This is a serial the first part is HERE

Chapter 22: Made into Chowder

A grim and final bubbling cauldron, a hollowed out shell of a mighty humbug. Doubtless many creatures and people have met their end in such a cookpot. The jelly tot fishers were clustered around this, laughing happily, passing bowls of the meal that was newly made in the cauldron.

It was, of course, sweetfish chowder! What? Dr. Bones and Ms. Fern? Why they weren’t in the pot at all, besides just what kind of meal does one cooking in a pot when the ingredients are sausages (actually bones), cornchips and salad?

Dr. Bones and Ms. Fern where seated off to the side in the little guest hovel that was part of the warrens. It wasn’t a bad place, but apart from the cauldron, a chimney and seats made of what looked suspiciously like white cotton candy, there wasn’t much else.

The mean looking tot, who went by the name of Lime Gerage (as they learned he was called) laughed a loud villian’s laugh.

“Well, eat, eat! We always serve up this special sweetfish chowder to any strangers that pass by!” He declared.

A deep glumness that only one who has a mouth but cannot eat could be seen in the glowing eyes of Dr. Bones, he decided to try eating with his spirit, if anything went wrong, he’d just store the spills in his spacial darkness. Rather than glumness, what was written on the face of Miss Fern was scepticism, but after trying it, she rather enjoyed the sweetness. If she had been a cat rather than a plant, there’d be some serious purring going on.

“So what brings you to these parts Mr. Salami?” Gerage asked of Dr. Bones.

He paused in his futile attempts to consume the chowder to reply.

-Oh, me and Miss Salad, we’re kind of like explorers!-

“Ohoh, explorers is it? You might want to watch yourselves. Who knows what could happen to folks like yourselves out here” Gerage said evilly.

Gerage it should be noted, was a heavily misunderstood man in his youth.

“Well, the Warren Fishers of Riverhome have never let a wanderer wander unawares! There’s many a strange and interesting thing around these parts, but there’s three things you should watch out for. To the north there’s the domain of the Madmint Earl, Breaker Emerald. Unless you want to end up fighting for your life in his dungeons, you’d best keep your eyes peeled. His sigil is a shattered green jawbreaker! Got it?

Southeast, be careful you don’t stumble onto the holy lands of the Draggy Tot tribe. Bunch of lunatics that lot! Those holy lands of theirs are right weird, they’re some kind of ruins, but get this! They aren’t food! Downright creepy I tell you!

Now, uh… to the west you wanna watch out for the foreign pickle barrows. They’ve recently appeared, and nobody knows how they got there! This is a cakeland after all, you don’t see much of that kind of the preserved ’round these parts!”

Dr. Bones’ eyes flashed, Miss Fern’s eyes were still closed, as she was still indulging in the flavour of the sweetfish chowder. He made smalltalk with the tots, and refusing their offer to stay for a night, he and Miss Fern set off. The fisher tots even put the rest of the chowder into flasks for them both.

Miss Fern was eyeing one of the flasks, strongly considering shamelessly chugging the thing right down, there and then. She did after all, have the nature of a plant, and plants spend most of their time sleeping, eating and growing.

-Well, I think our next course of action is clear!-

“Eat the chowder and come back for more?” Miss Fern asked.

-Exactly, you read my mind… what? No! Didn’t you hear the tot? Some kind of ruins that aren’t food? They may be the lab!-

“Oh, well, we can eat the chowder on the way right?”

Dr. Bones went silent.

“I mean, if it isn’t too much bother?”

Dr. Bones began to walk off in a southeasterly direction.

“Doctor? Doctor?” Miss Fern cried, chasing after him.