The Fractured Mage

Chapter 12 - Lilac(Part 3)

"Hey, you can let go of my arm, I'm not gonna run away," I sighed as she dragged me along with her as usual.

"It's not that, you just walk way too slowly on your own," She replied, as she led me to the back door, leading out into the yard behind the house.

"No, you just walk too fast..."

"Oh, please, I've seen old ladies who walk faster than you, you're so lazy, To," She grinned as she opened the door and stepped out, finally letting go of my arm.

"Whatever...okay, so what is it that you want to show me? Did you tame a new Monster or animal?" I inquired, glancing in the direction of the shed.

She possesses the Tamer Class, currently at the Basic Tier, which is also called Tamer. She's pretty close to reaching the required level to unlock her Ascended Tier though, which is called Summoner. And the Apex Tier of the Tamer Class is called Assimilater, though no one of the Tamer Class has reached that Apex in over a century.

Mainly because the Tamer Class is among the least popular Classes, since Tamers don't have any Arts or Traits they can apply on themselves, only onto the creatures they tame.

Same with Summoners, there's the usual physical boost that comes with all Classes when the Mage unlocks their Ascended Tier, but other than that, it's pretty limited. Assimilaters, on the other hand...

Anyway, Lilac has a number of Monsters and animals that she's tamed, and she keeps them in the shed, where she feeds and takes care of them.

"Not quite, but it's somewhat related to that. Hm, where is it, I hope it didn't run away...oh, over there! In between the bushes, do you see it!?" She exclaimed excitedly, grabbing my arm and pointing.

Hm? I followed the direction she was pointing in, narrowing my eyes as I tried to peer through the dense foliage of the bushes...oh, I see something. It looks white and fuzzy...

"What is that? A pile of cotton?" I frowned, unable to get a proper look at it from here.

"It's a little bunny! I spotted it earlier and came to get you, it must have burrowed through the ground and ended up in our yard...I wanna tame it, but I don't want to scare in it the process. I can only take Jade inside the house, so I'd like another pet that I can have indoors," She grinned eagerly.

Jade is her little green snake, in case you forgot. She really does love animals a whole lot, that's the whole reason why she chose the Tamer Class.

"Okay, do you want me to catch it for you or something?" I asked her.

"No, like I said, I don't wanna scare the little baby...I wanna earn it's trust before taming it," She shook her head, before taking out a small bag filled with pieces of vegetables from her pocket.

"Are you gonna try luring it out with those? Like, setting up a trail with the pieces from the bushes to over here?" I surmised, as she opened the bag and poured out the contents onto her palm.

"Mhm, that's right. What do you think? Will it work?" She asked me uncertainly, meeting my gaze earnestly.

Oh, wow, she almost never asks me for my opinion, she usually just sweeps me along with whatever impulse she's letting run wild at the time. And on top of that, I've rarely ever seen her look at me with an expression like this...it's kinda cute, and for some reason is giving me the urge to pat her head. Not that I'd actually do it, let alone ever say that out loud...

"Well, I'm not sure, honestly...but it's worth a shot, right? If it doesn't work, we'll just have to catch it. That probably will scare it, but maybe petting it a bunch will help calm it down?" I suggested encouragingly.

"Maybe...I really hope this method works instead though," She replied, before placing one of the veg pieces on the ground, slowly making her way forward towards the bushes while continuing to place more pieces down at regular intervals, a determined and unusually serious look on her face as she got closer and closer towards the rabbit.

As she placed a carrot piece right in front of the bushes, she quietly and slowly backed away, heading back towards me while keeping her gaze fixated on the rabbit.

"Hey, look, it's poking its head out and sniffing around, I think it's working. It must have been hungry," I remarked, placing a hand on her shoulder as she watched the rabbit with a tense look on her face.

"Y-yeah, poor thing...I'll be sure to feed it lots and lots once I've tamed it. I'll make sure to give it the best life it can have, one where it's as happy as possible! Look, it's coming out, it's getting closer!" She whispered excitedly, her eyes gleaming with a a cheerful look on her face as the little rabbit munched on the vegetables one by one, hopping closer and closer towards us.

She's really cute when she's like this, I-...wait, what did I just...?

"C-can't believe I just thought that twice. Must've been a brain fade or something," I muttered to myself, shaking my head.

"Hm? Did you say something? I didn't hear-...," She began as she glanced at me curiously, trailing off as a sharp screech echoed out from overhead.

We both turned our gazes in the direction the screech came from...just in time to see a hawk swooping down...and picking up the rabbit between its talons, and then flying back up and zipping away rapidly. It all happened in an instant, neither of us could even begin to react.

"Oh, shit," I blurted out, wide-eyed.

"N-no...no, no, no!" Exclaimed Lilac in horror, before raising her hand up towards the hawk, "You're not getting away, get back here, damn it! [Tamer Art: Tame Creature]! P-please, no...[Tamer Art: Contract Tame]! N-no...i-it's too far, I...I can't..."

She let out a sob as she collapsed onto her knees, her lower lip quivering as her eyes welled up with tears, my chest tightening as she tenderly grabbed the corner of my shirt and looked up at me, as the tears began streaming down her face...

"H-hey, it's okay...I'm really sorry that happened, Li. That...that was awful, wasn't it?" I remarked quietly, as I knelt down beside her and awkwardly put my arm around her shoulder, before she buried her face in my chest, clutching onto my shoulders as her hands trembled.

C-crap, I've never seen her like this before, I'm not sure what to do or say here...I stiffly placed a hand on the back of her head, awkwardly stroking her hair as she sobbed uncontrollably into my chest.

This...this really hurts. If I'm being honest, I'm not exactly all that torn up about what happened...sure, it sucks and all, but that's just how animals are. What hurts is...is seeing her like this...