Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-34263048-20180505192902/@comment-33398500-20180623073742

How is it that this became MY problem!?

As I made my way to the mountain ruins where the griffon stood, ready to strike down anyone that came to take her charge, I started to wonder how this came about. The chief asked me to try to broker a peace between two serious powerhouse mamono, each of which having the exact opposite viewpoint from each other, and I didn’t even know where to BEGIN to try to get them to some manner of compromise.

However, as I approached the entrance to the ruins, up front and directly toward the entrance, the griffon flew down immediately. “Brave of you, to come so blatantly forward to attempt to steal that which I have been entrusted to guard... but know you will not be leaving with a single piece, not one fragment of my treasures...” before immediately swinging a clawed hand across my front, with me barely avoiding being torn to bits by this.

“Hey! Hey! Calm down! I’m not here to steal from you!” I called immediately. “Would I be charging right toward you if I intended theft?” I asked logically, causing her to stop a moment.

“True. You are far too weak to best me in battle... if you do not seek to steal from me, human, why do you come here?” she then asked me, looking impatient just by my presence there.

“M-miss griffon, I came because I intend to negotiate a settlement between the two parties fighting over this mountain, and damaging the village below...”

“You mean me? Negotiate with that dragon wench, Emma? Not on your life or mine, human... she will no more steal my charge than you... no matter the cost...” she then told me irritably.

“Can we at least meet out in the field to discuss this? Just a few minutes of your time, so we can work something out... you won’t even have to talk to her... you can talk to me, then I’ll tell her...” I suggested, practically pleading at this point. I couldn’t just go back to the village and tell the chief that there was no negotiation to be had, and they just had to deal with it even if someone got hurt...

Sighing to herself, the griffon then groaned before saying “You are very persistent, human... very well... I shall go to this neutral field, but I shall not leave sight of my ruins. I cannot have anyone attempt to plunder my ruins...”

Nodding along with this, I agreed “Of course, ma’am. Thank you... Meet me there tomorrow at noon, so I have time to get her to come along...” pointing to a clearing to the side of the village, smack between the two mountains where the opposing mamono had taken up residence.

Later that day, I managed to get up to the opposite mountain, each being somewhat high, but with traversable trails headed up them, leading to the dragon’s aerie. As I arrived, I noticed a distinct lack of treasure in the dragon’s nest. “Human... if you come to harm me, you’ve certainly come ill-prepared...” she commented, advancing whilst looking at me like I was some sort of bug.

“N-n-no!” I got out, holding my hands out to try to get the point across that I wasn’t there for a fight. “I’m here to try to fix the current situation!”

“Oh, so Zephyr, then...” she commented, groaning. “...if you came to me, you must have already convinced her to speak to me... if you can get me to her gold, then I will make the attempt, at least...” she then said, very bluntly, before seeing me practically collapse.

“Mmm... it seems you have attempted to do too much... no matter...” bringing me into her nest as I started to pass out from physical exhaustion.

The next day, I woke up in the dragon’s nest, with her still having that superior expression on her face. “Ah, you’re awake... it is just before noon... our meeting will be soon... you are coming.” She stated simply, grabbing me by the arms and starting to fly, the two of us coming down from the mountain and into the field, where Zephyr was already waiting.

“You had to be brought here by her? Clearly you do not mean to be a negotiator, but rather, to attempt to convince me to allow this greedy bitch to get her claws on my treasures!” Zephyr then concluded angrily, looking across at me, not even sparing a glance for Emma.

“Greedy bitch!? Who’s the one with an entire ruin filled to the brim with beautiful golden relics and won’t even allow ONE of them to see the light of day!?” Emma then responded indignantly, the anger level clearly rising immediately. I can see why this had never happened before.

“Those were bestowed to my care by the gods, and none will lay a finger on them while I still breathe!” she then vowed aloud, raising her hand and getting into a combative stance.

“Fine by me!” Emma declared, smoke starting to puff out of her mouth as she got ready for a fight as well.

“STOP!” I shouted at the two, as they were about to start attacking each other near the village again, the people watching looking outright horrified they were going to have to take cover again. “You two have to stop this! Not for my sake, not for yours, but for THEIRS!” gesturing to the village. “If your fighting escalates, you may end up destroying the entire village! Don’t you care about that!?”

“Not really.” Emma replied bluntly to me, not altering her gaze at all.

“I’m afraid not, human...” Zephyr then stated coldly, staring across at her opponent.

“Oh, why not? The ruins up there, from the stories I’ve heard, the people of this village were the ones who originally built the temple honouring the gods you were charged with guarding that ruin by!”

“That matters not! Any who try to steal from the gods will be punished!” she continued “...even if that did matter, she is NOT of your village, she is an outsider obsessed with acquiring her ‘shiny things’!”

“Sh-shiny things!?” the dragon replied indignantly, smoke billowing from her nose as well now “I will end you and take that ruin as my new home!”

However, now, as the two charged at each other, I, defying any logic and self-preservation, sprinted between the two, now there as they attempted to strike each other, my right arm and chest now each having a razor sharp claw backed by arms that could rend steel less than an inch away.

“W-wh-what are you doing!?” a visibly-stunned Emma demanded.

“Why...? Why are you stopping me?!” Zephyr, just as shocked by this turn of events, spouted angrily.

“Because... you can’t harm humans... can you? Emma... you thought I was there to harm you... and yet you made no attempt to actually attack me when I arrived, you were defensive...” I started, explaining my actions.

“B-but you... were not there to fight...” the dragon replied, sounding rather less certain than before.

“...and you...” I continued, turning to Zephyr. “You would stop someone attempting to steal from you... but a human from the village your temple was built by? Who is only attempting to help? You’re not a killer... I knew it...”

“You cannot... say that...” the griffon then responded, shaking slightly as she couldn’t figure out what to say.

However, what I failed to notice was the tinge of red rapidly spreading across each mamono’s face.

“Has... a new treasure... presented itself...?” Emma asked, to no one in particular, as her clawed hand now grabbed my arm, a gentler grip than what I expected catching me. “Putting yourself in harm’s way for these people...”

“If you two keep up like this...” I continued, oblivious to her changing expression “...you’re going to kill each other... or one of you will kill the other... and that... I don’t want that to happen, either...” I started, unsure where things were going at the moment.

However, as Zephyr’s hand then grabbed my other arm, she asked “Do you wish to stop us fighting that much? Actually, I can tell you desire it a great deal...” then realizing her face was slightly flushed as well. “Perhaps... there is one thing...” she started.

“...we can agree over...” Emma finished, realizing I had somehow set off their instincts as the two shoved me down to the ground, as she ran her tongue along her lips.

“The villagers may wish to go back inside...” Zephyr commented before the dragon and the griffin co-operated for the first time, taking what they wanted from the one who just wanted them to stop fighting: me.

Not long after returning to consciousness, I realized I was in a large, brightly-lit hall of stone, which seemed to glitter from the ceiling down. “Wait... am I...?” I started, before the warm weight on either side affirmed its presence.

“In the temple? Yes~” Zephyr then informed me. “I took you home after we had our fun...”

“Yep~ You did it, husband, you successfully made peace for your former village~” Emma then told me from the other side.

“W-well, that’s nice and all... but... former village? W-wait... h-h-husband!?” I then repeated incredulously.

“Of course~” Zephyr responded “What did you think happened when the two of us claimed you? You are now my husband, and thus I am charged with protecting you...”

“But... you’re also my treasure, which means I have to keep you close~ you live here now~” Emma then informed me.

“Wait... you let her into the temple?” I then asked Zephyr, still looking surprised.

“Of course...” she then commented “She is also your wife, which means she will protect you as well... and, after you passed out, we got a chance to speak... if she were to live here with us, that would make this temple her aerie, and thus the treasures, her ‘hoard’ as well, are something she’ll jealously guard from outsiders... since this keeps them here... there’s really nothing to fight about now...”

“Maybe there is...” Emma then commented, a smirk crossing her face. “...husband...” she started.

“Victor.” I informed her.

“Okay... Victor... which of our bodies did you prefer?” the proud dragon asked with a smirk. For mamono as proud as these two, that was as loaded a question as one could get.

“I... umm... I... uhh...” I started to stammer, unable to form words that would navigate the minefield she had set.

“Perhaps he needs a further sample?” Zephyr suggested, looking at me now with a lewd smirk.

“Of course! I will lose to no one!” Emma declared, the two now pushing me down again.

This seems like the start of a very straining relationship...