Might be a littttttle graphic for some. Just a warning.

Chapter 66

When I was really bored one day, I found a video of 'ten worst methods of torture'. Morbid, I know, and I had to disagree with the list itself, as 'waking up at 5AM to go to a job you hate for two years' wasn't mentioned anywhere on the list.

But I digress.

One of those methods, was to sit a person down in a tub of water, then chain them, or otherwise restrict them from leaving that tub. That's it. Feed them regularly, have pleasant conversations with them, whatever you want.

Eventually, the mix of water, excrement, and urine, will cause the person inside the tub to start rotting away. It wasn't a quick way to die.

Within the mostly sealed box, having been left inside it for days, maybe even up to a week or so, the person inside the box was in bad shape. Dix seemed to be the type to torture the Xenos he had captured, and without treatment, I was sure even a monster could get their wounds infected. Add that to a fairly hot few days with no air circulation...

"Help... please..." She managed to say, her face, cut up and bruised, looking at me with unseeing eyes. One arm tried to reach out to me, but she was too far, and weak, to do more than wave at the air. I reached for her hand, trying not to shy away from the sticky feeling of her fingers. "Save them... Please... Don't let them take them."

Her hand, aside from feeling like it had been resting in dried blood or worse, was nearly scalding hot. Had this been a human, they'd be in a coma, or on their way to having their brain boiling. Behind me, Ottar shifted, letting in a little more light.

Another lamia. Half snake, half human. From what I could make out of her ruined face, she might have been a sister to the one I'd broken free in Dix's lair.

"Relax." I tried, the extra light showing me just how bad her wounds were. I was surprised the insects hadn't found her yet, to be honest. "Dix is gone. Lido and the others are safe."

Her unseeing eyes looked like they wanted to cry, "The tyrant is dead?" She coughed, a horrible wet noise, "And you know Lido..." Her body twitched, and I spotted another wound, this one open and festering, "Please... If you know him." She tried to move again, "I can't..."

Even if I gave her the potion I had, it wouldn't have helped enough. An elixir would work. Or maybe two potions, and a cure-all for the various poisons the dungeon contained... I thought of this, wishing I'd been less casual about my preparations this morning, and remembering that we were almost out of potions all together with the recent excitement. "Let me help you..." I said, stepping into the box itself, trying not to step on her loosely coiled body.

I took her hand, then used my other to grip her elbow. "Under me... please... Take them away from here." She had no strength left it seemed, "Don't let anyone take my children."

And she died. Her body going limp, then dissolving as any monster would in the dungeon. A fist sized magic stone in the shape of a near perfect quartz crystal falling out of the black dust...

And landing next to four eggs.

"Hrm." Ottar said, looking over my shoulder at the four, rugby ball sized eggs on the floor of the kennel. "My opinion of them has changed." He admitted.

The eggs were clean. The rot inside the box having been kept away, despite there being so much of it. "I didn't even get her name." I mumbled, looking at the eggs, reaching out and gently putting a hand on one of them. It felt... alive. Vibrant. "For the better, I hope?"

"Yes. She might have healed, had she eaten those." Ottar replied plainly. "I think I understand now, when you say they are 'people', not 'animals'."

I picked up the magic stone, carefully tucking it in my satchel, the warmth of its surface lingering on my fingertips. "Well, this complicates things."

"Why should it?" Ottar asked, "We have a box, and waggon." He rapped a knuckle on the side of the kennel, "You wanted some sand, right?"

My growing list of 'Who is Ottar' grew a little more with the addition of 'clever'. "Only after we throw some water into it... Urg."

With Ottar's reputation, a little money, a few trips to the nearest well, and a small team of bored looking dock workers, we had a small wooden box, with the four eggs packed very carefully inside, a much larger box, filled with fine white sand from the beach, and a waggon, with a bored looking horse attached to it.

A few moments of giving directions, and a little more money, and we had tasked a guild courier to deliver the goods to my home.

I felt bad that I couldn't save the mother, but, it was miraculous that she had stayed alive as long as she did.

This put our little fishing trip at around mid after noon.

"That." Ottar pointed offshore, as we stood near the recently excavated pit where I'd gotten my sand. Following his finger, I spotted a rather impressive looking ship, about a kilometre off shore. "Is Njord's ship."

From what I could make out, it was a long three masted affair, with a bright blue flag waving in the wind from the middle mast. They must have had their nets out, because the sails were tied up. "I'm not much for boats. But that's pretty big."

I looked to Ottar, who, after we arranged travel for my cargo, picked up a few things from a kindly old lady. Spear, long and thin, with a wicked point on the end. A second one, though this looked like a harpoon, meant for something like a shark. Goggles, two pair. And a metal bucket filled with... bloody fish bits.

After giving me a pair of goggles, which I strapped on and adjusted tightly, I looked at myself. Still dressed in my somewhat flowing kimono top and loose pants, I was not dressed for swimming. Shrugging, I stripped down to my boxers and sports bra, packing my pants and shirt into my satchel. Not the most flattering of swimsuits, but even as Ottar gave me a once over, face passive, I at least didn't feel embarrassed.

"So, do we swim out there?" I asked.

"I'll swim." Ottar said, taking a step over to me and picking me up suddenly. "But since you're new. I'll give you a head start."

My tails, as I was lifted into the air, my butt seated on one of his big hands, wrapped around his wrist and arm in alarm. "Um... I did mention I wasn't sure how well I could swim, right?"

"Yes." He said, bouncing me on his palm a couple of times. "Don't worry. I'll be right behind you."

He started to walk towards the water, "Hold on!" I said, "Just let me... You.. and you, and you... no you can't stay..." I gathered up my tails, knowing that if he threw me with any of them holding onto his arm, the results would be... bad. Hugging my six tails to my chest, I said, "I'd never have thought you had a sense of humour like this."

"Just because I am King, doesn't mean I was never a Joker." He said, that tiny smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "On three."

Palm under my rear, hand back as if I were a shot put, he took three great running strides, then pushed me into the air.

"What..." A darkly tanned man mumbled, as he watched the man on the shore throw something towards the ship. "Sir! On shore!" He called down to the deck, "Sir! Incoming!"

A man, tall and lean, held the rail and looked towards the shore. It didn't take long for him to spot a dark object hurtling towards the ship in a neat arc. Squinting, a tanned hand over his eyes, he looked towards the shore, ignoring the projectile, "Relax!" He called out to the men around him, "It's just Ottar."

Above them, the projectile turned out to be a woman, who yelled, "Ottar you JERK!" before splashing down into the water a hundred meters or so on the far side of the ship.

Hitting the water, after passing OVER the damned boat, crushed the air from my lungs. Thankfully, I didn't sink like a stone, though as the water closed around my head, my tails and I fought each other to try and get back to the surface. I was about to panic, but my tails fell in line, and I crawled my way back to the surface. With a gasp, I made sure my face was all out of the water, and I took in a lungful of air.

And was nearly clobbered by a metal bucket, filled with bloody fish guts.

Yeah, Ottar had a sense of humour. And good aim.

I'd have laughed, except I was now treading water, in the ocean, with blood quickly mixing with the water around me. My tails, thankfully, were working on instinct and not floofing out. If they had, I'd probably have taken on my own weight in water in about a second and a half. For a moment, as I spotted the ship, I considered swimming towards it.

But... I was here to fish? Wasn't I?

Making sure the goggles were still secure, I took a few rapid, deep breaths, then ducked my head underwater. With the goggles and the bright sun overhead, I had a fairly clear view of the water around me. My splashdown had probably scared all the smaller fish away, and I could see that the ship nearby had nets out, but aside from that, and the crimson patch that I was moving away from, there was just empty darkness below me.

Swimming was... complicated. My tails, while trying not to take on water, were also not helping me. The extra drag was making my super strength far less effective. Sure, I could flail my arms and kick my legs to move me about, but it was almost like swimming with a bed sheet wrapped around me.

Hitting the surface again, I looked behind me, and quite firmly tried to take control of my tails.

And, after a few moments of trying things, I managed to lock the image of a squid into my tails motions. Not the most elegant, but getting them all to move at once in short quick bursts was proving more effective than say, trying to make them all move in a proper wave motion.

I also seemed to have most of the ship's attention. A dozen or so people, men and women, were leaning on the rail as I tried to get my tails to be useful. As I watched them, watch me, I saw one of them point to my right, the three people near her all looking and pointing as well.

Aw crap.

Taking another deep breath, I squid-tailed in the opposite direction, just as something breached the water, missing me, but consuming the bucket worth of floating fish bits in a single gulp. I'm not sure what possessed me to reach for it, but as my tails propelled me towards it's tail, and my fingertips caught its back fin, I realized my role in Ottar's fishing plan. The fish was the bait, and I was the hook.

Colours a little different, with the water filtering the light, as the fish realized it had picked up a passenger, and started to dive and thrash, I realized more or less what I had actually 'hooked'.

Nearly ten meters long, over a meter wide, and covered in dark shiny scales, it looked like a mix between a shark, a catfish, and a goldfish. As I got my other hand on it, and pulled myself forward, I realized that I had a bit of a problem. Risk of drowning aside, the thing was huge. The water would limit how much strength I could use to attack it, and without something sharp, I'd never be able to wound it. If I tried what I'd done to Phryne, it might simply dive deeper, and I'd have to abandon it.

Something clicked in my memory, and as I pulled myself forward, I looked for its gills. Sharks of a certain size never slept. They couldn't. If they stopped moving, they wouldn't be able to push enough water through their gills to keep them 'breathing'. Basically, they would drown, or suffocate I guess?

It must have been my adventurer status, because by the time I had reached half way, the fish thrashing around madly as I progressed, I hardly felt that I needed air. My ears hurt, a lot. They weren't built for being underwater, and as the pain on the top of my skull started to get alarming, I had finally gotten within reach of its gills. A giant trio of slits, longer than my arm and protected by a sharp looking edge, I timed their motion, then hugged it closed.

Looking it right in the eye as I pressed my body against it to seal off that side, the beach ball sized eye seemed to focus on me. Ears feeling even more pressure, the water around me darkening, I had my tails crawl along the underside of the beast. After a couple of blind attempts I felt my tails cover the right spot, and while it was harder, and painful, the weaker tails needing all six of them to equal my arms, I had closed off that side too.

THEN I started to feel like I was running out of breath.

I was so going to kick Ottar in the shin.

As the fish thrashed uselessly, I held on, looking it in the eye and trying to kick it in the chin so it would at least thrash 'upwards' towards the surface. Through all the noise of water being pushed around, I heard something hit the water above me. Then a few more. Turning my head, I just missed getting speared by a harpoon.

While that was alarming, I realized it had a rope attached to it.

Hanging upside down, rope tangled with my legs, hugging a massive shark/catfish/goldfish monster around the middle, and trying to shake the water from my ears, I was pulled to the surface by a small team of people from the boat.

Gasping for air, they only pulled me up far enough to get me out of the water. The weight of the fish was probably in the area of several tons, so it was the best they could do without more ropes.

"Holy crap!" Someone said, "First I see what looks like a swearing ball of fur fly over my ship. Then I pull up a girl who managed to drown a fish. She's got a nice ass too."

"Let me." I heard Ottar say. "Is it dead?" He called down at me.

"Exhaused." I called back.

I heard a grunt, a moment before a harpoon passed through the fish's head about half a meter from me. It twitched mightily, once, then went limp again in my arms. The rope attached to the harpoon went taunt. "Get a better grip on it." Ottar said. "Move to its tail."

Who ever was holding the rope tangled up in my legs gave me a little slack, lowering me into the water again. Quickly looping the rope around my upper body, under my arms, then waded down its body, just past the sweeping 'shark fin' on its back. It didn't look like a true dorsal fin, as it had a sort of membrane that made it look more 'goldfish with a shark fin'. Hooking my arms and legs around it, I gave a thumbs up.

Too long and sleek for me to just tie more rope around it, my unbreakable grip found a new use that day.

As we got closer to the rail, more rope and a half dozen men wearing long shorts and colourful vests jumped over my catch. Climbing back up quickly, they had looped more rope around the fish, and with a great effort, the thing was pulled onto the deck.

"Well damn lady. Ottar wasn't kidding when he said you'd be able to do it." The Man in front of me said. Dressed much like the others, with bright long shorts and vest, His darkly tanned skin and trim body fit in with the rest of the crew. "Njord. A pleasure." He was even a little taller than me, though his body type and posture didn't make him seem 'looming' at all.

"Kodori." I replied, "If you'll pardon me a moment."

"Sure." He looked me up and down, my poor underclothes, not meant for swimming, were clinging to me something fierce.

I stalked over to Ottar, and quite firmly kicked him in the shin. "You used me as a hook!"

"And beat my record on your first try." He said passively, not reacting to my kick at all. He then took a towel that I just noticed was around his shoulders, and plunked it onto my head. "Isn't that right, Njord?"

"Well, barehanded record." The God replied, "You lot! Get this down to the hold! Get it cut up and stored! This beast is going to a Goddess's plate!" The men and women on deck let up a cheer and started to get the giant fish moving.

"Well, you're not wrong." Ottar said, "But not my Goddess." He put a hand on my shoulder, "She's from another Familia."

From under the towel I gave him a half hearted glare, but I went back to scrubbing the towel over my head and ears, "I can share. Not like it isn't big enough."

"We'll bundle it up like usual, Ottar. You've actually helped get rid of a problem for us too!" Njord said, "It was probably the thing scaring all the other fish away."

"What even is it?" I asked, wrapping the towel around my hips, then stopping, "Oh, right..." One by one, I took hold of my tails and started to get the water out of them. "Haruhime will have to spend hours bushing them if I don't dry them a little now..."

"That? No idea!" Njord laughed, "Some of the fish around here, we don't even bother to name. It seems like almost every year the fish around here get a little weirder." He walked over to Ottar, giving the huge adventurer a companionable punch on the shoulder, "But Ottar, and I guess you now, seem to randomly show up and get rid of the problem fish for us."

"Well." I said, finally getting through my tails and wrapping myself in the towel, "I think I'll stick with a rod and reel."

Njord laughed, "We can do that too. It will be a few hours before we head back for the day, my ship is yours until then." He laughed again, "Sorry Ottar, you'll find a fishing buddy some day."

"I haven't given up yet." He replied, looking at me, "And this one only kicked me in the shin."

Njord's ship was... impressive. Again, I was no expert. But it was like a small, wooden version of a flatbed cargo ship. In this world, this was probably the height of seafaring ships. Three big masts, a nearly thirty meter wide deck, and close to a hundred meters long. It had a huge cargo capacity, and would probably weather almost any storm. It probably wasn't the fastest, and even slower when it was full of fish, but something like this would take days to fill.

The crew, for all the good cheer they seemed to carry with them, were fast and efficient with their jobs. Again, that weird parallel from what I knew. They all still had perfect teeth. Though, I suspected part of that was being an adventurer.

The actual captain of the ship, a man named Rod, was a tall man of dark hair and eyes. Friendly as the rest of the crew, he seemed to have the respect of his Familia. Ottar seemed to respect him too, for being the 'king' of this ship.

As evening fell, and the people on deck pulled up the nets and got the final haul stored away in the hold, Ottar and I were invited to join them for dinner. Even as the ship itself pulled up the anchor and slowly turned its way towards the port of Melen, we enjoyed a meal of fish and fruit. Ottar actually chuckled, maybe even laughed, as I bothered the cook for some of his secrets on how to prepare a fish.

By the time we got to shore, and my giant... shark/catfish/goldfish... You know, I think I'll call it Ha-neko-koi... Hanekoi? Was unloaded, Ottar and I found an inn and rented one of the rooms. I was exhausted. The combination of being used as a fish hook, opening up that kennel, and spending all that time in the sun was catching up to me.

"You're way of fishing is... unique." Ottar said as I returned to our room after a shower. "It puzzles me. No weapons at all?"

I was dressed again, properly, and was once again towelling off my hair, "My way is unique? You threw me into the water, then tossed the bait in after!" I laughed, "And no. None. I'm not allowed."

"May I ask why?" I had noticed, as our trip went on, that he was getting less... brisk with his words around me.

"Cursed." I said, "It's why I don't spike my armour either. Anything used to attack will break."

To demonstrate, I twisted up the damp towel, held one end, and flicked it at him. On reflex, he put his hand in the way to stop it, but as the tip of the towel snapped at his palm, it turned to fine dust. "Anything... Interesting. Though, you may have to pay for the towel."

I laughed, plunking myself down on my bed. We had rented a single room for 'parties', so there were actually four beds in the room. "I can use tools. Hammers, forks, chisels. But if I use even them as a weapon, they do that. On the plus side, I never cut myself by accident. Though, I can never cut myself with an object at all. I have to use either my teeth, or get someone to help."

"And how you manage to hold things? Another part of your status?"

"Yes." I answered shortly.

"Sorry." He carefully moved himself so he could lay down without having his feet hanging off the end of the bed. "We will return after breakfast."

"Goodnight."

It was a little colder than what I was used to, and part way through the night I woke up, finding myself covered up with my tails for warmth.

*snrr*

Pausing in my motions to get the blanket over me a bit better, I listened.

*snrr*

Resisting the urge to laugh at such a huge man making such a tiny noise, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again.

Our return trip was done with another horse and waggon. The fish I'd caught, and some of Ottar's own catch, were cut up and stored neatly in two large ice filled wooden boxes. There was also the fabric I'd bought, as well as a couple of souvenirs for the Familia. Like a bunch of shark skin for Welf, or some interesting shells for decoration.

I told Ottar I could make Freya's gift as soon as we returned to my home, so we stopped there first.

Our front gate had been fixed up nicely, and didn't have that annoying little squeak at the half way point anymore. Gros perked up from the middle of his cage, the kennel box next to him, and with that weird stop-go motion of his, stalked towards us, halting at the limit of his cage. Our horse was starting to get nervous, so I hopped down and took the reins from the front.

"It's okay, Gros, he knows." I said as the gargoyle walked along side me on the other side of the bars.

"Pardon my intrusion." Ottar said formally.

"I know this one." Gros said. "To us, he is a monster."

"Don't scare the horse." I said to him, "He's a guest."

"Fine." Gros said, turning, his tail slapping the bars nearest Ottar as he left.

"Miss Kodori!" I heard from the door, it was Bell, "You... Mr. Ottar!"

"Bell Cranell." Ottar replied, nodding to the boy.

"But... Why... We got your message, even though Mr. Gros still tried to eat the poor girl..." Bell stopped in front of us, looking way up at Ottar, "I didn't know Mr Ottar fished."

"Me either." I replied, "Get some help from inside. The boxes with the blue paint on them are ours. Going to be fish on the menu tonight."

"Ko-san!" Haruhime called from the door, running towards me and hugging me, "You can't have her!" She declared up to Ottar, who actually looked a little surprised.

"Relax love." I pet her head, using my height to lean over her for a really good hug.

"And you got a tan!" She said, pushing away from me after our hug.

"I'll tell you all about it at dinner. I'm going to be cooking again, and would love your help later."

For the first time since we'd more or less made it official between us, she gave me a look I couldn't quite understand. "Okay..." She paused, "Are you home for the day then?"

"I have one more thing to do, then I'll be out again for an hour or so."

"Good." She said, smiling again, "Lilly and Welf have got the pool ready."

I perked up, then laughed, "Oh how I wished we had that before I went fishing..." I looked at Ottar, and he moved his closest shin away slightly. "Help Bell store the fish, and open up the smaller box too. I got a bunch of shiny stuff from the markets while I was there."

"Okay." She gave me another quick hug, then went to help Bell.

"Now before we get ambushed again." I said, making a right and heading around the building for the workshop.

"She has changed." Ottar said.

"It's a little creepy when you say things like that." I replied.

"Freya likes to watch." He said simply, without any hint of guilt.

"I had guessed that. Still a little unnerving." I said, watching him shrug.

"You need me for this... Memory stone?"

"Yes. I'll need just one more thing from you before I start."

Welf was absent from the shop at the moment. Considering the time, he was probably having lunch, a drink, or a nap. He tended to pull all nighters if no one went to check on him. And it was usually me who did the checking.

"Very well organized." Ottar commented, looking around. "You seem to have everything... Does your entire Familia craft?"

"Just Welf and I." I said, chuckling as he fished for information, "And sometimes, Haruhime. She has good hands for fine work." All tiny and adorable.

"And this?" He pointed to my alchemy table and brewing kit.

"Mine." I replied, sitting down at the alchemy bench, "Now, you... I think I'm going to need a little blood, and hair from you." I found an unused potion vial, and put it down between us. "Just a few good drops, and only a couple of hairs."

"Part of your gift?" I offered him a small carving knife from one of the many tool racks, and he applied the point to his thumb.

"Yes. As this is supposed to represent you, it needs a little bit of... well... you. Just put the hair in the bottle too, then come over to the next room."

He nodded, and I got off the bench to head into the forge room. The fires were banked properly, and it was the work of only a few seconds to get them well on the way to 'roaring' again. Ottar entered, bottle in hand. "Where do I put this?"

"Here." I accepted the bottle, and took out the second small bar of 'ko-steel' from my satchel. I had only carried it with me so Welf wouldn't use it while I was out. I'd have to make more soon. "Now time for the magic... So to speak." Getting a crucible pot, I put the bar in, and put it into our smelter box. "This will take a few minutes."

"This blade." He looked at the prototype 'oblivion cup'.

"Let me tell you about Welf's family..."

"Interesting." He said, as I finished my story, and poured his blood and hair into my now molten 'ko-steel'. "So your fur is part of this too?"

"Yes. As you might know, my tails are basically where my magic is, so the fur I shed or brush off is charged with it too."

"I had heard about your... encounter with the left overs from Ishtar." He said, "I am sorry we did not clean up better."

"Not your fault." I replied, "Just like it wasn't my fault for letting the ring leader live, instead of leaving her behind in a burning building."

"Hm." He grunted. "So, what next?"

"Now, I pour this out, let it cool a little, then make in into a shape, while thinking about what I know of you." I replied, pouring the newly melted and 'primed' 'ko-steel' into a simple ingot trough. "You see, if I'd tried to make one before, it would have felt... shallow. Like a person you passed by on the street. You're remarkable, sure, but if that was all, then it would have been too simple."

I watched as the metal went from white hot/molten, to red hot/solid, then used a pair of tongs to flip the stone trough and tap the bar out of it. "Now that I know more, I have a clearer... Memory of you."

"Hence the name?"

"More or less. Still... What shape should it be..."

"Shape?"

"For Bell, I made a little rabbit. For Welf, a smith's hammer. Something that would remind the person its for, in this case, Lady Freya, who it represents." I hm'ed a moment, looking at my hand, while I put the bar into the forge to heat up. "Turn around for a second."

"Hm?" He did, and I spotted my target. His tail. A bristly looking puff of fur, that made me think of a casino bunny's uniform, only dark brown like his hair.

So, I reached out, and gave his tail a little squeeze. "Surprisingly soft." I commented as he looked over his shoulder and gave me a glare. "It will be just perfect." I said, reaching my hand into the forge and pulling out the bright orange bar of metal. "Before you ask, yes, this hurts, but no, it won't harm me."

I was used to the pain of these temperatures. Aside from making my hands callous up nearly instantly though, it wasn't enough to damage me. Using my own strength, and that of my magic, I started to compress the bar into a ball.

"I understand now, how you put in such detail." Ottar said, motioning to a trinket I had half finished on my jeweller's bench.

"Who knew that being constantly burned by magic had its up side?" We shared a grim chuckle, "Now, please, I have to concentrate."

As I went through the process of heating, compressing, and adding some details, then repeating, I thought about what I knew now, of Ottar. The King of the adventurers in Orario.

Going past the obvious, his huge stature, stoic expression and often intimidating presence, his place was a pretty lonely one. Being the biggest, and strongest, meant he had to actively hunt for challenges. That unless he had orders to carry out, he simply existed as that 'icon' of strongest. But, he wasn't just a two dimensional existence, like I had been back where I started. He had hobbies outside of 'work'. People respected him, not only for being King, but for him not lording it over others. He knew, they knew, and he never rubbed it in people's faces.

Unlike say, Hyakinthos, the first time we met. Or Zanis. Or even Bete. No, Ottar was strong. But he didn't let it colour his interactions. From the little old lady on the rice farm, to the Gods of other Familia, no one was 'beneath notice'. He might not have waved, but he'd never ignore a greeting.

Loyalty was next. It was as plain as the noise on his face how much he cared for Freya. Having seen, and felt, Ishtar's charm magic up close, and seen others under its influence, I knew that Ottar wasn't a blind servant. He would follow his orders, though, he would question them, if he was unsure. And while his position as 'King' was a lonely one, he gave others, like myself, a chance to prove themselves, as a friend. Not pushing people away, but rather, hoping they'd approach.

He was also surprisingly open minded. It took only a moment of thought for him to change his mind about the Xenos. How that odd quirk of a dungeon spawn, had given rise to an intelligent 'people'. It took only that single meeting, of a dying mother who refused to live on at the cost of her own young, to convince him they were no mere monsters.

Lastly, was a surprising sense of humour. His stoic expression might make some think he was a little dim witted, but he had a clever mind, capable of not just comedy, but solutions to problems away from the dungeon.

He also understood, that sometimes, he did in fact, deserve a kick to the shin.

"Done." I said suddenly, surprising Ottar who was sitting on a stool and watching me work. "Well, needs a little cooling, some polish, and maybe a little colour... Hand me that bottle? Brown stripe on it."

Obediently, he handed me the bottle in question. What I now had in my hands, still too warm for a normal person to hold, was a mostly ball shaped lump of metal. I had given most of the surface a sort of rough texture, much like his tail, but smooth, almost like a cotton ball. I had flattened only a small part for the base, because the surface that I didn't texture, were smooth fingers, like someone very gently grabbing it.

"Really?" He asked, eyeing the lump critically.

"Are the finger marks the right size? I've never shaken her hand..."

"Well yes... but..."

"Trust me. Remember why I'm doing this. I wouldn't dare give Her something unworthy."

He looked a little grumpy, but remained silent as I went about carefully polishing the little sculpture. Adding in some powder from the bottle, and a little more from a second bottle I had Ottar reach for, I made it as close to his actual hair colour as I could. The end result was a perfectly smooth, metal Ottar's tail, squeeze ball.

"Now... Let's see..." Rummaging around for a moment, I found a bit of soft leather, cut it to a perfect square, wrapped up the memory stone, and put it in my satchel. "There. Shall we return? Your Goddess awaits."

Notes!

There. One very odd fishing trip written. Also, I started reading Rising of the Shield Hero. Only finished the first book. But WOW. Great stuff. I know I'm going to enjoy the rest, and I think Kodori might end up there some day.

Anyhow. See you in five days.