Colin stopped right there in the middle of the road and the entire crowd stopped with him. He turned around and viewed them all.
{So many types… so many choices… what do I do…?}
"Yip?" Shiro asked from Colin's shoulder.
"You got any ideas?" Colin asked him. "Any of them you want for Comrades?"
The white wolfcat grinned. "Yip."
"Huh?" Colin blinked. "What do you mean, 'sort of'?"
"Yip." Shiro barked, cheerfully. Watch.
Colin watched.
Shiro didn't dash into the crowd like Colin expected, though. Instead, he turned to Colin's other Comrades. "Yiyip! Yip! Yi!"
"Mew?" Raiki stepped out, with Foxie, Kirin and Eclipse. "Mew…?"
"Yip!" Shiro told them all.
{The Command-types.} Colin realized. {He's called out the Command-types.}
The five of them spread out and started going through the crowd. They inspected Tames, and considered them on their own.
{I don't believe it. They're choosing their own team-mates?!}
But of course. Travelers with many Comrades relied on their Command-types to lead squads of Comrades in battle.
{Until now, I never had as many Comrades as Henry or Rita. Shiro and the handful of others had always been enough for me. Satrox said it too; better a few very strong ones than a whole mass of weak ones. That way, they grow faster, and having Shiro and Raiki grow fast is extremely important.}
{But my few are not 'very strong ones'. Not yet. And until Shiro, Raiki and Kirin are grown, I'm almost always outmatched by whatever and whoever I face. Lynn's had to rescue me three times already.}
{As a Forester, I have the power to defeat whole armies, simply by calling on the Lords of the Wilds. But I can't depend on them forever. I need to gather my own power… and I haven't had the time to do so seriously, even now.}
In other words, Colin realized, he really didn't have much choice. To be at all effective in the kind of conflicts going on around the Lamico Continent, he needed his own power.
{But I'll never be able to remember them all…!} He groaned.
"Yip." Shiro told him softly.
"You're done?" Colin raised his head.
He blinked. There were Shiro, Raiki, Kirin, Eclipse and Foxie, standing in a row…
With just two Tames behind them.
{Two. Not twenty.} Colin felt both relief and disappointment.
One was a Red Panther, like Fireheart, Colin's old Comrade. He'd given her to Katrin earlier, but here was another one, except this one was older, at a Juvenile stage.
The other one was…
"A Shadow Hawk?!" Colin jumped. "I didn't even see it!"
It didn't have the crown of Noble Shadow Hawks like Eclipse had, and it was small, little bigger than a raven. If not for the tints on the edge of the feathers, Colin would have thought it little more than a black hawk.
But Colin had Eclipse for a Comrade a while now. He recognized a Shadow Hawk when he saw one.
{Cripes. I almost missed it.} Colin gulped, feeling a bit unsteady. {If not for Shiro and the others… I almost threw it away for nothing.}
Why hadn't anyone bonded the Shadow Hawk before? Colin had to wonder. Was it because they didn't realize what he was? Or because he wouldn't accept them?
And yes, this was a 'he'. The tail said it all. It was 'v' shaped, not flat like the female Shadow Hawks' were.
He scanned the Shadow Hawk first.
.
Tame
Abilities:
HP: 113/115
MP: 196/196
Str: 13
Sta: 50
Spd: 60
Int: 76
Wis: 60
Wit: 13
Total: 272
.
Traits:
Feathered Flight
Focused
Protective
Shadow Essence
.
"Long-ranged attacker. Definitely." Colin nodded to Eclipse. "He's one of your kind, but doesn't have your Shadow Infusion. Shadow Essence would protect him from your attacks, but he won't be able to do much damage with his claws the way you do."
Eclipse nodded in reply.
"Still. High intelligence and Focused trait means he'll be dealing out lots of damage and fast. Perfect for air support."
"Yip." Shiro wagged his tail.
Colin gave him a suspicious glance, then turned to the Red Panther next, feeling a bit nostalgic.
.
Tame
Abilities:
HP: 157/157
MP: 76/76
Str: 61
Sta: 48
Spd: 50
Int: 20
Wis: 28
Wit: 28
Total: 235
.
Traits:
Feline Finesse
Spirited
Aggressive
Fire Bond
.
"Fire bond?!" Colin almost jumped. "That means he'll use his strength in long-range fire attacks?!"
Rall had Earth Bond, Colin remembered. That honey bear had been specially bred by Aoi, the Chief Breeder at Riverside Comrade Home. He'd been able to use his strength to boost his earth-type attacks, so that his earth barrier had been one of Colin's favorite techniques.
This Red Panther had strength and speed, the same Spirited trait as Fireheart, and an aggressive mood to boot. He was good both at long-range and short-range attacks.
{He'll be a perfect guard for Raiki. He can join her and Ardent in long-range fire support, and if anything gets too close, he can take them on at short-range.}
Colin had a moment of pause. Comparing the Comrades he'd picked for himself and paid for with money, the choices Shiro and the other Command-types made were far better.
{Hey, these two were probably top of the line in that Comrade Home, priced way beyond my budget. I probably wouldn't have been able to see beyond their price tags.}
Letting his Comrades pick out their team-mates felt a whole lot different than scratching his head on his own.
"Just these two? None of the rest?" Colin glanced about.
"Yip." Shiro said shortly.
"Fine. Just these two, then." Colin said. "It's not good to bond too many too soon, right?"
"Yip." Shiro nodded.
Familiar shapes were coming in for a landing. Colin recognized Noble, Satrox's Pegasus, as well as Strife and Temper, his two Chimera.
Satrox, Sandy, Henry and Rita climbed down from those three Comrades of Satrox's and went to meet Colin. Satrox waved. "Hey! How have you been?"
"You told me to keep out of sight." Colin told Satrox. "Since I left Lamico City, I went to Crabby Island, got killed by Katrin, respawned in the Forest of Legends, and flew back here with Lynn, who made me Forester over West Lamico Forest and destroyed Floras Town." Colin summarized. "Anything else you want to know?"
"Not really." Satrox still played it cool while Rita and Henry were spluttering behind him. "But you might want to know, Lamico City has been so badly hit, it's reduced to a town."
"What's the plan, then?" Colin asked.
"Stay out of sight and let the Protectorate and the Republic handle everything between them. Once they finish off the Union and things settle down, it'll be business as normal."
"Minus Floras Town." Colin glanced at the burning ruins behind him.
"We can always rebuild." Satrox shrugged.
"I don't know, Satrox." Colin paused. "I don't know if it's a good idea to let anyone else do logging like they did."
"That's up to you. You're the Forester, right?" Satrox mentioned. "We'll deal with that when it comes. For now, what's with all these Tames following you around?"
It took a while to explain and a bit more time for Sandy, Henry and Rita to pick out the Comrades they wanted. Sandy took the Rhinotle and a few other large plains creatures. Henry took four Lynxmice. Rita took a Thorny Vine and both Mantises. Satrox didn't take anything.
They continued up the road north as a group.
"How did you get killed by Katrin?" Rita wanted to know.
"She kicked me off a cliff." Colin answered.
"Why?" Rita asked. "Did you say something that made her angry? What were you doing on a cliff, anyway?"
Colin felt heat in his face. "Uh…"
Rita saw his face red and her eyes widened. "Colin! Don't tell me you did something!"
"W-what do you mean?" Colin blurted.
Rita's eyes went even wider and she clasped both hands over her mouth. "Oh my…"
"Hey! Don't go around thinking weird things!" Colin protested. "We were just talking!"
"Really?" Even Henry was looking at him sideways now. "And what were you talking about?"
"That's none of your business!"
Satrox laughed for a straight two minutes.
***
Colin kept his mouth stubbornly shut all the way to the Comrade Home, no matter how much Rita and Henry tried to get him to tell them. {It's none of their business!}
Satrox and Sandy, meanwhile, talked about the war and what else they might do to help it die. Shiro seemed to be chatting with Foxie and the pair of them had most of Colin's Comrades falling over each other in laughter half the time.
The Riverfork Comrade Home had two Breeders on duty when they reached it. They looked curious at the wide assortment of Tames Colin sold them, but asked no questions.
{The Shadow Hawk's name is… something about the blackness of color and the swirling wind. Blackswirl. The Red Panther is a brave one… I'll name him Cour, for 'courage'.}
The bonding process in the registration room went smoothly, again with no questions asked.
"Did you notice?" Satrox asked as they left the Home.
"That was too easy." Sandy agreed. "They're used to operating quietly, and without any fuss. I smell the work of the Underground here."
"What's wrong?" Henry questioned. "It's good, isn't it? We got through."
"This time, it is." Satrox agreed. "But who knows what else passes through that Comrade Home just as easily? I think this place is worth investigating a bit further."
"Ask Rita. {She's} the detective type." Henry shrugged.
"Right. Rita, can you check this place out? I want to know if the Underground is running anything through here." Satrox said. "It seems a bit suspicious to me."
Rita nodded. "Well, then, I'll shift my Starting Location over here, to Riverfork."
"Not Riverfork. It's too risky. I know you'd like somewhere nearby for the sake of your investigation, but sticking in the same town is just asking for trouble." Satrox frowned. "Lakeside, perhaps, or even back to Lamico… but not Riverfork."
"Well, then, I'm also taking off." Sandy said. "I'm headed to Silverveins to look for Oliver. I'll let you know if I find him."
"I'm headed back to Port Rachel. My meetings with the Protectorate are just getting started." Satrox rubbed his head.
"What do I do?" Colin asked.
"Go find a Tournament or something." Satrox said vaguely. "Try the Windy Plains Duos."
"I heard there's a Treasure Hunt up at Joseph Town." Henry added. "Want to come along?"
Colin thought about it, but at last, shook his head. "Nah. I'm headed back to the forest. I probably have a lot of Forester work to do tomorrow. See ya."
"Bye, guys." Rita threw in.
The five of them split up and went their separate ways.