Suffice it to say, I unfortunately did not get to enact vengeance on Mr Stripey on the day of our sparring session. No, instead Teival and I got paired up with some girl I couldn’t be bothered remembering the name of and her Molnir Panther cub. I recall not being in an overly enthusiastic mood that day due to not having the opponent I wanted, thus didn’t really do much in the spar.

“Argh! Why couldn’t it have been Mr Stripey?! Instead I get something that has flowers in its fur and a weird smooth strip of cloth tied into a butterfly shape! Also, what kind of name is Lady Fluffia the First?” As I was struggling to comprehend the thought processes of this human, I easily dodged out of the way of a pitiful pounce from the cub before simply kicking it in the face. I mean, she looked slightly prettier than me which must not be allowed!

I honestly wouldn’t have thought such a weak tap on the face with my paw would have knocked my opponent out…but it did. When I glanced up at the girl, she seemed to start crying before running to her crystal beast and hugging it. Teival and I just sort of stood staring at the scene before us, not too sure about whether this could have even been considered a proper fight, or not.

Analysing the causes for such an easy victory, I pinned it down to lack of development. By that, I mean it was clear that the cub hadn’t grown much since the time we arrived in this village. Although its fur was enviously elegant, its claws looked brittle and dull. I concluded that my opponent was not eating the proper food, nor putting in the hours to maintain good physical fitness. If I had to be truly critical, Lady Fluffia the First looked fat.

The other fault I discovered with this pair of tamer and crystal beast was how weak their bond was. I mean, it’s essential for a crystal beast to follow through with the orders issued by their tamer – imperative even. However, I noticed how the cub didn’t run a certain direction when told; used her tail instead of her claws when told to swipe at me; jumped forward instead of retreating…you get the picture. If I had to give them a rating, it would be dismally poor.

With the sparring session over and done with, Teacher had us all gather around him before giving another of his boring speeches. I wasn’t really listening until I caught him mentioning being out of the village for two weeks so he could go to a city(?) and buy some more reading materials. All at once, I got a headache from the cacophonous clamour of children vying for permission to go with him. However, that ended almost as soon as it started with the simple word of: “No,” from Teacher.

Of course, he gave some reasons to do with it being a dangerous journey for children to make, as well as something to do with the city being dangerous, too. “What even is a city?” Not bothering to find out what a city was, since I deemed it not important, I lay down and rested my head on my paws as I waited for this droning drivel to finish.

Unfortunately for me, I was assaulted by another tumultuous torrent of talking. Pressing my ears against my head to muffle the sound, I still managed to pick up on Teacher adding a minor detail to his journeying:

“I expect you all to be able to cast at least one attack spell on my return.”

This resulted in various complaints from the children – minus Teival and Dinara – who said it was too difficult to achieve. However, Teacher merely mentioned the promise of sharing knowledge on some more powerful spells to anyone who managed to do it. Of course, I saw this as a ploy to get them to work hard, since I assumed he would teach them all the spells eventually anyway. Looking at the little humans, though, I realised the tactic had worked since even Teival showed excitement over this promise. “T-T-Teival? Why are you showing such a determined look?!”

Soon after dropping this bombshell, Teacher dismissed the class – causing everyone to disperse and head to their respective homes. Teival and I waited until everyone had left before leisurely walking back to our own humble abode. Upon reaching it, I watched as Teival immediately rushed towards his growing pile of books, picked up one before sitting down to read it.

I padded over to him and pawed at his leg, wanting to play with him since we didn’t have any more lessons for the day, however I was ignored. I tried biting at his clothes and pulling at them, but my master was intently focussed on whatever he was reading. Thus, I decided to play by myself outside the room. Of course, I didn’t stray too far since I felt uncomfortable whenever the distance between us grew too much – nauseatingly uncomfortable. It kind of reminded me of when that woman had her crystal eagle fly in the air with me trapped in its talons…

Switching back to happier times, I decided to dig holes and see if there were any bugs, or insects in the soil. “Ah, I love the sensation of my claws sinking inside.” Enjoying the energy flowing through my paws into my body, I began digging faster as I entered a soothing state of reverie. Within my restful ruminations, I pondered over how fast and deep I could dig.

Absentmindedly willing myself to increase my excavation speed, I suddenly felt my energy deplete at a rapid rate before regaining clarity to discover I was in a deep hole. Experiencing a mental and physical exhaustion, I lay down in the soil surrounding me while having nostalgia. “Reminds me of the dens Mother and Father dug out for us. Ah…I wonder if they’d praise me for my hole.” At some point, I slipped into slumber due to how comfortable I was, as well as the fact I simply couldn’t be arsed jumping out of my hole.

I eventually woke up on Teival’s lap. Enjoying the scratches behind my ears, I wagged my tail which alerted him to my stirring. “Kia, I want to try something out. Will you help me?” He asked while gently stroking my head. “Ah, anything for you as long as you keep doing what you’re doing right now.” I accepted the affectionate caresses along my carefully maintained fur as I sat upright and stared at him.

I saw him smile as he stopped stroking me and clapped his hands together. “Oh? Are you going to try doing a spell like that woman in my dream?” Intrigued by what my master was going to do, I witnessed him awkwardly chant words I couldn’t understand. After a few seconds of chanting, I noticed a blue light glow through his palms before he slowly separated them – revealing a tiny orb of blue floating between them.

With my interest over the blue light piqued, I leaned forward to examine it in more detail, seeing it grow slightly bigger as Teival continued his chants. Moving ever closer, I wondered what the orb was made from before it shot out and hit me in the face. A distinct wet sensation was detected as I discovered myself to be drenched.

Some of the water had gone up my nose due to its close proximity to the orb, resulting in me sneezing instinctively. As Teival finished chanting, I stared at him with my bedraggled fur and saw him smile widely before laughing uncontrollably. “Why are you laughing?! Do I look ugly? Have you made me look unpresentable?!” Mithering over my appearance, I heard Teival mention words of apology through muffled giggles. “Master is a meanie!”

Well, I suppose it’s not so bad that I got splashed with some water, since I found myself to be thirsty. Licking the water off my sodden fur, I soon sated my dry throat while also realising that I was actually quite dirty from being in the hole before. Blessings in disguise, as they say. “Who is they?” I couldn’t explore that quandary as Teival rubbed my head and spoke:

“I’ll work on the spell and make it more effective. By the way, I noticed the giant pit you dug. Anything you want to share?”

I tilted my head at him mid-thigh lick, with my leg raised high so I could reach it. “Hmm? Anything to share? Like what?” I stared at him for a long while, unsure of what he was meaning. Seeing me not giving much of a response, Teival grabbed my front paws – causing me to lose balance. “Hey! Be careful how you treat a girl!” I barked in protest at being boy-handled but was ignored by my master who was intensely inspecting my beautiful paws.

“Hmm, seems you’re starting to develop an ability…Though I could be wrong…”

I watched as Teival scratched his head with an unsure expression, still not understanding what he was going on about. I mean, all I did was dig! I’ve been digging for most of my life, what’s so strange about it now? Since I couldn’t comprehend the complex conversation I assumed Teival was having with himself over my actions, I decided to go to sleep and not think about it too much.

As I curled up on his lap and closed my eyes, I swear I heard him give a disheartening sigh while softly stroking my back. “Well…I suppose she’s still young, so it’ll take some time…”