Brooklyn and Elsa watched the two kids continue to talk to each other, the red gargoyle feeling conflicted inside the whole time. He knew they shouldn't be in a place like this. But... if they took the kids with them, they'd be in more danger.
Gerda smiled at Kai before seeing a streak of blue on his face. "What's this? Is it paint? Are you a painter?"
Elsa's face perked with interest. She remembered her sister's love for paintings. Kai looked nervous now when seeing the Snow Queen suddenly looking at him. "Can we see your art?" Elsa asked.
Kai jumped, his eyes widening. "No! Uh... I mean... I'm busy. Why don't you guys go back some other time?"
Brooklyn folded his arms. "Why don't you want us to show you your art?" He pressed, making Kai shuffle his feet nervously, until the voice of the Master returned.
"I would say that's a pretty long minute, isn't it?"
The red gargoyle jerked around at the sight of the old man, his eyes narrowed as he stood protectively in front of them. Luta jumped out of Gerda's hold, going to quickly hide.
The Master frowned. "If you think you can wander around the house, especially with these two stranger freaks when you're supposed to be working, boy do I have some bad news for you!" He growled.
Brooklyn's muscles clenched from his anger. "Leave them alone!" He shouted, Elsa nodding while taking Brooklyn's hand.
The Housemaster turned sharply in his direction. "Those aren't your kids, demon. So they shouldn't be your problem!" He hissed.
Kai though bravely spoke up. "Uh, Mr. Housemaster, sir? I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I, uh, asked her to help me clean the boiler. And... and these two were just wanting some friends." He tried to defend.
However the Housemaster was not amused and didn't buy his story. "Huh. Unable to handle our own chores now, are we? Perhaps I should knock some sense into you both." He growled, raising his staff.
That made Elsa narrow her eyes, her hands suddenly starting to flare up with her ice magic, Brooklyn smiling while folding his arms. "You'd better not, I repeat not hit these kids if you want to make my wife freeze you." He threatened, poking the Housemaster in the chest.
From the closet Orm stared in amazement from seeing the other woman's ice magic, unable to comprehend that there was someone else with this power.
Soon the Housemaster sighed, his eyes still angry but hesitant. He looks down at Gerda. "Alright. You can go, but don't think you're free from punishment." He huffed. Gerda looked down in sadness. "And, you're not allowed to leave the workshop until you've sewn 50 more mittens." Housemaster declared, Brooklyn's eyes widening from the unjustness of it.
Gerda tried to speak in her own defense. "But I—."
The Housemaster growled. "100!" He snapped, adding salt to the injury, making Brooklyn flinch, feeling sorry for her.
Soon the girl gave in, walking out with Brooklyn and Elsa following. Elsa couldn't help but put a gentle hand on Gerda's shoulder who glanced at her in surprise, not having known a gentle hand since she was a young girl.
"We could take you away from here, if-if you want to go with us of course." Brooklyn soon tried to say again as she sat down at her desk to do her mitten sewing, giving them a sad look. "That would be nice if the master wasn't so strict."
The red male gave a little frown of anger towards the house master again, wanting to throw the old man off of a cliff for treating the kids this way, wondering how they could get the kids out of this mess.
...
The two travelers had stayed through the evening, Elsa having gone out at one point to get some food for Gerda as long as the master never spotted her doing that, which helped her finish her sewing chore.
She smiles after finishing the 100th, thinking about the boy from earlier. "Hm. He's really nice, isn't he?" Gerda asked.
Elsa ended up agreeing with Gerda despite Luta sticking her tongue out which was rather adorable to Brooklyn, not having known weasels to be this cute in this universe.
Though Gerda sighed. "You know guys, when I think of my brother, I imagine that he'd be like him." She said, excited about the thought.
"How can you even know for sure if you never met your brother?" Brooklyn asked in confusion. Gerda glanced at the gargoyle, whom she had grown used to beak and all over the course of the day. "Didn't you all see, he tried to protect me too. I should thank him, you think?"
The ice queen shrugs. "Well, that would be rather nice. And I won't mind seeing Kai again too."
After she said her words, Gerda wound up finishing her last mitten. "Finally, 100!" She cheered, making Brooklyn smile from how happy she was.
The group along with Luta all soon snuck downstairs to the boiler room again, Brooklyn hoping the boy did ok with being confronted by that horrible old man as Gerda pulled out a small mirror, looking at herself in it.
Elsa studied it, the mirror rather unique looking. "Where did you get that?" She asked.
"I-I think it was from my parents. They left it to me before they died." Gerda murmured, though ended up jumping from the sound of the master shouting out "Lights out, everyone!"
Brooklyn pushed Gerda gently when he opened the door. "Move!" He whispered, finally getting into the room, Gerda shutting the door.
They all laughed at being able to outsmart the master until Gerda saw what looked like a covered up canvas. She went over to it cautiously, then took the cloth off of it; which revealed to be... a painting? Of her?
The beaked gargoyle gasped at the sight, wondering when Kai had drawn this even though they had only just met him. Gerda herself was rather stunned and happy, Luta giving a squeak when falling off her shoulder in surprise.
"Shh, quiet there." Elsa said softly, the little weasel chittering in a dizzy way before soon footsteps came, who reveal to be Kai. They all went behind a curtain in the room, Brooklyn using his wings to shield the candlelight in Gerda's hands from being seen at all while they peeked out.
Brooklyn noted how Kai gazed longingly at the drawing of Gerda, his heart panging for the kid who obviously longed for siblings. He too missed his brothers now, wishing they could be here with him. Kai rolled up the drawing until Brooklyn's ears picked up the sound of someone new in the room, his fangs bared, nudging Elsa.
She spotted a black weasel, who somehow could talk. "Kid, you packed?"
"This is all I'm taking. It's all I have." Kai replied, holding up the drawing.
The weasel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure, whatever." He grumbled. Orm looked down at his North Star vial. "Hold on a second, I just gotta check something out here."
For some reason, the vial wasn't glowing at all like he expected. "What's goin' on?" His eyes drifted around until seeing the curtain the friends hid behind, Brooklyn holding his breath, Elsa taking his hand, hoping they weren't caught.
The vial soon glowed once more when close to the curtain, Orm raising his brow, then turning back to Kai. "Ah! Wait, are you an only child?"
Kai rubbed his arms. "I heard I had a sister, but I don't remember her name." He admitted, Brooklyn noting Gerda gasping softly. "I don't really remember her at all."
Orm groaned loudly. "Unbelievable. You mean now I gotta start looking for Master Vegard's daughter?"
That did it for Brooklyn, his eyes glowing. He knew something was wrong with that weasel. But Elsa held him back, shaking his head. "Not yet."
"You knew my father?" Kai asked in surprise.
Orm jumped from that, laughing nervously. "Master Vegard? Of-of course... well I mean, not personally, but let's just say we had a mutual acquaintance."
Gerda soon looked at her mirror again, Brooklyn spotting a name on it which said;Vegard.
"No way..." Elsa breathed in amazement, realizing that this little girl was the daughter of a sorcerer. Brooklyn himself had a hard time believing that in this crazy world, until Orm spoke again.
"Oh, er, let's just say that your sister died along with your parents ok?" He asked.
Hearing that caused Gerda to be desperate. And before Brooklyn could pull her back, Gerda jumped out from the curtain. "No, I'm alive!" She shouted.
Kai blinked. "Gerda?"
She smiled from his voice. "Kai?"
Brooklyn growled when looking down at the weasel who yelped, gripping the North Star vial. "Gah! Wha-wha are...?"
"I'm a gargoyle, thank you. And whatever you were gonna do with Kai, shall end right now!" Brooklyn hissed, baring his fangs in his usual way when angered, Elsa charging up her hands, making Orm's eyes round out from seeing the foreign ice magic again.
Gerda ends up dropping her mirror which caused Orm to look into it, which flashed a bright red, Brooklyn shielding his eyes.
That seemed to have caused whatever disguise was on the weasel to make him change into his real form; a troll.
Gerda pointed. "Troll!" She screamed, Brooklyn's wings raised up, talons ready to strike. But the North Star vial smashed, causing the North Wind to appear, roaring viciously.
Brooklyn felt himself fall back on his bottom from the force of the wind, which soon started to pick him up in the air along with Kai who attempted to reach Gerda's hands.
Orm glared. "Oh, no, you don't! I almost froze to death looking for you!" He snapped, Luta flying about in the North Wind.
"Elsa, do something!" Brooklyn screamed, his wife trying to tame the wind by shooting her magic but this snow was unfamiliar to her, the North Wind roaring in her ears like a living being which took them all out of the building, flying them through the air.
Brooklyn flailed his wings, struggling to remain in balance, his eyes wide in fear. He gripped onto Kai's arm, Elsa holding Brooklyn's hand while Gerda took Kai's leg, Gerda grasping Orm's foot. "Let her go!" Kai shouted.
"What do you mean, she's the one holding onto me! Let go of me, girl!" Orm snapped.
Gerda shook her head. "I can't let go, we're too far from the ground!"
Brooklyn stared into Elsa's eyes, feeling his hand slipping. "Please Elsa, don't let go of my hand!" He begged, the North Wind having a bigger hold on him and Kai than the others.
Soon Luta had bitten Orm on the nose, making him let go, Brooklyn screaming from his hold with Elsa being lost, the wind spinning him about out of her reach, tears falling down his face at the idea of being lost from his wife. He did his best to hold onto Kai protectively who whimpered. "Gerda!"
Elsa, Gerda and Orm all fell down onto a cliff side with a large tree while the North Wind took Brooklyn and Kai all the way to the other Snow Queen's castle, Brooklyn nervous about what awaited for them both, not having wanted it all to go this way on their first adventure.