The weeks and months flew by quickly, but not as quickly as before. The children always kept Skellington on his toes, be it with their constant bickering, or their incessant questions. Why is the sky blue? Are there pink mice? Skellington did not know how to answer questions like those. He was forced to adapt on the fly and learn how to do various things he had no clue about before, starting with food and proper shelter. From studying the animals for many centuries, he had learned roughly which berries and mushrooms were edible; however, applying that knowledge to humans was a whole other problem. A certain mushroom that the deer ate just fine ended up making the children terribly sick. Another problem was the taste. The children were used to eating food with salt and seasoning, herbs in every soup and roast, so when they refused to eat certain foods because of the taste, much unlike the wild animals in the forest, Skellington didn’t know what to think. Taste? That was a concept entirely foreign for him. However, to learn about the children, and to find some peace for contemplation, he figured out how to find wild herbs. Salt was out of the question, but with the addition of wild garlic, the boiled mushrooms became palatable enough on an empty stomach.
As winter came, they were faced with multiple problems on all fronts, from the lack of food to the biting cold. Skellington began to realize why winter was so tough for animals when the children nearly froze to death. Miraculously, through sheer grit and trial and error, they survived. Skellington barricaded the windows to keep the cold air out. He constructed a makeshift hearth out of various loose stones around the cabin, borrowing some from the foundation of the house. Unsurprisingly, without a proper chimney, the smoke was a problem, but not as much as the fact the whole thing was as stable as a horse on ice. After a couple more times getting close to freezing to death, Greta and Skellington managed to get it stable enough to take them through the winter. As for the food, Skellington learned to lay traps, which was actually quite easy for him after seeing traps laid by hunters hundreds of times in the past. For the biting cold, they were blessed by Skellington coming across an abandoned camp east of their cabin by late autumn, where the hunters had left their bedrolls and other equipment. Perhaps they were still coming back, or perhaps they were attacked by goblins? Whatever it was, it was their problem now, and their sacrifice allowed the children to survive the winter. It wasn’t fun by any means, but they made it. They survived by eating rabbits and birds, some berries and seeds too. Skellington had to carve toys for the boys, and began entertaining them with stories. He wasn’t the best at coming up with anything new, but that didn’t matter, for the children’s favourite story was always his own.
The World Stones 