Callie's Heroes

PART V - A NEW COMPANION

Lhawni had been concentrating carefully on healing the last of the wounds on Callie’s face, yet somehow she still heard and comprehended what Jesca said. It was all she could do to properly stop the slow-healing spell she was in the middle of, before she collapsed in laughter along with everyone else. Even Vonn was reduced to holding herself upright against the shelter with one arm, while the other was curled around her belly as she cackled.

As for Callie, she just stood there in stunned disbelief, instinctively turning in the general direction of where Pixyl would be training, before looking back at the little drakeling, which was curiously looking back at her. Callie’s brain was simply unable to find any coherent or appropriately-snarky words to respond with. The laughter continued far longer than it should have, the dumbfounded look on Callie’s face just adding to the humor. Finally, and with an almost questioning inflection, she uttered out a meek, “Yeah, I know?”

Jesca snort-laughed again, before calming slightly to translate her new Companion’s next comment. “She says that it’s good you’re not that stupid.”

Of course, this started everything all over again. Callie slowly sank to the ground, her body sliding down the shelter wall and her face blushing almost as red as her drying blood.

By now, everybody was fully aware that she and Pixyl were a couple, and largely nobody had given them any serious grief. Callie had heard scattered whispers, mostly from some of the Dwarves, and on one occasion Trainer Terrin pulled a Dwarf that said something particularly juvenile and nasty out of the bleacher seats by his ear, before dragging him off for what was surely an uncomfortable and one-sided conversation. Largely, though, it was not very different from the hushed obnoxious comments she’d had to endure from guys back in Chicago.

As for the Beastkin, their attitudes were a different form of grief. While most of the Dwarven comments were either juvenile or lurid, or in a couple cases, a little cruel, a few of the Beastkin, especially the younger recruits, seemed to have a more pragmatic issue with Callie and Pixyl being a couple. With their strong focus on reproduction, they inherently had a difficult time understanding why anyone of child-bearing age would choose to be in a same-sex relationship, since children weren’t a possibility. Jesca explained that it wasn’t that Beastkin didn’t have a respect for love and romance. Instead it was simply a practical reaction.

Callie had pushed for more information, with Jesca and Fynisse clarifying that in Beastkin society, children were fundamentally ingrained as a first and foremost duty, at least four of them for each mother, if not more. Arranged couplings purely for producing offspring were actually still quite common. Once that duty was completed, though, then you found a partner for love if you wanted, almost like starting a new chapter in life. Some couples might get lucky during child rearing and love each other from the start and forever, but otherwise, marriages ending and people getting remarried, once the kids were grown, was quite common. Jesca also explained that in the last fifty years or so, attitudes had started to shift. Many more were choosing not to have children at all, while others might do only their minimal duty, putting the kids up for adoption and wanting nothing to do with the long-term responsibilities of motherhood once their duties to the Beastkin were completed. Fynisse, who was from Imor proper, mentioned that in the bigger cities it was growing common for multiple females, often different animal types, to come together and create group collectives to raise kids together, with few, if any, males in the picture. She also implied that was what she was considering for her childbearing years, unless she met someone she really hit it off with.

So in the end, it wasn’t that the comments that some of the Beastkin made were necessarily designed to be mean. It was more to express a cultural difficulty accepting why two young people in the prime of their reproductive life wouldn’t want to do their duty first. It was a different attitude than the Dwarves, but at least somewhat understandable, from a cultural standpoint. Even Thucax, when he first learned that Callie and Pixyl were together, reflexively made some confused comments, and Jesca privately talked him through it. He quickly came around, apologizing profusely for his words.

As for the non-gendered Beastkin like Xin, Shul’an and Vonn, they plain didn’t give a damn. To them, every person of their own kind was compatible sexually and reproductively, and they tended to see even gendered people in that way, assuming everyone hooked up with each other regardless. While they understood the mechanics of gendered reproduction, it was hard for them to fully appreciate that you needed to have one of each to produce children, and even then, only one gave birth.

Callie actually had found her friends’ description of Beastkin culture quite fascinating, both as it related to their view of gay people, or renadits as they were called in this world, but also in general terms. Their entire society was simply focused around making babies. It had been that way for centuries, designed to overcome both their low initial populations after The Escape, as well as their relatively short lifespans. It had worked, and now five-hundred years later the Beastkin people were prolific, especially south and east of the capitals throughout Imoria. They still tended to settle in enclaves of the same base animal, Jesca mentioning that nearly all of the people in her home village were Cheetahkin, but that, again, was really just for breeding purposes. The different types were more integrated in the cities, and post-children couples of differently-based Beastkin were not uncommon there.

“What’s going on here?” a curious voice asked. It was Master Trainer Thorn wearing a smile on his face, having heard and then seen everyone else laughing, but that smile faded as he saw the bloody state Callie was in. “My stars, what happened? Are you alright?”

“She will be,” Lhawni said, forcing the last of the giggles away. “I was just about done.” She returned to focusing on the remaining healing, reminding Callie to stop squirming.

“Very good, but seriously, what happened?” Thorn asked, looking to Vonn and then all the others for some kind of explanation.

“A new Beassstmassster Companion,” Vonn said, gesturing towards Jesca with her head.

“What? Really?”

Jesca moved aside, revealing the little drakeling sitting cutely on the ground. Her wings had moved largely towards blues now, seeming fairly comfortable with everything happening. The little creature cocked her head and considered the Ratkin, making a few curious chirping noises.

“What … what is it? Obviously a drakeling of some kind, but I’m not familiar with this type.”

Shul’an spoke up, quickly explaining what subspecies it was and where they were found natively, as well as about the times they’d seen them in the darkness when riding with the caravans. “She made quite the trip to get here, according to what she told Jesca.”

Thorn dropped to one knee, getting a little closer to the drakeling and making little kissy noises, which seemed quite out of character for him, as did the huge grin. In return, new waves of curious greens and blues flitted across the drakeling’s wings and tail. “It’s beautiful,” Thorn said, smiling. Looking up, he asked, “So what happened to Callie? Did the drakeling attack her?”

“Yeah, she’s a menace,” Callie grumbled, but she actually had a bit of a smile on her face too. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s adorable, but whatever you do, don’t take her stuff. She’ll probably gut you.”

Thorn was still confused.

“Do you know how they sssay dragonsss have hoardsss of gold and gemsss?” Vonn asked, attempting to further clarify.

“I suppose, yes.”

“In all her excccitement, the little drakeling dropped her hoard, and Callie picked it up out of curiosssity. There wasss a … a missssssunderssstanding.”

Thorn's confused face continued as he looked back to the drakeling, before looking again at the blood-covered Callie.

“One coin!” Callie exclaimed, spreading her arms wide in exasperation and then holding up a single finger. “That’s her entire hoard, one single gold coin! It fell out and rolled over to me. All I did was pick it up to look at it. She went nuts trying to get it back!”

“Stop moving!” Lhawni snarled. She’d finished the healing work, and was now attacking Callie’s face with a damp piece of cloth, working to remove what she could. “I’m almost done, but you’re going to want a shower. There’s a lot of blood in your hair.”

“Sir?” Jesca said, getting Thorn’s attention. He looked up and Jesca waved a piece of the jerky in the air, making first a tossing motion and then one of tearing a piece off. “She likes this.” Thorn nodded, and then caught it in one paw as it flew his way.

Returning his attention to the drakeling and tearing a chunk off, Thorn made some more chirpy noises while holding out a piece of the dried meat. “Here you go,” he cooed. He actually was getting a little giddy, as if in cuteness overload. Seeing the perplexed looks on the faces around them, he added, “I’ve always loved drakelings, ever since I was a child. I know they can be a nuisance, but I’ve always liked them. Closest thing I’ll ever get to seeing a dragon.”

“Go ahead,” Jesca said, looking down. “He’s not going to hurt you. None of us will.”

The drakeling looked up at Jesca as she spoke, and then towards Thorn. She saw the inviting snack and then hopped into the air, wings flapping to bring her closer while they changed back to nervous yellow colors. Carefully she edged closer, looking back at Jesca’s encouraging smile once, before reconsidering Thorn. Another hop brought her a little closer, colors going more orange now, and then with a lightning-fast snatch, she grabbed the piece of jerky and flapped quickly back to Jesca.

“At least she didn’t take my hand off,” Thorn said, chuckling as he stood up, looking at his paw and flexing his fingers. “Callie’s right, she’s adorable.” Then he added, “My son will be visiting for Midsummer. He’s ten and thinks drakelings are as fascinating as I do. He’s been wanting one as a pet for years. If you’d be willing, and I suppose your Companion, too, I’m sure Nevikk would love to meet her. Artemis as well, for that matter.”

Jesca shrugged. “Sure.”

“She’ll need a name, too, I suppose,” Shul’an pointed out. “Any ideas?”

Jesca furrowed her face. “Uh … not offhand.” Then she looked at Callie. “Do you have any more Gnome god names?”

“It’s a female, right? Let me think.”

Callie had been reflecting back over the previous weeks on what she knew of Earth mythology for exactly this reason, naming more of Jesca’s Companions as they came. She’d tried to remember all the various gods and goddesses that she’d studied at some point, seen in movies, or even just heard something about, and had been keeping an internal list of their names and details. Callie had largely only ever learned details about Greek, Roman and the Norse pantheons, that last being very little beyond Marvel-connected stuff. For other cultures, she’d at best remembered a name, but not what they might be the ‘god of’ or many details of the stories attached to them.

Cocking her head in mimicry, Callie and the drakeling considered each other. It stood up on its hind legs again, wings out and still flickering through several different colors, in an almost mesmerizing pattern. For all her grumbling about being attacked, Callie was liking this new Companion for Jesca, and she decided to not hold a grudge against it, even if it was a bit of an over-the-top response for one lousy coin. The damage was repaired and her eye hadn’t been hurt, after all. Then, it came to her!

“Ooo! I got it! How about the goddess of rainbows?” Callie suggested excitedly.

“That’s perfect!” Lhawni said, clapping and looking at the drakeling. “What is it?”

“Iris,” Callie said, grinning and feeling just a little smug for coming up with something so quickly. She remembered a brief discussion about Iris from the Women in Mythology class, but was struggling to remember anything else about her. “I think she was a winged messenger for all the other gods, too. In the stories, she would deliver love letters and gifts and such.”

“That one is quite appropriate,” Shul’an said approvingly. “She both has wings and is able to make her own rainbows, in a sense.”

Jesca looked back towards the drakeling, then kneeled down again. The drakeling looked up at her, and then made a series of sputtering clicking and spitting noises. Jesca was taken aback. “Really? That’s your name? None of us will be able to pronounce that. Well, perhaps the Lizardkin could, but I certainly couldn’t.”

The drakeling collapsed to a slouch, almost seeming disappointed, or even sad. She drooped her wings, the colors seeming to drain away until there was none at all, wings taking on a blue dullness.

“Iris can be your nickname,” Callie quickly said, addressing the drakeling and trying to make a helpful suggestion. “Callie is mine, for example, but my full name is Calliope. The first is just easier and less formal. I was named after one of those goddesses too. Well, actually, it was after a muse. The one that inspires epic poetry.” Then, seeing a couple glances, including a frowning one from Thorn, she added her go-to, “Why do I remember that?”

“See, you can have more than one name,” Jesca tried to explain.

There was a moment of intense staring between Jesca and the new Companion, and you could feel they were having a private, telepathic conversation. It only lasted a few seconds before the drakeling rose again on her hind legs, wings spreading and fluttering with an almost perfect rainbow spectrum. She seemed to cough, the noise sounding something like ‘kye-risss’, with a hard beginning and the ending a long hissing.

“That’s right. Goddess of the rainbow,” Jesca said encouragingly. “Just like you are making now. It’s very lovely.”

Callie couldn’t help but smile watching Jesca and her new Companion. For all Jesca’s talk about not wanting to be a Beastkin broodmare, she sure seemed like she’d be good with children. Although, she was the oldest of seven, so she probably had been around young ones all her life. If things ever changed for her, Callie knew her friend would be an amazing mother.

“Kye-risss,” the drakeling chittered again before it nodded, seeming to accept the new name.

“That’s quite astonishing, Jesca,” Thorn said quietly. “Even Rowani isn’t able to converse with animals to that degree. I’m actually quite envious of your ability.”

Jesca glanced at the Master Trainer, seeming to blush slightly. Extending her arm, the little drakeling, now formally named, scampered up to Jesca’s shoulder. She found an apparently comfy spot, hooking her tail around the back of Jesca’s neck and looking around. The tail now ended at a point, the fanned-out tip having stowed closed. She folded her wings, which hid the color-changing skin away and they blended into the blue of her scaled body. As Jesca turned around, offering Iris another piece of torn jerky, all of the others, as well as Thorn, moved closer, both fascinated and eager to meet the latest strangeness in camp.

“You know what this means,” Shul’an said as they gently patted Iris’s head. “You have a shapeshift now, right? Into any of your Companions? That means you have a flight form!”

“And can shoot heat lasers from your eyes, too!” Callie added.

“No!” both Thorn and Vonn warned instantly. “Don’t you dare try any shapeshifting or flying without Rowani, Cheena or Maugra present,” Thorn added. “The last thing you want is to bungle that casting and either get stuck in a form or something even worse. Or break your neck crashing into something.”

Jesca nodded. “You already warned me this morning, and Trainer Rowani said the same thing. We were going to work on shapeshifting into my unicorn form this evening, and Trainer Maugra was going to help, too.”

“Still! Once you have it down, you’re going to be able to fly!” Callie gleefully giggled. “And shoot frickin’ laser beams from your eyes! That’s so cool! I am so jealous right now!”

A murmur of agreements rolled through everyone else, although nobody had any idea what a ‘laser beam’ was. Still, they were used to crazy Callie words and thus, they simply accepted that if she said laser beams were ‘cool’, they almost certainly were.