"UHHHGGG"

I woke up feeling the warm sunlight on my face, rays of light shining through the canopy. My head hurt like hell.

'Oh god, natural LIGHT!' Shielding my eyes from the harmful beams of cancer-inducing rays I looked around, finding myself in the woods.

"How the hell did I end up in the park?"

Looking through my memories I find it completely blank for the last several hours. The last thing I remember was an explosion then... nothing. Checking my body I found myself unharmed.

Taping my left forearm a holographic screen appeared. I navigate through some menus and activate my CPU implant; it must have turned itself off to prevent damage, the explosion probably also EMPed my equipment, luckily the shielding worked. After the bootup logo disappeared I started accessing what the chip had recorded.

"Great... nothing..." Getting up I go through some more menus and access my GPS and stared in disbelief at the words on the screen.

[Area Unknown]

That can't be, even if I was wormholed to some random area it should be near the destination facility. Unless the EMP did damage or corrupt my CPU.

"My blueprints better be there," I say, accessing my blueprint folder. "Good, everything's there," I say with a sigh of relief.

"Alright, I know I'm in the park somewhere, so I shouldn't be that far away from civilization" Booting up the compass app I walked to the east. It was actually relaxing, and the air was surprisingly fresh and light.

"Maybe those naturalist nutcases had a point," I remark, remembering the protesters marching down the street on the news. They had twigs and leaves in their hair and wore clothing with leaves clipped to them, chanting "Bring back the stars" "Our mother needs its forests to breathe" etc, etc.

I for one liked the haze, the sun's rays would diffuse so that is wasn't so intense. "Still, the sun is pretty intense here, I feel like I'll burn if I get any more" I complained. As someone who spent all day in the workshop or in the arcology, even travel to the wormhole facility was done from garage to garage, I can't remember the last time I was in the sun.

I've never been to the outside parks before, none of the genetically or cultivated flora could be seen, only wild trees, and other flora. No drones could be seen and were those birds chirping in the distance? Wait... there are birds in the outside park?! But who's crazy enough to let their pets out just like that? Whoever it is they are being irresponsible! I should report them, pets are best kept indoors after all! Not that I ever own a pet anyway.

"How far in the park did I go?!" According to my computer's clock, I've been walking for a couple of hours! The most I've ever walked in my life and still no sign of my sweet, sweet concrete jungle I'm starting to miss the square corners of buildings, the road intersections. The police sirens going off in the distance. The park wasn't THAT big, was it? Suddenly a bush rustled, startling me and a rabbit with a horn on its head popped out.

I blinked, then rubbed my eyes, this couldn't be right... Oh. My. GOD! Those naturalists were right! We ARE warping the natural wildlife! Humanity has made such great progress if it can accidentally do this! I smiled, at the adorable little mutant and spread open my arms to the proof of humanity's greatness, welcoming the little thing to the world that would be domestication and life of a cute little pet.

I giggle thinking of feeding him little pellets and snuggling with him. I've never had a pet before now I know why, I had to go out and catch one! Wait... was there wildlife in the parks? I thought rabbits were pets not wildlife; why does this one have a horn?

Before I could contemplate any further. The creature purred and leaped into my embracing arms it's mouth open smiling at me with it's white, and incredibly sharp teeth. Catching the adorable thing it purred some more biting my metal arm as I hugged it to my bountiful bosom, the fur of the creature was wonderfully soft! Ah, who cares if this thing is a wild animal, I'll do the meta-humane thing and domesticate it.

"OH, stop it, you!" I giggled. It ignored me still gnawing on the nano-steel super alloy plating. "Hmm, you need a name, hey! You're going to damage my arm. If I recall correctly in the dive game I had to use some red and white balls to domesticate animals, but I don't have any..." I sighed, the rabbit still purring in my arms. "Guess I'll hold onto him until I get to a pet shop then I can domesticate him!"

I walked thinking of a name for the rabbit while also contemplating on whether or not rabbits were pets or wildlife. I've never seen a pet rabbit before, wait, weren't they called bunnies? So bunnies are pets and rabbits are wild animals? That must be it! That explains the mutation on this one! It was never a pet to begin with, it was always a wild animal. Feeling giddy about learning something new I continue walking.

"He must really like me; he's been purring all this time." We've been walking for almost three hours together, all the while I've been stroking the rabbit's heavenly soft head, humming to myself. The rabbit's purring has been getting louder and more intense, I think he likes being petted.

The nearby bush rustled and I heard a deep growl, a chill went down my spine and a large bear with chitin plating and spines running down it's back appeared. It has bone spikes jutting out from the back of its elbows and a horrifying snarling snout.

"Kyaaaaaa!"

__________________________

Varen POV

We've been tracking a fearsome beast that has already slain many knights. A rare S rank monster that can chew through adamant plating.

A man was knelt over examining some droppings. The man had short brown hair. He had a square, stern face with brown eyes. The man had a rough stubble, being out in the woods didn't give us many chances to shave lately. The man wore white dragon scale armor. The armor uses the natural cold resistance of that dragon so it can use other enchantments for defense. He had a bow made from angel cedar in hand with an arming sword made from Mythril at his waist.

"Tallen, are we on the right track?" I ask the man

"Yes, it's been here not three hours ago. It headed east, but we must hurry"

"I take it there's something else?" Another man, Kaithe, asked. This man had a gnarled staff made with Eldar ash. He wore enchanted black robes meant to resist attacks. The robes were made from the silk of a high ranking monster, the obsidian spider. The mage wore a hood that hid his blond hair leaving his grey eyes visible. Tallen nodded to the Kaithe's question.

"There's someone else headed in that direction, but something is strange, it seems like a girl but her right boot seems to have extra weight. It's possible she might already be injured or perhaps carrying something," Tallen explained.

"Let's hurry!" I ordered my party. Prioritizing the girl's tracks we made quick progress. Once the monster sets its sight on its prey it will hunt them down to the ends of the earth and it has surely latched onto her scent.

We rushed past tree after tree, around bushes and thorns, stopping only to make sure we were staying with the tracks.

"Hold!" Tallen said, kneeling down at some tracks. "She stopped here for a moment. She had turned toward something in that bush... dear god... but where..."

"What?!, speak!" I demanded

"Our quarry attacked the girl, look here." Tallen pointed to a pair of lines on the ground "It had jumped at the girl but that's it, no body, and the girl's tracks continue east!"

"Did she slay it?!" A woman, Ferra, gasped. She wore a white priest's robe, made from heaven-silk; with a necklace that had the holy symbol of Luma the goddess of life and light. She had a white gnarled staff with a sky-blue crystal at the top. The priestess had silver hair and eyes with an attractive angular face that compensated for her lacking curves.

"Hard to say, Ferra, there's no body, no blood, nothing, but the monster does have phasing abilities; it could still be hunting her in the ethereal realm," Tallen replied.

"Let's get the girl, maybe we can get some answers at least," I say

"""Agreed"""

"The tracks don't seem to wander from east," Tallen commented. "She must have an incredible sense of direction"

"That just makes it easier for us," Kaithe commented.

We marched at a hurried pace for some time, The forest oddly silent, I can't help but have a bad feeling.

"Is it just me or is this part of the forest oddly quiet?" I ask our hunter

"It's definitely too quiet," Tallen replied.

Just then we heard a high pitched scream, that seemed a lot sharper in the eerie silence.

"Run! We have to get to her before it's too late!" I ordered.

Rushing past the trees we saw the girl running towards us with some white furry creature in her arms, and a dire bear hot at her heels. She was running surprisingly fast, much faster than a normal person even gaining distance from the dire bear.

I breathed a sigh of relief, just a D rank monster

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Humanity should never have done this to nature! Please forgive me! I'll fight for more parks, I'll advocate for pollution clean up, I'll help clean the beaches!" The girl was shouting some nonsense in a fit of panic, the poor thing. Getting a closer look she was sickly pale, but the strangest thing was her iron-clad left arm and right foot. She was a beauty with emerald green eyes and long silky ruby hair, oddly the tips of her hair had turned a sapphire blue.

"Call the police! Animal control! The National Guard! Somebody Tranque this thing!" Kaithe chanted a spell and lightning shot past the girl striking the dire bear. Tallen loosed an arrow nailing the beast in the leg, as it stumbled I ran past the strange girl and decapitated the bear.

"Poor thing you didn't have to kill it! And is that a real sword? Are you larpers? Where did that lightning come from? I have so many questions" the girl said not even winded. Although she doesn't look like it she must be really athletic.

What? Larpers? Poor thing?! Is this girl right in the head?

"Geh!"

"What's wrong, Tallen?" I asked

"Look at what she's holding!" Tallen said in complete disbelief.

The furry creature she was holding, with teeth that can chew through some of the hardest material known to mankind, a creature that has slain an army of ten-thousand well-trained knights, a legendary creature feared by all was gnawing, unsuccessfully on her iron arm. It's growling is rhythmic like it's casting spells. Judging from the crackling sparks jumping from the mouth of the creature to the girl's arm its spells, that would normally strike down some of the most powerful adventurers has no effect on her. The monster also struggles against her embrace, squirming with its strength that could crush rocks, how the girl managed to hold the beast, and seemingly not even know of its struggles I'll never know.

"Well, the girl is safe..." Ferra commented.

"Umm, do you think you can let that go? It's very dangerous" I tell the girl. It's actually advantageous to us, if we are ready we might be able to slay the legendary beast.

"Pfft! dangerous? Look at him, is that the face of a dangerous animal? The girl cooed over the monster which only made it growl more fiercely.

Dumbfounded at the dense girl I try again.

"It... it's not a pet, miss, it's a very dangerous monster"

"It is not a monster! Just because it has a mutation doesn't make it any less deserving of meta-humane treatment!"

Meta what? This girl isn't going to let go, is she?

"This is going to be a problem, but for now she has it under control. Perhaps we should go back to town, it's not far from here." Tallen said.

I sighed

"I'm Varen the party leader, this is Tallen our hunter, Kaithe our mage, and Ferra our priestess"

The girl just stared at us like we were speaking in another language, she did look foreign but spoke fluent Thymian like a native, I wonder where she's from and how she knows our language so well?.

"Umm, and your name is..." I say trying to get her to at least cooperate with introductions.

"Ah! I'm sorry, my name is Lilly Meadow" She replied.

"For now let's go back to town, and make sure to keep a good hold on that," I say, motioning to Ferra to teleport us back to town.

_____________________

Lilly POV

Sitting across from my rescuers in some stone building. I reviewed what had just happened. I was chased by a bear, was rescued by some larpers, and after introductions, the woman, Ferra, started saying some chunni sounding lines and poof I was in some stone building. Yes, STONE! Not concrete it's as if these guys were living in the medieval times, but they did seem to have electricity with lamps that had glowing crystals with light bulbs in them, at least there should be some LEDs in them, I wouldn't know since the crystals aren't entirely transparent.

The critter in my arms is still trying to chew my arm. I wonder if he's hungry, poor thing, I'll try to get him something to eat.

The larper sitting directly across from me who introduced himself as Varen was staring at my rabbit. He looked ragged and smelled dirty, he really should take more showers. I wonder if he's homeless. He wore a metal plate suit and had a sword at his waist. He had short black hair with blue eyes. His stubble was unkempt and reminded me of the naturalists, was he one of them? He certainly looked mentally ill.

"Umm, do you have some food? I think he's hungry" I said motioning to my pet "And how did we get here? We were just in a forest a few minutes ago" Mr. Varen just looked at me with his mouth agape.

Just then the door opened, a well dressed, if not strangely, man walked in. The man was dressed in a red velvet vest with gold trims, he had a well-trained body with a sword at his waist. Great, another larper. At least he smelled like he showered today, but his full brown beard definitely shows his mental instability. The man had dull green eyes, a strong jawline, with some lines and wrinkles on his face. Strange, I didn't know they made meta-humans like that.

"Sorry I'm late, The business about the Blood-Soaked Oni took longer than I thought. Varen, I heard there has been some..." his eyes wandered to my pet "...developments... what the hell is going on?"

"That's what I want to know," Mr. Varen replied.

The newcomer sat down next to Mr. Varen.

"I'm Ojek Miles. May I know your name, miss?"

"My name is Lilly Meadow."

"Miss Meadow, huh... do you have any idea what you're holding?"

"A rabbit! And I'm going to make it my pet, I just need to get those capture devices from the pet shop first though" I cheerily replied stroking the rabbit's head, it purred more intensely happy for my affection

"This girl..." Mr. Ojek's head collapsed into his hands, is he feeling well?

"I can't even..." Mr. Varen shook his head in resignation. The poor men's mental illness must be making them act strangely.

"Where are your parents, they must be worried sick for you," Mr. Ojek said, recovering.

"Par...ents?" I've never even heard those words before, what odd people. Can't I just go home and get my domestication balls already? It's really been a crazy day.

"Yes, your parents" Mr. Ojek repeated, guess I didn't mishear after all.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I merrily said, now rubbing my cheek on the soft furry head and holding my pet closer. Rabbits like carrots right?

"So you're an orphan..." Mr. Ojek sighed.

"Or..phan? Is that some sort of musical instrument? Do you know how to play it?"

Mr. Ojek and Mr. Veran looked at each other.

"Who's taking care of you right now?" Mr. Varen asked

"Me of course! I'm not in the government facility anymore, I graduated decades ago!"

"There's no way she sane..." Mr. Ojek muttered under his breath so inaudibly that even Varen sitting next to him couldn't hear.

"I am perfectly sane! I passed my quarterly psyche check!"

"How did you even hear that?" Mr. Ojek looked shocked. He's really the crazy one, maybe I should report them, they've been acting weird all day!

"You guys are being very rude! I'm going home now, thanks for saving me from that mutated bear, though" I got up and walked around the table.

"Wait!" Mr. Veran grabbed my shirt. "We're sorry, we didn't mean to offend you! But, you can't keep that as a pet. It's... against the rules!" Mr. Veran looked desperate while Mr. Ojek looked concerned.

"Well... I guess it's fine" Giving in I sat back down. A relieved Ojek got up.

"You must be hungry I'll get some food, it'll mostly be rations and vegetables though as the guildhall doesn't normally serve food."

Oh, he finally noticed how hungry Usagi is. "Vegetables are fine if you have any carrots that'd be great!"

I nuzzled against Usagi while I waited, enjoying his purring as he seems to love all the attention he's getting recently.

Mr. Ojek came back in with some jerky and carrots. He placed the plate in front of me. I picked up a carrot and brought it close to Usagi

"Aaahn~ common. Aaahn~" Mr. Ojek buried his face into his hands again and Mr. Varen groaned putting a hand on his forehead, as I was trying to feed Usagi a carrot

Usagi whined for some reason, he finally let go of my arm trying to get his face away from the carrot.

"Don't be like that, eat up and grow big, Usagi!" I said beaming down affection upon Usagi.

Usagi whined again.

"Common, I won't let my first pet starve, Aaaahhnn~" Usagi finally nibbled the tip of the carrot. "You gotta eat it all~" Usagi was crying tears of joy at finally being loved and fed by a caring owner.

An emptied plate and a fed Usagi later

Congratulations! For tolerating the ruthless attacks for the better part of the day and not once backing down against a fearsome and legendary beast putting it in its place then ruthlessly feeding it it's most hated food by guilting it with sheer kindness and naming it you have tamed Usagi. How in the hell did you manage to do that?!

Congratulations! By achieving the impossible and taming a legendary beast you've earned the animal husbandry skill and gained 16 levels in it in one go!

Congratulations! You've earned the animal tamer skill and gained 33 levels in it in one go!

Congratulations! You've earned the animal domestication skill and gained five levels in it!

Congratulations! You've earned the monster taming skill and gained 18 levels in it!

Congratulations! You've earned the prestigious monster domestication skill and gain one level in it!

Congratulations! You've earned the Skill Genius title by gaining 30 or more skill levels in one go!

Congratulations! You've earned the Ruthlessly Kind title by forcing a torturous treatment upon a poor monster by showing it true kindness and affection

Am I seeing things? Is my Bionic eye malfunctioning?