Hi! Just something I wrote in my spare time a long time ago. I've put off finishing it for a while, though. Anyway, I wrote this before I knew there was a second (or third for that matter) book and I think it' okay. R&R!
-thesuze
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The young boy stared at the aurora. He shifted his gaze to the limp body about a foot away. A small ermine daemon cuddled beside it. The boy looked at his daemon.
"How is the daemon still alive when he's not?" his daemon asked. His shook his head slowly. He had not the slightest clue.
But then again, when most daemon-human pairs were boy and girl, how'd his daemon end up a boy? Things happen.
His daemon had begun to settle recently. It had decided to stay in the shape of a fox. Brynn was his name.
The boy was mesmerized by the aurora. He slowly reached out to touch it. Brynn's eyes went wide.
"Wren, I don't think you should touch it" he sputtered. Wren didn't listen. His hand touched the colorful display before him. He and Brynn immediately felt tugging sensations.
There was nothing they could do. They were pulled though to the other world.
Lyra looked around. Pan had become a hawk and flew in the skies to look for Lord Asriel.
He suddenly stopped and dove down towards Lyra. He dropped onto her shoulder and jumped off, becoming a wildcat.
"Someone's crossed like us!" he said. Lyra grinned. She hopped it was someone that was on her side. The only reason Pan knew that the people had come through the aurora, was because nobody here had a daemon.
They walked through the streets with family members, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, and by themselves.
As soon as the saw an animal by someone's side that wasn't a dog, they knew it a daemon. The girl and daemon ran to the boy and his fox daemon.
Wren slowly got to his feet. Brynn still was on the ground but he was coming to. Wren began to take in his surroundings.
People passing by looked at Brynn odd. At first he had no idea why. Then he realized it. Nobody had an animal companion. He began to think about how lonely they must be.
"Brynn…" The fox stood up.
"What, happened? Where are we?" Wren's face began to look terrified. "I really don't know" Brynn began to catch on. "Hey! You!" The two looked about.
They spotted a girl and a wildcat running toward them. The two grinned.
Anything familiar was welcome. Once they got close enough, introductions began. "I'm Lyra" she said "and this is Pan" Wren was almost shaking from excitement.
"I'm Wren. That's Brynn" Lyra raised her eyebrow. "He's a male?" she asked. Her daemon had transformed into a white ermine, not unlike the dead boy's by the aurora.
Wren nodded. "How'd you get here?" Wren looked at Brynn, surprised.
It was rare for a daemon to speak to another human other than their own human. Lyra paid no thought. It was obviously all business now.
"Through the aurora" she said. Pan nodded. "We came to catch my father. To stop him 'afore he found the source of Dust" Wren and Brynn looked at each other, not really sure of what to say.
"Wren and I were exploring like we usually do at night and when we saw it, we went to see what it was" Brynn began.
"I'm not sure why I did, but I touched it and next thing I know, we're here" Brynn nodded and included, to Lyra and Pan, an important detail.
"Oh, and there was a dead body too. A little younger than us but there was something weird about it. The daemon was still alive" he said keeping a quiet tone.
Lyra and Pan's faces fell considerably. "Roger…" Wren heard her mumble.
They shook it off and started back into what they came to do. "Alright, let's go look for Lord Asriel" Wren stopped.
"Lord, Asriel? He's your dad?" Wren caught so off guard he had no idea of what to do. Lyra looked at him pleadingly.
"C'mon, please. I think I know where he went" Wren sighed and looked at Brynn. "Not much choice, eh big guy?" Brynn shrugged. The two children and the two daemons walked the streets, trying to avoid having their daemons touched.
Pan had changed to a hare so Lyra could carry him. Wren was starting to wish Brynn hadn't decided on a fox form.
"Why couldn't you have stayed as something smaller, like, I don't know a monkey?" he asked. Brynn glared at him.
"Because then I wouldn't be a representation of your soul, would I?" he argued back quietly. Wren snorted and followed Lyra and Pan to the library. After a few minutes, Lyra stopped and asked for directions.
Pan had now become an ocelot and stood faithfully beside Lyra. "Excuse me, Sir" she said stopping someone.
"Could you direct me to the library?" He stared at the fox and ocelot for a moment. "Take a right at the next intersection. Can't miss it" He walked away.
"First a snow leopard then a fox and an ocelot, what's this place coming to?" Brynn heard him mumble. He relayed what he'd heard to Lyra.
"He's going to the library too! C'mon! Let's go!" Pan became a hawk and soared ahead, as not to get touched as they ran.
Following the man's instructions, they got to the gate in only three minutes. A security guard stood outside.
They knew he wouldn't let them in. Pan changed to the smallest mouse form he could conger and snuggled inside her pocket. "We'll sneak around back" Wren and Brynn crept away. It was beginning to become light.
Lyra stopped in front of the guard. "Excuse me Sir, but did a man with a snow leopard come in earlier?" she asked as sweetly as she possibly could.
A sour look appeared on the man's face. "Yeah, the guy threatened to have it attack me if I didn't let him by" he said.
"Nearly pissed myself" he added.
"Did he come out?" she asked again.
"I haven't seen him since, no" Lyra smiled politely.
"Thank you very much" she skipped inside, trying not to jostle Pan. She looked around at the rows of never ending books. She knew that her father would have so much information here.
She headed to the back where Wren and Brynn would be. Sure enough, when she opened the back door the two crept inside.
They made their way to the front desk and asked where elementary particles would be. She eyed them. Her beady eyes shifted to the fox behind Wren.
"Get that thing out of here! I will not have it rip out pages!" she ordered pointing at Brynn. Wren spoke now.
"He won't touch a thing. If he does, I'll call my mom to pick him up" he offered. She eyed the two and pointed to the very back.
"I don't know what children what with elementary particles, but they're back there" she snapped. They thanked her and made their way back.
"Don't touch anything" he ordered fiercely. As to be predicted, Lord Asriel sat in the furthest back chair reading a book, taking notes and petting his daemon.
The snow leopard raised its head sharply, catching sight of them. Lord Asriel was notified immediately.
His head shot up almost as fast as his daemon. "What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be here!" he whispered, seeing as they were in a library.
"I came to stop you! How do you know Dust isn't good?!" she yelled. Wren put a hand on her shoulder to tell her to calm down. Pan was now out of her pocket and before her, in the shape of a dragon.
He snarled at the white leopard. The two were on their feet now. The slick fox crouched low and glared at the white cat.
However, it showed no signs of siege.
"Honestly Lyra, why are you here? Dust will end up killing you" he glared at his daughter.
"You're infected with it, weren't you? You seem absolutely fine to me!" Smoke leapt from Pan's nostrils. Asriel scoffed.
"If we're going to fight, let's not do it in public eye" He whispered noticing onlookers not too far away. Wren and Lyra nodded.
"Besides," He said "It will be at least three years before my research will be anywhere near complete. You now have three years before we must meet again" he said glaring.
The leopard slacked and pretended that the confrontation had never even happened. She followed Asriel out of the door.
He had left all of the books on the table. They seemed to be useless. The two kids left the library, unsure of what to do next.
They stood there, thinking.
"So I guess we'll see you in three years" Wren said sheepishly.
"Yeah…" Lyra looked uncomfortable.
"See ya" he said walking away with Brynn by his side. Lyra waved. She gazed at her daemon.
"Guess it's just us two now, huh?" Pan changed into a cat, comforting her.
"We'll be alright" he said. An idea struck Lyra. "You've never tried to be a polar bear, have you?" Pan raised his brow.
He'd never thought of that. The cat disappeared and a small white bear was next to her now. She smiled.
3 YEARS LATER
Wren walked out of the coffee shop with a newspaper under arm and Brynn by his side. Wren had grown extremely handsome in the last three years.
As he walked down the street, he noticed a few teenage girls look at him and giggle. They'd blush and giggle some more when they saw Brynn.
He took a sip from the mug. He'd gotten a license to have his daemon in stores. When they yelled at him to leave it outside, he'd calmly pull the card out.
They'd look at it and mumble incoherently and apologize.
Sometimes if their reaction was especially good, Brynn would snigger in his own fox way.
Wren sat down at an outdoor pizza parlor and Brynn lay down at his feet. Wren had a hard time trying to find food like the food he had at home.
In the end, he'd decided to succumb. He'd learned a lot about this world's culture but didn't like a lot of it. He never went to school due to Brynn but he probably knew more than the average child his age.
A man came by his table to take his order. As soon as he'd turned fourteen, he'd found a job and a place to stay.
For the six months where he was still thirteen, he'd hunted for scraps. When he'd finally been able to afford a health plan, the doctor had said he was dangerously under weight.
He had worried that Wren was feeding all of his food to his daemon. He hadn't known that daemons didn't need to be fed.
The two let it slide. The waiter left leaving Brynn and Wren alone. "It's almost time to find Lyra, no?" Brynn asked.
This hadn't crossed Wren's mind in a while. "I assume so" he answered. "Once I pay, we'll go home and pack up, alright?" Brynn nodded as the waiter came out with the slice of pizza. He eyed Brynn for a brief moment before leaving.
"I wonder what Pan's daemon form is" Wren wondered out loud.
"Well, Lyra's definitely outspoken and brave. She'll do anything for those around her" Brynn described.
They'd gotten a few letters from the two every now and again. She'd described her life before they met and he'd done so as well.
Wren shrugged. He paid for the food and walked home. He stuffed as mush money as possible in his pockets and loaded a small backpack with a few clothes and food. They left and sat down at a bus stop.
Brynn hopped up next to Wren and they pulled out a map of the world. They chatted and tried to pinpoint exactly where Lyra and Pan might be.
They decided to go back to the city they'd first met. After a brief argument about having Brynn on the bus ended when Brynn walked past the driver and sat down in an empty seat, the two were on their way.
"Lyra! We've got to make the train!" A rather large wildcat stood by the entrance of the train. "Yeah, I'm coming, Pan!"
The two hopped onto the train just in time. Lyra brushed her long, curly, blond hair from her face. She'd adopted her mother's amazing curves. Her face was beautiful.
It had only been three years worth of change but it had done so much. Whenever a boy would try to ask her out, Pan would growl fiercely and cause them to back away slowly. She would just smile politely. She was on her way to meet Wren.
She'd gotten a two day old letter at her apartment that day to meet her in the same place they'd met.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a very attractive boy staring at her. She turned to him, catching him off guard and smiled.
Pan showed one of his vicious grins. She looked at her daemon. "C'mon Pan, don't be so mean" she said to him. His pride seemed injured. The train stopped and they got out. They began to look for a fox.
They knew that if they found one, they'd found the other. Lyra felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see the boy from the train.
"I'm Brian" he said in an obvious American accent.
Everyone here had it. She hated being in America. She wanted London back, Mrs. Coulter or not.
She smiled regardless, suppressing the thoughts. "Lyra" she said shaking his hand. "So, ah-" he was cut off.
Lyra had spotted a fox accompanied by a young man around her age. A grin spread onto her face and she ran to him, Pan by her side.
"Wren!" she called out. His attention was caught and once he saw her he smiled genuinely.
He walked toward her a little faster. She jumped into his arms. "Play along" she whispered into his ear.
"No problem"
She released herself and kissed his cheek. She held his hand and pulled him over to Brian.
"Brian, this is my boyfriend from London, Wren" she said. "Hi there" Wren said shaking his hand pleasantly.
Brian wore a disappointed smile on his face and Wren understood why they were playing this game. "C'mon," he said.
"They're waiting" She nodded and said goodbye to the American boy.
Once they were out of earshot of most people, they began to talk. They kept holing hands, for the image of it.
"Sorry about earlier, you just happened to be there and I didn't want to just say 'no' to him" she explained.
"Issalright" He began to look ahead.
"So how've you been?" he asked casually. She shrugged. "Alright, Pan and I travel a lot so we only got your message today" He nodded.
They eventually steered themselves toward the beach that the city had. As they walked along the shores, numerous males and females stared at them. To onlookers, they really were the perfect couple. Two girls passed by them.
"That guy was old but hot! That white lion thing made him look really sexy too…" Wren and Lyra looked at each other.
They knew who they were talking about. She drew herself closer to his chest. "Race you to him" she said with an excited look on her face.
He raised an eyebrow. "So that's why Pan settled as a wildcat" she laughed and took off, Pan beside her, and Wren behind her.
She slowed down seeing the snow leopard only a hundred yards away. She turned around and smiled at him He wrapped his arms around her wrist and lift her up. She laughed and screamed at the same time.
"Put me down!" she ordered. He set her down gently and kissed her nose. She smiled warmly at him and turned to face to greet her father.
Wren had done the same. The big cat acknowledged the peace with only a passing glance.
She growled to Asriel who, after a moment looked at them. His eyes were as piercing blue as before.
"Ah, Lyra and her young friend…" he waited for a response.
"Wren" he said quickly. "And your daemon?" Asriel asked impatiently. "Brynn" he sputtered.
He obviously scared him as much as he scared her. "I assume you want to go back, no?" He turned his attention to the water.
"Yes" Lyra mumbled. "Since you are so intent on keeping your friends alive," he began, "I've come up with way to get back without death" he assured.
Lyra's eyes were brimming with tears. "The Aurora Borealis I to occur tonight on the other side" he pulled out a card and handed it to them.
On it was an address, a phone number and a time.
"That should be self explanatory" he said, indicating that the conversation was over. The two walked away slowly in the direction they came.
Pan rubbed up against her legs, comforting her. Had he still been able to change forms, he would've been a cat at the moment.
Brynn trotted beside Wren, happy to be able to go home. Lyra was ready to cry for a while.
She just didn't let them come. She suddenly burst out in tears. Wren wrapped his arms around her. He remembered a lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he couldn't sleep, or when he was upset.
He began to hum it softly to her, knowing that he was no Whitney Houston. The crying subsided and they found a hotel to stay in for the night.
They decided to sleep for a while before the designated time to meet so that they'd have strength in them.
"A room for two" Wren said to the hotel clerk. He eyed them suspiciously before asking: "Two beds or one?" Wren sighed. "Two" he replied impatiently.
He knew she was tired and needed a nap. "Room 105" he said handing over the key.
In the room, Wren laid her down on the nearest bed. She'd fallen asleep on the way up to the room.
He turned away to sleep on the other bed. She whimpered in her sleep. He looked at her sympathetically. He sighed and laid himself beside her.
She immediately inched closer to him. Brynn had dragged Pan up onto the second bed where they now slept.
Wren rested his hand on her waist and drifted off to sleep.
Lyra slowly opened her eyes. She drew back quickly when she saw Wren's face. Her face turned red. She looked at Pan quickly.
He was still groggy, so he hadn't seen it. She shook it off and began to get herself ready.
She still had an hour before they had to be at the designated area. She came out of the shower and got dressed. She peaked back at Wren who was still asleep.
She sighed and walked over to the edge of the bed. She shook his shoulder gently. "Wren, c'mon, wake up" she urged.
His eyes opened slowly. He sat up just as slowly. She made her way to the mini fridge. She glanced at him.
He looked at his daemon and walked to the bathroom. "I'm just gonna dunk my head" he said still half asleep. Before the bathroom door closed, Brynn trotted inside with a new shirt tucked neatly in his mouth.
Lyra heard the shower run, then after a few minutes, it stopped. Brynn came out and offered her a fox smile. Wren came out shirtless with a towel draped over his head. He bent over and pulled up and down on the ends of the towel fast.
He then let it slide onto his neck. He smiled sheepishly at Lyra, his wet hair sticking up in every possible direction.
He turned away and put a white undershirt on. Lyra had blushed heavily. Not only did his finely toned body but he was just, to her, amazingly handsome.
He finished buttoning his navy blue shirt and rolling up his sleeves. He sighed and began packing up.
They packed up side by side, not even shoulder's width apart. On the table between the two was a small sandwich that they'd both unknowingly volunteered to carry. They reached for it at the same time, touching hands.
They looked at each other, blushing. They stared at each other for a moment completely over taken. Before they knew what they were doing, their lips met. At first, it was a shy touch. After the initial shock of kissing, it deepened.
Neither wanted to release the other. They began to get greedy. Her hand traveled to his back. The other nestled himself into his hair. He held her body close to his by her waist. She fell back onto one of the beds.
He slid his hand from her waist to her thigh. Lyra opened her eyes for a brief moment unintentionally, spotting the clock.
She pulled her hands from wherever they were and pressed them lightly against his hard chest and parted her lips from his.
She let the air flow back into her lungs. "Time" she muttered to him. Understanding, her pushed himself from on top of her and finished getting packed.
Lyra felt upset immediately. She stood up and touched his cheek tenderly. "I'm sorry" she said kissing his nose gently. He sighed and kissed her's.
They left the hotel, hand in hand. They found Lord Asriel and his daemon resting against a wall. It was exactly the time on the card to meet.
He led them inside a dark building. It was midnight, so nobody would hear anything coming from the building. He flicked on the lights.
There were machines and voice detectors everywhere. Some machines Wren and Lyra couldn't recognize.
He stepped onto a metallic platform.
"When I tell you to" he said. "Step onto this and count down from five to zero. Understand?" Lyra and Wren nodded. He pointed to Lyra.
"The order's this: Lyra, Me, and then Wren" They nodded. Lyra stepped forward, Pan by her side. "Are you positive that this works?" Lyra asked, unsure.
Asriel nodded. "I've tested it with tape recorders" he affirmed.
The snow leopard lay confidently beside him. They knew it was no lie. Had it been, the daemon would've been much more jumpy.
Lyra let out a long drawn breath. "5-4-3-2-1-0!" There was a flash and she was gone. Wren gaped at the place where she once stood. Asriel took no notice and stepped into the place where his daughter once stood.
He did the same as she had done. There was another bright flash and he was also missing. Wren and Brynn copied everything the other two had done and the next thing they knew, they felt freezing snow and air against their exposed skin.
He felt the freezing chill throughout his body. He remembered almost instantly that his house wasn't far away.
A few feet away, he spotted Lord Asriel and even farther away, he saw Lyra. He picked himself up and felt the full joy of being back home.
Remembering how he used to run through the snow faster than anyone he ran as fast as he could to the older man before him.
He slapped the man's back. "Great to be back, no?" he stated enthusiastically. The snow leopard growled at him.
He was so overjoyed that he couldn't have cared less. He kept his eyes glued to Lyra's back. A small house appeared in the distance. Wren pushed Lord Asriel along faster only to be growled at again by his daemon.
They stood before the door and he felt his anticipation build up. Lyra noticed the grin no his handsome face. He beat on the door harshly. After a minute, a woman came to the door. She eyed the three before it dawning on her that her son stood before her. She threw her arms around him.
"Wren! My boy! Oh, I'm so glad you're home!" She pulled them inside the surprisingly warm cabin.
"Ah Wren, you've grown so much! Such a handsome boy!" After she handed each of them a mug of hot chocolate, she turned to the two strangers.
"Might I ask who you two are?" she asked.
"I'm Lyra, this is Pan. That's my father, Lord Asriel and Stelmaria" Lyra spoke. Wren's mother gaped at Asriel. "You're the famous Asriel?"
She inspected him up and down. "I imagined you much taller" she shrugged it off and went to grab some blankets. Lyra giggled. Stelmaria growled viciously at the old woman. Wren bit his lip.
He would admit that it was funny, but not in his presence. Shaking his head at his mother's craziness, he wrapped an arm around Lyra's shoulders.
She cuddled into his arms. She shivered. "C'mon, let's get you to bed" he said standing up. He led her to his room and kissed her before going to help his mother.
He began cleaning dishes only to be stopped by the distinct voice of Lord Asriel.
"Don't you go thinking I'm blind, boy" he said. Wren looked at him, startled.
"I apologize if I ever thought so, Sir" He went back to cleaning the dishes. "Don't take me lightly. Even though I wasn't there for most of her childhood, I know what's best for her.
If she's to be married to anyone, it won't be a peasant, It'll be a nobleman" Wren paused what he was doing.
"Honestly, does it really matter?" he turned around.
"Lyra told me that you fell in love at first sight, noble lady of not, but that didn't stop you from having Lyra did it?" Wren was starting to get angry.
Brynn began to get into attacking mode. Stelmaria stood up and hunched her back. "What would a mess up like you know about that subject?" Asriel said fiercely. Something snapped inside Wren and Brynn.
He marched over and grabbed Asriel by the collar of his shirt and drew him close so he could see the anger on his face.
"I could care less over what you say about me. The moment you say one word about my daemon, I could probably kill you without hesitation. Do you fully understand me?!"
Wren jerked at the man before demanding an answer. Brynn bristled and barred his teeth. For the two, anger was an understatement.
Asriel's face however, wasn't changed. He brushed off the angry boy's hand. "Quite" he said, his words dripping with poison.
His daemon rested her head on her paws, dismissing the situation. Wren snorted. He dropped the rag on the table.
"I'm sure you'd know something about love. Considering you had Lyra with an already married woman" Wren turned away, Brynn stalking behind him.
Asriel became furious. He stood up quickly. "Who told you about that?!" he demanded. Wren had already disappeared into his room.
Wren released a sigh of relief and frustration. That was definitely the wrong foot to start on. He glanced at Lyra. She was fast asleep.
He laid himself behind her. He hugged her body close. He closed his eyes and focused on who he was with, and he calmed down.
He kissed her neck gently and drifted off to sleep. Asriel walked quietly into the room, followed by Stelmaria.
He watched his daughter sleep beside this young man she barely knew. He was disgusted. But then he was reminded about what the boy he said. It had taken a lot of pride out of him to admit that he barely knew Mrs. Coulter when they had Lyra.
He remembered how drawn to her he was and about the secret thrill he got whenever he was near her. He sighed. He had no choice.
The boy had beaten him into a corner. If they ended up getting married, they'd have his blessing.
Lyra's eyes fluttered open. She felt warm for the first time since being back in the north. She cuddled closer to the source, only to realize that it was the sleeping Wren.
She had no idea what time he had come in last night. She twisted around to face him. She took in his handsome features and smiled.
She leaned over and kissed his lips softly. His eyelids retracted slowly, far from awake. He smiled lightly however, upon seeing her.
"'Morning" she said happily. He nodded slowly. She remembered that he wasn't exactly a morning person.
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WHOA! Fourteen pages! Fun! So, tell me what you think! R&R Flames welcome