FSE

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A few days had passed since he spoke to some of the town about simple machinery. Each who was there spoke to others about it, and interest seemed to be spreading in the town to start making things work again, if they ever worked at all. The people realized there were numerous contraptions around that probably served a useful purpose.

Erik lay in bed with Kelsey, her clung to him as if she would drift away, them both laughing, their hair messed up. Clearly, they still enjoyed each other's company, regardless of the time of day.

“That's such a dumb story, why did he think they were fruit?” She asked, over her laughter.

“Not the smartest guy around... I think I need some water.” He said to her with a chuckle, and slid out of the bed.

She laid on her side, admiring him from the bed as he got up. “Get me some, too, would you?”

“Sure.”

He slipped into some flimsy pants and walked out of the room, eyes still a bit tired as he moved onto the kitchen. A big bucket of collected and previously boiled rainwater was there, just waiting to be collected from. He filled two cups with a dunk and was about to return, but stopped when he heard talking outside. Will spoke with several others, including Jarvis, outside the door. His big antlers could easily be seen through the window where the others could not.

“Hm?”

Soon, the both of them went out on the porch to join everyone, dressed only in their comfortable clothes, and holding their cups of water.

“What's going on here?” Erik asked, stepping to the side a bit to let Kelsey out.

“Good, you're just who we wanted to see. Your class' ideas have been spreading around a lot, and people really like your lumbermill idea, they won't shut up about it.” Jarvis groaned. “We're organizing a little trip to the Creekhouse to go talk to those rats, and you're coming with us.”

“I am?”

“Yes. The lumbermill is your idea. If this place is actually one and could be fixed up, we'll need your... expert opinion on it.”

Erik sighed. “Alright. Give me a bit to get dressed.”

“Me too.” Kelsey nodded.

“Bring your sword. Things might get ugly.”

Erik furrowed his brow. “...Really?”

“Actually, no. Wear all of your armor.”

“This is a peaceful mission, right?”

“Things might get ugly.”

Walking back in to prepare, Erik looked to Kelsey. “Ugly? What's wrong with this “Creekhouse'?”

“Bunch of rats live there, they have a small territory but they're pretty fierce at guarding it. They don't trust most outsiders. Except the Coyote Courier, of course.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “Think they'll trust me?”

She laughed for a moment, then sunk her voice a bit as they began to enter her room. “Nope.”

“So... I'm going to dress like I'm ready to kill them. That'll make them trust me?”

“Doubt it.” She slipped her comfortable pants off to get her fatigues.

“Great...” He rolled his eyes, but they settled on her figure.

“I'm sure you'll do fine, just use that diplomacy you-” She stopped to notice his eyes and giggled a bit. “Now, dear, we don't have time for that.”

He chuckled a bit. “Just appreciating what I've got... besides, I can't get most of this armor on myself.”

A rather large party had prepared to go out on this venture to the nearby settlement. Those who knew what was going on, those who needed to defend the party, and the curious who came along simply to witness the place for themselves. Jenny was one of the curious, but Celia stayed behind. The group traveled for several hours, east on the lakeshore, then downhill, where the lake emptied out through a river. Situated on the edge of that river, there stood a large stone and board structure, a couple of stories tall, with a dilapidated wooden roof. Several sharpened stake fences were erected around the structure, to guard it from people or wildlife trying to come in. In addition to that, there were a few guards posted outside, with sharpened wooden sticks as well.

“This is the place.” Jarvis spoke, as it came into view.

“Bit of a fortress.” Jenny shrugged.

“Not too welcoming. Looks like it used to be a mill, though.” Erik looked the structure up and down, clad in his full armor. He couldn't see it from the river side from where he was. “What do we do now?”

Tom stepped forward. “Now to get their attention... stay here.” He walked out ahead of them, towards the encampment. Everyone else stayed back. He attracted the attention of a rat, who quickly moved to prepare himself for battle, but Tom raised his hands to show he came to talk.

“Goldenmere! What are you doing here? And with so many?”

“We're just here to talk with your leader.”

“With that many people? Looks like an invasion to me. I ought to spear you!”

“We're not invading, we just want to talk about the building.”

“The wh-” The guard was interrupted as the flimsy wooden plank door of the building suddenly burst open and slammed against the wall. A much larger, rougher looking rat walked out, armed with a spear himself, and approached the ruckus.

“I see you, Goldenmere! What's going on out here?” A rough, deep, but screeching voice boomed from the large one.

“He says they want to talk about the Creekhouse.”

“About the house...?” He sneered, spitting out the words, but walking closer to Tom, both remaining tentatively on guard. He looked Tom up and down as he gripped his pointed stick. “Well now... The only reason anyone would want to do that is because they want it for themselves.” He narrowed his eyes at Tom. “Isn't that right, dog?”

“That's why we're here to talk.”

“Don't be stupid. It's not for sale.”

“We don't want to buy it or take it. We want to know if it can be fixed up into what it used to be.”

The rat laughed, as did the others within earshot. “Fixed up? Fixed up, he says. Fixed up into what? Some human barn? Nobody knows what this was.”

“Well, someone might.” Tom turned back to the group and called for them to come forward. As they did, Erik became clear to them, along with others.

“What the- you brought your pet human here?”

“You know about him?”

“'Course! Everyone's heard the news! The 'golden goose' of Goldenmere!” The rat sneered at Erik, in his Roman garb. “Ain't much of a goose, though. Looks like a weak, naked mouse. But he keeps paying off, they say; tends the crops, slays big wolves, and fucks dogs.” The rats laughed.

“We're not here to talk about me.” Erik returned. Kelsey frowned at the attempted slight.

“No, no of course not. You're here to 'inspect' my clan's home!” He stomped lightly. “Some dubious claim about invention. But let me tell you, we don't need your kind here. They know better than to come here.”

Erik tried to alleviate the concerns of the rat man by staying calm. “We mean no disrespect, sir. We-”

“Sir!” The rats laughed again, more coming out of the structure to join in, most of them with no clothes at all. Some of the Goldenmere citizens were on edge with this many rats gathered around them. “So formal! They trained you well! Bwahaha!”

“Then what should I call you?”

He squinted and thought for a moment, to see if this was a trap or not. “ Lord Darkhill.”

Erik knew this was smoke being blown, but he played along anyway. “Lord Darkhill.” The rats chattered again, “We are truthful when we say we're interested to know if this place could be reestablished. I have an inkling of what it once was, but I need to see the internals to know for sure, and to estimate how to actually restore it.”

Darkhill huffed. “You think you know what this place actually was?”

“Yes. I am, after all, a human. My ancestors in centuries past built this place for a specific function. If I'm right, and it can be restored, the things this place could do would amaze you.”

“Really?” Darkhill sounded impressed, but quickly dismissed it. “But you're a human. Your people are known liars, scum, created this whole mess, and left this place for us. We should just kill you now, put you out of all of our miseries.”

Kelsey was quick to flatten her ears. “You're not killing anyone!”

Darkhill flashed a cruel grin. “Oh, ho. So defensive, almost thought you a terrier. Drop your aggression, girl, we outnumber your little band.” The crowd of rats snickered. “We're not giving up our home to your human's little projects. Get lost before things get bloody.”

She growled, but Erik tapped her shoulder calmly. Her ears perked up and she looked to him quickly. Darkhill noted the control he had and stared at Erik, who stared right back; a concentrated, piercing stare, that looked right into the rat's soul. Darkhill was taken aback a bit by the act. “This is important. Don't make this a bigger deal than it needs to be.”

“Or what?”

“Or you'll always be known as the shitty chief that sunk the clan and then was cannibalized by his own.” Erik started trying to match the insulting nature of the rat's speech.

“Sunk the clan, huh?”

“Didn't see the opportunity in front of him, tried to fight about it later and the clan got its collective head caved in.” Erik threatened vaguely. “Sunk it. Lost the whole thing.”

Light chatter came from around him, as the crowd bustled ever so slightly. “You threatening me, pinky?”

“If it pleases you. But, I'd have figured you to be more profit-savvy than to let an opportunity slide.”

“What do you mean, profit?”

Erik definitely had his attention now. “We said we're here to inspect it, if it works out right, we can both benefit from it. Did you honestly think that if my fellows could get this thing fixed up and running again, that you wouldn't get to profit from it? Do you really think I would come all the way over here with a half-baked plan to screw you over? Or to fight you?”

Darkhill wanted to say yes, but he had to scrutinize Erik a bit harder. There was a seriousness he saw in Erik that he hadn't quite expected. “You... You're not like Barnett and his cronies.”

“No?”

“No. You're different. You've got guts, real guts. Don't know why you're hanging out with them.” Everyone else remained silent as Erik navigated this rough character. Darkhill took on a different air, one of uneasy comradeship. “You really think you could fix this place up?”

“Not me, but we. And if my estimates are right, yes, this place could become an important hub in the area.”

Darkhill scratched his scraggly chin. “Hub for what?”

Erik raised a finger with a smirk. “I'll tell you once my suspicions are confirmed or denied by what I see. Suffice it to say, your Creekhouse could become much more powerful.”

He thought for a moment. “Can't believe I'm considering this. Alright, you drive a hard bargain. Here's the deal: you, and three others can come inspect. The rest have to stay here. You will be guarded. Don't take or break anything. Then we'll talk if you like what you see. Deal?” He crossed his arms.

“Deal.”

“Name your group.”

“Kelsey is coming. Terry, you're my connection to Jarvis. Jenny, you're my connection to the school.”

They nodded and formed up on Erik.

“Alright, then.” Darkhill scowled a bit, and looked to the rest of his peers. “Nobody do anything stupid! Let them pass!”

Erik and Kelsey walked together, with Jenny and Terry behind them, flanked on all sides by rats. The door was opened to the wooden structure, and they were let inside. The walls were dimly lit by a couple of small lanterns in the middle of the floor, where several younger rats and mothers sat around, seemingly bored. They stared at Erik and the group he brought as they walked in, under guard from Darkhill. The smell inside the building was something off-putting and indescribable for Erik, the stench of a barely-cleaned rat colony was not something he would usually smell. He tried to ignore it as he looked about the structure.

In the middle of the room on the ground floor was a fenced-off area with an old metal gear, that connected to a large gear attached to the wall. Erik went to that edge of the room and looked out a hole in the wall. Sure enough, there was still a waterwheel left over, attached to the other side of the wall from the big gear. Some of the boards had rotted away, and it was covered in moss, but it still looked mostly intact.

“Like the view?” A rat woman asked, her voice squeaky and scratchy.

Erik moved his head back and forth around the hole to get a slightly better vantage point. “Yeah... looks pretty good from here. Needs some work, but what doesn't?” He continued to wander about, surveying the structure, as Kelsey stuck at his side protectively.

“This really is a fascinating structure.” Jenny spoke to herself as she followed his head, looking at things, mostly decor.

“Sure is.” Terry replied, keeping an eye on the rats nearby. “Wonder how the humans built it?”

“Well, I'm sure Erik can give you a run down on it next class if you bring it up.” She chuckled.

“Heh. Maybe.”

The smaller gear, attached to the larger one, once had a metal axle attached to it, but it was now gone, long since removed. Erik looked to where the end of the axle would have been, and simply laying there was a large metal sawblade, straight but rusted, and still attached to the wooden housing that held it together. Erik looked up, and it seemed that the whole housing had come down through the floor.

“Hmm.” He hummed quietly as he wandered some more, heading for some stairs. He had a lot to think about, he had never thought this hard about sawmills or engineering before.

“What are you thinking, Erik?” Kelsey asked to him as she tailed him closely.

“It looks promising, but seems to be missing some parts. Some of it's broken.” He replied as he crested the stairs and looked to the rest of the sliding housing. The saw's whole housing had definitely fallen out of position. “Yeah, that saw isn't supposed to be down there, it's supposed to be up here.”

“So, it is a saw...” Darkhill chattered to himself.

“Definitely.”

“We thought maybe it was some kind of monument of a saw. It was like nothing we had seen before.”

Erik chuckled. “Well, now that that's out of the way... 'Lord' Darkhill, my suspicions were right. This was once a lumbermill, an old one, but a functional one. I'm no engineer, but I bet if we pooled our resources, we could get this thing sawing again. And it could make big boards for construction. Lots of them.”

“That would be very useful, yes. I'm sure we all need boards.” Darkhill responded, then squinted at Erik. “But things are not settled, are they, little Erik? You have the knowledge, we have the building. If those things, together, make boards, just who gets them?”

Erik smirked. It was always going to down to a trade deal. “That's why I propose a trade.”

“Right, right. Split it right down the middle.”

Terry got involved in the conversation, finally. Trade negotiations were more of his speed. “Way too much. If this thing gets working again, we'll give you twenty percent of the boards that get made.”

“What? No, forty.”

“Darkhill, you need our knowledge a lot more than we need your approval. If we fought you over it, we could fix it up all on our own. You need us more than we need you. But we're willing to cut you a deal.”

“Eat shit, furball. That's Lord Darkhill. I'd sooner drop this and fix it myself.” Darkhill sneered at Terry.

Erik had to get involved. “Whoa, whoa now. Keep it civil, guys.” He held out his arms to keep them separated a bit, but looked back to Darkhill. “Twenty five percent. Every fourth board is yours. That's a lot of boards for one encampment, compared to a whole town.”

“But we need to expand, you need to improve. All of my people live in this one place, that would be very busy if we were to do this. We're not the same.”

It seemed reasonable enough. “Okay, thirty three percent. Every third board is yours.”

Darkhill growled a bit. “Nnrgh. I guess... that could work.” He conceded. “But! You need to get this place working. And we still have to live here, you know.”

“I know, I know. Sounds like we have a deal though.” Erik extended a hand, waiting to see if he'd get a shake out of it.

Darkhill looked at it for a moment, then shook on it, his claws digging into the hand a bit too. “Better make good on it now, human.”

“I will. There's some components missing, I'll need to take a few measurements. Jenny? You have some paper?”

“Mm, here's some.” She handed a small pad to Erik from her purse.

He retrieved a measuring tape from a belt on the armor, and began to go over the missing parts. “Okay, uh. The axle here... needs to reach here... stopper... uhh... crank? Crankshaft...” He mumbled to himself as he went over the area, writing down measurements quickly on the paper. They all watched him with curiosity for a few minutes as he jotted down everything he could. “Alright, I think this could work. At least, it works on paper. Gonna take a bit to make these pieces, but we'll get started on it right away.”

The rats looked at him with doubt, as they left the building. “Right.”

Erik met with the rest of the group outside.

“Well? You're still in one piece. What's the news?” Jarvis commented.

“I think we can do it, but there's some missing pieces we'll have to make. That's gonna take a while, but thankfully, I have some measurements.”

“Huh. Looks like you've just taken on another bit of work.”

Erik sighed. “I... guess.”

Jenny nodded to him. “Don't worry, Erik. We'll find someone to help make these things. It's for the benefit of the town, after all.”

Kelsey agreed. “Yeah! I mean, I'll help, of course. We'll find what we need to make it.”

He couldn't help but smile, knowing people were on his side. “Thanks, I'd appreciate the help.”

“Hey, it'll be a breeze!”

“Have you ever worked with wood before, Kelsey?”

“N-no, but we'll make it a breeze. Right?”

The confidence was infectious. He would need it to be if he were to succeed in this new undertaking.