v5c28: Closer to Home

I woke up early on the day of the solstice. I hadn’t been sleeping the greatest in general ever since we heard the news. My dreams were troubled, and the feeling of impending…something made me toss and turn.

Meimei, bless her soul, hadn’t complained once.

I laid in bed for a little, in darkness. Seeing as I couldn’t get back to sleep, instead I decided to take a walk and check in on everyone.

Meimei opened one eye when I got up. I smiled at her and waved her back to sleep. She examined me for a moment, but whatever she saw satisfied her and she closed her eye again, her breathing evening out.

Zhuye was in his crib, sound asleep. I had made it for him as he got more mobile and prone to adventuring. The crib gave him a spot to crawl around safely. I gently opened the door and padded out into the quiet hall. Xiulan’s door was open, so I poked my head in. The woman was bundled up in her blankets, her breaths quiet. She had been training her ass off and helping coordinate all of Vajra’s scouts, so she definitely deserved the rest.

The rest of the rooms on the second floor were empty. Tigu and Yin had decided that the sleepover protocol was in effect. They were in the living room with Delun and the Torrent Rider, sleeping on the thick, puffy futons I had made with Meiling. Tigu was hugging Shaggy Two while snoring softly. Yin had kicked most of her blankets off while Noodle was asleep on her chest. Delun was on his stomach, and the Torrent Rider was in a similar state to Yin.

Gou Ren, Chunky, Peppa, Xianghua, and Bowu were all at their house. Huo Ten was sleeping in his underground passages, and Babe was meditating near the window.

I kept quiet so they would be able to rest and headed to the river room. Washy was already awake as I entered, lounging against the side of the concrete pool that connected our house to the river.

“Having trouble sleeping too, buddy?” I asked him. The dragon blinked, looking a little surprised to see me, before he nodded.

I clapped him on the shoulder. “Tell you what. We’re going to check in with Vajra, then start on breakfast. Give me a hand?”

The dragon hesitated for a moment, before nodding. I grabbed a small jug of maple syrup from the river where it was kept cool and exited my home, a dragon padding along behind me. We headed for the “command center”…and for the one that I knew would be awake. Vajra really didn’t sleep like a human, instead taking minor micro naps that lasted for a minute or two. Benefits of being an insect, I suppose.

It was a small, squat hut, looking just like a giant beehive box, big enough to fit myself and placed at the edge of the river by the house. It had numerous small holes in the roof, and I could see bees coming and going. I opened the latch and walked into the small, cramped room. A fire crystal hung in the center of the room, keeping it warm, and there was a pile of what looked like golden dust on a table. The pile radiated warmth, and the bees would gather it like pollen onto their back legs—Yin’s own contribution in helping the bees. They lasted for about six hours before a bee had to return and be relieved.

“Anything to report, Vajra?” I asked her.

The bee, sitting on a map, danced for a moment and then several bees lifted off their perch to fly just above the map, forming what looked like a dark cloud.

“A storm over there?” I asked, and Vajra bobbed up and down. Other than that, there seemed to be nothing new to report.

“Thank you all for your hard work so far,” I said, addressing her and looking at the other bees. I placed the jar of maple syrup on the table and opened it up. The bees in the room seemed to pause for a moment as I did so. “Share this with all the scouts, okay? Breakfast will be ready in a couple of hours.”

Vajra buzzed happily.

Washy and I exited back into the cold and darkness.

“What do you think, Washy? It’s the solstice. Something traditional? Or do you think today is a good day for experimentation?”

The dragon perked up slightly at my statement, giving it due consideration…before he decided.

‘Experiment,’ the dragon declared. I considered his words, before nodding. It was cold and we had all been working hard, so a big, hearty breakfast was going to be just the ticket, and I had been wanting to try this for a little while. I had just gotten a tomato sauce for beans that I was happy with.

“Then,it’s time for the Full Rainy Island,” I declared, and Washy’s eyes sharpened. I gave the dragon instructions on what I needed him to get from the greenhouse—while I went to collect the eggs.

They were no longer placed directly against the house; we had too many chickens for that to be practical now, and as much as I loved them, chicken shit smelled like, well, chicken shit. It wasn’t bad when we didn’t have that many, but we were approaching seventy now. They were all happy, healthy, and showed no signs of any kind of sapience, which was nice—and they provided the several dozen eggs we went through practically daily.

All of us ate heartily, and I always told everyone to eat until they were full. Washy and Chunky could pack away a full dozen each, while Gou Ren, Tigu, Yin, and I could get down four or five. The lightest eaters were Rizzo and Noodle; Rizzo probably had half to a single egg, while Noodle just didn’t eat that much, seeing as he was a snake. Some days he didn’t eat at all, if he had eaten an egg or two the day before.

We were approaching Gaston levels of egg consumption, but hey, they were fresh, tasted delicious, and everybody ate them. So thank you for your valuable service, girls. I made sure to hand out scritches to the ladies… and Xiao Ku the rooster. The little man hopped up onto my shoulder as I exited the coop, staring up at the darkness with apparent confusion. His instincts said it was approaching morning, but it was still pitch black.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I grabbed a few more things and woke up Huo Ten as I got the potatoes, the monkey holding the egg basket for me as I piled up the other ingredients.

Then, it was time to begin. First, the sauce for the beans; that needed tomatoes, vinegar, and a pretty good ketchup I had made, along with the final ingredient that made them taste like baked beans out of a can—The Snow-Phoenix Vine we had gotten from the Cloudy Sword Sect had a strange property when mixed with tomatoes and vinegar.

It tasted rather like worcestershire sauce.

Which was great. I would have to figure that out for real later, but for now it was a fine stopgap.

After that got going well, I started on the sausage. I had brought some meat from Verdant Hill and mixed in Volcano Ginseng and Silver Yin Lotus Root. Both of the bastards had started taking over my fireplace and bathhouse respectively, so I put them to use. Volcano Ginseng provided a burning, fiery kick, while Silver Yin Lotus Root soothed the burning and enhanced the smoky flavours.

Of course, it wasn’t only the meat that got these inclusions. A firmer cheese, fit for frying, had the same herbs within for the vegetarian option.