Lion told me that someone is coming when the moons started to shine.
He means during the evening.
We were eating at a table with a lazy susan at the center.
Unlike the ones on Earth, this one had three tiers. I could easily tell which dishes were meant to be hot or cold. The cold tier was decorated with tiny icicles, while the hot tier had tiny flames dancing along its edges.
How cute.
Lion noticed earlier that I wasn't comfortable eating while sitting on the floor or floating around, so he conjured one of his magic tables stored in one of the castle's rooms.
He introduced me to several kinds of fruit that I hadn't tried yet. When I mentioned that I was yearning for cooked food, he eagerly introduced me to even more new varieties.
It seems that cultivated farming does not exist in this world yet. Lion told me that aside from eating meat from their prey, they rely on harvesting fruits from trees, plants and vines. He planned on showing me someday.
Though I'm not sure if I want to see him kill his prey.
Anyway, I asked him if the creature coming is a friend of his.
Lion looked confused and asked me what a friend is.
I tried to explain to him the concept to him and he looked genuinely interested.
It seems the concept of a friend doesn't exist here.
He said that relationships between creatures are formed by means of:
Colleagues
Prey and predator
Seller and buyer
Mates
Alpha and beta (meaning a leader and a follower)
Master and a slave
Boss and workers
Hermits (kinda like an introvert person that only interacts if they needed something or someone needed them for something. Ex: the neutral)
Unknown (who destroys and kills with no specific reason)
Developers ("orphans and children" who grew up together at the development building)
Tribe (family in our world but including extended members)
Chieftain Monarch and the "citizens"
And other social dynamics that he does not know yet.
I asked him about his relationship with the creature who was coming.
He explained that they were 'Developers' because they had met at the development building and matured together. The visitor occasionally helps him with his work, but usually, they just pass the time together here.
Ah.
A friend.
....
Lion told me he had something to do, so I spent my time with Pinky, who was feeling under the weather.
His leaves looked withered and his branches were slouching.
I tried to cheer him up by playing with him. I plucked the dead leaves and sang him a song.
I'm fully aware that I don't have a good singing voice, but somehow Pinky enjoyed it and perked up.
Tiny flowers suddenly bloomed on his branches and he squealed with delight.
I continued singing until I felt someone watching me with an intensity that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
When I turned around, I saw a dark being with glowing eyes. At that moment, I realized that I had the ability to awaken the dead with my scream.
AHHHHHHH!!!
....
It turns out to be Lion's visitor. Lion scolded him while he howled with laughter. Finally, Pinky smacked him across the face with his branches and he stopped laughing.
Lion introduced me to the visitor, who immediately took a keen interest in me.
He told me he was a mix between a Deserter and an Unknown. 'An abomination', he emphasized.
An Unknown is expected to destroy, but somehow, while one was in the process of trying to consume a Deserter, a tiny being suddenly appeared.
The Unknown apparently left at once without touching him.
It turns out he is male because the Deserter who was consumed was a male and no female deserters had appeared for quite some time. The Unknown, of course, has no gender, as it's only purpose is to kill and destroy.
More research is needed and that's my job, he proudly announced, while Lion raised his eyebrows.
He told me his name but since it was too difficult for me to remember, I asked him if I could call him Ghost. He curiously asked me what a ghost was and I patiently tried to explain it to him.
He shook his head in disbelief, exclaiming at the idea that he looked like a ghost. He explained that he could change his appearance. Since he was made of two different beings, he could shift his form in various ways.
Of course, the first form looked like a ghost. A floating, see-through black being with eyes that didn't seem so scary now that I had taken a closer look. His eyes were pale, similar to the eyes of an albino.
He looked at me with amusement and suddenly transformed into a tall, beautiful male being.
Oh, wow...
His hair was a fiery red... short, but with a braided rattail tied at the back.
He had a muscular build and copper-toned skin. Thankfully, the rest of his body looked human, except for his long, pointed ears and short fangs. He was even taller than Lion and he wore an earring in his left ear along with several rings on his fingers.
Ghost looked pleased that I was observing him, while Lion looked visibly annoyed. Pinky was doing his best to guard me.
I had to admit, that I was attracted to Ghost.
I mean, who wouldn't be?
Ahem.
I asked him if he flew or floated, trying to change the subject since I noticed Lion getting more grumpier by the minute.
Ghost chuckled and told me he didn't do either. Instead, he has the ability to run incredibly fast and jump to high places, like really, high places.
I was astonished to hear that.
Did he mean he jumped from the ground and landed all the way up here?
It's so high that Lion and I had to fly, float, teleport or ride an ord.
Ghost told me that he would tell me everything about himself, while Lion sighed disapprovingly.