I sat in my favourite tree, legs swinging. The warm sun was shining brightly, even though it was the middle of winter. On the downside, that meant no snow, and snow was always fun to play in. On the upside, it meant more of my friends would be out to play! Today was a very exciting day too, so I needed all of my friends. Actually, all days were exciting, but today was doubly so. It was my birthday! Seven years old! There was going to be a party for me later, and I'd been kicked out of the house so that Mummy could cook lots of delicious food. I wasn't supposed to know about the party, but my parents suck at subterfuge.

I think I've been hanging around Peter for too long... I'm starting to use long words like subterfuge without so much as twitching an ear. And speaking of Peter, there he is now! He's supposed to be my babysitter for the day, as if I still need babysitting. My intelligence is already at eight! I'm plenty old enough to take care of myself. I tried to sit as quietly as possible, waited for him to come into pouncing range, then leapt. How will he try to dodge this time, I wonder? Oh, he's just back-stepping? Not even any magic? Hah, he must think I can't manoeuvre in mid air. You underestimate me!

I swung my legs and tail wide to shift my centre of gravity, and spun just enough to catch him. He ended up on the floor with me sat on top of him. Not quite the hug I was going for, but close enough.

"Ouch. Cluma is mean."

I giggled, stood up and helped him up too. I knew he didn't mean it. If he really wanted to evade, he could have just used his [Far Step], after all.

"At least you've stopped giving yourself away by yelling my name. You're going to need some way to hide your mana if you want to catch me by surprise, though."

If there's a skill for that, I want it. Surprise hugs are the best hugs, after all! Daddy says I shouldn't be buying skills until I'm older, but Peter says I should unlock as many as I can so that when I decide what career I want, I can dive straight in. He even made a big pile of wooden weapons for me so that I could unlock more weapon proficiency skills, but told me never to actually buy any of them. He's weird. Then he held my hands, which was nice, and forced his mana into me, which felt strange and uncomfortable. He said it was to unlock [Mana Sense], but that I shouldn't buy that either. He said that if I manage to unlock enough skills, then skills get cheaper to buy, so I guess he was just trying to help. Which is what a friend should do. So he's nice. Still weird, but nice too.

I did buy [Basic Cooking], because Mummy is awesome and I want to be like her. She wants to move to the big town nearby and open up a restaurant one day, but Daddy is against it. He seems scared of the town for some reason. Daddy is scared of everything; he's a big scaredy-cat. But it's fine, because I can protect him now. I'm a big strong girl, after all; I'm not afraid of anything!

Name: Cluma

Species: Beastkin (Catkin)

Class: Commoner (Level 7)

Soul Points: 2

Health: 26/26

Stamina: 52/52

Mana: 6/6

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 19

Endurance: 21

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 8

Charisma: 9

Skills: [Basic Cooking 3] [Weapon Proficiency: Dagger 5]

Traits: [Hyperactive] [Dexterous] [Hugger]

Mummy said that traits were what made me me. I'm a hyperactive dexterous hugger! They got it spot on. Not that I understand all of their descriptions...

"Peter, what does 'anathema' mean?"

"Something you really, really dislike. Where did that come from?"

Something I really, really dislike, huh? The [Hugger] description said that personal space was anathema to me. Yup, that sounds about right. How could I hug people without getting close to them?

"Just wondering."

Peter peered at me suspiciously, but Mummy said I wasn't supposed to talk about my traits because they're personal. She said it's the same reason as why I wouldn't tell people, even my bestest best friends, the colour of my underwear. That didn't make sense to me; everyone already knows I'm a hyperactive dexterous hugger, so why would saying it out loud make any difference? Hmm? Does that mean everyone already knows the colour of my underwear too, and it's just never mentioned because it's impolite? I blinked in surprise. That didn't sound right... I needed to ask Mummy for clarification.

"Since it's such a nice day out today, I'll take you to the forest. I'll teach you the sort of things that grow there in winter."

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Oh? He wants to go to the forest? I don't often go there. Why would I? My friends are here. If I'm going anywhere, it should be from where my friends aren't to where they are. Doing the opposite makes no sense. But since a friend is coming with me this time, it's almost as if I'm not going anywhere at all! Same friend with different scenery.

I thought Peter was carrying his staff because he wanted to spar again, but he also uses it to help him walk on difficult terrain. It must be hard not having a tail. Something I thought when I was young was that he'd lost or broken his somehow, but then it turned out most of the villagers were human, and humans were supposed to not have tails. It explained his strange ears too, all wrinkly and weird and in the wrong place.

I chased along, running in circles around Peter, who was doing a steady sort of jog. It's very slow, but if he ran faster he'd run out of breath. Something else I used to think when I was young was that he was ill, but apparently it's normal and happens to everyone other than me. Which means I'm not normal... But Mummy and Daddy both said it's in a good way. I'm special! Yay!

We reached the forest, the tree canopies overhead blocking out the sun and causing dancing shadows all over the ground. They were fun to watch, always flickering around and never sitting still. When the wind blew, they danced faster. I wanted to chase them, but they were everywhere. How was I supposed to catch them?

Peter was pointing out different types of trees and plants, showing me which berries I could eat and which were poisonous. He's always so... educational. But in a nice way, and he doesn't keep it up for long. I'm sure he would go back to playing before I got bored. He asked me if I had [Inspection] and [Foraging] unlocked in the shop, and when I checked, I did. He did it again! He keeps making me unlock new skills. Maybe he just really likes unlocking skills for some reason?

"And there's another two. You'll have all twenty-five before..."

Rudely interrupting Peter, from deeper in the forest came a massive roar. I'd never heard anything like it, and every bit of me, from the tip of my tail to the points of my ears, was screaming that this was not something that wanted to be friends with me. Peter looked startled, looking off in the direction of the sound. There was nothing to see there, though; all the trees were in the way.

"We're getting out of here. RUN!"

I blinked as Peter shot off, away from the sound. I chased after him. He looked around to make sure I was following, then sped up. It still wasn't anywhere near as fast as me, but it was fast enough that I knew he couldn't keep it up for long.

"Cluma, listen. Whatever happens, keep running. If I fall behind, get to the village and find help. Warren or your dad, or Angus. Whoever you see first."

Obviously whatever made the noise didn't want to be friends with Peter either... He sounded scared. There was a crash behind us, and it was close. Far closer than the roar had been. Was something chasing us, or was this something else? I was starting to get a little frightened too... I could run faster, but I didn't want to leave Peter.

There was another roar, and this one was right behind us. I looked around, and there was something really scary chasing us. It had a head and tusks that looked like a squashed, grey rainbow beast, but it was on two legs, had big fangs and was holding a thick tree branch.

"Cluma! To the village! Now!"

Peter stopped and turned around. Was he going to fight the big scary thing? No! I stopped too and pulled out my precious daggers.

"Cluma! Do as I say or I will not be your friend anymore. Run to the village, as fast as you can, and get help! GO!"

But... What was the point of all that training? I want to protect people, and he wants me to run away. That's...

"I can't outrun it! You can! Neither of us can fight it; we need an adult. I'll try to hold it off until help arrives. NOW GO!!!"

That... made sense. I was strong, but I knew some of the adults were stronger. And I didn't want to fight the big monster thing... But... Argg... I turned and run towards the village, eyes streaming with tears. I was scared! I wanted to protect people, and now I was scared! I was running away from Peter while he was fighting! I was feeling relieved that he told me to flee, and that I was running and not fighting... I'm a coward after all... Please be safe... Please... Faster... I need to run faster! I need to get help!

We hadn't gone far into the forest, and I quickly broke through the tree line. I headed for the village while screaming for help and made the full distance in only a few minutes. Angus and Warren's house was right on the side of the village facing the forest, so I ran there first and slammed open the door.

"Help!"

Warren was sitting at the table and looked up sharply. "What's the matter?"

I tried my best to reply between the sobs. "Peter... Giant monster... Fighting..."

Warren shot up, slamming his chair back. "Where?"

"Forest..."

"Angus! Grab a weapon and get out here! Cluma, run to your father and tell him the same thing. Can you do that?"

I nodded and sniffed. "Hurry..."

"We will."

I ran back out of their house towards my own. People came rushing out of their houses to see what was wrong, but I ignored them. I knew my daddy was the strongest, and it was him I needed. My house came into view; I knew I wasn't allowed in there because they were busy preparing, but Peter was more far important than any party. Daddy came running out before I even got there, attracted by my screaming, and grabbed me.

"What's wrong?"

"Peter... Big monster... In forest..."

"Did you tell Warren."

"Yesh..."

Daddy put me down and started running towards the forest, shouting back, "Get inside and stay there!"

I ran into my house and hid under my bedclothes, crying my eyes out. I kept saying my daddy was a scaredy-cat, yet he was the one running towards the forest, while I was here shaking. Please be safe... All of you... I'm sorry...