5 - Stew

A scream and the sound of fluttering birds woke me with such alarm I scrambled to stand and put myself into what I believed at the time was a battle pose. In reality I was half squatting with my fists bouncing around in front of my face, looking like a fool.

I blinked rapidly to focus my eyes and prepare myself for some monster attack. I saw Kana clutching her dress with her back pressed into a tree. At her feet Toast had himself pointed at her, the front half of his body lowered to the ground, with his butt high in the air and his tail wagging. He noticed me get up and did a spin and barked at Kana. 

"Eek!"

He was clearly ready to play and she was scared out of her wits. 

I was glad to see more of Toast's usual self shine through. This scaredy cat he'd been so far wasn't anything like the Toast I'd been used to for years. Normally he loved everyone, approached strangers with curiosity, and had his permanent smile locked and loaded to charm anyone he met. I figured he'd been feeling nervous being in a new place. I guess he's over it.

"Kana it's okay, he just wants to-"

"P-please oh great Spirit! Please forgive me if I have offended you!"

Kana trembled as she lowered herself to her hands and knees, and bowed to Toast. I accidentally let some air escape trying to hold my laughter.

"Mr. Hero! Does he not like this?" 

She raised her head to look at me with teary eyes.

"I-I'm not sure what I did to upset him. He jumped on me as I slept and I tried to stay perfectly still, and he scratched my face!"

"Yeah, he does that. Sorry Kana. I swear he likes you, he just wanted some food and to play."

"I d-don't understand!"

Toast barked again thinking she was playing, which only seemed to add fuel to the fire. Kana leapt up and started running from one side of our camp to the other, trying to keep her distance from him. As you might expect this only spurred him on and he chased her. I tried to de-escalate as best I could, but she was too frightened to listen.

"Kana calm down! He thinks you're playing with him!"

"Oh great Spirit forgive me! Forgive me!"

I was starting to feel the hopelessness of the situation and in my frenzied state I let the truth slip out.

"He's just a dog!"

I froze in the realization of what I had said and Kana slowed her running for a moment. I thought it was all over.

"W....What is a daug?!"

Of course you wouldn't know!

Kana and Toast continued the game of chase for a moment, until Toast suddenly perked up his ears and turned himself towards a bush. Kana ran to me and hid herself behind my back.

A rabbit-like creature hopped out, with pointed horns and bat wings.

"Mr. Hero! It's a Sagi! I can make a lovely stew with that!"

Does she recover quickly when it's about food? Also what's with these names being so close to Japanese?

While Kana started to get excited thinking about cooking this thing, I started to panic. How was I going to defeat it without giving away my secret? 

I don't have any weapons, I don't have any skills.

My hand drifted to the Moroza antler hooked onto my shorts.

Maybe I could use this? But would she wonder why I'm using it instead of skills? Maybe I can say I'm saving my MP for bigger monsters? 

While I processed 100 thoughts and stood rooted in place, Toast approached the Sagi.

Yes! Go my savior!

But he didn't attack. He strolled up to it sniffing the same way he would when meeting a new dog, cautious but curious. The Sagi had its gaze on him too, and just when my confusion was at its limit, Toast had gotten too close for this thing's comfort and it leapt at us, making a dreadful screech.

I grabbed for the antler and raised it high to strike the Sagi, but just before it hit us it plummeted to the ground at our feet. Its rear end hissed and melted before it turned to pixels and faded away, and I looked up to see Toast smacking his lips and flashing a pink colour.

Kana's small voice broke the silence.

"That... That was..."

Please say amazing. Please don't notice.

"That was the same attack that killed the Jika... That wasn't you?"

I couldn't bring myself to face her. Toast happily trotted over and sat in front of me, expecting praise. I did what any guy would do in this situation. I tried to lie.

"M-my Spirit Partner always takes out the little ones for me."

Kana was silent for a moment more and then began to speak, quietly at first, but with an increasing outrage spawning from a place of hurt and betrayal.

"Spirits only copy skills used by their partner in battle. That's why people that have them are considered so strong. They double the skill and double the power! They don't have any skills of their own! You ARE a liar!"

"Kana I didn't-"

"The villagers were right!"

"Please I-"

"YOU'RE NOT A HERO."

Tears streamed down her face. She clenched her teeth and balled up her fists and stared into me for a fleeting moment. Then she pushed past me and ran into the woods. I felt my heart breaking.

Toast cocked his head and after looking vacantly at the place she'd disappeared, he exploded into a sprint after her, continuing their earlier "game". 

Please read the room, please!

I had to go after them. The girl of my dreams was running out of my life because I was a coward. A coward that went along with a lie just because it benefitted me. 

I'm disgusting.

I dropped our bag and ran blindly into the woods. The trees and brush were so thick I was getting cuts on my face and hands. I had lost sight of my dog and Kana but kept running forward aimlessly. I reached a small clearing and spun around disoriented, unsure of which way to go, when I heard barking.

"Toast!"

I called out to him over and over, and pressed through the brush. I had found Toast and Kana, and about 2 dozen more Sagi that were closing in on them.

Toast was growling at the Sagi and barking each time one tried to move in, and Kana was crouched into a ball covering her head in fear. The Sagi were making squeaking sounds that were similar to something I'd heard countless times back home. I reacted and prayed this would work.

"Toast! GET YOUR SQUEAKY!"

I should explain. Toast has no prey drive. He's never been interested in chasing squirrels or birds, but when it comes to squeaky toys, he's a cold blooded killer. I've spent thousands of yen on replacing balls, toys, plushies, anything with a squeaker in it. Toast doesn't know many words, but 'squeaky' is definitely in his repertoire. I just wasn't sure if the Sagi's squeaking sounded similar to him too.

Toast launched himself at the closest Sagi and chomped down on its neck, shaking it violently.

I'm so grateful he's stupid!

Toast quickly started eliminating the Sagi one by one, but more kept closing in. He made quick work of the small groups they had formed, but I saw he was leaving one or two untouched and moving on to the next group. All the ones he was sparing seemed to be frozen in place.

What is he, a T. Rex?! He can't see them if they don't move? Why isn't he getting them all?!

There was no time to analyze the situation. My eyes darted to one that had separated itself from its group and was rushing Kana, who was still cowering. Without thinking I stepped in front of her, antler brandished, and took its horned attack head on. It managed to stab itself into my stomach, and the searing pain almost knocked me unconscious. I managed to steady myself and started hitting it with the antler with all my might, despite its apparent lacking effect.

Just when I thought I was done for, a loud crack like thunder erupted in the area and a forceful pressure pushed me backwards onto the ground . All the remaining Sagi shrieked and began to vanish.

Blood continued to pour from my stomach and I felt myself slipping away.

Was that the Sonic Bark? Cool....

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I regained consciousness and felt Toast licking my face. A faint green light surrounded his tongue. I felt weak and dizzy

How?

Toast's status window appeared and I saw a new skill under his skill set;

>Heal
>Cost:  12 SP

12? But he only had 2 SP before... Did the Sagi give him that many? That Moroza Jika was only worth 2. But there were 20 something Sagi...

As I tried to do math in my groggy state, I realized Kana was sitting next to me weeping quietly.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Hero."

I didn't understand, I thought she had figured out I wasn't a Hero.

"You put yourself into danger for my sake, even though-"

It's okay, I love you, I forgive you.

"-even though you're just a weakling with no skills."

Oh. I feel the pain returning. This one hurts more.

I couldn't help but laugh a little as I propped myself up. The puncture wounds on my stomach were gone. Toast looked worried and pawed at me. I tousled his fur and started petting his back to soothe him.

"I'm Mitsuta."

"Huh?"

Kana wiped her tears and looked at me with her big sparkling green eyes.

"I never told you my name. You don't have to call me Mr. Hero anymore. And he's Toast."

I looked over at my hero who cocked his head at hearing his name, and then returned to his default state of lightly panting with his tongue out.

"Mitsuta and...Toast? Toast and... Honey?"

I sighed with a smile and she started giggling to herself. Her giggle turned into a boisterous laugh and a tear welled up in her eye again.

"It's not that funny, you know."

"Yes it is!"

She wiped her tear and pointed to herself.

"Kana means pear."

We both had a good laugh, and Toast excitedly started tippy-tappying his feet thinking something good was about to happen. He jumped over me and put his paws on Kana's lap. She sucked in her lips tightly and awkwardly looked at me begging for help with her eyes. I decided to tell her everything. No more lies. Not to this girl.

I told her about our world, and explained pets and dogs and us meeting the goddess. She softened her expression and relaxed her body as I spoke, and by the end she was gleefully ruffling Toast's fur and letting him give her kisses. 

As expected. No one is impervious to this cutie and his charms.

After talking for ages, Kana declared she would still come with us.

"Are you sure? I can't exactly register at the guild as an adventurer. I don't know if I can offer you the excitement you wanted."

"I'm sure. I have other reasons for leaving the village too. Surely we can find something exciting... together."

Is this a romance flag?!

We collected ourselves and navigated our way out of the woods, found our bag, and carried on down the road to Great City Linna.