"Are you sure you're going to be okay son?" James Potter questioned his son. Both were standing within the ritual chamber deep beneath their houses. He looked at his boy who was an exact copy to himself and watched as his son turned his hair a silvery color along with mismatching his eyes one purple the other green.
"I'll be fine papa." Hadrian reassured his father. He smiled gently at his father, "Thank you for this papa." Sighing he looked towards the room's roof seeing something only he could see, "I don't quite know what I did wrong, but please relax. I'll be fine. I am accepting my fate of never finding my mates just by doing this. So please be happy for me and move on even if that's not with mum and Desmond." His features shifted to a sad smile which he showed to his father.
"Oh Hadrian.." James whispered sadly. He moved forward to hug his son close, "You are a snow kitsune son, you'll survive even when they think you can't. There's something you should know, something that has to do with my side of the family." James spoke urgently. However he didn't get the time to tell his son what he wanted, "There's a book son! I've hidden it on your desk! Read It!" Was the last thing he got out before the room filled with a bright white light. "Goodbye my son, stay safe." He whispered moving over to the side of the room and sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. He took the bottle of Firewhiskey and popped the newest bottle open that was aged just right and took a swig. Burping out fire as per the normal, "Stay safe." James let a few tears leak from his eyes as he saluted the empty space with the fresh bottle of booze.
It took awhile for the light to clear and when it did six people could be found asleep on the forest ground. There was a specialty dome that surrounded them keeping them safe from harm. One thing is for sure, the only one who planned to leave left the rest were given the option to leave and they agreed to leave as well. The group remained asleep for the next couple days, the wildlife could sense them but not interfere.
Another day has come and gone before Hadrian being the first to awaken woke up. He glanced around the forest floor with which they were located. Only seeing trees for miles and not knowing when his companions were going to awaken he moved to the only flat surface of land and enlarged his miniature mansion his papa helped pick out for him. Swiftly moving to the master bedroom he locked and sealed the room with his magic to stop intruders from entering before setting up the wards around the tent to protect them.
Once he deemed everything as appropriately completed to his liking he turned around to gather the first person within his arms. Which just so happened to be a female adult, she looked to be around her late thirties. She had dark brown hair, which Hadrian chalked up to her heritage. Currently she was wearing a black shirt and dark blue jeans, her boots were taken off and set off to the side by the doorway on his way back out the door. Having set her on the bed in the room just to the left of the doorway he was able to quickly leave the tent in search of the next person.
His eye caught the next person laying on the ground and he was holding another person. "An elf?" Hadrian murmured out softly before choosing to place the pair in their own room. "Maybe the room towards the back?" He questioned himself. Shrugging he moved to pick up the female elf only to have a gun pointed at him by a very irate male who was clutching her. "Relax." Hadrian held his hands towards the other male palms up, "I was only trying to move her to a safer location." He tried to placate the other person.
He carefully looked at the other male, seeing his angular features twisted up in slight pain but refusing to acknowledge it in favor of protecting his mate. His heterochromia eyes boring holes within Hadrian's frame pinning him in place. "Your eyes are really pretty, mind you." Hadrian pointed out to break the tension having just noticed the left eye violet and the right a pinkish-red color. His silver hair bounced as he threw his head back and laughed heartily at the complement.
"If you'd like you can carry your mate to my tent while I carry this little one here." Hadrian smiled gently, gaining a nod from the other male. Hadrian bent down and scooped up a small child, he frowned, "She's too light for her age.." he murmured out in thought. She snuggled up to Hadrian's chest when he scooped her up, "Haha.. that tickles.." Hadrian laughed gently when her unruly, neck-length coral-colored hair tickled his neck just right. Her face was slightly obscured by the bangs that she had along with his chest where she began to nose around.
Her ears flicked, picking up the sounds as he moved towards the tent, "Her name is Roo. We've been trying to correct what life on the street did to her." The only male who was awake told Hadrian.
Hadrian led them into the back room the furthest from the door, "Ok. I'll help correct it as best as I am able to." He told the teenager, "She's a nekomata which means her body needs more proteins and vitamins in general to compensate for the amount of energy she's constantly burning." He went to lay the child down next to the elf only for her tail to wrap around his waist and her grip to tighten in his shirt. "Come now, little one." Hadrian cooed, "I'll be back, I just need to make sure I've gathered everyone from the forest floor." He placated the sleeping child.
"Mmm…mama…" She mumbled sleepily before loosening her grip on the older male and allowing to be put down finally.
Hadrian stiffened upon hearing those words before he schooled his features and left the room. Going back outside he saw another teenager awake and snarling, his glowing yellow eyes a dead giveaway to his species. Hadrian sighed before allowing his eyes to glow a soft silvery-blue to give away the fact that he wasn't just human either. It seemed to work because the snarling stopped and now he was being looked at curiously. "If you're looking for the human your scent is surrounding then she is in my tent in the first room on your left." He told the teen only for said teen to run past him and into the tent.
Hadrian frowned before scouring the whole area they landed in, he came across one more companion in the form of a small black cat. Gently scooping him up, after having to confirm he was a he, Hadrian went back into the tent and directly into his room. The only room off to the right. Taking a small towel Hadrian cleaned the small feline up, "I can feel a bond with you.. and I don't know if I should follow my instincts and bond now or if I should just ignore them.." He sighed sadly before deciding to do the latter.
Leaving the room he gently placed the black cat on one of the cushions of the couch before heading back outside with a bow and some arrows. Lifting the hood up and over his head to obscure his face, he took to the trees in search of at least one large deer or so. He knew leaving the group in the tent was wrong of him but he needed time away especially after being called that by a child that wasn't his. Couldn't be his.. Hadrian stopped at the next branch and let a few tears fall, "I shouldn't be this emotional. I knew what I was getting into when I accepted my fate.." He bowed his head hiding the pain that could be seen in his eyes.
It took awhile before his emotions calmed enough to school his features again and get back to the hunt. Spotting a family of deer he waited for one to be alone, he didn't have to wait long when a pack of wolves rushed the herd. Hadrian watched as the herd sped off and moved to keep up, setting up a good distance away he knocked his arrow and calmed his nerves. He watched as the lone deer went close to his campsite, waiting for the right moment. A few more minutes. Now! The arrow soared through the sky silently being helped along with the magic he imbued the arrows with.
Moving swiftly closer to his target he watched as the one lone boy who was talking to him earlier came out of the tent only to jump as the arrow hit its target and knocked the deer to the ground dead. Right at his feet. Hadrian jumped down from the branch he was on and landed on the ground, "I didn't startle you too badly did I?" He questioned before tying a rope around the deer's legs and using the tree branch as leverage he pulled until the carcass was hanging from the tree. Getting the carcass to the right height for him to work was a small task but so rewarding, nodding at his handiwork he tied a loop around the trunk of the tree to hold the carcass in place.
"A deer? Really? And you fired the arrow off from a distance! Just who are you?" the other boy demanded breathlessly.
"It's wrong to demand something from someone when you haven't introduced yourself first." Hadrian pointed out to the boy who followed him into the kitchen area. Hadrian moved around the multiple cupboards pulling out various containers, "Jars for the blood.. I can make blood pops to snack on then. These containers for the meat?" He continued to mutter about himself fluttering around the kitchen. "I can plant the vegetables also.. better look around for anything in the forest as well.. Stew would be a good thing to eat for tonight. It's not too heavy but it's still hearty.." Hadrian stilled in his movements.
"What's wrong with him?" The only adult female questioned out a small smile upon her features. She looked around at everyone who was just watching the new figure flit around the kitchen pulling things from other locations.
"The Heart.. I can use that in something.. but what was it again.." Hadrian mumbled to himself, he raised his head and everyone could see the slightly glazed look as he was thinking about it. "There's a recipe around here for it.. something for healing malnourishment of neko folk.." Hadrian placed the containers on the counters before turning to the bookshelf wall he built up within the family room he perused the books. "Where was it?" Hadrian mumbled out, he opened one book and skimmed the recipes before putting it back. "No.. maybe over here?" He moved towards the third shelf and grabbed another book to skim.
"A way to help Roo?" the lone female elf asked with a hopeful tone in her voice. "Tsu! Was he talking about Roo?" She approached her mate, they were still missing their piece to their triad.
"Yes Lyrule. He's talking about Roo." Tsu looked towards one of his mates. "She called him mama too." His eyes narrowed when Hadrian stiffened hearing the words again, "So I didn't imagine it.." He trailed off silently. "How is she Ly?"
Lyrule hummed frowning slightly, "She's burning up, this is a lot worse than before Tsu! I'm worried.." She told the man truthfully.
Hadrian looked at the pair before moving deftly towards the room the little one was laying in. He reached forward to feel the child's head before hissing out and recoiling, "Shit.." He moved swiftly over to the kitchen cabinets again and carefully pulled down the potions supply. Grabbing the fever reducer he left the potion's box sitting open before going back towards the lone child. He tapped the vial with his hand before touching said child's stomach. What followed next startled everyone, Hadrian spoke fluent gaelic and transferred the contents from the vial straight into the child's stomach.
The effects of the potion were instant, "She's cooled down Tsukasa!" Lyrule exclaimed in shock. She looked towards Hadrian who already left the room now holding a parchment he was already crumpling in his grip.
Moving back to the potions he pulled out the bone mending potion, child pain reliever, another fever reducer and a generic antibiotic. Setting them off to the side he grabbed a magnetic timer and set the timer to two hours. Grabbing the antibiotic and pain relieving potions he moved over towards the only elf, "Give these to her when the timer is up. Don't give them to her any sooner or any later or the potions won't work that well." He warned. Getting a nod from the elf he moved back to what he was originally looking for.
Stopping swiftly in the doorway he sighed, placing his left hand on the side of his head in exasperation he muttered out a latin spell towards the books that littered the floor. Everyone watched as the books all zoomed back into their rightful places on the shelves. Nodding to himself he went back to the counter and grabbed the containers, "Harvest the deer first, look for the recipe afterwards. Have to go looking for vegetation as well, maybe some of the fauna around here would make decent spices?" He muttered out to himself as he left the tent again and went to work harvesting the deer.
The group all looked at one another, "That just happened right?" The anger induced teen questioned excitedly.
The only adult there sighed, "Yes Liam. That just happened. He was muttering about something to help with Roo's malnourishment as well. Liam I know this is asking a lot especially now. But would you mind exploring the forest for a bit and grabbing a bit of the local fauna?" She questioned out, looking right at the beta wolf.
"Yea.. Sure thing Melissa." He grabbed a couple bags before leaving the tent to do as asked.
"Oh and Liam?" Melissa called out, gaining the beta attention, "Do be careful would you?" She warned before he turned and left the tent completely. "Now then. Tsukasa, would you mind helping me go through these books for any and all recipes that involve the heart of some kind?" She posed the question towards the young lad.
"Oh! I want to help too!" Lyrule stated in eagerness.
Melissa shook her head, "No can do, little lady. He gave you a task to basically keep an eye on the little one. Remember in two hours she needs those medicines." Glancing towards the timer that was set, "From the looks of it an hour has already passed. Now personally I'd like to help him and find that recipe he's looking for." She clapped her hands lightly before grabbing a couple tombs and scouring the recipes.
An hour passed before the timer dinged. Melissa paused in her search to check on Lyrule and Roo. Seeing Lyrule struggling just to get Roo to swallow, "Here let me help." Melissa moved over and took the vial from her, tilting Roo's head back just slightly she gently tipped the open vial into Roo's mouth with one hand. The other began to massage Roo's throat forcing her to swallow the medicine. They repeated the process with the second vial before placing both empty vials with the other in the sink.
She smiled gently towards Lyrule, "We've managed to find a few recipes. Just not sure which one he's looking for directly." Melissa explained as best she could. The remaining members watched as Hadrian walked back into the tent carrying several containers full up of meat from the deer; a couple large containers had some bones. While a small one held the heart. Three jars could be seen carrying blood. "You said something about blood pops before, is there something else the blood can be used for?" She questioned.
Hadrian looked up at the only adult in the room and tilted his head to the side just slightly, "Yes. Since I do have to consume blood at times it's usually best if I add it to whatever dish I'm eating or by turning it into the blood pops. Besides, our resident vampire may like the blood pops as well." Was his nonchalant reply.
The other members jolted in shock before turning to the lone black cat who changed forms. He stood at one hundred and seventy-seven centimeters with shoulder-length, blue hair with his front bangs reaching his eyes. His eye color gave away his vampirism however they had dark bags under them. He wore a blue jacket which is a tad darker than his hair color with the hood pulled over his head, the black fur looking close to the one of his cat form. On his left shoulder is a patch with the roman numeral one. His blue jacket is buttoned open with a simple black shirt hiding under it. On both sides, He has chest pockets. The hem of his jacket splits into many threads, starting short at the front that grow in length as they reach his back. His white pants are skin-tight and held up with a red belt, which could be slightly seen poking out from underneath his jacket. Tying off the outfit were the long black boots that almost reached his knees.
"Tch.. troublesome.. why haven't you initiated the bond yet?" Said vampire snarled out.
"I said I could feel the bond. I just don't know the nature of said bond." Hadrian calmly told the other just as the tent flap opened and Liam strolled back in both bags full to the brim with the local fauna. Hadrian took a couple sniffs before focusing on the wolf cub, "You've managed to find some vegetables and onions it would seem. Can I see the bags?" He requested holding his hands out for said bags.
"You're supposed to be my next Eve Hadrian!" The vampire snarled out.
Hadrian stilled, "How do you know my name?" he questioned softly with a dangerous lilt to it.
The vampire gulped and took a small step back, his hands up palms out in surrender, "Some girl with platinum blond hair told me. Said some other rather confusing things also."
Hadrian smiled sadly, "Luna-bear did, did she? Typical Luna. What else did she say?"
"Don't lose hope Ian, for you shall start anew and with it the others follow. Gather everyone before you all settle in. We will be waiting for our dear brother to find and unite us once more. It's ok to let go now and reveal your true person Ian, no one will judge you in the least. The precious child is meant for you to care for as well. Take care of her well to help heal her. Trust the others to watch your back and they will help heal you as well."
The vampire told him word for word, watching as Hadrian began to cry just slightly. "Are you ok?" He was startled to see his next Eve so broken mentally. Moving carefully he wrapped his arms around the smaller frame.
The group watched as Hadrian broke down crying for the first time in years, finally being able to let go of his tightly wrapped emotions. The vampire smiled slightly, bending down to scoop up his declared next eve and walked into the man's room. Placing him down on the bed and covering him up, he turned to leave and help the others put everything away. "Poor child. Can you imagine what he's been through? And that whole statement it seemed that he knew exactly what those words meant." Melissa's voice could be heard as the vampire turned around and closed the door to the master bedroom.
"It's because he protected her while they were in school together." the vampire admitted sighing just slightly. He moved away and towards the kitchen area and started to either box or jar what all was found. He wanted to leave them out on the counter for when Hadrian woke up again and smelt everything. He had this feeling that Hadrian would be able to pick up if something was good or poisonous for the group of them.
"Thank you.. Ah.. sorry I still don't really know your name.." Melissa chuckled sheepishly. Her way of asking for a name but not really asking at the same time.
The vampire shook his head, "I'm sorry but I don't have a name until my Eve gives me one." he explained to the group, "You can call me Sleepy Ash if that helps any?" He posed the question to the group at large.
"Ash then." Melissa smiled patiently at the vampire. "Is it ok to put the blood in the fridge?" She questioned next when she saw him putting the meat in different locations, between the fridge and the freezer.
It only took a couple hours before Hadrian emerged from the room. He was half asleep when he went towards the opening of the tent and out to the borders of his barrier. The group watched silently as Hadrian stopped just a few centimeters from the bear that began to snarl and roar at something it could not see, "Need to put up a smelling barrier.." He mumbled before getting to work to add the ward and interweave the barrier back together. They all watched as the bear stopped its roar quickly before tilting its head and meandering off. "Redirection wards added as well.." was the last thing anyone heard before he dropped to the ground asleep again.
"Shit!" Sleepy Ash cursed darting to Hadrian's down form. He hefted Hadrian's downed form and brought him back to the master bed. Laying him back down he frowned, "How did you know about the break in defense?" He whispered out softly before leaving the room again and closing the door. Glancing around at everyone he shook his head, "He did all of that subconsciously." He explained.
"Well there is a decent amount of meat here. I can attempt to make a stew with some other vegetables if all of you supernaturals with enhanced noses can smell out the good ones?" Melissa offered up while looking directly at all the known supernaturals to her.
Liam chuckled slightly, "I can't guarantee my nose Melissa but I'll try and help where I can." He moved behind the counter and started to pull out the different vegetables, "Well these are potatoes and these are carrots. They both smell and look the same from our world to here." He pointed out handing the known vegetables to the woman.
"That's an onion." Ash pointed towards the one container off to the side just a bit. "It's long so maybe green onion? But the stems of the onion are purple.."
"Are you sure Ash?" Melissa questioned softly. She opened the container and smelt the vegetable. "I think you're right. Alright. I'll use these and a couple small slabs of meat to make a deer stew. We can add a couple tablespoons of the blood into your bowl so you can have the blood as well Ash. Is that ok with you?" She waited until he nodded towards her before shooing everyone out of the kitchenette.
Everyone began to dissipate to someplace around the tent. Liam was browsing the entire place looking for something to do. He stopped when he noticed a chess board set up and off to the side in the family room/library. "There's a chess board here!" He hollered out.
Tsukasa was the first to arrive, "That looks like a chess board but the pieces move. See there?" He pointed out calmly.
"That's a Wizard's Chess." Hadrian told the group that surrounded the board. He chuckled when everyone jumped within the room and spun to face him, "Sorry.. Sorry.. I didn't mean to startle you that badly." He moved a little closer to the board, "You'll have to forgive but what is your name? We really didn't introduce ourselves properly." He probed Tsukasa.
Tsukasa chuckled, "No I don't think we got around to that. My name is Tsukasa and the one you were attempting to help earlier is one of my mates. Her name is Lyrule. Roo you already know is the neko child, she has claimed a dear friend of mine as her papa."
Liam was bouncing slightly when the introductions started, "Hi!" He waved enthusiastically, "My name's Liam and mom's name is Melissa McCall. No we aren't related, however she's my semi-adopted mom. If that makes any sense."
Hadrian chuckled, "Yes pup that makes sense. Anyways, My name is Hadrian Peverell." Hadrian finally introduced himself to the group at large, he turned back to the board, "Now, Tsukasa, call out a move of any kind on the board. And I will follow suit to show you how the board works." Hadrian explained as best as he could.
"Ok.." Tsukasa moved towards the white side of the board and looked closely, "Pawn to E4." After the move was called out the entire group was startled to see said pawn move across the board all on its own.
Hadrian moved next, "Pawn to C5." He said, watching as the pawn moved across the board and settled into position.
Tsukasa sat down in the chair situated at the table and frowned in thought, "Knight to F3." He called out.
Hadrian smiled having an idea on the type of chess Tsukasa was playing but continued to play anyways. "Knight to F6."
"Knight to C3.", "Pawn to D6.", "Pawn to D4." The move was called and Hadrian's pawn moved, pulling its swords out it lashed at the white pawn in D4 cutting it in two before moving to take its place.
"Well that's not barbaric." Melissa walked over to see what they were all doing and watched the move.
"It's how Wizard's Chess is played. Don't worry the pieces will reassemble themselves on game end." Hadrian reassured before continuing the game against Tsukasa. In the end Hadrian still lost the game, "I'm not all that great at playing Chess but several friends of mine loved to play the game." Hadrian told the group with a shrug, he took a small sniff, "Hmm…" getting up he moved towards the softly cooking deer stew that Melissa had begun to cook. Sifting through the containers he pulled out a small container containing a few small pieces to an herb. "Savory.. this will do.." His body moved on its own accord, deftly grabbing a knife and the board he thinly diced a few leaves and added them into the stew.
"What are you adding Hadrian?" Melissa asked calmly she was curious about the plant, it smelt peppery but she knew it wasn't a pepper plant to warrant using.
"This herb is also known as Savory, it has a slight peppery taste to it. I'm only adding a little bit for some flavor enhancing. Plus I'm not entirely sure how everyone will like the taste." He shrugged before moving to clean up everything that he had used. Including the potion vials. Grabbing a smaller pot and a small kettle burner he added water to the pot and set the flame alight. Waiting until the water was boiling he added in the clean vials to sterilize them for next use.
"Should these two be put up, mom?" Liam questioned carefully holding the two full vials out towards Hadrian.
"Hm?" Hadrian questioned before looking at the vials. "No pup. The kit needs to take them with dinner." He answered truthfully, a little preoccupied going through the safe and not safe containers.
Melissa just gave this little knowing smile before dragging Liam from the room to interrogate him, "Ok. So spill adopted child of mine number two." She all but demanded drawing the attention of everyone around them.
"Spill what? He's the pack mom and he's hurting. I don't know why.." He tried to explain as best as he could, "I just feel this need to be the pup of the pack again…" He told the group at large. "I also feel this need to protect him, however I also know he can defend himself just fine." Liam looked down in thought, "My wolf is telling me to treat him like alpha, something like alpha's mate?"
Melissa gasped, "Scott? My Scotty?" she questioned breathlessly. "Ohh god.. I hope he's here." She glanced towards Hadrian only to see him with a pair of earbuds and some of the books they had yet to go through.
"Something tells me it's not just Scott, Mrs. McCall." Tsukasa pointed out. "Roo has claimed Hadrian as well, calling him 'Mama' to." he pointed out unhelpfully.
"You would be right, my instincts are demanding to protect the sick child. I can feel that down to my very core." Liam warned Tsukasa and Lyrule.
They both nodded, "That will pose a problem you see. The Merchant is Roo's papa, he's gone and adopted the child. And I know he won't take too kindly to someone else claiming his daughter." Tsukasa truthfully told the group.
The group continued to ponder ideas back and forth between each other not realizing that Hadrian could hear every word they were saying. He pulled out a notebook and added a few notes within the book, something to think about later. Going back to the last medical book he had and this one was an obscured book and the whole reason why he could speak Gaelic fluently. "I found it!" He shouted with glee, quickly moving towards the containers in the hopes he had all the ingredients already.
His shout startled the group and drew them back over towards him to see what he was doing. Hadrian frowned before moving back to the book and his notebook. Opening his notebook onto a blank page he did a rough sketch of the plant he needed to try and find. Frowning in thought, "I saw something like this nearby." Snagging an empty jar he moved towards the door to put his boots on. With a quick accio to the Jar and notebook Hadrian took off towards the forest, changing to his half form he took to the trees and moved swiftly and quickly.
He spotted the flower lookalike and landed on the ground nearby. Walking up to the plant he clipped a few flowers from the bush and set them within the lone jar he brought, "I'll have to seperate them when I get back before the ingredients dilute themselves." He murmured out to himself.
"You're a kitsune!" Ash breathed out breathlessly. "That explains everything now, don't deny our bond please.. I know I'm not a mate." He tried to explain without frightening the other off completely.
Now Hadrian was startled, rightfully so mind you but the bond has been there since he woke up so he didn't think anything of it. "Leo!" Hadrian called out, startling the vampire who widened his eyes, "Relax. Can you change forms for me please?" He requested gently. Ash's eyes widened before he changed forms. Hadrian leaned down towards his level, the moonlight's rays giving some light to the occasion. He reached into his back pocket to pull out the small leather collar that Luna had warned him to get before he left, "Luna gave me a warning that I would need this." He explained before attaching the collar around Ash's neck.
Using a small portion of his magic he was able to seal the collar upon the vampire neck equipped with a small silver tag and the name Leo. "Leo. This collar is enchanted to help protect you and anyone around you. There is a tracking spell on it as well so you will always know where I am located." Hadrian explained, smiling softly towards the now named Leo who stayed in his cat form and opted to ride on Hadrian's shoulder the whole way back to camp.
"Why the name Leo?" Leo questioned looking towards his new master.
"Because I have this feeling you can get to be as big if not bigger than an actual lion black fur and all." Hadrian explained returning to the clearing their tent was in. He changed forms again back to being human before walking into the tent. "Besides that name is one of the calmer names I chose when I started thinking about names." He said to the other truthfully.
Hadrian walked back over to the medical book he had opened to reread the recipe while properly storing the ingredients for later use. From the looks of it one heart would make one pewter cauldron worth and that only filled five vials correctly. "Do I have the correct size vials? Or should I just store the main potion in one large vial, only splitting it to the proper dosage when I need to use it?" He began to question himself. "Prolly best to store it in a large vial." He concluded before storing two separated stacks of the same flower within two new jars and cleaning the old one.
"Why the need to clean the jar? Won't you use the same jar for the same plant?" Melissa came up to question.
"That wouldn't be possible." Lyrule was the one to answer, "The plant's effectiveness is different at different times of the day." She came over to the kitchenette and looked at the plant Hadrian went to fetch. "Your other form is adorable by the way." She whispered over to the boy who jumped slightly.
Hadrian paled, "You were outside?!" He squeaked out. Embarrassed that someone other than his mates saw him first.
"I was. I was looking at the local fauna nearby when you darted out with Ash following." She answered truthfully. "Is no one else allowed to see your creature side?" She questioned out with a tiny tilt to her head.
"Creature? Are you certain Lyrule?" Tsukasa questioned lightly coming to stand next to her.
"Of course he's a creature. You never realized it? I mean it's one thing to smell things from a distance but to sniff at the air and smell things from far enough away? That's highly impressive in my book and frankly I'm glad we all woke up here with him." Melissa countered the statement with a bold one herself. She was glad that they all woke up with Hadrian otherwise they would be even more lost than before. Sure Liam was with them, she was sure he would be able to lead them to some form of civilization but they weren't sure how far off that was or in which direction to travel. They needed a plan but first, a child needed to heal from being sick.
Hadrian blushed looking around the room and not seeing any animosity he revealed his creature side. His silvery ears flicking around at all the noise and his five tails swaying from left to right behind him. Everyone in the room jumped startled before squeals were heard from both women in the tent. "You are just so adorable!" Lyrule told him with Melissa agreeing alongside her.
"..Mama?" A little voice yawned out, startling the group whose sole focus was on Hadrian.
"Roo!" Lyrule and Tsukasa rushed over to the girl. "You're awake! Ohh.. thank god. I don't even want to know what the Merchant would have done otherwise." Tsukasa admitted softly hugging the poor girl.
"You still have a slight fever kit. I'd send you back to bed if dinner wasn't already ready and you had more medication to take." Hadrian spoke softly walking up to her. He wasn't prepared for her to lunge at him though with a cry of "MAMA!". He still caught her with a chuckle, "I did say I would be back didn't I?" He softly asked her, gaining a small nod from the child he moved her over to the table and sat her in a chair before going back to the kitchenette and grabbing the last two vials.
Heading back to Roo, Hadrian handed the fever reducer first and waited until she took the potion scrunching up her nose at how nasty it smelled, "Yea I know, they smell bad. They taste bad too. However they work wonders when it comes to healing. So drink up because I have another vial that tastes worse than that one but will put you in some pain." he chuckled out before explaining the rest.
"Is that true?" Liam questioned, truly intrigued by the concept. He didn't see the potions work first hand but he heard about it from Tsukasa and Lyrule talking to each other.
Hadrian chuckled, "Oh yea. The matron at the school even had a plaque with my name on it above one of the beds in the hospital wing. With how many times I've been injured through the years." He watched as Liam and Leo both growled with their eyes glowing slightly. "None of that now." He chided the pair, drawing a giggle from Roo in the process. "There's that smile." Hadrian cooed out to the child. "That being said, it is dinner time everyone. Shall we all sit down and enjoy the meal that Melissa has cooked for everyone?"
Everyone moved at once and sat down around the table, Hadrian had gone back into the kitchenette to help dish out and serve the meal for everyone adding a little bit of blood into both his and Leo's bowls. Moving back over to the table he passed out bowl after bowl until everyone had a bowl themselves. Placing his hands together and bowing his head just slightly, Hadrian murmured out, "Thank you for this meal." Before digging into the meal completely.
Everyone took small bites at first before lunging for the food. Some got up to get seconds, "Roo, honey you need to eat a little slower otherwise you'll make yourself sicker." Hadrian warned the small child. He sighed as she choked slightly trying to do as told. Moving the small glass of water closer towards her, he watched as she took a few big sips before fixing her breathing having finally swallowed the mouthfuls she did have. Nodding as she went back to eating only slower he decided to finish his first bowl as well.
It took the better part of an hour before everyone was finished eating, they were also getting drowsy as well. Liam glanced over to the smallest and smiled gently, "Come on squirt let's get you to bed." He muttered out, picking her up.
"But I'm not tired yet." Was her tired response, earning chuckles from everyone around. Liam just continued on his path to getting her in bed. "Will you read me a story?" She questioned out of the blue.
Liam stopped and turned to look at Hadrian. Hadrian never did look at him when he told him the children's stories could be found on the shelves in the family room. "Sure how about we get you in something lighter before I let you pick a story. How does that sound?" He questioned out.
"Yea!" Roo responded back enthusiastically. She was excited to have a story read to her and she knew just the book to read as well. She waited to be put down before rushing into the room she shared with one of her aunts and uncles. Opening up one of the drawers she managed to find a soft comfy pajama top, bottoms and a new pair of underwear. Bounding into the bathroom next door to her room she switched the taps on and took a bath.
Knock Knock Knock "Are you alright in there shrimp?" Liam questioned knocking on the bathroom door. Having seen the clock that Hadrian set up, a better part of an hour has passed since she went in.
"Y-yea! I'm fine! I was just getting out!" She yelled through the door, having already pulled the plug on the tub. Grabbing the fluffiest towel around she dried off as quick and best she could before quickly getting dressed. Once she deemed herself suitable she opened the door to rush out to the shelves only to be stopped by Liam's grip on her waist. "Let me go~" She whined.
"Nope. No can do, squirt. Not with your hair soaking wet and not brushed like that. Mom would have my head if he saw you like that. Especially since you're still sick." Liam scolded lightly. He carried her back into the bathroom and sat her down on the seat of the toilet. Grabbing a new towel he re-dried her hair only properly this time before grabbing the brush and brushing her hair to sit properly on her head framing her beautiful face. "There we go. Now go pick the story you would like me to read." He instructed and chuckled as she darted out of the bathroom and to the shelves.
Liam placed both towels located on the floor of the bathroom in the basket he found against the wall before leaving said bathroom and following her to the shelves that were full of books. Hadrian chuckled before dragging both Tsukasa and Lyrule over to the one room not in use just yet. "If you both are agreeable I'd like to move you two to this room, leaving Roo in the smaller room by herself."
Both Tsukasa and Lyrule walked into the empty room and moved about it. Checking inside the closet before they both turned towards Hadrian, "That would be lovely, thank you." Lyrule was the one to answer, giving Hadrian a hug at the same time. "But how are we going to get a bed large enough in here for us?"
Hadrian smirked just slightly, "Hang on. I have a King Size Bed you can use." Hadrian left the room real quick and walked into the utility room. Over by one of the cupboards he opened it and went inside, finding said bed wasn't that hard a task to complete the linen however.. Hadrian shrugged, he will just have to bring everyone over to this room and let everyone pick their own bed linens. With that in mind he grabbed a neutral gray in color set brand new still in the packaging and left the cupboard.
He moved carefully back into the room with Tsukasa and Lyrule and unshrunk the bed. Turns out they both wanted the bed just below the window. Handing them the bedspread he smiled and left the room, telling them there should be some soft pajamas hanging in the closet enchanted to fit their forms. Closing the door he went back to the kitchenette and began the potion needed to help repair the malnutrition Roo was suffering from.
"Ah Ha! Here it is!" Roo exclaimed she was bouncing back to Liam with the book titled, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. "Can you read me a story from this one please?" She questioned softly, her head was tilted to the side with her tail swaying back and forth.
Liam chuckled before picking her up, "Sure thing, let's get you tucked into bed and I'll read the story there." He told her as he carried her from the family room to what was now her own room. "Hadrian said that this room was now yours, squirt. So you can decorate the room however you would like." Tucking her into bed he waited off to the side as everyone came and said their goodnights.
"Liam is right you know, me and Lyrule will be in the room just next door to yours if you need us. Otherwise this room is officially yours, Roo." Tsukasa explained gently. Him and Lyrule having said their goodnights left the room as Roo became drowsy.
"Alright squirt, let's begin your adventure. This is the story, 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune'." Liam said before launching into the story.
There was an enchanted and enclosed garden that was protected by "strong magic". Once a year, an "unfortunate" was allowed the opportunity to find their way to the fountain, to bathe in the water, and to win "fair fortune forever more".
Knowing that this might be the only chance to truly turn their lives around, people (with magical powers and without) traveled from the far reaches of the kingdom to try and gain entrance to the garden. It was here that three witches met and shared their tales of woe. First was Asha, "sick of a malady no Healer... could cure", who hoped the fountain could restore her health. The second was Altheda, who was robbed and humiliated by a sorcerer. She hoped the fountain would relieve her feelings of helplessness and her poverty. The third witch, Amata, had been deserted by her beloved, and hoped the fountain would help cure her "grief and longing".
The witches decided that three heads were better than one, and they pooled their efforts to reach the fountain together. At first light, a crack in the wall appeared and "Creepers" from the garden reached through and wrapped themselves around Asha, the first witch. She grabbed Altheda, who took hold of Amata. But Amata got tangled in the armor of a Muggle knight, and as the vines pulled Asha in, all three witches along with the knight got pulled through the wall and into the beautiful garden.
Since only one of them would be permitted to bathe in the fountain, the first two witches were upset that Amata inadvertently invited another competitor. Because he had no magical power, recognised the women as witches, and was well-suited to his name, "Sir Luckless", the knight announced his intention to abandon the quest. Amata promptly chided him for giving up and asked him to join their group.
On their journey to the fountain, the motley band faced three challenges. First, they faced a "monstrous white worm, bloated and blind" who demanded "proof of your pain". After several fruitless attempts to attack it with magic and other means, Asha's tears of frustration finally satisfied the worm, and the four were allowed to pass. Next, they faced a steep slope and were asked to pay the "fruit of their labors". They tried and tried to make it up the hill but spent hours climbing to no avail. Finally, the hard-won effort of Altheda as she cheered her friends on (specifically the sweat from her brow) got them past the challenge. At last, they faced a stream in their path and were asked to pay "the treasure of your past". They attempted to float across or leap across, but all their attempts failed until Amata thought to use her wand to withdraw the memories of the lover who had abandoned her. She dropped them into the water and stepping stones appeared in the water, letting the group cross to the fountain, where they must decide who got to bathe.
Asha collapsed from exhaustion and was near death. She was in such pain that she could not make it to the fountain, and she begged her three friends not to move her. Altheda quickly mixed a powerful potion in an attempt to revive her, and the concoction actually cured her malady, so she no longer needed the fountain's waters. By curing Asha, Altheda realized that she had the power to cure others and a means to earn money. She no longer needed the waters of the fountain to cure her "powerlessness and poverty".
The third witch, Amata, realized that once she washed away her regret for her lover, she was able to see him for what he really was ("cruel and faithless"), and she no longer needed the fountain's waters. She turned to Sir Luckless and offered him his turn at the fountain as a reward for his bravery. The knight, amazed at his luck, bathed in the fountain and flung himself "in his rusted armor" at the feet of Amata and begged for her "hand and her heart". Each witch achieved their dreams for a cure, a hapless knight won knowledge of his bravery, and Amata, the one witch who had faith in him, realized that she had found a "man worthy of her". The four set off "arm-in-arm", and the four friends lived long, happy lives, never realizing that the fountain's waters "carried no enchantment at all".
Liam's voice trailed off to a whisper as he noticed Roo had fallen asleep. Carefully getting up he left the room and left the door ajar to leave a small crack to leave a little light within the room. "She's asleep finally.." he murmured out with a tiny yawn.
"And from the looks of it you're about to drop as well." Melissa chided, "Go to sleep Liam, no one's gonna disappear on you." She shooed him from the room and into the one she was currently sharing with him. "And You!" She rounded on Hadrian, "You better not stay up too late either. With that being said. It is getting late so I'm going to say goodnight and I'll see you in the morning." Melissa told everyone leading a half asleep Liam into the room and on the separate twin bed within. Changing her clothes into pajamas she crawled into bed as well.
Hadrian smiled sadly, "Goodnight." He whispered out to an empty room. The potion was just about completed; it just needed a few rays from the moon to make the potion potent. Having turned off the flame a while ago he used his dragon hide gloves and moved the cauldron outside to collect the moon's rays. "I just need to let this sit for an hour before the potion itself is completed." He sighed, placing a small debris catching shield around the cauldron he walked back inside the tent and set to cleaning everything, after he set a timer for an hour later.
An hour went by fast, having started up a load of laundry, and pulling out a large enough jar to hold the potion in. Moving carefully outside he picked up the cauldron noting the soft pastel blue in color it went in, "So the flower here is good to use even for these types of potions.." He muttered to himself moving over to the counter he bottled the potion before putting everything away and cleaning the cauldron, funnel and ladle that he used to pour it for storage. "Now that that's done." Hadrian finally stowed away the cauldron before heading back outside for one more test.
"Expecto Patronum!" Hadrian spoke clearly, out of the palm of his hand white wispy smoke burst forth. More and more mist came forth and swirled together forming a great deer with a giant rack of antlers on his head, "Prongs…" Hadrian trailed off reaching up to touch the snout of the majestic beast he was filled with memories of days past. "Prongs. I need you to search out everyone and ask them if they are ok and who they are traveling with. I'm traveling with Tsukasa, Lyrule, Melissa, Liam, Leo and Roo. Can you do that for me please?" He whispered out in the hopes of getting a reply only for the deer to dissipate from view entirely.
He chuckled dispassionately, "I had a feeling that would happen." He sighed letting a few tears leak as he made his way back inside the tent and to bed. After all, it was only four in the morning when he finished everything. This was only the beginning though to a fresh start on freedom and happiness.
A.N. SO! I know you all have been waiting for the first chapter to be posted but I wanted to wait until the first to post the chapter. The next chapter will appear for patrons first as always. However they will have the next two chapters before everyone, making this story an update by chapter set up. The only way I would change it is if I managed to write chapter after chapter of the story on a constant pace. With that being said, I hope you all like this chapter and please review. This is a first for me putting the main story within game settings. ^_^
