Finding My Husband in Another World.

Season 1: Chapter 1: Escape

I slowly made my way along a trail. The forest was sparse enough to let the moonlight through. Of course with two moons the light cast somewhat confusing shadows. "How did this happen to me?" I whispered. It was sort of a rhetorical question as I knew exactly how I'd gotten to this place. I let my mind wander back as I continued on.

I'd been sitting at the table and didn't know much of anything. I was just there. One moment I was old and dying and the next I was a child.

"Were you listening?" An angry, well-dressed man yelled at me.

"What-" I asked in complete confusion.

"I said I have a real son now so I don’t need you anymore."

My mind was still puzzling over the fact I was a child but I heard myself reply. "Father? Is this some sort of birthday joke?"

"Don't call me that. From this point on you have no parents. You're going to be just another nameless slave. I only kept a bastard like you around for insurance. Now that my true blood son has been born I don't need you anymore."

Two of the house guards dragged me out and shoved me into a cage on a wagon. Then they tossed a dusty covering over the cage making it hard to breathe.

"Be sure to take him far from this place so he'll never find his way back."

If the slave trader replied I didn't hear it over my coughing.

***

I needed to get off the trail. It was a game trail meaning I'd encounter predators sooner than later. It also made it easier for anyone following me. The problem was I had no idea where I was. I suppose it didn't matter which way I went now. I turned off the trail and kept going.

***

When I woke up in the slave trailer I wasn't myself, or I was, but I wasn't exactly this person. It's difficult to explain. When I woke up I had memories of my past life in another world. When I died I was given a choice take my chances on judgement or be reborn into another world with special abilities.

I chose to be reborn, but only on the condition I could wait for the one I loved. That way we could be reborn together. The Goddess was hesitant at first but we bargained over the terms. My life wouldn't be easy but my love would also be born into the same world relatively close to me. I was able to barter the first five years of my new life for some skills. Meaning I’d have to live for five years not knowing my true identity or the skills I had chosen. Now I knew I could read and understand all languages. I had a massive mana reserve to draw on. I could learn special spell like skills, but it required making a pact with a beast spirit with the appropriate skill tree. I had increased my fighting skills, with a specialty in twin blades so that even if I didn’t have any skills I could still defend myself. I chose my primary roles as a summoner and beast tamer. I could tame lesser monsters and powerful entities to summon if needed. Unfortunately I was limited to beast summons. There was also a curse. I needed to choose my first summon carefully because I’d end up taking on physical attributes of the beast. That meant I needed to find a tiger spirit.

Finally the last of my points went into two skills I thought would be really important: appraisal and dimensional holding. Basically I could see monsters levels and hit points. The dimensional holding would allow me to store and retrieve anything I might need in a pocket dimension.

***

I could really have used knowing that before being tossed into that slave cart. Maybe then I’d have some tools now. I glanced around, I'd been so lost in thought I'd stumbled into some ruins. Not good, even I knew the monsters here would be much stronger. I would have run except for two things. The memories from my other life told me only prey ran and second I was in the very center of the complex.

There was a roar and a giant tiger leapt at me only to be stopped by spectral chains. It was all white with no stripes and when I say big I don't mean in comparison to myself, I mean he was almost the size of an elephant. I stumbled backwards and there was a howl as a giant black wolf lunged at me. He was slightly smaller than the tiger. I scrambled back to the very center just out of range of the two beasts.

"Why didn’t he run? If he ran we could have caught him like all the rest." The tiger growled.

"I'm glad he didn't. You always eat them without sharing." The wolf replied.

"He doesn't seem scared of us. Maybe he isn't right in the head." The Tiger said, eyeing me up.

"Look at his size. It's more likely he's just a child, and you know how some of them can be." The wolf said.

"Tender and tasty, though not a full bite."

"I assure you I wouldn't taste all that good." I said, hoping maybe they’d stop thinking about eating me.

"You can understand us?" The wolf asked, taking a cautious step back.

"Of course." I replied.

"You're a summoner!" The Wolf barked.

"He still shouldn’t be able to understand us.” The tiger said glaring at me. Finally he sighed, “I am Lunarii spirit of the greater moon-"

"Yeah right. You only look bigger because you're closer. I am Stellarii, spirit of the second moon. Please, I wish to form a pact and become your summon" Stellarii whined.

"Hey, I was asking when you cut me off. Listen human, I'm powerful and can protect you." Lunarii said.

"And a complete savage. You're likely to eat him in his sleep. I on the other hand, though not as powerful as you, still have more than enough power to protect him and I'm loyal." Stellarii stated.

“Why are you so desperate to become a summoned spirits?" I asked, happy that they were no longer talking so much about eating me.

“We've been trapped in this temple since it was being constructed long in the past and we'd do anything to be able to interact with the world again." Lunarii said.

"So you really want to travel with me?"

"Yes!" they both answered simultaneously.

"However, you must choose only one of us. Only a great and experienced summoner would survive taking on our combined energy. It's unlikely you'll survive even one of us, but we're desperate." Stellarii explained.

"As I understand it I have to be touching you to complete the contract. Both of you stretch you paws as close to me as you can."

"Why?" Lunarii asked.

"When I make my choice one of you is going to be upset. With your paw extended it’ll give me a chance to get away before the one I don’t choose can strike."

They looked at each other and nodded then both did as I asked. I knelt down and held my hands over their paws "I accept you as my summons." I made sure to touch both paws at the same time. There was a crack of energy and then nothing.

***

I woke to the sound of voices. "How could he get this far? The runt is only five and was raised as a noble."

"How should I know? He shouldn't have been able to escape to begin with."

"Sir, I told you he chewed through the bindings. What kind of noble does that?"

"The kind that requires tracking magic to follow. Now keep looking, he had to leave a trace as to the direction he went from here."

The leader, I’d guess to be a human but his face was so twisted and scared that I couldn’t be sure. The other was a werewolf, no demi-human wolf my memories supplied, twice his size of the human. Still he was the one cowering.

"Captain, we've been around the complex three times already. Either he cast an anti-tracking spell or he's still here." Another human said, as he and another wolf joined the leader.

The group was standing in front of me, any closer and they'd be tripping over me. How is it possible they haven't found me?

"Don't speak, it'll break the illusion. As your summon I can mind speak with you." Lunarii’s said, inside my head.

"Like it's that difficult. I just have to think what I want to say and you hear it." I replied.

"You know mind speak? That's an advanced summoner skill." Stellarii said.

"So it worked, I was able to get both of you." I replied.

"Sort of, but now isn't the time. I need you to summon me. All you have to do is think Lunarii come and I’ll appear."

"We're not going to find anything else here. I don't want to believe it but the little shit must have back tracked." The leader said, as he turned to leave.

"Sir, we didn’t find-"

"I said we're going back. I hate to lose money but if he didn't backtrack then something else got him. We're not going to find anything here."

I watched as the other three slavers gave the surrounding forest weary looks. Before heading back.

"We need to go. Our skills only work when the moons are in the sky right now." Stellarii said.

"No, we wait. I may be wrong, but if I were the slaver I'd watch for a while just to see if illusion magic is being used." I replied.

"That's . . . You're right I can sense that they are spreading out around the temple. You’re trapped." Lunarii growled.

"You said something about being hungry I could summon you."

"That's not going to work" Stellarii replied "It seems there were some . . . unexpected consequences to becoming your summon partners."

"What consequences?"

"We're both now-" Lunarii made a mental coughing noise, "cubs."

"Are you telling me that instead of getting powerful tiger and wolf summons I have a kitten and a puppy?"

There was a long pause before both answered "Yes". I would have laughed if I didn't trust it would give away my position.

"Some what can you do?"

"At my current level I can cloak you in invisibility when the moon is out. At my full power I had can keep things invisible indefinitely." Lunarii boasted.

"I can create illusions, but I don’t know how powerful or convincing they’ll be right now. I might be able to produce a terror howl, but it would be weak. At full power I have howling attacks"

"You both have enhanced senses, right?"

"No." Stellarii answered.

I considered for a moment. No way was the moonlight this bright. "Illusion and invisibility. It seems like when I combine the skills it gives me access to enhanced senses including night vision.” I concentrated and I could see . . . it wasn’t heat but it was an energy from the slavers surrounding the temple. “How convincing are the illusions?"

"If I draw on the power here, and the illusion wasn’t large I think it would be solid." Stellarii said.

"Okay, when I tell you, I want you to send an illusion of me running." I closed my eyes for a minute and then looked in the direction that would take me home. It was a tangent to the direction I’d come from. "Send it in that direction. Keep it up as long as possible."

"Why? Shouldn't you run away from the road?" Stellarii asked.

"No that is the general direction toward where I was taken from. Where I want to go is back to their camp."

"Why?" Lunarii asked.

"To rob them. I need some sort of weapon, clothes that will mark me as a commoner, food, money if I can find it, and their horses. We need to get away from them fast and we need to go farther than just the next village. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Stellarii replied.

"Then send out the illusion."

***

The ruse worked and I was able to use my tamer skills to convince the two horses to travel with me. I didn't form a contract with them though. I didn't take much time going through their items I just started stuffing them into my dimensional pocket. I loaded everything I could into it. I didn't leave much. I even took their dinner. They were slavers and as far as I was concerned didn't deserve to live. I would have taken their cart but I couldn’t open the portal enough to push it in and breaking it up for firewood would have made too much noise.

It took about a week to reach the boarder of my former family’s domain. It might have been quicker but I didn't want to over work the horses. . . Okay that might not be true. My horse skills came from my old life, as this new one had no riding skills, and I wasn't exactly a good horseman.

After another week of travel I figured I'd put enough space between myself and my pursuers. I released the horses. I'd have liked to sell them but who would buy from a five year old? Finding a job presented the same problem since they could just get a slave to do the work.

It was already fall so I was going to need food and shelter. My spirits led me to a small temple. The temple's spirit had already been taken by another summoner. However the attached cottage had a large storage of wood and was still in relatively serviceable condition. It also had a hand pump in the kitchen meaning a clean source of water. Now I just needed food.

I found an old overgrown garden in back of the temple. Fortunately I don't have my aversion to vegetables in this world. Now I have onions, carrots, potatoes, beans, squash, and garlic. Salt would be nice but I don't have access to it. Next I'm going to need to hunt. In order to make things stretch through the winter I'm going to need meat.

***

It's been two weeks and I've settled in. I've found my hunting and trapping skills are pretty bad. I did find a sewing kit in the cottage and I've started using what I stole from the slavers to attempt to make a quilt. It's starting to get really cold to the point where having a tiger and wolf cub curled up next to me isn't enough.

Another three days have passed and I've gotten two squirrels and Lunarii caught a rat. I was rather hesitant but the soup has been really thin.

We had our first snowfall last night. I can't help thinking how much my mate would have loved it. Still, I'm worried I might not survive the winter.

I found and tamed my first animal this afternoon. He looks like a clouded leopard except he's white with light blue markings. He looks to have been attacked by a large bird. I probably should have put him out of his misery and added him to the stew, but I have a strong aversion to eating felines and canines. He doesn't talk but I understand him in a way. It’s more of an impression of what he is thinking.

It's been a few days. I'm kind of losing track. Anyway I woke up to find Sky missing and the house filled with fog. As it turns out my little clouded leopard can take an immaterial form. He just needed to heal enough to be able to transform. When he became solid again he was fully healed.

After letting him out, I wasn't worried since the tamer contract would always bring him back, he returned with four rabbit like creatures. He insisted one was for him but I could have the other three. With Sky to hunt for me I might just survive the winter.

***

It was cold. My quilt, small as I was, wasn't large enough to cover me. Even with Moon and Star in their physical forms and Sky curled around me wasn't enough. I was going to die, again.

It was so cold I was starting to feel warm. That meant hypothermia. I knew I needed to get up and move around, use more of my dwindling wood supply, but what was the point? I could either freeze now or in a few hours.

I was surprised when I woke up. The fire was out, but I was alive. I got up but something wasn't right. I'd shrunk! No, that wasn't it, I was on all fours. Wait, humans didn't have four feet. I didn't have a mirror but from what I could tell I'd changed into a cat. Well a kitten maybe. I was about the same size as Moon except I had black fur and white stripes. It seemed in my dying state I accessed a new skill. I could change myself into a beast.

Don't get me wrong I was still cold but maybe, just maybe, I'd survive. Sky seemed completely unconcerned and headed out to hunt. Star was upset that I looked more like Moon especially since, in his opinion, wolves were the better choice for staying warm in the winter. Moon insisted he'd teach me to hunt now that I wasn't helpless. To be honest I figured I'd have better luck learning from sky.

I spent the rest of the day transforming back and forth. If not for the fact both Moon and Star had seen me naked on more than one occasion I would have been embarrassed as my clothes kept falling off and no matter how much I tried I couldn't transform back into them. So it was definitely not a skill to use in combat. On the plus side I was able to practice enough to shift from tiger, to an anthro-tiger, into a beast kin with just the tiger tail and ears, and finally back to my human form.

I decided to stick to the anthro-form it had the benefits of a warm coat and usable hands. The down side was that none of my clothes would fit. Though as I said only Sky, Star, and Moon would see me and as animals they were technically naked as well.

***

I've been learning to "see" through Sky. It is an odd sensation to say the least. Sure it is easy enough when he's solid, but when he takes his mist form he sees in terms of colors, sort of like the world was an impressionist painting. Also he could hear in terms of air vibration similar to echo location. It has taken time but that’s all I've really had.

Today we found signs we're not alone. There are other humans in the woods. It seems we have a trapper encroaching on our territory. I mean, hunting the same rabbits Sky was. I had enough for a couple of days even if Sky did prefer them fresh. I needed to know more.

It didn't take long to find the trapper. He was swearing about such a small catch. Of course it was small considering we were probably over hunting. I'd have Sky switch his hunting grounds. We followed him. If he lived close by he might become a real threat. It took most of the day but we arrived at a village. I had Sky continue to follow him as he entered a shop. It was a risk but we found a hidden spot and listened in.

"I can give you one silver each." The shop keeper said.

"These are white leapers. They're worth three silvers at least."

"They are worth two silvers at most. I'm being kind offering one considering how damaged these skins are. Your traps were meant for more common leapers."

"You sold me the traps!"

"Yes, but if you want better traps you have to pay more."

"Fine. I'll take the one silver each. But when the spring traders come-"

"The leapers will be shedding for summer and you'll be lucky to get three coppers for the meat. Dog! Get in here and deal with these!"

A canine beast kin girl came in and collected the bodies. "Thake them out back and prepare them."

She had a difficult time carrying them, but I decided to follow her instead of listening to the last of the exchange.

The girl was at least twice my age, but still ten years old is still really young. Then I noticed the collar, she was the shop owner's slave. I watched as she skinned the rabbits. She was obviously skilled compared to myself. She separated the meat and skin the cold air keeping the meat fresh. Being in Sky's body I hadn't noticed the cold but the blood was freezing in places. She then cleaned and set the skins aside. She started to prepare one when the shop owner came out.

"What are you doing?" He yelled.

"I-"

You will take those skins to the tanner and then take the meat to the butcher. And if I hear about you trying to sneak any again I'll sell you to a less caring master. Now go!"

"Yes, master."

She collected the skins and hurried away. I would have followed, but Sky would have been seen.

"Worthless dog. Whatever processed me to take her as payment? I've lost more in keeping it alive. As soon as the traders return I'm selling her. Hmm, maybe I should increase her food slightly. If she looks healthy I might get a bit more for her." He said, before the bell on the shop sent him scurrying back inside.

I prepared to leave but the girl returned. Knelt before the chopping block as though it was an altar. "Lord Stellarii, I offer you this leaper blood so that you may hear my prayer. I know I'm just a worthless dog, and I don't want to die, but I'd rather join mother and father in your kingdom than continue suffering like this." She said looking up at the second moon.

"We are going to help her, right?" Star asked.

"I want to, but we can't do anything right now."

"Young one, I have heard your prayer, but it is not yet your time. Have faith that one of my servants will find a way to free you. In return I ask that you care for him." He replied.

"Star! What the hell?"

"She invoked my name, that allowed me to mind speak to her through Sky. Was I wrong about you finding a way to free her?"

"Sky, get home as quickly and stealthily as possible. I need to deal with a problem puppy." I felt Sky agree and I stopped our link.

"It's not the freeing part I'm upset about. It's the caring for me part."

"You are much too young to be on your own. You need some help and she is older."

"That is one interpretation. But the way you phrased it she could mistake it for her god telling her I'm the one he wants her to fall in love with. As you well know I already have a mate I'm searching for. Also just to be clear my mate is male."

"Oh. That isn't what I meant, but now that you've explained . . . I may have made a mistake."

My mind started ringing with Moon's laughter. "This is going to be fun to watch."

***