Doreen stood by the lake. Her totem was in the water, practicing. They had to be

  ready for the school tournament event. If they didn’t do well, then her totem animal

  would be dispersed as too weak. They would send her back home, and forbid her

  from using the work she had learned to create a new totem.

  Most didn’t try to create a new totem. Losing the old one usually sent them down a

  path of self destruction where they finally died due to their loss.

  She didn’t want to lose her squirrel, and she didn’t want to find out she was too weak

  to live without him. He was her friend, and she loved him. Losing him over some

  ancient rule grated at her.

  “Look, Woody,” said a familiar voice that she shouldn’t be hearing on Academy

  grounds. “It’s Doreen. I told you we would run into her if we came down to the lake

  before wandering around.”

  Woody barked in agreement, and with a little sarcasm at their friend finding abilities.

  “Yes, I know,” said the man. “The lake was an easy guess.”

  “You are not supposed to be here,” said Doreen. She looked around for anyone who

  might see them talking. “I got into trouble over what we did to Bernard and his

  friends.”

  “Really?,” said the tall man. He pulled on the front of his blue jacket. “I will go talk

  to your headmaster right now and straighten this out.”

  Woody barked.

  “And Woody will bite him for justice,” said the man. “For justice?”

  Woody snuffled while holding his nose up in the air.

  Doreen covered her face. Her totem came out of the water and danced around the two,

  waving his arms in the air.

  She had met these two by the lake a few weeks ago. The man, dressed in blue with

  a black shirt, had called himself Errant. His dog, made of wood and cynicism, was

  Woody. She had been talking to Errant while Woody coached her totem on fighting

  skills when Bernard the bully had decided to threaten her with the Headmaster. That

  had led to a duel where his fire hawk had been washed away by a suddenly giant

  squirrel.

  She had been reprimanded for hurting Bernard in a duel off the official pad. He had

  been reprimanded too, but she had felt more softly since he had wound up in the

  infirmary.

  “I suppose an explanation is in order,” said Errant. “Woody wants to settle down and

  take it easy. We do a lot of traveling, and he wants to take a while and just enjoy

  himself without some of the more unusual antics we get up to sometime. And we

  thought of you, so here we are.”

  “That’s not really a good explanation,” said Doreen. “I don’t think the Academy will

  let me keep someone else’s totem while I am trying to get ready for the tournament.”

  “But he isn’t a totem,” said Errant. “He’s my familiar.”

  “I don’t think the Academy will see any difference,” said Doreen. “You understand,

  right, Woody?”

  Woody made a noise that could have been agreement. He settled into a sitting

  position as he tried not to have Doreen’s squirrel climb up in his nose.

  “It will only be for a bit,” said Errant. “I have to do some things, and then I thought

  I would take him up into the mountains and let him stay up there. Until I get done, I

  think he should be with others so he doesn’t get depressed and lonely.”

  “And your first thought was to leave him with me while I try to get through my

  lessons?,” said Doreen.

  “Actually, Woody likes it here, but he doesn’t like the Academy,” said Errant. “And

  he is less them impressed with your classmates.”

  “I am sure that Bernard’s ego will be crushed by that,” said Doreen.

  “Woody can keep coaching your totem until he can win the tournament,” said Errant.

  Woody barked at the promise of services without a consultation.

  “I know,” said Errant. “But I think Doreen would rather trade instead of just carrying

  you around like a big baby.”

  “A trade?,” said Doreen.

  “Woody coaches your partner to win the tournament, and you take him around and

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  show him things,” said Errant. “I think it would be good for both of you.”

  “I think it will get me expelled,” said Doreen. “And have my totem taken from me.”

  “I promise Woody will be on his best behavior and I will fix any problem he might

  cause you,” said Errant. “As soon as I get back, I will take him up into the mountains,

  and the job will be done.”

  Woody slowly wagged his tail. He tried to look friendly. Friendlier because he was

  already tossing her squirrel up into the air much to the totem’s delight.

  “I suppose it will be okay,” said Doreen. “I guess I can pass him off as someone else’s

  totem for a bit since the tournament will be full of people coming in to fight.”

  “Don’t let him enter,” said Errant. “Just walk him around.”

  “He can’t enter without a partner,” said Doreen.

  “Doesn’t matter,” said Errant. “He’s roaming with you. Your name will be on the

  entrance list. And Woody would cheat to win something like a fighting session.”

  “This dog would cheat?,” said Doreen.

  “In a second,” said Errant.

  Woody barked at him. He shook his large wooden head.

  “The card game last month,” said Errant. “You had five of a kind. We had to fight our

  way out of there.”

  Woody shook his head.

  “What do you mean?,” said Errant. “You were cheating the whole time, I only cheated

  once. Then when you pulled that last hand, it was blow out the lights and jump out

  the window.”

  “You had to jump out a window?,” said Doreen. She took her totem back and put him

  on her shoulder. He chittered softly in her ear.

  “Almost broke my legs,” said Errant. “Don’t let him anywhere near this tournament.

  Just take him around and show him things. Let him be lazy when he wants to be lazy,

  let him play when he wants to play. Take him to your classes if you think he can’t be

  trusted out of your sight.”

  Woody barked at that.

  “You heard me,” said Errant. “Doreen has to get through this training to earn her

  place in her society. We can’t ruin that for her, now can we?”

  Doreen looked at the strange pair and wondered how long they were together. She

  had never seen a totem partnership like this. Totems were smart, and they tried to

  assist you, but they didn’t usually argue like this.

  They were an extension of you, and part of your thoughts. They didn’t tell you they

  wanted to split up even for a minute.

  Woody surged to his feet. He was a lot bigger than she realized. He jumped to put his

  front paws on her shoulders. He placed his head on her free shoulder. Tapper waved

  his watery arms at the invasion of space on the other shoulder.

  “All right,” said Doreen. “I will show you around. Get down.”

  Woody dropped down. He gave her a dumb dog grin, but she could see the sparks in

  his eyes when she looked at him. Whatever he was, he was more thoughtful than most

  of the totems she had dealt with.

  She wondered if Tapper would be like this over the decades she could carry him with

  her.

  “All right,” said Doreen, gathering her thoughts. “I have to do some work around the

  Academy, then do my papers to keep growing my certification. Then Tapper has to

  run the obstacle course for his practice.”

  “I don’t think that will be that bad for a squirrel,” said Errant. “I have to go. Thanks

  for doing this favor for me, Doreen. I will be back in a couple of days. Stay out of

  trouble, Woody.”

  The dog settled on the ground and wrapped around himself.

  Errant waved as he walked off, vanishing behind a tree.

  “This is going to be so much trouble,” said Doreen. Tapper patted her face with a wet

  paw. “I am such a pushover. I need to be more assertive.”

  She looked down at the wooden dog pretending to be asleep. She shook her head.

  “I have to go to my work,” said Doreen. “It’s my day to clip the hedges.”

  Tapper chittered. He loved the hedges. There were plenty of places for him to climb

  and play. He tapped her ear.

  “I know,” said Doreen. “I have to go, Woody. I suppose you can stay here until you

  are ready to come to the Academy.”

  She turned and walked down the path toward the Academy. She kept an eye on the

  buildings as she moved forward. It had been a good place to live for the last few

  years. She hated to think she would have to go home with nothing after the work she

  had put in.

  Tapper chittered as he waved his arms at the woods around them. He loved to leap

  across the gaps from tree to tree when they weren’t in a hurry.

  Woody had got to his feet and followed silently. He wagged his tail as he walked. He

  had been other places but they hadn’t stayed around long enough for him to enjoy his

  stay. He sniffed the trees as he went. There were some monsters around, but they were

  wary of the Academy students.

  You didn’t run up on dinner to find something running around you couldn’t eat.

  Doreen reached the low wall that marked the controlled grounds. She climbed over,

  brushing her pants off on the other side. Woody reached up and grabbed the top of

  the wall. He pulled himself over in one swift motion.

  She nodded at him before continuing her walking.

  “The hedges we have been given to trim are down this way,” said Doreen. “I have to

  get Tapper to cut the limbs he can. The staff wants us to take care of duties that are

  hard for our partners.”

  Woody chuffed. Of course the totems would have to work on the things to improve

  areas that they were weak on. He didn’t know how good a training regime that would

  be.

  He had done some things in the past, but had not assumed to be able to tell others

  how to use their talents better than they knew themselves. He had always been caught

  making sure Errant didn’t get himself killed before the end of the world happened.

  It would be nice to just walk around and take in things without worrying about fires,

  explosions, and monsters jumping out of closets.

  How much trouble could a bunch of children cause in a school?

  “All right,” said Doreen. She looked at her work area. She rubbed her hands. “Let’s

  get started, Tapper. We have to cut everything down to below the wall line.”

  Woody sat and watched as the squirrel tried to gnaw through the branches. He leaned

  forward and quietly barked so Tapper would listen to him. Then he made some

  sounds that sounded like words, but were minor howls. The elemental rushed off. He

  came back twice as big. He created a jet of water that froze on the branches of the

  hedges. He snapped the limbs at the frozen mark.

  Doreen looked at the animals. She looked at the hedges. She put her hand on the top

  to make sure they were beneath the line on the wall. She made a face of puzzled

  amusement.

  “It looks like I can go do my paperwork now,” said Doreen. She smiled. “Good job,

  Tapper.”