Kebab & Prophecy

I'm sorry.

...Tch, I should go look for them.

Gah—

You're quite injured. You should rest here first.

...

You don't seem to be from Sami.

...My friends and I were looking for a way home, and a guy called Oakcup told us Sami's will was guiding us to go north.

Oakcup... the oak-child.

You know him?

I've heard that in Sami the name is synonymous with 'wisdom.'

'Wisdom'...? Then... Do you know of the Cyclopes?

...

...What's wrong?

I have witnessed many ensnared by misfortune. Death itself... is no stranger to me.

Yet, why do I see so many deaths in you?

No sign of Chilchuck?

Yeah...

We should at least be glad for the thick snow and trees here. He should have handled that fall easily.

Mm... but he isn't the greatest at self-defense, so we should still find him as fast as we can.

It'll be terrible if he ran into that hornbeast from earlier.

Aye. But we have another problem—

Sorry.

*sigh*...It's not your fault.

But what are you doing all by yourself in this forest, miss?

I'm hunting...

Do you live here, lass?

Nope, I live on Rhodes Island!

RHODES ISLAND?! That's the place we've been looking for.

Huh? You wanna go to Rhodes Island?

Yeah, we're trying to find our way home, and someone told us we could get help there.

You lost your home? So sad...

So can you take us to Rhodes Island?

Eh... But I don't wanna go back yet...

Why not?

'Cause I'm still hungry!

Is that all?

Then if we feed you till you're satisfied, will you take us there?

Mm, sure!

...I didn't expect to find a lead like this.

Could this be what Sami was guiding us towards all along?

But...

I still haven't found my prey.

We have our own food—Ah.

Guess we lost it all in the chaos earlier.

...How about this?

First, you help us find our companion. Then, we'll help you hunt whatever you want. And finally, you take us to Rhodes Island.

Mm! Okay!

What an innocent lass. What's your name?

I'm Ceobe, but you can call me Kay!

You saw death in me...?

Yes.

Many deaths, in fact. Both in the past and the future, yet here you stand now, alive.

...

That Oakcup guy said Cyclopes can see the future.

Are you one of them?

Yes.

Then please, tell me my fate.

...Cyclopes can only see doom.

That's fine. Just tell me the fates of me and my companions.

...

Your companions walk toward the endless icefields...

No, they do not go of their own will. They were... swallowed up, by the dark and the void.

What's that mean?

They were corrupted by demons.

Demons?! No one mentioned any demons!

Demons... are a vagrant existence on this land.

They corrode and envelop all that they touch.

Corrupted creatures lose all sense of self, as if swallowed into the void—

Those creatures have a circle on their faces...

Just like a single eye on a head.

Have you already seen a corrupted creature?!

...

Can a doom you see be avoided?

All I can say is that I try.

...Then so will I.

So you're saying Rhodes Island is a giant ship?

Yeah! It's huuuge and it goes everywhere!

Oh, so that's why we never found it!

*sniff*

What's wrong?

Smells like blood. My prey's blood. The one-eyed monster is nearby!

What a keen sense of smell.

Hm? Kay, did you just say 'one-eyed monster'?

Yeah. A hornbeast with only one eye on its face. So a 'one-eyed monster,' right?

Eek... do you guys still remember what Oakcup said?

About the Cyclopes.

Could he have guessed wrong?

Maybe Sami didn't mean for us to find an actual Cyclops.

Maybe It just predicted we would find Kay, and knew we would encounter a 'hornbeast' like that?

...

Either way, since we've run into it again...

We'll just have to deal with it.

Is it dead?

Mm.

Phew... Then I guess we can consider Chilchuck avenged.

Now let's go find him.

I've got a suggestion.

What if we started a fire here, instead of running around aimlessly?

It might attract some wild beasts, but Chilchuck could spot us too.

Uh... But—

Either way, we can't really do much on an empty stomach.

You're right.

Even if he doesn't see it, we should feed ourselves first if we want the energy to keep searching afterward.

So what do we do with this 'one-eyed' hornbeast?

Let's eat it! Together!

Aye, sounds good.

But—

I've heard of traditions where people will kill and eat an animal as a sacrifice to the gods, hoping for divine revelation.

My guess is the will of Sami was hoping for us to do something similar.

Then—

Don't even try to pretend, Laios. You were planning to eat it from the start.

Let's start a fire first.

Hopefully, Chilchuck will see it.

...

It's done!

Ugh—I'm being serious here, the meat looks bizarre.

Already tasted it. Doesn't seem too different from regular meat.

Fine, I guess. We've already eaten stranger things than this.

Wow, it's actually pretty good!

What are you doing over there, Kay?

Looking to see if there's an even bigger one!

Hoo, guess not. No sight of that Durin who fell earlier either.

Come join us for a meal first. We'll go look for him together afterward.

Okay, coming!

Hey—!

Whoa! You're that Durin!

*pant*—*pant*—

And you're the girl who popped out of nowhere.

Sorry I made you fall.

*pant*... *pant*... It's fine. You guys alright?

Mm, we're all good.

Great.

I knew that doom was avoidable.

They're making steaks and skewers over there. Said they'll keep looking for you after eating.

Let's go together? I bet they'll be so happy to see you.

Tch. Of course they're eating even at a time like this. What was I worried about?

Wait, steak? What kind of steak?

The 'One-eyed monster' kind.

'One-eyed monster'?!

You guys... they can't have...

Oh look, here they come.

Perfect timing. I'm going to give them a piece of my mind—

Hey, you guys can't just—

...

Time to go home, guys.

We have stayed too long in this world.

Falin must be getting anxious.

Yes.

It's time to harvest the crops on the golem. I still have Red Dragon meat to cook.

You guys... ate that corrupted hornbeast?!

Chil■■■■■, what are you still ■■■■■ here? Let's go ■■■■.

Falin, Fa■■■, ■■■■■—

Where... are you guys going?

North, the northern ■■■■.

End, door, go home, go ■■■■.

There's a door in the north we can use to go home?

Is this Sami's guidance?

But how do you guys know all this?!

We ■■■■, we come from that ■■■■.

■■ return to that ■■■■.

P■th, h■m■, F■l■n—

■■■■, ■■, ■■■■.

■■■■■■■■■■■Red Dragon■■■■■■!

GUYS! COULD YOU JUST—SLOW DOWN!!!

Wait for me! I wanna join you guys too!