From Little Flame to Raging Fire

I don't own anything but my OC's.

Chapter 10

Alan walked down the street, winking and tipping his panama hat to ladies as he passed them. Alan was considered a ladies man to more people then just himself. It wasn't something to boast over, but Alan gladly boasted anyway. He was quite a handsome man with his brown hair that ended at the base of his neck and bright blue eyes that were wonderful to look into. He was tall and well-built, with a smile that could make a girl's knees weak. Alan wore a tan suit, the trousers slightly baggy and the coat a little bit too big for him. Nevertheless, he looked dashing and that was all that mattered.

Alan paused when he saw a woman with brown hair walking down the street, pushing a buggy along. Inside the buggy was a baby. Alan tilted his head. Either the dad wasn't with them on this walk, or something had happened between them. Alan raised his eyebrows. More for me t- He stopped that thought. Wait…was that…? Alan jogged over to the woman. As he approached, she stopped and looked at him. "Alan?"

"Amanda!" Alan exclaimed happily. The two adults hugged, laughing.

"Oh, I missed you." Amanda muttered to him.

"I missed you too, 'Manda." He said. The two broke the hug and Alan stared at the baby in the buggy. "You…You got a…a baby…"

Amanda smiled and nodded. "Alan, this is my son, Maverick."

Alan paused, then looked and back and forth between Amanda and Maverick. "Then…that means…"

"Uh-huh." Amanda half-giggled, nodding.

Alan smiled widely and knelt down to get a better look. "Hey there, Mav. I'm your ol' Uncle Alan!"

Maverick stared his uncle, his little wolf toy in his mouth. Maverick removed the little wolf from his mouth and flung it at Alan's forehead. Alan winced and put a hand to his head, then chuckled. "Quite an arm on 'im…"

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry." Amanda said.

"Nah, s'alright." Alan stood up and wiped his forehead. "Now, either I'm imagining things, or that kid's gotta tail."

Amanda chuckled, almost nervously, as Maverick clapped his hands and giggled.

…

"Wow, 'Manda." Alan said, sitting in the armchair in Amanda's home. He held Maverick in one arm, using the other hand to hold his wolf toy over him. Maverick continued to reach out for it, making little noises. "Heh. I knew you were adventurous, but I didn't think you'd knock off with a werewolf."

"Alan!" Amanda cried disapprovingly.

"What? 'e can't understand me." He looked down at the baby. Maverick's tail swished back and forth. "When you explained to me about 'alloween Town and told me about that skeleton, I didn't think it would lead to you an' a werewolf -"

"Alan."

"What?" Alan grinned. "So, go one, 'Manda. There must be a reason why ya came back."

Amanda frowned and Maverick began to cry.

…

Montarg sat in his room, meditating. His meditation pose was not that simple, hands-on-knees-with-legs-crossed pose. Well, he kept the legs-crossed part. He sat in the middle of his room. The tips of his fingers pointed at the ground in the middle of his crossed legs, the pads of his left fingers pressed against the pads of his right ones; matching his thumbs, which did the same. His head was lowered, eyes shut and he had a typical, Montarg-like 'go away, I'm concentrating' look on his face. Montarg would spend hours in his room meditating. He barely noticed anything while in this state.

"Oh, Montargo, darling!"

Montarg made a small, disappointed noise. He liked Rodney, really he did. He was his first and greatest friend. But sometimes…sometimes, Rodney picked the worst moments to bother him. He heard Rodney bounce into the room. "Montargo, there you are! Marcus, Richard and I are going down to the lake. Would you like to come along?"

"No, thank you." Montarg replied.

"Oh, come on, Montargo. Some fresh air will do you some good."

"I'm fine."

He felt hands on his knees and opened his eyes, only to see that Rodney was on his knees; his face very close to Montarg's. His eyes had suddenly become huge and almost watery. The rock sorcerer had a pout on his face that could rival a puppy's cute face. "Please, Montargo…?"

Montarg stared at him for a moment before sighing through his nose. "Let me get my hat and coat…" He muttered as he stood.

Rodney grinned and stood up, then skipped out of the room. "Boys, Montargo's coming with us!"

"Oh, boy!" Montarg heard Richard laugh.

"Alright!" He heard Marcus exclaim.

Montarg frowned. Rodney, you will be the death of me…

…

"Race ya, Rich!" Marcus yelled, sprinting off toward the lake. Richard pushed himself off the ground; laying in the air, belly facing the ground; and shot passed his friend. "What the-?" Marcus yelled, just as Rodney shot passed as well. Rodney was up in the air and each time he moved one foot to take a step, a tower of pebbles and rock rose up under his foot. "Aw, come on!" Marcus exclaimed as Montarg zoomed passed him. Marcus had to blink several times to check if he was seeing things properly. Montarg was…riding on a cloud of steam? Yes, there he was, his leader. Sitting, cross-legged, on a cloud of steam; shooting passed him. "When I learn to control water vapour, you guys are all dead!" Marcus shouted.

Rodney turned so that he was 'rock-running' backwards. "Did you hear that, Montargo?" He asked. "I think he threatened us!"

Montarg grunted. Even if Marcus was serious, it wasn't like Montarg would allow that.

Rodney turned back around and giggled. "Can't catch me, Montargo!" He sped off. Montarg growled at the challenge and his cloud suddenly picked up speed. He zoomed passed Rodney, who called out, "Oh, that's not fair!"

Montarg leapt off of his cloud, just as Rodney lowered himself to the ground. "Well, you win this round, Montargo." Both men turned, just as Richard set himself down.

There was loud huffing and panting as Marcus limped over. He leaned against a tree and bent over to try and catch his breath. Richard grinned and Rodney put a finger to his lips to try and stop his giggles. Montarg simply tilted his head. Marcus looked at them all and scowled, then pointed at them. "I hate…you all…"

Richard laughed. Rodney let out a tiny giggle, then turned to look at Montarg. Montarg walked over to another tree near the lake and sat down near it, crossing his legs and shutting his eyes. He wasn't meditating, but he had taken his hat off; just wanting to feel the wind coarse through his hair. Rodney smiled and walked over, sitting down next to him. He straightened his legs out, ankles crossed, and leaned back on his hands. "Nice day today, isn't it, Montargo?"

Montarg grunted.

Rodney heard Richard call, "C'mon, Marc!" and then a large splash.

"Yeah, alright, I'm comin'." Marcus called back, removing a sock, then leapt in to the water, both men still clad in their underwear.

Rodney looked at Montarg and smiled. "Perhaps I should show Cameron this place next time I see him."

Montarg scowled. "This is the sorcerer's lake, not your lover's."

Rodney's smile dropped and his brow furrowed. "Right…" He muttered, looking away.

From somewhere in the bushes, they heard a loud snap! Rodney looked over, trying to see what it was. "Seems as though your trap's caught something, Montargo."

Montarg grunted then stood, wiping off his hands then walked off into the foliage.

Montarg pushed branches away until he came to an opening. There, hanging from some thin rope, was a rabbit. It hung from a tree branch, yelping and whimpering and flailing, trying to get its back legs free from the tight rope. Montarg approached it. It continued whimpering and flailing. Montarg tilted his head, then took out his sword. He held it up and the rabbit squealed louder. Montarg sliced the rope holding it up, then caught the small mammal in his free hand. He stared it, then lifted his sword again. The rabbit squealed in fright.

That, is, until Montarg cut the rope holding its paws together. He held out his hand and the rabbit leapt off of it. The fluffy creature looked up at him with its big eyes, almost contemplating what he was doing.

"Go," Montarg said. "You are free now, little one."

The rabbit didn't need telling twice. It scampered off, disappearing into the foliage nearby. Montarg watched it go, then returned his sword to his coat. If he returned back to the others with a dead rabbit in one hand, no doubt Rodney would freak out. He hated it when Rodney freaked out. Perhaps it was because of how high the man's voice was when he shrieked, or maybe it was because Rodney refused to release Montarg from a bone-crushing hug until the dead thing was taken away (that is, unless Montarg was the one holding it). He didn't know. But it disturbed him.

As Montarg returned to the others, Rodney suddenly skipped over to him. "Oh, Montargo! Look at this flower I found!" Rodney held the flower in both hands. It only had four petals, but they were large and floppy. The petals were blood red, with a few spots of black here and there. Rodney leaned down and sniffed. "And it smells divine!" He opened his eyes and looked at Montarg's hand. "Didn't you get anything?"

Montarg hesitated then said, "False alarm."

"Oh." Rodney pouted and looked at the flower, then his face lit up again. "Here you are, Montargo!" He exclaimed, then reached up, placing the flower into Montarg's hair. "For good luck." They suddenly heard laughing and turned.

Richard and Marcus were leaning over the side of the lake, both laughing out loud. "Oh, Montarg, you pretty boy!" Richard laughed.

Montarg scowled. Rodney frowned and looked back to Montarg, then stamped his foot. A long pole of rock suddenly shot out from under the water, throwing Richard up in to the air. Richard let out a loud yell of surprise as flew through the air, then landing back into the water; immediately sinking to the bottom. "Would you like to say anything, Marcus?" Rodney asked without looking at him.

"N-No! I'm alright, thanks!" Marcus exclaimed.

Rodney suddenly smiled and looked at Montarg. "Besides, I think Montargo looks handsome."

Richard emerged from the water and coughed several times. "Gits…"

…

"That b-"

"Alan!"

Alan was furious. Someone had stolen his nephew? God, if Alan had been there, he would've punched the living daylights out of whoever took his poor little nephew. The kid must've been so frightened, though. Without his mother around, Alan bet the kid had probably been crying his eyes out. But Alan was still confused. Why bring the child back? What did they do? Alan shuddered at the thought. "How could anyone nick a kid?"

"I don't know. Arachnid promised me he would find out."

Alan looked down at his baby nephew. The child had stopped crying by now. Alan looked down at him, then held him closer. No way in hell was anyone gonna get to his nephew again, he'd decided. No way in hell.

…

"C'mon, lads!" Richard called. "Get in the water!"

Rodney looked at his cousin. "No, thank you, Richard. I'm perfectly happy over here."

"Well, c'mon then, Montarg!"

Montarg simply grunted from where he sat, meditating. Richard frowned. Alright, grumpy, you've asked for it…Richard cupped his hands, his palms facing his chest, and then pulled them to his torso. Montarg suddenly went flying through the air, towards the lake. His eyes widened in…panic? Fear?

"Cousin, no!" Rodney suddenly shrieked, standing up. "Stop it! Stop it, now! Put him down!" He stamped his foot and another pole of rock shot up. This time, it only appeared in front of Richard, startling him and making him drop Montarg. Montarg hit the ground, then got on his hands and feet and bounded away from the lake. He sat against the tree he'd been meditating against earlier and…trembled? Yes. He was trembling and staring at the water with widened eyes.

"You idiots!" Rodney exclaimed. "He's aquaphobic!" He rushed over to Montarg and wrapped his right arm around his shoulders and placed his left hand on the side of Montarg's head, gently bringing it to his chest. "It's ok, Montargo, I've got you…" Rodney looked up and scowled at Richard and Marcus, "I'm taking him back to the cavern. See if I can calm him down." He helped Montarg up and gently led him back to the cavern.

Richard and Marcus looked at each other guiltily.

…

"I'm pathetic, Rodney."

Rodney shook his head, but Montarg continued. "I am afraid of liquid." Montarg was sat at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in one hand. Rodney was preparing food for the sorcerers's next meal.

"You're not pathetic, Montargo. Everyone's afraid of something. I'm afraid of dead things."

"But that is an understandable fear. I fear liquid."

Montarg had been aquaphobic ever since he was thirteen. Ever since his mother died. Every time he looked at the lake, he could hear her, crying out for him; shouting his birth name over and over again. Montarg growled and clutched his hair. Rodney walked over and gently hugged him from behind. "You're still the bravest person I know, Montargo…" He muttered gently.

Montarg grunted, but still lifted a hand and placed it over one of Rodney's.

…

"Al-an."

Maverick simply stared. Alan frowned. "C'mon, kid, it ain't that hard. Say it with me now, Al-an."

Maverick threw his rattle at Alan's head. It bounced off the man's forehead. Alan shot up from his place crouched in from of Maverick, who sat on the floor; now giggling at his uncle's pain. "Ow, bugger…" Alan muttered.

"Well, that's what you get for saying that in his face for over half an hour." Amanda said.

"I wanna be my nephew's first word, so I'm tryin' to get him to learn my name."

"It's not going to work. Arachnid tried that too."

"Oh, please. The kid would be a genius to be able to say Arachnid."

"Mama."

Everyone went silent. Amanda and Alan turned back to Maverick, who was smiling up at them. "What did you just say?" Amanda asked.

"Mama." Maverick repeated happily.

Amanda gasped in happy surprise and rushed over to her son. "Your first word!"

"Mama!" Maverick repeated louder.

"Oh, great." Alan said, crossing his arms. "That's just great." He sighed, then chuckled and gently stroked his nephew's head. "Great job, genius…"

…

Author's note:

Mav: *Pinches bridge of nose* This is so embarrassing…

Montarg: At least you did not have a flower in your hair…

Me: *Bursts into laughter* I love making you guys look like idiots! *Wipes tear away from eye* So, Mav's said his first word,

Mav: We learn a bit more about Montarg!

Me: And we finally meet Amanda's brother, Alan! What will happen to the little baby now?

Mav: What'll happen to Montarg?

Me: And will Arachnid find the culprit?

Mav + Me: Find out next time!