Petey could still remember his dream when he woke up, and it made him happy because Dave was the greatest. Even when he was far away, Petey could still get pats and hugs and kisses from Dave and give them to him too! How exactly that was possible wasn't important, so long as he could still do it later.

The morning light shone through the window in the side of the hut that Petey and his hoomans (and the not-hooman) had been staying in, casting soft orange light all over everything. It was quite nice, just lying there and appreciating the amazing world he was allowed to live in.

Stretching, Petey shook his head and felt the fur around his neck and shoulders wiggle. It felt nice, so he did it again. Gold light slowly started to pulse from him as he kept going.

Mmmm... good morning, Petey. How was last night for you?

Spinning around, Petey saw Leula sleepily looking up at him. He padded over and gave her a lick, ignoring her insincere complaints. No, stop, you'll get slobber on me.

Wasn't that the point? Petey kept licking her until she glowed, and then bowed his head so she could climb on. She slowly crawled to the peak of his head, right between his ears, and eased herself down. Please don't move too fast. I am still somewhat asleep.

Petey didn't know what that feeling was like, but he decided to slow down just a little bit today. It wouldn't be considerate to Leula if he went into Floof Speed right out of the gate, however fun it would be.

He had an objective today.

Although he'd mostly forgotten about it, his meeting with Dave had reminded him that he hadn't found his chew toy yet! It was a travesty that had to be fixed soon. He was planning on telling his group to wait on him for a while, but he was definitely going to ask Leula if she would come. He wasn't sure he could go if Leula wasn't going with him. It would be lonely without her.

That got him thinking about his past life, when he couldn't move fast and nothing could hurt him. Times when he'd waited for hugs and pats, and none came. Times when the feet of hoomans were sharp and angry. But - but there had been hoomans that took care of him, he was certain of it!

...although no faces came to mind.

Shaking the not-so-happy thoughts off, Petey went to go find Tarron. The anuran was probably doing important and interesting stuff, and Petey really wanted to think about anything except before he'd come here.

A quick (but not too quick!) lap around the village later, Petey found the frog-man with his whippy stick-weapon, fighting another younger-looking anuran. Petey wasn't sure what was going on, but neither of them seemed particularly angry. It was more like they were practicing. After a moment, he decided to sit down and watch for a minute.

Tarron's staff suddenly moved very fast and smacked the bottom end of his opponent's stick, then whipped up and around to pause right next to the other anuran's head. They stood there for a second, breathing hard, and then smiled. "You've gotten better, sir." The younger one said with a smile.

Tarron patted his shoulder. "Many thanks, Polus, for the compliment. Your own skill approaches a higher bent." He noticed Petey and twitched. It almost looked like he wanted to bow, but Petey couldn't figure out why he would want to do that.

Polus turned and saw Petey. "Oh, the dog you brought!" He frowned. "I thought you said it was strong beyond description. It doesn't seem very... powerful."

Leula spoke before Petey told her to. Would you like to try and spar with him? Her voice had an odd, almost excited tone to it. Petey looked up at her, confused. "What does spar mean?"

Polus' eager smile stretched from ear to ear. "Of course! I'd be happy to test my strength against the creature my mentor respects so greatly." Tarron's expression was hard to decipher. It looked like a combination of curious and terrified at the same time, but he nodded regardless.

Leula rubbed her front legs together in anticipation. Alright, Petey. A spar is like a friendly fight, to see how good you are at battle or evasion. All you have to do is make sure he doesn't hit you, okay? That's it.

Petey was relieved. He'd been worried he'd have to use the stick, and he wasn't sure he could have a stick in his mouth without chewing on it. Tarron coughed loudly, stepping back. "Ahem. Polus, perhaps you should... never mind." The lack of rhyme proved Petey's theory that he was nervous, so he gave the anuran a quick lick. Hopefully, that would help him feel better.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Since he was close by, Leula took the opportunity to carefully crawl onto Tarron's arm, moving up until she was on his head. She moved around briefly, unaware of the petrified expression on his face, and settled for standing. Alright, Petey. Do your best, okay?

Polus got into a fancy stance that only a frog-person could do, legs bent way past where Petey would have been comfortable. Raising his stick, he shouted excitedly, "Ready!"

Petey bent down into a playtime-stance and barked loudly. Inwardly, he got ready to turn Floof Speed on. Leula didn't want him to get hit, so he really didn't want to get hit.

Tarron seemed more resigned than anything at this point and stiffly raised an arm. Petey and Polus kept an eye on him, waiting for the signal, and he brought his arm down with a swoosh.

The world paused as Petey went into Floof Speed. Polus was moving forward, a concentrated expression on his face as he swung his stick down. Stepping sideways, Petey partially eased out of Floof Speed, and the stick plodded down at the spot where he'd been, four distinct pawprints embedded in the soft dirt.

This could take a while.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Leula was excited. She'd never actually seen Petey try to avoid something with genuine effort, so it would be interesting to see the results of the spar. Part of her felt a little bad for Polus. The young anuran was clearly proud of his abilities, which in all fairness were remarkable for someone of his age. Tarron was refusing to move more than absolutely necessary. Leula appreciated the effort he was going to not to dislodge her.

He swung his arm down, and the spar began. Polus opened with a strike that took Leula's breath away with its speed, blurring down at the space Petey had occupied a fraction of a second before. The dog was now standing to the side, patiently watching Polus.

The startled anuran barely hesitated, whipping the quarterstaff sideways. Leula never saw Petey move. He'd attained a point where it no longer seemed as though he was even walking, instead opting to teleport to the place where he wanted to be. Leula had seen his board personally, however. She knew full well that he didn't have any teleport abilities. Granted, he received Perks and Skills with more ease than any creature she'd even heard of. Dragons probably didn't stand a chance against him at this point, although in fairness they had far more fallbacks and backup plans than nearly any species on the planet.

Polus twisted on his foot, leaping into the air and spinning to gain extra momentum. Petey had vanished the moment he started to turn, appearing behind him with his fur ruffling in the wind he produced. As far as Leula could tell, it didn't look as though he was even using his speed at full power.

Instead of attacking where Petey had been, Polus canceled his midair roll halfway through and swiped at Petey, who promptly disappeared again. The poor anuran was flushed, angry at his inability to land a hit. Crouching, he crouched low and spun in a circle, his staff whistling through the air. Petey was nowhere to be seen, and Leula started in confusion. Where did he go?

A polite woof alerted them to the skies, where Petey levitated a full thirty feet above the ground, happily panting. Perhaps he was hot? He definitely wasn't expending any effort.

Polus glared at him. "Wh- come down! Fight fair!" The furious anuran sprinted for a nearby tree, ran up it, and made a staggering leap. Twisting, he gripped his quarterstaff near the end and used his momentum to swing faster than ever before.

Petey contorted midair, impossibly avoiding the staff by a hair as he stopped levitating. The instant his paws touched the ground, he disappeared again.

With nothing to strike and nowhere to go, Polus tumbled from the sky and started screaming. Without a moment's hesitation, Petey jumped and somehow caught the anuran around the waist. Slowly floating back to the ground, Petey gracelessly deposited Polus on the dirt and sat down, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

Stumbling to his feet, Polus readied his staff, face beet-red. Tarron raised a hand to pause the fight, and Leula sighed. It couldn't go on forever, after all.

Pointing at Petey, Polus complained, "What was that!? How was he doing that? Does he possess some method of instant travel? Spatial magic!?"

Tarron coughed into a hand. "Petey, would you mind displaying your status board?"

With a happy bark, Petey closed his eyes, and the massive screen appeared a moment later. Polus' eyes widened, and he staggered backward. "What... what kind of..." His gaze slowly slid down to Petey. "What kind of monster are you!?" He blurted, and Leula stood up.

Before anyone could do anything, Polus turned and loped through the undergrowth, the stench of injured pride following him. Tarron started to walk after him, an inscrutable expression on his face. With an agile leap she hadn't been aware she was capable of, Leula jumped onto Petey's head. Petey? Are you all right?

The dog was stock-still, staring after Polus. His tail wasn't wagging. "Leula, what's a monster?"

She hugged his head tightly, mind racing. It's just a word people use for creatures they don't understand, Petey. It's not a bad thing. I'm a monster!

He seemed to perk up a little at that. "Oh. But I'm a dog!"

That's okay. Lots of things can be monsters, Petey. Not just spiders and dogs.

His temporary uncertainty faded away like snow in sunshine. "Ohhh, that is a good thing. It didn't sound like a nice thing to say, but you're the nicest person I know! Monster must be a very nice thing to be."

He gave her a happy lick, totally unaware of her screaming thoughts. Petey thought she was the nicest person he knew? Was that a special status or something? Surely he had more friends than just her - did that make her his best friend!?

She had a lot to think about.