Zig was on watch when, seven minutes later, TJ dragged himself and the wendigo into town as the sun’s last light disappeared over the horizon. She was, to say in as many words, unimpressed.

“How the hell is it that the big strong guy goes out alone, saying ‘I got this, I’m fine, I’ll help everyone else’ and then comes back a ragged mess, bleeding all over the ground?”

“Call Angelo.” TJ deadpanned. “Any other Disciples too, while you’re at it. Let’s get them some experience. Now hurry. I have about seven minutes left before I bleed out.”

Zig’s face lost all congeniality and mirth as TJ’s words sunk in. “ANGELO! Get your ass out here and heal this man!” She screamed the instruction before sprinting towards the firehouse. TJ felt that the dramatics weren’t necessarily needed… then his HP ticked down by one, and three seconds later, ticked down again, and he felt that maybe it was worth freaking out about. The apathy scared him, and he couldn’t place where it came from. The fear that surged in reaction to Zig’s own washed away the unnatural emotions that had settled into his heart, and TJ felt his heart rate surge even higher than his sprint there had made it. He began to hyperventilate, and fought to calm himself. He still had enough time in his coatl form that the additional HP would keep him alive. He would be fine.

TJ fought to soothe himself as the reality of the closeness of death settled over him. Angelo tumbled out of the house, pulling a pair of pants on as his wild eyes flew everywhere. When TJ Appraised him, he saw he’d leveled up at least some, his displayed level showing Disciple, 4.

“Bro! What the hell happened to you?”

“This.” TJ nodded weakly at the wendigo corpse. “I’ll explain it later, but this–”

“Is that a fuckin’ wendigo?” The young man asked, his jaw dropping.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I knew it already with the pukwudgies, man, but this is something else.” Angelo was beginning to hyperventilate as well, and the inopportune timing had TJ laugh enough to shake himself from freaking out too much.

“What do you mean? You can heal me while you tell me.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. It’s just,” Angelo explained as his hands rested on TJ’s head that was resting on the ground, “So, I’m Navajo. Bloodline of Haashch’eezhini, the Black God. Anyways, I know that Pukwudgies come from the Lenape and Shoshone and some other tribes that have different names for them. At least, I do now that the System told me, but they aren’t my people’s myths. My family and elders never told stories about pukwudgies. I’ve heard of the Wendigo, though. Before the System, before all this crap, I’d heard of the wendigo. That’s something that actually comes from my people. And now, there’s one here. That’s not good. They’re basically frozen zombies, man. Worse than just a zombie, actually. Way worse even than them, though, is what else could be here.”

As Angelo’s mouth continued to run, his hands shook with the adrenaline of having to run out of the house and heal TJ. Or with fear, as his voice too, shook.

“What is it, Angelo?” TJ asked, feeling nervousness rip into his own innards at whatever it was that Angelo feared.

“Yee naaldlooshii.” Angelo whispered before shaking his head. “I shouldn’t say anything. It’s not something we talk about.”

“Why not?”

“These are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders.” Angelo’s tone was brusque and final. “The world’s gone to shit, and I recognize you’re trying your best to help. But you don’t know how my people work, what we believe, or what we’ve seen. You don’t know my history nor our customs. You never will.”

Though he was wholly a snake at the time, TJ tried to raise his hands in a calming gesture. He did nothing but flare his mane as he tried to do so. “It’s cool you know anything about anything. I don’t really have a lot of family history to go back to about my bloodline and I was just curious. I mean, I just know who Kukulkan was, a tiny bit. If there’s anything you want to say, you can. If you don’t, then no worries.”

Angelo nodded once and continued healing TJ. There was a tense silence between them, but TJ didn’t mind it. Everyone had tender nerves, and he’d accidentally pushed Angelo’s. The younger man still willingly healed TJ, and he was grateful. Before long, Angelo stepped away, his face taught with effort.

“That’s all I can manage for now. Getting close to another level, but I’m not there.” Angelo nodded. “You should be fine, no more bleeding. Get some rest. I couldn’t take care of your tail, that might have to be Laura. Any questions?”

“Nope. Sorry for making you get up.”

“See you in the morning.” Angelo nodded and walked back into the hunters’ lodge. TJ dropped his Divine Transformation and stood tall before nearly falling. All the toes on his right foot were numb and unresponsive. When he poked them, he couldn’t feel anything. His panic spiked again at the thought of being unable to walk or run without difficulty. There were so many potential problems with that in this world–He cut himself off from the worrying. It wouldn’t serve him any good, and would do nothing for him.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

At that moment, Zig came running back, Laura in her wake. Though she seemed obviously uncomfortable at the prospect, Laura came with all the speed she could muster, and was obviously focused on coming to help. Knowing how she felt about the sight of blood, TJ was touched. When they both saw TJ mostly whole, Zig slowed down with a stutter step while Laura’s uncomfortable run died with heavy steps.

“You said you were dying!” Zig nearly screamed into TJ’s face while he raised both hands in a helpless gesture.

“And you called for Angelo, who took care of the active bleeding. Wasn’t that the point?”

“But you called for every healer we had, just in case!”

“No, I said we might as well let everyone get experience. I understand I was in a bad state, but with Disciples around here, I was ok. I’m sorry I scared you both, but I merely communicated the gravity of the situation when I arrived. You misunderstood, which I understand, but I just wanted to see if everyone wanted to get some easy levels.”

Laura tried to keep her face calm and collected, but TJ watched as she ground her jaw before speaking. “Is there any reason why I sprinted out here right now?”

“Actually yes, but not because I’m dying. Zig, you should be part of most of this, and I’d guess at least Charlie too should come along. First, Laura, can you heal my feet?”

“There is a reason most of us wear shoes, TJ.” Laura sighed before doing anything.

“Yes. I know, that’s not the point. Half of each of my feet is paralyzed.”

Laura looked at him with a stony face. “That is good information, I suppose.” When her hand reached TJ’s shoulder, though, her face fell.

“I wasn’t kidding.”

“Nor did I think you were. You’ve sustained minor nerve damage to the base of your spine. I don’t know how it’s only your toes that’re affected, but you’re lucky. I’ll see what I can do, but it might be better to take our time while we do so. You said you have something to tell us?”

TJ nodded in agreement, and without any further discussion, Laura sent Zig to get Charlie from wherever he was.

“We’ll meet in the home you’ve been staying in. It’ll be easiest for you not to move as much as possible.” Laura led the way towards the house where TJ and Stanton had been staying. TJ didn’t argue, merely tiredly following her steps until he stood at the door.

“Oh, we’ll need that wendigo corpse here.”

Laura’s lip curled in distaste at the statement. “Is there something I need to see on it?”

“What? No. The claws and horns will definitely be useful though.”

“I got it.” Stanton interrupted, walking out of the house. “Whatever it was, it did a number on you. I’d like to hear what happened.”

“Course. Could have used you.”

“Now you admit it.” Stanton sighed as he grabbed his Stetson from a peg on the door and put it on his head. Though dirty and obviously tired, or maybe because of it, TJ saw something of an old cowboy movie in the old man as he walked out, the light gone out and his silhouette starkly obvious. TJ collapsed to the couch, uncaring of the mess he was making and put his feet up with a groan. Laura pulled a kitchen chair up next to the overstuffed couch and sat straight upright beside his feet.

Without further comment, Laura stretched a hand out and set it lightly on TJ’s feet. A faint tingle flowed into his toes, though it didn’t return full sensation. It wasn’t long before Zig and Charlie jogged up the porch with what would have been unnaturally quick feet before this whole apocalypse thing.

“That’s weird.” Zig said as she flopped into the other couch in the room. Charlie nudged her over with his hip as he sat and she grumbled as she adjusted herself. “Why’re you massaging his feet? You got a thing for it?”

“No, and you know that.” Laura responded primly.

“Why would I know that you don’t have a thing for feet?”

“Zig.” Laura’s disapproving tone had the younger woman raising her hands in mock surrender.

“Got it. Any progress on helping him feel his toes?”

“Yes. We’re going slowly so I don’t exhaust myself. Now, we’ll wait for Stanton to return before TJ gives his important information.”

TJ, now that they had an audience, was quite uncomfortable with laying down with his feet up while the mayor tended to his boo boo. Sure, it was permanently paralytic nerve damage, but he did feel like he was being dramatic. Laura, though, didn’t seem to care whatsoever, keeping a finger on each foot for a moment before shaking her head.

“Would you lay on your stomach? The more I try it this way, the more I feel I’m going about this the wrong way. I suspect the real healing that needs to be done will be on your spine.”

TJ complied and lay down while Laura gently ran a finger down his spine. The tender touch immediately made him tense up–other than Junior, nobody had really touched him since Mari’s death. Though he remained uncomfortable, TJ held still and asked, more to break the silence than anything else, “Charlie, what did you have to do to qualify as a Neophyte?”

“Hm?” Charlie asked, and TJ only then realized the younger man had been murmuring something into Zig’s ear. The artificial redhead’s face matched her hair and Charlie smiled laconically. TJ pushed through the hormonal foolishness and asked again,

“What did you do to qualify as a Neophyte?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. So, my Bloodline is Loki. He was a shapeshifter, and did all sorts of things, kinda tricky, you know? Yeah, so uh–”

“He tricked a deer with mating calls!” Zig interrupted. “But he couldn’t just make it come, he had to make it feel like ‘she’ desperately wanted it!” She dissolved into a puddle of laughter while TJ’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Charlie nodded and sighed.

“A bit awkward, I basically had to moan for it for a while until I was told I succeeded. He ran off before I could catch him or anything. Something about how Loki deceived man and animal alike.”

TJ scoffed. “You act all embarrassed, but I wish that was all I’d had to do.”

After a moment’s silence, Zig asked, leaning forward in curiosity. “How about you?”

Though he didn’t want to answer, all three people in the house looked at him in obvious desire to know. As Stanton dragged the Wendigo up the porch, he poked his head in as well, letting him know that he wasn’t getting off so easily. TJ scratched his head. “I… ate a rattlesnake.”

“You… like, had to cook it?”

“No.” TJ kept his face as stoic as possible.

“How’d you kill it?”

“You probably don’t wanna know.” TJ lifted his head as much as he could manage and finally spoke about why they were there. “Now, I need to tell you about what I saw out there.”