Petey stared at the funny smell for a moment, wondering where the person had decided to go off to and why. They'd seemed nice, if not a little bit worried about him, but he could always solve that later with hugs and kisses. Hugs and kisses solved everything, as far as Petey was concerned. He hadn't been wrong yet.

Shaking his fur off, Petey looked down and cautiously began hopping from branch to branch, making his way down the tree. He was really being careful not to hurt the tree, just in case the trees had feelings, but he figured they probably wouldn't mind if it was an accident. They were a lot older than he was, after all, and had a lot more limbs than he did.

Finally, he made it to the bottom and splashed into the muddy water. As usual, it turned clear, and Petey took a sip to be polite. Shaking his fur off, he ambled off towards the frog village, wondering if they had anything he could eat.

A few minutes later, he made it to the dome-house he'd slept in and found the hoomans wandering around it, calling out his name. He happily padded over to them, his happiness wagging behind him as he barked his hellos. They ran towards him with a smile, giving him lots of pats and hugs and he was pretty sure Alana was the one to rub him behind the ears.

Once they were done, Petey lifted his sniffer and looked around for Leula. He found her still lying in her webs on the ceiling, the oddly precise smells outlining her position. Heading on through the door, he looked up at the apex of the ceiling and got up on his back legs, trying to reach the spider's hammock.

Stretching up as far as he could go, Petey was disappointed to find that Leula was still unfortunately out of reach. Frowning, he sat down and stared at her, thinking for a moment. He could remember when he'd been way up in the sky and wasn't falling, and he could remember the weird floating feeling that accompanied it. He decided to focus on that feeling, pulling it to the forefront of his mind.

After a few moments, his paws left the ground.

The floating seemed to be focused around the middle of his spine, pulling him into the air and making a bend in his back. He bobbed up to the ceiling and gently bumped against it, slowly turning around as he weightlessly moved around. Craning his head around to stare at Leula, he willed the floaty feeling to move him closer. Finally, he made it to her web and quietly woofed next to her.

Her head snapped up as she looked around, one leg moving upward to push her sleep mask up. Eyes blinking tiredly, she stretched her legs out and yawned, her mandibles twitching as she stood up. Petey? What's... what's going on?

Petey gave her a gentle lick on the head. "Hello, best friend! We are in the frog peoples' town and you were asleep! Also a person ran away from me. I don't know why. How are you doing? Oh! And I am floating."

Leula deftly walked off of her web and hopped onto Petey's head, setting in her usual place. Really? What time is it?

Petey shrugged as he descended to the ground, recalling her dislike of heights. "I don't know! But the sun is nice and high. We can warm up outside and roll around in mud and wait for it to get all hard and then run around and make dust clouds!"

A slithery chuckle came through the mental voice. That sounds like a lot of fun, Petey. But how are you going to roll in mud if you Purify it every time?

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He stopped dead as he remembered the problem, lowering to the floor as he complained, "But I don't like purifying stuff! I want to roll in the swamp and bark at squirrels!!"

She laughed into his mind. Why don't you just turn it off, then? Since it's a passive ability, you should be able to at least reduce its effects.

Petey cocked his head as he wondered what exactly that meant. Maybe his board could help?

At the thought of it, the giant board appeared.

Petey: Lvl 51

Class: Good Boy

Race: Dog (Golden Retriever)

Strength: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Speed: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Agility: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Resilience: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Charisma: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Luck: 2,251,799,813,685,248,000

Intelligence: 38

Skills: Fetch (1), Stay (1), Roll Over (1), Sit (1), Bite (MAX), Happy Aura (MAX), Levitate (2), Act Of Dog (??)

Perks: Boundless Joy (MAX), Endless Optimism (MAX), Pantheon's Blessing (MAX), Heroic Aptitude (MAX), Physical Resistance (MAX), Magical Resistance (MAX), Elemental Resistance (MAX), Mental Resistance (MAX), Golden Fur (MAX), Immunity To Doom (MAX)

Petey blinked at the large board, and felt Leula stiffen on his head. Oh, wow, she breathed. Your stats are... scary.

He craned his head around to stare at her in shock and worry, his mouth hanging open. "WHAT!? I'm not scary, I promise!"

She jumped, startled. Oh no, Petey, you're not scary at all, I promise! It's just that your abilities are... kind of huge, is all. I promise you're not scary to me!

He calmed down slightly, his hackles still raised from anxiety. "You're sure?"

She crawled down his face and patted his nose worriedly. I'm sure. But.... maybe don't show anyone else your board. It could give the wrong first impression, and we wouldn't want that, right?

Nodding repeatedly, Petey walked outside. "Yes, but what about the people who don't FROG BABIES!!!!" The entire encounter fled from his thoughts as he saw five short, smooth-skinned anuran kicking a small leather ball around. He headed for them instantly, careful not to dislodge Leula's perch despite his excitement.

Pouncing and bouncing in the water, he bounded next to them, a giant grin on his face. "Hello, froggers! How is you!?"

The anurans yelped in surprise as he landed, hopping away on all fours and climbing up trees, looking back at him with wide, dark eyes. They had disproportionately long limbs, with webbed fingers and toes like Tarron, but these ones had a long, thin tail. Petey had one of those! Except his was a lot more fluffy.

Shaking his head and sneezing, Petey gazed up at the one he was closest to. "Are we climbing trees now? I can do that!" He splashed toward the tree and began to use his claws to pull himself up.

Leula hastily extended her mental voice, and Petey could somehow see it this time. A barely distinct sphere of ever-so-slightly greyed ghosty stuff floating around Leula in a giant circle. Hello, anuran child. Petey is extremely kind, I promise. He just wants to play with you! Is that all right?

The anuran child scrambled a little higher up the tree, but seemed a little slower this time. A large bump expanded out of his throat and then retracted, and he finally croaked in a soft voice, "How are you doing that?"

Leula waved a leg. I'm a spider! See?

He relaxed noticeably. "Oh. Oh! So you're... you're Petey? That dog Tarron brought back?"

Petey nodded furiously. "Yes! Yes, that is me! Who are you?"

After Leula translated, the anuran child slid down the tree, hopped clean over Petey's head, and landed in the water with a splash. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of brown shorts. He stood up cautiously, leaning a little closer. "Uh, I'm Dano d'Ovar. Are... are you nice?"

Petey gave him a good lick. "Of course I'm nice! Aren't you nice?" Before Dano could answer, Petey continued, "Then so should I!"

There were a lot of people here, Petey realized, and he had to become friends WITH ALL OF THEM.

He had a lot of work to do.