Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday!

Well, I managed to finish one more chapter of "Remember Me Fondly" before the year ended. Unfortunately, I did not manage to get around to finishing a new chapter of "Road To S" like I had originally planned (Got sick and traveling). Though that chapter should be up soonish (hopefully)

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please leave a comment telling me what you liked or didn't like!

Chapter 6 – New Companions

The first thing Thunder became aware of was a blissful feeling of warmth. He could feel his brother nearby him; the heat from their bodies intermingled with each other. What happened?

The last thing Thunder remembered was challenging Bracken for leadership of the pack...and losing almost instantly. Bracken was unscathed and he was at death's door. Then Whisper joined in and prevented the killing blow, snarling at Bracken as he warned the others to back off. Pain, lots of pain as his brother dragged him...somewhere. No, it was to a pond and he felt relief as the pain lessened. But it still hurt and he was slowly losing consciousness.

Footsteps. Heavy and rough. Man-creatures. Whisper was warning them to stay away and then he-No good, he couldn't remember. What happened next? he thought anxiously.

His eyes felt heavy as he dispelled the fog of sleep that still lay over him. The world slowly swam into focus as Thunder slowly got up. He winced a little as a sharp lance of pain raced through his sides, though it quickly faded into a very dull ache. Thunder tilted his snout to see his brother sleeping peacefully on a purple, fluffy-looking material. Thankfully he didn't look hurt.

Where are we? This certainly wasn't the forest, even though the ground was familiar enough. Nor was it one of the two-legged people's houses with their strong-looking walls. These walls, if that's what they were, looked flimsy and seemed to rely on a central wooden pole in the centre of it. Ah, this is probably one of those 'tent' things, Whisper was telling me about.

Thunder noticed there was a flap in the tent that led outside and, after a moment's hesitation, boldly strode forward. Squinting in the sunlight, he was shocked to find himself in a particularly large encampment with many other tents dotting the ground and several two-leggers. Thunder shrank back and looped around the tents, lithely avoiding the towering creatures. They were like no two-leggers that Thunder had ever seen before, one in particular soared high above the tents and walked with strange, stunted movements on impossibly tall and thin legs.

Strange place...seems like a fun place to explore. Based on his keen sense of smell, Thunder could tell where the heady scents of the forest emanated from. Still, he had to be careful; no telling what these two-leggers might do if they caught him wandering around. Thunder waited in the shadows of a tent while a trio of bizarrely dressed people (Humans by the smell of them) passed unknowingly by his location.

He slipped out of the darkness and continued to stealthily creep through the camp; the smell of the forest growing stronger all the while. The tents were growing thinner as well, as was the amount of people unfortunately. While the insides of the tents promised a sense of mystery and adventure, the cold reality was that they were rather uninteresting. In stark contrast, Thunder was much more fascinated by all the different people that wandered through the site.

Several times, he felt like jumping out and surprising the two-leggers just to see their reaction. He didn't though. Even when he wasn't here, he could feel the presence of Whisper harshly admonishing him for trying such a thing. Last time I ignored him, it didn't end well for either of us. That thought made him quite ashamed as he recalled the moments when he challenged Bracken.

Still not sure how we got here, though. Maybe Whisper brought us here? While ruminating on these thoughts, his ears perked up, catching the sounds of a pleasant lilting voice:

Don't worry dear,

Have no fear.

For I am here for you.

You are my light,

that brings me warmth on the coldest days.

You are my Son...

Intrigued, Thunder followed the sounds of the music which had now winded down to a series of several harmonic notes. As soon as he saw where the music came from, Thunder reflexively shrank back into the shadows. Two humans were sitting together on wooden boxes. Females by the look of it. Though he wasn't sure how old they were. And they weren't alone.

I've never seen creatures such as those before! There were two small, furry animals with pointed ears and long tails that curled back on themselves, perched on the shoulders of each girl. Dozing peacefully by the foot of the black-haired one was a creature much, much larger than Bracken; possibly even bigger than the Silver Father. Long, bony and very sharp-looking fangs extending out of the creature's maw, it's massive paws raked the soft earth beneath it with ebony claws. A thick and powerful tan-coloured tail extended out of it's long golden body.

Nuzzling the side of the black-haired girl was a tall-looking black horse. Thunder licked his lips as he fondly remembered the time his pack had managed to catch a horse from a rather foolish human. The one just a few feet away from him was nothing like the pitifully weak prey they had caught; this one looked powerful. A glimmer caught Thunder's eye and he saw that it emanated from a curious object that seemed to be embedded in the horse's skull. To top off the exotic menagerie was a leathery-green skinned creature lying flat on the ground. It had no limbs that Thunder could see, and from the sheer length of it; there was no end to it's massive body either.

But it wasn't because of any of these mysterious animals that had made Thunder shrink back. It was the smell of these humans: “Otherkind” is what Whisper called them. Though they weren't just limited to humans or even two-leggers for that matter. They were incredibly dangerous creatures that all had a distinct smell. Beings who would keep reviving no matter how many times they were killed.

And still, despite this knowledge, Thunder felt drawn towards them. Perhaps it was because only the blue-haired girl smelled like an “Otherkind”. The other girl, the black-haired one, didn't have that smell. But she didn't have a normal smell either. It was a cloying, intoxicating scent that all of the animals (including him, he realized with a start) seemed to be drawn towards. What is this feeling? He could feel his body becoming hot, an audible thump-thump sound was rapidly beating in his ear when he gazed at the black-haired girl.

There were no two-leggers he thought of as attractive, or even ugly for that matter. So why did he feel the impulsive need to wander over to this girl? Before he had even realized what he was doing, he was already stepping out of the shadows of his hiding place; inching forwards in a dream-like state towards the girl. The large beast with tusks perked it's ears up at the sound of his movement, staring intensely at Thunder for a few seconds that made him freeze in his tracks. The beast yawned and broke eye contact with Thunder before slumping to the ground. It's movement attracted the attention of the two girls who were chatting animatedly with each other.

“Ah!” exclaimed the black-haired girl. “You're awake! How do you feel?”

Thunder's brain stopped at the sudden question, as all eyes turned on him. Say something! Anything! “Ah-I'm...uh.” He was so confused, his brain now starting to realize seemingly irrelevant facts as to why he could even understand her in the first place. The girl stood up, a look of concern on her face now.

“Are you okay?”

His heart was beating faster now and the bewitching scent seemed to get even stronger. “YES, ABSO-LuteLY fine, hERE!” babbled Thunder loudly. He didn't understand what was going on and his body seemed to be going haywire. So he did the only thing that seemed reasonable in that situation.

“Ah, wait!” called out Yuri, in a futile attempt to stop the small black wolf from dashing back through the camp.

“I think you scared him off.” drawled Guinevere.

“What!” exclaimed Yuri, “All I did was just ask him how he was feeling!”

The golden sabertooth tiger, Dovar, who was laying peacefully on the grass answered Yuri just as Guinevere opened her mouth, 'Normal humans can't talk to animals. And considering the odd smell you give off, it's no wonder the youngling fled.'

'Ookyahaha!' laughed Rubar who was perched on Yuri's shoulder, 'The look on his face was priceless!'

“Should I go after him?” asked Yuri.

'That might have the opposite effect and cause him to run even harder, which might reopen his wounds.' advised Alyen in her deep, calming voice. The mare shook her luxurious black mane, 'You've already done what you can for him and his brother. The rest is up to them.'

“Ahh.” sighed Guinevere, “And here I thought, they could become your companions.”

'For a Beassst Friend to find a companion, isssn't asss eassy asss you would think.' said Balgan, lifting up his serpentine body so that his head rested on Guinevere's lap. 'The bondsss we ssshare between our Friend are eternal.'

“Ehh? I thought that either party could cancel the contract at any time.” objected Guinevere, directing an enquiring glance towards Yuri.

“Temporary ones, yeah.” nodded Yuri, “But true contracts are where both the Friend and the animal are essentially bonded for life. Temporary contracts can be made for purposes such as treating an animal in order to get the enhancement bonus that comes with the 'Animal Husbandry' skill.”

“And you can just trigger this temporary contract whenever you want?” asked Guinevere.

“As long as I'm not abusing the contract to harm the animal...yeah, seems like it.”

“Time limit?”

“About an hour and then there's a cooldown of about 20 minutes. Which is why I worked on that wolf's wounds first, which looked more serious.”

“Hehh, this new class sounds like it was made for you.” Guinevere adjusted her sitting positing as she air-strummed a few notes by waving her gloved hands through the air. “What's your status window look like now, by the way? You earn anything by making one of these temporary contracts?”

“Not sure, lemme check. 'Status Window'.”

Stat WindowCharacter NameYuriAlignmentNeutralLevel20RaceHumanTitleNoneProfessionBeast FriendFame30Health700/700 (+150)Mana500/500 (+120)Strength20+20Agility54+20Vitality35+20Aim25+20Wisdom16+20Intellect18+20Luck11+20Leadership20+20Attack35Killing Intent???+20Defence15Magic ResistanceNone+Gained ability to learn all survival-related and wilderness skills to the stage of a master+Gained ability to speak with animals+Wild animals will no longer attack players on sight+Any healing skills applied on animals have a +30% effect (+60% effect on tamed animals)

“Doesn't seem like there was any change.” she said after reading out the information in the status window.

“One of those values seems kind of strange...” muttered Guinevere.

“What?”

“A-Ah? Nothing!” she said hastily, “Just wanted to know if you're still interested in going back into the forest one last time and look for a...familiar?” said Guinevere carefully, gauging the reaction of their attentive animal companions.

'Partner.' yawned Dovar.

“Partner.” amended Guinevere.

The evening sun was quickly fading beyond the lands as darkness encroached and the world of Royal Road began to enter the night. In a few hours, the expedition of Knights destined for the village of Coven would be moving out along with Yuri. Truthfully, Yuri hadn't even considered the uses an animal partner could have, despite the many notifications that her class change had informed her of.

“No, I think I'll just spend the remaining bits of the day with everyone here.”

Guinevere clucked her tongue in dissatisfaction, “Wish I could go with you tomorrow.”

“It's fine, it's fine.” waved Yuri airily, “I'll be okay.”

“Sure you won't be too lonely without your sunbae?” teased Guinevere lightly.

“As long as you come back.” replied Yuri, a hesitant smile on her face.

“Definitely.”

As Yuri approached the tent where she had left the two black wolves in, she heard voices coming from inside.

'Come on, come on! What are you waiting for? Let's just go!' said a voice that Yuri recognized as belonging to the wolf that had...run away from her. The thought of any animal being scared by her was vexing to say the least.

Guinevere had logged off for the day, and so it was just Yuri who came back. The other animals had already turned in for the night, though Yuri wanted to check and see if the two wolves were still there.

'No. First and foremost, we shall wait for the one who saved us.' replied another voice. It was a deep and calming one, that made Yuri feel more and more relaxed with every syllable.

'Brother, you don't understand! One of the two-leggers, it...she smells weird!'

“Weird how?” asked Yuri with a troubled expression as she entered the tent.

The smaller of the two wolves instantly shrank back at the sound of her voice and dashed around behind his brother, as if seeking protection.

In comparison, the larger wolf calmly answered her question, 'Beast Friends have an extremely unusual scent. Though I've never met one until now.' said the larger wolf, who sniffed the air in front of him, 'Now I can see that it's true.'

Yuri's frown deepened, “Is-Is it a bad smell?”

The wolf's eyes sparkled with amusement, 'The exact opposite, actually.' Before Yuri could process that statement, the wolf continued, 'But first, I must thank you for saving my brother and I. If you hadn't come along then, we probably would have died.' said the wolf in such a manner-of-fact way that it seemed like he was recalling something as mild such as what he had had for lunch the previous day.

The wolf nudged his brother with his tail, beckoning him to come out from behind him. He slowly padded forwards, not quite looking at Yuri's eyes and shuffling his paws on the ground, '...Thank you.' he said bashfully.

Feeling relieved that it was just a peculiarity of her class and not something inherently wrong with her, Yuri allowed a smile to settle over her face. “You're welcome! I'm just glad I got to you in time, your wounds were quite serious.”

'Is there anything we can do to repay you?' said the larger wolf.

“No,” she crouched down onto her knees and smiled at the wolves, “But I appreciate the offer. May I ask, what you two will do now though?”

'You're worried that we'll get injured like before.' he said, correctly guessing Yuri's concern.

“Yes.” she said with a frown, “I'm sorry for prying, but...what exactly happened that put you two in such an awful state?”

The two fell silent for a moment and Yuri immediately regretted asking the question; a heavy atmosphere filling the room. Then, the smaller of the two wolves quietly mumbled:

'Bracken.'

“Who is Bracken?” asked Yuri.

The young wolf trembled slightly, 'Someone I lost against.' he looked at his brother and the trembling increased, a fierce glint in his eyes. 'But I won't lose again next time!'

'Thunder!' roared the older wolf, 'Did you not learn anything, you idiot?!'

Both Yuri and Thunder flinched at the wolf's sudden outburst. The two wolves were glaring at each other, fangs bared and a low growl was rumbling dangerously from their throats. 'It was a one on one challenge, Whisper! You had no business interfering!'

'You lost! If I didn't jump in when I did, you would be dead!' seethed Whisper. 'You challenging him again is the same as killing yourself!'

'You think I'm too weak?!'

'I know you are.'

Thunder roared and pounced on his older brother, the two wolves wrestled with each viciously on the tent floor. Yuri stood motionless, shocked at the sudden turn in violence, but she quickly regained her senses. She wondered if she should break the two up, though she immediately quelled that urge; Yuri had no business to interfere in their argument.

Almost as soon as she had arrived at that conclusion, the winner was soon decided: Whisper had his jaw around Thunder's throat, who had froze in place. The two brothers locked gazes and Whisper slowly released his grip: 'Weak. Beaten by someone who couldn't beat Bracken. And you still think you're strong enough to take him on?'

'So what am I supposed to do then?!' demanded Thunder.

'Become strong.' said Whisper simply.

Thunder snorted and looked away from his brother, 'Easy for you to say.'

'I'm serious. There is a way you could become strong.'

'Please enlighten me, O' brother of mine.' said Thunder sarcastically.

'Her.' answered Whisper, looking at Yuri now, 'Become the companion of the Beast Friend and you will be able to grow stronger.'

“What?” said Yuri, “How would I make him stronger?”

As if he were puzzled by her response, Whisper tilted his head and asked, 'You are a Beast Friend, correct?'

“Well yes-”

'Then based on the legends, any beast that travels together with you will grow incomparably strong.'

'Legends!' spat Thunder, 'That's your solution?! To rely on the stories that Mother told us?'

“I have to admit, I've never heard of anything like that either.” added Yuri.

“Then perhaps I should explain it.” said a man's voice. All three turned towards the entrance as Bolthram pushed the flap of the tent open and stepped inside. “Sorry for eavesdropping, came by to call you for dinner when I heard the raised voices coming from inside here.”

'And who are you supposed to be?' asked Thunder brusquely.

“Another Beast Friend.” said Bolthram, “Who was going to tell you more about Beast Friends over dinner.” looking apologetically towards Yuri.

“I suppose now's a good time as any.” said Yuri. She looked at Whisper and Thunder who were following the conversation intently, “I don't suppose you two are hungry?”

'No!' denied Thunder with a loud voice that was punctuated at the same time by an equally loud rumbling sound from his belly.

As could be expected, both of the wolves were quite hungry, and positively wolfed down the food that was presented to them with the smallest utterance of thanks on their parts. Yuri and Bolthram shared a grin over their own bowls and continued to eat their own food at a slightly more dignified pace. It was just the four of them sitting inside of Bolthram's tent, a small cookfire that was curiously devoid of any smoke lay underneath a earthenware bowl that was now half-empty of the delicious stew that Bolthram had concocted.

“I'm surprised that you can cook so well.” said Yuri.

“Geh, again with the rude comments. I'll have you know that I am a very good cook.” shot back Bolthram.

Yuri raised an eyebrow, “So the mushroom stew you cooked last time and made everyone sick?” As soon as she had said this, Whisper stopped shovelling food into his mouth and carefully gauged the dish he was eating. Thunder didn't have appeared to have heard anything though as he was still happily stuffing his face. Licking his chops, Whisper sat back on his haunches and watched Thunder; apparently deciding to use him as a test subject.

'Something wrong?' asked Thunder, taking a breath between his meal.

'Nothing. Go ahead and keep eating.' reassured Whisper.

'You don't have to tell me twice! This stuff is great!' exclaimed Thunder happily.

“It seems like it's okay.” said Bolthram carefully, who was also watching Thunder quite closely.

Yuri made a doubtful noise, though she flashed a reassuring smile towards Whisper. “So about this Beast Friend levelling business...” began Yuri, setting her bowl down. Despite her words, the bowl was scraped clean of the stew, which was enough of a verdict to prompt Whisper to continue eating.

“Straight to the heart of the matter eh? But I guess it's better do it now after we finish eating.”

“What? Why?” asked Yuri suspiciously, gazing at her discarded bowl with some trepidation. Whisper had once again stopped eating his food and was looking up at Bolthram.

“No, no! It's not that it was bad! Just that it's late and that we'll probably end up sleepy with a full stomach after some time.” hastily explained Bolthram. Both Yuri and Whisper gave a measured gaze that was part suspicious, sceptical and a trace of annoyance. Bolthram had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing from the almost identical expression that was painted on both the girl and the wolf.

“Ahem. So, the other information I wanted to inform you about was about the nature of a companion.” started to explain Bolthram, “Some things I wanted you to experience for yourself, such as seeing the different reactions of animals towards you and your effect on the people around you.”

“As you may have heard from my own companions already, but the bond between a Beast Friend and their chosen companion is lifelong. Once you and your animal decided to make a bond between each other; it carries with it permanent consequences.” Bolthram continued on, forestalling any questions from Yuri with a raised palm, “If either party chooses reneges on the contract, there are permanent consequences for both parties involved.”

“Before I start explaining in exactly what such consequences may be, it would be easier for you to understand if I describe the growth of a companion and their Beast Friend.” said Bolthram. “As you may have noticed already: A newly minted Beast Friend will initially only be able to contract with one Beast Friend. As they grow in strength and knowledge, they will be able to make more contracts; though there is an absolute limit as to how many contracts one person can have.”

“One of the most significant changes is the quality of your attacks when facing monsters or other such opponents. The mere presence of your companion will increase the damage you are able to deal.” Yuri nodded at Bolthram's words which matched the information she had read in one of the many dialogue boxes when she had first changed classes. Specifically it had used the term 'Flanking Bonus', but provided no quantifiable measure as to how much her attack would be affected.

As if he knew about the nature of the dialogue boxes she might've read, Bolthram said, “But there are certain things that are not so obvious about the union. One of the first things that you'll notice is that you'll no longer need to use your mouth to communicate with your partner.”

Yuri's eyebrows shot up at this, “Meaning?...”

“If I wanted to, I could talk to Rubar and Dovar using just the power of my thoughts. No matter how far they might be, they'd be able to communicate back with me.”

Now THAT'S a cool power! A grin on her face, Yuri leaned forward eagerly, “And what else is there?”

Bolthram gave her a grin, “A few things and perhaps a lot more, as there are greater masters than I.”

“Any idea where I might be able to find such people?”

“No clue!” chuckled Bolthram, “My best suggestion would be to try and asking various animals in any new regions you travel to.”

“Anyway, another quirk of the class including being able to provide better healing skills for the tamed animal in question.”

'And getting stronger?' said Thunder, who had joined in the conversation, looking hopefully at Bolthram.

Bolthram's eyes twinkled at the young wolf's question, “Something that is exclusively possible for those who choose to become the partner of a Beast Friend. Those animals that choose to join with a Beast Friend have the opportunity of reaching incredible heights.”

'You have seen this for yourself?' asked Whisper.

“While I know Yuri has already seen him, have you two met Dovar yet?”

“Dovar is the big golden lion with tusks.” explained Yuri.

'Ah! Yeah, I remember him! He was huge! What about him?' exclaimed Thunder.

“Before I met him, Dovar was quite a bit smaller than you. He was the runt of the litter.”

Yuri had to smile when she saw the way Thunder's eyes sparkled when he heard this. Apparently Dovar made quite a big impression on the young wolf. Whisper on the other hand, continued to look at Bolthram critically, 'And these consequences you spoke of? What are they?'

“Let's say for whatever reason, I were to break my contract with Dovar. One of the penalties that I incur is that any future contracts I make will be weaker as a result of the break. In addition, I will have a lower amount of total contracts that I can make.”

“Now those are the penalties for the Beast Friend, which aren't so bad in comparison to the animal. For the animal, much of the experience they gained together with the Beast Friend will be lost. So if Dovar and I split up, he'd lose a significant quantity of his strength and possible regress to a more primitive form.”

“Primitive form?” asked Yuri.

“Some animals will change in physical ways as they grow stronger; Dovar was one of those animals. Before I had met him, he was a small tan-coloured lion.”

“Eh? I thought he was one of the rare varieties of golden lions wandering in the large desert regions.”

“Nope. I made that part up, so people wouldn't question where the golden lion suddenly popped up from.”

“But why would you...oh.” began Yuri as a sudden realization hit her.

“It's as you think.” nodded Bolthram, “If people knew that animals could potentially become rare or legendary creatures if they were to travel with me, there would be no end to the line of people trying to use me.”

“Was Guin the reason you didn't tell me any of this before?” a hint of anger was in her voice.

“Please, Yuri, you have to understand. I know that she's your friend and you clearly trust her a lot; but the person I made a Beast Friend was you. Not her. I couldn't risk something like this getting out.”

“...Right, sorry. I do understand. This contract business is a lot more serious than I thought it was.” apologized Yuri. She looked at Thunder who was following the conversation with rapt attention. “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?”

'...Is there no way for me to keep the strength I obtained?' asked Thunder.

“Not as far as I know.” said Bolthram.

'But I won't lose everything, though?'

“Not everything, no.” confirmed Bolthram.

Thunder looked at Yuri hesitantly and she gave him a warm smile, “Don't worry about me, just do what you think is best.”

'But...this will trouble you too.'

“And I'm telling you, that it's fine.” Honestly speaking, Yuri didn't really care about amassing power like other players might have. All she cared about was helping out the young wolf in front of her. So what if he was just bits of data? He was real enough to her and that was all that mattered.

Despite her assurances, Thunder still seemed to be hesitating until his brother spoke up: 'Then how about this, Thunder: The Elder Friend said that there are greater masters who would know of other secrets. Perhaps one of those secrets is in retaining the greater part of your abilities without hurting Ms. Yuri. Therefore I say you take the contract and journey with the Miss until we find these people.'

It was a good idea thought Yuri. One that potentially worked out for everyone if such things were possible. Perhaps there is an item of some sorts that could do the things that Whisper claims. Though...this could take a very long time, I seriously doubt that Thunder would want to travel with me-

'If it means that no one gets hurt, then I'll do it!' declared Thunder.

...Eh? What did he say? Thunder looked at Yuri bashfully, 'Tha-That is, if you'll take me along of course. I understand if you don't want to put up with me...'

Her blank expression must have looked like a sign of rejection as his eyes became downcast. Yuri hurriedly corrected the situation, “No, no! It's not that! It's just that this could take a REALLY long time. Are you really sure you want to stay with me for that long?”

For some reason Whisper and Bolthram started laughing. Yuri didn't know exactly why they were doing so, but she had the slightly annoyed feeling that they were laughing at their exchange.

'If anything, staying with you seems like a bonus...' mumbled Thunder very quietly .

“Sorry, what was that?” asked Yuri, not hearing what he had said.

'Nothing!' shouted Thunder, which sent a new fit of laughter through Bolthram and Whisper for some reason. 'I mean...if you're okay with me, I'd like to be your companion.'

The way he was shuffled his paws and looked at the ground as he asked this of her made him impossibly cute in her eyes that she couldn't help herself and seized him in a tight hug. Ahhh, this fur is even softer than I thought it'd be and he's just the right size to be hugged! I can't believe this little cutie wants to come with me!

“So, what do we do from here?” asked Yuri cheerily.

His body still shaking from what seemed to be contained laughter, Bolthram replied, “Something that I think will make your new friend very happy.”

Thunder was looking blankly at the heartwarming scene unfolding before him. It was early in the morning and the once numerous tents that had dotted the border of the human town had all been packed up onto large carriages. There was a crowd of animals surrounding two humans who were standing next to such carriages.

Because it was a rather personal farewell, Thunder and his brother were standing outside of the large group. The pretty human Yuri was hugging each of the animals in turn, gently crooning to them in that sweet voice of hers. He probably should have been angry, but right now the only thing that the could think of was what happened last night.

He, Thunder, had become a companion to a Beast Friend. And not just any Beast Friend, but the first two-legger that had truly fascinated him. His mind kept on replaying the scenes of how the ceremony had gone down.

'Something on your mind, little brother?' there was a slightly mocking tone in Whisper's seemingly friendly concern.

'Nothing at all!'

'Ohh? You sure you're not still feeling a little dazed from last night? You know when Ms. Yuri kiss-'

'Ahhh! Don't say it!' howled Thunder. But just that little word was enough to trigger a very vivid flashback of Yuri...kissing...his forehead. Even now, the spot where she had touched him still burned furiously and he had spent the rest of the night soaking the spot by dunking himself into the river.

“Ah, I think that's them!” exclaimed Yuri, waving at the group of people coming out of the town. There were six of them, all of whom were clad in shining armour emblazoned with the royal emblem of Dale. The six steeds they rode on were similarly dressed with thick, powerful-looking plates that covered their bodies. A seventh horse, devoid of any armour and a little smaller than the others, plodded behind the knights. Yuri thought with excitement that maybe the small horse would be the one she was riding on.

'Tch. They don't look that strong for so-called protectors.' muttered Thunder as he padded alongside of Yuri.

'Careful not to make such remarks in front of them, little brother.' admonished Whisper, 'The humans may not be able to understand us now, but they will as soon as they start travelling with Ms. Yuri.'

'I'll call whomever I think is weak as being weak' huffed Thunder.

“I'd like it if you could get along with them, Thunder.” said Yuri a little regretfully.

Thunder missed a step and almost tripped over his paws at Yuri's words, 'We-Well if you say so, then I'll try to get along...Oy, stop laughing Whisper!'

They continued their idle conversation right as the riders cantered to a stop in front of their odd little group. Up close, they were actually quite intimidating, and were all wearing full helms that completely obscured their faces. A person who looked liked the leader dismounted from his horse, a gorgeous white mare, and removed his helmet.

Oh wow...what a beautiful person...Long, golden silky hair spilled out of the helmet as blue eyes that were as clear as the sky stared back into Yuri's. His confident bearing gave the impression of a man who was entering the prime of his life and had accrued a significant amount of life experiences. A dazzling flash of light came from his impossibly shiny teeth neatly arranged as he smiled and greeted her. “Now I see what Commander Daren was talking about.” chuckled the man in a surprisingly deep, but melodious voice, “You must be, Yuri.”

The man gave her a low bow, one hand across his chest as he did so, “I am Ser Francois and these are my fellow compatriots:” at his words, all of the other riders dismounted and walked towards Yuri.

“Dame Mable.” said Francois as the person he gestured to, took off their helmet. A young woman with short brown-hair and a friendly smile.

“Ser Gerard.” Another young man with nutmeg coloured skin and a carefully trimmed black beard. He nodded curtly towards Yuri.

“Dame Anna and Ser Avery.” The two who removed their helmets had the exact same face and Yuri was only able to tell them apart thanks to the more feminine hairstyle Anna had...or was that one Avery?

“And finally, our youngest member: Ser Leon.” Silver hair that stopped just past his ears, a nervous expression on his face that became red when he met Yuri's eyes. He gave an awkward bow towards her.

While she was a little taken aback, Yuri was nudged into a quick recovery by a gentle prod from Whisper, “A-Ah. Right. Glad to be working with you.” Something seemed a little weird though, “Ser Francois, what did you mean by: 'Commander Daren was right about you.'?”

Francois gave a hearty laugh, “'She'll be an extraordinarily beautiful dark-haired woman that will most likely be surrounded by animals.'” related Francois in a voice that was such a good imitation of Ser Daren's voice that everyone present in the company, including Yuri, started laughing.

“I assume your lupine friends will be joining us? We'll be travelling on horseback, you know?”

'I can keep up just fine!' claimed Thunder. Mable and Gerard tensed at Thunder's words...no, that was wrong. Most likely they tensed because of the growl, they wouldn't be able to understand Thunder until they were in a party together.

“Careful, captain, I think you made him mad.” laughed Avery.

“Yes, they'll be joining us. Thunder says he'll be able to keep up.” said Yuri.

If he was confused at her supposed understanding of Thunder's words, Ser Francois didn't show it. “Very good then! I trust Ser Daren gave you the basics of our little operation?”

“Yes! He didn't mention that we'd be travelling on horseback though.”

“Do you know how to ride one?” asked Ser Francois hesitantly.

“Yes! I've been practising whenever I had the chance.” That was true enough, Alyen had been kind enough to let Yuri ride her whenever they had some free time. It was hard, but Yuri had quickly picked up the skill of riding. Quite literally too, as a new skill had popped up the second she had maintained her balance on Alyen for longer than a minute.

“Great! Are you ready to head out then?”

[p=center]Party Request!

Ser Francois has invited you to join his party!

Would you like to accept this invitation?

(Note that any companions travelling with you, will be automatically added to the party)[/p]

“All set!” confirmed Yuri.

[p=center]Party Invite Accepted![/p]

Francois led her over to the unarmoured grey horse. It was already saddled up and had a docile expression on his face.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Yuri, what's yours?” she asked the steed.

'...Reegar.' said the horse.

“You have a lovely name, Reegar. Would you allow me the honour of riding with you?” said Yuri.

'You can understand me?' said Reegar in shock.

“Oi...did anyone else just hear the horse talking?” muttered Gerard.

“No...can't be...must be a trick of the wind or something.” denied Ann.

'Hear him talking? He hasn't shut up since we left the garrison!' exclaimed the brown charger that Ann was riding on.

As chaos erupted through the knights who were suddenly able to understand the animals around them, Yuri continued to stroke Reegar's long mane as she continued to chat with him.

This should be a fun trip!

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