TRASH - Act 1: The Spinner

Sariel balanced her way across a fallen log, squinting in the dark to find some food. Maddison had given her extremely specific instructions after she'd come back with a handful of snails and berries, telling her to only grab fish, nuts, or mushrooms that didn't look like a circus had thrown up on them. He'd never struck her as such a picky eater. But she'd found some ghostly white mushrooms and stashed them in what was left of her tunic. Now she was crouching over the trickling stream, waiting for a fish to go by.

She held up the tiny knife Maddison had given her, darting her eyes across her field of attack for an opportunity. A blur of brown scales sped by and she sliced into the water, barely missing it. She stabbed the water with extra ferocity as she saw another glimmer of scales, missing her target again.

Her gaze drifted around the unkempt shrubbery for dried long grass, but she quickly redirected her attention back to the stream with a solid frown. Maddison was waiting, weaving a basket would take too long. She plunged the blade into the water again, crying out in excited surprise as the blade somehow lodged itself in a big black fish's skull. She hoisted her haul up with two arms, holding it like a lion cub to stare at it.

She gave it a little wiggle, squinting at its puckered lips and dead eyes.

It reminded her of Corian after she'd stabbed him.

"Mr. Maddison, I got one!" She called, looking back in the direction she'd come to faithfully await his response, but none came. She frowned, peeking up as a twig snapped. "Mr. Maddison?"

A rugged moan answered her as she stared at a figure in the trees some distance away.

"Y'all right there Mr. Maddison? Road snacks givin' you a hard time?"

The figure let off a dry growl, limping towards her as she held the fish with a blank stare that slowly turned to an inspecting squint.

"Ah, sorry sir..." She watched the disheveled person come into the faint starlight, letting off a moaning gurgle as it reached towards her. "Y'all right there sir? Lookin a bit green and saggy." She moved to the side as it lurched forward to grab her. "Sorry if I'm in your way sir, don't want you tripping or nothin'. This your pond?"

The creature hissed, moving to grab her again as she stepped out of the way.

"I'm real hungry so Ima take this." She held up the fish. "You can join us if you want. You look hungry sir."

She walked away as the creature barely missed grabbing her, nonchalantly humming a tune with her moaning follower as she returned to the campsite.

Maddison poked through the last of the berries Sariel had collected, piling them all up into the palm of his hand and dropping them in the fire. She had somehow found six different types of berries, all of them poisonous. Not that it mattered much, since he had enough rations to last them to the next town. He honestly just needed a break.

"Mr. Maddison, I got one!"

He turned his attention to Sariel's distant cry, his response cut short when something much closer dropped in his face, feathered wings batting around wildly until he stuck out his arm as a perch. The black bird was a familiar sight, the emerald green feathers peppering its chest a clear mark of the familiar's master. Although it wasn't uncommon for the Crow Mother to be sending off messengers, to have one track him down in the woods was always a sign of some urgency.

"Emergency request." The crow squawked, flapping its wings for balance as Maddison removed the folded paper from its little brown satchel.

"Is it really an emergency? Or good money?" Maddison mused, lowering the crow onto the ground as he took a seat by the fire.

"Money, emergency!"

He splayed out the wanted paper, an old man's portrait masterfully inked to a simple frame. A sorcerer suspected of wicked magics, and a small purse worth of silver as the pay. He skimmed the rest of the information, "Bervolt? Fine, that's on the way. I'll bite." He folded the paper back up and slipped it into his pocket, eyeing the crow for any other goodies. "Anything else?"

"No update." The crow squawked, pecking at the small pile of snails Madison had tossed to the side. "Same path."

Maddison started prepping some of the rations, a minute or two passing before he heard some loud footsteps approaching. Which meant it was either a very careless deer, or someone with next to no survival skills. He watched Sariel squeeze out of a hedge, staring at the bulge in her dress that was likely causing her aloof waddle of a walk.

As soon as she locked gazes with Maddison, she popped a huge grin, pulling the large fish out of her dress and holding it up like an extravagant trophy - knife and all. "Mr. Maddison, I caught one!" She dropped it in front of him and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh... that's what you caught."

"Giiiirl?"

Maddison scowled at the Crow's singing tone, shooing it away with his arm until it fled to perch on Horse's saddle.

"Oh! You caught some dinner as well!" Sariel spoke, jutting her thumb at the plump crow. "Now I know how to make a mean crow kebab Mr. Maddison!"

The crow shrieked as Sariel took a step towards it, quickly flapping off as fast as its wings could carry it before she could wrestle it down. Maddison watched the crow escape to freedom, ignoring the pout on Sariel's face as she watched dinner fly off into the night.

"Right sir," she said, just as the bush she had come through started to rustle with a new guest. "I also invited someone to join us for dinner if that's alright with ya."

Maddison narrowed his eyes, watching the figure emerge from the hedge. "Who's that?"

"Dunno sir, asked him his name a few times. Kept on goin hisssss or grglgl." She replied, her back completely exposed as the rugged monstrosity finally tumbled onto the trail. It collected what little balance it had left, swaying erratically as it reached out with a bony arm covered in flayed and rotting flesh.

Maddison's gaze hardened to hostility as he grabbed for his sword, pulling Sariel to the ground before the creature leapt at her. The gurgling beast lurched at Maddison, spitting and hissing as he kicked the rotting corpse, lodging his blade in its shoulder so he could swing it to the ground and plunge the tip in its throat. It flailed with howling screeches that died to gurgles as it spat up some black ooze, finally going limp as Maddison twisted the sword and severed its spine.

Sariel watched him like a deer in headlights as he wiped the viscous goo off his blade and sheathed it, giving the forest a quick scan before kicking the body onto its stomach and patting down its pockets.

"Now hold it right there Mr. Maddison, that's not very nice," Sariel said, getting to her feet so she could put her hands on her hips with a motherly glare.

Maddison grabbed a few coins and a small blade, glancing at Sariel impassively. "It's an undead. These woods have been crawling with them lately."

"That don't mean you can steal his stuff."

"I just-" Maddison raised his open palms, looking between them in confusion, then at the thick gaping slit in the undead's throat. "I plunged a sword through its throat, and you're mad because I'm sifting through its pockets!?"

Sariel nodded. "Now sir he attacked you first, so I'll let the sword go. But he never slipped them green little spider fingers into your pocket, now did he?"

"He didn't." Maddison grabbed the last few coins and miscellaneous, pulling its shoes off and checking for any damages. "But I don't care."

Sariel folded her arms, watching him walk by and grab the black fish to inspect.

"Nice catch. Do you know how to prep it?"

"Nah sir, the ones I'm used to don't have scales."

Maddison sighed, grabbing a small knife from Horse's saddle and chopping the fish's head off. "I'll prep it, you go find some extra firewood, and if you see another undead come right back here and tell me. Got it?"

"Got it, sir, don't think they'll wanna talk after what you did to their friend, but I'll take yer orders to heart, sir."

Maddison watched her walk away, rolling his eyes while he skinned the fish. This was going to be his last charity act for a long time.

The walk had been quiet so far. Maddison had woken Sariel up just before sunrise, and that seemed to do the trick for a peaceful start to the day. She was too groggy to start a conversation as she sat on Horse, blearily staring at the graveled road between loud yawns and stiff stretches. The forest was starting to thin, which meant they would be at the hills in a matter of hours - and camping would become a lot more dangerous without any sort of cover. The last thing Maddison wanted was to have to pitch a tent with her.

Sariel gave the sky one last yawn, the sunlight tickling her cheeks waking her up just enough for her to decide she no longer wanted the free ride from Horse. She melted off the side of the mount, joining Maddison's side. "Righto Mr. Maddison where's that town you were talkin' about?"

He gazed out at the stretching trail ahead. "It hasn't been half a day. I grabbed you in the evening, it's the crack of dawn."

"Oooh... right then sir, how much further?"

Maddison frowned, pointing straight ahead. "A couple hours that way."

"Don't see it that way, sir."

"That's because it's too far away." He groaned as Sariel gained a look of intrigue. She had finally gotten her questioning energy back.

"So, if something's too far away it turns invisible?"

"Yeah. More or less."

"Oh..." She looked ahead with a shot expression. "I thought they got so small you couldn't see them anymore, or you've gone so far the ground swallows them up."

He stopped, cocking his eyebrow at her. "The ground what?"

"Eats them." She tugged his sleeve to follow her and walked over to an uprooted tree. "So, when I go like this..." she ducked down behind it out of his view. "I can't see you 'cause the tree swallowed you up."

"The tree hasn't eaten me." Maddison sighed, rubbing his temples in irritation as Sariel joined him again.

"Well not actually eaten sir, but I don't see you no more. So, I thought when you get far away from something the ground curves enough like that tree trunk over there to block it. So, we're all standin' on some sorta ball."

"A ball?" Maddison scoffed. "The world is flat."

"Flat?"

"Flat as a disk." He watched Sariel as she gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Nothin sir it's just that... if it was flat we'd be able to see everything, wouldn't we? There'd be nothin blocking our views."

"Okay, it's bumpy flat." He glared at her. "You get what I'm saying?"

"Uhh... yeah Mr. Maddison..." She replied. But her tone barely matched up. She looked at her surroundings disapprovingly. "Sir?"

Maddison let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Sorry sir, it's just... I never heard of nobody falling off the edge of the world."

"That's because you can't read, and there's..." He looked around with a frown. "Mountains... blocking it off."

"Oh!" Sariel looked around, her excitement falling to confusion again. "How big are the mountains sir?"

"Giant."

"Don't see 'em though sir."

"That's because they're so far away-"

"That they're invisible!" Sariel giggled, nodding exaggeratedly. "Yer smart Mr. Maddison so you're probly right. The world is flat."

"Yeah, cause I mean if it was a ball everybody not on the top would fall off of it."

"Well actually, I just thought it was spinnin' so fast we all just kinda got stuck to it like a fly to a honey trap." Sariel stared at Maddison as his challenging glare began to resurface. "But you're right there Mr. Maddison, you've been around long enough to know."

"Yeah, if it was spinning it'd fling us off." He muttered, pulling Horse's lead so they could all start walking again. "So, what are you gonna do when we reach the town?"

Sariel shrugged. "It was your idea, sir, I was gonna stay in my village till everyone came back, hope Medila heard me yellin'. You know sir, for a second there I thought you were one of those scammers."

"One of those what?"

"Medila's told me bout guys that come along all helpful then lead you off till you're too confused to retrace your steps. Then they go off an sell ya to the local lord's serf swarm and other places." Sariel gave Maddison a grateful smile as he looked around awkwardly. "Glad yer not a scammer sir."

"Yeah... sure. So what are you gonna do if none of the villagers come back to get you?"

Sariel shrugged. "Probly starve to death sir."

He raised his eyebrows. "You know you can find work or something in the town, right?"

"Work?"

He nodded. "They'll pay you and everything."

"Will they give me food?" She frowned as Maddison shook his head. "Then I don't wanna work. The only thing you should pay someone with is food."

"They'll give you money, and you can buy food and a bunch of other stuff with that money."

"Well, I'm just gonna buy food anyways, so they should jus, give me food." She stopped, rubbing her tummy in deep thought. "Speakin' of food, I'm hungry... got any food Mr. Maddison? I'll brush Horse for it."

"You can have some food when we get to the town."

She looked ahead with excitement. "How far away is that?"

Maddison clenched his teeth as his patience wore dangerously thin. "We'll get there when we get there."