Day 0: A boy and his fire elemental

Chris was the first to react to the elf leaving and headed to the bags. “Let’s check the bags and then pitch the tents” Looking into the bag, he found a knife, a hammer, an axe, hempen rope, a flask filled with water, a smartphone, and a flint and steel. “At least they prepared a decent bag of supplies, no food, but that is supplied regularly. This is all you need, maybe a few more flasks, depending on how far you go from the campsite. Not that I think I need a flint and steel with Ember around.”

“Indeed, I can start a fire if you need one, Master,” Ember responded. He had found it weird to be constantly called Master, but thought it was a gripe of the show.

“Ember, can you not constantly call me master? It’s weird. I get that Syl does it for the show, but you as well are making me kind of uncomfortable.”

This one-sided conversation Chris was having concerned Ryan. “Who are you talking to, Chris? Who is Ember? Has the weird bulshit gotten to you already?”

“Wait, give me a moment, it is easier to show than to explain, I guess.” Chris had run off only to return with a big stick. “Ember, can you put the stick to a blaze for me?”

“Sure, easy, sir.” The ball of fire lit up the stick.

“How did you do that?” Ryan asked.

“You know how Syl modified Heather’s clothes? By asking Ember to do it. She did not do it herself. Remember when she said, ‘casting elemental magic is as easy as asking them’ I can now talk to elementals. Ember is a fire elemental who accepted the name I gave them.” It clicked the reason why Syl spoke after the changes had happened to the clothes, the other conversations Chris and Syl had had where some information was missing, it made a weird amount of sense.

“So how can we learn or get to sense them?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I am not sure what the upgrade to my transformation will do. That might be a solution or not. If, strong IF, Ember were to be forced to join the harem because of bulshit likely one of their transformations would pull them out closer to human than a ball of living fire.”

“I could if I get strong enough, take corporal form anyway. That is harder, and generally older elemental spirits are able to do that, but it isn’t unheard of that bound spirits gain growth spurts. ‘Friend of nature’ might help with that or something else. Do you want me to ask some of my contacts in the writers department?”

“No, Syl hinted that going beyond what is normally expected of the staff of the show would guarantee you joining the harem. An exception was made for actions expected of contracted spirits,” Chris reprimanded in a stern voice.

“What did they suggest?” Jessica asked.

“To look into what the upgrade does. If I can find it out when buying, that is good enough, but going to the writers for it is too much. I understand they might be okay with stepping into this weird situation. I, however, am not okay with dragging another individual into it. We can hope it won’t be necessary.” The ball of fire dimmed as this was said. Noticing this, Chris looked at the ball. “You know I say it in part because I care, but I don’t even understand how this, us, a relationship between a human and an elemental could work… Maybe I need to ask Syl to ask a question about it to this Tyalangan, how this could work. They are in a relationship with something akin to you.”

“Yeah, that might be a smart move, asking her directly, or Scarlet might be a good plan. I don’t know when her season is opening up for fan mail. But she is the host of a running season, so that might be the best moment.” Ember explained.

“Wait, that Tyalangan is a host?” He replied with shock

“Yes, she is, and she used to be in your position, only with a shittier host than Syl. There are a lot shittier hosts, like Beckie, no offence to your friend, but she… was literal skum.”

“Literally literally? Or figuratively?” Chris asked for clarification due to the existence of elements and other fantasy creatures.

“Both… Both imagine living ooze that can take the shape of humans. She is just vile and tortures people.” Ember said, somehow nodding.

“Yeah… Syl is just a kidnapper who forces us to participate in someone else's fetish show. I am guessing Tyalangan is better than bitch as a host. How does it work being a host and a Mistress at the same time?”

“No idea on the logistics, but most of her family helps her.” The ball of fire started with its best approximation of a shrug.

Chris texted Syl on his phone.

With that solved, back to our more pressing issue, shelter for everyone but me. Looking around, Chris found that the Jessies and William had started pitching one of the tents. Beth had also disappeared somewhere and had taken a backpack. Ryan was staring at the discussion into nothing, still with concern, even though he had seen Ember do things. Missy seemed to have moved to remain within 10 meters of William, but looked grumpy and angry. I am not going to poke that angry bear, Chris thought.

“Shall we pitch your tent, bud?” He noted, hoping to alleviate some of the stress of the looming extra harem member with which he could not physically interact. Grabbing the tent, opening it to check what was inside, he found an explanation of the features. It was grime-resistant and water-resistant, nice. It would automatically expand if upgrades were bought for it, and will fold itself back up if it doesn’t have the space for it. “Ryan, I did spot a few decent spots when I came in to put the tent. So shade or sun, close to the facilities or to my place?”

“Why does the latter matter?”

“This is a game show about being intimate with me, isn’t it?” Chris said. Ember seemed to want to break in, but realised she couldn’t assist her master in this conversation.

“Good point, shade near your place?” Ryan said, almost as a question, more than a firm decision.

Picking up the canvas bag with the tent, Chris headed over to the place he had spotted. It was a large open space tree’s would shade for most of the afternoon, but not permanently. “So we are going to do this in a few steps first, we get the tentpoles to support the canvas with some lines to support them, then we start adding the other lines and finally put the entire thing under tension. Repeat tensioning in the morning with morning dew and rain will roll right off it.” The entire thing was surprisingly easy. The tentpegs went in quick enough even if Chris had to point out that it was best to put them in at a 45 degree angle pointing with the floor pointing the tip towards the tent.

After the duo was done, the Jessies came up. “Wow, you guys are also done with the tent. We had to do everything while Missy sat there, and Will complained about Jessica doing it. Saying it wasn’t feminine and she should have forgotten it. Wanker. Want to grab a bite to eat and catch up?” Jesse asked.