Connection

Nuru followed the fence line, pondering. Levels meant EXP, and EXP meant quests... and quests meant danger. Or did it? There were ways of making EXP without quests; feats of social interaction, feats of valor which normally occurred on a quest... but not always. Quests were still the fastest way. As so often before, he came to the end of the fence where the plain hill had been chiseled away into a sheer rock face that no one could climb, sealing away the Level Eleven+ area. The Forbidden Forest, however, extended a little ways further back, where the wooden fence allowed him to see just to the border. And as a few times before, there was Old Jaheem, the quirky black lyena that sat and grunted and howled at anyone that came near.

Parents used it to scare their children into doing their chores; "do what you're told or Old Jaheem will come and eat you!"

"Give it a rest, Old Jaheem," Nuru said.

The lyena stopped a moment, then let out a long, low cry that sent chills down Nuru's spine. Adana spoke to him through the pact he'd formed with her from wherever it was demons lived.

/He's talking to you./

"Nah, that's just Old Jaheem. Sometimes they talk about getting a party together, going into the Forbidden Forest and hunting him down. But he can't cross the fence any more than the kids he might eat, so no one's bothered."

/His name is 'Walks Without Shadow.'/

"What? How do you know that? And that can't be right, there are plenty of shadows over there."

/Well, it is a forest./

The lyena stood still, watching him intently.

"What's he saying?"

/I don't know. I could cast a translation spell, but you'd need to talk to someone with a +3 to Forest Knowledge first. I'm a big city girl, myself./

The butcher. He'd been a woodsman once, a Ranger class, but retired when he realized he could send the young Level Twos and Threes out into the tamer forest to catch deer and other animals, and all he had to do was dress and package the meat.

*****

"Ah, Nuru!" said the man. "Got a quest for ya if you're interested."

"Not now, Gram," he said. "I wanted to talk to you about wargs."

"Wargs? Oh, aye, there've been wargs, but not in these parts. Never fear the forest here, my boy, just go and pick the tender does and foxes."

"Well, alright, but there's a lyena."

"Ah yes, Old Jaheem. Someone'll get a bow one o' these days and put him down, or out, before long. Lyena meat's no good for cookin' though, too tough and gamey."

"Why's he sit out there like that, do you think?"

"Who knows? Not one to howl at the moon, that one, but he's sure got something to say. Probably his lame mating call, hahah! Not worth your trouble, or anyone's; that's why he's still alive. Just don't go tempting fate by going in his territory."

"I... see. Thank you."

"Sure I can't interest you in a pheasant hunt?"

"Yeah, not today, Gram. Thanks."

/He's lying, you know./

"Who?"

/Your Gram./

"How do you know?"

/I know how to read people. Important skill in my class, you know./

"Ah. Yes. I suppose. What is he lying about?"

/He knows Old Jaheem, knows it's not his real name, and knows why he cries./

"Oh? Why's that?"

/Learn By Osmosis didn't catch it. You'll have to ask the creature yourself./

Surprisingly, the old lyena was still there when he came back. Normally he'd gone by now.

"So, what do I say?"

/Hang on. I don't know why I'm doing this for you, pulling from my own MP, but it's not much. Don't get used to it./

He felt a tingle in his ears.

"So, uh... Walks Without Shadow is it?"

Chuff, grufff.

[How do you know that name?]

"I'm a clever boy, with a secret. Will you trade?"

Grunt. Yawn.

[No. I find I do not care for material things.]

"How like a beast. Well, what do you care about?"

Long, mournful cry.

[My son is lost to me.]

"Your son!?"

Growl.

[Taken by cubnappers. Trappers of the exotic.]

"Is this what you call out every day?"

Rrrff.

[It is.]

"Why? Why do you say it, when no one is listening?"

Grunts and snarls too fast to follow.

[In the hopes that someday, someone might. It is Human that has taken him. It is Human to whom I must turn. Where he has gone, I cannot follow, though my step is light and my shadow gone.]

"How did you lose your shadow? I didn't think it was possible."

[I strayed too near The Glitch in my youth, and now light bends strangely. I have since learned to stay in safer lands. But nowhere is truly safe for a Beast Class.]

Nuru stared at him. The lyena stared back, mouth hanging open.

"Will you say more? Why are you silent now?"

[For many long years, I have spoken it. None listened. My pain grows no less by the moment, but I do not wish to drive you away with my overzealousness. But be assured, as long as you listen, I will speak.]

/Well, until the spell wears off, anyway./

"Hush, you. Not you, Walks Without Shadow. Where is your son now?"

[I tracked them to the great city of tents, with the banner of the blue star. There they hold tournaments for gold and glory, initiating new members into their Faction. I fear that one day, a rising hero will come, who will defeat them all in one go, and claim the greatest title of Early Riser at the expense of my son's death. A few tanks have come perilously close already, from what the birds have shared.]

"Paladins," Nuru mused. "What if I could get you in?"

[I could find him. He has grown, but I will know his scent.]

"And if we find him - what will you do?"

[If there is any chance, I will do whatever I must. I will not ask you to die in his defense. And I will not force him to watch me die in a pointless fight. It would do more harm to him than anything those savages have already done. Meaning no offense.]

"None taken. I am unaligned, and to be honest I think you're being quite more polite than I would be if the situation were reversed."

[Then I place myself under your command, should we go in pursuit of his freedom.]

"Interesting. Let me do some checking. I notice that you do not have, nor have you ever had, the mark of a quest giver."

[And where should I get one? I have no money, nor would I be allowed anywhere near the supply shops.]

"Hmm. Silly of me."

[Not so. You are young, and have not learned of a great many things. But you are less foolish than a great many adventurers far more travelled, I say.]

"Farewell for now."

[I will be waiting. Oh, one last thing. Do not speak my true name where others may hear. It attracts the wrong sort of attention.]

*****

"What do you think?" Nuru asked as he walked.

/You talking to me?/

"Who else?"

/Your own crazy self./

"Yes, you."

/What do I think about what?/

"Can we get Old Jaheem into the Faction Territory?"

/He'd have to be a familiar. No other way to get a beast into settled land without putting him in great danger./

"Can we do it?"

/I can maybe charm some people. Doesn't come cheap, though. What's in it for me?/

"Don't act like you didn't feed while I was getting intimate with that blacksmith's girl."

/She was barely Level Two. I got very little from her./

"Well, I didn't do it for you. But consider this: if I get into the higher level areas, there's a lot more where that came from."

/And why should I invest in such a far-fetched scheme?/

"Because I was only a Level One when you made a pact with me. What were you expecting, back then?"

/Sigh. You to pull your own weight./

"And to screw me over with Mana Burn anytime I didn't do what you wanted. Like an obedient little Mana Battery."

/Get to the point. I'm busy over here./

"My point is, you can still benefit from my growth, it just won't be quite the way you expected. I just need a little bit of buy-in up front. An advance, if you will."

/How do I know you'll pay me back?/

"You don't. But like I said, I didn't get with that farmer girl for your benefit, and I'm not interested in the usual order of quests. You know what I want, and you know it'll feed you, at least sometimes. Can I count on you? Do me this one and I'll show you that you can depend on me."

/Hmph. You know what happens when you screw a succubus. And that wight's gonna wear off any moment now./

"Actually, it's not. It's Glitched to never debuff. As long as it's alive, I have no mana."

/You son of a bitch! When were you going to tell me that?/

"When it became relevant. Which it just did. So behave, and maybe I'll go have it killed and let you have a piece. Or you can be stuck with me, completely useless, with a pact to drop when I die for any old paladin who hates sexy fun times to pick up."

/You wouldn't./

"Statistically, at my level it's a toss up whether I even get a choice or not to die. You know that."

/Bastard!/

"You say that like it's a bad thing. In your line of work..."

/Fine, you got me. Must have rolled a natural twenty. Let's do this./

Two bored-looking guards in Blue Sun uniforms were blocking entry to the tourney grounds.

"Yeah, hi, I'd like to know if I can try out a familiar."

"Scram, kid. We don't do that here."

"Look, I've heard you have lyenas and griffins and whatnot, I just want to see if it's as good as the real thing."

"Check a stat table. There's an FAQ somewhere."

"No, I don't want to go to a library, the stats only tell you so much. Is the AI any good? That's what I want to know, and you can't tell unless you've seen it in action. The level bonuses will of course raise it above any ordinary beast, before long."

"Got a quest you can take. There's a goblin king that needs dethroning. Good for adventurers of any level! Although in your case I'd recommend taking a party... Mr. Level One," the guard said, uncharitably.

"Man, I just wanted to try it out and I can't switch it for the loot option if I take it out in the field. It's got to be in the city, and I don't have time to fuss around with you rent-a-cops or grind high enough for the arena myself. I just want a random encounter in the tournament to try it out. You follow?"

"I don't see no familiar."

"I didn't bring it, in case you'd heard it was crap. Lemme go enter the code for a lyena, unless you know better. No? Fine."

He left, found the animal.

"It's time," Nuru said.

[I am ready. Here is the IOU. Remember that it is no good if I am dead, or in a warded cage]

Nuru nodded somberly and led him back, suddenly softly glowing like a familiar might, though it was dangerously close to "enemy red" in color.

/Sorry. I *am* a monster class, you know./

"Eh... what the hell. You can be the pre-show appetizer I guess," the guard said. "Warm-up for the other combatants or something. Go talk to the bursar, he'll get you set up. Tell him Malik sent you."

Walks Without Shadow followed jerkily, carefully maintaining a fixed distance, looking straight ahead, and trying desperately to avoid doing anything that might be interpreted as an aggro. They waited in line as someone else finished up some business first, and accidentally left an area damage effect on. His HP slowly ticked down, but still he didn't move, aside from his eyes wincing shut subtly with every hit.

"Hey- hey kid!"

One of the guards outside the pavilion waved.

"Your mount's taking damage!"

"It's not my mount," Nuru replied calmly.

"Well why's it not attacking back? You do PvP or what?"

"Friendly zone," Nuru said dismissively. "Can't do it. Must be a glitch it's even taking damage at all."

"Ah. Of course. No permanent harm done anyway, right? Hey crusader, turn that aura off man, you're being rude to the unaligned guests."

"Woops, sorry!"

Then it was his turn. He was sweating bullets, but the bursar failed his spot check. Well, perception wasn't a big priority in people who primarily handled treasury finances. Never swung a sword in his life, Nuru guessed. However, he was sure that the man would know exactly what DLCs were around - it was his job to know the actuarial tables that governed value, to assess goods placed as bets. Nuru wouldn't fool him with that story, so he'd have to change it up a bit.

"Hey there, Malik sent me. He said you'd be able to set up a random encounter so I could test out my, uh, Holy Companion here."

"Sorry kid, tournament's closed to new entries. You're too low a level for the entry requirements anyway."

"No, no. I'm not trying to enter the tournament, I just want to set up a test fight. Just to see how responsive and intuitive the interface is. I haven't decided if I'm gonna take this, or go for Holy Boon."

"Oh, a demo is it? Why didn't you say so? Training grounds are that way."

"Well I wanted to see how it compares to the real thing. If it's nerfed so it can't go toe to toe with an actual lyena, I don't want it."

"Ah, I see, you're buying locally. And you can't back out if you take it out of faction jurisdiction, right? Contract terms?"

"Right."

"I suppose we can let you do a quick demo for the crowd, show them the upcoming event. Gotta support our local merchants."

"Sure, that works."

"Alright, hang out for a bit and we'll let you know when we're ready to get started."

Nuru led Jaheem to a side entrance, where he lay down quietly. A few kids from the village started throwing rocks, doing minor damage at best, and Jaheem just flicked his ears.

"I appreciate your restraint," Nuru muttered.

The old lyena yawned, shook his head, and grumbled.

[I told you, my death will serve no one, least of all my son. He is here.]

"What? Where?"

The lyena lifted his tail and dropped it, without looking up. Where it pointed, Nuru followed with his eyes. A pair of gleaming orbs studied them from under a tarpauline covering a rather inadequate-looking cage.

"Think we can bust it?" Nuru said quietly.

The lyena shook his head quietly.

Rrf.

[Enchanted.]

"Damn. The hard way it is, then."

The lyena said nothing.

*****

"And now, before we begin, let us have a preview of the events to come. We have a newcomer with a holy lyena companion, here to show you how ferocious our main contestant is. Will someone claim the prize in a fight to the death? Hold onto your seats folks, this one's going to be wild!"

The announcer waved Nuru in. Jaheem followed, walking just as jerky and illogically as any mindless elementa bound to stay _exactly_ seven feet behind its owner. In the far corner, a cage was rolled and long staffs used to eject the young lyena, which wasted no time scampering across the arena grounds, searching for an exit. Finding none, it turned to study the two newcomers.

"Fight!" the announcer called, blowing a horn.

"Best get to it," Nuru said.

Jaheem launched himself straight away, leaping and swiping at the other confused lyena, which tried to keep its distance. The crowd booed.

"War cry!" Nuru called. He'd have to give them a show, or they would be kicked out before they could get anywhere.

Jaheem skidded to a halt, raised its head and howled ferociously.

[Son! Do not flee!]

The other lyena turned and growled, baring its fangs.

[Father! What have they done to you?!]

Jaheem stamped and chuffed before launching himself at his kin again.

[There is a plan. You shall be free.]

The other lyena dodged quickly, but not quickly enough; perhaps his fights with slower creatures had dulled his reflexes. Jaheem caught him on the flank, and laid a gash in his thigh. His scream stole the breaths of everyone watching; the whole crowd was watching in awe. Reflexively, he lashed out, and started a tumble of fangs and claws as over six hundred pounds of muscle and sinew grappled in the dust.

"Call him away! Don't get his throat ripped out!" the announcer called down.

"Jaheem! To me!" Nuru yelled, hoping to be heard.

He bounded over, turning impossibly quick as only a feliform can.

"How you doing, buddy?" he muttered. "Is he cooperating?"

He hissed, a low squawking sound that scared the crap out of Nuru.

[I cannot keep this up forever. He listens, barely, but does not understand.]

"You said you'd take his place, right?"

His head dipped without a sound.

"Bring him over here. Adana, can you swap them with an illusion?"

/Perhaps. There are too many here, some of them will not be affected, by the sound of things./

"We just need his handlers to believe it. And a few guards."

/I'm good, but I can't guarantee success./

"I'll take what I can get. Jaheem! Finish it!" Nuru called as the announcer whirled his finger in the air. He didn't want to risk real injury, either to the lyena or - hopefully - him. He was out there with no protection after all, a lowly Level One. Either one of the feliforms so much as grazed him and he'd be done for.

Jaheem closed with his retreating kin. The snarling and swatting went faster than most any observer could follow, and a great cloud of dust rose. Nuru was almost unprepared as they came tumbling to land thrashing right in the dirt next to him.

[Go with the human!]

[What of you?]

[No time to explain! You must take my place at his side! Follow his every move]

"Now!" Nuru said.

/I swear, you're so weird. That talking habit's going to get you hurt someday. I should mention paladins don't like pacts with demons./

He extended his hand, and a small jolt shot out of it into the dust cloud. A blue circle appeared, freezing all three of them in place, generated by three of the guards who were casting in simultaneity.

"Time!" the announcer called. "What a beast! What a fight to come! Grab your refreshments, folks, you are not going to want to leave your seats for any reason. Contestants, prepare yourselves!"

Guards came in, casting nets over each of the combatants separately and carefully dragging them apart. A ghostly hand dexterously untangled the limbs of the two giant animals who were locked together, unmoving. The hand dropped the older of the two next to Nuru, and the guards pulled the other back to the cage and shoved it in carefully before securing the gate once more.

The blue circle faded. The lyena next to him stared at the cage, silently.

"Come," Nuru said.

Nuru turned and walked away, making room for the attendants that went about smoothing the torn ground, checking the walls for breaches or unexpected climbing holds. The lyena turned and padded next to him, breathing heavily. Nuru waved at the guards as he left without a second glance. Malik waved back. He had to assume the lyena was following him. Everyone turned back back to what they were doing.

One guard turned to the other.

"Didn't he come in looking old before?"

"What do you mean? It's the same one."

"He's got a shadow. Holy companions aren't flesh, they aren't supposed to occlude light..."

And then Nuru was out of earshot. He trotted ahead as quickly as he dared, keeping up appearances. NPC-classes kept staring, trying to prompt him to invoke their dialogue tree, making him nervous enough to bolt, which he only just restrained himself from doing. Then there was a bright flash, and the exit sealed he was heading towards. A Rune of Holding had been activated, that was far too high for Level One to resist.

"Crap. New plan," Nuru said, turning and sprinting. The lyena followed effortlessly, eerily quiet. They dodged passersby, who mostly ignored them aside from a few who stared. He heard guards in heavy armor mustering. He dodged down an alley, looking for just the right place.

"There!" Nuru said, point. "Get in there!"

It was an old well, broken and mostly filled in, but deep enough to avoid easy inspection. If a man didn't look directly down, a lyena his dark brown color (or black if the illusion spell held) could hide there, and perhaps even avoid casual inspection if he did. But it wasn't so deep that he wouldn't be able to get back out again. One hoped.

The beast hesitated.