The Tamer and the Fishbowl

Rill and I helped Nora into a nearby bed, where she immediately passed out, exhausted from her work. Still keeping a wary eye on Tera, the young girl Nora had called by name earlier, I pulled Rill aside to discuss what I had learned, including what Jensen had told me. Rill listened intently, shrugging when I asked if she had ever heard of the monster or its’ like before. Apparently, she had not.

Lowering my voice, I whispered, “Also…that girl over there. I think Nora called her, Tera? It’s faint, but I can smell the scent of the kraken on her.”

Rill cast a sideways glance towards where the girl sat on Nora’s abandoned stool, facing away from us and sniffling as she watched over the motionless form of her father. “You think there’s some sort of connection?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted, sighing heavily, “but regardless, it’s a lead. I’m not picking up the scent on anyone else here, even those who were directly injured by the beast. I have no idea what, but there has to be something there. Rill, if you don’t mind, could you maybe…?”

I trailed off as the color drained from her face, and she stared at me with wide eyes. “Y-you want me to talk to her? No, no, no! Leo, I’m really not good with kids.”

“Huh? Rill, you’ve never even been around children before, have you? How could you even know that?”

“Because there is one right over there, and she really creeps me out!” Rill urgently hissed, trying to not be heard across the room. Laying a hand on my shoulder, she said with a tone of utmost condolence, “I’m going to switch in for Lassan later to watch over the injured here, so if you don’t mind…I’m going to go get some rest! Don’t worry, you got this!” The words were barely out of her mouth before she practically vanished, her haste to get away made quite clear, and I was left to deal with the situation on my own.

I considered the girl for a while, trying to come up with some reasonable explanation, some excuse to link her to the situation at hand. Darn it, Rill! I’ve never really been good with kids, either. What can I even say? “Hey, you stink! You must know something about that monster!” Hmm…no, that wouldn’t go over well. But what if she is the kraken? Some monsters like me can shapeshift, but she was already there when the kraken showed up, so it’s not likely they’re one and the same.

I closed my eyes, crossing my arms and tapping my foot impatiently as I struggled to come up with some way to approach the girl. In the end, I decided that it was no use; it had been a long day, and she was clearly exhausted both physically, and emotionally. As I opened my eyes once more, I noticed that she had leaned over onto the bed and fallen asleep. Well, I’ll leave her be for now. In the meantime, I’ll ask Jensen what he thinks about this. Maybe he’ll have a better idea about what could be going on here.

I made my way back to the Halcyon, assuring Lassan on my way out that Rill would return to swap out with them in a few hours. The man seemed relieved to hear it, the bags under his eyes a testament to his exhaustion.

My walk back to the ship was uneventful, save for the strange sensation that I was being watched, an itch between my shoulders that I could not shake. Part of me wanted to attribute it to a combination of fatigue and general unease, but at the same time, it would not be beyond the range of reason to suspect that the bandits had sent someone to keep track of my movements. Regardless, the sensation faded shortly after I entered the docks, and was entirely gone by the time I rapped my knuckles against the door of Jensen’s quarters.

“Come,” came the firm response, and I entered the familiar room once again.

Jensen looked up from where he sat behind his desk, rifling through sheafs of wrinkled parchment. Seeing me, he arched an eyebrow and mused, “Back again so soon? I take it you must’ve found something?”

At my nod, he gestured me over to sit in one of the wooden chairs in front of his large desk, and I waited for the man to take a break from whatever it was he was doing. After a while, he sighed and laid down the paperwork he held, and I asked, “Is there a problem?”

He waved a hand dismissively, pulling a tiny flask out from inside his tattered coat and taking a short draught before replacing it. “I’m reviewing the status of our rations, and it isn’t looking good. If we don’t sort out this mess soon…we’ll all end up starving to death before it’s resolved. We’ve managed to get by so far without inconveniencing the townsfolk, who are already forced to share their food stores with those damned bandits. Stack on top of that the impact that kraken has had on the local ecosystem…fishing was a large part of the town’s livelihood, after all, and farming considerably less so. If we have to start dipping into their reserves as well, it won’t be long before there’s nothing left.”

I nodded, impressed that they had enough food stored within the Halcyon to keep them going for months on end. Although, I supposed it made sense, with it being a seafaring vessel. Likely their voyages would last several months at a time anyway. “I see,” I said in response, and added, “but on the bright side, I think I might have discovered something interesting, and I’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

Jensen raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the polished tabletop. “Oh? Do tell, Leolyn.”

I quickly described the situation to the man, ending with, “So, I think there might be some sort of connection between them, but for the life of me I can’t come up with anything that makes sense.”

“Hmm, you truly do have incredible senses, to be able to discern something like that by smell alone,” Jensen mused, stroking his beard in deep thought. After a few moments, he paused, and said slowly, “There is one thing that comes to mind, but it’s…unlikely. What if the girl has the abilities of a tamer?”

“A tamer?” I asked, echoing his words in confusion.

“Not familiar with the term, huh? I suppose that means you haven’t been following what’s going on over in the Domain.”

I gave him a blank stare. Tamer? The Domain? What’s he on about?

Seeing my confusion, he sighed deeply and explained, “Well, it isn’t important. Just the whole damned world going mad, is all. What matters is whether or not the girl actually has the gift. It’s a rare inborn trait, one that allows certain individuals to form a bond with wild beasts. They can control their minds and actions, and in some cases even share their strength, or so I’ve heard. Honestly, I don’t know much more than that, myself. But the girl is around the age where such an ability would usually awaken, so it isn’t impossible…plus, she was there when the beast attacked. The more I consider it, the more I agree there must be some connection.”

“Ah, I understand,” I replied. A beast tamer! So, such an ability exists in this world. I wonder how it works?

Before I could say anything more, Jensen drew in a deep breath and roared, at a volume that rattled the shuttered windows and nearly shattered my eardrums, “REIGEN!”

Several moments later, the large man burst into the room, his face bright red. He must have ran the entire way from the opposite end of the ship, judging by the slick sheen of sweat he had built up. “What’s up, boss?” he panted.

“There’s a girl named Tera in town, about eleven or twelve years old. Likely in the infirmary.” Jensen explained calmly, at a much more reasonable volume, “Bring her here, won’t you? And be considerate, I only want to talk to her.”

Reigen glanced back and forth between us with a bewildered expression, but agreed, and quickly hurried off. We waited in silence for a time before he returned, ushering in a very shaken up Tera, whom Jensen quickly greeted and motioned to take the lone seat beside me. As she did, he rose and opened the window, letting in a brisk breeze to liven up the otherwise stale air of the room.

His expression softened as he regarded her, and he said in a surprisingly gentle tone, “Your name is Tera, I take it?” The girl nodded, and he continued, “I see. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I have a granddaughter close to your age back home in Soterlan; you remind me a bit of her.” He smiled in a manner that I had not expected to ever see upon his hard, lined face, and the girl sniffled, keeping her eyes on the floorboards. She was obviously scared, and trying to keep from crying again.

Noticing this, Jensen knelt down beside her and explained, “Listen, Tera. I want to help this town and all the people living in it, that’s why I’m here. But there’s a big, scary monster on the loose, and it’s hurt a lot of people. If you know anything about it, we’d really appreciate it if you would tell us, before it hurts anyone else.”

The girl sniffed again, and hesitantly glanced back and forth between the two of us. Then, she suddenly started bawling again, and exclaimed, “He…he didn’t mean to hurt anyone! He was just angry because the bandits hurt daddy, and got confused by all the people! He’s actually really gentle, normally…”

Jensen and I exchanged a glance, and the man nodded. It seemed that our theory had just been confirmed. To her, he said softly, “Tell us more about it, Tera. How did this all start?”

Wiping her face on a sleeve of her dress, the girl explained, “I don’t really have any friends, so I used to play in the lake while daddy was out fishing. Sometimes I would go out from the docks pretty far, and one day, I found him lying washed up on the shore. I knew he was a monster, but he was so tiny, and he was hurt! So I hid him from daddy and nursed him back to health…but he grew so big, so fast! I told him to hide, and for a long time it wasn’t a problem. But the fish knew he was there, and they started to hide too, and daddy suddenly couldn’t fish like he used to…then the bandits got angry, and everyone started fighting…I never thought that he would cause so much trouble, he just wanted to protect me! Please, please don’t hurt him! He’s the only friend I have!”

As the girl looked up at me, new tears already forming in her eyes, I gritted my teeth, a sudden wave of dizziness threatening to overtake me. It felt as though a hand was trying to close around my heart in an attempt to subjugate me to her will. I shook my head to dispel the effect, and thankfully it seemed to work. Just what was that? Was that the effect of her ability? If she were older, or stronger…she might have been able to bend me to her will, just then. I’ll have to keep my guard up around her, and anyone else I might meet who shares her ability, in the future.

Jensen regarded me with a suspicious look. It seemed he had noticed, but said nothing about it. Instead, he told Tera thoughtfully, “I understand. But we need to do something about him, or even more people will get hurt, and go hungry. You understand that, don’t you?”

The girl nodded that she did, and he rose, opening a drawer of his desk and pulling out an ornate glass bottle filled with crystal-clear water. Holding it up for us both to see, he explained, “It’s my job to hunt monsters. But it’s my duty to help people, and sometimes, as is the case here, those two things conflict. I’ll do what I can to not hurt your friend, but I can’t do that without your help.”

She frowned at him, asking, “But…what can I do to help you?”

“Tera, you might not realize it yet, but you have an incredibly rare gift, one that allows you to form powerful friendships with monsters. If you can convince your friend to come out and stay calm, we can use this to contain him. It’s called a fishbowl, and it’s a magical artifact that can store things many times larger than itself. In fact, this is what I use to transport my ship to areas it could otherwise not reach.”

“Ah,” I commented, “I was wondering how you managed that!” So, it would be like a ship in a bottle? How unique.

Jensen chuckled, “Well, I try not to advertise it, or everyone would want one! But I suppose I can make an exception in this case. I can alter the inside a bit to make it a more suitable habitat for the kraken, somewhere it can live without disturbing the outside ecosystem. So, Tera, what do you say? Will you help us?”

The girl regarded us both, struggling to wrap her mind around everything. But, with a firm look of resolve on her face, she agreed, “I will!”