Anika spent the rest of the day making sure she understood how to use the training collar, and to find a way of approaching a wild animal without upsetting it.

She hadn't left the area surrounding the cabin before she spotted a chicken. How hard could it be to catch one of those? She got out the leather collar and did her best to sneak up on it. It turned out to be a lot harder than she had thought. The chicken was on constant alert and spotted her as soon she was a few yards away from it. Out of frustration she chased it down, pinned it to the ground and placed the collar around its neck. The collar was clearly designed for larger animals, despite being adjustable. Her first try had not worked. The chicken just sat there, squashed underneath her knee, flapping, and with the collar on there seem to be no change, no bond between them. She wasn't sure if the attempt had failed because she had scared the chicken, or because the collar was way too big for it.

Her next target was a beautiful pheasant. Although she couldn't see an animal like this being much of a ferocious companion, she wanted to see this taming collar working. There was no way to approach the pheasant without scaring it off, she was worried that this attempt would be no different from her try with the chicken. Then she realized she could lure a beast like this into a trap by finding bait and being ready in the right place to get close enough with the collar. Now, what did these things eat? She figured that worms would be a good thing to try to started digging up the soil where she was standing to find a few.

You receive item: Slimy Worm

One worm would not do it though. She would have to leave a trail of these things from an open area, like the one she had spotted the pheasant in, leading it to a more dense part of the forest. From there she could hide and get close enough when the time was right.

Her fingers were sore and completely filthy when she had dug up 10 worms in total. Then it was time for the second part of her plan. She left a trail of worms from an opening in the forest, with some distance to the next one. They all lead into a small hedge of bracken where she was confident she could avoid being seen. It wasn't long before several pheasants found their way to her bait and she watched with pleasure as they bickered and scrapped over the free food she had placed for them.

Her camouflage skill had reached 21/50 at this point and she noticed not only how much easier it was for her to blend in with her surroundings, but her ability to spot a suitable hiding place was also much better than before. It was as if she knew intuitively where to go and how to cover herself up.

When three large pheasants had made their way to the last part of her trail, she felt hesitation, not knowing which one to go for. They hadn't noticed her, but she felt it wouldn't be long before they realised there were no more worms to eat and she would miss her opportunity. The hesitation almost lost her the chance to collar one of them. She felt that the analytical part of her brain was holding her back, much like Ralph had warned her about when he first taught her to shoot with her bow. There was one chance, and she had to take it.

The pheasant didn't see her coming. In the blink of an eye she was on top of one of them, training collar at the ready. She swung it around the pheasant's neck like a lasso whilst pinning it down to the ground. It felt as if the training collar tightened itself around the creature's neck; she didn't need to adjust the length at all. There was something special about this collar, despite it feeling like any normal leather collar would. When the situation had calmed down, the other pheasants had fled and she was left alone with her target who was sitting quietly without struggling under her knee but breathing heavily. She decided that there was only one way to tell if this had worked, so she released her pressure and grip on the pheasant and stood up to see what would happen.

You have tamed a beast: Pheasant

She had done it. Although she wasn't expecting a hug, she was surprised that the pheasant was just standing there. It wasn't looking at her or paying her much attention; it stood there as if it didn't have a purpose in life. Wasn't she supposed to be able to give this thing a command? Wasn't there supposed to be a spiritual bond between them that would allow her to see through its eyes or feel what it felt or something? A flashing icon in the bottom of her view came to her attention. She clicked the icon which brought up a character sheet for her pet.

Common Pheasant

Damage: 15

Skills: None

Diet: Roots, Berries, Worms, Insects

It gave some more details about its stats and she noticed empty slots underneath the main stat window which looked like they were reserved for special skills or commands. Another thing she noticed was a yellow bar above the description and name of the companion; loyalty 5%.

There was so much she still didn't know about this game. She was tempted to log out just so she could read up on what she was supposed to do with her new companion. How to increase its loyalty and how to teach it some new skills. The only thing that made her decide not to log out, was the anticipation of that feeling she would have back in the real world. She knew she would be greeted with a sore back, hunger and a desperate need to go to the toilet. At the moment her fatigue levels had only just gone past 50% so she wanted to stay logged in where everything felt good and where she realised she still had work to find a proper companion before returning to Ralph in the morning.

Anika continued into the woods in search of a beast that would put up more of a fight. Her pheasant followed a few steps behind her wherever she went, and apparently that was all it was good for. It occasionally went looking for food when she took a break to scout her surroundings but it followed and caught up with her when she made a move again. She wondered what would happen if she didn't increase its loyalty to her, would it just run away? And what about getting rid of it when she found a better prospect for a companion?

She knew she needed to find a real predator. What good was a pheasant going to do her at any part of the journey? The main predators she had come across were bears but there was no way she would have a go at wrestling the training collar on one of those.

She needed to find something smaller, but apart from the odd fox or badger, she didn't have a clue what she could find. After finding a hole in the ground that was used as a den for some kind of animal, she used her tracking ability to follow its trail. She was so consumed by looking at the track she was following she didn't realise she had walked straight into a clearing and was within a short stone's throw of two young grizzly bears.

The grizzlies roared and stood on their hind legs the moment they saw her, her pheasant ran away at once. She instinctively pulled out her bow and took aim at one of them, but she had been caught by surprise and knew they could cover the distance to her in a heartbeat. She would most likely end up dying if she tried to stand her ground. Shit, she thought. Then she turned on her heels and ran straight back the way she had come with the bears close behind her.

The forest was getting thicker, but she didn't fancy her chances of hiding from them. Her best escape would be to get into a tree where they wouldn't be able to reach her. They were almost caught up with her before she found a tree with low enough branches for her to climb up. There weren't enough branches for her to get very high but she could get high enough to be just out of reach. There she sat for a while, catching her breath, as the bears tried to get at her from a few different angles. One of them gave up with a dissatisfied growl and wandered off, but the other one looked like it was having more fun. It was testing its jump and having a go at slapping her off the branch. She knew she was safe, but how long it would take before the grizzly bear got bored and went away she didn't know.

The light was fading when she considered logging out for the night. She wasn't sure if this was a good place or not. There was every chance that the bear would return to its own nest or cave by the time she logged back again in the morning.

She took one last look at the bear who was keeping her prisoner before opening her options menu to find the log out button. It didn't feel right. Although her fatigue level was getting close to 70% she still felt as if she had unfinished business and that logging out now would be a wasted opportunity. The grizzly bear would be a perfect companion. It was right underneath her, and right this minute it wasn't paying her any attention. She figured it had got tired and bored, but for some reason it was not returning home.

It gave her butterflies, but she decided to find a way of getting that training collar around the neck of the grizzly bear. At first she thought how she might dangle the collar low enough by using some combination of hanging upside down and stretching her arms low enough to reach it. Then she conjured an image of herself hanging there, right before she was torn to bits when the bear realised what she was doing. In the end, she decided that dropping down on top of the beast, although less elegant, was probably the most effective solution. There was less room for error and she would hopefully get the collar on before it even knew what was happening.

Very slowly she climbed further out onto the branch, taking every care that she didn't break any of the smaller twigs or draw attention to herself. She swung her leg over and could see she would need to vault herself two feet into the air before she would drop to land straight above it. With the training collar ready she hesitated again. This was a daring move, and it felt like life or death for her. A small thought in the back of her mind told her it was just a game and that if she died she could just return and find some other way. There was no mistaking the feeling she was experiencing though. The rational part of her brain had a voice, but it was faint compared to the fear and excitement she felt on top of the adrenaline that was rushing through her veins at that point.

With a slight push, using both of her hands, she vaulted herself into the air and landed on the grizzly bear where she had planned. She grabbed a chunk of fur on its neck and tried lowering the collar over its head. The shock of being attacked from above had caused the bear to jerk its head and look around. She was eye to eye with the beast for a split second, but it was a moment that seemed to last for minutes. There was a look of confusion and anger in the bear's face but all she could concentrate on was getting the collar fastened around its neck. Luckily the bear stretched its neck and opened its jaws to bite her head off. This was enough for her to get the training colour over its nose as it got closer to her face. She kept her arms steady and the collar pushed itself over its head and around its neck. The grizzly bear's teeth snapped shut only inches from her face as she felt the collar tighten itself without her involvement. The bear let out a hot and smelly sigh, then its facial muscles relaxed and it looked at her straight into the eyes. She wasn't sure what to make of it but she had a good feeling that whatever she had just done had actually worked.

Not wanting to test her luck, she slowly let go of the collar and took a few steps back. Her new companion just stared at her with a look of curiosity and perhaps a slight hint of concern.