After the memory (he was pretty sure it was a memory…) of the blue Raakteig saving young Virria, his whole surrounding dissipated into white nothingness. Aragami wondered what to do, but the nothingness answered that for him.

  From beneath his feet, a stone path emerged, followed by a small park and a huge stone wall to the side.

  As soon as he got his bearings, a group of small Raakteigs, including Virria, and other species, passed beneath him in a playful manner. Not seeing anything more interesting, Atagami decided to follow them and try to learn something.

  The children ran around, chasing each other. It was very easy to notice that there were two groups mixed together. One group consisted of the children he saw in the previous memory. They were thin, agile, and a little more skittish than the other group, but shined with enthusiasm.

  The other group appeared a little better fed. They were faster and relied more on their speed and strength to catch each other. Aragami suspected that they were children from a city or some sort of community.

  His guess was confirmed a short time later, when he saw a robed figure enter the park. It was an adult Raakteig dressed in a long black robe with silver accents and a small pendant around the neck. The hood was down and Aragami could see a couple of small horns peeking up from the top of their head. He got a slight tinkling at the back of his mind that it was not normal. After all, none of the Raakteigs with Virria had horns. Right?

  A masculine voice rang across the park as the Raakteig spoke, and even though he couldn't really understand it, all the children did. They stopped their game and gathered around the adult, the thin group significantly further away than the other. The Raakteig didn't seem to mind and started talking to the group in a deep, rhythmic voice.

  Aragami tried to pay attention to the lecture in progress, as it appeared quite important, but found himself unable to focus on the finer details. The design on the Raakteigs cloak blurred and his voice turned into incoherent noise.

  He looked around the group for Virria, scared that he might have missed her leaving the group, but he found her just on the edge of the group, looking into the treetops.

  After sighing in relief, Aragami walked over and laid down to have the same view as the child. Immediately, he noticed the weird bird from before. It sat on a thick branch and… danced?

  It moved all around the branch, making complex movements and changing colors. Several times it even stopped mid-motion to make a pose for the small Raakteig.

  After focusing on the bird for an embarrassing amount of time, he sat up and focused on Virria.

  She was humming a quiet song and swinging her fingers to the rhythm, her eyes stuck to the little dancing bird above her.

  Aragami watched on, switching his focus between the bird and Virria, before a realization hit him from nowhere. ‘The bird is dancing to her song!’

  He redoubled his efforts and confirmed his speculation. The bird moved in the same direction Virria’s fingers moved in, and stopped every time Virria stopped. It was far smarter than he gave it credit.

  As soon as he came to understand this, a crack formed in the air beside him and the whole scene was sucked away. He Was once again in the empty space, left to contemplate.

  ‘She made friends with that bird at such a young age. Could it be the same bird I saw when back in the forest?’

  His musing got interrupted, as several scenes materialized around him.

  Scenes of young Virria stashing bread from a large table with plates of food, of Virria secretly feeding the bird with that bread, gathering pieces of cloth and what appeared to be moss for the bird to make a nest for winter, an older Virria studying a book with the bird's picture…

  The visions flew by too fast to see them all before getting sucked into one of them.

  Aragami found himself in a large stone room.

  There were bookshelves along the walls and a podium with a lectern near the wall in front of him. The room was full of various species, all in simple clothing and looking nervous. Virria stood right next to him, looking a bit older and less starved than in the park. She was looking around, taking in the atmosphere.

  Despite so many people around, the only sound he could hear was breathing and shuffling of feet on the hard stone floor.

  Before he could really get his bearings, a door burst open behind him, and a small Ratkin man with a large book entered the room. With the attention of every single person in the room on him, the man walked to the central podium, set the book and started to speak. And surprisingly, Aragami could understand some of the words.

  “Greetings. Today, we @%#&# here in @#￡&# ##& to undergo the ceremony of #￡&(!”

  The weird mix of understandable speech and weird garbage made him tilt his head in confusion. Luckily, Virria next to him appeared to have just as hard a time understanding as he had. The man didn't really care and continued rambling on.

  “You will form a line, and come up to me #￡*#*@. I will Divine your future ￡@* and provide you with what you need.”

  That was easier to understand, at least.

  He watched as all the children got into a single line and stepped up to the podium.

  He also kept a close eye on Virria in case she decided to do something, but she just watched the podium the same way he did.

  They watched as a child Otterkin walked up to the lectern and placed a hand on the large book. A gust of wind passed through the room, bringing in a couple of leaves to land on the youngster’s hand.

  “A Farmer…” The adult said, reaching into a small pouch on his hip. “More specifically %ˇ!§¨, responsible for treating trees.” The Ratkin pulled out a couple of small items. A pouch of some kind, garden shears, and a small ax. Then, at the end, he reached in with both hands and pulled out a long stick with shears attached to the top. There was no way the almost two meter stick could have fit in there. The pouch had to be magical!

  Th Otterkin accepted the tools, bowed and descended the podium, walking to the back of the room for now. Next up was a young Minotaur. He walked up, the stairs creaking under his weight. He was taller than the Ratkin by at least two heads, but the elder didn’t seem to mind or notice.

  “Please, put your hand on the book.” He said, gesturing to the lectern. The Minotaur bowed slightly and pressed his open palm into the book. For a second, nothing happened.

  Then another gust of wind entered the room, but this one significantly stronger. It curled around the youngster for a couple seconds, before condensing and creating a small cut on his forearm before dissipating. A single droplet of blood dripped onto the book.

  The Ratkin shooed the Minotaur to the side and looked over the book, mumbling to himself. Then he reached into the pouch and pulled out a sword and shield before speaking.

  “Warriors aren’t very common around here. Head off to Areelib and ask for Guard Commander Baal. He will be expecting you.”

  The Minotaur bowed respectfully before accepting the equipment and walking off to the back of the room. The ceremony advanced for about half an hour, with most of the group receiving laboring tools, the warrior keeping his prestige as most interesting.

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  Then it came to Virria. She walked up onto the podium and nervously looked at the book. The pages were blank, but when she pressed her hand onto the page, words emerged out of nowhere above her fingers.

  It read: Virria Carne, Kingdom Falmenas. The text was in the Latin Alphabet. The same alphabet used in English. Aragami decided to remember the text in case he’d need it in the future, but now he waited with bated breath for the wind to come. Finally, a gust of wind swept through the room, wreaking havoc on any unsecured pieces of paper lying around. After it calmed down, both Aragami and the Ratkin looked to Virria with expectation.

  She was still standing in front of the lectern, one hand on the book, the other covering her face. Her scales had a mixture of grass and feathers stuffed into every crevice, making her look like a weird mix of a bird and some furred animal. She finally stopped covering her face and looked herself over, before glancing back at the book.

  There was new text, right under her palm. Taming.

  “Well…” The Ratkin broke the silence as he rummaged through his pouch. “That was certainly unexpected, wouldn’t you say?” He pulled out a book and looked it over before tossing it right back. Virria just stared at her arms.

  “I’ve almost given up on ever seeing this.” The Ratkin continued mumbling while pulling several books from the pouch. “Tamers are pretty rare and not a lot is known about the nuances of taming… The best I can do for you is to give you some information about known Beasts.” The Ratkin smiled softly as he offered her a small stack of books. “If you need more books, swing by the local library. I will make sure you will receive access to the Beast section.”

  Virria varily reached for the books before skitting to the back of the room to await the end of the ceremony with the rest of the young adults.

  But Aragami didn’t get to see it through, as the scene around him cracked open and he fell out into the void again.

  As he fell, he saw a couple more pictures, each and every one more recent than the ceremony. Virria making a bow in the woods, her in a black robe with the bow over her shoulder in front of a large desk in a room filled with beings in armor, adventuring the land, and meeting the group he’d found in the weird forest what felt like ages ago.

  As he aimlessly floated in midair, a small black spot appeared directly in front of him, slowly growing like a black hole.

  ‘Oh god. What now?!’ He thought as darkness slowly enveloped him. The first thing he noticed were his legs.

  They hurt. They hurt as if he sat in one position for too long and cut off blood circulation. Then his hearing came back. A conversation took place around him. He could hear Virria and the weird Deer-something that came with the Minotaur.

  The last thing that came to him was his sight. He slowly moved his head up and down to check for any weirdness, but found nothing.

  ‘Hey, You! Finally awake?’ Noir’s voice came through to him.

  ‘Where the fuck did you learn that?’ Aragami groaned, starting his reclamation of his legs by moving his toes.

  ‘Nowhere in particular. Just thought I’d lighten up your damp mood.’

  ‘You really have an answer to everything, don’t you?’

  ‘I like to think so. And if I don’t know, I probably know someone who does.’

  ‘How long was I out for?’ Aragami asked. ‘My legs are burning quite badly.

  ‘Not long. Quarter an hour maybe?’ Noir sounded thoughtful. ‘I’ve talked things out with The Guild. That’s the organization Virria here joined together with her team you know.’

  Aragami mentally nodded, accepting the information at face value.

  ‘They agreed to a couple of things. First off - They will give you an artifact that will help you learn the local language.’

  ‘That’s huge news! What’s the catch?’

  ‘I’m getting there. They also agreed that you and your pets can travel with Virria’s group.’

  ‘The catch is that you will have to join their organization. You’ll be fulfilling quests your group chooses, and in exchange you’ll get paid and provided identification papers to enter cities.’

  ‘That…doesn’t sound bad, actually. Especially if I can travel and stuff.’ Aragami smiled to himself. ‘Who knows what this world has to offer…’

  ‘Yeah yeah. All’s not as rosy as you picture it. But you’ll figure it out on your own, I’m sure. You will probably have to go through some sort of test to assess your skill, and hire some illusionist or someone to disguise your dogs… I don’t have to tell you what effect would two apex predators freely walking through a town center have, do I?’

  ‘About the same as tigers escaping from ZOO?’ Aragami smirked.

  ‘What’s escaping from what?’ Noir asked, thoroughly confused. ‘Lemme check…Oh! Those are some nasty beasties! Yeah, something like that.’

  ‘Did you just…’

  ‘Yes. I looked through your memories. The ones safely with me. Not your own.’ noir assured. ‘Still can’t find what exactly is a ZOO, though.’

  ‘Not surprised.’ Aragami answered. He could feel his legs again, so he started moving his ankles. ‘They are not exactly related to warfare. They are basically big parks with cages where we brought various animals from around the world so people could look at them and learn about them.’

  ‘You…let me get this straight.’ Noir said with barely held laughter. ‘So your kind saw a super dangerous predator and thought: Oh my! I have to show this to so many people!’

  ‘I guess you could say that?’ Aragami thought for a second. ‘Some of us would think they’re cute. We even have a term for cute, yet dangerous animals. Dangerfloof.’

  ‘Of course you do. I’ve seen you ‘play’ with those Hounds… I should’ve known better…’ Noir did a mental equivalent to facepalm to Aragami’s great amusement.

  ‘I’ll go now, before my worldview is shattered even more.’ Noir sounded exhausted. ‘For now: Follow the Guild Master’s commands. She’s the Zhaariin up front, with flowers in the antlers. Call me when they give you the language artifact. I’ll show you how to use it.’

  ‘Sure thing. And thank you for your help Noir.’ Aragami smiled.

  ‘Just don’t do anything crazy while I’m tending to my duties!’ With that, Noir cut off the link and Aragami was alone in the middle of a group he didn’t understand. Again.

  As he thought of what to do now, Virria in front of him made a panicked noise as the Mana of Noir’s spell evaporated from around her. She sat on the ground and slumped her shoulders, prompting him, as well as the rest of the group to spring up to check on her.

  He arrived first, since he was the closest and caught her before she fell over to a side. Her right side felt noticeably colder than her left, so he immediately tried to warm it up with his own body heat.

  In the meantime, the Guildmaster galloped in front of him and bent down to examine the Raakteig. She was effectively terrified when Tesi’s furry body brushed against one of her legs as she checked out the commotion. The rest of the group together with Fido caught up soon after. Only the other Raakteig dared to get near the Hounds to check on Virria. Everyone else just looked to the Guildmaster for instructions.

  —-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  As soon as the mist evaporated off of Virria’s body, Barteool rushed forward. He was sure he was rude to the Guildmaster by not waiting for her instructions, but he didn’t care. His friend could be in danger.

  The Guildmaster brushed past him about a quarter of the way to Virria. Her face showed awe and slight concern. He snickered and redoubled his effort, watching as one of the Hounds stalked in from a side to take a look.

  As he got near he slowed down. Aragami was holding Virria close to him, no doubt warming her up. He gently squeezed past the Hounds and reached out to check on his friend’s condition, just to find her deep asleep with a peaceful look.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Guildmaster who was eagerly awaiting answers.

  “Ma'am. Virria appears to be in a stable condition. Just asleep and a bit cold, but Aragami is taking care of that.”

  “I see.” The Guildmaster nodded and turned to the Dendrae.

  “May we be excused to get back on our way, Guardian?”

  The Dendrae waved them off, not even looking away from its mauled brethren on the ground. “Our conversation has ended. You are free to leave.”

  Guildmaster bowed once again and turned to Barteool. “Get him to pick up his things so we can be on our way. I don’t want to spend any more time than strictly necessary wandering.” With that she turned to the scholars and left.

  “Yes, Guildmaster!” Barteool saluted and turned to Aragami. “Now… How will we do this…” He thought for a moment before waving to get his attention. With a bit of pantomime, he got him to pick Virria up and march over to his bags. The two hounds never left his side for more than a second, and if they did, Aragami was sure to call them back quickly.

  As they closed in to the scholars, they were given a wide margin to walk through. At the backpack, Aragami set Virria down for a moment to rummage through his things before pulling out a big warm-looking blanket and carefully wrapping Virria like an egg.

  He then threw the backpack onto his back, the shovel and ax on one side rattling against each other, and carefully picked up Virria, holding her to his chest.

  Barteool nodded at him and gestured to follow. Then he marched to Zaanta in the distance.

  “Ah! Barteool!” The Guildmaster yelled as soon as she saw him. “Are we ready to go?” She asked as she eyed Aragami.

  “Yes ma'am.” He affirmed. “Virria is safe and getting all the warmth she needs.”

  “Good, good. Since he’s holding her, I take it he doesn’t plan on repeating his stunt earlier?” She asked, a hint of amusement slipping through her voice.

  “I hope not.” Barteool chuckled. “If he does, I’ll give him an earful as soon as I’m sure he can understand me.”

  “Reassuring” The Barrier Mage giggled from behind Guildmaster.

  “Barteool.” Zaanta said in a serious tone. “I have sent out a messenger to bring illusionists to the edge of the forest.”

  “Yes?” Barteool asked, unsure as to what to do with the information.

  “So you are to explain to Aragami that we have to disguise his… pets. If we left them like that all the way to the Guildbase, it would cause a mass panic.”

  Barteool understood. “I will do my best to make him understand. But I might need a demonstration when we get there.”

  “Understood.” Guildmaster nodded. “Do you have anything else to say?”

  “Nothing that comes to mind.” Brteool shook his head.

  “In that case…” The Guildmaster gestured to Ghanna.

  Ghanna took a deep breath and yelled out to the entire procession. “DEPARTING!”

  With that, everyone started to move toward the city once again.