The next morning, Pigglebottom began the task of packing up his tent (which had to be dried out first) and resumed his journey. 

He would have to head in a North-Westerly direction to reach Femidome, the capital of Kroydome and his former home. 

His stomach growled as he folded his tent to a now-postcard size and resumed his journey. 

Having run out of everything but gort cheese, he decided he had packed far too lightly for what was turning into an unexpectedly complicated task, and resorted to relying on one of his least-honed skills; hunting. 

He’d previously spent many a cold winter night on the streets of Femidome with his mother, attempting to catch rats or anything else that would crawl into their traps. 

Unfortunately for their family, his mothers’ wealth had all but dried up after setting up the Adventuring company for Baron due to unforeseen costs such as Baron’s expensive armor and hair extensions. 

Thus, they had been bled dry, causing them to fend for themselves or starve whilst Baron gallivanted around the kingdom. 

His mother possessed frighteningly impressive skills when it came to hunting due to her especially un-emotional streak, which enabled her to kill even the cutest of creatures without a second thought or the shedding of a tear. 

Pigglebottom lacked his mother’s ferocity and, as such, would frequently cry as he stared into the eyes of an animal that his mother had caught and splattered its brains all over the floor. 

She advised this was the easiest way to put them out of their misery, and yet, he always noticed a wry smile grace her lips as she engaged in the ‘merciful’ smashing.

Pigglebottom walked on an empty stomach for 2 hours in the now-burning morning sun before reaching the end of the grasslands. 

As he hadn’t seen another living thing in the entire time he’d been walking across the area, he instead decided that hunting was best left to a more densely populated area as his chances would surely increase exponentially. 

Onwards he trudged as the cries from his empty belly grew louder with every step. 

After some time, Pigglebottom’s eyes lit up upon reaching a stream with relatively clear running water. 

Fishing was a pastime he had always enjoyed. 

However, it was more the relaxing nature of sitting next to running water rather than the sport of catching another animal that he enjoyed. 

He would sit at the Femidome Trickle for hours on end staring into the rather strong-smelling water, feeling a sense of calm and serenity whilst throwing whatever inedible sea creatures he would catch back into the water. 

Pigglebottom sat down cross-legged in front of the water, and from the lining of his poncho, he produced a long thin stick and proceeded to rip a thread from his clothing to attach it to the end to create a makeshift fishing rod. 

He decided he would use his remaining piece of gort cheese as the bait as, after the previous night’s dream, he was wary of it and desired to get rid of it as quickly as possible, if it helped him to acquire tastier and less-fear-inducing food then that was fine with him.

The gort cheese bobbed up and down on the surface of the stream like a Kroydomeian bobbing for Crapples at the Summer Cliff Festival, but without copious amounts of saliva dribbling into said water. 

Pigglebottom wondered what delicious delights lay in the river before him, this particular stream, far away from the polluted cities, was one of the few places that fish still existed in, the seas themselves were far too polluted which drove the fish elsewhere.

 It had been years since Pigglebottom had tasted fresh fish, the thought of it made his mouth drool and his stomach howl like the Great Werewolves of Lycanthry. 

In Pigglebottom’s mind’s eye, countless mackerel, carp, and cocks (a type of river fish), all with brightly colored scales which glistened in the sunlight, danced in circles shouting ‘don’t worry, it's ok if you eat us’ in unison. 

After what felt like a lifetime, the gort cheese suddenly dipped below the surface. 

Pigglebottom’s eyes lit up as he vaulted towards the fishing rod and grasped it with all his might, attempting to pull whatever was on the other side towards him. 

He pulled and pulled with every ounce of his somewhat non-existent strength, whatever it was it had to be something big and delicious, he thought, before seeing a large dark object rise to the surface.

Pigglebottom pulled and pulled, his stomach growling ferociously, eventually, the rod gave way and flung the catch onto the riverbank next to him.

“Gort cheese, my favorite!” a voice said out of the corner of Pigglebottom’s eye. 

He turned towards his catch, which unfortunately for him was no fish, but a fabled Merrymaid, a repulsive sea creature of legend which was half-human, half-fish, and which were known to enter the streams of Kroydome once in a red moon.

“Hello handsome, thanks very much for pulling me out,” the creature blew Pigglebottom a kiss from its toothless worm-infested mouth, which led Pigglebottom to wonder whether he was correct in thinking that the most repulsive creatures of Kroydomeian seemingly found him attractive. 

Disappointed at his useless catch, Pigglebottom decided he would throw his remaining gort cheese into the water to avoid any further complications. 

Being rather learned in fables and such, Pigglebottom was well aware of the legend that the Merrymaid could control human beings telepathically and bend them to their will. 

Thankfully, all this particular one desired was more gort cheese, and dived back into the water immediately much to Pigglebottom’s relief. 

He then decided that perhaps this stream wasn’t the best place to catch a fish and packed up his rod and resumed his north-westerly wander towards Femidome as his stomach still moaned with hunger.

Pigglebottom continued to walk alongside the stream that stretched all the way from the highest points of Kroydome down to the grasslands above Brown End. 

Following it was not exactly in the direction he needed to be going, however, the running water calmed him and the scent of the fresh-ish stream water sedated his nerves. 

The sun was high in the sky and beating down on him, droplets of sweat were starting to form on his brow as he trudged along, barely even knowing where he was going. 

In the distance, Pigglebottom could see a figure sitting on the side of the riverbank, covered in a long cloak with a large pointed hat covering its head. 

Pigglebottom couldn’t discern any features from the figure but presumed it belonged to a human due to its respective shape. 

He decided he would approach the person in the hopes that they may have some food of some sort or, failing that, some information that could help him to finish his quest as quickly as possible. 

As Pigglebottom grew closer, the figure suddenly stood up and faced him head-on. 

He was roughly the same size as Pigglebottom, if a few inches taller, give or take. 

The figure began to wave to Pigglebottom and shouted: “Hello friend, come closer!” Pigglebottom ran towards the stranger with no regard for his safety, which was no doubt a result of his extreme hunger.

“Hello there, sir, might I introduce myself, my name is Morgurn the Merchant. I travel these lands of Kroydome peddling my wares to anyone that may be interested, would you care to take a look at my items?” the Merchant quickly pulled open his cloak revealing various trinkets and superstitious-related items sewn into the lining of the material. 

Just as Pigglebottom’s eye’s darted from one side of the cloak to the other looking for food, he became aware that what lay between the hanging items was, in fact, a naked body as the Merchant was completely nude underneath his cloak, a fact that he seemed quite proud of. 

With a sly grin, the Merchant closed his cloak, muttering “See anything you’re interested in?”. Pigglebottom shook his head in disbelief, “No sir, but might you have anything to eat, I’m absolutely famished!” he said in a pleading tone.

“What do I look like, a buffet? I sell trinkets, not foodstuffs, although I may have something you could nibble on” the Merchant roared with laughter as Pigglebottom’s stomach began to turn.

“If you don’t have any food, I wonder if you could help me,” Pigglebottom said, choosing to ignore the seedy comment, “I’m on a quest, you see, I’m attempting to find the child of a sludge creature, would you have seen any perchance? I’ve heard of a religious organization in the area that has been recruiting, might you have seen this company pass through at all? Perhaps with a creature in tow that has an… how can I put this… oozy complexion?”

“Oozy you say, hmm, yes, I think I know the one, religious group, with an oozy child, yes, absolutely.” the Merchant said matter-of-factly as his head bobbed up and down in an agreeable nod.

“That’s wonderful, could you tell me anything you know, when did you see them last, what direction they were traveling with, perhaps what the child in question looked like, a description of some sort?” Pigglebottom excitedly enquired.

“Well yes, yes of course, but unfortunately I’m in the money-making business, I don’t do things for free you know” the Merchant suggested whilst sleazily rubbing his hands together.

“Ah, I see, well, unfortunately, I don’t have much money to offer you, only a few gold coins in my pocket and I will need those once I get to Femidome…” Pigglebottom replied dejectedly.

“Well…” the Merchant’s eyes narrowed “there is something you could do for me… yes, just a little something.”

“Please name it” Pigglebottom was unsure he would want to do whatever was suggested, but if he didn’t find out what was required then he wouldn’t have gotten the information either way.

“I’ve been a traveling merchant for many years, from childhood I have traversed these lands of Kroydome, selling items and scraping by, just trying to make a living. It’s a lonely life, the life of a merchant.”

“I see,” said Pigglebottom, getting increasingly worried about what the request might be.

“Yes, indeed, a lonely life. It gets very, very lonely on the road, it’s a lonely life for one such as myself, you know. Do you know I’ve never once felt the warm embrace of another?” The merchant said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“The… embrace, of someone?” Pigglebottom questioned worriedly, “Perhaps it's because you walk around with just a coat and no other clothes on?”

“Indeed, an embrace” the merchant continued, seemingly ignoring Pigglebottom’s comment, “I would say a fair trade for your desired information would be an embrace. Simple as that, it’s all I require, just a simple embrace.”

“You’d like me to… hug you, is that what you’re saying?” Pigglebottom spoke as the sounds leaving his lips quivered with fear.

“Indeed, just a simple hug, that’s all, nothing to fear” a sly grin began to form on the Merchant’s lips.

“Well, I suppose… that would be OK if it’s just a simple hug.” Pigglebottom rationalized.

“Wonderful, come then” and with that, the Merchant flung open his cloak and pulled Pigglebottom towards him, “Put your arms around me now, come on, it has to be a proper one!” the Merchant whispered softly. 

Pigglebottom stretched his arms around the Merchant’s naked torso, closed his eyes, and tried not to think about what was pressing up against his beloved red poncho. 

The ‘embrace’ continued for what felt to Pigglebottom like an hour (but was actually 4 minutes and 32 seconds to precise), the Merchant tightened and loosened his grip around Pigglebottom’s shoulders alternately, until finally releasing Pigglebottom from his clutches and closing his cloak once more.

“Ah…” the Merchant sighed with relief, “that’s better, it can be a very lonely place out here you know.”

“Yes… I’m sure the loneliness can do very… very strange things to a man,” Pigglebottom muttered avoiding the Merchant’s gaze at all costs. “Now, about that information, the child, and the group, could you tell me some more?” Pigglebottom enquired.

“Of course, just let me gather my thoughts for a moment,” the Merchant said as he rustled through his pockets looking for something. 

Just as he was about to speak again, the Merchant whipped his arm towards the floor – BANG! A puff of smoke filled the area and Pigglebottom’s vision was now a haze of dust. 

After a few moments, the smoke began to clear, and as a gust of wind parted the swirling clouds before him, Pigglebottom could clearly see the Merchant running full pelt into the distance away from him. 

Pigglebottom sighed and continued wandering upstream.

“This is getting ridiculous,” he thought to himself. It would subsequently take Pigglebottom a few hours to realize that the few gold coins he had been saving in his pocket were now, unfortunately, gone.