Oddly enough, though Talia was tired when she woke, she wasn’t absolutely exhausted. Almost as if there was a hidden font of stamina somewhere inside her that was drip-feeding her energy for the day.
It took the young woman a while to realize that it wasn’t any kind of new talent. It was that she felt alive. Alive in a way that she realized she hadn’t felt in all her years of life. Back in Karzgorad, life had been good, sure, but it had been…bland. Repetitious and unexciting. She had found her passion, and it entertained her, kept her busy, motivated. But that was it. For almost twenty years, she’d gotten up in the same bed, gone to the same places, and done similar things.
The only spark of interest had come in the form of old knowledge that was new to her. Insight gleaned from books avidly devoured. Wisdom and technique passed down from Reggie or Orvall. The occasional unexpected turn of events.
But now?
Now I travel the depths of the Deep Under on a quest of existential importance. Facing unknowns lurking around every corner, dipping my fingers into troves of knowledge lost to time. Magic and power are at my beck and call, or just within reach.
It was…exhilarating.
In a terrifying sort of way.
Then again, maybe she was being a little too dramatic. Looking too far into it. Maybe it was best to attribute her lack of bone-deep exhaustion to unusual, good cheer and leave it at that. With a shrug and a wisp of a smile, Talia stretched, her arms short enough that she didn’t rap her knuckles against the top bunk.
Looking about for her first task of the day, she found Menace sitting nice and visible on the patch of bedding that she’d painstakingly repaired the night before. His wickedly curved claws dug into the fabric. The little bastard hadn’t ripped it. Yet.
Narrowing her eyes at him, Talia figured that it was the perfect opportunity to try out the new technique she’d witnessed last night.
She sent some mana up through her channels into her mindsense, allowing it to expand out, canvassing the entire encampment before narrowing it down to a tendril. If she looked at it just right, she might be able to call it a thread. Maybe. If she squinted her psionic senses just so.
Focusing as hard as she could on keeping the incorporeal ‘appendage’ as subtle as she could, Talia sent it towards the dim little light of Menace’s mind. She’d start simple. Though she’d noticed through her experience with the Weave-Fragment that a creature’s mind was remarkably resilient, it wouldn’t do to hurt her little furry friend. Even if he was…irritating at times.
The hardest part was settling on which image she wanted to convey. Well, the image wasn’t quite the right word. It was more like a series of sensations and feelings that the feline’s mind would—hopefully— interpret as an image.
The Crescian from the memories started with the temptation first, so we’ll start with that.
Talia filtered the smell and sight of a nice, big piece of jerky through her mindsense. The effect was immediate, parts of the little lynx’s mind lighting up with interest and excitement. His little orange eyes widened a smidge, and he meeped hopefully at her.
Yes! Success!
Just to reinforce the association, Talia brought out a tiny piece of the dried meat from its bag and tossed it at Menace, grinning evilly as he chomped it up. The mirage-lynx looked up at her in his best approximation of a pitiful beg when he realized how little there was.
Puuurrfect.
Now that Talia had confirmed it could work, she moved on to the hard part. She glared at the claws that had begun to tear at her bedding again. She knew what her first target would be. It would take a little digging though.
Closing her eyes, Talia searched through the growing whelpling’s mind for the sensation of retracting his claws. It took a while, but finally, she had gathered up an image that she thought might work. Fingers crossed, she opened her eyes and projected it through the link.
Menace was filled with confusion, shaking his head this way and that, meow-growling a little before looking down at his paws with his head cocked. He sheathed and unsheathed his claws experimentally.
Hmmm. Maybe if I interpose the two ‘commands’?
Talia thought back to what she’d seen the Crescian matriarch in the desert do. Somehow, she’d managed to link the idea of obedience to food, until eventually, the sandwyrms obeyed based on habit. With that in mind, Talia strengthened the image of claws retracting, while also adding in the same image of jerky directly after.
It took a little trial and error, but eventually, she managed to convey that if Menace kept his claws sheathed while on her bed, she would feed him.
Excited, Talia pulled out her journal and flipped to a blank section near the end where she’d been recording her notes on magic. At first, she’d considered doing so using the cipher that Reggie had taught her—the one he used to protect trade secrets— but doing so was tedious, and her journal was usually in her bunk if it wasn’t in her bag.
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Jotting down her progress, Talia turned back to the confused feline, ready to tackle another set of commands. She had no illusions that it would stick without constant reminders, but the idea wasn’t necessarily to develop instant obedience. It was to foster trust and reward good behaviour.
The desert matriarch had also…punished disobedience, but Talia couldn’t bring herself to go that far. She’d already killed Menace’s mother, she wasn’t about to start hurting him physically—or psionically. At the end of the day, she didn’t want a mindless slave. Nor did she really want a pet, in the narrow sense of the term. She wanted a…companion of sorts.
Besides, he was pretty useless and borderline feral at the moment, but once the whelpling had grown into his full size, well… he’d be a force to be reckoned with. If she ever decided she wanted to continue delving after she was done with this expedition, it would be nice to have at least one ‘person’ she could count on unconditionally.
But that was far off. First, she had to get him to behave. And preferably teach him to remain hidden. He’d been doing good on his own so far, but the rapidly healing gash on her stomach was a reminder that for all his survival instincts, he was still a stupid kitten at times.
A quick peek out of her bunk curtain to check wagon two’s time-keeping trinket told her she still had some time before the first meal was served, so Talia decided to sequester herself in her bunk and get as much training done with Menace as she could. Better to get a jumpstart on it while things were still calm. Besides, Osra’s help with her arcanistry meant that the young woman had more time to dedicate to other things than she thought. Likely, they would be able to finish her final projects with time to spare for installation.
Probably. If everything went well.
And why wouldn’t it? Today is going to be a good day.
----------------------------------------
Talia was so focused on her task that a quick knock on the wood of her bunk was the only warning Talia got before Zaric’s head popped in through the curtain.
“Hey Talia, you awake? Osra mentioned som— ohmygodswhatthehellisthat!!”
Menace eeped and blinked from view before he scampered off, leaving Talia frozen before the incredulous mage-commander. Her excitement at having gotten through to the kitten faded away to worry over how the man would react. The initial reaction was…not promising.
“Er—Zaric! Hi! Would you believe me if I told you I have no idea what you’re talking about?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
The man’s face went flat and he stepped into the little space between the curtain and her bunk, dragging the fabric closed behind him. The space was too cramped for him to look imposing, but his facial expression and the arms crossed across his chest were enough to convey his feelings.
“Not a chance. Now spill.”
Talia stuttered and her expression fell. She grappled with worry over her furry friend and knowing she’d been caught. Finally, she settled on telling the truth. Better to ask forgiveness than permission in some cases—some miscreant rogue had probably said that at some point, she was sure. Besides, Zaric had proven to be pretty easygoing so far.
“So…remember the mirage lynxes?” she ventured.
Zaric raised an eyebrow.
“The giant, invisible cats that tore into the guts of quite a few of our compatriots? How could I forget?”
Talia winced.
“Right—er…yea. It’s kind of a long story, you might want to sit,” she said, waving to the opposite end of her bed, “So basically, one of them had a cub. Nothing more than a whelp. He was barely larger than my arm when I first saw him. I figured he’d run off into the Under and died, but then…”
The story babbled out of her until Zaric knew everything. Finding the cub in its mother’s pouch, discovering it hiding in her bunk, its shenanigans, how adorable it was, and how bad she felt for orphaning it. She considered showing him the healing scars on her abdomen but figured that wouldn’t help her case.
By the end of it, she sent out a psionic tendril toward where Menace was hiding and exhorted him to show himself. Luckily, it worked, and she fed him some of the jerky she’d had on hand for his good behaviour.
The mage-commandrum seemed at a loss, but his eyes softened a smidge as he saw just how small and scared the kit looked. His sigh could have cleared the dust from ancient tombs.
“You know, as far as colleagues go, you’re probably the most troublesome I’ve ever had,” Zaric grumbled, running a palm over his bald head.
Talia cringed and lowered her eyes, preparing herself for the worst.
Can I erase memories? Should I? No, stop, that’s too far. You don’t know what crossing that line means. Just…wait. Worst case you hide Menace and then release him when he can take care of himself—
“But your heart is in the right place, I think,” Zaric continued.
Talia let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise you won’t hear a peep for the rest of the journey! I’ll make—”
The mage-commandrum put up a hand to stop her, his face set like unyielding stone.
“Wait! I approve of your sentiment, and I can even understand it. It’s also great practice for your abilities. But if your little pet hurts anyone, I’ll put it down. You hear me?”
Talia nodded her head vigorously, and her heart swelled.
“Clear as crystal. Like I said, he’s pretty skittish, and I’m trying to train him to behave. It’ll take some work, but Menace will be an asset, you’ll see.”
The mage-commandrum’s eyebrows rose up onto his forehead.
“…Menace?”
Talia scratched the back of her neck.
“Er— that’s what I called him, yea.”
“You took in a wild, feral, ambush predator, in the hopes of training him, and decided to name him…Menace?” he repeated, his eyes wide with incredulousness.
Talia grimaced sheepishly.
“Hmmmm… When you say it like that, it does sound a little—”
“Stupid?” he completed for her, “Thoughtless?”
Zaric shook his head, staring at the little kitten perched on Talia’s backboard. The little fluffball was crouched with his fur all puffed up, his tail curled up beneath his legs.
“It was funny when I thought of it, and I was tired, and it fit and…there you have it,” Talia grouched.
Zaric stood with a grin.
“Well, it’s not going to stay comedic forever, but as long as he doesn’t live up to it, we’ll be fine,” he drawled, “now come on, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Osra this excited to do anything, so you’d best not keep her waiting.”
Talia hesitated.
“You’re not going to do anything about him? Really?”
Zaric looked back at her, hand already parting the curtain.
“How do you think we got tunnel drakes to pull our wagons? Someone had to take the plunge and capture a breeding pair. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll find a female, and the guild will have another resource to pull from.”
“Huh. I hadn’t considered that. I was just…acting, not thinking, really,” Talia replied.
Zaric rolled his eyes.
“The prerogative of the young. Though to be fair, I think even the most heartless veteran delver would hesitate, given how cute he is.”
Talia beamed.
“He is pretty cute, isn’t he?” she crowed, feeding Menace the last of the jerky she’d been using for training before getting up to follow the mage.
Phew, crisis averted. Now I just have to make sure the little bugger doesn’t slash anybody’s throat.