Although monotonous, I was somehow enjoying the work.

Even with the added commentary.

“Have you ever been weak before, Vim? Sick?” the young wolf asked as she stacked the stones that would be the walls of the tunnel we were working on.

“I know what it feels like to be weak, yes. Though I’ve experienced what it feels like to be sick, I myself have never been sick, no,” I said as I pushed the flat metal sheet against the wall near where she was stacking stones. I was flattening and packing the dirt so it was easier for her.

“How did you experience being sick without being so?” Tundra asked as she paused for a moment as to glance at me.

“Training. My parents, my mother particularly, went through great lengths to teach me humility… or at least tried to. One of their methods involved putting me in the position of someone who they worried I’d end up looking down upon, such as someone weak or frail,” I explained as I slid the metal sheet a little as to push into the next section.

I was honestly a little surprised at how well the young girl was keeping up with me. She had somewhat intruded on my work earlier this morning, without invitation, which had at first bothered me. I had been somewhat hoping to handle this alone, as to get it out of the way as fast as possible… but it hadn’t taken me long to realize she was not intruding at all. She was very good at fine work, and especially so at building walls and floors. To the point it was almost… startling.

She was young. And very thick in the blood. Usually those like her thought such manual labor was beneath them, and as such were not very inclined to ever master the art of craftsmanship or something like it. Yet here she was… doing better than even many who I considered masters in their own rights, and doing so all the while yapping nonstop with me about random topics.

No. I shouldn’t say random topics… some of the things she’s asked about had not been random at all, and she’s also not been yapping either.

She was a surprisingly very thoughtful person. One who obviously spent a lot of time pondering things, heavily, and I wasn’t quite sure yet what to think about her because of it.

“Do you think that’s why I’m having such a hard time with it then…? Because my parents never did that?” Tundra asked. Her tone made her sound as if she was talking about the weather, but I could hear the true emotion and seriousness through it all… and most importantly also see it in the way her tail slowly wagged thoughtlessly as she worked.

“I never said it actually worked, Tundra. Only that they tried,” I pointed out as I slid the metal sheet as to do the next section.

She hummed as she stopped stacking the rocks and then went to grab some of the bricks. We were making a tunnel, several floors underneath the new cathedral being built here in Lumen, and we were using a rather simple method. We used packed, but irregular, stones with the occasional row of solid and uniform bricks. It allowed the irregular stones to get packed even tighter, while also creating a solid foundation that wouldn’t falter even if the world shifted from an earthquake or something like it. Plus the packed stones would allow excess water or moisture to flow too, which was important since Lumen occasionally flooded from rain and storms.

I’d already long shored the tunnel, with timbers scattered around to support the walls and ceiling, but it’d not be long until they were no longer needed. We’d already finished half the tunnel, though hadn’t gotten started on the floor at all yet.

“Did Renn receive similar training?” Tundra then asked as she started stacking bricks. I kept an eye on her handiwork, even though I no longer needed to. She didn’t work as fast or as neatly as I did, but the quality of her handiwork was more than good enough to not even need my watchful eye upon it. She was that good.

“Renn’s circumstances were the opposite. She endured brutality from her family, and because of that learned naturally what you and I didn’t. Amongst her family she was the weak one. She was the frail one. So she grew up already knowing what it was like, and thus learned humility and kindness naturally,” I said.

Tundra hummed at that as I finished a good enough portion ahead of her that I felt I could move on to aiding her in the construction of the wall. I put the metal sheet that I’d been using to pack the dirt down and went to the opposite wall where she was working, as to get started on the brick layer on this side. We were basically making a pillar, one against the wall, that would head upward and then round up to the ceiling… eventually meeting in the center, as to form an arch where the bricks would keep themselves supported and in place by pushing against each other.

“So I’m screwed up because both my parents failed me, and because I didn’t get to experience being weak soon enough,” Tundra then said with a sigh.

I chuckled at the young wolf who was having an odd mental crisis. “You’re not screwed up, Tundra. Far from it. Who has instilled such an idea in your head?” I asked.

“Everyone…? Just last night, I went to go say hi to the newcomers… thinking maybe one of them would be like me, and none of them are! I even made one of the little girls cry and pass out!”

I frowned at that as I stacked some bricks. “How’d that happen?” I asked.

“Scared her… I entered the room too fast and shouted I guess…” she said, mumbling softly as she did.

I see. Most likely she was speaking of one of the younger kids from Chancy’s group, and I could see it happening. They had all been that kind, the frail kind.

“Did you apologize at least?” I asked.

“Of course…! I also made sure to make a vow of famine too!”

Vow of…? “To who…?” I asked as I stopped working and turned around as to look at the foolish young wolf.

“Huh…? To Light of course?” Tundra answered without looking at me. She was focused on her own brick stacking.

Clenching my jaw for a moment, I wondered if I should say something… but decided against it. I turned my attention back to my own stack of bricks and went back to work.

“For how long?” I asked gently, trying not to let my own opinions or emotions be heard or known.

“She said a week would do. Started today,” Tundra answered, again with the tone that made one think we weren’t talking about something serious.

Of course to her it likely wasn’t serious. To her it was normal. Natural.

She had made a mistake… and, for whatever reason, such mistakes made one incur debts. Debts that were paid off by…

Wait. Renn had mentioned this, hadn’t she? That the girl was being taught in such a way, with such methods. She had only mentioned it off-handedly so I hadn’t put much attention towards it, but…

“What other kind of penances do you usually do?” I asked.

“Hm…? Oh. Going without food is usually it. Sometimes though I need to spend time praying, or Light or someone else gives me tasks of penance. Usually just means I work in the kitchens or something, though,” Tundra answered smoothly.

Great. I didn’t like it, but I suppose out of the many other options for someone like her it was the best I could hope for.

She was a danger. To herself… and others around her. Because of her innate strength, and her thick-blood, she was just… out of place here. And it seemed the method Light and the others had chosen to keep her in check, or herself in check too, was via religious penances. Abel had been raised in a similar method, thus why he self-flagellated. I had worried she’d use a similar method herself, but it seemed Light and the rest had been smart enough to not resort to such methods… yet, at least.

“That’s not why I’m down here though! I promise!” Tundra than said, a little loudly, as I heard her spin around as to look at me.

I smiled softly as I nodded, and kept my attention on the wall before me. “I figured. Not even Light would punish someone by making them work with me,” I said.

The young wolf made an odd sound, something akin to a whine mixed with a chuckle, and she turned back around and went back to stacking bricks. “I like doing stuff like this,” Tundra said.

That was good. “Do you like making stuff, or…?” I asked; glad to change topics a little. The last one had been a little… upsetting.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Hm…

Really wasn’t sure what to think of her yet. A part of me wanted to pity her… but I pitied all of our people. Everyone, really. So that was just an easy out in this context… and I knew it wasn’t the whole truth.

The girl was a rarity in today’s world. Back during the beginning of the Society she would have been somewhat normal. I would have seen her, and treated her, like I had Merit and Lilly. Today though…? Today…

Well…

Turning around, I frowned at the young wolf who was happily stacking bricks. The stack was nearing the height where she’d need to pull along the chair she used. It was a few dozen feet away, sitting before the section of wall she had finished a few dozen minutes ago.

She was wearing the standard robes commonly seen and found amongst the church members… but it was slightly curled up at the moment, revealing her tail or at least half of it. I wasn’t sure if she did it on purpose, as to let her tail breathe, or if she didn’t even realize her robe was partly stuck the way it was on the top of her tail. Either way, it was wagging slowly with a happy rhythm. One that made me feel a little… concerned.

How had Renn not utterly fallen for her yet, I wonder? She was basically what Renn could have been, had she been born into the Society properly.

A strong predator, who was trying her hardest to fit in and be a good member… and yet occasionally tripped and fell no matter how hard she tried. She was in truth not far off from what Renn could have been, or could still be, if she wasn’t careful.

I knew how easy it was for those like her to go wayward. To lose their place. It… happened quickly, and half the time without warning. Yet when it did happen, everyone always sighed and shook their head in a way as if they had expected and known it was going to happen all along. And that was partly because they were right to think so.

She was a pure-blooded predator. Like Renn. Unlike Renn though… she was a little more emotional. In a way that Renn didn’t allow herself to be. It might be the wolf, the dog, in her but it seemed that when she got excited… particularly when happy too, she lost control over her strength and common sense. She of course never intentionally harmed, or did anything, that was wrong… but accidents happened. Like how she mentioned she had scared a young girl last night, to the point the kid had even passed out. Tundra had of course not done such a thing intentionally, but… it was just who she was. She had been excited to meet new members, and in her excitement had overreacted.

I myself had yet to see the girl act so, but I knew full well about how those like her got during such moments. Lilly had even been like that when younger. There had been plenty of instances where she had needed saving, or at least a little help, when her emotions had gotten the better of her. Even human children suffered such things, and sometimes adults, so it really wasn’t too surprising that non-humans also suffered such things… but unlike humans, those like Tundra didn’t have the luxury of being normal. Even a moderate emotional outburst for those like her could result in disastrous accidents. Her strength was simply that great.

Renn got emotional too, but not in that way… though that might also be a factor of age. Tundra was still a child after all. Renn might have suffered similarly when younger to be fair.

Though by the sounds of it, Tundra didn’t really hurt anyone… she just startled people. Particularly the kind of people that were faint-hearted. And honestly that was more on them than her in my opinion. Someone being scared of her simply because of her bloodline was ridiculous in my opinion, but it was at the same time a fact of life.

It was like faulting someone for being scared of thunder, or the dark. At least, that was how it worked in the case of our people and their fear of predators. It was something innate. Something they couldn’t really control, even if they wanted to.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tundra’s head tilted and I noticed the way her ears perked up. They were almost as animated as my wife’s. She turned around and frowned at me, having noticed my pause in working. “Hm…?”

“So…” I was about to ask the young wolf if she’d like to help me tomorrow too. We were only a few hours from finishing this tunnel, and as such I’d move on to other tasks… but tomorrow I had plans to deal with a stairwell not far from here. It would be a similar task, fixing and building something mundane but important. But before I could invite her, we both turned as to watch Renn and Light approach.

“Renn!” Tundra dropped a brick upon seeing my wife and hurried over to her. I tried not to notice the huge smile on the pup’s face, or the way her tail began to wag uncontrollably, as she did so.

“Hey Tundra. I was wondering where you’ve been!” Renn greeted the wolf with a similarly large smile, and I wasn’t able to ignore it at all.

So she had fallen for the wolf. Not a surprise… but that still didn’t explain her lack of focusing on her. Usually when she found such adorable people she latched onto them…

“Like always you work fast,” Light said as she glanced at Tundra’s and my handiwork.

“It’s not as hard as it looks,” I said simply as I brushed my hands off and glanced at Renn. She ignored my look as she nudged Tundra with a gentle elbow, and then whispered a small compliment to her. Tundra beamed a proud smile at me thanks to it.

I nodded. “Tundra’s been a big help too. No wonder you guys have gotten so much done already,” I said, giving the young wolf a compliment as well.

It was Renn’s turn to receive the beaming smile of pride, which in turn just made Renn smile’s grow as she basked in it. Which made my comment worth it.

I’d not lied… it was the truth. Tundra really had helped… but I had not said it for the girl’s sake. But instead to see that happy smile on my wife’s face.

Worth it.

“Well, that’s good to hear… but sadly I must interrupt it,” Light then said.

“Hm…?” I frowned at that as Tundra’s tail slowed in its wagging.

“I’m sending Renn on a small quest… And as such, came to both ask a favor and for permission,” Light said as she turned to Tundra, not me.

“Hm…?” The wolf perked up at being looked at, and mimicked the hum I just made as she did so as she glanced at me real quickly before looking back at Light… and realized she was the one being talked to and not me. “Me…?” Tundra asked with a point at herself.

Light nodded. “Would you go with her? Act as her knight for me, would you?” Light asked the young wolf.

Tundra’s tail went still. “Outside…? The Society?”

“Yes. You’ve learned well to keep your tail hidden and still, haven’t you? It’s time you experienced the fruits of your training. Can I rely on you for this?” Light asked, in her typical manipulative fashion.

“Yeah! Sure! I mean… yes, of course! I can do it!” Tundra nearly shouted in excitement, her tail going full blast as it wagged so hard and fast it made her robe flutter to the point it was silly.

“Good. Go on then, both of you,” Light then said with a nod.

Renn sighed at the bossy woman. “Go get ready then, Tundra. I’ll meet you upstairs in a moment,” Renn said.

“Yeah!” The wolf shouted excitedly and then ran off down the hallway, heading for the stairwell I’d recently made.

I watched her go for a moment, and ignored Light’s look. After she was far enough, I sighed and glanced at Renn. “Do I even want to know?” I asked her.

“You do. But I’m not going to tell you about it until later tonight,” Renn said.

Great.

“What are you scheming, Light?” I asked the saint while I stared at Renn. I didn’t like the worried smile on my wife’s face… that wasn’t the smirk of her teasing me, but instead actual worry. She was very obviously internally debating telling me here and now about whatever was happening. Likely some prophecy.

“A lot of things. If you must know, Renn is only going shopping right now. She’s not actually doing anything, yet.”

Renn nodded. “Yes. I wanted to buy a few things, and Light gave me a request to take Tundra out into the city if I got the chance while here. Figured I’d do both now and save time,” Renn said.

“What for…?” I asked Light.

“She needs to experience the world, Vim,” Light simply answered.

I frowned at that. “Last time we were here you were letting here go back and forth on her own, weren’t you?” I could have sworn Tundra had visited us at the guild on her own last time we had been here…

“That is all we let her do alone. Going from here to there and back. I mean actually experiencing the world. Shopping, mingling, walking through crowds… you know what I mean, Vim,” Light said.

Hmph… “And so why you Renn?” I asked.

“Why not?” Renn asked back, as if offended.

“She’s perfect, Vim. She has ears and a tail, just like Tundra, and Tundra actually respects her. The only other person Tundra respects is either me or Less, and neither of us have the same issues. We can’t understand her the way Renn can. She’s basically the best teacher for this instance, at least in her case,” Light explained.

Sounded like an excuse to me, but whatever…

“Just stay safe,” I said simply.

Usually Merit would be with her… maybe I should recommend to Reatti that she should stay near Renn while we were here… Renn could of course take care of herself, but it’d make me feel a lot better if someone capable who knew this city well would be with her while she lingered in it. Especially with a burden…

“I told you he’d not mind,” Renn then said to Light.

“Hm… so you said. And so it seems. To me though it seems like the only reason he’s not arguing is because he’s struggling to find a way to do so with good reason, not because he doesn’t want to,” Light said with a gesture at me.

“I have full confidence in Renn and her capabilities. I’m not like you who needs to know exactly what happens every moment in the future to feel comfortable with trying something,” I said with a tone I usually didn’t use, annoyance, as I went back to building the wall of the tunnel.

“He does have a point there, Light,” Renn said with a small smile.

“Wha…! I don’t need to know the full future to be comfortable…! I just… it just makes it easier and…” Light stuttered a moment, trying to defend herself… and as she did Renn started to laugh. In a way that made me side-glance her.

What the hell…? The two were acting like friends. Real friends, not new or fake ones either… as if the two were comfortable with each other, as if they’d known each other for years and years…

“I bet she’s rushing, so I’ll go now. When will you be done with this, Vim?” Renn then asked after a moment of laughing.

“Hm…? A few hours, I think… I’d say I’d get done faster now that you took her away, but she had actually been rather helpful. I’ll still get done before nightfall I think, though,” I said. I’d not been back up above ground for a few hours, but I could sense nightfall was still half a dozen hours away at least.

Renn nodded. “Good. Don’t start another project before talking to me, okay?” she asked as she stepped away.

I nodded as I watched her go, and wondered if that request was because of her earlier statement about needing to tell me something… or just because she wanted to spend a moment with me. I hoped for the latter, but knew it was likely the former.

Renn gave me a wave as she walked away, heading for the stairwell… and surprisingly, Light remained.

I watched my wife leave, and although was saddened over it I still enjoyed it. I liked watching her walk, even when there was no real reason to. How did she move so calmly, I wonder? If I was her I’d always be on guard… though maybe she was and I just couldn’t tell…

“Were you staring at her rear?”

I blinked and remembered the annoyance was still here. Turning to look at the glowing eye, I frowned at it. “Renn’s?”

“Who else’s…? Do you think I’d actually ask if you had stared at Tundra’s?” she asked with an odd smirk.

“Isn’t it normal for a man to stare at his wife?” I asked as I returned to working.

“Maybe… if that man was normal. But this is you we’re talking about. I’ve seen you outright ignore naked women, ones even trying to seduce you. And Renn just now hadn’t even been trying to catch your eye,” Light said. I didn’t like how calm her voice sounded… she sounded as calm with me as she just had with Renn, which was weird to me for some reason.

“Still don’t think it’s odd at all for a husband to find his wife attractive,” I said simply. And what the hell was she talking about anyway…? Naked women…? Just when, where, and who was she talking about…?

Had to have been something from years ago. As in, something from back before Celine had died… but… I couldn’t remember any kind of incident such as that. It would have had to have been in Telmik, I think, which only made such a scenario even weirder to imagine. Telmik back then had been even more prim and proper than it was now, and even today something like that happening would have been outrageously impossible to imagine, so…

Unless… it was possible she was speaking not of something she actually witnessed, but instead prophesized… in which case it could have been something that had happened elsewhere. There had been a few moments like that during the wars, for one reason or another… and a few of them had been while I was with others. Others who she could have had prophecies centered upon, thus letting her witness me too because of it… but…

For a few moments I laid brick in silence as I pondered the past… until Light coughed and cleared her throat. I ignored her for a moment, but only for a few moments. “What is it?” I asked without stopping.

“You’re to head east soon,” Light said simply.

I nodded. “I’d already be heading that way if not for all these tasks,” I said. I had a good list already, and even though had already handled many of the more important ones… I still had a few more to handle. A couple were even going to be tasks that would take effort, even on my part.

“And Renn…?”

“What about her?” I asked. Was she asking if she was going to be joining me? Wasn’t sure why… she should already know, what with her prophecies.

“Will you be taking her with you?” Light went ahead and asked, directly.

“Yes. Why?”

“Must you…?”

Must I…?

I frowned as I turned and glanced at the one-eyed saint. The glowing eye looked a little troubled, almost dim, as she studied me while waiting for my answer.

An answer I wasn’t sure if I should give… since her question had not sounded the way it should have. Had I heard not worry or confusion… but instead just genuine want? Usually when she tried to manipulate me, like her mother, she spoke with confidence… or maybe even slight worry. But that question just now had not sounded like a confident saint, or a worried woman… but instead a saddened child. Somehow.

“What is it Light…?” I asked with a small sigh. May as well get it out of the way, I guess…

“Why do you feel the need to keep her so close…? It’s odd,” she asked.

“I have my reasons.” Ones I had no intent on sharing.

“Don’t say it’s because she’s pregnant and due any moment, Vim… that lie won’t work anymore,” she said.

I scoffed at that. “Took you long enough to figure it out,” I said.

“Yes. It did. I should have known you would have been able to make her heart form exactly where it needed to as to trick me. I had not thought it was possible to force where a heart forms, but obviously you’d know how,” Light said.

Oh…? Oh. Right. Her heart was right above her tail… I guess in a saint’s eyes, in their perspective, the glow was coming from her stomach. Or at least, close enough to it that it made sense to them that it came from another life source and not a heart.

“You sound pretty happy over something that should upset you,” I said as I glanced at her. She even had a smile on her face! A real big one!

“How could I not be, Vim…? She confessed something so serious to me, willingly…! It shows not just how good of a person she really is, but how close she and I are and can be… my mother would be jealous,” Light said happily.

I scoffed at that. “Keep dreaming.”

Light chuckled at me. “She also told me something very cute…! I’d tease you over it, but I think I’ll wait until I’m not stuck under a half-finished tunnel with you, I think!”

My eye twitched as I realized likely what she was hinting at. Especially considering the topic, and why she was now giggling.

Renn had undoubtedly, when telling her she wasn’t pregnant yet, the reason as to why she wasn’t…

“I’d almost be petty enough to taunt you and your foiled plans, but luckily for you I’m too nice for such a thing,” I said simply as I returned to my bricks. There wasn’t much left to do for this side. It was time to start packing the loose, imperfect, stones instead.

“Please, Vim… the fact you actually thought I wouldn’t know the exact day your child is born is an insult! I can tell you when, if you’d like,” Light said happily. She sounded like she was enjoying this.

“Still think such a thing is accurate…? Even after mistaking it all this time?” I asked.

“Of course…? I just thought, like the rest, that her bloodline and your uniqueness might have made her pregnancy different than normal. It had made sense at the time,” Light said.

Right… There were plenty of non-humans who did in fact have long gestation periods. Then of course factoring in me did indeed make the even odder scenarios more believable… at least from their perspectives.

“Whatever… So? Are you saying I shouldn’t take Renn with me eastward?” I asked, hoping to change topics or if not outright avoid the rest if possible.

“Hm… I’m not sure if I should answer that. To be honest right now my main concern is simply her. I want to spend more time with her, so I hope she stays here for now. That’s all,” Light said.

For some reason I believed her. “Sorry, but I’m going to be a little stern about this. She’s joining me,” I said simply.

Light sighed, but I heard her nod even if reluctantly. “I figured… just wanted to try, all the same.”

Well… the fact she gave up so readily was a good sign, I guess. Maybe she really was being genuine and really had just wanted to spend more time with her…?

“And if you just want to spend time with her… just do so…? Renn likes having friends. Kind of her whole thing, really. Just hang out with her if that’s really what you want, she’ll undoubtedly oblige you,” I said simply. I didn’t like the idea of the two becoming too close, but in truth it wasn’t that big a deal. Renn was wise enough to not let their closeness cause too much harm… so it’d be fine, I think.

Light happily giggled. “Already planned, Vim…! We’re having dinner tonight, just us three! That’s what she was hinting at earlier, I think,” she said.

Great. “Wonderful,” I stated.

She giggled… and after a moment of her doing so, I suddenly heard a sniff. One that didn’t come from dust, or stagnant air. I turned around, and was a little surprised to find her wiping her glowing eye… as if wiping a tear out of it.

“I have a friend, Vim…!” Light declared happily, sounding almost as childish as Tundra had earlier.

“As long as it isn’t me, that’s good.”

“Oh shush!”

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