A Cabin in the Forest – Year 1344, Month 1, Afternoon of the 10th. Spring

Olea Munroe

“Don’t look surprised now!” came the quick reply from the tiny little bird.

“You never talked before, really what am I supposed to do with this?” I was beginning to seriously doubt whether I ever woke up from my bout of unconsciousness. “Also, did you shrink, again?”

“I never really had the chance to chat with you before, you latch onto other people very easily.”

“John is right outside, how is that different than all the people I’ve been with before? Hell, I’ve been alone a lot. Last night is a good example, wouldn’t you say.” Having a sentient, nay sapient creature along on my adventure and not even noticing an inkling of its intelligence; what did that say about me?

“John knows what I am. Sort of, in broad strokes at least. He has a similar bond with his creatures to call.” Came the reply from the bird.

I was getting somewhat annoyed having to converse with a creature that made me doubt my sanity, okay, my limited sanity. New world, new people, new culture, new rules for everything and everyone. It was all a bit much sometimes, but I could cope, right? Sharing a bond with an animal was a thing all on its own when said animal could speak. Not bark, chirrup, or just caw; but talk.

“It feels far too strange talking to a bird.” I admitted aloud. “At least talking to Help-chan lets me believe it’s more of an imaginary friend, even if I know it’s not true. It isn’t quite as hard to wrap my head around.” I stood up and started to pace in small little circles, more to see if it would make me dizzy and thus give me evidence to being awake than to help me think.

“I know this whole world is quite different that mine, you do know I come from another world, don’t you?” I turned to look at the bird as I finished speaking. Also, yes, I did get dizzy. I was probably awake; I doubt my experiment had zero scientific evidence to suggest it was a feasible idea.

“I do! I was born the moment you arrived.”

“Okay, what?”

“I was born when you arrived. Before you got here that night, I was just a wisp of energy in the cosmos. Now, I’m alive.”

“So, you just did not exist, at all?”

“Nope, didn’t exist! I came into being with a slew of memories and base knowledge the very instant you arrived. I’d have said hi that first night, but you were running super-fast, and I was still new to flying. I know for sure I would not have been able to keep up, whether I ran or flew.”

“Why would you run anyway, you’re a bird. Never mind that.” I wasn’t entirely sure about this development, but the more time I spent talking with the bird the more I felt as if it was all useless. I was somewhat shocked at first but was this not somewhat expected? I was sure the world had a lot more it could throw at me than one talking bird.

Hell, Help-chan insisted that he had a body somewhere else, or at least a soul somewhere else. Could you just be a soul without a body, though? Future questions, again. This was not too big a thing to manage, I am fairly sure I had just failed to fully unpack all my stupid feelings over the past few days. A week? That did not seem to be right, though I did not have a calendar, hell I did not even know the calendar they used on this planet. I am sure it must be similar to earth, if only because the pantheon seems to consist of threes and twelves.

“Blah! Okay, so what now? You are my bonded companion; do you know what that means? I, myself, did not get that particular memo.” Maybe the bird knew. The bird knew… so weird.

“It means we share a bond.”

“Are you being vague intentionally to mess with me?” I was starting to think the bird was messing with me and acting the part of an idiot.

“Maybe?” It shot back as the only reply. Bastard.

“Specifics, what does it mean that you are my bonded companion?”

“I am not.”

“What do you mean, I thought we were bonded.”

“We are. You are only half right though. We are bonded companions; you are my bonded just as I am yours. It is a two-way connection, meaning we make each other more. We are more together, a normal bonded companion gains nothing from the one to whom they are bonded.”

“Oh. Well… yeah. So, what do you get from me for this connection?”

“I get to be alive.”

“Is that all, no fancy razor-sharp feathers or super speed and strength?”

“I do have other powers, though I am not sure they are directly related to you. I like to think they are mine because I am especially impressive.”

“Ok, I’ll bite. What other powers?” If this bird could summon mighty gusts of wind or use razor wings, I would be impressed. A little.

“Shape-shifting and some magic skills. I recently got Wind Walk and some neat Creation magic!”

Did that mean… would the bird gain spells as I learned spells.

“Help-chan, do you know if we share the same skills and spells?”

‘I do not. This is something I am unfamiliar with; I do not believe even my original mind has experienced this phenomenon as I do not recall anything quite like it in any of my current memories.’

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“How long have you known those spells then?” I was curious to know if I was correct, I also wanted to know how skills would translate to my new friend. I did not think he would be using daggers and walking on water, let alone why he would need certain perks of the wind walk spell. Maybe he could use the small platform creation to just sit in the middle of the sky while staring down at people. That would be an imposing sight, though it might just get him killed by some superstitious guards or something if he was seen to be possessed. Who knew?

“An hour ago? Time is weird. I don’t have much experience with it yet, and your memory of clocks and stuff is still kind of fuzzy.”

“Wait, you can read my mind too?” Would I have no privacy, at all? Really? Really, what the bloody hell.

“No, I was born with memories of how I came to be and why. I also obtained a snapshot of your old memories. No new ones, I think that was intentional so we could be friends and share a commonality while still being separate creatures able to grow into being individuals, separate and alike.” It cocked its head to the side while turning to stare at me with just one eye before shouting, “Like real companions!”

Then it began to caw and cackle as birds tend to do when they find food or just want to be annoying. I think it was laughing at its almost-joke, hard to tell. It did however confirm that we likely share a skills and spells list. Probably.

I walked back to my bunk and took a seat. My back still itched reminding me that I should probably attempt to use Cure Wounds again. For a moment I wondered about the possibility of diminishing returns, as I had seen several scars on John’s exposed arms, but I chalked it up to the guy being so antisocial that no healers would treat him. His physical regeneration was probably quite substantial.

“Fine, okay. Let’s get this finished up then, before John walks in and you have to either fill me in while helping him catch up, or we postpone the whole thing. I’d rather we did not postpone your big reveal because I really want to know what you can do and what that could mean going forward. I’ll deal with my mental whiplash later.” This conversation was going on for an entirely uncomfortable amount of time, I really just wanted to get out of here. I wanted to start moving, assess my skills, see some friendlier faces that didn’t stare at me with annoyance, or the blue-black eyes of an almost raven. “What else can you do, you mentioned shapeshifting; does that have something to do with you changing size from time to time?”

“Yes, yes it does.”

“Could you give me a look-see? Like make yourself bigger or smaller, something? I have noticed you are sometimes smaller than you are now, while that time you saved me from the rat you were closer to the size of a medium dog.”

I watched as the bird began to shrink before my eyes, feathers and feet shrinking ever so slowly while keeping to the natural scale of a creature its size. Never quite changing the basic shapes and angles of his oil-slick pattern of blacks and purples, blues and greens, the colors always came in shifting pairs as if introducing only one color to the blend at a time was impossible. It did in a way remind me of my own hair color, and it sort of made sense as we shared some mystical bond that I would have some of its characteristics. I’d rather have had the wings, honestly. Unfair.

After the bird returned to its normal size but didn’t stop there, apparently it would show me the reverse. It slowly swelled to a larger size, keeping to the same scaled image of its original form. Claws skittered and scraped along the boards underneath the creature as its claws elongated and thickened, leaving shallow furrows in the unprotected fibers of the wood. Before long I was looking at a dark bird, still resembling a raven that was nearly the size of a Scottish mastiff. I wasn’t sure if it would be able to fly with its increase in weight and size, but then again, Magic.

“That is impressive, can you still fly?” I had to ask. Maybe I could catch a ride via air-Brutus.

“I can, though I can do more. Care to see?”

“I guess so, though if you get too big it may be best to do it while not on something you could break. That would make us terrible treehouse-guest.” I wasn’t entirely sure if the bird had an upper limit, if not we may need to inform Godzilla that he has a new rival. Okay, that would be a stretch, but I was not ruling things out at this stage.

“Oh no, not bigger. Just more.” The bird assured me in that firm voice, the voice was just strange coming from a bird.

As I watched on, I noticed the wings begin to shrink and the head condensed down. Totally unlike the previous display this time it seemed to be actually shifting its shape, truly shape-shifting then.

The beak disappeared slowly into its mass of dark feathers and creased facial skill while its feathers shortened. The legs began to lengthen and thicken, while strange pops and weird squishy sounds could be heard coming from under the feathers. Soon the feathers were gone, and a haze formed in the air, a haze of black and blue motes with a smattering of red and orange streamers that seemed to slide through reality.

“Oh god, it’s a magical girl transformation.”

Sure enough, three seconds after this all started, I was now watching the smoke clear. It seemed like smoke, magical smoke, was magical smoke a thing or was it mist? Either way I was now looking at a more easily identified form of a man.

“So… this is the more? Is there any more or can I start to process?”

“No more. No more for now? I can’t quite commit to saying never more, but I can say for now, no more.”

“Was that intentional?”

“Yes, I couldn’t shift forms without intent. So, by that rule I will admit it was intentional.”

Poe reference aside, he was now a man. His form, fully clothed in a dark shirt with long sleeves that ended just above the wrist and rather form fitting black pants was that of an average, or this world’s average male specimen.

I noticed his ears had that same slight tapering edge to the tips as mine did, so maybe part of my own half-elf characteristics there? His eyes were a midnight blue, not black as they had been in his raven form. Little swirls of gray could be seen almost circling the iris as the light bounced back from their depths.

He was still sitting, which made his height hard to guess. He was definitely taller than my five or so feet in height. I would really need to get a proper measurement of my height.

“Can you take this form whenever you want, is there a timer or some mana requirement that is hard to meet?” Find the rules, there had to be limits to transformation skills right. Maybe he had to be in the presence of yours truly before he could activate the skill, or he needed permission. It could be that he needed to sacrifice some other creature to refill his stores of energy.

Calm down. Deep breaths, Olea. It’s my companion, I am sure it is perfectly safe and not some dark being from the Nether Realm of Eldritch Horrors.

“It just makes me hungry. Very, very hungry.”

“Do you need food, what do you eat? More rats, bugs, nuts, maybe souls?”

The man-thing laughed then, a bright and cheerful sound coming up deep from within its wide chest. There was muscle there. “I eat food, and souls are not food. I’m not a demon.”

As he finished his chuckling he stated simply, “Create Food.” Just like that he was holding a small handful of mushrooms in varying colors. I will admit that I was rather upset again, I had not gotten to use the spell I earned before my stupid new bonded companion had.

“Argh, fine. I’m done, show and tell is over. We should get going, I am sure there is so much more you can tell me about how awesome it is to be you, but we should get going before John comes and finds me alone in a room with a man he doesn’t know. He might just kill you.” I grinned as I tugged on my own shoes making sure they were secure before I stood up and walked to the door, remembering to channel Cure Wounds through my hands as I rubbed my back. “Please change back into a bird for now, we can catch up when we get to wherever we are supposed to be going.”

I closed the door behind me as walked out into the sunshine of a beautiful and strange new day. The beginning of a new chapter in my life. I also ignored the questioning voice behind me as it asked, “What the hell did I do?”