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It's a peaceful afternoon in the sewers and Krobus is taking a walk down his favorite corridor. It had rained on the surface yesterday, so the waters are flowing quickly and filling the air with a lovely humid fog. Krobus hums a little tune, harmonizing with the pleasant bubbling of the green water and the distant buzz of the mutant bugs.
It's just like any other pleasant afternoon until a human crashes through the ceiling screaming at the top of their lungs.
Krobus jumps back, pressing himself against the wall instinctively. But the flash of fear fades quickly. Krobus steps forward; he can't help but to peer closer at the pile of rocks that the human is half buried in. There's a high-pitched voice crying out as the human flails among the rubble.
The human is not the human he expected: that adventurous farmer who has been visiting him twice a week to bring him delicious gifts. This human has purple hair so they must be the wizard. No, not the wizard, this human doesn't have all that hair under their nose. This is someone different.
Krobus creeps closer and the human has now mostly escaped the rubble now. One of her feet is still stuck between a few pieces of rock, and she's yanking her leg to try and get it loose. Krobus marvels, for the second time this week, how hard it must be to have all those bones.
But then the human looks over, face partially covered by the long strands of purple hair clinging to her forehead. She sees Krobus.
“Monster!” the human screams.
“Human!” Krobus screams.
The human trips over the pile of rocks and scrambles, searching for something on the floor.
Krobus sees it before the human does: the sword on the ground sitting right on the edge of the path. The blade is hanging over the green water, held aloft only by the edge of the hilt.
Oh, right, this isn't his new friend. This is a human and he had forgotten what humans do to monsters like him. Better to be safe than sorry.
Krobus runs over to the sword. The human sees him move, following his path with her eyes until she finds the sword herself.
“No!” The human yells, chasing after him.
Krobus kicks the sword into the water. It splashes against the surface with a satisfying plunk and begins to sink below the surface.
“How dare you!” The human shouts.
Krobus holds his hands out in front of him, “I don't want to fight please!”
“Wait what?” the human asks.
“I don't mean you any harm human.”
“Why can I understand what you're saying?”
“Because I know your language.”
“But you're a monster!”
“Yes!” Krobus smiles uneasily, “But I've learned about your kind, I even have human friends.”
“So when that new farmer said they were talking to spirits...” the human says softly.
“Yes! I know that farmer, we're friends.”
“I guess you haven't attacked me yet,” the human cocks her head.
“And I won't, unless you give me a reason to do so, I promise.” Krobus nods.
The human leans, looking past Krobus to the rest of the sewer behind him. “Did you have to put my sword in that gross water though?” the human sighs.
Krobus looks over his shoulder back at the sparkling green water, “What gross water?”
“Whatever.”
“You should be careful, you could break your bones falling like that,” Krobus offers, hoping this human will be comforted with a discussion about their beloved bones (or perhaps even impressed by Krobus' knowledge!)
The human frowns, shivers slightly. “I didn't mean to fall through the floor,” the human rolls her eyes, “It just happened.”
Krobus spares a glance up at the hole in the ceiling where the human came from and sees a very familiar faint blue-green glow shining through. “What were you doing in the mushroom grove?” Krobus asks.
“You know about the mushrooms?” The human's face changes into something Krobus thinks is a positive expression.
“Yes! I even planted some of the spores myself,” Krobus nods, “There are many delicious treats there.”
“I was trying to find some special mushrooms,” the human says. “But I wasn't having much luck.”
“Do humans also eat mushrooms?”
“Sometimes...” the human crumples up her face.
“The soil in the grove is pretty delicate,” Krobus says, “It makes sense that a human would fall through.”
Again, from the weight of all the bones, but Krobus resists the urge to mention bones again seeing as the human had seemed mildly distressed at his earlier comments.
“I couldn't find them anywhere in the mines no matter how hard I looked,” the human sighs, “I just wanted a good present for my mom and now I'm in the sewer talking to a shadow dude.”
“Your... mom wants mushrooms?”
“There's this fancy tea blend abroad that my mom read about in a book. She keeps on talking about how she wants to try it. I thought I could track some down for her birthday but I failed.”
“You didn't find any of the mushrooms in the grove?” Krobus asks.
“I didn't even get a chance to look, I fell through immediately,” the human looks dejectedly at the hole in the ceiling above her, “And there's no way I can get back in there unless I grow wings.” The human looks Krobus up and down with a puzzled expression, “You can't fly, can you?”
“Not really.”
“Figures,” the humans sighs, “Now I'm stuck.”
Krobus shuffles his feet nervously, “I know another path back up to the grove. Would you like me to show you the way?”
The human steps forward, “Seriously?”
Krobus nods.
“How do I know that you're not leading me into a trap?” the human cocks an eyebrow.
“I promise I don't want to hurt you.”
“I guess...” the human says, “You've had plenty of opportunities to attack me already.”
“I could show you the way to the surface instead,” Krobus offers.
“No... lead me to the grove,” the human says, then adds, “Please.”
“Okay then,” Krobus walks towards the opening of another corridor, “This way human!”
“I have a name,” the human huffs.
“Oh that's right,” Krobus says, abruptly stopping in place, “I'm Krobus!”
“Krobus?”
“Yes, you pronounced it quite well!” Krobus smiles.
“I'm Abigail,” the human says.
“Abigail, what interesting sounds for a name,” Krobus marvels.
“It's a pretty common name... for humans,” Abigail says.
“I appreciate this new information about human culture!” Krobus says, “Please follow me Abigail, I will show you to the grove.”
Abigail the human does follow Krobus through the corridors of the sewers. She keeps quite a distance at first. But then a rather large mutant bug buzzes nearby through the entrance to another chamber. Abigail makes a quiet sound at the sight; Krobus can't tell if it's a sound of fear or of excitement. After that, Abigail follows Krobus more closely.
Once they have made the six required turns, Krobus points at a ladder set into the stone wall. “Once you climb up here, you'll see a big hole in the wall which leads right to the mushroom grove.”
Abigail nods. Krobus waits.
“Are you not...” Abigail says, trailing off.
“Oh, would you like me to go first?” Krobus asks.
“Um, yes, if you don't mind.”
“I don't mind!” Krobus says, trying to sound confident. He was not expecting the human to be so comfortable to join him on the ladder. This Abigail is quite brave.
Krobus walks over to the ladder, “Follow me, Abigail!”
Krobus begins to climb the ladder, making a special effort to match his movements to how he's seen the farmer climb. One hand, one foot, other hand, other foot. It's a little awkward, since it's so different to how he'd climb naturally, but the motion has a fun rhythm to it.
Krobus looks down the ladder and sees Abigail following him, several rungs behind. Krobus looks back up and sees the hole in the wall that is their destination. Krobus isn't sure if Abigail can see it, human vision being so different. Just in case Krobus decides to call down to her, “We're almost there.”
A minute or so of climbing later, Krobus grabs the edge of the hole and slides himself inside the humid cave that is the mushroom grove. The floor is almost bouncy, mostly comprised of loosely intertwined mycellium from the various mushrooms that have made their home here. Krobus' feet squish into the decadent texture and he can't help but smile at the feeling.
“Did you find it?” Abigail's voice echoes from outside.
Krobus pokes his head back out and Abigail is already right at the top of the ladder. She's much closer than Krobus thought she would be. Abigail makes that quiet sound like she did with the bug before; it must be a sound of fear then.
Krobus steps back into the grove to give her some more space, “Yes, right here.”
“This hole isn't really that big, is it.” Abigail says. Krobus does notice now that the human is quite a bit taller than him, making the prospect of squeezing through the opening a little more difficult than Krobus had first guessed it would be.
Abigail rises one more step up the ladder then leans forward through the opening. She rests her arms and upper body on the floor inside the grove. The texture of the ground seems to surprise her and she pokes a finger into the surface to test it. Her finger pushes through easily and her eyes go wide.
“You should stay in the entrance,” Krobus says, “So you don't fall through again.”
“But then I can't get the mushrooms.”
“I'll pick them for you,” Krobus says, “Just tell me which ones you want.”
“Ah...” Abigail hesitates, “I guess that works.” She rummages around in her belongings, “You can put them in here.”
Abigail tosses a simple cloth bag towards Krobus, who picks it up from the floor, “I shall!” Krobus says.
Krobus begins to walk through the chamber, pointing out each variety of mushrooms to Abigail as he sees them. Some glow blue, some are so dark they seem to swallow the light around them. Some are sprinkled with tasty spores, some are dripping with delicious oozes. None of them are the mushrooms Abigail is looking for.
Then Krobus walks over to the back corner of the chamber where he had placed a wet log several months ago. He had pulled the log out of the sewer water on a rainy day, the log appearing exactly when he had wished for it. It had clearly been a gift from Yoba's grace.
Krobus picks up the log from the loamy floor, revealing the shining growths underneath. The bundles of bright green mushrooms glow bright as a torch in the dark chamber. Scaled fans sit bunched together in messy lines, gills dotted with spores. Krobus' mouth waters at the sight of them.
“These are my favorite,” Krobus offers, “Do you like how it glows?”
“It is pretty,” Abigail admits, “Even though it's a little creepy.”
“It tastes similar to the spicy root that grows on the surface in the warm season...” Krobus searches for the word, “In the spring?”
“Horseradish?”
“Yes! That's it.” Krobus says.
Abigail leans closer, “That's the one I want, the bitter green oyster!”
“Ah, that's a strange name,” Krobus wonders.
“I don't know why it's called that but that's its name and that's exactly what it's supposed to look like.”
“Well you are lucky human, they are perfectly ripe!” Krobus smiles, “You will have a great feast!”
“I hope so,” Abigail huffs, “After all the effort I went through to find them...”
Krobus sets the log down, mushroom side up, and plucks a few mushrooms off the rotting wood. He takes care to separate the mushrooms carefully from the bark, not wanting to leave any tasty morsels behind. Once he's collected a handful, he places them into the bag.
“Wow I can't believe you found them,” Abigail says.
“I grew them myself, I didn't realize that humans would find them delicious too,” Krobus says, then asks, “Do you want a taste?”
“Ah... sure I guess.”
Handing this new human something with his own hands still seems a bit dangerous, so Krobus rolls a mushroom across the floor over to where Abigail waits in the entrance.
She picks up the mushroom and wipes it off on her shirt.
“Here goes nothing,” Abigail cautiously touches her tongue to the mushroom and immediately recoils, spitting into the tunnel behind her, “That's horrible!”
Krobus frowns, nervous at the sight of the human's intense displeasure.
“No offense but it's so bitter... and dry?” Abigail stammers, “Why is it so dry?”
“Maybe it's too strong for humans.”
“I guess you do have to brew it like the book said,” Abigail shudders.
“I would be interested to hear about this special cooking technique,” Krobus offers.
“I'll...” Abigail hesitates, “Maybe I can ask the farmer to tell you how it goes.”
“Well, you should bring those home before they go stale,” Krobus says.
“Yeah, could you--”
“I can lead you to the closest exit to the surface,” Krobus interrupts, “There's one not too far from here.”
“Oh, that's good to hear.”
Krobus leads the human to the exit, which happens to be the one right next to his shop. Krobus thinks this is a good opportunity for that exciting activity that humans call marketing!
“This is my shop, I sell lots of rare and exotic goods,” Krobus proclaims, spreading his arms wide, “If you'd like more of those mushrooms next time, I can keep them in stock for you!”
“I'll have to see if my mom likes it or not first, but I'll let you know I guess,” Abigail says.
“Okay!” Krobus tilts his head, “Are you sure you don't want me to get your sword out of the river for you?”
“No, you can keep it,” Abigail laughs tightly, “I'll just get a new one.”
Abigail looks up at the ladder leading outside, then back at Krobus, “Thank you for your help, Krobus.”
“It's my pleasure Abigail, I am happy to help someone in need, no matter who they are.” Well, except if that someone is a dwarf, but Krobus leaves that bit out since it's a bit rude (and perhaps Abigail is friends with that dwarf who lives in the mines nearby.)
At that, Abigail gives a wave and climbs out of the sewers. Krobus waves back and keeps waving until the sewer cover slides closed behind her.
~~
Several months later on a chilly winter night, Caroline sits at a table outside under the dark sky.
Caroline opens the lid of an old sugar dish and pulls out a couple dried pieces of mushroom from inside. She drops the mushroom pieces into the bottom of her teapot to join the small pile of tea leaves. Then she reaches her spoon inside the teapot to roughly crush the pieces into smaller fragments. Last time she had thoroughly crushed the mushrooms to dust, but this time, she wants to try something new to see if it changes the expression of the unique flavors.
When the mushrooms have been crushed to her desired texture, Caroline carefully picks up the kettle full of hot but not quite boiling water that she had previously prepared in her kitchen. She gently pours the hot water into the teapot, watching the liquid steam and change color. After setting the kettle aside, the tea has already begun to softly glow green.
She lets the concoction steep for a few minutes, taking the opportunity to trace the constellations above her in the sky. Until recently, she hadn't spent much time enjoying the night sky. Now the patterns in the sky are beginning to truly look familiar.
She takes a peek inside the teapot, and from the light spilling out Caroline knows the tea is ready. She pours the tea into one of the two cups in front of her. The tea glows a brighter green than before, little motes of neon light chasing the steam as it rises.
“Hello Caroline,” a quiet voice says in the darkness.
Caroline squints, barely making out the outline of a shadowy creature emerging from the dark.
“Good evening Krobus, have a seat,” Caroline says, pouring some tea into the second cup.
Krobus makes his way to the table and sits in the seat across from Caroline.
“It smells delicious,” Krobus says, cheerfully swinging his feet back and forth.
“It's all thanks to your lovely mushrooms as always,” Caroline sets a cup of tea in front of Krobus.
Krobus picks up the teacup and brings it up towards his nose so he can smell the steam better, “I never thought I'd find a human with such a sophisticated palate,” Krobus smiles.
“To be honest, I never thought I'd drink tea with someone of a different species,” Caroline says, “Here, have some extra in yours.”
Caroline opens the sugar dish and pulls out a larger piece of mushroom. Krobus extends his teacup towards Caroline and she delicately drops the mushroom inside. Once the mushroom hits the surface of the tea, a glowing puff of green steam billows up.
“Beautiful!” Krobus chimes.
“Here's to a great brew,” Caroline smiles, extending her cup to clink it with Krobus.
“Here's to new friends!” Krobus says, gently tapping his cup against Caroline's.
The two sip their tea and the faintly glowing steam curls up to join the distant shine of the stars above.