"Thank you, goddess…" The boy started speaking, spotting only in awe of the beautiful woman smiling right back at him. And that was when he regained the natural instinct of a young man. "Ah, beautiful goddess." he muttered, shying away once he realized he had grown in a, visible way.
"Good, in this nation, as long as you pull your weight, food will never be scarce."
"Everyone, Mother Nature has given that boy a berry created through her own magic. It will make the hunger disappear for a full day. She has kindly given each of us a collection of these berries. If you are deemed to be too malnourished for regular food, you will be fed one of these berries."
The God of Wind said, as Night Silver began jumping around to each of the people suffering from such a lack of nutrition. And then the others followed suit, making use of their ability to fly. Wind looked over to see Death hesitating to begin his own distribution.
"Listen, all of us are friends. You can trust our friend the God of Death just as much as you can us. He might be all bone, but he is kind and trustworthy. A God of Death, yes, but one that understands that he is only an overseer. Bring death he will not, for all will eventually seek his embrace. Do not fear him."
The God of Wind announced, smirking at his friend. The God of Death returned a nod in place of a smile. It didn't take long for the God of Death to arrive at his first malnourished person.
This person was obviously frightened by the form which was looking back at him. It felt like staring into a deep, dark endless void.
"You, while I lack the need and ability to consume sustenance. I will offer you this berry so you may live a longer healthier life…" The God of death said, using his long boney fingers to remove a fresh berry from the pouch Night Silver had given him. If I am to make it here, I must play the part of the God of Death. But even so… "I suffer the hunger of the living, so they won't. Even if all life dies, it should be through old age. My friends and I will work to make this happen."
The man whose soul had nearly left him, staring into the face of Death itself… A warm look invaded his face as he accepted the berry with cupped hands.
"You may look scary, my Divine Lord… But under that hard outward appearance, you're really just a kind God. The kind of God that will accept us even in death."
The man ate the berry and instantly started to feel more alive.
"You are my charge. It would be wrong of my friends and I to mistreat you. But I, I will guide you back to the cycle, to the greater river so you may rest in peace. As long as I am here, no one shall disturb your resting place."
"Wow, aren't you getting good at smooth talking?"
"Hey! I'm just trying to make sure these people know they are safe."
"Pfft, aren't you being cute… Well, in any case, everyone should start making their way to the baths."
The Goddess of Water floated up again after having handed out her berries.
"Alright everyone, we have a large bath house ready for all of you. And we have people who will help to wash your bodies. Making you all nice and clean, gone are the days where you remain covered in the day's filth. Here in this sanctuary, you should be healthy. Being clean is a part of that."
The God of Wind floated back up as well, looking around a bit tilted that he already ran out of berries and there were yet, still so many starving.
"After your bath, you'll be provided with a fresh set of clothing. After you've changed you'll be given a nice hot meal. Oh, for those of you who need the berries, you may find that eating anything else will be difficult. Even so, there will still be something warm for you. Just make sure you tell the kind people you had been given a berry before."
The other Dragon Lords watched as the people ate the elixir like berries. One came close to Night Silver who had been going around quite quickly, though she slowed down to deal with the new dragon.
"Pardon me, Lady Nature, but… What exactly are those elixir orb things you've been giving the people? Why do this? I mean, what are these berries' purpose? It's confusing as I've never seen one before."
"Oh, it's good you clarified, otherwise I might have had to punch you with my full strength. Anyways, these berries provide the required nutrition for the consumer to last a whole day. Basically it is an easily digestible superfood."
"I see, then why don't you feed them to everyone? Would it not be better not to let any of them go hungry? We tried to give them enough on the way here, but 18000 people is quite hard to feed. And we aren't sure what exactly they require."
"So that's why there are so many in this horrible state. The pain of hunger is one that should never be felt by anyone. Not while this is possible…"
Night Silver held her empty palm out in front of her such that even the Dragon Lord could see. And in what was no time at all, 10 juicy looking berries filled her hand. They looked like large goji berries with a slightly golden hue around them, the hue faded after a short time though.
"WHAT? That's amazing. I wonder, would those be enough to fill one of us up?"
"Huh? Probably not, I didn't think about even bothering to test it. Perhaps later, after all the starving people have been satiated you could give it a try?"
"Oh, uhm, yes of course. Their hunger is what should come first. Forgive me, I was simply entranced by the magic you just used. I'll leave you to your business. Such interesting skills, we might have trouble replicating a similar effect once we return."
"Hmm, you won't need to worry about that. When it comes time for you to return I'll give you quite a large number of them. And I'll be heading there as well, I have to take my people away."
Night Silver fed the starving person a berry and moved on to the next, making sure to give that person a smile before leaving for the next person.
As the day rolled on, the new arrivals were properly bathed, clothed and fed. Soon after a brief rest these new arrivals started helping out with construction, fashioning clothes or other things all nations require. The basics to ensure that the day wouldn't be the last.
The 6 Great Gods were busy with their own respective tasks. Meanwhile, Night Silver was teaching some people how to harness Druidic Magic. She was also actively creating farm animals for others to practice butchering for food or raising and breeding them for sustainability.
It was everyone's fortune that there weren't any births during the day, one can only handle so much chaos and it was already hectic enough. But even so, it is better to be prepared for something and it not happen. Then it is for the opposite to be true…