Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Arrow, Bequeath my Heart ❯ Chapter 1
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Oreana Date 
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Hentai / Fantasy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.01.2013 | Updated On: 06.01.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 221 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama / Hentai / Fantasy | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.01.2013 | Updated On: 06.01.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 221 | Status: Completed
Author’s Notes: This is very new and the first of its kind for me. Normally, I am the one that makes up the OCs that I pair with whoever, but this time, that is not the case. :P
A friend of mine from deviantart started talking roleplay ideas and, later on down the line, we came up with this little number. While it has a Skyrim backdrop, that’s all I really have planned to use in terms of the ‘crossover’. Basically, I am just throwing Mobians into the mix while adding a bit of my own flair to this. The only thing you’d really need to google, if anything, is a Skyrim map to know what the layout looks like.
The family line in this story will go: Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, because that’s how it was plotted and that’s how Kuro prefers it. =)
Disclaimer: The Brotherhood of Guardians/Mobian critters © to Archie
Sara-Li, Luke, Jade-Li, Devon, Cyrus, and Troy © to KuroDeMangaKa
Naveah-Li © Joint custody Oreana/ KuroDeMangaKa
Random side characters © Oreana
Description: When the guardian archer mage, Thunderhawk, sets his eyes upon the healer Sara-Li, he finds himself in a bit of a deadly, treacherous triangle against Troy for her affection. (NC-17), (Thunderhawk x OC), (Crossover)
Musical Inspiration: “Crush” – David Archuleta
“Superstar” – S.H.E.
“Sea of Dreams” – Land of Forever
“I can Walk on Water, I can Fly” – Basshunter
Seeing himself miss again, the lilac echidna guardian expelled an annoyed sigh upwards as his blue eyes locked onto the handmade target he was attempting to hit perfectly with his arrows. Rolling his shoulders back a bit, Thunderhawk tried to loosen up as he placed the arrow back onto the string of his icy, enchanted bow. Both eyes open, the guardian reminded himself as he reopened his right eye slowly to have the target better come into view. Upon releasing the arrow, Thunderhawk was quick to open his mouth and release a blast of icy blue flame to magically engulf the tip of the arrow before it struck the target right in the chest area. A grin of accomplishment hooking his muzzle, he relaxed his stance. “Perfect,” he complimented to himself.
“Lord Thunderhawk,” came a familiar voice, prompting the guardian of Winterhold to turn his focus from practice to the approaching woman.
Smiling at the healer, the elder moved his bow to his back. “Floral-Ca,” he greeted, heading towards the purple echidna that had her curly, purple hair adorned in flowers, “why are you in such a rush all of a sudden?”
“Forgive me, my Lord, but I was asked to come and get you,” Floral-Ca said breathlessly, removing her hands from her gown she was wearing. “There appears to be trouble at the entrance to the college regarding a family that wishes to stay here.”
Thunderhawk’s playful smile turned into a serious frown. When it came to the mage’s college he resided within, a bit of the knowledge within it was concealed for a reason. There were all too many out there that could easily corrupt their magical teachings, and he had become very selective in who he brought into the stone made walls of the Winterhold College. “Why do they not merely take up residence within the village?” He asked, as he began to make his way through the large, iron bar doors to venture about the old bridge to the front of the college.
“They say there is no room for them,” Floral-Ca answered as she kept up with Thunderhawk’s brisk pace. “They tried the inn and they were hoping you would have an answer as to where they could stay since you’re the ruler here.”
It only took him making it to the middle brazier for Thunderhawk to hear the arisen voices at the end of the cobblestone built bridge. The two figures were soon coming into view with little help to the harsh blizzard that was raging a bit that night. Given his many years living in such harsh environment, Thunderhawk had gotten used to the icy chill in the air, so it fazed him very little.
“I am telling you, you are not welcome here!” growled the hooded mage, who was standing guard over the college’s entrance. The white tiger, eyes glowing with arcane magic, gestured back from whence the echidna male had come from. “Now—get out!”
“I am not leaving here until your ruler comes to see me,” the beige furred echidna retorted with a furious growl, showing he wasn’t going to back down. His wild, black hair, which was mostly covered in snow, shifted almost in his face when he saw the healer returning with a male he hadn’t seen before. The lilac echidna wasn’t wearing the emerald crown he was told the guardian rulers about Skyrim usually wore, but he could easily see the white, crescent mark upon Thunderhawk’s chest from the cobalt, sleeveless attire he was wearing. “Lord Thunderhawk!” He exclaimed, wishing he could get past the mage guard to meet with the elder, but he was stopped dead in his tracks from trying. “I must speak with you! My name is Devon, and my family—!”
Thunderhawk raised his hand to stop Devon from continuing, as he could tell the man was frantic. “Floral-Ca—June, I want you both to head back to the college. It’s too cold for the both of you to be out here,” he commented, trying to be pleasant though he was narrowing his eyes a bit at June’s behavior. Thunderhawk waited for the two to bow out respectfully until turning back to the visitor. “I apologize on my mage’s behalf. They know better than to force such actions without consulting with me first. Now, please, speak slowly. What is wrong?”
“My Lord…please,” Devon began once more, bowing slightly at the ruler, “I have a family that means more to me than anything. I just want a place for them more so than myself if that is what it takes.”
The guardian hadn’t noticed a family, making him wonder if Devon was either pulling his leg or had hid them somewhere. “Who do you have with you?”
“My wife, Jade-Li, my daughter Sara-Li, and my son, Cyrus,” Devon answered without hesitation. “The blizzard is really getting to them, and the inn turned us away as they have no rooms left, so I had to put them in the destroyed remains of a home nearby.”
Thunderhawk knew what he was talking about. There was a house not far from the entrance of the college that had been burned down by an ice dragon attack a few weeks ago and was never rebuilt. “Come with me,” he insisted, as the guardian headed towards the house he figured Devon was speaking of.
The top of the house had been completely demolished as well as a good bit of the eastern side of the building. Making his way cautiously over the frost burned planks, Thunderhawk could see the three Devon had mentioned curled up together in the northern corner of the once proud home in hopes staying there would keep them warm. Seeing the small daughter shivering in her mother’s arms with her older brother sacrificing his cape to his mother and sister, Thunderhawk hurried quickly over to them—his suspicions put to the side, as he could see Devon was being serious.
Grabbing the cloak that belonged to Cyrus, Thunderhawk handed it to the young boy who was getting awful frostbite from the look of things. “Take this son,” the elder ordered before removing his own dark colored blue cape to rewrap the two women and help them stand.
“Y-You’re going to freeze…you even have…s-short sleeves on…” Cyrus remarked wearily as the cold climate was getting to him.
Thunderhawk had escorted Jade-Li and their daughter over to Devon before turning back to the young boy. He had noticed earlier it was almost painful for Cyrus to move his fingers to grip his cape. “I have my ways,” he said vaguely, noticing that Cyrus’ hands were nearly frozen from the cold. With the cape back about the light-brown furred echidna with periwinkle hair, which matched his mother’s and sister’s fur and hair in color, Thunderhawk brought the boy’s hands close to his mouth to breathe upon it in hopes it would liven Cyrus’ fingers once more.
Cyrus had noticed that Thunderhawk’s breath was almost fire warm. He would have asked why that was, but his father was more eager to get them out of the storm and derailed the thought.
“Please, you have to let us into the college, my Lord,” Devon begged, as he held his wife and daughter close. “We won’t be a burden—I promise!”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Thunderhawk admitted as he motioned for Devon to follow him back to the school quickly. “We need to get you all out of the cold. Besides, there is more than enough room for you,” he called back to the stranger over the roaring, unforgiving wind.
Upon making it back into the Winterhold College, Thunderhawk helped them get situated at one of the empty rooms littered about the circular courtyard. It looked as though it were nothing to him as Thunderhawk did a quick gesture of his hand to light the candles lining the room with his magic to give the space more illumination. Getting Cyrus to one of the empty, wooden chairs, he hissed in dismay at the sight of the boy’s hands. “I might be able to help,” Thunderhawk muttered between them as he carefully took Cyrus’ left hand into both of his after he threw off his elbow length leather gauntlets and began to focus on his fire magic he had control over.
Feeling the unnatural warmth emit from Thunderhawk’s palms, Cyrus quickly pulled his hand back. While he had heard of mages and even saw the power they wielded out on the battlefield on occasion, he never had magic worked on him before. “H-How are you doing that…? You’re not going to burn me…are you?”
“I am versed in ice and fire magic,” the guardian answered, opening his hands again in hopes Cyrus would allow him to continue. “My fire is a bit stronger than my ice, however. I promise; I am not going to burn you. I can heat up my palms enough to warm you faster and better than you holding your hands close to these candles.” He did a ‘come hither’ motion with his fingers, waiting for Cyrus to comply.
“Son,” Devon’s low voice beckoned from across the room, as he had helped Jade-Li and Sara-Li down on the empty bed. When he caught his child’s eyes, he gave him a silent ‘go ahead’ look, as Devon wasn’t about to let his son lose his fingers to the harsh cold.
With Cyrus’ hand back within his own, Thunderhawk focused on trying to revitalize the fingers with what warmth he could give. If it were to be more severe, he’d have to see if any of the healers were available at the moment. “What brings you all out this way?” Thunderhawk asked, as he looked over his shoulder at Devon.
Jade-Li looked at her husband as she held the trembling Sara-Li close to her chest to try and continue to keep her daughter warm in Thunderhawk’s cobalt cape. “We are actually from Morrowind,” Jade-Li answered for a change, as she rubbed the attire against her child’s fur to try and relax her trembling. “Well, the island of Vvardenfell, to be precise.” Hearing a small whimper emit from Sara, the mother rest her chin upon the top of her child’s periwinkle blue hair with a tender shushing sound. “We were merely traveling to weigh our options beyond the island when we got caught up in the blizzard.”
Thunderhawk’s blue eyes shifted to the little six-year-old in Jade-Li’s arms. The look in that child’s violet eyes seemed to hold more fear than anything. “You traveled all the way from there to here?” He was trying to hide his shock in the matter given the distance. “Why would you desire to put yourselves through this? I know word travels far and wide—have you not heard of the sudden appearances of dragons here in Skyrim?”
“We were being taxed to death,” Devon answered as he did his best to remove the bits of snow that was still embedded in his black beard. “When you have a sick child, you try to really level out the money to make it work, but I was finding myself with less food on the table.” He rolled his shoulders with a somber sigh. “I would rather face the small possibilities of dragon attacks than the constant worry my family would starve to death.”
Turning his focus back to Cyrus, Thunderhawk removed his hands from the young boy’s. “How is that? Can you move your fingers?” He watched as Cyrus struggled for a second, but eventually he was able to do so. “Perfect,” praised the guardian quietly as he grabbed up a few bandages and medicine that one of the healers had made for soothing frostbite from the nearby cabinets to wrap the boy’s hands and arms a bit. “Just don’t overdo it. Your hands still need to heal from being out in the cold for so long.”
Turning to the others, he motioned about the room a bit to tell them where everything was upon retrieving his leather gauntlets. “The dining hall is located near the library, which is downstairs in the main building on your right as soon as you enter.”
“You have books?” Sara-Li finally asked, the six-year-old’s violet eyes looking over at Thunderhawk curiously.
Hearing the innocent question, the elder chuckled softly as he stroked his brown beard. “Yes, we have a wide selection of books on magic,” he answered, moving his hands to his knees to be more at par with Sara-Li’s height. “Do you like magic?”
Having Thunderhawk talk to her, she retreated back to holding onto her mother tightly with a small smile, which she hid behind her arm.
“She’s usually a lot more outspoken than this,” Devon admitted with a small laugh. “With all the traveling, we’ve met our fair share of good and bad people, so she’s closed up a bit and become quite shy.”
“It’s understandable,” Thunderhawk said, keeping his eyes on the little girl. “I promise, little Sara-Li; I won’t let anybody hurt you.” Reaching over for her, he gently rubbed her cheek with his index finger only to find her burying her face a bit more against her mother’s embrace. However, hearing the small giggle was enough to make the guardian realize she was merely being bashful.
Turning his focus back to Devon, he nodded at the man. “If you’re going to stay here, however, I have one piece of advice for you: be careful about what you do around town. Ever since the Great Collapse, the college has been blamed for Winterhold’s destruction and this village has become divided in that regard. Beyond that, you are welcome to stay here until you decide what it is you wish to do.”
Forgetting the title Thunderhawk held, Devon didn’t mind being bold enough to reach out and shake his hand eagerly. “I thank you, my Lord. If there is anything you need for me to do in return, I’ll do it,” he insisted.
Thunderhawk didn’t mind his title much, so being treated like he was another person on the street was almost welcoming for a change. Hearing Devon’s desire to make things even, the lilac echidna shook his head with a throaty chuckle. “I say, take care of your family. That’s all any man needs to do,” Thunderhawk commented as he placed his hand on top of Devon’s before attempting to leave the room.
“But your cape,” Jade-Li pointed out, removing it from about herself only halfway when she saw Thunderhawk refuse it from her with a simple shake of his hand. “Don’t you…want it? It’s quite cold.”
“When you’ve lived in this environment for more than hundred years, you tend to get used to the cold climate,” Thunderhawk partially lied. “You can keep it for awhile longer. At least until you find something warmer for yourselves.”
With the door closed behind the guardian, Devon turned to his family with a relieved sigh. Heading over to his son, he checked over Cyrus’ hands to make sure they were indeed alright. “Do they feel okay?” He asked the nine-year-old as he was careful in how he held the once frostbitten fingers against his palms.
“I feel fine, dad,” Cyrus insisted in the candlelit room. “I promise. Whatever it was he did made my hands easier to move.”
Devon had never felt prouder of his son as he held him close to his chest in a praising fashion at Cyrus trying to make sure his mom and sister were warm. “That is good your hands will heal. We wouldn’t want to have to cut them off,” he lightly teased to his eldest child.
“Devon!” Jade-Li scolded, even if she knew her husband was merely joking.
“What!” Devon exclaimed playfully back with a small laugh. “He knows I am just kidding!”
Cyrus shook his head with a roll of his eyes at his father’s comment. He had gotten very used to his father’s humor. If anything, it was one of those traits that hooked Jade-Li when it came to her times working at the local inn as a serving wench.
“How long are we going to stay here?” Sara-Li asked, refusing to move from her mother’s arms. She found the most comfort there with all the traveling they had been doing. The world was much bigger than she had expected it to be from just beyond her bedroom window back on the island.
“Until we can find a way to obtain more money,” Devon answered, putting on a more serious frown as he ran his fingers through his wild, black hair. “We have been running low lately, Sara. Since Lord Thunderhawk is being generous enough to let us stay here for free, we may end up just being here for awhile.”
Jade-Li had more pressing matters she wanted to talk to Devon about, but in private, as she figured these issues didn’t belong on her children’s shoulders. “Sara-Li-Cyrus—why don’t you two get some sleep? It’s been a long day, and you both have been through a lot.”
Cyrus was old enough to know what that meant and he hid his sorrowful sigh upon making it over towards his little sister while his parents excused themselves from the small room to head outside in the shared living space. “Let’s get you in bed, Sara,” Cyrus insisted, as he pulled back the green covers to help situate the small child underneath them.
“What about mommy and daddy?” she asked curiously, knowing there was something wrong in the way they were carrying themselves. To her, they seemed so beaten down.
“They’ll be back in a minute.” Since there was only the one bed to use, Cyrus merely gave a majority of it to Sara-Li as he rested beside her in a protective manner.
“Do you really find this wise?” Jade-Li asked beyond the closed door in a hushed tone. She wasn’t all too certain who was in the other rooms within that housing area of the college beyond themselves, and Jade-Li wasn’t about to get off on the wrong foot with those that had lived there longer than herself. “What are we going to do about Cyrus’ breathing issues? They may have healers here, Devon, but what if they cannot help him? This environment is going to hurt him more than heal him! The air—it’s so thin—!”
Holding onto his wife’s upper arms in a supported way, Devon tried to ground the woman he loved. “You always worry too much,” he teased tenderly, moving his hands to her cheeks to massage her there lovingly. “While this would be the last place I would have suggested we stay, this is our best option in the end. I don’t have enough money to put a roof over our heads again, and if I did, that would only last us so long.”
Reaching up to his wrists, she held onto him with a deep, nasally exhale. “Sometimes I feel you don’t worry enough,” she admitted seriously. “But…whatever you feel is best—,” Jade-Li paused and looked up at him with a loving smile, “—I will trust you as I always have.”
A crooked smile hooked onto Devon’s muzzle as he briefly threw his arms up into the air. “I haven’t let you down yet, have I?” Even if she wasn’t being too serious, the annoyed frown on Jade’s face was enough to make him laugh dismissively at his previous comment. “I am kidding, my love.”
“As always,” Jade-Li whispered as she leaned forwards to kiss her husband’s lower lip at first before deepening it a bit more in the sconces’ blue light.
--------
When the sun rose the next day, Sara-Li ended up venturing with her elder brother throughout their new ‘home’. When she wouldn’t stop talking about the library that the college had, Cyrus decided to give his parents some space to continue to plan out what they were going to do in terms of money while helping his little sibling to the Arcanaeum that Thunderhawk had mentioned the night before. Upon arriving, Cyrus had to admit that he had never seen so many books before in one place. It nearly made him dizzy just trying to stare upwards at the dome type structure of the building to take it all in.
Sara-Li as well was enamored by the sight of it all. When she realized it was all for them to look at, she giggled and hurried as quickly as she could to the first row of books she could reach for her height. A majority of the words she couldn’t pronounce at her age, but the beautiful bindings of the books captured her curious heart regardless and widened her desire to learn reading and writing a bit more. As she continued rolling her fingertips upon the spines of the books, Sara-Li stopped at one in particular. It had two words she recognized: Healing Spells.
Grabbing the leather bound book, Sara-Li struggled a bit with the weight of the tome. She pivoted on the ball of her foot only to spin around and run into somebody Sara-Li knew wasn’t her brother given the size of the person she accidentally hit. Trying to hide her embarrassment behind the book, she slowly looked upwards at the familiar face.
Thunderhawk looked down at the little one with a sweet smile. “Found your way to the Arcanaeum, did you now?” He asked as the guardian knelt down before her. “I had a feeling you might.” Looking at the book’s title upside down, Thunderhawk chuckled at the curious child. “A healer, are you?”
“No,” she answered, lowering the book just a little bit to gaze up at the elder a bit better. “I just wanted to look in it. I’ve never seen spell books before, and I like how healers help people.”
Seeing the twinkle in her eye, the elder couldn’t help but reach over and lightly mess up her short, periwinkle colored hair. “I am sure if you worked hard enough, you’d be one of the best, little one.”
Cyrus merely watched the two interact. Like his father had said, Sara-Li had become very selective in her speech ever since their journey from home. A part of him was worried she’d just stop talking at some point.
It took a second, but a smile eventually made its way across Sara’s face when realizing Thunderhawk was trying to be honestly kind. “You breathe fire, yes?” Sara-Li pried with a little giggle as she swayed back and forth with the large tome still in her hands.
Thunderhawk couldn’t help but laugh at Sara-Li’s question. He had become used to everybody in Winterhold knowing his abilities, so having someone actually be curious about his magic was once again new to the guardian. “I can,” he answered with a wink to the small child. “I learned from the dragons not too long ago when they started surfacing.”
Cyrus couldn’t tell if the guardian was being serious or merely joking, but upon seeing Sara-Li’s mouth open a bit wider in surprise, he merely smiled over at her before joining his sister’s side. “My sister has been curious about dragons,” said Cyrus as he placed his hand upon her shoulder. “We remind her that they are dangerous but, I don’t think that’s going to rid her of her curiosity.”
While Thunderhawk knew personally dragons weren’t something to be trifled with, he nodded understandingly at Cyrus. “Well, if either of you are interested in seeing one, I promise that you’ll be able to easily do so from the windows in the college. That way, you’ll both be a safe distance from them at the very least.”
“Has Winterhold seen dragons before?” Cyrus wondered, as he did notice that the house they were in last night was demolished in a way that would suggest a beastly attack of some sort.
“It has,” Thunderhawk answered as he ventured over to the third shelf to put back the book he had taken to his room a few nights ago and had meant to return. “They don’t attack too often, thankfully, but when they do, we try to make sure there are no casualties.”
“Will…we see dragons?” Cyrus pried a bit further, sounding a bit nervous in asking that question, but he couldn’t help but wonder if they would truly be safe there.
“Mostly from afar,” the ruler answered as he made his way to the other side of the room to hunt for something else to read. “Since they started appearing about Skyrim, I’ve only had to fight off two dragons so far. Hearing from my family, however, I’ve heard they’ve had to endure a higher number—namely Whiterun, Riften, and Dawnstar.” Seeing the slight worry on the young boy’s face, Thunderhawk waved the thought away. “I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. Dragons mostly roam about the nearby woods and only bother to come to the villages once in awhile.”
Sara-Li had managed to find an empty table in the room, making her drop the book down on the table before jumping up on the chair to start looking at the first page with a confused look. The words that were written upon the pages didn’t make sense to her, and it was proving a challenge just trying to piece some of the words together. Her mother had tried to spend time with her to teach her to read and write better, but the lessons had thinned when Cyrus’ breathing issues had become more apparent.
“What’s the matter, little one?” Thunderhawk asked, as he noticed the concerned look on Sara-Li’s face. All he had to do was look at the type of writing on that first page to make him wince a bit. “That book might be a bit too difficult for you to read,” he insisted, placing his fingertips on the first page.
“Can you read it to me?” Sara-Li asked boldly, not understanding all too well the position the elder had over where they currently resided.
Thunderhawk chuckled as he moved his gloved fingers from the book Sara had open. “I am not sure when I would be able to find the time, but I can try if you’re that interested. However—,” Thunderhawk gestured at the book, “—may I?”
Sara-Li removed her hands from the spell book to allow the guardian to take it from her. She watched as he put the book back before grabbing up another one that was a bit skinner than the previous tome.
“My own daughter started off with this one when she was getting into the healing arts at your age,” Thunderhawk commented, sliding it slowly over towards Sara-Li. “I think this might be easier for you to understand.”
“It might not be,” Cyrus reluctantly commented, as he knew reading and writing was a trade that most people knew of the middle and upper classes. “Our mom is trying to teach her, but she’s been having a hard time finding the time to do so with other things getting in the way.” Cyrus didn’t want to implicate himself in the matter, as he knew it might upset his sister.
Seeing the shame in both their eyes, Thunderhawk attempted to lighten the mood. “I’ll tell you what,” he began tenderly to Sara-Li, “if this is something you desire to look into, I’m normally free about noon or so. If your parents feel alright about it, I can work on teaching you how to read and write a bit better as well as understand the healing spells a bit more.”
“A-Are you sure…?” Sara-Li asked, as she still had her small hands on the binding of the book Thunderhawk had given to her.
“I am sure,” the guardian responded without hesitation. “Besides, not much goes on around here, and when it does, you’ll just have to forgive me excusing myself on occasion to handle things.” He moved Sara-Li’s periwinkle blue hair out of her way with a smile. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”
Excitement easily erupted in Sara-Li’s small form, as she reached for the ruler to embrace him tightly about the neck. “Thank you!” Her little voice exclaimed as her tail thumped against the wooden chair she was upon.
Cyrus wasn’t sure why Sara-Li was suddenly so fixated on becoming a healer, so he ignored the thought for now. “Sara?” He called, interrupting the moment, as he reached for his sister. “We better get going. Also, we better bring something back for mom and dad to eat as well before we head back to the room.”
When Sara-Li slid off of the chair and nearly left without the book he had offered her, Thunderhawk grabbed it up and beckoned her back to him. “You might want to take this with you, Sara-Li,” the guardian insisted, passing the book back off to her. “Next I see you, I plan on going over it with you.” Remembering what Cyrus had said, he motioned down the other hallway. “You can get what you desire from the dining hall. Just be quick as they will be cleaning that table off soon enough before preparing for dinner later on.”
With a ‘thanks’ and a slight bow to Thunderhawk, Cyrus took his sister by the hand and guided her down to the dining hall before they made their way back to the room they had been given. Knocking on the door first, he pushed it open slowly as he could hear his parents speaking in low voices to one another about nothing in particular, so he knew he wasn’t interrupting anything.
Devon and Jade-Li looked over at the door with a smile at their children returning without any problems. “Welcome back, you two,” said Devon as he moved from the bedside to help his son with the food he had with him. Moving out of the eager Sara-Li’s way, he laughed at her desire to get to her mom with the book held above her head. “Found the library I am guessing?”
“We did!” Sara-Li answered, as she plopped the book down close to her mother before crawling in the bed with her. “And the man here found this book, and he gave it to me, so that he can teach me how to read it and use it!”
Jade-Li gave her husband a confused look before looking at the tome her daughter had picked up. “This is a beginner’s book on…healing spells.” Flipping through the pages a bit, she closed it before gazing at Sara-Li. “Are you sure you want to learn this? These studies will get pretty difficult the more they go on, sweetie.”
Sara nodded excitedly before gazing briefly at her brother. “I want to be able to help,” she admitted. “I want to be able to help Cyrus feel better—no matter how long it takes me.”
A friend of mine from deviantart started talking roleplay ideas and, later on down the line, we came up with this little number. While it has a Skyrim backdrop, that’s all I really have planned to use in terms of the ‘crossover’. Basically, I am just throwing Mobians into the mix while adding a bit of my own flair to this. The only thing you’d really need to google, if anything, is a Skyrim map to know what the layout looks like.
The family line in this story will go: Spectre, Sojourner, Thunderhawk, because that’s how it was plotted and that’s how Kuro prefers it. =)
Disclaimer: The Brotherhood of Guardians/Mobian critters © to Archie
Sara-Li, Luke, Jade-Li, Devon, Cyrus, and Troy © to KuroDeMangaKa
Naveah-Li © Joint custody Oreana/ KuroDeMangaKa
Random side characters © Oreana
Description: When the guardian archer mage, Thunderhawk, sets his eyes upon the healer Sara-Li, he finds himself in a bit of a deadly, treacherous triangle against Troy for her affection. (NC-17), (Thunderhawk x OC), (Crossover)
Musical Inspiration: “Crush” – David Archuleta
“Superstar” – S.H.E.
“Sea of Dreams” – Land of Forever
“I can Walk on Water, I can Fly” – Basshunter
Seeing himself miss again, the lilac echidna guardian expelled an annoyed sigh upwards as his blue eyes locked onto the handmade target he was attempting to hit perfectly with his arrows. Rolling his shoulders back a bit, Thunderhawk tried to loosen up as he placed the arrow back onto the string of his icy, enchanted bow. Both eyes open, the guardian reminded himself as he reopened his right eye slowly to have the target better come into view. Upon releasing the arrow, Thunderhawk was quick to open his mouth and release a blast of icy blue flame to magically engulf the tip of the arrow before it struck the target right in the chest area. A grin of accomplishment hooking his muzzle, he relaxed his stance. “Perfect,” he complimented to himself.
“Lord Thunderhawk,” came a familiar voice, prompting the guardian of Winterhold to turn his focus from practice to the approaching woman.
Smiling at the healer, the elder moved his bow to his back. “Floral-Ca,” he greeted, heading towards the purple echidna that had her curly, purple hair adorned in flowers, “why are you in such a rush all of a sudden?”
“Forgive me, my Lord, but I was asked to come and get you,” Floral-Ca said breathlessly, removing her hands from her gown she was wearing. “There appears to be trouble at the entrance to the college regarding a family that wishes to stay here.”
Thunderhawk’s playful smile turned into a serious frown. When it came to the mage’s college he resided within, a bit of the knowledge within it was concealed for a reason. There were all too many out there that could easily corrupt their magical teachings, and he had become very selective in who he brought into the stone made walls of the Winterhold College. “Why do they not merely take up residence within the village?” He asked, as he began to make his way through the large, iron bar doors to venture about the old bridge to the front of the college.
“They say there is no room for them,” Floral-Ca answered as she kept up with Thunderhawk’s brisk pace. “They tried the inn and they were hoping you would have an answer as to where they could stay since you’re the ruler here.”
It only took him making it to the middle brazier for Thunderhawk to hear the arisen voices at the end of the cobblestone built bridge. The two figures were soon coming into view with little help to the harsh blizzard that was raging a bit that night. Given his many years living in such harsh environment, Thunderhawk had gotten used to the icy chill in the air, so it fazed him very little.
“I am telling you, you are not welcome here!” growled the hooded mage, who was standing guard over the college’s entrance. The white tiger, eyes glowing with arcane magic, gestured back from whence the echidna male had come from. “Now—get out!”
“I am not leaving here until your ruler comes to see me,” the beige furred echidna retorted with a furious growl, showing he wasn’t going to back down. His wild, black hair, which was mostly covered in snow, shifted almost in his face when he saw the healer returning with a male he hadn’t seen before. The lilac echidna wasn’t wearing the emerald crown he was told the guardian rulers about Skyrim usually wore, but he could easily see the white, crescent mark upon Thunderhawk’s chest from the cobalt, sleeveless attire he was wearing. “Lord Thunderhawk!” He exclaimed, wishing he could get past the mage guard to meet with the elder, but he was stopped dead in his tracks from trying. “I must speak with you! My name is Devon, and my family—!”
Thunderhawk raised his hand to stop Devon from continuing, as he could tell the man was frantic. “Floral-Ca—June, I want you both to head back to the college. It’s too cold for the both of you to be out here,” he commented, trying to be pleasant though he was narrowing his eyes a bit at June’s behavior. Thunderhawk waited for the two to bow out respectfully until turning back to the visitor. “I apologize on my mage’s behalf. They know better than to force such actions without consulting with me first. Now, please, speak slowly. What is wrong?”
“My Lord…please,” Devon began once more, bowing slightly at the ruler, “I have a family that means more to me than anything. I just want a place for them more so than myself if that is what it takes.”
The guardian hadn’t noticed a family, making him wonder if Devon was either pulling his leg or had hid them somewhere. “Who do you have with you?”
“My wife, Jade-Li, my daughter Sara-Li, and my son, Cyrus,” Devon answered without hesitation. “The blizzard is really getting to them, and the inn turned us away as they have no rooms left, so I had to put them in the destroyed remains of a home nearby.”
Thunderhawk knew what he was talking about. There was a house not far from the entrance of the college that had been burned down by an ice dragon attack a few weeks ago and was never rebuilt. “Come with me,” he insisted, as the guardian headed towards the house he figured Devon was speaking of.
The top of the house had been completely demolished as well as a good bit of the eastern side of the building. Making his way cautiously over the frost burned planks, Thunderhawk could see the three Devon had mentioned curled up together in the northern corner of the once proud home in hopes staying there would keep them warm. Seeing the small daughter shivering in her mother’s arms with her older brother sacrificing his cape to his mother and sister, Thunderhawk hurried quickly over to them—his suspicions put to the side, as he could see Devon was being serious.
Grabbing the cloak that belonged to Cyrus, Thunderhawk handed it to the young boy who was getting awful frostbite from the look of things. “Take this son,” the elder ordered before removing his own dark colored blue cape to rewrap the two women and help them stand.
“Y-You’re going to freeze…you even have…s-short sleeves on…” Cyrus remarked wearily as the cold climate was getting to him.
Thunderhawk had escorted Jade-Li and their daughter over to Devon before turning back to the young boy. He had noticed earlier it was almost painful for Cyrus to move his fingers to grip his cape. “I have my ways,” he said vaguely, noticing that Cyrus’ hands were nearly frozen from the cold. With the cape back about the light-brown furred echidna with periwinkle hair, which matched his mother’s and sister’s fur and hair in color, Thunderhawk brought the boy’s hands close to his mouth to breathe upon it in hopes it would liven Cyrus’ fingers once more.
Cyrus had noticed that Thunderhawk’s breath was almost fire warm. He would have asked why that was, but his father was more eager to get them out of the storm and derailed the thought.
“Please, you have to let us into the college, my Lord,” Devon begged, as he held his wife and daughter close. “We won’t be a burden—I promise!”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Thunderhawk admitted as he motioned for Devon to follow him back to the school quickly. “We need to get you all out of the cold. Besides, there is more than enough room for you,” he called back to the stranger over the roaring, unforgiving wind.
Upon making it back into the Winterhold College, Thunderhawk helped them get situated at one of the empty rooms littered about the circular courtyard. It looked as though it were nothing to him as Thunderhawk did a quick gesture of his hand to light the candles lining the room with his magic to give the space more illumination. Getting Cyrus to one of the empty, wooden chairs, he hissed in dismay at the sight of the boy’s hands. “I might be able to help,” Thunderhawk muttered between them as he carefully took Cyrus’ left hand into both of his after he threw off his elbow length leather gauntlets and began to focus on his fire magic he had control over.
Feeling the unnatural warmth emit from Thunderhawk’s palms, Cyrus quickly pulled his hand back. While he had heard of mages and even saw the power they wielded out on the battlefield on occasion, he never had magic worked on him before. “H-How are you doing that…? You’re not going to burn me…are you?”
“I am versed in ice and fire magic,” the guardian answered, opening his hands again in hopes Cyrus would allow him to continue. “My fire is a bit stronger than my ice, however. I promise; I am not going to burn you. I can heat up my palms enough to warm you faster and better than you holding your hands close to these candles.” He did a ‘come hither’ motion with his fingers, waiting for Cyrus to comply.
“Son,” Devon’s low voice beckoned from across the room, as he had helped Jade-Li and Sara-Li down on the empty bed. When he caught his child’s eyes, he gave him a silent ‘go ahead’ look, as Devon wasn’t about to let his son lose his fingers to the harsh cold.
With Cyrus’ hand back within his own, Thunderhawk focused on trying to revitalize the fingers with what warmth he could give. If it were to be more severe, he’d have to see if any of the healers were available at the moment. “What brings you all out this way?” Thunderhawk asked, as he looked over his shoulder at Devon.
Jade-Li looked at her husband as she held the trembling Sara-Li close to her chest to try and continue to keep her daughter warm in Thunderhawk’s cobalt cape. “We are actually from Morrowind,” Jade-Li answered for a change, as she rubbed the attire against her child’s fur to try and relax her trembling. “Well, the island of Vvardenfell, to be precise.” Hearing a small whimper emit from Sara, the mother rest her chin upon the top of her child’s periwinkle blue hair with a tender shushing sound. “We were merely traveling to weigh our options beyond the island when we got caught up in the blizzard.”
Thunderhawk’s blue eyes shifted to the little six-year-old in Jade-Li’s arms. The look in that child’s violet eyes seemed to hold more fear than anything. “You traveled all the way from there to here?” He was trying to hide his shock in the matter given the distance. “Why would you desire to put yourselves through this? I know word travels far and wide—have you not heard of the sudden appearances of dragons here in Skyrim?”
“We were being taxed to death,” Devon answered as he did his best to remove the bits of snow that was still embedded in his black beard. “When you have a sick child, you try to really level out the money to make it work, but I was finding myself with less food on the table.” He rolled his shoulders with a somber sigh. “I would rather face the small possibilities of dragon attacks than the constant worry my family would starve to death.”
Turning his focus back to Cyrus, Thunderhawk removed his hands from the young boy’s. “How is that? Can you move your fingers?” He watched as Cyrus struggled for a second, but eventually he was able to do so. “Perfect,” praised the guardian quietly as he grabbed up a few bandages and medicine that one of the healers had made for soothing frostbite from the nearby cabinets to wrap the boy’s hands and arms a bit. “Just don’t overdo it. Your hands still need to heal from being out in the cold for so long.”
Turning to the others, he motioned about the room a bit to tell them where everything was upon retrieving his leather gauntlets. “The dining hall is located near the library, which is downstairs in the main building on your right as soon as you enter.”
“You have books?” Sara-Li finally asked, the six-year-old’s violet eyes looking over at Thunderhawk curiously.
Hearing the innocent question, the elder chuckled softly as he stroked his brown beard. “Yes, we have a wide selection of books on magic,” he answered, moving his hands to his knees to be more at par with Sara-Li’s height. “Do you like magic?”
Having Thunderhawk talk to her, she retreated back to holding onto her mother tightly with a small smile, which she hid behind her arm.
“She’s usually a lot more outspoken than this,” Devon admitted with a small laugh. “With all the traveling, we’ve met our fair share of good and bad people, so she’s closed up a bit and become quite shy.”
“It’s understandable,” Thunderhawk said, keeping his eyes on the little girl. “I promise, little Sara-Li; I won’t let anybody hurt you.” Reaching over for her, he gently rubbed her cheek with his index finger only to find her burying her face a bit more against her mother’s embrace. However, hearing the small giggle was enough to make the guardian realize she was merely being bashful.
Turning his focus back to Devon, he nodded at the man. “If you’re going to stay here, however, I have one piece of advice for you: be careful about what you do around town. Ever since the Great Collapse, the college has been blamed for Winterhold’s destruction and this village has become divided in that regard. Beyond that, you are welcome to stay here until you decide what it is you wish to do.”
Forgetting the title Thunderhawk held, Devon didn’t mind being bold enough to reach out and shake his hand eagerly. “I thank you, my Lord. If there is anything you need for me to do in return, I’ll do it,” he insisted.
Thunderhawk didn’t mind his title much, so being treated like he was another person on the street was almost welcoming for a change. Hearing Devon’s desire to make things even, the lilac echidna shook his head with a throaty chuckle. “I say, take care of your family. That’s all any man needs to do,” Thunderhawk commented as he placed his hand on top of Devon’s before attempting to leave the room.
“But your cape,” Jade-Li pointed out, removing it from about herself only halfway when she saw Thunderhawk refuse it from her with a simple shake of his hand. “Don’t you…want it? It’s quite cold.”
“When you’ve lived in this environment for more than hundred years, you tend to get used to the cold climate,” Thunderhawk partially lied. “You can keep it for awhile longer. At least until you find something warmer for yourselves.”
With the door closed behind the guardian, Devon turned to his family with a relieved sigh. Heading over to his son, he checked over Cyrus’ hands to make sure they were indeed alright. “Do they feel okay?” He asked the nine-year-old as he was careful in how he held the once frostbitten fingers against his palms.
“I feel fine, dad,” Cyrus insisted in the candlelit room. “I promise. Whatever it was he did made my hands easier to move.”
Devon had never felt prouder of his son as he held him close to his chest in a praising fashion at Cyrus trying to make sure his mom and sister were warm. “That is good your hands will heal. We wouldn’t want to have to cut them off,” he lightly teased to his eldest child.
“Devon!” Jade-Li scolded, even if she knew her husband was merely joking.
“What!” Devon exclaimed playfully back with a small laugh. “He knows I am just kidding!”
Cyrus shook his head with a roll of his eyes at his father’s comment. He had gotten very used to his father’s humor. If anything, it was one of those traits that hooked Jade-Li when it came to her times working at the local inn as a serving wench.
“How long are we going to stay here?” Sara-Li asked, refusing to move from her mother’s arms. She found the most comfort there with all the traveling they had been doing. The world was much bigger than she had expected it to be from just beyond her bedroom window back on the island.
“Until we can find a way to obtain more money,” Devon answered, putting on a more serious frown as he ran his fingers through his wild, black hair. “We have been running low lately, Sara. Since Lord Thunderhawk is being generous enough to let us stay here for free, we may end up just being here for awhile.”
Jade-Li had more pressing matters she wanted to talk to Devon about, but in private, as she figured these issues didn’t belong on her children’s shoulders. “Sara-Li-Cyrus—why don’t you two get some sleep? It’s been a long day, and you both have been through a lot.”
Cyrus was old enough to know what that meant and he hid his sorrowful sigh upon making it over towards his little sister while his parents excused themselves from the small room to head outside in the shared living space. “Let’s get you in bed, Sara,” Cyrus insisted, as he pulled back the green covers to help situate the small child underneath them.
“What about mommy and daddy?” she asked curiously, knowing there was something wrong in the way they were carrying themselves. To her, they seemed so beaten down.
“They’ll be back in a minute.” Since there was only the one bed to use, Cyrus merely gave a majority of it to Sara-Li as he rested beside her in a protective manner.
“Do you really find this wise?” Jade-Li asked beyond the closed door in a hushed tone. She wasn’t all too certain who was in the other rooms within that housing area of the college beyond themselves, and Jade-Li wasn’t about to get off on the wrong foot with those that had lived there longer than herself. “What are we going to do about Cyrus’ breathing issues? They may have healers here, Devon, but what if they cannot help him? This environment is going to hurt him more than heal him! The air—it’s so thin—!”
Holding onto his wife’s upper arms in a supported way, Devon tried to ground the woman he loved. “You always worry too much,” he teased tenderly, moving his hands to her cheeks to massage her there lovingly. “While this would be the last place I would have suggested we stay, this is our best option in the end. I don’t have enough money to put a roof over our heads again, and if I did, that would only last us so long.”
Reaching up to his wrists, she held onto him with a deep, nasally exhale. “Sometimes I feel you don’t worry enough,” she admitted seriously. “But…whatever you feel is best—,” Jade-Li paused and looked up at him with a loving smile, “—I will trust you as I always have.”
A crooked smile hooked onto Devon’s muzzle as he briefly threw his arms up into the air. “I haven’t let you down yet, have I?” Even if she wasn’t being too serious, the annoyed frown on Jade’s face was enough to make him laugh dismissively at his previous comment. “I am kidding, my love.”
“As always,” Jade-Li whispered as she leaned forwards to kiss her husband’s lower lip at first before deepening it a bit more in the sconces’ blue light.
--------
When the sun rose the next day, Sara-Li ended up venturing with her elder brother throughout their new ‘home’. When she wouldn’t stop talking about the library that the college had, Cyrus decided to give his parents some space to continue to plan out what they were going to do in terms of money while helping his little sibling to the Arcanaeum that Thunderhawk had mentioned the night before. Upon arriving, Cyrus had to admit that he had never seen so many books before in one place. It nearly made him dizzy just trying to stare upwards at the dome type structure of the building to take it all in.
Sara-Li as well was enamored by the sight of it all. When she realized it was all for them to look at, she giggled and hurried as quickly as she could to the first row of books she could reach for her height. A majority of the words she couldn’t pronounce at her age, but the beautiful bindings of the books captured her curious heart regardless and widened her desire to learn reading and writing a bit more. As she continued rolling her fingertips upon the spines of the books, Sara-Li stopped at one in particular. It had two words she recognized: Healing Spells.
Grabbing the leather bound book, Sara-Li struggled a bit with the weight of the tome. She pivoted on the ball of her foot only to spin around and run into somebody Sara-Li knew wasn’t her brother given the size of the person she accidentally hit. Trying to hide her embarrassment behind the book, she slowly looked upwards at the familiar face.
Thunderhawk looked down at the little one with a sweet smile. “Found your way to the Arcanaeum, did you now?” He asked as the guardian knelt down before her. “I had a feeling you might.” Looking at the book’s title upside down, Thunderhawk chuckled at the curious child. “A healer, are you?”
“No,” she answered, lowering the book just a little bit to gaze up at the elder a bit better. “I just wanted to look in it. I’ve never seen spell books before, and I like how healers help people.”
Seeing the twinkle in her eye, the elder couldn’t help but reach over and lightly mess up her short, periwinkle colored hair. “I am sure if you worked hard enough, you’d be one of the best, little one.”
Cyrus merely watched the two interact. Like his father had said, Sara-Li had become very selective in her speech ever since their journey from home. A part of him was worried she’d just stop talking at some point.
It took a second, but a smile eventually made its way across Sara’s face when realizing Thunderhawk was trying to be honestly kind. “You breathe fire, yes?” Sara-Li pried with a little giggle as she swayed back and forth with the large tome still in her hands.
Thunderhawk couldn’t help but laugh at Sara-Li’s question. He had become used to everybody in Winterhold knowing his abilities, so having someone actually be curious about his magic was once again new to the guardian. “I can,” he answered with a wink to the small child. “I learned from the dragons not too long ago when they started surfacing.”
Cyrus couldn’t tell if the guardian was being serious or merely joking, but upon seeing Sara-Li’s mouth open a bit wider in surprise, he merely smiled over at her before joining his sister’s side. “My sister has been curious about dragons,” said Cyrus as he placed his hand upon her shoulder. “We remind her that they are dangerous but, I don’t think that’s going to rid her of her curiosity.”
While Thunderhawk knew personally dragons weren’t something to be trifled with, he nodded understandingly at Cyrus. “Well, if either of you are interested in seeing one, I promise that you’ll be able to easily do so from the windows in the college. That way, you’ll both be a safe distance from them at the very least.”
“Has Winterhold seen dragons before?” Cyrus wondered, as he did notice that the house they were in last night was demolished in a way that would suggest a beastly attack of some sort.
“It has,” Thunderhawk answered as he ventured over to the third shelf to put back the book he had taken to his room a few nights ago and had meant to return. “They don’t attack too often, thankfully, but when they do, we try to make sure there are no casualties.”
“Will…we see dragons?” Cyrus pried a bit further, sounding a bit nervous in asking that question, but he couldn’t help but wonder if they would truly be safe there.
“Mostly from afar,” the ruler answered as he made his way to the other side of the room to hunt for something else to read. “Since they started appearing about Skyrim, I’ve only had to fight off two dragons so far. Hearing from my family, however, I’ve heard they’ve had to endure a higher number—namely Whiterun, Riften, and Dawnstar.” Seeing the slight worry on the young boy’s face, Thunderhawk waved the thought away. “I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. Dragons mostly roam about the nearby woods and only bother to come to the villages once in awhile.”
Sara-Li had managed to find an empty table in the room, making her drop the book down on the table before jumping up on the chair to start looking at the first page with a confused look. The words that were written upon the pages didn’t make sense to her, and it was proving a challenge just trying to piece some of the words together. Her mother had tried to spend time with her to teach her to read and write better, but the lessons had thinned when Cyrus’ breathing issues had become more apparent.
“What’s the matter, little one?” Thunderhawk asked, as he noticed the concerned look on Sara-Li’s face. All he had to do was look at the type of writing on that first page to make him wince a bit. “That book might be a bit too difficult for you to read,” he insisted, placing his fingertips on the first page.
“Can you read it to me?” Sara-Li asked boldly, not understanding all too well the position the elder had over where they currently resided.
Thunderhawk chuckled as he moved his gloved fingers from the book Sara had open. “I am not sure when I would be able to find the time, but I can try if you’re that interested. However—,” Thunderhawk gestured at the book, “—may I?”
Sara-Li removed her hands from the spell book to allow the guardian to take it from her. She watched as he put the book back before grabbing up another one that was a bit skinner than the previous tome.
“My own daughter started off with this one when she was getting into the healing arts at your age,” Thunderhawk commented, sliding it slowly over towards Sara-Li. “I think this might be easier for you to understand.”
“It might not be,” Cyrus reluctantly commented, as he knew reading and writing was a trade that most people knew of the middle and upper classes. “Our mom is trying to teach her, but she’s been having a hard time finding the time to do so with other things getting in the way.” Cyrus didn’t want to implicate himself in the matter, as he knew it might upset his sister.
Seeing the shame in both their eyes, Thunderhawk attempted to lighten the mood. “I’ll tell you what,” he began tenderly to Sara-Li, “if this is something you desire to look into, I’m normally free about noon or so. If your parents feel alright about it, I can work on teaching you how to read and write a bit better as well as understand the healing spells a bit more.”
“A-Are you sure…?” Sara-Li asked, as she still had her small hands on the binding of the book Thunderhawk had given to her.
“I am sure,” the guardian responded without hesitation. “Besides, not much goes on around here, and when it does, you’ll just have to forgive me excusing myself on occasion to handle things.” He moved Sara-Li’s periwinkle blue hair out of her way with a smile. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”
Excitement easily erupted in Sara-Li’s small form, as she reached for the ruler to embrace him tightly about the neck. “Thank you!” Her little voice exclaimed as her tail thumped against the wooden chair she was upon.
Cyrus wasn’t sure why Sara-Li was suddenly so fixated on becoming a healer, so he ignored the thought for now. “Sara?” He called, interrupting the moment, as he reached for his sister. “We better get going. Also, we better bring something back for mom and dad to eat as well before we head back to the room.”
When Sara-Li slid off of the chair and nearly left without the book he had offered her, Thunderhawk grabbed it up and beckoned her back to him. “You might want to take this with you, Sara-Li,” the guardian insisted, passing the book back off to her. “Next I see you, I plan on going over it with you.” Remembering what Cyrus had said, he motioned down the other hallway. “You can get what you desire from the dining hall. Just be quick as they will be cleaning that table off soon enough before preparing for dinner later on.”
With a ‘thanks’ and a slight bow to Thunderhawk, Cyrus took his sister by the hand and guided her down to the dining hall before they made their way back to the room they had been given. Knocking on the door first, he pushed it open slowly as he could hear his parents speaking in low voices to one another about nothing in particular, so he knew he wasn’t interrupting anything.
Devon and Jade-Li looked over at the door with a smile at their children returning without any problems. “Welcome back, you two,” said Devon as he moved from the bedside to help his son with the food he had with him. Moving out of the eager Sara-Li’s way, he laughed at her desire to get to her mom with the book held above her head. “Found the library I am guessing?”
“We did!” Sara-Li answered, as she plopped the book down close to her mother before crawling in the bed with her. “And the man here found this book, and he gave it to me, so that he can teach me how to read it and use it!”
Jade-Li gave her husband a confused look before looking at the tome her daughter had picked up. “This is a beginner’s book on…healing spells.” Flipping through the pages a bit, she closed it before gazing at Sara-Li. “Are you sure you want to learn this? These studies will get pretty difficult the more they go on, sweetie.”
Sara nodded excitedly before gazing briefly at her brother. “I want to be able to help,” she admitted. “I want to be able to help Cyrus feel better—no matter how long it takes me.”