[PP-F1] A Sweet Lizard (Feeding The Enemy)

[Dellis 0]

Dellis stared grumpily at the lizard sitting in front of him on the table.

*What? What's up?* Thought the little lizard, darting his tongue in and out casually.

They were in the shop, and it had been more than ten days since the last customer had visited.

Partly, that was because Dellis had forgot to remove the "closed" sign for it, but don't tell him that, sshh...

A gentle wind blowed through the stall, the soft breeze moving the tent flapping slowly. The sun was up, and a pleasant warmth emanated from the earth. It was a fine day.

"Spring is coming, Izzy," The young blacksmith said casually to the little lizard. "And still we've got to make some progresses in our quest to help people get out of this game."

The heating coals, slowly cooling down behind him, emitted a low pitched noise.

"This day seems to be saying, 'slow down, lay down for a bit, and enjoy the weather. There's no need to hurry'. It's hard not to sleep right here where I am." He said, laying his head on the table.

Quick, the little lizard darted and jumped into his backpack, emerging with a croissant.

"Hey! You opportunist lizard! Give that back this inst... oh, well." He said, looking at the lizard gulping down in one single bite the whole croissant.

He returned to lay his head on the table.

Izzy stopped in his tracks. He had never saw him so... strange. Half between depressed, weary, and simply slacking.

"You okay, buddy?" She said, licking his chin.

"Shhh-sss..." heard Dellis.

He raised his head. "Say... Izzy... what are you?" he asked, suddendly.

*What? Pray tell explain why have you lost the little bit of mind that you had? Of course, I'm a lizard.* Thought the little lizard.

Dellis couldn't hear her. "You're strange. You aren't a monster, or you would have attacked me. You aren't a NPC either, your actions aren't preprogrammed. It's strange, it's like your AI's self conscious."

*Your mom is self-conscious*, thought the little lizard, amusingly. Luckily, still Dellis couldn't hear her thoughts.

"I didn't know there were things like these", said the blacksmith casually playing with the blacksmithing hammer. "Your behaviour, i've just found in certain bosses, like that Red Dragon. Able to speak, reacts naturally to player imput..."

The little lizard went down in the backpack to retrieve another cream croissant. Dellis didn't stop her.

"They say there are beast tamers in this world. People who have monster which follow them and help them. It's even tied to a quest I've found, sometime ago."

Izzy gulped the croissant in one go, again. *And, what has that to do with me?*

He stared at the lizard, casually. "Say... Izzy... are you my pet? You behave strangely, and you've got no pet bar. And yet... you follow me..."

*I'm your worst nightmare, and I'm haunting you. That's why I follow you*. Thought the little lizard.

Dellis slumped back on the chair, staring at the sun sadly. "Say... Izzy... you know you're my only friend... right?"

The lizard could feel his pain. She stopped eating, and went near him.

*Of course, buddy. The same goes for me.* She nuzzled his chin.

"Thanks, Izzy. I can't understand you, but you're a good girl-- ah, sorry, lizard."

They stared at each other for quite a long time, the sun shining down from the sky.

"They say to make a monster your companion, you have to feed him. Find something to give him, a food he likes. And then, there's a bond that will never break again between the two of them."

"..."

"..."

"Izzy... would you like to be my companion?"

"I lost you at 'food'. If it gets me more... I'm in, buddy". Said the little lizard, redacting the main reason was that he was his buddy, and wanted him to be happy.

"Shhhhhshhhshhh--sssss...shhhsss", heard the Young Blacksmith.

"What do anchovies have to do with the discourse we were making?" Asked a surprised Dellis.

No, Dellis couldn't definetely understand her still.

[Dellis 0]

"So, buddy, what do you eat?" Asked Dellis the little lizard.

Izzy would have lifted an eyebrow, if she had had any.

*Seriously?* She asked, glancing at the cream croissants in his backpack.

Dellis didn't notice any of that. Instead, he started pacing back and forth in the shop.

"I mean, there must be something you cave lizards eat. A favourite food, or something like that... maybe..." He stopped in his tracks, pondering something. "No, that's not right. I know! You eat insects!"

*no... wait, that's not...* started to think Izzy, but it was too late.

Dellis had already darted out of the shop, picking her up while doing so.

*I'll kill you someday.* thought the little lizard, flying dangling from his shoulder as he ran.

Hours later, they were back to the shop, Dellis panting heavily.

"Anf... Anf... These are all the... flies I could buy with my Col. They're usually used as a bait, but they'll do fine!" He said, placing the container on the table.

Izzy was sad she didn't have eyebrows.

She stared at Dellis first, then at the container, then at Dellis, then went into the backpack and guzzled down another croissant.

*Make that two, you deserve this.* She thought, guzzling down another one.

[Dellis 0]

"Back at square one, I guess", sighed the little blacksmith, yet again slumping on the chair, while the little lizard took her place upon the table.

"I just can't imagine what I should give you to eat."

"That should be simple, what would you eat?" Said the little lizard.

"Shhhh...Shhh..." Heard Dellis.

"Maybe worms..." He said, much to himself.

*I really, REALLY hope you can't understand me.* Thought the shocked little lizard.

"I've decided! I'll just go and find all the worms I can find."

*I've changed my idea. I'm gonna try and find some partner which has actually a brain that's not made up of flies, worms and anchovies.* Thought sarcastically the little lizard.

Unfortunately for her, Dellis had already grabbed her, and set off trying to find something to give her to eat.

[Dellis 0]

Hours later, they were back once again. It was starting to get late in the day. Afternoon had almost ended, and neither of them had eated anything yet. Well, no, really Izzy had, but Dellis was just too distract to notice it, ending this painful sequence of trial and errors. More errors than trials, actually.

"So, Izzy! I've went and bought with some Col. a good bit of worms at the fishing store." He slammed on the table the worm can.

*What... should... THAT... be?* Thought appalled the little lizard.

A wriggling, alive mass of worms started climbing one on top of the other to get out of the can.

*You're NOT honestly expecting me to eat those poor things.*

Dellis looked, shocked.

*Ah, you've realized that no one in their sane minds would want to eat those things?* Thought the little lizard.

"I didn't understand they were alive!!! The shopkeeper didn't tell me! Oh, no, Izzy don't eat them please! They deserve to live!" He shouted, bending to pick up the can.

*No danger I will. By the way, I redact everything, I thought your brain was actually capable of conscious thought. And you say I'm the AI.* Thought the little lizard, smacking the can with her tail and jumping into the backpack once again.

"Aaarrgh!" Shouted Dellis, all the worms flung on him in the process. "Heeeelp!" he pleaded.

*Freedom!* Thought every single worm of the can.

*Aaaand that's a four croissant mistake.* Thought the little lizard in the backpack, eating four in one go.

*If this keeps up, you'll be left with no croissants at all.* She thought, casually guzzling another down and happily taking advantage of the distraction the worms provided.

[Dellis 0]

"That was evil Izzy!" complained the blacksmith, with an high pitched tone. He removed in shock a worm from his nose, and flung him towards the grass.

*You deserved it*, thought the little lizard nonchalantly.

"Hmm... I've got to find something that you might eat..." He thought.

That moment, a little notification popped up in his UI.

*A new message? That's strange... who could it be from?*

The sender was Akua. He had never met her, but he had noticed her trying to tame her pet.

*Maybe she's noticed I was trying to tame Izzy...* He thought.

He opened it with haste.

*Let's see if this friend of yours is a bit more clever than the anchovies in your head.* Thought Izzy.

The message read...

Hi Dellis! I see you're trying to tame a Lizard! Have you tried with boar meat? Many monsters like it! Good luck!

He stared speechless at the message.

But of course! Boar meat!

*... okay, she's smarter than you, but still, no game.* Thought the little lizard.

Oblivious, Dellis opened his inventory and put a chunk of it in front of the little lizard.

Dellis stared at Izzy.

Izzy stared at Dellis.

Dellis stared at Izzy.

Izzy stared at Dellis.

Izzy shoved the meat down from the table, and that shattered in blue pieces.

"Hey! That's pricy, you know! What was that for??" He asked.

*I'm not 'most monsters', if you haven't noticed. And I know you can do this without help.*

Dellis stared at the lizard grumpily. "You're evil, you know?"

*Totally. Now, are you gonna come back with eggs, mustard, bacon and The Great Lizard knows what before you decide to use that head of yours?* Thought the little lizard.

"I know!! I'm gonna try and feed you some MUSTARD!!"

*Aaaand why do I exactly bother asking such things?* Thought the little lizard, once again.

[Dellis 0]

Many spoons of mustard, tons of eggs, and strips of bacon later, Dellis was exhausted.

He slumped back on the chair.

Izzy waited for a second patiently for him to raise again, and then noticed something was wrong.

*Hey buddy... what's up?* She thought, looking at him from the table.

He wasn't moving.

*Oi... you aren't offended because i've thrown mustard all over the shop, are you?*

He just sat there, with his head reclined forward.

Izzy stared at him worried.

In the silence, he suddendly spoke.

"... Hey Izzy, I'm a failure, right? ..." There were tears in his tone.

The little lizard looked at the distance between her and Dellis' legs, then decided not to worry about it, and jumped.

She landed on his knees, and immediately went to his shoulder. She could feel his sadness.

"... I wanted to be a real partner with you ... help you, get to the end of this game with you. For a moment... I thought I could be the main character of this game."

He paused, tears streaming down his cheek. "But I guess I had it right to begin with... Someone like me can only help others... not do grand things."

He paused, Izzy preoccupiedly licking his chin.

"I'm a secondary character in my own life." He sighed, weeping involountarily more tears, but doing nothing to stop them. "It's always been that way, and always will be."

"Don't say that... It's not true. Do you have any idea why I went with you?" Asked Izzy.

"Ssssshhh... ssh-ssssh ssshhh. Sshh sh sh sh shhhhh", Dellis heard.

"What do this have to do with Pumpkins?" He asked, a small, timid smile forming on his lips.

*At least it made you smile, even if you don't understand a word of what I say.* She thought, a bit relieved.

"I just don't know what is my place in this world..." He said, again.

*Well, I do.* thought enigmaticly the little lizard. She ran down to the backpack, and took a cream croissant from it.

"Help yourself, buddy, it's the least I can do." Said Dellis.

*It's not for me.* Thought the little lizard.

She did not so much as take a bite off the croissant. She brought it to Dellis, and put it in his lap.

He stared speechless.

"I... I..." He stopped, trying to find the words. "... Thanks buddy. I needed it." He picked it up, caressing Izzy with his hand.

...

...

He divided the croissant in half.

*... Maybe you've GOT some brain, somewhere, then.* Thought happily the little lizard.

[Dellis 0]

"Okay Izzy." He sat in front of the lizard, which strangely seemed very serious at the moment. "Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna feed you the croissant, and hope something happens. I don't know why I'm trying that again, since i've fed it to you countless times. Still... something tells me this is the way."

Izzy stared silently. *And that's why this time it will succeed.* she thought.

He picked up Izzy's half of the croissant. "You know Izzy... even if this doesn't work... i know you're still my buddy. I don't need a stupid pet bar, or anything else, to know we're companions. You've been with me countless times. We've lived together this world, and we're gonna keep doing that, somehow, even when it ends." He said, understanding it was true the moment he said the words.

"And that's why... you deserve this half of croissant. And I deserve the other. We're companions, and we share. Everything."

And with that words, he gave the half of the croissant to Izzy.

Izzy gulped it down, as Dellis did.

As a sudden light began to shine from Izzy's body, he suddendly understood everything.

He understood why Izzy loved cream croissants, he understood why giving them to her hadn't worked before, he understood everything about her, and she understood everything about him.

It was because of the love.

A bond between two people... not between a pet and his owner, but between comrades... comes from love. No one can force it, no system can, no food. It's a matter of heart.

And as Izzy's body grew, and transformed, in that blinding flash of light, he knew he had it. And that Izzy had it. She was no mere AI, no mere data. She was a person, somehow, just like him.

In front of him, on the ruins of what once had been a crafting table, stood something with bright brown scales.

They seemed to glisten, and shine, in the sun that was setting behind her in that fine day of Spring.

They were brown, with green streaks all over them, luminescent in the little light that there was.

Standing on her four legs, as high as Dellis was, she uncoiled her wings, occluding the sun behind her, the sunlight shining through her wings.

"I knew you could do it, Dellis the Hero." Said Izzy, the Cave Dragon.

He understood her completely.