Less than halfway down the mountain, Mama starts slowing down. It turns out that, even though gliding down takes less qi than flying up, it still takes a considerable amount. After landing on a flat area, Mama Bloodcat sits down cross-legged with her palms held together and starts meditating in order to restore her lost qi.

I start getting bored, so I decide to start exploring the area. So far, compared to the other side of the mountain, this side of the mountain is quite boring. After breaking several dozen rocks, I haven't found a single piece of rock salt, and there aren't even any wingets. Not that I'm planning to eat wingets or anything. After meeting Mister Winget, Mama decided not to kill wingets anymore, and I did too.

But the only interesting things on this mountain were wingets and rock salt, so without those, I quickly get bored. Making my way back to Mama Bloodcat after about an hour, I find her still meditating.

'How is she able to sit still for so long? And humans train this way for years? Isn't it boring?'

My thoughts are interrupted by Mama Bloodcat as she stands up.

"Shall we go?" she asks.

"Yep!"

After one more pit stop, we finally reach the bottom of the mountain. After looking around for a bit, I make a conclusion.

"This side of the mountain is like the other side, but more boring!"

I haven't found a single strong creature since coming here, and the forest is boring too! There aren't any huge trees to climb or anything!

I look at Mama, "Have you ever been here before?"

She shakes her head, "I have been within those mountains my entire life, this is the first time I have been on this side."

"Ah, so where do you think we should go?"

She points towards the thin silhouette that stretches up into the sky, "We should head there."

I'm about to reply, when I hear some rustling a distance away. I start getting excited, hoping I might finally get to fight a strong creature, but Mama lifts me up and stares towards the direction of the sound, removing her halberd from her storage ring.

"Friend or foe!" she shouts, pointing the tip of her halberd forward.

After a couple seconds, "Friend! Friends, friends, we're friends!"

A group of five middle-aged men emerge from the dense undergrowth, and the man in front is holding his arms up and smiling.

"The name's Gieto, what's yours?"

The man named Gieto looks middle-aged, just like the rest of the men, but he's built almost like a bodybuilder! Just like the rest of the men...

"You may call me Mama Bloodcat." she replies.

Stunned, I pat her on the shoulder with my paw.

"Yes?"

"Um, Mama is just what I call you, it's not really, you know, your name..."

She nods her head in understanding, "Then I will make it my name." she smiles.

I suddenly think back to Mister Winget, whom Mama looked at weirdly for choosing 'Mister Winget' as a name. I wonder if she realizes she just basically did the same thing?

"Excuse me Miss, were you talking to your pet? Is it one of those talking beasts?" asks Gieto, scratching his head.

Mama glares at him, "Of course she can talk, and this is my daughter, not my pet."

I see the men's eyes go wide, and one of them starts whispering to Gieto.

"Uh, you see, we're done with what we were doing here, so we're going to go back..." he says, as the group of men turn to leave.

"Wait. Where do you wish to go back to?" asks Mama

"You know, back to town." says Gieto, as he points behind him.

"What is a 'town'?" asks Mama as she looks at me.

"A town is-"

"I was not speaking to you." before Gieto could finish talking, Mama interrupts him.

She looks back at me, so I explain, "A town is a big group of people that all live together, at least that's what it was in my world."

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Mama nods her head, "So there are gatherings of beings such as that. Each one would be a match for me, yet there are so many living together."

Fearing she misunderstood the situation, I explain, "Mama, I think those are regular humans. They were probably born human, so I don't think they're that strong."

"So they are weak?" Mama glances at the group of men, who look genuinely scared by this point.

"Yeah, you could say that." I nod my head.

Mama nods her head, "Would you bring us with you to this town?"

Gieto flinches and backs up a step, "Yeah, I mean yes, I mean, of course! Please follow us, Mama Bloodcat."

He immediately turns around and starts walking, though it might be closer to running, forward. Mama, still holding me, keeps up with the men easily.

Along the way, the men continually glance back, then turn their heads back just as quickly as if they had seen a monster. Eventually the men start slowing down, then they stop completely, panting heavily.

"Can... can we rest for a while?" asks Gieto meekly.

Mama frowns, "Of course you can."

"Ah, sorry."

"You did nothing to apologize for. Why does everybody keep apologizing to me?" Mama sighs exaggeratedly.

"I... I don't know..." replies Gieto.

"I was not talking to you."

After an hour or so, everyone's fully rested, and we move on. I feel kinda sorry for these poor guys, but my excitement far outweighs my pity. A town! We're actually going to a town of people!

"Hey, how many people live there?" I ask.

No response.

"Hello? Guys?"

Still no response.

"Hello?" Mama calls out.

Gieto answers almost immediately, "Yeah?"

"My daughter asked you a question."

"Ah, sorry, what did she say?"

"Do not apologize." adds Mama.

With their attention now focused on me, I repeat my question.

"How many people live in your town?"

Yet again, no response.

Mama looks annoyed, "Did you not hear her? She asked how many people live in your town!"

The men jump, and Gieto replies, "I-I'm sorry, we couldn't hear anything! Please spare us!"

Mama sighs exasperatedly as she looks up and starts mumbling, "If you did nothing to apologize for, then do not apologize! And even if you do have something to apologize for, why do you think I would harm you for such a petty reason?! Why does everyone think that I mean them harm? Do they take me for a villain?"

As Mama starts pacing in circles, her voice getting louder and louder, I look back at the group of men. Or at least, I look at where the group of men used to be.

"Mama... Mama... Mama!"

Finally getting her attention, I point in the direction of where the men where.

She sighs again, and shakes her head.

"We will continue that way, it will be quicker with just us anyway." she says as she points in the direction that the group of men were leading us.

Mama starts running, still holding me. She keeps sighing and shaking her head on the way, occasionally mumbling to herself.

'I wonder if they really couldn't understand me. Is my universal translator broken?'

After a whole day of searching, we have yet to find any sort of town. Mama has set up a campfire, and we're currently eating some sort of deer we found in the forest. It's not a black eyed creature though, as they seem extremely scarce in this forest. The only black eyed creatures I've seen so far have been a couple sitchles.

Crack!

I hear a branch break deeper in the forest. Almost instinctively, I send my soul in the direction of the sound to investigate. I weave through trees until I finally happen upon the perpetrators.

"Mama!"

Mama Bloodcat, who already has her halberd out, is surveying the forest.

"Yes Lyna?"

"There're a couple kids out there, they are the ones that made the sound. I think they might be lost."

Mama smiles, "If that is the case, we must invite them over."

She puts her halberd back in her storage ring, picks me up, and starts heading towards the source of the sound. Very quickly, we approach a light, and I start hearing hushed whispering.

"Who's there?!" a boy calls suspiciously in our direction.

"Do not worry, I mean you no harm."

Mama slowly walks into view, still holding me. As we near the children, I see a young boy and a young girl, both of which look around 14 years old. They both have blond hair, and very similar facial features. Each possesses what looks like a set of leather armor, with thin metal plates covering their vital areas. There are small cuts and holes in their armor, and the boy's armor even has a dent in the metal plate covering his heart.

The boy is standing his ground while pointing a sword at us, and the girl is standing behind him. The look in their eyes tells me they would fight to the death if need be.

"Go away, or I'll cut you!" the boy glares at us.

"No, this place is dangerous for you. Come with me." Mama says in a slightly authoritative tone, then smiles.

The children continue to stare suspiciously at us for a while, until the girl starts walking towards us.

"Sarah!"

"It's ok Neil, I trust her. Besides, if we don't get help soon, we're going to die anyway!"

Now that I look at them closer, they do seem a bit emaciated.

Mama gasps, "Oh yeah!"

The wooden bracelet on her wrist starts glowing, and then starts releasing a stream of water, which gathers into a ball that floats above her hand.

They stare blankly at the water for a while, until Neil pushes Sarah forward, "Please give her some."

"Of course, you may both have some." Mama smiles.

She asks them both to cup their hands, and then pours water into their hands, refilling them several times. Soon after, they docilely follow us back to camp. At camp, Mama winds up cooking some meat from that deer-like creature, since the children don't want to eat it raw.

As we sit around the campfire, I see Sarah nudge Neil with her elbow.

"What?"

She whispers, "You should say sorry. She just wanted to help us, but you threatened to attack her."

"Why should I say sorry? I would've pointed my sword at anything I didn't trust, it wasn't personal."

As he talks, Mama's eyes start brightening up.

Mama points at Neil and looks at me, "Hahaha! That is right, if you are not sorry, do not apologize! More people should be like that!"

Sarah looks disbelievingly at Mama Bloodcat, while Neil looks at her with sparkling eyes.

"I won't apologize, but I will say thanks. Thank you for helping us." he says as he stands up.

With an 'ah', Sarah gets up and thanks Mama as well, as they both give her a little bow.

She smiles, "You are welcome. Now please, lie down and get some rest. I will return you to your home tomorrow."

Sarah starts fidgeting, "Um, that, your pet, can I..."

She keeps glancing at me.

Mama smiles, "She is not my pet, she is my daughter, her name is Lyna. If you want something, you may ask her."

"Oh, Lyna... could I um, pet you?"

The poor children must have gone through a lot out here. If I'm able to comfort them just by letting them pet me, then I'm happy to oblige. Standing up, I walk over between Sarah and Neil and lie down again.

Sarah releases a little squeal, and practically jumps on me, hugging me and petting me. He acts uninterested at first, but Neil soon joins in as well. Soon after, I have two sleeping children on me, and find myself drifting off to sleep as well.