(Jamie)

The hut they gave me to sleep in is pretty cozy, and the mat to sleep on is pretty soft, too. I'm not sure what it's made out of, but it's thick and plush. I don't think it's fur.

The villagers took forever for their shouting match to end.

Way too long.

Despite it being pretty silent, apart from the sounds of nature, and the hut keeping the chill out, the mat soft and comfortable, I'm having a hard time sleeping.

It's been quite awhile since I've slept on something soft.

Deciding to go for a walk, I pull my shoes back on and slip out of the hut. There aren't any out that I can see on either side of the river, and I quietly make my way out of the village and go for a walk along the river, heading north a little bit.

A few hundred yards from the river, I notice a small boat tied up against the shore, and get the sense that someone is hiding in the bushes near it. The bushes and reeds provide a natural curtain to hide whoever's there, so unless I want to wade into them, I probably won't see them.

"It's the human," I hear someone whisper, the voice a little bit deeper than the otters' voices.

One of the bears?

"Sh!" Someone responds. "Not so loud! I don't think his hearing's good enough to hear that, though."

That was high-pitched enough to be an otter, though…

"Good enough to hear you," I say. "Neither of you are exactly being quiet."

"Dammit," the otter says, then pokes his head up above the reeds. He's about ten yards in. I can't see his face very well in the moonlight, but I'm sure he's blushing. He's shirtless, and while most otter beastborn go around shirtless, I do have to wonder what he was doing with the bear out here. "Please don't tell my parents you caught me out here."

Yai Otter Beastborn Fisherman

"I'm not a snitch," I say. "I just went for a walk, because I couldn't sleep. What you do is your business. Who your friends are is, too. If you want to be friends with one of your villages' enemies, that's fine by me."

He doesn't respond to that, then looks down.

"I think he knows," he whispers, though still loud enough for me to hear.

It probably wasn't supposed to be loud enough for me to hear.

"That you're hiding in bushes and reeds with a Bear Beastborn?" I ask. "A few hundred yards away from your village, where the scent will be masked by your surroundings and the sounds of whatever you're doing likely won't carry to them? The boat was a little bit of a tip-off that someone was either here, or going across the river. I won't tell that you two are friends."

"Are you sure?" The Bear Beastborn pokes his head up. He's shirtless, too. Maybe I don't want to know what they were doing. "You promise you won't tell?"

Colby Bear Beastborn Fisherman

"As I said," I say. "It's your business. I don't care who you're friends with, as long as they're actually friends."

They look at each other, then back to me.

"Could you come over here?" The otter asks. "But don't come into the bushes."

I approach them, knowing from that comment that they're both naked. Did they already finish, or did I interrupt? Had they gotten started?

They move a little bit closer in the foliage, but remain far enough they're still covered up down low. Their faces are both a little bit red.

They're both eighteen, at least. A Class won't show up unless someone has access to the System.

"So how long have you two been a couple?"

"How'd you know we were together?" Colby asks as Yai turns even redder.

"The fact that you're both shirtless," I say. "And hiding the rest of your bodies with bushes and other plants around here? The fact that you're both so far away from your villages, and meeting up secretly at night? Those, and other little things."

They look at each other, communicating in whatever way it is that lovers communicate, then look back at me.

"Three years," Colby answers. "Since we were fifteen. I'd snuck over there, because they have a better crayfish pool a little more upriver, but don't eat them, and he found me. We got into a wrestling fight and ended up in the water. He was stronger than me, but I'm smaller and slipperier, and the water's my territory, so it wasn't hard for me to slip out of his grip. We exhausted ourselves, then laid on the bank. I can't remember what he asked me, but he asked me something, and then we got to talking. I kissed him, mostly to get him to shut up, thinking it'd freak him out, and he kissed me back instead. So now we're dating. Please don't tell our villages, though. It'd be really, really bad if they found out. We're not allowed to be friends. We're at war. We just really like each other. Please."

"I don't have an issue with it," I say. "You two aren't hurting anyone, so I don't see a reason to cause you trouble by letting them know. Speaking of – how do you keep your people from finding out? Don't y'all have really good noses?"

"We wash up before we part," he nods. "Then we wash up after again, just in case. We're real careful to make sure we don't have the other's scent on us when we return to our villages. You're real nice, Jamie."

He bolts out of the bushes and gives me a hug. As I try to figure out how to react to that, Colby steps out and gives me a hug as well.

"Um, thanks?" I say. "You do realize that I now have your scent on me, right? And probably picked it up from you, too, Yai."

"Sorry!" Both say, then blush and at each other.

They are so cute together.

"You can wash up with me," Yai nods.

"My clothes?"

"Wash them, too," he bobs his head in the way his people apparently do.

"It'd be uncomfortable to walk back in wet clothes."

"Just go back naked," he says. "If anyone asks, say you went for a walk, found me doing the same, I started to wrestle you, your clothes got really filthy, we washed up. It wouldn't be the first time someone went out for a walk clothed, and returned naked. Though that's sometimes 'cause the bears steal our clothes while we're bathing. A lot of times, we simply didn't have clothes when we left the village."

I look at Colby, who's been pretty silent. I'm not sure if that's just how he is, or if he's not really sure on how to react.

"Are you the one they were fighting about earlier?" Colby asks. "I wasn't enhancing my hearing to hear the conversations going on, so only heard the yelling."

"Enhancing your hearing?"

"Yeah," Yai nods. "It's a Skill most of us are taught, once we gain access. There's almost always someone using it. It doesn't reach out this far, even for the best of our people, so we're safe, here."

There's probably at least one otter who can hear them out here. If not, then these two are really lucky. If so, they are really lucky that that person either hasn't heard them, or doesn't care enough to cause a problem.

"Okay," I say. "Sorry for interrupting you two."

"We were just cuddling and talking," he says. "We scrambled into the bushes when we heard you coming."

"Cuddling and talking naked?"

"We always do," he bobs his head up and down vigorously. "We're scared to have sex, in case the smell lingers more, but we like being naked each other, so we do that. We're thinking of running away together, so we don't have to sneak around our villages."

Things might get tough for them, if they do. These aren't combat villages, so it might be tough for them to live on their own, unless they learn to fight and defend themselves.

Then again, Colby is a Bear Beastborn, so he does have inhuman strength, and Yai has great speed from being an Otter Beastborn, and their senses are quite good. They might last long enough to be able to survive in the wilderness.

They'd likely have to make it to some settlement though, and get jobs there. That would probably be safest for them.

To be honest, I find their arguing funny, but if it's going to drive out a couple of their members who just want to love each other, then I want to do something about it. These two make a cute couple, and they shouldn't have to run away just to date each other. Especially if they've managed to stay together for three years while having to hide it and sneak around.

"I'm going to wash up and head back," I tell them. "You two have fun."

"Join us for a bit," Yai says. "We were talking about you when you came by. We were wondering what it's like in the world you came from, and how you're liking this world so far."

"My world," I say. "Doesn't have magic. At least, not publicly. If it does, I didn't know about it. No beastborn or beastkin, no elves, no dwarfs, no monsters or spells, no System – nothing like that. We had to advance technology to advance civilization, though honestly, some people are still stuck in old ways, not willing to move on.

"Here," I say when it seems they're both really into it. "I've met a few different types of people, but not many, because of my association with Adam. It's a fun, but strange place, to me. I've been here a month and a half, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. The people I have met and actually associated with are actually pretty friendly.

"But," I sigh. "I've met some real jerks, too. I got kicked out of town because I wouldn't abandon my first friend here, just because of what he was. There's a lot of negative stigma around Adam, because of what he is, and yet I can't see it at all. The only time I've seen him violent against someone, he was targeted first – it was purely a reaction to their action.

"Heh," I snort. "He hit them hard enough to send them flying, but not hard enough to kill them, just enough to stun them. He then made a comment about how people forget that being half-dragon means that he isn't as weak as a human of the same STR.

"He's strong enough," I say. "To wipe out entire villages on his own, and yet his only concern is getting stronger, eating good food, and finding someplace he can live without fear of being chased out.

"Anyway," I yawn and stretch. "I'm getting a fair bit tired, so I'm going to wash up and head back. Have fun, you two."

It's not like I wasn't naked in front of the villages earlier. I don't really care much about people seeing me like that, not after growing up with my massive family. I strip off my clothes and step into the water. A quick soak should probably be enough, for both me and my clothes.

I consider trying to see how long I can last underwater this time, and as I do, I decide that it'd be nice if I could breathe underwater, for that challenge.

"Hey, Colby?" I throw my clothes to shore, and he looks at me. They were talking and kissing each other until I spoke. "This is probably a weird request, but would you be able to hold me under."

"Hold you… under?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Until either I calmly tap you to let you know to let go, or go limp entirely. I'm going to thrash. You should be strong enough to ensure I can't break free and make my way up. Don't worry about hurting me – you know how to get the water out of someone's lungs, if they're drowning, right?"

"Yeah," he nods. "All cubs are taught how, just in case."

"Same here!" Yai asks. "How come you want him to drown you?"

"What if I told you," I say. "That I might be able to learn how to breathe underwater? I need to not be able to go back up for air, though, for me to possibly learn how."

"How is that even possible?"

"Everyone has their secrets," I smile. "You two have your relationship, and I have a Skill that lets me adapt to needs. If I need to breathe, and I'm underwater, the Skill will likely adapt me so that I can breathe underwater. I'm not sure if it'll have a physical effect on my body, but so far, it's been in the form of Skills and Stats."

"That doesn't sound like a Skill," Yai says.

"Is there a way I can show you an individual Skill?" I ask.

"I dunno," he shrugs. "I've only ever shown all of them to someone else. Have ta focus on them after pulling up the window, then think 'Skill share', and it'll show them your Skills. You have to be within five feet of them, then."

He jumps into the water, swimming quickly over to me and popping up in front of me.

Limitless Adaptation 1 Common Language 4 Appraisal 3 One-Handed Swords Mastery 1 Iron Grip 1 Eyebrow Raise 2 Martial Arts Mastery 2 Masturbation 3 Swimming 3 Efficient Lungs 1 Extra Breaths 1 Bigger Breaths 1

Skill share.

He reads through my list of Skills, then frowns, eyes fixed on the bottom of the list.

"You've only been here a month," he says. "And you already have Skills like those? Most non-aquatic take years of constant training to gain them."

"The first Skill," I say. "Limitless Adaptation – it allows me to adapt to a need. I forced myself to stay under as long as possible earlier, and gained the first one. As I was catching my breath up above, I gained the second two. I want to see if I can gain an underwater breathing one."

And hopefully, not grow gills.

"As long as I'm brought up to the surface," I say. "And the water expelled from my lungs quickly, I should be fine, but that should only be done if I stop moving and go limp. I will thrash and try to get to the surface before the Skill recognizes a need."

Yai looks at Colby, who wades his way out to us, nodding to me.

"If you are entirely sure," he says. "I will do it."

"I am," I say.

Somewhat. This is mostly to test to see if I can gain Skills and adaptations my Species can't. The others are all definitely things my Species can learn, with training, but I highly doubt this is.

"I'll swim you back to shore and expel the water," Yai says. "If you don't gain the Skill, don't worry!"

"I'm not," I say, then move out a bit further, take several deep breaths, then go under.

I hold my breath as long as possible, Yai and Colby both making their way over to me, then Colby grabbing my shoulders and holding me firmly down.

When my breath finally runs out, I involuntarily exhale, then inhale, and start choking. I can't breathe, but I force my mind to remain calm as my body thrashes, trying to get me to the surface as my lungs fill with water.

As my vision starts to go black, a blue window appears in my vision, and I start coughing underwater.

New Skill! Underwater Breathing Passive Allows you to inhale and exhale water while underwater, drawing out the necessary resources from it

The relief lasts less than a minute before I need to return to the surface, the Skill only drawing a small amount of oxygen out of the water, enough to last an extra few seconds, and my body starts thrashing again, but I don't give him the signal to take me up.

Underwater Breathing has Gained a Level!

The Skill hits Level 5 before I give him a thumbs-up, and we swim up to the surface, breaking it and breathing in. I have to cough out the water, first, and it takes a moment for my lungs to adjust back to breathing air.

They each went up several times during that, so that they could, you know, keep holding me down. When Colby went to the surface, Yai would hold me down. Colby had to go back up every couple of minutes.

"You really did gain a Skill like that," Colby says. "All I did was increase my Efficient Lungs and Bigger Breaths Skill."

"Same here," Yai nods. "Both went up a Level, but you stayed down almost half an hour, yes you did. That was awesome."

"So," I say. "Do you two think we can keep this a secret between us? I want to surprise them with my sudden ability to breathe underwater in the morning."

"Of course," Yai nods. "The looks on their faces will be really cool! They'll be all like 'he's staying down longer than he did yesterday – wait, he's staying down longer! How is he doing that? Wait! Now he's beating Dez! How's he beating Dez? Dez is at the surface, and he's still under. What's that, Dez? HE WAS BREATHING?' It'll be super-funny!"

"Yeah, it will," I smile at him. "I'm going to head back to the village and get some sleep – I'm really exhausted."

Yai swims to Colby and starts kissing him, and I swim back to the shore. As I'm wringing out my clothes, he returns to the shore, telling me he's coming back, too.

I pick up my clothes, and he starts walking back, and I ask him about his clothes.

"Oh, I didn't have any," he tells me. "I usually meet Colby naked. I promise I won't tell anyone about your Limitless Skill. I'm going to keep that secret for you!"

"Thanks," I clap him on the back. "I'm not really keeping it a secret, but I felt I could trust you not to spread it around."

We return to the village, and I spread my clothes out in the hut, then lie back down and get some sleep.

In the morning, everyone chats for a bit, many of them wrestling or swimming or fishing, before it's time for Dez and I to compete against each other. This time, the two villages manage to not get into an argument.

At least, not before we go under. No clue if they start after.

I hold my breath as long as possible, and Dez looks worried when I exhale underwater, taking a step toward me. I breathe in, choking for a moment, but then Underwater Breathing kicks in as it detects water in my lungs, and I start breathing fine.

Dez stares at me with wide eyes, doing his best to hold his breath in his shock. I stay under when he finally returns to the surface, counting to twenty, then swim up.

"You were breathing!" Dez exclaims. "Humans can't breathe underwater!"

"Yeah," Yai says. "I had the same reaction last night, when he did it for me. He stayed under for half an hour before calmly swimming up to the surface."

"So that's why his smell was on you?" Another otter asks. "I could smell it lingering around you."

"He talked with me last night," Yai nods. "We chatted for a bit. When we got back, I gave him a hug as a thanks."

He did, and I was too exhausted to think about my scent being on him.

"He is one strange human," Yai says. "He's definitely human, since his Species declares him to be, and that won't list just 'human' if he's not fully, yet he can breathe underwater, which isn't a Skill humans can gain."

"So yesterday, when you surfaced," the elder who started giving me the rules yesterday, before the shouting match began. "It was by choice? You didn't need to?"

"I turned Underwater Breathing off," I nod. "To see if I could do it without."

"Huh," he says. "You are an interesting person, Jamie."

"Thanks," I smile at him. "I do my best to keep life interesting."

Dez and I swim to the dock, then pull ourselves up and get dressed. The village gathers for a breakfast of raw fish. It seems to me that that's pretty much their only diet – fish. Raw fish, for that matter.

Not that it'll kill me. If there's a poison, I'm sure my body will adapt to it, either resisting its effects or purifying it. But since the waters here probably don't have the pollutants waters back on Earth do, it's unlikely.

Breakfast is good, and after, it seems like they're intent on making me work it off by learning how to fish. An older otter named Tom takes me up the river a hundred yards or so, then teaches me how to bait the hook and cast the line.

We spend a few hours fishing and chatting, and he reveals that he's one of the village elders, and that there are three of them total who run the village. He makes a comment about how the bears have three elders running the village as well, and that they copied it from them.

"You know," I unhook the fish I just caught. "What if I told you that I could get the bears to help you?"

"As if!" He scoffs. "All they want to do is show off their brawn!"

"And you guys," I say. "Show off your fishing and swimming skills, and your ability to hold your breath underwater longer. Just imagine," I gesture to the two fishing boats a little upstream, waiting for their net to fill. "Having a couple of bears on those boats, able to lift those nets up when they're even fuller. With your guys' fishing luck, you can get a huge haul, but can't lift the full haul, and so have to stop early.

"They need to do a lot of fishing," I say. "In addition to foraging, to fill themselves. If your two villages worked together, you could both get even more fish. How many times do you have to let a fish get away from your hook because it's too large for you to reel in? Imagine fishing beside a bear – who's catching less than you – then getting a big one? You can't reel it in, but he can.

"Also," I say. "What if there's something heavy or big you need taken care of, but there isn't a human or something around to do it for you? Or it's something a human couldn't do, either? You have a village right across the river filled with stronger, taller people who could help you, and you'd probably just need to share some fish or something with them."

"Hrm," he starts thinking, staring at his bobber. "Stay here!"

He hands me his rod, then scampers off toward the village.