"Most of mine get along, just because the only two with a history of not getting along are Temmy and Li Li," Andy added. "But as I made it clear there will be no field-stitching done on my watch, they don't really fight." Here, she grinned. "To be honest, I think Li Li has a thing for Temmy."

"Who are Temmy and Li Li?" Seth frowned a bit, confused.

"The dragons. Temmy's the black one, Li Li's the white." Belle smiled.

"Oh, right. Sorry." He grimaced.

"Don't worry about it. It takes some getting used to, I know." Belle smiled. "Especially when you don't know some of the characters."

"Right, I forgot," Andy said. "You're not used to me using their nicknames. Temeraire is the black dragon, you met him earlier. Lien is the white one. Temmy and Li Li. They're from a book series, I think the official name for it is In His Majesty's Service. Anyways, I think Li Li has a thing for Temmy, because she hasn't been as irritated at him as she used to be."

Belle laughed a little. "Awww, how cute!"

Seth shook his head a little. "Sounds like she's liking him better, at least," he said. "Does that happen a lot? Pairings that weren't implied in the series?"

"Oh yeah. The bishis here range anywhere from an exact replica of the character to the exact opposite of who they were based off of."

"There are also trainers who get together with one of their bishies," Andy said. "It's actually really common, moreso than one would expect. That means there are a lot of halflings around, too."

"Halflings?"

"Half bishis. They can't be caught, and I don't know if they can be trainers. I think so, but I'm not sure. Anyway, there are lots of 'em out there. A while back there was some scientist lady who was making a bunch of halflings and setting them loose, except they weren't normal halflings. They were really crazy." Belle shook her head. "Shame, too. I've known one or two halflings, and they were pretty cool."

"I've met a few, as well," Andy said. "They were really nice, and there was one that I couldn't tell he was a half-blood, at least until he said something about it. He was really cool about it, too. I'm sure you'll see one or two in town, if you look close."

"So how many towns are there?" Seth asked, looking between them.

"A good handful," Belle said with a shrug. "Enough that you can travel between them without too much trouble as long as you don't mind hiking and can read a map, or have a bishi who can." She grinned over at Andy.

"Hey, I know I'm directionally challenged," Andy replied, grinning. "Besides, I don't need to hike if I don't want to, I have Temmy and Li Li. And Lawrence can navigate, so it's all good."

Belle laughed a little and shook her head. "Sure, sure."

Seth paused when he saw the gates. "So is that the place?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, this is the town we just came from. This is a nice-sized town. They range anywhere from a few houses in the middle of nowhere to a full-sized big city."

"I originally came from a town smaller than this," Andy said as she showed the guard her bishidex. "It didn't even have sidewalks, so while that's okay if you're going to hike everywhere, I still appreciate sidewalks when I get to a town."

Once they were in the town again, she looked around.

"And I have no idea where the center is in this town."

"Stay here and I'll ask." Belle turned and jogged back to the guard, Eclipse following her. They talked for a few moments, with the guard pointing out a building and saying something. Belle smiled at him and thanked him before she rejoined them.

"Alright, the town center is right there. But they don't have a professor to tell you everything, which is probably good for you." Belle chuckled.

"So what will happen?" Seth frowned a little.

"You'll go in and they'll take a bit of blood and then give you bishiballs. They infuse the blood with the bishiballs somehow, so that it forms a connection between you and your bishis, and so no one can steal them."

"They should also give you a starter set," Andy added as they walked towards the center. "A bag and your bishidex and such. After that, though, you're an official trainer, and you have two weeks to catch a bishi or you're sent back home for good."

"Don't worry though. We'll help you catch a bishi in time." Belle grinned at him and stopped at the door. "See you in a few."

Seth nodded to them and walked in, looking a little nervous.

"Poor guy. I remember when I got here I was so confused."

"At least he has guides who are competent," Andy replied, referring to the two of them. "My guide was some blonde girl who failed to mention things like the two weeks, or that I needed to get blood drawn. I felt bad for her bishies, they all had the stupidest nicknames, too. So I was confused out of my mind and having fangirl episodes right and left." She shook her head, grining a bit. "It's like my part-time job before I came here. I wasn't properly trained, so I had to learn on the fly."

Belle laughed a little. "I didn't really have a mentor. I went in to one of those orientation things, got my freebies, and was shoved out into the world. He threw so much information at us in such a short time that I didn't even hear half of it. so I had to basically figure it all out as I went." She shook her head a little. "I was fine with everything else, except that I'd arrived in pajamas and slippers. I had the hardest time for the first week or so, breaking in my boots and finding people to take pity on me and give me different clothes."

"At least you had slippers on," Andy retorted good-naturedly. "And I wouldn't call my guide a mentor. She eventually got me to an orientation center, and turned tail and left. The people inside the center did their thing, and I found myself standing outside holding my bag and belt and not knowing what the hell I'd gotten myself into."

Belle laughed. "Yup, sounds about right." Still grinning, she turned to look at Seth when he emerged. "You all ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so," he said, shoulding his pack and slipping the belt on.

"Shall we get going then?"

"Sounds good to me," Andy said. She turned to Seth. "Where do you want to go first? I know there are a few territories that meet around here, and we can always see what's relatively close by."

"Well, I know Belle mentioned Dexter," Seth said slowly. "What else is around here?"

Belle pulled out her bishidex and checked her map. "Looks like we're in TV area, because Supernatural is pretty close, and Fringe is off that direction." She grinned. "I don't care where else we go, I want to go see if I can get anyone from Fringe."

Seth nodded. "Sounds fine to me. We'll head in that direction."

Andy looked over Belle's shoulder at the map and grinned.

"Ooh, Warehouse 13 is just past Supernatural," she squealed. "I love Warehouse 13..."

"We can hit Fringe, Supernatural, and Warehouse 13," Belle said with a grin. "Since I love Fringe and Supernatural."

"I think I've seen Supernatural, on and off," Seth said. "I'd have to see one of them to be sure, though."

"Sooner than you think." Belle smirked and started walking.

"You know what territory I want to go to if they ever open it?" Andy asked. "Pandora." She knew she'd said this to Belle already, but not to Seth. "Because the movie Avatar was amazing, the one time I got to see it here. And I can guarantee that the other people in the theater with me all thought the same thing."

"Now that would be great," Seth agreed. "I mean, it would be hard to manage, but if they did manage it, that would be really awesome. Can you imagine what that would be like?"

"Really fun." Belle grinned.

"The place glows in the dark, man," Andy said. "On its own. There's nothing cooler than that." She sighed wistfully. "It was so pretty in the movie."