(Jamie)

Tom returns after twenty minutes with the other two elders, Chris and Tina, and tells me to tell them what I told him.

"And you really think you could get them to actually cooperate?" Tina asks. "I find that hard to believe, even coming from a human who can breathe underwater."

"I do," I answer. "After all, it means they'd get to show off their strength to you, while also getting more fish, and allow you to pull in your full hauls while showing off your superior fishing and swimming skills. There might be other ways your two villages can benefit each other as well that I can't think of at the moment."

I pull in the fish that snagged my line and drop it in the basket, then look at the otters.

"Would you like me to try?" I ask.

The three of them put their heads together and whisper for a few minutes, then Tina looks at me.

"We'll go get you a boat."

The three of them run back to the village, and I set the rods down, looking at the fish in the basket, wondering if this is a good idea.

They return with a boat, and practically drag me into it, handing me the paddles.

"You're right," Tom says. "We could use their strength. We can sacrifice a few fish for them. It'll only show them that we are the superior fishermen!"

The other two nod, and I do my best not to snort and roll my eyes, then try to work the paddles. The current isn't too strong, so making it to the other shore isn't too hard, especially not after gaining the Rowboat Rowing Skill.

Once I'm on the other side, I step out of the boat and pull it onto the shore, bringing it a little farther in, then set the paddles in it and walk to the other village. Finlum, they said its name was. Finlar and Finlum.

They really like their fins, apparently.

A group of the bears cautiously meet me halfway to the village. Three Laborers and two Fisherman.

"The otters aren't here to trick us, are they?" Aiden, the Laborer in front, asks me.

"No," I say. "The thing is, they've got a few things they need some extra strength and height for, apparently, and are willing to agree to letting you help them. They would, of course, pay you for the services, mostly in fish. After all, they'd like to show off their superior fishing skills to you – but you'd get to show off your superior strength, so would that really matter?"

"The otters really think they're superior at fishing?" He asks.

"They certainly do have better luck at it than you," I point out. "And they're much better swimmers, too. But see, they can only lift so much weight on their own. If they cast a net, they have to pull it in before it's even half-full. While I know you guys are omnivores, and they're carnivores, you guys like your fish, right? And take much longer to get the fish you need?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But," I interrupt him. "What if a couple of you bears got into the boats with the otters, went out to cast some nets, and after they cast the nets and did their little otter-fish-luck thing, you bears pulled the nets in, and the two groups split the gains? Their skill and luck, plus your strength, means both get bigger rewards, even splitting it evenly.

"That," I say. "Is an obvious benefit someone who's only interacted with your two villages for a day can see – there's probably other ways you two could benefit each other, and you'd be able to show off your superiority to them at the same time."

They look at each other, then huddle together and start whispering to each other. As they do, a boat with four otters rows to the shore.

Please don't get into an arguing match about who's better, here.

"The elders sent us over here," Blake says. "Said that the human had an idea to help us both, and let us remind you just how much better fishermen we are than you bears."

"I'm pretty sure," Aiden says. "He was saying it was to let us show you how much stronger we are.

The arguing starts, and I stare at the nine of them. After only about two minutes, the bears and otters get into the boats, one of the Laborers staying behind. Two otters and bears per boat. They're still arguing as they row away, and I look at the remaining Laborer, Wyatt.

"That was easier than I thought."

"You are quite the sly young man," he chuckles.

"Your two villages are easy," I say. "All it took was telling you two to prove yourselves to each other by working together to get them to work together."

"I'm not sure if I trust you," he gives me a suspicious look.

"That's fine," I smile at him. "But you'll enjoy the extra fish, right?"

He doesn't respond to that, just turns and starts walking towards his village, and I follow behind him. One of the bears asks me to arm-wrestle him, and I do. We're about even in strength, though he wins more matches than me.

That's all they want me to do until lunch…

One thing I notice, while we wrestle, is that the bears, in addition to their rounded ear a little further up their heads, all have small, stubby little tails, and larger hands and feet than humans. Now I think of it, the otters have large feet, too.

The boats of fishermen return after lunch, the otters and bears arguing about how to divide the catch. Each side wants more, because it was them that allowed them to get so many.

"Hold up!" I approach them. "Otter fishing ability and bear strength caused the gains. To me, it seems like a fifty-fifty split, there."

"But without our strength-"

"Without our fishing skill-"

"Neither of you would have that much fish," I interrupt them, thinking quickly. "You both contributed. So, you both get half, because you both contributed equally. If you all really want to flex your guns, there is something you can do. Having a fishing competition."

The four otters and all nearby bears turn and stare at me, and I get the feeling I'm being stared at from across the river, too.

"A fishing competition?" Several of them ask.

"Yes," I nod. "Once every month, the best fisherman in each village will compete to see who can catch the most fish in weight. A pair of scales will be used, and all the fish they caught in a set timeframe will be put on it. Say, twelve hours? Fourteen hours? You bears can catch bigger fish, but they can catch more. Whoever can catch the most in weight wins, but it all has to be the same species of fish, caught by a single person from each side."

"What would we win?" One of the otters asks.

"Bragging rights for a month," I answer. "Until the next competition, the village that won is considered the superior fishing village. Then, for the duration of the competition, both villages are equal."

"But why do it, if we don't get anything out of it?"

"You do, though," I say. "You get to show off your skills to the other team, and have a way to prove who's better without it being unfair. Who can catch the bigger fish? They can. Who can catch more? You can."

Not even five minutes later, an otter and a bear are fishing down the river, arguing about who is going to catch the most fish in weight.

They don't have a scale that can weigh a large amount of fish…

They'll need to make one, first.

After dinner, the two beastborn are still competing against each other, and there's a small crowd watching them of both species.

At least it got them to actually be near each other, even if they're making jibes at each other the entire time.

The bears let me sleep in one of their stone buildings, and the bed's quite cozy. When morning comes, I join the others for a breakfast of fish and berries. After breakfast, the bear who fished yesterday approaches me.

"We fished deep into the night," he says. "Then realized we didn't have any scales that could weigh all the fish."

"Yeah," I smile at him. "I probably should have said something, but you two seemed to be having fun, and it didn't seem fair to ruin that for you. You could do the competition today or tomorrow, and build the scales before it finishes."

"THAT'S AN EXCELLENT IDEA!" An otter yells from across the river. "WE'RE SENDING OVER OUR BEST AT FISHING! BUILD THE SCALES, AND WE'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S SUPERIOR!"

They start arguing, but a group of about ten otters do row their way over here with fishing rods and bait during it. Most of them and a group of bears leave the village, heading upstream. The two remaining otters look at the bears.

"We're here to make sure the scales are balanced," one of them says.

"Balanced?" One of the bears laughs. "Ha! They'll be the most-balanced scales you'll ever know!"

And so… two sets of scales start to be made.

One of the bears approaches, carrying a basket, and tells me to follow him, and I do. He leads me a little downstream, and has me strip to my underwear, then wade into it. He does the same thing, and shows me how to catch fish with my hands, crouching low and becoming still.

"Steady your breathing," he says. "Slow, and calm, like a gentle breeze. Make your body as still as a rock. And then, when the fish swims by, move like lightning."

His hand shoots into the water, and when he pulls it out, he's got a fish gripped in it.

"Like that," he says, then tosses the fish behind him. It lands in the basket perfectly. "Let us catch a few fish."

It takes me probably twenty tries before I catch my first fish. After my fourth, I gain the Fishing Skill. When I mentioned that to him, he tells me that one has to know not just how to fish in one manner, but in multiple to acquire it.

Fishing will continue to increase it, as will improving how I fish. Gaining Fishing was enough to gain Fisherman as well. Rowman and Fisherman both had simple requirements to earn, and I wonder how many people out there have them.

How difficult is it to acquire a Hunter or Scout or whatever job? Considering how easy those two were, despite being told that Classes don't usually come easily, makes me wonder if there's some boost or something.

"What concerns you?" The bear asks, and I tell him about my thoughts on the Classes. "Ah. Some Classes are easier than others. Classes are divided into five types, yes? Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Mythical?

"There is another way of classifying them as well," he continues. "Simple and Complex. Most people are referring to the Complex Classes when they refer to the difficulty of acquiring them. Simple Classes have fewer requirements, and easier requirements. Fisherman isn't too difficult, though it does need you to know different kinds of fishing. Rowman is probably one of the simplest Classes of them all. Rowboat Rowing isn't hard to acquire for anyone with some strength on their bodies.

"Regardless," he says. "It still takes time and training to increase a Class. For Fisherman, it requires advancing your Fishing Skill, catching in different environments and settings, weathers, times of day, catching different fish. We can travel about three days, and reach a lake. A week and a half past that, the ocean. If we want to travel and spend some time away, we can get our Fishing up to Level 6 or 7, and our Fisherman up to Level 5 or 6. Beyond that, we'd need to travel much further, and do a great deal more learning and training with fishing, gaining other Skills as well.

"One of the otters," he pauses for a second. "Left a few years ago on a mission to obtain the Class of Grand Fisherman. It's a Legendary Class, so it gives nine points every time it goes up a Level. Two of its simpler requirements are Fishing 10 and Fisherman 10. Few are those who reach Level 9 in a Skill or Class, and fewer still are those who reach Level 10. It earns its place as a Legendary Class."

We finish fishing, taking our catch back to the village and eating it. Then, he takes me out of the village to harvest some worms, showing me how to tell which soil will be rich with them.

We then return to the river to fish with rods, a couple of baskets by us with water in them in. The first few fish are larger, and go into one basket, but then I catch a small minnow. He looks at it and nods, then shows me how to bait the minnow onto the hook, to catch a larger fish.

The otters didn't make any mention of doing that.

I cast my line again, and wait. The line jerks, and I pull on it. This one's definitely bigger, and it's definitely heavier. My 19 STR makes it easy for me to reel in, though, and when I do, I find a fish around a foot and a half in length.

"Impressive," the bear says. "Add him to the basket. He'd make a nice meal for you, yes?"

"Yeah," I nod. "He would."

I don't catch any more big ones, but I do catch a few more smaller ones, and after dinner, he takes me to a shallow part of the river a ways downriver, about an hour into the forest, and shows me how to catch minnows. Those go into the second basket, then we begin to make our way back toward the village, to a good fishing spot.

I want to check in on my team, and see how they're doing, but gaining their scent on me again might put the beastborn on edge.

We return to the village to find the bears and otters arguing over which scale to weigh the fish with. It looks like all of the otters are here for the weighing.

Sighing, I approach them.

"Why don't you use both?" I ask, and both groups look at me. "That way, each group can say they knew it was weighed fairly. Since we're on the bear side, use the otters' scales first."

To prevent an argument about whose scales should be used first. Better to avoid it than to have to interrupt it.

The two groups look at each other, then agree that that sounds fair, and weigh the fish. The scales weigh just barely more in the otters' favor, and the same happens when they weigh on the bears' scales.

"Ha!" The otter who was fishing says, pointing at the bear he fished against. "I am the superior fisherman!"

"For this month, maybe!" The bear makes a fist and puts it out. "But next month, I'll beat you for sure!"

"For tonight," I say. "Why don't we eat the fish you all caught? That seems like a fair bit, and you did manage to catch a lot this morning, too, working together."

Everyone agrees that that sounds like a good idea, and so a feast goes underway.

If only it was this easy to settle disputes with everyone. These two villages are more into fun than anything, and their interests are similar. Turn it into a competition, and they'll turn to putty for me.

Getting them to get along was easier than getting my siblings to.

As we eat, I notice Yai and Colby giving each other looks, and I know what they're thinking.

They don't want to hide anymore.

As the arguing starts to die down, both villages growing tired, the otters begin to leave. I can tell that Yai wants to kiss Colby goodbye, but they might have a ways to go before they're comfortable enough to come out to their villages as a couple.

Boy does 'come out' have a completely different meaning here than I am used to…

I return to Finlar with the otters, getting another night of sleep, and after breakfast, they present me with the clothes. Mine fit comfortably, and I'm sure Adam's and Caleb's will as well. They made a couple of shirts for Caleb, just in case, but agree that a demon wearing even pants is unusual, so they won't be offended if he never uses the shirts.

Then, the otters offer me up a fishing pole and a net, so I can fish while we're out as well, instead of having to stick to 'land-meat', as they call it.

"No, no, no!" A voice says, and I turn to find a small group of bears standing a little distance away, one of them tying a boat to the shore. "You otters prefer your nets and swimming. We know how to make real rods.

"Take this," the bear offers up a rod to me. "It's much more durable, and can withstand much heavier fish. Their nets might be better than ours, but they've got nothing on our rods!"

The otters and bears get into an arguing match.

"I'll accept both rods," I say, and everyone looks at me. "Thanks."

Everyone wishes me good luck, and I leave, traveling down the river until I reach Adam and Caleb, who are preparing a couple of deer for lunch.

"Welcome back," Adam looks at me. "We were discussing whether or not we should go and rescue you."

"You knew there were villages there, but not that I was fine?"

"We knew you'd gotten stuck into their warring feud," he chuckles. "The sight of a half-dragon and a demon showing up and saying 'you done with our gear yet?' might have sped them up a little bit."

"He's got better senses than me," Caleb points to Adam. "And went closer to the villager than I did. From what he said, you were having a fair bit of fun."

"I did," I nod. "Those two villages were really something."

I lie down beside their fire and stare up at the forest canopy above, closing my eyes. This is more comfortable, and for the first time since entering the villages, I sleep pretty well.

When I wake up, the two of them are chatting quietly about the merits of going around clothed versus naked, and they don't seem to notice me sit up and watch the food cooking.

How often did they accidentally burn their food, while I was in the villages?

"I totally agree," Adam says. "It does feel a lot more free to be naked. However, when among the humanoid civilizations outside our own, it's best to go with clothes, because they'd react even worse to us. Probably think we're there to rape them."

"Oh, I agree," Caleb nods. "I'd rather be seen as a civilized demon when traveling than one who will just go and rape everyone. I'll get to see a lot more places, that way. Now, if there was a community where nudity wasn't a problem – like in most beastkin and beastborn communities – then all I'm saying is that I'd probably go free. Unfortunately, I probably couldn't do it in my real form, so I'd still feel restricted. But I'm getting used to the feeling, so whatever."

"I can't imagine," Adam says. "I'm not powerful enough to Formshift yet. I have been curious about going around nude, though."

"I'm curious how much longer the meat has before it burns."

The both look at me, then the meat roasting on the fire. The both sniff the air, then look at each other.

"Almost done!"

They sigh, looking relieved.

"You two have burned every meal since I left, haven't you?" I ask, and they both turn crimson. "So had you guys gone nude while I was gone, or just discussing it?"

"Just discussing it," Adam answers, though their red faces tell me that's a lie. "It's almost all we've talked about since you left. I haven't gone nude before, and since Caleb wants to be more civilized than his people usually are, he's putting up with clothes."

Pants. He's putting up with pants and boots. I get the feeling he was acting when he 'realized' he destroyed his shirt.

"Yeah," Caleb nods. "Since I want to be a more civilized person as I travel the world, I'm not going to go around naked. I'm not a wild animal, and honestly, after getting used to pants and being around you two, I can see the merits of it. I much prefer it."

"So did you get our supplies?" Adam asks.

"Some clothes," I nod. "Along with a few pieces of fishing equipment. I also gained a few Classes while I was there, too, and Skills, too. I'm a fair bit stronger."

"What Classes?"

"Rowman, Fisherman, and Diplomat."

"Diplomat isn't an easy Common Class to obtain," he says. "Did you really gain it just from getting those two villages to get along?"

"Yeah," I nod. "That was actually pretty easy."