Bricky shook his head and turned back to his new friends by the fire with an embarrassed look on his face, “I vanted to ask a question. I don’t know if either of you vould know, as you all seem to be far more advanced than I ever thought. I don’t know who to ask for help with zis,” Bricky pointed at his neck, “I do not have ze ability to deal vith this or ze tools.”
Drexla, hearing the conversation, spoke up from atop the wagon, “I can make that!”
“You can?”
“Yea, it’s nothing. I just need some materials like leather or hides.”
Luna shook her head, “I don’t really have experience with hides.”
Bogbean just reached into her large worn bag and brought out an ornate, carved box. She opened the lid and revealed a plethora of needles, threads, and strips on strips of leather and hide. With a bit of help from Bogbean and Drexla, they were able to help Bricky create the tools he needed to maintain himself. It was a nice bit of bonding as they bantered and Luna watched with curiosity and encouragement. When they were done, Drexla and Bogbean gave Bricky the new tools.
“Zank you! Is zere anyzing I can do for eizer of you to compensate? As I understand it, from vat ve vere all speaking about earlier, people are expected to be paid for zere services.”
“Well,” Luna responded, “it’s up to them, if they want to charge you anything. Although, we aren’t normally used to being paid. You do know people like us are disliked outside the MyrRin continent. People dislike me, but everyone hates the fae. So they are going to try to kill her. The MyrRin don’t care as much. They are more indifferent than anything else. If we go to the Hume continent, it will not be a good time for her.”
“Vhy vould zey vant her dead? Vhat did she do?”
“Well, a while ago, there was a rash of phenomena that occurred in the world where Fae and Daemons where messing around with people and it caused resentment and hatred towards their kind. I haven’t seen Daemons, ever, but every now and then a Fae creature will pop through.”
“What happens to the Fae?” asked Drexla.
“I imagine they kill them.”
“Vhat is Deamon?”
“I don’t really know, it’s just a word for another kind like the Fae. It’s been ages since anybody’s even seen one, but I read that there used to be times of darkness where bad things would happen to people. Sometimes they would say that Fae had done it and other times, it would be Daemons had done it. That’s if there even were survivors. They’re just stories, legends. Nothing really concrete. It’s been a very long time. I mean, she’s the first Fae I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“From what my Papa told me,” Drexla began recounting, “the Fae would use magic to ensnare people using tricks. I didn’t have any magic. That’s why my people didn’t want me. I’m the only Fae I’ve ever seen.”
“So you got tossed here because they didn’t want you because you didn’t have magic. Still, most people aren’t going to stop to ask if she’s got magic. They’re just going to try to kill her.”
“Well I don’t like the Hume either so I’ll be ready.”
“My advise would be to stay hidden. That’s what I do whenever I travel the Hume continent. I just keep my hood up and hope they don’t notice my ears or my features sometimes tip them off too. There aren’t many that look like me.”
“I have not seen many of ze people here before eizer. Besides ze smaller scalekin, whom I have seen plenty of. Of your kind, I have only seen pieces.”
“Well, that’s news.”
“Apologies.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t kill them or take their parts.”
“From my understanding, the parts were handled by those in charge of us.”
“Yes, Humes tend to be distrusting of us at best. Some are downright cruel.”
“yea at first i thot he wus nice, which is wurse. he said heres some food so i ate da food. den i fell asleep for a long time. den i woke up in da box i busted outta on da boat. i don’t know why i was on dat boat. do you no why Bricky?”
“I vas a ze farm und zen I vas valking zen after zat, I vas put in ze box.”
“By whom? Who put you in the box?” asked Luna.
“By someone.” Was all the answer Bricky gave. “I vas looking forward, zen I was looking up and I vas in ze box.”
“So you don’t know who took you?”
“did someun hit you in da back of ur head?”
“Nein, you should know vhy I vas on ze ground as I vas vhen you found me.”
“oh! dey lopped it clean off!”
“I did not know if Bogbean had told you zis, but ja, I vas in two pieces on zis boat.”
“So are you dead? or undead?” inquired Luna, reaching for her notebook as she asked, “not dead?”
“I do not know.”
“Normally speaking, when a person is.. made into pieces, or when pieces of people are put together, they cannot come back to life. But, you’re in pieces that have been put together and your alive.”
“Ja.”
Bricky waved his hand in front of him to demonstrate and Luna watched in awe as tiny streaks of lightning wound up and down his arm.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before! Do you always do that?”
“Ja.” Bricky nodded and turned his head so Luna could get a better look at the metal plating underneath his eye. It sparked with the same electric flare and the eye whirred changing from color to color as it rolled in the eye socket.
Luna was scribbling with mad intent in her notebook, wearing down quill after quill with observations.
“You’re a strange one.”
Drexla put down one of her clockwork figurines and it walked forwarded with stilted steps as the gears moved inside, “He’s like that but with intelligence.”
“I think there is a difference. After all, he has feelings and thoughts.”
“Yea, they built him like that though. At his core, it’s all programming.”
“This is different, these are dead bodies sewn back together not merely mechanical. This is Necromancy. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It’s just, damn, that’s a lot of power!”
“Vas ist Necromancy?”
“yea wut is dat?”
“It is a type of magic that some people use to mess with dead things.”
“but brickys alive.”
“Well, I’ve never really seen him eat, or sleep and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take a leave to relieve himself while we’ve been traveling.”
Everyone giggled nervously at the mention of bowel movements but Luna refused to back down.
“We all went, at various times during our travels, off to a secluded spot to do our business but Bricky never did.
“Vhat does ist mean to ‘do your business’?”
“u no wen i go off an say i need privacie.”
“Ja, so you left for ze privacy und you come back vhen you needed it no longer.”
“yea dats wen i go to da bathroom.”
“When she goes off like that, it’s because people who are alive normally, when we eat, em, it goes through our stomachs and, and eventually, it comes out the other end when we’re done with it.” Luna sighed and wiped her hand across her face muttering to herself, “I can’t believe I’m having to explain poop to people.” To Bricky she said, “It’s our waste, it’s what we don’t need anymore. But you’ve never done that. So I don’t think you’re fully alive. Though you’re not dead either of course, seeing as you’re walking and talking before us. So you’re undead. Some sort of undead creature. Which is fine. I don’t mind at all. In fact, I think it’s quite fascinating.”
“yea i don think we care.”
Drexla walked up to Luna with a scroll in hand and explained, “He’s probably more like this.”
The scroll held some sort of schematic on it.
“This is what I’m working on building. Lifesize like you and it will be able to think and speak for itself. It won’t be made of body parts but you know, similar.”
The plans were a little too intricate for Luna but she could make out the basic concept and was impressed with the scale that Drexla wanted to achieve.
“That looks like a whole person that can move! It does look like yours is made out of metal where he is made out of dead people.”
“You’re right, it’s not the same, but similar.”
Luna turned to Bricky, “Are you metal inside?”
“I do not know.”
DnD Wife Stories 