Wings of a New Companion

A Dream
"Wen...Dy." A small, female voice was calling out in the mind of Wendy as she slept. "Find....me."

Wendy shot up, gasping like she had run a mile. She looked around. The room was still dark, and she saw too many figures on the bed. Jason had insisted that Wendy was the only one allowed to sleep next to him. Did this stop any of the others? Not a chance. Wendy had been curled next to Jason's torso, Vivian was at his side and Mary curled next to her. Iris was sleeping in-between Jason and Vivian, and whether they had found it uncomfortable before, they were all sound asleep now.

Jason had definitely found it difficult to check in to a hotel this time, because traveling with four girls tended to draw the odd look from everyone, and he couldn't pass off the "wife and kid" story anymore. Iris had actually shouted out "Traveling Circus", which, miraculously, the clerk seemed to buy after seeing Iris do a few odd things with walnuts.

Wendy curled back into her sleeping position, waiting for the sun to rise.

Iris fidgetted around as her eyes snapped right open- it was natural for a squirrel to be up so early. Skeptical, she hopped straight up like a flash, sniffing around like a chicken; something wasn't right, that for sure. Suddenly, from the bottom of her throat, she bellowed, "ALRIGHTY! LET'S TRY AND GET SOMEWHERE TODAAAAAAAAAAY!"

Vivian shot straight up, if yanked by a puppeteer's string. "Holy- ...dammit, Iris...Ever thought of keeping your mouth shut? People are trying to SLEEP."

Jason, seemingly still asleep, gripped Iris' tail again, pulling her back down onto the bed and refused to release his grip on her tail.

Iris let out a sharp moan that was almost, well, suggestive. Her knees knocked together as she collapsed, being a panting, sweaty mess, crying out, "Ma-master...Grab me harder...!"

Vivian went red at this sight as she elbowed Jason. "Let go. It's too damn embarrassing."

Wendy shook Jason away as he let go of Iris' tail. Mary rubbed her eyes, yawning cutely...before utterly collapsing into sleep again, dragging Vivian back down to the bed with her. She breathing was light as she slept on.

Vivian impacted on the bed with a loud *thud*, before continuing to mumble, attempting to send herself back off to sleep rather calmly. "I guess we can have thirty more minutes....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...." of course she fell asleep about twenty seconds later, holding her little sister rather tightly, refusing to let her go.

Iris, of course, managed to wander outside to try and run around in the fresh air, performing cartwheels to keep herself in shape. It was almost offp-putting, that.

Jason rose quietly due to Wendy's shaking, and looked around the room. "It's only about 4:00 AM. Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"Sort of..." Wendy murmured, racking her brain for the dream. "Someone was calling out to me...calling for help."

Jason mulled that over. "I guess it's something we'll have to look into." He frowned, a vein throbbing in his head. Iris was outside, working out and causing more noise than anyone should in a hotel. "Iris, get back in here." He hissed, but her ears made it possible to hear him.

Iris glanced at Jason with a shit-eating grin. "...Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine." She wasn't too happy about this; a free spirit like her certainly didn't like being confined anywhere. However, she did as told; being practically his pet, even though she was uncharactistically grumbling about it the whole way.

"Thank you." He acknowledged her. He actually reached up and stroked her ears, which was something she enjoyed, since he knew he was basically keeping her from doing what she liked.

Iris fell back ever-so-slightly, as she purred like a cat(?). Her muscles relaxed as she began to roll around on the ground playfully; she yelled out in a rather squeaky voice, cacaphonic as it was for him to pat her more.

Vivian, extremely pissed off as it was, stood up and stomped on Iris multiple times until she stopped yelling. "...Stupid rodent..."

Jason drew Vivian in, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Vivian, since I've already consented to the harem idea, can you please not physically everyone who is in it? I can feel the jealously emanating from you." It was unusual of Jason to pay this much attention to someone. And then, in a move that would surprise anyone who could see it in the dark, he kissed her, albeit very briefly. "We have problems to deal with beyond your petty jealousy, and a trip to the E.R. is not on today's agenda."

Vivian nodded with a slight blush as she inched back, remarking something along the lines of "Tch, shut up..." in a rather haughty manner, before immediately calming down. "...Right. Now what was that about that voice Wendy heard?"

"I heard a voice calling for help." Wendy explained. "Specifically calling to me."

Mary frowned. "That's...suspicious."

"But also worth investigation." Jason pointed out. "Psychic voices...even as a mage, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

Vivian rather calmly stated as clearly as possible, "Well, then. Perhaps you can track that voice?" She heartily patted Wendy on the back. "I'm sure it's easy. Of course, people tend to do that...a lot." Psychic voices, that was.

"I don't think that's possible..." Wendy replied, looking downcast. "I don't have that type of magic."

"I don't think any of us do." Mary frowned.

Vivian sighed. "Well, dammit." She couldn't understand why nobody else could follow voices they heard in dreams. Either that or she'd smoked up a whole bunch of crack that one time at summer camp. "...Well, now what then?" She grumbled to herself, "Stupid useless psychic voices can't even follow 'em good for nothing..."

Meanwhile, Iris remained fast asleep on the floor; her snoring fluctuated between loud and quieter than a mouse. "...Shh, I wanna eat bacon in the bathtub..."

"It's fine, Vivian." This was the second time in a day Jason hadn't called her "Vivian Starrkewolfe". "If this voice wants Wendy, she'll just have to listen harder. Luck will be a key."

Vivian crossed her arms. "I see. Well, dammit. We're more lost than a..." she pressed her finger to her lip in thought. "...I dunno. But we're lost, okay?"

Tracking a Voice
"Is it really alright to just leave her?" Wendy asked as they walked outside of the hotel with Iris. "Vivian...didn't seem happy."

"Mary trusts her more than us, she'll adjust easier if Vivian helps her along." Jason explained. "We're going to find the voice that calls to you."

Iris couldn't help but shiver with delight; at least now, finally, she had Jason all to herself. Though she wanted Vivian as well...dammit, she couldn't decide what she wanted more! She bellowed, "Alrighty! I will find the SOLUTION!" Idiot. It was like saying "I will achieve my goal!" while doing it; it meant nothing!

"Iris, could you please calm yourself?" Jason reprimanded quietly. "We have to focus on the task at hand. Do that for me."

Iris glanced down. She felt kinda bad, going against Jason's wishes, but she couldn't help herself in all honesty. "Alrighty~" she attempted to keep calm, though no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it; so instead, she bit her tongue and slammed her jaw completely shut.

"Wen...dy. Wendy Marvell!" Wendy stopped short, holding her head. Jason turned immediately, reaching out for her. "Is something the matter?" His concern was obvious. This was the girl he'd defend more than anything else.

"It's...calling again!" She cried, falling to her knees as the voice shouted in her head. "I'm...seeing something!"

Iris urged Wendy, "Yes...Go towards the light, Wendy! The light needs you!" of course, she was expecting Vivian to jump out of nowhere and slap her upside the head by now. "...But seriously, run forward and don't turn back."

"Vivian..." Jason flashed her a warning look. "That's inappropriate at this moment, do not speak of such things." The warning in his tone was clear, but it wasn't like he'd punish her.

Tears welled up in Iris' eyes as she cried out, "....Buuuuuuuuuuut that's what my great-granny said to say whenever things like that happen...!" Of course, her great-grandma was a certified old coot- and nothing would change that. Her family was bigger than the whole population of Mizuho- though out of all of them, something went wrong in regards to the chromosomes.

Jason sighed, and, exasperated, stroked her tail again, allowing the moans to slip through her mouth as he focused on Wendy. "Wendy, what can you see? Is it anything of value?"

"A...a forest..." She struggled, trying to hold onto the vision before it faded. "...A dim lit...forest..." It faded as soon as she saw this.

"Eghhhhhh....!" Iris cried out as she just allowed Jason to persist in well...performing his 'can't-believe-its-not-sexual' movement, with his hand against her tail, before briefly managing to let out a strained, yet somewhat in denial, "...L-Let go...! I think I can help...!" ...for once she was useful.

Jason released her tail. "You speak as if I'd abandon you for uselessness." Jason's voice had a minute trace of hurt in it, but nothing easily readable. Wendy went a bit limp, but could steady herself. "If you can help, please, do offer your assistance." Jason allowed Iris as well to rest on his arm. Gripping her tail like that always made her weak-kneed.

Iris managed to use her hidden claws to use Jason as a impromptu scratch post while clutching his arm; her face burrowed into his shoulder. "Lead the way, then~" Though, she managed to keep her eyes out for anything of note.

Jason wrapped his arm around her, helping her steady. "Don't rush yourself. I know that feeling makes you uneasy. But it puts you in line, so it is necessary sometimes." He gently helped her try to steady herself, and Wendy was beginning to recover from her telepathic ordeal.

Iris blushed slightly, and for once, acted like a proper girl. Her body relaxed somewhat as she let out a rather content sounding sigh of relief- utterly happy with this situation. "...T-Thank you." ...Since when did she sound like Viv?

Jason nodded. "I can feel you are content. Being here with me. The first person that was ever like that was Wendy." He checked Wendy's head to see if it was hot, making sure she was just fine. "I suppose...yes, your harem idea will work just fine."

Iris could barely contain her glee; her eyes lit up in a rather...anime-esque fashion, sparkling like they looked like stars. "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight~!" though she suddenly, shut her mouth, as she quickly remembered what Jason said about it beforehand.

"Iris, didn't you say you could help?" Jason asked, as he finally stood up. "If you can, please do. So we're not flying blind."

"I can help too!" Wendy piped up. "I know what I saw, so I can describe it!"

Iris, for once, remained completely calm, and rather seriously stated, "Focus, Wendy. Just focus and try and visualize what you saw. Try and imagine what happened, and see your environment as if it were the visions. Then, walk towards the voice. Trust me. It shall be perfectly okay." Her mind seemed to blank at this. "....Erm, what did I just say?"