Toox sat in the former bear cave pondering his new traveling companions. They seemed a decent bunch. He had revealed himself to them, and they didn’t immediately try to kill him, which was a good start. After all that’s what had happened before. Thinking back on it, he recalled the night he tried to talk to them, curious about the abilities he discovered. Changing in front of them. His mother screaming “that’s not my child”. His father driving him from the house at the end of a weapon, his little sister crying her eyes out.
He didn’t quite understand their reaction at the time. He just assumed that they were like him. He assumed that everyone was. It took him time to figure out that he was not normal. That he didn’t belong. He wandered the streets for some time, making his way the only way he knew how, Running small scams, stealing, but only what he needed to live. He remembered sitting in the tavern one day, impersonating a local farmer who was friends with the barkeep, long enough to get some food when his father came in. Apparently he had told everyone his son was dead, as they all offered him drinks, patted him on the back, and gave their condolences. Toox had to fight to hold back tears then, but now he was more numb. He left town that day and never looked back. During his travels he happened across a wandering minstrel. They sat and talked for some time, and that’s when he learned he could make money with his voice, to earn a living and not have to steal, and so he did.
His mind returned to the present. He looked around at his sleeping companions as he sketched them while he thought. There was Nerizana, or Neri as she seemed to like to be called. She was bubbly and happy and hyper; in many ways the exact opposite of himself. She had psychic abilities which he did not understand but nonetheless was impressed with. Toox considered her a good traveling companion and someone he might well get along with.
There were Fail and his two… students? He seemed reserved, but a capable warrior. Also, wanting to teach others was admirable. Fail came from a faraway land, he dressed differently and spoke strangely, but Toox trusted him. They might not ever become friends in the most traditional sense, but partners for sure.
Angus was a sight to behold; asleep or awake he was an imposing figure. A minotaur and a fierce fighter. Definitely someone good to have on your side in a fight. Angus seemed friendly and at his core good. He wanted to keep one of the bears as a pet. Toox didn’t quite understand that one… not Angus’ want, but the concept of pets in the first place just never quite made sense to him. For one being to claim to own another being, seemed strange somehow. Not wrong… just…. weird. He knew lots of people did it, and it didn’t bother him, it just didn’t make sense was all. He supposed that companionship was the goal, a soft cuddly furry friend. However, if that was the case why not just call it friend instead of pet?
The more he had traveled the more he thought humans were strange, he felt himself growing more distance, feeling that his thoughts and beliefs – not just his physiology – was different from most of those around him. Time would tell if this new group would be different from the others.