The Dormant One

Blood and Vines

A few hours had gone by in the Fae world, only a matter of minutes in the human world and Hydrangea had finally passed out due to the exhaustion. Novus' eyes darted to the trees to his left as branches cracked, a timid looking bear stepping out to watch them carefully. What was it with Dre and these creatures being drawn to her? He wondered if it was the same in the human world. The ordinary looking brown bear sat itself a metre away from them, showing no ill will. The dragon raised its tiny head and glanced over at the bear before climbing back into the bag. It seemed the little one was ready to go home. Novus decided that it was for the best, the hunt was over, it had been for about an hour judging by the lack of shouts and screams. He carefully stood up, grunting slightly in pain from his wounds. He was trying not to wake the sleeping female in his arms. His wounds had yet to heal and so sadly, his blood had seeped into her once white outfit. The bear stood up again and seemed to be leading them back to the portal which was interesting. A human had inspired such kindness and even excitement in his home world, he had to gain answers as to how, but her safety was his priority. Not only had he promised Dre that he would protect her, he had also promised Leighla that he would. He was the type to always keep a promise. The moon overhead had already begun to lower, making the forest seem much darker and more threatening in comparison. That was ok, the darkness felt like home, so it was that he continued to follow the bear. A step faltered now and then, she was a little heavier than she looked and even more so given his wounded state, not to mention the uncomfortable feeling on his arm from where it was crossing near the mark on her back. He wondered how she could have been unaware that it was there, but she was, so asking her about it would do him no good at all.

Reaching the glade in which the hunt had begun, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky. Novus wanted to wake his little human, to show her how much more magical his home world looked whilst bathed in sunlight, but chose not to. Neither of them were in a fit state to watch the sun rise. The golden fox that Hydrangea had met when she first came here was standing at the portal, amethyst eyes watching closely. The black wolf had to step over a human body, not wanting to look at it, he didn't need or welcome guilt that shouldn't be his to feel. It wasn't like he had killed the human after all. He was hungry, he was tired and he was in pain, yet here he was, meeting yet another of Dre's animal friends. A slight pang of jealousy hit him, he wasn't the only one drawn to her. He shook his head though, she had chosen him, that meant more, it had to. Quickly having to hold the human tighter as his legs buckled, he fell to his knees before he had made it through the portal. Looking down, his expression softened to see her still sleeping peacefully. Putting a leg forward, his face tightened as he strained to stand again. She was counting on him to be strong here, well that was the way he saw it. In truth, she wasn't even aware that they had moved. He managed to get them through the portal, falling back to his knees on the other side.

Leighla had been pacing back and forth in front of the portal, waiting for news on her best friend. She was aware of the movement of time in the Fae world, she felt every second of it. Seeing Novus come through and fall to his knees, her sapphire eyes fell to the unconscious figure of her friend, the once white outfit, red. Tears risked falling as she fell to her knees in front of them, fearing the worst. Her hands hovered over her friend, afraid to touch her, to feel her warmth gone. As she looked at Novus, his eyes shone with pride and exhaustion, making tears of joy and relief fall from her eyes in place of the pain that could have easily fallen. She was alive. Placing a gentle hand on the wolf's cheek, she kissed his forehead in thanks, which also seemed to give him a small shot of energy. He pushed himself up once more, Leighla following suit and with her support, got back into the large cabin. The foyer was filled with Fae who turned to look at them and a mass of cheers erupted. They were quickly hushed by Illy who had noticed that Dre was sleeping. The Raven came forward and went to take Hydrangea, only to receive a possessive and protective growl. "Don't be stubborn, hand her over before you fall over." He spoke for probably the first time that night, causing the little dragon to wake up and pop out of the shoulder bag. He flew over to Illy, hugging into her as she caught him. "Dwight? I told you to stay home, you could have gotten hurt." She lectured but sighed, simply relieved that he was ok.