Chapter Twenty-Two: Literal Life-saver (Patreon)

Am I to assume by that comment that you wish to stay here?  She questioned calmly. I nod, then, realising she probably can’t read human body language any better than I can read hers, I affirm my agreement verbally. Very well. Simply focus your attention and intentions and follow my lead. I’m not quite sure what she means by ‘focus your attention and intentions’, but I guess I’ll work it out. I, Kalanthia, mate of the Primal Nunda, agree to a pact of mutual defence with this human… She pauses, eyeing me. I get the hint.

“Markus Wolfe,” I fill in.

...Markus Wolfe. If he should come under attack in my presence, I will render him as much aid as I am capable of without putting myself at risk of immediate death. This pact shall continue until we both agree to its dissolution. She then looks expectantly at me. I do my best to repeat her words, filling in her name where appropriate. At least I’ve confirmed that it is her name, as I’d strongly suspected. Next, she continues with the non-aggression pact, and I repeat her again afterwards.

“I, Markus Wolfe, agree to a pact of non-aggression with Kalanthia, mate of the Primal Nunda. I swear that my acts shall not intentionally bring harm to her or hers, including physical acts, mental acts, and spiritual acts. This agreement shall continue until both of us agree to its dissolution.” That done, I relax, suddenly feeling safer than I have since I entered this world. Surprisingly, Kalanthia doesn’t look as satisfied as I would have thought considering that she’s now engaged a babysitter for her kid. Instead, she fixes me with another hard look. I feel sweat break out and wonder with a hint of panic whether this is when the shoe drops.

I warn you, Binder, that should you use any of your bindings on myself or my cub, I will willingly take on the consequences of breaking these pacts. OK, that wasn’t what I was expecting. Nor do I really understand what she’s taking about. Unless…

“Is this something to do with my Class?” I ask hesitantly. Her stare intensifies.

You are a human who thrives on bending others to your will and binding them with chains of devotion or control. You are not strong enough to succeed in binding me, and I will not stand for you binding Lathani. Huh, I guess it is about my Class.

“I hadn’t even thought about it,” I replied honestly. “I haven’t even tried those Skills out yet.” I hesitate. “Is it...do you want me not to use them at all?” I don’t really know how I feel about that idea. I mean, I haven’t even tried the Skills out, but it seems kind of a waste not to use them at some point.

Besides, I had kind of thought that these Skills were ones that would help me survive – if I had a tamed animal who could fight on the front line, I could stand back and fire arrows from a distance, for example. But I’m not sure that I want to use them so much I’d leave the first place I’ve found where I might sleep safely at night over them. Fortunately, it doesn’t end up being an issue.

What do I care of other, lesser creatures? She tosses her head in contempt as she responds. I care about myself and my cub: if all others are weak enough to fall to you, they deserve to be bound. Apparently the law of the jungle is about every creature for itself. In the end, I have mixed feelings over her evident blessing over me dominating all others as long as she and her cub are left in peace. Oh well – something else to deal with later.

“So...what now?” I ask.

Now? Do whatever you wish. I have fed sufficiently, despite the interruption to my hunt, and shall not need to eat for another two days. You are thereby released from having to fulfill our agreement to sit on my baby until then.

“OK,” I say slowly. “So where will I sleep – in your cave?” She paused for a moment.

You may sleep in our cave if you wish, but I would not like to accidentally mistake you for an intruder or snack during my sleep.  No, I’d rather that doesn’t happen, either, really. The very thought of waking up to a dreaming nunda eating me is...horrifying. To say the least. Alternatively, I can expand the cave a little to provide you with your own space. Although, I thought it was normal for humans to build shelters for themselves?

“It is,” I admit, “but I don’t have all the equipment or materials that would normally be used for that, so it would be more convenient for me to have a natural shelter which I can adapt to my needs.”

I see. She stood and walked back to the cave, the nunda cub – Lathani – following in little bounces and intermittently pouncing at her mother’s tail. Too cute! At least I’ll have plenty of dopamine bursts from watching her antics, I suppose. I follow a little more unsurely, since she hadn’t given any indication that she wants me to do so.

The cave is bigger than I’d thought – its mouth only just high enough to let the giant leopard pass, but then opening out both wider and higher past the mouth. There’s a pile of leaves and other bedding on one side of the cave, and a pile of bones on the other. I’m torn between disgust and interest at the last.

I can expand the cave downwards, or backwards, or make a little cave to this side, she said, flicking her tail towards the side with the bones. I give the question due consideration. Downwards is out – if there’s any significant rainfall, I don’t want to risk being flooded. Backwards means potentially walking past two sleeping nundas every time I want to enter and leave. Sideways means being near a pile of bones….

“Would it be OK if I move these bones somewhere else?” Kalanthia gives a cat-like shrug.

Move them out, if you prefer. They’re only there because Lathani likes playing with them even after they have been stripped of meat, but she can play with them outside just as well. OK, that sounds good.

“Can I have my place over here, then?” I ask, pointing to the side of the cave nearest the bones. Kalanthia gestures nonchalantly and I immediately see a difference. It’s not an instant fix – a hole doesn’t suddenly appear. No, it’s more like there’s a dip where there wasn’t one before, and then it magically – excuse the pun – deepens until I’m looking at a mini cave not that different from the one Kalanthia clearly made for herself to begin with.

Is this sufficient for your needs? She looks at me expectantly as she asks the question. I step into the hole and give it due consideration.

The space is frankly bigger than I would have hoped for if I’d tried to create a shelter, even a relatively fancy one. The ceiling is high enough that my head doesn’t brush it once I’ve ducked through the cave mouth which is about shoulder-height, though it’s only about a handspan above. It’s wide enough round that I could choose to lie down in any direction and still have a little space to spare. Just one thing…

“Is there any chance of creating a hole to the outside? Perhaps at this height?” I ask, indicating a height about halfway up the wall closest to the exterior. The nunda gestures once more and a hole bores its way through the rock. It’s a good foot through the wall which definitely gives me a sense of security. “OK, perfect,” I say with satisfaction.

There are still multiple things I’m going to have to do to make this into a proper home, but this is an excellent start. Especially so since I haven’t had to put in any back-breaking labour or time that I could spend elsewhere, although I suppose I did almost diefor the opportunity, so I guess it evens out. “Thank you,” I tell Kalanthia, and she nods regally before returning outside with her cub and leaving me to it.

The first thing I do is simply sit down. It’s been...well, it’s been quite a rollercoaster ride over the last few days, heck, the last few weeks, all taken into account. Although I’ve had time to process everything, I realise I haven’t really. Back on Earth, I spent far more time wallowing than processing, and the continued blows of my ex’s announcement, plus the death of my father, and then being fired didn’t exactly leave enough time for me to come out of one downwards plunge before I hit the next. And then ever since I’ve been in this world, I’ve been working more off survival instincts than much else.

Yes, I’ve thought things through, but all my thoughts have circled what I need to do next to stay alive just a little longer. Now, after pouring out everything to Kalanthia – probably telling her more than she actually wanted or needed to know – I feel strangely...lighter. Like somehow I’m managing to come to terms with the fact that I’m in a new world where everything wants to eat me and giant leopards can talk and do magic.

That’s not even touching on the fact that I’ve been half-blinded, something which makes me shiver every time I think about it, which is why I’m trying to stay away from it mentally. And not thinking about it is hard when every time I misjudge a distance, or have to turn my head just to see something out to my left reminds me about it. Another good reason that this place may be a literal life-saver, more than it already is.

This place is certainly an improvement on my last one: it’s already waterproof without any effort on my part, and out of the wind. Plus, with the knowledge that I’m protected by the presence of a giant predator, I actually feel a little...safe. The paranoid part of my mind keeps reminding me that said giant predator could turn around and make a snack out of me, but another part protests that there’s a Vow in place. Actually, speaking of that, I should have received a notification or something.

I check my messages and sure enough:

Twenty percent of my Energy store? Thirty percent? Does that mean what I think it does?

I close the message and navigate to my status screen, letting out a despairing groan when I see it.