Katrin's face was a little bit pale.
"Are you all right?" Colin asked her.
"I'm… not ready?" Katrin said, softly.
"Kat, I'm sure he didn't mean any offense…"
"I know." Katrin shook her head. "But he's right, Colin."
"Huh?" Colin blinked. "What are you talking about? He doesn't even know you."
"He knows I stay on this farm while you Travel around trying to do what's right." Katrin said. "I'm not ready to do the kind of things he's doing."
"What kind of things are you talking about?" Colin asked.
"Fighting people like Scarlet?" Katrin shivered. "I don't think I can do that, Colin. I can raise Comrades and take care of crops, and I'm happy just making this farm bigger, but I can't battle someone who destroys whole villages."
"I can't either." Colin said. "If she really attacks me, I'd be dead in a minute. But if Larissa's around, I don't think she'd bother with me. That would give me time to sneak past her and get May to safety."
Katrin laughed softly. "I'm half jealous."
"What?" Colin asked, blinking.
"Nothing." Katrin said, smiling to herself.
"What is it?" Colin pressed.
"I'm not telling you." Katrin stuck out her tongue.
"Aww." Colin kicked the grass.
Katrin laughed again. Then, she paused. "Hey, Colin? What did Satrox tell you on the way here? The things he asked you to remember?"
Colin turned away and stuck up his nose. "I'm not telling."
Katrin punched him for it. "Come on!"
"No fair!" Colin said.
She tickled him until at last he said, "Okay, okay! It's about techniques!"
"What?" she blinked.
"Satrox told me about techniques. And battle commands." Colin said. "You know how Shiro's able to tell other Comrades what to do?"
"Yes. He's brilliant." Katrin said.
"Well, he's smart, but he needs to learn how to command, and Satrox says he learns it best from me. That means, I should learn to command my own Comrades in battle first, and Shiro will learn how I do it."
"Really?" Katrin blinked. "But he seemed to be doing so well on his own."
"So far." Colin agreed. "But on the way here, when we were fighting Wilds in the desert… Kat, I didn't even know Rall had techniques like Provoke and Earth Barrier until Satrox suggested I order him to use them."
Katrin didn't say anything, letting him speak.
Colin continued. "Shiro never knew about those either. Warc was using Bubble Stream to attack a Cactopus until Satrox said to use Wing Gust. I didn't even think about what kind of technique would work better on different types of Wilds until then. Shiro obviously didn't either."
Katrin shook her head. "But he and Raiki…"
"Grew up together in Michi's lab. He knew Raiki for a long time." Colin explained. "Until I showed him what Rall and Warc could do, Shiro didn't know about those techniques. After I showed him, he got them to use those all the time."
"He learns fast." Katrin said. "So what did Satrox want you to do?"
Colin paused. "I need to study my Comrades and find out what techniques they can or can't do."
Katrin nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. It was one of the first things Farmer Edward told me to do."
"Really?" Colin stared. "Then maybe you could help me."
"Sure." Katrin said. "Let's take a look at your Comrades."
Colin started with Shiro. He scanned Shiro and that holographic picture of Shiro appeared above the watch. Below it was a tag saying, 'Shiro, M-5 Experimental Wolfcat Cub (2nd Stage)'.
"He's reached second stage." Colin's eyes widened.
Above the picture were five tags: Image, Abilities, Techniques, Skills, Records. It was currently open to 'Image'.
Colin hit the second tab, 'Abilities'.
Shiro
Abilities:
HP: 51/51
MP: 96/96
Str: 17
Sta: 17
Spd: 62
Int: 54
Wis: 21
Wit: 37
Total: 208
Traits:
Feline Finesse
Canine Loyalty
Independent
Analysis
Empath
"Five traits?" Colin stared.
"My Beaver got a new trait when he reached 2nd Stage too." Katrin said. "Wonder what 'Empath' means? Anyway, let's check Shiro's Techniques."
Colin hesitated.
"Go on." Katrin urged.
Colin pressed it.
***
(Author's note: This part got too technical, and has been moved to Glossary 1: The Third Tab as a separate, unimportant, uncounted 'chapter'.)
***
The rest of the night went the same way.
Colin studied his Comrades with Katrin's help.
"So basically, Shiro is a sonic/physical attacker." Colin said, sitting against a haystack in the barn next to Katrin. "Except that he's got low stamina."
"Yep." Katrin nodded.
"Raiki is strongest as a sonic/electric long-range attacker, except that she's not yet recovered. Rall is an earth/physical attacker, but he's really better at defense." Colin went on.
"Exactly." Katrin agreed.
"Warc is a water/wind attacker, but she's a Rainduck. That means she's better at laying eggs and watering plants. Meek is a grass/physical attacker, but she's actually a scavenger, so her real skills involve looting, not fighting." Colin ended.
And then, he and Katrin exchanged glances and sighed at the same time.
"Colin..." Katrin said. "If you're going into serious combat, Shiro and Rall are the only ones you can count on."
Colin stared at the ground.
Katrin went on. "I hate to say this, but you're in bad shape for combat. Exploring, sure – Warc and Meek would be useful – but going up against Scarlet sounds crazy. Rall and Shiro just aren't ready. Even their techniques are far from mastered."
"Maybe." Colin got up. "But there's still time to train them. What time is it?"
Katrin sighed. "It's almost seven. Time to wake up."
"Scrap." Colin shook his head. "I don't even have time to train them."
Katrin looked down at Colin's hands, where Raiki was sitting, very quiet and very still, as she always was.
"How is she?" Katrin asked, softly.
Colin put out his hands and pushed Raiki in front of Katrin's face.
Raiki still didn't move.
"Raiki?" Katrin whispered. "Are you all right?"
Raiki's tail twitched.
Katrin leaned her face on Raiki's back for a moment, then stroked the blue kitten. "Please try to understand." She told the kitten. "I did it for both your sakes, not just Colin's."
Raiki shifted her paws. But she neither looked at Katrin nor made any sound.
Katrin sighed. "Take care, Raiki. You, too, Colin. Good morning."
"Good morning." Colin said, and Woke Up.
***
Colin kept his eyes closed for a moment after waking up, feeling the weight of the headband on his forehead. He took it off, and got up to get ready for school.
Colin shut his eyes for a brief minute while he was in class, feeling the coolness of the air-cond on his face and the smooth surface of his desktop under his arms. The teacher asked if he was awake, and Colin snapped his eyes open at once.
Colin squeezed his eyes shut tight against the light of the mall when Mom brought him and Gracie out shopping. He pushed the 'cart carrying their groceries behind them and wondered how long they would spend there.
And at last, when night fell and the time came for him to sleep, Colin slowly closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the Dreamworlds Headband on his forehead once more and smiled as he slept and returned to Dreamworlds.