Chapter 2, part 2: Friends of Wine Town

MultiPets: Chimera Knight
Written by Nicholas DeVivo
Chapter 2, Part 2: Friends of Wine Town


Katrina and her new canine companion Wearwolf stepped out of their house and into their hometown of Wine Town. Wearwolf had only seen the place for the first time last night when Katrina took him home to take care of the wounds inflicted on them by the poacher they encountered. The dwellings were all made from wood and stone, which wasn’t too unexpected. What struck most visitors were the vines growing all over town. Many structures appeared to be more vine than conventional building material.

This was not lost on residents, of course. A lot of the regular maintenance included keeping the vines on the outside of the house from becoming vines on the inside of the house. Parents often admonished their lazy children by telling them that if they held still for too long vines would grow all over them. Of course, these were the same kinds of parents who warn their kids that they’ll harvest vegetables from their ears if they weren’t kept clean enough. In this case, however, it is more accurate because any structure left outside on its own becomes securely anchored to the ground within a week. Rather handy when monsoon season comes around, but it makes it terribly difficult to grow much else besides grapes and pumpkins.

Shortly after leaving the house, Katrina and Wearwolf were met by a boy, who, incidentally, always managed to keep up a decent rate of movement and keep his ears properly cleaned. His name was Orion Chardonnay, and he wasn’t more than a month younger than Katrina.
“Hey, Rion, what’s up?” Katrina asked, plucking a bunch of grapes from the wall of her house.

“I think you know what’s up, Katrina,” Orion replied, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her.

“What do you mean?” Katrina inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“You really forgot?” Orion noted with a sincerely hurt look. “How could you possibly forget?”

“Oh, yeah,” Katrina said sheepishly looking down at Wearwolf by her feet. “That.”

“Yes, that,” Orion said. “You said I could accompany you on your Rite of Initiation, but last night you totally left without me! We could’ve become adults together, like Roger and Becky did.”

“Yeah, and we haven’t seen them since they moved in together over a month ago,” Katrina said pointedly. “They’re probably swinging from vines by now.”

“But we could be swinging from vines too, Katrina!” Orion exclaimed. “Vines!”

“Whoa, tone down the enthusiasm,” Katrina responded. “You’re beginning to scare me a little.”

“Heh, sorry,” Orion apologized with a slight blush as he scratched the back of his head.

“Look, Rion, I like you and all, but I don’t think I’m ready for that sort of thing,” Katrina explained half-heartedly. “I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything, but going on that Rite with you could’ve changed everything. You see where I’m coming from?”

“Yeah, I guess I can respect that,” Orion replied with a sigh. “But,” he then added, “My Rite of Initiation isn’t too far off. Maybe you could accompany me on mine.”

“You just don’t give up, do you?” Katrina asked rhetorically with an amused smirk. She took a grape and popped it into her mouth. “All right, I think I just might, but I’m not making any promises.”

“Awesome, you won’t regret it, Katrina,” Orion accepted with a grin. “I promise.”

“Yeah,” Katrina said. “Say, was your mom’s pet an armor-type?”

“She never said that her pet could transform into armor or not,” Orion replied, curiosity filling his voice. “All I know is that she had to leave it in the ocean when she moved inland. Why?”

“My parents aren’t too hot about me wanting to become a Chimera Knight,” Katrina answered. “They’re afraid I might get hurt or something. I was hoping a getting a partner that was a weapon-type like Sabird or shield-type like Shieldillo from the Rite of Initiation would prove that I’d be all right, but I wound up with Wearwolf instead. Don’t get me wrong, an armor-type like him is a ton cooler than those, but it’s not what I was expecting.”

“I think it suits you,” Orion said, kneeling down to eye-level with Wearwolf. “She’s strong and beautiful, just like you.”

“It’s a he, actually,” Katrina said awkwardly, scratching the back of her calf with her other foot.

“Oh?” Orion inquired. Then he blinked a couple times as it occurred to him that his compliment might not have been appropriate and added, “Oh.” A moment of awkward silence later, he continued, “Uh, strong and noble, then?”

“I’ll take beautiful any day,” Katrina replied, stooping down and ruffling Orion’s hair a little.

“Is there something wrong with saying that a male is beautiful?” Wearwolf asked. Katrina just giggled at him.

“What’s so funny?” Orion asked.

“Wearwolf just made a naïve comment,” Katrina replied.

“I am not being naïve,” Wearwolf said, scowling slightly in offense. “I was merely…”

“You can understand what he’s saying?” Orion asked. “All I hear is growling.”

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Katrina answered. “I’m a little surprised no one else can. It’s like a clear voice in my head.”

“Cool,” Orion remarked.

“Yeah,” Katrina agreed. She rose to her feet and walked off with Wearwolf. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a talk with your mother, young man.”

“Wait a minute,” Orion said, following Katrina. “Why do you need to talk to my mom?”

“’Cause if her pet was an armor-type, I could ask her for advice,” Katrina answered. “Armor-types are rare, and the only other person I know of with an armor-type is Roger, and, well… You know…”

“Vines,” Orion said, nodding sagely.

“I swear, it’s like you have a monkey fetish or something,” Katrina muttered. Then she picked up her pace a little and said, “I’ll see ya ‘round, kiddo!”

Orion stopped in his tracks and exclaimed, “Kiddo? You’re not that much older than me!”

Katrina turned around and walked backwards, saying, “Which means I only have a month to act like I’m better than you!”

“Interesting,” Wearwolf remarked. “I had heard tell that humans often devalue each other based on trivialities such as age and gender. This would appear the case.”

“What? No, that was just a joke,” Katrina replied. “I don’t really think I’m better than him just because I’m older.”

“It was apparent by your body language,” Wearwolf pointed out. “You roughhouse with him as if he were a mere cub.”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Katrina said, somewhat shamefully. "We’ve always been like that. When we were kids, I used to protect him and his sister from bullies because their parents used to be pirates.”

“Pirates?” Wearwolf asked.

You probably couldn’t tell just by looking at him, but Orion is, in fact, the son of “Hurricane Robert” Chardonnay, one of the most prolific pirates to sail the twelve seas of Planet Ares, and Jessica “The Siren of New Monterey” Chardonnay, the other most prolific pirate to sail those same twelve seas. Despite, or maybe in spite of, this colorful lineage Orion didn’t look like he could fire a gun without getting knocked over by the recoil. One thing that did make the dark-haired boy look like a pirate was the red sash he wore around his waist. Other than that, his loose long shorts and green vest didn’t make him look much different from the other boys in the village.

After half a block of walking backwards and a block or two of walking forwards, Katrina and Wearwolf eventually arrived at the Chardonnay residence. People who doubt the Chardonnay’s previous vocation often begin to have second thoughts once they see the house. What was originally a non-descript cottage in the middle of the village had, over the years, slowly became what could only be described as the term “ship-shape” taken far too literally. The maritime additions they hadn’t bought from the occasional traveling salesman were built by the Chardonnays themselves. It was if a freak storm blew a schooner off-course and shipwrecked it on an uncharted desert island in the median strip of a highway.

Katrina approached the front door, the rather eye-catching mermaid looming over her on the masthead. Beyond it, billowing sails tried in vain to propel the two-story, one-bathroom, two-bedroom cottage across the open forest. Just as Katrina reached over to knock on the door, it swung open to reveal a large, burly man in torn jeans and a ripped-up vest that prominently displayed a thick coat of chest hair. It has hard to tell where his chest hair stopped and his beard began, but it all definitely stopped just short of his gleaming scalp.

“Well, shiver me timbers,” he said in a deep, gravely voice. “If it don’t be Ms. Katrina Arden. What brings ye here this day, lass?”

“Hi Mr. Chardonnay,” Katrina greeted cheerfully. “I was hoping I could have a word with your wife.”

“Aye, she be here,” Mr. Chardonnay replied. “Is there any reason ye need be speakin’ with her specifically?”

“It’s kinda personal, actually,” Katrina answered.

“Arr, girl talk,” Mr. Chardonnay noted astutely. Seeing Wearwolf, he said, “That be a fine dog ye got there, lass. Be it a husky?”

“No, this is Wearwolf,” Katrina replied. “He’s my counterpart.”

“Aye,” Mr. Chardonnay said, kneeling down in front of Wearwolf. “Always figured ye was a dog person. Could see it in yer eyes, I did. Haven’t seen one o’ these in many a year. Scrappy fighters, they are. More spirit’n muscle, but they don’t go down without a fight, yarr.”

Mr. Chardonnay stood up and said to Katrina, “Well, come on in, lass. And be bringin’ yer wolf in with ya.”

Mr. Chardonnay led Katrina into his humble abode. The house was filled with nautical knick-knacks – sea charts, fish skeletons, ships in bottles, and the like. It was like walking into a naval museum with couches in it. Despite being firmly anchored to the ground by wild growth, Katrina always felt that the house was gently rocking whenever she entered.

“Katrina?” came a voice from the loft above.

“Jaime?” Katrina called back. “You up there?”

“Yeah, come on up!” the voice responded.

“Uh, why don’t you come down here?” Katrina asked, rubbing her still-bandaged shoulder underneath her sweatshirt. “I’m not in ladder-climbing condition down here…”

After a moment there were sounds of movement on the upper-level. Jaime appeared at the top of the ladder and climbed down. She wore a blue dress and a white blouse. Like her twin brother, she had black hair, but it came straight down the sides of her head and cascaded over her shoulders.

“Wow, I can’t believe you came to see me after…” Jaime stopped abruptly as her foot slipped and she toppled off the ladder. Fortunately, she didn’t have far to topple. She sat up and adjusted her glasses. “Ow. Da-ad! When are you going to fix this stupid ladder? The gap here is at least a centimeter wider than the rest!”

“Ack, lass!” Mr. Chardonnay exclaimed. “I keep telling ye, that thar ladder’s fine! Ye just gotta learn ta reach down farther! Or at least hold on tighter!”

“Da-ad!” Jaime complained.

“Dar! I be not havin’ this argument again!” Mr. Chardonnay growled. He grabbed a magazine and lumbered into the bathroom. “I be on the head.”

“It is only a centimeter, you know,” Katrina said.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Jaime said. “So, are you gonna show me your rare, new pet or what?”

“Actually, I’m here to see your mother,” Katrina replied.

“Oh,” Jaime said disappointedly. “Can I take a look at it anyway? I’ve been reading all about the rare Armor-types, and I can’t wait to see one up close!”

“Well, he’s right here,” offered Katrina. “Knock yourself out. Just don’t touch him. He nearly snapped at my dad when he tried to.”

“What is she going to do?” Wearwolf asked.

“She’s just geeking out over you,” Katrina answered. “Don’t worry, she’s harmless.”

“Wow! You can even talk with him! That’s so cool!” Jaime exclaimed. Despite Katrina’s warning, Jaime immediately pulled back Wearwolf’s lips to examine his teeth and then proceeded to survey the rest of his body. Wearwolf’s growls of protest went ignored and Jaime didn’t even notice his attempt to bite her, which she managed to avoid by climbing all over him as if she were playing Twister with a sawhorse. “You know, I never really saw you as a dog person. You weren’t really one to run with the pack. Hey, did you know this one’s a male?”

“Yes, I know he’s a male,” Katrina replied, rolling her eyes.

“Katrina, your friend is making me uncomfortable,” Wearwolf complained.

“You wanna de-worm him while you’re at it?” Katrina asked, stooping down to ruffle Jaime’s hair.

“What? Oh, sorry,” Jaime said, finally backing off and straightening her hair back out. “Your Wearwolf’s just so cool! I hope I get one just like it!”

“Really? I thought you were into more intellectual stuff,” Katrina said.

“Yeah, but I really want to be an anthropologist,” Jaime explained. “Like that guy with the whip in those old movies.”

“But I thought this planet was barren before the terraformation,” Katrina pointed out.

“It may have had life before it was barren,” Jaime answered. “They once found a face that may have been built by an ancient race. But even if there aren’t any ruins here on this planet, I could always study on Earth.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something someday,” Katrina said encouragingly.

“Thanks,” Jaime accepted. “Katrina, have you worn Wearwolf yet?”

“Yeah, once,” Katrina replied, thinking back to her fight with the poacher.

“Does the gender difference affect your movement at all?” Jaime inquired.

“Gender diff…? Oh,” replied Katrina. She blushed slightly with embarrassment and said, “I don’t really recall. It happened so fast…”

“How do you put him on?” Jaime asked. “I didn’t see any pouches or anything.”

“I was kinda out of it at the time,” Katrina admitted. “Wearwolf?”

“Our spirits merged, and our bodies followed,” Wearwolf said.

“Which means…?” Katrina inquired.

“That is the only way I can explain it,” Wearwolf replied.

“You’re no help,” Katrina said, her head sagging. Then she remembered why she had come. “Jaime, where’s your mother?”

“Oh, she’s in her room, working out,” Jaime said. “You might want to knock first.”

“Thanks,” Katrina said. She walked up to the bedroom door and knocked.

“Come,” stated a voice on the other side. The tone was higher than Mr. Chardonnay’s but was just as gravely, if not more so. Katrina walked into the room to find Jaime’s mother sitting on the bed in her underwear lifting a large hand weight. Sweat glistened off her slender muscles, something Katrina had always admired about her. Mrs. Chardonnay was older than Katrina’s mother, but her commitment to her body made her look years younger. She gave Katrina a sidelong glance through the dangling tendrils of her lavender-dyed hair but continued pumping iron as if she hadn’t even come in.

“Katrina,” she said flatly. “I wasn’t expecting ye.”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you,” Katrina said cautiously. She closed the door behind her, absent-mindedly closing it in Wearwolf’s face. “If this is a bad time, I could come back naked – I mean, later. I can come back later.”

“Nay, lass,” Mrs. Chardonnay replied. “I hardly mind. I be almost done anyway. Why don’t ye sit on the bed a spell and tell me what this be about.”

“Mrs. Chardonnay…” Katrina began as she sat next to her on the bed.

“Ach, Mrs. Chardonnay be my mother-in-law,” Mrs. Chardonnay said. “It be putting me on edge when I hear it. Call me Jess.”

“Okay, Jess,” Katrina accepted with a sheepish smile. “Jess, was your pet an armor-type?”

“Why do ye ask, lass?” Jess inquired.

“Well, my animal counterpart turned out to be a Wearwolf,” Katrina started.

“Aye, so I heard,” said Jess, putting down her weight and toweling her sweat off. “Fought one of those once. Took out me eye. Hadda replace it with a cybernetic prosthetic. I don’t care what they say, the bloody resolution still be too low. I imagine ye could take out the other if ye had to.”

“Yeah,” Katrina said, a little off-put. “Anyway, we’ve never seen your counterpart, and the only other person in town with an armor-type is Roger, so…”

“So ye be lookin’ for a mentor of sorts,” Jess concluded. Katrina watched as she walked over to a nearby dresser and quickly looked away once she realized Jess was changing her clothes. “Can’t blame ye for tryin’. I almost consider ye me own daughter, myself. But I doubt I be the best choice for mentor. Y’see, we decided, Robert and meself, once our kids can take care of ‘emselves, we leave ‘em behind and take to the seas again. Do ye think that be selfish, Trina?”

“I don’t… I guess… I don’t know,” Katrina faltered. “That’s a tough question.”

Jess considered the response with a dissatisfied grunt.

“Me husband and I have saltwater in our veins, lass,” she explained. “We be like whales, Trina. We canna leave the sea, not for very long. I left a piece of me there, and I aim to get it back. They say children grow up to fast, but to me it seems they don’t grow up fast enough.”

“But if you love the seas so much, why didn’t you just take Orion and Jaime with you?” Katrina asked.

“That wouldn’t be fair to me kids, lass,” Jess replied. “The life I led was no life for a child. I wasn’t wanting them growing up the way I did. If ye be askin’ me, that would be selfish, Trina.”

“But you’re just going to leave them?” Katrina asked incredulously. She turned back to Jess, who was now wearing a pair of torn jeans, a halter-top, and a bandana tied over her head. She was staring out the window, to the forest beyond.

“They be able to take care of themselves,” Jess said. She sniffed a little. “All young birds leave the nest eventually, Trina. Soon this old bird be leavin’ her nest, too.”

Jess shuddered slightly and Katrina heard her voice break. For as long as she had known her, Katrina had thought of Jess as a tough-as-nails pirate captain. At the moment Jess was trying hard to maintain that façade, but it was crumbling under the emotional weight of a mother not wanting to let go of her children. Katrina wasn’t used to seeing her this way. It was almost disturbing.

“Jess, I…” Katrina started.

“I be fine,” Jess interrupted. She sniffed again, and regained her composure and dignity. “They be leavin’ me one day regardless, no matter what I do. I will miss them so, but that be life. They will live their lives, and so must I. That doesn’t sound selfish, does it, Trina?”

“When you put it that way, I guess not,” Katrina said hesitantly.

Jess turned around and daubed her green eyes with her hands. She smiled at Katrina, sat down next to her, and put an arm around her.

“Thank ye, Trina,” Jess said. “It still be a tough decision for me, but now I feel a little better ‘bout it. So I give ye this bit o’ advice: No matter what people say, no matter what stands in yer way, no matter what hand life deals ya, never give up on yer dreams, lass. The day ye die is the day ye give up on everything. Remember that.”

“Thanks, Jess,” Katrina said, giving Jess a little hug. “Now I feel a little better, too.”

As Katrina left the room, Jess said, “It was a tool-type, Trina. My pet, that is. It was the kind that be servin’ a benign, utilitarian function. That be all I’m saying.”

“Thanks,” Katrina said.