It happened quickly enough, once he made the call. An hour later, he met Abby at the airport and she went all ceremonial on the spot.
"Colin Rivers… you've been recommended both by Satrox and Katrin to join the Justice Knights." Abby began. With long brown hair and eyes under a white cowboy hat, she looked a bit odd in heavy silver-and-blue armor from neck to toe, formal-looking with gold scrollwork all over.
Colin nodded, a bit nervous. There were a few people watching them, none of whom Colin recognized. {They're probably just passing by and got curious about this older girl in armor standing over me with banner and sword in hand.}
"You're a Green Badge Traveler with eight Comrades…" Abby observed. "Katrin says the first time you met her, the pair of you were White Badge newbies who assisted Farmer Edward in rescuing a wounded Abandoned Comrade."
"We had to fight off a lot of Megants while using Ed's rope to pull the tree off her." Colin remembered.
"As a White Badge, you won the Riverside Treasure Hunt, but gave the prize away in apology to Rita…" Abby went on. "Katrin says it's proof that you're not greedy."
Colin winced.
"You met Satrox at the Flooding of Hot Sands Village, and almost drowned. He says you were the one who spotted the creeper that destroyed the dam and warned everyone in time to save many people." Abby went on. "You were Yellow Badge by then. I also remember that you helped him attempt to rescue May from the Lady Scarlet… even though it turned out that she hadn't actually been kidnapped."
"You helped us too." Colin pointed out.
Abby winked. "This is an official ceremony, Colin. Let's keep it formal."
"Uh… sure." Nobody said anything about an official ceremony. It was just 'Come meet me', 'Hello', and 'Now, stand still and answer my questions…'
Abby straightened her hat. "In the process of hunting Lady Scarlet, you entered the Yellow Badge Duos Tournament in Sunshine Town and won first prize. That was just before you achieved Green Badge ranking."
"Actually, I entered the Tournament to look for Scarlet." Colin admitted. Abby fought back a laugh.
"As a Green Badge, you helped Katrin on her mission to stop a Frenzied Wild, only to find that the Wild in question was not a Frenzied, but a victim of Dreamer abuse. The pair of you were killed rescuing the squirrels, and Katrin bonded the whole squad." Abby continued. "You died for it, but you did manage to save them all."
"I don't like dying." Colin grimaced.
"Nobody does." Abby agreed. "So, all in, you've been here five nights, gone from White to Yellow to Green in that time, and the things you've been doing are exactly what a Justice Knight would have done. The Order of Justice of Nakama World has given you approval to join our ranks. There's just a few questions I'd like to ask."
"Um… okay…"
"First of all, Colin, {why} do you want to join us? You've been doing fine on your own so far."
Colin thought about that. "Well, to be honest, the real reason is because I was asked to join. Satrox and Katrin both said I should."
Abby finally let out a laugh. "And what, exactly, do you plan to do from now on?"
Colin paused a bit longer this time. "First, I want to get to Blue Badge ranking and gather enough power to find Michi's Legacy."
"Michi?!" Abby jumped. "Are you talking about those three earlier experiments of hers that were Abandoned?"
"The same ones Katrin, Edward and I helped out against the Megants." Colin nodded. "Professor Jijin says I have a good chance to Tame and Bond them because my First Comrade is Michi's Fifth Experiment, and a Command-type."
"Well… if Professor Jijin says so…" Abby trailed off. "Colin, from what I heard, those three are…"
"Very powerful." Colin nodded. "I might need an army."
"Is that why you're joining us?" Abby asked directly.
Colin shook his head. "I don't need to join to ask for your help on that. Jijin said if we leave those three Abandoned too long, they become Frenzied, and then there'll be trouble. I could just ask Satrox, and he'll ask for the whole army."
"True." Abby conceded. "Colin, do you have any enemies?"
"Enemies…?" Colin scratched his head. "Well, I've got three friends who bully me sometimes. Jonah, Alicia and Larry. But I can't really call them enemies. Unless…
"Unless what?" Abby prodded.
"Maybe I do have enemies." Colin said, slowly. "They're on your Kill-On-Sight list. You know them as the Green Men."
Abby nodded slowly. "They're enemies of all of us. Kidnappers like them should never be allowed on this Dreamworld. One last question, Colin."
"Yes?"
"Is there any reason you can think of why we might not accept you as one of us?"
Colin thought about it for a whole minute. "Well, maybe there's one thing."
"And that is?" Abby pressed.
"I'm a Traveler, Abby." Colin said again. "I want to complete the Journey. I've been put here to experience this Dreamworld, and I'm going to go on exploring and learning. I'm going to keep Traveling. I can't just stick around one place solving everyone's problems all the time."
Abby nodded. "That's the work of a Resident Knight. But there are other kinds. You could be a Hunter or a Explorer, or an Escort type. Don't worry about it. Some Knights go all over the world. You can be one of those."
With that, she tapped his shoulders with the blunt side of the sword, once on each and said, "Welcome to the Justice Knights, Colin."
***
"You look good in armor." Farmer Edward whistled when Colin got back to Edward's Farm an hour after that. After Knighting Colin in that out-of-the-blue Ceremony, Abby had all but scrambled off to catch her next flight out. J-Knight Coordinators, it seemed, were very busy people.
"Uh… I guess." Colin scratched his head. He looked down at himself, seeing the new armor Abby had left him and said to put on. Steel-gray and blue did look kinda cool. He glanced at Katrin. "How come you don't wear armor?"
Katrin was usually steady, with cheer in her eyes, and a smile on her face, but now, she seemed… weird. Her face seemed to get redder and redder the longer he looked at her, and she seemed unusually quiet.
"Katrin? Are you all right?" Colin asked for the tenth time that night.
"I'm… fine…" Katrin said, in that halting way that said she was edgy or uncertain. "It… looks nice. Really."
"Why don't you have armor?" Colin asked again.
"I do. I keep it in my room." Katrin said, flaring up a little.
Colin blinked. Why was she angry…?
"Sorry." Katrin subsided. "I just… um… I don't like wearing it. It's bulky. Sorry."
"Uh…" Colin blinked at her, wondering the matter was. She had been acting weird ever since he told her he'd join the Justice Knights, just as she asked. "I bet you'd look good in armor too…"
For some reason, her face got even redder, very quickly.
"Ho, ho, ho!" Farmer Edward chuckled.
"What?" Colin blinked. "What's wrong? Does she have a fever?"
"I DO NOT have a fever!" Katrin half jumped at him.
"Then?" Colin scratched his head.
"YOU…!!" Katrin began, then cut herself off, slumping down and staring at her feet. From jumpy-angry, she went to troubled and quiet in a moment. "Never mind."
"What's wrong?" Colin asked, worriedly. "I did what you wanted, didn't I?"
Katrin's face was so red, she could have been mistaken for a tomato.
"I joined the Justice Knights, just like you wanted. Shouldn't you be happy?" Colin asked.
"Yeah. You did good. It's good." Katrin mumbled.
"Kat… did I do something wrong?" Colin asked, now very, very worried. He'd never seen Katrin like that before.
"No… you did good." Katrin said, sounding like a short audio clip on playback.
"Please tell me what's wrong… I'll help you fix it." Colin offered. "What do you want me to do?"
At that, Katrin really jumped. "Sorry! Just… leave me alone a while… sorry!"
Before Colin could do more than blink again, she ran off.
***
"What happened to {her…}?" Colin asked Edward.
Edward was still chuckling. "Just give her some time, Colin. I think I know what the matter is. It's something you did."
"Something {I} did?" Colin stared.
"Yeah. You should think back and try to remember. But I don't think she's angry. Just… give her some time to calm down. She'll be okay."
{Angry…? What did I do to get her angry with me…? Oh wait… Ed said she wasn't angry… but she could have been…? Huh?! What did I DO?!}
"I don't get it." Colin said, scratching his head for the tenth or twentieth time since coming back from his Knighting at the Sunshine Town Comrade Home where he'd met Abby. "I don't get it at all."
"Try to remember." Edward repeated with a laugh, and wouldn't give him any further hints.
Colin growled to himself as he marched back to his room. He turned to Shiro, as always, walking by his side. "Edward seems to be enjoying this."
"Yip!" Even Shiro seemed to be laughing.The white wolfcat cub that was Colin's first Comrade seemed to find Colin's confusion incredibly funny.
"You're a bully, you know that?" Colin accused him. "Just ask Sonia!"
"Yip!" Shiro, if anything, seemed to laugh even harder.
Sonia, hearing her name, greeted Colin and Shiro at the top of the stairs. "Auu?"
"Hi, Sonia." Colin petted the green Sonic Wolf cub on the head. "I'm back."
"Auu!" She wagged her tail at him in welcome, then followed him to their room.
Shiro gave Sonia a disapproving look. "Yip."
"Auu!" Sonia protested.
"Yip." Shiro said again, insistently.
"Yirf…" Sonia struggled to imitate Shiro's bark.
"Yip."
"Yirpf."
"Yip."
"AUUU!" Sonia complained.
Colin stopped. "Give her a break, Shiro. This is what I meant by you being a bully. She doesn't need to bark the way you do. She sounds fine the way she is. Let her be."
Shiro sighed.
Hearing his and Shiro's voices on the way had alerted practically all of Colin's Comrades that he was back. The door opened for him even before he touched the knob, and Colin found himself face-to-face with Rall. Well, not face-to-face exactly. Rall standing on its hind legs only came up to Colin's shoulder.
"Hi, Rall." Colin greeted him. That Honey Bear made it his personal duty to guard the room that was their Home Base. Colin glanced around the room, summing up his Comrades lounging around within. Stormcat kitten Raiki, and the Red Panther Fireheart were together at the corner. The cats seemed content enough. Meek too. The pregnant Lynxmouse had settled cozily in her hay-ball of a nest.
But then there was Kirin. The Storm Swan hatchling was only hours old, yet she was already big enough to look out the window at the pond rather wistfully. Lastly, there was Bubba, who hadn't yet recovered from being given to Colin. He still seemed rather down. Colin hoped he liked the branches that decorated their room as a sort of habitat, but the Bubblesaur was looking at the wall.
Well, it made sense, sort of. Colin glanced at the wall. They had all put their marks on it earlier tonight. Eight paw prints, with the outline of Colin's hand above them all… Wait. Eight?
There was one missing. "Warc…" Colin trailed off. He planned to give her away.
Shiro whined, biting Colin's trousers and pulling at it. Colin glanced at him, and Shiro shook his head.
"But she's a {duck}. She should be helping Ed on the farm. We Travel to dangerous places all the time." Colin said.
Shiro whined again.
"She's safer here, with Edward." Colin told him. "I should transfer her to him, and then she can fly with her mate all day. She's going to lay eggs and hatch more ducklings and…"
Shiro's ears drooped. His tail hung down. His head tilted to the floor. He let out another soft, sad whine.
"Don't do that to me…" Colin protested. "It's for her own good… and…"
He trailed off. Sonia, sitting beside them, was scratching her head. Colin glanced at her, then to Shiro and back. Sonia shrugged, shaking her head helplessly. She hadn't a clue what was up.
Shiro just stood there, looking unbearably sad. Seeing Shiro like that…
"All right." Colin sighed. "We'll keep Warc."
"Yip!" Shiro jumped up happily, licking Colin in the face before he could stop him. "Yip, yip!"
"Anything else you want to take over handling?" Colin asked, wearily. "Like Squad formations and everything?"
Shiro thought about then. "Yip."
Colin blinked. "Really?"
Shiro nodded, then went over to the rest. "Yip, yip!"
They gathered. {How does he DO that?!} Colin scratched his head.
Shiro went over to the window. "YIP!!"
"Wuark!" Warc dashed in through the window. "Wark?"
"Yip." Shiro nodded to the others and Warc joined the group without another squawk. {Mercy, he's a better leader than I am…}
But Michi said as much when she gave Shiro to Colin as his First Comrade. {To the Kat, I gave a Cat. To the lost, I gave one to help him find his way.}
Shiro, Colin figured, was supposed to show Colin how to get things done here in Nakama World. He was doing a remarkable job, Colin thought.
At least, he did until now.
Colin's plan for squad formations had been simple; put the cats and wolfcat together, and the bear and the sonic wolf in another squad. That way, the cats and the wolf won't keep quarrelling. Everyone would get along. The Bubblesaur could stay with the bear and the wolf, just to balance the numbers. The baby swan and the pregnant mouse could stay home.
Shiro had different ideas.
"{Four} squads?!" Colin stared.
{What the…? He's put Fireheart with Sonia… what's he THINKING?! He put the cat with the dog! Fireheart's one of those who didn't want that Sonic Wolf cub to join us! Worse, Sonia's a command-type… that means the Red Panther is supposed to take ORDERS from that little wolf cub?! She's ten times bigger than Sonia!}
That was just the beginning. Colin hadn't even counted Warc in his squad organization, but Shiro put Warc with Raiki.
{What's the whole point of that?! Raiki's a cat, and Warc's a duck… Raiki's the best long-range fire support member we have! Warc's not particularly good at anything…}
Even more bizzare, he put Kirin with Raiki and Warc. {Kirin barely hatched tonight! She was little more than a waddling baby bird!}
Colin put a hand to his head. "I don't get it at all."
For the third squad, he paired Rall and Bubba. A honey bear and a bubblesaur. Well, they both had good defense. How that was supposed to work, Colin didn't really know, but at least he could see a reasonable pattern.
And for the fourth, Shiro stood alone.
"I guess that makes the most sense of all." Colin had to admit. "None of the others can match your speed… yet."
Sonia or Kirin might be able to, one day. But for now, Shiro remained the fastest Comrade of his growth stage that Colin had ever seen.
In fact, Colin realized, speed might be the common factor in all Shiro's squads. Rall and Bubba were the slowest of the lot, so they went together. Raiki, Warc and Kirin were pretty fast on their own…
"Wait a minute. That can't be right. Sonia's faster than Fireheart." Colin shook his head. Speed wasn't the issue. {I should scan them all to see what I'm missing…}
But someone called him before he could do that. It was Edward.
"Hey, Colin! You coming for Farm Wars?"