“That’s very honorable of you.” Cyran was aware there were adventurers out there who did pro bono work, and he wished he could be one of those people. But with an influx of mouths to feed at the orphanage, he couldn’t afford to work for free. Wolfe still seemed hesitant, though, so Cyran cleared his throat and clarified, “Generosity is a rare quality to have. But I want to make sure that you have enough money to take care of yourself, and that you’re not getting scammed by scalpers like that man.” He whispered that last part as he gestured to the caravan leader behind them. “Do you even have enough to feed yourself?”

The caravan continued its slow rumble, keeping the ravine to their left. Every once in a while, Cyran glanced over the side, peering into the darkness of the rift below. Even with sensitive eyesight he couldn’t make out the bottom through the shadows- the sheer height was dizzying, and he didn’t want to think about what would happen if one of the travelers slipped and fell. Despite the elements and the looming cliffs to their side, Wolfe still seemed in good spirits, making small talk while they kept their eyes peeled for a bridge.

“Well, it’s a bit of a… recent development.” He admitted, somewhat bewildered. “It’s not very common, as far as I know, unless your friend is a spellcaster?” He wasn’t quite sure why Wolfe was so envious of the ability, though. “Aren’t you capable of turning into a bird? That is essentially the same thing, yes?”

In fact, shapeshifting seemed more useful than simply being able to sprout wings- Wolfe had more utility in a battle than just flight. “Can you shift into any animal you desire? That’s a much more useful skill.” And probably not the result of dark magic, like Cyran’s own was. That brought to mind another question- both times that Cyran had met Wolfe, he’d displayed odd abilities that were unlike any spell he’d ever seen before. But how did they do it, exactly? He’d heard of people who could shift into animals, but never anything like what Wolfe could do. “Is it some kind of spell?”

Blue Raspberry didn't really understadn what Cyran meant when they said it was honorable for them not to know they were supposed to be getting paid, but they accepted the compliment with a smile anyways. They also didn't know what a scalper was, but if Cyran was saying that guy was one, it must be true. They'd have to be more careful around that guy. Cyran seemed like a really nice person to care so much about the strange knight and whether they had enough to eat.

"Oh, I can eat pretty much anything, so I'll be fine! Thanks though!" they replied, clapping a hand on Cyran's shoulder with a big smile that was hidden under their helmet.

"A recent development? Hmmm. So not everyone can do it? I started to think it was just a think humanoids could do. I mean, other humanoids than me." They quickly corrected themself, hoping Cyran didn't find their statement odd. "Well, I guess she's a spellcaster. She does use lightning magic. So it's a spellcaster thing, then? I can turn into lots of animals, but having wings on my back while still people shaped is really cool! When I change into a bird, I don't have arms anymore." Blue Raspberry responded, holding their arms out like wings and flapping them slightly to show what they meant.

"A spell? I just kinda... Oh wait, right! Yeah, it's a spell!"

By now, Cyran was fairly certain he’d pinned down that Wolfe wasn’t actually human, though he couldn’t tell exactly what they were. Whatever it was, it was not something he’d ever encountered in his travels. Perhaps some sort of amorphous shapeshifter? If they could assume the identity of animals then it was no stretch to assume that they had taken on a human form as well. But Wolfe’s true nature, whatever it was, didn’t matter. Astrid clearly trusted them, and so did the children from the orphanage, and that was good enough for Cyran. If they wanted to blend in as a human, he would help protect that identity. “Of course. It’s a very handy spell, but I see your point about lacking arms.” If Cyran had not been there to help defend Wolfe from their back, then they would have been unable to defend themselves from the swarm of cumulominions.

“And sprouting wings is definitely not something all humanoids do, as I’m sure one like yourself would know.” He said, trying to keep the humor out of his voice as he played along. “But perhaps you could ask your friend to teach you how to do it.” If they were a shapeshifter, then they’d probably have no issues learning how to simply perform a partial shift of sorts. Cyran certainly couldn’t teach them. He wasn’t even sure how to summon his own again without replicating the same circumstances and endangering himself.

“The kids certainly seem to enjoy your tricks. They keep asking when you and Astrid will be back to visit.” Well, more specifically, they had been asking for Astrid and the… ooze monster, and oh gods Cyran had just put it all together. Yes, that made much more sense. Either way, the kids clearly enjoyed their company, and that was all Cyran cared about. “I keep telling them that you’re both busy adventurers, but you know how children are.”

Oriole's eyes widened as the young man put together that this was the Blue Raspberry that the kids liked to talk about, but he said nothing. In fact, it only made Wolfe cooler in his eyes, especially given the stories that the kids had told him about Wolfe's exploits.

"Yeah, maybe I can ask her." Blue Raspberry muttered absentmindedly.

"Oh, they do?" Blue Raspberry asked excitedly, smiling to Cyran. "Maybe I should head back there once this is over then! Astrid is off doing something else, but she'd probably be happy to go back too." they replied, laughing happily.

How did Cyran know about Astrid though? And the kids at the orphanage? Suddenly, Blue Raspberry remembered why Cyran looked so familiar and stopped in surprise, pointing a finger at him, his other arm out and bent downward and his stance wide.

"AAAH! You're from the orphanage! Oh! I knew you looked really familiar!" they exclaimed loudly.

"Shut up and keep moving!" the caravan leader shouted from the front of the lead wagon.

Blue Raspberry looked at the man and quickly stood back up and kept walking next to Cyran, an embarrassed look on their face. They'd almost completely forgotten about the man who had welcomed them when they'd arrived at the orphanage. They'd been too distracted with dropping off all the children's luggage at the time and barely payed any attention.

The caravan leader huffed in annoyance, but didn't take any further actions, choosing to just keep the wagons moving. He just wanted to get around this annoying hole in the ground and get to Frostgale in time. Soon enough, his wish was granted. In the distance, the group could see what looked like a land bridge spanning the chasm that might be wide and stable enough for the wagons to cross.

"Hurry it up, I see a crossing ahead!" he called out to the rest of the caravan and to the three adventurers walking beside it..

He smiled and nodded once Wolfe finally remembered where they’d met, only to pause when the caravan leader shouted at the two of them to quiet down, and Wolfe turned back around, looking ashamed from the scolding they received. Cyran scowled, resting a hand on his dagger. He needed the money, but this treatment was getting ridiculous. He didn’t care much about insults thrown his own way, but Wolfe didn’t deserve to have his enthusiasm crushed like that. Sure, they were a little odd, but they were well-meaning. Cyran did not get the chance to speak up on their behalf, however, as he soon spotted a land bridge just a little bit further down the rift, and the caravan made their way to the side.

The first carts pulled up to a stop as they debated how much weight they could put on the rocky outcropping. Cyran pulled Wolfe and the caravan leader aside to discuss the next hurdle. “We need to be careful about how much weight we put on this. I suggest that Wolfe and I test the stability of the bridge by walking across first, and then cross one cart at a time.”

“I don’t-”

“Would you rather the bridge break and you lose your men- and your goods- to the bottom of the ravine?”

“...”

Silence.

“That’s what I thought.” Cyran whirled on his heel, motioning for Wolfe to follow. He was not as anxious testing the mettle of this bridge as he ought to have been, considering that he was walking with someone who could shapeshift into a large bird. The two slowly traipsed across the earth that split the yawning gap, still slick with rainwater. A draft rushed upwards, as if to throw them off their balance. Underneath their feet, the earth creaked and groaned dangerously, but held firm.

They made it to the other side without incident. “Now the real test will be getting back… and bringing the carts over.” Cyran murmured to himself before they set off to make the return trip. The others were watching the knight and assassin anxiously, as if expecting them to fall over. No such thing happened- they returned to the caravan and began making preparations for the first to cross over.

The marching order went as this: a wagon would pass one at a time, with Cyran and Wolfe guiding them to catch as many people as they could in case anything went wrong. The first cart moved at a snail’s pace across the rock, wheels bouncing along the bridge. Every sharp crack of stone breaking made Cyran hold his breath, worried that the unstable foundations might crumble and the wagon would go tumbling down…

But nothing happened.

The first vehicle made it to the other side without much incident, and it was time for the second to cross. Cyran and Wolfe returned to the side of origin and started preparing to make their second trip. They moved at the same slow, crawling pace as the first, though Cyran managed to relax a little more as they moved- until a dark, spindly limb reached up from the darkness, making a pass at the cart’s driver, and the entire plan dissolved at the drop of a hat as Cyran cried out, immediately pulling out Cold Steel and dashing to rescue the man before he was dragged under.

Blue Raspberry saw the spindly limb rise up from the chasm and dashed forward along with Cyran. The leg reeled back, preparing to skewer the driver on the wagon. From behind the knight's back, beneath their cloak, they pulled a dark shape and Blue Raspberry dove forward and took the hit, being pushed back by the force of the impact into the seat next to the panicked driver. In Blue Raspberry's hands was a shield with a face on it that looked horrified, the creature's leg sticking out of its mouth.

The leg retracted away and the shield began coughing and spitting as the leg was removed from their mouth. Despite the shield's best efforts, nothing actually came from their mouth, no spit produced by the metal face.

"Ah, what in Ginma's horse ass was that? Oh, disgusting, it went in my mouth! The nerve of this freakish thing to use me so carelessly, I am a wondrous creation and I deserve more respect then thi-mmmph!" the shield complained angrily before The knight hid it beneath their cloak again and the shield's tantrum was suddenly silenced.

More spindly legs emerged from beneath the bridge and a massive creature climbed up over the side. It had the body and eight legs of a spider, but where there should have been a spiders head, instead emerged the armless, chitinous body of a seahorse, their eyes glowing a vibrant red and staring at the knight in anger.

---

Disgruntled Shield

Wolfe managed to beat Cyran to the punch, pulling something from seemingly out of nowhere that looked like a shield, which could apparently talk, and one with a foul mouth to boot. They managed to fend off the creature’s leg from snatching up the cart driver, only for the creature to rise from its hiding place in the shifting shadows below the land bridge, revealing a creature that seemed vaguely familiar, one that Cyran had seen before in books during his schooling days what felt like a lifetime ago.

What were they called again…?

Yes, seahorses, that was it. But this didn’t look quite like any of the charcoal drawings of the aquatic creatures that Cyran had ever seen. This one had long, dark spider’s legs that were powerful enough to pierce through rock, and beady red eyes that pierced through the darkness of the storm, before opening its mouth in a whinny that rocked the very foundations of the earth, spitting out globs of acid that melted away the bridge.

“Run to the other side!” Cyran commanded, climbing up to the top of the driver’s seat to nudge the villager off. Employer be damned, he cared less about the goods than he did about the lives of the people shuttling them. The villager took the cue, sprinting across the bridge as fast as his legs could carry him, nearly slipping on the wet stone as he did. That was one less problem to worry about- but now Cyran still had to deal with the acid-spitting spider-seahorse that was currently trying to make a meal out of Wolfe before Wolfe made a meal out of it.

Two of its eight legs focused on Cyran from where he was perched, and Cyran managed to catch one of them with Spell Slicer- the other he cut with Cold Steel, bisecting the legs from its body.^[1,2] The beast whinnied in pain, immediately turning its gaze to Cyran, eyes unblinking, and it opened its mouth to reveal two rows of sharp teeth before spitting acid at Cyran. Instinctively, Cyran raised his arms to block his face, but the acid ate away at his coat sleeves, slightly burning his arms.

He hissed in pain, stepping back and making a hasty temporary retreat as he melded into the shadows.

---

1. Magic Blocker Enchantment
2. Ice Rune

Blue Raspberry jumped down from the seat of the wagon along with the terrified driver. They took a fighting stance, their fists raised, and faced the spider seahorse mixed abomination. The driver of the wagon ran away, toward the other side of the chasm, urged by Cyran.

The creature fought the two adventurers, stabbing out with its spear-like spider's legs, but they managed to fend off the creature's strikes. As they fought, lightning arced from the knight's armor and started to make several of the creature's legs go numb from the electrical shocks. However, their punches weren't very effective at damaging the legs, unlike Cyran's blades. Still, the lightning was taking a toll and the monster changed its tactics.

Blue Raspberry was surprised when the creature suddenly spit acid out of its toothy, protruding mouth, jumping to the side to dodge the liquid. The knight escaped unharmed, but Cyran wasn't so fortunate. The creature had been aiming directly for the assassin that had cut off two of its legs. Acid now ate away at Cyran's arms and clothing.

"Are you okay!?" Blue Raspberry called to Cyran with concern before looking at the monster angrily.

The knight crouched down into a sprinting position, facing the creature. Their form shifted and morphed before a huge, blue feline pounced toward the spider seahorse. The creature was caught off guard by such an unexpected assault, launched backward by the force of the great blue panther hitting it in the torso.

Blue Raspberry and the abomination both went tumbling off of the bridge, freefalling down into the chasm below.

“I’m fine!” Cyran hissed, rubbing at his arms where the acid had burnt him. Nothing some healing couldn’t fix, but the burns would fester if left untreated for too long. He inhaled, pushing the pain away to focus on the fight in front of them. His arms were still functional enough to raise daggers, and so he would through himself into the battle for as long as they could still hold weapons.

He pulled himself out of his hiding place just in time to watch Wolfe shift into a giant blue panther, knocking the seahorse, and themselves, over the side of the bridge, tumbling into the darkness of the ravine below.

“No!”

Cyran dashed to the side- shooting a bolt of dark energy and missing wildly, striking a nearby wall and knocking some stone loose- but it was too late.^[1] There was nothing he could do except watch the knight tumble into the shadows.

What do I do? Cyran watched the ravine anxiously, waiting for the telltale sign of blue feathers from a large bird emerging from the ravine. A few seconds passed… minutes… nothing. Cyran stood, dread settling like a leaden weight in his chest, and he was briefly forced to wonder if this was how Wolfe had felt when he’d fallen off the bird.

“What’s going on out there?” The leader cried over the roar of the wind and the thunder, though Cyran could barely hear him over the pounding of his heart in his ribcage, like an anxious, fluttering bird. “Why have you stopped?”

Cyran bit his lip, rapidly attempting to compose himself. Wolfe would be fine… he had to believe that. He would do them no good by getting wrapped up in his grief, especially with this cart stuck here like a sitting duck. He pulled himself up into the cart and urged it onto the other side before returning to the origin point. The leader was waiting for him, arms crossed.

“What was that? Where did that knight guy go?”

“They fell.” Cyran said, voice carefully blank as to conceal his emotions. “They took care of the beast.”

The leader grimaced, faltering for the first time since their journey had started. Eventually, he simply regarded Cyran and Oriole before shrugging and said, “Two out of three is still enough to get the job done.”

“You’re heartless.” Cyran spat.

“One life is a worthy sacrifice to accomplish our mission.” There was uncharacteristic regret in his voice, though there was still a steely edge to his words that said he wouldn’t budge. “Your friend was an unfortunate incident, but we have to keep going.”

“What kind of suicide mission have you even brought us on?” Cyran murmured to himself as the caravan leader stomped away. He already had a feeling that he would not receive an answer if he pressed now. Instead, he moved to set up the next wagon for transport over the bridge, occasionally glancing over the side of the ravine hoping that Wolfe would pop out from its depths.

---

1. Chaos Bolt

Blue Catberry and the creature tumbled down, latched onto each other angrily. The seahorse spider grew increasingly numb from the jolts of electricity emitted by the big blue cat that was clawing at them and biting them. Blue Raspberry ripped one of its legs off and slurped it up like an uncooked spaghetti noodle. In the darkness of the chasm, the only light the ooze could see by was the light of the flashes of lightning arcing between the two combatants.

This fight at such close quarters that didn't allow the monster to stab out effectively with its legs or spit acid without risking splashing some onto itself was certainly not in its favor. It shot a sticky strand of spider silk from behind onto the chasm wall, swinging both of them toward it. It grabbed onto Blue Raspberry and maneuvered them in front, slamming the big cat into the wall and cushioning its own blow.

Blue Raspberry was stunned from the impact for a moment. It hurt, but their squishy body wasn't too severely damaged. The creature crawled along the wall now, in a much more stable position. Blue slime coated the big cat's paws and they clung to the stone wall, sticking to it thanks to the gluey goo, and continued their assault on the creature. Their claws raked against the monster's chitinous body and left streaks of acidic slime that began to dissolve its carapace away. They bit at it and tore off more legs, consuming them.

Soon, the creature was completely unable to fight. With too few legs to hold itself onto the wall, the body of the creature fell down into the inky abyss below with a weak whinny of defeat, but Blue Raspberry was not left unscathed. Several slashes across their hide were leaking a blue liquid, the scent of raspberries in the air. They began to climb back up the side of the chasm.

---

Lightning Armor
Flesh Rend
Cuirass
Slimy Hands

Transporting the last few caravans was slow work, though Cyran managed to get most of them over without any further incident. The seahorse-crab abomination did not make another appearance, but neither did Wolfe. Cyran was just pulling the last cart across the bridge, finally rolling the wagon up to the other side, when he heard a scraping sound behind him. He whirled around just in time to see a blue feline face spoke its face above the side of the rocky cliffside, and he nearly slumped over in relief.

The other caravan members were too busy getting things set up to take off once more, now that they were back on the proper course and had plenty of lost time to make up for, so Cyran was able to freely hand over the reins of his horse to Oriole once more in favor of making his way over to Wolfe, who was just pulling themselves up over the side. He helped the now-feline up over the side until they were safe and back on solid ground.

“Are you alright?” He asked quietly, keeping his voice low so no one else could hear him. The others hadn’t yet managed to piece together Wolfe’s identity- and it made him wonder exactly how observant they were, but he wasn’t complaining- but he wasn’t sure how they’d react if they saw the blue panther that was currently bleeding some sort of strange substance onto the rock below them.

Hm.

Well that was a problem.

Cyran knew a decent amount of humanoid biology, par the course for being an assassin. This information mostly extended to knowing the best places to cut to inflict the most damage, so his knowledge of patching others up was rudimentary. His knowledge of ooze monsters… even less so.

“Can you change back? What should we do about this?” He glanced around, looking for somewhere suitable that he could properly stow away an injured, bright blue panther that was currently bleeding out and smelled faintly of fruit.

Ah, Cyran thought. I finally understand the name Blue Raspberry.

Lying on the ground, Blue Raspberry focused for a moment, their body beginning to shift and morph. They managed to change back most of the way into their knightly humanoid form, but felt tired from all of the damage they had sustained in their battle with the seahorse spider monster. Their transformation was cut slightly short from the effort it was taking that they were unable to maintain. Similarly to their partial transformation, their armor was only partially put back on. They redonned their greaves and boots, but their cuirass, gauntlets, and helmet were left stored inside them. Their injured torso was left exposed.

Blue Raspberry still had the ears of a blue cat on the top of their head and a cat tail stuck out from the back of their waist. Their fingernails still looked like cat claws, and their pupils were slitted. There were still gashes in the sides of their torso and on their back that trickled the raspberry scented blue liquid.

They stood up shakily and leaned on a very concerned looking Cyran for support.

"I don't feel super good. Do you have any food? I could really go for a chicken and mushroom skewer right now." they said, their voice a bit woozy.

Wolfe managed to partially shift back into a humanoid form, but not all the way- they were left with a couple of extra feline appendages, and they were still bleeding profusely from their wounds, leaving the air smelling faintly like fruit. It seemed like even though they changed their form, they weren’t capable of healing themselves. They managed to pull themselves up to their feet, leaning on Cyran for support, though they were still wobbling even with the extra help.

“Food? Um, yes, I do.” He had some rations in his pouch, but he wasn’t sure they should stay here out in the open, where people could see Wolfe. The ooze knight staggered as Cyran guided him forward step by slow step. “Let’s find somewhere to hide and take stock first, okay?” He scanned the area for a place to hide, but there was nothing but flat rocks all around. One of the backs of the nearby tarp-covered wagons was devoid of people, as they were all focused on the front of the vehicle, getting the horses ready for transport.

“There.” He pointed to the cart, though he wasn’t sure Wolfe was paying attention to much of anything right now. But a few of them were starting to walk back, and they would spot Wolfe any second if they kept walking this direction.

Thinking quickly, Cyran snapped his fingers, causing a sharp sound near one of the horses just high enough that most humanoids would barely be able to hear.^[1] The sound had the intended effect, as the horse spooked and whinnied, catching the attention of the men that had been approaching the back of the cart. That gave them enough of an opening for Cyran to pull Wolfe to the back of the cart, hoisting them up into the wagon proper.

The inside of the cart was full of cargo- Cyran managed to set Wolfe down on one of the crates before pulling out some food and offering it to them. “Here, take this.” While they ate the food, he started looking around the cart for anything that might help the knight. It didn’t look like there was much aside from weapons stacked in corners, and a couple of nets, but in his desperation Cyran eventually managed to pry open one of the crates to reveal a handful of vials containing a familiar red liquid.

Triumphant, he picked one up and brought it to Wolfe. He wasn’t sure how much it would help, but he had to do something.

---

1. Minor Trickery

Blue Nyanberry let themself be escorted by Cyran without any objection, too tired to really pay much attention to anything at all in their state. They sat down on the crate and took the food from Cyran, a half a loaf of bread wrapped in a cloth handkerchief. They ate it absentmindedly, including the handkerchief, and looked around. They already felt a bit better after eating something, getting a bit of their energy back, but not noticing their odd appearance from their partial transformation. Were they in the back of a wagon? They suddenly had a vial of some kind of red liquid placed in their hands.

They went to swallow the bottle whole, but were stopped by Cyran who took it back for a moment and removed the cork before handing it back again and saying "No, drink it."

Blue Raspberry obliged, downing the red liquid from the vial before also dropping the now empty vial into their mouth without thinking about it. They felt a weird sensation flow through their body, like a tingly warmth. The trickle of blue liquid from their wounds slowed before stopping completely and the wounds stitched closed.

"Oh, I feel better." Blue Raspberry said happily, but still sounding tired, though their energy was slowly returning.

Strangely, their blue hair and eyes started to develop red streaks that swirled through them before mixing with the blue. After a few moments, their hair and eyes were completely purple. Blue Raspberry didn't seem to notice this change at all, nor that they still had several feline features to them.

---

Flask of Feijoada

“Where did my handkerchief go?” Cyran asked as he handed Wolfe the potion, before shaking his head. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. Here.” He handed them the potion, which they immediately went to swallow entirely whole before Cyran immediately snatched it out of their hands in a panic. He uncorked the vial, hesitantly handing it back to Wolfe. “No, drink it.”

They obeyed, drinking it the proper way before downing the contents whole, and eating the vial as well. Cyran nearly had a heart attack before remembering that their biology was probably different from a humanoid’s, which was only furthered by their hair beginning to shift colors until turning entirely purple, a fact that seemed to have entirely escaped their notice. At least their injury seemed to have cleared up enough for them to sit up straight, more enthusiasm in their voice than there had been moments ago. Cyran’s brows furrowed in confusion, unsure exactly why the potion had done that to them.

“Are you sure?” He asked, gesturing to Wolfe’s feline ears. “You still look like a cat… person. And your hair is purple now. Is that normal?”

They would have to hide these features if Wolfe couldn’t completely shift back to their normal state. This would only arouse suspicions, and he didn’t want to alert anyone in the caravan. With all these weapons… Cyran had a feeling that they were traveling with monster hunters. Cyran would not let them figure out Wolfe’s identity, come hell or high water.

Shouts outside caught his attention- distant, but growing closer. Cyran’s ears perked up as he heard the caravan owner, as irate as ever, demanding to know where his bodyguards had slipped off to. He sighed, shaking his head. The first leg of their journey was over, but there would still be more road to cover before they reached Frostgale, and Cyran could not protect everyone with Wolfe’s help.

“Are you in any state to fix yourself, or put your helmet on? We need to get back out there and protect the caravan. If you can’t just stay in here and I’ll keep an eye out for any danger. We’ve still got to get to Frostgale.”