Castor honestly didn’t think he would wake up again. He vividly remembered fighting—and losing—to the Ghoul, but everything after was fuzzy.

Remarkably, he didn't feel like he was going to die. Castor knew how close he was to death; now, he felt a little stuffy, if anything.

His [Bond] perked up at his shift into wakefulness. Lingering worry and sadness transformed to pure happiness. Blue squirmed closer, begging for scratches and love before anything else.

“Hang on, let me breathe first.” Castor’s lungs felt crystal clear, but he still struggled for air. Multiple layers of fabric and Blue laid on top of him, heating him up to what felt like steaming temperatures now. His panting underneath the blankets only made it worse.

“Aahhh.” He burst out of his bondage, only to see a fire burn in the corner of the living room he occupied. Two girls—one a child, and another teenager—laid cuddled together on bean bags across from Micah, who snored lightly as he basked in the warmth of the fire.

He found himself waking up in another strange place, but they were safe; that was all that mattered to Castor. He laid back down and took a couple of moments to appreciate the fire, despite his sweat. Blue relaxed alongside him, rolling around next to him.

I’m alive, he clenched his hand to make sure. I’m still alive and well. The small fire crackled in agreement; Blue huffed, demanding attention through both their connection and with a wave of his paws in the air. Castor smiled, obliging him until his stomach rumbled painfully.

“Ugh.” Castor opened his status with a mental nudge.

Castor Dark Human

POW:0.4

MND:0.2

ATM:1.4

Twilight: 144G

RP:8/8

Abilities: Aural Synesthesia

Skill List: Alter (Ra), Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Ba), Intuition (Uc), Bond (Inc), Unarmed Combat Proficiency (Ba), Perseverance (Uc)

Blue Canine

RP:7/7

Skill List: Guard (Ba), Bite (Ba), Bond (Ra)

Paths Revealed

Bonded I (0/75)

Twilight: 144 Glint

Castor didn’t remember having the two last skills, but he welcomed them anyway. Getting stronger was on the top of his to-do list. So, when he saw all that Glint burning a hole in his metaphorical pocket, Castor didn’t hesitate to use it to complete the only path he had left.

Path completed!

Many beings use cooperation as a tool for

survival. Yet, few have chosen to join their destiny together. Continue to walk the path to see your fates.

Your nature infects your bond.

Castor Dark Human

POW:0.4

MND:0.2

ATM:1.4

Twilight: 69G

Resource:8/8

Abilities: Aural Synesthesia

Skill List: Alter (Ra), Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Ba), Intuition (Uc), Bond (Inc), Unarmed Combat Proficiency (Ba), Perseverance (Uc)

Blue Canine

Resource:7/7

Skill List: Guard (Ba), Bite (Ba), Bond (Ra), Alter (Ra)

“Why can’t I just have a simple prompt that tells me exactly what I get.” Castor almost gave up on paths entirely, yet he caught [Alter]—the useless skill—copied onto Blue’s skill list. He brought up the skill page.

Alter (Rare)

Score: ATM, ???

Available Alignments:

Dire, Malice

Castor groaned in frustration. None of the new pieces of information made sense to him; no context to base the new entries on just made them effectively unreadable.

“Calm down, making yourself angry is only going to make it worse.” Castor took a deep breath and tried to attack the problem from a new angle.

Micah awakened with [Mana Bolt], just like did Castor with [Alter] on his status, and although he couldn’t use it right away, the spell did use some of his resource points. By that logic, it should also be a skill that uses resource points. The only problem was the only skill Castor had gotten to work with his energy [Bond]—

An idea came to mind.

Castor tugged at the mental thread that lay on the edge of his awareness, grabbing the dog’s attention. He looked into his eyes in askance. Can you try to use the [Alter] skill? Castor tried to impart complex meaning for the first time, squeezing against the boundary of their connection, but Blue only understood when created a mental picture of change to accompany his request.

He grew so intelligent overnight, Castor noticed as the canine mulled over the request, and asked for scratches and hugs as a reward. Blue was already smart to know how to behave and recognize a lot of commands, but now just looking at the dogs eyes was enough to see how Blue changed. There was a burning curiosity in there, and an uncanny understanding of their situation.

While Castor was observing Blue, the dog took the chance to look the side of Castor’s face. “Ewww,” Castor laughed.

Blue ears flopped as he begged for pets.“What a needy dog.” Castor smiled. Blue shed the blankets in a stretch and yawn, and trotted around the room in circles. Castor got the feeling of him trying to move a brand-new limb. It took him a couple of tries, but the skill flickered on, and he disappeared into the darkness.

Blue Acquired Shadow Sneak (Uncommon)

Blue’s Alter Expanded!

Unranked 2

What Castor couldn’t figure out in the span of 1-2 days, the mutt figured out in two seconds, leveling up the skill and gaining a spell.

At least one of us can use it. Where most might’ve felt stupid, Castor felt proud of his companion’s accomplishment. Blue stepped back into the firelight, inky black smoke disguising his figure. He looked like a demon, ready to reap lives.

Blue dropped his cloak of what Castor instinctively understood as Malice, and stood proudly in front of him, demanding his reward. He laughed when he pawed his arm and dragged it to him. The shadows were undetectable in the dark. It would be even more useful when he learned it himself.

“Did you teach your dog a new trick?” Micah asked, stretching his arm overhead. For some reason, he gave the girls a long, concerned look.

“I was trying to get him to teach me one.” Castor threw off the rest of the blankets and stood. “Who are they?” He glanced at the two girls sleeping in the beanbags.

“Hmm,” Micah eyed the man suspiciously for a second, softening a bit at the end. “The little girl is Diana; the other one is Gabby. She helped me carry you back inside after you fought… the Ghoul.”

“Is that so?”

“Mmm.” The fire crackled as silence spread between the two before Micah spoke up again. “Be careful, they’re going through their Awakenings.”

Castor glanced at the two girls once more, noting how totally they slept, like they weren’t in the middle of a hellhole. If he squinted his eyes, Castor could somehow feel motes of light traveling up and down the girls’ bodies. Once he noticed them, the motes licked against his awareness the same way water or fire might. In waves and currents of power.

He shivered as he was reminded of those gold and crimson lines that still haunted him.

“I understand the need to be careful, but I think we can relax a little. We earned it, and soon we’ll have two allies with superhuman abilities.” Castor nodded, “Well, that’s if they decide to come with us, or allow us to stay.” He wouldn’t force it. People had to take care of them and theirs first.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Micah interrupted. “The... Ghoul you fought—that I killed—was their brother.”

“... Man,” Castor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I don’t know what to say.”

“They said he died when he tried to use the stone.” Micah continued, “And that he became that monster a few hours later.”

“…So what? They have a chance to turn into zombies?” Castor asked dubiously.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Micah gripped his torch as he sat, ready for anything.

Castor looked back at the purple and metallic motes that surrounded the girls, feeling the eddies of their influence reach even him. “I don’t think they’ll turn. Besides, there are more pressing matters.” He couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

Castor walked out of the living room, through the dining room, into the kitchen. Pots filled with water were laid out on every surface. He was glad that somebody was wise enough to gather water at the start of all this. He opened the fridge and freezer, taking out everything that would spoil in the next day; he left the half-melted ice cream, but took the defrosted chicken breast and a big pot of leftover soup. He also found a bag of rice just wasting away in a cabinet; Castor took that too, intent on having a good meal.

“You hungry? Found some stuff that is about to go bad, and a good side dish.” Castor stumbled back into the living room with bags and a bucket of food in his arms.

“Are you really going to steal these people’s food?” Micah asked as if he expected Castor to say no.

“It’ll only be stealing if I don't share with them.” Castor dropped the food near the fire, and went back to the kitchen to grab seasonings and cooking utensils. Without an actual grill, it’ll be tough to cook the food, but Castor had experience cooking over an open flame. “So, let’s hope I’m done before they wake up.”

Castor could hear Micah sigh over his shoulder but he didn’t care; food came first. His stomach rumbled in agreement.

Blue sat beside Castor, tail brushing dust into the air as he stacked a couple of broken pieces of wood and glass to hold a sheet pan over the flame. Once he arranged it just right so it didn’t fall over its own weight, Castor placed a medium-sized pot to boil for the rice on the sheet and placed as many pieces of chicken that would fit on the rest, haphazardly throwing whatever seasoning that looked good. It took a while for the pan to heat up, but soon the sound of sizzling and mouth-watering smell of meat drifted throughout the apartment.

Micah not-so-subtly strained to see the food over Castor’s shoulder, staring holes through his back when the view was blocked. It was mildly funny at first, but Castor drew the line when Micah paced around the whole room to seem nonchalant about trying to catch a look.

“What do you want?” Castor asked while he turned over the chicken with a pair of tongs, wary of the oil that popped off the sheet pan.

“You’re gonna at least give me one of those, right?” Not once did Micah take his eyes off the food.

“I don’t know, wouldn’t that be stealing?”

“Well, you’re already cooking it! You might as well share.” Micah protested, finally looking directly at Castor.

“Finders keepers, loser weepers.” Castor nodded his head as if he cited an ancient commandment.

Micah raised his arms, and drew a deep breath for his tirade, but was interrupted by a small, timid voice that made both of them flinch.

“Can I have some?” The little girl asked, silently appearing behind Micah.

Instantly, Castor felt guilty. It wasn’t right to talk about stealing a stranger’s food, even if it was a joke. Well, half-joke.

“Of course, you can have some.” Castor assured her. “Just give me some time and the rice will be done too.” He measured how much water boiled in the pot by eye, and estimated the proper ratio of rice. Shouldn’t take long now.

The little girl nodded her head and looked back at her older sister, who still slept on the beanbags. “Are we playing a game?” The little girl stared at the empty air, which Castor recognized as her looking at the prompts that invaded her space.

Castor’s shoulders fell at the question, while Micah sighed, unable to truly give a correct answer to the young girl. They didn’t truly have any answers, only theories.

For now, this was their reality.

“It’s kinda like a game.” Castor said, keeping an eye on the food. “You can get stronger, and there's stuff to do,”

He stirred the pot so it didn’t overflow. “But there’s also monsters who want to kill you.”

The crackling and sizzling from cooking filled the silence. No one disagreed with Castor, no one refuted the obvious.

“And you only have one life. You’re life. So, you got to play smart.” Castor didn’t hear her answer, but he could feel her nod at him without even looking at her.

“You gotta play to win.” Micah whispered aloud, almost to himself. The seriousness in his voice sent shivers down Castor's spine.

“You gotta play to win.” Castor repeated solemnly.

It was good to impress the gravity of the situation, but now was not the time. “Do you have any plates, Diana?”

Gabriella Gomez Human

Role: Spellblade Squire 1

PHY:0.3

CON:0.7

SOU:0.8

Twilight: 0

RP: 23/23

Spellblade Squire

Immense talent in spell formation

has been directed toward the blade.

+.2 PHY, +.1 SOU

Choose a perk:

Awaken Mana Ability

Increase Aura Talent

Enhance Blade Skill Expansion

Gabby gasped in shock when she woke up, words flying across her vision in semi-understandable clumps.

She still had trouble understanding she was alive after that gray pedestal swallowed her up and drowned her in its cold depths. She could still feel the heavy, liquid metal filling her lungs, and spread to the rest of her body.

A clatter of silverware echoed in the living room, only one plate continued to ring. Gabby couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

Instead of a living nightmare with two strangers; one half-dead and the other sickly, the two boys looked as if they were caught red-handed, guiltily avoiding her stare. They ate around the fire she made from her now-dead grandparent's table, alongside her sister, who laid back on a large black dog. She doubted the thing could read the apparent mood; that, or it didn't care as it greedily gulped down its serving.

“Is that chicken?” It was surreal to Gabby after watching her older brother die, come back to life, kill their grandparents, only for strangers to put him down and eat their food.

The last of the food.

“Sorry! We didn’t mean to steal your food.” Micah nervously blurted out, causing the older one to sigh.

“Is that the chicken that was in the freezer?” She still couldn’t understand what was happening.

“It’s okay, Gabby. It was going to go bad anyway.” Diana answered her question, as if she cared about the food. The little girl ate rice and grilled chicken, and this was the most surprising part, she actually hummed and ate the food without a single complaint. She petted the dog beneath her in-between spoonfuls.

“Here’s a plate for you.” The older one walked from his perch next to the fire and personally handed her a plate. The man looked entirely different when he wasn’t dying, or fighting for his life. More plain-looking, except for the way his eyes oddly reflected the light from the fire.

“... What kind of people breaks down a person’s door, steals their food, then serves them a plate.” Gabby joked, to which no one laughed, as she dug into the food.

The rice was mushy, and the chicken was salty. Definitely over seasoned.

For some reason, Diana looked at her with concern. “What’s wrong? Gabriella?”

Gabby was confused for a moment until she finally felt a pair of streams on her face. Tears.

“I’m okay.” Gabby sniveled. She wiped her face clean with her sleeve. “This food is just really bad.”

This time, someone thought her joke was funny. Only Castor laughed, continuing to eat his food anyway.