Snippet #1763325

"One... two... and-" the great gray man, Wundsten Thjorggen, heaved with a stiff grunt. The gigantic white boulder, secured with a sturdy net, rolled over towards the river, despite its ambition to stay put. It scraped the stony ground heavily, sounding unpleasant cracks into the Tugan Ferner's ears, then splashed loudly as it crashed into the water. The man, however, remained unfazed as he set aside the reins of the net and begun to break up the rock that was the boulder's last place of rest. The may-seem-to-be-solid rock, surprisingly, was being ground up by Wundsten's makeshift pick with ease. It did not take him very long before he gathered a pile of tan pebbles. He popped a few into his mouth to taste, then after conforming that is was the right type of rock, he scooped up several pebbles and poured them into his mouth. It was lemon clay that he was eating; a decent breakfast for the adventurous Tugan Ferner.

In a distance, Nymph and Hymian children raced for the river, laughing and tossing orange leaves, letting them flutter down around their freshly printed footsteps. Wundsten, sitting down with his back against a tilted tree on the other side of the river, saw them approach at the same time they saw him. As he anticipated, the tiny Faeries lowered their voices, cautiously watching the great gray man as he ate. He noticed he was chewing with his mouth opened and closed it. After about half a minute later when Wundsten didn't bother to give them another glance, the children slowly begun to play, splashing into the river.

Soon, he finished his meal, dusting his hands then standing up, pushing the tree over a bit too much. There was a sudden crack and the tree became slightly bent over, but it still stood strong. He turned his head around and spotted the subtle cracks at the tree's base. Then, he heard the laughter of the children loudened. Turning to them, he saw that they've hurried out of the river and were talking amongst themselves; some of them looked back at him. He coughed in embarrassment, then he trudged over to the river for a drink. As he moved closer, the Faeries on the other side scurried behind rocks and trees and eyed him. The clear water glittered brightly in a golden reflection against the Magnarta-colored trees that stood beside the river. Cupping his hands, he filled them with water and drank vigorously, letting some drip away from his mouth. As he drank, he could hear the children trying to hush each other.

"Aaahhhh," he roared, satisfyingly. Suddenly, the children across the river burst into laughter, falling on their backs and rolling from side to side. Wundsten looked up, confused until he noticed a bit of bitter saltiness in the taste of the water. He turned his head toward the high end of the river, believing in the worst. Just as he figured, there was a Hymian boy running back to his friends while he was trying to tie the waist strings of his trousers. He seemed to be oblivious to the fact that someone was drinking from the river.

"Run, Cricket!" a Met Nymph yelled. The boy glanced up in confusion, and the Nymph pointed at Wundsten as the others began to run for the village in the distance. The boy slowly turned to the great grey man, his eyes and mouth opening wide in consternation. Noticing that her friend was unable to move himself, the Met Nymph reluctantly went over and pulled him away. Then, after a second, all the children were running back for the village.

Wundsten, after trying to hold back his stomach's manifestation of disgust, could feel the nausea crawling up his throat, urging his hand over his mouth. Instinctively, he ran for the tilted tree and expelled his unsanitary contents behind it.