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"Where did that Jellyfish wander off to this time?!" Lina fumed as she made her way back towards the market square from the inn they were staying at. She'd told him they were leaving... why hadn't he followed? Stupid Jellyfish. She rounded a corner, getting more ticked off with every step. She was considering whether to Dragon Slave Gourry into next week or just deny him dinner and take their inn's fees out of his purse when a golden blur collided with her knees. She went down in a tumble of red hair, yellow fur, and surprise.
"What the-" she began, rubbing a newly-acquired bump on the back of her head as she sat up. Or rather, tried to. The sorceress found she couldn't get very far on account of the hundred-or-so pounds of dog on her lap.
A dog. Figures. I go looking for Gourry and find the one creature in this world that has the personality identical to his. "Get offa me, you dumb mutt!" Lina shrieked and gave the animal a shove. It got up quickly, then stood off to the side, watching her with an odd expression.
"Stupid dog... shouldn't even be running around alone. What did you do, slip your chain? Go home before someone comes looking for you."
"Rorwf! Row rowf rowf!"
"Go on!" Lina made shooing motions with her hands. "Get! Leave me alone! I gotta go find Gourry," she said, mostly to herself. She started to leave, moving towards the magic shop they'd last visited, but found her way blocked by the dog.
"Get out of my way!"
The dog didn't move. So she went around. It followed.
Lina tried her best to ignore the animal and continued on to the magic shop.
"I guess Gourry'll turn up sooner or later," Lina was saying to herself as she pushed through the inn doors and into the common room. "Yeah, he'll show. He'll get hungry and-"
"Hey!" the innkeeper was shouting, pointing at Lina and interrupting her little chat with herself. "No pets allowed!"
"Huh?"
"I said, no pets! Get that out of here and back outside where it belongs!" He pointed a finger past her.
Lina looked behind her. Sure enough, the golden retriever that had ran into her in the square was right behind her, looking up at her with the most pitiful blue-eyed look she'd ever seen.
"He's not mine," Lina shrugged.
"Oh, he's not, eh?" The innkeeper motioned to the way the dog was right at Lina's side.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Nope."
"Frankly, I don't care whose it is, just get it out of my inn!"
"I'm not doing a damn thing with him, because, like I said: IT'S NOT MY DOG!!!"
Great. As if anything else could go wrong.
Lina stopped at a clearing off to the side of the road, not two miles out of the village. If Gourry comes this way, he'll be sure to spot me. And once he saw what she'd left of the inn, Lina was sure he'd come looking for her soon. So she sat down on a fallen tree trunk to wait. The dog lay down beside her at her feet with a sigh.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Forty.
And hour.
Two.
Where was that Jellyfish?!
Lina was pacing, nearly incoherent in her worry. Had he left her? Had he decided he'd had enough with her greedy, selfish ways and gone back to a mercenary life? Much less dangerous, sure, but...
"NO!" the redhead shouted to herself as she continued back and forth over a rapidly deepening rut in the dirt. "He wouldn't leave me... He's my protector. Or said he was, anyway. Hmph, some protector." Frustration was getting the best of her. She sat down hard against the log, its bark rough against her back and the texture making a futile effort to give her something else to think about.
Gourry was in the doghouse. Almost literally. He watched Lina pace back and forth, her features darkened with every step. In a sense, he was flattered to see how worried about him she was. But on the other paw, he was almost glad he was in his current guise, otherwise he'd have been extra-crispy toast half an hour ago.
He looked up at Lina. Her face was in her hands and she was breathing shallowly. Probably trying to contain her anger. Guess I'd better do something about this. He rose to his feet and leaned towards Lina, resting his weight gently against her legs, reminding her he was still there. She shifted slightly, but didn't look up. Gourry whined softly to get her attention.
Lina slowly lifted her head, revealing tear-streaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. Lina, crying?! The sight shocked him more than anything he'd seen about her in the time they'd been together. It was a fact of life: birds flew, the sun rose in the east every morning, and Lina Inverse didn't cry. But here she was, with saline rivulets rolling down her face.
No, Lina. Don't cry over me. I'm here, see? Gourry lay his chin on her knees. She looked at him form under tousled bangs, not really seeing him.
Blink. Blink.
"What do you want, dog?" she mumbled after a moment of silence.
Whine.
"What? I have no food. ...Why are you even here?"
He whined again, giving her the "soulful-eyes" routine. It worked with every dog he'd ever seen, so Gourry figured, why the hell not?
Lina looked down into his blue gaze, looked... In those azure orbs she saw ...summer's gold hair, a handsome, kind face, saw Gourry...
And burst back into tears.
Gourry decided to take a chance. Hoping she wouldn't fireball an animal for daring such a deed, he leaned upwards and licked her cheek, kissing away her tears as if by the gesture alone he could clear her misery. Don't cry, Lina, I'm here.
She sniffled, running her hands through his neck fur. "You're a really sweet dog." Checking his neck for a collar and finding none, she smiled softly. "I guess I'm on my own again. And if you don't belong to anyone, you're welcome to join me." Hmph. Guess I'm so used to traveling in groups I can't go it alone. Huh. She looked down at the dog, who wagged his tail slightly.
"Come on mutt. Looks like its just you and me. And now that I think about it, you need a name."
A name? Gourry thought. Oh gods... the humiliation.
She smiled softly, sadly. "Jellyfish."
Jellyfish?! Oh well, could have been worse. I'll have no trouble coming to that. It's nothing new.
"Come on, Jellyfish. Let's start walking." Lina rose to her feet, gave a last, longing look towards the direction of the village, turned, and set out west, following the setting sun, Jellyfish at her side.