120 Phase 104: Fifteenth Night

Shiro looked over the expanse of snow that had been the latest battleground between white wolfcat and white wolfcat. He sniffed the air, filled with the smell of Dreamers' fear, of their anger, and of the blood of his own kind.

His nose twitched. His tail drooped. This was a sad day.

Snowy, noble daughter of her clan, nudged him in the shoulder with her own nose. She looked at him with clear, serious eyes.

Shiro nodded. He understood that it was necessary.

Lifting his voice to the empty sky, he howled.

***

When Colin logged in to Nakama World as he slept on the fifteenth night since joining this Dreamworld, the first thing he did was look for Shiro.

He tapped his watch. "Shiro…"

{Shiro howled to the merciless sky, a surge of helpless grief mixed with a terrible burden that cannot be escaped…}

{This must be done. It is too important to let go.}

{But it hurts. It really hurts.}

Colin nearly fell over backwards. "What… was {that}?!"

Shiro. Until now, Colin had never 'heard' his thoughts the way he heard the Lords of the Wilds. There were glimpses, snatches of thought, yes, but nothing as deep as this.

He had called Shiro through his Traveler Watch, but that small contact had been enough to lead in to something more. A stronger connection that reached across incredible distance, and told Colin exactly where Shiro was.

{He's far to the north. Really, really far. Somewhere near Cold and Crispy Forest.}

And he was also busy. Desperately busy.

{Guess I'll have to wait for him a bit more. He ran off with that girl white wolfcat. Maybe he's in some sort of competition to win her as his mate. Or something.}

Colin frowned, worried about Shiro. He thought of calling Katrin. {Better not. She seems a bit mad at me right now, and I still don't know why. Maybe I should write her a letter instead. Yeah, that's probably best.}

"Colin?" May called. "Finally! I've been waiting for hours!"

"It's not my fault my bedtime's later than yours!" Colin protested. "Your night starts two hours before mine!"

"Whatever. Let's get going already!" May said.

Colin paused. "Are you sure we're up for this? I mean… the bottom of the dungeon?"

"Of course." May said. "Travelers do it all the time! I've never made it past the halfway mark, but with you around, our power is doubled! We should make it twice as far - all the way to the bottom!"

"I'm not sure it works that way." Colin said, but he went with her anyway. "What's waiting for us at the bottom?"

"Mom said there's a final boss called the Crystal Warlord. Sort of like a super version of Shar." May said.

{That must be the Lord of the Glass Guardsmen. Come to think of it, this is my first time raiding a dungeon. I've trained at the entrance of a dungeon, and gone in as a guest, but I've never tried fighting my way in as a Traveler before.}

"There are three major treasures we might find." May added, as if in afterthought. "One is a Sunlight Gem. The second is a Wind Diamond. The third is a Frostwyrm Egg. That's the only way to bond young Frostwyrms."

"You mean, like yours?" Colin asked.

"Yeah, but mine's from uncle George, one of Squirmy's own. Other than eggs, the only way to bond Frostwyrms would be to Tame the big ones." May paused. "There are minor treasures too… mainly gems and crystals. And Glassmetal Ore. Lots of it. We're going to need a cart."

They went to ask George about it and he gave them two floater carts. With Tessla (May's electric type Trihorn Pony) hauling one and Kirin hauling the other, Colin and May decended into the lower caverns of Crystal Cove.

At first, they took it at a relaxed pace. Chatting about their Comrades' techniques and how they might train them, Colin and May strolled down the cavern passageways a level below ground with just Kirin and Tessla, figuring their two largest Comrades would be enough to deal with early Wilds.

Crystal Cove was different below ground than it was in the upper levels. Colin wasn't sure, but he suspected that the Gardener's care had something to do with it. The caverns here had a much rougher wildness to it. The upper levels had a sense of wild freedom that was almost artistic, a blend of color, crystal and plants that was rich and vibrant.

These lower levels were almost messy in comparison. They still had the colored crystals and the creeping vines and the occasional weird tree, even some water trickling down the sides, and it looked rather good in its own right, but after spending a night in the upper levels, Coling thought the lower levels felt like an abandoned house.

They came to the ramp leading down to the second level below ground, and May paused. "That's odd. We haven't met a single Wild today. Maybe they really don't like us living in the upper levels and want to stay away."

Colin shrugged, still thinking about how Raiki and Kirin could combine techniques.

They went down the ramp to Crystal Cove B-2, and May warped in her Snow Tomato and her Shimmer Blob. Still going along at a casual pace, she kept her eye out for attacking Wilds and Colin did more talking than she did.

Again, they found the ramp leading down without being attacked. May started looking around suspiciously. "Did someone just come through here before us? Or maybe a whole group of people? I've never seen any dungeon so clear before. It's like some guys came through Taming and taking every Wild they came across."

Colin didn't answer, too busy thinking hard on whether to train Kirin as a sniper (strong, focused attacks), a bomber (area attacks) or a support type (to make her combination techniques with Raiki even more powerful).

{If I train Kirin for support, she and Raiki are going to be stuck together all the time. Is that bad? Or good?}

The Wilds on B-3 were watching them. Colin spotted a few, sensed a whole lot more. Some were curious, some were furious, but none came near. Colin and May strolled through with empty carts and absolutely nothing attacking them.

"Okay, this is weird." May said, as they reached the ramp leading to B-4. "Where is everything?!"

"They're right there." Colin pointed. "See?"

Three Shimmer Blobs that looked similar to May's Lanta were creeping about on a broken crystal not ten feet away from them. They hissed.

"Why aren't they attacking?" May asked.

"I don't know." Colin admitted. "They're almost boiling in anger already."

May hesitated, clearly itching to call her Comrades into battle, but decided against it. "Well, the less energy we spend up here, the deeper in we'll be able to go. Let's just keep going."

The fourth level below ground was a darker and deadlier place than the first three. There was less light, less creeping vines, more weird trees, and a plenty of mushrooms. Broken crystals were everywhere, and even the walls sometimes looked like they were cracked.

But if they {were} cracked, they were cracked from the start. This dungeon was built for heavy combat, Colin knew. Cracks or no cracks, those walls could hold up a mountain.

Here, the Wilds were much bolder. They didn't hide like the ones above. Five steps into B-4 and a pair of Wild Shaggy Bears began to follow them. Colin and May stopped and confronted them, but the two bears just stood there, watching. May hesitated, wondering whether to fight or not, but decided once more to save her strength.

So on they went, walking down paths of broken crystal and trampled vines, followed by first those two, then more and more Wilds stalking their every move.

"Colin… how many Wilds do you think are there following us?" May asked, nervously.

"About twenty, I think." Colin guessed.

"Think we could handle that many?" May winced.

"Maybe." Colin said. "But they're not attacking."

They wanted to. Colin could feel them itching to strike.

But they would not. Not unless they were attacked first.

"Creepy." May shivered.

They reached the ramp to B-5 with a whole horde of Wilds watching them. For a moment, Colin thought those Wilds would follow them all the way down, but once he and May went down the ramp, the crowd behind them scattered.

They took two steps and were confronted by a trio of Bull Raptors, man-sized lizards on their hind legs with large horns on their heads. The three stood in their way and wouldn't move. The message was clear to Colin.

"I guess that's it." Colin said. "We're going to have to fight our way through as normal if we want to go any farther."

"Well… at least it's not a whole army waiting for us down here." May shivered. Then, she straightened. "Lanta! Kimba! Target the one on the far left, standby. Tessla, target the one in the middle, standby. Kosla! Shar!"

May's Shaggy Bear and Glass Guardsman appeared in a flash of blue mist as she summoned them. May gave them orders too. "You two target the one on the right. Alpha Strike, now!"

Colin watched as May's Comrades began their assault with a mix of their strongest techniques. The whole 'target and standby' command seemed to mean 'aim, but don't shoot until I say so'. 'Alpha Strike' seemed to mean 'throw everything you've got at them'.

The three Bull Raptors charged at Lanta and Kimba.

May gave orders at a furious pace. "Shar! Kosla! Beta Defense! Lanta, Delta Strike! Kimba, get back! Tessla! Gamma Strike!"

Shar and Kosla charged to block the Bull Raptors face to face. Lanta shimmered into the ground, then swept in under the Raptors and thickened to trap them in gooey muck. Kimba darted away, running for safety behind May as Tessla began to charge up a powerful electric attack.

May has some really complicated command codes.

Colin exchanged glances with Kirin. Kirin shook her head.

He settled back to let May handle it. Meanwhile, he looked around, and sensed around.

He could feel them, even if he couldn't see them. Bull Raptors, Buff Raptors, Bison Raptors… and more, farther ahead, something similar to Glass Guardsman, but rougher, tougher, and slower; Quartz Guardsman, sorted according to four different colors.

{We're smack dab on the border between Raptor and Quartz Guardsman territories. The two clans don't get along very well – not many of them hang out near the border. Guess that's why this is the safest area in the whole floor.}

May was panting when the fight was over. Colin saw her sweating even in her dreams and worried. "Should I have helped out?"

"No. If I wanted help, I would have asked for it." May told him. "I wanted to test myself out against Wilds in this level."

Colin blinked. "Haven't you been here before?"

"No. B-4 was the farthest I've been. Mom said there were eight levels." May said. "I've never seen a Wild like that."

"A man-sized dinosaur with horns?" Colin scratched his head. "It's not that different from those at Lost Paradise."

"From where…?" May shook her head. "Never mind. We better get moving. More of them might show up."

"Um… I don't think so. Not for a while, at least. I think you can rest your Comrades. I'll keep watch if you like."

May didn't look so sure, but she gave her Comrades food and time to rest anyway.

There. A pair of Quartz Guardsmen were slowly getting closer. Colin frowned, and tapped his watch. "Raiki. Sonia."

In a shimmer of blue mists, the blue cat and the green wolf warped in. Colin pointed. "Guard that entrance. Prepare sonic attacks and go all out on anything that comes by."

"Sonic?" May blinked. "But on lizards like these…"

"Sonic." Colin confirmed, but he didn't explain why. She'd find out soon enough anyway.

The moment the first Quartz Guardsman popped in, Sonia unleased a Hypersonic Bolt, with two more at her side ready to fly. Raiki had a whole Sonic Barrage pouring into the thing just a second later, and seemed to be preparing a H-Bolt of her own in addition to the barrage she was already firing.

{Ambitecher… they said it meant she could use two different techniques at the same time.}

The first Quartz Guardsman collapsed before the second even stepped through. That one didn't last much longer.

"I see… I thought you'd use Raiki and Kirin's electric combinations on the lizards, but that wouldn't work on Quartz Guardsmen…" May frowned. "But how did you know what was coming through?"

Colin shrugged, but he, too, felt a bit uneasy about it. The ability to speak to Wilds with his mind and sense them nearby… wasn't this the Forester's power? But he wasn't a Forester any more. Was it one of those abilities that he wouldn't lose even after quitting his post, like how higher badge abilities would remain even if he lowered his ranking?

{Well, I still have the Adventura Import Link, even after being kicked out of the Order of Justice. I guess Nakama World is like that. The experience and abilities you gain is yours for keeps.}

"Okay. We've rested enough." May got up. "Let's go."

***

Elsewhere, other people were on the move.

"White Wraith sightings have been reported all over the continent." Hari grimaced, as they headed out for Pinecone Village to the east. "Fifteen reports last night and nine more tonight. Eight Dreamers were killed back to base, so far, and three more barely escaped. Twelve of those reports came from Pinecone, seven from Burrow Hollow, and three from Cold and Crispy Village."

"Nothing around Soft Snows?" Katrin frowned.

"Nope. I think there's just too many people there. Either that, or the Mountaineer is keeping things under control."

Katrin blinked. "Mountaineer? Is that something like a Forester?"

"Exactly." Hari nodded. "That's why Soft Snows is the safest and cosiest place on the whole continent. The Mountaineer is based at the foot of Soft Snows mountain and always protects the town."

{Protects the town… that's nothing like what Colin did at Lamico. He wiped out every town and village on the continent and then some.}

"Who's the Mountaineer?" Katrin asked.

"Big Tim." Hari answered. "Shaggy guy with a big hat, big beard, and wears lots and lots of furs. The beard's fake, by the way. He's really just a teenager, but he likes the 'caveman' look."

Katrin lowered her head. "Oh. For a moment there, I thought it was Cephas. I heard he was on this Continent."

"The Son of Earth isn't a Mountaineer right now. He's currently hunting the Gardener." Hari said. "And Scarlet, since she was sighted. Probably this Colin guy too."

Katrin took a deep breath. "You said 'right now'. Does that mean he used to be a Mountaineer?"

{That would be something to see. An ex-Mountaineer fighting an ex-Forester.}

"Yeah. I think so. You can ask him yourself, if you meet him. In fact, if he's after that Forester boy, he might come looking around Pinecone Forest, but last I checked, he was still hunting for the Gardener around the Southern Crown."

"Southern Crown… where was that again?" Katrin frowned.

"Far to the south, in a cluster of danger zones. It's the peak of the big mountain at Timeless Lake." Hari said. "The top of the mountain housing Crystal Cove."

For some reason, just hearing that, Katrin felt a chill even through her warm clothing.

Meanwhile, Jonah was arguing with Daud and Kancil. "I still think we should hunt Colin! He's more trouble than some furballs going nuts. All the Frenzieds at Crescent only ruined three towns. Colin wiped out Lamico all by himself!"

"Orders are orders." Daud shrugged.

"You guys are way too relaxed about this." Jonah growled.

Kancil shrugged also. "Hey, we've hunted the Gardener for months now, with nothing to show for it. It takes time, and even with time and effort, we might never find him."

"Losers." Jonah stalked off stiffly.

Daud called after him. "Don't be in such a rush. The hunt itself could be more fun than actually catching your target."

Jonah didn't seem to understand that last bit at all. Neither did Katrin. {Why take a job if you don't want to finish it?}

Hari stopped Jonah. "Hey. If Cephas' team can't find the Gardener, we're even less likely to. We might as well take on a job we can do."

{Okay, that makes more sense.}

"Besides, there's no rule that says we can't do both at the same time." Hari added. "We're not quitting the hunt."

"Oh." Jonah said. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Weren't you the one who said this Colin guy might be behind the White Wraiths?" Hari threw in.

"Yeah. That's right." Jonah nodded.

"So if you're right, and we hunt the White Wraiths… we'll find Colin too." Hari pointed out.

"That's true." Jonah settled down. "Well, then, let's go."

Katrin murmured to Hari. "That was quick. This guy really wants to take down Colin."

Hari barked a laugh. "After Lamico, a lot of people want to take down Colin. Why does that bother you?"

"Never mind." Katrin said.

}I thought they were old friends, who played together as children. But even when we were at Ed's Farm, Colin never seemed to like Jonah, Alicia and Larry. They clearly don't like him either. They're more like old enemies than old friends.}

Memories flickered through Katrin's mind.

{That first night we met… what was it he said about them trying to turn Rita against him? Was it really like that? He did abandon Rita first… }

{Until last night, everything I know about him and them, I heard from him. Maybe… maybe he's not the kind person I thought he was. He left Rita behind all too easily… and left me behind to run off with May.}

That last bit really made Katrin angry. Even now, she felt like she was boiling up inside. {That IDIOT! Even after he said he didn't want to… he's always leaving me behind! Always!}

Katrin trained up her Comrades as they made their way to Pinecone Village. Colin had left them behind too… left them with her, actually. In a sense, they were gifts. In another sense, it was out of pity. But in the end, the fact was, he left them, and they didn't like it any more than she did.

Four of them were still in recovery, having been transferred only recently. One more was in recovery after giving birth. Three others were desert types or fire types and couldn't take the cold outdoors. The two bears, Gera and Rall, and the Bubblesaur Bubba were all that she could bring outdoors, and even Bubba was having trouble with the weather out here.

{My theme, the thing all my Comrades have in common, is currently 'given by Colin'. Just last night, I thought it was a grand idea. Aoi said that Colin would have to buy them for me every time… she said it would be like shopping with my boyfriend. But now… it seems like a really stupid idea. Couples break up all the time, and Colin never wanted to be my boyfriend in the first place. I'm such an idiot! Now I'm stuck Traveling with only three middle range Comrades while he runs around with all his super high grade Comrades.}

Including Raiki. Katrin paused. {Should I really have given him my best…? My very strongest… something the likes of which most people have never seen before. I gave her to him to save him from the Green Men… should I really have…?}

Another chill ran down her back as she thought of the Green Men. {No. That was not a mistake. It was the surest way to save him from them. Whoever they are… whatever they're after… stopping them is the most important thing. Colin could be a bad guy, or he could still be a good guy, I don't really know for sure, but I do know that those Green Men are bad. They're the baddest bunch there is.}

{They were after eight of us. They've caught five already, and none of the five can remember what happened to them when they were taken. I can't let them kidnap anyone else. Not Colin, not Phillip, whoever or wherever he is… and definitely not me.}

"Katrin." Hari called to her. "We should hurry."

Katrin blinked, suddenly realizing that she was trailing behind everyone else. With Gera, Rall and Bubba still trying to fight a single Wild bear out here, everyone else had gone on far ahead. {Great… now even THEY are leaving me behind!}

"Look, Kat, if you want to train your bears, I'll help you out when we get to Pinecone Village." Hari offered. "But this…"

"Yeah. I get it." Katrin winced, even as that Wild finally quit. "We should get a move on."

"Hari! Snowstorm alert!" Daud called back to them. "We have to run for it!"

"Coming!" Hari said, and dashed ahead.

"Hurry up, you guys." Katrin called to her tired Comrades.

They tried. They really tried. But they were already tired and none of them were particularly fast to begin with, especially in the snow. In fact, Katrin herself was having trouble running after the others. Everyone else were riding on bigger Comrades suited for the snow and they were getting farther and farther away.

{Scrap. Not again… I'm getting left behind again…!}

Katrin slowed down, trying to catch her breath, and glanced behind to see how her Comrades were doing.

They weren't doing any better. Gera had kept up, but Rall was lagging by a few paces and Bubba was far behind.

"We're not going to make it." Katrin realized, seeing the dark clouds gather. "We're already more than halfway to Pinecone… but at this rate…"

"Grrr." Gera summarized their shared frustration.

{I have only one chance. It's unlikely, but if I run on ahead, Gera and I just might make it in time, or arrive at shelter just as the snowstorm is starting. We could avoid the worse of it. But if we do that… Rall and Bubba…}

Katrin shook her head. "You guys have been left behind enough times already. I'm not going to do that."

"Grr." Gera said gratefully, but looked up at the sky worriedly. "Grrr."

"We have to find shelter… or make something." Katrin glanced around. "An igloo?"

"Grr?" Gera scratched her head.

{Even if I know what it looks like, I don't really know how to make one… neither does Gera.}

"We have to try." Katrin grimaced. "Come on."

Gera started digging. Katrin started packing snow around the hole, patting it all down hard.

Too slow. The blizzard started shockingly fast. Snow started to fall by the time Rall arrived. They hurried, digging and packing and scrambling as fast as they could. Katrin gave up trying to build walls and ended up digging with the bears to form a small tunnel under the already fallen snow.

They crawled in as Bubba arrived. The winds were getting really strong at that point. Sheltered by the snow and her Comrades, Katrin huddled down to wait out the storm, annoyed at herself more than ever before.

{I should really re-think my Traveling. There has to be a better way to go about this.}

Actually, there was. She could ride Gera, once Gera was big enough. They'd move a lot faster, especially if they didn't stop to fight Wilds along the way. {Why, why did I do that…?}

Because she felt a sore lack of power. Because she needed her Comrades to be stronger, strong enough to deal with the Wilds in this dangerous place.

{I'm not ready for this place. I'm completely out of my league on this continent. I should be training in safer places, Traveling in a warmer place. Why am I even here?}

Because Colin was here. She'd simply followed him.

{Colin's an idiot. And I'm the bigger idiot for following him.}

It was there, sitting in the darkness of the tunnel and huddled with the bears for warmth, that she got his letter.

{Colin. He's sending me letters… again?}

Katrin thought of ignoring it for a moment, but then figured, {Oh well. Why not? I've got nothing better to do.}

***

.

Hi, Katrin…

How are you doing? Are you still on the Continent of Eternal Winter? How's Edward and the Farm and everything?

I'm learning a lot here. The Wilds on this Continent are really strong. Especially in the dungeons. It's the first time I fought my way to the bottom of a dungeon. I don't think I could have done it without May. Between the two of us, we made it to the lowest floor, and then decided to turn back because it was getting too dangerous.

Raiki is getting more and more powerful these days. She and Kirin can whoop up a really serious combo. Now that Shiro's up and run off by himself again, she's usually my main commander and she's good. Not as good as Shiro, but very good in her own way.

I wanted to Tame a few Wilds to give you, but May said it's better not to let anyone know where we are. The J-Knights are still after us and all, and we don't want them to interrogate you just to get to me.

Just… stay safe, okay?

-Colin

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***

To that, Katrin sent back a one word reply.

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IDIOT!!!

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