[13+] Taezan & the Mice [Kim Taehyung] Christmas 2022

December 14th

The mice scattered in all directions in search of food, and soon Taezan found himself the only one not moving. He knew he didn't have anything edible, so there was no use looking through his things, and it would be weird to help someone go through their personal stash.

Wondering what to do, he looked around, spotting Sado in the masses. The chef was walking towards the kitchen, seemingly unbothered by the chaos around him.

Making a quick decision, Taezan followed him, almost colliding with a few panicked mice before catching up. "How are you so calm? Aren't you scared?"

"Of course I'm scared." Sado admitted, keeping the same pace. "But there's no use in stressing; it's not like we're gonna find more food if we run around like headless chickens."

"Headless chickens?" Taezan blinked, how would something headless be able to run? Wouldn't it be dead? Putting his confusion aside, he drew a breath to calm himself, before looking up at Sado. "How can I help?"

"You don't have any food to collect?"

Taezan shook his head.

"Then you can help me in the kitchen. I imagine Shay will need some help sorting through it all once everyone deposits their rations."

Nodding, Taezan smiled. That was something he could do. Confidence grew in his chest, his body feeling lighter as he walked next to Sado.

Taezan would not be a chicken - headless or not.

And so they got started: first cleaning the shiny surface that normally displayed Sado's creation of the day, then bringing everything edible in, and putting it in piles.

It had all seemed so easy as they started, but as one thing after another was given to him, Taezan just got more and more confused. He didn't know what most of the things were, so putting them in their right piles was close to impossible.

"You're useless." Shay sighed as they for the nth time moved the rifled and thin piece from one pile to another. "Does this look like it's meat?"

"Oh, ehm, no?" Taezan tried as he looked at what Shay had told him the name of, but that he could not remember. "It's a dissolvable one?"

Shaking their head, Shay ignored him, grabbing the next item - a berry - and putting it in one of the piles.

Intending to copy the mouse, Taezan was about to grab a similar berry, but their sorting was interrupted by a head poking inside.

"Sado?" Kaya asked, her fur standing to all sides as if she had been close to a wind turbine. "Can I- Oh, hi."

"Hi." Taezan greeted, relieved to be taken away from the complicated work. "Sado is going through his things."

"Hmm.." Dragging on her words, Kaya bit her lip in thought. "Well, I guess you could help me instead."

"Me?" Excited to be of some actual help, Taezan straightened his back; ready for duty. "What do you need?"

"Follow me."

Kaya was already walking, and Taezan had to jog so as not to be left behind. They walked past the town square, and just as Taezan thought they were going outside, Kaya suddenly turned and headed down a path.

"Where are we-" His mouth fell open as they turned a corner, and a wall of metal containers came into sight. At first, he thought it might be aluminum, but he soon recognized it as the same material as the bin at the beast's house. Gulping, Taezan couldn't help but worry that the two might be related. "Is this safe?"

"Why wouldn't it be safe?" Kaya looked between the containers and Taezan. "You don't like canned foods?"

"Canned food?" Hope sparked in Taezan. If this was food, then the winter surely would be survivable. "Food in cans? We're saved!"

"We might be..." Kaya sighed. "We just need to find a way to open them... A can opener would be the best, but we might be able to open them with a big enough knife."

"What's a can opener?" Taezan blinked. "And where can we find one?"

"It's this scissor-looking device with these metal butterfly wings." Kaya drew in the air with her hands. "You put it on the top of the can, push it down to pierce the metal, and then you turn the wings so that it moves along the rim until the can is open." Putting a paw to her cheek, she seemed deep in thought. "We should ask the gatherers to be on the lookout for one of those."

Scissor-looking. Twisty-thingy. A sharp piece of metal.

"I have one of those!"

"What? Really!?" Kaya looked surprised as she arched a brow. "Are you sure?"

"Well, no." Taezan admitted. He had never seen a 'can opener' before, so he couldn't be 100% certain. "You can see for yourself?"

"It's here?" Kaya grinned, already looking left and right. "What are you waiting for? Show me!"