"What are you going to do while we go to Talma?" Honor asked, already trying to guess just how far south this town was. Hopefully, they could get this level five to help them. That was, if they could find them first, and convince them to at least talk and come out of its avoidance of people. Now they just had to figure out what Ernie was going to do before the group could split up and get on the road to finding these level fives once again.
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Ernie glanced at the deserted fields all around them. "I'll probably lay low out here until Goldenrod calms down or I get too hungry to think straight, whichever comes first. I'll be fine, I do this a lot. Maybe eventually I'll come find Talma too, but not yet. I'd like to explore farther north first, at least a bit." He gave Honor his friendly yet sad smile. "Good luck finding the level five and staying safe. It was really nice to meet you guys–I hope we run into each other again someday."
She nodded, exchanging a tiny smile, "It was nice to meet you to Ernie, I hope you see some amazing sights up north and aren't caught by Goldenrod. I hope we can meet up again before we get you guys home, at least to say goodbye again." Honor was clearly a little sad to see him go, though she tried not to let it show.
Ernie returned the nod warmly. "If you do find a way to leave Earth, just ask Oscar to call me before you leave, okay? Then maybe I can go with you and we won't have to say goodbye at all." Taking a few steps back, he reluctantly turned and started walking off along the side of the gravel road. "But for now….see you, Honor. And you, Oscar."
Oscar watched him go in grudging silence. He still held on to is natural distrust of the level four, but even he had to admit that Ernie had been nothing but nice and helpful during his time with them. Considering it was this first time he'd encountered another Erased One on Earth, things could have gone a lot worse.
"Goodbye Ernie," Honor called, waving to him and watching him go with a small smile. She didn't move from her spot in the bed of the truck until he was out of sight, sighing before turning to Oscar and motioning to the cab of the truck, "Well, should we get on the road to Talma? We have to get more food as well, so pit stop at a grocery store on the way is what I'm suggesting."
Oscar nodded, straightening. "Sure." He clambered out of the truck bed and hopped to the ground, stretching. "Will it really be safe to visit a grocery store with Goldenrod looking for us?" He knew they didn't have much choice either way, especially since he was still very hungry, but the thought of running into the sinister agency again so soon made him lose his appetite somewhat.
(btw, I've been thinking about the future plot, and I have a bit of an idea, but it involves them getting temporarily caught by Goldenrod before they reach Talma. Not right away, maybe in the next in-game day or so. That all right with you?)
(Sure that sounds fun!)
She shrugged at his question, slipping off of the truck bed and tucking everything back up neatly before putting up the tailgate, "I'm not really sure if it'll be safe, but since I was invisible when I broke their light, I think it'll be safe for me to go in and get stuff." Honor pulled the keys out of her pocket and sighed, stretching as she headed for the driver's side, "All I know right now is that I'm hungry, so even if we just end up at a drive-thru, we have to get food."
Oscar nodded—she was right, of course. "If you want to take turns driving, by the way, just let me know. I kind of enjoy it, and you still look a bit tired."
"I'll take you up on that offer as soon as we reach food." Honor slipped into the driver's seat and smiled over at Oscar. She hummed softly as the truck rumbled to life, thankful that it still worked. Now it was time to get back on the road towards a town she had honestly never heard of in her life. Hopefully, Ernie had been right though and there would be a level five around there somewhere for them to talk to.
As they drove, the sun rose completely, quickly heating up the fields and evaporating last night's dew. Oscar rolled down the truck window to get some fresh air, frowning when a stray grasshopper smacked him in the face. "Is it possible to eat grasshoppers? I don't see much use for them otherwise."
She laughed at Oscar's question, then just shrugged in response, "It is possible to eat them, some people do. There really isn't a purpose for them, they're just food for animals really, and they make interesting chirping noises at night." Honor kept her eyes open for any sign of a town as she drove, unsure of exactly where they were. Hopefully finding a town would help her figure out how to get to Talma from wherever they were.
(Sorry, had to work this afternoon)
So far the horizon was completely empty–Ernie must have really dropped them in the middle of nowhere. But the road ahead seemed to lead to a river lined with trees, and where there was water, there was usually people.
"I'll have to try eating one sometime," Oscar was saying, intrigued. "How do you eat them? Can you eat them raw? What do they taste like?"
"I'm not sure about the answer to any of those questions," Honor admitted, continuing on the road towards the trees that she assumed would lead them towards a town. The drive was boring, but she didn't mind it, still thinking over where Talma could be and how long it would take the pair of them to both get there and convince the level five to help them.
(OH NO I thought I replied to this ages ago, I'm really sorry fam!!)
"I'll have to find out for myself," Oscar decided, and stuck his hand out the window, patiently waiting for a grasshopper to leap into his palm. "If I catch a lot, do you want one too?" he asked with unquenchable optimism.
(It's cool bro! Sorry my response is short btw!)
She laughed happily and shook her head, politely declining, "No thanks, I'll pass." The road was definitely not the smoothest ride, but Honor tried her best to keep the ride smooth so that Oscar could try to catch grasshoppers.
(No worries xD)
Oscar quickly discovered that the task wouldn't be as easy as he'd first thought. Even though the insects continued to fly up in great abundance as they passed, they seemed to have no trouble dodging Oscar's attempts to grab them. He pursed his lips in frustration and kept trying, with no luck. Finally, he glanced over to make sure Honor wasn't paying attention, then quickly narrowed his eyes until they were completely black.
"I caught one!" he exclaimed a second later, and brought his hand back inside to show Honor the grasshopper he'd snagged out of the air. "Wow, it's bigger than I thought. You sure you don't want to try some?"
(I love that Oscar checks that Honor isn't looking lol reminds me of when a kid checks that an adult isn't around before doing something they're not supposed to XD)
"Nice job! I'll have to pass again though," She replied, smiling and sparing a glance at the creature in Oscar's hand, "One thing though, please don't let that thing loose in the truck if you decide not to eat it. Make sure you toss it back outside." Honor hummed as she drove, keeping her focus on the road as she waited to see his reaction to eating a grasshopper.
(lol yeah he's still got a mischievous streak >w<)
"I'm going to eat it," Oscar announced, and popped it in his mouth. Less than a minute later, his face screwed up with disgust and he scrambled to spit the bug back out the window. "Agh, it tastes horrible!" His eyes were watering by the time he faced forward again, and he lapsed into a coughing fit. "Ew. Ew ew ew. Do we have any water up front with us?"
Honor couldn't help but laugh at Oscar's reaction to the bug, pointing quickly to the single bottle sitting between them on the counsel of the truck. "Not a fan?" She asked, or tried to between laughing and trying to focus on driving. From childhood experience, she knew grasshoppers tasted nasty, but it was funny to watch someone else find that out.
"I am not a fan." Oscar wasn't quite sure what the phrase meant in this context, but he could still confidently say that he was not an electric fan. He snatched the water and quickly took a drink, trying to get the horribly sour taste out of his mouth. "No more grasshoppers. Oh…. I see a sign up ahead."
Sure enough, as they reached the river, they also came to a place where the road a split into a T. To the right was another set of fields, and to the left was a slightly wider road with a sign next to it, indicating that they were close to a highway and a town called Freeson. Oscar stared around curiously, trying to take his mind off his recent snack. "Which way should we go?"
"I'm thinking we head towards wherever Freeson is?" She suggested, already flicking her turn signal on and only waiting a minute to see if Oscar was going to object. Driving down more boring roads didn't sound fun at all, and she would much rather get onto a highway or at least head towards a town. Honor drummed her fingers on the wheel and hummed softly, already planning to ask if Oscar wanted to switch to driving when they reached the town.
"Okay," Oscar agreed. "I guess there's probably food in Freeson. Plus Ernie said to head southwest, right? I think the town's closer to the right direction than if we turned the other way."
Honor nodded, turning on the radio as she turned onto the wider road, looking for the highway as she started to sing along to the country song that played through the truck. Heading towards the level five as quickly as possible sounded like a plan, even if they had to stop for food. The only thing that worried her at this point was Goldenrod and if they were going to be followed.
Oscar quickly began to sing along with her, doing his best to learn the lyrics and melody on the fly. Music was something he found increasingly enjoyable as time went on. He decided to try and learn as many songs as he could, so that he could sing even when the radio wasn't on.
As they followed the road, it slowly curved to run alongside the river until after a few miles it reached a dusty highway. Only now did they start to encounter other people, and that was still limited to a few cars passing by now and then. Another sign told them that Freeson wasn't far and that, at the very least, it had gas and a restaurant or two. Oscar hoped Freeson was very far from whatever town they'd met Ernie in.
Her fingers drummed against the side of the steering wheel as she sang, a faint smile on her face. It was actually a nice drive, even with the worry of Goldenrod in the back of her mind. The small number of cars made it even better, giving enough traffic to show that they were heading towards something but not too many cars that she had to deal with slow-moving traffic. "I'm quite ready to eat something," Honor said when she saw the sign that displayed what there was to eat in the town, "Especially if we get to eat some restaurant food that I don't have to make."
"I read about restaurants," Oscar remarked. "I read a story about a restaurant that was a front for something called a cartel, and all the servers carried guns and the detective had to hide in the walk-in freezer and he almost died but one of the lady servers rescued him and then kissed him for some reason and then they ran off together. I hope we're not going to one of those restaurants."
Honor laughed and shrugged, "As far as I know that's something that only happens in books and movies but who knows, maybe our restaurant will be like that. Either way, I don't think that'll happen to us." She saw the exit for Freeson and turned onto it as they talked, a smile on her face.
Oscar looked relieved. "Good. As long as it has food, I don't really care, but it would be nice if something was easy for once. Also, do I have to know how to speak French to order my food? I can learn, I think, but it'll take me a little while."
Her eyes held a spark of amusement as she laughed, shaking her head again, “No, you don’t have to order in French. If we did then I would be going hungry. I don’t know a lick of French.” Honor looked around as they entered Freeson, looking for the restaurants that were advertised on the sign next to the highway.
After a minute, a row of diners, motels, and convenience stores came into view. It wasn't much, but most places were open for business and decently reputable-looking. Oscar gazed out the car window at the different signs, trying to figure out what kind of food they offered. "I'll go to whatever one you like, I guess."