Leo had absolutely no idea as to what he was doing with Dumpy's training….
He was no beast tamer and he had no clue on where to even start with beast taming, hence when he placed Dumpy in the same small cage as a tiny snake that he had obtained recently, he just hoped that the snake would not bite and kill Dumpy, putting an abrupt end to his pets life.
"It's a mythical beast against a common snake…. Dumpy should be fine right?" Leo wondered, as he looked at the cage the two creatures were in with confusion.
On one hand it seemed like a snake vs a frog was a bad match-up since snakes were notorious frog eaters, but on the other hand snakes were the only match-up that Leo had available in his house for Dumpy to fight against.
Standing by the cage, with his arms crossed, Leo stared at Dumpy with an almost bored expression.
"Alright, Dumpy… this is your moment. Show me something, anything," he muttered under his breath, not expecting much.
In his mind, he was already preparing to dig a tiny frog-sized grave just in case, as he watched the snake, a small but wiry creature, flicked its tongue in and out, slowly circling Dumpy like it was sizing up its prey.
Dumpy, for his part, sat perfectly still, his wide, unblinking eyes staring back at Leo as the little green frog did not even pay attention to the predator that was closing in on him.
"Do… something?" Leo prompted, waving his hands in frustration.
"The snake's right there, Dumpy! Move! Fight or something!" he said, as he pointed towards the snake while doing fast paced zumba, but nothing seemed to work on Dumpy who kept staring at Leo blankly.
Then, the snake finally lunged, and Leo braced himself for the inevitable—
He accepted the fact that his noble pet was about to become snake chow. But, to his utter shock, at that moment Dumpy suddenly sprang into action faster than Leo's eyes could follow.
With an elegant hop, Dumpy vaulted into the air, avoiding the snake's bite by a hair causing Leo's jaw to drop in surprise.
"What… the…?!" Leo said in shock as before he could even process what had happened, Dumpy was already back on the ground, staring at the snake like it had just disrespected his entire lineage.
The snake, in-turn stunned by Dumpy's sudden burst of agility, tried to slither away, but Dumpy had other plans, as it croaked threateningly.
*Ribbit–*
Leo's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't let that stupid snake get away, Dumpy! Get him!" he shouted, as he continued performing his aerobic zumba, thinking that it had some magical effect on Dumpy, as although he didn't actually expect Dumpy to understand or, even less likely, follow his command, he still tried his best to guide him.
But then, to Leo's complete astonishment, Dumpy moved.
The little frog, no bigger than Leo's palm, leaped into the air once again, and landed directly in front of the fleeing snake, as with a furious determination that belied his size, Dumpy lashed out, his hind legs smashing into the snake's head with a powerful thud.
*Thud*
Leo blinked, momentarily speechless.
"Wait… did that frog… did he actually understand me?" he wondered, but before he could even process what was happening, Dumpy began attacking the snake with a relentless series of stomps. His tiny legs moved in rapid succession, each blow making the snake flinch and twist in pain.
"Oh my god, he's lost it!" Leo yelled, throwing his hands into the air. "Dumpy, stop! You're going to break your legs!"
Leo's panic rose as Dumpy continued his brutal assault on the snake, stomping its head again and again. "Oh no, I've ruined him! He's going to be a crippled frog by the end of this! A crippled frog is worse than a dead frog!"
Leo's heart raced as Dumpy delivered a final, thunderous stomp, and the snake's body went still. A deathly silence filled the garden as Dumpy, panting slightly, sat on top of the defeated snake, his wide, unblinking eyes staring at Leo.
Leo rushed to the cage, half-expecting to find his frog limping or worse, lying there helplessly with broken legs. But to his utter surprise, Dumpy looked completely fine. He wasn't crippled. He wasn't even scratched.
Leo let out a sigh of relief, but his confusion only deepened. "You… you're okay?" he mumbled. Dumpy blinked, his expression as blank as ever.
Leo leaned back, scratching his head in disbelief. "Did… did you just kill that snake because you're actually… strong? Or was it some weird, freak accident? There's no way a frog could take down a snake like that…"
He stood there, staring at Dumpy for a long moment. His mind racing with questions he couldn't quite answer. "Was that a coincidence, or… could you actually be…?"
Leo paused, frowning deeply. He didn't like the idea that Dumpy could be more capable than he'd given him credit for. He was still convinced that Dumpy was nothing more than a dumb green frog with a lucky break.
"Nah, you're just… a frog," Leo muttered to himself, still not fully convinced.
"There's no way you're some kind of a powerful beast or something…. I shouldn't expect too much, but hey congratulations on being strong enough to kill a snake.
I, on the other hand, can kill it with just my stare…. No need to even lift a finger" Leo said, as although Dumpy performed extraordinarily, instead of praising it, he showed him how inefficient it was.
Dumpy ofcourse just sat there, as silent as ever, with his tiny, powerful legs folded neatly beneath him, as it listened to Leo's rant.
Leo shook his head, chuckling to himself.
"Maybe, just maybe you are not as useless as I thought, Dumpy. Maybe I can train you to be strong enough to kill the rodents infecting my mansion" Leo said, as he elevated Dumpy's assessment from being a fly killer to a rodent killer after his first day's performance.
But deep down, a tiny sliver of doubt lingered in Leo's mind. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to this little frog than he had ever realized, but he wasn't committed to the idea just yet.