"Hunger Pains"

Chapter Two

The trio spent the next morning running errands at the Rivet Bay Trading Port. Owned by Puffy and Shlatt's family, it was the busiest place of commerce in the land. Elytrians flew overhead while Otherkin, Elementals, and everyone in between pulled ships into the harbor and ran the stalls. Everything from food, materials, and equipment could be bought, traded, and sold here.

The three had come to pick out some groceries, as the cabin was a bit sparse on food. They had gotten up early in the morning just before sunrise, when the sun was nothing more than a faint glow in the east. Now, as the dawn of a new day poked above the horizon, the port teemed with life. Quackity was browsing the stalls, already having his mind set on some nice beef and mushroom stew. His amber eyes ran over baskets of freshly harvested potatoes and beetroot, cuts of meat hung to dry into jerky. It all looked strangely tempting, as good food usually does...

"Quackity?"

"wha-" He was suddenly surprised by the sight of Jack standing next to him, having somehow heard him amid the bustle of the harbor. He must have zoned out for a few moments.

"We're at the next section of stalls now, cmon."

Quackity followed his friend past a few displays of goods, and to Charlie, who was fortunately entranced by a collection of windchimes. It was important for the three of them to stick together. It was easy to loose an acquaintance, or even yourself in an area with so many other people after all.

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"Hey... Quackity?"

"Yea?" Quackity and Charlie had just finished unloading the groceries they had bought that day.

"Come look at this." Manifold said.

Jack was pointing to an area of the blue and white wallpaper in the kitchen, witch had deep scratches in it. Something had raked it's nails on the surface, exposing the wood underneath.

"Wh... what do you think did that?" Quackity stated.

"It doesn't seem to be from any kind of animal. Looks to have been a person's nails that made these."
"You and Charlie haven't been scratching up the house, have you?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, of course not." Quackity returned.

"Nope!" Charlie said from across the room, in their somewhat joyous tone.

Quackity took a closer look at the odd scratches. They were certainly too big and widely spaced to have been made by a fox or cat's dainty paws. And they had been made by something blunt, with the wallpaper being bunched at the bottom instead of flaying to the side. Not what would have usually happened if sharp claws had caused said vandalism.

He suddenly paused at a strange smell crossing his senses, leaving as soon as it came.
Quackity sniffed the air twice. "You... you smell that?"

"Smell... what?" Manifold tautly said, thinking it was probably one of Quackity's simple tricks.

Quackity sniffed once more, only to be met with the more familiar smell of bread and wallpaper. He could have sworn he had just caught a whiff of something akin to mud and sweat.

"Eh, probably just imagining stuff. Never mind."

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