49 Phase 41: Lines of communication

Colin was clearing away the last of the broken wood chunks when Edward called. "Colin! You've got a visitor! Some guy named Foxtrot!"

Colin remembered the name. It belonged to one of the two J-Knights stationed at the airport. He and Maggie kept the peace there and informed Katrin of things outside the airport that needed dealing with, like Frenzied Wilds.

Now that he was a J-Knight himself, Colin figured that meant they'd be sending him info and requests too. He went to the farm gates to check it out.

Foxtrot turned out to be a skinny guy. Really, really skinny. He wore sunglasses and headphones. Trailing behind him were a pair of yellow foxes who had two tails each, and a third blue one with three tails, all of whom apparently wore sunglasses too.

{Wait a minute. I've seen him before. Wasn't he one of those watching my Knighting ceremony back at the airport?}

"Kick back, kiddo." He said, angling his shoulders and sliding both fingers back along thin air in front of him as if outlining something. "Let's party."

"Party…? You mean 'team up on a mission'?" Colin blinked at the guy dressed all in black, from sports shoes to the cap he wore backwards over his head.

"Just chill." He said, swivelling around on tiptoes, his hands still in that position. Colin wondered if he was dancing. "We got a Frenzied on the ice. Where's Katrin?"

"Katrin's gone to the forest to Tame a Red Panther." Colin replied. "What kind of Frenzied are we talking about?"

"Lionhead." Foxtrot said. "Small cat, big head. Comes in three colors in South Sunshine Forest. This one's orange."

"A Frenzied Orange Lionhead…" Farmer Edward shook his head. "Don't take it too lightly, Colin. They may look like playthings, but they're fierce fighters in their own right."

"As fierce as the panthers?" Colin queried.

Edward thought about that. "Usually, no. The orange ones should be the quietest of the lot. But once it becomes Frenzied, it's anyone's guess how strong it gets."

"I heard that tune before." Foxtrot nodded. "You should get your dance partner to tango with ya. I gotta waltz home to the airport."

{Translation: Get Katrin for backup, I need to get back.}

"Thanks for coming all the way to tell me in person." Colin said. "You didn't have to do that."

"Wanted to meet our new Hunter Knight." Foxtrot shrugged. "Rock on, kiddo."

"Uh… rock on." Colin replied, guessing it was some form of well-wishing farewell.

Foxtrot glanced up. "Mambo! Get down here!"

From above, wings fluttered and a big brown bat landed right beside Foxtrot.

"That's yours?" Colin inspected it. Counting its wings, the thing was as big as a car. "For a moment there, I thought you only bonded Foxes."

"That's right on both notes." Foxtrot nodded. "This here is a Flying Fox, see? We all share a common name."

Even Mambo wore sunglasses. Colin asked about it.

"The sunglasses? It's daytime, ain't it? Bats don't like dancing in the day. Me neither. We're creatures of the night, we are."

And with that, Foxtrot and his Comrades took to the air and almost crashed into a tree. They flapped their way back towards the airport with Colin watching worriedly.

{That really sounded odd, because it's always daytime on Nakama World. Isn't it really night in real life? We're all Dreaming, after all.}

"A Lionhead means South Sunshine Forest." Edward supplied. "Katrin's already there by now. If you take your bike and hurry, you should be able to reach her before she leaves. You better call her."

He did. "Kat…"

"Yeah, I know." Katrin answered, while sounds of a battle going on behind her almost drowned out her voice. "Lionhead Frenzied, right? I haven't seen one."

"I'm coming over to…"

"I'll be gone by the time you arrive. You'll need to scout around for it while I bond my new Comrade. I'll come back once it's done." Katrin was shouting to make herself heard. "Check with the Forester! Maybe he's seen something. I gotta go!"

{The Forester? I haven't even met the guy. Colin thought about it. Maybe I should. He might have seen M-1 and M-2.}

Then his watched beeped. Who's calling me now? Colin picked it up.

"Colin?" it was Katrin.

"Kat? What's wrong?" Colin blinked. She sounded… funny.

The battle had ended in the few seconds since they last spoke, it seemed. Everything over on Katrin's side was quiet now. Even her voice sounded quiet.

"Um…" Katrin began, then trailed off.

"Did you forget something?" Colin wondered. "Want me to bring something for you?"

"Um… no. It's… okay. N-never m-mind."

"Kat…? Are you all right? Are you hurt? You sound…"

"I'm fine." Katrin said, in a voice that really sounded queer. Sort of soft, sort of tense, and sort of frustrated. "I'm… fine."

And with that, she cut the link.

***

Katrin sat down on an upraised root in the middle of what had been a battlefield just a minute ago. She sat there without saying a word, face half-red, even as her Comrades gathered around her not knowing quite what to do.

She kept looking at her Traveler's watch, which she used to call Colin back. She didn't even turn to the Red Panthers she'd just fought and tamed.

"Idiot." She whispered to her watch, though she hadn't called anybody else. "Idiot."

She got up slowly, and made her way out of the South Sunshine Forest. She saw Colin dash in and head towards the Forester's Hut, but didn't make a sound, simply watching him run past without ever knowing she was there.

Then, once he was gone, she walked slowly to the Sunshine Town Comrade Home, and met Nami at the doorway.

Nami saw the two Red Panthers at her side. "New Comrades to bond?"

Katrin nodded wordlessly. She said nothing all the way to the Registration Room, and back out.

"Safe Journeying!" Nami waved as they left. "Or Farming, or whatever."

Katrin paused, turned around to give Nami a bow in farewell, and slowly went back to the Farm.

Edward glanced at her when she arrived. "Where's Colin? Did you get that Frenzied Lionhead yet?"

Katrin just shook her head wordlessly and went to check on the ducks. After several minutes of checking them, she got up, and walked out the Farm gate without saying anything to Edward. Half her Comrades, those who weren't on duty around the farm, went with her.

Edward watched her go and shook his head. He didn't say anything either.

***

{Where IS everybody?}

Colin crouched behind a tree as Shiro led his Comrades in a direct charge against the orange Frenzied Lionhead.

"ROAARRR!" the thing struck at every side with an explosion of sonic power, like a bubble that burst outwards.

Raiki slammed a sonic wave in its way, blocking it as Shiro and Sonia dashed in behind, Fireheart at their heels. The Frenzied Lionhead glared at Raiki, and arrows of fire shot out at her.

Rall saw it coming. The Honey Bear that Colin saved from Rita at Riverside reached into the earth and raised it as a wall. Rall's Earth Barrier rose up to his own height, sheltering Raiki, Kirin and Warc from the fire arrows shot at them. He lowered his barrier again so that those three could go on with their long-range attacks.

{I couldn't find the Forester. Nobody was home. Just a note on the door saying 'out'. And Katrin's not here either. What's taking her so long?}

But Warc had found the Frenzied instead of Katrin and Shiro had led the whole gang into a direct attack.

So far, they were doing fine on their own.

Colin's Traveler watch beeped. He sighed with relief, backing away a bit farther to take the call. "At last! Katrin, where are you?"

But the voice that came back over the watch wasn't Katrin's. "Sorry, Colin. It's May."

"May?" Colin paused.

"Yeah. The girl you tried to rescue from her own mother." May chuckled. "Sorry for disturbing you. Sounds like you're in the middle of a fight."

"Just a Frenzied Wild. Justice Knight work. I joined up today." Colin explained.

"Ah. But you still owe me a battle." May said, pointedly. "When are we going to meet and fight?"

"Fight…?" Colin scratched his head. "Maybe later? I'll need to rest my Comrades a while after this."

"Fine. But I'm not telling you what my mom said about the Journey until after we battle."

Colin remembered. He'd been wanting to find out about it, and had asked May for information. In return, she'd asked Colin to battle her. "You've learnt something?"

"A lot, actually. Mom's almost done with her Journey." May told him. "She's been at it a long time, remember? It's one of those things she and dad fight about."

May's father was Mayor of Hot Sands Village. "How's your dad and Hot Sands Village?"

"I've no idea. I haven't been there since I started Traveling with Mom. Ask Fanny or Satrox or something." May paused.

"If you want to battle, I'll be in Sunshine Town soon. Afterwards, I'm heading further south."

"Further south…? To Granath Mining Town?"

"Yeah. I'm crossing the mountains. Mom's meeting me on the other side." May explained. "She had some business at Maro City."

"I've never even heard of Maro City." Colin scratched his head. "You've been Traveling a lot more than I have."

"Yeah. But I'm one of the late beta-testers. I've been in this world for half a year, now. You only started this week."

She left it at that, ending the call. Colin turned around and saw that his Comrades were done with the Frenzied. The snarling Wild was glaring at them all, but stayed on the ground quite still.

Colin went over to touch it. Doing so would either Tame the Wild, or if it refused him, cause it to go back to full health and let it move again.

"Yip!" Shiro dashed in, biting Colin by the trousers and pulling him. He growled, and shook his head fiercely.

"No?" Colin held back. "What do I do with the Frenzied, then?"

"Yip." Shiro barked. He jumped a bit, aiming for Colin's watch.

Colin nodded. "Fine. I'll call the J-Knights and ask what should be done."

***

"Justice Knights Hotline! We right wrongs and fight evil…"

"Abby! This is Colin!"

"Colin! How are you doing? Are you looking for work?"

"Um… I just took down a Frenzied Lionhead. What do I do with it?"

"It's your first job as a J-Knight, isn't it? Well, don't touch the Frenzied; it's almost impossible to Tame it, so we'll Seal it away entirely. You'll need to call for a pick-up."

"Who do I call?" Colin asked.

"Well, Katrin would call Maggie and Foxtrot, but a Hunter Knight like you should call me, wherever you are. I'll get the local Resident Knights to deal with pick-up once you've defeated a target."

"Really?" Colin paused. "I mean, I can call Foxtrot and Maggie myself…"

"Don't. You're a Hunter Knight. You're likely to go all over the world to do your missions. When Troxy was an active Hunter, half the time he didn't even know where he was, much less who to call, before he went on his next Hunt. We made it a rule for Hunters to call Coordinators during that time. Just follow the rules and call me, Colin."

"Satrox was a Hunter?"

"Troxy was all kinds of Knight, at one time or the other. Anyway, I'm tracking you at South Sunshine Forest. I'll call in the pick-up. Stay there until they arrive."

***

They found him there, sitting in the forest with his Comrades surrounding the Frenzied Lionhead.

Not the Knights Colin expected; but the last three people he wanted to see.

"What's poor widdle Colin doing now?" Alicia asked, sitting on a six-legged zebra-striped wildcat.

"Bullying a Lionhead, Colin?" Jonah stepped up beside her. He had a huge black spider with red dots over it at his back. Smaller purple spiders (which were still as big as Rall) scurried around him.

"That's not nice." Larry added. He had had an army of colored rabbits, the last time Colin saw him, but now, he had this big rat twice as large as himself with fur that looked like wooden spikes.

All three of them, Colin realized, had blue badges.

{Oh, scrap… they're all a rank higher than I am… Colin's mood soured the moment he saw them. Shiro growled. He didn't like ravens either.}

"What do you want?" Colin asked them, suspiciously.

"We were just looking around for the Forester." Larry answered.

Jonah, meanwhile approached the fallen Frenzied. "Hey, this Wild looks strong. Colin probably doesn't dare to touch it. It obviously isn't going to accept him."

"It's a Frenzied." Colin told him. "We need to Seal it…"

" 'We'?" Jonah spun to him. "Who is 'we'?"

"The Justice Knights."

Jonah burst out laughing. "Wee little Colin is joining the Justice Knights?! What are you going to do to the bad guys, Colin? Give them a sniff of how you smell when you wet your pants?"

"Ooh!" Alicia's eyes went wide. "That would be terrible! Have pity on the bad guys, Colin!"

Larry, meanwhile, was looking over the Frenzied. "This Lionhead does look a bit queer."

"Bah. He's probably let it smell him. That probably knocked it out." Jonah said, and reached out.

"Don't…!" Colin yelped, but it was too late.

With a roar, the Lionhead sprung back into action, back to full health all over again.

"Eek!" Alicia squealed. "Dirge Squad! Squalor!"

"Widow!" Jonah called. "All of you, web it!"

His spiders, one and all, splattered so much webbing on the Lionhead, the thing actually fell over. Meanwhile, Alicia's Comrades were making their attack run. Larry joined in.

Colin was left with nothing to do. Anything he did could mess up their fight, and besides, he already fought and defeated this Frenzied. If they wanted to do the work for it again, they could. After all, it was Jonah who refreshed it.

Meanwhile, he stretched and…

{White lioness.}

Colin blinked, staring. There, deeper in the forest, was the shape of the white lioness he'd been seeking. M-1, 'Kyria'. Michi's first special Experiment.

Colin glanced back at Jonah and Alicia. They were handling the Frenzied just fine without any problems. When Foxtrot and Maggie came by for the pick-up, they'd probably have been done with the Frenzied…

And they'd find those three, rather than Colin, over the fallen Lionhead.

{That doesn't matter! I've found M-1!}

But… leaving his target like that with those three… Colin could feel all sorts of trouble just waiting to explode.

The figure of the white lioness turned away.

{I'm so going to regret this… but if I don't go after her… I might never be able to find her again. I'll regret it even more.}

Colin went after the white lioness.