Foundling
Lavaria ran down the street with a few bags full of supplies and food in her hands. She made a sharp turn into a corner next to an alleyway. A woman with dark skin, black long hair tied in a dreadlock, wearing a red and orange dress with two whips tied to her waist stood and leaned on the brick wall. She turned her head to see Lavaria.
"Did you get the goods, Lavaria?" She asked.
Lavaria smiled as she showed her companion the goods and food she took from the market.
"Should feed the group for a few weeks if we split it all equally." She put the bags on the ground for her companion to see.
The woman looked through the bags with a smile on her face.
"You really know how to get things, Lavy." She complimented as she picked up some bags.
"Whiparella; I just like stealing for the thrill." Lavaria answered with a grin as she picked up the rest of the bags. "Now let's get back to HQ before Monstrox thinks we've been gone for too long."
Lavaria and Whiparella were about to leave town and go back home. But a strange sound made Whiparella stop in her tracks. She looked back to the alleyway as she heard it some more.
"Do you hear that?" Whiparella asked.
"Hear what?" Lavaria asked back.
Soon, both women heard the sound. It was slightly louder now before Whiparella realised what it was. It was the sound of crying. Rather high pitched and squeaky crying. The whip wielding woman quickly followed the sound into the alleyway. Lavaria told her to wait as she ran after her. Whiparella stopped and listened for the sound. She went over to an empty bin and looked. Her eyes blinked when she saw a basket with a white sheet over it behind the bin. Lavaria stopped in the alleyway as Whiparella dropped her bags and approached the basket where the crying was coming from. Whiparella took the white sheet away and gasped when saw what was in the basket. It was a baby.
Lavaria approached as Whiparella gently picked up the crying infant from the basket and cradled it in her arms; calming it down. Lavaria put her bags down as she looked at the child; observing the light blue and purple blanket it was swaddled in and the short fluffy light brown hair on top of its head.
"What's a baby doing in an alleyway?!" Lavaria questioned; sounding angry.
"I don't know." Whiparella answered; finally calming the baby down and getting it to sleep. "Check the basket for a note."
Lavaria nodded and checked the basket. She found a few pieces of cloth that could be used for diapers, a bottle and a few packets of formula. She looked under the cushioning and found a small piece of paper with writing on it.
"Please take care of my son. He deserves better then what I can't provide for him." Lavaria read the note out loud.
Lavaria looked at Whiparella as she rocked and cradled the nameless baby.
"Slacker didn't even bother naming him." She spat in disgust.
They watched as the baby yawned and stretched his tiny arms; escaping from the wrapping around him. Whiparella felt a slight chill go down her spine when she noticed how undernourished he looked. He was not starving, but he almost looked premature and pale.
"Could've at least dropped him off at the orphanage instead of a dirty alleyway." Lavaria continued.
She watched Whiparella stand up with the sleeping infant in her arms. The whip wielder gave Lavaria a stern look.
"We're taking him with us."
Lavaria looked at Whiparella with wide eyes.
"What do you mean? We can't take him back to HQ! Monstrox wouldn't allow it!" Lavaria argued. "We should just drop him off at the town orphanage."
"I grew up in an orphanage, Lavaria. No child should have to go through that." Whiparella argued back. "Just look at him."
Lavaria looked at the baby sleeping in Whiparellas' arms. She tilted her head a little and thought about it. He did look pretty cute and tiny. Maybe she and Whiparella could convince the others to keep him and help raise him. Lavaria sighed as she picked up the basket with the baby items and some of the bags.
"Alright. We can keep him."
Whiparella smiled at Lavaria and jumped slightly.
"I know we won't regret this, Lavy!" She spoke happily. "I'll make sure he gets everything he needs!"
Lavaria smiled as Whiparella picked the rest of the bags and held the baby in her left arm.
"We'll see if the boys will like him. And if the master says otherwise, we'll fight for him." Lavaria reassured as the two began to make their way out of town with the little foundling.
Whiparella and Lavaria walked through the forest with the supplies and the child they found. They made to a stone bridge leading to a castle across a moat full of water. The large iron doors in front of the castle opened up slightly and someone peeked through the gap. It was a dark skinned man with a masculine figure, black hair tied into a pony tail and a short goatee on his chin. The man opened the door fully as he called out to the people inside. He looked on as Lavaria and Whiparella made it to the door.
"Did you have any trouble today?" He asked rather blankly.
"No we did not, Magmar." Lavaria replied; giving the general a bag of groceries.
In a few seconds, more men and two red and brown puppy dogs came into the entrance room to see what the two women of their group brought home.
"Took you two long enough." A tough looking man with bandages wrapped around his hands crossed his arms impatiently.
"Give them a break, Moltor; the town is an hour away on foot." A man with hair that looked like fire replied to him harshly.
Whiparella shook her head and rolled her eyes as Lavaria gave them a bag of food and four more men came over.
"Now remember to share it, you two. You may be brothers, but you always fight like animals." Lavaria spoke to Moltor and Flama; making them roll their eyes away from her.
Two large men with similar appearances came up and grabbed their food from Lavaria. One of them had an eyepatch over his right eye while the other still had both.
"Here you go, Sparkks." Lavaria handed a bag to the large man with the eyepatch.
"Have you got mine?" The other man asked.
"Yes, Burnzie." Lavaria smiled at him as she gave him the other bag.
The two dogs barked and jumped on a shirtless man with a hood over his head and on eyepatch over his left eye. Lavaria approached him with a bag.
"Here's some food for you and your pets, Beast Master." She handed the bag to him.
"Oh, they're not my pets; they're my babies." Beast master corrected as the two dogs jumped up to him. "Isn't that right Muffin and Poopsie?"
Lavaria and Whiparella laughed as the dogs barked happily in response to their master. Magmar just rolled his eyes in Whiparellas direction. But he went wide eyed when he noticed the blue and purple bundle in her arms.
"Whiparella, what is that?" He asked as he pointed at it.
Whiparella stopped and looked at Magmar. Lavaria noticed and told everyone to quiet down.
"Everyone. We have someone here who we need to show you." She gathered everyone's attention; making them gather around her.
With everyone watching, Whiparella put her hand up and moved the blanket away from the baby's face; showing him sleeping soundly. All the men looked with wide eyes; as if they had never seen a baby in their lives.
"What the heck is that squishy looking thing?" Moltor questioned; making Flama hit him in his side.
"That's a baby, you idiot." Flama said in an annoyed and angry tone.
"Where did you find it?" Beast Master questioned.
"We found him abandoned in an alleyway in town. Whiparella wanted to take him back here." Lavaria explained.
Just as Lavaria finished speaking, the baby shifted in his blanket and slowly opened his eyes; showing a bright green colour.
"He's so little. He could fit right in my hand." Sparkks laughed as he put his hand close to the baby.
The little foundling blinked before he made a soft cooing noise and grabbed Sparkks finger with his tiny hands. Everyone but Magmar laughed and smiled at the sight.
"I think he likes you, Sparkks." Beast Master commented.
"This kid is smart." Burnzie said with a cheery grin.
"No way; kids are terrified of you two." Moltor teased.
Another person came over to see what everyone was looking at. He was rather short and had weird looking eyes. His hair was short and black and he was wearing a long red shirt. Whiparella quickly noticed him and smiled.
"We brought a new member home with us, Book Keeper." She said; bending down so Book Keeper could see the baby.
Book keeper blinked and tilted his head as the infant looked up at him. The tiny child reached out to him as he made a squeaky cooing noise. Book keeper smiled as he let the baby grab and hold his finger; making everyone laugh. Except Magmar.
"Have you two thought ahead about this? The master wanted you to bring back food, not a foundling." The general reminded. "What will you say when he finds out about this?"
Lavaria raised an eyebrow at Magmar.
"I know what Monstrox said, but the last thing we were going to do was leave a child-"
"What's going on down here?"
Everyone jumped and looked up to the top of the stairs. Two men were looking down on them. One was rather short and normal looking with long curly black hair with a moustache and goatee, with purple clothes that seemed quite fancy compared to everyone else. But the man beside him was the complete opposite. He looked down at the group with glowing yellow and red eyes, but his face was mostly covered by his black cloak and hood. Everyone felt a chill go up their spines as the man came down the stairs and towered over everyone but Burnzie and Sparkks.
"What's everyone laughing and smiling about?" He questioned; eyeing everyone suspiciously.
No one said anything. But the hooded man quickly noticed what the fuss was about when he saw the baby in Whiparellas' arms.
"What the heck is that?" He questioned; sounding very weirded out.
"We found him in town. He was left abandoned in an alleyway." Whiparella nervously explained.
"We couldn't just leave him there, so we brought him back with us." Lavaria added.
The hooded man raised a brow at the two women.
"I didn't say you could bring back a baby." He spoke harshly. "Take it back."
Everyone watched anxiously as Whiparella stepped forward.
"Master Monstrox; please be reasonable!" She raised her voice slightly. "He would've died if we left him there!"
Monstrox leaned in and glared at the whip wielder.
"Let me ask you, Whiparella. How do you think you'll be able to take care of a baby while doing your job in my army?" He questioned her. "How!?"
Whiparella and Monstrox looked down as the baby began to cry. Monstrox backed off while Whiparella quickly responded by putting the infant over her shoulder and sooth him till he calmed down. Lavaria stepped forward.
"We can take turns taking care of him." She suggested.
"Yeah, and we can teach how to steal things when he's older!" Moltor added.
"And Book keeper can play with him!" Flama added, making Book keeper nod in agreement.
"And Lavaria can steal baby things from town!" Beast Master added.
"And me and Sparkks can teach him how to fight when he's old enough." Burnzie contributed with Sparkks nodding in agreement.
"And he can sleep in the women's quarters with me and Lavaria and I can make clothes for him!" Whiparella added.
Monstrox looked at Magmar as he waited for what he had to say.
"I guess we have a new member for our team, Master." The general shrugged.
Monstrox shook his head as he looked at the man at the top of the stairs.
"I guess you want to keep the baby too, Roberto?" He asked sarcastically.
Roberto fidgeted with his shirt as he tried to answer.
"I suppose, capo." He spoke with an Italian accent.
Monstrox rolled his eyes before he started walking back up the stairs.
"Whatever, just keep him out of my room and keep him away from the stone monsters." He said tiredly.
Everyone watched as Monstrox went back up the stairs; knowing the master was forcing Roberto to make more monsters for his army. Everyone turned their attention to the baby boy in Whiparellas arms; who finally stopped crying. Lavaria smiled at the little being.
"So what do you plan on calling him?" Magmar questioned.
"We don't have a name for him yet." Whiparella answered.
"But we'll think of something." Lavaria added.
Whiparella and Lavaria went back into the women's quarters with their foundling. Lavaria put the basket on her bed and took out everything in it. Whiparella gently placed the baby on her bed before she unwrapped the blanket around him; showing only the diaper and a pair of white socks he was wearing.
"Looks like you'll be staying with us, little one." She smiled as she gently bopped him on the nose; making him giggle.
Whiparella looked in surprise when she noticed that the blanket the baby had around him was not actually a blanket. She held up a hooded blue and purple striped jumper. She noticed that the hood had two tails coming out of the sides, resembling a jester's hat. Whiparella thought it was quite cute. Lavaria grabbed some quilts and blankets from the cupboard; planning to make a makeshift bed for the baby.
"We need to think of a name for him. We can't just keep calling him a foundling." She reminded as she put the things down.
Whiparella thought about it as she looked at the jumper and looked at the child; who was now playing with his socks. Whiparella smiled as she thought of a name that would suit him.
"I think he looks like a Jestro." She showed Lavaria the jumper.
Lavaria raised an eyebrow.
"Jestro? Isn't that a type of clown?" She asked in confusion.
"Jesters are performers; not clowns. They have grace and they have a duty to make people happy." Whiparella corrected.
"But that's what clowns do as well."
Whiparella sat down on the bed beside the baby; picking him up and placing him on her lap. Lavaria shrugged.
"Well he wouldn't be the only one here with a weird name." She smiled. "I guess that's a good name for him."
Whiparella looked down at the little one.
"Do you like the name we picked for you, little one?" She smiled at him.
The baby giggled and smiled as he reached up to her. Then it was official. He now had a name, and it was Jestro.