“Why?” was all that Tabitha could really ask after Runa repeated her interest in coming with her.

Runa sat up on her elbows as much as she could and looked Tabitha right in the eyes to answer her. “Because! All the stories of Summoned have them going on big adventures and seeing the world, and that’s exactly what you just said you want to do! I’ve—I’ve never even left the village. There’s so much out there… but I haven’t seen any of it, and I want to! I want to see the ocean! I want to know what it feels like to walk over a desert! And… I know it all sounds selfish. I won’t try hiding that. I just… I feel like, staying here, all I’m doing is living for the sake of living. Every day is the same as the day before it. I wake up, run errands, help how I can, go to sleep, and repeat. I—”

“Say no more, Runa.”

Runa, taking that as a rejection, looked down with saddened eyes. But she wasn’t going to give up. She couldn’t now that an opportunity finally presented itself to her. That was why she lifted her head once more to say—

“I’ll take ya.”

—to say, “Y-you will?! I thought you were rejecting me!”

“Nah. You’re just like me.”

“I… I am?”

“Yep! Ya see, before I came here, I felt the same way. I lived only for the sake of livin’. I’d wake up, go to work, come home, eat if I had it in me to, go to sleep, and repeat. I hated it. Thought about just packin’ all my things into my car, pickin’ a direction, and drivin’ away, but never had it in me to. Always told myself I’d do it tomorrow. ‘Tomorrow, I’ll change. I’ll fix my life. I’ll get a grip and go out there and make myself happy instead of bein’ a mindless wage slave for the rest of my life.’ Never did, though. I guess I was afraid of, ya know, what happens if I mess up? What if I run out of money and can’t afford a room or food? What if I can’t find a new job? What if I get sick away from any help? I had all these fears holdin’ me back. But now… I guess I’ve still got some of those fears, but I mean, I’m in a whole new world. A world where my dreams are actually possible. I feel like I’ve got a fresh start this time around, so I want to make my Gramps proud and live my new life to its fullest. I’ll hate myself if I waste this opportunity.”

“That… sounds exactly how I feel. I know I could leave on my own whenever I want to, but… I’m scared of what happens if I fail. But if I’m with a Summoned, I feel like anything is possible!”

“Now, hold on there. It’s flatterin’ and all to hear that, but I’m still just another person just like you. I ain’t special. I did the bare minimum of livin’ life in my old world, and I’ve no doubt that you’re probably more competent than me in a whole lotta ways. Everybody around here so far seems to have a good head on their shoulders. So, ya can’t expect me to hold your hand and make everythin’ work out somehow. If anythin’, I’ll probably get more use outta you than you’ll get outta me.”

“That’s fine! I just—I… want somebody to be with me. I wouldn’t expect you to do all the work, and I’d do my best to be your equal! I just don’t want to be alone. Being alone scares me, but… if I have somebody with me, I think I can do it!”

“Nobody around here’s been willin’ to go with ya?”

Runa shook her head and sighed. “The only people who ever leave the village are the traders who take fur to the city. They’ve never let me come with them because there wouldn’t be anywhere on the wagons for me. They take their children to teach them the trade instead, and they don’t want me sitting on top of all the goods, so…”

“C’mon, nobody around here has had the adventurous spirit and want to set off with nothin’ but a sword and bag?”

“I think… our culture has something to do with it.”

Tabitha sat up and propped up her pillows between her and the wall to sit against. “Yeah?”

Runa nodded before doing the same thing that Tabitha did with her pillows. “We can be very territorial, but we stick to our lands. Going on dangerous adventures to explore the world feels the same way to many of us as being greedy and wanting more. We strive to be a simple people content with our lives, so things like that are usually seen poorly. It’s also why… we look the way we do.”

“Speakin’ of that, I’ve gotta be honest. I’m real curious about what ya said earlier about bein’ humans. Now, if ya don’t want to elaborate, please don’t. I don’t want ya to feel uncomfortable or anythin’. But if ya don’t mind sharin’… well, I’m all ears.”

Runa reached up to touch her ears with a sad expression before sighing and nodding. “I told you before that we haven’t been fully human for hundreds of years. That’s because… well, we used to be humans like everybody else. But back then, our kingdom was surrounded by others who all wanted our land. We were only a small kingdom, and our growing population made us dependent on trade for resources. When the others realized how much we relied on them, they tried to take advantage of us with manipulative trade deals. Some even cut us off entirely, hoping to starve us out so they could come in and take our land without risking the lives of their soldiers.”

“Sounds like a pretty rough spot to be in. Surrounded by people who just wanna manipulate ya and take everythin’ you’ve got.”

Runa nodded before turning her head onto its other side to look out the window. “Our king at the time, Leo Wulvenfang, decided that war was our only option. He was tired of everybody taking advantage of us and knew that we needed more land if we wanted to be independent. But… it didn’t go as planned. While he waged war to the north, those to our south and west moved in on our land. Most of our towns were under foreign control by the time he returned from the north. So… he turned to a ritual that would forever change our people.”

“I’ve got a feelin’ I know where this is goin’.”

Runa nodded again and looked at Tabitha. “His royal bloodline gave him a unique skill to call upon our goddess, Vera. We are told that Vera bit off one of her tails and left it on our land to give birth to us.”

“How’s that make any sense?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“Huh. Well, go on.”

“Because of that… even though we looked human, many still believed—and still believe, that we have her blood running in our veins. That we are all siblings. Children of Vera. When the king used his unique skill, it… awakened what we had in us all along. It turned our people into monstrous beasts more animal than human. It gave us the power to fight back and reclaim our land, and we went on an offensive that struck fear into all of our neighbors. This next part is… complicated. Our chief says that it was a bunch of things that happened. We took too much territory and weren’t able to manage it, we suffered too many losses and failed to replenish our ranks, and our personalities became as twisted as our bodies which led to infighting. Between all of those reasons and more, we failed to hold onto most of the territory we claimed and were pushed back by a united force.”

“Sounds like ya got greedy.”

“We did. Our king signed a truce that vowed to never again wage war outside of self-defense. In exchange, we got to keep the territory he claimed to the north. But… there was no undoing the ritual. Our people remained beasts, and we faced discrimination because of that. Everybody feared us. Because those bodies were only good for violence, and because we wanted to return to our former selves, we’ve been selectively breeding for centuries. Those with the most human traits are the ones who have the most success finding partners. Those who have the most animalistic features… tend to voluntarily leave themselves out of the competition to find a mate. But it doesn’t even always matter. There are times when somebody who looks like me may have a child with somebody else as normal as me, and their child may still come out covered in fur with inhuman limbs. These ears,” Runa reached up to touch her ears, “only serve as a reminder of our violent past. We understand why the king did what he did… but it all went too far and ruined our bodies.”

“Dang. So, you’re basically tryin’ to breed those traits out of your bodies now.”

“It is the only thing that has worked. We tried magic, alchemy, prayer, rituals—nothing worked. Only purposeful breeding has made a difference. We will likely never return to being fully human. But now that you know our history, you can understand why most of us are reluctant to ever leave our territory. That selfish drive was what led us to look this monstrous way. But… I think we have to move on. We’ve spent centuries regretting the actions of the past and blaming ourselves for it, even though everybody who was really involved is long dead. We shouldn’t treat those who want to leave and adventure like they are the same as their ancestors. Why should we punish ourselves for the sins of our ancestors whose faces we have never even known? We’ve done nothing wrong, but we still… we hold the shame of our people over our heads. Maybe… maybe that’s part of why I want to leave. I don’t like looking this way, but I can’t stand the self-shaming of our people. I want to be selfish and go on an adventure without feeling like I’m a horrible person walking in the footsteps of our ancestors for doing it.”

Tabitha whistled and said, “Dang. Ya really went off there. Wasn’t expectin’ all that, especially with how quiet ya were before.”

“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rant like that! It’s just… you’re not from here. There’s so much I want to get off my chest, but I’ve never felt like I had anybody who would listen and understand. But you said we feel the same way, and you’re not from here, so I thought… you would understand and not shame me for it.”

“Don’t ya worry about it. I get it. Ya finally found somebody who’ll let ya talk their ear off and can’t hold back! Heh. I don’t mind one bit. Also, I know what ya mean. Where I’m from, not all of our people were like that, but we definitely had some folk who couldn’t get over the past. I get why, but I could never relate. That bein’ said, I want to live life as selfishly as possible now that I’ve got a new chance here. You want to finally be selfish and go on a big ol’ adventure yourself, too. I think we’ll make mighty fine adventurin’ partners if I say so myself!”

“Will you really let me go with you? You’re not—you’re not joking?”

“Girl, you’re horrible at tellin’ when I’m bein’ serious and when I’m jokin’. We’ll have to work on that. I’m bein’ serious. No jokes here.”

“I could hug you right now!” Runa cried, starting to slide herself off the bed only to stop when she saw Tabitha waving her arms at her.

“Hold on there! No movin’ around. Ya won’t be able to go on an adventure with me if your leg doesn’t heal, ya got that? So, if ya really wanna go with me, ya better stay put and heal that leg as fast as possible.”

Runa nodded her head so much that Tabitha was worried she would get whiplash from it. Tabitha also noticed that Runa’s tail looked like it was trying to wag between her and the pillow.

As much as Runa might not have liked her animalistic traits… Tabitha couldn’t stop thinking about how cute they were.

“Now, get back to sleep,” Tabitha said.

“I’m too excited to sleep now!” Runa replied. “It’s impossible to sleep when my heart is racing like this!”

“C’mon. It’s just a life of adventure full of danger, rare items, monsters, and craftin’ everywhere we go. What’s so excitin' about that?”

“Everything!”

“Heh. Well, I can’t argue with ya there.”