Shelby dashed forward and threw her arms around Thimble. She clasped him around the chest and they tumbled through the sand as a watery orb impacted the sand right where he had been collapsed. Shelby cried out to Coda and he swooped down, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling them forward a dozen feet before the tangle of bodies ran out of momentum.

  Shelby was quick to her feet, and Thimble rose shakily behind her. Coda hopped twice and then flapped over the leafy monster. Shelby called out and Coda flipped over it to bite down on a protruding leaf. The healing effect pushed Thimble up to 11 health and he stepped forward to draw away a quick series of slashing antenna whips. He didn't bother to stay and take more abuse, and instead retreated to about 15 feet away to bait out more sphere attacks and wait for Coda's healing.

  Shelby ran back to her abandoned bow and rearmed herself quickly, turning back to fire furiously at the monster. They weren't going to survive another special attack sequence. She couldn't even take the hit for Thimble if it did that much damage to him, and she wasn't sure if they could wait out a full heal for him with the orb attacks accumulating around them. What should I do...

  "Focus. Look for an advantage," Tara said in her calmest tone, which was still a frenetic command.

  Shelby nodded, "We're not giving up! Stay back!"

  She fired arrow after arrow. Maybe if I get it to 50% then I can bond it before it does that again! The faerie raised another orb and fired it at Shelby, and she ducked under it and fired from one knee. It was taking damage a little more slowly with Thimble disengaged, but they were still edging closer to 50%. Right as it was about to cross the mark, Shelby called off Coda and ran forward, selecting Bonding:

  No... The creature turned its small eyes towards Shelby and a nascent bond stretched between them. She felt the creature's alien willpower surge and struggle against the bond. The link between them strained, then snapped. Shelby felt a twang strike her in the heart, and a long timer started ticking down inside of her. She gritted her teeth and suppressed a scream of frustration. Damn it!

  The monster turned back to Thimble and resumed its slow march. There were already 9 craters of bubbling mud strewn about the field, and another was soon to join as an orb ineffectually arced towards Coda. The bat flapped backwards away from it and barked out a torrent of slicing air at it as it missed him by a few yards. The rippling blast severed the orb in half and two new orbs landed with wet splashes on the sand. They still created bubbling pits, but they were much smaller.

  Shelby held her hand up to stop Coda from racing in to attack, and waited out the 10 seconds for another orb. Thimble raised an eyebrow at her as he backed away carefully. As soon as the orb appeared, she pointed and Coda dove towards it, hitting it with a scream. As it split, Shelby fired a Cutting Shot that lanced through one small sphere but missed the second. Regardless, Shelby was happy to see two beach ball sized orbs split away from her arrow.

  Shelby immediately ordered Coda to use Heartsap, then ran to Thimble as the monster's health hit 50%. Once again the water rose from where it was boiling and began to circle around their enemy. Shelby quickly located one of the two smallest orbs and dragged Thimble towards its orbit. She only needed a few shots to burst it, and she was glad it was so easy because the spheres found their perfectly aligned orbit much faster the second time. They sucked in their breath and stepped through the gap in the wall as it swept past them.

  As they passed through, the water deteriorated and splashed harmlessly to the ground. All that was left was a long wet splotch of sand. Shelby let out a hysterical laugh, bumped shoulders with Thimble, then stepped aside to give him room. The monster's health started to fall precipitously again, and because its special attack had the same timer as Coda's, it was easy for Shelby to get into a pattern of calling for healing, letting Coda get in a Claw attack, and then preparing to split the orbs when they appeared.

  By the time the monster was at 25% health, there were over 40 tiny wet craters dotting the area. This had actually made Thimble's life a little harder, as he now had to precisely steer the monster's path around the pits to avoid healing it, but his health was back up to 40 and he didn't have much else to do. The monster started its final orbital onslaught, and Shelby and Thimble cut through the line with coordinated ease.

  The monster started to overflow with green energy after the final attack failed, and its speed increased to a slow jog, but its rise in power didn't make any difference. Shelby only had 30 seconds left until Bonding was available again, so they whittled the monster's health down to 5% and she got in position.

  Shelby didn't know if they would eventually be overwhelmed by the spheres if they kept fighting. They were on a big, cleared patch of beach, but they might get pushed into the village if this went on for 5 or 10 more minutes. Then they would have to contend with it either healing or inflicting collateral damage.

  Luckily, Shelby didn't have to find out. Her will and the will of the leafy sea bunny linked, and she could feel it was much less resistant to her request to bond this time. There was still a small struggle, like someone was tugging feebly on her heart, but after a few jolts she felt the will give way.

  The leafy creature slowly slid up to her and gave her a gentle headbutt. It was soft and warm, but its 'fur' was not really furry, more like the bristles on a rubbery brush. She ran her fingers through the strange fur and over a patch of leaves. As she pet it, it slowly shrunk down to about the size of a loaf of a bread. It was a strange sight to behold. Shelby caught a glimpse of Thimble looking absolutely bewildered as he slowly walked towards them.

  Shelby was happy with the change. She couldn't imagine having to wait for a sea faerie the size of a small boulder to slowly amble around behind her. This way she could carry it. She sat down and put her arm out. It slid up it to rest on her shoulder. Its small dark eyes stared unblinkingly at her as it settled down like a small, leafy shoulder pad.

  What to name you... It was soft and squishy, and it was leafy. How about... marshmallow. Mallow for short!

  Thimble squatted next to Shelby and patted the miniature terror on its leafy back, "So this is what you were after?"

  Shelby said "Mmhmm," as she examined Mallow's statistics.

  Thimble smiled approvingly, "I have to admit, I was wondering what these creatures felt like."

  Shelby laughed, "You were?"

  He shrugged, "Who wouldn't want to know?"

  Mallow's skills were interesting. They sort of resembled the skills it had as an opponent, but she guessed it was too much to ask for it to be that powerful as a companion. She reread them a few times then squinted at Unravelling Toxin. What does that mean, 10% of maximum health? Is this what you were so excited about, AIDAN?

  "Indeed. The developers log noted that this was one of the best companion abilities in the game. There is a lengthy record of internal discussion about the balance issues with the ability," AIDAN said with pride.

  Tara joined in the analysis, "Let me see... ah, I see I see! I've seen abilities like this before!"

  "What does it mean?" Shelby asked, again.

  "Like... it lowers the second value of the enemy health readout! The maximum goes down!" Tara enthused.

  Shelby tapped her chin with her fluffy hand, "So... if we had this for the fight we just did, it would be the same as doing 240 damage?"

  "That's right!" Tara was starting to yell from excitement. Shelby heard the sound of a chair creaking from someone standing on it.

  "That's wild..." Shelby smiled as she turned to look at the unassuming creature purring on her shoulder.

  "Obviously that's not worth using on some random rat, but this could really make a huge difference on bosses. AIDAN, are bosses immune to things like this?" Tara asked.

  "The developers noted that they considered making bosses immune to maximum health reductions, but they had not implemented that change as of the release of the sneak preview," AIDAN said.

  Tara made an 'oooh!' sound like she had just heard a juicy secret, and Shelby did some quick math in her head. That would do 120 damage to the wolf they were going to confront. That's like... 8 attacks from Coda in one move! Plus with Mallow's acid, Coda would do even more with his Claw attack! Oh! Does the extra damage make Heartsap heal for more?! She called out for Coda so she could compare their abilities, but the bat didn't respond. She yelled again, plaintively, "Coda? Co~da~?"

  Nothing. Where did he go?

  "You may only have one companion active at one time, Shelby," AIDAN reported.

  "What?! Where did he go?"

  "He has returned to the campfire. You may switch between your pets by using the "Summon Companion" option in your character sheet."

  "Aw man... I wanted them both! This isn't fair..." Shelby sulked.

  "What isn't fair? You already do a ton of damage, you can heal and attack, and you have a cheat move that does amazing damage," Tara scolded with a disbelieving laugh.

  "Yeah, but... Coda could have carried Mallow around. Wouldn't that have been cute?" Shelby pleaded.

  "Shelby..." Tara sighed.

  "You may order your companions to perform that action at the campfire when you log out," AIDAN suggested.

  Shelby rocked back and forth in the sand, squealing out a high pitched, "Eee!"

  "As the subject of returning to the campfire has been broached, I will give you an update on your current synchronization status. You are currently at 78%. I would advise switching characters soon," AIDAN said.

  "I can't!" Shelby said, "Thimble is depending on me."

  "He won't even notice if you're gone, Shells," Tara said.

  "Is that true? I can just log out in the middle of a crisis?" Shelby said with heavy skepticism.

  "As long as you are not being attacked, you may log out at any time," AIDAN said.

  "It doesn't feel right..." Shelby complained.

  "You're getting wrapped up in the game again," Tara reminded her.

  Shelby stared at Mallow, and then looked over to Thimble. Is this what synchronization means? That this world... this whole game... feels real to me? Shelby asked Tara, "What time even is it?"

  "Almost 1 AM," Tara said.

  Shelby looked up. The sun was behind a cloud, only a little offset from the middle of the sky. The silver halo of the cloud catching the sun's rays was glittering as it melted into the ever present twinkle of stars. This isn't my world. She held up her hands in front of her face. They were soft and fluffy. This isn't me...

  Thimble nudged her as he sat down in the sand next to her, trying to get Mallow to crawl onto his shoulder. He smiled softly, "Are you alright? You got very quiet all of a sudden."

  She looked up in surprise, "Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking."

  "What about?" He asked.

  "This... place. I guess?"

  "Ah, right, you're not from this region. I almost forgot what with the way you throw yourself into every problem you come across. I would have thought this was your home if I was a stranger."

  Shelby laughed lightly, "That's how I've been treating it, haven't I?"

  "Do you miss your home? I'm sure the people waiting there for you miss your... energetic presence." Thimble said, a tinge of melancholy riding under his attempt at a playful joke.

  Shelby sighed. The only person she even wanted to go home to was on a microphone next to her... sleeping body? Her parents wouldn't notice if she didn't speak to them for a few months. She hadn't even called her father since fall break, and that was six weeks ago. Her last call to her mom was, what, a year ago? Maybe more?

  She liked her professors, but she was mostly quiet in class. She dreaded group projects, and when she wasn't hanging out at home with Tara, she was studying in the empty library. Did anyone even notice she was gone from her finals? It had only been a day. It was almost winter break, too. Tomorrow, in fact. She wondered if anyone would notice if she didn't come back in the spring. If she lived alone no one might have ever found her. Well, if she lived alone she wouldn't be in this mess at all. But...

  "I don't miss it," Shelby said after a few minutes of silence.