Hey guys! I have way too many ideas for my Inquisitor Heather (Dragon Age/Red Wolf crossover) and could really use multiple people to bounce ideas off of. Really I just want some feedback. I'm new to the Dragon Age fandom and have only played Inquisition. If anyone wants to talk to me about it, feel free to PM me. Please do. I really wanna talk about it.
Reika had not been happy about being left behind. She maintained the belief that Heather would somehow find herself in trouble that she couldn't escape without her faithful snake. But Heather had reminded that she couldn't bring a three foot cobra into London without attracting the wrong kind of attention. Reika ended up coiled in the center of Heather's bed, still hissing in irritation amongst the blue sheets as Heather got dressed. Reika wasn't the only one who was less than thrilled with the idea of Heather running around in a human city unsupervised. Kiba and Tsume were especially against it, though Tsume was a great deal louder.
"This isn't like the journey to Paradise." Heather said as she began to lace up her combat boots. They stood by the entrance of the house. While many other members were also apprehensive about Heather going into human territory they did nothing more than warn her to be careful. "There won't be any hunters in London and if I need to get out in a pinch, I'll just call Dobby." Heather knew the house elf would rush to her aid the second she called. The little creature practically worshiped her which could make her a little uncomfortable from time to time.
"It's bad enough you have to be around them for the majority of the year." Tsume said, growling. "Not to mention the sacrifice I'm making by actually following you to the nest of magic humans..."
"You volunteered." Kiba said to him before sighing. "We just worry about you. We don't exactly have good experiences with humans in the city."
"I know but it'll be fine. I'll be back tomorrow and I'll be sure to wash the city stench off before I come back." Heather said.
"Try not to come back with any new trophies." Kiba said, gesturing to the scratches from the lynx that remained on Heather's face.
"I'll try." She said before grabbing her broom, stepping outside and taking off.
The two leading males watched her fly for as long as they could but soon the trees obstructed her from view.
"She's changing." Tsume growled.
"I know." Kiba said, shifting into his wolf form. Tsume stared at him incredulously as he followed suit.
"In the beginning you refused to take human form for the sake of pride. Where has that gone?" Tsume asked.
"Heather's circumstances are different from mine." Kiba said. He then sighed. "This is something I always knew would come and I resisted it like you are, but I've decided I don't want to fight it. It's one battle I won't win."
"She's turning into a..." Tsume's fur stood on end and he bared his teeth. "Human."
"No." Kiba said. "She's finally connecting with her heritage."
"She'll never really be one of them." Tsume snarled.
"And she'll never really be one of us." Kiba said before stepping back inside. His tone was sad yet firm in his statement. "But we've continued to support her. We chose this residence while keeping her in mind." Golden eyes stared at the chandelier in the main hall above them.
"She grew up sleeping under the stars. She would have been fine." Tsume said, remembering all the cold nights the little pup braved, never backing down to torrents of rain or icy winds.
"And she'd have had an even harder time adjusting to Hogwarts." Kiba said, his lips beginning to twitch in the preamble of a growl.
"The old man knew what he was inviting into his home. It's why he lets her hunt; so she can remain strong and retain some semblance of dignity." Tsume said. "Though clearly she fits right in with all the death traps in that magic human nest."
"What is your problem with all of this, Tsume?" Kiba asked, facing the larger grey wolf.
"She's changing!" Tsume snapped. "Before she went to the school, if any of them tried to do what they do now, she would have killed them without a second thought. She would hunt for every bit of food she put in her mouth and she would have asserted her dominance over the humans properly. She wouldn't put up with all these insults and slights against her."
"If she behaved as you just described, half the magical population of Britain would be dead." Kiba said. "I don't think you want her to be cruel like that. She grew up during a very harsh time and is more used to killing than any of us because it's one of the things she knows best." Kiba sighed. "Regardless, Heather is still a member of the Pack of Falling Stars. She has a home with us for as long as she wants it. She can leave us and find her own home, as many pups do, if she desires. She can stay with us if she wants. In the end, if you have a problem with Heather, you should say it to her face." With that, the white male stalked off into one of the many hallways of the mansion.
"Well, it's nice to see that I won't have to redress you." Heather said, looking the Malfoy heir up and down.
He grumbled and flushed. Heather was worried she'd come to see the Malfoy heir looking like a mix-matched fashion disaster in Muggle clothes or that he'd just put on a tuxedo. She was pleased to see that neither was the case because she would have refused to let him be seen in such states. He was wearing a white dress shirt, a black sweater vest, dark slacks and a navy blue blazer. He looked quite preppy to be honest.
Heather stood with Draco and Narcissa in front of the gate to Malfoy Manor. Mr. Malfoy was at work and as such was unable to see his son off. Though the young Malfoy looked as if he were on his way to the gallows. He held his broom tightly in his right hand. The plan was to fly to London and then keep the brooms in Heather's pouch necklace.
"I promise to return him alive this time tomorrow." Heather said. She'd sent a letter ahead with Cheza saying that since she caught Malfoy, thus saving his life again, she deserved a full 24 hours with him to do as she pleased.
"I noticed that you didn't say uninjured." Narcissa said with a tiny smirk.
"I'm not his mum and he should be responsible for his own actions and decisions. Some Muggle aren't afraid to punch a 13 year old boy if he insults them. Pain can be a great teacher of manners." Heather said with a slight wag of her tail.
"Please don't speak of me as if I'm not here." Malfoy said, tightening his grip on his broom, paling slightly at the thought of getting beat up by Muggles. "And what exactly do you propose we do after midnight?"
"I'll think of something, Malfoy." Heather said, mounting her broom with a grin. Her sharp hearing picked up Malfoy's sigh and whispered,
"I'm going to die."
When Heather imagined taking Malfoy to the muggle world she pictured one of two things happening.
One: He clung to her like a child, terrified/disgusted of absolutely everything.
Two: He ran off, curious about everything and ran into the street only to get hit by a car.
Thankfully Heather didn't need to pry Malfoy off of her, nor did she have to purchase a leash. They had already stopped at Gringotts to exchange some sickles for muggle money before venturing off into London. Heather watched, amused, as Malfoy's eyes darted every which way, a million questions clearly on the tip of his tongue. Heather then realized that she probably should have brought Hermione because she knew non magical humans better than Heather did.
She waited for something to catch Malfoy's eye before they did any of the things she had planned. She didn't have every moment scheduled and it would still be fun to see what peaked her companion's curiosity. Eventually, something did. He wandered into a tiny little shop with various animal knickknacks and plushes. He walked over to a shelf with dragon items; little statuettes, woodcarvings and stuffed animals. He picked up a small, green, stuffed dragon with two sets of wicked looking horns.
"This looks just like the Welsh Green I have- had." Malfoy flushed and coughed. "Had, as in past tense. I used to have one when I was a kid but I think it's stored away...somewhere else in the manor."
"I've never understood." Heather said quietly so that no one would overhear, looking at the little dragon, tilting her head to the side. "What's the point of these?"
"What do you mean?" Malfoy asked. "Didn't you have a stuffed animal growing up?"
"No." Heather crossed her arms. "I was raised by wolves. I never had stuffed animals or the...cubes human pups like to stack."
"Right..." Malfoy said, looking down at the dragon. "Parents give these to their kids as a type of security blanket." Heather looked even more confused. "Something to make them feel safe. Most kids are afraid of the dark when they're little and having something like this makes them feel safe."
"Right, because human pups don't sleep with their parents." Heather said. "Wolves sleep together communally. My pack started sleeping separately like humans though I don't know why. I sometimes miss the feeling of everyone around me. Having other humans in the dorm reminds me of sleeping with my pack, even if they are humans."
"I'm surprised at how well you...acclimated to sleeping so close to humans." Malfoy said carefully.
"I'd hear the girls coming if they were gonna try anything and I'm faster than most spells, as you've seen." Heather said with a tiny smirk. "Speaking of surprises, I'm surprised you haven't asked about this." Heather gestured to her half shaved head and the claw marks on her face that had faded almost completely.
"Contrary to what you seem to believe, I was raised with manners." Malfoy said, sneering a little. "One of the things I was taught was that it's impolite to make rude comments about an... ally's appearance."
"It's fine." Heather said. "I got these from the lynx that was eating your peacocks." She chuckled. "Come on, I have a few things planned for the day." With that, Heather put the dragon back on the shelf and led the young Malfoy to their first destination; the Natural History Museum.
"Muggles have been to the moon?!"
"Keep your voice down!"
"Sorry... Muggles can go faster than the speed of sound?"
"Yes."
"Muggles can see us from space?"
"Yep."
"Muggles can keep you alive even after they take out your heart?"
"Yes."
"Inbreeding can lead to physical and mental defects in children?"
"Yeah."
"...Well that explains Crabbe and Goyle."
"Ha!"
"So vaccinations make you immune to a disease that could kill you?"
"Yes."
"Muggles have put stuff on other planets?"
"Apparently."
"So you're telling me that an atom is essentially a building block of the universe, and muggles have split it?"
"This is news for me too, but yeah... Oh so that's how atom bombs work."
"Atom what?"
"The Dark Lord would have gotten us all killed." Malfoy said as they left the museum a few hours later, looking very pale.
"Why did you think the magical community went into hiding?" Heather asked. She'd learned a lot as well, though it wasn't rocking her world as much as it was Malfoy's.
"So they wouldn't ask for magical favors for every little thing." Malfoy said. "Now I know it's to prevent a much more effective Witch Hunt."
"How do you figure?" Heather tilted her head to the side as they waited for a traffic light to change so they could cross.
"Well the atom bomb for one." Malfoy said. "It can level a city in seconds and even if our barrier spells miraculously allowed us to survive the initial explosion, the radiation would kill us off eventually."
"I wonder how magic would react to the radiation." Heather mused as they crossed.
"Most likely make it worse. The energy from an atomic explosion is volatile enough as it is, add magic too it and its bound to do something even more destructive. Then there's tanks, not to mention bullets. You're faster than most duelists, though you've never gone against a professional and bullets are even faster than you." Heather smirked a little at his comment. "If the Dark Lord actually got the chance to start his muggle war, he'd be the reason we would have gone extinct."
Heather patted his shoulder. "This is getting depressing. Let's grab some lunch. Was there anything that stood out to you in the museum that doesn't make me ponder my imminent death?"
"I'll admit, muggle medicine and psychology stood out to me." Malfoy said, pronouncing the second practice slowly so as to not articulate it incorrectly. They proceeded to talk about what they had seen and read all the way to their destination.
After lunch, Heather wanted to show the young Malfoy what movies were, so a trip to the theater was in order. She opted for a smaller theatre so that any questionable comments Malfoy made during the movie wouldn't be heard by so many people. As such, they had to take a few back ways to get there. It was later in the afternoon and it had gotten quite cloudy, making it seem later than it really was.
Heather was leading Malfoy down one of the longer allies when she heard something. There were measured footsteps coming from behind them, abnormally soft and in sync with theirs. Sniffing the air, Heather couldn't smell any nitroglycerin, which was used in modern ammo. So their follower wasn't carrying a gun. What she did smell was peroxide, used to clean blood off of knives. Heather wrapped herself around Malfoy's arm. Before he could even tense she squeezed his arm.
"Stay calm and keep moving. There's someone behind us." Heather whispered quietly. Malfoy's breath hitched but his steps didn't falter. He looked very pale and Heather gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "He doesn't have a gun but he does have a knife. If he tries anything I can take him but we should try to make it back to the main streets."
He did try something. Heather's response was so natural and instinctive that she didn't even think. She grabbed the arm with the knife and flipped him over her. Then she pinned him to the ground and snatched the knife from him. She didn't remember how, everything was moving so quickly and naturally she wasn't even thinking. She'd done this so many times she didn't really need to think. She just did it.
"Potter! STOP!" Malfoy grabbed her wrist and that's when Heather realized that she had raised the knife to stab the man. At first she was confused. Why would he stop her? What was wrong with her killing him? Then she remembered. Most humans never made a single kill in their lives and the very idea of death unnerved them. Killing in front of them made them uncomfortable. It was a curious and bizarre thing that Heather didn't fully understand but she would refrain from killing the man. Besides there was no challenge or fun in such an easy takedown. Plus, with how the last two years had been, odds were that Heather would have plenty of exciting fights and interesting things to kill.
With a sigh, Heather slammed her elbow into the man's face and knocked him out.