Shadow Sun Survival Page 26

  “Hungry little bugger, aren’t you? Has your mama not been feeding you?” A thought struck him. “Is your mama gone? Did she get killed? Or maybe you just got separated?” The bear stared at him, head tilting from side to side as he spoke.

  “No, not separated. She’d be able to follow your scent. I’m guessing something bigger and badder than mama found your den, huh?”

  Fuzzy chuffed at him, sitting on his butt and raising one paw. Allistor shook his head and tossed him the last of his hot dogs.

  “Well slap my ass and call me Grizzly Adams,” Allistor mumbled to himself as he watched the tube steak disappear. This time, when he was done eating, Fuzzy walked right up and shoved his nose into Allistor’s outstretched hand. After a second, he licked the ring. “I’ll be damned. Can you smell what’s inside there? Or does my hand just smell like meat?”

  A moment later Fuzzy jumped up onto the rock and moved behind Allistor. Squeezing in between him and the warm rock he’d leaned his back on, the bear huffed once and dropped on its belly. His eyes closed, and he snorted, adjusting slightly to make himself more comfortable. Allistor sat there, surprised at the sudden acceptance from the wild predator. A few minutes later, Fuzzy began to snore.

  “I don’t blame you. I could use a nap, too.”

  Since the bear didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move, or much concerned about predators, Allistor produced his pole and resumed his fishing as the bear cub snored against his back. His pants slowly dried in the warm sunlight, and it felt good on his skin as well. The wet bear didn’t smell all that great, but then Fuzzy might be thinking the same of him.

  Two hours later, he’d managed to catch a grand total of three bass, each a foot long or less. Normally he’d just throw them back, but he thought Fuzzy might enjoy them. When he stood to stretch his legs, the bear woke up. He immediately sniffed out the fish but didn’t touch them. Sitting on his haunches, Fuzzy looked up at Allistor and huffed.

  “Go ahead, buddy. Those are for you.”

  The moment he spoke, the cub ripped into the first fish. He ate all but the tails of all three fish. “I’m not sure, but I think you probably shouldn’t have eaten the bones, Fuzzyboy. But you seem alright, so we’ll assume I’m wrong.” Allistor patted the cub on the head, then scratched his ears. Fuzzy growled happily, leaning into the attention.

  “Did I somehow just become your mama?”

  Allistor thought back to all the games where he’d played a hunter, druid, or wizard type class that possessed skills enabling the player to tame pets or familiars. With a grin, he pictured going into battle with an octopoid alongside a great big grizzly bear. “Bear tank for the win!”

  Looking at the sky, he said, “Time to head back, buddy. I want to be safe inside those walls before dark.” He got up and started hiking up the hill in the general direction of the Outpost. A rustling behind him let him know that Fuzzy was following. Each time he stopped and turned around, the bear would stop and stare at him. After half a dozen times, he just kept going.

  An hour later he reached the road and spotted the Outpost a short distance uphill. Trudging along, he turned to find that the bear wasn’t there. He scanned the tree line and found Fuzzy was ghosting along inside the tree line, keeping pace with him. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued up the road and opened the gate. Turning to look for the bear, he didn’t see any movement. With a smile, he dropped a turtle steak just inside the gates and walked to sit by the front door of the building.

  It was less than a minute before Fuzzy stepped gingerly onto the pavement, sniffing it as he did. Deciding it wasn’t going to bite him, he trotted across and scooped up the meat. When he sat to gnaw on it, Allistor closed the gates behind him.

  “You can’t come inside, little buddy. I don’t want to be cleaning up after you rampage through and knock everything over. You’ll be just fine out here tonight.”

  As he was about to go inside, the memory of the drake flying off with Candy hit him. “On second thought, how ‘bout we make you a little bed out back?”

  He went inside and grabbed a flannel blanket from one of the shelves. Going back out, he found Fuzzy had finished his steak and was sniffing around. Allistor called out. “Follow me, Fuzzy.” Waving the blanket, he walked around the corner toward the back of the building. He paused at the next corner, turning to see if the cub followed. A moment later the teddy bear face poked around the corner. Seeing him, it pulled back. Then a few seconds later the cub leapt out from behind the building, snorting and charging at him.

  Laughing at the game of tag, Allistor rounded the second corner and hopped up into the pickup truck’s bed. He ducked down so just his eyes and forehead stuck up over the gate, and waited.

  Ten seconds later Fuzzy’s nose slowly emerged around the corner. The bear sniffed a few times, then took a peek. Not seeing Allistor, the cub snuck around the corner stepping lightly with his back bowed up like a cat’s.

  When he got close to the truck, following Allistor with his nose, Allistor jumped up and raised his hands “Hah!” he shouted.

  Fuzzy pissed on the concrete as he rolled over backward trying to get away. He regained his feet and scooted back around the corner, wailing.

  Allistor instantly felt bad. “I’m sorry, buddy!” he called out. He climbed down and sat on the back bumper, waiting for the cub to return. After ten minutes, he pulled a candy bar out of his ring and unwrapped it. He just stood there holding it as the chocolate began to melt between his fingers. Another minute or so passed, then the nose reappeared around the corner.

  Allister spoke softly. “I’m sorry, Fuzzy. I shouldn’t have scared you like that. I’ve got a treat here for you. Come and get it.”

  The bear slunk around the corner, belly low to the ground. He watched Allistor for a few moments, then walked forward as his nose twitched. Allistor held out his hand as he crouched down to the bear’s level. Fuzzy licked at the candy bar, then gently took it out of his hands. He chewed awkwardly a couple times, then dropped it onto the concrete and began to lick at it.

  Mimicking the cub, Allistor licked the melted chocolate off his own fingers. Then as Fuzzy worked on his treat, he lowered the truck’s tailgate and unfolded the blanket partway. Setting the blanket in the truck bed, he waited for Fuzzy to finish. When he was done, Allistor bent and carefully lifted the cub up into the bed, setting him on the blanket. He scratched the nervous cub’s ears for a while until he calmed down and settled his head down on the blanket. Allistor flipped the other half up and over the bear cub, cocooning him in.

  “Sleep well, little buddy. Stay here, okay? You’ll be warm enough, and protected under this carport roof.”

  Allistor felt silly, mothering the bear cub. Using his passphrase to open the back door, he went inside and closed it behind him. A few minutes later he came back out with a small pot filled with water and set that in the truck before going back inside and closing the door.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Park is the Thing

  Allistor spent some time in the back room going through inventory as the sun set and darkness fell over the Outpost. Every hour or so he peeked out the back door to check on the cub, who was snoring contentedly, still wrapped in the blanket.

  When he crawled into bed in the commander’s quarters several hours later, he had fashioned a harness of sorts. If he was going to keep the bear with him, he’d need to be able to control it to some extent. The heavy rope harness looked much like a standard dog harness that wound under the chest and around the torso. Snorting at the ridiculousness of walking a bear cub like a dog on a leash, Allistor rolled over and went to sleep.

  The sound of howling canids or wolves woke him in the wee hours of the morning. He got up and went out back to check on Fuzzy. The cub was awake and alert, huddled in his blanket and breathing rapidly. He patted the bear’s head. “Don’t worry, Fuzzy. They won’t get in here.”

  Still, he sat with the cub until the howling receded, scratching his head and whispering. A
t some point, both man and cub fell back asleep.

  As the sun came up, Allistor awoke in the back of the truck, blanket and bear both draped across his chest. He shivered as he slid out from under them and the cold air hit him. Needing to pee, he went inside and used the facilities. When he returned, Fuzzy was out of the truck, having dragged his blanket with him. He trotted over to Allistor, tripping over the blanket twice, and plopped down in front of him. He licked his bear lips, staring deep into Allistor’s eyes.

  Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Taming

  By showing kindness to a helpless animal and tending to its needs, you have earned its trust and loyalty. The animal has bound itself to you as your companion. For more information, please review the ‘Companions’ section of your interface.

  And there it was. Allistor had himself a pet. Not like Max, but a bound pet that he could level up and take into combat with him. And right now his fuzzy bear was looking at him hungrily. “You are going to be hard to feed when you get bigger.” He sighed, removing another turtle steak and tossing it to Fuzzy.

  He grabbed the blanket and headed for his pickup. Fuzzy followed after scarfing down breakfast. Allistor laid the blanket across the passenger seat, and Fuzzy obligingly leapt and pulled himself up. Circling a couple times like a dog, he plopped down on the blanket and snorted.

  Allistor got in, turned the truck around and drove out the gates, closing them behind him. Fuzzy sat up and moved around unsteadily as the truck’s motion initially confused him. But when they got going down the road, he calmed and laid his head back down. Allistor spoke to him as if he were a human riding along.

  “Well, it’s just you and me, buddy. Off to explore the world, hunt exotic beasts, capture territory, and take over the world! Muah ha ha!” He did his best Brain impersonation, but Fuzzy wasn’t impressed.

  About ten miles down the road, the bear cub let loose an obnoxiously loud fart. “What the hell, man? Party foul!” Allistor scolded him as he rolled the truck’s windows down. Fuzzy just looked proud of himself. When he caught an interesting scent coming in from the windows, he sat up and stuck his head out. Allistor laughed at the bear that looked just like a dog, head out the window, tongue flapping in the wind as he watched the trees go by and sniffed.

  The truck was only moving about 30mph when Fuzzy started to growl. Allistor slowed even further, scanning the trees on either side of the road. Fuzzy’s hackles rose, and he bounced his front paws on the seat a couple times. He sent out a tiny roar, then pulled his head inside and sat back against the seat, ducking down. Whatever was out there, he didn’t like it.

  As they rounded a bend, now only going about 20mph, Allistor spotted the tops of several trees shaking violently just ahead. Whatever was doing it was moving toward the road. He stopped the truck and turned off the engine. Whispering to Fuzzy, he said, “Hold real still and stay quiet, okay? Whatever this is, we’re just gonna play dead and let it walk right on by.”

  Fuzzy relocated himself down into the well below the dashboard. He curled into a ball and set his head on his back leg, looking up at Allistor.

  Allistor’s attention was drawn back to the road ahead. He could now hear crashing and splintering as underbrush and small trees were demolished. Whatever was moving through the woods was big. Not sixty-foot titan big, or he’d be able to see it already. But bulky enough to push around mature trees.

  His mouth dropped open a moment later when a neon green gelatin oozed out onto the highway. It separated as it moved around trees, then came back together on the other side. Allistor could see the corpses of animals large and small suspended within the slime creature. When it was all the way out on the highway, it formed into a rough cube and sat motionless, except for an occasional quiver. Looking more closely, Allistor could see a moose trapped near the ‘front’ of the slime – the side closest to him – that was still struggling. He watched as it kicked and thrashed its massive rack, getting weaker by the moment. Eventually, it stilled, and Allistor Examined the cube.

  Giant Gelatinous Devourer

  Level 11

  Health 4,000/4,000

  Allistor almost laughed. He’d dealt with slimes in the various games over the years. Usually in low-level zones, and in large numbers. They were slow moving and didn’t have large health pools, and were most effective when they could surround a prey. Some could bunch their bodies tightly then spring forward for short distances. Others could extend parts of themselves like tentacles to snatch prey or shoot acid or some sticky substance. Once they captured and consumed prey, it would slowly digest within their gelatin.

  This one, though, was too big to laugh at. The moose it had just devoured took up less than a quarter of its internal space. The cube had to be ten yards square, and it contained the decomposing bodies of normally fast-moving creatures like a wolf, several rabbits, the moose, and rotting pieces of deer that might have been one or two animals originally.

  “So, either you can move fast, or you’ve been picking up corpses as you go. Either way, you just keep on going, big guy. Move on across the road and find yourself some more tasty treats. Nothing to see here,” he mumbled quietly to himself. They were on a downhill slope, and he was hoping gravity would persuade the thing to move away.

  No such luck.

  The cube vibrated a few times, causing ripples to pass through its body and shifting some of the corpses inside. Then it began to undulate itself up the road in his direction.

  Allistor’s first inclination was to just back up and flee the thing. But this was just the kind of creature he’d come out here to hunt. Just a couple levels above him, it might be a manageable fight. And it should award some decent xp if he killed it solo.

  Opening the truck door, he said, “Stay here, Fuzzy,” and got out. He began to walk toward the devourer, which was plodding along steadily. First, he cast Restraint on the creature. The result was surprising. It froze into a perfect cube, seeming to harden as the stun took effect. Allistor equipped his shotgun and fired a quick blast, striking the front surface and knocking off a chunk as if it were made of stone. He rapidly fired three more shots, focusing on one corner of the cube. The third shot fractured off maybe ten percent of the creature, the loose bits tumbling onto the road.

  But as soon as the stun wore off, the broken pieces liquefied and began to flow back to the main body. Allistor put away the shotgun. Physical attacks just weren’t going to work.

  Raising a hand, he cast Flame Shot and held it as a ball of flame built up in his hand. When it was the size of a basketball, he flung it forward at the slime. The fireball impacted with a sizzle and burned its way deep into the slime’s mass before being extinguished. The monster let out a high-pitched keening as if it felt pain from the burns.

  Allistor hit it again, this time dropping a column of flame down on top of the devourer. The slime’s body seemed to melt away as the flames penetrated. On a whim, he cast Restraint again, and the flesh solidified just as before. The hardened gelatin blackened and cracked under the heat still drilling into it from above.

  Before the stun would wear off, Allistor equipped his spear and ran forward to slam it into the spot where the first fireball had struck. The hardened gelatin cracked along a line down the center where the fire strike from above had penetrated. With a resounded crack, the devourer’s body split in half.

  Inside he could see a glowing orb that pulsed slightly. He dashed forward between the two halves just as the stun wore off and the monster began to reform. Reaching down into the slime, he took hold of the orb with both hands. His hands burned as the gelatin ate away at his skin, but he maintained his grip.

  With a desperate pull, he freed the orb from the gelatin. When it came free, the lack of resistance threw Allistor off balance, and he fell on his butt. The gelatin all around him vibrated wildly for a moment, then seemed to liquefy. Liquid gelatin flowed across the road and into the ditches on either side. Everything it touched began to hiss and smoke as the acid began to ea
t away at it, including Allistor’s boots! He took two long, leaping steps uphill to get clear of the liquid, then cleaned his boots the best he could in the tall grass. They’d lost about half their durability, but they were still functional.

  Experience flashed across his interface. Not quite enough to level him up to ten, but almost. He also received loot as he held the orb in front of him. A hundred and fifty klax, ten vials of devourer acid, several deteriorated animal hides, a stack of moose meat, and the orb. Allistor examined it as he held it at arms’ length.

  Giant Devourer Core

  Item Quality: Uncommon

  This core contains the life force of the gelatinous devourer.

  Assuming it had some use as a crafting item, or maybe a power source for alien tech, he dropped it into his ring.

  Back in the truck, they waited for the corrosive liquid to fade away before driving across it. The last thing Allistor needed was four damaged or flattened tires out in the middle of nowhere.

  They continued southward at a gentle pace, with Fuzzy back up in the passenger seat with his nose out the window. Allistor stopped a few times, once at a driveway that he followed up to a house on a gentle rise. A quick poke-around didn’t reveal any useful vehicles or sellable items, but there was a pantry full of canned food. With thoughts of keeping the growing bear fed, he put all the food he could find, along with a can opener, into his ring. He also grabbed two large stainless steel bowls – one for food, one for water. And he found several more blankets to add to Fuzzy’s nest.

  Moving on down the road, Allistor had driven maybe thirty miles from the Outpost when they came across a direction sign with an arrow pointing to a ranger station. Allistor followed the gravel drive up into the woods and found a log cabin with two ranger’s trucks. The trucks were full-sized Suburbans, both painted forest green. Each had a winch on the front and heavy duty tires that would allow the vehicles to go off-road to an extent. Allistor was tempted to trade in his pickup. There was a windmill tower sticking up behind the cabin, squeaking slightly as it spun.