Cormac yawned and rubbed his eyes as he headed down the rough wooden steps to the kitchen. He wondered whether he should share the details of the dream with Lisa; after all, she was his best friend. However, he had a nagging feeling that this was something that he had to figure out on his own - and he always trusted his own instincts. His grandfather had a saying: "When you cannot trust your information, trust your senses. When you cannot rely on those, trust your instincts.” It was a philosophy that hadn't let him down yet.

Lisa was waiting for him in the kitchen.

---

Lisa was a year younger than Cormac, but easily his equal in raising ability. She was about the same size as Cormac, and had a well-rounded figure. She was surprisingly strong, and moved with unexpected grace - it was as if she had choreographed all of her actions beforehand.

She was boundlessly enthusiastic about just about everything, especially anything to do with monsters. Her love and devotion of them was remarkable, even for a trainer. This, combined with her own natural aptitude and knowledge of monsters, made her an excellent rancher.

Their paths had crossed in quite an unusual way - three months after Cormac had arrived at his current ranch, KMA (the Kanturk Monster Association) had sent him a letter informing him that he was to take on an apprentice rancher, due to his remarkable scores in the school.

At first, he was irked by this request - after all, all he wanted to do was try and strike out on his own - an apprentice would only slow him down. This feeling was compounded when the first of the applicants arrived - many hadn't a clue about how to raise a monster. A few had even mistaken Thenardi for an ordinary stuffed toy - something which Thenardi sulked at for days afterward. Just as he was giving up hope, Lisa turned up.

Due to her family's poverty, she had voluntarily left her home at the age of 14 to try and ease the family's problems. She had a string of part-time jobs - a cook, a waitress, a shopkeeper, a delivery girl - the list went on. In her heart, however, she had a burning desire to become a rancher, and earn enough money to help lift her family out of the gutter.

Fate intervened, and when she was working in Kanturk at a food stand near the Stadium, she heard rumours of the vacancy at Cormac's ranch. She quit her job immediately, and rushed straight over to the ranch, knowing that she would get this job no matter what it took.

Although Cormac was apprehensive at first, he was impressed at her determination, and agreed to listen to her cause. But when he learned that she had no formal education, and was only in fact a talented amateur, he knew that he had to reject her, as much as it was against his own wishes. There was no way the KMA would allow such a thing, even though her knowledge of monsters, although intuitive, was just as good as most of the other applicants.

However, Thenardi intervened. As Cormac was preparing the letter of rejection to send to Lisa, Thenardi jumped onto the desk and snapped it out of his grasp. He refused to give it back, and Cormac was forced to chase him around the ranch, angry and astonished at his loyal Mew's behavior. After a few minutes of furious pursuit, Cormac realized that Thenardi wanted Lisa to be his new apprentice. Now that both Thenardi and he wanted Lisa to be his new apprentice, Cormac resolutely decided to make it so.

After several weeks of heated arguments between himself and the KMA, they reluctantly agreed to allow her to be his apprentice. They thought that her initial enthusiasm and talent would fade away after a few weeks, and Cormac would realize his mistake and turn her out.

Things hadn't turned out that way, however. The two made were a superb combination. She was a voracious learner, and mastered many of the raising techniques that Cormac taught her, in some aspects becoming more accomplished than Cormac himself. She completed her apprenticeship in three months, a process that normally took two years.

In the process, the two became best friends. Cormac, normally somewhat shy in company, was delighted to find someone that he could easily converse with, and Lisa, after living on the road, was happy to have someone that she could trust and rely on, after being on her own for so long.

After her apprenticeship was over and she received her certificate from the KMA (whose head-members had been somewhat sheepish at the ceremony, but Lisa was very good-natured about the whole episode), she'd had the option to move out onto her own ranch. But by mutual agreement, they'd decided to stay working together. They were formidable on their own, but together they made a winning combination.

---

"Good Morning!" said Lisa cheerfully. But her hazel eyes instantly spotted that something was troubling him.

"Hey...are you ok?" she said, in a friendly tone of voice, but Cormac detected the trace of worry on the edge of her voice that anybody else would have missed.

"Yeah, fine. Just some bad dreams." he replied.

"You wanna talk about it?”

"Nah, I'll be ok. My dreams can't hurt me" Cormac knew that the truth might as well be scrawled across his forehead - she could read him like a book. Fortunately, the reverse was also true, and he knew that he could rely on her to respect his privacy.

"Sure. When you’re ready to talk about it, just let me know." she replied with a knowing smile.

Cormac gave her a withering gaze, which seemed to amuse her even more.

"Here's your breakfast," she said, pushing a bowl of muesli topped with fresh mango and strawberries toward him, "and I'm going to take Cobalt out for some training by the river this morning. I've got a few targets set up, and the trees make good camouflage for them. Feel free to join me."

"No thanks - I'm not a morning person like you. I'll probably have a quick wash and then some speed training with Thenardi." he replied, tucking into the delicious meal.

"Well, don't say I didn't ask. Oh, we got a letter from Xander this morning. He's going to be coming round this afternoon to discuss something with us."

"What?"

"It didn't say. I think that it’s meant to be a surprise."

"Hmm, that’s weird. I hope nothing's wrong...”

"I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just gushing praise for one of the two of us." said Lisa with a smile. "Well, I'm off now - I'll see you in a few hours."

"Fine. See you later."

Cormac couldn't but help admire Lisa's optimism as she walked out of the door. Nothing ever seemed to get her down. He mentally shook himself - the day was getting on and there was work to do.

---

The door to the stable creaked open slowly - Cormac made a mental note to oil the hinges. The stable was quite old, which was unusual on this ranch - Cormac's early successes as a trainer allowed him to purchase the most modern training apparatus. But although it was old, it was in superb condition - and Cormac had rarely seen a stable so solid and comfortable in his life.

Thenardi sat in the middle, apparently asleep, but he always found it difficult to tell - not least because Thenardi could be mischievous at times.

However, something felt wrong. Thenardi was twitching slightly, as though he was doing something strenuous in his dream. He was also making a low growling sound, and some grooves in the floor in front of him indicated that he had been using his claws during the night.

"Time to wake up!" Cormac called briskly.

Thenardi sprang awake, claws out, hissing. His eyes were wide open and all of his fur was standing on end. Then he blinked, and seemed to remember where he was. He sheathed his claws, and looked slightly apologetic.

"Did you have a bad dream as well?" thought Cormac to himself.

Out loud, he said, "Alright Thenardi, we're going to do some speed training today. I'm gonna leave you some fish and a mango on the table for you to eat, and then I'm going to set up the Thunder Mac."

Thenardi purred appreciatively, but still looked slightly worried, as though something was amiss or out of place. Cormac glanced at him as he nibbled at the food left out for him. Cormac was a little concerned about him, but thought that he'd be fine after a little bit of intense training.

Cormac had set up this machine a hundred times, and knew the setup like the back of his hand. But for reason which he could not fathom, he kept on making mistakes - turning the wrong dials, accidentally switching off the machine, hitting the wrong buttons. His mistakes were compounded when he accidentally touched an exposed wire. A bolt of static danced between his fingers.

"Yow!" he exclaimed, pulling his hand back sharply. His fingers were red and stinging. He had to massage some life back into them before he could properly set up the machine - a task which took thrice as long as usual. Thenardi walked over slowly. Cormac could feel the disinterest radiating off of him as he sucked his numb fingers - his mind simply wasn't on the task at hand. A feeling of gloom hung over the entire ranch.

His instincts were confirmed after half an hour of training. Normally Thenardi loved the Thunder Mac - he danced between the sparks of lightning with ease, reveling in his own abilities. But today, he was lethargic - he was struck by as many bolts as he dodged, and Cormac became more and more frustrated as the session went on.

Finally, after an hour of training, Cormac switched off the machine. Thenardi looked both relieved that it was over and nervous because he thought he was going to be told off - although Cormac was usually a kind trainer, he hated a lack of dedication in any tasks he or Thenardi performed - as was painfully obvious today.

But Cormac was fairly sure what the problem was. "I think that he had the same dream as me last night...” he mused. He wasn't sure why, but he was almost certain that that's what the problem was. “If that is the case, then I can't blame him for being so preoccupied. What he needs is someway to get out that frustration and worry...”

Cormac squatted down so that he was face to face with Thenardi. Thenardi looked right back at him, his yellow eyes shining.

"I think what you want is some punchbag training, right?" said Cormac to Thenardi.

Thenardi seemed to think about this for a moment, and then nodded slowly, smiling.

Cormac stood up. "I thought so. You did seem kinda tense. Well, let me set up the punchbag so you can work some of it out - although, a battle would probably be better for you right about now."

Just then, Thenardi's ears pricked up. Cormac heard it too - the sound of the gate of the ranch swinging open. A low mumbling rearranged itself into Lisa's voice as she got closer.

"....and that's simply not good enough, Cobalt!" came the voice. "I know that you're better than that, but your aim was all over the place! You almost hit me once or twice! Hey, don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

Cobalt, Lisa's henger, floated past them, heading towards the stable. Its expression was blank as always, but if it had a proper face it would almost certainly be sulking. Lisa followed behind him, red-faced and slightly out of breath. She put her hands on her hips as she watched the Henger float into the back of the stable.

"What's wrong with him today?" she complained. "He's been short-tempered and disinterested all morning. His aiming was all off as well. What he needs is some stress-relief..."

"Like the punchbag? Sorry, but I was just going to use it." said Cormac. "Thenardi's been pretty much the same. I think that it's just one of those days."

It must be a bad one of those days if it's getting Cobalt like that, thought Cormac to himself. Cobalt was one of the most fiercely loyal monsters he had ever seen. The two of them were probably closer than Thenardi and he, something which impressed and irritated Cormac at the same time.

Lisa gave an exasperated sigh and threw her head back, looking at the sky. Then she rubbed her forehead. "Fine - you called it. I guess I'll just wait."

"Actually...I have a way for both to sort themselves out at the same time whilst getting some practical battle experience...”

She looked at him and a sly smile slowly spread across her face. Although the two were friends, they were also very competitive - and both hated losing.

"A battle? Sure, why not? It should knock some sense back into these two, and it could be a lot of fun. Let's take it easy though. I don't want anyone getting injured."

"No problem, I agree. Let's go over to the field - there's lots more room and should be deserted at this time of the day. Be there in five."

Cormac grinned. Looked like today could hold some promise after all...

-----------------------------------------------
Again, suggestions/comments appreciated. I'm not such a fan of these fairly pedestrian passages, but I have to develop the characters somewhere.

Just a note in case there's some confusion - Cormac and Lisa are just best friends - not romantically involved in any way.