B 3 C 15: MUD TOBOGGAN AND DREAM INTERLUDE

Ugh, I feel like a roasted lizard on a stick. Oh, wait. Yeah, that’s probably a pretty apt description. I’m currently draconic, and my internals are fried from lightning, and my externals are cooked by Godsbreath. Lil!

Fighting every ache in my body I thrust myself into the air by my arms and scan the cavern for Lil. Linti is dashing my way from where I’d knocked her back. She looks pissed. I guess I didn’t pass out for long if she’s just recovering now as well.

I call out, “Linti, wait, I’m sorry! I couldn’t let Lil’s fire hit you! I wasn’t sure you’d survive!”

And she tackles me out of the air anyway. Ow, ow, ow. She’s slugging me in the face, but I know she could put a lot more force behind her strikes. Linti screams into my face, “Shellcracker, you jerk! What the hell was that!? First it sounds like your little dragon pal is going to cook my family, then you get in the way of my shot, then you try to knock me out!?”

I interrupt, “Not out, just back, away from the flames, I could feel Lil’s fire turning backwards towards us. I’m sorry. Would you mind stopping hitting me? I’m not sure reptiles can get black eyes, but I think I’ve got a big shiner forming.”

Linti huffs, “Ugh, you gorram idiot. Just, ugh.”

Linti slugs my face one more time for good measure. She then picks me up, sets me standing on my legs, which fills me with a pain that alternates between numb and excruciating since they’re broken. As I’m about to fall over, she knees me in the stomach. I double over with the wind knocked out of me, into Linti’s waiting arms.

She scoops my broken, battered body up, mostly in one arm, holding me to her chest. Since my wings are otherwise in the way, she has to hold me face-first against her torso. She walks towards where we believe her family to be. Lil is lying on the ground in spheriform stage, their pupils spiraling about in their eyes. Linti punts Lil like a soccer ball towards the end of the tunnel that we believe Blossom and the others might be in. I try to object to her rough treatment, but can’t voice my opinion since I currently can’t even draw a breath to speak with. I crane my neck to be able to see ahead of us with one eye, though Linti keeps me locked tightly against her chest, preventing any likelihood of me using JT to escape again unless I want to hurt her.

Ugh, I’ve really screwed up any chance of solid friendship with Linti. As we round a corner, through a mess of charred, burnt, tattered, torn vines, we spy the entire cat tribe, all soaking wet from the accumulated moisture. Lil seems to be okay at least, as does the rest of the cat family.

Linti growls, “I thought I told you lunkheads to stay separated, what the hell is even going on here!?”

Fawns At Sunsets approaches us, and though she tenderly reaches for me to check on my state, Linti hisses at her. I weakly wave while trying to smile out the free side of my face in her direction. I’m starting to feel really mixed signals from Linti. She has beaten the bloody crap out of me, but is holding me tightly to her breast, not letting anyone else near. Maybe she isn’t as sure as I was about the possession having ended, and thought she might need to use me as a bludgeoning weapon against her family to knock sense into them. At the moment, that seems like the most likely explanation for her behavior.

Fawn begins to speak, “Will you calm down, Hunter? We’re alright, whatever you and the Shellcracker tribe did, everything is right as, well, rain.” Fawn indicates the condensation dripping from the ceiling, then she stifles a chuckle.

Linti snaps back, “What about Spring?! I heard her screams!”

Spring Blossom meekly waves from the rear, and Fawn answers for her, “Blossom was terrified that some new threat approached, one her vines could do nothing to protect us from. She may also have had some sensory feedback from her vines. I do not know the full extent of her magics. Their manifestation in our time of need was most fortuitous, no? She protected us with her magics, and so we stood in the fore, to defend her as long as possible in case she may need a chance to reapply them.”

Linti grumbles an acquiescence, and shoots a look at Spring Blossom that seems to convey pride. She huffs, and sits down into lotus position. Finally her grip on me relaxes, and I can catch a breath, coughing though I am. The tunnel structure still seems to be oddly pulsating this entire time, but there seems to be nothing new that it can send at us.

Linti furiously mumbles, “Oh that horrid floating little monster, when I get my hands on him, I’m going to snap his neck!”

I reckon Linti’s hoarse-whispered rant is about Mataalii, and I certainly can’t blame her for her desire. Currently, I also want him dead. I’m almost surprised that she wasn’t able to kill him already, but he seems to have a suite of abilities that would probably make it hard for her. If he can conjure and control some lava to intercept Linti’s bolts while controlling other lava to threaten her or her family, she’d be too busy to take him out of the sky.

As I’m about to voice my curiosity on whether or not the tribe is going to rebuild, I’m interrupted by Fawn asking, “So, this march of yours, does it have room for a dozen or so more?”

Fawns At Sunsets and I both nervously chuckle, Linti squints an evilly angry-eye at each of us. It’s a horrifying expression of malice drawn across her face. Fawn tries to defuse Linti’s tension, and wrath, “For the good of all of us, if this is the kind of enemy we will make from here on out, and the type of enemy that this poor family has, it would be best if we joined them, Hunter. Your strength could prevent any of theirs from getting harmed, their numbers could keep any of us from being individually targeted. Surely you can agree to that?”

Linti grumbles while halfheartedly nodding. Phew, okay, so at least we’re not enemies, and I know I can count on Linti’s strength to safeguard my family. She’s willing to go to deadly lengths to prevent harm to those under her protection. I wish I hadn’t made so many missteps around her.

Linti tosses me lightly to one side and hisses a command to her family. They line up and begin following her as she stands to walk away. I wonder if they know where to go.

As I’m about to ask, as if reading my mind, Linti calls back, “It’s big enough, we’ll find it. Oh, and Shellcracker? Don’t get yourself killed. I’d like the honor of taking you out myself some day.”

I wince at Linti’s threat, and I can virtually feel several of the cat tribe grimace. That could definitely have gone better. And now I’m stuck crawling on my arms in the marshy dirt that has become sopping mud. I follow agonizingly slowly after them. Lil playfully hops aboard my back as I crawl along. I frown for a moment, but I can’t fault Lil’s playfulness, it’s one of many things I love about them.

I hear the faintest echo of conversation bouncing its way back to me, “You couldn’t hones… No, I wouldn’t really… Shellcracker’s a … glad they … Kinda cute… sure…” It sounds like that’s the last I’ll hear from them for a long time.

I know that Linti’s important to her tribe, but Fawn is the matron, and even she fell in line quickly. It’s like Linti is a wartime general who assumes full authority in a dangerous situation. That might be an agreement among the tribe. I certainly wouldn’t want to disobey her when she seems this upset.

I sigh as I try to figure out the next steps. Since Lil grabbed the comm stone from me at some point while I was passed out, I need to ask for it back for at least a moment, so that I can speak to Teuila and Laomati.

Calling into the comm stone, I quickly speak plainly, “Hey Te, before you react, I’m obviously fine, so is Lil, so are the cats. Mat got to their village though, he torched the whole thing. They’ve decided it’s too dangerous to stick around, since he could come back any time. They’re going to need to be set up with everyone else in the march. Could you and Lao and Lu and the others take care of that please? They’re really good people. Look out for Linti’s temper, but also don’t mind her too much, I don’t think she’d really hurt anyone. I love you Teuila, give my love to Lao, Lu, Ag, both pairs of twins, Magnus, and all the others please? Hell, give Sir Reginald, Bettie, and Priss a hug from me if the humans are still treating us alright.”

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Since the comm stone magic only works for a few seconds a day per stone initiating contact, and I’ve used up most of it, before the magic of the comm stone wears out I only hear Teuila speak one word, “Dork.” I don’t imagine Te will actually hug any of the humans for me, that last bit was mostly for laughs. Especially not the human that she only refers to as “The Dirtbag.” Te could reach back out to us with her comm stone, but she knows to save it in case she needs us to return home at emergency speeds, or to call around midnight when the stones will recharge anyway.

Lil is rolling around laughing at the last sentence I sent to Teuila. At least someone appreciates my humor, heh. I’m pretty sure Teuila also would have joked with me and teased me back if the magic hadn’t run out.

I chuckle at my own situation, “So Lil buddy, how long do you think it’s going to take for me to drag myself all the way through these stupid muddy tunnels on my face?”

Lil’s laughing response is, “Dunno pal, your legs are pretty wrecked, but not as bad as Te’s were. Did you engage a limit break when you shunted me out of your inventory?”

As I wet my lips, I explain, “No, thankfully I didn’t need to go that far. I’m not even sure how much energy debt I went into, if any, what with the passive ambient atomic energy I was turning into mana. I was certain I’d have to get a full pool or more to get you out safely.”

I pause before adding, “I’m glad I was wrong, if I was wrong. Everything’s a bit of a blur.” I pause again, adding one slightly frightened thought, “Also, I don’t really want to be in here when everything respawns.”

Lil comments, “Yeesh, me either pal. Come on, I have an idea, but you’re not going to enjoy it.”

I raise an eyebrow as Lil transforms into Lilagnewt. They walk around behind me, grip my tail in their maw, and spin me around so they can march while dragging me backwards through the mud beneath their belly. Lil was right, I’m not enjoying being a personal mudslide toboggan. Still, during several of the tunnels between intersections, we barely fit, even with as little space as Lil is trying to make us take up together. These sections take agonizingly long for Lil to plod through while dragging me with.

Maybe Lil’s right though, maybe my legs will heal at a decent rate. Did Teuila somehow engage a limit break on her way to save Lil? Is that why her body was ruined for so long? I thought it was just being cut off from our radiant power source that made healing take longer at that time. Maybe that wasn’t the only issue. I didn’t get to measure my own length of recovery time due to the phoenix taking pity on me. Still, Teuila couldn’t limit break before, she still might not be able to. If she did, was it a one time thing? Was it an engage, and immediate climax to reach max acceleration? A limit break climax that fought off pain for just long enough for Teuila to arrive where she needed to be? I wonder if she even knows or recalls. Hm, maybe if I’m lucky, a few nights sleep might actually knit my legs, especially if I use self-actualization shapeshifting to try to move the bones back into place.

Lil chimes in about my train of thought, “Speaking of shapeshifting pal, check me out!”

Lil expands and shrinks various parts of their body, playing around with their new skill. It seems like that’s its current limit without resuming Lildragni form. Both of us are hesitant about letting Lil try to do that again any time soon. It was a really charged moment, literally and figuratively. They were literally overcharged by my mana, and the emotions were intense. Still, Lil, ya goober, if you could shrink parts of you, you could have shrunk your wings, shoulders, and ribcage. Then the tighter tunnels wouldn’t have been as much of an issue.

“Oops,” replies Lil.

I laughingly respond, “Oops is right, ya goon. Love you buddy.”

Lil shrinks down their more protruding body parts and continues to carry me with their jaw, dragging me through the mud beneath their belly. Lil could also probably shrink their back a bit, and toss me up on their back, but whatever, I think they’re having fun. I do wish I had the soapstone though, I’m absolutely covered in mud. I’ll have to have Luni stop by with it tomorrow or the day after.

Lil telepathically asks, “So, we headed back the direction we were going pal? Or what?”

In thinkspace, I respond, “Let’s head back to the cat’s village, see if we can save any of their belongings to give back to them when we see them again. We’ll rest there for a spell. If Mata attacks, it’s also an area that’s already a bit burnt down, so we can go all out.”

I can feel Lil nodding at my response with my tail in their mouth. We’re still definitely moving through the tunnels of The Hollow slower than the Linti and her family, but progress is smoother now. Lil and I play a mental game of twenty questions on the way out, taking turns thinking of something and trying to determine what the other’s thought is by asking twenty yes or no questions. It also lets us practice guarding our thoughts and peering at each other’s thoughts to try to cheat, since neither of us cares if we win so much as strengthening our bond.

Finally, we’ve made it out of The Hollow, and now I can move under my own power, I think. Or I could just ride around on Lil’s back. I’m not sure where I should hit myself with JT to propel myself around right now. I used to alternate between my feet and the thick of my back between my shoulder blades. I can’t aim a large flat object across my shoulder blades anymore with my wings taking up so much of my back, and my feet wouldn’t sustain any impact. If I aimed something smaller between my back, I’d risk just shattering my spine or piercing my own heart. This is really inconvenient. I thought of maybe using my posterior as the point of impact, but my hips have fractures as well, and my tail also gets in the way.

I’m hesitant to ask, “Lil buddy? I think I’m going to have to rely on you for mobility for a couple of days. Do you mind me riding your back?”

Lil’s wisecracks, “After all the time I spent on your head or in your back hammock, how could I refuse pal o’ mine o’?”

Huh, isn’t a palomino a kind of horse? What an oddly coincidental turn of phrase. Still, I’m grateful as Lil flings me up to their back, and shapeshifts their proportions back to normal. Lil then shapeshifts their wings even larger to propel us through the air with greater ease. It’s easy enough to reposition to grip onto Lil’s rubbery dorsal ridge.

Arriving back at Linti’s family home, my heart aches for what this family lost. Some of the huts are partially standing, but only barely. There are burn holes in basically every wall still standing, about the size of a basketball. I’m surprised this whole place isn’t ablaze, until I trace my clawed hands along the edge of the burn holes. It seems like they’ve coated their buildings in a heat-resistant shellac. Some sort of insect goop I imagine, a sappy fluid they likely acquired from The Hollow.

Lil and I claim what few possessions weren’t destroyed or already claimed by the cat tribe on their way past their home. There are some combs, some supplies, some odds and ends. I don’t know if any of it has sentimental value, so I’ll keep hold of all of it until I see them again. I take the heat-treated sections of wall and roof that are still standing as well, maybe it’ll come in handy someday.

With plenty of mana, and plenty of heat nearby, I pretend I have terrakinesis as I erect a stone lean-to for Lil and me to cuddle in. It’s easy enough to claim soil or rock below me and reshape it in my inventory, even easier to place it with my space skill. Lil decides it’s probably for the best to maintain their Lilagnewt form until we’re sure Mata is no longer on our tails, they’re probably right. I take up lotus position cuddled against Lil’s side, and Lil’s body is curled around me in a crescent.

In our position I take a deep breath and smoothly exhale as best I can. I put all thoughts out of my mind except for my form having its leg bones in the proper places. Summoning a tether around my own heart, I go through the exercise to shapeshift as I actualize my mental image. Dropping the tether, I can feel my bones having moved about a millimeter back towards their correct positions. I recuperate my mana and do it again, and again, until I’m both exhausted from the effort, and fairly certain my bones are set well enough to begin knitting. The pain has certainly returned, there’s no more alternating numbness, my legs have all their sensation back. That’s probably a good sign, but feels awful, as every bit of grinding bone sends pain lancing through my nervous system.

I wonder if I could go a step further, and heal the injuries, but I’ve already been at this for hours. Every muscle in my body is vibrating under the strain and ache. Panting from the exertion, I tilt my head back against Lil’s torso and let myself slumber.

I had that dream again, walking around with a little round reptile, jungle to swamp. Is my imagination damaged? Always more or less the same locations that look borderline identical. Anyway, I must have been daydozing while talking to the innkeep. Hell's bells, the tavern maid is staring right at me. How much did she hear? My left palm grips the hilt of my dagger subconsciously.

She eyes me warily and pleads, "Please don't feel threatened, I won't share your secrets. I think what people like you do is heroic, always have, always will. At least if you're only taking jobs like this one. Do you, ?" She pauses, apparently wanting to know how to refer to me.

Sighing, I reply, "I'm no hero, and I go by Aces."

She suggests, "Well Aces, you look so morose, so lonely, I figure you could use a friend."

I try not to sneer as I claim, "I had a friend, once."

Her brow furrows as she tries to suss me out, "Once? Who were they?"

My answer strikes her, "Aye, once, they were called Eights."

Realization dawns on her face, and she frowns. After frowning for a bit, she pouts at me, stating, "I can't tell if you're poking fun at me, or if that's really what happened. I guess I'm sorry for you either way. My offer of friendship stands, hero."

I awaken to Lil squeeing in glee, “Heeee, told you partner!”

I reply, “Huh?”

Lil chirps back, “You tell me stories, and they’re all for me, nyaaaah.” Lil sticks their tongue out at me and blows a raspberry, both physically and telepathically.