Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Peter pulled out a pair of sandwiches and handed one to Kalista as they left the guild. Likewise, Deric and Kean gave their primals something to eat as well. By the time they were entering the forest, they had quickly finished their food.

“Same as before?” Peter asked.

“Same as before,” Kean replied as he desummoned Kya, Peter soon following his lead.

“So.. if you need a second primal, what are you going to go for, Deric?” Peter asked, continuing their conversation from before.

“Yeah, I've been thinking more and more about that lately. Well, not like there's a ton of options available around here. Getting a second Fren..” Peter saw Anda's tail twitch. “..I don't think I could get so lucky twice.” Her tail began to wag back and forth. Deric turned and gave a brief wink towards Peter. “Probably a Goblin. Since I'm always with Kean then at least for now I don't think we need another primal capable of healing.”

“I see, how about you Kean?” Peter asked.

“A Squire if I could, hahaha. Of course, their type isn't one you normally capture out in the wilds anymore.” Kean sighed. “Honestly not sure. Been thinking about whether it might be better to save up for something a bit pricier for my second primal.”

“Yeah, I could understand that. It'll take you much longer to save up though.”

“That's the problem,” Deric said. “Once you get your first stamp, the guild's willing to give you two summoning stones for capturing. That means double the income, more or less. So the faster you can get your second primal, the faster you rake in credits.”

“Assuming you can get your first stamp,” Kean mutterred.

“Kean if you had any primal as your second, you could probably get your first stamp. The first stamp is basically a test to see if you've ever battled a primal without using your dick. Obviously you failed.” Peter chuckled. “The first test is to just ensure a bare minimum standard. Of course the later stamps get harder and harder, but at least the first two should be pretty easy.”

“Ughhh.” Kean grumbled. “What about you Peter, what will your second primal be?”

Peter shrugged. “Not sure. I've seen Jet's Goblin, along with Kya and Anda, any of those types so far seem like they could work with Kalista. Maybe after some more time I'll have a better idea.”

Kean nodded.

Suddenly, Anda's ears perked up.

“Goblin?” Deric asked.

“No...” Anda let out a gasp. “An injured primal!”

“Let's get a move on, then.” Deric said. Anda began to run, the trio in pursuit of her. She took care to maintain a pace with which they could keep up without losing sight of her. Within a minute, they arrived at a clearing where a Fren lay on the ground, groaning. Her body was heavily bruised, and one of her legs was twisted in an odd direction.

“Are you tamed?” shouted Anda.

“Y-yes!” The Fren briefly sat up only to collapse onto the ground again, everyone quickly gathered around her.

“Kya!” Kean shouted as he summoned her.

“I'm on it.” Her hands began to emit a green aura. “I'm sorry, you will have to endure.” Her soft palms gripped the broken leg.

“Wait.” Kean commanded.

Kya froze.

“Where is your tamer?”

The Fren suddenly became alert again. “Ron? Ron!” She began shouting, searching around. “Ron!”

“Shut up.” Deric spoke threateningly. “Or you'll bring down the entire forest on us.” The Fren let out a small whimper as she nodded. “So, your tamer is called Ron?”

“Y-yes.” The Fren stuttered. “We were... we were attacked by goblins. I don't remember how many.. They must have carried him away.” Her eyes widened. “Please, I can still feel our bond, you have to save him!”

“Do you know what direction he's in?” Deric asked.

The Fren looked around. “He must be... that way.” She pointed.

Kean looked towards Peter. “Can you summon your primal?” Peter nodded and summoned Kalista. Kean shot a glance towards Deric, who nodded. “Have Kalista work with Anda to cover her mouth.”

Peter, although confused, looked to Kalista. “Do as she says.”

Kalista and Anda both approached the floored Fren. “Wait, what are you doing?” She began to shout. Kalista and Anda quickly silence her, forcing her jaw tight as the Fren began to flail with the rest of her body.

“Alright Kya, you're up.” Kean said.

Kya hands began to glow once more as she grabbed the broken leg. She began to slowly push it back into a position, the sound of her bones crying out roared. The Fren's muffled screams revealed the agony she was in. As Kya slowly managed to set it back in place, tears welled up in the Fren's eyes, droplets of water wetting the dirt.

Finally, the leg seemed to have returned to a normal position. Deric shot Kean a glance, and he nodded in response. Kya continued to heal the Fren a little more, until her muffled screams stopped.

“Alright, you can let her go now.” Deric said.

“And you can stop healing for now, Kya.” Kean said.

Anda released the Fren, but Kalista held on, looking towards Peter.

Peter blinked. “Oh, you too, Kalista.” She released the Fren's jaw, who let out a large gasp immediately afterwards. “So what now?” Peter asked aloud.

Deric thought for a moment. “Anda, can you sense her tamer in the direction she pointed?”

Anda sniffed. “I think so.”

“Alright. We'll head after this 'Ron' fellow. You, what's your name?” He pointed towards the Fren.

“B-bun, my name is Bun.”

“Bun. You're going to head back to Wildburry and report what happened to the guild. We're going to search for your tamer.”

“No, please!” She tried to run only managed to limp. “You have to take me with you! I have to find Ron!”

“You're in no condition to fight. And we need someone to notify the guild so that they can call any additional help.”

“Please, I.” Peter watched as tears began to well up in her eyes again. “If you c-could just give me a little more healing, I'll be able to fight.”

Kean shook his head. “Sorry, but we only have one healer, and she needs to conserve her energy.” Kya gave a slight apologetic bow.

“Just focusing on reporting this to the guild. We'll take it from here.” Deric said. “Come on guys, time is important here.”

As the group began to move out. The Fren limped towards them. “No, wait!” She shouted.

Peter stopped and turned around for a moment before catching up to Deric and Kean. “Is she going to be able to make it back to the guild that injured still?” He asked.

“We aren't to far deep in the forest yet.” Kean replied. “And besides, healing her more at this point might only bring us more trouble for us later.”

Peter, puzzled, thought to ask what Kean meant but saw Deric's peculiar expression and decided not to.

Anda led them deep through the forest, every once in a while pausing to sniff the air before signaling for them to follow. Everyone silently followed, until she motioned for everyone to halt. “There, up ahead.”

“A cave,” Peter muttered as he looked towards the stony structure. As the group approached the entrance, the faint sound of moans could be heard from within.

“Any idea on how many there are?” Deric asked.

Anda shook her head. “Scent strong enough that at least more than one, for sure.”

“Don't we have an advantage?” Peter asked. Deric and Kean turned towards him. “They are cornered inside the cave. Goblins strike me as the kind to need open space to be effective.”

“What if there were ten of them?” Deric asked.

“What?”

“What if there were ten goblins inside, do you think we'd be able to take them?”

Peter frowned. “No, but we'd definitely not be able to handle them if they all came running outside as well.”

“Are you volunteering to go inside then?”

“By myself?” Peter glimpsed at Kean, but saw he was wearing the same serious expression as Deric.

“The rocky uneven ground is a bit rough for Frens to be effective on. Dryads' Entangling Roots are ineffective on it as well. Your Squire I'm guessing would be fine, they can navigate in the dark as well I'd heard, but Anda and Kya won't be at full force.”

“What do we do then?” Peter asked. “If we wait out here, they might just all come outside and overwhelm us anyway.”

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“We can leave. Head back to the guild and pick up that Fren along the way, and tell them that we found the cave where the tamer was captured.”

“Is he going to last that long?”

Deric was silent for a while, before finally asking, “How do you know he isn't already dead?”

“What?”

“We could be putting ourselves at risk for nothing.”

“Didn't that Fren we met a while ago say he was still alive?”

“A while ago, yes.”

Peter closed his eyes as he thought about what Deric was telling him. Finally, they opened. “Kalista, how many goblins do you think you could take on inside the cave by yourself?”

Kalista peered towards the cave, gauging the space within. “Must I use the wooden version of my weapons?” She asked.

Peter gulped. “No.”

“Then-”

“Deric, they've noticed us!” Anda suddenly shouted.

“Shit.” Deric growled. “Come on!” He waved towards the rest of the group to follow him. Kya, Kean, and Anda began to run away with him.

Peter hesitated, staring at the cave. He heard the same sort of laughter erupt from within the cave as when Kalista had fought with Maly during their practice with Jet. Only far more menacing. The soft wish of metal through air blows nearby, and he glances towards Kalista who now brandished her metal sword and shield.

He couldn't help but notice her arms. Steady as the earth he was standing on. He brought his own to his face and saw them shake, then looked back towards the cave, the laughter gradually growing louder.

“C-come on!” Peter shouted to Kalista, the two of them now chasing after the others. He was certain that he had never run so fast in his life. Not during his school years when he had been considered one of the most athletic students. Not even during his year long tamer preparation he had undergone.

His usual practice of controlling his breath was thrown out the window as he furiously moved along the forest with Kalista trailing behind. Soon he managed to spot the rest running ahead, and he pushed himself even harder to reach them. A hand softly touched his shoulder and he let out a gasp, entering a coughing fit and slowing down.

“Peter.” Kalista said as he turned towards her. “You are going to wear yourself out. Focus on the others and just keep pace with them. I will keep an eye out behind us.”

In between gasps, Peter nodded his head and slowed down slightly as he forced himself to regain control of his breathing. Deric and the others were a short distance ahead, with his new pace Peter managed to keep a consistent gap between them. After a long time, their group finally stopped, Kean collapsing to the ground as Kya appeared and began healing him. Peter caught up.

“Are they... gone?” He asked, in between heavy breaths.

“Yes.” Anda replied.

Peter continued to breathe heavily. “Kean, are you alright?” Kean's face looked almost purple as he was letting out quick gasps. He was hunched over the ground, supporting himself with his hands. He gave a slight wave with his left to signal he was alright.

“Gaah. Fppt.” Deric let out a loud groan before spitting some saliva onto the dirt. “That was close,” Deric said while trying to steady his breathing. “There were-”

A loud scream pierced the forest. Peter's head snapped towards its direction, not behind, but in front of them. A Fren began to limp towards them, drool dripping from its mouth as it bore a wicked snarl. Sharp claws extended from her paws as both were raised towards the group. Her eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Is that...Bun?” Peter asked incredulously. He looked towards Deric who stared at the Fren, then Kean who was still hunched over. “Hey! We're going to the guild to get more people to save your tamer!”

The Fren replied with another howl. “It's no use, Peter.” Deric replied. “She's gone berserk. It can only mean one thing.” A sudden realization hit Peter as he began to grow pale.

“No...” Peter whispered.

Kalista stepped in front of Peter, the wooden variant of her weapons in hand. “Peter, I can knock her out, so you can capture her.”

“But...” He protested.

“Listen to your primal, Peter.” Deric spoke up. “Better to capture her and let her find a new tamer than kill her or leave her to the goblins.”

Peter's expression darkened before he gave a nod. Kalista charged forward and engaged the Fren in combat. The Fren swung her paws wildly as Kalista nimbly dodged each blow. Every opportunity she could find, Kalista would whack on of its limbs. Soon it was relying on one paw to swipe at Kalista.

In a move of desperation, the Fren's skin began to glow red as it tried to lunge towards Kalista with her jaw, but with her still limping leg she came no where close to biting her and fell face-first into the dirt. As she struggled to get up, she looked at them all with a deep hatred seated in her eyes, tears continuing to water the ground below.

Kalista hit her a few more times before the growls began to grow silent, and the Fren only looked at them in anger. Peter slowly walked up towards her with the summoning stone in his hand reaching out towards her.

The Fren's eyes widened as she tried to growl once again. With a squeeze, the stone began to absorb the Fren. Her final noise a faint cry. But not one of anger, but instead, sadness.

Peter stared at the stone in his palm and felt his heart sink. He turned behind to see Kean now standing, albeit with Kya's support.

Deric nodded. “It's done. Let's head back home, we've done enough for one day. We'll go slowly so that Kean can recover a bit more and report what happened to the guild.” Although it looked like Peter's attention was elsewhere, he gave a slow nod to show he understood.

By the time they arrived back at the guild, it had already grown dark outside. Deric explained what had transpired as Peter clutched the summoning stone within his hand. When it came time to hand it over, Peter blankly stared at the receptionist. He kept running the numbers over and over in his head, but he simply did not have enough. He finally handed the receptionist the stone, and he mentioned something about crediting the three of them.

The group left the guild and stepped out onto the street. Deric put his hand upon Peter's shoulder. “Don't be too harsh on yourself, Peter. We did all we could.”

Peter shook his head. “The cave...”

“There was nothing more we could have done.”

“But...”

“The age of heroes is long gone.” Deric appeared solemn for a moment before continuing. “Not since Arus himself marched off with his party towards the demon lord's castle over a hundred-fifty years ago. If we had gone into that cave, we'd have been victims, not saviors.”

Peter sighed. “I know.”

“Virtue is for the strong. All we can do is bear the weight of our weakness as we run for our lives and swear that we'll some day return stronger for it.”

Peter nodded. “I understand.”

Deric appeared doubtful. “We'll be here tomorrow, same time. We'll talk more then.”

Peter did his best to muster a smile before he began to leave. He slowly walked back towards the inn he had been staying at, skipped dinner and headed towards his room, Kalista closely following him behind.

He took off his clothes and settled into bed and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what Ron might have looked like. The roar of the Fren seemed to repeat over and over all the meanwhile, as though she were crying out in pain looking at the figment of Ron that Peter had thought up. He felt Kalista climb onto the bed and lean over him.

“Not tonight, Kalista.” He muttered, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“Peter,” her voice whispered, almost pleading.

“Tomorrow, I promise.”

“Are you thinking about the Fren?” He grimaced, but slowly nodded his head.

“Yes. And her tamer.”

Kalista remained silent for a while. Peter couldn't help but wish she would get off. “What if it had been me?”

“What?” Peter frowned and opened his eyes, seeing Kalista's concerned face hanging over him.

“What if I had gone berserk like that?” Peter closed his eyes again, as if trying to stop his mind from imagining it. “Or worse. Anything could have happened if we had gone inside that cave. Not just to us, but even Deric and the others as well.”

“But..”

“Maybe we could have saved that tamer. But just because we didn't, doesn't mean we were the ones that killed him.”

Peter sighed and twisted to his side. “I know. But I can't help but think...”

“About?”

“Alone in a cave. Or injured in the middle of a forest. On your own with no-one nearby. If everyone just runs away, how can we expect people to come when we want to be saved?”

Peter could feel the covers lift above him as Kalista laid down behind him and wrapped one arm over him. “I will just have to be there to save you, then.”

Peter let out a small chuckle as he smiled. “I guess so.”

The two lay motionless for a while, eventually Kalista's calm breathing signaling to Peter that she fell asleep.

He looked towards the edge of the room, the faint outline of the wall barely visible thanks to the moonlight creeping into the room. Peter's mind suddenly began to race, and his heartbeat quickened, and as if on reflex, Kalista pulled Peter closer to her and let out a soft sigh. After a while, he managed to relax and soon too fell asleep, the room completely still.

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