Baby on Board
The next day after breakfast, we enter the guild to pick out a quest. Scarlet and I are sitting on some chairs waiting for them while John, Rayla and Sher Aka look through the questboard.
After a few minutes of them looking around, Sher Aka rips off one of the papers, “We’re taking this one.”
“Are you sure? It’s pretty risky,” Rayla asks after looking at it.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Alright…”
We then walk up to the counter and Rayla puts down the quest causing the secretary to ask, “Are you sure this is the right quest for you? Wouldn’t it be best for a human group to do this?”
“We’re sure.”
“Allright…Card and deposit please.”
“Here you go.”
Looking through her booklet, the secretary says, “Hmm…It seems someone filed a formal complaint against your team mate Thoma Ahad.”
“What? Who?”
“I can’t tell you that but it was deemed a fraudulent report, I just wanted to tell you about it.”
“What was the complaint about?”
“Child molestation and falsifying his guildcard. But like I said, both were deemed fraudulent and the one filing the complaint was fined.”
“Huh…That’s good at least.”
“Also I have something here for Mr. John, I'll just have to get it.” The secretary says before disappearing in the back and coming back with a package, “The sender said to be careful when you open it.”
“Huh…” John just stares at it while receiving it. He then carefully opens it and as he does, a huge pile of papers falls out causing him to sigh and pick them up while looking through them.
“What’s with the papers?” Rayla asks.
“Sigh So he finally found me…They’re research papers from the Rainbow Wizard. How did he know I was here?”
The secretary shrugs, “I don’t know Mr. John but he did also send you a letter.”
“Let me see…” John snatches the letter out of her hand and skims through it, “That bastard sent copies to every guild branch in the NU!? How much does he want me for this crackpot theory!?”
Sher Aka chuckles as she helps him pick up the papers, “Apparently enough to spend a lot of money on you for shipping. At least you have time to read through it while we travel.”
“Sigh I guess…”
We then leave the guild and go outside to our wagon.
Curious, I ask, “So? What quest did you guys pick?”
And Sher Aka answers, “A group of slavers is suspected to be operating in a town south-west of here. We’re to either find them and free the slaves or confirm they’re not there anymore. The town is about five days away, we’ll go there once we have restocked.”
“Alright, should we split up?”
Scarlet interrupts, “Sure but remember what we talked about yesterday?”
“Yeah but shouldn’t we wait until after I helped with the restocking?”
“Nope!” Scarlet says cheekily while pressing into my back.
“Gaaah~?”
While I feel myself being picked up by Scarlet, Sher Aka asks, “What is it that you talked about yesterday?”
“Rose is going to spend mornings in her draconic form from now on. It’s important for her development.”
“I see…And he agreed to that?”
“Yep.”
“Gao~!”
“In that case it should be fine,” Sher Aka answers and shortly after I feel a finger scratch the back of my head.
“Gaooo~”
We then go around buying supplies. The noises and scents are a lot to take in when you can’t see and barely move. Honestly it's pretty scary but everytime it feels like it gets too overwhelming either Rayla or Scarlet would hold my hand with their finger and pet my back which calms me down again. After some more time passes, I hear the noises of the wagon as we start to leave the city.
“Alright Rose, I’ll put you down now. Feel free to explore.”
Scarlet then puts me down. Thanks to the passive benefits of my moderate strength boost I’m able to stand up without much problem now but it’s still hard to walk, both because it’s hard on my legs and because I’m not used to it yet. Looking around, the wagon is both interesting, exciting and terrifying. I can only go by sound, smell and feel and even those are off because I’m so much smaller. Every big bump in the road could cause me to be launched into the air if I’m not careful and if something falls on me I might die. It feels a bit like I’m blinded in a battlefield.
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From an outside view Rose in her cute, pink draconic form, slowly toddles from one direction to another, in a completely safe environment, while looking around and sniffing the air.
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How huff How big is this wagon? It feels like I’ve been walking for hours. Where am I even? Am I really still in the wagon? I must be…Right? But what if I’m not…I…I’m scared.
Like a beacon of light in the darkness John’s voice lights the way, “Are you cold Thoma Ahad? You’re shivering.”
“Goooh~!?” (John!?)
Following the direction of his voice I quickly pick up pace. Having finally gotten a direction to go to it becomes easier to discern the smells and where they’re coming from. The closer I get the closer John’s smell ge- Bonk.
“Gaaaah~” (Ouch)
“Do you want me to pick you up, Thoma Ahad?”
I nod and shortly after feel myself being picked up by John’s soft hands. They have a nice floral scent. Probably from the moisturizer he uses. They’re a perfect cushion to rest on after a long march. Sigh.
“Uhm…Thoma Ahad? Could you do me a favor and face the other direction?”
“Gao?”
“Just in case you fall asleep I prefer your butt not facing towards my face.”
“Geeeeeh!?” (Eeeh?)
I quickly turn around, “Gao!”
Sher Aka chuckles, “Looks like you embarrassed him.”
“Oh…” I then feel my back being pet, “Sorry, I was just thinking practically. Oh uhm…I just started petting you without asking was that alright?”
I nod.
“Okay…Fuck this is weird…I’m sorry Thoma Ahad if I treat you like a pet it’s on accident.”
I tilt my head and nod, “Gao!”
Scarlet's voice answers, “You know, the way you treat a baby and the way you treat a pet isn’t too far off. Just don’t go around disciplining or training her and you should be fine.”
“Yeah, but Thoma Ahad isn’t a baby…Right? Sigh Sherry you take her…Him…I’m confused by this situation.”
Sher Aka answers, “I believe Thoma Ahad said both ‘him’ and ‘her’ are fine, we should just stick to ‘him’ in public to avoid conflict, right Thoma Ahad?” and picks me up.
I nod.
“That’s not what I was confused about…I’m sorry, I’m just not used to this yet.”
“It’s okay John. We’ll all have to get used to it, right Thoma Ahad?”
I nod.
I then rest inside Sher Aka’s hands for a while until I feel an unfamiliar feeling of uncomfortableness.
“Gao?”
“Do you want something Thoma Ahad?”
I tilt my head.
“Hmm, is something wrong?”
I nod.
“Are you cold?”
I shake my head.
“Are you hungry?”
I shake my head again.
“Are you- Oh…I see.” Sher Aka says as I feel something come out of me and a puddle forms beneath me.”
“Gah- Gi goo gooi!” (I’m so sorry!)
“It’s okay, let me just wipe you off first and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Sher Aka then dries me off and hands me over to Scarlet, where I just dig my head into her hand and put my paws over my face in shame.
“Don’t worry Rose, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
I can’t even answer her as I just try to curl up further trying to hide my face as much as possible while involuntarily letting out whimpering sounds. I stay like this until lunch, ignoring several efforts by both Sher Aka and Scarlet saying it wasn’t that bad.
“Come on Rose, I know you’re embarrassed but you should still eat. Come on, open your mouth, please.”
Feeling a little hungry I sigh loudly then uncurl and open my mouth.
“There you go, we’re having bbq today. Would you like some beef?”
I nod and feel something on my lips as something with a weird mushy consistency enters my mouth. It tastes like nice beef.
As I open my mouth for a second serving I hear Rayla audibly gasp, “What the hell are you doing Scarlet?”
“Feeding her?”
“From your mouth!?”
“Well yeah, she doesn’t have any teeth so I need to chew it for her.”
“Gah?” (Eh?)
“Still! Thoma isn’t a bird! If he can’t eat like this we’ll just save some for later!”
“But she can eat like this. And she should, it’s important for her to learn how her real body feels.”
“Still, there is no way that tasted good!”
“Let’s ask her then. Did it taste good, Rose?”
I hesitate a bit then nod.
“See, she liked it.”
“Fine, then let me do it.”
“I’ll let you do it in about twelve years or so. Right now she is still so little your spit could make her sick.”
Ane answers indignantly, “But yours won’t!?”
“I told you before, our saliva is like water and it has slight healing properties. It’s different from yours. I’m not saying this because I don’t want you to bond with her, I'm saying it for her safety. It will be fine in the future but not now.”
“Tsk If you say so.”
“If you want to help, cut me some small pieces of meat to feed her.”
“Alright…”
Surprisingly they don’t continue to bicker and instead everyone just has a pleasant bbq lunch together, after which I take a nap.