Forrest's PoV

Davis had left a couple hours ago and Maria was still playing with the wolf pups. He had moved to the backyard to keep an eye out for the pair. Man every time Forrest looked at the beasts it seemed like they grew another few inches. Maria was now actually able to ride on one of them. Bemusedly he watched the spectacle. Maria had always been a small girl, but still watching her ride on top of an oversized puppy took some getting use to. Half a dozen times he about sprung up out of his chair because he thought the girl was about to take a tumble.

Trying to calm his nerves he looked away from the duo and then saw a smoke trail coming from the other side of town. He debated only for a couple seconds running over to see what it was about. Fire was no joke, one really bad fire could burn down the entire village. But he glanced back at Maria and didn't want to leave her alone or take her close to the scene of a fire.

If the fire turned out to be really bad then the word would go out and all able bodied people would be gathered to help. So if no one came to bother him in the next ten to fifteen minutes odds were whatever was happening would be under control.

An hour had passed and the thick smoke trail died out. Probably some old fool almost burning their house down while cooking. Paying it no more mind he continued watching the pair in his backyard play.

Another thirty minutes later he saw Davis and a couple other members of the guard approach. Forrest shook his head with annoyance. The guard had already got his story down, why were they back again? He was about to yell at them to get off his property but then he saw the grim look on his friend's face. This was serious.

Davis asked him formally "Where have you been these past couple hours since I left."

Glancing at the other two guards they seemed a bit tense. Also the formal way his friend was speaking seemed to be for their benefit.

"Right here. As soon as you left I sat here and watched the girl."

One of the other guards said to Davis "She is your niece. I will question her."

Forrest looked at the irritation on his friends face but still Davis gave a curt nod.

The guard called out "Girl, come here please. We have a couple questions for you."

Forrest winced at the sharp turn the wolf pup made. Still Maria kept ahold of the wolf. It was kind of funny watching the surprise on everyone's face when she trotted up to the group while on the beast. Even Davis looked a little bewildered.

Distractedly the guard asked "What is with that dog. He looks like a pup but is strong and large enough to have a child ride him?"

Davis interrupted and said "I am her guardian in this matter, not a member of the guard. That question is not relevant. Please ask your relevant questions, then let her be off."

Annoyed the guard's tone became more professional as he ask the girl "How long have you been here today?"

Maria glanced at Davis and he gave the girl a nod.

She looked up nervously at the man and said "Since this morning."

Then the guard asked "Has Forrest been here the whole time?"

Maria chewed her lip and scrunched her brow in thought and said "He was on the front porch for a few minutes while he was talking to Uncle Davis. I went to the back."

"So you were able to see Forrest at all times since this morning?"

Maria looked confused and said "No dummy. You can't see the front porch from the back yard."

Forrest had to stifle his laughter as he turned his head and pretended to cough.

A triumphant light came into his eyes when he asked "So you can't verify that he was here the whole time?"

Maria then said "It wasn't that long. And I could see Uncle Davis leave when Forrest came to the back yard."

The man was about to ask her another question when Davis jumped in and said "That is enough. Her testimony along with mine confirms that Forrest has been here the whole time. If you want further proof go ask his neighbors."

Davis pointed to two houses that were not too far away. "They have a couple windows that are able to see back here. My niece has answered enough of your questions."

The other two guards briefly glanced at each other and then broke off one to each house. Once they were out of ear's reach Forrest asked "What was that all about?"

Davis turned to him and said "Someone burned down the potion makers house. A lot of people are missing too. It was well known that you had a scuffle with him right before the fire, so most of the guard had the deed pinned on you."

Forrest gulped. "Who do you think did it?"

Davis turned to him and said "Honestly I thought you did. You didn't have kind words for the man. But I am not the only one who has a crappy poker face. You looked too confused to be guilty."

"You said other men were missing, who?"

Davis grinned a bit evilly. "Gwen's former husband is missing too. Word was that he went there during the afternoon. He is probably gone as well. The rest that are missing are the normal thugs that seem to follow that potion maker around. Good riddance I say."

Forrest blinked. Looks like someone just did them both a huge favor. He looked at the back of the guards that had both left and reconsidered. If no one other than Maria could testify that he had been in his backyard the whole time things would probably change. If it was only a child's word then there was a good chance he could probably hang for this.

He gulped. Maybe it was time to do some discreet packing, just incase.

Jim's PoV

After Jim had put the quartet down for the third time that day the police were kind enough to give him his own jail cell. Of course there were a couple murmuring saying he was bullying the men, but he didn't care. Finally alone!

Jim closed his eyes and logged into the game. Curled up next to him on the bed was one of the wolf pups. A wolf pup whose eyes were closed and obviously snoring. Sighing Jim petted the creature who immediately woke up. The pup then went on the offensive and tried to lick his face. Laughing he pushed the dog away and got to his feet.

As he exited the room he found to his surprise that not only Forrest was there, but the guard and Maria were there too. What was his name again? Davis? They were sitting on some furniture which could charitably be called a couch. It was a wooden bench with a couple blankets thrown over it. His cover was blown when the dogs started play fighting.

Forrest shot up to his feet and he said "How was your meditation Jim? Is there anything I can get you? Food or drink?"

He didn't feel hungry or thirsty but he figured it would be more sociable to have at least a drink.

"Sure, I'll take something to drink."

Forrest started making his way down to the celler when Jim looked at the guard and raised an eyebrow.

Davis cleared his throat and said "Forrest is a friend of mine. It looks like you did me two favors that day. If there is anything you need I am in your debt."

Feeling uncomfortable he looked over at the little girl and she seemed to be fighting back tears. He asked her "What's wrong Maria?"

With suppressed sobs she said "Please don't leave. I love Princess and Fluffy."

Jim blinked. "Princess and Fluffy?"

As he said the names two puppy faces turned to look at him. Then Jim said slowly in disbelief "I have two of the most powerful dogs on this world.. and their names are Princess and Fluffy?"

Jim wanted to face palm and the dogs in unison started bobbing their heads. Then the girl said embarrassed "You said you didn't name them! You were gone for days! I had to call them something!"

But then the guard named Davis started laughing. The laugh was infectious. A second later Jim joined him.

Maria then said meekly "Are you mad at me?"

Sighing Jim said "No girl. I should have named them before meditating if I really wanted to. Besides"

He looked over at the pair of dogs and asked "Would you accept a new name if I gave it?"

Doggie smiles followed with shaking of heads. Man he had some smart dogs. Probably has to do with being maxed out on intelligence. They can clearly understand everything he was saying.

Davis commented "Wow, those dogs of yours sure are smart. Do they really understand us?"

Maria chimed in "Of course they do! I already told you that!"

Davis nervously chuckled as he looked at the dogs. Yea, Jim could understand that too. If some kid told him that two dogs understood every word he was saying, he would have pat the kid on the head and agreed kindly. Kids and their imagination.

Forrest came up from the cellar and looked at everyone watching the wolfs and said "Damn! I missed the name reveal didn't I?"

Davis said "Yea, too bad for you. You were going on and on about how funny it would be when he heard Princess and Fluffy but you missed it! Maybe next time you won't be so slow!"

Forrest huffed and said "I didn't want Jim to have anything but my best, so I dug this out of the back."

Forrest was carrying a little keg and then he put a tap into it and poured out an amber liquid. After pouring a mug Jim accepted it and took a sip. Not bad. When ever he got out of prison he would have to try to bring over some beer. Forrest would probably get a kick out of it

Sitting down Forrest again asked "How did your meditation go?"

Taking a sip of his beer he thought about how to answer that question. Was there any point in lying to these people? He just didn't see there being any downside to giving them a bit of the truth. After all with how powerful he was here they were not really a threat, and if anything might actually help him.

Jim began to speak "I am originally not from this world. I have the ability to project myself elsewhere and this body is now tied to my own. While I meditate here I move around in my world, while I meditate there I can move around in yours."

He could see the doubtful stairs but he continued "My main goal is money right now. I am rather rich in this world, but poor in my own. I have been trying to convert gil into currency in my own world, but so far it hasn't been working out well for me."

Davis then broke in and said "Are restorative potions not valuable in your own world? Both Maria and Forrest have said that you have given them potions that healed them."

Jim wanted to hit his head against a wall. Why had he not thought of that. But would it actually work? Finally Jim said "I am not sure if I can do that. I know I can transfer over the potions, but I am not really sure if they would work in my world."

Davis then looked at him like he was stupid and said "Just give yourself a small cut and then take the potion. If it doesn't work then you will only have to deal with a small scratch."

Another point for Davis. Damn. But he was still in his prison cell. They were all looking at him expectantly when he said with some embarrassment "I'm kind of in jail right now in my world, and magicing stuff to appear out of thin air would be bad for my health right now."

Maybe the whole being truthful was a bad idea. He could see the skepticism in their eyes. Still the potion idea was worth trying out. If it worked he could make a program for a spam ad looking for a couple really sick billionaires. Who knows, he's had worse ideas in the past.

Just when he was about to start explaining himself a beautiful but battered looking woman appeared out of nowhere and was sitting next to him.

"So wizard, even on your world magicing items out of nothing is uncommon?"