Chapter Text
A pile of snow fell from an ice-covered branch, a cold winter breeze gently prodding the snow as it fell. Dark blue winter light poked at every crevice around, staining everything with its touch. Grey skies hung in the atmosphere.
A quiet sigh left my mouth, creating a soft dragon puff. Cold, this place is cold. My eye-lights half lidden, taking in everything at a slow drowsy pace. I'm tired.
I held a hiss that banged against my teeth, trying to escape into the cold icy land. If only Ash and Soul could play at home, that would be wonderous. I couldn't bring myself to be angry at them, though Soul woke me up by biting on my eel tail. He's a pup, full of energy and life, while Ash is more somber and calm. Opposites. It's a shame I couldn't stay in my den and sleep. But Soul wants to go somewhere new and who am I to keep that from him?
I walk around the white powdered forest, my paws spreading over it, keeping me from sinking in. A good day to have big paws, I thought, then more about this place, this world. The world seems dead. Or in the process of dying. Or is it that the core's life has died, or been taken? A shame. The smell of violence is: nostalgic? Wistful? Sad? Depressing? How would people describe it?
I was too distracted by my thoughts. I almost missed the two children lying in the snow. A bit embarrassing. The smell of fresh blood mingling with the violence so much it almost went unnoticed. I turn my head to the two. How curious. I pause, taking note of the two. The smell of fresh blood is strong, pungent. I kneel to get a better look at the children. A human child and netherborn. How odd. I use my sword to turn the human over, his face a hideous sight to behold.
A hiss left my mouth.
Scars were painted across his skin, one horizontal on both eyes. He would be lucky to see. The netherborn appears to be faring much better than his human companion. He doesn't smell of any recent injuries, nor does it smell like lava and ash. Both would unlikely to make it through the cold.
I poke the children with the edge of my scabbard. Not even a twitch. I poke the netherborn. Still nothing. I poke him harder. Nothing.
"Ahem. Child. Netherborn. Wake up."
Silence. I look around. I take a deep breath and hope Ash and Soul are very, very far away. I open my mouth, letting my bone maw drop as far as it can go, black goo dripping down just as quick. I let out an ear-piercing screech into the children's ears. If this doesn't wake them up, nothing will.
I snap my mouth shut, wiping the black goo away with the back of my clawed hand. The children are still asleep.
"Oh, for the love of sleep. How? Wait, are they dead? I could have sworn I saw their chests rising earlier."
I crouch down once again, cringing as I place my paw-hand on the netherborn. The nether child is alive. The human is alive as well. How long have they been out here? The human's lips are already blue. His species isn't supposed to change color, right? I don't remember them ever changing color in their skin or any other body part.
"Why is your species so annoying and confusing?" I say while glaring at the children. Nevermind. Both, Nether children, humans, heck, even hybrids, they all should shoo, fall into the void and never return. Nature would be so much better off without them. Stop that thought. Shoo it away like a fly. It isn't helping.
I stare at the children, wondering what to do about them. They'll die, that for sure, but that isn't something I should do, right? Grain may be annoying and have an odd obsession with pranking people, but he is merciful, right? Another hermit comes to mind. XisumaVoid. I push the name out of my head. No. Not dealing with that. Quickly, I look left and right, making sure the weird helmet-wearing man is nowhere in the surrounding area.
"I swear, it's as if thinking about him summons him. What is he? The devil?"
Back to the issue at hand, children, snow, leaving. Ah, yes, the question of the century. I tap my claw on the hilt of my sword. Would killing them be considered merciful? I can't remember, just that there is this thing called "mercy killing," that people use a lot for issues like this. I stare at the children, the human shivering and latching onto the netherborn. Surprisingly, it's not the other way around.
Heaving a sigh, I pull out my cobalt blue sword. Wonderfully made and beautiful. Just when I thought I could wait to clean it till next month.
My grip on the sword tightens, squeezing it tight.
"May your spirits rest in peace, young ones," I murmur.
The blade swings down.
Arwooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
My blade stops just above the human child's neck. I tilt my head to one side, wondering if that was my family members or another pack. Mismatched eyes meet my needled eye lights. Soul. A gentle push on my legs calls my attention; my eye lights glance down. Ash. They must be done exploring and playing. I nudge Ash away.
"You two are done faster than expected. But Ash, dear, can you move? I'm in the middle of something."
Soul ignores me, diving for my legs and rubbing himself back and forth. I take a few steps back, not wanting him to step on the children. Soul continues to demand I pet him. I grip my sword in one hand, giving in to the pup's demand. I rub his ears while Ash gives me a look. She's unimpressed.
"Ash, I love him, and I love you. If you want me to pet you, all you have to do is ask."
The she-wolf continued to look unimpressed. I shrug. After deeming I have given Soul enough pets, I dust myself off. Soul tries to jump on me, getting to my face. Failing, he whines and keeps trying to jump higher.
"Soul, please. I have something to do."
More whines. I feel my soul crack.
I look to the sky, hoping for some relief from the attack of whines and begging.
"Soul," thank goodness he stopped whining. "Thank you. Now, if you excuse me, I have something to deal with. I'll be right back. Stay."
Thankfully, Soul stays put. I look at the kids and see Ash standing in front of them. Oh, for the love of the void. Why?
"Ash," I start. "Can you please move? I'm trying to be nice here."
Ash moves. Just when I think she will get out of the way, she stands tall, directly in my path, blocking the children. She holds her head high, her violet eyes glaring at me. My quills tense on instinct. Why does she have to glare at me? And challenge me? Of all the things, why? I thought. My tail starts sweeping across the snow; I tap the hilt of my sword in time with it. I search her glare, trying to see if her eyes hold any answers. Something is wrong. She knows something I don't. What is it?
Regret? Sorrow? Melancholy? Understanding? Why is she looking at me like that? What does she see?
"What is it, Ash? What do you know? What do you see in your eyes? Tell me. What is it?"
We stay still. Soul sniffs the netherborn; we ignore him. Finally, Ash sweeps her tail, turns around, and goes over to Soul. She nips his ear and pushes him away from the netherborn. She nudges the boy's head. Her violet eyes make contact with my slitted eye lights. Ah, right. Promise. We promised. I promised.
I put my sword away in defeat, sitting down on the snow. Ash leaves the children to come over to me, deciding to sit on my lap.
"Thank you," I say while rubbing her head. "I don't know what we're going to do with the kids, though. Leaving them here will kill them."
I turn to look at the human. His hair is matted and dirty. I wonder if his home life was like that woman's own life. Luanne, wasn't it? People can be so cruel to each other. Soul head butts my side, his tongue sticking out, his droll getting all over the place.
"Hello, kiddo. Any ideas?"
He moves away from Ash and me. He goes in circles, holds his nose in the air, and legs kicking up the snow, making a shimmery show. It takes a bit, but I understand what he wants. He wants me to take the children with us; back the way we came. Back through the tear in the fabric of time and space. Back home.
"I am not taking them," I deadpan.
He whines.
"No. I am not putting up with unknown creatures in our home. Who knows what on earth they will do."
Ash looks at me, her gaze telling me all I need to know. You're trying to change. This is your first step.
"Ash, you're older than Soul. You should know by now that I don't deal with kids. They won't like me, and I won't like them. What about our lifestyle? What if we make things worse for them? What if we aren't what they need?"
Wow. Who knew I could have compassion for creatures other than wolves? Then again, I felt pity for that woman. So maybe I do have fuzzy, warm feelings for creatures other than wolves. Dang.
Soul prances over to me. He takes something from my bad of things and tosses it at me, the pouch from Grian.
"What about the floating goofball?"
Soul continues to bounce back over to the kids, placing one paw on the netherborn's heart when he gets there. Why does he look so pleased with himself?
"We can dump the kids off with Grian. We're talking about the same Grain right? We're not talking about the same Grian, right Ash?"
The traitor looks away.
"Oh for the love-you know what? I got nothing. I used up everything earlier today." I ignore the looks I get from my family. "This is a bad idea. We're way better off just killing them. I'll traumatize them. Just look at them!" I make rapid gestures to the knocked-out kids. I'll damage them. They're, young, soft, impressionable. Sure I left my title and passed behind centuries before Death and her darling dropped off the face of the Overworld, Nether, and End. But haven't I caused enough misery? I-
Screams. So many screams.
"Run! It's the monster!"
Begging. Cries.
"No! Please, Reynard! Please! I'm not ready to die!"
Red, red everywhere. Bloodstained snow, sand, wooden floors. Demolished castles, uprooted battlefields, overturned ships.
More cries, more screams, more begging for mercy.
I shove the memory deep into the fractured cracks of my mind. That was, how long ago? Three thousand? No, longer than that, right? Five thousand? I can't-shush. I slowly look around. Snow. Why is there snow? It's spring, isn't it? Or fall? No, there was snow melting outside.
My eye lights land on a black-furred she-wolf with violet eyes. Ash. I blink. Right. I came here because Soul and Ash wanted to explore. We found two children and haven't decided what we are going to do with them.
"Ash," my throat almost cracks, "ahem, Ash, what if I mess up? What if they find misery in being here? With me? Look at me," I move my hand up and down, pointing out how my appearance could scare the children," I'm a monster in their eyes. People run and take up their weapons when they see me. I may have been gone for a while, but people tell their children myths all the time. What if I was in one of them?"
Ash's eyes harden in an instant, baring her teeth. Her tail flicks over to the netherborn. I run through what I know about his kind. Right. He shouldn't be scare of me. The human might, but the netherborn probably won't.
I lean back, my clawed hands digging into the snow, supporting my weight. I watch the grey sky. Will it be okay? I can't just change at the snap of my tail just like that. I have an image of what humans, hybrids, and other creatures are, and just because they're children does not mean much to me. They may be kids, sure. I might be a bit lenient on the kids because of that little sparrow, but I had to. The environment I was in forced me to be that way. Would it be the same if the kids were in my home? My territory?
Ash continues staring at me with her 'I'll tell on you look.'
"Fine. They can come home, but! As soon as they're healed up, they're going to the hermits. Someone can take care of them there."
Ash leaves my lap.
I pinch the bridge of my face. I can't believe I'm doing this. I stand up, I glare at the snow-covered tree not too far from me. I raise one of my hands, letting my magic lift the children. Being mindful of their injuries, I try not to jostle them. The children float beside me as I walk with Ash and Soul to where I made the tear.
I put my hand out, eye dimming. I get a grip on the code and pull. An ear-shattering sound strikes through the area. Hopefully, the sound didn't get far. A big black tear opens up before my eyes. I nudge Soul with my tail. He doesn't move. Still scared of my tears. Ash decides to walk through. Soul stares at the tear then follows after Ash. I roll my eyes. Children the lot of them.
I stepped out through the rip in time and space; warmth and sunlight hugging me before I put my paw down on the wet grass. My clearing is still untouched by intruders, just as it should be. Soul runs up to the house while Ash looks back at the children. She glances at me before walking after Soul, but in a calmer manner.
Home sweet home.
Back in the world filled with betrayal, blood, hurt, and sorrow, a ping rips through the frantic people running around.
Reynard left through a rip in time and space.
The people think the worst at the new name. Who is Reynard? And where is Dream?!
Deep below, under layers upon layers of rock and lava, a battered crow calls a meeting with his comrades. Their friend is missing and that name brings chills down his spine. He hopes to find his friend and is wrong about the person who came and left. Anyone could be called Reynard, right?