Bridget had heard many stories about what the afterlife might bring, but she wasn't expecting it to be this… empty. Maybe she hadn't made a good impression on anyone? She thought it would be less boring, for sure.

"—ke…"

Honestly, she was a little surprised there was an afterlife at all. A part of her just thought that when people passed away, they just turned into dust and that was that.

"..ey, wa…"

Who was this little voice, though? Was this also God?

"… wake up!"

Bridget bolted awake, literally shooting up 90 degrees. She was immediately accompanied by a thwack! and blinding pain on the top of her skull.

"FUCK!" she cried out, joined by another.

Once her vision settled a bit and the searing pain subsided, Bridget cradled her head and tried to make sense of where and when she was. As her vision slid into focus, she got some key facts - it was evening now, she was in some kind of cave illuminated by… long torches…? save for the remnants of sunlight streaming in through a hole in the ceiling, and she wasn't alone. "What… happened…?"

A partially-obscured figure recoiled in pain in front of her, rubbing the bottom of its jaw. The torches on its side of the room were more sparsely lit, making it difficult to make out its features. From what she could see, it was tall and thin and had some kind of cloak or cape behind it. Distinctively, it had a dark-and-light-green-striped scarf fit snugly around its neck, providing a much needed splash of color among all the shades of brown.

"We both have concussions now, that's what happened," it said. Bridget ascertained her mystery figure was masculine by the sound of its voice and appearance. Furthermore, he had a slight accent, but she couldn't tell from where. "Fuck, that hurt," he said, seething. Bridget leaned forward a little to get a better look, but the figure scooted back. "Stay back and watch your head."

Ah, right… Bridget reached for the top of her head where she felt the rock hit. There was a bona fide goose egg there now, but also a neatly-wrapped bandage on top of it that she surmised he had wrapped before she came to. She looked down at her side, where her knapsack still clung, tome and chest secured. "Did you… drive those scorpions away? Who are you? Where are we?"

"One question at a time, miss," he said, carefully remaining in the shadow. "One: Yes, I did, and you all are getting on my nerves for coming here so soon after those other two guys. Two: None of your business. And three: my house, or whatever passes for it," he said, bluntly.

"Are you always this rude to guests?" she said, taken aback by his brusque demeanor.

"Never get 'em," he replied matter-of-factly. "And you'd best be on your way."

Bridget was so confused, even besides the whole concussion thing. "Wait, you saved my life and you're not even going to let me properly thank you?" she asked incredulously.

"Correct. Now go," he said, moving his hands in a "shoo, shoo!"ing fashion.

"I insist," Bridget said, slowly getting up. "In addition to saving my life, Kalanichi Imports owes you a debt for assisting in the safety of transporting our cargo," she said, never one to forget the company line. Because her superiors sure wouldn't let her.

"Kalanichi Imports can thank me by going away," he said, clearly not impressed. "As can you."

"Bridget," she offered, steadying herself on her feet.

"Yes, great. You can go, Bridget," he said, his tone getting more and more impatient.

"No, really, I must—" she began, stepping forward.

"I said go!!" the man hissed. Quite literally, like a cat would hiss.

Bridget paused in her advance, unsure of what to do. On one hand, this guy was very clear in not wanting her gratitude, but on the other… she couldn't just go "thanks for saving my life" and leave it at that. Still, that seemed to be the man's wishes, so her desire to be societally polite was overridden by her ability to hear someone's clearly communicated wants. "Okay…" she said uneasily. "… You know my transport ran away in all that, and he had most of my supplies," she began.

"Look, I saved you from the killer bugs, but a miracle worker I am not," he said, nonplussed.

"And I've heard of a desert spirit out here that controls them… you'd really send me out there alone?" she pleaded.

"That's right." Either this guy was as cold as ice, or this rock he was living in or under was impermeable.

She frowned. "Fine. Which way is out?"

"Behind you," the man replied. "Just follow the fake lights, you'll see real light, then you can be on your merry way."

"Then… goodbye," Bridget said quietly.

A grunt of approval.

Bridget turned around and made it about three steps into the light before her legs gave out from under her. "Ugh…" she groaned, vision going fuzzy again. Before she hit the ground this time, though, she heard a whooshing followed by a strong yet gentle grip under her arms, keeping her from falling backwards onto the floor. Her head drooped back and she finally got a closer look at her rather rude savior before he could get a word out.

Granted, her angle wasn't the best, but from what she could tell, he was about her age, with darker skin and shoulder-length, shaggy, deep green hair complemented by matching eyes. He seemed just as surprised his body reacted that fast as she was. As her eyes followed upwards, she realized what she had thought was a cloak was… no, it couldn't be…

"… wings…?" she muttered weakly, before everything went dark again.

"Shit."

When Bridget came to next, it was in the same cavern, but now it was nighttime. She had a makeshift bedroll under her, and an attempt at a pillow (a cylindrical rock with a layer of reeds over it). Moonlight shone through the cracks in the ceiling from earlier, providing a pleasant bluish light amongst the red of the lights that illuminated the room by a surprising amount. She vaguely recalled that it was getting close to a full moon, which accounted for how bright it was in here despite being night. Bridget examined the lights more closely — they weren't torches at all, she discovered, but… glowing rocks. Some kind of crystal?

Bridget looked around for the man from earlier - the last thing she clearly remembered was trying to leave and him catching her. "Hello…?" she called out, wincing as the pain from her head seemed to permeate to her jaw.

"Please don't get up too fast this time," the man said from somewhere she couldn't see, more gently than before. "I guess you're staying here for the night," he continued with a reluctant sigh.

"Where'd you go? What happened?" Bridget asked.

"I didn't go anywhere, you went off to dreamland again," he replied. It sounded like he was behind her. "Against my better judgment, you need rest and you're not going to get it out there."

She sat up slowly and let her vision adjust. As she turned around, she caught sight of the man with his back turned, rummaging through some clay pots. Now with rock-light and moonlight to better see, she was able to get a better look - though his silhouette looked human, with a flowy shirt and pants appropriate for the climate, he had an impressive set of leathery, bat-like wings folded up against his back. She also caught sight of a thin, dark green, whiplike tail swishing from side to side as he dug around. Lastly, his ears seemed to be much longer than an average human's, sticking out of his mop of hair and ending in triangular points.

"You're a…" she began.

"Freak, yes," he said quietly. "But one that has food and water, so I suggest you pick your next comment carefully," he warned.

"I wasn't … I've just never seen someone like you before," Bridget said hastily. It was true - she had seen a few people with tails and ears from various species of mammal, several avians, and even knew of one fish person who made their living diving for shellfish - but never one matching his countenance.

"I would say I get that a lot, but what I get when I meet other people tends to be a lot of cursing my existence and throwing things in my general direction," he joked, but without a hint of laughter. "That desert spirit thing… is that what they're calling me now?"

"So you are the desert spirit!" she exclaimed. "Ow, ow, ow." Okay, maybe less excitement next time.

"Well, what I am is just some guy who lives here," he started to explain, back still turned. "I've been out here for a bit, but for… reasons," he hesitated, "I keep to myself. But lately, something about the wildlife has been… off."

"Like the fact that they're trying to kill people?"

"Like the fact that they're trying to kill people," he confirmed. "But you show up to save someone from getting themselves eaten, the last thing they see is you… and now you're the commander of a devil army," he sighed. Having finally found what he was looking for, he turned around, revealing that his pupils were slit-shaped. In one of his hands, which Bridget noted ended in long, sharp-nailed fingers (almost like claws, she thought), he held some kind of medicinal herb.

"To be clear, the only thing devilish about me is how handsome I am," he said, cracking an exaggerated, toothy smile. His teeth were mostly human-like, but definitely pointier. The canines in particular were fang-like in appearance.

Bridget found herself staring at the man, trying to take it all in. She had barely seen these human-animal people at all, but even then his appearance was unique - whatever he was, she suspected there weren't many like him. And, the small voice in the back of her head was inclined to agree with his statement - even if his appearance was novel and foreign, he wasn't bad-looking at all.

"You done gawking yet?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"O-oh, sorry!" Bridget yelped, feeling her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

"I get it, you're not the first, but I am, by some standards, still a person," he said, frowning.

"What… are you?" she asked. "Some kind of bat?"

"What bats do you know of that have reptilian tails?!" the man shot back. "I'm a dragon. Gods, they really don't teach anyone anything out there." He crossed his arms in frustration.

"Y-you never told me your name," she replied, trying desperately to move on from this moment.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "… It's Felix," he said. "My name's Felix."

What a nice name, she thought. But definitely not from around these parts…

"Are… you… from around here?" she asked.

Another raised eyebrow. "You're telling me you represent some kind of international trading company and you treat the locals like this? No wonder they sent you to the middle of the desert," Felix scolded.

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"No, no! I mean, your name…" If she lived, she was definitely getting a talking-to when she got back to HQ if they heard of this.

"Yes, it's not what you were expecting. I'm just pushing your buttons," he chided as he took a mortar and pestle and started to grind up the herb. "The answer isn't a happy one though. Dear old mom and dad apparently weren't expecting me to come out looking like this and tried to dispose of me. Or so I'm told. But before I could die of exposure or getting eaten by something, an old woman basically stumbled upon me. Having ignored the obvious signs from the universe that I was a bad omen, she took me in and raised me not too far from here," he explained.

"Since she didn't have anything to go off of, she named me Felix. Means 'lucky'. I know, right," he continued, shrugging. "She couldn't have kids, so I guess I was her one chance. Nan did her best to raise me, but, uh, she was kinda ostracized for the whole thing. So we lived on the outskirts of the village."

Satisfied with the consistency of the mushed up herb, Felix took a stone cup and a water skin and mixed the two together into a drink, then offered the cup to Bridget. "This'll help with the wooziness, but it's not going to taste good," he warned.

"Thanks…" she replied, taking the cup and hesitantly taking a sip. "Blech!" It took everything in her power to not spit it out.

"What's the adage? The better it is for you, the worse it tastes?" Felix wondered aloud, crossing his arms.

"Anyway, the wings made me pretty useful, as I could get to places most couldn't. The tail is mostly just aesthetics but sometimes it's good for hitting stuff. Using them was as instinctual as learning to walk."

"Whoa." Bridget considered what it would be like to have extra limbs or appendages. She had never really thought about things like how Naturals tailored their clothes, or what considerations would need to be made for things like wings. For people like Felix who were a little of both, did they have to make their own clothes? Where did the tail go?

Bridget stopped her train of thought before it went off of a cliff and refocused herself. "So, uh, what did you do? Like, for work."

"We made a surprisingly decent living off of what Nan and I could find out in the desert. She's the one who had to go into town to sell, of course. Couldn't have me making an appearance, else we'd be inviting the angry mob to our doorstep. Trust me, she tried when I was little. Anyone who caught sight of me made sure to let me know I should have died in the desert, or something like that. It builds character!" he said, soullessly throwing some jazz hands up at Bridget before crossing his arms again and leaning against the wall.

"Meanwhile Nan did what she could to teach me about the world, so you could say I'm somewhat of a survivalist," he said. "Like those gross herbs come from my collection of medicine over here." He lightly tapped a pot with his bare foot, which Bridget noted also ended in slightly pointy nails.

"Things were fine up to a couple of years back, when Nan got real sick, and… then I was alone again," he said, drumming one of his hand's fingers on his other arm as he looked down. "With my, ah, buffer gone, I figured I had overstayed my welcome… so I roughed it out here where I wouldn't be bothered by anyone and they couldn't say I was bothering them. Besides the whole existing thing, which continues to be my greatest crime."

"I'm sorry," Bridget offered. True enough, the disgusting elixir was working. She almost felt like she could walk ten feet without falling over again.

"It's alright," Felix replied. "I mean, yeah, she was the only person who had ever been nice to me, but she was old, and I gave her happiness in her last couple of decades here." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Death comes for us all, I guess."

Bridget shook her head. "I mean, I am sorry for that, but I meant, like… that you were treated that way. That's not right," she said. "Although I'm a little confused, admittedly - obviously you experienced it, but I thought humans were fine with your kind?"

Felix looked at her, confused. "Yeah? When did I say anything about humans?"

The realization dawned on Bridget. "So you were—"

"Raised by a Natural, yes," Felix confirmed, in a "now you're getting it" tone.

Bridget's mind was racing with a million thoughts, but the one that managed to make it to her mouth first was "You speak Maelish very well…"

Felix shot her a Look ™, and very bluntly replied, "Even people like me have access to books and knowledge of the outside world, stronza."

Bridget felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. "I— that was insensitive of me. I meant, I never would have guessed." She felt like her attempts to recover and explain herself were instead digging her hole deeper.

Felix sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess I can't say that I don't get it, and I believe that you didn't mean anything by it, but you really should be careful how you say things," he said. "Yes, I can speak both, but for reasons I hope I don't have to explain to you, it's not a language I prefer to use," he added, clearing his throat to continue.

"So, anyway, yeah. Nan was a fennec. Kinda funny actually, she shrank as she got older but the ears still stayed the same size, so eventually she was like 50% ear by body mass." He smiled a bit at the memory. "Nan got some pity for taking me in, but in that condescending way. Any interaction I had with the other villagers was, uh… well, let's just say I learned a lot of fun words no kid should know at a very young age. In both languages, even."

Bridget's face clouded. "I can hardly call you jovial, but you just seem like you're trying to live like the rest of us. How are they so cruel?" she asked, half to Felix and half to herself.

"'S'far as I see it, they're big on the racial purity thing, and I am living, breathing proof that two star-crossed lovers had a little tryst and mucked up their precious bloodline." A sarcastic eye-roll.

"…Or, y'know, something maybe not entirely consensual happened." This possibility he was sympathetic towards, although he definitely didn't ask to be born.

"Or! Even worse, that if you go far back enough, Naturals and humans are related." He made an exaggerated "blegh" face and shuddered.

"Or, finally, I am some kind of walking genetic defect. Who knows?"

"For someone you just met, you're being surprisingly open with me," Bridget acknowledged. "You were kind of a jerk before… no offense."

"None taken. I'll own up to it," Felix agreed. "I don't get guests, and most people I do run into want to hurt me, so… for what it's worth, sorry," he said sincerely. "I'm not used to someone actually wanting to… talk to me? Since Nan… left, it's just me yapping to the rocks." He rapped the back of his hand on the cave wall. "And despite what some might tell you, they are not good conversationalists."

Bridget cracked a smile. "Are they prone to stonewalling you?"

Felix's eyes widened slightly and he stifled a laugh. "That was pretty good," he admitted. "Sounds like something my nan would have said."

Bridget smiled and laughed. "Sometimes it's humor that keeps us going."

"Speaking of going…" His face turned serious again. "Where… were you going?"

"Oh!" Bridget pulled out the chest. "I have to make a delivery of this box. The previous crew, um, couldn't make it through here—"

"Two humans, one man and one woman, chased by an angry shadow lion?" he guessed. "I had to pull some wild shit to get it off their tails and kill it, but I couldn't lug its corpse away so I had to just kind of… leave it there. I hope they didn't get the wrong idea…" he trailed off.

"Those are the ones, and… they absolutely got the wrong idea," Bridget confirmed. "So… as the company representative, I have to deliver this or the trust we've been trying to build up in the region could be toast. Calamity or not, we promised we'd get this to its destination!" she insisted.

"Is your company usually in the habit of sending their employees on suicide missions for mystery boxes? What's even in there that could be so important?" Felix asked, tail curling up almost in a question-mark shape.

Bridget looked off to the side. Why was everyone asking her this? "Well, no, but nobody else was around, and this was a high-priority delivery… and I can't open the box! That would violate our integrity."

Felix handwaved the answer, not wanting to get into it. He turned his attention to more to-the-point matters. "Well, then where are you trying to go? I can tell you those scorpions aren't the worst that's out there right now," he said cautiously, closing his eyes and leaning against the wall. "For some reason they don't bother me, but they seem to have a real problem with humans."

"Oh, that's the other thing, this was supposed to go to Grandina, and yesterday I had met…"

The second Felix heard that name his face went as close to white as it would get. "Gra-ha-haaaaa?!" he choked out.

"Huh?" Bridget was taken aback by the extreme reaction. "Do you… know it?"

"KNOW it?!" he asked indignantly. His hair bristled as he shook with anger. "Yeah. Yeah, I know it. We were just talking about it, actually."

"Wait, that's your village?!" Bridget exclaimed.

"Unless there's another Grandina that isn't inhabited by pieces of shit, yeah, that's the one," he said angrily, his wings flaring out and tail whipping around. "I cannot believe you are going there."

Based on the eyewitness but admittedly singular account of the area, neither could she. But the pieces were starting to come together… "It is a little hard to believe this is just coincidence…"

Having somewhat recovered from the acute trauma, Felix looked at her apprehensively, tail still swishing. "Coincidence?"

"Well…" Bridget started. "Uh, as I was saying… yesterday I had met this mysterious figure claiming to be one of the sages of creation. Said he was the time sage! He told me I would meet someone who was to be my partner… and that I'd know them when I saw them."

Felix cocked his head to the side, imploring her to go on.

"I… I think you're that partner," she said. "I know it sounds crazy when I put it like that. Believe me, I do."

"I'm glad you agree," he said. "Because that sounds like bullshit. You sure this isn't the head injury talking?"

"No, I'm sure this happened. And I think this is what he was talking about. Like, this can't be a coincidence. It's too much. He said that my partner would be one of you —" noticing the unamused look, she quickly added, "—like, human-animal hybrids... and that I would know. And I have a gut feeling it's you."

Felix raised an eyebrow at her. "This is not how I was expecting my day to go," he quipped. "Okay, I'll bite. If I am to be your partner, Bridget," he began. As he said her name, Bridget felt a tiny tingle - not the butterflies-in-her-stomach kind, but like some latent power was stirring within. "… how do we verify this?"

Bridget reached into her bag and pulled out the tome. "I… think using this?" she guessed.

"A book," he said, his face falling. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was expecting, but a book wasn't it.

"A tome," she insisted. "The sage gave it to me. So far all it's done is ink a page by itself — with the word GRANDINA, I might add — but I think it's magic."

"Riiiiight. And not possessed by an evil spirit?"

"No!" Bridget said adamantly.

"So what do we do then?"

"He said 'all would be revealed in due time'," she offered, hesitating. "Guy was really heavy on the time puns and metaphors. …It does sound stupid when i say that, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure does." He stepped forward to get a better look at the tome. "Looks fancy, at least." His eyes traced the intricate lines on the cover, coming to rest on the empty socket in the center. They remained there for a few seconds, then his brow furrowed. "Hm…"

"Do you recognize it?" Bridget asked.

"Well, now I get to sound like the crazy one, but don't get too excited." Felix reached down from the top of his scarf and pulled on a cord that Bridget hadn't noticed until now. As he worked it through his hair and off his head, he revealed that under the scarf had been a rope necklace with a single red crystal hanging off of it. The crystal glowed faintly.

Bridget thought it looked familiar, so she hazarded a guess. "Is that… a Rubato crystal? Is that what's on the walls?" she deduced.

"Sure is and sure are," he confirmed, resting it in his palm and absentmindedly running a finger over it. "Normally Naturals have a monopoly on these, they use them for self-defense and so they can cast magic and shit. Everything that yours truly was strictly locked out of, being the village outcast. But they outcast the villager right to a cave they weren't aware of that had a bunch, so I've taken it as my little dragon hoard," he explained. "Nan had her allotment back in Grandina, but she made sure I had a couple in case something happened while she or I was out. Swore me to secrecy to never let anyone know I had one there, though. This is the only one I have left from her, so it's special."

"Is it like more pure or something?" Bridget asked. It looked like a regular Rubato crystal to her.

"Special to me, dingus," he said. "No, Nan just gave me this one specifically one day a few years ago and told me to keep it on me, instead of just hidden. Told me that…" Before his mouth could form the words, he had a realization and his eyes narrowed. "… Wait. You said this guy said he was the time sage?"

"Yeah, why?"

He stared at the crystal and tried to go through years of mental history in the span of a few seconds. "She… She specifically told me that I'd know the right time to use it."

Bridget's eyes went wide. "Another stupid time pun!"

Felix tried to shake off the minor existential crisis he was having. "That's… no, that's a common turn of phrase. Just a coincidence."

"The shape matches exactly," she remarked, pointing at the teardrop shape of the crystal and drawing a line in the air to the socket.

"I'm sure plenty of them are shaped like that," he huffed. "I think it's a reach."

"Along with everything else that has led me to your doorstep with this magic tome that has an empty crystal-shaped socket?" Bridget asked, laying it out plainly as she held the tome up, as if to shove the discovery of the lock and key pair in his face.

Felix looked at the tome, then the crystal, then her. "I still don't believe this is anything, but what the hell, I'll put the stupid crystal in here."

"Go for it… partner." Bridget couldn't help herself and giggled.

With a moment's hesitation, Felix steeled his resolve and placed the crystal in the socket.

And then all hell broke loose.

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