Food of the Godlings (Ambrosia)

[Noth]

Cylus 15, 717

Sensation flooded through his olfactory senses, drowning out everything else around him as the delightful odor tickled his nostrils. It had appeared only moments ago, coinciding with the loud banging noises he had heard; and in some cases felt, several trills prior. His stomach rumbled with hunger as it was excited by the delicious scent, and he quickly began to sniff the air, attempting to somehow locate the object of his desires through that sensation alone. It was somewhat difficult, especially since he wasn’t made for such purposes, and Noth immediately wished that he had some manner of blood hound with him so that it might lead him towards the salvation promised in a good meal.

He couldn’t quite remember how long it had been since he had truly eaten, and reflecting upon the subject didn’t reveal anything of substantial importance. The last meal had been a piece of giant cheese, if he remembered correctly, and it had also included what appeared to have been some manner of large broken cracker which had fallen between the cracks of the giant’s hand. Stumbling upon the giant’s home had been a terrible mistake, but curiosity had long before gotten the better of him, and he had found himself entrapped within the structure, scavenging in the dark places in an attempt at discovering sufficient supplies to survive. Trials had passed since he had first arrived, an observation that he had made when he observed the sunlight dying outside every few breaks. It was rather strange that there was sunlight at all, especially since it was still Cylus, but he supposed that he was in a realm outside of normality anyways, and such things would be no issue for the petty godlings to produce.

There was another earthshattering bang as the giant meandered about its kitchen, producing another rack of sweets from an oversized furnace which seemed to spew forth enough fiery heat that it might have burned down an entire village if it were given the opportunity. The giant stumbled about the room, settling the hot platter of delicacies upon the counter and then yelping with shock and pain as he accidentally brushed the corner of the tray with his arm, giving it a scorching burn. The ground shook once more, and the giant sped into another room, attempting to locate cooling water or ointment for the accidental injury.

Chances had it that he would be gone for several bits dealing with his wound, which meant that Noth had some time to think up a plan for collecting the sweets from the plate, and thereby allowing him to survive another night. He was taken out of his thoughts by a faint scratching noise from behind, and he cast a glance back towards the dark hole from whence he had come, hoping beyond hope that another rat did not appear to devour him. The monstrous beasts were only petty inconveniences in normal life, but here they were rival predators, and their gnawing and gnashing teeth were quite well designed for rending apart flesh such as his own.

Keeping them at bay thus far had been a work of miracles, though admittedly he had some part in the process, erecting various traps and disguises so as to confound the dull animals. Nonetheless, it would be best for him to avoid them completely as opposed to urging their wrath, especially since his weaponry didn’t seem to affect them nearly as effectively as they did in the usual realm.

Noth glanced upwards at a nearby drawer, and taking a deep breath, began to climb at its surface, grasping at loose knobs and screws and hoisting himself upwards in a feat of bodily strength that showed that his very survival depended upon such actions. If he could find something valuable within the drawer, something of use to his quest, then perhaps he would be capable of constructing some manner of tool to reach the sweet cupcakes.

Climbing was easy enough, though his landing within the drawer left him curled into a ball, attempting to regain his senses as he struggled to shake away blunt force induced confusion.

[Ambrosia]

Ambrosia was used to getting around as smaller than anyone around him. Even when he lived in Desnind with other Tunawa, he was half the height of anyone who was his age, and even smaller compared to the adults who could be anywhere from 3 to 5 times taller than he was. As such, when he found himself in the home of someone who was literally a giant, he was barely phased. He could tell from how he felt, that he should forage food in this place if possible, and had a very vague impression that things were not normally this way, not that it mattered. Whatever was happening, he’d flow with it and see what happens.

He had obtained some kind of giant white handkerchief when the giant who owned the place had dropped one, towing it away under a dresser and making the giant think he lost it. He had it with him now, though keeping it from the rat’s sharp teeth had not been easy. But, now he could use it like he wanted. As scared of fire as he was, he knew the heat would waft him up closer to the sweets so he could get something to eat….hopefully. He hadn’t actually tested this out yet, but as the giant lumbered off to treat it's burn, he knew this was one of the only chances he might have. He grabbed the handkerchief by a corner and ran out, not noticing at first that he was being chased by a rat until he heard it squeak at him. He glanced over his shoulder and gasped when he saw it's angry red eyes as it chased after him. “Ymiden, give me speed!” he gasped out as he poured on as much speed as possible to put distance between him and the rat, otherwise he couldn’t put his plan into action. When he got close enough to the oven to feel it's heat, he got nervous but he also knew that this was his chance. He could only hope there was enough space between him and the rat, because he didn’t have time to check. Who knew when the giant would return? Pulling the handkerchief out in front of him, he grabbed the four corners, two in each hand, and did his best to toss it upwards, trying to get the heated air to catch and raise him up the way he’d seen birds use hotter air to glide and rest their wings. He weighed less than a bird, so surely it’d work the same for him? It took him a few tries of tossing the handkerchief up, but he got it just as he heard the scraping of the rats claws get closer. Hot air filled the handkerchief and suddenly, he went from being on the floor to shooting upwards. Before he could get far, however, he felt a weight on his pant leg and looked down, then cried out and started to jiggle it wildly. The rat had grabbed him! It's fangs had torn a hole in his pantleg, giving it a rather firm grip. He was drifting back down from the extra weight, and he didn’t even want to imagine those fangs in his body. Luckily, he hadn’t remembered a belt, or maybe he had used it for something? And his pants were starting to slip from the extra weight. He wiggled furiously, and with much wiggling and jiggling of his legs, he managed to slip his pants down and with a final kick, sent them and the rat falling back to the ground as he shot upwards, the extra weight gone. He glanced down as he saw the rat and his pants fall and said calmly,

“Huh….so that’s how I lost my pants…”

[Noth]

Noth was not at all in familiar territory. He had lived the more recent portions of his life attempting to give the impression that he was some manner of monster. His physical appearance had certainly lent itself well towards that goal, and he had picked up many tricks along the way that allowed him to further amplify his desired image. Intimidation had become a well-learned skill, and he often used it to strike fear and dread into the souls of his foes before removing them from mortal existence. Other individuals were quickly frightened by his escapades, and the savage brutality that he typically embodied sometimes allowed him to avoid fights that he might have otherwise lost.

Not here. Here he was the size of a child’s plaything, and he felt just as helpless as one. The rats were vicious and their gnarled teeth were capable of shearing through bone and flesh almost as if though they were paper. Their furry bodies were surprisingly capable of resisting damage, and Noth had spent a previous trial trying to fight a single one of the beasts using his longbow; a task that took a significant amount of his time. He distinctly remembered carving into the beast’s flesh, and observing that the muscle and meat within weren’t quite as tasty as he had hoped. Honestly, it wasn’t terribly surprising that rat tasted awful, but one could hope for better.

What had been somewhat shocking was the cannibalistic nature of the feral rodents, especially when one of their own had only just been slain. He had managed to scrounge together only a few servings of the flesh before he was forced to abandon his prey by the devious creatures who had begun to enclose upon what had once been one of their own. He had been forced to flee, but thankfully he had some assistance in the form of the giant. The rats were quite large to Noth, and therefore attracted far more attention than his pitiful form had, and so the giant had aimed a large broom at the chasing monster, sending it fleeing back into its hole in the wall at surprising speeds.

Trials had passed, and his attempts at escaping the home were nowhere quite near fruition. Nonetheless, his search for sustenance had continued. The drawer proved to hold some material of minor use, though forcing it together would be a difficult task. A set of strange wooden utensils had been placed within the drawer, and it took several moments for Noth to recognize that they were eating instruments such as forks and knives. They were light enough to set upright, and he wondered whether he might somehow force them into to drawer, and then use them as stairs of some manner. His efforts were fruitless; he simply didn’t have enough strength to jam them into the wall.

Another idea occurred, and immediately settled into his mind. It was terribly stupid, and realistically seemed doomed to failure, and yet if he did not attempt some manner of plan, then surely he would starve to death or find himself consumed by rats. The construction took little time, though finding a suitable counterweight to his project was somewhat difficult. He settled upon dropping a knife upon another, and hoped that it would land heavily enough to propel him into the air.

The blade wavered, and Noth leapt down from his perch, leaving it to dangle for a few moments before its inevitable fall. He landed roughly upon the place of his launching, and only a moment later felt the air rush outwards from his body as he was shot upwards. Crimson eyes scanned the room for a brief instance as the twilight hybrid soared towards the top of the desk, his single wing outstretched and giving him the fantastic illusion of flight for a few exciting trills. The eyes settled upon a flying form which seemed to have been deprived of its garments by a vicious rodent. They were floating towards his general area, he considered, before slamming into the ground and losing any remaining air that still clung to his lungs.

Perhaps he might have located an ally in his plight. His eyes narrowed at another realization; perhaps he might have located a foe.