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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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He lets himself rest a bit longer, and then it's time to check if the captain has been seen anywhere lately.

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The captain is attending a celebration at an animist temple. They are excited about the existence of sweets today.

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Seems sensible. He didn't have the opportunity to miss candy much in the Hedge, what with all the crazy flavors and experiences eating provided there, but he did miss the occasional simple, uncomplicated experience of an ice cream or brownie.

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Not that he expects he'll like the sweets in this world any more than the regular food.

But he'll try them, at least, if any are on offer. Is it the kind of celebration open to outsiders? And does the captain look intertuptable?

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Anybody can come have some of the sugared fruits and tiny maple candies they're handing out! The captain is in animated conversation about custards.

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Neat! He knows nothing about custards, so he'll try out the free sweets...

...maintain a fixed smile despite the offness of the experience...

...and then wait a respectful distance from the captain to listen in on the conversation until there's an opening to talk.

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"You don't have to be super careful about getting all the eggwhite out, that's probably why yours keep breaking, yeah. Hello there!"

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"Hello again! I just learned about your faith recently, and this festival has been a great introduction." He's decided not to ask them how their faith decides what objects are celebrated through eating and which ones aren't, just yet. "Where I'm from, expressing gratitude for things regularly helps people have happier lives, but we don't have celebrations for it, which seems a shame, now that I've seen this one."

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"That does seem a shame! Have you tried the maple, it's a specialty of the round."

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"I did, yeah. It was a unique experience." The last thing he needs right now is to have that feeling of exposure get any worse... "I was actually wondering, there's a sweet I used to have when I was a child that I haven't seen in years, and don't know the name of in this language. It's brown, and kind of bittersweet? You can melt it into milk for a hot, tasty drink, or mix it with custard, or eat it in solid pieces. It's often mixed with milk to make it sweeter."

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The gathered people make some guesses but the only word he recognizes is "coffee".

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In retrospect it's clear them just listing guesses won't help, but maybe this is a good time to test out the limits of his language learning ability...

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"Hmm, it might have been one of those, though not 'coffee.' I know this will sound strange, but... could one of you try singing each guess?"

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"Singing it? That does sound strange, how would that help?"

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"It's how I learn new languages," he says, wondering if the sense of exposure will get worse. Surely, if what he says is true enough, the line toward misleading wouldn't be crossed (and setting aside, for the moment, who's actually drawing that line, if anyone besides he is at all)... "Once I've heard a word being sung, I seem to just remember it automatically, and can figure out what it means."

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"Caaaa-rob," croons somebody, "chocolaaaate..."

"How in the world does that work? Who even thought to try that?" says another.

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"That one!" Danny points after the second word. "Chocolate!" Also he now knows what carob is, too, which is neat.

(He has no idea if it existed on earth or not; he hasn't noticed anything else here that didn't yet, but then again, how would he know? It's not like he memorized every plant and animal. But if it's lumped in with chocolate and coffee, it's surprising that he hasn't heard of it on earth. Maybe it's just... outdated?)

"It was my favorite. Is there any around here, or..." He realizes that along with the definition and properties, he has some sense of it being fairly rare and expensive.

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"Not here today. Should be possible to get on Rabbitround, but it's hard to grow."

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"Right, I'll keep an eye out for that, then." He's still a bit distracted from the knowledge-sense of rarity he got from learning the word "chocolate" in their language. Where did that come from? Would it have still come through if he heard the word from someone who lived on a round where chocolate was really common? 

In any case, this is as good a transition as any. "Speaking of which, Captain... I spoke with some of your crew, and heard you appreciate small bits of beauty." He carefully takes the wood square with its attached blue eggshell bird.

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"- oh, huh, where'd you get this?"

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"Oh, I made it."

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"It's an interesting concept..." The captain holds in various angles to check how it responds to lighting conditions. How big is it?

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About two-by-two inches, as best he could measure it without a ruler, with the eggshell fragments extending about a quarter-inch forward from the wood.

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"Yeah, I have a spot for this. It's lovely, thank you so much for thinking of me!"

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"You're welcome! I haven't done much art before, so it was really nice to try some." He is in fact surprised and pleased by how well it turned out considering his lack of experience, and her approval feels like confirmation that he did in fact make something good. "Enjoy the rest of the festival!"

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