The Adventures of Ozzie Astaroth

Chapter 9
Chapter 9

Chapter Description: Ozzie and Luna continue their journey and fight off a few threats.

Luna packed all their things onto a rental wagon. It was pulled by two horses and also came with food for them. It was enough to get them there and back. She even rented a baby seat that would turn into a crib for Ozzie. The raccoon mommy picked him up and sat him in it.

Ozzie felt comfy in the seat. It was nice and soft. He felt bad that Luna was having to do all the work, but he couldn't risk using his magic in public. Once they were away from prying eyes, he could be more useful.

“All set?” Luna asked as she sat next to Ozzie.

Ozzie nodded. “Weady!” he was excited to meet this friend of hers. He wondered what she would be like. If she was Luna's friend, and inviting them over, she had to be nice.

“Then let's go!” Luna shouted as she picked up the reins. “Yah!” The horses began moving and pulling the wagon down the road. “This is nice.” She listened to the birds chirping and gentle winds blowing.

“Yah, it ish.” Ozzie said, looking around. He enjoyed this scenery as much as he did on the train. Everything was so pretty. The world they lived in contained many colors in nature. Some trees were green, but there were also some that were purple, blue, pink, and yellow. During the fall some of these would change colors, but not all of them. There were also occasionally flowers of all sorts of colors along the road, growing in the fresh green grass. There was a river nearby and gray mountains in the distance with snow caps. It all made for some very scenic travel.

The road went on and joined with other roads, then branched off again. Occasionally he would see other wagons and sometimes single people riding by on a horse. The traffic was light, but the road was well traveled. The two got about half way there and decided to stop for a bit.

“Lets have a picnic!” Luna suggested. “This area looks lovely and quiet.”

“Yay!” shouted Ozzie. “I wike dat idea. I was getting hungwy anyway.” He giggled and patted his tummy.

“Me too.” said Luna, bringing the wagon to a stop. “We haven't eaten since the train.” She got out with Ozzie and spread out a blanket on the ground. She went back to the wagon and got out some food for them, and brought it back to the blanket.

Ozzie sat down on the blanket and smiled. It was a very nice day, but he could feel something in the air. Clouds were starting to gather. For now, he just focused on the food.

Luna had made some small sandwiches and gave Ozzie one with peanut butter and jelly. “Here you go sweety.” she said, also giving him a baby bottle of milk.

“Fank you.” he said, enjoying the sandwich while jelly dribbled down his chest. It was a lot for his little mouth to chew, so he had some milk to wash it down.

Luna giggled and cleaned his face and chest. “Messy eater.” she smiled. To her, he was always doing adorable things without even knowing.

Ozzie blushed. “Fanks again.” he said, eating some more. He noticed something moving in the bushes. “Whas dat?” He pointed toward it.

Luna looked. “Hm, I don't know.” she said, about to get up. Then a cute little forest chipmunk came out of the bushes. “Aww, its a chipmunk!” She said. “Come here lil fellow.” The raccoon beast kin lady called to it, and it looked at her, then quickly crawled its way to them. It went around them in circles, then gently approached the blanket.

“Ish so cute!” Ozzie said. He reached down with peanut butter on his hands, and the chipmunk picked up the scent. It went up to him and bit down on his finger, but not hard. “Ow, cawefuw widdle guy.” Ozzie giggled.

“How about some bread?” Luna said, offering some to the chipmunk. It gladly accepted, stuffing it in its mouth cheeks. "We beast kin have a special connection to most forest animals." She smiled and petted the tiny chipmunk, and it was not scared. “I think I have some seeds and nuts in the wagon.” She went to get it, and the chipmunk stayed on the blanket.

Ozzie offered it more peanut butter, and it accepted. It seemed happy to be fed. “I fink he wikes us.” he said.

Luna came back and sat down. “Then he'll love us when he sees these.” she said, offering the critter some seeds and peanuts. The little chipmunk squeaked and stuffed his cheeks with nuts and seeds, then suddenly ran off fast.

“Oh, whewe he goin?” Ozzie asked while watching it.

“He's probably going to store that food.” Luna said. “Oh, he's coming back.” She offered the chipmunk more and he kept stuffing his cheeks and running off. Eventually he had enough and went elsewhere. “I guess he's full.” Luna chuckled. “Glad we could help a little forest friend.

“Me too.” Ozzie smiled. After a diaper change and feeding the horses, it started to rain. “Uh oh, dats not good.” He floated up and helped Luna pack things up.

“We better get back on the road before it starts pouring.” she said, helping Ozzie back into his seat and then sitting beside him. “This should help.” She chanted a spell and a barrier formed around the wagon and the horses, blocking out the rain.

“Ooh, it wike a big umbwella!” said Ozzie. “Good idea.” He settled in and soon his full tummy and the sounds of the rain soothed him to sleep. The two were on their way again, following the river. His sleep would suddenly be interrupted further down the road though.

“Ozzie?” Luna whispered. She gently shook the sleeping baby wizard. “Wake up. I think we have a problem.”

Ozzie blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Huh?” he said sleepily. He looked and saw that some bandits were blocking the road. It was three of them, all on horseback and all with sack masks over their heads. He immediately went into protective mode, saying nothing, and not giving any indication that he was anything other than an ordinary baby.

“We'll be taking any valuables you have.” said one of the masked men. It was still raining, and there was a sudden flash of lightning followed by a boom of thunder. “Don't resist or I can't guaranteed the safety of you and your baby.” The bandits figured they had found an easy mark. A young female raccoon beast kin and small infant didn't exactly seem like a threat, especially against three grown men.

“You won't lay a hand on us.” Luna said with a low growl. “If you don't let us go peacefully, you will regret it. This is your only warning.”

“Oooh, I'm so scared!” said one of the men. “Lets get em boys!” They all charged the wagon.

Ozzie looked at the river and thought about resisting its flow. Suddenly he froze time and floated out of the wagon. “How dare you threaten us!” he thought. He lifted each rider off of their horse and deposited them in the nearby raging river. He made sure not to harm the horses, but changed their trajectory so they would not run into the wagon. He then floated back to his little baby seat and allowed time to flow again.

“What the...?!” shouted one of the bandits as they all yelled and flailed in the river as it carried them downstream.

"That was a waste of my power." grumbled Azrael from inside Ozzie's mind. He tended to stay in quiet meditation unless he was needed. "You could have used any number of magic abilities other than mine."

"Hey, I gotta practice on more live targets right?" Ozzie said mentally. "Besides, these guys were asking for it."

“I warned you!” shouted Luna. Soon their voices could no longer be heard as they were carried far away. No one was hurt, but they would think twice about robbing people in the future. You never know who could be a powerful wizard. “Good work Ozzie!” She didn't see him do it, but she knew he had.

“Hehe, fanks!” he laughed. He watched the bandits' horses run off. They knew their way home. “Weww, I awake now.”

“Not much farther now.” Luna said. “Here, why don't you play with your teddy?” She gave him his teddy bear.

“Fanks! He said, and gave the plush a big hug. He then held it out and wiggled it, making it dance while he sang a funny random song. Together the two continued down the road uninterrupted.