p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Don't run too far ahead, Ismira! Remember what your mother said!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Although he had lost count of how many times he'd had to warn his daughter not to leave him behind, Roran couldn't help but secretly be impressed by the little girl's self-confidence as she giggled cheekily and dashed out from behind a tree. Born shortly after the Empire's defeat, Ismira was free to grow up without any of the fears her parents had had when they were younger./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Now, at nearly four years of age, the copper-haired girl was the very image of health and happiness. It seemed as if neither Ismira's energy nor curiosity ever ran out, and to her parents, keeping the girl occupied was not as easy as they imagined it would be. Since it was such a beautiful late summer morning, Roran decided that a long walk in the foothills of the Spine was the perfect bonding activity for himself and Ismira. Preparing for the harvest had left him little time to spend with his young daughter lately, so Roran had been nearly as excited for this outing as she was!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As they approached one of the Spine's many glacial streams, Roran was suddenly acutely aware of how quiet Ismira had become. Although he couldn't always see her through the undergrowth, Roran could easily tell where his daughter was by listening for her crunching through the fallen leaves or humming a new song she'd made up on the spot, so the lack of noise was more than a little alarming./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Fortunately, the young father did not have to go far to discover the cause of the silence. As Roran approached the stream, Ismira crept backwards towards him, pressing a finger to her lips and pointing at something on the other side. Roran crouched down to meet his daughter's gaze, expecting to see a bear cub, or perhaps an especially colorful bird. When his gaze finally rested upon the creature Ismira was pointing at, Roran couldn't help but softly gasp./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As the breeze shifted to directly behind the two hikers, the animal, which was now downwind of them, raised its head and looked at the two humans with curious intent, its large ears twitching as it focused. It was a large, red-and-cream furred animal, roughly the size of a small horse. Although a long pair of goat-like horns sprouted from the creature's head, its general appearance was more akin to that of a stocky deer or elk. Whatever it was, Roran nervously wondered if leaving his bow at home had really been the best idea./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa, what is it?" Ismira whispered, curiosity having apparently won out over fear./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I'm not sure, sweetheart, this is my first time seeing one, too." Roran replied. "It's very pretty, though, isn't it? It has red hair like you and Mama."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira smiled, pleased both at having finally learned about something before a grown-up did, and at her father's approval of her discovery. Roran couldn't help but smile too; even though he was a father, husband, war hero, and leader, he loved that there were still things in this world that could give him a sense of childlike wonder./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as he thought that, however, the animal suddenly took a few steps back and leapt forward, clearing the stream in a single leap and landing just a few yards away from where Roran and Ismira crouched. Instinctively, Roran scooped up his daughter and held her tightly, ignoring her grunt of protest. "Don't worry," he whispered, glancing down at her. "Just be very quiet, I won't let it hurt you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as Roran said it, however, the animal had somehow managed to casually approach the pair before he could react. Heart in his throat, all Roran could do was stand there helplessly as the animal curiously sniffed him and his daughter. Once it was satisfied, the animal looked up at Roran, snorted softly, and began to walk upstream, occasionally glancing back at him and impatiently pawing the ground./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa, let's follow him," Ismira said, as Roran set her back down./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Roran sighed, running a hand through his short, brown hair. As much as he took pride in raising such a fearless child, there was a huge difference between bravery and recklessness. "No, sweetheart," he explained gently. "That's a wild animal. Following him would only scare him, and some animals can be very dangerous when they get scared."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "But – "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No, Ismira." Roran said, more sternly this time. "It's not safe. Come along now, I think I saw some blackberry bushes right over – "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "MEHHH!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The animal had managed to return unnoticed, and was now bleating and nuzzling Roran's head. As he tried to push it away, the animal instead took his sleeve in its teeth, giving the fabric a firm tug. To Ismira, seeing the animal acting like a rambunctious dog toward her father was simply delightful./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He likes you, Papa! I think he's somebody's lost farm ammi-nal!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You know," Roran said, tentatively stroking the creature's snout. "I think you might be right. He's quite tame."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira lifted her arms toward the animal, which lowered its head and offered its muzzle for more petting. Roran racked his brain, trying to figure out where it might have come from. Finally, as his daughter befriended the strange creature, Roran settled on what he thought was the most likely explanation./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Every year, after the harvest, the town of New Carvahall held a Harvest Festival that hosted a number of traders from far and wide. Most of the visitors' goods were relatively commonplace, such as food and household essentials that couldn't be found in Palencar Valley, but ever since the boom in the local economy, there were also a fair number of luxury merchants, mostly selling things such as precious stones and spices. Occasionally, though, there would be one or two traders from the latter category who had something truly unique for sale./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Last year, for example, one merchant claiming to be from a country far to the south of Alagaësia ran a stall that dealt exclusively in what she called "exotic livestock." Most were simply breeds of chickens or dogs that were native to other regions, but a few of her animals were definitely a sight to behold. Several species of songbirds flapped and chirped in wicker cages, each more extravagantly plumed than the last. The trader even stocked a few glass jars of live fish that were just as colorful as her birds, although hardly anyone was interested in buying fish that couldn't be eaten./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emYes,/em Roran thought to That must be where this animal came from/em. Although he couldn't remember seeing this particular species among the trader's menagerie, it wasn't too unlikely that this animal had simply gotten loose on the road to New Carvahall, and had been living in the Spine all this time. Luckily, it was only a few weeks until this year's Harvest Festival, so maybe the merchant would come back looking for her lost animal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I think I know where he comes from," Roran explained, taking Ismira's hand on his left side and one of the creature's horns on his right. "Come on, Ismira, let's go home and put him in the barn. I'll have to speak with Mama about what to do with him, but we can take another walk afterwards. How does that sound, sweetheart?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Okay, Papa!" The little girl was ecstatic at the prospect of the animal coming to stay with them, even if it was only for a little while. Maybe she'd even get a chance to show him to her friend Hope, the blacksmith's daughter. Although she was only a few months older than Ismira, Hope was already much taller and stronger than the other girl, and could sometimes be quite the show-off. How impressed would Hope be with Ismira's discovery, especially after learning she'd found such a pretty animal all by herself!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ismira that excited her even more than one-upping her friend. Simply having an exotic, majestic animal living in your family's barn was one matter, but being able to emride/em the thing? Now emthat/em would be fun!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Papa?" she asked, looking up at her father with her softest, most doe-eyed expression. "Do you think maybe I could sit on his back and ride him home? I promise not to squirm or fall off. Pleeeeease?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Normally, Roran would have absolutely refused to let his daughter do something so dangerous. For starters, they barely knew this animal; hell, they didn't even know it was domesticated until just a few moments ago! What if having someone on its back spooked it badly enough that it suddenly turned aggressive? Roran wouldn't be able to live with himself if Ismira suffered so much as a scratch because of his carelessness. On the other hand, though he couldn't explain why, something told him that there wouldn't be any harm in at least letting Ismira try. At the very least, wasn't it important to let children take risks every once in a while?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Oh, I suppose you can. Just for a little bit, and for the gods' sakes, don't tell your mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As if it could sense the child wanting a ride, the animal bent its forelimbs, lowering its body until Ismira could comfortably settle herself on its back./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yay!" she cried, tightly gripping the long, coarse fur on the animal's neck. "Thank you, Papa! Thank you, Fluffy!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Roran laughed as the animal stood back up, once again taking hold of one of its horns. "Fluffy?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira's expression turned as serious as a three-year-old's could be. "Ammi-nals need names, Papa. He's got lots of fur on his neck, so his name is Fluffy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Hm. I guess I can't argue with that!" Roran smiled, turning back the way they came. "Come on now, Fluffy. Let's go home!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as Roran began to coax the animal back towards New Carvahall, it suddenly wrenched its horns in the opposite direction, pulling the young man through a shallow part of the creek and along the shore heading upstream. Despite Roran's best efforts to turn it around, the creature seemed determined to follow this particular trail./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa?" Although happy to be able to ride the animal emand/em extend their forest expedition, Ismira was beginning to have her doubts about this turn of events./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Well," Roran sighed, stumbling along beside the trotting animal. "It looks like we'll be out here a bit longer than I thought."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Although he had lost count of how many times he'd had to warn his daughter not to leave him behind, Roran couldn't help but secretly be impressed by the little girl's self-confidence as she giggled cheekily and dashed out from behind a tree. Born shortly after the Empire's defeat, Ismira was free to grow up without any of the fears her parents had had when they were younger./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Now, at nearly four years of age, the copper-haired girl was the very image of health and happiness. It seemed as if neither Ismira's energy nor curiosity ever ran out, and to her parents, keeping the girl occupied was not as easy as they imagined it would be. Since it was such a beautiful late summer morning, Roran decided that a long walk in the foothills of the Spine was the perfect bonding activity for himself and Ismira. Preparing for the harvest had left him little time to spend with his young daughter lately, so Roran had been nearly as excited for this outing as she was!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As they approached one of the Spine's many glacial streams, Roran was suddenly acutely aware of how quiet Ismira had become. Although he couldn't always see her through the undergrowth, Roran could easily tell where his daughter was by listening for her crunching through the fallen leaves or humming a new song she'd made up on the spot, so the lack of noise was more than a little alarming./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Fortunately, the young father did not have to go far to discover the cause of the silence. As Roran approached the stream, Ismira crept backwards towards him, pressing a finger to her lips and pointing at something on the other side. Roran crouched down to meet his daughter's gaze, expecting to see a bear cub, or perhaps an especially colorful bird. When his gaze finally rested upon the creature Ismira was pointing at, Roran couldn't help but softly gasp./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As the breeze shifted to directly behind the two hikers, the animal, which was now downwind of them, raised its head and looked at the two humans with curious intent, its large ears twitching as it focused. It was a large, red-and-cream furred animal, roughly the size of a small horse. Although a long pair of goat-like horns sprouted from the creature's head, its general appearance was more akin to that of a stocky deer or elk. Whatever it was, Roran nervously wondered if leaving his bow at home had really been the best idea./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa, what is it?" Ismira whispered, curiosity having apparently won out over fear./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I'm not sure, sweetheart, this is my first time seeing one, too." Roran replied. "It's very pretty, though, isn't it? It has red hair like you and Mama."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira smiled, pleased both at having finally learned about something before a grown-up did, and at her father's approval of her discovery. Roran couldn't help but smile too; even though he was a father, husband, war hero, and leader, he loved that there were still things in this world that could give him a sense of childlike wonder./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as he thought that, however, the animal suddenly took a few steps back and leapt forward, clearing the stream in a single leap and landing just a few yards away from where Roran and Ismira crouched. Instinctively, Roran scooped up his daughter and held her tightly, ignoring her grunt of protest. "Don't worry," he whispered, glancing down at her. "Just be very quiet, I won't let it hurt you."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as Roran said it, however, the animal had somehow managed to casually approach the pair before he could react. Heart in his throat, all Roran could do was stand there helplessly as the animal curiously sniffed him and his daughter. Once it was satisfied, the animal looked up at Roran, snorted softly, and began to walk upstream, occasionally glancing back at him and impatiently pawing the ground./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa, let's follow him," Ismira said, as Roran set her back down./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Roran sighed, running a hand through his short, brown hair. As much as he took pride in raising such a fearless child, there was a huge difference between bravery and recklessness. "No, sweetheart," he explained gently. "That's a wild animal. Following him would only scare him, and some animals can be very dangerous when they get scared."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "But – "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "No, Ismira." Roran said, more sternly this time. "It's not safe. Come along now, I think I saw some blackberry bushes right over – "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "MEHHH!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" The animal had managed to return unnoticed, and was now bleating and nuzzling Roran's head. As he tried to push it away, the animal instead took his sleeve in its teeth, giving the fabric a firm tug. To Ismira, seeing the animal acting like a rambunctious dog toward her father was simply delightful./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "He likes you, Papa! I think he's somebody's lost farm ammi-nal!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "You know," Roran said, tentatively stroking the creature's snout. "I think you might be right. He's quite tame."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira lifted her arms toward the animal, which lowered its head and offered its muzzle for more petting. Roran racked his brain, trying to figure out where it might have come from. Finally, as his daughter befriended the strange creature, Roran settled on what he thought was the most likely explanation./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Every year, after the harvest, the town of New Carvahall held a Harvest Festival that hosted a number of traders from far and wide. Most of the visitors' goods were relatively commonplace, such as food and household essentials that couldn't be found in Palencar Valley, but ever since the boom in the local economy, there were also a fair number of luxury merchants, mostly selling things such as precious stones and spices. Occasionally, though, there would be one or two traders from the latter category who had something truly unique for sale./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Last year, for example, one merchant claiming to be from a country far to the south of Alagaësia ran a stall that dealt exclusively in what she called "exotic livestock." Most were simply breeds of chickens or dogs that were native to other regions, but a few of her animals were definitely a sight to behold. Several species of songbirds flapped and chirped in wicker cages, each more extravagantly plumed than the last. The trader even stocked a few glass jars of live fish that were just as colorful as her birds, although hardly anyone was interested in buying fish that couldn't be eaten./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" emYes,/em Roran thought to That must be where this animal came from/em. Although he couldn't remember seeing this particular species among the trader's menagerie, it wasn't too unlikely that this animal had simply gotten loose on the road to New Carvahall, and had been living in the Spine all this time. Luckily, it was only a few weeks until this year's Harvest Festival, so maybe the merchant would come back looking for her lost animal./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "I think I know where he comes from," Roran explained, taking Ismira's hand on his left side and one of the creature's horns on his right. "Come on, Ismira, let's go home and put him in the barn. I'll have to speak with Mama about what to do with him, but we can take another walk afterwards. How does that sound, sweetheart?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Okay, Papa!" The little girl was ecstatic at the prospect of the animal coming to stay with them, even if it was only for a little while. Maybe she'd even get a chance to show him to her friend Hope, the blacksmith's daughter. Although she was only a few months older than Ismira, Hope was already much taller and stronger than the other girl, and could sometimes be quite the show-off. How impressed would Hope be with Ismira's discovery, especially after learning she'd found such a pretty animal all by herself!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Suddenly, a thought occurred to Ismira that excited her even more than one-upping her friend. Simply having an exotic, majestic animal living in your family's barn was one matter, but being able to emride/em the thing? Now emthat/em would be fun!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Papa?" she asked, looking up at her father with her softest, most doe-eyed expression. "Do you think maybe I could sit on his back and ride him home? I promise not to squirm or fall off. Pleeeeease?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Normally, Roran would have absolutely refused to let his daughter do something so dangerous. For starters, they barely knew this animal; hell, they didn't even know it was domesticated until just a few moments ago! What if having someone on its back spooked it badly enough that it suddenly turned aggressive? Roran wouldn't be able to live with himself if Ismira suffered so much as a scratch because of his carelessness. On the other hand, though he couldn't explain why, something told him that there wouldn't be any harm in at least letting Ismira try. At the very least, wasn't it important to let children take risks every once in a while?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Oh, I suppose you can. Just for a little bit, and for the gods' sakes, don't tell your mother."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As if it could sense the child wanting a ride, the animal bent its forelimbs, lowering its body until Ismira could comfortably settle herself on its back./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Yay!" she cried, tightly gripping the long, coarse fur on the animal's neck. "Thank you, Papa! Thank you, Fluffy!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Roran laughed as the animal stood back up, once again taking hold of one of its horns. "Fluffy?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" Ismira's expression turned as serious as a three-year-old's could be. "Ammi-nals need names, Papa. He's got lots of fur on his neck, so his name is Fluffy."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Hm. I guess I can't argue with that!" Roran smiled, turning back the way they came. "Come on now, Fluffy. Let's go home!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" As soon as Roran began to coax the animal back towards New Carvahall, it suddenly wrenched its horns in the opposite direction, pulling the young man through a shallow part of the creek and along the shore heading upstream. Despite Roran's best efforts to turn it around, the creature seemed determined to follow this particular trail./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Papa?" Although happy to be able to ride the animal emand/em extend their forest expedition, Ismira was beginning to have her doubts about this turn of events./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #2c3635; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;" "Well," Roran sighed, stumbling along beside the trotting animal. "It looks like we'll be out here a bit longer than I thought."/p