Ryu

Of course, she wouldn't want him. Ryu had expected that once the girl understood more of what he was, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. She was not a mage, after all, and would, therefore, have no use for a familiar.

It still stung to be rejected.

Well.

She was hardly required to accept his service. She had her own life to live. She had her studies and her friends. The kindness she had shown him was more than he should have expected to receive.

The best thing Ryu could do was go. Leave the girl and her friends to eventually forget him. He was healed, now, and had a little magic built up. He could survive a few days. The distance between them would be enough to break the bond, as it was so newly formed. He could find another master, perhaps, or he could fade peacefully.

He would have to find a way to stop himself from becoming a Feral, but he had come up with a few ideas over the years. In his current state, he should not be too much of a danger to the surrounding populace.

And, hey, he'd found a girl-child of impossible kindness with enough magic to sustain him from pure luck in the middle of a raging storm. Perhaps there was someone out there he could serve instead.

He stood and walked to the door.

“Wait!' Claire called out.

He couldn't pretend that wasn't an order. He froze in place.

“Where are you going?” Josh asked.

“You don't want me,” Ryu replied, keeping his voice steady. He refused to let even a hint of his hurt show through. She owed him nothing. “I understand. I should go.”

“I thought you couldn't just leave,” Claire said.

“You haven't ordered me to stay at your side.” Ryu paused. “Please. Don't.”

“I wouldn't order you to do anything you didn't want to,” Claire protested.

“You just ordered him not to leave,” Josh pointed out. “When you said 'wait.' That's an order, isn't it?”

“Oh.” Claire looked at Ryu. “I didn't mean it as an order, I just didn't want you to leave.”

“Why not?”

“It's freezing out and you're barefoot, for one,” Claire said. “For another, I hurt your feelings somehow.” She tilted her head. “I didn't mean that I don't want you around. I meant that I don't want to be anyone's master. It just sounds... wrong.”

Ryu paused. The word master did have some unfortunate connotations.

“Would you prefer mistress?” he tried.

“That's... kind of worse," Claire said.

Ryu had to agree. He'd stopped using that word for his female masters some years ago.

“I just, I'm not. I don't think I'd be a very good master. I'm not a mage, for one. And I mean, I've given you two accidental orders and hurt your feelings in like the past five minutes. I'm not a good choice.”

In comparison to his last few masters, she was a saint. He didn't think he should share that thought out loud.

“I have an idea!” Josh yelped.

Ryu turned to the boy, curious.

“What if she's, like, a substitute master? Like a substitute teacher but... not,” Josh said.

“Yeah! Claire can look after you, just for now, and we can find you a real mage! A good one,” Jacob said.

“Well, that's reasonable,” Ryu said. “But finding a mage to serve is, well, complicated. Familiars don't seek out our partners, we're called by them.”

“But it could work the other way around, couldn't it?” Claire asked. “I mean, why not? You're supposed to choose, why not choose from the get-go? Pick the mage you want, not just whether you'll accept the mage that wants you.”

“Well,” Ryu considered. It was not how things were done. But. He hadn't had a proper bond in how long, exactly? He could hardly even remember. He might as well take what was offered. It was better than crawling off to die. “Okay,” he said.

Claire held out her hand, palm up. “All right, then. I'll look out for you until you find a mage you actually want to serve. Deal?”

“To be a bargain, I have to promise something as well. But you have no need of the services of a familiar. So I'm not sure what to offer. I suppose I will promise not to be a greater burden than you can bear.”

“I'm sure you won't be.” Claire smiled.

He clasped her hand. “Then we have a bargain.”

It had been a while since he had freely entered into a bargain. It felt nice.

Claire glanced down at her little device. Her smartphone. Most humans carried them now. Little metal and glass familiars, run by technology instead of magic.

“If I'm going to meet Dare for lunch I'd better head back to the dorm and get changed. I'll wash the shirt and have it back to you tomorrow, guys.”

“No problem,” Josh waved vaguely. “We have lots.”

Claire looked to Ryu. “Would you like to meet Dare, or would you prefer to stay here with the guys?”

“It would be better for me to be near you as much as possible,” Ryu admitted. “If that's not a problem. I can manage if it is.”

“It's fine. Dare's one of my best friends, so if you're going to be hanging around a while you're gonna have to meet him. Might as well be now, right?”

Something must have shown on his face because the children rushed to reassure him.

“I am fine meeting your friend,” Ryu said, “but I am hardly... presentable.”

The truth was he made a poor sight. He hadn't cared what anyone looking at him thought when he served his former Master but Claire was a gentle, good child. She shouldn't be shamed by the condition of her familiar. And people would wonder why the girl was accompanied by such a shabby person.

Claire bit her lip. “Oh. Yeah. Um. Maybe a shower? You'll probably feel better. Maybe the guys can find you some clothes to borrow?”

Josh and Jacob traded glances.

“Well, he'll fit a t-shirt, sure, but... he's really small,” Jacob mused.

Josh rubbed his chin. “I've got some drawstring sweatpants. That'll get him through lunch on campus, at least.”

“What about shoes?” Jacob asked. “Literally nothing we have is gonna fit you.”

“I'll be fine,” Ryu assured him.

“I can drop by Walmart on the way,” Claire said, “What size do you wear?”

“Um.” Ryu glanced down. What size did he wear? He couldn't conjure clothing from nothing but he could alter whatever he was given to fit with a little magic. Well, not right at the moment but eventually.

Claire shrugged. “No worries, I can figure it out.”

Josh handed Ryu a pile of cloth consisting of a fluffy, blue towel, a washcloth, and soft, black cotton that must be the aforementioned t-shirt and pants.

“Thank you,” Ryu said, as heartfelt as he could make the words. The opportunity to shower, to clean off the dirt and grime and blood was more than he could easily express.

“Use whatever shampoo and stuff you need,” Jacob chimed in. “No worries.”

Ryu smiled briefly and ducked into the room Claire indicated with a subtle nod. The bathroom was small but neatly kept. The shower turned on immediately as he twisted the knob, and ran beautifully hot. Some modern luxuries were worth the unending march of progress and change. Indoor plumbing? Most definitely one of those things.

Ryu stripped off the last remnants of his old clothing. He'd burn them, later, just in case. He wanted nothing of his former master near him. He stepped under the stream of water and sighed. Ah, bliss. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the warmth of the flowing water and then turned to scrubbing himself clean. That took some time, but eventually, the water ran clear not grayish red. He turned off the water and stepped out onto a soft green mat.

The mirror had been fogged over by the steam. Ryu was just as glad. He toweled himself off without allowing himself to linger too long on self-inspection. He was a scarred, bruised mess and he knew it. There was nothing to be done to make himself presentable. He could at least be clean, and neat. He made a poor showing as a familiar.

It felt strange to care about that.

Claire hadn't summoned him; had no intention of keeping him. He shouldn't be trying to impress her.

But he was.

He sighed. It was just the bond working its strange magic on his mind. He'd do his best to ignore it.

“Feel better?” Claire asked when he stepped outside.

He nodded. “Much.” He turned to Jacob and Josh. “I thank you, for your hospitality and for your aid. If it is in my power, only ask, and I will repay your kindness.”

Josh waved a hand negligently. “Nah, man. It's cool.”

“Ready to head out?” Claire asked.

He followed her out into the world. Claire opened the door of her car for him. She seemed worried about the cold because his feet and arms were bare.

“I don't much feel the cold,” he assured her as he fastened his seat belt. He recalled that she'd been insistent upon its use the night before.

“Still. We'll have to find you a coat somewhere.” She shrugged. “I don't get paid until tomorrow or I'd buy you one now. But you can borrow my jacket when we get to the dorm, so it's fine for today.”

“If I have your jacket, what will you wear?”

“I have more than one,” Claire said. “Okay, I have two but that's plenty.”

She started the car and began to drive. She was a more cautious driver than his former master; she seemed to actually care what the speed limit was. She turned on the radio, and he spent several pleasant minutes just enjoying the ride. She favored classic rock; he quite enjoyed that music as well, although he had first liked it when it was just “rock and roll,” a sentiment he wasn't quite ready to share with her.

Once they reached the store she had mentioned, she left him in the car because one required shoes to enter. Between the heater and the radio he was quite comfortable, so he made no objection. She returned some minutes later with a plastic bag containing soft canvas shoes in a light cream color, along with two candy bars wrapped in bright yellow paper, and a package of socks.

“You didn't have to go to so much trouble,” he said, bending over to put on the socks and shoes. He didn't want to seem ungrateful.

“You need shoes,” Claire pointed out. “I did promise to look after you.”

“Yes. That.” Ryu decided this was the best opportunity to ask. “Why did you do that? You don't believe me, that I'm a familiar. That magic exists. You must have some thoughts as to what I truly am. Why do you play along with my story? Why haven't you handed me over to some human authority and washed your hands of this madness?”

Claire shrugged. “Well, for one I'm not sure what the proper authority really is here. The police, maybe, but I'm pretty sure you won't identify your former master for them either. Will you?”

“No.”

“Didn't think so.” Claire shrugged. “Well, the way I see it, there are two possibilities and I have two choices.”

He waited.

“Possibility one: you're deluded. Someone out there has done a great job of brainwashing you into believing all this familiar stuff. I don't think you're lying, you're too consistent. Maybe you're pathological but it doesn't seem likely.”

“Okay?”

“The other possibility is there really are more things in heaven and on earth. Magic is real and you really are a familiar," Claire said.

He nodded. “Shakespeare surely did have a turn of phrase for every situation.”

“Yeah.” Claire grinned. “So, yeah. Either of those things could be the truth. Then there's my choices. I help you, or I don't.”

“You chose to help," Ryu noted.

“Yeah. Well. If you're delusional, and I don't help you, you end up either dead on the side of the road, or in the hands of someone who's okay with having a teenage boy call them master. I don't like that idea much," Claire said.

Ryu made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat.

“If you're telling the truth and I don't help you, you starve from lack of... magical energy. And it's my fault. Not sure I could live with that," Claire admitted.

“Ah.”

“In either case, you're telling the truth or not, if I help you I know you're safe. I can make sure you get the help you need, whatever that turns out to be," Claire finished with a shrug.

“Your logic is sound,” Ryu admitted, “although only on the assumption that you care what happens to me.”

“Of course I care," Claire said. "I found you half dead on the side of the road in the middle of the night. I could have left you there but I didn't because it would have been wrong; and now, well, I'm responsible for you until someone more qualified comes along. That's just... how it is.”

“Ah.” He smiled. “My lady is a good Samaritan.”

She looked at him oddly for a moment and then started the car back up. “I'm not gonna get you to drop this 'lady' thing, am I?”

“You could order me," Ryu teased.

“Nah.”