Appearing suddenly in a blink, and for a long second, I forgot where I was.
'You've been stepping out of line, Felix.' I said in thought.
"You're too trusting," Felix spoke, their form blurred like foggy glass or a steam-filled mirror. "It's only been a week, and you're already letting them this close…" He walked around as he gabbed, passing through the campfire and Yu'ri. It was odd seeing myself move from a different perspective, almost like hallucinations one could get from the carnivorous flowers in Gol'ven. But why?
'FELIX-why exactly are you here?' The question made them stop, and it took them less than a second to answer.
"Making sure that you don't die."
'That's irrational.' I quickly replied. 'They're weak and harmless to anything that's a foot taller than them.'
An audible breath left Felix, and he waved a hand around Yuri. "You don't get it, we know nothing about him, aside from the obvious that they're a monster- A mimic that came from who knows where."
'And I could easily kill them if they change.'
"Don't you get it?" They took a step forward in my direction, a boot stepping through the campfire, and the fire flickered. "It's the same with your previous partner," Again, they waved a hand around Yu'ri, who was focused on fiddling with the detached cleaver. "Something's off, I feel it, but with him it's stronger."
'And that something is?'
"They're not to be trusted-"
'You said the same thing about Reilya, and nothing bad ever happened-'
"Nothing yet." They paused in thought, and they continued before I could interject. "It's a feeling you know as well, a feeling of unease that gnaws on the back of your mind. It was the same as back then. For a year, I ignored it, doubting every thing that happened as a mere coincidence. And look at where that got me, dead, with no one else knowing except for them. Didn't even have didn't even had the decency to have me buried." Felix paused, crossing his arms over his chest and turning their gaze out of the alcove.
"You can't make the same mistake as me."
'You got betrayed, I know. But your feeling is wrong, they have nothing to gain, and for one, I don't trust them to begin with-'
"Then why do all of this!" The fire under the boot flickered. "You have more to lose here than they do. And what do you get from this? Proving a point to yourself, proving to her?"
'Yes.' A long silence followed my answer, accompanied by the flickering of the fire.
"Ludicrous," Felix spoke again, turning their gaze back on me. "We don't even know if they're actually a child. They just have a vessel of one. They could be as old as you."
'And do you really think so?' I asked and turned my eyes to Yu'ri, who had one hand shifting and writhing in blots of skin, muscle, and bone, while the other hand held the detached clever close to his face as if it were a puzzle.
"It could be an act, like them playing dead."
'Even if they could act. I've been with other mimics before, and they're more cunning and ferocious than him.' Every mimic was different, but cunning and ferocious were the two traits that every mimic I have met seemed to have. From a woodsman, a horse, a dog, an old hermit, a rabbit, or a lone merchant, to even a knight. They play their part, friendly and waiting for their prey to lower their guard before striking. Perfect copies with madness hidden behind their eyes.
"You're going to die." Felix suddenly said, and my eyes snapped to them. "You have no plan, and if you don't leave them here. You'll be executed in Higala before the season ends."
'Are you here to help or not?' I sharply replied. Another few seconds of silence went and Felix uncrossed his arms and let out a long breath.
"Why don't you just hide them? Can't you just tell them to turn into a piece of clothing or a sheet of parchment?"
'It doesn't work like that, we have limits. As formless as our bodies are, we are still living beings, organs still need to take space to function, and as much as our cores could help, they can't sustain a body alone.'
"Then what's the limit?" He asked, walking over to Yu'ri, leaning over the boy like crane. "They're skinny but not enough."
'For him, I don't know, but for me, I was able to shrink about more than half before it started to hurt.'
"Then ask them."
'You're seriously not suggesting that we hide him underneath-'
"Do you have any better idea?" Felix countered. "Smuggling them in is the second-best thing we could do so far. The first would be to leave them." He sighed. "Ask them and think place you could stuff them inside."
'You're-' again, their voice cut through
"Just don't die, or I'll make you regret it." His final words as his form disappeared as I blinked. A warmth started to build in my eyes, along with a pressure at the back of my head. My eyes closed promptly, and my back arched forward, with my hand catching my face.
Felix was right, Yu'ri was small, and if they could be just a bit smaller, hiding them should be manageable. Smuggling them in was not the worst idea so far, though the question of how was always the problem.
"Yu'ri," I finally spoke after much thought. "Can you be smaller?"
"What?" Yu'ri answered, his hand frozen in mid-transformation, and it took another second before it reformed back into a hand.
"Do you prefer, smaller company?" They asked, their eyes switching from mine to the detached clever in their hands, before tossing it to the fire. It burned like any other body.
"No, and I'm asking for a different reason than what you're thinking." I paused, removing my hand from my face as I straightened my back. "I'm heading to Higala, the closest village to here, and since you're insistent on following me, this will be your last chance to stop before we cross the tundra."
"What's wrong with Higala?"
"You've met other people before, right?"
"Yes," Yu'ri answered despite my expectation.
"Then you see the problem. Higala is an old frontier village, it's not exactly a place warm place for strangers. Even more so to strangers like you."
"Oh, I see…" They said, slowly nodding while their eyes avoided mine.
A moment of silence passed before I asked again, "Can you be smaller?"
"I don't know… But I'll try."
It was a good enough answer.