As the first snowflake touched the ground that year Christina had her baby. Shaggy held her hand the entire time even though he should have been out in the woods bringing down whatever he could to stock the meat cellar under his house, even though it hurt him to hear her cries of pain and brought unpleasant memories long forgotten to the forefront of his mind. Christina needed him more. It had already been several hours, but he wasn't going anywhere.
"You're doing great," he squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Just one more"
"I-I c-can't-"
"Yes, you can, one two,"
The scream that tore from her throat was enough to shatter his heart. The promise that it was over quickly died on his lips at the discovery he made.
"Christina, there's another"
"Wha-what?" she whimpered.
"It's going to be okay, one, two"
She was too tired out to scream the second time.
"You did it," Shaggy carefully lifted the babies from the ground, smiling at their loud cries, "A boy and a girl"
"I don't want to hurt them," Christina shied away when he tried to hand her the babies.
"Like this," he gently put them in her arms, guiding her so she held them correctly, "See? You like, know what to do"
"What now?"
"Do you know what you'd like to name them?"
"Name them? I don't know, I didn't even know my name until I was-"
"Seven, like, you were seven, I taught it to you"
"I think I remeber"
"You don't have to name them right away, like, get to know them and you'll find a good name"
"Thank you, Shaggy,"
"You're welcome"
...
"It's okay," he put his hands up, "I'm like, not going to hurt you," Shaggy slowly neared the tree. Christina sat inside it, eyes hidden behind her wild unbrushed hair, "You're hungry aren't you, Christina?" pulling an apple from his pocket he offered it to her.
She wouldn't take it.
...
It had taken months but now he sat knee-to-knee with Christina. Her hair had been chopped short since last week, the way it was cut implied that someone had done it by force. Very, very carefully he had shown her how to wash it, now he was teaching her to brush it while helping her learn to speak.
"Ch-ris-ti-na, keep trying"
"Ch-Chris-Christina"
"I knew you could do it!"
"Sh-Shaggy"
"That's right, that's my name"
"Fri-Fri-Friend"
"Yes, I'm your friend"
...
I shouldn't have left her there, was Shaggy's first thought as he woke in a cold sweat two months later still drained from his late-night outings. Every night without fail his dreams were nothing but a barrage of memories, conversations, and days forgotten. He'd left her there. In that hollow tree with the crows and ravens. In a town that hated her more than him. A town he knew to be full of vile, violent men. But he'd been so scared at first. He should have rescued her when he was no longer scared.
I failed her then but I won't fail her now.
Rising from the bed with a yawn he glanced out the window. Smoke was slowly curling from the chimney next door, Christina tended to rise with the sun, content in a routine despite the learning curve that was the twins. She had quickly settled on a name for her son, naming him Rowan after the tree she'd once called home, her daughter, however, was still without a name.
"I can't find one that fits, I can't do this!" she had cried to him just the night before.
"You're doing wonderfully, Christina sometimes like, names just take a while"
Pushing his thoughts aside, Shaggy dressed warmly heading to the kitchen for breakfast. He would visit Christina later once he was more awake.
...
Christina stared out the window as she quietly rocked the twins, both sleeping peacefully snug in her arms after their breakfast.
"I'm very sorry you don't have a name yet," she whispered to her daughter, "But I love you very much"
The two seemed to smile up at her, calming her aching heart. Carefully, she settled them into their cradles, in the much warmer bedroom where four of the crows perched in the rafters, "Shh," she pressed a finger to her lips. The birds nodded with understanding. Returning to the main room she plucked a book from the shelf, running her hand delightedly over the cover as she sat down. Books, books of her own to read. Not a crumpled notice or a single page streaked with dirt. Stories to enjoy and read to her children. All her own. Beginning to read she lost herself to the world within the pages until the babies began to cry. Returning at once to the cradle she discovered that Rowan still slept peacefully, it was her daughter who cried, arms outstretched tiny hands curled into fists.
"Shh, shh, what's the matter?" the baby was dry and turned away at the offering of milk, "What is it?"
She quieted.
"You want me to talk to you hm? Alright," Christina sat on her bed, "But I'm not certain what to tell you. Last night was a full moon you know, the pack whooped and hollered and danced so much that I thought you two would never sleep, but that's what werewolves do I guess. I like the full moon though, it's a wonderful sight, especially with the snow on the ground, it reminds me of the crystals sewn into the dresses I used to see, I tried to touch one once, I won't tell you what happened but I still have a scar on my arm from it. Don't worry nothing like that will ever happen to you I promise"
Christina was certain the babe couldn't see very well yet but her eyes were round, rosebud lips open slightly as if she were hung on every word. The leader of the birds swooped down, landing on Christina's shoulder. The baby smiled at the sight.
"Like him? I do too...How does Luna sound for a name? You look like a Luna"
The sister was significantly paler than her brother, with icy blue, purple streaked eyes and golden blonde her. Her brother by comparison looked, Shaggy had said, remarkably like Christina but he had a head full of midnight black hair, the only other difference was their wings, they closely resembled dragon wings. Something that Christina pondered over endlessly.
"Yes, I think Luna will do just fine"
...
Four years later:
It was the wee hours of the morning when Shaggy crept into his cabin feeling decidedly pleased with himself. Every three months the town tried to elect new leaders. Every three months he set them on fire. The town still left girls. Innocent sacrifices that never had a chance. In the vain hope that would appease them. Stupidly stuck in their ways they paid no heed to the messages he left. They had also chopped Christina's tree down, using it and anything found inside for kindling.
Christina hadn't been bothered by it when he finally managed to tell her only last week.
"It was a sad place," she had said slowly, brushing Luna's hair, "I like it better here"
Sweet Christina didn't question how he'd learned of the tree, where he went, or what he did at night. She focused on what went on during the day. Content to stay within the area the pack called home, raising the twins. The pack as a whole had instantly fallen in love with the two when they were born. Helping Christina learn to care for them, teaching her what they had watched their own mothers do. Now, the twins were three and a half, almost four, and the joy of the pack but his especially. No matter how they came to be they were first and foremost Christina's children meaning they deserved the same love and protection she did.
Lighting a single candle, he discarded his soiled clothing, carefully scrubbing himself clean before changing into his bedclothes. Winter was fast approaching he could smell it on the wind. Soon the snow would fall, deep and cold, making the trek into town impossible until the April thaw so Shaggy was determined to do his worst while he still could.
Christina wouldn't like what you're doing.
No, no she wouldn't but they needed to pay for all of their heinous acts, driving out his pack members, killing their families, killing his family, and trying to kill Christina.
Nothing would change his mind.
...
Little did he know, however, that some rather unwanted visitors were on their way.
"Ve told you to stay put," Radu scolded his children as the carriage bumped along the road.
The family had been traveling for nearly a month. All the way from their kingdom in the far south where all the fae had relocated when the human settlers had driven them out of the forest they were headed through now. Frowning with disapproval, he looked at the sulking faces of children.
"We wanted to meet her too," eleven-year-old Mallory protested, "Didn't we Chase?"
The silent seventeen-year-old nodded his agreement.
"And we understand that," Alissa, Queen of the dark fae, rested a hand on her husband's knee as she spoke, "But this is a dangerous land, just look at what happened in the town"
"But we're okay!" Mallory swore.
"You were almost stoned to death," Maleficent spoke, startling her.
"Yeah,"
"And you, Draculaura, vere supposed to vatch them, not aide in their scheme," Radu turned to his niece, "Just Vhere does your husband think you are?"
"He knows," Draculaura quietly replied, crossing her arms, "He helped get the robes"
"I hate to think what Dracula vould do if he found out"
"He also knows, he's the one who suggested gloves, I should have listened" Draculaura glared sourly at the heart-shaped mole on her hand that had given them away, "I'm sorry, but I really wanted to meet my cousin"
...
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"
"Good morning, loves," Christina yawned, smiling at the twins on either side of her, "Did you have sweet dreams?"
"Yes"
"Shall we have breakfast then?"
"Yes please"
Rising from the bed, Christina lifted the two into her arms, one on each hip as she flew to the kitchen. Since they'd grown, two more beautifully carved oak chairs had been added around the table.
"Oranges please," Begged Rowan with a dimpled smile, hopping into his chair.
"Peaches please," Luna requested, climbing into her chair next to the window, "The sky looks funny"
Christina closed the cupboard, peering out the window, "It's going snow soon"
"Can we play in it?"
"Not right away," Christina doled out preserves in wooden bowls, slicing bread, "Bacon or sausage?"
"BACON"
"Why do I even ask?"
There was a knock at the door as she set the food in front of the children.
"Come in!"
"Brrr," Shaggy faked a shiver stepping inside, "Good morning"
"DADDY!" the twins cried, rushing from the table to hug him.
"Good morning, little pups," Shaggy scooped the duo up with a smile, spinning them around.
"Good morning, Shaggy," Christina smiled, "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Yes, please, may I like, help?"
"Of course," Christina moved aside to make room for him at the fireplace, quietly, she whispered, "Are you sure it doesn't bother you?"
"It's fine," Shaggy promised for the umpteenth time, "I'm touched they see me that way"
"It's going to blizzard, isn't it?"
"Yes, luckily we're like, well prepared just some last minute things"
"Can I help in any way?"
"Of course, after breakfast"
"You're goofy," Christina leaned into him.
"I know"
"BACON!" the twins cheered, reminding them what they were doing.
"Here it comes, loves," Christina piled it on a plate, sitting between the duo with her own breakfast, Shaggy sat across from them, a piece of bread hanging out of his mouth causing the twins to laugh. Breakfast was a quick but cheerful affair, the children finishing their food quickly to scramble onto Shaggy's lap as he finished his food, hugging him tightly. He hated to think what would have happened had Christina had them among the humans. No, it was better that they grew up here, safe and loved, free to learn and explore.
"Can we help too?" Rowan asked hopefully.
"Yes," Shaggy ruffled the boy's hair, "Of course you can"
"Can we play in the snow?"
"When your mother says you can"
"Are all the animals hiding now?"
"Not all but like, most of them are"
"And the flowers?" Luna quietly asked, "They're hiding too"
Luna was more soft-spoken than her brother, often, clinging to Christina's dress while Rowan tumbled ahead, scraping his knees and playing happily in the dirt.
"They'll come back, I promise,"
Luna smiled.
...
"Exactly how many trees do we have to chop down?" a gray-furred werewolf asked, hauling a sled full of logs behind him.
"Oh, quit yer grouchin' Fangs," his taller, beefier brother replied, slashing through another tree with his claws, watching it tip to the still bare ground, a skill he had perfected over many years.
"I told you, my name is Finn,"
"pipe down you two, I hear somethin'"
"I smell somthin"
"Strangers"
"Let's get em"
...
At Alissa's request, the carriage had stopped several hours earlier so that wounds could be properly treated and sleep could be had. Now, however, they woke to a large, large group of werewolves surrounding them.
"Mama," Mallory gulped, "I don't like this"
"Stay still," Alissa stepped out of the carriage, held high, the picture of calm, "You're frightening my family, I cam assure you, we mean no harm,"
"If that's the case you won't mind comin' with us so our Alpha can speak with ya"
"Of course"
...
"Will this help?"
Shaggy turned finding Luna behind him with a tiny handful of twigs. The three-year-old held it out to him hopefully.
"I found a big one!" Rowan shouted, dragging a small tree branch, wings flapping furiously as he tugged it along the ground, "See? See?"
"Good job, pups," Shaggy smiled warmly at the two tiny hybrids, "This will help"
Not too far away, Christina was gathering the last of her plants from the garden, piling them in a large woven basket to be taken down to the cellar. Once finished she grabbed the basket, hauling it through the open door. The twins scampered off to gather some more twigs while he scanned the treeline impatiently. With the clouds ready to open at any moment, they needed those trees desperately cut down into firewood. Without knowing how long the blizzard would last he wanted to make absolutely sure there was enough wood to go around. Finally, he spotted movement coming through the trees but the group was significantly larger than he recalled, putting him and the others on edge as they all stopped what they were doing, even the twins, to see what was happening.
Slowly, an odd assortment of strangers – some in a carriage – spilled through the trees, surrounded by his pack members. Intruders!
"We found em, in the woods"
"What should we do with them?"
"Can we eat em?"
"No," Shaggy growled, stepping closer to the group on high alert, "We don't eat children," he backhanded the wolf who had suggested it, "You and the others get that wood like, cut, now!"
Whimpering the wolves hurried to do as they were told. Behind him, he heard the creak of the cellar steps. Christina, ghost pale with hands trembling stood beside him.
"Mommy, Mommy, look-" Rowan was pointing.
"Mommy..." Luna ducked behind her mother.
Rowan's smile faded when he noticed his sister. Quickly he joined them, putting his arms around Luna.
"Shaggy..."
"It will be okay, Christina"
...
Slowly, as not to provoke the wolves, the family stepped from the carriage. Above them, the sky was near black, the wind bitingly cold, lashing against their faces. Despite being heavily outnumbered by werewolves who looked ready to devour them, Alissa only had eyes for the petrified hybrid whose body was littered with scars.
"Christina," Alissa choked, overcome with a myriad of emotions.
The closer they got, however, the farther back Christina stepped until she fled, carrying the two small children that had been hiding behind her. Slamming the door of what had to be her home just as the snow began to fall.
"Christina!"
...
I should be strong,
Christina felt anything but. By some miracle, she had managed to put the twins down for their mid-morning nap, under a pile of blankets and furs. Now she paced in front of the fireplace, a trembling mess. There were strangers, rich strangers as evidenced by their clothing and their carriage. Strangers who looked like her. Why? Why? Rich people were the cruelest people. Especially those in carriages.
...
"Out of the road you BEAST!"
The iron-barbed whip left a trail of pain on her back. Crumpling to the ground she dragged herself out of the road. The carriage soaked her with mud as it passed.
...
"GET BACK!"
the lady kicked her, the man, ripping out a thick chunk of her hair as he shoved her into the meanest elder who hacked the rest of her hair off.
...
Over and over she was met with the painful memories. Each incident was worse than the last crashing to the forefront of her mind. Finally, her legs gave out. Splayed on the floor she bit the inside of her cheek, turning her head to the windows. Pure white outside. Wind like a screeching beast rattled the windows. Christina scrunched her eyes shut, inhaling sharply. Beaten, whipped, and hurt for every transgression of the children in the village. Especially those of well-bred status, they could do no wrong in their parents' eyes. To those people, she was everything wrong with the town. A walking scapegoat. Something for them to pin all the blame on. Sometimes the children would chase her with iron, any they could find, other times they threw it at her or tried to fence her in.
It took everything in Christina not to cry out. The twins didn't need to see her this way, so weak, so broken, so scared. With monumental effort, she dragged herself to the sewing chest. Beneath the tools, the fabrics, thread, and yarn rested the blanket with her name. Clutching it to her chest she silently, confusedly, cried until she fell asleep.
...
Shaggy glowered from his seat next to the fireplace, the servants had been ushered into a cabin at the base of the hill but Christina's family stayed with him. Crowded under the rattling window as the storm raged outside.
"Why have you come?" he asked stone-faced even though he knew and hated the answer.
"Christina, she'she's our daughter," Alissa hadn't stopped crying, "I-we-we want to bring her home now-"
"Now?" Shaggy's eyes flashed, "Like, she matters NOW? she didn't matter when she was used as a punching bag for the human morons?!"
"It's-it isn't like that-"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK IT IS OR ISN'T LIKE! SHE COULDN'T SPEAK UNTIL SHE WAS SEVEN, SHE WAS LIKE, LEFT INSIDE A TREE WITH BARELY ENOUGH TO EAT ABUSED BY THOSE HALFWITS WITH NO ONE TO CARE FOR HER! I FOUND HER TIED TO A STAKE, BLEEDING FROM HER HEAD! THEY TRIED TO MURDER HER AFTER VIOLATING HER!"
Alissa choked back a sob as Maleficent slammed her scepter thunderously against the floor, "That is quite enough!" the former queen declared, "You will be SILENT and LISTEN"
Try as he might, Shaggy's mouth remained clamped shut against his will. Slowly, Alissa composed herself and began to weave a tale of woe, using her magic when words failed her.
"I had only been queen for just under a year, married for less time when I found we were expecting. The news spread fast and the celebrations never seemed to end bringing my elder sister down from her seclusion to congratulate us, she-she and I had never gotten along but she swore she wanted to recouncile, that she was excited for me. I didn't trust her but I invited her to stay. She stayed throughout the entire pregnacy, helped me pick out clothes and oversaw the nursery construction," Alissa swallowed hard, "Then Christina was born, oh she was a beautiful baby, my beautiful baby. I didn't trust Lucinda with her at first but she wore me down over time. She took Christina for a stroll, hours passed and Lucinda returned a mess, without my daughter..." Alissa broke down.
"She claimed," Maleficent continued the story, "They'd been attacked, that Christina had been killed. I didn't believe her but she led us to the place. The ground was bloody, Christina's dress and blanket were in shreds. There was no body but for all my magic I couldn't detect Christina so a celebration of life became a funeral"
"Lucinda left after a grieving period to prepare for her own child but vhen Faybelle was born she didn't have the dragonmark-"
"The mark that determines the line of sucesssion, only one in every generation bears it," Maleficent briefly explained she and Alissa showing theirs as proof, "Christina's is on the back of her neck"
"The belief is that if the true heir dies another vill be chosen in the family, but Chase and Mallory don't have it either"
The two nodded.
"I became suspisious but I couldn't prove anything and I dared not tell Alissa until I had soild proof but only a few months ago, Lucinda died in a half-crazed revenge plot gone wrong"
"With her death the spell she used to hide Christina came undone," Alissa managed, "we searched our kingdom and the ones surrounding it before I remembered this place. When I was a younger this had been a fairy country, but then the human settlers pushed us out, murdering my kind. What few remained migrated farther into the monster realm, back to the mountains that mother calls home where we wouldn't be hurt. Lucinda left Christina in the human town hoping they'd make quick work of her. But, she's alive, we want to take her home now"
Finally, his jaw unclamped, "No, no, you like, aren't taking her or the children anywhere. She's safe here. THIS is her home"
"But-"
"You leave as soon as winter ends, leave and NEVER come back!"
Maleficent moved to say something but Alissa shook her head, "Very well"
They had until late April to convince the wolves otherwise. Alissa wasn't giving up that easily. Something her family understood without words.
...
The blizzard raged for an entire week. By the time it ended, Shaggy opened his door to a wall of snow that spilled into his home where it melted. Shoving through it he fought his way to Christina's door, keenly aware of the others following him. Just as he reached it, Christina had melted the excess snow away, making a clear path to the door but she was startled when she saw him.
"It's only me, Christina, how are the children?"
"Safe and warm inside, finishing their breakfast, they've been asking about you," Christina glanced fearfully behind him.
He turned with a snarl, "GO AWAY NOW"
The unwanted visitors filed back into his cabin.
"They have to stay here don't they? Until everything melts in April?"
"Yes, but I will like, make sure no one bothers you, okay?"
"Okay, come see the twins"
"I'd be glad too"
...
A few days later:
Duncan landed in the small clearing in the trees they had seen from above, retracting his wings as he set Clawdeen down on the snow.
"Good thing the cold doesn't really bother either of us", he smiled.
"Yeah, but the snow is a pain", she replied taking a few steps forward smelling for any scents in the wind. "Especially in a forest as dense as this one."
"Too bad we couldn't go to the village for more precise directions", he said. "But they're too scared as it is. They might think we're with the ones terrorizing them."
"No kidding!", Clawdeen growled. "This rogue pack is giving all wolves a bad name! Setting back monster/human relations years! It's gotta stop! When I find their leader I'm gonna...DUNCAN, LOOK OUT!" Smelling nothing, her ears quirked as she heard something...just before Duncan was dog-piled under almost a dozen werewolves from the trees!
Her moment of concern vanished when Duncan threw them all off in one massive heave, hurtling them into tree trunks and snow drifts! To their credit, they got right back up, growling.
"You two are in the wrong place, strangers!", one snarled.
"Oh are we?", Clawdeen retorted, stepping forward and flaring her dominating 'Alpha' aura. The wolves shrank back into crouches, whimpering in her presence. "Take us to your leader. Now!"
...
Christina stayed shut in her cabin, trying to sew. Outside the rest of the pack worked, shoveling paths and salting ice though it would do little could. It had only been the first blizzard of the season, there were more to come creating snowbanks like mountains and perilous sheets of slippery ice that would snap an entire tree as if it were a twig. Through the window, she could see the large group of strangers trying to help. Every once in a while they tried to come near but Shaggy chased them off.
"Ow," distracted she had jabbed herself with the spindle of her spinning wheel; a single drop of blood formed, making her a little queasy. She fainted, swooning into her chair.
Unseen by her children playing in the other room, a glowing orb floated in through the window, passing through the glass as if it weren't there! And Christina dreamed, and in that dream, she saw and experienced the truth of everything that had happened to her and her family from the perspective of her mother and how it connected to her own experiences. She saw and felt the pain and anguish of her parents at losing her and thinking she had been killed for a time, then searching tirelessly for her when they learned she was alive!...
"HOW DARE YOU USE YOUR MAGICK ON HER!", the snarling shout awakened Christina, drawing her back to the window, to see Shaggy facing Maleficent just outside. The elder dark fae's calm demeanor in the face of the pack alpha's fury was startling. "YOU AGREED...!"
"We agreed to leave in the Spring", Maleficent stated. "We never agreed to keep the Truth from Christina. She has a right to know the whole story, and decide for herself if SHE wishes to know her family. You have no right to keep that from her, no matter what your motives are. YOU were determined to prevent any of us from speaking to her, so I simply found a way to tell her the Truth that you could not prevent."
Just then, howls rang out from the forest to the West, cutting off Shaggy's sharp retort.
"Great. Like, more visitors", he growled. "We're NOT done with this! Like, not by a long shot!"
Maleficent seemed to smirk a little as he stormed off toward the village square to meet the incoming forest guards and whomever they had with them.
Grabbing her cloak, from the peg by the wall, Christina flung it on, flipped up the hood, and checked on her children finding them sprawled across the bed, sleeping with their favorite toys hanging limply in their hands and gingerly stepped outside, every crunch of the snow like shattering glass to her ears.
Even though every single sliver of her being wanted to hide she wasn't letting Shaggy face whatever or whoever it was alone.
...
Shaggy froze mid-stride, glancing over his shoulder he saw Christina following at a distance, concern was written across her face.
"Christina..."
"Please don't be upset"
"I'm not upset at you"
"Not at me"
"I like, didn't want them to scare you any more"
"I am a bit frightened but being upset doesn't solve anything"
"Okay," he took a deep breath, "Like, I'll try not to be upset"
"Thank you"
"I like, suppose telling you to go back to your cabin isn't going to work, is it?"
"No"
"Come on then, can't keep them waiting, they might try to eat whatever they've found"
Christina hurriedly caught up, leaning into Shaggy as they walked.
"Warm?" he pulled her hood tighter over her head.
"Yes"
"Good"
After the first surprise, Shaggy considered himself ready for anything else. Anything but what awaited him.
"Shaggy?!"
"Clawdeen?"
"How?! I-I thought-" Clawdeen faltered, remembering why they'd come.
Shaggy had a million questions blazing through his mind but they died before he could ever voice them. Something, something was different about his cousin, something that put him on edge. Cautiously he glanced at the strange monster standing beside Clawdeen.
I don't like you.
Truthfully he didn't like strangers in general but something about this one irked him.
"They demanded to see you, Alpha" the oddly shaky wolves finally managed to explain.
"Uh-huh"
"You-you're the pack leader?" Clawdeen almost seemed ready to faint from shock.
"Yes"
"We have to speak with you," Duncan declared flames in his mouth, "Urgently"
Now, Shaggy's fur was on end, "Brutus, take Christina back to her cabin"
"Right-right away"
Christina was absolutely petrified all over again, a trembling mess. It did no good for her to see him so on edge. She was almost whiter than the snow. He watched them leave to make sure Christina didn't collapse. When he turned back, Clawdeen radiated such a sudden anger that it made him flinch, "Come with me," he stubbornly ignored the anger wafting from his long-lost cousin.
This did not bode well.
...
Still don't exactly know what I want to do with this but I quite like this project. A big thank you to my friend, DRAGONDAVE45 for all his help. Please review!