Harbour Chapter 4

Read Table of Content | +Kyla Sturchio
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"Town of Gnawnia- I checked my trap and was successful in the hunt! I caught a 6 oz diamond mouse!"

The fresh sea breeze brushed my cheek as I stood out on the pier of the Harbor. The place was barren. No one had traveled outside the city gates in years. The boats sat bobbing in the docks weather worn and unkempt.
I placed my new shiny trap under the first boat dock I came across. I could hear the mice scamper away but I never
saw them. I had a feeling these mice would be a little more crafty than the mice of the Meadow.
I walked through the harbor in silence for a while, enjoying the ocean while I could. It took me a while to notice I'd stumbled upon the abandoned General Store. I wondered where the Shoppe keep took off too.
The place was a wreck, boxes were overturned and the salt stock was scattered everywhere. Knowing that nothing should ever go to waste I scooped up some salt in a little jar and pocketed it for later use. I even found a barrel labeled "curds and whey"

"What the hell." I said to myself shrugging. I pocketed a jar of that as well. Most anything else seemed destroyed or chewed up so I decided to just leave. It was on the way out of the door that I froze. By the door way with its little back turned to me sat a odd little mouse. He was actually wearing clothes. From the looks of it, he was a funny little pirate. Silently I removed my note book from my bag. The mouse remained clueless to my presence the entire time. His little hooked paw was scraping the floor looking for crumbs that may have been left behind.  I managed a quick sketch of his body before it turned around and with a squeak of panic it scampered out of the store away from me.
"Dear King, the mice at the Harbor still seem harmless; Though they cause much mischief, and will probably eat any cheese in the area, I would say once I leave here it would be safe for the men and women to return."

"Dear King, I caught my first Pirate mouse today, I was able to finish my sketch of him. It’s the first one I've seen since the last one I encountered. It’s about time too; I've been plundered almost daily. Somehow they manage to get into my pack and steal cheese and gold without me even being aware of it. "

"Dear King, it's far from what I expected, I caught a little mouse in my trap today. I'm calling him a burglar mouse because he has a little black mask right across his eyes. The mouse also carried a belt that had materials seeming to help him acquire cheese without even setting off the trap. I was lucky to catch him. He even dropped me some Brie!"

"Dear King, I caught another new mouse today. I'm not sure how to even explain this one to you. I've named it the Bionic mouse I will do my best to sketch it here for you. All I can say is this mouse isn't normal. I'm beginning to think perhaps Digby has something to do with this one.”

I had spent a week at the Harbor and at the end of it I was exhausted and battle worn. The mice had plundered much gold from me. No matter what I tried to do they still managed to snag a few coins here and there. It seemed like a fate I would have to get use too. And as they ate away my stock they also stole much of it. But I had acquired many Brie cheese chunks from the burglars I was catching and a few Brie potions from the Bionic mice as well. I had decided to just hold onto those for later use.
I had managed to save on my Swiss stock when I discovered that mixing the curds and whey with the salt I had, made a nice white cheddar cheese. It didn’t attract much of the larger mice but it did bring in a few more dwarfs. I was determined to remain at the harbor as long as I could before returning. There just seemed to be so much to observe.

I sat stitching a hole in my bag, where a mouse had chewed its way through, when I saw it; out on the horizon growing larger as it came, bobbing in the ocean like a cork.
"Dear King, a ship is on the horizon headed for Gnawnia Harbor. I will see them in and report back to you with the strange visitor. If it is enemy I will fight on behalf of the Kingdom. May all go well.
-P”