Episode 12: Digging for Food

***Alastair***

In the end, Alastair got to sleep in his tree with his puppy in peace. That was all he could ask for.

He was hungry now though. He was going to have to raid another trash can.

Where could he find a trash can with no one paying attention to it? People wouldn't find it weird to see Honey eating from one, but if they saw him, they might think him crazy or call the police.

Thankfully, Alastair didn't have to walk too far to find an unguarded trash can next to an unattended stall. The closest people were over by a large white tent, busy with a boatload of customers.

He ran toward the can and checked what could be salvaged.

'Put me down,' Honey barked as Star pulled out an apple core. 'I wanna help find our food.'

"Alright." Alastair sighed as he took her out of his coat. "Be careful with your owie."

She wagged her tail. 'I will.'

Alastair smiled. "Now, let's see what we can find," he whispered. He threw the core he found back inside the trash.

Star pulled out a half aluminum-covered lasagna. He scrunched his nose. The boy and his puppy couldn't eat funky pasta either.

Honey's tail swung left and right. "Did you find something good, girl?" Alastair asked, as he leaned forward. His eyes lit up at the small, misshapen loaf bread in her mouth.

Alastair patted her head before taking it from her. "Good girl, Honey!"

Good thing it was still soft. Whoever threw it must've made it recently. Otherwise, Alastair wouldn't have been able to split it with his wrist like it was. He was only able to get one nibble out of it, though. The loaf had to have been tossed due to having been crushed.

He giggled as Honey started nibbling on her half. She reminded him of a chipmunk.

"Ahem!" It was a female voice.

Alastair jumped, dropping the bread on the floor. He turned around and saw a woman in a blue pantsuit and pink coat staring at him.

Where had she come from? He looked around as he tried to think of where to run to. Why couldn't anyone let him and Honey enjoy their spoils in peace?

He reached his hands into the trash can but was shocked to pull out only garbage. Where had Honey gone?

"Aww, what a cute puppy," the woman said, chuckling. She held the golden retriever in one arm while feeding her some bread balls with the other.

'Yummy!' Honey barked, wagging her tail as she finished them. 'You must be the one who made that bread.'

Star gritted his teeth. Honey...

Alastair sighed. He couldn't just leave Honey with her. Not when he promised to care for his puppy.

The woman smiled at him. "Would you like some too?"

He turned away. His focus continued to be on the puppy in her arm. How would he get Honey out of her grip?

"Is that a no?" She cradled Honey as if she were an infant. "Thought you might be hungry since your puppy and you were digging up my trash can."

Alastair's stomach growled.

The woman smiled and stepped forward. She dug into her brown purse and pulled out a plastic bag filled with the same bread balls she had given Honey.

"Seems like your stomach answered for you. Oh right, I'm Isa. I'm the owner of this booth, the Round Table," she said.

Star blinked. Round table? That sounded like something out the Camelot mythos books that Chandler used to read him and his brothers.

"Can you tell me your name, dear?"

Electricity pooled in Alastair's cheeks as he begrudgingly took the bag of bread. "I-It's-" He stopped himself. If he told her his real name, there was a chance she would find out who he was. With the police looking for him, he couldn't do that. "It's Collin."

"Collin, that's an interesting name. I don't think I've ever met someone called that before."

"T-that so?" he asked, forcing a smile. If he could get her to lower her guard, perhaps he could sneak Honey out.

She tapped her head. "Well, that I can recall. Say, how about I make you something nicer than bread balls?"

He turned his head. "No money..."

Her eyes went to his wrists. "Yeah, seems like you don't even have a terminal."

"A terminal?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't know what it is?"

He gulped. Had he dug himself into a bigger hole? If only he could grab Honey, then he could run away.

She switched Honey to her other arm and held up her right wrist. On it was a navy smartwatch-looking device.

"A smartwatch?"

Isa laughed. "No. Those are ancient. These are terminals." Her smile gradually vanished. "You know, most kids these days don't know about smartwatches." She stepped forward, causing Star to gulp. "Relax, I won't hurt you. I'm used to meeting weird guys from other worlds."

Star gasped and jumped back. "H-how do you-?" He cut himself off as he remembered there were others nearby.

The woman gave him a slight smile and turned around. "Come, follow me." She waved at the cooks by the stall whose trash can Star had raided.

"A-are all of those your workers?"

She nodded. "Yes. They work for me at my restaurant."

Star stopped and watched as she went into a tent full of people.

"Wish that there was a quiet place around here to talk, but the whole town is busy thanks to the festival."

He leered at her. Could the woman have been a Gatekeeper like Ame?

Isa walked over to an empty table and pulled up a chair. "Sit and take a look at the menu." She winked at him. "I'll let you pick whatever item on the list you want."

Star stared at the menu on the table. The steak on the cover was enough to make his mouth drool. He couldn't imagine what other wonders were inside.

"My friend helped me take them," Isa said as she sat down on the opposite chair. "They came out a lot better than expected. Hard to believe that a guy who a few years ago had no idea what a camera was could have taken them."

He smiled as he thought about Betty. She probably wouldn't have minded meeting Isa's friend. Betty was always trying to learn new photography techniques. And while she did know how to photoshop, she wasn't exactly fond of it. She would tell him that photoshopped images lacked the splendor of completely authentic images.

Del would often call her an 'old soul' because of it. Not that Betty minded. From her style to her cameras, everything about her was unapologetically traditional.

Honey barked as she stared at the menu. 'I want that!'

Alastair pointed at the front cover. Honey wagged her tail as if to say yes.

He smiled. "Steak," he said, tapping the menu.

"Good choice. Arthur helped me come up with that dish. He went off hunting for wild cows."

Star blinked. Wild cows? They didn't domesticate them in their world?

Isa raised her arm, calling a waiter over to their table. "Maurice, I'll like one large steak and one tiny steak. One for the boy and the other for his puppy."

Honey barked happily and licked her arm.

The woman laughed. "Stop that, dear, it tickles."

Alastair smiled. Something about her reminded him of Hannah. How he missed her, Betty, and the others. Hopefully, he could finish his mission soon. He sighed. Why did that oaf have to hurt him? If not for him, he wouldn't have gotten sidetracked, and he wouldn't have hurt Wilhelmina and her friend.

It didn't take much time for Maurice to return with the steaks. It made Alastair ponder just how good it actually was. Whenever his family had cookouts, Del would let the meat sizzle for a good time. He said it brought out its flavor.

It did smell good, though. It had a good amount of juice too. Could the speed it was made in have had something to do with Nachima's technology? If so, he would've liked one of their grills. He hated waiting for the meat to be done back home.

Isa smiled when Maurice set the larger steak on the table. "Here you go, your steaks. Enjoy," the brown-haired young man said with a slight smile. He stared at the salivating Honey and patted her head. "You too, little one."

Alastair smiled. The guy seemed as nice as his employer.

He gasped as he saw Isa cutting up his steak. Electricity pooled in his cheeks. "W-wait! I can do it myself..."

She smiled at him. "Cutting meat with one good hand is extremely difficult. Even with two, it can be hard at times." Her smile faded somewhat. "So, please, allow me to continue cutting it. I would hate to see you get more hurt than you already are."

Vi probably would've told her brother something similar. She got mad at him a lot, but she didn't like when En's leg was broken. She also played a lot of red light, green light with Alastair and Noah.

Alastair sighed. "Alright..."

"It'll be worth it. I promise."

Honey sighed contentedly as she gnawed on the steak bone.

"What a good puppy." Isa patted her head. "Enjoy your steak, alright, Collin?"

Alastair's hand shook as he picked up the piece of steak. 'Oh, come on! It's not like they're both broken!' Alastair thought.

"It's fine if you don't want me to feed you. At least let me help you keep it stable." She gazed into his eyes. "You're starving. That's why your hand is shaking."

Could he really be that hungry? Wouldn't he have noticed?

With each bite, Alastair slowly began to feel better.

Isa smiled. "Is there anything else you'd like?"

The boy shook his head. He couldn't afford to be greedy right now.

A man with black hair came up to them. "Hey, Isa. Who's the kid?"

"I'm not sure. He tried to raid my trash earlier."

Honey whined. 'I wanna go back in your jacket. It's cold...'

Isa smiled as she put the puppy back in Alastair's jacket.

The man from the convenience store sighed. "You sure do like puppies."

Alastair went stiff. The man from the convenience store was pushing Wilhelmina's friend in a wheelchair. The boy dripped with sweat. Just how badly did Alastair hurt him?

Alastair had to get away. He couldn't hurt him again.

That was when the boy jumped and bolted out of the tent. He used the metal in his sling to fashion a shield and to clear a path for himself.

"Sorry, Isa!" the black-haired man said. "We'll talk later!"

Why was this guy chasing Alastair? Why did he care to? Shouldn't it be the convenience store man? He was with Wilhelmina's friend.

Alastair just kept running. It was the only thing he could do to keep himself safe.

Before he knew it, the black-haired man had grabbed his collar. "Please stop running. I just want to talk."

Why should Alastair believe him? Wilhelmina's friend didn't seem to care that Alastair or Honey were hurt.

Alastair stumbled when the man let go.

Alastair made a frightened noise. His cheeks sparked. 'Don't touch me!'

"I don't want to hurt you. You can simmer down," he said.

Alastair used that opening to run off again.

That was when he bumped into Cy and fell back.

"What are you doing?" Ame scooped Alastair up like one would an infant. "You can't fight that guy in your condition!"

Alastair squirmed. "Put me down!"

"Stop struggling!" She sighed in exasperation. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

"Why should I care?" he shouted.

Cy said, "You don't want to get hurt. It's not fun being stuck in bed."

Ame rolled her eyes before using her magic to put the boy to sleep. It was the only way to keep him safe.