I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

… “Who?”

“Ren.” The stranger, who was settled on his cart, seemed to have lost a bit of confidence from looking at Max’s puzzled face. “Your name is Ren?”

“Max.”

“Max? That can’t be right.” He leaned over slightly causing more of his face to peak out of his hood showing soft cheeks. Wherever he was from, he didn’t seem to be avoiding starvation like most of the people in this village. “Why are you called Max?”

The lack of change to the newest story prompt was starting to unnerve Max. All he knew was if he were to ignore ‘Cy’ then an unknown 5-star tale would commence. But considering the prompt hadn’t been cancelled yet, it would seem he was locked in conversing with the strange man until a main character was chosen or ‘Cy’ decided to walk away. “Because I was named Max?”

“By whom?”

“Bessie. She named me after her dead dog.” The stranger frowned in confusion. Max pointed out towards the farm where they had met the day prior. “One of the owners of Baeg Farm? The farm where we met yesterday?”

“Ah.” His tone seemed to be trying to hurry the conversation along rather than show real understanding. “But that’s not right, you should be called-” He was interrupted by the hood of his cloak suddenly being pulled down. There was no doubt there was something unnatural about this man. His features showed that he must hail from somewhere else. His almond eyes were dark, and his cheekbones were high. Compared to the mats of hair everyone else had, he seemed to be well looked after with unnaturally clean, blond hair with slightly lilac tips. “What the fuck?”

Aldwin had a smug grin on his face as he bounced away from the cart over to where Max was standing. He had to give him credit, he could be sneaky when he really tried. “So that’s the freak you were telling me about earlier? Seems like a bit of a twit. I’m surprised he’s been giving you a hard time.”

The stranger seemed offended by the slur of insults from Aldwin’s mouth. He kept looking at Max in disbelief, as if he was waiting for him to intervene and say it wasn’t true. “Yep, that’s the freak.” His shoulders dropped from the betrayal. “Think he’s a magic user?”

Aldwin looked him up and down. “Seems likely-”

“Yes, I can use magic.” He pulled his hood back up, covering himself from behind but still showing his face to the two in front of him.

“Well, there you have it.” Aldwin seemed pleased with his interrogating skills. “Well done, Max, finding yourself a magic user. They say their bones are lucky.”

“Bones?” Max tried to not jump to conclusions about what Aldwin was suggesting they should do.

“Not as lucky as a rabbit foot,” the stranger added as he continued to straighten out his hood. He wasn’t denying that his bones were lucky.

“So, what’s your name, magic boy?” Aldwin asked. Max was slightly on edge. It was time to know if they really were talking to ‘Cy,’

He seemed slightly puzzled from looking at Max’s intrigued face. “What’s that look? You already know my name.”

“Cy.”

“Mn.” He finally jumped off the cart and gave the patient cow, Straw, a pat on her nose for her efforts. She didn’t seem to approve of him as she began to relieve herself, making him jump back to avoid being hit by it. Used to the temperament of heifers, Max and Aldwin couldn’t help snickering at his panic. “Disgusting beast.”

“Hey.” Max couldn’t help snapping back in defence of a member of the Bessie’s berry girls since there was no prompt deterring him. His response took himself back a little. From the moment he first awoke in a field on Baeg Farm, he had made an oath to himself to not get too attached to the people in this world. He vowed not to make the same mistake again. Yet, looking back on the last few days, part of him suspected he would’ve tried to save poor Juniper if it didn’t start a story. “Straw’s a lovely old girl.” He petted her head a little and met with his hand being affectionately licked. His lack of disgust was a sign that he was changing more than he expected.

“You named a cow after her food?”

“You shouldn’t name the cows,” Aldwin chided him. Max only openly acknowledged his voice. “It only makes it harder when it’s time to say goodbye.” Max gave him a shrug. “It doesn’t bother you?”

“They lived a good life.”

“That’s right,” Cy said with a smile as he brought himself closer to the pair, interjecting himself into the conversation even though the two didn’t seem to appreciate his company. “It would be their destiny to end up in a slaughterhouse-”

“Butchers.”

“Butchers then.” He looked over Straw. “Although… this one is destined to go by disease.” Cy displayed a proud smile before paying attention to the farm boys opposite him. “What?”

Story Name:

Pestilence

Genre:

Horror

Description:

A virus has begun to spread amongst some livestock. It is only a matter of time before it starts to infect humans…

Goal:

Survive the epidemic

Difficulty:

★★★★☆

How to Start:

Allow the disease to spread amongst the cattle!

“Do you know what kind of disease?” Max asked as he began examining Straw, looking for any evidence that she was already ill. There had been a lot of dead badgers on the farm recently, but he had presumed it was tied to a story about becoming a famed hunter, which appeared whenever he encountered an animal corpse. Max didn’t even consider that they were bringing death to the herd.

“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with cow related illnesses.” Cy’s voice started to pick up the stress around him. “Why? Why are we panicking?”

Aldwin explained in an ominous voice, “Disease means the possible death of a farm.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Max said in a tense voice after completing his visual check that farmer Bilbo taught him. As far as he could tell, there were no signs. Perhaps it might take a while for symptoms to appear? Either way they were going to have to isolate Straw from the others, poor girl. But how was he going to explain it to Bessie and Bilbo? A magic man told him their cow was sick? Maybe it’ll be easier for Straw to have an ‘accident’ while on the way home?

“Well, you have a few days before she becomes contagious. Maybe you can do something to save those whose fate was still flexible.” A few days? That made things easier.

Max pointed to Cy, “Get on the cart.” Straw might have a few days before she gets infectious, but there might be others already infected. Cy didn’t need telling twice, he seemed a little too eager to come along. He let out a sigh, “Catch you later Aldwin.”

“Oh, okay. See you around, Max.”