121 Phase 105: All together now

{Him and that May! He's spending all night with her, every night, going through dungeons together and everything… and Colin keeps going on and on about that GIRL!}

Katrin fumed as she climbed out of that tunnel she'd sheltered in, and was a bit startled to see that there was a roof of ice slanted right over it. {Huh? Where did THAT come from?}

A quick glance around saw only a small figure in the distance. Katrin's eyes narrowed. She snatched up her hunter's scope and increased the magnification as far as she could to see that figure.

There wasn't much to see. Thick furs, yellow scarf, blue bunny on the shoulder, and a large blue crystal like figure of a Comrade. Some kind of ice-type golem, she guessed. Looking at him (or was it a 'her'?) from behind, Katrin had no way of knowing who it was, except that it sure wasn't Colin or any of her traveling group from earlier.

"Thank you!" Katrin shouted as loud as she could and was startled when the figure gave her a wave of the hand without turning around.

"Bub." Bubba said, nosing her. Katrin shivered – Bubba's nose seemed particularly cold. Worried he might be sick, she turned to him and got another surprise.

Bubba was half white. He looked like a clump of snow had fallen over him and stained the top half of him. It was Bubba – Katrin was sure of it – but at the same time…

"What happened to you?" Katrin stared. "Are you okay?"

"Bubo." Bubba's voice sounded the same, but Katrin had never heard him say 'o' in anything before.

Worse, Gera and Rall looked odd too. Rall looked… broader… in the face, and blockier in general. What Katrin had thought was simply snow caught in his fur suddenly looked like flecks of white instead, fine and spread thin. Gera herself had a tint of blue to her. Katrin couldn't figure it out until she took a closer look at Gera's fur and found that the tips of it ended in blue.

Worst of all, Gera and Bubba actually looked… smaller.

"What happened to you all?!" Katrin gasped. "A doctor… a vet… a Breeder… I need to find a Comrade Home!"

But Pinecone Village didn't have one. Katrin already knew there was only one Comrade Home on this continent, because this continent only had one town– Soft Snows.

She ran for it. It took her some five minutes to tire, and five more before she caught her breath and ran on, but she hurried as fast as she could.

She arrived panting, hoping against hope that the Breeder would be at least friendly enough to help her sick Comrades when she found another surprise.

"Aoi?!" Katrin stared. "What are you doing here?"

"I just transferred." Aoi told her. The Breeder from the destroyed Riverside Comrade Home gave her a broad smile. "I'm in charge here now. It's good to see a familiar face. What can I do for you?"

"Aoi! Thank God!" Katrin wanted to hug her, but instead, she pulled her Comrades in with her own hands. "My Comrades! I think they're sick with something!"

"Sick?" Aoi blinked. "What happened?"

"We were caught in a snowstorm, and now…" Katrin gestured wordlessly.

Aoi's eyes narrowed. She pulled up some records and viewed Katrin's history with Comrade Homes. She scanned Bubba and compared the scan to the Comrade Home records. Then, she did the same for Gera and Rall. "Hmm."

"What's wrong with them?" Katrin asked, worriedly.

"Wrong?" Aoi blinked. "I'd say you did just fine. They've evolved quite nicely."

"They what?!" Katrin gaped.

"Scan them and see for yourself." Aoi invited.

Katrin didn't bother to scan them one by one. She drew up her Summary instead.

.

Summary Image Link

https://imgur.com/m2gtK44

.

Gera, Bubba, and Rall had definitely changed. Not only in title and levels, but in their potential growth. Because of that, Gera and Bubba had become Juveniles again.

"Ah." Aoi mused. "That Shadow Hawk must be the one left here in recovery. The one in the black-and-gold aviary."

"Yes. That's Blackswirl." Katrin said. "But that's not the point! What happened to these three? How did they…?"

"You didn't know about evolving?" Aoi looked surprised. "Most people come all the way here just for that, and go back afterwards."

Then Katrin noticed something else. "Whoa! What happened to Junrei and Ardent?!"

Aoi fell silent, and checked more records. "I see."

"What?" Katrin asked, worried about the cold tone in Aoi's voice.

"Ardent was already Apathetic when Colin transferred him to you. He was already so hurt, he no longer cared about things. After yet one more transfer, well… he basically gave up on everything." Aoi shook her head. "He's become something less now, and will probably devolve further. Junrei, too. If any of your Comrades are sick, Katrin, it's Ardent and Junrei."

"Junrei…" Katrin trailed off. She'd never really paid him much attention. Maybe that was why.

"Kat… Comrades like these are called Desolates. I'm sorry, but I have to confiscate them." Aoi said. "There's a new rule up now to prevent more Frenzieds. Comrade Homes are to confiscate Desolates wherever we encounter them."

"What happens to them?" Katrin asked, worried.

"Desolates are usually victims of abuse or neglect. Comrade Homes take them in and try to heal them, but if we can't, we seal them." Aoi answered, tapping in some keys. "I also have to tag you with demerit points."

Katrin winced. "That doesn't sound good."

"This doesn't look good either. Evolving three Comrades and letting two more turn Desolate… it looks to me like you can't handle this many." Aoi told her. "Just how many Command types do you have?"

Katrin stared. "Uh… none?"

Aoi grimaced. "That explains it. Kat, I strongly suggest you get one – quick. You might want to transfer out the Comrades you can't give full attention to until then. Where's Colin? If I remember right, your theme was 'given by Colin'."

Katrin bit her lip. "We… um… separated."

"A lover's quarrel?" Aoi shook her head. "Either change your theme or make up and ask him for a Command type, but hurry. The Red Panthers and the Desert Lynxmouse can't go out in this cold, and the Forktail Swallow is in bad shape too. If you leave them alone like this, eventually, they'll all go Desolate."

"All?!" Katrin gasped.

"All." Aoi nodded. "Even the Shadow Hawk and the Common Lynxmouse. No matter how good their habitats are, if you leave them alone like this…"

"I'll call him." Katrin gulped. "I'll call him right now."

"Good." Aoi said.

***

"Colin!"

"Kat?" Colin blinked, startled to have her call him after a letter like that.

"I need a Command type Comrade, fast!" Katrin wailed.

"Huh?" Colin blinked.

"Hurry!" Katrin barked, and then cut the link.

Colin was left scratching his head. {First, she runs off without saying anything, without any warning. Then, she doesn't want to talk to me. After that, I send her a text message, and she replies with a one-word scolding, calling me an idiot in capital letters. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, she calls me and demands a Command type?!}

"What am I, some sort of convenience store?!" Colin growled. "Or a punching bag?!"

{But I owe her. I owe her for Raiki, for saving me… even after everything… in the end… I still owe her.}

"Trouble?" Scarlet asked, turning away from where Kirin was practicing water attacks on Nettles, her giant red vine of a Comrade. Nettles seemed to be enjoying the water.

"Katrin needs a command type Comrade. And her theme is 'given by Colin'." He told her shortly.

"Don't get one from here, Colin. They'll find us right away." May reminded him.

"Then?" Colin groaned.

"Get one from near Soft Snows." Scarlet suggested. "Or better yet, buy her one from the Comrade Home."

"I'll get Squirmy." George offered.

"Thanks." Colin sighed.

They were off in a minute.

***

Meanwhile, Aoi was apologetically adding more penalties for Katrin. "You need to drop at least two more Comrades. That's the law."

"Two…!" Katrin groaned. She looked through her summary.

The choices were obvious. They were right there at the bottom of the list.

"Warc can go to Edward's Farm." Katrin said, sadly. "She's a duck, after all, and her mate is there. She'll be happier laying eggs and swimming in the pond than freezing her feathers off here."

"That sounds good." Aoi agreed. "That sort of thing should have been done much earlier. Warc looks like she's barely holding up now. She's almost Desolate herself."

Katrin had thought her head couldn't go any lower. Clearly, she had been wrong. "And the other… has to be Meek. Henry's got a whole army of Lynxmice, including Meek's mate. They should be happy together."

"I agree." Aoi said. "Now, where exactly are Edward and Henry?"

"Crescent Continent. Edward's at Hot Springs village, where we started a new farm. Henry's probably helping clear out Frenzieds at Sunshine Town Ruins."

"We'll need a fast delivery service. Wind Knight couriers." Aoi figured. "I'm calling Shinji, but you're paying."

Katrin sat down on the floor and laid her head in her lap, covering it with both arms. She let out a long groan.

Then, her watch beeped. Katrin tapped it, thinking it was Colin, and let out another groan just to let him know how she felt about all this.

But it wasn't Colin. "Katrin? It's Hari. Where are you?"

"Hari?" Katrin stared. She suddenly realized that they had probably waited for her and were likely still waiting for her at Pinecone Village. "I… I'm at Soft Snows."

"Good." Hari said, and he didn't sound happy. "We checked out Pinecone Village already, and we just passed by that melting shelter of yours. We were wondering where you went."

"Sorry." Katrin had thought things couldn't get any worse. Obviously, she was wrong again. "I should have called."

"You should." Hari said in a rather cold voice, and hung up.

{How could so many things go wrong so quickly all at the same time?}

"Katrin!" Aoi called her. "Get over here and spend some time with your remaining Comrades! Don't make them feel even worse by ignoring them when you're right here!"

Katrin scrambled.

{Things can't get any worse. They just can't.}

***

But once again, Katrin was wrong.

***

Shinji reached them first. He took the transfer plates, charged the fee to Katrin, and was just about to leave when Colin showed up.

"C-Colin?!" Katrin stared. "You found one already?!"

"Colin." Shinji confronted him. "What were you doing at Lamico?! What were you thinking?"

"Shinji?" Colin blinked. He clearly wasn't expecting him there. "What brings you here?"

"Discuss later." Aoi said. "Katrin needs a command-type, now. If you haven't brought one, I assume you planned to buy one from here."

"Actually, yes." Colin said. "Do you have any in stock?"

Shinji wasn't about to wait. The Wind Knights were the fastest couriers on Nakama World, and he was among their fastest. He wasn't going to stand around waiting for Colin to finish his business before getting his answers. "Answer me, Colin! You're at the top of the Most Wanted list now, in every good Guild in the whole world! Talk fast, or I'll turn you in myself! What were you doing?!"

"Turn me in?" Colin suddenly stepped back, eyes wide and wary. He saw the look on Shinji's face. "You're serious."

Right at that point, a pleasant-looking man came in. "Hey, Colin, I was wondering, what if you got her something from outside? It'll be… cheaper…"

He trailed off, looking at Shinji. Shinji stared right back at him. "The Gardener. You're with {him}."

And just for the heck of it, Hari, Daud, Kancil, Amina, Jonah, Alicia and Larry all decided to pop in to the Comrade Home at exactly that moment.

They saw Colin. They saw the Gardener. Eyes widened in recognition. Colin recognized them too, and the Gardener knew J-Knight emblems when he saw them.

Everyone froze for a bare instant.

Katrin wished she knew some truly bad words, because if there was ever a time to use them, it would have been now.