Slowly as he awakes, he can hear only steady breathing coming from right next to him. A weight rests on his chest and as he slightly moves his head, a warm smile rests on his lips. Right next to him sleeps a girl with bright green hair curled up to a ball. They are like this together since he freed her from the laboratories, where she had been held captive. For her he has risked everything. Only because he couldn't watch at all how innocent children end up being used as material for illegal experiments by the company, he was forced to work for as an assassin for vampires and werewolfs.
Now they are on the run. Most likely both of them are now on the list of any organisation working for the current government. Gently he brushes through her hair and watches how she slowly awakes. „Rogue" is she now saying as she sits up, rubs her eyes and he smiles at her. „You promised Frosch to get new clothes" is he hearing her say to him as she is still a bit sleepy and honestly he's surprised about how much she memorizes things that are promised to her. „Take the time to wake up, Frosch. In the meantime let me get a shower and dressed first, before we go shopping" are now his words as he ruffles through her hair, gets up and walks over to the bathroom.
In order to stay undercover, he decides to stay only two days in a cheap hotel and he always chooses common names among humans, so no one at all might get suspicious. First he wasn't sure at all how to properly hide Froschs green hair and to use hair dye was quickly denied by the girl. So he found a simple solution by organizing a chestnut-brown wig for her. At first Frosch disliked hiding her hair at all. But she quickly understood the reason why she had to, when he explained her why this is so important to blend in into the crowd.
Even if Frosch looks like an ordinary 13-year-old girl, she's older then anyone expects her to be. So after he's done showering he smiles as Frosch also takes the chance to do so. The only thing she possesses right now is a tattered, worn-out dress once for sure in bright pink. Frosch always wears it at any given time. That's why he promised her to get her new clothes by the next given opportunity.
He constantly wears black. From the turtle neck pullover to the jeans and the boots with steel caps over the long leather coat, all of his clothing is black. With his pale skin and the ruby-red eyes he can only be recognized properly at daylight. But since he travels at night, only creatures with enhanced senses can recognize him fast. Just as he assures himself he has still enough ammonition to protect Frosch from any given danger, he hears her slight tapping on the floor and he hides his guns at the bottom of the sports bag before she can see them.
************
„Please, Rogue, can Frosch have this too?"
„Allright, allright"
is he saying with a warm smile as she asks him about some pajamas with frogs printed on them. Mentally he wonders if the money he has right now would be enough to get Frosch some clothes, shoes and train tickets for the both of them. But honestly he can't deny at all a favor the girl asks him for.
So as they line up at a queue, a second cashier appears and since most of the things Frosch wants to have are quite expensive, he gets them cheaper by telling the cashier the simple story of her having birthday today. Honestly he doesn't know at all when and where Frosch was born. But as an extra bonus she gets a rain hat as well a big bag pack looking like a frog and she's really happy about it. Then they walk to a shoe store and by telling the lady helping out the same story, Frosch ends up getting some rubber boots with frogs on them for free.
Obviously this little girl never had someone around her to be so kind to her at all. She rushes of to the rest room, so she could put on a raspberry coloured jeans with a mauve coloured turtle neck and the pink frog-like hoodie next to the bright yellow rubber boots. In the meantime he put the rest of Froschs new clothes neatly into her bag pack and he finds some space to store her slippers and the other two pair of shoes in it. Minutes later she's back, looking at him with bright eyes and he quickly fixes her wig, so no one could see the bright green hair underneath it at all.
Right as he wants to leave with her the mall the way they entered it, he picks up a scent he knows all too well. „Stay close with me" is he now saying as he spots three men in black suits with black sun glasses entering the mall and luckily for him, they can't see him where is right now. Taking Froschs hand he walks down the corridor until he sees a sign for emergency exit. „I know, you don't like it at all, but you have to trust me" is he now whispering to her as he focuses on all of his senses and looks right at her. She bites her lips, then she wraps her arms around him and closes his eyes.
Only recently has he found out, what Frosch really is. Frosch is a nature spirit. A being of light. Therefore he understands why she is so afraid of everything dark. But if they want to stay invisible, this is their only chance to slip through. This is the only weapon he can use against humans without hurting them at all. A weapon he was taught to wield by his mentor Skiadrum. So now he's a shadow he presses firmly against the wall as he notices one of the men checking the staircase. Right as he hear him say he's going to check out the stairs leading downwards, he takes the opportunity and travels upwards.
In this form he arrives on the roof, manifests for a single moment and jumps to the next roof he can se on the other side. As a human he would have never made this jump at all. But somehow he suspects, there is another side within him then what Skiadrum told him about his heritage. Even for a vampire of noble blood this distance to jump would be a challenge. Putting Frosch down and taking her hand, they go downwards the staircase and both of them stay silent. Honestly he's more then grateful about being able to stay hidden within the shadows just like his mentor had showed him to do, when he was still a child. Skiadrum had been the only family he ever knew. His mother is of noble birth. She had entrusted him into Skiadrums care, when he was only a toddler. This is all he knows about her and now that he's an adult, he wants to know more about her and about his father.
************
They made it to the railway station without being dedected at all. Taking a train taking them into the far north Frosch and him go into a empty compartment. A deep sigh leaves his lips as he looks out the window and he tries to figure out what to do next. Should he continue his own search about his own heritage or should he first find a place, where Frosch would be safe & sound? Only minutes after the train is leaving he can see some of the men in black suits arriving at the platform. This time Fortuna was on their side.
As he closes the curtains and leans back into the seat a gentle smile rests on his lips as he notices, how Frosch uses her hoodie as a pillow and falls asleep like that on the other side of the compartment. He takes off his coat and covers her, so she won't be cold at all. As long as they are on the train, he's going to stay awake. So he decides to go the lines on a piece of paper directed to him he had found days before his path intertwined with Froschs path. This could be a piece of important evidence about who he really is. So his mind is made up. He's going to find out more about his past and he will take Frosch along with him. Maybe he's also able to find some relatives not only for Frosch, but also some related to him
