“Here you go,” Zachary said and placed a piece of seaweed on the ground.

The turtle’s head extended quickly and snapped it up, chopping the slippery green plant into pieces. In a few breaths, it swallowed the morsel and even licked its beak as if to ask for more.

“Brother turtle, have another. A token of my apology.”

Another stalk of seaweed disappeared into its bottomless stomach. He wasn’t sure if the beast was male or female but he felt that calling it brother turtle was more friendly.

“This is the last one. There will be more tomorrow.”

The turtle finished that piece as well and then looked all over, expecting more. It turned back to him and barked to express its dissatisfaction.

“Wan! Wan!”

The turtle was quite a glutton. It reminded him of the sea dogs of Warton. Although they had owners and were cared for, they would always fight each other for scraps of fish, whether it was in the ocean or the streets.

Zachary showed his empty palms and said helplessly, “I don’t have any more at the moment. This seaweed comes from my friend Sugo. But you have already eaten a lot. You just have to be patient.”

The beast seemed to understand his intention and bobbed its head. It then examined the vine ropes wrapped tightly around its shell before looking back at him with expressive eyes and a silent plea.

Zachary debated the issue with himself. If he freed the turtle, he was most afraid of it running away and never appearing again. But if he didn’t free it and this led to resentment, he might never be able to befriend it. He didn’t want either to happen so it was a difficult decision.

He squatted down so that they were closer to eye level so that he wasn’t talking down to it, so that they would have a closer connection.

“You won’t run away, will you?” He asked. “I’ll miss you if you leave.”

The turtle tilted its head.

He sighed and gestured around them, “I am stuck on this island. I want to get back to the surface but…”

He offered his limp left arm and continued, “I can’t exactly climb out of here. I can’t swim very well either and I’m afraid I’ll get lost in the underground rivers. What would you do in my situation?”

The turtle tilted its head in the other direction.

He chuckled to himself, “Alright, alright. I am not a heartless person. I want to be your friend so I have to first show my sincerity.”

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Zachary rubbed an orb on his belt and brought out Onkie. The turtle shrank away at the sight of the ball of brown fur, no doubt remembering its ferocious actions before. It retreated into its shell and only a part of its head was visible.

“Don’t worry. Onkie won’t hurt you. She is really nice, I promise. Onkie, go chew through those vines.”

At his direction, Onkie went and freed the turtle from its shackles. She then snorted a few times and stomped on the ground in an attempt at a warm gesture before she returned to his side.

“See? Totally harmless.” He said with a smile, “So, back to the matter of seaweed. If you wait until tomorrow, I promise that I will have some more for you.”

“Waa?”

“That’s right, tomorrow.”

Zachary got up and left the turtle there. He went to the beach and sat down on a rock that overlooked the lake. He knew that too much attention too quickly wouldn’t make the turtle like him faster, it would instead make it more suspicious of his intentions. He had learned this from dealing with Yaoyao and it had been a mistake that cost him an extra month of effort.

“Onkie, I have to help Whiskers and Sugo heal. Keep an eye on our guest for me. Let me know if it tries to leave.”

“On!”

“Good.”

For the rest of the day, Zachary focused on healing Whiskers and Sugo. He used all three anima crystals he got from the stone skin lizards and even a few more he had saved up. Whiskers was at the Eight Paths Novice Rank so it required a lot of soul energy. It was also heavily wounded and it was not just a matter of resources but also time. Even if he had all the anima crystals in the world, Whiskers would still take a few days to recover.

Sugo wasn’t hurt at all but it was in a similar situation. The additional Eternum from the crystals helped it stimulate new growths of seaweed. But, by the next morning, they were only short little nubs the length of a finger. It would take a few more days for the new stalks of seaweed to grow to their original lengths.

The turtle never left the island. It strolled around occasionally and even took a bath in the shallows. But it always came back and spent most of the time sleeping. By all means, it was content to stick around for the next delicious meal.

The next day, Zachary gave it one stalk of seaweed in the morning as a reward. It was unhappy at the amount but still gobbled up the treat. Around midday, he gave it another piece of seaweed which was also well received. When it was dinner and he was feeding his summons, the turtle even approached him of its own accord, its short tail wagging from side to side to display its cheerful mood.

The day after was the same. He fed it three times a day, never giving in to its pleading looks. The following few days also followed the same routine. The only change was that he would let Onkie, Boba, and Blue play around the turtle, letting the beast know that his summons were harmless and sociable. A week later, they were familiar enough with each other that the turtle would not retreat into its shell anymore. Two weeks and it was playing with them as if they were long-lost friends.

Onkie was the most mischievous. She would often tease Boba and the turtle by butting their heads. They were too slow to catch her but she would always pretend to give them a chance before running circles around them.

Blue also helped to tease the turtle. It had a habit of perching on Zachary’s head and learned to do the same on the turtle’s shell. It even liked to peck the mossy growths on the shell, much to the turtle’s annoyance. However, this incidentally allowed Onkie to come to the rescue and chase the flying pest away, building an even better relationship between former opponents.

Despite all this progress, Zachary did not pressure the turtle or try to form a soul bond with it. Again, he was using the lessons learned from Yaoyao. Just because a wild Ensouled became friendly didn’t mean it had been tamed. It didn’t mean that it would accept a human or lose its independence. For that to happen, it would depend on his sincerity and conviction. It would depend on his ability to convince a free soul that joining together was the best choice for both of them.