"you know... this trip ain't as boring as i thought, ay! Stop biting!"
Luke said as he removed a beastmen pup from his leg, he had gotten somewhat popular with kids among the convoy, there is two reasons for this, one he looks weird, he has gotten a lot of calls such as 'mommy look! There's a weird orc!' or something similiar, the second reason is what he did on the first day of the trip.
The convoy always stop at night to rest, the cariages will stop and make a circle of protection and he took the opportunity to learn more about his new invention and of course train with kottar, however turning on your lightning Axe makes a peculiar effect at night and this in turn took the attention of every kids that is Bored out of their mind by the journey.
he had atleast two dozen of Them crowding around him trying to touch his Axe and bite his leg and nearly Twice as many concerned parents chasing or picking the clingy ones off of him, and he with his brilliant mind decided to charge up his Axe and fire it into the sky, the bolt explodes mid-air and Made a beautiful spectacle, distracting the horde of Bored children, he called it 'fireworks' something from his world he said.
he then sat down on the ground and started something he called 'tiny Fluff treatment' which included petting, piggyback, and treats, it's kind of weird considering the kids crowding around him Are a mix of draconian and beastmen so why is scales not there? Anyway the parents Saw this and in a spectacular show of unified minds of tired parents came up with 'free babysitter!'
"This is the second day Luke, how did you make all this trouble in such a short time?"
"Hey, it's not a trouble! These Fellas are cute, Soka stop nibbling my fingers"
"Luke, you have 7 kids wrapped around you"
"Ah that's not a problem right Soka? Here let me put you up there, and by the way i'm getting paid for this, 50 copper per hour is not bad you know? Plus there are parents who pay 1 silver per day sooo"
He lifted the draconian toddler and perched him on his head
"Weeee! Me tall!"
"It's not about the money, if you well... bulk parented, you Will be really busy and you said you want to test some stuff with your Axe, also you promised...."
"What promise? I didn't make any?"
"Uh you know... What do you call it? Mofi night?"
"Movie? You want another movie night?"
She looked away in embarrasment
"Yes"
"Jesus one movie and you are addicted already"
"It's not my fault they looked amazing"
"Amazed by the technology mmm?"
"Ah no.... Hey, you have more following you, i think they're jealous"
Luke turned around and Saw a mix of draconian and beastmen pups looking at the happy little dragon on his head with envy, he can feel the nibble on his arm coming from a pup that kept biting his leg turn into another bite probably jealous as well, he grabbed the pup again and put him on his back, the pup hangs on to his clothes with his claws like the world's cutest backpack, a bitey one though.
"Well... I can find time... most of the people that asked me told me to play with Them at day and return them to their cariages at somewhere around afternoon and night, apparently there is an agreement beetwen The parents about the time the kids are allowed to play so Anyway... You all get a ride!"
"YAAAAAY!"
"Ugh"
----~----
"Soka no want go!"
"Excuse me mister! If you don't get down from this gentlemen's head right now you won't be getting dinner!"
"No"
Luke is trying to get Soka off his head, but the little guy is persistent and held on to his hair like his life depended on it, turns out the little guy is drunk with the power of being the tallest kid around the convoy, the only thing keeping that title alive is Luke, so well... Soka pretty much Saw him as a Priceless asset to keep said title and refused to let go.
He had already returned all the kids to their respective parents except Soka and is now debating with his mom, the reason he isn't off yet is the fact that he latched on his head with his claws everytime his mother tried to pull him off, she had to stop several Times because Luke was yelling in pain.
"Get down! Or i'll call your dad!"
"Nuh-uh"
"Soka vithani! Get down here! Uncle Luke need to rest"
"Listen to your mother kid"
"No!"
"Oh that's it! I'll call your father! Zaka!"
"......"
"Well, maybe he's busy, your husband is part of the guards ri-"
"ZAKA! COME HERE NOW!"
a black scaled draconian with guards uniform came sliding from behind a carriage and sprinted to where they are.
"Yes my love?"
"Next time you don't show up when i call you sir!... You're not getting it on the bed!"
"Sorry my love i was busy, what's the problem?"
'mmm.... Angry wife... That guy definitely not getting dinner tonight'
"Look for yourself, your son here doesn't want to get off this gentlemen's head, he claimed him as his property i think"
"Wait what? Claimed?"
"Ah.... Sorry, you must be Luke right?"
"Yeah that's me, the guy who turned into a babysitter overnight, what's up?"
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"Is my son giving you any trouble?"
"Well... You heard what she said, this little guy won't get off"
"No, Soka no go!"
"Soka... Please come down here"
"No"
"Ugh..."
The draconian looked back at his wife who has her arms crossed and is tapping her feet wait no talon... On the ground, it was menacing, not to mention the death stare, Luke could've sworn he shivered at the sight at the exact same time the zaka guy did.
"So....?"
"Uhm... Uh... He doesn't want to go down"
"Oh God... Tell him to get off the! He's your son! You're a father! It's okay to be a little harsh!"
Luke could tell the guy is trying his best when he looked at him again, but is seems like he doesn't know what to do, he now has a face that says 'help me here!'
"Hey... Please help... Or my wife is going to murder me!"
"Dude are you a dad or no?",
"I am! It's just... Hard..."
"I'm not gonna act like i know what it feels like, but i think you should be the one with the solution here"
"I don't know what to do!"
"Alright fine... Uh... Ma'am can i talk to you?"
"Yes?"
"I'll take care of him for the rest of the night, when he fall asleep i Will take him off and return him to you"
"What? No! He's coming down here and now!"
"I don't think it's possible, trust me he Will fall asleep eventually"
"Me no sleep!"
"Shush... Don't make your mother go insane... I'll take care of him for now, you don't need to pay me"
"Are you sur-"
"I'm not letting that rascal go!"
"Please understand that he has Made up his mind, my head is his throne for now, i can promise you one thing, he Will be back by morning, that's all"
She places her hand to her temple and grinded her teeth, it was scary and the growling sound just adds to the mix, meanwhile the poor husband looked like he just pissed his pants.
"Fine... One night... I'll let him go"
"Phew..."
"Oh not you mister! You're not getting it tonight!"
"But-"
"Shut! What kind of father are you? Come here!"
The poor guy looked at him with a hopeless look
"Please take care of my son..."
"You can trust me"
Luke walked away to the direction of his cariage with a happy and smug Soka still on his head, he can hear a howl of pain from the direction opposite of him, he turned around and Saw zaka currently being chased around by his wife who is holding a broom handle like a baseball bat.
"AYIIIII! I'M SORRY MY LOVE!"
"COME BACK HERE! I'LL SPANK YOUR ASS!"
"OWW! I'M SORRYYYYY!"
"oof, sorry man"
"Me tall!"
----~----
Luke entered the cariage he was asiggned to and Saw Eryn, reading her books and a Vina sleeping on the seat.
"Luke? What happened? Why do you have a baby draconian on your head?"
"Oh hey Eryn, how are you? This is Soka by the way, one of the kids i'm taking care of for the night"
"Ok? Why is he on your head?"
"Soka tall! Soka strong!"
"He likes it there, so i'm taking care of him for the night"
"Why?"
"Eh he really wants to stay on my head, he won't let go, don't worry his mom give me a permission"
"Does this have anything to do with that loud yelling outside?"
"Yeah, poor guy just trying his best to be a father but alas poor zaka may your ears rest in peace"
"What are you going to do with him?"
"Movie night"
"What? What is that?"
"Another thing from my world, wake her up, Vina really want to watch another movie"
"Uhm..."
"Don't worry... You get to watch it as well, first time right? Heh of course it is"
"What is it like?"
"You'll see, now where did i put my phone?"
----~----
"This is amazing"
"Eryn, i Will once again remind you that this film is about a sentient fish"
The trio (plus another one) is currently having another movie night and they are watching finding Nemo out of all things, he doesn't even remember saving it to his phone.
"You should've seen the first one, it's better, this is not as good"
"AND i Will once again remind you, Vina... that we have a kid with us"
"Fish!"
"Why is he even here? Aren't you supposed to return the kids by night?"
"He wouldn't let go okay? He held on to my head with his claws and it hurts, let's just watch this and wait for him to sleep and then we can return him"
"Me no sleep"
"Oh you Will sleep you little troublemaker... Uh God Eryn! Get your face away from the screen, it's not good for you"
"Can you tell me how it works?"
"Yeah Luke, you never told me how these works"
"My God you two... alright-alright i'll explain, so to understand a movie you must understand what a video is, remember the moving pictures is showed to both of you?"
"Yeah?"
"Well a movie in all honesty, is just a really long video, as in how these are Made the first thing you must understand is that there two types of movie, atleast by my standard..."
"...."
"One is live-action and the other one is animated, live action is like hmmm.... Do you know a stage play? Acting?"
"I don't know"
"Ooh ooh i do! When i was young and still on Bastille i watched a lot of drama performance"
"Oh good, that existed here anyway... A movie is like a really long act of performance, and it is recorded to a video by cameras, this phone has a camera too but they used special high quality ones for a movie, movies are usually 2-3 hours long"
"No way the performers can do a play that long"
"A camera can stop recording, and then continue again whenever they like, for example let me show you"
Luke paused the movie and acceses his camera to record a video, it elicited a protest from Soka
"Mofi!"
"Sorry kid hold on... *Hey Vina he pronounced movie like you haha*"
"Hey!"
"Here we go, we're live! Make any face you want"
"What? Why are you holding your slab oh wait sorry *phone* like that?"
"It's recording a video, and you're in it, try making a face"
"Oh okay..."
"Ah you know what just introduce yourself, your name, job, whatever"
"I can do that ehm... My name is eryn golddew-"
"Gold dew?"
"Don't laugh at my family name please... anyway, my name is eryn golddew, i'm a rookie mage, and i am here to learn all the knowledge i can and satiate the questions i had for life"
"Oddly specific but ok, now listen"
He played the video of Eryn introducing herself, Eryn, who is latching on his back similiar to a particular someone on his head is to say the least... Amazed, she was mesmerized by the image of herself moving on the screen.
"This is incredible! It mimics my every move perfectly..."
"It's not mimicking, it records what you do by taking thousands of photo called frames, these frames are then played in order so fast it looked like it moved when in reality it's just pictures moving really fast"
"What's a photo?"
"Ah God damn it, i should've explained that first, oh boy this is gonna be a long night"
"Boring! Watch mofi!"
"Soka please... Here you go"
"Yay!"
"Anyway, a photo is when a phone takes a picture of you, like well you know painting?"
"I do"
"A picture is like a painting, excepts it takes just a moment to make unlike a painting, well... Atleast for the camera, those frames i talked about are pictures of every single movement you make, so a video plays Them in order and it makes an illusion that looks like movement, Like... Look at this"
Luke picked up a piece of Wood splinter that has fallen off from the seat and and pinched the center with two fingers, he had known this trick for years, it was childhood really, he started shaking his hand left and right really fast and the stick started to look Bent on his finger.
"How did you do that? Wouldn't it snap?"
"I don't, it's an illusion from the stick moving really fast, it's not exactly how videos worked but it's similiar enough"
"Ok... Now i understand, what's the other type of movie that you said?"
"Now that-"
"Luke, can i go back to sleep? I don't like this movie"
"*Sigh* do what you want Vina"
She went back to sleep and Luke goes back to explaining what an animated movie is to Eryn, it's not like he's not tired, the problem is once Eryn is curious she won't let go until she knows what it is.
"It's called animation, it's like hmm.... Fake world?"
"What?"
"My people invented this... I don't know, tool? I guess? That lets you 'make' your own world, these characters you see on this movie is animated, they're not real, the voice is real, it has voice-overs, but that's it, it's like fake life"
"I don't really understand"
"Eh i was never good at explaining anyway, so does that answer you questions?"
"It does but... Oh well whatever, your world is way too complex"
"That's weird, usually you want to know everything possible"
"Some things might be a bit too advanced for me, i Mean... Making a fake world? Playing God?"
"When you put it that way yeah it really does sound strange, but it's like a standard thing for my people"
"The more you explain your world the more i think about your people as gods"
"Eryn trust me, no God in this damn universe and a lot more would Scour a city for a burger discount coupon, which i shamefully admit right here that i have done it... Multiple Times... On multiple Cities"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but i'll assume it's a lowly thing?"
"Not exactly... Just... Embarrasing?"
"Ah ok... I wanna go to sleep, you?"
"Well..."
Luke poked at the Tiny draconian on his head and got no response
"Looks like he's asleep"
"It's very late, his parents are probably asleep, i say you return him the next morning"
"Yeah, probably, do you want to sleep with him?"
"Funny Luke, but no, you sleep with him"
"Alright fine... Let me be the dad"
Luke picked up Soka off his head and held him in his lap, the kid stirred a bit but quickly fell asleep again with a small yawn, Luke did the same and goes into his own slumber.
----~----
"No, me up there"
"Soka no, we're going back to your mother"
Luke had to admit, this kid is way more persistent than he thought, when he woke up this morning he was greeted by the sight of Soka trying to climb up to his head, not wanting to get in trouble again he tried to stop him, but damn the kid is strong.
he did manage to get him off but not without a little brawl and scratch Marks on him and if it wasn't for his belt he wouldn't be able to hold him in a safe position, so now there he is carrying the little kid by wrapping him with the leather strap like a duffel bag.
"You remind me of myself you know, reckless and Playful, you have to grow out of it kid, life ain't cheap"
"Hm?"
"You didn't understand did you?"
"No"
"You know what? Don't change Soka, don't change... Now where is your mother?"
Luke searched around the convoy for the carriage Soka's family is on, although it looked more like a private wagon than anything, every other 'wagons' are either a big one Made for multiple families or as Luke call it 'medieval bus' or small makeshift ones that are actually carts with a tarp roof and nailed on wooden planks acting as Walls, which is the one he is staying on, the kid's family however looked fancy.
It really isn't hard to find since there is only three of Them, he just had to find the right one, the convoy hasn't moved yet, so it's even easier, what wasn't easy is ignoring all the stared he got for carrying a draconian baby like a bag, normally it's fine he gets a lot of that everyday, the problem is he is now known as the babysitter of this convoy and carrying a kid like that? Isn't exactly healthy for that kind of reputation.
"Ah that's your wagon right?"
"No"
"Yeah it is, I can tell from you looking scared at it... Excuse Ma'am? Are you awake? I got your son here"
A sound came from inside the wagon, it sounded like anger, Soka noticed it too as evidenced by the increase of resistance, suddenly the ornamented door slams open revealing a mother who is somehow angry and contempt at the same time.
"Ah you kept your promise, good... i'll pay you later now... Come here you little-"
"Eeeekkkk"
Soka tried to swim mid-air, it was cute, but futile as his mother grabbed him around the back of the neck held him with one hand just like how you would hold a hyperactive kitten.
"Oh you're going to get an earful mister!"
"No no no no"
"Oh yes you are... Thank you for taking care of my son, i know he can be a little shit"
Luke was surprised at the choice of words but decided not to pry on it.
"Your welcome Ma'am"
Without saying another word, she slammed the door to her wagon with the still crying Soka in her hands, Luke was pretty sure he heard slapping sounds as he walked away, perhaps a well-deserved ass whooping, but he still feels bad.
"Heh... All in a days work"
Then he remembered he has to take care of other kids today.
"Nevermind"
Suddely a horn sounded over the convoy along with some of the guards moving to the right side of the convoy, he stopped one of the citizen running from that direction and asked him.
"What's happening?"
"Hunter spiders! Hundreds of them! They are attacking!"
"Oh no..."