“Wait, what?”

A rumbling ensued from the giant rodent’s chest, presumably laughter. | If you had saved a stranger's life you would expect something in recompense, no?

I scratched my head while I replied. I tried to scratch my head, anyway. My muscles felt sore and atrophied like I had been bedridden for months, barely making it halfway to my furiously itching noggin before falling back to my sides. “Maybe not? Isn’t doing good for good’s sake, enough?” I halted to take another shaky breath, my mouth feeling as dry as the desert outside, “Know what? Nevermind that. If I already owe you, could I add some water to the tab?”

| I believe it can be, though this is not a resort for those brats from the City. Even if bottled and polished is not something I can do, I CAN assure you the water I have is toxin free.

“I’m perfectly fine with that tradeoff. My throat will be as well, I’m sure.” I was pleasantly surprised by Sorrelly. As they ambled around a bend in the curved cavern walls I thought of my experience with them, and could not be more happy. On Earth I never trust those that ask for nothing. Maybe it was the cynic in me that distrusted those that simply did ‘good’ but then and in the years since, that kind of altruism is as rare as a unicorn when it’s legitimate. The non-legitimate kind is way too common. They mentioned a city, so maybe I can find out how to get there. After I pay back Sorrelly anyway. No way I’d make it if I try to skip out on them.

Sorrelly came back into the main room of the cave, surprisingly not on all fours. It should have registered earlier, considering they had given me the ointment, or Infusion as they called it, but I had assumed they held things like a hamster or actual mouse would. When they came in this time they were instead standing on their rear legs, which had somehow adjusted for the new position, and walking almost without a hitch in their steps. Better than me, since I couldn’t take two steps in my old life without tripping. Maybe my new body will be a little more nimble, considering the choices I made? Not finding out right now, that’s for sure.

Sorrelly’s front legs.. arms? Whatever. In their hands they carried a clay jug presumably filled with the promised liquid, and a smaller, oddly handled clay mug obviously meant for their own personal grip. They sat them down nearby and helped pull me into a sitting position. I had tried when I saw them returning, failing of course and receiving nothing but another knot on my already abused skull.

| I know you’re excited to see me, but maybe not make a habit of harming yourself out of joy?

A raspy chuckled escaped me, though I could not manage more than that. After I was somewhat comfortably laid up against the wall Sorrelly adroitly poured a cup of liquid heaven, bringing it to my lips for me when my hands failed to hold on, spilling the first cup.

“Sorry about that,“ I managed to croak out before taking several long and very luxurious sips of water. “Ahh. Much better, thank you. So what happened?”

| You drank and bathed in water with leftover bits of Aurum, which only an ignorant or desperate fool would have done. You’re lucky I was hunting at the time. Another few minutes and you would have been gone from this world. To be found within the territory of a Torridai and continue living is no small achievement.

“And I never thanked you for that. Thank you, Sorrelly, for saving my life. Such as it is. Not even here a full day and I already killed myself again, if unwittingly.” Oof, foot in your mouth there. Maybe they won’t press? I tried to suppress a wince, but thankfully my pains and haggardness did wonders to hide my slip. I’ll tell them if they ask specific questions, but I won’t offer too much without prompting. They’re obviously intelligent, though.

“Umm.. What's a Torridai?” Good deflection, Creed. Subtle. I’m sure they won’t press any more. I hoped Sorrelly would not dig too deep, not because I didn’t want them to know I was from another world or Realm or whatever, but really I was just embarrassed. I mean really, what you do if you asked someone how they died, and the reply was: I was transported to another world by a con artist in the guise of a god, after having ‘died’ by trying to grab an animal whose shit I clean up only to have them wall jump off my face and knock me off a 5 story balcony after which I killed myself to avoid slavery in the guise of ‘good’ and then met Death and was given a second -Third? - chance. You’d probably laugh. I know I would. It’s ridiculous, after all.

They waved towards themselves with their free hand. | Me, and those like me. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I don’t need your past to have your help in the future.

All right.. So I don’t think they’re still reading my thoughts still. Hooray for telepathic courtesy. Good thing they’re not social media. A few moments of awkward silence and their bright, unnerving gaze led to: “You’re a parent aren’t you?” A flash of what I assumed was surprise crossed Sorrelly’s face. I hoped it was a surprised expression at least, and not a sign of anger proceeding my imminent death.

| I am, yes. Why do you ask?

“Oh, just the reverse psychology there. Got me feeling bad for not wanting to tell my story to my savior. I owe it to you, I guess. It’s just a little.. embarrassing. I was sitting in my living room chair playing a game…

Incredulously accepting. This is the only thing I could really describe Sorrelly as once I finished my story. Though they had oohed and chuckled at some points, or looked at me with sympathy at others, they did not interrupt. What’s more, they seemed to genuinely believe me, as fantastical as my story was. Which was a good thing since I wanted them to believe me, after all. I still had absolutely no idea of what they wanted, however, which left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. At least they were more like Nott than Morah so far.

Sorrelly hadn’t stopped me, but they did have questions after I was finished, about Earth and what it was like. I won’t bore you with those details, however. Stories of human depravity and ingenuity are not as unique as I would have thought before leaving my homeworld. I did have my own questions to ask as well. One’s much more pertinent to my situation.

| I have a few things I’d like to ask, as I’m sure you suspected. I believe your story, if only because your Resonance has not fluctuated at all compared to what I sensed when we were connected mentally. Your world too sounds intriguing, though I do not believe I would give up Prisma for it. Even with all its pitfalls and dangers it is my home.

“So you’re not just reading my mind?” The question was met with a short bark of a laugh.

| No, I am and was not. Establishing just the bridge I did is hard enough, and reading someone's mind against their will is exceptionally difficult and taxing on both parties, usually. No, think of what I had done as initiating a ‘party chat’ as you had with the Cayde. Just a bridge for communication. Once that was established, my other Methods took over to translate your language, which is how I’m understanding you now. You hear me in your mind, I hear you out loud. Simple.

“Oh. ok, that makes me feel a little better, though I wouldn’t call that simple. Be glad you were’nt able to delve too deep. Trust me when I say there’s things in there you don’t want to know. Or at least, you wouldn’t be able to forget.” pbbbbbt! THE Cayde. I bet he would change his name if he heard this. I was hit with melancholy at the thought. But he won’t, will he? The longing must have shown on my face, but then I was never good at hiding. Even if I wanted to.

| Are you alright, Creed?

The tilted head and small chirp that accompanied Sorrelly’s rather dignified mental speech looked like concern. I really need to focus on language. I was lucky enough to run into someone who can translate as quickly as Sorrelly. "Just thinking about friends I'll no longer see, I’m fine. No, that's not right. I'll BE fine. But." I took a deep breath. Not pushing that pain down but asking it to wait to the side. “There are more apt things to be thinking about. How it is I am going to be repaying you, for instance.”

| Ah, that. Yes..

The hands waving not so subtly near the muzzle like a hamster stuffing their face on the sly did not inspire confidence. I was not sure whether to think of it as Dr. Evil or Sydney Huffman. Correction. Find a way to transfer intent and/or emotions?

| See..

A deep breath later, after inhaling most of the air in the small space, and all nervousness fell away. They relaxed all of a sudden, lounging back as a fat cat would, just a massive one reaching over 7 feet on their ass.

| Most Torridai are solitary creatures. Not only that, but we hide away like hermits in our domains. You’ll rarely see one in a city, though some choose that willingly, if with reservations born of life before the Collapse. I used to be of the mind that that path led nowhere but pain and loss of our natural ways. After years of learning of those who succeeded among whatever civilization they managed to incorporate into, I’ve come to realize that maybe the path I’ve chosen for myself and my child is not the best for existence in this newest era.

Huh, are they asking to be my companion or something? I asked, “So what does that mean for me? Not to sound crass, but I’m not the most extroverted person.” Awkwardly—weakly as well—I scratched the back of my head and continued, “Check that. In all fairness I’m.. the opposite?”

| I did not glean much of your world from your thoughts themselves, though the meaning and context of the words I learned came along with them for the most part. It’s not a clear picture, but with your stories about Earth I do have an idea of what your world was like.

Ha! Knew it!

| Though the city states spread throughout Prisma contain a large number of people for the area, you navigated living and travelling through a single kingdom with over 10 times that number. I believe that even as a Restricted Realm your world holds about the same number of people as ours, overall.

“Yeah, but I almost never left my apartment. Not in the last few years at least. The only real interaction I had was with delivery drivers for food and other things I ordered, or playing with under a cartoon hand’s worth of friends. Like, legitimately 3 people that I talked to on more than a biweekly basis.”

Sorrelly sat up a little straighter.

| I understand. Your world is strikingly similar in a lot of ways to the republics and states throughout this chaotic desert, if not the larger world. If not in style or cultural minutiae, it strums a lot of chords in common with the people and current society. It’s different, but as an echo of your worlds would be.

“So how can I help?” I asked, with not a little amount of trepidation.

| I want you to take my son with you to the City, Amanauensia, that lies west of here.

I was dumbfounded and could not respond, but thankfully I did not have to.

| Help get him established. Be a friend to him if he needs it, help him learn the ins-and-outs of society. I can drill things into him, but my knowledge is certainly outdated. Plus, it is something you will need to do as well, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve cleared his arrival with immigration services there. One needs a Sponsor to become a citizen in Amanuensia. You will still need to find one yourself, though the services I have in place for Jus will let you tag along, staying with him for as long as you need and the two of you wish for it. I only ask that you do not leave without a valid reason. He can learn a lot from you, I believe, and that is not necessarily one way. I find no shame in admitting that he is a prodigy among my people, as little noise as that makes in the greater song of the world.

“I.. I’m not sure what to say, honestly.”

| Say you’ll help. I joked earlier. I won’t just kill you if you say no, but know that I cannot help you. You will be alone from the moment you leave these walls. With no knowledge of the world or its dangers. I am saying this to try and force you, but I do truly believe it to be in your best interests to agree.

“I mean, you’re not wrong.” I sighed, “It’s just not what I was expecting.” Could be a lot worse too. I thought about Morah, and the position I was in then. This one looked to be better by a longshot, but I still hated the thought of being locked into something right out of the gate. Again. Unlike Morah though, Sorrelly seemed to be the type to answer questions, and I decided to press that as much as I could without alienating them. “If I do say yes, and I’m still thinking about it, what exactly will you need me to do? Being a friend, helping someone get ‘established’.. It’s too vague. I’d like to know what expectations you have of me so I don’t fail them out of ignorance.”

| Of course. I’ve arranged for his housing at Arbor Circle and opened an account at Posiah’s Banking for his other needs. His Sponsor, a man by the name of Delfin Vanois, will meet you both after you arrive. Jus knows all the details, but simply put you’ll speak to the guards at the eastern gate, they’ll inform Delfin and he should arrive shortly to take you from there. He’ll get you both set up in your home for the time, and from there just help Jus when he needs it. I don’t expect you to be his errand boy, and I’ll make sure he’s aware of that. I would like you to take him out however. Not just to dinner and the like, but events, especially those that promote engagement with others and ones that might enlighten him to the ways of the world. The first few days or weeks you’ll be free, as Jus will be absorbed with the immigration process and settling into his new role.

“So I won’t be his valet, then? Good. No offense but if I couldn’t be able to have my own life to do what interests me I’d probably have said no. Is there a specific amount of time I should stay with Jus? And do I get to meet him before we leave?”

| No, on the first, though when you do leave just as if you did now, you will be on your own. You will meet him tomorrow, and will be leaving the day after. He’s been itching to go, and I’ve been waiting on the arranged guides for much longer than expected. Something untoward has happened to them, I’m sure.

“And you’re not coming. How can you be sure the same or worse won’t happen to us?”

| The City is not far, and as I said Jus is not weak. No offense to your kind but most bipeds are far too weak. He is aware of how to safely travel Prisma without taking on a threat too large to face. Just follow his lead. I will make sure he catches you up on the area and what he knows of the world, though given his study habits I’d also recommend finding a library or university soon after arriving. Try to bring him with you, though expect resistance on that front.

“Speaking of habits, can you tell me a bit about him? Since we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, it seems prudent.” They smirked a bit when I finished my question. Though I could not tell at what, specifically, it had me worried Jus might turn out to be a handful.

| That’s a yes, then? Good. We are both tired, you from your effort and me from my own earlier. We should rest. Meeting him in the morn will be best, I think. He is.. unique. Now, rest up.

They brought out a small pallet from literally nowhere, along with a pillow and blanket. Sorrelly left wishing me a good rest, after setting out my bedding and laying me on it, covered with a blanket of woven plant fibers. They were soft, but fuzzy and very warm, at least. Storage abilities?! Fuck yeah! Also, fuck me. Little brats gonna be annoying as hell, I bet. I’d rather a chatty kathy, not a spoiled sandy. I continued on in my head, wondering why a giant rodent with intelligence surpassing my own would have these items specifically, and what kind of ability they were using. It wasn’t clear whether they had a storage like one, or if they were simply porting them in from somewhere else. Or making them, for that matter.

I distracted myself with inane thoughts for another hour at least, diving into the what-might-be of this world before finally dozing off to a thankfully dreamless slumber. If I had known what the next day would have in store for me, I would have never called in the flags I did while rambling away at myself. As it turned out, hindsight’s a bitch. Surprise, surprise!