ch 20

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Chapter 20: Pebble Jr. Goes to School

Elric stood at the village square, arms wide.

"Behold! The newest member of my pack: Pebble Jr.!"

Mira squinted. "That's a rock with feet."

Lila tilted her head. "Is it… drooling dirt?"

"It's thinking," Elric defended.

The tiny mossy golem blinked slowly, then tripped over its own stubby leg.

Pebbles, the original, rolled over to nudge his new 'child' back upright with a fatherly puff of dust.

Boneclaw clapped.

Twig barked.

The Sprite threw glitter.

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Elric decided that if Pebble Jr. was going to be part of the pack, he needed to learn.

So, naturally, Elric built a "beast school" in the backyard.

It consisted of:

One blackboard (stolen from Kale)

Three chairs (one broken)

A bucket of old turnips labeled "lunch"

Pebble Jr. sat on the stool like a confused sponge while Boneclaw drooled on the desk and Twig ate the chalk.

"Today's lesson: How to Be Awesome."

Elric drew a stick figure of himself with very big muscles.

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"Lesson one: Don't fall into the soup."

He pointed at Boneclaw, who sneezed broth last week.

"Lesson two: Always listen to your Shepherd."

Pebble Jr. blinked.

"Lesson three: If you can't fight it, confuse it with glitter."

The Sprite sparkled.

Elric leaned closer to the golem. "And most important of all…"

He placed a hand on Pebble Jr.'s tiny mossy head.

"…Never be afraid to be different."

Pebble Jr. sneezed out a pebble.

Elric smiled.

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That evening, Riven sat watching from his porch.

He chuckled softly as Elric paraded his chaotic pack through the fields like they were royal knights.

"They don't see it yet," the old man murmured.

"But every one of those beasts chose him."

And the world?

It was watching.

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