Wonderful 7.

On Land...

Two days later. Early morning, and Tanim is sitting on the front porch of his house eating his breakfast of bread and a mix of fresh and dried fruit. The fisherman hasn't gone out with the village fleet this morning as he has some repair work to do on his nets.
He looks to his right and sees old Farnid sitting on the front porch of his house next door, it looks like the old fisherman has already had his breakfast, and he's doing repair work on his crab and cray pots.
After calling out good morning to his neighbour to the right, Tanim looks out over the bay the village is located in. Out to sea he sees the small islands in the distance that he and the other fishermen of the village set most of their nets, hoping they catch a good netting of white fish, as well as the silver skippers this area of the coast is known for. While crabbers like old Farnid, set their pots along the coast itself, sometimes here in the bay, but mostly just to the north and south of the village.
Tanim sees some of the youngsters line fishing down on the beach, they've wait until after the fleet has departed to set up their poles, which they'll take down when the boats start coming back in later in the morning.
The fisherman before he starts working on his nets for the day goes next door and has a chat with old Farnid, they're joined by two more of the villagers, Saldean and the goodwife Lisadíc, who is returning from Harmik the bakers.
They're just discussing how it's another clear, warm summer's day when they hear a couple of the children further south on the beach, call out something.
"What are those youngsters going on about?" says Tanim as he turns and looks south along the beach that runs along almost the entire length of the bay. It's old Farnid whose eyes are still incredibly sharp for someone who has fished the waters of the Great Western Ocean for nearly fifty years, who spots what the two children have seen.
"Boat there" says Farnid who continues with "Don't look like one of the fleet" he pauses for a moment before continuing with "Besides it's coming in from the south by the looks of it, not straight out from the islands" where the village's fishing fleet have gone.
"Think you're right" says Tanim who sees what Farnid has spotted, and sees a boat out on the open ocean to the south, approaching the bay. "Maybe from one of the villages south of here" quietly says Saldean who is a carpenter by trade, who settled here in the village a few years ago.
"Maybe" quietly says Tanim who knows that the villages to the south of them, are just as isolated as their own, and that the only time they really have contact with them, is if they stop by when they've got an over supply of fish, and they're wanting to sell their catch to those who live further north along the coast.
Or if they've been blown off course by a storm, and they've been swept this way, and they come into the bay looking for shelter.
The fisherman Tanim knows that either one is unlikely at this time, as they've had perfectly fine weather recently, infact for most of the summer. And that the towns and cities north of them, tend not buy the extra catch in the summer time, as their own, much larger fleets are at this busiest at this time of the year, supplying them with plenty of seafood.
"What's that?" asks old Farnid as he spots the sole occupant in the boat approaching the bay from the south, the old fisherman pauses for a moment, then he murmurs "Big 'un that's for sure" followed by a surprised "It's green!".
"A goblin?" asks the goodwife Lisadíc who living here in the village all her life, has hardly ever seen a goblin, as they're more likely to be found further to the north along the coast, in the towns and cities.
"Too big for a goblin, way bigger than any of the one's I've seen for sure" says Farnid, the old crab potter after a brief pause then adds "A troll perhaps" he along with Tanim and Lisadíc all look at Saldean.
The carpenter who is originally from a city to the north, slightly shrugs his shoulders and says "It could be" Saldean who saw a handful of trolls in the shipbuilding yards of his home city when he was growing up, continues with "Big enough for one i guess".
"Well whoever it is, they're doing a rat shit job of rowing that's for sure" says old Farnid, the three other villagers who live beside the sea, and know how to survive on it, and near it, nod their heads in agreement with the old fishermen. Though the occupant of the unidentified boat is moving it quickly through the water even with their poor boat handling skills in using the oars.
The children south along the beach run back to the village as the boat enters the bay propper, others in the village not out with the fishing fleet, are outside watching the boat coming into the shore too.
"Big alright" murmurs Tanim as they see how wide the shoulders and back of the individual in the boat, which they can tell is a ship launch of some kind, then the fisherman who aught to be fixing his nets, notices something else, and he says "That's an awful lot of weapons it's carrying".
The four villagers look at one another, as weapons aren't exactly abundant in their village. With the exception of spears for spear fishing, and a few bows that some of the villagers use for hunting when they go inland, and Tanim having his father's old sword up in the rafters of his house, there's no weapons to be found in the village.
They like the others who have come outside to see what's happening, watch the boat come right into the bay, and to the beach, and with powerful, though ragged strokes of the individual at the oars, the boat comes mostly out of the water and up onto the sand.
"By the gods" murmurs old Farnid as the occupant of the boat stands up and they can see how big it really is, then it turns around and they catch their first good sight of it.
"What in all that walks the lands is that thing?" asks a surprised Lisadíc, the goodwife makes a hand motion usually associated with protecting oneself against evil.
"That's no troll" says the carpenter Saldean, who continues with "At least not like one I've ever seen before" as the individual in the boat isn't as tall as any troll he saw in his youth. But it's considerably broader in comparison to the trolls working in the shipbuilding yards in his home city. And it's features are far more brutal looking, and savage than any troll Saldean saw when he was younger.
They watch as the big, green individual jumps off the boat, clearing the water to land on the sand. It takes a step, then stops and looks back at the boat, and even from here they hear it shout something in a language that is totally incomprehensible to them.
The individual who is easily seven and half feet tall, and must weigh in excess of seven hundred pounds, goes to take a step towards the boat, then it hops back quickly as another gently lapping wave comes in.
It does this a few times, as though it doesn't want to get wet, all the while it shouts and growls in the language that's completely foreign to the inhabitants of the fishing village.
After it kicks at the sand a few times, in what is obviously a temper tantrum, they watch the large green creature take a hooked spear from across it's back, and reach out to the boat with it, which it hooks in the prow.
They watch in amazement as after it chuckles, they see it haul the boat out of the water and up the sand with ease, a boat that the villagers know would take at least four or five men to haul it out of the water.
From the boat they see it take a sword, which it briefly hesitated grabbing from where it was in the stern of what looks like to be a ship's launch. Then it takes something else from in the boat.
"Is that a shark?" asks Tanim as they see it's holding what appears to be the carcass of a shark that's easily ten feet in length. And in carcass, it's not really that, as it's only the ruins of a sharks head, and the entire length of it's back bone, by which the large, green individual is holding it.
Then the new arrival on the beach looks at the boat and kicks it few times in disgust, quickly turning the front of it into kindling, then with ease it grabs the boat and flips it over, and angrily kicks it a few more times.
Then it starts walking north along the sand towards the village propper. The two children who first spotted the boat approaching the bay, hurry by Tanim, Farnid, Lisadíc and Harmik where they stand infront of old Farnid's house. One of the children can be heard saying "It's a monster, it has to be" as they run by.
The four villagers all glance at one another, partly in fear, and partly to reassure themselves as the large green individual walks their way, and when it gets closer, old Farnid murmurs "What stinks?".
It stops about a dozen paces from them out on the sand, and with the remains of what's obviously a rather dangerous blue tip shark it's holding in one of it's hands, it turns and looks at them and says something.
They're relieved it speaks in the common language, though it speaks with a thick accent, and it's voice is deep and growling, that it's nearly impossible to understand.
It doesn't help that nearly every second or third word it speaks is a swear word if they're understanding it correctly.
Tanim who believes it just said "Foods and booze" followed by what he thinks it said "A tavern, or a inn" though there was a lot of fucks, fucking, and other swear words he's never heard of before interspersed amongst what it said. Points to Harmik's house as the village doesn't have a tavern, though the bakers place acts like one for visitors and locals alike.
The big, green individual then says "Foods, lots of it, only meats, cheese and breads, no veggies!" it follows that with "And booze, all you got".
Once more every second word it says is a swear word, which even for fisher folk, who often swear themselves, comes as a bit of shock.
It then biffs a coin pouch that lands on the verge of where the grass meets the sand infront of old Farnid's house, the large green individual then heads to a nearby tree, there it sits down in the shade beneath it's branches.
With the villagers looking on, it yells at them to hurry up and get what it wants. Tanim, and the other three villagers with him all glance at one another after looking at the new arrival siting in the shade of the nearby tree.
"That's the second strange appearance in less than a week" quietly says Tanim to Farnid, Lisadíc and Saldean, who all nod in agreement with what the fisherman just said . . . . . .