Something New (3)

***

{Well, she DID say she only had a few minutes' Glance-through Pass.} Colin walked out of the Space Elevator complex slowly. {But what she said... she somehow recognized the armlet. She called it a Sentinel Armlet. What does it mean? How did she know I had one? I'm wearing a white fur costume!}

The costume, incidentally, didn't feel as hot as it did in the Higher Plane. {Well, it's odd I have it at all, isn't it? I mean, I went to the Lower Plane and all I got from it was a white fur costume.}

[Colin.] Alicia's thoughts came to him then.

[Alicia?] Colin glanced about. He couldn't see her. In fact, he couldn't see anything he recognized at all. [Where exactly are we?]

[We're at Midway Metro.] Alicia replied, as if that explained everything. [Colin, I'm sorry.]

[For?] Colin felt suddenly glad he still wore the white fur costume. Walking about with his face revealed in a city controlled by the Cult was just plain asking for trouble.

[Snapping at you like that. I mean... that is...] Alicia trailed off. [For hurting you.]

Colin didn't say anything. At all. But he sent her a pulse of warmth.

Then Alicia said, [Colin, I... I see things.]

[Like my weaknesses?] Colin guessed.

[Among other things.] Alicia's thoughts suddenly felt heavy. [Colin, I'm sorry I've been mean to you. Sometimes I say things, and it comes out wrong. Or maybe it comes out right, but not the way I wanted to say it.]

[I know.] Colin answered simply.

[Do you? Do you really?] Alicia seemed to be somewhere on his left. Colin went toward her. [I mean... or rather, I AM mean... I always hurt everyone closest to me...]

[Does that include me?] Colin blinked. [I thought you hated me.]

[Well... not exactly.] Alicia's thoughts whirled around a bit. [What I'm trying to say is... I don't have many friends. And, well...]

[We're friends? You and me?] Colin was so surprised, he stopped walking.

[Close enough.] Alicia fell into an uneasy silence. [We're... comrades.]

[Comrades.] Colin thought about that. [Because we respawn together?]

[Because we protect each other.] Alicia said. [And I've been hurting you. I'm sorry. Comrades don't hurt each other. We protect each other.]

[That sounds like what Dad said.] Colin remembered. [I'm sorry. I've hurt you also. I've been talking and thinking bad about you for years.]

[Do you still do that?]

[No way!] Colin jumped.

Alicia paused. [I shouldn't hurt you any more either. Or at least, I'll try not to.]

[That'll be great.] Colin kept moving. She wasn't far now. [But what brought all this about? You're not usually so... well...]

[Serious?]

[Not quite the word I was looking for, but it will do.]

[It's because things here are getting very serious.] Alicia answered. [Colin, this world, this place... something's happening here. Something that's not supposed to happen, and I think you and I are both caught up in it.]

[What exactly are you talking about? The Cult invasion?]

[Something more. Something bigger.] Alicia said. [I don't really understand it myself, but... the things I see, and the things that happen to you... these things aren't caused by the Cult. There's something else going on here, and maybe the Cult wants in on it, and that's why they're after you... but whatever it is, both you and I are already caught up in it.]

[Alicia... you're starting to scare me even worse than the Cult.] Colin turned the corner to see Alicia standing there, looking straight at him. She must have felt him coming closer.

"Sorry." Alicia said simply.

Colin took a deep breath. "Is there a Warp Barrier here, do you think?"

"Probably not." Alicia said. "They can't risk re-kills and Frenzieds in a city. Holding it for the Knights' Alliance to lay siege to is one thing. In a way, it can even be considered playful. But unleashing untold numbers of Frenzieds here... that's going too far. They'll never get away with it."

"Are you sure?" Colin asked.

Alicia pointed. Colin turned to see a notice projected on a screen. It was a map of the city with red colored zones marked Warp Barriers. They were around the city gates and military zones.

"Where exactly are we?" Colin wondered.

Alicia pointed to a spot near the center. There in yellow were the words 'You are here'.

"Right. So we should be fine if we die our way back someplace, right?" Colin guessed.

"Right." Alicia said, and warped in her shovel.

Colin saw it and sighed. He closed his eyes. "Make it quick, please."

It was over in a flash, and then they were back in the Forest of Legends.

***

Colin saw them as soon as he smelled the deep wood scent of the Forest of Legends. "Nightwind? Fenrix?!"

Lynn's Comrades greeted him solemnly as he all but fell over and heaved for breath. The sickly feeling of having died and respawned crept up his center, and he took out his half of the special leaf Lynn gave him to sniff.

"Here." Alicia offered her half. "Maybe it'll work twice as fast with both halves."

"Doesn't work like that." Colin told her. "But thanks for the offer."

He glanced at Nightwind and Fenrix again, both regarding him solemnly. "What's wrong? Looking for Lynn? She's..." he coughed.

"She's in the Higher Plane." Alicia told them. "She's got a concert."

They said nothing. They just sat there, observing Colin and Alicia with serious gazes.

"Colin, something's changed." Alicia said then. "I feel... this place is..."

Colin kept sniffing the leaf, wondering why those two were here. "Well, since you're here, Nightwind, well... Alicia here kinda..."

"This is your friend?" Alicia glanced from him to Nightwind. "This is..."

[Nightwind. The Lord of the Shadow Hawks. I see you have one of my kind as a Comrade. And several lesser birds.] Nightwind greeted her directly. [But you do not have seven.]

"Seven?" Alicia sounded surprised. {Why is she surprised...? Oh. It's because of what Asblar said. That she was 'nobody'. But Nightwind speaks to her. Maybe he likes her because of her theme. Maybe that's also why Asblar didn't like her. Birds eat bugs, after all.}

[You need seven for the secret technique combo 'Wing Fury'.] Nightwind told her. [Seven Comrades of Feathered Flight having similar size and weight.]

"And this secret technique combo... you'll teach it to me?!" Alicia's eyes were shining.

Nightwind nodded to her slowly. [For one such as you... I will do more. I will offer you a Seventh. But you must pay a price.]

"Name it." Alicia said.

Colin guessed it even before Nightwind answered. [You must give up the squirrels. Winged Comrades and only Winged Comrades must you have.]

Alicia didn't even hesitate. She tapped her badge. "Wist. Whim."

They warped in, looked at her, looked at the two Lords of the Wilds nearby and stepped back apprehensively. Their twitching whiskers and quivering tails told Colin they didn't relish the idea of fighting them.

"I'm letting you go." Alicia told her squirrels softly. "You represent to me the dreams and loves I had as a child. The things I never had and always wanted. The stubborn way I'd do anything on a whim just because I could. But I'm growing up now. There are things I care about more than my own way, those I trust in more than my own stubbornness. Others I have to look out for, rather than just doing everything on a whim. It's time to move on."

Wist and Whim, for some reason, turned to Colin questioningly.

"It's between her and you." Colin told them.

But they came to him and waited for him expectantly.

"Tell them, Colin." Alicia said.

"What?"

"Tell them they're free to go." Alicia said. "I'm not sure why, but I'm sure of it. Your word means something in the Forest."

"I quit my job as a Forester already, remember?"

"Did Lynn ever confirm it?" Alicia challenged him.

"Um... not really, no." Colin scratched his head. "Okay, then. If Alicia wills it, and both of you are willing... Wist, Whim, you are free."

Wist nodded. Whim bowed a short squirrely bow. Alicia said, "Confirm."

And with a rustling of the leaves above and a whisper of the wind, it was done. Wist and Whim scurried into the rich foliage of the preeminent Forest in Nakama World as free Wilds.

A bird alighted on Alicia's shoulder. She glanced at it, then at Nightwind.

Nightwind gave Alicia a slow, meaningful nod.

"What is your name?" Alicia asked. She frowned. "The outline of coming destiny...? No, like the shadow of someone coming around the corner... Foreshadow. Your name is Foreshadow."

Fenrix whuffed at Colin. [Bond them together.]

Colin was a bit startled, but then remembered what Lynn did. He turned to Alicia and Foreshadow. "Do you both consent to Traveling together as Comrades?"

Girl and bird nodded at the same time.

"I bear witness." Colin said. "Alicia and Foreshadow are bonded."

They twitched. Both of them, at the same time. Colin would have bet a hundred Clira that they both felt the bond happen at that instant.

Alicia wasted no time scanning her. "Class 10 Noble Shadow Hawk, 4th stage Juvenile at level 57. She's the highest level Comrade I got. Noble, Focused, Preparation, Shadow Infusion... what are these traits?"

She glanced at Nightwind who stood there waiting for her.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting. I'm ready." Alicia said.

Nightwind spread his wings and silently floated back some twenty meters. Alicia went to join him there on the other side of the Heart of the Forest.

[Colin.] Fenrix approached Colin while Nightwind taught Alicia that secret technique combo. [How is Sonia?]

In response, Colin tapped his badge. "Sonia."

Sonia appeared in a mild flash, lean, green and looking keen. She sniffed at Fenrix in greeting, then sniffed at Colin and waved her tail.

[Her growth is slowing.] Fenrix noted.

"What?" Colin blinked. "I mean... I haven't been spending all my nights training, but she's all right, isn't she?"

Fenrix observed Sonia carefully while Sonia scowled at Fenrix. At last, he said, [Leave her with me for one night, and I will help her grow fifty levels.]

"In one night?!" Colin let out a low whistle. "That's a lot."

[That is what she should truly be capable of.] Fenrix ignored a glare from Sonia. [I fear she may be underutilized... underappreciated.]

At that, even Sonia paused.

It kinda made sense. On almost any other Traveler's roster, a J-87 Enhanced Noble Sonic Wolf would be the top ace by far. Come to think of it, Colin hadn't even been here twenty nights yet. Most kids who had been around that long would be thrilled to get a single class-10, much less three, not to mention Shiro or Raiki. As it is, Sonia was already the strongest of his class-10's, but she still wasn't a match for Shiro or Raiki.

Yet now Shiro and Raiki were all but ignoring Colin. Why, he didn't know. Ever since they met their own kin, they spent more time with them than Traveling with him. It was natural, Colin guessed, and they'd probably come back sooner or later more powerful than ever... but until then, Sonia was the one he relied on the most.

"One night without Sonia..." Colin wasn't sure it was a good idea. "For fifty levels, it will be a good investment, but... it's risky. Sonia?"

Sonia thought about it when Colin asked for her opinion. She shrugged at first, but then hesitated. Then, she turned towards Fenrix slightly.

"All right. One night." Colin allowed. Going without his top three meant going without more than half his total power (in terms of levels, at least) but he felt that it was for good cause. Shiro had been doing almost everything for him during the first few nights, and Raiki had been through a lot also. He had relied on them when none of his other Comrades could even enter the Ancient Ways. They deserved a break, he felt, and Sonia seemed to want this special training that Fenrix offered. Eclipse, Kirin, Foxie and Cour should be enough to get as far as the Uber Marshes. Once there, it hardly mattered; the Frenzieds there were generally far too powerful to fight properly. Even little pixiebats and worms had been tough battles. The ants they took shelter with could have wiped them all out last night, no problem. Asblar alone could have wiped out all of his and Alicia's forces combined.

"Eclipse." He called her and she warped in. "Do you want that too?"

Eclipse glanced at him and then at Sonia for an explanation.

"Auu." Sonia explained. "Auuoo. Roo."

"Kyiii." Eclipse called to Nightwind across the clearing.

Nightwind paused, gave her a swift nod, and went back to her training with Alicia. Eclipse turned to Colin, gave him a swift bow in return, then went to join them.

"Have fun." Colin turned back to Sonia. "You too."

"Auu." Sonia wagged her tail at him, then she and Fenrix bounded off into the Forest.

Colin tapped his badge. "Cour."

The Red Panther warped in, glanced about, then sat down looking at Colin with patient blue eyes.

{Blue. Not the red of Frenzy nor the normal copper color he first had. Something happened to him when I called him out of his Frenzy. Something that changed his very being.}

"We have to talk." Colin told Cour and they walked off into the Forest together.