Previously in NWC-
Reno takes Medusa to the FTG and has her stay there under Luna's supervision as he goes to apologize for making a huge mess of the old building. He meets the town baker, Lyn, who blackmails him with the knowledge that he's keeping Medusa. After a lengthy discussion and a bit of gaslighting, Reno agrees to be Lyn's lifelong customer. Now Reno is returning to the FTG...
As Reno approaches, he sees Medusa standing in the exact same spot as when he left. "Medusa?" He calls out to her as he gets closer. She turns to see him and jumps excitedly.
"Ree, Ree~!" She continues to jump in place, happily calling out to him.
"You didn't have to stay in that spot literally..." He approaches her, feeling slightly guilty for the misunderstanding.
"Did everything turn out okay?" Luna hovers over, her voice stained with poorly hidden concern.
"Apparently us knocking the house down was more than enough. A lady even offered to clean up the wood."
"That's wonderful news!" Luna's voice shifts from concern to excitement. "Who was this lady? You met someone else form the town? I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel slightly left out."
"Her name was Lyn, and she's apparently a baker. She seems… eccentric."
"How so? "
Reno thinks back to his meeting with Lyn. He shivers slightly at the though of her devious smile. "Girls are scary."
"Could you be any vaguer?" Luna, unsatisfied with his answer, speaks bluntly.
"Let's just say we will be doing business with her in the near future."
"I see, then I suppose I'll be meeting her for myself soon. How was the mayor today?"
"Same old man we know and love. He seemed really excited that the building was down."
"I would imagine as such. He made it sound like that structure was a thorn in his side." The two converse idly for a couple of minutes until the topic finally changes. "Well, I guess since I don't have a building to clean up, I could go ask Kent if he's made a model barrel yet. Can you watch Medusa again?"
"I suppose there's no other choice. She is very well behaved, but it's too soon to know for sure if she will stay that way.
"Thanks, Luna." With that, Reno takes one of Medusa hands. "Alright, Medusa, pay attention." He walks her around the perimeter of the FTG and looks her in her eyes. "You can play in this area while I'm, gone, okay?"
Medusa enthusiastically nods her head. "Reee!" She begins to wrap herself around the trees once more, slowly moving from one tree to the next.
Satisfied, Reno takes off. "Be back soon!" He makes his way to Kent's shop, greeting him on his way in. "Hey, Mr. Kent. Question for you."
"What's up, kid?"
"I was wondering if you happened to get around to making a model barrel for the muskets?"
Kent grabs a cheaply made rod from behind the desk and tosses it to Reno. "There ya go kid. Sorry, wish I could keep ya' company for a bit longer, but I got my hands full." Kent nods farewell and goes back to work.
"With this, I can start making the stocks. If we can make even just 3 or 4 of these things, it'd be a big help in fighting the bandits. Now that I think about it, how many bandits are there? I wonder if Luna knows." Reno begins to ask himself questions as he makes his way back to the FTG. When he gets there, Luna is floating around, chasing Medusa in a playful manner. Mesmerized by the scene before him, he watches in silence, smiling. Finally, Medusa notices him and begins running towards him.
"Reee!" She stops in front of him, looking up at him and smiling. "Ree!"
Luna hovers over, sounding happier than usual. "I see you've got what you were looking for? Were you going to start making the items you needed?"
"Well, that's the problem. I don't actually know how. I can envision the item because I've seen it hundreds of times. I just can't take a piece of wood and turn it into what I need to."
"Reno, you told Kent you'd make the items. He's going behind the mayor's back to work with you and you mean to inform me you can't even meet your end of the deal?"
"I know, okay?! I'm not saying I'm not going to do it; I'm just saying I have no clue how to!"
"Ree?" Medusa tugs on Reno's leg, trying to get his attention. When he finally looks down at her, she points to her head with a vine and then at him.
"You have a headache?"
"Muh!" She shakes her head, her pitch getting higher with frustration. She once again points to her head and then at him.
"Look, Medusa, I'm sorry. But, I can't understand what you're trying to tell me."
Out of frustration, Medusa's vines extend in the air before slapping down on the top of Reno's head. One vine thickens and begins to conform to Reno's head, a light sucking sound coming from it as it suctions itself to his head. "Reee!" Her eyes give off an expression of concentration.
"Medusa, what the hell!" Reno squirms with discomfort, but the level of suction on his head is so much that he can't even turn his neck. His face contorts to one of complete disgust after the vine turned tentacle has begun to suck harder and harder on his head. A purple substance leeks out and dribbles down his face, making his face contort with disgust. Unable to say or do anything, Reno is helpless.
"Medusa! Bad girl!" Luna yells at Medusa, trying to get her to stop. Despite knowing it would be useless, Luna tries pushing Medusa to get her to stop. After seeing that Medusa had no intention of stopping, Luna could only watch helplessly.
"Muh!" After a seemingly long 10 seconds of this process, Medusa's tentacle separates itself from Reno with a loud 'plop' sound. Reno stumbles back slightly, falling to one knee from a feeling of lightheadedness. Medusa wanders over and picks up a length of wood. Without another sound, she begins to use her vines to slowly chisel the wood.
"What is she doing?" Luna hovers near Reno, watching Medusa intently.
"Ughh, I feel sick all of a sudden." Reno is hunched over, gripping his head with one hand and his stomach with the other. "And what the hell is this purple stuff?!" He tries wiping off the liquid but unintentionally winds up getting it in his mouth. "Gross! It tastes weird!" He tries even harder to remove the liquid from his face. Finally, he gets it all off and looks over to Medusa. "Medusa, what was that for?!"
"Ree!" She holds up the piece of wood on which she is working, proudly vocalizing her plans. "Ree, ree! Muh, nooo!" Despite her making no sense to Reno, he still listens intently, nodding his head. She points at the wood, then to Reno's head. "Ree!"
"You are so right, Medusa. How could I not notice before? You're going to make something!" He gently pats her on the head before walking back to Luna. "I have no clue what she's doing."
"At the very least it does not appear as if her intentions were to harm you."
"I guess we just wait." They watch Medusa for a couple of minutes before realizing it was going to take much longer than they were originally anticipating. "While it is very entertaining to watch her do whatever it is she is doing, I feel like maybe we could be doing something else."
"Perhaps you could try starting a fire? Just to ensure we have the capabilities."
"I guess we can." Reno pulls out the flint and grabs the axe.
"You're going to use that?"
"I don't have much other option now do I?!" Reno holds up the axe to better emphasize their lack of proper equipment. He finally turns back to the flint and tries to use the axe to scrape parts of it off. It takes him a bit, and it's very sloppy, but he manages to do it. He turns it over and begins to try using the other side to start a fire. The weight of the axe, however, makes it difficult to do so, causing him to drop it multiple times. "Dammit!"
"Reno, what if you got tools better suited for the job?"
"Fine! I'll make ANOTHER trip to town. But I'm not doing this back and forth anymore! Make a damn list and then I'm getting everything at once!
Together, they create a shopping list. "That should suffice for the time being, no?"
"Let me make sure I got it. A knife for starting the fire, some food so we don't have to keep bothering the mayor, and a practice sword for training. Anything else? I'm adding a bag to the list, so I don't have to carry everything in my arms all the damn time."
"I believe the list is adequate. It should make it so we don't have to go to the village all the time."
"Got it. Can you watch Medusa again?"
"I suppose I don't have much of a choice. Could you get me something sweet when you get the food?"
"I don't see why not." Reno walks over to Medusa to check on her project one more time. She's entirely absorbed with it and doesn't notice Reno looking over her. He decides to leave without bothering her, beginning his shopping trip.
TO BE CONTINUED...