Monster Rancher Fan Fiction ❯ In the Floating Castle ❯ Accidents Will Happen ( One-Shot )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Monster Rancher, the whole series would be very different. Starting with more screen time for Grey Wolf.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: First off, a big thank you to NhMagee and Dark Scimitar for reviewing and letting me know the Monster Rancher section wasn't completely dead.This one's from Gali's point of view. He's a pain to write, so revisions may definitely come later.
"Mu" will be spelled that way because "Moo" just looks ridiculous.
And if there are any other points that don't mesh with the series, please review and let me know.

In the beginning I was a literati consisting of one, the only one out of four destined to be Mu's top generals who could truly read, let alone write.
It sounds completely outrageous, does it not?
I was the most educated of us all in matters not related to battle (I must credit this to the human who years ago went to the shrine and shouted "Unlock." I made her death quick). And, as far as I know, I still am.
The youngest, Grey Wolf, could recognize a few words, but certainly not enough to be considered proper reading. Rather, it was more conclusions drawn from experience- that so-and-so pattern meant "fruit," that another meant "fish." The same went for Pixie.
And, of course, Naga had no idea in the least how to even begin to read. He didn't care about his lack, either. In Mu's eyes his raw strength more than made up for it.

Reading was not the only thing Naga could not learn. Another thing was swimming.
Of course, I cannot exactly swim either, for obvious reasons. But with Naga the reasons were not quite as obvious.
You see, whenever he entered water of the appropriate depth, he promptly, invariably, sank. Like a rock with boulders tied to it. Several methods were tried to cure him of this (it would be such a shameful waste if he happened to slip and drown, would it not?). None of them worked.
If I was physically capable of smiling, I believe that whenever I review the memory of exactly how this flaw was learned of, I would do so.
It was near a lake- remember the lake, it played a large part in this little drama I am recounting. We had landed nearby- what reason Mu gave for this, I no longer recall; it's possible that he never gave a reason in the first place. Grey Wolf had complained a day or so earlier that I had more likely than not tampered with the food because it "didn't smell right." Perhaps that was the reason we landed.
Grey Wolf could swim, and he took the opportunity to show off this fact. I did not care in the least. It would have been an entirely forgettable day if Naga hadn't gotten off with the rest of us.
Accidents will happen.
Yes, I am sure it was an accident.
It became necessary for him to learn afterward, but on that day he hadn't been more than half a year, if that, in the big happy family; his dedication to Mu was still absolute, totally uninfluenced by politics. Nobody who wished to survive kept this mindset for very long. I had never had it.
But on that day, Grey Wolf still had it. It simply would never have occurred to him to deliberately cause Naga's demise.
But Naga, of course, didn't see it that way.

Now permit me to set the scene. I was on the other side of the lake from Naga. Pixie was in between, sitting down with her feet in the water. Various others scattered about- they were not important. Grey Wolf left the water at the point where Naga was standing and began to shake his fur out. Naga took a step back, presumably to keep from being spattered, then slipped and fell into the lake, which just happened to be quite deep.
If you heard him tell it, he would probably claim that Grey Wolf pushed him or some such nonsense. Do not, under any circumstances, believe it.
I did not know he could not swim. None of us knew. That was why we stood there like fools, looking at the water, during which time he half drowned.
Perhaps that was what he was so angry about afterward.