With the large goat back in its pen, it was time to properly engage the goose… gooses… geese? With it more than likely being the latter since it sounded right, it was time to display some of the things he was good at, as well as some of the things he generally didn’t excel at. Not yet at least, but there was always time to learn. Thanks to him gradually leaning himself into learning martial arts, the boy had been learning how to show some manner of restraint when it came to the amount of force he exerted when dealing with whatever threat might come his way. It was important because he wasn’t just getting stronger, he was getting faster, as well as becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and the amount of damage he could unintentionally wreak upon it through honestly just the best of intentions.

But that was likely where the saying came from, regarding how good intentions were the things that paved one’s road to hell. It was a realization that had helped him greatly, as exercising with a certain training dummy from time to time helped him figure out how much of himself to exert upon someone or something else. Because dishing out hits against a dummy that struck back at you just as hard as you struck at it more or less made you want to learn moderation, as well as being able to regulate one’s own output on the fly.

Dealing with a pair of rogue geese that were considered as ‘mana beasts’, Gawain was keeping every single one of his senses locked on them in an attempt at taking both of them down at the same time. Given the nature of how clumsily geese walked and ran, the ashen haired boy knew that his base speed was more than enough, though he kept himself at around a pace of twenty miles per hour. More than enough, or so he assumed. Forming a one-handed seal with his left hand, his eyes began to glow with a jade hue, internalizing a solid amount of air pressure mana inside of his body to make up for the one thing he assumed he would lack when trying to take down both of these animals at the same time. For as he closed the distance between them, the two made it quite well known that he had been taken notice off through loud hissing.

These weren’t your average geese, they were mana beasts of some sort, meaning they were meant to be handled with care. That said, given how this was a petting zoo, he was sure they wouldn’t just start spitting fire in his direction, as that would hardly be safe for kids. Believing the quickest way to handle them would be to overpower them, he increases his physical strength by at least twice the normal amount. That said though, the goal was to regulate and handle them with moderation, exerting just the right amount of it to overcome them and keep them restrained. So just before he was about to reach the two geese, Gawain tapped into his full speed for only a moment, almost doubling it out of the blue to bypass their defenses and put a geese head underneath each of his armpits. Believing the sweat he was working up to be plenty of punishment, he kept their heads and beaks locked while using his arms to pick up one goose each.

And just like that, the geese outbreak was overcome in what felt like a second. Being more than capable of handling and carrying them, the fast that he kept their heads locked meant that they couldn’t exert themselves in a violent manner whatsoever, while the fact that their eyes were covered would hopefully do something to slightly ease the tension. Walking them back to their pen, the boy stepped into it fully as he lowered himself slowly, gradually releasing the vice grip he had on the two birds while pushing them down into the hay. Having clearly been startled by the way in which they had been snatched up, there was honestly no better way when it came to handling geese, as they had a tendency of honking at people and being outright rude and snappy. Whenever he saw them in the boonies, they always acted rather high and mighty, hissing and biting at people that got even remotely close.

So as his lock on the animals got released ever so slightly, the show of force and the restraint shown when letting them go in their temporary habitats seemed to have overwhelmed them to the point where the animals did not lash out at him. There was a seeing about cornered animals being the most dangerous. However, there was something about a cornered animal being let go into freedom that seemed to work in one’s favor from time to time. Removing themselves from Gawain’s care, they walked around in their pens in a bit of a lackluster fashion, still overwhelmed by what had happened as they softly honked and stuck to the corner of the pen for the time being. Now that things had quieted down a bit and these animals had been returned to their proper place, the boy ventured towards the feed bags. Not knowing who the majority of the people here were, he just nodded at Hania, whom he knew solely from having gone through a dungeon at some point.

Reaching for the feed bag and filling up his pockets with geese food and grabbing two handfuls of goat chow, the boy turned and went back to the animals. Still believing that the guy didn’t think much of Gawain, he honestly couldn’t be bothered by it. They weren’t in the same squad, so it wasn’t his problem. People were allowed to think what they wanted. Stepping in with the large goat, the boy stretched out his open hand, allowing it to take some of the food if it felt so inclined. At first, it was clear that there was some level of distrust, though the fact that it seemed to still be quite tired was enough for it to accept its loss for what it was and deal with the consolation prize. Quickly emptying out both of the boy’s hands, it even allowed the Silver Eagle a moment to stroke its head before it bleated and wandered towards the opposite side of the pen. It was clear that it was done with the boy, so he wouldn’t overstay his welcome.

Next up were the geese that had solicited a visit. Wandering into the pen, he emptied out both of his pockets in a specific spot before taking a step back and taking a knee. With a few curious honks and some cautious glances, the pair approached carefully before taking a few bites. Keeping their guards up, their eyes shot towards any limb that moved, showing they were not ready to be handled yet. As such, Gawain took his time, waiting for them to settle into eating properly before he began rubbing the back of their necks. At first, it seemed as though they did not even notice him doing it. But when he stopped, he saw that they stopped eating as though wandering why he stopped. Returning to stroking their feathers as carefully as possible, he was allowed to continue up until the moment when they ran out of food. Honestly, the boy held a lot of love in his heart for animals and would never hurt them if he could help it.

However, as recent times had proven when he was handling a pack of wolves out in the boonies, having to hurt them was the only thing he could do as it meant not having to kill them. And between the two, choosing the lesser of two evils gave the creatures another chance at survival, not to mention re-instating their fear towards humans. For wild animals, maintaining that fear was vital for their continued survival, a thing Griswold had told him time and again. As the two geese scurried away from him, it dawned upon him that his own time here had also come to an end. Restoring some sense of normalcy to the zoo while getting a chance to get some one on one time with some of the animals, there were still some things here he wished to take part in. And given as how there wasn’t really anyone here he wished to speak to, saying his goodbyes wasn’t required in the least.



WC: 1430
Total WC: 5188



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