“What?” Henry stared. “What are you talking about?”
“The bear’s sleeping.” Colin answered. “This is for beginners, remember? Something anyone with a Lynxmouse can do. We’re not supposed to fight the bear. We’re supposed to sneak past it. Or at least, send our Comrades to sneak past it.”
“Yip.” Shiro said, and scurried down Colin’s arm. He tapped Colin’s watch with his paw. “Yip.”
Now Colin stared. “Are you serious?!”
“Yip.” Shiro said.
“What is he saying?” Henry asked.
Colin didn’t reply. He simply took off his watch.
The silver bracelet expanded immediately, back to its original size. Colin put it on the ground.
Shiro turned to Meek. “Yip.”
Meek crawled into it and Shiro tapped it with his paw. Colin’s watch closed and fitted itself to Meek’s waist.
“She looks like she’s wearing armor.” Henry observed.
“Yip. Yip.” Shiro told Meek.
“Mik.” Meek replied, and crept into the cave.
***
Colin and Henry waited for perhaps two minutes before Meek was out again. Meek was beaming. “Mik!”
The watch was flashing red.
“Thanks, Meek. Thanks, Shiro.” Colin said, putting on his watch again.
“My turn.” Henry said. “Chip. Biscuit. Tomato. Let’s go.”
Colin scratched his head. “I’ll wait…”
“No.” Henry said. “You go on ahead. You’re right – this should be done by beginners. I can manage. I have to manage this… on my own.”
“Why?” Colin asked.
“Because that’s what my brother would want. He’d want me to do things by myself so that I’ll be ready when it’s time for him to train me.” Henry said. “Don’t worry, Colin. I can do this.”
“Okay…” Colin said, and left him to it.
***
The last clue said, Follow the scent of this clue.
Colin blinked. “Do you know the scent?”
Meek nodded. “Mik, mik.”
“Okay. Let’s follow it.”
Meek followed the scent to the west side of town, but it went farther, to the north side, then the east side, back to the south before finally ending up right back in the Town Square.
“Are you sure about this?” Colin had to ask.
“Mik.” Meek said, with certaintly.
She followed it all the way under the stage, watched by the announcer, the judges, and everyone else who had given up on the treasure hunt altogether. She just slipped in under the curtains, and Colin had about thirty seconds to wonder if he should follow her under it too.
But he didn’t need to. Just before he could ask someone for advice, Meek popped back out.
This time, she had the golden watch in her paws.
The announcer’s voice boomed all over town.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a WINNER!”
***
They wanted him to put it on. But he refused.
“Other than the color and the gold, there’s really no difference between this watch and mine, right?” he asked.
“No difference. But you get to prove that you actually won this contest.” The announcer said.
“Then I have a better idea.” Colin said, looking around.
He spotted her arriving. Her face was still pale and went even whiter when she saw that he’d won it.
Colin went over to Rita and gave her the Golden Watch.
“Rita, I’m sorry for leaving you behind.”
Phase 09: The Road South
Henry almost fainted.
Alicia’s face was red. Jonah’s was purple. Larry’s was red too, but then, it always went red after he went running.
“Two thousand Clira!” someone shouted. “I’ll buy it for two thousand!”
“Three thousand!” someone else offered.
“Four!” a woman called.
Rita glanced at Colin.
Colin shrugged. “It’s yours. You can sell it if you want. Bye.”
Rita grabbed his arm before he made more than two steps. “Colin… thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Colin said.
“Contact me sometime.” Rita told him.
Colin’s watch twitched. Rita’s contact had been added to his phone book.
“You too.” Colin told her, although he already knew she had his contact.
He left before he got trampled by people making offers on the watch.
***
“You don’t mind, do you?” he asked Shiro and Meek as they left Riverside Town behind and headed south.
Meek shrugged. Shiro wagged his tail. “Yip!”
But suddenly, Shiro’s ears twitched. He spun about, then suddenly ran over to Colin’s other shoulder, almost knocking Meek off.
“Yip!” Shiro said urgently and started pulling at Colin’s ear.
“What is it?” Colin asked.
“Yip!!” Shiro said again, and there was the sound of fear in his voice.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Colin glanced to the right, where the Comrade Home stood. He went to it.
“Yip!” Shiro shook his head as they approached the entrance. He pulled at Colin’s ear again.
“Behind it?” Colin asked in a low voice.
“Yip.” Shiro almost whispered.
Colin darted to the back, hiding at the place where he and Henry had hidden before.
“Yip.” Shiro said again, pulling him farther.
Colin blinked. “The bear cave?”
Shiro nodded.
***
Colin was worried.
He didn’t know what Shiro was afraid of. He didn’t know why the little wolfcat was so worried.
All he knew was that something was on the road between Riverside Town and Sunshine Town, and Shiro desperately wanted to avoid it. Shiro was so desperate, he’d bring them into a bear’s cave to stay away from that thing.
“What’s happening?” Colin asked, glancing at the sleeping honey-bear at the back.
Shiro shook his head and tilted his ears forward to listen.
Behind them, the bear snored.
The trees in front of the cave were blocking their view; they could barely see the Home and the road from where they were.
Colin flicked on his visor and set it to 10x.
Not good. It was hard to see, even with the magnification up. He switched on thermal sight – so that he could see heat signatures.
He saw red heat signs in the Comrade Home. He saw small heat signs in the grass and woods around the back of the Home. He even saw a thin one flying high in the sky.
But his eyes fell on five tall red figures coming up the road from the south.
“Are they what we’re hiding from?” Colin asked Shiro softly.
“Yip.” Shiro agreed.
It wasn’t a Wild that Shiro was afraid of. Shiro was afraid of those men.
Those men walked up to the Comrade Home and knocked on the door. Red figures inside spoke to red figures outside. Those men were talking to the breeders.
Colin watched, tense and worried that they might find him there. What if the breeders told them about a certain cave out back…? But what were they even looking for? Were they looking for Shiro?
One of the breeders pointed up to road, to Riverside Town. The figures left the Home and headed north.
Colin watched until they were small figures on the road north.
Red light flashed on his watch. It was Aoi. He took the call.
“What is it?” Colin whispered.
“Colin!” Aoi was whispering also. “Wherever you are, find a place to hide, quick!”
A chill ran down Colin’s spine. “I’m already hiding. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like the looks of those men. They’re looking for you and your friends.”
“Me and my Comrades?” Colin asked.
“No. Your friend
s. Eight kids, they said, who became new Travelers today.”
Colin gulped. Those guys weren’t looking for Shiro. They were looking for him. “I better warn the rest.”
“Yes. Do that. Quickly.” Aoi whispered, and closed the connection.
Colin called Henry. “Henry! There are people after us!”
“You figure?” Henry asked, sourly. “Everybody wants to meet the guy who’s generous enough to give away a Golden Watch. They all want you to give them things.”
“No, not like that! Henry, listen, there’s men looking for us! They may be dangerous!”
“I’ve got my Comrades with me, Colin. Go find someone else to bother. I don’t like it when people talk too much, remember?”
Henry cut the connection.
“Henry!” Colin hissed.
The bear behind him snorted, then shifted. Colin froze, turning around slowly, but in a moment, the bear was snoring again.
Colin called Rita. “Rita!”
“Colin!” Rita exclaimed. “The watch sold for seven thousand!”
“Great! Now, go find somewhere to hide! Dangerous people are looking for the eight of us!”
“Eight of who?” Rita asked blankly.
“Us eight who started today! They’re looking for us! And I think they’re dangerous!”
“Why?” Rita asked.
“I don’t know why! Just find cover, quick!”
“I better warn the others… where’s Henry… ah… there he… oh no!”
“What?!” Colin gasped.
“Run!” Jonah’s voice hissed over the other end.
“Where?” Alicia’s voice sounded frightened.
“No! Don’t run! They’ll see us!” Rita told them. “Just walk fast!”
“Run!” Jonah said again, and footsteps sounded loud over the watch.
“Idiots!” Rita hissed.
Colin froze, not daring to say anything to draw attention to Rita. Behind him, the bear went on snoring.
“Colin… they have him.” Rita said softly.
“What?! Who?”
“Five men. Wearing some sort of dark green armor.” Rita told him. “Those are the ones you’re talking about, right?”
“What did they do? Who did they take?” Colin asked.
“Colin… they got Henry.” Rita answered. “Now they’re chasing Jonah and the other two.”
“Well… we did warn them.” Colin shook his head. “Don’t worry about Jonah and the others, Rita. They’re experts at getting away.”
“Maybe. I hope so.” Rita said, doubtfully.
Colin sighed. “They’ll get away. Trust me, I grew up with those three. They can get away from anyone. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“I’ll be fine, Colin. You take care of yourself, all right?”
Colin let out a deep breath. “You take care too.”
Rita cut the connection.
Colin growled. “Now what?”
The cave had grown quiet. Totally quiet.
“Yip.” Shiro told him, and tugged at his arm.
Colin turned around. “What is it now?”
And then he realized why the cave was so quiet.
The bear had stopped snoring.
***
“Uh…” Colin said. “Shiro…”
Shiro looked at him, then looked at the bear, and said, “Yip?”
“I think we better run.” Colin said, switching off the visor.
The bear looked at them both and gave them a curious snort.
“Mik.” Meek told them both. “Mik, mik.”
The bear looked at Meek and its eyes widened. “Roaarrl!”
Shiro sighed. “Yip.”
“Mik.” Meek said apologetically.
And then they charged.
***
“Shiro!” Colin gasped.
Shiro dashed in to the bear’s left flank, biting hard on the left leg, hard. Meek charged in on the right, slapping the bear’s right leg with her tail.
The bear roared, and tried to punch Shiro from above.
But Shiro was too fast for it. The little wolfcat was already on the bear’s back, clawing for all he was worth. Meek, meanwhile, made a half circle around the bear, then used her speed to stab her tail at the exact spot Shiro had bitten earlier.
The bear didn’t like that. It kicked Meek into the air.
“Meek!” Colin jumped up and caught the Lynxmouse.
Shiro was scrambling over the bear’s back and the bear was tearing at him with both claws, never quite managing to hit the little furball. The bear’s own claws tore into its back and it roared again.
“Shiro!” Colin called worriedly. “Be careful!”
“Yip.” Shiro sounded rather bored. He scrambled up to the bear’s face and smacked the nose with his tail.
The bear made a grab for Shiro with both paws.
Shiro scrambled over the bear’s head just before its paws slammed down on its own face.
With a yowl of pain, the bear dropped and stopped moving.
Colin stared. “Did you defeat it?”
Shiro snapped his tail against the bear’s face again. The bear didn’t move. “Yip.”
Colin reached out to touch it, but Shiro got in the way. The wolfcat shook his head. “Yip.”
Colin sighed. “You’re probably right. He won’t accept me until I’m stronger. We’ve had enough for tonight. Let’s go.”
“Yip.” Shiro agreed, and scrambled back up to Colin’s shoulder.
Meek, on the other hand, decided that Colin’s backpack was a nicer place to stay in. She scrambled into the main section and settled down there.
“Don’t eat the tuna while you’re there.” Colin cautioned her. “And don’t get hurt. I’m going to run and it could get bumpy.”
Meek gave him a snort.
“Well, then.” Colin said. “We’re off.”
***
Colin called Katrin as he walked south.
“Colin! I saw you on the news!” Katrin said. “That was brilliant, winning the Treasure Hunt!”
“I gave it to Rita.” Colin said. “To apologize.”
“I know. I saw that too.” Katrin said. “It was very sweet of you.”
Colin sighed. “Katrin, I called to tell you that we’re in danger.”
“Danger?” Katrin was surprised.
“Five men. Green armor.” Colin said.
It took some time to explain to her about Shiro’s fear and Aoi’s words and what happened to Henry and the others.
“So they’re chasing Jonah, Alicia and Larry.” Katrin sounded worried. “You’re sure those three will be able to get away?”
“Very sure.” Colin said. “I know they will.”
“Then you should be careful. Rita sounds like she knows what she’s doing, but you…”
“I managed so far. But aren’t you forgetting something?” Colin prompted.
“Like what?” she asked.
“They’re after you as well.”
Katrin fell silent for a bit, but she gave an answer soon enough. “Colin, they already came by the farm.”
“They WHAT?!” Colin jumped.
“They came by the farm. They saw me, and they didn’t think I was one of the eight, because my badge is yellow.”
“Your badge is… yellow?” Colin blinked.
“Oh… did I tell you? We fought this bear out back in the woods, and defeated it, and I have four Comrades now… and well… my badge turned yellow.” Katrin told him. “Two of the Ants are badly injured, though and even Graybark needs to rest. It was a full-grown Growly Bear.”
“Wait… you’re telling me that your badge changed color?” Colin gaped.
“Well… yes. Everyone starts at white, and then goes to yellow and other colors like green, blue, purple, red and so on. Edward says most people take days to reach yellow.”
***
“Yellow…” Colin’s mind raced. “So if I get a yellow badge, they’ll never notice me.”
“Right.” Katrin said. “You’ll need at least three Comrades and a total of 25 levels between them.”
Three… “I need one more Comrade.”
“Rainducks.” Katrin said at once.
“What?” Colin blinked.
“We need another Rainduck.” Katrin answered. “We have new fields and the Rainducks we have are going to be strained if they need to water that many plants every day.”
“So you want me to catch a Rainduck for you.” Colin surmised.
“It would be good experience for your Comrades.” Katrin answered. “And there’s something else around Sunrise Lake that you might want to catch.”
“What’s that?” Colin asked.
“A Watergull. Or a Fisherbird.” Katrin said. “Either one would be good for catching fish. And catching fish means…”
“Shiro-food.” Colin summarized. “Well, then, where do I find them?”
“You’re the one walking next to the river. Just keep your eyes out. At worst, try Sunrise Lake, away from the Town. You said those men were going north, right?”
“Right.” Colin agreed. “I should be safe for a while.”
***
Catching a Rainduck was the easiest thing Colin had done since bonding with Meek. He saw two and knew at once what they were. Ducks were ducks, even if their beaks were blue and filled with holes.
There were two in shallow water and Shiro was on them before Colin could think of whether or not to catch one.
Colin picked them both up. They stayed quite still, and let him carry them.
“They were together when we caught them.” Colin said, a bit sadly.
Watergulls, however, proved impossible.
“It’s on the other side of the river.” Colin shook his head. “And it can fly. How are we supposed to catch it?”
For once, Shiro, too, was stumped. He shook his head, then nodded to the Rainducks.
“We’re going to have to raise one of these two until it’s strong enough.” Colin agreed. “Katrin can have one. I’ll keep the other.”
Shiro frowned at him.
“That’s right.” Colin realized. “They’re mates. We shouldn’t separate them. We’ll just catch a third Rainduck.”
So they did. Shiro went on fighting every Rainduck they came across and every Lynxmouse that crossed their path, just for the experience. He seemed even more intent on getting Colin to yellow badge than Colin himself.
Colin did a quick check of their abilities. After all they had been through at Riverside, Meek had reached level 5 – she had double the abilities she had when they first met. Shiro, meanwhile, had reached level 14. He had double the abilities he’d had when Colin last checked.
It must have been that honey-bear, Colin decided. Shiro must have gotten a whole lot of experience when he defeated it.
In other words, Colin needed only to register the third Rainduck and get a total of six more ability levels to reach yellow badge.