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The duties of a nailsage are many. Raising different generations of determined bugs to appreciate the nail and the art within its edge.
It's sacred and oft thankless work. Great Nailsage Sly took on each shelf of work and each study plan with stride. The fruits of his labor were always so lovely.
It was hard to cultivate those fruits when starving though, so like any other bug the sage left his home to forage. Everyone needs their meals for the week.
It was meant to be a quick journey, so Sly only packed his bare essentials. A basket for fruits and veggies. A small knife if he found any thick vegetation or small bit of meat his stomach could handle. And a leather bag of water belted onto his hip.
He was fortunate to live in a relatively quiet and secluded area in northern Greenpath. His commute to where he trained his students was annoying, but the space, privacy and abundance of food made it all worth it.
Sly shifted through the bushes, looking for the food he knows is safe for his consumption. He smiled to himself as he plucked a few berries from a bush and tossed them into the basket.
As he gathered the fruit, he heard several small steps from a different sort of shrubbery.
Was it a humble mosskin or something after his head? He drew his hunting knife, looking at his surroundings with agile focus.
Whatever it was wouldn’t get very far with him.
He spun the knife in his hand, treading carefully. He moved towards the sound of the little steps, which led him to a tall bush. He pushed it down, peeking over it. He immediately gasped, faltering with his knife.
Toddling slowly, a small child was ambling about off the path. They wore a tattered cloak. They had three nubby horns, one on the center of their head being a bit bigger. They looked utterly lost, but like they were looking for something.
Sly quickly hid his knife within his cloak and hopped over the bush with an "Oi!" The child yelped and turned around, looking at Sly with fearful eyes.
“Hey oh- Hey! Hey…” Sly put up his hands, waving them down. “It’s okay…” He held a hand out towards the child. They didn’t seem interested in taking it.
“Are you alright? Lost?” Sly asked when they didn’t immediately run. They refused to move. Sly knelt down even though the child was nearly his height. Their shell was visibly soft, he felt like if he gave them a pat on the head he’d leave a very visible mark. It probably wasn’t that soft, but still. This child felt way too small to be this far from their parents.
“Are you alone, little one? I can he-” Sly nearly promised his protection but more sharp steps caught his attention.
What grabbed that even faster was the screaming.
“AAAA!!”
“AGH!” Sly screamed as a small hand jabbed straight towards his eyeball. Acting on base instinct, Sly gave his assailant a bit of a shove. He covered the poked eye, getting a good look at what attacked him but he felt like he was seeing double!...He blinked twice.
There was an identical child standing in front of him, trying to appear intimidating by sticking out their arms. “Stay away! Don’t touch!!” They were equally as tiny, a bit more hoarse in voice and being irately protective over the other child. In response to being pushed, the second child tried to jump at Sly once again.
This was quickly put to a stop, not by Sly’s sharp protest, but by seeing triple.
“Oro no!!” A third little voice yelled, hugging the child close to drag them away. They pulled “Oro” towards the other child, and Sly could only stare at the three of them.
Three identical little children…
Sly rubbed his eye, blinking it open once more.
The three children took several steps back out of fear and for the angry one to calm down.
Sly had little idea what was going on. He could only look at their tattered cloaks and scared stances with worry.
Deep breath, nailsage. Take it slow.
"Okay ...alright now...where did you three come from?" He asked, trying to keep his waning sense of calm.
They looked amongst each other and Sly could tell their confusion meant they didn't know. Or at least couldn't find the words.
"Where are your parents?" Sly inquired, keeping his voice light so they wouldn't feel any more scared.
He needed answers but he wasn't getting any. Just gentle murmurs of the children talking to each other.
He could gleam things like "Parents?" and sounds of confusion.
"Yes, parents!" Sly thought about stepping closer but even him shifting his weight subconsciously made the angry one physically tense.
"A mama? Papa or Baba? Do you know where they are?"
He got what he needed when the one that held the angry one looked down a little bit and shook their head.
That broke his heart a little bit, but he had to keep that down to help the children not fall into sadness.
“Alright...We can find them, don’t worry. Do you know their names?”
Silence.
That must be a no, then.
“Can I know your names?” He knew the one with the fixed glare was “Oro” so it made him hopeful they all had names and knew them well.
The angry one turned completely away from Sly, crossing their arms. He could hear them sharply attempt to whisper “No!” to the others.
Sly frowned, but stayed calm. At least they weren’t attempting to attack him with their little fingers again.
He could take them to his home since the nearest village was quite the ways away. Take them on the stag instead of forcing them to walk.
Send out letters, feed them, all that.
Names could happen later.
“Would you three like to come with me to my house? I have snacks and we can talk better, how’s that sound?”
The three of them started murmuring louder at that suggestion. They decided to put their heads together, literally.
They pressed their little horns together, loudly mumbling to each other.
“...could be bad snacks…”
“But! Snacks!”
“I don’t like him!”
“But!! Brothers!! Snacks!!”
Sly watched the argument with amused worry. He was glad he knew that the kids were brothers, at least. Whining from one and loud exclamations about how he couldn't be trusted from the other. With the one not causing ruckus looking focused. He could understand the distrust but his intentions were benign.
The one whining for the snacks eventually peeped up and called to him. "What kind of snacks do you have?"
"Mato, focus!" Another name! One was Oro, the other was Mato!
"I was gathering fresh fruit. I have rice and leftover pickled vegetables I could make!" He wasn't in the mood for that, but he wanted to get something in these small children's stomachs.
“Fruit..?” Two of them murmured at once. “Fruit snack! Fruit!!” The more persistent one (Mato?) insisted.
“No! No no!” The angry one shook his head. “We don’t need i-ick- hack!” Sly and the other two boys were startled when the child patted at his mouth and started coughing loudly.
Sly held out his hand a little bit, concerned. He grabbed the leather water bag and opened it.
“Here, here, do you want some water?” Sly approached him, removing it from his hip. He backed up into his brothers, covering his mouth with both hands as if attempting to hide. One held him, but that didn't stop him from glaring at Sly.
“Please, little one, allow me to just- Fountain it. If you aren’t feeling well.” He approached the convulsing child, holding out the water.
“Oh!” He yelped when the child snatched the water and stuck the nozzle under his mask to gulp big sips.
“Wait, I want some!!” The persistent child bounced a little bit when his brother stopped drinking to cough and gasp for breath. The bag was snatched again and chugged from by that one as well.
“Share! Share!” The third grabbed at the water too.
Sly watched the brothers drain the bag. The coughing kept up, but lessened significantly.
The angry one took a deep breath, coughing lightly when the water was passed back to him. He took the last sip, and looked at Sly as he let out a few final coughs. He was surprised when he walked towards him to hand him the bag back.
“....thamk you.” warmed Sly’s heart despite its hoarse tone. All the brothers came closer to him. Wiping their faces dry from the water and muttering about food.
Even the angry one lessened his resistance after being cooled just a little bit.
“...this way, please follow me.” Sly beckoned the children, who did as told hand in hand.
Sly tried to ignore the sound but their stomachs were all grumbling and that needed fixed immediately.
When's the last time they had a proper meal?
Even more so...
---
"What do children eat??" Sly paced around his kitchen nook, thinking hard about it.
"Are they carnivorous? They talked about fruit like they'd enjoy it, so maybe the vegetables would work??" He spun around, flapping one hand in a pointed motion.
He had gotten the children home without any more large fits: coughing or otherwise.
He sat them in his living area at his floor table. They were happy to chug more water while he fussed about the food.
He was able to spot one holding his stomach uncomfortably, leaning on one of his brothers for comfort.
So he didn't want to dally.
As he washed the ingredients, he thought about what he needed to do. Not just for the food. In general.
Sustenance first, obviously.
Then ask them about their route. Any landmarks they remember? That would be a great start.
Sly started a fire with skilled quickness and settled a pot of rice to boil.
What comes after those questions? Letters?
Should he go ahead and find paper? Maybe a stone would work better. He doesn't have much paper.
Should he send the message first and then take them down to that little crossroad village? That would be good. If he lets the village elders know ahead of time, maybe their family could be alerted before they even get on a stag! Find their family at the station, easy peasy.
Stirring the rice gently and covering it reminded Sly that these were hypotheticals and it wasn't certain that things would turn out this way.
For all he knew, their parents were just dead.
Or they abandoned them in the harsh greenery for being a small array of eggs: he didn't know how their species handled clutch sizes though.
Again, with the hypotheticals. Terrible hypotheticals that threatened to take his breath away. The thought of those boys getting treated that way made the ground beneath Sly feel like air. Cracked and hot and full of anger in his heart.
He couldn't be consumed by cracks. None of them. Not here.
Not yet.
He put his spoon down and sat on the floor where the warmth of the cooking food could gently toast him. He crossed his legs. It was time to just breathe. Getting into a rhythm of "Four seconds in, hold for seven, out for eight" helped him regain his ground. It slowly came back to him.
His anxiety was still there and he was worried sick but letting his thoughts go for a moment of breath helped him.
He stood up to find his pickling jar. Since he was small, a lot of his items reflected that but even so he had to use a little effort to move the jar onto the counter to get the vegetables.
He scooped a big portion into a bowl and stabbed the spoon into the veggies. It was a bit of a comfort food Sly wasn't craving earlier but damn he was now.
He'd be eating with them.
After a while, the rice was fluffy and Sly could remove it from the heat. Since he didn’t know what or how often they’ve been able to eat, he didn’t want to make them feel ill by giving them too much at once.
So he gave three bowls two scoops of rice and one scoop of vegetables. His bowl got a similar amount but he took extra vegetables. He started to gather the food to carry to the children and giving the sour dish a big smell calmed his nerves a bit more.
“Here, I hope you guys like it.” Sly approached and set the bowls in front of each of them. He felt bad when one (Oro? The angry one, he thinks) flinched a bit at the clink of the glass. Sly put the extra vegetables on the center of the table. The children looked at the food with excitement once Sly sat down on the ground with them.
“What's this stuff?” One asked, stirring the vegetables around the rice.
“Pickled vegetables: I make them myself.”
“How do you make vegetables?” Another asks as the curious one took a bite. “Oh, the vegetables I grow in my backyard. I could show you, maybe. Later, though.”
When the curious (persistent one? Mato? What was the third one’s name?) child started taking faster bites, which encouraged the others to start eating as well.
“Is good!” One exclaimed, making Sly smile a little bit. Sly started enjoying his food as well.
With his mouth full, one asked Sly. “Is this a snack?” Sly mixed around his rice more, and said.
“It’s more of an early dinner.” Confusion fell over Sly when this made the child look down at his food with sadness.
“What’s the matter…?”
“I wanted a snack too..” The child muttered, not understanding the differences between eating a meal and a snack when you’re starving.
“....knew this idea was bad…” Presumably the angry one mumbled into his spoon, taking a bite regardless. He was bitter for his brother's sadness.
“Hey now, little ones.” Sly intervened before this could spark back into violence. “I don’t know how long it's been since you’ve eaten last. If you eat too much food right now, you could get sick. You can have a snack in a little bit, alright?”
The children were silent for a moment, trying to think if the advice made sense to their youthful brains. With everyone quiet, Sly took a chance on speaking again.
“I want to help you guys find your home, so I need you all to talk to me about where you’ve been, alright?”
One child (the one Sly doesn't quite have a name for yet) started to anxiously stir his food around instead of eating it.
The persistent one took a few more little bites, a little sad to not have a snack, but listening.
The angry one put down his spoon, bowl about empty anyways.
Sly took a small deep breath, and started with: “Do you remember how long you’ve been walking?”
He got a shrug, unanimously but not in sync, but a shrug nonetheless. That made him look at their dirty and tattered cloaks with a lot of concern.
“Okay...Do you remember any landmarks you’ve seen as you walked? What did they look like?”
The children looked down, deep in thought. The one mixing his food around, playing with it, shook his head. After a bit, the other two did too.
“No statues? Any buildings?”
The angry one put his elbow on the floor table and put his head in hand to look away.
More shrugs.
Sly took an anxious deep breath. “And your parents? They aren’t around, yes?”
A couple small nods.
“Do you know how long you’ve been alone?”
“We haven’t been alone.” The angry one suddenly snapped, looking up. Sly was very confused. “What do you-”
The child scooted closer to one of his brothers and leaned on him, giving him a hug.
The third child did the same, and they squished against each other.
“Oh…” Sly itched under his chin, touched but saddened for these poor boys. He looked up at the ceiling, contemplating. He didn’t have the heart to ask them about his terrible hypotheticals. He didn’t dare to bring up death or abandonment when they already looked upset at the mutual thought of loneliness.
Sly took a short breath, and took a bite of his food.
“Alright...alright alright alright. We can try to find your home without those facts. I have a couple ideas to do that, alright?”
Sly clinked his spoon against the bowl, and said. “But until then, you three have a space here.”
They started whispering and muttering to each other. After a moment, one spoke up.
“...can we just- go?” One brother said to another. Sly thinks it was the anxious leaderly one. The one without a name to him. He didn’t think this one was Mato.
“What?”
He ignored Sly for a moment, saying. “We’re okay. Food and water, we can keep walking!”
...Was walking a long way instead of asking for help the idea of specifically this little soft grub because of some imaginary self-sufficiency? He was so small. They were all so small in this world!
The last thing Sly wanted these children to do was go back into the wilds and continue fending for themselves.
He feels they wouldn't last to the seasons of dew.
The other brothers seemed to be genuinely considering listening to their brother's idea, but Sly could only stand up and use his best “children bargaining voice" once more.
“Hey, hey small ones! How about you stay! Just for the night! I have a very nice fuzzy blanket you three can share! It's the most comfortable blanket I own!”
The thought passed through the children, thinking about it.
“You three must be so tired, please I implore you to stay and just...sleep.” The children took in Sly’s words, and one sighed and agreed.
“I’m very sleepy, brother.” This was said with a small cough. The angry one?
They started nodding and the decision was made.
Sly grabbed the promised blanket and set up a bit of a little nest in his spare room. He allowed the children to have the space for themselves for a while, but did watch over them while they quickly took the blanket and got snug.
He took a bit of time to clean up the mess eating tends to create. He made a bit of a dish pile, and left it in his kitchen to be dealt with later. He had bigger things on his mind.
He searched around his room for a stone or piece of paper to write his letter. He found a single sheet of paper, grabbing it swiftly. He sat at his desk and grabbed a writing tool.
He had to make this brief.
“Dearest Elder of the Crossroad Village, I am writing to you in hope you can aid me in finding the parental figures of three children I found on a forage.
They’ve been wandering about upper Greenpath for presumably a long time. I am unsure where they came from: nor a lot about them. They’re rather small with slightly soft shells. Pale in color. Likely completed at least one youthful molt, but I am not certain. Trihorned and smaller than a fly such as myself. I will be bringing them down there as soon as I can. They know their names, so if you home some grieving parents looking for an Oro, Mato…”
He didn’t...he needed to know the last one's name. He put down his writing tool and thought for a moment, proofreading what he had in his letter in the meantime.
He scratched his chin, and decided to go check on the boys. He walked over to the door of the spare room and listened in. He heard a bit of easy breathing, small little coughs, but not much else.
He was worried for them, but also worried about waking them up by fully checking on them.
Just a quick peek. Two seconds, no noise. In and Out.
He opened the door and looked in. He was surprised to see one of the children sitting up, wrapped in the blanket but he was staring at the door. The child looked startled, but he didn’t move or make a sound.
“Hey…” Sly whispered. “Is something wrong?...Are you having trouble sleeping?” He asked.
The child stared at him, shifting to hold the blanket tighter around his body.
“Mmm...watching for them.” He nodded his head to the sleeping brothers behind him. The little one yawned. “Is normal.”
Sly hummed. “Ah...I see. Try to get some sleep, though. It’s alright..” The child gave him a slightly uneasy look, like he was watching out for him. Like they thought he was going to possibly turn and hurt them after all. He didn’t want to think too hard about it.
“I’ll...leave you to sleep…” Sly pointed to the door, moving to leave. He had to stop himself before he fully left, however.
“Hey...little one, what’s your name?”
The child rubbed under his mask for a second, and murmured to him. “I’m Sheo…”
“Thank you, Sheo.” Sly smiled at him before turning to leave for real.
“...what’s yours?” Sheo called to him in the biggest inside voice a child could muster. Sly spun back around, reeling that he really did forget to give them his name this entire time, huh?
“...My name is Sly and I promise I’ll take good care of you.”
“-and Sheo. I hope you can give them this word and ease their aching hearts. They are in good hands with me but I am sure you would love to have them back in your community as soon as possible. I promise to keep a good eye on them until I can get them to the Stag Station closest to my location. Thank you for reading my plight.
-Regards,
Great Nailsage Sly