"That proves nothing," I said calmly. "In fact, all your talk of spirits sounds sketchy to me."
Cloud gaped down at me. "You don't think they're real?"
"I don't see what makes Mistral special," I answered. "If he's so mighty and magical, why did he need my sword?"
"Good point. That's baffling me, too." He was quiet for a while. "Did he say anything to you while he was stealing it?"
Recalling the incident made my fur spike with anger. "No. Nothing."
If only I'd gripped it tighter, or fought harder...
Cloud's voice interrupted my thoughts. "The spirit I'm descended from—he's my grandpa, actually—he's nothing like Mistral, just so you know. His name's Nautilus. He's the spirit of water."
I still didn't believe this tale in its entirety, but I played along. "Water? You don't look water-oriented to me."
"I'm not, but my brother is. He's a mer. You know? Half fish, half man?" He sighed when he saw the skeptical look on my face. "Listen, it sounds crazy, but I swear it's true. My whole family's full of wacky shifters."
This wasn't the first time he'd mentioned his large family.
"Are you from a cult or something?" I asked.
"No! Geez, you're so sour about everything."
I shrugged. "Not sour. Just realistic."
"More like cynical."
I twitched my whiskers. "For a mouse shifter, sometimes being cynical is the difference between living and dying."
Cloud's expression softened. "I never thought about it that way. I guess everything in the world is dangerous for you, huh?"
The answer was obvious so I didn't respond. For Cloud, it must have been the opposite. Knowing that annoyed me. He could do anything, go anywhere... He had so many ways of protecting himself, and he never had to worry about when his next foe would pop up.
All I had was my sword. And now, because I'd been careless, it was gone.
"You know, Meeko," Cloud said. "It's funny you say that about being cynical... My brother could've used a little bit of cynicism recently."
"Your brother the mer?"
"Yeah. He got kidnapped by poachers."
A cold shiver raised my pelt. That was one concern that never crossed my mind. A little mouse meant nothing to poachers.
"Is he all right?" I asked.
"Oh, he's totally fine now. It's a long story, but basically we had an argument, and then he swam off on his own, and he underestimated humans, and then..." Cloud shook his head. "It was a lot."
"I'm sorry he went through that," I murmured. "Humans are best avoided."
Cloud grinned. "Yeah, tell that to my grandpa. He went and fell in love with a human and together they had my dad."
"You're... descended from both a spiritanda human?"
"Yup."
If Cloud wasn't so sincere, I would've thought he was making shit up as he went. But for some reason I was inclined to believe him and his ridiculous tales.
"Is your whole family made up of shifters?" I asked.
