How strange.

The storm wasn’t gone… but it was. The dark sky was rolling by quickly, and every so often a few drops of rain fell… but the world around me was now secluded. Off in the distance, in all directions, weren’t just darker clouds… but temporal tempests. Downpours, drenching the city of Lumen without any mercy.

Why wasn’t the rain falling hard here, like it was across the street?

Standing alone near the edge of the garden, I ignored the small talk between Magdalena and Sofia. And the soft humming of Merit, not too far from them. They, like me, had been checking the garden to make sure nothing was too damaged. We had been tying stalks to small sticks and whatnot to support them. We had pretty much finished, and had originally planned to head back inside but the lack of rain made us linger a little longer.

Shifting, I looked down at the puddles. The roof had gotten soaked, just like the rest of the city. It made me wonder how the city wasn’t flooding. There was an insane amount of water falling, and had been doing so for a whole day with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

“I’ll be back.”

I turned, and alongside the others nodded to Merit as she left the roof. Heading into the door that led downstairs, she left it just barely propped open.

A low rumble echoed throughout the sky, and I looked around for the flash. The world was… very dark. Cold. Windy. Even here. Yet although I heard the thunder, I hadn’t been able to see the flashes of lightning. The clouds were actually that thick and dark, that most of the lightning wasn’t visible.

I knew blizzards. Snowstorms. In the north, from before I had left my family… I had sat and stared into them for hours. Days. Weeks. Memories of sitting at the front of the cavern, where my older family members lived, and staring at the clouds and snow…

Blinking the memories away, I wondered why I found myself missing those days.

After all… there was no reason to.

Those days had been cold. Wet. Lonely. Sad.

And my family…

Turning a little, to look at Magdalena and Sofia, I watched as they messed with a black tarp of some kind. It was wrapped around a weird, skinny tree. One that looked like it wouldn’t bear fruit, or flower, so I wasn’t sure why they were so focused on protecting it from the storm.

Yes… Why desire the past, when the present and possible future is so much more important? So much greater?

Rubbing my fingers, I felt the wet soil within them. The plants I had messed with had all been planted in large pots, or in giant garden sections built on the roof. The soil within them all was healthy, and well kept… and now very wet. Soaked. And it clung to my fingers and beneath my nails.

Looking down at a finger, I stared at the elongated nail. It was time I cut it. Maybe the layer of dirt upon it, and beneath it, would give me a good cause.

Maybe I could find someone else to do it with. Though… Lately I’ve felt oddly happy while doing it alone. It was so weird, but it was the truth. I enjoyed using the nail tools Vim had got me, with Jelti’s help. Sitting quietly, filing my nails… was soothing. And heartwarming. Even if Vim had only gotten it for me as to make a point. Thinking of that little blue box made me smile.

“What’s so funny?”

I blinked at the weird voice. One I didn’t recognize.

A woman but…

Turning around, I frowned as a dark cloud shifted. Alongside the shadow created by that very cloud, someone stepped out from behind a pair of tall plants. Ones nearly as tall as me.

The woman was… wearing a worn down cloak. And what looked to be several more jackets beneath it. Wearing layers, of dirty and old jackets and clothes… I could see the familiar gleam of non-human eyes from beneath the thick hood she wore. Her large eyes stared into me, and I realized suddenly that this was her.

My stalker… as Vim called her.

“I was thinking of a present I recently received,” I told her, doing my best to not let my heart thump too loudly.

I wasn’t too worried over my safety. But… There was still that weird feeling in the back of my heart, which made me want to step away from her. The strange worry gnawing at the base of my tail made me want to run away, yet I stood firm… since…

A quick glance, to the two women who I needed to make sure wouldn’t get hurt… I felt my eyes go wide as I realized they were gone. I was about to panic, and accuse the stranger in front of me for their disappearance… but as I looked around I quickly found them. Or well, found them and lost them again.

Magdalena and Sofia ran into the door that led into the building, and disappeared.

Although a little surprised they had ran away so quickly, without me, I still felt a wonderful sense of relief. They were fine, and would be.

Me on the other hand…

“What kind of present?” the woman asked.

As she spoke, I noticed and heard the sound of something odd. Did she have something in her mouth? Or was she malformed?

“A nail box. Something to trim and polish my nails,” I said as I lifted my hands, letting her see… though I knew she probably couldn’t really tell. It was getting darker.

“Nails…” she whispered, with almost a lisp. But I couldn’t see anything too wrong with her, or at least what little I could see beneath her hood. She looked like she had a rather normal face and a lot of hair but…

Wait… no…

“My name is Renn… what’s yours?” I asked her.

“Renn…” she said my name, and I confirmed it. She wasn’t deformed, she just had weird teeth. They were either too big, or she had too many. It made her sound a little odd.

A long moment passed, and I felt a few heavy raindrops fall upon my hat and shoulders. I ignored them, and the incoming torrent of rain, since the weather was right now the least of my concerns.

“You’ve been watching me lately... What is it you want from me?” I asked her gently.

The woman shifted, and I heard a weird sound come from beneath her heavy cloak. Was that just the many layers she was wearing, or was there something else? It was hard to tell much about her, since she was so covered… and…

Glancing down, I noticed her weirdly shaped shoes.

No.

Not shoes.

Just bundles of cloth wrapped around each other haphazardly.

Did she have huge feet, or was there just that many things wrapped around them?

“You do smell like the master, but…” the woman spoke lightly, as if to herself. Then she stepped forward, just a step.

Then the moment she did, and before I could say or do anything, she turned away. Her cloak flapped as she spun on a heel, causing fallen rain to splatter and splash as she ran off.

Stunned, I watched as she ran over to the edge of the roof… and then leapt over the pillars which blocked the roof from sight from the rest of the city.

She flew into the air, jumping high… then disappeared beyond the roof wall and out of sight.

“What the heck?” I breathed a sigh of relief, though wasn’t sure if I should.

After half a moment, she appeared again. Leaping from one roof to another, deeper into the city.

I gulped as I realized she was much stronger than she had looked. Could I even jump like that? Something told me it wasn’t possible.

Another figure stepped up to my left, and I yelped as I stepped away. My heartbeat thundered, just as the world lit up from a lightning bolt. Moments after the flash, lighting up Vim, the world roared and thundered.

Once the thunder died down, I heard the heavy rain increase in its downpour. It was drawing closer to us. Our strange moment of peace amongst the storm was about to be over.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“She was here,” Vim said.

I nodded. Had he seen her?

“The balls on that woman,” Vim growled as he stepped forward, heading towards the section where she had jumped off from.

Watching him as he stepped up to the pillar she had leapt over, I watched as Vim raised his head and seemed to smell the air.

I wasn’t sure how he could smell her. I smelled the sea. The storm. I couldn’t even smell the plants and flowers nearby.

“Is everyone else okay Vim? Magda and Sofia were up here earlier too, and…” as I talked Merit walked out the door and onto the roof. The small woman looked around, and focused on me.

Merit huffed as she hurried over to me, as if out of breath. Her eyes narrowed at me as she stepped up to me and grabbed me by the arm. “Renn, come on,” she said firmly.

“Wait,” I started to complain, but wasn’t able to. Merit’s grip was too firm, and her tug too strong. Without any chance to stop her, I was dragged off the roof and into the stairwell that led downstairs.

“Merit…” I complained as Merit turned around.

“Everyone’s downstairs. We need to talk,” Merit said as she slammed the roof-door shut. She wasted no time in sliding the lock-bar across the door to ensure it couldn’t be opened.

I was going to mention that Vim was still out there, but I knew she had known full well. After all, Vim wasn’t in danger. We were. Or well, maybe not Merit…

Once she was sure the door was shut firmly, she turned and dragged me down the stairs.

Glancing behind me, at the closed door, I sighed a little.

Not only wasn’t I sure what to think about what was happening; I honestly didn’t feel good about it either.

I still had that weird feeling at the pit of my stomach, as if something horrible was happening… yet it wasn’t.

“What’s happening Merit?” I asked the little girl pulling me along the hallway, towards the Society houses.

Her thick white hair bounced as she hurried, and shook her head.

“A hunter is here. That was a predator,” Merit said stiffly.

Merit continued pulling me, even as she pushed open the metal door that led to the inner society section. I barely got out of the way before she slammed it shut behind me.

She locked this door too, which was the first time I had seen anyone do so.

Merit picked up the pace, and we headed downstairs to the first floor. Before we even reached the bottom, I began to hear the voices.

It sounded like the whole Society was here.

Reaching the end of the stairs, we rounded the corner and headed for the main rooms.

“Though why now? I don’t believe they’d have followed Vim here. Maybe when Brandy went to the Bell Church?” someone asked.

Merit and I entered the room, and I felt a little silly as everyone watched Merit drag me to one of the tables everyone was sitting at. I felt a slight tinge of a blush as I sat down at the table, next to Brandy and Herra.

Brandy patted me on the back as I sat down, and I glanced around the room. Everyone was here. Even the strangely quiet Tosh, and he seemed rather focused for once and not staring off into the void. There were also surprisingly a few faces I didn’t normally see… and also someone I didn’t recognize.

Liina was here, who I had not gotten to talk to yet in any real depth, and she was sitting next to another woman. Someone who was tall, and looked kind of like Gerald. Too pretty to be real. Who was she?

“Did they attack you Renn?” Gerald asked. He was standing near another table nearby, looking worried.

“No? She… Just talked to me,” I said.

I shifted in my seat as everyone glared at me, and I knew what they all wanted.

“I introduced myself to her… she said my name, then asked why I was smiling. I had just been happy, so there was no reason for it. Then she said I smelled like a master, and then ran off. Or well, jumped away. She leapt off the roof,” I explained.

“That’s it?” Brandy asked, leaning closer to me.

I nodded. “Yeah. She didn’t even tell me her name, even though I asked for it,” I said.

“What did she look like?” Brom asked. He was standing with his sister near the door, and both were holding their spears.

“She was wearing thick jackets and a worn down cloak… she looked… somewhat normal, I think? I noticed she sounded as if she had large teeth, and she had large feet I think too,” I said.

Several people who were listening looked away from me and shook their heads, sighing or cringing.

I was about to ask why they had acted such a way from what I said, but Gerald answered for me. He stepped out to the center of the group, in-between the larger tables and raised his voice, “She’s definitely a predator. Merit, did you see her?” Gerald asked.

Merit shook her head. “She was gone by the time I reached the roof. I had run to find Vim first… maybe I shouldn’t have. Vim had been heading to the roof as well, when I found him. I apologize, Renn,” Merit said to me.

About to shake my head and tell her it was fine, Pierre stood from his seat. “Is Vim in pursuit of her now?” the mouse asked.

“Not sure,” Merit answered for me.

“If she was on our roof, he is sure to know her scent now. Should we remain sealed inside until he tracks her down?” Wynn asked.

“At the very least we should stay alert and together. Depending on what she is, there’s only a few of us capable of fighting such a predator,” Magdalena said.

Most of the Society agreed, and I frowned.

They were treating her as an enemy. As if it was guaranteed.

“She hadn’t seemed intent on hurting me,” I said softly.

“Predators rarely do, Renn,” Sofia whispered next to me.

“You said she mentioned a master?” Reatti asked.

I nodded. “She said I smelled like the master, but was about to say more… then she turned and ran off,” I said.

“Probably sensed me. I was running behind Vim to the roof. Another mistake,” Merit groaned.

Glancing at my friend, who looked devastated and fully blaming herself… I wondered what to say to her. She blamed herself for not coming to me first, instead of going to find Vim, and then in the same breath blames herself for coming at all.

“She might have sensed Vim,” I said to her.

“Ha!” Liina scoffed at me, and several others smirked too.

“Not possible. She’d be a Monarch then,” Brom said, also smiling a little.

I frowned as several others agreed, as if it was obvious.

Was it though?

I mean… yes… Vim lacked a scent. And was sneaky, and I rarely noticed him when he snuck up behind me or something but…

But…

I had been able to find him a few times, when looking for him. Like that time I had slapped him, when he returned with Lamp and her people. Though I had no idea how exactly I had done that. Maybe I had been following Brandy’s smell, and just had known Vim would be with her when I found her.

“Still… What could she mean by master? A stronger predator perhaps?” Lawrence asked calmly. He was staring at an open book in front of him on the table. I couldn’t see it entirely from this angle, but it looked like one of the normal ledgers the Bank used. The man was working even during this moment.

“It must be. If they smell like Renn, there’s little doubt to what that could mean,” Herra said with a shrug.

“It would also explain why it’s her and none of us. A few of us would be classified as predators, based off our bloodlines, but we’re not pure. Not as thick in the blood as she is. Her scent is probably the strongest of all of us,” the pretty woman sitting next to Liina said.

Everyone nodded, agreeing with her. “Likely,” Gerald said.

I leaned next to Brandy, and she raised an eyebrow at me. “Who’s that?” I asked quietly.

“Jasna.”

Oh. I did know her then. I had heard her name before…

It was a little surprising to see her for the first time, finally. She was pretty.

“I do not like predators, so I avoid your kind. You can take that as you wish,” Jasna said, obviously hearing what had just happened.

Blinking at her, I was about to tell her that it was perfectly alright, but wasn’t able to. Brom and Reatti startled, and stepped back from the door. Everyone’s eyes in the room hurried to the door and watched as Vim entered.

He was soaked.

For a long moment, the protector’s eyes scanned the room. I felt his eyes slide along each and every one of us, staring at us in the eyes as he made sure we were all here and safe.

“I have her scent, but it’s light. Too light to pursue in this storm, since it’ll risk you all. I don’t smell or sense anyone else, but there’s a very good chance there’s more than her out there,” Vim said after a second.

Brom coughed and nodded. “Renn did say she mentioned a master,” he said with a point to me.

Vim’s eyes returned to my own, holding me in place as I quickly nodded. “She said I smelled like the master,” I repeated it again.

His eyes softened and he sighed, but said nothing.

“What’s the plan?” Brandy asked, sounding unperturbed. She even had a smile.

“It’s obvious that Renn is their target, for one reason or another. The best course of action would be to take her outside of the company building, away from you all. Once the storm passes. Maybe even outside of the city. To allow me to be there the next time they try to approach her,” Vim said calmly.

“If we’re misjudging Renn’s importance to these individuals, you would simply be risking the rest of us. What if they’re simply targeting her first since they assume she’s the strongest, based off her smell? Planning to attack the rest of us once she’s out of the way?” Herra asked. Although she spoke firmly, I noted she did not do so with anger or spite. She sounded genuinely worried.

I wanted to voice my opinion but knew better than to do so. Even if I was more than willing to be used as bait, especially so since I trusted Vim, this wasn’t just me agreeing to risk myself.

The plan would risk them as well, and that meant I had no right to argue with their choice.

“That’s true. Scent alone she’d be the one seen as the biggest threat,” Wynn agreed, nodding his head quickly.

“It is possible…” Merit softly mumbled, as if not wanting to actually voice her agreement.

“If all of you stay hidden within, they will get desperate. Break in with force. I’ll be here of course, but if there are several of them…” Vim tried to argue, but no one was listening. Or rather, no one felt his argument was worth listening to.

“I say we all stay safely inside the Animalia building. Vim is here, as are Merit and the siblings. Even Brandy is here. Between all of them, and the rest of us, we would be safest together,” Gerald spoke up, raising his voice.

While everyone nodded and agreed; some very decisively, I watched as Vim’s shoulders drooped just a tad. Nearly un-noticeably, yet they had. He was disappointed.

Yet…

“No one leaves the building. Stay in groups,” Vim said, agreeing with their wishes.

“Agreed,” Gerald nodded quickly… and so too did everyone else.

Once everyone agreed, the room got quiet… weirdly quiet…

Then I realized they were all staring at me.

Oh.

Right.

Voting.

“Agreed,” I voted quickly.