Companionship

Shadow awoke surrounded by fluff.

It wasn't a terrible way to wake up, he was actually enjoying the softness.

However, the source of the fluffiness was a cause of concern.

{Aariv, you there?}

[Yes?}

{If I move, will I die?}

[Uhm, you will be tackled and pinned against your will, yes.]

{I see, that sounds like an issue}

[No it's fine really. Not much of a threat.]

{Huh? Is my life in danger or not}

[No?]

{Don't be enigmatic, just tell me}

[There isn't much to tell you if I'm honest]

Shadow was a bit annoyed, the last thing he remembered was blacking out in the middle of the forest. Either he was still somewhere in the middle of unknown territory, or he had been captured by an enemy; there wasn't time for jokes.

He decided to take his chances by shifting ever so slightly to unbury himself in the cradle of softness, what was he met with?

A jet-black face with streaks on the fur, a face he never thought he would see again, and a body wrapped tightly around him.

{Oh}

[Oh, indeed]

{How did this even happen?}

[I'm not exactly sure, you blacked out and the wolf was magically healed and somehow tethered to you. She lifted you up and dragged you all the way back to the rabbit cave, by scent I assume, laid you down, and went to sleep around you.

{Interesting, I'll figure that part out later. First, I need to check my status because my body feels much weaker than normal}

[About that...]

{Status, what now?}

The same holographic screen he had always looked at came up and looked just about the same as well. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he feasted his eyes upon...

Status;

Race: Shadow Dragon

Companion: (Nameless)

Title: None

Level: 1

Health: 40/40

Mana: 57/80

ATK: 90

DEF: 80

Exp: 0/15

{I'm going to kill myself}

[I don't think that's the solution here]

{No, that's the only solution here.}

[I'm sure we can find an alternative]

{I dropped 20 levels and lost all my stats}

[Let's stay optimistic and find the bright side of this]

{Yes, the bright side. When I'm standing at the pearly gates.}

[The, what?]

{Death}

[Pay attention, what do you notice about your new status]

{Ugh, I guess, for one, I supposedly have an unnamed companion}

[Look closer]

{Actually, now that you say something, my stats are nearly double from when I was level 3, at level one. This makes my stats substantially higher than before}

The more that Shadow contemplated it, the more this seemed less like a degradation and waste of effort, and more like an opportunity, one he would take advantage of.

[Exactly, so have you calmed down now?]

{Not entirely, we still have to meet our savior and finally speak to another resident of this world without them going for our neck, hopefully}

Shadow stirred slightly, let his breathing pattern change, and waited. It wasn't long before the wolf shifted her weight and surprising Shadow once again, spoke.

'Have you awakened, benefactor?'

The wolf's voice was melodic and soothing. Deceptively promising to wash all your worries away. Shadow was not fooled, he had seen the way she skillfully maneuvered between the humans' attacks. She was more unscathed than he was and only died to the surprise spell.

{Benefactor? Is she referring to me?}

[Just ask her]

'You wouldn't happen to be referring to me at the mention of a benefactor, would you?'

[Why are you talking like that]

{I don't know. This is stressful, you're not helping}

[Nothing to be nervous about. Are you okay]

{I'm weaker than before, my life is basically within her hands right about now, at least until I get my strength back. Quiet! She's responding}

'Yes, I am. You are my benefactor. You defeated the evil humans after my life and brought me back from the brink of death; if you're not my benefactor, no one ever will be.'

[She makes a fair point]

{She must be talking about the heptagram. You know I didn't mean to do that}

[Whether you meant to or not, doesn't overshadow the fact that you did. Are you going to tell her?]

{That I didn't mean to save her life? Absolutely not, right now I am severely weakened in a dangerous forest. I shall not forsake this chance to gather a loyal follower.}

'That I did, but now that you're alive and well, what are your plans from this point forward?'

Shadow decided to poke around to find out her intentions, to better assess the way he should go about securing her as his subject.

'Well, should benefactor allow it, I would like to follow you around as your servant and repay my debt. Not even a thousand lives could pay back what you've done for me, not only letting me live but also strengthening me far beyond what I was previously capable of but also increasing my talent. I am eternally grateful.'

She's lost Shadow now, he was confused on what she meant by strengthening and talent increasing her talent, hadn't he only healed her?

'Uh, what were the effects like, that was my first time doing something of that nature, so I am unaware as of now.'

[Or, you have no idea what she's talking about]

{Quiet!}

'Sure thing. Before meeting you, I was nearing the peak of my talent.

Usually, for Dire-Wolfs like me, this means you have to gather enough energy to push past that limit, it took my brother many years to accomplish this and by the time he did, he was well past his prime.

I love to fight and get stronger, I couldn't imagine a world where I was stuck being that weak.

I went out into the forest to fight many monsters to fight and hopefully break past my limit until I stumbled upon some human smugglers.

They planned on immobilizing me and selling me off; we're not blind to the ways of humans around here, but they were so weak I was sure I could fight them off and maybe even break my limit at the same time.

That was until more of them came out of hiding, what started as a simple 4 vs 1, turned into 7 of them attacking me with more stopping me from running.'

The wolf sounded so depressed over her blunder; it was hard to fault her for it. Shadow remembered when he was young and naive, with dreams of finding friends and people who loved and cared for him. Pity they were only dreams.

'What about this strengthening and talent increasing? You're saying, being healed by me, raised your talent ceiling while simultaneously making you stronger.'

Shadow was sure this is what happened to his levels, the wolf took all of his strength.

'That's exactly what I'm saying! You saved my life, helped me overcome my problem, and gave me strength, how could you not be my benefactor? You must let me follow; I'll die if I don't!

{Die is a bit strong in wording, is it not?}

[Not by the way she's hopping around and wagging her tail it's not]

'I will allow you to follow me, but I move in a specific way and I don't like for people to slow me down. If you slow me down, you're dead weight; I cut off dead weight.'

Shadow made sure to give his best death stare, just to reiterate his point.

'You got it! I will be the best servant on this planet'

{We've got that settled. I say we check out this companion panel that I now have}

Summoning up the usual holographic screen, Shadow made sure to watch the wolf to see if she noticed it, but she just dutifully sat there and stared at him, as if waiting for something.

{We've tested and confirmed that theory. Now what's in here?}

However, what he saw, was the last thing he would've expected to show up on this panel.

{Oh, my}

[What, have you done}