happy to let her deal with. He left with Wes as quickly as he could without making it look like he was rushing out as fast as he could. Even if the boy in the dress had been a girl, he was certain he wouldn't want to watch as Amelia wiped him down, like she had everyone last time, aside from Charlie.
The light outside had started to fade and Ralph couldn't help but look at the animals who were milling about. Before he'd barely acknowledged their presence, but now he looked at them. There were about five goats, three chickens, and a rabbit he was pretty sure wasn't one of the animals that resided here.
He could see why they'd keep the goats and chickens around, as the goats could provide milk and the chickens eggs and wouldn't require much to keep them fed. Though, he couldn't say why, but just the idea of drinking goat's milk made his stomach complain.
He looked away to the trees, hoping that it would get his mind off of the thought of goat's milk. Yet, nothing else came to mind and he was starting to think about taking a look at the garden the people living here had.
"You guys bored over there?" Ralph heard Beth call out to them.
"You have no idea," Ralph called back, his attention shifting to where he heard Beth's voice from, although it was already too dark to really see her from the shadows.
"Well, Wes only brought the blue mushrooms, so I thought I'd send some of the red ones to you. That way you'll have something to eat," Beth said.
"How'd you know we weren't able to get anything?" Ralph asked.
"Amelia let me know. She heard your responses to they boy and deduced that they didn't have much food themselves. So, I thought I'd bring these by," Beth answered.
Ralph walked over to Beth and accepted the mushrooms, though it wasn't until he was about five feet from her that he was able to see her in the darkness. She had a small bag of them, though Ralph couldn't say what the correct amount of them would be for any mushroom soup.
"Remember, enjoy the soup," Beth said as she started to walk away.
Ralph didn't say anything in response. He was sure they'd be having mushroom soup, though he couldn't say if Hannah would eat it, but he was sure she would when she got hungry enough.
"Can't say how filling it would be," he mumbled himself as he walked back.
Though, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe the boy would be willing to trade some of the food for him and his family for the mushrooms. It would be a good use for them if someone here was actually interested in it. Assuming there was interest in them, which Ralph couldn't be sure of. Especially since this world was already weirder than he could have imagined.
In the end, Ralph decided to sit down next to Wes, as he shielded the red mushrooms from three inquisitive goats who seemed rather interested in them. If he let the goats investigate the mushrooms, he was sure they'd eat them before he could really stop them.
At least they were in a bag, so it wasn't like they could just get past Ralph's hands to get at the mushrooms. It also meant that he could let the goats closer to him than he otherwise would have let them.
"Mind if I try to get your goat?" Wes asked.
Ralph closed his eyes, ready to hold onto the bag of mushrooms and keep the goats from getting at them as he started to doze. In general he didn't mind goats, so long as they didn't really bother him or eat something of his he didn't want to lose.
He couldn't be sure if he did fall asleep or if he just lost track of time, but it felt like it wasn't much longer before Amelia opened the door and announced, "They're finished. You guys can come back in."
Ralph nodded as he stood up and yawned. The goats hopped back, clearly caught off guard at Ralph's sudden movement, but they were still rather interested in the mushrooms in the bag.
"Sorry guys,' Ralph said, as he started walking towards the open door.
"So, got it all done?" Wes asked Amelia as they entered.
"Yeah, it didn't take as long as I thought it would, but it doesn't seem to be having as immediate of an effect as the one Charlie had found. So, I can't say if I'll need to reapply it," Amelia answered.
As Ralph looked around in the room, he couldn't say that it didn't have an effect, as everyone was more active. Even the infant seemed to be as alert and full of energy as infants normally are when they were awake at the age that one was, despite the spots still covering it.
Ralph couldn't help but see the change in the boy as well. His eyes were full of excitement and wonder. Ralph wondered if they'd found a place to work with as their base of operations to try and find Charlie. Or if nothing else, to begin the search for the griffin canyon, if possible.
"How did you learn about this?" the boy breathed.
"You can ask Charlie if when we find her," Ralph said, wondering if the lack of food this place has could be a problem with making it their base of operations.
Ralph looked at the other kids in the room. They were clearly awake, though he had a feeling that Amelia made it clear they were to stay in bed, though he didn't think much about it, since he had a feeling once they had something to eat that he'd be looking for a place to crash himself.
"Oh, by the way, would these interest you for adding to your dinner?" Ralph asked, holding out the bag of mushrooms to the boy.
He took it, mild curiosity on his face, but he nearly dropped the bag when he was what was inside it. "Hisasi mushrooms?" the boy breathed, looking at Ralph, looking like he was getting ready to start some hero worship or something that Ralph knew he wasn't going to like.
"What of it?" Ralph asked. "We found several of those in the forest and we know their edible."
"You can only find them in the winter and only for a short time, unlike the Hisusi mushrooms that grow year round," the boy said, looking like he might not add them to whatever he had in mind to cook. "We've only had them once before."
"Why's that?" Ralph asked, though as soon as he spoke, he started kicking himself. He really didn't want to know more about it, he just wanted to find out if this kid could make the mushrooms into something that actually tasted good.
"They're a delicacy and my mother's favorite," he said. "But she's normally not here when they grow and there's the problem with how expensive they are."
As Ralph heard that, he couldn't help but wonder if they might have found a gold mine that they could exploit. He didn't know much about 'the Lost' or any of that, but if they could get a substantial amount of those mushrooms, they might be able to trade them for some better food.
"My friends and I can collect more for you if you'd like," Ralph offered. "If you cook those tonight, then we can get more and you can trade them for whatever you can get for them."
He doubted this kid would try to leave them out of anything he was able to make on them, even though he couldn't say why. It was just a feeling that this kid could be trusted, at least once his trust was earned.
Yet, the boy shook his head no. "I can't," he said. "The plague still is on me and anything I touch would be considered contaminated by the plague."
"Well, we can discuss the fine details of it once you're better," Ralph suggested. He was confident the kid would survive the disease, but he had a feeling that it might not get cured as fast as he'd hoped. Which meant that he likely was going to have a long wait for now. Though, he still wanted to keep the door open for a possible method to get some real food here.
The boy just nodded at Ralph's suggestion and walked over to the table where he took out three mushrooms and started cutting them, almost paper thin. Ralph wanted to complain, but held himself back, deciding to trust that he knew what he was doing.
So, instead he relayed what he'd just learned about the red mushrooms and how they might have the means to get better food, or even maybe a means of barter if necessary.