Bark and Bite

After selling the Nue they dropped into the town. Naofumi starts to head back to the inn he was staying at to await the return of Raphtalia and Sakura. As he is about to leave the area, he feels a hand touch his shoulder.

"I don't want to be that guy, but I will need some form of payment."

"Oh yeah, I guess we did hire you."

"It was my job, so I'll handle the pay, young man."

"Well since you're begging, I'm not going to be the one to stop you." Naofumi puts away his pouch and watches Gruff mount Pastry after getting paid.

"Later friends, till our paths cross again."

"I'm not friends with you!"

"Yes, we are!" Gruff shouted as Pastry flew off into the distance. Leaving Naofumi and the witch to watch as he flies off.

"He has to be the weirdest person I ever met."

"He means well. He just has an obsession with fishing for some reason."

"And that is something I don't want to hear for the rest of my life." Naofumi walks off, leaving the witch in the street by herself.

/~/

Hours later,

"Naofumi, we're back!" Kicking through the barricade Naofumi set. The wardrobe falls onto the bed as Sakura and Raphtalia climb in. Looking at both of them. Sakura is wearing a green dress with white going down the middle. Her sleeves and hem of the dress are decorated with lotus petals and a big green bow on her chest. Looking at Raphtalia, her dress is pretty much the same as what she got from Erhard. The only difference was some new black tights made to cover her previously exposed legs.

"I can only assume it went well?"

"You tell me." Transforming into her queen form and back. The new dress Sakura was wearing stayed intact throughout the transformation.

"Huh, I didn't think it would actually work."

"Not every person we meet is trying to scam us Naofumi."

"It's still a pretty large margin." Naofumi got up from his seat and lifted the wardrobe back against the door "And why is Raphtalia so shaken?" He looks over to Raph who has a bit of fear in her eyes.

"Trust me. You do not want to grab clothes from that woman, she is very scary."

"Talia speaks the truth. That woman is truly a force that Sakura will attempt to avoid for the remainder of her life."

"It's a tailor, not a wolf trying to maul you."

"You weren't there. She manhandled me like I was bread dough. I couldn't escape her grasp once she grabbed me."

"You make it sound like a murder attempt."

Sakura grabs Naofumi by the shoulders.

"With those tight dresses, it was."

"Alright, get off." Naofumi pushes Sakura onto the bed. "Clothing trauma aside. Now that you idiots are done, we can finally start my plan and move outside the castle town." A few hours away is the town of lute. My plan is that we go over there, hunt the local monster population, and sell some of my potions to them. Due to them being a small village on the outskirts of the castle town. They have a serious demand for medicine and healing ointments, and since I specialize in that department, the profits I'll gain will be big." Naofumi explained having a sinister grin on his face.

"You mean the profits we will gain?"

"You're a bird and I already cover all your living expenses. What possible reason do you need money for?"

"Sakura will have you know, that she has her desires as well."

"If it's food then you'll need a stronger argument."

"It is not!"

"It isn't?" Naofumi raises his brow as he questions the bird.

"Well somewhat. Sakura just desires a blade, like little Talia here."

"You can fell trees with a kick, in what universe do you need a sword!?"

"Because using a dagger was pretty fun, and really shiny too. You seen the shine on it right?"

"Stop stalling!"

"Fine, Sakura just doesn't like scraping off monster guts from your foot and feathers."

"Fair point, but are you sure you can take care of a big responsibility like using a sword."

"Sakura is an adult, she is responsible enough to take care of a big and obvious weapon."

"Adult!? You're only like, a week and a half old."

"In Filolial years that 24."

"You're just making that up!"

"Maybe Sakura did, but then again, you can't prove she did." Sakura chuckles a bit.

"Just take the coins and go grab a blade already." Naofumi tosses Sakura some change. Yelling once she runs out of the room. "If I find out you got anything else, it's coming out of your paycheck!"

Sakura returns to the room a second later. "Wait, so you're paying us now?"

"Get out!"

"Heh heh." Sakura chuckled as she left the room.

"I miss the guas now." Naofumi fell onto him as he took out a grimoire of healing magic, only being interrupted a minute later by the tanuki girl climbing onto hers.

"Naofumi, do you two hate each other?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, it was like when mother and father got angry at each other. You two seem to do it a lot."

"What is that a constant problem your family had?" Naofumi asked as he flipped to another page.

"No, it happened from time to time but it wasn't a constant thing."

"Then it's not the same. Theirs is probably about something important that got out of hand, while ours was random bickering.

"What does that mean?"

"A petty argument. Usually, a common thing that happens around friends."

"Ohh, like Keel and Rifana. They would do that a lot and then be fine right afterward. One time they were angry at each other for so long they forgot what they were fighting about." Raphtalia laughs before quickly changing to a silent whimper.

Naofumi attempted to ignore the child and continue his reading but couldn't ignore him anymore once she climbed into his bed to hug his shoulder and started to cry a bit. With the attempts to push her offending in failure, Naofumi just sat there and did his best to comfort the weeping child who soon fell asleep after she was calmed down.

/~/

"Sakura is baaaack~!" Walking into the room, Naofumi looks to her waist that holds a shiny silver long sword with a black hilt. Sakura also looks at Naofumi lying down in the bed with one book in his left hand, While Raphtaila tightly holds onto his arm to use as a pillow. "Aww, that's so adorable."

"Shut up and get her off of me already, her grip is surprisingly tight."

"Sakura cooould~, but it's funnier to see you this way."

"Oh screw you."

"Don't worry, Sakura will get her off in a minute when we leave."

"Leave? Where are you two going?"

"You bet Sakura that Sakura couldn't make her a killing machine, that's what Sakura is planning to do."

"You really believe that you can train that traumatized child to kill!" Naofumi chuckles a bit before continuing. "Sure, good luck with that."

"Sakura is an apex predator, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Don't griffins hate and fight filial for a living? Think that's the exact opposite of apex."

"Alright, so just a normal predator. Either way, Sakura has this."

/~/

15 minutes later,

"Oh come on stab it!"

"I'm…trying" Raphtalia whined.

Sakura took Raphtalia out into the forest once again to test her killing skills. Compared to yesterday, Raphtalia would hesitate slightly against a few monsters like the balloons but would muster up enough courage to finish it off. But when put up against a Usapil. She couldn't bring herself to stab it. No matter how many times she raised her dagger, she'll drop it back down immediately and back away.

"Oh come on It's just a rabbit, these things contribute nothing to the world." Sakura drew her brand new sword and stabs the creature in the neck. "See it's that easy."

Sakura nonchalantly tosses the rabbit corpse over to Raphtalia who refuses to catch it. She looks down at the dead rabbit that's slowly bleeding out onto her shoe, causing the tanuki to drop to her knees and puke on the floor.

"Okay can't handle blood, got it."

Raphtalia coughs a bit. "How are you… able to do it so easily."

"It's in Sakura's nature. She a bird meant to pull stuff, and kill."

"I don't think that help."

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't, you're not a monster, and Sakura still needs to make some progress, she is not trying to be proven wrong."

"I know and I'm sorry, but I just don't want to stab it."

"You were killing balloons earlier, what's the difference?"

"Balloons don't bleed, they're made of air and drop rubber. Ussapil is living and breathing creatures just like us. I saw my parent's mangled bodies in a pool of blood, I don't want to see others thing in the same situation.

"Wow, that…. really deep. Sakura guesses most people would tend to avoid killing anything unless they're forced to. Well… that or they're a psychopath who has no regard for life. Still, if you're planning on chilling with us, you gotta make the first step into murder territory."

"M-m-murder?"

"Okay not murder exactly, but you need a spark that will help you… kill things without any delay."

"Oh… what type?"

"Sakura doesn't know, got any fears?"

"We're working through killing one now, but not really any."

"What about parents, you hate any of them?"

"What! No, I love them."

"Huh, thought that was a valid choice. Alright, what about anger."

"Actually, there might be one," Raphtalia muttered.

"Ha, Sakura called it. Best teacher."

"I just don't… want to remember back."

"Well, you have to deal with it sooner or later. So just use it now. All you gotta do is remember back on that sad time and strike… uh." Sakura looks around for a bit and looks at a boar eating some grass. She quickly knocks the boar out with a kick and brings it back to Raphtalia. "Here, stab this."

Sakura holds he boar infront of Raphtalia. "Alr-right. Here I go." Taking back her dagger, she thrust it into the boar's stomach, but it bounces off without harm.

"Okay, maybe try a bit more strength, or are you still holding back."

"I'm trying!"

"Well, obviously not hard enough. Alright, let's try this. Trying picturing, wait no. Try to remember back to your trauma."

"You mean… the w-wave."

"Yes, remember back. Your friends were hurt during that right."

"Y-yeah." Raphtalia muttered, slowly on the verge of tears.

"Then use that. You're in a position to fight back now, show the wave what you're made of now!"

"O-okay." Raphtalia holds her dagger in both hands and closes her eyes as she readies to strike, but after taking Sakura's advice, she remembers the death and destruction caused to her home village, and she moves it to one hand and stabs down the Boar. For a second, it falls to the ground and shakes until going limp, but Raphtalia knelt down and continuously stabs it, only being stopped by Sakura who grabbed her arm.

"Alright then, watch the anger. You stabbed it seven times already."

"I did what?" Raphtalia who calmed down a bit looks down at the boar on the floor in horror. Her stomach immediately started churning as she fell to the ground again facing away from the boar she was just slain.

"Are you good, want to call it quits for tonight?"

Raphtalia only gives thumbs as she stays on the ground a bit more. Got picked up by Sakura and laid out on her feathers on the way back to the inn.

"At least you held it in this time."

/~/

After returning and taking a nap on the ground. Sakura is violently woken up by being constantly shaken by Naofumi.

"Damn it." Yawn "Damn it Naofumi, why does Sakura have to be up so early"

"According to the sundial, it's only 7 am."

"Again, why does Sakura have to be up so early."

"Oh shut up you lazy bird, we have things to do today. Besides, I have something I think you might enjoy." Naofumi replied, dragging Sakura down the steps.

"If it isn't a full course meal then I highly dou-" Sakura stops for a second as she stares at the brown cart sitting in front of them in. With even a confirming word from Naofumi, she dashed over to the cart and started inspecting it.

"Hmm, not its the original color, definitely painted, and this wood feels familiar. No not oak, and definitely not pine, got it, birch."

"How did you."

Naofumi is suddenly hugged by Sakura and is lifted into the air. "Carts are my life! Thank you, thank you thank you! Oh my gosh, we should go on a ride now."

"I mean that was the plan, it's already pac- ahh!" Naofumi yells as he is picked up and thrown inside of the cart. Recovering from the throw, he looks back out to see the bird carrying Raphtalia outside, and tossing her in the back too.

"Alright, we're too. Sakura is ready!"

"Umm, Lute."

"Map."

"Okay then." Naofumi hands Sakura the map. She takes a quick look and throws it back into the back.

"Alright, Sakura is ready to move."

"But your harness."

"Who uses that anymore." Sakura grabs the cart with her wings and speeds off. As they reach the gate, both guards jump out of the way to avoid getting run over by the giant bird and her cart.

/~/

A few minutes after the first initial burst of speed, Sakura slowed down a bit to accommodate for Raphtalia's weak stomach. Even after slowing down, Raphtalia stayed near the back of the cart so she can have a quick reaction whenever she needs to hurl, while Naofumi worked on his crate that holds 6 potions.

"Careful! This thing cost us the rest of our gold."

"Sakura won't ever dream about hurting her carriage. Besides, we can get some more stuff at this loot place."

"There's no loot there."

"What do you mean there's no loot?!"

"I said we're going to Lute. You know, like the instrument."

"Well that's just misleading, Sakura was hoping to find something shiny."

"Well, you can have these once I get them off."

Naofumi looks over to Raphtalia stabbing at her neck shackle's lock.

"I suggest you don't do that, you might accidentally stab yourself."

"Eek." Raph immediately dropped the dagger.

Putting down his potion supplies, Naofumi walks over to Raph with another bag. "You're gonna need a proper key or lock pick to get through these unless you wanna try and cut through them. Which is something I also wouldn't advise because that would most like stab or cut you as well."

"Umm, I'll pass then."

"No, it's best we deal with this now. Don't want you going through a growth spurt that would cause your neck and arms to be squeezed."

"Okay second though, good luck!"

"We'll see, I don't know if doors and shackles have the same locking mechanism, so this would be a bit. Just try not to move so you don't accidentally get choked out."

"Why does removing this thing have so many chances of death!"

"You tell me. I'm not the one who's wearing shackles." Naofumi takes out his bag and grabs a few tools for lock picking.

"It's not like I had a choice."

"Right, because the slavers thought it was a smart idea to get rid of perfectly good shackles in a last-ditch attempt to cause a slave pain if not removed correctly. If I was in charge, I'll be reusing the ones from the people I already sold to save money."

"You're not helping!" Raphtalia replied, practically fuming.

"Alright, a touchy subject I get it. Just know that if you ever get into the slave business, you should make smart ideas. Or just don't do it entirely, cause I think slave care could probably be expensive too."

"You're lucky I'm not supposed to move right now."

"Don't worry Talia, I will get a good kick in later."

"You know, I started to realize how violent you are," Raphtalia said.

"You try being raised by someone whose constants speeches are about wanting to throw a girl down a cliff, and you'll see how it affects you."

"You can just say I did a bad job raising you and spare the passive aggressiveness?"

"Sakura thinks accepting the fact you were bad and not changing your ways is the issue here."

"It's funny that you think I was attempting to be a good role model to anyone?

A click is heard as the shackles, but it refuses to open as Naofumi pulls on it.

"Hmm, this one seems to have multiple locks, what a pain," Naofumi complained as he continues to pick the lock.

/~/

Hours after their departure. Naofumi was properly able to remove all the shackles from Raphtalia's arms and neck. And with minimal stops to account for Raphtalia's stomach, they finally make it to the village of Lute after a full day's travel.

Being a rather small village. Sakura had no trouble finding a nearby inn to stop at for the day. Transforming back into a human, Sakura and Raphtalia unloaded the cart as Naofumi laid a mat down on the ground to sell his medicine. Immediately returning to the cart a swarm of customers took his remaining stock.

"Wow, that was fast."

"I know. GO AWAY, I'M OUT!"

"AWW!" The group of people crowding Naofumi's cart all disperse."

"We're going to need a better money-making strategy. I only made around 1 gold."

"Then get to potion-making. You only made 2 yesterday."

"I don't have the time or supplies to constantly make them."

"Then let's just head to that mine over there." Raphtalia pointed toward a mine.

"I don't know. If the locals aren't using it then something is up."

"Why don't you ask them then, they'll have a better idea of what's going on."

"Good idea. At least someone is making good plans today!" Naofumi yelled, side-eying Sakura.

"Don't look at me, you didn't either." Sakura snapped back.

"Why am I at fault for running out of medicine."

"Because you failed to make enough."

"Cause you made the entire bumpy. Even when you were going slow you still shook the cart!"

"Blame the idiots who made the roads, not me!"

"Guys?"

"What?" Both Naofumi and Sakura said in unison.

"The man over there said it's open but just monster-infested."

"Well look at you being the useful one. I'll make you a cookie later." Naofumi pats the raccoon on the head as he starts to head up the hill.

/~/

In around 5 minutes, they made it to a cave. Seeing that there was a supply shack inside, Naofumi goes inside to grab some of its supplies.

"You sure this is free?"

"If it not, they wouldn't have left it here." Naofumi grabs one of the pickaxes that were on the wall and some as well as some rope that was nearby and absorbs them into his shield. Unlocking 2 new forms and a brand new ability.

"Oh, this is interesting?"

"What is."

Rope Shield conditions met

Rope Shield equip bonus: Airstrike shield

["Airstrike shield!"] Reaching out his hand, a floating shield appears before the bird and tanuki, startling them both.

"Can't lie that's pretty cool. Sakura, see if you can break it."

"Oh, fun challenge time." Sakura draws her sword and stabs at the shield. As it connects she feels a vibration move from the sword to her arm, causing her to step back. "Woah, the arm went numb for a second."

"Very strong too. If it can survive a strike from you then most monsters won't stand a chance."

"Well Sakura was just off her game, she can break it now." Sakura stepped back to prepare another strike at the floating shield, but Naofumi makes the ability to disperse causing Sakura to run and stabbed into the wall instead, making Naofumi chuckle a bit as he walks out of the shed.

/~/

"Sakura! Du-"

"Ya!" Moving before Sakura could. Raphtalia stabs at a bat that was diving down at them. Naofumi was slightly impressed at her progress but became less impressed when he saw Raphtalia was holding in the urge to puke.

"Well, at least it's something. Moving through the cave and disposing of any monster they come across. Naofumi has to hold Sakura by the hand to prevent her from running off to grab every ore in sight.

"Nooo, Sakura wants to see the shinnnies~!" Sakura whined

"Fine, you can have one of each one you find, but only when you're done."

"Awww~ You're no fun." Sakura pouted.

She drew her sword and did a small slash in the air that created a ripple of wind that cut through a few bats. When it fell to the ground, Sakura went over and picked it up.

"You think these are edible."

"I don't know."

"Then it's food for later!" Sakura cheered, dumping it in her basket.

/~/

The whole trip was going extremely well. Naofumi would find a lot of gems, ore, and crystals that went un mined for weeks, and dumped them all in his bag. While Sakura and Raphtalia would kill the monsters to both help clear out the cave to mine peacefully, and gain exp for the group.

But during one of their fun-filled chats, a looming shadow lurks above them, ready to catch them off guard.

"So if I were to cut your hair, and you transformed back. Would it just be reset to normal and I would have the hair I cut? Or would it just disappear?"

"Sakura doesn't know, and she isn't doing that experiment for you."

"Then what about hairstyles, is it natural, or can you adjust them."

"Adjust, how else do you think I maintain this lotus bun." Sakura lowered her head to show the top of her head is in the form of a lotus.

"Seriously, what type of magic bullshit writes the rules for this stuff."

"I know magic isn't that best answer, so I'll just leave it at MOVE!"

"The hell is mov- agh"

Sakura pushed Naofumi out the way to narrowly avoid a black dog that leaped at them from the shadows. As the dog lands on the ground, it turned around and made a dash toward Naofumi, bringing its jaw down in an attempt to bite off his head. But before the bite could go through, Naofumi catches the by the jaw and held the jaw in the air for a bit.

'Wow, Gruff was right about this' Naofumi thought.

"Sakura, Raph get him."

"Got it!" Sakura draws her blade and slashes the dog across its neck, causing a pretty major wound to appear before its second head can bite down.

"Raph, now!" Jumping back, Sakura lands near Raphtalia. The young tanuki draws her dagger but is visibly shaking.

"God damn it, not the time!"

Naofumi avoids a bite from one of the dog's heads and pushes it back a fair distance. When the dog turns back, it shifts its focus to the scarred raccoon. It immediately made a dash over to it's free meal but is stopped as it runs into Naofumi's Airstrike shield skill.

"Looks like you did the job well Sakura!"

"Shut up, Sakura did what she could. I'll get Raph to safety." Sakura picks Raphtalia up like a football and ran off.

"Wait what am I supposed to do against this thing!"

"Stall it!"

"Easier said than done!" Naofumi shouted.

Naofumi stands his ground as the dog broke through the floating shield, and pounced at him.

"Alright, you watered down Twin bellows, bring it on!

/~/

Blocking one head with an Airstrike shield. Naofumi shuts the jaw of the dog he was holding and pins it to the ground with his foot. Once the shield de spawns, the second head comes straight at him, but he catches that one by the jaw too.

Holding both bodies, Naofumi lets go of the head on the ground and uses all his strength to slam it into the wall near him, but he only got disappointed as the dog took zero damage, even when the wall he slammed it into got cracked open.

"Seriously, what the hell do I have to do to hurt something for once!"

Naofumi jumps back as one of the heads went for his knee and stands his ground to block another hit directed at his torso. But as he blocked the bite from the head, he is pushed to the edge of the cliff.

Regaining his balance to avoid falling to his death, one of the dogs takes advantage of his inability to block at the moment and bites down on Naofumi's shoulder.

"AGHH!" Naofumi yelled out in pain, blood started to drip from his shoulder as the dog's jaws dug deeper and deeper into his flesh. Not wanting to lose here, he attempted to remove the head currently on his shoulder, but he is raised in and is shaken by the dog trying to rip his arm off.

Thinking fast, Naofumi deploys an Airstrike shield under the dog's neck, forcing it to let go. But the fall sent him tumbling off the cliff side.

As Naofumi fell, he quickly swapped back to his rope shield, and shot a long strand that wrapped onto a nearby rock, effectively saving himself from the fall.

/~/

As all of this is happening, Raphtalia is watching from afar as Sakura is carrying her away. All she can do is watch Naofumi dangle from the cliff as the dog moves in to finish off its prey. And that's when she remembers.

Remembering back to the wave, Raphtalia sees her parent that are in a similar similar situation, and because of it, she isn't going to let this opportunity pass.

"No, NO! NOT AGAIN!."

"What are you goin- Hey, that's where the dog is!" Sakura shouted as she watches Raphtalia breaks through her grip and start to run towards the dog..

Raphtalia hears the calls from Sakura, but she ignores them as she continued running. Drawing her dagger, all her sadness turns to fury as she jumps onto the back of the dog and drives her blade right into its neck, causing the dog to give out a painful howl.

"DON'T DIE NAOFUMI! I'LL SAVE-"

Raphtalia pulled out her dagger and attempted to stab it once more, but the dog's tail hits knocks her off, and sends her to the ground.

Shifting its attention over to the Raphtalia, the dog becomes enraged and pounces on the tanuki who is too stunned to move. But a blast of wind hits the two-headed dog and pushes it into the wall.

Running over to Naofumi, Sakura reaches her hand out to pull up her owner dangling owner. Only to insult him a second later "You know, almost dying is not really a good stalling tactic, but I'll give you 5 points for the attempt."

"And blowing a harmless gust of air is a bad killing attempt."

"How would you know!"

Naofumi moves his shield to block a claw that was being swiped at Sakura. With the paw in the air, the bird comes from under the shield, and in a rather sloppy motion, she draws her sword and cuts off the dog's paw.

Following up, an aura of razor-sharp winds form and starts to circle around her blade, as she brings it down on the injured dog.

"[First Wind Blades!]" The blade falls onto the neck of the two-headed dog. The winds tear into its flesh as it cuts deeper and deeper until it's cut off.

With one of its heads falling to the ground, the dog collapses to the unbearable pain. Trying its best, it starts to get back up using its remaining front paw, but Sakura walks up and cuts it off before it can properly get off the ground.

"Well, that was easier than Sakura thought."

"Don't half-ass the job, it's still alive, you always have to make sure it's dead.:

"Probably not? Anyways let's finish this, Sakura needs to pick up all her shinies."

"Then stab the thing so we can move on already."

"Not Sakura, Talia, you want to do the honors?"

"With pleasure." Walking towards the dog, it starts barking ferociously at the approaching tanuki. At first, she was hesitant to move forward, but she started to move despite the dog's threats.

[Rope Shield] Shooting a rope at the dog mount, it ties itself into a muzzle, silencing the dog.

"Geez, that was annoying."

"Thanks, master."

"It-, you know what, I'll let it slide."

Raising her dagger, she stabs it into the dog's head and removes it. The new single-headed dog starts to violently shake as it's trying to escape, but it soon stops moving and falls limp, dying from its blood loss.

Level Up!

Naofumi Iwatani: 23 — 24

Sakura: 14 — 17

Raphtalia; 9 — 14

"Decent exp for a fight like that. I'm proud you actually something today Raph."

"You're… surprised?"

"Yes, looks like I lost that best."

"Ha, you know what that means."

Naofumi places his hand over his face at the thought of losing to Sakura, but he ultimately gives in.

"Fine, I'll make you your dinner."

"Yes! Victory!" Sakura shouted. She quickly starts to pick up all the dropped gems and ores they had in their basket, and continues on into the cave in anticipation of her victory dinner

/~/

Meanwhile at Mirso,

Landing at the stables, Gruff catches several mice and tosses them into Pastry's stable, who proceeds to massacre the poor family of mice.

"So, did you have fun?" The girl in the top hat asked as Gruff came in.

"Not really, watching Sylvester fail at being a chef was more exciting than that quest. I did kick a Nue into a wall though, so that's some bonus points there."

"I'm sure you'll find something fun later." The girl kisses him on the cheek and sits down in the chair. Making the rabbit blush a bit.

Sitting down next to his girlfriend. Gruff grabs a book, slightly exhausted by the hour of flight. As he begins to read, he constantly hears a noise from the kitchen. Getting back up, he enters and discovers Sylvester still in there with several more bowls spread across the area. "You're still on this!"

"Yep."

"Oh screw that, give me the bowl and get out the kitchen!"

The girl in a top hat ignores the commotion going on in the kitchen, as the Archer and Rabbit play tug of war over a mixing bowl.