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A Lost boy somehow gets even more lost.
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It began as a normal morning in the endless forest of the Hedge, which is to say, it lasted about 9 hours because Danny kept walking continuously, with only short breaks to rest his legs and drink some water.

Patterns are hard to find in the Hedge. Or maybe they're too easy to find, deceptively easy, and then they disappear like a rug pulled out from underneath at the worst moment.

Still, one pattern that holds up relatively well is that most things don't stop traveling at the crack of morning. Which means one of Danny's basic survival strategies in this weird world a step between infinite others is that, if he finds a safe place to sleep, he leaves it as soon as the sky starts to lighten, so as not to get caught dozing if someone else arrives, and so he can keep moving between places while most other things and people are asleep.

He was having a bit of bad luck finding some food today, which isn't the huge problem it might be in a normal forest. The fruit here doesn't seem to ever rot (unless it rots within a minute of being picked, or as soon as it turns night/morning, or if it gets touched by any water, or...) and even a handful of nuts or berries seems to fill his stomach and keep him energized for "days" at a time. And if all else fails, he has his bow and can find some animal to hunt, though that's more obviously dangerous. It's hard to spot any birds through the misty treeline, and even the not-obviously-magical animals here are rarely defenseless.

He wasn't even particularly hungry when the day began, but he's learned over the years of having a really stretched out eating cycle to be extra sensitive to the differences between "full" and "no longer full" and "not really hungry" and "okay maybe I could eat" and he tries to get a head start on foraging around then before it gets to "I'm actually rather peckish," or worse, "food would sure be great about now," let alone the actually bad, "I notice I'm hungry."

When he was a kid, his mom once told him they should never shop while hungry because then they'd buy too many things they don't need. A similar principle applies in the Hedge, where you really want the luxury of saying no to some of the things you come across. Not because they wouldn't taste good, but because they might taste too good, and then you're stuck in a clearing eating rainbow flowers forever, or biting a carrot that reverses your gravity to send you screaming into the sky, only barely able to hold onto the deceptively normal looking root.

That had happened his first ~week here, and had been something of a learning experience.

So he pushed his way through stinging hedges and thorny bushes for hours on end, searching for a snack he could save for later, then, failing to find that, a snack he could eat now, and then, failing to find that, a meal he could eat soon, and then, failing to find that...

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"And... eventually the people sleeping in barn lofts leave the round, usually? Or save enough money to buy their own house?"

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"Or move in with an existing household." Debone debone debone.

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Well, there's always that.

Danny has only ever lived in the city. Trips upstate to go camping and participate in Scout activities prepared him somewhat for survival in the Hedge, but didn't give much of a sense of how normal rural goes, back on Earth.

On the plus side, he's feeling more confident he can get by, here. And he's definitely glad he ended up somewhere relatively simple, compared to one of this world's cities.

But he's starting to guess that some of the things he's going to need will be elsewhere, unless he's wrong about what else this round has to offer.

"Is there anyone you know who was made to be a... lover of knowledge, on this round?" He's not sure if philosopher translates the same, but... "Or someone who searches for truth about everything?"

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"Hm, there isn't a big research institute here. I'd probably look on Rabbitround for that. It's the one with a continent shaped kind of like a rabbit."

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Yeah, that's probably a good place to start. "Got it, thanks. Is there any other kinds of meat you'd pay for, or wouldn't? And do you know anyone else who would buy meat of any kind?"

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"I'll try most things as long as the animal wasn't particularly pestilent. I'm not a fan of deer, though, and that you can most likely offload to someone who's going to roast it for sale, like, well, anywhere with a spit and a firepit out front."

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"I'll keep that in mind. Good fortune."

He takes his leave and heads for the airship docks, checking for a well along the way where he can wash his hands and have a drink.

Once he arrives at the docks, he'll ask someone if they know any ships hat regularly head from here to Rabbitround, how long a trip it is, and how frequent they are.

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"There's a small sail that takes passengers back and forth, should be here in four wakes unless they're delayed."

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Four wakes, which would be... three and a half wakes for him?

"How much does it cost, each way?"

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"Depends if you work the trip and if you bring your own food, I think."

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"And if you don't do either?" He wants to ensure he's prepared for the worst, in case he can't stock up on food or he's got no skills they'll take as payment.

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"Probably ballpark a hundred fifty, but I've not taken the trip personally."

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"Thanks."

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Okay. So he probably won't get passage unless he works. Hopefully working in the kitchen is enough, though he'll be at a couple disadvantages.

One, if they sing as much as the last ship, he might have trouble staying sane if he's not allowed to take enough breaks.

Two, he sleeps about 7 hours a night instead of four. Which, combined with the first, might make it hard for him to pull his weight.

And three, he's obviously new to all this, and possibly visibly "badly made" in some way. It might be hard to convince a captain he can pull his weight even if he can.

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First things first. How much money does he have, and how much does a good travel bag cost?

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He has seven from the hide and two and a half for the muskrat meat. A bag will be eight to twelve depending on how picky he is.

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He can't count how many times he wished he had a good bag in the Hedge. He lost the one he entered with in a riddle contest (and feels lucky he didn't lose more), and can make do with makeshift baskets or sacks...

...but would a torso sized, relatively waterproof bag with multiple pockets perhaps closer to the 8 range than the 12? He's not expecting zippers but he'll take anything that's securely sealable.

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They don't have very good waterproofing technology but if waxed canvas and buttons will do the trick he can get one secondhand ("but freshly waxed!") for eleven.

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Back to the mushroom seller he'll go, in case all the mushrooms he collected are worth 1.5 money together.

And even if not, he'll ask for extra detailed descriptions of what sorts of mushrooms would make for good forage.

And then he'll head back to the forest, stopping along the way to ask Ashimba if she has spare room in any of her farm's buildings for him to sleep when he gets tired.

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The mushrooms are worth .8 money all together.

Ashimba will let him have the hayloft and a spare sheet. She apologizes for the state of the floor in a way that might be a hint that he could pay his rent by sweeping the barn but might not.

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Sweep it he shall, just in case.

With 10.3 moneys in hand and another hypothetical 7 if he gets another muskrat he can also maybe look into buying some luxuries after the bag, like a pillow. The hammocks on the ship were the best he's slept in years, but being back in gravity makes him realize how much stuff he's missing that he might be able to enjoy again, eventually.

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But first, to the forest! Where he'll keep a careful eye out for mushrooms, nuts, berries, or animals, while taking a new path toward the river.

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(And an extra eye out for squirrels.)

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There's some nuts! Relatedly, there's a squirrel. He's not within its flight distance yet.

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