chainless DISCONTINUED

5 - Heir

trigger warnings // mentions of blood, derealization, and injury.

-

The dice of chance are rolled, the probability of survival slim.

And yet, here he laid at the campsite, still dead asleep. Rolled up in a sleeping bag and many fuzzy blankets. The group of three, Meredith, Cali, and Techno, refused to leave his side as he slept. Fighting off any fatigue, and kept watch during the night. They weren't going to allow anything or anyone to harm him.

Meredith remembers the looks on the scouts' faces that had accompanied them to the institution, the smiles of pure joy, the bliss reflecting in their eyes... Everything. It was amazing to witness. The mage and the two hybrids had split off from the rest of the group, to head directly back to Merri- while the scouts were in charge of getting the hybrids to a more suitable place for them. One of the few sanctuaries available in this world that strictly helps hybrid children.

Two different paths, but all held the same purpose, saving the hybrid children.

In his case, however...

"I wonder what he is like." Mumbled Cali, sparking up a conversation, "I mean, someone must have cared about him enough to hide him away like that, to save him from the fire." Techno grumbles under his breath, "Stay quiet, let him rest, we will find out when he is awake."

"Oops sorry! I was just thinking out loud." Cali apologizes quickly, not wanting to accidentally start a discourse. "You're fine. He is just tired from the long day." Meredith begins, shaking her head, "It isn't anything against you." Cali nods, looking away from her and back to the sleeping child. He is sleeping the night away peacefully. They had already checked with a medical scout they brought along with them, and the boy was fine, just some smoke inhalation. In which, they were able to successfully expel from his lungs without waking him.

He deserved to get as much rest as he could right now because they all knew that once he steps into that castle, his life will become a part of the royal family's- he is the last living heir to the throne that is of age. "I have been meaning to ask..." Cali trails off, starting another conversation. Meredith tilts her head as Techno leans forward, grabbing a piece of log and putting it into the campfire. "Yes?"

"I have never heard of a hybrid being in the royal family before. Where did he come from?"

"He isn't related to the royal family by blood." Meredith begins, "Instead, by inheritance of a title. The last living heir, a woman named Sirai, was by blood. Before Morbus and Merri were split and were once whole, the kingdom came down under a terrible disease- a plague. They couldn't figure out a way to save everyone, so instead, they sent the diseased and sick away into the western part of the kingdom. Mages separated the body of land by creating a deep trench, splitting them apart. That is how Morbus came to be." Cali leans forward in the progress of Meredith's explanation, interest has peeked. "Was this woman sent away too?"

"Not her specifically, just her ancestors were. It wasn't just the citizens who got sick, also parts of the royal family did. They were sent away into Morbus. We searched for the remaining family members besides Sirai... But, as far as we know, they are likely dead; Sirai was the last survivor before she passed, and gave her title to the boy in a documented will." Meredith glances at Ra in the sleeping bag. The three didn't know his name yet, or what he was called by others in the institution. In the documents they found, when he first arrived there was vague, and with no name attached to it besides the 'sheep hybrid' characterization.

"I wonder what that must have been like..." Cali states in response, trailing off as they collect more of their thoughts, "I mean, you are a part of the royal family, a family that is close and supposed to always have your back, how would you deal with them suddenly sending you away?"