The Chimeriad was dispatched to deal with a border dispute with Rashugal and was able to make quick work of the issue, which left Jiao with time to insist upon collecting some of the area's native beasts. To comply with the request without wasting too much time, they had decided to take one of the less traveled roads on their way back up north. It slowed their return to the port, but it did give them the chance to see more of Presa's recruit's battle abilities.
Agria was the newest addition to the Chimeriad and also the youngest. Though Wingul was not the most eager to have her join Gaius' small group of bodyguards, she had proven to be capable and it wasn't as though both Gaius and himself were doing any less at her age. Subsequently, any argument he made against her joining didn't have enough reasoning behind it to stand. On top of that, when Presa insisted that the girl had nowhere else to go, she was being honest.
There were still times when he doubted his decision not to argue the point more. When he looked up to see Agria marching in an overly unenthusiastic and undisciplined fashion with a rope in her hand, it quickly became one of those times. His eyes followed the rope to where it was tied around the neck of a fire golem like a leash.
"Birdy! I have a new pet!" Agria exclaimed, looking up at the golem proudly.
Wingul responded without even wasting a moment of thought on considering it. "No."
Instantly offended, Agria stopped and planted her feet. "Make room for him on the ship!"
"No," he repeated. "He'll burn through the deck boards."
"He's docile!" she said, stomping her foot.
"And what are you going to do with a fire golem back in the capital?" Wingul asked brusquely.
"He's going to be my pet!" she shot back. "Duh! I already told you that!"
"I've never tamed a fire golem before," Jiao chimed in unhelpfully. "It could be an interesting challenge."
As tempted as he was to point out that golems were not trained since they were as intelligent as their stone limbs, he restrained. "That thing is not coming with us. It's not safe to transport."
"But he's my pet," Agria said, stomping her foot.
"No," Wingul repeated.
"We could probably make it work," Jiao said.
"There is a reason golems are not a first choice for beast tamers," Wingul said, well aware of the common knowledge. "They aren't very bright and don't take to orders well."
"Mine is different," Agria said angrily. "Just let me bring him along!"
"No. This is the last time I'll say it," Wingul said brusquely.
Without any help from the golem, Agria huffed and lashed out by sending five up the surrounding trees up in flames. Presa came running to help put out the blaze with water artes while Agria stormed off, her golem willingly following after her. As inconvenient as putting out her sudden forest fire was, he did have to admit that it was rather surprising to get a golem to do anything but rampage.
Presa started bickering with him, chiding him incessantly with endless just let her keep it and she's so young can't you just agree and and didn't you ever have a pet and have you always had the emotional range of a decade old, arthritic cat comments. Between Agria's extra destructive behavior, Presa's persuasion, and Jiao's promises to 'talk nice to it until it was as cuddly as a kitten,' (something Wingul had no desire to try) they procured a metal slab large enough to accommodate the golem aboard the ship with minimal risk of fire. With that mess temporarily cooled, they set sail for home.
Miraculously, they managed to get the golem aboard the ship without too much trouble. Agria stood on the edge of the ship, calling out uncomfortably affectionate things to the creature as it made its way up. She was absolutely positive that it was her urging that was solely to thank for getting it to cooperate and Jiao didn't have the heart to tell her that he promised it a lot of char broiled meat to get it to walk all the way up the gangplank with only leaving small char marks.
"We should have known she'd gravitate to some ridiculous fire monster," he said, shaking his head slightly.
"At least she doesn't want a wild wyvern," Presa said, trying to look on the bright side.
"They're at least useful when tamed," he grumbled, avoiding the faintly smoking areas of gangplank.
When night came, Wingul generally did not sleep well aboard ships. The rocking was soothing to some but disruptive to others and he happened to be an other. He woke up every time the ship went over a particularly high wave, but when he rolled over to try falling back asleep, his eyes were only closed for a moment. They opened again when a very definite burning smell reached his nose.
Muttering some well-chosen words in Long Dau, he quickly sat up and reached for his boots. It was just a few moments later that he had his sword at his side and he was making his way up to the main deck. He was already calculating the possibility of having to end the golem and throw it overboard before it did too much damage to the ship. His hand was on the hilt of his sword when he reached the top deck to face the golem.
However, his grip slackened and his eyebrows sank into a glare when he saw the preposterous scene on deck. The golem wasn't burning through the deck – instead, what he saw was even more ridiculous. The golem's one hand was producing a small fire for light and Agria and Presa sat around it, roasting marshmallows on sticks.
"What are you two doing?" he asked.
Agria rolled her eyes dramatically. "Can't you tell? Aren't you supposed to be smart?"
"Marshmallow?" Presa asked casually.
"He can't have any!" Agria insisted. "He didn't want to take Sunshine with us."
Wonderful. She's named it.
"But he did agree, it doesn't hurt to share," Presa said, though the way they started going back and forth told him that he was already out of the conversation.
While they bickered about sharing, he glowered at the golem's blank expression before turning around and trudging back down the stairs. Neither of them seemed to notice his departure. He tried to resign himself with the thought that at least Gaius wasn't with them to see the ridiculousness. It didn't bring much solace, as when he considered it further, the sweetness of the marshmallows probably would have been enough to get the king to join them. He stifled a sigh as he continued down below deck.
I wrote this on Monday after work and class and I can't remember if I immediately fell asleep afterward or not. Either way…my writing style takes a notable turn when I'm really tired. XD
Happy Chimeriad stuff! =w= There isn't nearly enough around.