Chimera

Arnie the worm

Bleat the goat

Illius the lion

Lycian the dragon

When they first sprung out of the nether or wherever little chimeras  come from, Arnie was the most sentient of them all. The rest were pink,  blind and oh so squishy. As such, Arnie took it upon themselves to make  sure everyone survives. It was tough work: inching their way towards  shelter, anxiously waiting for weak prey, and ensuring the other heads  don’t kill each other in the process, all took far more energy than the  worm desired to spend.

Bleat was the next one to gain awareness  of the world, but it honestly did not change the process too much. It  was a bit easier to travel, however, all Bleat did was well, bleat.  Arnie tried to teach words and phrases as much as possible, but nothing  ever stuck. Bleat continued bleating, but also developed nasty habits  throughout the ages. For example, spitting to show disdain, kicking  anything that stood too close behind them, and breathing fire. Having a  fire source was rather helpful, if anything, the most annoying habit was  the spitting. The other siblings do not take kindly at being spit on.

When  Illius finally decided to carry some weight in this family, Arnie was  dwarfed and allowed the others to take the leadership role. Illius  understood language and willingly communicated with Arnie. It was like  water to a land of drought, a shining beacon of hope, a civil  conversation where someone can contribute something back. The lion was  terribly enthusiastic and sometimes doesn't realize how loud they can  be. It alerted many hunters to them but with a powerful growl, Illius  scares them away just as easily.

Eventually Lycian grew up from  being pink to being scaled. It was a relief for them as all the heads  passed the vulnerable stage and can now carry on to being legendary  monsters. The others were worried about Lycian’s development as it took  many years before the dragon opened their eyes. It was very exciting  when the conversations became a quartet of voices! Lycian lived up to  the expectations of being a dragon and has strong instincts for tracking  treasures. Typically, their days were now spent amassing whatever  treasure the suits their fancy while battling other monsters or  adventurers for it. However, there were a few drawbacks. The situation  can get tense as there were now two fire breathers in the family. Lycian  and Bleat did not need words to communicate but somehow manages to  provoke one another by solely using blinks. Maybe they developed  telepathy, but it clearly skipped Illius and Arnie as both have no idea  what to make of the situation.

Nowadays Arnie ensures they don’t  get backstabbed or snuck up on. When the fight really gets going, he  calls up encouragement and compliments. The others took care of fighting  and sneaking around. All in all, Arnie is very pleased with the  trade-off.