Lord Kenneth Fervor, a General of the Protectorate known both on the battlefield and in the tournament arena, was yawning over a cup of tea at the Yellow Blossom. With the Union gone and diplomacy ongoing with the Republic, the general had little to do these nights except train and compete in tournaments. It was starting to bore him.
One glance outside the window, however, jerked him to activity. His eyes went wide, and he jumped to his feet. He dashed to the front door, then froze in mid-step, spun to the window, and again paused before jumping out. He turned to the back and had taken three steps when the front doors opened and a voice called his name.
"Kenneth! Just the man I was looking for!"
Kenneth gulped, not daring to take another step. Standing as still as a statue, he was distinctly aware of everybody else scrambling to get out of the place.
"Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" the voice that spoke was usually sweet, but right now it was laden with threat. "We both know why I'm here."
Kenneth shut his eyes wishing he could Wake Up and escape this particular night's Dream.
"Turn around and face me, Kenneth." She demanded.
Kenneth turned, wincing, and saw the face he knew would be there. He knew those tilted eyebrows and predatory gaze, that small nose and oddly cute round face. She had tied her hair high today, twisted round in a fountain spray. The dark brown of her features used to contrast sharply with amazingly white skin, but she'd gotten a tan recently.
"Kenneth Fervor." She greeted him with a shark's smile.
"Sekai Melody." Kenneth replied with rising worry mixed with a wave of shock at seeing her up close after so long.
"Tell me something." Sekai said, stepping on a nearby chair and leaning forward. "Where's my brother?"
***
The explosion that destroyed the Yellow Blossom shook the ground and nearly made Katrin crash into Colin. Colin caught her by the shoulder in time to steady her.
"What was that?!" Katrin spluttered.
"Let's find out." Satrox said, dashing on ahead.
They followed him to the site of the destruction and saw the sorry remains of the structure collapse in on itself.
Only one person stepped out of the place before the whole thing crumbled. A lady with a spray of brown hair and a scythe as big as herself.
"Uhoh." Satrox said grimly.
"What?" Colin asked.
"That was Kenneth's favorite hang-out." Satrox told Colin.
"It was?" Colin blinked. "Then how did it get destroyed?"
"That girl there is Sekai Melody. Sora's elder sister." Satrox pointed to the scythe-lady.
Colin stared. "Oh."
Satrox nodded. He glanced at Lucy. "We're running out of time."
Sekai took a look around and her gaze fell on them. She marched right in their direction.
"Oh, scrap." Satrox said.
"Satrox!" Sekai called.
"Run!" Satrox shoved the rest of them. "Split up!"
They ran and they weren't the only ones running. The entire crowd broke and scattered in every direction. Colin had time to see Sekai make an impossible leap onto the roof of a nearby building before Katrin dragged him down the main road.
"I thought we were supposed to split up!" Colin protested, trying not to stumble.
"Just run!" Katrin barked back.
They ran, hearing explosion after explosion behind them and more and more yelling.
"That was my car!"
"My house!"
"My {hair}!"
And then a great call sounded behind them, Sekai's voice echoing throughout the open streets. "Yggdrasil!"
The ground shook. The road cracked, and what appeared to be huge roots arose from it. Sudden shade blocked out the sun and Colin glanced up to find himself under a tree that covered the entire town.
Worse, that tree was moving. {I thought Zoe's Pando was the biggest Comrade I've ever seen but THIS…!}
Roots flailed, braches swooped down, and buildings were wrecked almost without effort.
{There goes the town…}
His watch was beeping. Colin took the call. "What is it? I'm a little busy right now!"
"Colin! Meet us back at the airport!" Satrox said, just before a particularly loud explosion sounded on the other end of the line.
"Satrox…? Are you all right? Satrox?!" Colin tried, but there was no answer.
The line (and probably Satrox) was dead.
***
Colin and Katrin arrived at the Airport ruins to find Ginny Terlon there and waiting with her Comrades: three Steel Bristle Boars, two Silver Bristle Boars and a Brush Bear.
"You must be Last Rites and Luna." Ginny greeted them by the nicknames Satrox said they were to use.
"We are. You must be Ginny." Katrin offered her hand and Ginny shook it. Colin offered his too, but Ginny waved it away, offering no reason.
"What happened to Huntress and Forkscar?" Ginny asked, indicating Lucy and Satrox by their nicknames.
Colin turned and pointed to the town. Yggdrasil had vanished by now, but there was a lot of smoke going up.
"I was wondering about that too." Ginny admitted. "What's with that super-tree?"
"Yggdrasil." Katrin supplied. "Sekai Melody's Comrade."
"Yggdrasil?!" Ginny jumped. "I thought it was just a myth!"
"Well, you've just seen it." Katrin grimaced. "We think Forkscar is dead."
"Dead?" A new voice floated in. They turned to see Tony Karas with two Rock Golems coming from the left. "That's really going to slow things down."
Ginny's face soured a little when she saw Tony arrive. Last time Colin had seen them, Tony had beaten Ginny in the tournament and claimed first prize, leaving her with second.
Tony was wearing a safety helm with a red scope built in. Thermal vision, Colin guessed. He glanced at Katrin. "Where are your Comrades?"
"Huh?" Katrin blinked.
"Those three have Last Rites' waves all over them, but all you've got up in your pockets are two Lynxmice." Tony pointed out. "Where's the rest of them? Or are you really going in with just two mice?"
Katrin and Colin gaped as one.
"You can see what I've got in my pockets?!" Katrin gasped.
Did he say those {'three'}?! Colin spun around.
There, behind him, was Sonia, looking perfectly normal, Foxie, looking like a smaller Sonia, and…
A little black fox cub with a silver streak down her back and either nine tails or one thick tail with jagged ends.
{It CAN'T be…!}
Colin reached out to the black fox with his mind. [Kyubia?!]
"Arf!" the black fox 'cub' barked. [Of course.]
[What are you doing here? And looking like THAT?!]
"Arf." Kyubia grinned. [Would you rather I came looking like a giant hamburger?]
[But you're so… SMALL.]
Kyubia whuffed a laugh. [We Lords of the Wilds can change our sizes… within limits. We like to be big to remind everyone of who we are… but sometimes, being small is fun.]
Kyubia, Colin felt, was one of the few Lords who would think so. Most of the rest seemed to prefer dignity.
[So… why are you here? Is the forest all right?] Colin asked.
[The forest is fine.] Kyubia scurried up to his shoulder, where Shiro used to sit all the time. She'd definitely learnt a thing or two from him. [Oreb and Shiro are taking care of everything… but it's boring without you.]
[It's boring with me around too.] Colin pointed out.
[Sometimes. But sometimes, we get the most fun ever.] Kyubia whuffed into his ear. [I'm coming with you.]
[Thanks, Kyubia.] Colin tapped her nose with his. She grinned back at him.
Katrin, meanwhile, had lost an argument with Tony on the merits of leaving most of her Comrades back at her base. She was calling some of them with her watch. It would take time for them to reach her, but they were on the way.
"What about you?" Ginny asked. "You're only bringing two golems? And those are your weakest."
"The rest are too close to level 90." Tony said. "You're bringing all of yours? Why?"
"I figured it's time to move on." Ginny said. "I've already gotten more than 30 mission points and my total levels are nearly at 300. Even if I just used my weakest, I'll skip Green and hit Blue by tonight. I may as well use them all."
"I see." Tony grinned. "Lucky I haven't collected 30 mission points yet. As long as I don't let anyone hit 90, I can stay at Yellow forever."
"I never intended to stay at Yellow forever. Sooner or later, I was going to continue Traveling. It's later, by now, but I believe it's time." Ginny said. "Sorry, but we won't be competing again."
"All the better." Tony said. "I'll be the undisputed king of Yellow ranking!"
"Sure. Stay at Yellow and suffer to win your paltry Tournaments." Ginny rolled her eyes. "A month from now, I'll be finding treasures in dungeons worth several times your winnings, and I'll be finding a few every night while you toil away for the next Tournament every few days."
"It'll take you weeks to get that far." Tony snorted. "By the time you're ready to earn that much, I'd have enough money to buy a spaceship and move freely between Dreamworlds!"
Like the Green Men… Colin realized. He chipped in then. "Just how much money would a ship cost?"
Tony shrugged. "Depends on what kind of ship. If you want a small shuttle, it's about twenty million. Not too pricey."
"And you'll get shot down by the first space pirate who comes your way." Ginny snorted. "You're going to need far more if you want to survive out there!"
Far more than twenty million… Colin shook his head. Buying his own ship could wait until he was far along enough in Nakama World to earn the way Ginny spoke of earning.
{And when I do, I'll buy something that can shoot down the Green Men Saucers. Kate's building her own ship right now. Maybe I'll ask her if she can help me out.}
Colin went into a fantasy of himself flying a super spaceship built by his elder sister that could wipe out dozens of Green Men Saucers with him at the controls.
Until then, he was still stuck to using Gates to travel between Dreamworlds, and most of them were shut to a thirteen year old without someone accompanying him. Even Garden World, the last Dreamworld he was on before Nakama World, had Gates that were too easily shut on one boy alone. Jonah, Alicia and Larry used to go from land to land together within that Dreamworld and shut him out behind them. That had happened the night Colin vanished.
{Good riddance. I'm glad I'm here instead of there. It was a boring Dreamworld, meant for families and picnics and stuff… but Dad always left me with those three, just because he and their dads are friends, and those three always teased me and left me out. It was either them or be stuck with Mom and Gracie, which is even more boring.}
{It's totally different here.}
Katrin poked him in the ribs, making him jump. "Are you praying or something?"
"Maybe." Colin said, seeing everyone watching him and about to laugh. "What were you saying?"
"Never mind. You don't want to know."
"We were talking about how you might pray our enemies to sleep." Tony offered.
"Never mind." Katrin repeated, before Colin could say anything. "We should call Huntress about our plans."
Katrin whispered Lucy's name into her watch so that Tony and Ginny wouldn't be able to hear.
Lucy sounded sick when she answered Katrin's call. Colin winced; she and Satrox had definitely died. "Do any of you know the way to Earnest Castle?"
"I know it." Tony offered.
"Me too." Ginny put in.
"Good. Meet us at the front gate." Lucy cut the link.
Colin and Katrin exchanged slow glances.
"Guess we're walking to Port Rachel." Tony said.
***
It took ten minutes of walking before Tony started asking questions. "Where are you two from? I haven't seen you around before."
"We were at the Crescent Continent." Colin answered.
"Crescent? I heard about the Frenzieds there. Nasty business. You know, that's the problem with new Travelers. They don't think about their choice of Comrades. Most of them simply bond anything, and then have problems afterwards. Their Comrades don't even get along with them, much less each other. There's no wonder those Comrades abandoned them and went Frenzied."
Behind them, Katrin asked Ginny, "Your Comrades are amazing. How do you stay at Yellow all this time?"
"I just avoid getting more than six Comrades." Ginny explained. "That's all it really takes. If any of my Comrades are about to hit 90, I have to give them away."
Colin glanced at Tony. "Is that what you meant by 'choice of Comrades'? Giving away your strongest?"
Katrin stumbled though there wasn't anything on the road to trip her up. Colin winced. {Sorry, Kat.}
"I've been careful." Tony answered. "Those might have been higher level, but they weren't my strongest. How well a Comrade fights depends on the Dreamer, its abilities, and friends. Numbers alone don't count for all that much."
Colin knew exactly what he meant. The things that made Shiro and Raiki so good even as cubs weren't their levels; it was their traits. Raiki was even stronger when she combined powers with Kirin.
Kyubia, meanwhile, was looking at Tony's golems. She whuffed softly. [Even hearts of stone can weep.]
[What do you mean?] Colin asked.
[Remember how Shiro howled when you gave Katrin those four?] Kyubia nudged him.
[Yes, and I rather not remember. It's a painful thing.]
[They were your Comrades for a short time. Imagine if you'd given away old Comrades.]
[I did.] Colin remembered. [I gave all but four to Katrin.]
[And every time you do, Shiro gets more and more hurt, even if he agrees. Furthermore, he made promises to Blackswirl and Cour when he picked them from a crowd of a hundred. He can't keep those promises any more.]
[Promises?!] Colin froze. [What sort of promises?]
[Things like how you're a good guy… and how they'd fight together side by side and they could rely on each other…] Kyubia shook her head. [Katrin's left them behind to recover on their own, hasn't she? Not exactly what Shiro promised them when they bonded you.]
[Why…? Why did he…?] Colin groaned.
Tony didn't seem to notice, talking about all the past tournaments he'd won and how his opponents moved on because they couldn't bear to give up this or that Comrade.
Kyubia went on whispering in Colin's ear, using the tiniest of growls. [Shiro's giving up on new Comrades. If you went and bonded new ones in a Home now, he's not going to bother with training them.]
[Training?! Since when did he…]
[Always.] Kyubia said. [He trained together with all your previous Comrades. Even the one called Junrei. Everything from emergency situations to team formations. There's training for levels, and then there's training for knowledge. You never noticed but he's trained them for knowledge.]
And that, Colin realized, was why he knew who to match up in their squads. {There's been a lot going on I didn't even know about.}
[I really did badly, didn't I?] Colin regretted.
But Kyubia shook her head. [You did nothing wrong. The mistake was his.]
[What?] Colin blinked.
[You are the Traveler. He is the Comrade. It is your right and your role to do all you have done.] Kyubia said softly. [The one who shouldn't have made promises, the one who shouldn't have gone ahead without you is Shiro.]
[But… I've always let him…]
[I know. 'To the lost, I gave one to help him find his way'. But it doesn't mean doing things behind your back.] Kyubia nudged him. [Why have you not spoken with Shiro?]
[I DO speak with Shiro. Sometimes I even understand what he says back.]
Kyubia growled. [It's not the same. You speak to ME, don't you?]
Colin stopped for a while, letting the other three pass by him, and stared at Kyubia. [But you're different! We've merged minds! I can share my thoughts and memories with you just like Lynn!]
[I'm not the only one.] Kyubia pointed out. [You mind-speak with Oreb and Yachad and the others too.]
[It's not the same. I can talk to them and understand them like Shiro, but I can't mind-talk like I can with you and Lynn.] Colin paused. [I think it's because we merged minds.]
Kyubia thought about that. [Maybe if you…]
[I rather not. Merging with you was an accident and it's changed me forever. I don't ever want to merge minds with anyone again unless I absolutely have to.]
Kyubia understood. [Same here. I'm just glad that of all people, it was you.]
Colin nudged her with the side of his face. [Thanks.]