Jasper was starting to wonder if Prunella was just playing a sick game with him. After the giant sheep incident—which, let's be honest, had left him more bruised than heroic—he was beginning to question how much "adventure" was too much. Couldn't he just do one normal job? Maybe take up knitting or something peaceful? Like, he'd heard blacksmithing was an option. He could hammer metal all day and have zero emotional trauma.
But, no. He was a beast tamer. Or, as it felt at this point, a beast ragdoll.
This new quest was supposed to be easier, Prunella had promised. "It's a small creature," she'd said. "It's going to be fun!"
Now, as Jasper trudged through the swampy marshlands, a bitter feeling churned in his stomach. He could hear the faint croak of toads echoing around him, the squelching sound of his boots sinking into the mud with every step. He hated swamps. Swamps were the worst. They smelled like damp socks and regret, and that was before he even got to the actual beasts.
"Are we there yet?" Jasper groaned, looking around at the miserable, murky water and gnarled trees that hung low like skeletal fingers.
Prunella didn't respond. She was busy checking some sort of map that seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane in this swamp of insanity.
"You know, I could just walk back to town, right?" Jasper said, trying to reason with her. "You'll probably tame the beast yourself, no problem. It seems like it's your specialty."
Prunella grinned over her shoulder, holding up the map. "It's just up ahead. And you are the beast tamer, remember?"
Jasper shot her a glare. "You say that, but all I seem to be is the poor schmuck who's in charge of collecting bruises and bad decisions."
But Prunella only laughed and kept marching ahead. Jasper sighed, kicking a chunk of mud off his boot.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of trudging through the swamp, they arrived at a clearing where the ground dried up somewhat. There, nestled in the center of a small pond, was a large, tangled mess of vines. It looked... harmless. Maybe too harmless.
Prunella pointed excitedly. "There it is! The beast."
Jasper squinted at the mess of vines, unsure if he was missing something. "What is that? A plant?"
"No, no, no," Prunella said, walking toward it. "It's an owl toad. They're both amphibious and aerial. A very rare combination, as you can imagine."
Jasper gave her a look. "That... sounds ridiculous. An owl toad? You're not making this up, right?"
"Nope, totally real," she said with a smile that was far too smug for his liking. "You'll see."
He didn't like the sound of that. If there was one thing Jasper had learned from this nightmare job, it was that seeing didn't always help. In fact, sometimes, it made everything worse.
He reluctantly followed her toward the pond. The air smelled of wet earth and rotting vegetation, and every step made a squelching noise that just screamed "bad idea." As they got closer, Jasper saw the tangled vines shifting slightly.
"Uh, Prunella?" Jasper whispered, eyeing the moving mass suspiciously. "Are you sure this is...?"
Before he could finish the sentence, something popped out of the vines. It wasn't a pleasant popping sound, either. It sounded like something had birthed out of the swamp, and that's exactly what it was: a creature unlike anything Jasper had seen.
It had the body of a bloated toad with long, warty legs, but the face—oh, the face was where things got weird. It was owl-like, with huge, unblinking eyes that seemed to pierce right through him. Its wings were stubby and awkward, but they looked powerful enough to get it off the ground if it needed to. And then, it croaked, but in a high-pitched, owl-like hoot that made Jasper's spine stiffen.
"Oh no," he said, taking a cautious step back. "That thing is horrifying."
Prunella laughed. "See? Isn't it cute?"
Jasper gawked at her. "Cute? That thing's a nightmare dressed in swamp skin and feathers. How in the world am I supposed to tame that?"
Prunella just grinned. "Same way you tamed everything else. With love."
"Love?" Jasper's voice had an incredulous edge. "I'm going to love a giant, amphibious owl-toad hybrid into submission?"
Prunella nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly!"
Jasper stepped closer to the creature, trying to ignore the fact that it was now eyeing him like an appetizer. It croaked again, its massive eyes following his every move. His heart pounded harder than he thought it would. He had a sinking feeling that this was not going to go well.
"Okay, let's think this through," Jasper said, pacing in front of the toad-owl beast. "I've been through a giant sheep, a dragon, and even... whatever that giant phoenix thing was last week. But an owl-toad? This is next-level."
"Just go slow," Prunella urged. "You've got this, remember?"
He turned back to face the creature, trying to remember Prunella's instructions. "Alright, buddy. I know you're probably not used to normal interaction... but I think we can work something out."
The owl-toad blinked at him, and Jasper almost swore it was smirking.
"Are you smiling at me?" he demanded. "Because I will start crying if you're smirking at me."
The creature hopped awkwardly toward him, its warty legs splashing in the water. Jasper stood stock-still, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. He had no idea what to expect from a creature like this, and the more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
"Alright, alright," he muttered. "I've dealt with worse. I can do this."
He knelt down in front of the beast, trying to give off a friendly vibe. "Hey there. You like... snacks?"
To his surprise, the owl-toad blinked again, and then croaked loudly, as if in approval.
"Well, that's a start," Jasper muttered. "Maybe we can be friends after all."
Prunella, who had been standing off to the side, now took a few steps closer. "That's it! Now offer it a treat."
"A treat?" Jasper asked, suddenly recalling that the last time he offered a treat to a creature, it nearly ate him. "What kind of treat?"
"You know, like... something delicious," Prunella said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Jasper sighed. "Well, I don't have treats per se, but I've got some leftover jerky from the last quest..."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a small hunk of jerky. The owl-toad's large eyes locked on it immediately, and with a swift, slimy tongue, it snatched the treat from his hand.
"Okay," Jasper said, slightly awestruck. "Maybe this isn't going to be so bad."
The creature continued to stare at him with those enormous, unblinking eyes, making a sort of throaty cooing sound as it chewed the jerky. Jasper smiled faintly.
"See?" Prunella said, beaming. "You're a natural."
Jasper wasn't so sure. But as the owl-toad settled back into its nest of vines, its eyes now calm and peaceful, he started to think maybe Prunella had a point.
It was working. Slowly, but surely, he was beginning to understand how all this madness fit together.
"Alright," Jasper muttered, rubbing his forehead. "I guess I'll take that as a win. But just so we're clear—no more giant creatures for a while."
"Agreed," Prunella said, winking at him. "But you know what they say—the bigger the beast, the bigger the adventure."
"Please," Jasper groaned. "Can we just have one normal day?"
But, deep down, he knew that was never going to happen.