book 4: chapter 15: advancements

    as i gazed out at the surrounding forest, the midmorning sun peppered my bare shoulders. its heat was diminished by a soft, ever-present breeze that blew from behind, seeming to encourage our decision to return home.

    it had been four long days since maria’s breakthrough, and as i turned to take in the gathered supplies, i couldn’t help but smile at how much my rag-tag group of pals and i had managed to accomplish.

    laying on the back of the load like sunbathing lizards, deklan and dom slept without a care in the world, both snoring softly as they recovered from a morning of meditation. borks was splayed out on his back between them, his upper lip flopping down with gravity to reveal a ridiculous-looking smile.

    beside me, barry stretched his muscular arms above his head, each limb wider than the planks we were transporting. “i don’t know how they’re so comfy on top of dried hardwood...”

    “indeed, friend barry,” marcus replied, sparing the twins a quick peek before returning his attention to the horses pulling us along the seldom-traveled road.

    though he’d only spoken three words, marcus’s contribution to the conversation brought me untold joy. ever since the king had basically abducted and forced him to lead an expedition toward the fallen city of theogonia—followed by an extremely misguided and objectively ineffective assault on tropica that ended in the king, uhhh, ceasing to exist—the formerly jovial merchant had become quite reserved. it was exactly why i’d brought him on this little expedition, and it seemed to be working.

    the man sitting beside him was, undoubtedly, the biggest source of marcus’s shift in outlook. though they referred to each other as business partners, there was clearly a deeper relationship than that. even if i couldn’t literally feel the love they had for one another, i would have been able to tell by the stolen glances and lingering stares. there was no need for them to hide it, of course, but i would respect their privacy.

    danny, the last member of the expedition, stretched and let out a soft groan. “as much as i enjoyed seeing my old guards in the capital again, i can’t wait to get back to tropica. i wonder how far everyone has gotten in four days...”

    it was something i’d oft considered since we left, the thought more frequent with each passing day. “i don’t want to get my hopes up, but at the same time, a lot can happen in four days.”

    “no kidding,” danny replied, reaching over to poke barry’s gleaming bicep with one finger. “this, for example. it took you what? a few seconds to transform?”

    “less,” barry replied, extending his chest and striking a pose.

    i grinned at both his ridiculous physique and the happiness it brought him. “it doesn’t matter if nobody had such a dramatic breakthrough. i’m just excited to see everyone’s progress.”

    barry nodded at my words. “who should we check up on first?”

    “you guys can go where you please, but i know where i’m heading.” i pictured her in my mind, my memory of her only growing more beautiful with our time apart.

    “you know....” deklan sat up and covered a yawn. “you always get a goofy look on your face when you think about maria.”

    “i do not.”

    “you really do,” dom added, also sitting up. “like a child that smells something sweet cooking in the oven.”

    danny snorted. “couldn’t have said it better. it’s half curiosity, half innocence, and completely adorable.”

    borks ruffed in agreement. he was still upside down with a goofy smile, but now his eyes were on me and his tail wagged, entirely too happy with everyone’s light bullying.

    i could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, so i sought something clever to say back. perhaps something biting enough to redirect everyone’s attention. but enhanced as my brain might be, i settled on something much less diplomatic. “shut up, danny.”

    they all laughed at me, even borks making little amused snuffles, and all i could do was accept my fate. i consoled myself by thinking of maria again.

    i wonder if she’s also thinking of me...?

    ***

    back in tropica, seated within a pool of crystal water that was lined by opalescent stones, someone was indeed thinking of fischer. said individual stretched her muscles as she pictured the strange man that had changed her life for the better. thanking the universe for the umpteenth time that they had met, she undulated her feminine mouthparts and let out a long yawn before scuttling further back into her favorite nook within the tidal pond.

    opening the lone eye not hidden by her leather patch, sergeant snips checked up on the only other human she adored as much as she did fischer.

    maria had shown remarkable commitment to her purpose, and snips couldn’t be more proud of her. the moment snips had felt maria’s breakthrough, it had been all she could do to not rush over and interrupt the moment like the troublesome otter had. even from that distance, snips had known that maria had become a healer. the power was too similar to the healing waters of her pond to be a coincidence; maria’s power was stronger, but the parallels were undeniable.

    after only four days, maria was nearing... something. they hadn’t spoken about it, but that didn’t make it less true. as sure as fish was tasty, maria approached enlightenment. it might take hours, days, or months, but it would eventually arrive. snips was sure. and it wasn’t only maria that was attempting to grow stronger.

    after her master had left, they had all committed to self improvement. much like their time training on the sands back when fischer’s only followers were snips, claws, and pistachio, they had collectively decided that it was time to seek more power.

    apparently, pistachio and teddy hadn’t realized that yet, because they both drew back slightly.

    gary nodded, completely understanding their surprise. “i didn’t expect them to say yes, either. i managed to convince the guardians, but it was... costly.”

    pistachio slunk over and patted him consolingly on the shoulder. this show of kindness made gary recall the writhing roots of the first grove keeper, and the vicious grin of the second. he shuddered.

    “absolute scoundrels. both of them.”

    ***

    high in the boughs of a blue-tinged tree, a creature with the most magnificent fur in all the lands—or so she would claim—rubbed her stomach and let out a soft belch, the taste of her most-recent meal reappearing to grace her awareness once more. from beside her, lemon nodded a particularly large leaf, agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

    though the fishy feast had been nowhere near as good as even the humblest of fischer’s creations, it still left claws’s stomach full and core bursting with chi. she shook her head and gave a wry grin as she recalled the look on gary’s face when he agreed to deliver an entire cart of cooked fish. it had taken the poor man the entire morning to collect them, and the rest of the day to roast them to the desired level. on top of that, they’d squeezed the promise of future oysters out of him.

    understanding the joy radiating from claws’s abdomen, lemon’s canopy shook in shared delight, the wind whispering past her leaves. together, they descended into maniacal laughter, the otter’s trilling chirps cutting through lemon’s swishing branches. by the time they finished, tears streamed down claws’s furry face, and she wiped them away with a dextrous forepaw.

    lemon gave one last shudder of her mighty boughs, her core and roots radiating a sense of finality. perhaps some wouldn’t be able to interpret the meaning, but claws was no more mortal. lemon wanted to use the acquired chi to meditate and further the growth of her passiona bushes.

    claws thought that was a wonderful idea. she, too, had places to be.

    she patted lemon’s trunk, considered launching herself toward her own place of solitude, but shook her head at herself. she was going to potter over there at a leisurely pace. claws stepped out into open air, cooed goodbye, and slid headfirst down lemon’s trunk. at the last moment, she rotated and landed on her feet.

    with the imperiousness of a proud rooster, she trotted away, her full belly brushing the grass as she headed northwest. it had been some time since she’d meditated in her favored resting spot atop the freshwater pond.

    ***

    atop the sands to the south of tropica, a mammal as fierce as she was small paused mid kick, her head darting northward. even from here, cinnamon could hear claws and lemon’s projected mirth. the only thing that could make claws so happy was mischief, and cinnamon felt a pang of regret that she wasn’t able to partake.

    this pang of regret was cut abruptly short when the webbed foot of an oceanic bird kicked her chin with the speed of an arrow in flight. the blow would have knocked even a weak spirit beast senseless, but cinnamon was no such beast.

    swift as a coursing river, she whirled with the blow, absorbing the force of pelly’s kick and making it her own. in the blink of an eye, she’d flipped backward, kicked off the sand, and launched herself with the strength of a great typhoon toward her other opponent.

    the high-pitched scream tore from her throat, and though bill’s eyes went wide at the declaration of her intent, he didn’t have time to react. cinnamon’s rear paw lashed out in a vicious roundhouse kick, and as it descended, the world seemed to slow around her. she’d conjured up a familiar image as she unleashed the kick, using it to empower her resolve.

    she had done so countless times, but never before had it resonated so deep within her.

    despite cinnamon having all manner of activities and friends to distract herself with, she’d never forgotten her awakening. never left behind the image of an adolescent bunny cowering beneath bushes, its spirit as broken as one of its legs. this scene was a potent reminder of where her life would have probably ended if not for the intervention of maria and her master. each time she would focus on the memory, a fresh burst of determination would propel her onward.

    this time, though, it was much more vivid. she could smell the leaf-litter that would become her final place of rest. her entire body trembled, warring with her instinct to remain completely still lest a predator discover her. the bushes above had parted, allowing filtered light to shine down upon her. she had experienced true terror then as she spotted the creatures above, her animalistic mind assuming that her life, short as it had been, was over.

    of course, she’d been incorrect. it had been the beginning of her new life. the beginning of an existence spent with beings possessing more kindness—more compassion—than most could comprehend.

    cinnamon returned to the present. with her leg still soaring through the air and aimed directly at the spot on bill’s chest that could safely absorb her blow, a realization struck home.

    it was as simple as it was profound.

    cinnamon had spent so long with this image, yet she’d somehow missed something so obvious. with each repetition, she’d come to accept fischer and maria’s personalities as a fact. with stunning clarity, she realized she had taken it for granted.

    their kindness was infectious, seeming to proliferate the entire world around them. even common villagers were as lovely as could be, and again, cinnamon had just accepted that as the way things were supposed to be. in an ideal world, that was the way things should be, but that didn’t make it so. humans were capable of unspeakable cruelty, and just as capable of justifying it to themselves. someone as powerful as her master, a man that could obliterate mountains with a gesture of his hand, had instead chosen kindness. he chose it every single day, as sure as the sun rises in the east.

    cinnamon owed him her life. she owed him everything she had. and she would do whatever it took to repay that debt.

    like a proud mother, the world itself seemed to rejoice at cinnamon’s resolve, and chi flew into her.no?v(el)b\\jnn