Caroline breathed in absorbing the scents of the forest. Wood. Soil. Water. Fresh, earthen smells that had become harder and harder to find in the modern world. Not that the whims of humans truly affected her, isolated as she was in her own realm, but it was still a shame to witness.
No matter.
She ran meticulous fingertips across the bark of her tree, weaving fine threads of her magick through its wood. It thrummed under her touch, sending slow, powerful pulses into the earth. Her tree, nurtured from a seed by her power and carefully crafted to bridge the border between the land she called home and the land of mortals, would never wilt or wither. Human toxins meant nothing to an Immortal and just as little to an Immortal's creation.
The pulses grew fainter, settling into the background, as its roots burrowed new paths in new soil.
Stepping back from the tree, Caroline held her hand aloft and gently nudged at the humming bond she could feel in the back of her mind. She felt the slight returned flutter of acknowledgement and waited.
Waited as light shifted through leaves, the sun and moon crossed paths, the Realm carved out its new home. Time was an odd illusion amidst such dense magick.
And then, on near silent wings, a large, black bird appeared in the distance, elegantly swooping through the overhead branches with ease. The bird gently landed on her forearm, emitting an affectionate croak.
A smile tugged at her lips and Caroline cooed at her bird, petting the glossy feathers on her head.
"Welcome back, Branwen, what news have you to share?"
The large raven shuffled up her arm to perch more comfortably on her shoulder, taking a moment to preen at the golden strands of her hair. With a rustle of feathers, Branwen settled as their bond hummed between them. A low and raspy, though still feminine, voice echoed through Caroline's mind accompanied by images of new places and people.
It seems our tree has settled itself in a small town this time. The inhabitants call it, Mystic Falls.
Caroline's lip twitched. A rather apropos name to be certain.
Quite. The whole place is also swarming with witch spawn, mostly children of the blood but also some children of the moon.
Her eyebrows rose. Really, now? Both of them? Surely, there has been a blood bath or two by now?
Not recently, insofar as I can derive. The earth carries echoes of a slaughter of the children of the moon sometime in the recent past, but currently it is two factions of the children of the blood that are quarreling. And one of those factions is…aberrant.
How do you mean, my friend?
They seem to be an odd amalgamation of both blood and moon. One of them reeks of old blood and a near feral wolf. The rest are settled moon children carrying the scent of recent death and blood.
Caroline's brow furrowed as she contemplated Branwen's words, more carefully scrutinizing the handful of scenes her familiar had observed. As Branwen reported, their faces bore eyes of wolf gold yet also the fangs and dark veins of the blood children.
I see. How curious…My thanks, Branwen. Mayhaps, I shall venture into this so-named Mystic Falls myself.
Caroline lifted her other arm, careful to not jostle her friend, and conjured several field mice. Appearing between one blink and the next, the newborn rodents scurried hurriedly for cover.
Branwen croaked with delight, jetting off her shoulder in a flurry of feathers to her well wishes of a happy hunt.
Caroline couldn't quite restrain the faint crinkle of her nose as she took in the unimpressive visage of the establishment cheerfully announcing itself as the "Mystic Grill." It was…quaint, she supposed.
The inside was a bit better, containing all the appropriate accouterments: a bar, multiple tables with varying degrees of privacy, a few game tables and a dart board or two.
With a slight eye-roll at herself (honestly, she wasn't here to sight see), she made her way toward the bar. The barkeep was young, very young, likely too young to drink himself according to modern rulings. It was curious that he was behind the counter.
She offered him a small smile and a subtle flutter of her lashes. "Good evening," her eyes flicked to his name-tag, "Matthew, I am feeling rather partial to an Old Fashioned tonight."
"Could I see some ID, ma'am?"
She chuckled, wondering how he would react to her true age, but produced a card all the same. A wonderful piece of charm work, he would see a perfectly genuine driver's license declaring her Caroline Morgans, age 23.
He passed it back with a thanks and shuffled around to start mixing her drink.
"Well, well I haven't seen you around here before."
Caroline restrained a second eye-roll, this one far more well-deserved, with difficulty. She peered over her shoulder, taking in the new presence beside her.
Dark hair. Icy blue eyes. A handsome face. She had a feeling she wouldn't like him. He practically oozed false charm and arrogance.
"I should think not, seeing as I just arrived earlier today," she answered, curtly.
"Oohh unclench, Barbie. So tense, maybe I can help you relax? Hm?" He waggled his eyebrows outrageously, in a manner she assumed he thought flirtatious.
This time she didn't bother to restrain her reaction, letting a slight sneer curl on her lips.
"Pass."
The clack of a glass being set down interrupted any further insult she may have uttered and she gave an acknowledging nod and smile to the boy as he stepped away to help other customers.
She sipped at her drink relishing the bite of the whiskey and bitters, smoothed by a hint of sweetness and citrus. It was a decent drink, but the experience was marred by two things: the irritant's continued presence next to her and a faint aftertaste of something herbal. It took a moment to place it, but she soon realized it was vervain and wolfsbane.
Not so ignorant then.
Before she could further contemplate the mounting curiosities of the tiny town, the pest interjected once more.
"No need to be rude, Barbie. I assure you, I'm quite the hit with the ladies." Caroline leveled a ferocious glare in his direction as he placed his hand on her forearm and watched with increasing outrage as his pupil dilated. "So, come with me."
Her fury seethed low in her belly as she stood to follow the little cretin, quite eager to teach the mannerless cur a lesson. Nevermind the audacity he had to try to control her mind, his casual air sealed his fate.
A desire to feed would be one thing, but his words implied something quite different. Some of her bloodkin would be enraged only by his audacity and not his crime, but for her - she with her tumultuous relationships with her half-siblings and the memory of a troubled boy whose blood named him her nephew twice over - for her, consent meant something.
The fool led her into the back alley, taking no time to try to compel anything else, simply slamming her against the wall. His face rippled into dark eyes and veins and fangs, his hands wandering places they had no right to.
He had his chance.
In an instant, she reversed their positions, pinning him to the bricks with ease. His confusion was obvious as he clawed at her arm, a mere tickle to her, and he shouted.
"What the fuck?! What are you?"
Caroline just hummed in the back of her throat, pondering appropriate punishments even as she absently answered. "Now, who is being rude? Asking such crass questions."
Ah, now there's an idea.
She leaned forward, easily bypassing his flailing to blow into his ear.
A little pain, she thought, as she swiftly stepped back, allowing the creature to fall into a screaming heap. And a little training. Her magick eagerly burned through his brain and body, weaving her curse into his flesh, into his bone, saturating his blood, tying it with razored hooks to the very essence of him. Anytime he thought to force his will upon others, he would burn. Just as he was now.
No longer interested in the arrogant vampire's fate - assured her magick would do as she intended - she turned to regard the second presence in the alley. A much older one that she had sensed follow them from the bar.
"Enjoy the show?" She drawled.
A wicked, little smirk crossed his lips, even as his eyes remained dark and guarded.
"Immensely. A Fae's vengeance is always a lovely thing to behold."
Well, well this one was quite informed. Though, she supposed he ought to be at his age.
He extended an arm to her. "Would you care to walk with me?"
She took it. "I do so hope you do not intend to waste my time, child of the blood and moon."
"Please, call me, Klaus." He dimpled at her. "And I prefer the term 'Hybrid' myself."
Caroline eyed him, allowing some of her curiosity to color her expression.
"Klaus, then, why is it you sought me out?"
Caroline traced the swirls of the handsome mahogany table, intrigued by Klaus' tale. A bit intrigued by the man himself as well, if she were honest.
"Your wolf is new to you, is he not?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "In a manner of speaking."
She chortled, tickled by his careful wording. He was certainly wise to tread so carefully, but she was too interested to harm him at the moment. Not that she would tell him that.
"You told me you seek your family. Family is pack for a wolf. You do not lose pack. Cannot," she emphasized.
He looked like he had been about to interrupt, though his mouth shut with a click of his teeth at the 'cannot.'
"You're saying I should be able to…sense their location."
She nodded. "I can understand the importance of family, Klaus. So I offer you this insight with no debt or strings: embrace your wolf. Shift. Run. He's practically feral, and it is no wonder you cannot use all of his senses." She paused, wondering at what she was about to offer, but opted to indulge. "I shall run with you. We will find your family."
The last time Klaus had turned it had been frenzied, surrounded by the power of a broken curse and a full moon, quick. Now, it was the force of his will hastening the process, rapidly shattering and reshaping bone.
He growled low in his throat, the sound transformed to a guttural howl as the transformation completed.
This time he could feel the wildness in his blood, his wolf a heavy presence alongside his vampire. Powerful in a way it wasn't when his curse broke. He turned with a snarl as something moved in his peripheral vision.
A large gray wolf stood a few paces away.
His snarl cut off as he tilted his head, inhaling a familiar scent.
Magic. Tree. Fae. Woman. She-wolf? Bombarded his thoughts in a tumbling stream of consciousness, his wolf sounding both puzzled and delighted.
She chuffed at him.
Follow.
She then turned and darted into the woods, his wolf hot at her heels.
They ran for miles, leaping over logs and foliage, traversing the forest with supernatural swiftness. And as his frantic energy started to burn out, his mind grew sharper. His wolf and vampire blurred at their edges, blending together. He started to feel a slight tug, and an instinct to move toward it.
Pack. A growl sounded in the back of his mind and Klaus pivoted, following the pull, the other wolf now running at his side.
Pack.
Title means "Soul home" in Welsh
3/17/2020 Mini-sequel additional content below.
Caroline laid in the grass beneath her tree, feeling the warm rays of the sun on her naked skin. She still wasn't quite sure how such a tiny town had so much drama occurring in it. The creation of a Hybrid, the breaking of his curse, the birth of a new lineage.
And that wasn't even touching on yesterday's events. The awakening of the entire so-called Original Family. Six old vampires and an old witch all inhabiting one town.
The infant Bennett certainly played with fire.
An amused sounding croak disrupted her thoughts, her only warning before a piece of high-quality cardstock fell point first onto her bare nipple. The blonde cracked an eye open to level a disgruntled glare at her familiar, the minor trick rather typical of the raven when the mood struck.
She rubbed her skin, the sensation more uncomfortable than painful, before flipping the card around deftly. Her eyebrow rose.
Branwen was all but cackling from her branch perch.
Please Join The
Mikaelson Family
This Evening At Seven O'Clock
For Dancing, Cocktails
& Celebration
And on the backside:
Save me a dance?
Fondly, Klaus
I shall find the finest of branches to inhabit in order to bare witness to what shall surely be historic events.
Caroline didn't bother to reply, sensing that, teasing aside, this ball would indeed be the catalyst for something potentially world-altering. The last time so much magic gathered in one place, the Children of the Blood were born.
Klaus' smirk was wooden, only a tiny fraction of his attention on the human chattering away in his ear. His siblings, even Finn, were putting on a convincing show of casual ease. But he knew all of them were tracking Mikael's and Esther's movements across the room.
A thousand years of habit and instinct were roiling beneath his façade, screaming to flee or fight. To tear his dear Mother's heart out for the second time. To throw every one of the clueless humans in Mikael's path and try his damndest to end things once and for all. To-
He and and six other ancient creatures pivoted slightly as an eighth stepped into the room.
In the privacy of his own thoughts, Klaus could admit that it was a gamble to invite the Fae. Their actions and motives tended to be inscrutable, and she may just be his ruin.
As he cut through the crowd toward her, a resplendent figure clad in silken ocean waves and moonlight, he made a calculated bet that her uncharacteristic generosity towards him would win out. But if nothing else her mere presence would throw a wrench in Esther's plans.
Caroline felt several pairs of eyes shift towards her. Seven were wary, one was angry, one was confused, and the rest were gawking humans, mildly glamoured by the hint of her true nature.
She held out her gloved hand as the Hybrid stopped in front of her, accepting the kiss he pressed to her knuckles.
"Hello, Klaus," she greeted with a slight nod.
"Good evening," he returned carefully. Some of her amusement likely played across her face. What a stark contrast, this wary politeness to his earlier confidence.
Curls tickled her bare shoulders as she cocked her head a fraction, eyes darting from Klaus to the other ancients in the room. She looked back. Her silver-blue eyes met and held his ocean-blue ones. "You may call me Caroline."
"Well met, Caroline," he uttered, shifting to offer her his arm. She took it and he gestured toward the crowded room. "Shall we, then?"
The two wove their way through the throngs of people, even as Caroline flicked her gaze upward and slowed her steps.
"I do believe you are about to be called away."
Klaus followed her gaze.
His elder brother looked a bit tense, indiscernible to the humans, but the rigid line of his shoulders stood out to those that had known him for centuries.
"If everyone could gather, please."
Klaus' eyes traced over the similarly uncomfortable forms of his siblings, reluctantly moving toward the staircase himself to take his place.
He spared a moment to eye Mikael. The man's malevolent gaze was already trained on him from where he descended the steps beside Esther. His suspicion only heightened as he watched her gently brush his arm, the two sharing a look before settling their eyes on the crowd below.
The wood and metal of the railing just brushed the fabric of his pant leg. This was the closest Klaus had been to Mikael in over a century. Last they met with so little space between them, his beloved horse had paid the price, its beheaded body pooling blood that seeped into both their shoes.
And before the night was through, he knew more blood would be shed. One way or another.
"Welcome, thank you for joining us…"
He tuned out his brother's lying spiel (as if they had ever gathered together quite like this) far more interested in training his ears on the mutterings of his Doppelgänger and her self-proclaimed protectors.
Fortunately, the three took little care with where they spoke, and unsurprisingly revealed that Esther (and Mikael) well deserved his continued scrutiny. Unfortunately, his parents were far more discerning, the two vanishing upstairs behind a wall of burning sage.
As people began to trickle into the ballroom, Klaus lead a random woman into a waltz. Most of his attention still focused on his Doppelgänger and her whispered plans to follow after Esther.
The woman spun away, seamlessly replaced by Caroline, her eyes half-lidded and faintly glowing as she peered at him. Her hand shifted in its place on his shoulder, a slight increase in pressure as she spoke.
"Should I be offended by this lack of attention, Klaus?"
A large portion of his regard switched to the Fae dancing with him, evaluating if she truly felt an insult. He was relieved when he realized the glimmer in her eyes was more playful than malicious, though he engaged in some flirtation all the same.
"Not at all, Caroline, surely you are the most alluring being in the room."
Her lips quirked. She looked both pleased and exasperated by his flattery. For all that the normally hollow words rung true. And all the while the two stepped flawlessly across the ballroom, all but gliding in time with the music.
She was a wonderful dancing. And he was about to tell her so before his mood plummeted at her next words.
"Your little brunette curiosity has been spirited away."
Klaus nearly froze as he re-extended his senses, internally cursing his distraction when he noticed the girl had indeed vanished. Locked behind sage as well, no doubt.
His fingers twitched against silken skin and fabric, forcing himself not to react as the wicked creature's hand slid up his shoulder to his cheek. A gentle caress brushed the light scruff on his face and he looked at the blonde in his arms, gaze likely dark with his frustration.
Now her eyes held a glint of malevolence. "Do not glower at me, Niklaus Anselson. You have yet to give me cause to seek your death." He barely twitched beneath her hands, the two of them still whirling gracefully around the room. "In fact, I rather think I shall snatch the girl myself for a few days. What intriguing sparks of magic run in her otherwise human veins." His lips thinned as her eyes continued to sparkle with mirth. Breath washed hot and sweet across his face as she leaned closer, tilting her head slowly to whisper in his ear. Her voice nearly inaudible even to his keen senses.
"I am rather doing you a favor, Klaus. So, one last piece of advice before I go…if I were you I would consume nothing that I did not witness from source to tongue."
She slowly pulled back from his lax grip, her scent swirling around him. Petal soft skin brushing against him.
"Until next time, Klaus," she murmured before departing.
For all her taunts, Caroline was far less reluctant to help the Hybrid than she made it seem. Something about him still tugging at her curiosity. And as all her kind do she made good on her word, vanishing with the strange girl as soon as she was released from the witch's grasp.
"My sons, my daughter, come forward."
To her credit, Rebekah's lip only trembled for a split second as the five of them fanned out around the flaming pentagram. Finn so determined only because his beloved Sage waited in the wings. Kol eager for blood and smarting at this final familial betrayal. Elijah imbued with the ferocity that arose when someone threatened his family. Their parents, at last, no longer counted among its number. And Klaus? Klaus could feel the wild baying of his wolf in his blood. Utterly despising the cause that brought him to this dark hill. Yet part of him was also delighted, each of his siblings at his side, united.
Esther and Mikael regarded them all with cold eyes.
Elijah shifted a fraction. "Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity."
"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago."
Rebekah minutely flinched at hearing such words from the mother she had only recently renounced. "How can you say that?! You," her glaring eyes switched from mother to father and back again, "the both of you made us what we are!"
It was Mikael that answered this time. "And we are about to rectify that, daughter."
She sneered. "Don't call me that! You lost that right when you stabbed your sword through our hearts."
"Enough," Esther cut in. "For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time."
Klaus felt his nails start to shift into claws. "All this talk is boring me," he taunted. "How do you intend to end this, Esther? You failed to bind us together and you've only one White Oak Stake."
He didn't like the glee that lit in Mikael's eyes, the calmness with which Esther replied.
"My magic combined with the Bennett bloodline will easily invoke power you cannot even imagine."
Mikael continued where she left off. "Or perhaps you can, boy." Their eyes locked across the flames, each imbuing equal hatred in their glares. "After all, you danced with her."
Caroline felt the tugs of magic pull at her being. She could resist them if she wanted. But why would she, when it would bring her precisely where she wanted to be?
Her sunset lit tree dissolved around her. Branwen faded to shadow as she flew across the void. Caroline's own form blurred as it crossed time and space to the site of the summons.
Around her burned a flaming pentagram. Five agitated immortals at its perimeter and two near gloating ones at its heart. Her eyes caught on Klaus', his form beyond the two before her, his eyes colored golden with wolf and fire. There was a flicker of betrayal before it was swallowed by wrath.
The woman turned to face her, stepping closer to where Caroline stood near the ring's edge.
"Nature's Hand, I beseech you! Cleanse the world of this foul taint, help me undo what should have never been done!"
Rather than directly answer, the blonde slowly walked the boundary of the circle, arbitrarily coming to a stop part way around. Her back and side now mostly faced Klaus and his siblings. She settled her gaze on the man who had stood silent as his wife entreated her.
"About some things the Fae can be remarkably simple creatures, and we all love a bloody revenge story." Behind her, Caroline could hear a sub-vocal growl. She ignored it. Her gaze shifted to the witch. "But you? A witch your age should have a far better grasp of just what Nature is. And yet all you toss around are words like 'balance' which you do not understand. For all that you claim guardianship over the skewed ideal."
The air shifted around them, none of them knowing how to react to this unexpected denouncement.
And on silent wings a shadow cut a swath across moon and stars and stillness, flying through the witch before she could even take a breath to retort. As quickly as she had come, Branwen vanished.
All was still once more, people stunned, confused, the only sound the crackling of fire. And then, Esther fell. Her body crumbling to dust in an instant.
For a moment, no one knew how to react. Yet Caroline was unsurprised when Mikael lunged toward her, rage and grief painted across his face. Whatever faults and virtues created the Destroyer, the man did love his wife.
However, it was in vain. She simply flowed around him, swiping an intricately carved stake with ease, and tossed it high into the air.
"Yes, we do love a tale of vengeance," she repeated as she faded from view, intangible as she watched them all move in a flurry of blurred limbs, intent fixed on one little stake.
She would interfere if Klaus was in true danger of perishing, but she doubted it would come to that. No, he would emerge victorious alongside his siblings. Hunt for her in the following days as she loitered around this tiny town.
Waiting for him.