Dale grunted as he dropped a box of Patton Burgess' old books and journals on the ground. He knew he shouldn't be so rough with these journals, as they'd meant a lot to Lena and they needed to use them pretty soon, but he was too annoyed to really care. He was sore all over because he'd been pushing himself far too hard, and there was no Warren or Lena to pull him back. Dale knew that Ruth was concerned, but she hadn't said anything because she knew they couldn't afford it. At the moment, he and Ruth were the only able bodied adults who could take care of Fablehaven.
Stan had had a run in with an imp, and was now in a wheelchair. He couldn't do his normal work around Fablehaven, so Dale and Ruth had both had to pick up the slack, and it was exhausting. Dale got annoyed when he was tired, and frustrated when he didn't have the chance to spend as much time with Warren as he wanted, so he'd had very low patience since his work load had increased. And Stan's mood since the incident had not helped one bit.
"Be careful with those," Stan snapped. "Just because Lena's not here doesn't mean that you should disrespect her things,"
Dale had to clench his teeth to keep himself from taking his anger out on Stan. "I'll do better," He said tensely as he pushed the box closer to the ones he'd brought down earlier. He really hadn't meant to drop the box, but it took muscles to gently set something heavy down, and Dale's arms just didn't have that muscle strength right now. He was so tired from his work lately, he really couldn't handle much more, but more was exactly what Stan was asking for.
Stan sighed and grew more tense. He seemed to reflect just what Dale was feeling. They were both ready for a fight, but neither of them truly wanted it. It took a moment, but Stan gathered himself enough to let it go. "Are all the rooms prepared for our guests?"
Dale scowled. "Yeah, they're ready," Dale didn't even try to hide his irritation. Stan looked at him curiously.
"Are you unhappy that we asked if you were willing to give up your room?" Stan asked. The main house was big, but it wasn't a mansion. They were about to have three new people come to stay at Fablehaven for no one knows how long, and the house only had four bedrooms besides the attic. One was Stan and Ruth's, one was Lena's old room, one was Dale's, and the last was a guest room that used to be Warren's before he'd started to stay in that cabin of his.
Since the accident, Stan had been sleeping on a cot in his study, to make things simpler, but Ruth was still staying in the master bedroom. That left just three bedrooms for their three guests, so Dale had agreed to give up his own room for one of them. He could easily just stay with Warren while they were here. Dale often spent nights with Warren anyways.
"It's not that," Dale sat down on the cot. He was drained and just wanted to sleep.
Stan's expression softened. "This is because they're Knights," It wasn't a question.
Dale felt the old, familiar cold anger that he frequently felt in his chest when the Knights of the Dawn were so much as mentioned. "It seems like every time the Knights involve themselves with Fablehaven or the people who live here, my family gets screwed over." First his parents had been called on that assignment and never returned. Warren had barely been more than a child before the Knights had snatched him up and practically tossed him head first into the most dangerous aspects of their world. And most unforgivable of all, Warren had been looking for an artifact for the Knights when he'd run into whatever had hurt him.
Dale knew that the Knights were trying to do what they thought was best for the sake of the world, but that didn't mean that he had to forgive them for all the painful results of their actions.
Stan gave a barely audible sigh. He'd heard all of this from Dale multiple times before. "They're just coming here to help us,"
"With what?" Dale asked. Stan and Ruth hadn't actually told him that much about what these Knights were coming here for, or even who they were. At first Dale had thought that they'd be helping around the preserve while Stan recovered, but if that was the case then why were they bringing in Knights instead of someone who had experience working on a preserve? And while Dale was feeling overworked, it wasn't so bad that they needed help from three people. The Knights had to be coming here for a different reason, and Dale didn't like being in the dark.
Stan eyed Dale carefully before he seemed to come to a decision. "We were hoping they could help us to find an artifact that is somewhere at Fablehaven."
Dale stiffened. This was all sounding very familiar. "Do you mean the artifact that Warren was looking for?"
"We think so, yes," Stan said gently. His careful tone did nothing to calm Dale down.
"After what happened to Warren you're going to just send three strangers to go walking right into whatever did this to him?" Dale asked, only barely keeping himself from shouting. "What's so important about this artifact anyways?" What trinket could be so important that it was worth what had happened to Warren?
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you," Stan said, which Dale was annoyed about. His brother had gotten hurt to go after that thing. Dale thought he had the right to know why. "And our guests aren't strangers. One of them is Coulter, you know him,"
"Only vaguely," Dale reminded Stan.
"And while I haven't met the other two, I certainly know of them," Stan continued. "I've thought carefully about this, and I trust all three of these Knights to come here. We've warned them that there would be risks involved with finding this artifact, they know what they're getting into,"
Dale narrowed his eyes coldly. "You told them about Warren?" His brother's condition wasn't exactly a secret, but that didn't mean that Dale wanted Stan to turn Warren into a cautionary tale. He deserved better than that.
"Only enough so that they're not walking blindly into danger," Stan said. "They're all experienced and know how to find and handle rare, valuable, and dangerous things, but I still want all of them to be as prepared as they can for the task at hand."
Dale wanted to stay frustrated, but Stan's tone was so even and his words made so much sense that it was hard to hold on to his anger. Dale gave in. He still didn't know how he felt about having Knights staying in his home, but he was at least going to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and act civilly towards them.
At that moment they heard the front door open. "Dale, come help our guests with their bags!" Ruth called out. Dale gave Stan a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace.
"I'll play nice with the others," Dale promised. Or, at the very least he would certainly try. He left the study and made his way to the entryway where he saw Ruth with three people that Dale didn't recognize, one young woman, an older man, and a rather large man.
"So, you're Dale," The young woman eyed him, looking amused about something. She stepped towards him and held her hand out. "I'm Vanessa Santoro. Warren's told me all about you."
Dale was taken aback. He knew that Warren had worked with many Knights, but he hadn't actually considered that any of their guests would know him personally. "You know Warren?"
"We were both trained by the Knights," Vanessa said. "We've worked together a couple of times," Now that she had mentioned it, Dale thought that Warren had mentioned Vanessa a couple of times. "Where is Warren anyways?"
If Dale had been surprised to hear Vanessa mention Warren, he was unnerved to hear her asking about him like this. He didn't know how to answer her. He was saved from having to answer when the larger man approached him, gently encouraging Vanessa to step aside.
"Dale, I'm glad to finally be able to meet you," The larger man said. "You look so much like your mother,"
Dale blinked. That was something he hadn't heard before. "I do?" He then realized that for this man to recognize him as his mother's son, he must have known her really well. "Did you work with her a lot?"
"Your mother used to help me find ingredients for my potions," The man said. "My name is Tanugatoa Dufu," He held out his hand and Dale shook it. "But please, call me Tanu," This meant that the older man must be Coulter Dixon. Dale would have introduced himself to him, but Coulter had already made his way to Stan's study, probably to see his old friend.
"Dale, why don't you show Tanu where your room is," Ruth suggested. "He's also got potion ingredients still in the truck,"
Dale frowned slightly. "How heavy are your things? And on a completely unrelated note, how fragile are they?"
Tanu chuckled and passed the bag in his hands to Dale. "If you're worried about it, you can take my non-breakable luggage and I'll handle the ingredients." Tanu made his way outside and Dale followed behind him. "There's no shame in admitting you have weakness," Tanu said.
"I've already dropped a box of books today," Dale said. "I didn't want to do the same with your ingredients,"
"And I appreciate that," Tanu grabbed a large bag as well as a smaller box from the truck. Dale could have probably handled helping him, but Tanu seemed to have it covered. "Now, Ruth said I would be staying in your room. I hope you don't mind,"
"I don't," Dale led the way back inside the house. "I have somewhere else I can stay while you're here." Tanu didn't look completely convinced. "No, really. There's a cabin in the woods where my brother stays. There's plenty of room there for me."
When they got inside Vanessa and Ruth were no longer by the door. Ruth must have taken her to Lena's old room. Dale felt somewhat relieved. He didn't exactly want to talk about Warren with her right now.
But Vanessa apparently wasn't the only one that was curious about Warren.
"How is your brother doing?" Tanu asked quietly. Dale took a deep breath to keep himself calm. He didn't know why he was so bothered about them asking about Warren. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, I was just concerned. I heard in passing that Warren ran into some trouble, but none of us were told how bad it was, or what exactly happened."
Dale hadn't actually thought a lot about what the Knight's knew about Warren. He didn't know how he felt about the Knight's not really talking a lot about Warren. At least this explained why Vanessa had so unapologetically asked about Warren. She might not know about the condition he was in at all.
"Warren's not doing very well," Dale said truthfully. "None of us know what happened, or how to fix it," They got to the room that Tanu would be using. Dale put the man's bag down at the foot of the bed.
Tanu put the box down on the ground and set his bag on the bed. Tanu began to go through his bag, pulling out all kinds of vials and potions. "What are Warren's symptoms? I can't guarantee anything, but I have a lot of potions. I may be able to do something to help."
Dale froze. For two years he'd been trying to find a way to solve the problem that the Knights of the Dawn had landed them in. He hadn't even considered that a Knight could do something. "He's in a bit of a catatonic stupor," Dale began. "He's almost completely unresponsive. He rarely moves on his own. I haven't heard him say a word for a year and a half."
Tanu set a couple of potions aside. "And you don't know what caused it?"
"No," Dale said quietly. "We think it was a creature of shadows. It turned Warren albino as well." Dale didn't know if this information would really help, but Tanu had more experience than him. Maybe he knew of a shadow creature that specifically caused albinism.
"Would you mind if I saw your brother for myself?" Tanu asked. "I don't think I have anything with me right now to cure him, but I have a couple ideas that I would like to try."
"Would any of it hurt him?" Dale asked.
"No," Tanu assured him. "All of it is perfectly safe, but also temporary. I also have antidotes for all my potions, just in case Warren has a bad reaction to one," Tanu certainly sounded like he knew what he was doing. Dale thought it was a risk, but he thought it might be a risk worth taking.
"I would really appreciate any help you can give," Dale said. "I don't know how receptive Warren will be though. He has a hard time being around other people. He doesn't handle noise well."
"I'll give him however much space you think he needs," Tanu said, and for Dale that was good enough.
"Would it be okay to do this now?" Dale asked. If Tanu was too tired from the journey here, then it would probably be better to wait until tomorrow. It was still early in the day, but Dale knew that when it came to doing something with Warren, it was better to get started earlier rather than later. Because it took time just to get Warren to move in even the simplest of ways, especially when he wasn't having a very good day, it could be very time consuming to help him, depending on just what that help looked like.
"I'm looking forward to it," Tanu put some of his potions in a smaller bag than the one he'd originally brought in. He seemed just as eager to help Warren as Dale was, which was a huge relief. Ever since Ruth had gotten turned into a chicken, the Sorenson's had all but given up on Warren. They hadn't said as much, but Dale could tell. They cared about Warren, but they didn't know what to do for him anymore, and probably thought it was too dangerous to continue. Dale didn't blame them, but he felt like his own burden had increased. Knowing he had someone else who wanted to help, it was nice.
As the two of them made their way through the woods to the cabin, Dale told Tanu about some experiences he'd had with Warren for more than a year now. He'd originally intended on just giving Tanu a better idea of what Warren was like now, but he ended up focusing a lot more on himself than he'd meant to. Dale talked about everything he did for Warren, how much stress he was under, how terrified he was. Dale hadn't truly talked about these things with Stan or Ruth, or even Lena.
Tanu didn't try to tell him that it would be okay, or that he was doing everything he could. Tanu just listened to him. Even when Dale mentioned the hoeing incident, Tanu just nodded. No judgement, no comfort, just listening, which was just the thing that Dale needed.
When they got to the cabin Dale felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt incredibly similar to how he'd felt after he'd finally allowed himself a good cry after he'd realized his parents weren't going to come back. He still felt lousy and vulnerable, but in a cathartic way.
Dale took the key to the cabin and opened the door. Tanu watched him curiously. "Warren has a tendency to wander off," Dale explained in a quiet voice, so as to not upset Warren. Dale went over to the bed, where Warren was sitting. He was still curled up, but Warren wasn't laying down like he normally was, and he had pulled Scorch up close against his chest, which took at least some conscious effort. This was one of his better days.
"Warren, I want to introduce you to someone," Dale rubbed his brother's back until Warren lifted his head away from his knees enough to look at him. "This is Tanu. He was a friend of our mom."
"I'm here to help your brother," Tanu said. His tone wasn't condescending, as though he was talking to a small child, but completely normal. Maybe Tanu was like Dale and thought that Warren could understand him, even if he gave no indication that he could. Warren didn't acknowledge Tanu at all, but he didn't flinch away from him when the older man touched his arm either, so Dale took that as a good sign.
Tanu waited patiently and just observed Warren. The way that Warren subtly leaned back into Dale's touch. The way Warren's face, but especially his eyes, remained blank. After a long moment Tanu turned his attention to Dale. "Is he always like this?"
"More or less," Dale said. "Sometimes he's more shut off, sometimes he's more open, but it's not a large spectrum."
"I thought so," Tanu commented. He stepped away from Warren and set his back down. Tanu pulled out five small vials. He held them out to Dale. "These are some bottled-up emotions. For most people, even just a small amount of one of these potions could cause an emotional change. I want to see if any of these potions could bring something out of Warren."
Dale didn't have a lot of experience with potions, but this was clearly Tanu's work. And Tanu had assured him that the potions were safe. Dale just had to trust him. Dale nodded as he held tightly to Warren.
Tanu began to prepare one of the potions, carefully measuring out two potions. He combined them carefully in a small, paper cup before handing it to Dale, who didn't hesitate to make Warren drink it. Dale and Tanu watched and waited tensely, looking for a change in Warren. After about thirty seconds it became clear that nothing was going to happen.
"...Maybe it wasn't strong enough?" Dale suggested, though he doubted it. Tanu started shaking his head before Dale even finished speaking.
"I give him a stronger dose than I would normally give people." Tanu said. "Just a few drops of these potions should be enough to cause a reaction."
Dale felt his stomach sink, but Tanu wasn't discouraged. He just started to mix up another set of potions. "Generally, everybody is affected by the same emotions in the same ways, but there are always exceptions. Though rare, some people are immune to some of the potion effects, but I've yet to meet anybody who is unaffected by all my potions." That may be the case, but Dale knew that Tanu had also never met someone who was in a condition like Warren's.
Tanu went through another three potion combinations before there was finally a reaction. Mere seconds after drinking Tanu's most recent concoction Warren's eyes widened and he somehow seemed to pale even more than before. Tanu looked intrigued and leaned closer. Warren became tense and nothing Dale did could help him to relax. Warren's breathing picked up and he began whining slightly. Dale instinctively took Warren's hand, and was shocked when his brother squeezed his hand, actually squeezed it.
Dale looked at Tanu in alarm. "What's going on? What emotion is this?"
Tanu didn't answer him right away, but asked a question of his own. "Have you ever seen your brother like this? Whether while he was like this, or even before."
Dale frowned slightly. "Before, not like this, but...but he was a lot like this during the last festival night."
A strange look flashed in Tanu's eyes. He leaned back. "The emotion I gave him, that was fear."
Fear. That actually made a lot of sense. "I thought that whatever had done this to Warren was in the yard that night, and that he could somehow sense it.
"If fear is an emotion that Warren can still fear, I might have something else I can try." Tanu put his five vials away and pulled out another potion. Dale didn't know how, but this one felt different.
Where Tanu had previously combined the other potions with another, he just poured some of this potion into another paper cup. He didn't give it to Dale right away though. Tanu waited a few minutes, until there wasn't any sign that Warren had ever been under the effect of the fear potion.
Finally Tanu gave Dale the potion to give to Warren. Dale was a little concerned about what this potion could do, but Tanu had made more progress with Warren today than Dale normally did. Dale knew if he was going to trust the man, he had to trust him completely.
Dale waited with bated breath for the potion to get into Warren's system. It took a few moments, but Warren blinked and seemed to relax slightly. Dale was still holding his brother's hand. It had gone lax when the fear potion had worn off. Now Warren was once again squeezing his hand, but more in a way that offered comfort than one that sought it out.
Dale froze. He couldn't believe it. "Warren? Are you in there?" Warren blinked again and uncurled slightly, all on his own. Dale had never seen his brother relax from being curled up all on his own. Warren turned ever so slightly and looked towards Dale. Not necessarily at him, but definitely towards him.
"Has Warren been like this since the incident?" Tanu asked.
"Not exactly like this," Dale said breathlessly. He watched as Warren turned his gaze away from him and looked towards Tanu. Warren looked confused, like he didn't understand what he was seeing, but not concerned. "Sometimes he's more aware of his surroundings, or more willing to move or uncurl himself, but this is still…" Dale trailed off and shook his head. "What was that potion?"
"Courage," Tanu said plainly. "I'll be honest, I haven't exactly seen anything like this, but I have seen many things that are similar."
"Really?" This was news to Dale.
"There are some powerful creatures that can give off an aura of fear when you're near them," Tanu said. "For most people, this fear makes it almost impossible to move or even think about anything else except your own terror." Tanu held up the remaining potion. "Something like this can be used to fight off that fear."
"You think that fear is what's doing this to Warren?" Dale asked. It just sounded so simple, but it made so much sense. "Is that why he's so pale?" Dale had never quite understood what Warren's albinism had to do with his catatonic state.
"It could be," Tanu nodded. "And I know you want to ask, but courage potion isn't a cure for your brother's condition. I'm sorry. The fear seems to be too deep for my potion to cut through." Dale had guessed as much. Warren had taken the courage potion, but he hadn't gotten completely better. He was still clearly in his own mind, and Dale could tell that the effects of the potion were already wearing off.
Dale thought that he should be disappointed, to come so close to finding something that could help Warren only for it to fall apart at the end, but he felt fine. In fact, Dale felt relieved. "None of us could figure out what was wrong with him," Dale said with a small smile. He held his brother close. "Maybe now that we have an idea, we can make some progress."
Tanu returned his smile. "I sure hope so," Tanu put a hand on Dale's shoulder and one on Warren's. "I have a job to do here at Fablehaven, but whenever I have the time I will do whatever I can to help you with Warren. Whether it be looking for a cure, or helping to take care of his basic needs so you can have a break, I'm here to help the two of you."
Dale barely knew Tanu, but he trusted the man's words. Their mom's old friend, Dale's new friend, really did want to help them, and Dale couldn't even express how grateful he felt.
A/N: This is a chapter I've been looking forward to writing for a long time. I've always liked Tanu as a character, but as I've been glancing through the second book I noticed something odd about him. Tanu is concerned about people as a whole, but him caring about Warren's state of wellness seems a little more personal. Like, in the second book Tanu mentions he has three goals. First, to keep Fablehaven, and everyone in it, safe. Second, to find the artifact. Third, to help cure Warren. The very fact that Tanu knows Warren at all seems a little odd.
See, Dale is really protective of his brother. He wouldn't bring just anybody to him. Especially not a complete stranger, which is what Tanu essentially was. At the time that Tanu (as well as Vanessa and Coulter) go to Fablehaven, Stan (and I suspect Dale as well) had never properly met him before. So my explanation as to why Tanu cares so much about Warren, and why Dale trusts him with his brother, is because Tanu knew their mother.