#gambat

"This was supposed to be easy!" She huffed, holding onto the leash as it flailed behind her. "Taking your pet out for a walk shouldn't be this hard!" She huffed, looking up once more to see Gambat flying in the direction of the markets and shops. "Argh– Gambat, come back here!" The girl pushes herself to run faster, hoping to catch up with her pet. A groan left her mouth, she promised her parents that she would be fine.

~ An Hour Ago - McQuaid Estate ~

Elroy and Wilhelmina stood in the foyer of the estate, watching their daughter come down the stairs with a maid following behind her. "Mo stoirín, are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" Elroy, ever the worrywart over his daughter, was proud that she was being more independent. A nudge from his wife was enough to get him to stop. "Veruca will be fine, love. She's a McQuaid, after all. It's other people that you should be worried about." Wilma mutters the last part to herself. A soft chuckle escapes her husband's lips.

It's true that Veruca can be a bit of a troublemaker herself. After all, she took after her father and brother in that regard. But most people can tell that Veruca was more like her mother. Strong willed, passionate, and easily irritable. A few were unfortunate enough to face their wrath after an incident at her old school where Veruca got in trouble for punching a boy. Well the boy had it coming, he was bothering Veruca after being told to stop multiple times. And Wilhelmina had to come in, telling off not only the headmaster and teacher, but also the parents for allowing such behavior to continue.

"Of course, Wilma. After all, our little Vera has the McQuaid fire burning within her. You are old enough to take Gambat out on your own now." Elroy states, feeling proud at their daughter's upbringing. "Though, it would be best to stay out of trouble." He nods his head at Veruca, giving her a knowing look.

Veruca lets out a huff as she rolls her eyes, "Of course dad, I know already. And I'll be fine, I'll just head to the park down the street and come back. No detours." She turns her attention towards the maid, Jolien. In her hands, a bronze cage holding a small flying fox bat. The young girl lets out her furry friend, holding her hand out for him to hang onto. "Hey there, boy. Are you ready to go out today?" Gambat chirps happily, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Wilhelmina steps forward a small smile gracing her features, "Remember little one, put his collar on before you head out. Gambat may listen to your commands, but he still has the tendency to fly off on his own."

Veruca takes the leash and collar from her mother, "I know, mother, I know. I promise there won't be any trouble." She gives both her parents a confident smile. "Besides, it will be simple and easy." Wilhelmina narrows her eyes, but nonetheless nods at her daughter. Elroy on the other hand looks down at his daughter with beaming pride. "Okay, okay. I believe our girl has had enough of our nagging and worrying."

Elroy guides Veruca towards the door, handing her Gambat's collar and leash, "If anything happens, mo stoirín–"

"Nothing is going to happen, dad!" Veruca cuts him off, taking the items from her father in haste. "You've tagged along on my walks with Gambat all the time. I know what I'm doing." She places the collar around Gambat's scruff before attaching the leash. "Right, right. I'm sorry." Elroy holds his hands up in surrender with a grin. "Go on sweetheart, enjoy your walk."

Veruca smiles up at her father, before turning back to her mother, "Well I'm off! I'll be back later." She exits the estate and begins her trek towards the park. Wilhemina and Elroy stand by the entrance watching their daughter. Wilhelmina straightens her posture before heading back inside. "Come along now dear, let Veruca grow some independence. She's not going to be a little girl forever."

A few sniffles are heard from behind her and she glances back to see Elroy still gazing ahead. "No matter how old she gets, little Vera will always be my little girl." Wilhelmina simply watched her husband cry about time moving by too fast. She let out a chuckle before taking her husband by the arm and leading him back inside.

She knew her husband was right though. Time was moving fast. Coby is now attending college, and Veruca is starting to be more independent. But as her husband had said, they will always be their little boy and girl.

"Oh by the way, dear."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Did you get the new leash for Gambat, like I told you?"

"A new leash…? Shoot. Aha, about that…"

"Mm, so you have set my daughter up for failure."

"Now, Wilma! It wasn't my fault, there was a new set of equipment for the Abraxan Derby!"

~ Present Time ~

As Gambat flies through the air, the metal on his collar shines in the sunlight. Attached to the ring of the collar is a metal latch, part of the broken leash still connected to it. 'This is the last time I let dad do my shopping!' A deep frown settled on Veruca's face. She was too focused on Gambat and her thoughts to notice a wagon cart had pulled to a stop just a few shops ahead. Or the girl getting down from it.

Seeing the girl and a man step down from the wagon, Gambat lets out a loud chirp, getting the attention of the girl. Gambat's chirping had snapped Veruca out of her thoughts and she turned her gaze to see the people in front of her. "Wo– woah, look out!" Eyes wide as she tries to slow down, however the momentum was not enough for her to slow down to a complete stop. The other girl looked to see Veruca come stumbling at her. A look of surprise crosses the girl's face, accidentally dropping the small crate she was holding. Veruca crashes into her, the sudden force of the impact knocks both of them on to the ground. The horse lets out a panicked neigh, standing on its hind legs leaning back with head raised. The man was quick to move in and calm the horse before it tried to run away.

They both let out groans as they untangled each other and tried to sit up. "Ow, ow, ow…" The girl gets up, rubbing the sore spot on her head and Veruca did the same with her arm. "Ouch… oh shite, I'm so sorry about that." Veruca quickly collects herself, scrambling to her feet to help the other girl up. "My pet, ah… his leash broke and he started flying off." The girl waves her hand dismissively, adjusting her glasses. "Oh no worries, my animals tend to run off too whenever we leave their gates open."

"Are you girls okay?" After calming the horse down, the man rushes over to them, checking over the girl. "That was quite the stumble. Rowan, are you hurt?"

Rowan simply smiled up at him, "Don't worry Uncle Ollie, I'm fine! Just a little accident." Ollie sighed in relief before letting out a small laugh. "That's good, can't have my little helper get hurt on the job. Though, that's one crate of produce that won't be sold." All three looked down to see the crate destroyed, some of the fruits were smashed from the impact. Veruca looks to the side a little embarrassed, her fingers subconsciously playing with the ribbon on her dress. "I'm terribly sorry about that. If anything, I can pay for the damage."

Ollie laughed and patted her on the head, "No worries, accidents happen. We still have more produce to sell anyway." Realization crosses his features and he turns to the shop, "Speaking of which, I still have work to do." He gets another crate from the wagon, "Rowan why don't you clean up the mess. I'll take care of things with the manager."

"Okay, Uncle Ollie!" Rowan nods, before turning to Veruca. "You can help out too! That way, you can make it up to us." Veruca looked surprised before agreeing with her. "I think that's fair, though I still feel bad you lost out on some money." Rowan shrugged, "Eh, it happens." As they were cleaning, the two continued conversing. Rowan formally introduced herself as part of the Khanna family.

Her home was just on the outskirts of Spades, lying between the borders of the country and Clubs. Her family runs a farm, they provide many materials and produce from wool, to fruits and vegetables, and wood. Today it was her turn to help her uncle by delivering the products.

Veruca also told a bit about her family, and what life was like being born into an aristocracy with lenient parents who don't like following old traditions. She even explained that she was supposed to take her pet bat out for a walk but the leash snapped along the way.

Rowan smiles at Veruca, and the little bat finally comes down to rest upon Veruca's head. He was tired of flying so he decided to lay flat on his tummy. "So this is the one that caused all that trouble, huh." She states with a mischievous smile. "What's his name?"

The corner of Veruca's lips turned up a bit as she reached one hand up to rest upon Gambat. "This little guy is named Gambat. He usually listens, but he does like to fly away whenever he gets the chance." She takes a piece of the damaged fruit and hands it to Gambat. The moment the fruit is within Gambat's sight, he instantly reaches for it. 

"What a fun little fellow!" Rowan exclaims and Gambat chirps happily while munching on the fruit. Both girls laughed at the little bat and continued cleaning while Gambat helped himself with the fruit. Once they were finished, the crate was placed back into the wagon. Some of the fruit were safe from the fall however the ones that were damaged were given to Gambat who was more than happy to eat them.

"Hm, I still feel bad for bumping into you." Veruca began again, pulling out a small wallet from her dress pocket. She takes out a small card with her family's contact information, courtesy of her mother making her take it wherever she goes, as well as a checkbook. She writes the necessary information on the check before handing it along with her contact info to Rowan. The other girl looks on in surprise, examining both the card and check before turning back to Veruca. "You can already write checks? And a contact card? You're just a kid and your parents already trust you with this amount of responsibility?!"

Veruca frowns at that statement, "It's not that… My mother insists on me learning about money and banking." Her hand subconsciously went back to playing with the ribbon on her dress. "And the contact card is for professional reasons. But this was an accident I caused and damaged your products. If anything, my parents can compensate for my actions." Her voice trails off and she stands awkwardly.

Rowan stares at her before a smile breaks out on her face and she begins to laugh. A young girl of nobility with a bat lying on top of her head looking embarrassed and awkward is a funny sight to behold. Veruca stares at her before her lips quiver into a smile of her own and joins in with Rowan's laughter. Their laughter continued and the people passing by couldn't help but give the two odd looks but continued on their paths.

Soon the girls' laughter died down. Rowan wipes a tear from her eye, "You're funny Veruca! Both you and your pet!" She gives Gambat a small pet behind his ear. Veruca's smiles in return, "Thank you, Rowan." Talking can be heard from within the shop, and the girls looked over to see Ollie and the manager still talking over the products. "Oh by the way," Rowan turns back to Veruca, "are you going to be attending the Abraxan Derby next week?"

"Hm? Oh yeah! My dad and I love the event." Veruca's eyes lit up, "I want to play, but my brother says I'm way too short to get on the horse." Rowan laughs at that, "Well to be fair, the abraxans are huge! They still tower over my parents."

"Aha yeah. My dad and I will be going, we usually reserve a stand so we can watch it better." 

"You reserve a stand!? I wish I could get seats like those, so much better than the main floor." Rowan's shoulders slumped down. To be able to sit in a stand and watch the show from the air is always a blessing. Veruca gazed at her before an idea came to mind, "You and your family can sit with us." Rowan instantly turned to her, eyes wide at Veruca's suggestion. "What, are you sure? I don't want to impose."

Veruca shook her head, "I'm sure. Think of it as another way to pay back for what happened today. Besides, it's usually just my dad, brother and I that attend the event. Mom usually stays home."

"Well if you're sure, then alright! My brother and I love the Abraxan Derby! So I know he would be excited to see the game with better seats."

"Then it's settled. I'll let my dad know and we'll send you the passes." Veruca nods with a look of satisfaction. She takes hold of the leash before turning to Gambat. She ties the end of it to the loop of his collar, "We have to head back home, but first we gotta get you a new leash." Gambat chirps, stretching a bit before flapping his wings and flying off of Veruca's head. "Well, we better get going. It was nice meeting you, Rowan."

"It was nice meeting you too, Veruca." An angry chirp is heard from Gambat, causing Rowan to laugh. "And you too as well, Gambat." A happy chirp is her response. "I'll see you guys later! Have a nice walk back home!"

"Bye, come on Gambat." Veruca gives Rowan a little wave before lightly tugging on the leash. "You've caused enough trouble today." Rowan waves goodbye, the sound of the shop bell ringing as the door opens catches her attention. She turns to see her Uncle Ollie exit the store. He looked around to see the mess had been cleaned up. "Where did your new friend go?"

"Oh Veruca had to go home, but Uncle Ollie, she gave us this check to compensate for the mess." Rowan handed him the contact card and check. He examined the items, the moment he read the text his eyes widened. "McQuaid? The girl that bumped into you is a McQuaid?" Rowan nodded cheerfully, thrilled to have made a new friend. "Yep! And guess what. She even offered to have us sit with her family in one of the stands in the Abraxan Derby!"

Ollie looked at his niece as she rambled on about her new friend. He chuckled and ruffled Rowan's hair, "Well I'll be. All of this excitement in one day." He patted her shoulder before getting onto the wagon, grabbing the reins. "Come on now, we still have the rest of these crates to deliver. You can tell your parents all about your new friend when we get home."