SORRY NOT SORRY FOR WRITING FOR YET ANOTHER FANDOM! ANYWAY, HOPE YOU LIKE MY LITTLE LUPINE HEROINE! I KNOW THIS ISN'T ALL OF THE FIRST EPISODE, AND I KNOW I'M DOING THE ORIGINS FIRST, BUT I' WANTED TO START IT THIS WAY, SINCE IT WOULD BE WEIRD (TO ME) TO START WHERE THE SERIES DOES, THEN GO BACK AND EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!
~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER
"Almost there! Come on!" I cry, pressing myself to run harder and harder toward the school.
Now, I know what you're thinking.
I'm a teenager, so why on Earth would I want to go to school so bad?!
Truth is, I wanna be a normal girl. Being the foster sister of a famous boy like Adrien Agreste made life...complicated. Especially when your foster-dad/godfather wants to 'protect' Adrien by locking him away, isolating him.
Too bad I had a soft heart and didn't even try to leave. I probably could, but, seeing how miserable Adrien was...I just couldn't. I couldn't do that to him. So I bit my tongue and pretended to be perfectly happy staying inside with him, even if I spent my spare time itching to run all over Paris like a normal girl would.
Even if I spent all day imagining sitting in class in some school and taking notes and doing assignments not given to me by my godfather's assistant.
I told myself I could keep it together. I tried so hard to play the happy sister to my poor, miserable foster brother, but eventually, of course, it broke out.
I planted a bug in Adrien's ear about a school not that far away, one that Chloe went to, so we'd at least have someone we knew there to help us adjust. It was perfect!
That is, til we were within ten feet of the doors to the school.
"Adrien! Bernadette! Please reconsider!" Nathalie begs, all but leaping out of the car to get to us in time. "You know what your father wants!" I glare at her.
"Not this time, Nathalie." I growl. And he's not my father. I seeth inwardly, considering turning, grabbing Adrien's wrist, and running into the school.
"Yeah!" Adrien agrees. "This is what we wanna do!" Just then, as my fingers near Adrien's hand, I hear someone collapse and groan in pain. Looking over, Adrien and I notice that there was an elderly man not ten feet away, collapsed and unable to reach his cane due to the backpack of a late student the man had run into, trapping his ankle beneath it. Without even thinking, we ran over as the student got up. I handed the guy (a red-head with green eyes, a bit like me!) his bag and stood nearby for a second while Adrien grabbed the cane to help the man up. Once that was done, however, we turn to see Nathalie and Gorilla standing there.
There was no way to get past them now. We'd screwed ourselves over. I sigh heavily, and move with him to the car.
"We just wanna go to school like everyone else." Adrien grumbles.
"What's so wrong with that?" I add sourly.
"Please don't tell my father about this." Adrien mumbles as we buckle ourselves in. Nathalie didn't respond, and we sigh heavily again and get in the car. I put my hand on Adrien's comfortingly as we sit in silence on the way back to the prison mislabelled as a house. I grab Adrien's hand in support, sharing in his longing glance back at the school.
=#=#=#=#=
"Who was the first president of the fifth French Republic?" Nathalie asks. I sigh listlessly.
"Your turn, bro." I mumble. Adrien rolls his eyes.
"Fine." He manages a glance at Nathalie. "Everyone thinks it was De Gaulle, but it was actually Rene Cote before the first elections." He replies, hand propping up his depressed face.
"Excellent, you two!" Nathalie praises. "You're both coming along very well." I roll my eyes.
"Great." I reply sarcastically. I then get the idea to ask for a study break to run this depression into the treadmill or the paved walkway in the gardens for a bit before moving on to violin practice while Adrien accompanies on the piano. Before I can even open my mouth, however, Mr. Agreste comes in.
"Give me a moment with Adrien, will you two?" He demands. I sigh and stand as Nathalie motions me over, acquiescing to move a few feet away. Mr. Agreste looks directly at Adrien.
"You are not going to school. I already told you. Both of you." He snaps, glaring at me for a second before returning his gaze to Adrien. We share a glance before glaring at Nathalie, who only dips her head slightly.
"But, father- -" Adrien protests.
"Everything you need is right here, where I can keep an eye on you." Mr. Agreste interjects. "I will not have you outside in that dangerous world!"
"It's not dangerous, father!" Adrien replies, standing. "Nadi and I are always stuck in here by ourselves!"
I step forward, feeling suddenly bold. "Besides, we've been taking karate, and I- -"
"No!" Mr. Agreste snaps.
"Why can't we go outside and make friends like everyone else?" Adrien asks.
"Because you are not like everyone else!" Mr. Agreste replies sharply. "If Bernadette so chooses, she may leave at any time, but you are my son!" He barks, and I know the 'conversation' is over. "Continue." He orders as he leaves and I return to my seat, sighing heavily.
"Adrien, you know I- -" I wanted him to know that I'd never leave. Not without him.
"I know." He affirms. We then look at Nathalie, listless and resigned to more homeschooling.
"We can leave it there for today- -"
"Good, cus I wanna run!" I interject, taking off with Adrien right behind me. Once we were clear, I halt and blow out a breath. "Sorry, I was just- -"
"Getting twitchy." Adrien chuckles. "I know." I laugh.
"Anyway, I was serious about that run. Wanna join me?" I ask. Adrien shakes his head.
"I'd rather do homework." I nod, having known what that meant for a long time; wallowing. Alone. And there was nothing I could say the times I tried to comfort him that could help, so I maintain my grin and shoo him with my hands.
"Well, go on. See you later!" I tell him. Adrien nods.
"Not like I'm going anywhere." I swallow, knowing not to respond.
=#=#=#=#=
I couldn't comfort him. I know that. I never had the magic words to ease his pain and make him truly happy.
Which sucks! I pound my feet harder than ever into the pavement. I felt absolutely horrible about running outside when Adrien couldn't.
He claimed not to mind, but I know better. So I find myself gritting my teeth and letting the emotions out til I got home, slipping on the happy foster sister mask once mo-
Was that...screaming I heard? Running over, I see a poor elderly Asian man being harassed in an alleyway, like a scene right out of a movie. Except no superheroes called out a cheesy taunt before leaping in and teaching the perps a lesson.
That was up to me, I suppose. Grabbing a trash can lid, I race in without a taunt, throwing the lid like a frisbee. Luckily, it actually hit one of the punks and they went down. "Leave." I growl, nearing the man with a plank I found. Retrieving the lid gave me a second weapon, but they still didn't leave. "Now!" I growl- -literally- -and that is enough to make the guys leave. Exhaling (I wasn't looking forward to fighting, knowing I'd probably lose), I put the 'weapons' down and turn to the man I'd rescued. It was the guy from outside the school. I smile politely. "We gotta stop meeting like this." I tease, then blanch. Rude! I scold myself inwardly. The man just smiles.
"We certainly must, young lady." I swallow.
"Sorry for not getting here sooner." I mumble, eager to show a more serious, polite side of myself.
"No need. And your name is…"
"Oh!" I pale. Right. We didn't know each other's names! "U-uh...Nadi."
"Call me Fu." The man returned and we shook hands, chuckling.
"Well, I, uh, still have time for my run. Can I walk you home?" I ask. Fu nods.
"That would be nice." The walk is silent, the man smiling and grinning, and soon enough, I bid him farewell and sprint for home, arriving just as my watch beeped to end my timer. I head into the gym after getting chocolate milk, contemplating going to Adrien's room to stretch and practice my karate, but deciding to give him just a few more minutes.
I set up in the gym and begin, to the tune to 'Confident' by Ariana Grande (what can I say? It was catchy and I like American music).
That is, til a rumbling in the very ground threw my balance off enough that I ended up halfway across the thickly carpeted floor, bewildered, in the middle of a kata. The gym was closest to Adrien's room, so he was the first one to reach me, helping me up worriedly.
"You okay?" He asks. I nod.
"A bit shaken, that's it." I reply, rubbing at my forearm, where there was a shiny patch of raw skin from the carpet. I grab my phone and pause the music as Adrien opens the door.
"Good. Now, let's see what that was." I nod in agreement and we race to the nearest TV, in Adrien's room. On the news channel was Mayor Bourgeois, making a statement about staying inside. Then, Nadia Chamack came on and described how, 'as incredible as it seems, Paris is, indeed, being attacked by a supervillain'. It went to the field camera, where a reporter took a battered police officer's statement. Something about 'the strong arm of the law' coming 'crashing down', gesturing with his arm to prove his point.
Unfortunately, it was the man's injured arm, which prompted a pained wince, followed by a comment about meaning the other arm.
For a long, silent, tense moment, nothing happened. Then, we notice the Chinese-looking jewelry cases on the coffee table. Jerked from worry about the growing situation, at least temporarily, we focused on the cases.
"What's this doing here?" Adrien and I muse, almost perfectly in sync. I pick up the left one, as it was closer to me. Opening the cases at nearly the exact same time, we were greeted to flashes of incredibly bright, colored light. Mine was a lighter earthy brown, while Adrien's was a lovely neon green. When it faded, we were left with two tiny, furry little...things. I frown. What on earth?
"I may look like earth, but I am a kwami, Bernadette." The thing replied, an almost humoured tone to its voice and face. I nod once before two things occured to me.
One; the thing- -kwami?- -had either read my mind, or I'd accidentally said the 'what on earth' aloud.
Two; the thing- -kwami- -replied! Verbally! I let out a small squeak, even as Adrien poked an interested finger at his black furry kwami. The one that had talked to me seemed like a wolf, and the one closer to Adrien looked like a cat.
"No way!" Adrien cheers. "Like the genie in the lamp!" I frown. Wait...what? ...I suppose it is, in a way.
"I've met him." the black kwami said with a yawn. The brown kwami beside me rolled it's large, ice-blue eyes.
"Once. For a second. While we- -" The voice sounded feminine and the expression in the kwami's face was undeniably irritation when it- -she?- -was cut off.
"So he grants wishes. Big deal. I'm much more personable." The black kwami- -sounding masculine, the more I heard the voice- -interjects. The kwami closer to me clears its- -her?- -throat.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" She prompts. The black kwami rolls its eyes, then glances between Adrien and I.
"Plagg. Nice to meet you." He says swiftly and without much conviction. I nod, then turn to the other kwami.
"And I'm Lupa." I nod.
"Are you female?" I blurt, then clasp my hands over my mouth in mortification. "Sorry." I squeak. The kwami- -Lupa- -chuckles.
"It's alright. Yes, I am what you'd call a female. And, before you ask, Plagg is a male." I nod.
"Thanks."
"Swanky!" Plagg chirps before anything else can be said, floating over to the foosball table and promptly trying to eat one of the little figures.
"Hey! Stop!" I cry, even as Adrien said something similar, trying to catch the elusive Plagg, who floated over to the arcade games. Lupa just massaged where her temple would be with a bemused paw, smirk betraying her. It was amazing how something so...foreign could look so...human, so normal.
"Shiny!" Plagg notes, "Can you eat this?" He asks rhetorically, attempting to chew the knob on a joystick. He then groans when it's discovered he can't eat it. "No, you can't." He grumbles despondently. Lupa then tries to get the TV remote from Plagg, to no avail, before Adrien (having crawled up the climbing wall to position himself above Plagg) leapt down and managed to grab Plagg securely in both hands. I watch in amusement, Lupa floating over to hover beside a my head, chuckling at the shocked look on Plagg's face.
"I still don't know what you're going here." Adrien points out. I blink. That was a good point. I turn to Lupa.
"Yeah." I agree. "What are you doing here?" Plagg sighs as if this was obvious.
"Plagg…" Lupa almost growls, rolling her eyes.
"Look, as Lupa said, we're kwamis. We grant powers." He looks at Adrien, "Yours is the power of destruction." He then looks at Lupa. "Hers is the power to track and move things with a sonic bark. Got it?" We shake our heads.
"Uh-uh." We reply, shaking our heads. Plagg, nonplussed, nods.
"Good. Now, got anything to eat? I'm starving!" Lupa looks sharply at Plagg, zipping over to smack his head.
"Plagg!" She hisses. "Be nice!"
"Ooww!" Plagg moans, face scrunched in pain. "What was that for?" Lupa huffs.
"For being inconsiderate and not doing your job!" She snaps, then turns to me. "Look, you are a Chosen, meaning you are now my wielder. I can transform you into a superhero, and- -" I blink, dumbfounded.
"Hold on." I interrupt, only feeling slightly guilty about it. "Me? A superheroine?!" I squeak, unable to process those words.
"Exactly!" Adrien agrees, standing up with Plagg still in his hands. "This must be my father pranking me." I frown. Would Gabriel Agreste really- -no. He wouldn't- -couldn't- -be so cruel as to send a fake invitation for freedom like this. "No, couldn't be. He has no sense of humor." I laugh.
"Got that right." I agree. Plagg suddenly seemed the most stressed I've yet to see him in our brief acquaintance, zipping out of Adrien's grip.
"He must never know I exist! Or anyone, for that matter!" He cries. Lupa nods.
"He's right. This has to be kept secret!" I nod.
"Figured." Lupa smiles.
"Smart girl." She praises and I grin. "Now, for the transformation. All you have to do is hold up your arm, watch out, and say- -"
"Wait, what watch?" I ask, hardly even aware I was interrupting Lupa- -again. Lupa takes it in stride.
"The one in the case. Didn't you see it?" She asks, an almost coy tone to match her smirk. She knew I'd been distracted by her appearance. I roll my eyes.
"Forgive me if I was a tad distracted." I grouse sarcastically, but move to pick up the watch, noticing a ring in the other case. "Adrien, the ring's for you." I muse, holding it out for him while I retrieved my watch. My Miraculous.
Adrien stood there, having taken the ring, but blinking at it like he couldn't possibly figure out what to do with it. In more ways than one, I assume.
"So, what was that power you mentioned earlier?" Adrien asks. Plagg smiles.
"Cataclysm. You have to be careful, cus till destroy whatever you touch." He replies. "You just have to yell out 'Cataclysm'." Adrien sighs.
"But...we're stuck here." He grumbles. "We can't even go to school! What good are superheroes that are locked up in their own house?" He continues, striking a frustrated pose. Lupa smiles, but it's Plagg (unrolling paper towels all over the floor) who speaks.
"No good. That's why it's all gonna change soon." He replies, then halts as he tips the now empty roll. "If you're willing to change, that is." Lupa clears her throat upon watching Adrien slip the ring on and me secure the watch on my wrist.
"Now, Bernadette, all you have to say is 'Lupa, let's hunt!' and you'll begin your journey." I lick my lips, locking eyes with Adrien, who smiles.
"How do I transform?" He asks Plagg, who pops out of the roll.
"'Claws out'," He replies instantly, "But- -"
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien calls instantly. I widen my eyes and turn to Lupa, whose lips are pursed in thought.
"Suppose he's very eager, eh?" She muses. I nod.
"Yeah." She sighs, and we watch as Plagg screams out "I wasn't finished explaining!" as he vanished into the ring, which Adrien moved up, the ring then turning pitch black with a almost glowing neon green paw print in the center. Then, he moves his fingers across his eyes, and a black mask appeared, making his eyes entirely green, with green cat's pupils as he moves to his head, making black cat ears appear before swinging his arms outward, black material enveloping his body, with a belt forming the tail. He finishes by clawing the air a bit before striking a ready pose.
"So cool." He cheers, standing normally. I take in his new appearance with approval. A lot of approval. The cuffs on his wrists, the claws in his gloves, those paw-esque boots, that belt-tail...all of it was amazing, and everything I wanted. I almost literally quivered with excitement.
"Yeah." I turn to Lupa. "Anything else I need to know, or should I transform?" Lupa smiles appreciatively.
"Your baton is an interchanging weapon. Throw it up to change the weapon. It'll know what to give you. Your power is the bark. To use it, say 'ecorce'." I nod. "And, one more thing; you'll have a partner that out there. You'll know them by the ladybug theme." I swallow. This was my ticket outta here...and my bags were long since packed.
"Thanks." I then hold up my hand. "Lupa, let's hunt!" I cry, feeling a rush of adrenaline as Lupa rushes into the watch. Then, I form 'v's with my fingers, moving it over my eyes, feeling a mask settle there, moving the 'v's to my head before I can process what I'm doing. I form ears with my fingers, then cross my arms to cover my chest, crouching and uncrossing my arms to sweep them down, almost touching the ground, covering my legs and feet in the suit before standing and flaring my arms back to form the tail. Without thinking, I salute and put a hand on my hip. I let out my breath and my arms fall to my sides as I resume a normal stance. "You weren't kidding about this being cool, frère." I muse breathily, looking at myself.
The front of my suit had a large circle with a simplistic wolf's paw print on it. The top of the suit looked almost like a jacket, with what appeared to be a seam slicing my chest in half before sweeping out and behind my hips to drop into the tail.I had cuffs similar to my brother's on my wrists, my watch face appearing on top of my left wrist, where I'd put the watch. My boots were simpler than his, with the same paw-like aspects to it. The claws felt natural, like they'd always been there, waiting.
All in all, I looked awesome! I grin at Adrien, flexing my hands and everything to get used to the suit, though it already felt like a second skin.
"Now what?" I ask, scratching my head, careful not to cut myself. How were we supposed to actually leave the house? Adrien seems to have the answer.
"Now...we use the window." He then sighs as he opens it, chuckling at himself. "Can't believe I never thought of this before!" He muses. I nod.
"Ah, well. Let's go!" And we do. Adrien motions me over to the window, claiming 'ladies first'. I roll my eyes, but grab my baton.
Remembering Lupa's instructions, I toss it in the air. Catching it, I see it looked identical to Adrien's, if only earth red and black (black where Adrien's was silver and earth red where his was green), like everything else on me. Giddily, I press the palmar pad (the largest one) to extend it as Adrien does, too. Together, we soar up and swing over the walls that had kept us in, whooping aloud in joy when we landed on a rooftop not far away. I can't help but hug my brother.
"We did it!" We cheer together. Then get ourselves together, and extend our batons to form bridges across the street, where at least I planned on getting higher to look for the villian.
It was about halfway across the street, right as Adrien mused that he was 'getting the hang of this', when it happened.
When she happened, a streak of (literally) screaming red with black dots that came crashing into our world. I barely dodge it and can only watch as my poor brother took the hit, ending up hanging from some kind of string, tangled up with I could now see was a young-looking woman with bluebell eyes and midnight black hair in a red skin-tight suit with black dots.
Like a ladybug. I think, smiling. Adrien smiles, too.
"Well," He greets happily, drunk on our newfound freedom and the ecstasy it brought. "Nice of you to drop in." He teases easily.
"Sorry. Didn't do it on purpose." The newcomer replies, mortified.
"If you two are done, I can help you down." I muse, smirking. Adrien takes my offer and soon, I have the pair of them untangled, but leave the thing (it looks like a yo-yo, of all things…) on Adrien's baton. "Nice to meet you, by the way." I introduce. Adrien's eyes brighten.
"Oh, yeah!" He chirps. "Bet you're that partner our kwamis told us about." He muses, motioning between me and himself. "I'm...hmm…" I blanch. Oh, crap! We'd gotten so wrapped up in the suits and the rush of freedom, we completely forgot to come up with names! I glance at my reflection in a nearby store window. A wolf's paw print...red earth tones...that's it! Loup Brun! Brown Wolf! Simple, to the point. And not too hard to pronounce! "Chat Noir. Yeah. Chat Noir." Adrien finishes. I almost make a witty comment about him stealing the idea for my name, but then realize that I'd come up with that name in my head.
"And I'm Loup Brun." The girl nods, eying us, fumbles to retrieve her yo-yo, if that's what it really was.
"I'm ma- -" She gave the string an extra-hard tug and was rewarded with the yo-yo coming undone. Lazily, I extend my baton to retrieve my brother's and hand it back to him. "Ma- -madly clumsy." She finished, just as the other end of the yo-yo collided with Adrien's head, leaving him rubbing the spot ruefully. "So clumsy." She repeats, softer this time, posture sheepish. I chuckle.
"Nice to meet you, clumsy." I instantly feel bad. She admitted she was clumsy and I just rubbed it in! Thankfully, Adrien smiles and remembers his manners.
"No sweat, clumsy-girl. We're learning the ropes, too!" I make sure to grab her attention next.
"Yeah. Sorry about that lame joke." I mumble. She smiles.
"Oh! Uh…" She can't finish her sentence as a tower nearby collapsed. Watching in horror, I then grit my teeth. Enough was enough. I extend my baton in sync with Chat Noir and we land on the nearest roof.
"Hey, wait!" The new girl calls. "Where are you going?" I scoff, knowing she can't hear. Was this girl serious?
"To save Paris, right?" Chat calls back.
"You coming?" I add. Not waiting for a reply, I extend my baton again and take off.
Translations
Frère = Brother
Loup Brun = Brown Wolf