Craig of the creek: From beyond the creek

A Trade From A Distant Place

"come on Craig, I don't think we are going to need that many defenses" spoke kelsey "besides, my sword should be enough to defeat any enemies" she said as she drew out her pipe sword and started swinging it, Craig however was too busy looking at his map for any parts of the creek that  needed more defenses, such as the meadow, time keeper tree, and the sewers, maybe even the- "hey, um Craig isn't that the kid from the other day ?" Craig looked up from his map, they were at the trading tree already, and it looked slightly emptier than usual, and at the table was none other than Will...

now Will had stumbled into this place by accident, running from a snake he thought he saw (he hated snakes, slithery scaly and deadly creatures, but not as much as geese, those feathery backstabbers) and ran into Kit (the trading tree's owner) so much for staying hidden, after following her to the trading tree, where he was struggling to find something to trade for tinfoil and cooking oil "how about these granite pebbles? these are hard to find" Spoke Will trying to convince Kit who looked unamused "I told you, I don't trade for rocks, however, the fishing rod looks like it could get you quite the trade" she pointed at Will's weapon "my fishing rod? sorry that isn't up for trades, you take geodes?" "what now?" asked kit intrigued "you know, rocks that have crystals inside? I think I had an amethyst one somewhere..." Will rummaged through his bag pulling out an assortment of things, ranging from hooks and extra string to extra clothes and swimming goggles, until he pulled out half of a small purple rock, in the inside were a lot of small purple crystals "there it is, I also got an ammonite shell, it ain't no Dino, but it is prehistoric" Kit took a close look at Will's geode to make sure it's real "well looks legit, I'll give you a bottle of oil for that" "and...?" "no, that's it, I got to make a profit too you know?" Will scoffed "come on, if I were to sell that at a pawn shop it would get me a bit more than just a bottle of oil don't you think ?" "well this ain't a pawn shop now is it ?" "well, this has to be the worst trade deal, maybe ever !... well except for the time Jeremy traded that small emerald for a chunk of grass and dirt with that one guy" Will chuckled "but seriously, why isn't it worth more ?" "it's small, and I'm pretty sure it's not real, how would you get a real amethyst ?" "Just give me the oil, and take this Fossil too, for the tinfoil" Will looked around while  Kit got the oil and the tinfoil, this Is where Will spotted Craig, Kelsey, and the orange kid, they walked up to him with a rather suspicious look, yet Will ignored it and decided to stay friendly "hey how are you .... uhm .... what were your names ?" Will asked while scratching his head "it's Craig" said a mildly annoyed Craig, he then pointed to Kelsey "this is Kelsey and Mortimer" Mortimer chirped when hearing his name, Craig then pointed to J.P. "and that's J.P" J.P. Waved "OK, I'm going to have to write those names down so I don't forget" Will chuckled a bit, to the un-amusement of Craig "regardless, I wanted to apologize for my friend's behavior yesterday, he got a little carried away thrashing your castle I'm sure I can help rebui-" "that isn't our castle though" interrupted Craig "oh, well, so no harm done ?" Craig shook his head, Will smiled "well then, are you guys hungry ? I'm going to make some papered fish fillet and was wondering if you guys would like some, you know, my way of thanks after yesterday" just as he said that kit turned around with the tinfoil and the cooking oil "there, you know, I think I got some ham I can discount for you if you want to have a barbeque" interrupted Kit "is it expired ?" asked Will "probably not" answered Kit "pass, last time I took a deal like that I had one mean case of food poisoning"  chuckled Will "you do you man, now move it I got more costumers" Will grabbed the goods from the cooler and stuffed them in his bag, after making sure it was closed he then turned towards Craig and his friends "you know, your creek is better than I thought" he spoke as he walked, Craig followed him "better ?"asked Craig, trying to figure out what Will meant "well, I thought it was going to be a desolate forest, with no one around, but I guess the water scrubbers in the machinot line have been doing their job, look at this place !" said Will while throwing his arms in the air "it's beautiful,it's covered in wildlife and it isn't dying, or gray in the slightest !" "wait water scrubbers? Dying ?" asked Craig now intrigued by Will "oh yeah, the wall between the Gulch and the Mill lands has water scrubbers to avoid any chemical gunk from seeping outside and causing more damage" Will explained "We call it the machinot line because it looks like one big machine circling around the Gulch, but really it is just one big water/air scrubber, unfortunately, it just keeps the fumes from leaving the industrial lane" Will pushed away a branch from his path, accidentally snapping it "but ever since the earthquake that put half the factories out of commission the air has been more, breathable you know, and I think the trees from firefly forest help too" "so the air is poisonous? then how can you be there all day ?" asked Craig, suspicious about what Will was saying, there's no way someone would willingly stay in a place like that ! right? "well, it's not exactly poisonous. It hasn't been in years really" Will moved a branch and there it was, his campsite, right next to the not so shallow puddle he had woken up in, his tent however was missing something,he had found almost all pieces, but he was still missing one, not a vital part, but it still kept him up at night, still he invited his guests to sit  on the rocks around the campfire as he pulled out something from his backpack,or rather two things a small rock, and a c shaped piece of metal, he struck the two things together, sending sparks into the campfire, lighting it, Will then sat back on the rock and began rooting around  his backpack "so how is it ?" asked Craig, Will looked up "how's what ?" answered Will "the place where you come from" spoke Craig  "yeah, we've never heard of it" added Kelsey "well, I don't find it surprising, you guys are pretty far away, if you lived closer to herkleton mills you would have probably seen the machinot line"  Will sighed "I suppose it's for the best, I mean look at this place! It's so peaceful and calm, you guys are really lucky you know?" Craig thought about this, a warm summer breeze rustled the canopy of pines above, letting the dimming light from the setting sun dance across the forest floor "how does your creek look then?" Asked J.P. innocently, snapping Will from his thoughts