After enjoying the celebratory festivities of Sporga city for some time following the gladiatorial games' conclusion, Lucinda had spent more time training in the forest with Waflaw. Her intention had always been to try her best to improve her own skills, but the impressive showing by the varied assortment of spectators in the mêlée – especially the Druid woman – had left her more determined than ever. All of which, led to her experiencing some disappointment when she awoke the following morning to find her Lynx form was still only rank 3. But, with five full days before the Druid gathering was due to take place, she knew she still had plenty of time to keep at it.

“Anything in particular you want to do before we head off to the gathering?” Waflaw asked over a light breakfast.

“Training!” Lucinda responded without a moment’s pause.

“We can do that, of course.” Waflaw smiled faintly in the face of Lucinda’s forceful demand. “You’re still set on trying out adventuring?”

“Did you think watching the games would change my mind?”

Waflaw chuckled loudly. “You got me there. Well, in that case, maybe we should think about parting ways after the gathering.”

“Oh…” Lucinda let the piece of bread that had been on its way to her mouth fall back down to her lap, as she turned her full attention to Waflaw. “I guess so…”

“You’re more than ready.”

“Thanks, I think so too. It’s just… You’ve been so good to me, and…”

“Woah,” Waflaw interrupted. “Save the teary goodbyes until after the gathering!”

“It wasn't going to be teary!” Lucinda scowled at her mentor, but the amused grin he returned soon had her laughing instead.

“Anyway,” Waflaw continued once things had quietened down. “My point was, this could be the last chance we have to enjoy each other’s company.”

“My mother’s words keep proving to be true, men really are all the same…”

Lucinda’s teasing didn’t fail in making Waflaw laugh, just as she’d hoped.

“That wasn’t what I was implying, actually,” Waflaw stated matter-of-factly. “You can save that for the gathering. I meant something more like the arena.”

“Wait… What? What about the gathering?”

“Hmm? Right, guess I haven’t told you yet.”

“Told me what!?”

“There’s one more aspect of Druid life that you should know about. But, it can wait a bit still.”

Waflaw’s grin highlighted just how much he was enjoying teasing Lucinda with his words. Unfortunately, Lucinda’s responding frown only seemed to increase his enjoyment of the situation.

“Mmm…Fine.” Lucinda finished the remainder of her bread in a few mouthfuls. “I’m still okay with training,” she continued. “The arena was enough fun to last me until the gathering, though I am a bit worried about that now…”

“I'm sure you'll enjoy it.” Waflaw winked as he spoke his last word, leaving Lucinda somewhere between annoyance and amusement. “But, if training is what you want, then I’ll be sure to give you a good workout. How about we walk for a bit, and then fly to somewhere a bit more private?”

Lucinda shook her head in exacerbation. “Don’t try and tell me that wasn’t on purpose! I said training, not other things…”

Waflaw bellowed out his mirth for all to hear. “If there’s one thing I’m going to miss about our time together, it’s how enjoyable it is to wind you up. Anyway, you ready?”

“Are we ready, Marrow?” Lucinda smiled warmly at her bird companion, who had been standing patiently beside her during breakfast.

“Friend!”

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Through the wilderness they walked, maintaining a predominantly eastern direction. Lucinda started the journey off in Lynx form, but returned to human form when she found she had a few questions for her mentor.

“What will you do afterwards?”

“Hmm, what, indeed.” Waflaw seemed to take in the surroundings as Lucinda waited for him to continue. “Might be time to head north again. Visit my Shifter friend and let him know about you.”

“You never did say where he was.”

“Mulbar Tuth. A country far to the north, and a bit east, probably. Not the nicest place to visit, truth be told. They don’t mind Shifters, but they also don’t mind everything else.”

“Mmm, I think I remember it from school. Will you travel through Raefras?”

“Around it more likely. Water’s too cold for my shark form. Have an interest in that barren icy wasteland, do you?”

“Not really… But, I’d like to visit everywhere I can at least once. Oh, what other places don’t mind Shifters?”

“Well, Loquram, my homeland for one. You just have to head east, cross two oceans, and you’ll find it easily enough. More generally, the further away from Prilemia you are, the less likely people dislike Shifters. It’s a sad fact, but it’s true.”

“I was born in the wrong country…” Lucinda’s sad tone only elicited an amused chuckle from her mentor.

“Maybe. But, would you still be you if you were born elsewhere?”

“Yes? How could I not be?”

“Don’t ask me.” Waflaw shrugged. “Was just something I heard from a Wizard this one time. We were gambling, and he was drunk. Possibly mad too.”

“Mmm, okay.” The strange idea lingered in Lucinda’s mind as they continued walking through the rolling grassland. “You never did tell me what those plans of yours were. Was that it? Or was there more?”

“And here I was thinking you’d forgotten all about that. If you must know, my super-secret plan was to reach level 40 in the reasonably near future. Of course, I’ll get there eventually, assuming I don’t get killed somehow. I’m even quite far ahead of the curve, traditionally speaking. But, I’m pretty sure there are some powerful things waiting for me, and I don’t feel like waiting. Well, too much anyway.”

“How high is 40? I mean, how much higher can people reach?”

“Now there’s a question. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of anyone being higher than 50, but then again people are so secretive about levels that might not mean much. Maybe you should try bedding Saseligan and then asking him.”

“… Is this you getting back at me for refusing to switch seats with you in the arena? We just talked… I didn’t have any other plans.”

“Hmm, sorry,” Waflaw said, looking genuinely regretful as he did. “That wasn’t my intent, really. Just another little joke. Well, the bedding him part was at least. If anyone knows more, he’d be a good place to start. Don’t tell him I said that, though.”

The small hurt Lucinda had experience at Waflaw’s words didn’t last long, and was helped on its way by a reminder of her mentor’s unyielding dislike of Wizards.

Lucinda remained in human form all the way up until Waflaw felt it was time for them to take to the skies. In preparation for their aerial journey, Marrow had once again ridden on Wollow’s back, and Lucinda was glad to see the that the two of them seemed to get on quite well after their two days spent together. That Wollow had somehow conscripted Marrow into scratching his back and neck with her beak, was in Lucinda’s eyes, as amusing as it was adorable.

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Safely tucked away in the pack clutched tightly in Marrow’s talons, Lucinda was once again filled with elation and joy as she looked over the distant ground below. The sight of Sporga city from above was as impressive as ever, yet, her eyes kept wandering to the east, searching for some sign of the distant Druid home. With the vast expanse of green wilderness visible to the north and east of the city, she knew her chances of spotting anything were slim, but that did not stop her trying. As for locations to train in, Lucinda was dearly hoping to stop somewhere close to a wide river, or lake. It was a fact that taking a dip in a suitable body of water after a hard day’s work was something to hope for, especially on sunnier days – which the current day most certainly was.

Following closely behind Waflaw’s large avian form, Lucinda was in the middle of trying to explain the concept of coin to Marrow, when a small bird swooped out of nowhere and landed upon Waflaw’s back. It took Lucinda only a moment to recognise it as a falcon of some kind, but that didn’t help her puzzle out its purpose.

“Can you get closer to Waflaw?” Lucinda asked her animal companion.

“Fly!” Marrow’s mental voice was tinged with indignation.

“I know you’re great at flying! I was just asking nicely.”

Marrow expertly demonstrated just how adept at flying she was, by bringing Lucinda close enough to Waflaw’s large tail feathers for his wing beats to be worryingly loud. From her new position, she was able to observe the small passenger bird more closely, and watch as it hopped about on Waflaw’s back. It was a particularly strange sight, but Lucinda’s growing suspicion about the situation soon turned out to be true, as the bird began changing shape before her eyes.

“Hello!” a leather-clad woman shouted, waving one hand in Lucinda’s direction. “Heading my way?”

Lucinda’s amusement at seeing the Druid woman from the arena descend onto Waflaw’s back mid-air, and then ask such a nonchalant question to boot, was enough to bring several short meows from her feline form – though she doubted they were heard over the rush of wind.

“Change!”

“Yep, she’s a Druid. She fought in the arena as a mountain lion. See?”

To demonstrate her point, Lucinda added a vivid recollection from the gladiatorial games. The whole experience was fresh in her mind, and highly memorable, but her choice of moment was when the handsome Rogue, Andil, had been defeated so thoroughly by the woman currently sitting on Waflaw’s back.

“Heavy,” Marrow complained, as she received the mental image of the mountain cat in action.

“Aww, if you were as big as Waflaw, you could carry her easily, I’m sure!”

“Big?”

“No, I don’t think you’ll grow any more. But, you should get stronger.”

“You should join me,” Waflaw’s passenger shouted. “There’s space a plenty!” The woman’s patting of Waflaw’s feathered back was amusing, but hardly enough to encourage Lucinda to accept her offer.

“Fly?”

“No! Too dangerous…”

Ah, I guess I could shift to dragonling if I did fall off…

“Not scared are ya?” Even flying through the air as they were, the woman’s teasing smile was obvious. After a brief pause, she turned to address Waflaw. “Hows about we land sometime soon?”

Lucinda was intensely curious as to how Waflaw was reacting to the situation, but other than a single short shriek he'd released, she had no way of knowing. Not long after the Druid woman’s request, Marrow was forced to alter her trajectory to match the sudden descent of the much larger bird. They touched down in a grassy savannah, which was filled with all manner of vegetation, and void of any signs of civilisation except for a distant village or town to the south.

“…And she is?” the woman asked as Lucinda was finishing her transformation back into human form.

Having heard no response from her mentor by the time she reached human form, Lucinda opted to respond herself.

“I’m Lucinda. And this is my companion, Marrow.” Lucinda reached down to give her bird companion a quick pet on her head. “I saw you at the arena; you were really impressive!”

Holding out a hand to the dark-haired woman, Lucinda smiled as she took in her appearance. In terms of age, she seemed to be slightly older than Waflaw, while her warm blue eyes and friendly smile, only served to increase Lucinda’s opinion of her.

“Cute bird,” the woman replied as she knelt down and offered a pat of her own. “Grissa,” she added as she stood up and grasped Lucinda’s hand firmly. “What can I say? The other guys were wimps.”

“I seem to remember you losing,” Waflaw commented.

“Hah, I’d like to see you do better handicapped like that!”

“Some of us prefer to keep a low profile.”

“Landing in the arena as a giant eagle is what you call keeping a low profile? Looked like showing off to me.”

“You’d rather I let him die?”

“Oh please, as if they’d have let him!”

“Maybe not, but I chose not to risk it. Besides, very few people realised it was me, and the same can’t be said for you.”

“Yeah, well unlike you, I got a bag of gold out of it.”

Grissa’s words did not seem to sit well with Waflaw, who stared intently at her as she did the same to him. Lucinda looked between the two of them a few times before finding her voice.

“Do you two know each other?” she asked.

“No,” Waflaw and Grissa replied at the same time.

“Umm, okay.” Lucinda looked between them a few more times in rapidly increasing confusion. “Are you heading somewhere?” she asked Grissa.

“Smart kid,” Grissa said to Waflaw as her friendly expression returned.

Lucinda frowned in mild annoyance at the unwanted affectation. “I’m not a kid…”

“Yeah? What would you call someone who’s around half your age?”

“…A kid.”

“There you go then.”

“But, that’s not…!” Lucinda’s retort fell flat as Grissa burst into laughter, and her annoyance only increased further as Waflaw joined in.

“Relax girl, I’m just messing with ya. With tits like those ain’t no one making that mistake.”

“Umm… thanks?” Lucinda managed as her cheeks flushed bright red.

“Hope you’re not trying to foul my poor apprentice’s mind,” Waflaw directed at Grissa, though from his expression Lucinda knew he was still more amused than actually concerned.

“Come off it.” Grissa shook her head at Waflaw. “What girl her age hasn’t heard far worse?”

“Well, she was raised to be a Cleric of Hefnopt. Of course, I’ve tried my best to educate her since, but it’s been tough.”

“A Cleric?” the free-speaking woman said as she affixed Lucinda with a curious stare. “Sounds like a tale worth hearing. Or you saving that for the party?”

“Umm, should I be? I don’t really know what to expect…”

“Oh-ho, your dear mentor keeping you in the dark, is he?” Grissa’s attention returned to Waflaw. “Guess you’re not as stuck-up as I thought.”

“I know how to have a good time,” Waflaw replied with his eyes locked on Grissa.

“Do you, now?”

Watching the two Druids stare at each other so intently, Lucinda soon found herself growing slightly embarrassed.

“Are you two sure you don’t know each other?” she asked.

“Yes,” Grissa replied, as she turned back to face Lucinda. “Got anything planned before the meet-up?”

“We were going to train. I’m trying to get one of my forms to rank 5. Or maybe more than one.”

“Fair enough.” Grissa nodded affably. “What kind of training we talking?”

“Waflaw usually summons some animals…”

“Boooring,” Grissa interrupted. She turned to Waflaw. “You call that training? And I was starting to think you were alright…”

“In case you haven’t figured it out yet,” Waflaw responded. “She’s the Shifter. Which means she gains experience from ranking up her forms.”

Grissa frowned at the rebuke, but Lucinda wasn’t surprised when she refused to back down. “Still boring. We should take her to do some real fighting. You checked the area recently?”

“I haven’t.”

“Then I will.”

Grissa began casting a familiar spell. One that Lucinda knew would take at least 10 minutes to complete. Sharing an amused smile with her mentor, Lucinda sat down in the grass and brought Marrow onto her lap.

“My companion’s on his way,” Grissa said. “Name’s Grussi. He’s a cougar.”

“Oh, nice!" Lucinda replied. "I don’t have that form yet.”

“Give it time, you’ll get there,” Grissa replied, bringing a short burst of raucous laughter from Waflaw.

“…What?” Lucinda asked her mentor with a deep frown on her brow.

“Don’t worry about it,” Waflaw said with a lingering smile on his face, before he turned to Grissa. “Maybe you could tell us more about yourself? Now that you’ve ambushed us, and forced us into captivity.”

“Guess that’s fair…” Grissa replied. “Dunno if there’s much to tell, though.”

“You expect me to believe a fearsome gladiator such as yourself doesn’t have some stories to share?”

“Yeah, I have some. No need to be sarky, though.”

“Who says I was?”

Lucinda once again found her gaze flicking between the two Druids as they remained focussed on each other. For a more worldly individual, a conclusion might have been more easily reachable. But, Lucinda still got there in the end.

Ohh… That’s how it is! Aww wait, does this mean no more gifts?

The minutes passed by quickly as Grissa spoke of her past exploits. Lucinda enjoyed listening to her speak, but was also amused to note how much attention Waflaw was paying to the other Druid. By the time the lengthy spell finished, Lucinda was already scheming how best to tease Waflaw about the situation, while simultaneously hoping that she hadn't read it incorrectly.

With a pleased grin on her face after the spell's visual effects had dissipated, Grissa addressed her audience once more. "Got something. What's small and starts with a 'K'?"

"Please tell me it's not kittens. Or baby kangaroos," Lucinda replied.

"You think I'm a monster? They're not animals."

"Some might disagree with that claim," Waflaw countered with a faint smile on his lips. "Where are they then?"

"A cave to the north. You mind flying me there? Could use a break after that spell."

"Works for me. Let's get going."

"Sure," Lucinda agreed.

Of course, he doesn't complain when she asks… Maybe I need to be more assertive in the future? Or older than him? Or maybe it's just because it's her.

"Come on, Marrow. Time to go flying again."

"Friend! Fly!"