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The Luck of Finding a Warm Fire in the Woods

By: A.X. Bueno

Exhausted, hungry, and kind of lost. That's everything I am right now as I try to find my way out of this dense forest and back home. I came out here looking for rare mushrooms for a special potion I am brewing for both myself and a friend, found them and now I'm struggling to find the route back home. The thing is I'm not even that far from home, this forest grows on the edge of New York City, plenty of forests in the world exist this way just growing around outside big cities and all I needed was to take one of those special Amtrak style trains to go a little farther than usual (close to upstate but not quite) and then I walked for about ten minutes to actually get into the forest. After taking an hour and a half to find these rare mushrooms and then having a bit of a struggle with a shadow creature that I warded off with a personally made luminescence potion off my potions belt I'm farther in the forest and have been out for longer than I wanted to be.

My paws are starting to get sore, I didn't eat lunch yet because I didn't think I'd be out here this long and to top it off my phone is really low on battery meaning using one of the map apps on it to find my way home would be a gamble. I wipe a bit of sweat off my glistening forehead fur as I examine my surroundings to see if I can find the path I used to get here or just a path back to the train home in general. After ten minutes of struggle and getting even more lost I decide to just go for it and use my phone to find my way back regardless of if it dies on the way. I turn the app on and it says that I'm thirty minutes from the train and an hour and forty-five minutes away from home, that I all need to do is make a turn right in a few minutes, go straight minus a few curves in the road and then make a turn onto the path that will lead me right out of here. Things go smooth for about all of five minutes before my phone dies and three minutes after that I'm lost again, truly lost. This forest, even though I know the path now it's simply too vast and too confusing to move forward based on my memory of the route alone.

So I might as well one of the things bears are best at and see if I can sniff out civilization from here to try to help myself. The sense of smell of a polar bear is considered one of the strongest in the animal kingdom and has a range of up to 20 miles when hunting prey or a kilometer when smelling prey through the ice. I didn't venture out that far I think and while I'm not sure how well my sense of smell will work in the forest I decide to go for it anyway and smell the air as the polar bear I am now. It's overwhelming, the sheer volume of different smells, the earthy scent of leaves and dirt mixing, the various animal species like squirrels, birds and deer, the thousands of trees here with their bark and leaves, with a variety of different flowers and fruits. Surprisingly though I've only been able to smell forest scents and not any whiffs of civilization like say bread baking or people or the like.

There's no way I traveled far enough for the city to be out of my smell range already. Especially when I walked into the forest from the train which usually only takes ten minutes so I decide to change the direction of my sniffing snout from the general air to the approximate path towards town. This time I get the smells of fire, a wooden house and also a... bear? No, a fellow beastman, another bear one I think though there's a part of the scent that's unfamiliar to me meaning it could be a different species of bear then I've smelt before or maybe even some fascinating hybrid. Regardless of the speculation I know I smelled a whiff of some type of bear beastman and presumably the city where I belong so I walk towards those scents since they must mean I'm on the right track to get out of these thick confusing woods, back to the train and after a train ride back to my city.

After a good twenty minutes or so of walking I finally see as well as smell the fire and house in the slight distance but no other telltale signs of civilization around it, just more of the same nature I've been wondering for hours. Then I smell the familiar and yet weirdly unrecognizable scent of the bear beastman I've been tracking along with those other scents and it's surprisingly close which means maybe the train and after a ride on it, the comforts of home could be in reach. But then I see them, sitting in front of this roaring campfire on a lonely plastic chair just roasting something and humming a tune that's as unfamiliar to me as the strange bear humming it. I stand behind a tree and try to make no noise and just think but the bear beastman raises his head and sniffs regardless of my attempted stealth turning towards my direction and the tree I'm hiding behind. "You can stop trying to hide over there son, whoever ya are. I can smell and see part of you there."

The bear's voice is gruff, distinctly manly and slightly southern in accent which seems to contribute a soft edge to it and I decide to do as he suggests and step away from the tree's shade into the clear afternoon sunlight. The other bear and I both spend a good few minutes looking each other over in silence and taking good whiffs of each other's scents, all to be committed to memory. Looking over this bear I realize why his scent puzzled me like it did despite me being able to recognize it as one belonging to a bear and then a bear beastman with an extra sniff or two. He's from a species I've only seen in photos and pretty much never in person or even in the public wildlife sanctuaries, the ones I've been to anyway. They used to be called zoo until it started being considered too bizarre and archaic for beastmen to be willing participants in them and thus the name and focus changed (this was long before I was even born.)

The species, he's a moon bear or asiatic black bear though personally I prefer to say moon bear. After looking him over he seems to be an inch or two over 7 feet, has a surprisingly soft face given how gruff the rest of him comes off with his well muscled arms and body as well as the seemingly unkempt fur that juts out in certain spots on him. He also has the typical yet distinguishing white chest mark that all moon bears do within that slightly dirty appearing pelt of black fur on him, dark ocean blue eyes and appears to be in his early 30s. For a while we do nothing but stand there and lock eyes with each other after our mutual look overs of each other, which isn't exactly easy for either of us considering I'm nearly three feet taller than him. It's him who clears his throat and breaks the silence first.

"Well I think we should be done with this staring contest now haha, wouldn't you? Anyway, howdy there tall stranger. I don't usually see people coming around here given where this is and all, what brings you to my little neck of the woods if I may ask?"

"Hi there umm.... ?"

"You can just call me Marsh, mind telling me your name too?"

"Theo sir, it's Theo"

"Thats a good name and please don't call me sir. I'm not that old or anything and this ain't some formal meetin'."

"Alright then. To answer your question, I'm here because I was searching for rare mushrooms that can be found here in this forest for something I'm making and got kind of lost till I followed the scent of ... fire hoping it'd lead me closer to home and it led me here instead."

"I see, well you look like you've been lost for a while, no offense. I'd offer you a spot by the fire to rest for a bit but you being a polar bear with blubber and all I've got no doubt you must be overheating already so I'm not sure what would be best for ya."

"Actually, while this may sound kind of unbelievable my blubber actually adapts to the weather meaning that unlike usual polar bears I can be fine in heat or cold to a certain extent. So I'm good in regards to not overheating and would love a spot by the fire if that's alright with you, Marsh."

"Hmm I see. Alrighty then, let me get a chair from inside, be right back!"

He says that last sentence pretty enthusiastically and seems pretty jovial overall now that he knows I'm going to be keeping him company. He goes inside his house having gone back to whistling that tune from before and I'm left to stand and wait for him to return. Though I do move forward a bit, more towards the fire and his house and out of the woods and small clearing I was in after popping out from that tree. I take a minute or two to further examine the fire, his house and surrounding area. The house is more like a somewhat large two story log cabin exactly how it would be expected to look though with sky blue painted doors and roof, the windows have their blinders closed and it has a porch with two rocking chairs. The area surrounding the house is basically just a mostly grassy clearing with some unusually neat spots of flat dirt suggesting very well filled in holes possibly where tree stumps used to be. Other than there's a small blue plastic shed with locked doors and then just the forest around us with it's wildlife like birds, deer, a couple of shadow monsters and whatever else lurks in this unpredictable expanse of trees and many other flora.

The fire though, it interests me more. It's color is a lovely vibrant green with perfectly chopped firewood both under and around it despite there being no visible spot to chop the wood and it doesn't seem to actually be dwindling down at all despite clearly burning. Above the fire is a pretty big pan that seems to just be floating in mid-air without any support whatsoever, it's peculiar especially since I tried touching it and it actually tried to fit itself into my hand. Ultimately I decide that I can question it later as I stand and wait for Marsh to come back. It's funny I shouldn't really be trusting some random stranger in the middle of this dangerous and unknowable forest but something about this bear just makes me want to trust him completely. He just comes off so friendly and pleasantly curious and as I start to think that he comes busting out the door, goes to unlock his small blue shed to grab a white plastic table and then goes back inside to come out again a second later carrying a table with a small pot, raw chopped vegetables and chicken on two separate cutting boards, plates, utensils and skewers along with this massive black lawn chair that he's somehow balancing on his head while the table is in his hands.

"Alright I'm back and I brought my sturdiest lawn chair along with everything else. Come have a seat and we can chat for a bit while you rest some. You want a bite to eat, 'cause I'm making lunch too if you can't tell!"

"I'd love a bit to eat, thanks. I'm famished!"

"Great! I'm making chicken kebabs along with some rice"

As he says that I take a seat in this surprisingly big plastic lawn chair that is actually managing to handle my full size and weight and then look to my right to see my very hospitable fellow ursine preparing the food to be cooked. Well the kebabs anyway. The rice is already made and just needs to be reheated a little over the fire. He puts the chopped ingredients: the raw chicken chunks, the small mushroom, onion slices, different colored sliced bell peppers and zucchini slices. He puts the uncooked kebabs on the floating pan over the fire and then stops smiling for a second to give me a puzzled look before proceeding to lean slightly closer to me though not uncomfortably close or anything and then takes a big sniff of presumably my scent. Before I can ask what that was about he speaks first.

"Excuse me for asking this and sorry if it's too forward a question but you're magic born aren't you? You weren't born a beastman but became one through magic, right?"

"Y-y-yeah...yeah. How on earth did you know?!"

"When you've been around and have been using magic for as long as I have you learn to sense that kind of thing. My nose and eyes are pretty much attuned to sniffing and seeing it, I just needed one final whiff of you to be sure. Well that and to ask you directly of course."

"Hmm, I see. So are you some kind of mage?"

"I think sorcerer fits me better but yes, yes I am"

"That's so awesome! I've only met one other person, a strange beastman really with the ability to use magic but that's another story. I know it takes a long time to master magic though assuming you can find someone who can teach you given how rare a skill it is. You mentioned using it for a long time so how long have you been honing it, if I may ask?"

"About 40 years give or take a year or so."

"40 years, for real?! But you look 36 at most!"

"Yeah, 40 years. Why is that so shocking, man? Ohhh! You must still be a cub or something, relatively speaking that'd explain why you don't know how it works, hehehe. There's so much about us that just isn't taught, it's a shame really"

"DON'T call me a CUB!!" I roar that out a little louder and more irritated than I intended to as I rake the ground with my claws, being looked at as some kind of kid just really gets under my skin. The older bear is a little shaken by it but is mostly just saddened like how he was when he finished his last sentence. I clear my throat, sigh and then say much calmer "sorry about me yelling that, I just don't like being called stuff like cub. Anyway what do you mean by I don't know how it works? I'm curious now."

"Well first off let me start off by saying sorry. I didn't realize that was a sore spot for you . But to answer your question, you know how most animals have life spans a fraction of the lives of humans, right?"

"Yeah, I do. Like how dogs live lives seven times shorter than a human's ordinarily. What of it?"

"Well you see, for us beastmen that fraction of a lifespan actually works as a sort of multiplier for us. Follow me here, so let's go with that dog example for instance. Whereas a dog ages seven years for every human one for a beastman it's the other way around. For a dog beastman he'd age seven times slower than he would have if he was born human, meaning he could live to be seven hundred or look 40 while actually being 280 years old."

"That's amazing! I had no idea. So will that mean I'll live longer too?"

"For sure. Since you're a beastman now and the effects of whatever magic did this to you seem to be permanent I'm sure you'll start aging just like the rest of us beastman in a year. I age somewhere between 3 to 4 times slower than a human. give or take since the average moon bear lives 25 years. You're a polar bear which means you'll probably age about the same rate as me since polar bears have the same lifespan with a five year gap."

"I see... well that's very... good to know I guess."

"Yeah. I know that's a real revelation to soak in. Like I said a darn shame that beastman knowledge is so rarely taught but it is what it is I guess. Anyway, kebabs are done and the rice is warm again. Let's dig in and then maybe I could show off a little magic to you. It's been a long while since I've had any kinda guest."

"Sure. These kebabs look amazing and that sounds like it'll be awesome!"

With the kebabs and rice cooked Marsh serves them on a plate. Three kebabs for him and four for me along with a big helping of white rice while next to our plates sits the rice pot still pretty full with rice and even more cooked kebabs on another plate right next to the rice pot. Truly he made a meal fit for big bruins like us. The cook took his care that was in a different spot before and put it right where the table was now as he gestured at a spot next to him wanting me to take it no doubt. I obliged and reflexively licked my lips with my red tongue and Marsh did the same with his own purplish pink tongue as we sat down, him a second before me. I reach for one of my kebabs and accidentally bite into it a little too hard with the teeth between my upper fangs snapping half the skewer into splinters that thankfully don't do any damage and that I can remove. As I do that, carefully so I leave the actual food from the broken half in my mouth Marsh raises his head up from devouring his own food(half of it gone already) to stifle a chuckle when he sees the error I just made.

He then hands me a new skewer for the other half of the broken first kebab and I dig back in though more carefully and truly start enjoying the delicious food Marsh made after I get all the skewer splinters out of my mouth first. It's incredible; the vegetables are so tasty and fresh like homegrown ones especially the zucchini, the chicken is spiced just right and really juicy, the mushrooms are really nice and tender as is everything else and the rice is really fluffy, warm surprisingly flavorful on it's own and just the perfect compliment to the kebabs. I realize I'm starting to drool and try as silently as I can to suck it back in before it becomes too noticeable but Marsh apparently saw it and my satisfaction with his amazing food.

"Enjoying your food there, son? Cause it sure looks like ya are." Marsh says with a satisfied confidence and a content smile.

"Heck yeah I am! You're an amazing cook and I would know." I say this in between bites of chicken, veggies and rice.

"Would you now? You know you've mentioned a thing or two thanks to my deductions but we've also spent more time talking about me and food. If it's alright I'd like to know a little more about you, the guest I'm sharing a meal with."

"Ehehehehe. I'm not really one to talk much about myself but I can try. What would you want to know." I rub a paw behind the back of my head and ruffle my mostly white fur as well as one of my spots as I nervously laughed and said that.

"We can start with how you transformed into the beastman you are now, from a human I'm guessing. You can tell me if I'm right when we get there, and then work our way down more into some more details of what led you here. After all, most people wouldn't want to step foot into Shadow Magic's Grove, much less wander in it for as long as you seem to have done. So what do you...."

"Wait, wait, wait. I don't mean to interrupt but Shadow Magic's Grove? Is that what this place is actually called?"

"Yep, though it was originally called Shadow Magic Meadow until more trees grew in and it became home to more dangerous uhhh wildlife I guess. Did you not know that? I thought that was something everyone knew. Then again I have been living almost alone out here for a while."

I lower my head a little in embarrassment as I say "Huh, I gu-guessI didn't and I've lived in New York almost my entire life. That's a little embarrassing, huh?" Then I pause and take a breath lifting my head back up. "But you know, that's one of the things I love about New York. No matter how much you think you know, you can still learn something new about it."

Marsh sagely nods in silent agreement. "Agreed, it's amazing isn't it?" He happily says before putting a claw to his black furred chin and then he snaps as if remembering something. "So anyway. I remember talking about wanting to learn more about you. So what do you say? Care to tell me more about yourself while we sit back and eat. We've still got plenty of food on our plates and time to kill unless you have somewhere urgent to be."

"Sure. I don't mind. Don't really have anywhere else to be anyway since it's Sunday tomorrow and my Sundays are usually just for relaxing. Maybe you could tell me more about yourself as well?"

"Deal. It'll be so nice to have some good dinner conversation. Now let's get to it then."

And so in between stuffing ourselves with mouthfuls of food we chat about ourselves and our pasts as well as whatever related topic. I share most of my backstory with him, starting with basic childhood details before getting into the details of my transformation and the meeting with the...well 'special' potion's merchant that sold me and how it almost irreversibly changed my life. Then I get to talking about my job and the one before it, the potions making I do on the side, how that somehow led me out here to try and gather ingredients for a euphoria elixir I was making for a friend and then how after I grabbed what I needed I ended up lost and completely drained. I tell the whole story in segments to allow Marsh to absorb it and respond with either a question about something or some of his own story which he does. He tells me his actual chronological age which is a shocking 115 years old though beastman physiology roughly translates that to 35 years for him bodywise since he's a moon bear and means that he still has plenty of years left despite an astounding age like that already being under his belt.

He tells me about how he used to be a traveling performer who did magic acts wherever he was allowed to for a good salary and before that he worked under a contractor as a construction worker doing jobs like repairing people's homes and renovating their bathrooms and kitchens. At some point a little over 40 years ago he began to take an interest in magic after almost getting caught in the crossfire of a street fight that was mostly powerful spells being launched back and forth and he started to try to learn it like I did through books, internet videos on it and whatever other resources he could. Soon enough after that he got the attention of a dragonfly beastman even older than himself who was pretty much a master at magic and offered to teach the then fledgling magic user more after both sensing the potential he still had and seeing the book of magic he was reading at the time. The magic he learned from being mentored by that dragonfly mage allowed him to become a sort of traveling magician though all his magic was real even if most of his audience didn't realize that. After over 35 years of performing great feats of magic for others like creating and making shapes from lightning or summoning a variety of creatures from beyond our plane of existence he eventually decided to retire and settle down in this pretty remote and somewhat dangerous spot in this grove so he could be at peace and away from any kind of spotlight, with him being a former performer and all. After we finish that exchange of backstories we move on to talk about magic and alchemy specifically potions making and then just small stories from our lives.

"Wow! I can't believe they tried to threaten you with nothing more than a broken beer bottle and numbers. You, a sorcerer bear and while you were still in your whole magician outfit too. I would have loved to see the looks on their faces when they realized who and what they picked a fight with. Hahaha!" I laugh at the end there a little hard but all Marsh does is sheepishly smile before talking.

"Well shoot, I'm nothing that special. Just a moon bear who knows a good amount of magic but yeah I made them pretty scared. A simple bit of levitatin' along with summoning a giant goo centipede from somewhere else and those men just fell apart and started begging for mercy. Of course I've never been one for fighting so I only jostled them a little before I let 'em go only slightly worse for wear." Marsh leans back a little in his chair as he says this and sighs with a bit of relief.

"Heh, nice. Yeah I'll fight if I have to defend myself or something like that but generally I'm not really for it either it especially if I don't have to."

"I see. Honestly though I'm more shocked by you. In a little over a year you had an encounter with the Conniving Chimera, adapted to changing to an entirely different species, changed careers and homes and mastered potions-making well enough to try and make somethin' as difficult as a euphoria elixir casually. You're really something cub... oops, I'm sorry Theo. That slipped out I swear"

"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm willing to let it slide once or twice. Sorry I came off so angry before."

"It's cool. Let's just keep conversating, it's been a long while since I've had a conversation this good or at all really."

"Man, that's another thing. You've lived here for five years by yourself?! That's crazy, also you mentioned the Conniving Chimera. Is that another one of that guy's many names? Because he told me a few of them like the Sly Dreams Seller, the Merchant of Many Planes, El Chivo Con Garras, and a few others."

"Yeah, most laws don't really account for our slower aging so I got to retire at what's technically a young age for us. Though really it's been more like four years. My son moved and lived here with me for that first year or so but then he....left." Marsh looks really down and gives a sad, heavy sigh while trying to finish that sentence. I'm curious what happened there but I'm not going to pry into something that seems like it'd be only pain for someone so kind. Though before I consider it anyway Marsh starts talking again.

"Soooo anyway, yes that is another one of that guy's numerous names. Most given because there's almost no one who knows his real one. I gotta know something though, you mentioned one chance meeting with them but from everything I heard about that guy they usually have at least one more encounter to those they've well 'helped' I guess you can say. Did you ever run into that Chimera again?

I think back to that last time I encountered that potion's seller only a few months after I'd transformed into my current polar bear self, spots and all and how it all went down. My hunt for him that led me to that far away bar, our conversation that turned angry and violent, the feel of my fangs trying to damage but barely even scratching his huge horns and then there's the humiliating curb-stomping he gave me. It all left a searing impression that's stuck with me all these months and definitely changed things. As I'm reflecting on it I see Marsh looking at me quizzically and it looks like he's trying to get a read of what happened by reading my face and expression.

"Judging by your face there and how lost in thought you were I'm going to say you did have another encounter and it didn't go well. Is that right?"

"Yeah that's right. It was an.... interesting...humbling experience to say the least."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Thanks but I'm good."

"Alrighty then. Well do you want to see my magic then. I said I'd show you after lunch and we already spent a ton of time talking after that so I think now is a good time. What with the sun going down and all."

"Holy crap! It became sunset already?! How long have we been out here?!" I'm a little shocked that I lost track of time that badly but then again that does tend to happen a lot. Especially when I can't keep track of time because my phone is dead. The sun is setting fast and it's going to be dark soon so I decide I'm going to ask a question along with my answer. Though not before letting the moon bear former magician answer my question.

"We've been out here about 3 and a half hours give or take. So what do you say to my little show before it truly gets dark?"

"I say sure but can I ask you something first?"

"Of course! What is it?"

"So do you know how long would it take to get to the train station from here or better yet do you know the way to it?"

"I do know the way to the nearby station. It's actually only about a 20 minute walk from here and I could absolutely guide you to it.'

"That'd be great! I'd really appreciate that amigo"

"It'd be my pleasure and the least I could do for keeping here for so long and undoubtedly a little longer still. After the show and all I'll walk you back. So can we get to it then?" He says with absolute giddiness as he tightens his gloves and adjusts his cap, also moving his hands seemingly to warm up his act.

'Hell yeah! Bring on the show!!" I say while moving my arm in my own dramatic and probably silly looking gesture.

With that out of the way Marsh rushes inside excited and then moments later after some type of bright green glow comes from his house has switched from being shirtless and wearing jeans with a tail hole for his stubby tail along with open claw sandals to wearing full magician's attire which is a navy blue full suit blazer and all, a snow white beret embroidered with waves of silver, black leather gloves open at the tips and to top it all off a glittering silver cape. He grins and I can't but smile back, this is gonna be good. Dressed for his performance he does his solo act for the audience of me and it's nothing short of marvelous. He starts first by messing with the size of the chair I was sitting in after I get off of it, making him conveniently having a chair big enough to support my oversized behind make much more sense now. He makes it shrink and grow to incredibly varying sizes from the size of a breadcrumb to tree size to office building size once we reach a safe distance away back to normal size and so on.

Then he makes several entire trees appear out of thin air as well as a few giant boulders and about several dozen fiery hoops all hovering several inches off the ground. Then with a simple up motion with his hand he sends all of these incredibly heavy and huge objects high into the air though not too high as to still be visible but also not at risk of hitting us or anything. After that is when the show really starts because he takes everything: the trees, the fiery hoops, all of it including the huge plastic lawn chair that I was sitting on that Marsh managed to make boulder sized and starts moving it all like he's juggling. The gloves surrounding his paws glow gold while he's making this swiping, half circular juggling motion and confirm to me that he's basically juggling these massive objects with nothing more than what I can only guess is some sort of magical telekinesis in a truly stupendous display that goes on for about 20 minutes with him adding in things like changing the direction of the juggling, pretending to drop everything for a second or two but managing to catch it all before it comes too close to the ground, shifting the order of the objects, and even making the wind flow through it all with a flick of the wrist in an almost serene whistling noise. After those 20 minutes or so he stills his paws and by extension the few dozen objects he previously launched into the air and my jaw is hanging open because of how amazing that was.

"I can see you were impressed by my two acts so far. Did my amount of magic skill surprise you there?"

"To say the least! That was incredible!! Your magic is incredible!" I say with honest enthusiasm while giving a bit of clapping.

"Why thank you, kind sir. But wait! There's still the grand finale to get through though so keep standing in awe and let the show continue to its' end"

As soon as Marsh finishes saying that (smirking all the while) he then moves his fingers to make what looks like a blade made from the wind itself. He then makes a gripping motion making the blade rotate to an upright position before then proceeding to make a number of slicing gestures and opening his hands after which the air blade vanishes in a puff. With that done he makes a circle motion followed by a downward gesture with the second of his black furred digits and then it all came falling down. Amazingly though it was still a very much controlled descent despite Marsh barely moving anymore and with that the boulders and fiery rings all touchdown in an orderly ring in the space outside his house and surrounding the fire. As for the trees it becomes clear what the air blade was for as with a snap of his fingers they turn into precisely cut small logs that then go on to fall to the ground somehow into a perfectly crafted, naturally windowless little log cabin.

While astonishing I'm confused what this is all for or leading up to and then with a swipe of the paw, Marsh makes a dark red portal appear. Out of this portal pops out ten manticores with their fangs bared in their very human faces, manes flowing, their tails(half of them the usual scorpion tails and the other half barbed skinnier porcupine looking ones) all upright and flickering before pointing directly at Marsh as he walks towards all of them and their lion bodies tense and heckles raise. I start walking over to him to try to either stop him from further endangering himself or to protect him from the claws, teeth, tail stingers and barbs of the multiple manticores but he makes a motion to keep back and gives a thumbs up to nonverbally say I got this. They roar and hiss at him and a few even fire the spines of their tails that he merciful dodges but eventually he's right in front of them all and he then makes the gloves over his paw glow a lime green similar to the flesh of their maws and grabs the paw of the biggest one. All of a sudden they all glow green while growling and roaring at the black bear in front of them and then he says something to them that I'm too out of earshot to hear and they seem to respond back with head tilting and then speak, saying something else I can't hear.

For a few minutes there is a back and forth conversation between Marsh and the Manticores and I get a lot closer to hear it since this is a rare opportunity and a chance to learn about a species that is so rare and I've seen so little of that I thought they were a myth, apparently they're just native to wherever Marsh's portal leads to.

The conversation is basically them asking "why have you summoned us here from our own universe? Talk moon bear."

Marsh responds with essentially "Sorry about that but I need you all to play a big part in a show I'm doing for someone special and I actually don't have much time to explain. Let me tell you your roles here, we do this quick and I'll reward you personally later."

"Hmm, an intriguing offer. Most common mortals wouldn't have the gall to summon or think they could control us. You mention a reward but why else should we stoop to helping you with paltry tricks, magic wielder?" These manticores are pretty intelligent and it seems like Marsh anticipated that but not enough clearly.

One of them says "I suggest we head back home and leave him with a tail spine in his belly as a reminder of why this shouldn't happen again,."

"Wait, gentlebeasts! No need to be so violent just let me explain things a little more so we can work something out."

Marsh does and they seem to calm down with their two types of tails drooping back down and their bodies being less tense as they nod their hybrid heads and form a kind of line right in front of the stone and fiery hoop ring surrounding the pillar. They then proceed to actually jump through the hoops in a synchronized fashion and some even flip through them as the fire on the hoops changes colors from the usual red to bright blue to purple to white and then black in a timed series of changes and as they wrap up the jumping through hoops the final color the fire changes to is this surreal looking combination of navy blue, silver and gold that blend into each other sort of like how a lava lamp would with this glittering silver as the base and these blue and gold splotches of color shifting through the flames. After jumping, flipping and running through those ever colorful fiery hoops more times than I care to count they all stop and come down in the middle of that circle right next to the makeshift mini log cabin. In front of which they form another line and then wait which Marsh takes as his cue to mutter a few words before then vanishing in a poof of gold dust. He subsequently reappears right in front of the Manticores and waves his hand to signal them to enter the tiny cabin which they start as it starts glowing a dark blue. Despite the fact it should be able to only hold two of them at best all ten of the Manticores extraordinarily fit inside and this is followed by Marsh walking up to the fire which he then starts to seriously inhale.

When he's seemingly inhaled enough of it he turns to the small glowing log cabin before he breathes out the fire he inhaled all over it apparently changing its' color inside him since he breathes it out as the same glittery silver flames that were on the rings instead of the green it was before and it instantly engulfs the cabin though I don't see the Manticores looking too phased by this as they sit and wait without a word or even a sound. The logs are consumed by the silver blaze and eventually they're gone along with only a bit of smoke and a tail spine to indicate they or the Manticores were ever there. Then Marsh snaps his fingers and the boulders and flaring rings also vanish though there is a bit of dust left behind when they disappear. Marsh takes some of this dust in his hand along with that spine and mutters a few more words while clasping one hand over the other. A bit of light shines through his fingers and where the dust and spines once were is now a pristine pearl necklace with a small spike in the middle. He tosses it to me and I can catch it as he bows to indicate the show's over, I clap loudly as he then dashes back inside presumably to change back into the outfit he was wearing before.

He comes back out shirtless again in that blue jeans and open toe sandals combo with a positively huge grin "so what did you think of the personal show from yours truly? Marsh the Magnificent!"

"It was stupendous! Definitely magnificent! I was blown away by all you did, that was so much incredible magic!!" I close my jaw after I say this realizing it was slightly agape in the last few minutes of the show.

"I'm oh so happy ya liked it and that I got to perform once again! I forgot how amazin' it felt!"

"I can only imagine! You were incredible. I wish I could learn magic like that but I'll just have to be content to make my potions for my needs"

At this Marsh scoffs a little "perhaps not, you may not have the potential to do all that I can admittedly but I sense the potential for at least frost magic in you. I could help you tap into that potential if you stop by every now and then. Whadda you say?"

"I say hell yeah, of course! Can you really teach me?"

"Of course I can. Now what do you say we take yo-oohhhh. All that magic took more out of me then I thought. I might be a bit out of practice, heh" Marsh says while looking like he's about to faint and I put an arm around him to steady him reflexively.

"Woah there primo! You're not looking ready to take anyone anywhere. Is it alright if I drop you back off inside your house? You clearly need some rest." I say, hearing the worry echoing in my own voice. He's really grown on me in just a few hours.

"Yeah that's... that's fine. I usually just need an hour or so to recharge when my magic drains me like this. Just let me lean on you till we get to the couch in my living room and I'll be back up to take you home in no time."

I decide to simply nod and give an um hmm to this as I act as his oversized makeshift crutch with his arm around mine and him leaning against the side of my chest, barely making it to my first set of real ribs. It's completely dark now as I lead him to his front door and twist the knob, pushing it open with three fingers and walking him to his couch. I ease my arm up gently as he slides onto and then I start to walk away. I'm not sure where to but it just feels weird to walk in and chill in the house of someone I don't really know that well even if I did under their instruction. Inside his house is nice; two floors with a nice, silky, cerulean carpeted staircase connecting them, a good size kitchen that has plenty of stocked cabinets and a small dish rack along with a big fridge, a decent tv in the living room which we're in right now with a big, full stand, a glass table in the center and a few beanbag chairs and then there's the futon he's laying on as well as the rooms upstairs like the bathroom and bedrooms and stuff. Back to the futon though it's that typical leather brown and absolutely massive, this whole house but this futon now only looks like it can expand further into a bed like others but as it is it's big enough for two maybe three people lying on it depending on their size and is pretty sturdy looking barely even shifting at Marsh's weight and while he's not as big as I am he's still fairly large and bulky. It also looks like it could five or six maybe even seven people sitting on it upright, it takes up half this large room on it's own and is actually kind of impressive but enough about that I'm halfway to the door when Marsh speaks up.

"Where are you going, my good bear? You just gonna leave me here to rest all on my lonesome?"

"I was going back outside to wait for you to rest. You didn't offer for me to stay inside and my chair is still out there anyway so I figured it'd be best to be on my own and leave you be." I say this while rubbing the back of my head kind of nervously since I didn't expect to be stopped or that the older moon bear would want me around.

"Boy I let you basically carry me inside. What made you think I'd let you just leave to sit and wait for me in the dark? What kind of host would I be?!"

"I don't know, s-sir" I answer shakenly not expecting all this.

"A bad one is what I'd be. Now you have a choice you can sit on one of the beanbag chairs, find a spot somewhere or you could even come onto the futon and cuddle with me if you want but I don't want you to just be alone by yourself waiting for me because I over-exerted a smidge, alright?"

"...ok. Did you say cuddling with you as an option?

"I did but you don't have to if you don't want to. I was just throwing it out there since you seem like a friendly guy and I thought it'd be nice since I feel we've gotten to know each other at least somewhat well in this short time. I can understand if you don't feel the same or don't want to though. Regardless I'll be here and you're free to sit anywhere you can or want while I rest for a bit."

"Uhhhhhh.....uh hunh"

"You alright there Theo?"

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine. I think I will take up your offer and come cuddle, as good friends."

"Well, thank you. This honestly means a lot. I don't really have many people I could invite over and even fewer actually like to cuddle. I love to myself, though I can see it being a little too intimate to not be awkward even though it doesn't have to be. Hope this isn't too personal a question but have you ever cuddled someone before?"

I think about it, I actually haven't before and I'm more than a little excited to be able to right now. Especially with a guy like Marsh who is pretty hot. I'm a little flustered honestly and I feel what feels like my entire body warming up in response. I try to .stay chill though in response to it all.

"It's not too personal, really. To answer the question, no I've never cuddled anyone before. This would be the first time I have or even had the opportunity to."

"Umm hmm, I see. That's a shame especially for someone as handsome and nice as you seem to be." I can't help blushing a little at the compliments Marsh is giving me. They're unexpected and I usually don't expect compliments either making them doubly unexpected. Along with my blushing I notice a few of the spots along my arms and legs start to glow, some of them under the short sleeves of my blue t-shirt and jeans, this is new. I check to see if Marsh might be doing it given the glowing but the moon bears paws are light free.

Marsh snaps me from my distracted staring at my spots with a slight ahem and the sound if his voice. "So anyway. If this is your first time cuddling someone else I think it would be better if I was the bigger one here to make it easier. If that's ok that is? Since I remember you saying you can change your size."

"Oh yeah. That's fine, Let me get my shrinking solution out and so I can be at a better size for this. I'm thinking 6'0" maybe?" I reach for the medium sized bottle of shrinking solution off of my potion's belt right above my pants and as I unlatch it from the belt Marsh looks at me in weird surprise.

"Is that how you've been size shifting all this time?!"

"Uh, yeah. Why? Is that an issue of some kind?" I ask, confused at the reason for his rather excited question.

"I mean not necessarily. Sorry if I got a little overexcited there for a sec. It's just that that's such an inconvenient and imprecise method when I can practically feel the ability to do it naturally dripping off of you. I mean how many times have you ended up smaller or larger than you wanted or ran out of the solutions and had to wait to painstakingly make more over and over again or even just had to so carefully regulate your sips to get the exact size you wanted?"

I think hard over Marsh's words. While I usually am good at being careful and using the potion as well as replenishing it as needed without difficulty it is still a wasteful inconvenience and there have been a couple unintended mishaps here or there including that one where I randomly shrunk into someone's dish while working. That was a really awkward and humiliating accident and thing to explain to all.

"You're right. It can be an inconvenience and all. So how would I do it the natural, magic way?"

"It's actually easier than you'd think. All you have to do is focus on the size you want to be and then say a phrase related to decreasing your height no less than four times while making a gesture of shrinking with your hands. You could say something like make me small for instance those four times while making a lowering gesture with your hands." He says all this while making the lowering gesture with his hand and he looks to me as if waiting for me to start before stopping the gesture.

"So it's really as simple as that? Wouldn't it matter what I say and all since this is a spell?"

Marsh shakes his head while answering " Not really. Ya see when it comes to magic it's really more about the gestures and intent and using that to harness the power you need for the spell. Either from within or from some other source. Heck when you use a spell enough and master it you stop needing the words and then can do it with the proper gestures and the intent you'd have associated with those gestures. Of course some people like powerfully pronouncing the words in latin or channeling their power better through objects but that stuff isn't really needed. Magic is really as simple or complex as you want it to be so give 'er a shot."

With all that said I finally get around to truly trying this new spell. I pick my words and say them as I do the lowering motion and picture a height of 6 foot 1 in my head. I say "shrink me to average height" 4 times and in a few seconds I feel the change. It's a different feeling from my shrinking solution for sure, it's a spreading full body warmth as opposed to the tingle from the solution and it's also made it near impossible to move. I stand and simply feel myself and thankfully my clothes too shrink in a time that's slightly longer than the time of the potion I'm used to taking at about 10 seconds or so as opposed to 5. It works though and once that strange warmth fades and I can move again I feel like I'm the desired size and Marsh confirms that feeling.

"There ya go, see. It might be a little longer and a different feel but it's a much more precise method that even covers yer clothes and I bet your old serum didn't do that without you spreading it on them. So you ready now?" Marsh pats a spot next to him on the big futon which now that I think about it probably came from the same type of beastmen specialty store I've used.

"Yeah I'm ready. Thanks so much for waiting for that to finish and for teaching me that spell. I'm sure I'll start using it a lot more going forward. Now let me just settle in." I say that as I reach the futon after the few steps I needed to take and Marsh moves over a little to then lift his muscled, gruff black furred arm to allow me to come in close on the futon.

His arm wraps around me and I can't help but sigh in contentment as I look into his dark blue eyes and he smiles back. I then focus my eyes elsewhere as I proceed to squirm my way into a comfortable position in his arms. He laughs a little at this and I can feel his belly moving slightly from the laugh, it's a nice feeling. As we snuggle together with his arm around me, my face sitting just above the side of the white mark on his chest that distinguishes him as a moon bear and our hand and footpaws hanging around each other while I listen to the soothing relaxed breathes of this older male bear I just soak in my surroundings too. Something I didn't notice before was this regular sized bookcase filled with books on everything from gardening to magic to woodcutting and how to get that perfect chop, Marsh's open claw sandals lay down right beneath the futon and that's when I realize my own sneakers (also with their own opening for my claws and large toes) are still on my feet which are dangling off the edge. I kick them off and then put my footpaws on the futon, close but still a comfortable distance away from Marsh's which are big and look really clean which considering the slightly dirty look of his fur is kind of surprising.

I start looking at the tv stand and see a couple of dvds below the medium sized wall mounted tv along with a couple of trinkets and photos including a few with Marsh and this younger moon bear with this crescent scar right above his left eye and even one separated from the others by an old DVD player with that same bear as a cub with no scar, I'd imagine those are all of him and his son . As I admire the cuteness of those photos with the two moon bears smiling and posing in them and the one with the son as a younger cub being hoisted up by Marsh in his arms like a cake he was presenting I suddenly realize I'm starting to fall off the edge of the futon. I instinctively grab for something to keep me from falling which in this case is the back of Marsh and I wrap my arm around him to steady myself. He grabs me with an arm and pulls me up from dangling half on and half off the futon. Now we're facing each other and I'm close enough that I can feel his warm breath on the top of my head, it smells of chicken and vegetables as well as the natural scent of bear.

"Mmmm... gotcha. Gotta keep an eye on the edge there, man" Is what Marsh says to catching me as we lie facing each other together and getting a good view of each other's faces as our arms are locked together.

"Hehe, yeah. Th-thanks for catching me there" I say a little nervous. It's a little embarrassing both how I almost fell like a dummy only to be caught by the assiduous bear playing host for me and how that brought us only closer together in my first time cuddling anyone, it's all so surreal. Still this closeness is a welcome reprieve and I go back to savoring every bit of it.

"Say Theo, what's up with your spots?"

"Huh?" I was lost in thought as well as the warmth and comfort of both Marsh's body and the futon.

"Your spots" Marsh points at one of them on my arm and I look down. "They're glowing"

"Oh... oh! So they are!" I exclaim in surprise and realization. Surprise at him actually noticing the pale blue glow and the realization that this might be caused by me being flustered or embarrassed since this is the second time it's happened and both times seemingly didn't have any external factors except me being flustered around Marsh.

"It's...it's nothing I a-assure you! Anyway...so I know you said you'd teach me frost magic but how? Like am I going to need anything for that? Should I come here or will you come to me? How can I contact you in the future?" I'm desperately trying to change the subject because the last thing I need is to expose a potentially exploitable and kind of silly vulnerability like my spots mood glow to anyone especially when it popped up so suddenly just today.

"Well I think we should do it here unless you're comfortable with me going to your house to teach you, which admittedly could get messy. I have a phone and could give you my number in a bit. As for everything else, I'll tell you when I walk you back to the train. We'll have some time to discuss it more then and that'll be soon anyway since I'm almost rested up."

"How long do you think till you're fully rested, Marsh?"

"Bout thirty minutes or so. Why?"

"I was just wondering. Could you make it 35 minutes or so instead though? I only got fully comfortable a few minutes ago." I say it with a happy sincerity and do my best to give Marsh a pleading look which is easy since we've been facing each other with his face not that far above mine.

"Sure buddy. That works perfectly for me." He says this and then proceeds to rub his paw under my chin in an affectionate way. I give an mmmmm at this and adjust my whole muzzle a little to better enjoy this really good feeling as he continues to scratch under my chin for a bit. In a little while I'll be on the way back home and then once there I can start that euphoria elixir for that friend but for now I'll just relax a little longer in Marsh's arms and appreciate this very lucky day I've been having so far.