"How many times do I have to tell you? I am the older brother, so I get to carry the bread!" Ludo shouted out of annoyance at his brother. Dennis shrugged his shoulders as he adjusted the firewood in his hands. "I`m sorry brother. My hands are just starting to tire carrying all this wood." the taller bird monster said. "But do you remember the last time you sent me to get the firewood?" Ludo asked as he pushed a branch out of Dennis` way. The younger brother`s cheeks glowed a light pink when he recalled the last time Ludo was sent to get the wood. He ended up looking for him in the forest and found him under a pile of branches and snow.
"Look, the house is not that far away and when we get back, I am going to make you some hot chocolate." Ludo said with a small smirk on his face as His brother`s eyes lit up with excitement.
Walking further into the forest, the sound of the rushing river reached the two monster siblings` ears. Through the trees, the brothers saw the rushing river as the approached the only bridge crossing the river. Stepping on the wooden bridge, Dennis looked to his right to look at the freezing water, ice and branches being carried away by the stream. There was a fallen tree trunk across the river where bigger pieces of ice and bigger branches were stuck. But there was something else stuck there today.
Dennis tried to get a better look at the wet mass hanging on the trunk. It was covered with dark purple hair and looked like a mass of mud. Putting the bundle of wood down to the ground Dennis raised his wings and flew to the fallen trunk. "Dennis, what are you doing?" Ludo shouted as he pulled himself on to the railing to get a better look at what couth his younger brother`s attention.
Dennis carefully stepped onto the trunk and raised his arms to remain balance and started taking slow steps towards the mass. The trunk was slippery and very unstable, making cracking and creaking noises every time the monster took a step. Finally reaching his destination, Dennis slowly reached down and tried to reach the mass of hair.
"Dennis, look out!" Ludo shouted from the bridge. Dennis looked up and saw another tree trunk rushing towards them fast. Taking a leap of faith, the bird monster grabbed the mass with his claws and flew to the shoreline just in a nack of time as the rushing trunk collided into the horizontal trunk and snapped it into two.
"What were you thinking? You could have gotten seriously hurt!" Ludo shouted angrily as he came running to his brother. "I guess doing reckless things runs in the family, big bro." Dennis said with a sheepish smile. His brother just looked at him, clearly pissed, but Dennis knew the shorter monster was trying to hide his worry behind anger.
Ludo finally gave up trying to be angry as his face softened and walked over to his younger brother. "Well, let's see if this thing was worth the risk." Ludo said as he reached out and pushed the long, wet hair out of his way. Both brothers gasped as the last strand was taken out of the way and they clearly saw what, or rather, who was under the mass.
It was a monster girl. She looked like she was in her teens. Besides her long and dark hair, she had light blue skin and a reptilian tail. She wore simple boots, a shredded and dirty dress and a damaged black cloak, which was held by a light purple butterfly pendant. The monster girl also had a satchel over her shoulder. There were bruises and scratches all over her body and her body temperature was alarmingly low. "We have to get her to the house! She is freezing!" Dennis shouted out of panic. "Hold on a minute, you want a stranger out of a river into our house?" Ludo asked as Dennis was already standing up and rushing towards the bridge.
"Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to." Ludo muttered under his breath as he ran after his brother. Dennis tried to pick up as much wood as he could while balancing the unconscious girl on his other arm. Ludo just rolled his eyes as he walked behind his panicking brother and they made their way back to the house.
Groaning, Twilight tried to open his eyes but they were heavy with sleep. She doesn`t remember her bed being this stiff and her pillow being so... not fluffy. Slowly fluttering her eyes open, the first thing she saw was the soft orange glow of a fire. The second thing she noticed was the wooden ceiling. This was definitely not her room. Carefully trying to sit up, Twilight only got on her elbows before a hard headache forced her back down with a groan. She swallowed a little, trying to ease her burning throat. Slowly turning her head, Twilight looked to her left and a fire heart in an alien living room. Suddenly she heard some clicking of glasses and... ruffling feathers? A blurry figure entered her field of vision. It was grayish green and was wearing a simple brown sweater.
"Good morning. Are you feeling better?" the figure asked as he turned around and Twilight could make out his face. The monster was a bird monster with his green beak and completely yellow eyes. Twilight also noted that the monster was tall but young, maybe William`s age or even older. Dennis looked the young monster, making mental notes about her condition.
She was sweaty but she was shivering all over, showing she had a fever. Her eyes were red and unfocused and she seemed to be in some sort of pain. Her desperate breaths were also alarming. Dennis took the wet towel from the tray he had been carrying and placed it on her burning forehead.
Twilight didn`t protest when the stranger placed the fabric on her head as she didn`t have the energy. "Do you need anything?" the bird monster asked as he kneeled next to her bed. Twilight opened her mouth but no sound came out as her throat was too dry. Taking a deep breath and swallowing the little spit she had in her mouth, Twilight tried again. "...Water..." The word came out as the smallest of whispers but Dennis understood it clearly. He turned around and grabbed a glass and a pitcher of water from the tray. The bird filled the glass and helped Twilight to sit up. Dennis grabbed the pillow from the bed and placed it against the headboard as Twilight sat up against it. Dennis wrapped her in the blanket before taking the water glass and holding it to her lips.
Slowly but surely, Twilight finished the glass and felt a lot better as her dry throat got some relief. They sat in silence for a while as the fire cracked in front of them. "My name is Dennis. What is-" Dennis fell quiet as he looked at the girl and found her asleep, sitting. The older monster just shook his head and laid her down on the bed. Giving her sleeping face a final look and replacing the towel, Dennis got up to prepare a meal before his brother got home.
A few minutes later, the front door opened to reveal a snow-covered Ludo. He was muttering curses under his breath as he placed down the branches he had been carrying. "How was your trip, brother?" Dennis asked as he rushed over to the older monster and took his soaked coat. "It was terrible! Those annoying scouts from the castle rushed by me today and they just left me in a pile of snow as if I wasn`t even there!" Ludo shouted in his whiny voice as he sat down on the armchair next to the fire.
"Wait here, I will get your food. We are having chicken soup!" his younger brother shouted as he went to the kitchen. Ludo`s eyes lit up at the mention of his favorite meal.
Dennis reentered the room and handed his older sibling the warm bowl and sat down on the bed where Twilight slept. "How is our houseguest?" Ludo asked with his mouth full. Dennis looked at the sleeping girl`s face as he answered his brother. "I got her fever down and she woke up for a moment to drink some water but fell back asleep." Ludo nodded as he looked at the girl himself. In some ways, she looked familiar but he couldn't understand how he knew her. Maybe she reminded him of someone? But if that is the case, who? "I didn`t get her name though." Ludo was snapped out of his thoughts when Dennis spoke again. "Shame. I, for one, would like to know who is sleeping in our house and has my dear baby brother look over her." Ludo spoke with a shrug as he went back to his soup.
Dennis just shook his head at his older brother as he stood up. "I am going to call it a day. Please remember to take your bowl to the kitchen when you are done. Good night, big brother." Dennis spoke as he went upstairs.
Ludo just nodded without stopping his eating.
An hour passed. Ludo was still in his chair and just looking into the fire while twirling a strand of hair from his beard. It had been years since his family`s castle was restored and they could move back in there. But Ludo had been disowned and was forced to live in the house his family lived in all those years. But Dennis, strangely, stayed behind with him. He never understood his brother`s loyalty to him but he wasn`t ungrateful. Despite his uncaring and oblivious nature, he still cared for his baby brother.
Speaking of caring, Ludo looked at the sleeping girl in their spare bed. Why did Dennis want to care for her? She was just a monster they found in the river. Jumping down from his seat, he walked over to the bed to take a closer look at her. She was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. He knows he has never met this young monster but there is something about her that rings some bells in his head.
Her hair was long, dark and messy. Dennis had tried to fix it as much as possible but it was still messy. Her skin was gray-blue but soft, like human skin rather than like the rough skin monsters had. He hasn`t seen her eye color but her face shape was familiar like he has seen it somewhere before.
Ludo raised his hand to push back some strands from her face to get a clearer picture. Once he had a better view of her face, he saw them. Her cheek marks. They were dark purple crescent moons pointing left. Ludo took a step back as he let out a quiet gasp. Those were the Butterfly family cheek marks. Ludo quickly looked over to the corner where Dennis placed her stuff. Ludo rushed over to her bag and started roaming through it. And that was when he found it.
The Butterfly family wand.
The item he had spent years hunting down and one of the most powerful relics in all of the dimensions. The monster made a small gulp as he picked it up and examined it. He had never seen the wand take this form and seemed to reflect the young monster behind him.
"Interesting..."