The Puppet

An Unlikely Trio

Anya and Luke looked at each other then started laughing. The puppet looked at them slightly offended. He crossed his arms expectantly waiting for them to stop.

"You? The General? That's precious," Luke said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Why is that so unbelievable?" the puppet demanded to know.

"Well, first of all, you're a puppet. I feel like I shouldn't have to point that out to you. Second of all, you're made of wood and wood burns. And General Roy is referred to as the Phoenix, so, this combination wouldn't work. And lastly, I'm pretty sure the General wouldn't hide behind a box on our wagon if a threat was near."

"Wow, you really thought a lot about this in that short span of time, huh? Well, for your information, I haven't always been a puppet. This is a pretty recent thing and I'm kind of going through a lot right now so I don't need two strange people who kidnapped me to laugh at me."

"We did not kidnap you," Luke said annoyed.

"Really? How do you explain me waking up between two strangers on their wagon who just happened to be talking about me!?" he demanded with slight fear in his voice.

"Hey, it's alright," Anya said, lifting up her hands. "Let's just relax and we can answer your questions and you can answer ours."

The puppet tapped his foot nervously looking between Anya and Luke. "Fine," he said eventually. "I'll go first. Why did you kidnap me?"

"Why would we want to kidnap you?!" Luke exclaimed.

"Relax Luke. It's fine," Anya said calmly. "This is what happened. I was looking around this eccentric shop and I came across your box. I got the lock open and the shopkeeper let me take you off the shelf and bring you along. So here you are."

"Wait, I was in a shop? In a box? Where people could buy me? So I could've been someone's firewood??" he replied, becoming devastated.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. We're running low," Luke said casually.

"Knock it off, Luke," Anya said, glaring at him before turning back to the puppet. "Look, if it makes you feel better, it wasn't the type of shop where anyone could buy whatever they wanted. The only reason I ended up with you is because I heard a whisper coming from your box and I was able to open the lock. The shopkeeper said he'd had that box for five years and never knew what was inside."

"Five years? I was in a box, on a shelf, for five years? Where am I? What happened to my kingdom?"

"Your kingdom, as in Fire Crest?" Luke asked.

"That's right."

"The kingdom went on lockdown and vanished. No one in or out."

"Oh thank the gods," the puppet responded with relief.

"You're happy about that?"

"Well yeah. I'm not there to protect them."

"But the kingdom is gone," Anya told him.

"No, it's just hidden. I can find it as soon as I find my sword and undo the do that was done to me. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way," he said jumping down onto the road.

"On your own?" Anya called after him.

"Yep! Thanks for not killing me!" he said with a wave as he continued to walk away into the distance.

Anya looked at Luke with anticipation. Luke rolled his eyes.

"Anya, read my lips. NOT OUR PROBLEM. Seriously, we don't want to get involved in whatever the hell that is," Luke said as he pumped the reins and the horses began trotting.

"You said we could pursue it if we found a lead. That was a pretty obvious lead in my opinion," she argued.

"He didn't want our help."

"You threatened to turn him into firewood. Why would he ask us to help him after that? Come on, you saw how frail he was and how fast he hid from danger. He needs our help."

"Nope. Not me."

"Fine," she said standing and leaping from the moving wagon.

"Oh come on! Are you serious right now?!"

She sprinted off in the opposite direction after the puppet. It didn't take long to catch up to him. He was swatting a branch at a raccoon.

"Get back! Leave me alone!" he told it, trying to keep it at bay.

Anya walked over to the raccoon and booted it as hard as she could, causing it to fly a few feet back before scampering off into the woods.

"Uh, thanks but I had that under control," the puppet insisted.

"Sure you did. Where are you heading?" she asked him, crossing her arms.

"Uh, that way," he said pointing down the road.

"Any particular reason?"

"It's the direction I landed when I jumped out of the wagon so it's as good a place as any to start. And I'm literally starting with nothing."

"Let me help you. I found you for a reason."

"Yeah, to help me get out of that box and wake me up. Your part is done and I thank you and hope I can repay you one day but your offer to let me tag along with you and your sociopathic boyfriend is a hard pass for me."

"He's not a sociopath. He's just an asshole. And he's my partner. We hunt bounties."

"How do I know he's not going to use me as kindling?"

"Because you intrigue him too much and he's kind of scared of you."

The puppet let out a laugh. "Scared of me? That's ridiculous."

"He doesn't understand what you are or how you came to be. People are afraid of the unknown."

"But you're not?"

"I am. But I don't like to run from my fears. They always tend to catch up to me eventually."

The puppet thought for a moment. The sound of horses pulling a wagon caused them to look over. Luke was giving Anya an annoyed look but said nothing.

"Well?" she said, holding her hand out towards the wagon. "Do you want our help?"

"Take it or leave it puppet. We're not chasing you down a second time," Luke told him.

"Fine. But please, my name is Roy. Call me Roy."

"I'm Anya. This is Luke."

"Now let's get moving before we attract any unwanted company," Luke said motioning for Roy to take a seat next to him.

Roy pulled himself up next to Luke and Anya climbed on the end. Luke turned the wagon around and got the horses moving again.

"Now, we should lay down some ground rules," Luke said after a few minutes of riding in silence. "Rule number one, don't go running off on your own and expect us to chase you again. Got it?"

Roy gave him a nod as he stared ahead at the road.

"Number two, people are going to get scared if they know you're alive. People in numbers can be dangerous especially when they're scared. So you can't go traipsing into any place whenever you want. People are going to try to hurt you and they'll try to hurt us for being associated with you. So, when we tell you to be still, be still. Understand?"

Roy gave another nod.

"Last rule, if I find out that for whatever reason we can't trust you, you're on your own. And if you try to harm either of us, I'll kill you myself. Are we clear?"

"Yeah, we're clear. Now, could I just get one hour where you're not threatening me?" Roy asked, crossing his arms.