Colin's seventh night in Nakama World found everyone in uproar.
By theory, the battles last night ended in a victory, as they had successfully driven off the Green Men from their towns. Tonight, those cultists were nowhere to be seen.
But in practice, three of the towns they had 'freed' were terribly wrecked, Sunshine Town was reduced to ashes, and all six were filled with Frenzied Comrades. Granath Town was the only Town still capable of operating. A good number of people were leaving Nakama World entirely.
The first thing Colin did was call Katrin.
"Kat! Are you all right?"
"Colin…" Katrin sounded like she'd been crying. There were sounds of battle going on behind her. "I… I'll call you back…"
He called Edward. "Ed! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Colin. I got away before the town came under siege." He laughed shakily. "I'm at Hot Springs Village."
"Hot Springs…?" Colin blinked. "You mean Hot Sands?"
"The hot sands got flooded, remember? It's Hot Springs now, and the water's great."
Next, Colin called Satrox.
Satrox sounded extremely busy. There were sounds of a fight going on behind him too. Colin wondered if he was near Katrin. "Colin! Just stay put!"
Colin sat down looking at the stage in the middle of the event square on Crabby Island and sighed. "Guess there's nothing I can do."
{Katrin sounded like she was crying… }
Colin twitched. {Where is she? What happened to her? Why is she crying?}
His hand hovered over his watch. He itched to call her again. {But she said she'll call me back… I should wait…}
Instead, he called Rita.
"Colin!" Rita's background also had the sounds of battle. "I'm busy! I'll call you back later!"
{Is EVERYBODY in the middle of an important fight somewhere?}
He tried Michi, Larissa, Aoi, even Henry. All of them sounded like they were caught up in the same conflict. All of them said they'd call back… after it was over.
It was May, at last, who explained to him what was really going on. "The Green Men have left, Colin, but a lot of Comrades had been killed so many times that they turned Frenzied and Abandoned their Dreamers. If we don't stop them now, they'll only get stronger and stronger until they wipe out the farms, towns and villages altogether. That's what happened to the Uber Marshes."
"What do you mean?" Colin asked, relieved to find music in the background instead of explosions.
"The Frenzieds took over the whole island. They wiped out the towns and villages there, destroyed the farmlands and roads, made such a mess that eventually everything went wild. Between one thing and the next, the whole place turned into the biggest marsh on Nakama World, an island controlled by Frenzieds."
"The whole island?" Colin stared.
"Yep. It's got some unique properties, and many of the rarest stuff anyone could ask for, and a lot of us think it's because of one or the other of those Frenzied Wilds, so it's left as a high-level dungeon for the strongest Dreamers. Besides, we couldn't clear the place out if we tried. Some of the Frenzieds there have grown much too strong."
"Yikes."
"We don't want that to happen here, though. Too much of our food supply comes from here. We can't afford to let this region turn into another Uber Marsh. That's why everyone's fighting to cleanse that area of Frenzieds… even if they have to fight their Former Comrades for it. Mom's thinking of going back there to help, but it seems the Seven Champions have it under control."
"Who?"
"The Seven Champions. Justice Knights, basically, who are strong enough to claim such a title for themselves." May mentioned. "But I heard that the Sage of the Ancient Ways has disappeared and his student's taken his place. The Younger Sage doesn't seem as strong as the Elder Sage."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, he actually {died} during the battle for Granath."
"Lots of people die. That's what a battle is."
"True. Even Lord Geoffrey died during that fight. I heard he made himself a decoy or something." May said. "Oops! Mom's calling. I gotta go. Take care, Colin! Fight me sometime!"
"Bye." Colin said, wincing. May hadn't forgotten their agreement.
{Why…?} Colin had to ask himself. {Why should I stay put when everyone else is fighting to cleanse the towns?}
{Aren't the Green Men gone? }
The moment he thought it, he knew it was wrong.
{There's no way they'd give up that easily. They're definitely still looking for us. They probably took off their armor and hung around looking like anyone else. If I go join the fight, they'd find me at once.}
{But just now… }
{It sounded like Katrin was already involved…}
***
Katrin, it should be noted, was involved up to her neck. Once more, she tried to get out of it.
"I said, stay PUT!" Satrox barked for the third time since they'd met.
She didn't answer. She just hunched over her two remaining Comrades and watched the battle continue.
She wasn't fighting, really. She was just… well…
Stuck. Trapped in half a building with the roof torn off, surrounded by Frenzieds who had been her Comrades just last night, watching Satrox and Larissa and all those others fight to rescue her from the mess she'd gotten herself into.
{Again. They're all fighting and struggling because of MY idiocy. It's all my fault, and they're fighting for me again!}
{Why am I such an utter, total IDIOT?!}
Lurking right next to that building, a ten foot tall Velvet breathed fire from her mouth, shot lasers from her eyes and whapped a cargo crate thirty feet through the air with her tail, all simultaneously. {Even Velvet went Frenzied!}
Katrin was left with Sunset and Nutcracker. Maybe it was because they were grateful to her that they stayed when all the others, even Velvet and Streak, had turned Frenzied.
{And once Frenzied, they will not return to me. }
With just two squirrels for Comrades, Katrin was, unbelievably, reduced back to a White Badge.
{I've lost… everything…}
The Farm and all that she'd invested in it was gone. Her Comrades had almost all Abandoned her. Her ranking had dropped to newbie status. Her money, what little she had left, had been stolen by pirates, and the rest of her items had vanished when she got back here tonight.
{Maybe I should just have let those Green Men catch me! Even Rita was better off after they let her go! But I… I tried so hard to get away… and now…}
Katrin froze, eyes wide.
{Never. I will NEVER regret getting away from them. No matter who they really want, no matter what happened to me, or what I lost, I won't ever regret escaping from them!}
She looked at Sunset and Nutcracker, her two remaining Comrades. They looked afraid. Very afraid.
Katrin thought back over all they'd been through last night. How had they spent the day, huddled here in this battered ruin waiting for her to come back at night?
"I'm sorry." Katrin told them both.
They didn't reply, just watching her with frightened eyes as Satrox and the rest fought for the ruins of the town that her deserted Comrades had been wrecking.
{Except for that incredibly loud monster I didn't even see. What WAS that? I don't know and I don't want to find out.}
{The only thing I regret not finding out was the name of that guy who helped me. I wish I could have seen more than just his outline to give me a clue as to who he was.}
But he was gone now, and was likely far away from here. Katrin looked over the Dreamers battling her Frenzieds around here and couldn't find anyone present who would match his size and build.
{He was about Colin's size, but a bit taller. Probably a bit thinner, because if he was wearing gloves, he was most likely wearing thick clothes.}
Colin… thinking about {him} took Katrin through another wild loop of thought.
Sunset leapt out of her arms suddenly, Nutcracker right beside her. The pair of them stood in front of her defensively.
Katrin looked up and saw what threatened her.
"Cacto…" she recognized the cactopus that Colin had brought back from the Hot Sands Desert for her.
But this Cacto was ten times bigger and much more deadly. The needles were already flying before Satrox noticed and turned Wraith on it.
Sunset and Nutcracker fought back, but they didn't try to evade, blocking Cacto's attacks from Katrin with their own bodies. The needles that pinned them were many, and large.
Both of them vanished at the same time.
{They died… to protect me…}
A loud explosion erupted right around the place where Katrin and her Comrades respawned if they died.
{Oh no… not again! Not so soon after dying!}
"I think you're right…" Satrox said grimly, dodging a storm of needles as Wraith and his birds scattered. "Maybe you should run for it. At this rate, you're making things worse."
"What?" Katrin's voice hardly managed to come out.
"That pink squirrel of yours… well…" Satrox grimaced.
Katrin saw Sunset leap onto the mast of a ship that crashed into the port itself. Even as she watched, the pink squirrel bloated up in size, and her fur turned to spikes.
One more Comrade turned Frenzied for dying too often.
Then a brown shape scurried up and started fighting Sunset. A brown shape almost as large as Sunset was now, a shape that seemed to trail dead leaves.
It roared with a screeching, metallic sound.
{That… that was Nutcracker… he's gone Frenzied too…}
{It's official. I've lost all my Comrades.}
{All.}
"Get a grip!" Satrox said, grabbing her. "Move!"
"I… I…"
"GO!" Satrox threw her onto his flying horse, the one he called Noble. "Noble! Bring her to Crabby Island!"
{...Where? Is that some sort of prison for idiots like me…?}
It didn't matter. Noble was twenty feet in the air before she could protest. There was nothing she could do but cling on and wonder what Crabby Island was like.
{I've lost everything. All my Comrades. All my investments. Once they find out whose fault it was, most likely all my friends too.}
She hung there, feeling numb and empty as the Pegasus brought her south. Still, a stray thought made her twitch.
{I wonder where Colin is right now.}
***
"Crabby Island is the most boring place on Nakama World." Colin concluded to his Comrades. "There's nothing to do here but take simple missions from the Comrade Home and train on Wild Crabs."
Well, even that had its good points, he guessed. Another couple of missions and he would reach thirty missions completed, and advance to Blue Badge. There was no point climbing ranks to avoid the Green Men any more, since they knew his name, but at least it was a goal, something to do while waiting for everyone to finish saving the world without him.
He was taking a break at the square, considering missions options when a familiar figure came swooping down.
"Satrox…" Colin began, as Noble landed, then stared when he saw who it was who got down from the Pegasus.
***
{Colin?!}
{It's him! He's here. Colin's right here.}
Katrin stared at him, feeling completely numb. She saw him with his Comrades, still a Green Badge. She saw Shiro's eyes widen, saw Raiki raise her head at the sight of her.
{All of them… he still has… all of…}
Katrin turned and ran.
***
"What the…?" Colin blinked.
"YIP!" Shiro barked at him urgently, tugging his trousers.
Colin needed no further urging. He ran after her.
It took five steps for him to realize that except for Shiro and Raiki, none of his other Comrades were running with him. It took his six steps to realize he didn't care.
{Katrin… she looked… }
Colin shivered inside, even as he doubled his speed. Something was wrong. Katrin looked like a ghost, expressionless, voiceless, but something told him that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
"Kat…" he called.
She only ran away faster. No good. I shouldn't call out.
Katrin ran and Colin ran after her, saying nothing.
Shiro did not bark. Raiki did not mew. They just ran with him, in silence, their eyes serious and focused.
Katrin fell. Simply tripped over something and stumbled, then dropped to the ground.
He grabbed her, both arms around the shoulders and held on before she could run off again. Shiro and Raiki jumped on her lap from both sides, weighing her down further.
But she wasn't running any more. Warily, thinking she might just waiting for a chance, Colin held on.
The badge on her chest caught his eye.
{WHITE?! How is that…}
He remembered. Satrox had dropped back to yellow for giving away all his Comrades but one.
White meant…
Colin glanced around, thinking back.
Other than Pegasus, who had flown back to Satrox, Katrin hadn't brought any Comrades with her.
{ALL of them?!} Colin stared.
Katrin stared at the ground and said nothing, did nothing.
{She was lively when she gave me Raiki. Whatever happened to her Comrades, she hadn't given them away.}
{She… lost them. Somehow.}
Shiro whined at Katrin, looking at her with wide eyes.
Raiki mewed softly.
Katrin did not move. Did not speak.
"I won't accept this." Colin found himself saying, not sure what he said or where the words came from. "I won't let this happen to you!"
Katrin turned then, looking at him with lifeless eyes.
{She saved me from the Green Men by giving me Raiki. If not for her, I…}
"Come on!" Colin pulled her by the hand, getting up.
She walked slowly behind him, not pulling away, but moving as though she could shatter at any moment. He had to wait for her, despite feeling like he was burning inside, and brought her to the Comrade Home.
"Shiro, get everyone here. Now." Colin said.
Shiro nodded and dashed out so fast, he looked like a blur of white.
"Hello, Colin!" the local Breeder (and there was only one here) greeted him. "More work?"
"Comrade Transfer." Colin said, feeling his insides tighten like ropes.
"Just one?" the breeder asked.
Colin took a bare moment to count. "Six."
{Katrin won't accept Shiro, and Michi would kill me if I gave Shiro away, especially since I can't give Raiki back to Katrin. I need both Shiro and Raiki to gather Michi's lost breedings.}
{Kirin's mother, Rain, wouldn't forgive me if I gave Kirin away either. Jijin would yell if I tried to give Sonia away.}
{But… }
Shiro looked fierce when he came in. He looked at Katrin, looked at Colin, and looked incredibly torn.
"I will never give you or Raiki away." Colin told Shiro softly. "But Katrin…"
Shiro whined, a long, droopy-tailed, droopy-eared whine.
"I'm sorry, Shiro." Colin said. "But I know you understand. We'll keep Kirin and Sonia, because they were given to us, and I'll never give Raiki away, but that's all."
Shiro settled back, looking unhappy, but not protesting.
The Breeder looked hesitant when Colin stepped on the Transfer plate, but she glanced at Katrin and gulped. She said nothing as Colin called his Comrades forward. "Gera."
The newest of Colin's Comrades stepped forward.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to Travel with you… but Katrin needs you more." Colin said.
Gera said nothing as Colin registered her as the first transfer.
"Bubba."
The bubblesaur looked up at Colin with wide eyes. He glanced from Colin to Katrin.
"You simply wanted to Travel, didn't you? It doesn't have to be me you Travel with. You were meant to sneeze on Katrin, originally. I just got in the way. Now, I'm letting you go with her."
"Bubb." Bubba said as Colin registered him as the second Transfer.
"Fireheart." Colin called.
The Red Panther stepped out, looking grave.
Colin addressed her slowly. "Katrin needs you now. Protect her with that fiery spirit."
"Riao." She was registered as the third transfer.
"Rall." Colin called the Honey Bear. "I bonded you to rescue you from Rita's wrath. Now I'm sending you to rescue Katrin."
"Rawl." Rall replied, as he was registered as the fourth.
"Warc." Colin said, to one of his first three Comrades. "You're the toughest duck I've ever met. You've stuck with us through thick and thin. Shiro wouldn't let you go earlier, but now there's a serious need. I'm counting on your toughness to see this through."
"Waark." Warc shook her head as she was registered as the fifth transfer.
"Meek." Colin called softly, pulling her out of the backpack. "I'm sorry to do this just as you were about to give birth, but…"
"Mik." Meek replied. "Mikik."
"Pregnant?!" the breeder jumped. "Are you CRAZY?! Don't Transfer her! Not now!"
"But…" Colin began.
"It's illegal!" the breeder said flatly. "You're keeping that one! I absolutely REFUSE to let you transfer a pregnant Comrade!"
"Fine. Meek, you're with us." Colin said, then frowned. He studied Sonia and Kirin.
"YIP!" Shiro barked at him, shaking his head furiously, sounding agonized. "YIP!!!"
"Guess not." Colin concluded. Shiro was at his limits. Shiro, Raiki, Kirin and Sonia had been given to him. Giving any of those away felt wrong. "Five, then. Kat, we need your footprint."
Katrin didn't move. Colin took up her side of the transfer plates, and put them in front of her right foot.
"Goodbye, Gera." He said, taking up Katrin's foot and putting it down on the plates, one after another. "Goodbye, Bubba. Goodbye, Fireheart. Goodbye, Rall. Goodbye, Warc."
He saw them change. Saw the shock begin to settle in as their bonds were transferred from him to Katrin. Saw Katrin's badge turn yellow on the spot.
{She did the same for me. She gave me her dearest and strongest Comrade, so that my badge turned yellow, and the Green Men passed me by.}
{This is the least I can do in return.}
Shiro howled, a sound of loss that Colin shared, though he said nothing for a long, long moment. Sonia whined. Raiki mewed.
Kirin watched them all with serious eyes and said nothing.
Colin saw the color of his own badge fade from Green to Yellow, but felt no regret despite the pain.
{It's worth it. It's worth it all.}
***
Unknown to them, sad eyes were watching.
"I have seen it." A soft voice said. "I have proof.
"There {is} justice in this one."