Mae's good mood carried her all the way back to the guttered remains of Infactorium, with the procession of Maneaters behind her sharing the general cheer for the most part. Though in the end their shared mission had been a minor assignment that necessitated neither a lot of skill or hard work, they relished a job well done, particularly one outside the rather limited wheelhouse of cooking; chance for the monstrous chefs to be anything other than food generators did not come every day. Besides, the task came directly from Faetalis herself, which made its completion both important and gratifying by default. 

Of course, Mae's crew not alone in their trek. Gammaton accompanied the staff of the Gorging Trough on their way back, the captive Szilard kept close at hand, but their attention mostly centered on the scarecrow of a woman slung over Mae's shoulder. Rib, the unofficial second-in-command of the bunch with the sous chef Head otherwise occupied, took it upon herself to attend to Riny as she followed her boss back to base. "I'm sure this whole ordeal has been terribly confusing," the stolid chef was saying. "It might be best to put that whole thing behind you, as best you can. Luckily it looks like you didn't suffer a breakdown and go insane or anything. That's good, since otherwise you wouldn't be good for much. As it stands, you're going to be a guest at our restaurant, the fabulous Gorging Trough!"

Mae gave a guttural chuckle as she continued to stomp forward. "That's if Lady Faetalis ain't got other plans for ya. Couldn't keep ya if she did. Our place's seen better days, but I think ya gotta make do. Now that ya seen behind the curtain, we can't exactly letcha run away."

"Certainly," Rib nodded, her face serious. "Now that we have a captive, we have a duty to protect the knowledge of our guild's existence, and we cannot fail."

As she spoke Roast sauntered up beside her, her eyes bright as ever. "Dude, isn't this exciting? First we rout our enemies, and now we've got a freakin' captive!" She pounded one fist into the palm of her other hand. "We're finally living up to the guild's reputation!"

Behind the two, Tender ran her fingers through her hair anxiously. "Um...excuse me? If we're...you know, actually working on behalf of the guild, shouldn't we be more...well, monstrous? Cruel?" Pitch-black eyes with white sclera peered through her veil of hair at Riny. "Like at the camp."

Mae scratched at her chins thoughtfully with her free hand. "Huh...well, ya gotta point. But at the end o' the day, that's just actin', not the way we are. Not the way Lord Sugi made us. Maybe he thought we'd never go out 'n in'eract with enemies." She shrugged, causing Riny to flop up and down. "Maybe we oughta take lessons or somethin'. Whatcha think, human?"

Although incredibly overwhelmed by just about everything she'd heard and witnessed tonight, especially after the 'attack' ended, the huntress got a chance to settle down a little during the journey up the mountain. Being held captive by a group of heteromorphs working together was about as bad as it could get for an adventurer, but these monsters seemed oddly personable, earnest even. Though nightmarish in form they acted strangely normal, human even. The gears in Riny's head spun quickly. Maybe she could turn this to her advantage. If she could remain under the charge of these bizarre chefs and not anyone more nightmarish, she might be able to survive long enough to escape. [i]Just try and get on their good sides, without seeming too obvious,[/i] she thought. [i]Really starting to wish I spent more time with people now, rather than alone in the wilderness.[/i] Riny took a deep breath. "W-well. This wasn't really what I expected. At all. But, since you asked what I think, uh, I think you're just fine the way you are. It makes you unique." Her voice got more confident as an idea came to mind. "Plus, this Lord Sugi of yours must have made you this way for a reason. So, this is how he wanted you to be." She did her best to look reassuring. "Yourselves!"

"Hmm!" Mae rumbled. "That's a darn good way to look at it! No way a Supreme Bein' woulda just made us like this for no reason!" She gave a guttural laugh. "You ain't half bad, human. See, girls? We're already gettin' use from a fresh perspective!"

A couple minutes later the group arrived back at the Gorging Trough, where Head awaited them with his usual professional patience. As she approached Mae noticed the clipboard in his hand. "Enjoy yourselves?" her sous-chef deadpanned, eyes flickering over what he could see of Riny. "Ah, I see we have company. I'm afraid I do not have a room prepared at the moment--or a room at all, for that matter. On the other hand, I do have a report drafted that concerns Gammaton's menagerie and your proposed ranching efforts. After consulting the bestiary we have an idea of what creatures can provide meat, eggs, and so forth, as well as how we can house them. I must warn you that both the resource and labor demand is rather steep given the creatures' exotic nature."

Mae groaned. "Ugh, what else is new. Well, we ain't got a restaurant 'til we got supplies. Guess we'll focus on ranchin' for now 'n leave the Trough as it is, much as it hurts."

Head gave a solemn nod. "My apologies for heaping more on your plate, ma'am, but we must also consider conventional ingredients, especially while the kitchen isn't operational. Vegetables, wheat for flour, eggs, standard meats. We would need allocate our personnel to hunting, gathering, and farming. Or, since it seems there are humans around here, it may be possible to establish a front for trading with them, so we can get supplies that way. Of course, everything would need the approval of Lady Faetalis."

If Mae had temples she would have been rubbing them, but she settled for rubbing at the base of her neck instead. "Oof...stuck up the creek without a paddle, huh. Our people don't got the skills for any o' that crap. We'd be startin' from scratch. I gotta lot to think about. Anyway, thanks, Head. Great work as usual."

"Merely doing my duty, ma'am," Head allowed himself a thin smile as he bowed.

Mae pulled Riny from her shoulder and set her down right in the middle of the crowd of Maneaters, then plopped down by her cookfire. "Guh. Rib, mind findin' the boss and givin' a report? Tell 'er we drove the humans off no sweat but got two captives. I bet Gammaton's already got ate, but we wanna get this one's help." Her focus shifted to Riny as the headless horror began to pull from her meager ingredient pile and start work on a stew. "We can chat while I'm cookin'. What's your name, first off?"

Though stiff with apprehension, Riny realized she was supposed to take a seat, and sat opposite Mae by the fire. The remaining Maneaters followed suit, taking a chance to rest. "...Riny. Riny Verloren."

"Well, hello then, Riny." A hunk of salted beef splashed into the pubbling pot, followed by spices and minced carrots. "I know we prolly got off on the wrong foot, but I think this could be the start o' somethin' beautiful for both of us. As long as you're helpful, I bet the boss won't mind me treatin' ya like a guest. Hell, do right by the Guild 'n we could send ya off a whole lot better 'n ya came in. It all starts with a li'l give 'n take." In record time she finished her recipe. Mae filled a bowl full her steaming, tantalizingly aromatic stew and offered to the huntress. "Right now, I'm interested in knowin' the lay of the land. Towns an' farms an' such, anyone we might be able to trade with. Ya might be thinkin' I just wanna stomp over 'n kill 'em all, but I ain't some bloodthirsty warlord, Riny. I'm a chef, and I know the value o' renewable resources. Wanna spill the beans?"

Riny gulped, her eyes shifting between Mae and the Maneaters all around her. Mannerisms and human forms aside, these were all still monsters against whom the hunters and militia of the average village would stand no chance. Slaughter and destruction surely awaited any who fell afoul of them--herself included. As it stood, however, Riny felt no excess of love for her fellow man. She had neither friends nor family, just a lonesome existence spent sustaining herself day to day. People saw no value in her other than as a wife and mother, and ever since she forsook that path, pretty much nobody cared about her. She wasn't about to die for them. Gingerly the huntress reached out and took the bowl in hand. "Yeah. I'll tell you everything I know."