When did my attraction to Sheldon start?
When he saved me from the gator? I don't think so, he was just a stranger.
When we first landed in Pakistan? No, that wasn't it either. I was just starting to know him.
When we fought in Greece? Nah, I was too mad to be attracted to him.
After the fight with the mermaids when he helped me after I lost my glasses? Maybe.
As you can see I've been thinking of this for a good while now. I thought about it and thought about. So much so that I just sort of dropped conversation with Sheldon for most of the ride to Russia. Which, surprisingly didn't take long. We were in Russia before the sun came up and let me tell you, the moment we landed I instantly regretted leaving my Miami Dolphins jacket behind. Because I was freezing. I wasn't alone either. Sheldon, Sorrel, even Guinevere (who was pretty much the only one prepared for Russia's winter) were all freezing right beside me.
"F-Fuck it's cold!" I gasped loudly as I huddled closer to Sorrel for warmth, I figured she had fur and would be the warmest.
"Oh my, I didn't realize you cursed like that now!" Guinevere asked gasped loudly at my profanity.
"Something I have been asking her to stop doing." Firedrake piped up. I was too busy shivering to care.
"I am with Tammy. It's cold! we sh-should probably get a f-fire going." Sheldon muttered as he stood next to me. He then proceeded to get very close to me, obviously to get warm like I was doing too Sorrel. The issue is that now that I know I'm attracted to him I can no longer act normal around him. I gave him an awkward chuckle before focusing on the ground as I crossed my arms tightly.
My breath was visible in the icy Russian air, my arms had goosebumps raised, my body was shivering violently, and I just really wished I brought my Dolphin's jacket with me now. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Firedrake to get a nice hot fire going and- like little ducklings- every single one of us huddled up and against Firedrake for much-needed warmth. I was so close to Firedrake (by his neck on his right side) I could actually see the smoke rising from Firedrake's nostrils. It was pretty mesmerizing to look at as the smoke lazily rose from his nostrils and made little wispy streams in the air. I could look at it forever-
I realized I must have been looking at the side of his face for too long as his head then turned to face me.
"Is something on your mind Tammy?" Firedrake asked me.
"No. I-I'm fine," I told him as I rested my head against his neck. I was still a little cold, but hey, I'm next to a fire breathing dragon here, I'm not gonna complain about a thing.
"Okay!" Guinevere suddenly spoke up loudly from behind me that it made me jump a little. I completely forgot that she was behind me. "I just got a text message from Dad! He and Mum are in a small village. He said that's where the Kikimora should be."
"Is it far?" Sorrel was the one to inquire.
"Uh… let me see…" Guinevere let out an audible shiver as she tried to go through her phone. After a few seconds of silence, I just let my eyes make their ways over to Sheldon. He was on Firedrake's right next to Sorrel. He had his pants on (to keep himself warm no doubt). He was looking at Guinevere… well, until he noticed I was looking at him, then he focused on me and just gave me a smile. I, being the awkward dork I am, immediately froze and looked down at the snow-covered ground to avoid eye contact. "Okay, it's not far! It's a tiny village of only...twelve people… it's called Kalach-na-Donu. It's literally at the end of a train stop. So we can either hop to the nearest town and take a train or, if you're up for it Firedrake, I have some moondew in my bag and we can fly there."
"Flying." It was almost unanimous. Even Firedrake agreed to fly to the town. The only one to not open their mouth was, well, me. I didn't answer and it was noticed almost instantly. It wasn't because I didn't want to answer, but I was starting to feel a little… off.
"Would you rather take the train, Tammy?" Firedrake asked me.
"No, I rather not get caught here with no passport-" I tried to defend myself as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"-Or Russian Visa." Guinevere chimed in.
I pointed at her. "Or Russian Visa," I told him. "Either way. I'm fine with flying, obviously." I told him. 'I'm a hypochondriac…' I told myself to try and stop my off sickly feeling. 'I'm just a hypochondriac.'
"But?" Firedrake pushed and I crossed my arms a little uneasily. By this point, I rubbed my arm awkwardly as all the attention was on me. I looked up at Sheldon, of course, he was the only one to know about my current… uh… problem with flying around too much, but it honestly wasn't that. Not this time anyway.
"I-It's n-n-n-not-nothing. I just wasn't thinking when you guys spoke is all…" I finally settled on saying after a few seconds of silence and everyone just staring at me. I could feel Firedrake watching me curiously for a few seconds before letting it go.
"Okay, that's enough wasting time! Let's go!" Sorrel yelled and just like that we all piled back on to Firedrake's back. I let out a low sigh and was the last one to get on his back. I was starting to feel a little… iffy. Nauseous actually. Still, I got up behind Sheldon. The more I sat there the more I was starting to feel sick. I don't know why, was it my fear? Was it causing this sudden nausea? I didn't know, but still, I powered through it.
Guinevere gave Firedrake the moon-dew to get him going.
'Huh… why do these dragons need to fly at night? You'd think I'd ask that earlier…' I thought for a moment before squeezing my eyes shut and and rubbing the bridge of my nose. I suddenly let out a bit of a gag, but thankfully nobody noticed and nothing came of it. I swallowed hard and tried to focus on Guinevere but my nausea was taking most if not all my focus. Quietly I just shut my eyes and decided to keep my eyes down. 'It's my fears. That's all it is. Just my fears. I'm sure of it. I'm a hypochondriac'
Firedrake then took off at a fast rate, but I wasn't really paying attention. I must have gagged at least a good total of three times along the way to the way to the village. My stomach twist and turn the whole way to the village. Firedrake landed, but I didn't really respond. It wasn't until I felt a tapping on my leg and looked down at Sheldon. He had his arms out looking ready to catch me. "Tam? We're here." He told me as he then grabbed my hand. I looked around, the whole place was… small… smaller than what I expected. Of course it was only a village of twelve people.
I was actually starting to feel a little better once we landed. 'See? Just your nerves, Silly girl.' My mind told me before I hoped down and Sheldon wrapped his arms around me; one around my back and one in from of me. At first, I felt… awkward about this, but then I realized that he was just keeping me warm…. I still felt awkward being this close to my crush. Yes, I can openly admit that I, a human girl, have a crush on a satyr now. Doesn't make it any less weird, but I can at least admit it.
Sheldon was guiding me away from Firedrake and into the actual village and now I realized that was really close to this village now, like, Firedrake mostly parks himself a good mile away from civilization but now he was just a little to the left of these people. In fact, some of them were even standing on their toes looking, not only at us as we entered, but directly at Firedrake! Also, Sorrel wasn't wearing clothes! So, obviously, stealth wasn't an issue here.
I looked about, of course, there were only about fourteen people all just looking at us. An even shorter amount of buildings. The was thicker here than where we originally had landed as it went up to my shins and just completely soaked my pant legs making me, even more, could than I already was. I shivered violently against Sheldon as the two of us followed Guinevere and Sorrel up to two people that seem to stick out to me.
These two were elderly. One man and one woman both with graying silver hair. The man had specks of orange in his hair telling me that he was a redhead at some point. He, like me, had glasses. His nose was large, almost like Twigleg's. He was dressed a lot better than half of us were with his big puffy jacket and pants.
Next to him was the woman. She was almost as tall as Guinevere, though I think Guinevere was taller than her by an inch if anything. Her gray hair was up high in a bun. I was quick to notice how she and Guinevere looked a lot more alike. Same eye shape, smile, and the fact that they were now hugging each other, the man included, I can only conclude that these were her parents. 'Odd… Ben looks nothing like either of them…' My mind told me as Sheldon and I got closer.
"Oh!" The man jumped a little at our presence as we got closer. At first, I figured it was for the same reason that Guinevere had reacted when he first met Sheldon and me, he just wasn't expecting us, but I soon discovered that wasn't the case. "Are you two trying to get hypothermia?!" He gasped loudly in concern and before I knew it all of us, Sorrel included were huddled into a small house.
Sheldon, Sorrel, and I wasted no time sitting in front of a fireplace to warm ourselves back up. I hadn't even realized that my toes had actually gone numb until I took off my shoes and socks. "C-Christ…" I muttered as I tried to warm myself back up desperately. I was in the middle of rubbing my legs when my bag was dropped beside me. It was Guinevere. "Uh… Thanks?" I responded a little confused as to why she had even grabbed my stuff to start with. Then when I actually looked at her I saw that she had at least three puffy coats in her arms.
"These are a gift from my parents. To all of you." She handed all of us these obviously brand new coats. Instantly I felt a little guilty that her parents had done something so generous. "Also, change out of your pants Tammy. Get a warmer pair on. Oh, Sheldon. They're gonna get you some winter pants as well as Tammy." Guinevere informed us.
"Ugh… Human clothes." Sorrel sneered, but she still wiggled her body into them and I just couldn't help but laugh at her. She looked like a marshmallow with those puffy clothes on. Even though Sorrel's ears were covered I could just tell they were down in irritation as she glared at me with such an intense rage that it made me force my laughs down into tiny giggles. "Say something- anything- you will wake up to several rocks in your hair. I mean it, Tammy." She threatened me.
"Understood!" I nodded to her. I then turned my head away from her so she couldn't see me still trying to stop my giggles from spilling out. I then quickly snatched my bag up and opened it. I then jammed my hand into my bag and started to rifle around the bag for some more suitable pants. As I did this I felt my hand brush past something fuzzy and quickly I jump back with a yell. This caused Sheldon and Sorrel to look at me with concern.
"There's something in my bag!" I gasped loudly.
"Calm down!" A squeaky voice called to me from my backpack and before I knew it Twigleg came wiggling out from my clothes. I felt a little more at ease, but also a little creeped out. Why was this tiny man in my clothes?
"Twigleg?! I thought you were staying with Lola in Pakistan!?" Guinevere shockingly asked him.
"I was going to! I swear! The last thing I wanted was to leave my master alone… but I just had this feeling that I had to be with you guys." Twigleg defended himself. I bent down and grabbed him before placing him in the open palm of my hand.
"Oh… I see…" Guinevere muttered softly before rubbing the back of her head uneasily before sighing deeply.
"Did I see in your bag correctly? Do you really like that book?"
"The Dragon and the boy?" I asked with a smile. "It's my favorite! I could go on for months on that book!" I sighed happily. "But I'll spare you." I giggled like the fangirl I was. Twigleg wasn't smiling though, but instead, he shared a look with Guinevere. That made my own smile drop before I handed him over towards Guinevere. "Anyway… I'm going to change."
I snatched my bag and walked away from the group now. I changed out of my pants and into more warmer pants. I then put my new coat on as well as my puffy pants. 'I know it's my favorite book… but why do they care so much?' I thought as I finished zipping up my jacket and pants I could hardly move my arms or legs but I was warm. I walked out to the group after about a good five minutes of me zipping up.
"Okay… So, where is this Kikimora?" I asked the group as I walked back to them, but my question fell on deaf ears… well… no ears as nobody was there now. "Figures." I spat before walking out of the house. 'It's just a book? What of it?' It was still on my mind at this point as I was just feeling baffled by this and by… well. Guinevere. She knew something and she wasn't telling me a thing.
I opened the door and waddled out into the freshly fallen snow. It was still falling around me, but I could hardly feel it now. I didn't see anybody out, but I quickly noticed all of the many footsteps leading towards Firedrake. So, I just followed all the footsteps… Okay, fine, I actually put my own feet in the footprints like a child. Whoever's footprints I was literally putting myself in had bigger feet than mine. I made to everyone within only moments. Some people were excitedly pointing to Firedrake and speaking fastly while looking at him in awe. Others were keeping their distance but were watching Firedrake. Everyone else, my… friends (?), were the closest to Firedrake. "Hey!" I called out to them as I waddled up to the rest of them.
"Look at you! So puffy!" Sheldon laughed loudly before suddenly squishing my jacket in laughter. Sheldon had on a puffy jacket and pants legs as well, but not as puffy as mine.
"You're puffy as well!" I teased. I would have squished him back, but I could hardly move my little dinosaur arms in the thick puffy jacket I had on. So, I resorted in moving my arms up and down like the penguin I was.
"You're so weird." Sheldon laughed. I felt my cheeks heat up at his laugh and I hid my face in my hands.
"You're both weird! We have a mission, focus!" Guinevere scolded the two of us.
"Right… So, this Kikimora?" I was the one to ask as Sheldon helped me walk over towards Guinevere and her parents. I heard a couple of people actually gasp so loudly at me that I instantly put my hands up in freight. "What?!" My voice cracked. Some of the villagers covered their eyes, while the others covered their ears. I felt my heart beat quickly in my chest as realized I had said something wrong. I knew the color must have drained from my face.
"It's okay." Guinevere's father spoke to me in an attempt to calm me down. He then focused on the others from the village and spoke loudly to them in Russian. While he spoke I heard Twigleg speak to Sheldon and me, and I realized the little homunculus was translating.
"Don't worry we aren't going to set it loose on you guys," Twigleg spoke and paused when Barnabas paused. A man suddenly snapped back to Guinevere's father in Russian and Twigleg Translated back. I was now very happy that the little man was with me.
"I should have guessed outsiders were here to ruin our way of life! The Kikimora is not one to be messed with! If released she will ruin all of us! There are only twelve of us here! Imagine the destruction this beast will wreak havoc on all of us!" The man pumped his fist in the air at Guinevere's dad. A couple of others nodded in agreement to the stranger.
"We need the horn of this Kikimora." Twigleg translated for Guinevere's dad.
"You couldn't have told them this before now?" Sorrel tsked out.
"-but! But!" Twigleg translated once again for Guinevere's dad. I really need to get his name. "We brought a dragon, a friend, if the Kikimora does get out, he'll stop it before it can do anything too harmful!"
"That thing could turn our child into a Kikimora before that dragon can do anything about it!" A woman yelled out and Twigleg translated. At this point, the other villagers were crossing their arms, shaking their heads, and cursing at us in Russian. I was starting to feel uneasy now and I swallowed hard before backing up into Firedrake for comfort.
"Okay!" It was Guinevere. She screamed out that one word silencing everyone. She had crossed her arms over her chest and put all of her weight onto her left leg.
"Okay!... I'm sorry, we just assumed… We won't do anything to the Kikimora." Twigleg translated for her towards Sheldon and I. I felt a frown tug at my face. Sheldon and I looked at one another and then back to Guinevere.
"What?" I asked out loud. Guinevere just shot me and look and put her fingers to her lips, telling me to be silent.
"Hush." She told me just so it was clear that she wanted me to be quiet and not ask a thing, but I could tell that I wasn't the only one confused by this. Sheldon, Sorrel, Firedrake- every one of us was all giving her these strange looks. As she loudly addressed the people of the village. Then, finally, one by one we all watched as the villagers, clearly still upset at us, backed away and left us all be.
At first, there was silence between the whole group. I wasn't going to be the one to speak. I was told to 'hush' remember? Then after a moment or two, it was Twigleg to speak.
"That's it? You're just… gonna give up?" Twigleg asked Guinevere. I could see tears in his eyes before his tears started to fall from his face.
"Of course I'm not giving up!" Guinevere tsked in mild irritation at Twigleg. She had both of her hands on her hips and was now tapping her right foot in thought. "Twigleg, you out of everyone should know I'm not letting them get in the way of me helping Ben! I just… I just gotta think about how I'm going to do this is all." Guinevere tsked out again before tapping her foot impatiently. She then mumbled something under her breath before looking back at all of us. "You know what! Let's rest up! I'm sure everyone is tired. So, we'll rest up and afterward, we'll regroup and figure out what to do. Okay?"
I wasn't against it. In fact, as she said it I let out a big yawn. I nice sleep was something I needed. A few others nodded in agreement as well. "Great!" Guinevere smiled and flashed a thumbs up at all of us. "Mum, Dad-" Guinevere looked towards her parents now. "-Could you show them where they'd be resting? Please?" She asked them sweetly.
"Of course." Her dad spoke and with a wave of his hand, we all followed him like ducklings. Our feet crunched the snow that was under us and the air just felt silent and heavy and honestly, after a few seconds of us just walking in silence I couldn't take it anymore.
"Thank you! By the way!" I told Guinevere's dad. He looked down at me as I had to hurry my pace to keep up with his long legs basically, he was casually walking and I was jogging to keep up with him. "-F-F-For the jackets! And pants! I appreciate-fuck!" I slipped on some ice during my jog, but Guinevere's dad had those 'dad reflexes' on point it seemed. He quickly grabbed my arm before I face planted into the snowy earth. He quickly helped me straight back up. Everyone else quickly followed Vita while I stayed with Guinevere's dad for a few seconds.
"Easy." He warned me. "It's slick." He then quickly started to brush off my shoulders to get the snow off.
"-and thanks for that as well Mr...err… Say? What is your name?" I inquired as now seemed like the perfect time to ask.
"Barnabas Greenbloom." He smiled at me.
"Barney!"
"Absolutely not."
"Gotcha. Huh… that's… kind of interesting actually." I mumbled more to myself than to him. We continued to walk, Barnabas obviously didn't hear me which was fine. 'Wasn't Barney the adoptive dad- Stop comparing things to that book! Stop it! Stop!' I scolded my myself as I gave my head a good shake. You know what? I just needed sleep. That's all I need! So I could just relax and wind down from this exciting da-
A man passed by Barnabas and I, and I… stopped walking and halted everything. The world seem to go by in slow motion as I turned my head over my shoulder to get a look at the man that passed us. He had on a brown leather duster and black slacks I couldn't see his face just the back of his head. He was tall with brown hair. That's all I got. Still a chill ran down my spine and I grabbed Barnabas's wrist out of freight causing him to stop, thus causing me to stop as well. "Is something wrong?" He asked me.
"I think…" I frowned. 'Was that my attacker?...' I just wanted the guy to turn around and face me, but he didn't he just kept on walking and walking until he turned to the left and out of sight. 'Don't worry, Barnabas for no reason... It probably wasn't even my attacker. I'm just tired and sleep deprived.' "-Nothing. I'm sorry. I'm holding us both up, aren't I?" I gave a nervous (lying) chuckle before scuttling away and into the house where the others were waiting for us.
Sheldon was sitting in front of the lit fireplace, his new snow pants off as he was warming his goat legs up. Sorrel was sitting against a wall. She had her legs up to her chest looking a little more forlorn than normal. I stared at Sorrel for a few moments before walking over to Sorrel. Quietly I squatted down next to Sorrel.
"Are you alright?" I asked her in a soft voice.
"I'm fine… I guess I'm just a little tired." She admitted to me. I rubbed the back of my neck before dragging my hand down in the end. Truthfully, I understood. I was actually pretty sleepy myself. It's been a rough couple of days.
"Yeah. I get that… I get that." I positioned myself so I was now laying down on my side with my legs under me. "I'm pretty tired as well. Hopefully, we can get a nice good sleep tonight." I gave her a smile before resting my head against the nearby wall. A few passing moments went by and I was sure that Sorrel wasn't going to respond or talk to me at all. In fact, I was already starting to doze off.
"Tammy?" Sorrel suddenly spoke up; rousing me.
"Yeah?" I swallowed hard for a moment as I tried to focus on her once again. God, I was so tired.
"... We'll… be able to make this potion in time… right? We'll save Ben… right?" I could hear the desperation in her voice. She wanted nothing more than to save and revive her friend. It was kind of interesting seeing this more sensitive side that she had. I did what I do best in these kinds of situations. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug and I pulled her in close. I felt her tense up and her fur bristle up.
"I'm sure we will, Sorrel. If we just keep going the route we're going- why I'm sure Ben will be on his feet in no time. Then he can deal with your attitude." I patted her between her ears. I could hear her grumble something under her breath before she pushed me off of her. Her ears were now flat against her head and she had her eyes pointed at the ground as she crossed her arms. I worried that I had overstepped my bounds at that very moment before one of her ears twitched and she looked at me.
"... Thanks… I guess… Fools mushrooms, you humans are so touchy-feely about everything though! You don't need to touch me over every little thing… now I'll smell like you for a week!" She wanted to sound angry or give me some form of attitude but I could tell that she actually appreciated that I had helped her feel somewhat better. With that, I leaned against the wall once again. I rested my head on the wall and shut my eyes.
I think I was out in record time.