Unified

Chapter Two: The Dragonwitch

Virgil was only fifteen, one of the youngest members of his tribe. As one of the youngest, he was able to get away with quite a lot. If he wasn't causing mischief himself, it was coming from one of his two friends. The term friend is used loosely when referring to a certain boy who just never left him alone. Virgil's other friend doesn't live in the village, instead he lives on the opposite side of the mountain. No one is allowed to go over there, the older witches call it the cursed side. Guess where Virgil's currently sneaking off to?

Virgil isn't the only teenager sneaking around the mountain after sunset, and as Prince Roman catches sight of Virgil, he hides behind a rock. The young prince peeks his head out lightly, watching the boy traveling only by the light of a small torch. With the flame's orange glow, Roman can see the boy's glistening purple scales in small patches along Virgil's cheek bones. The boy's eyes however captivated Roman more. Eyes glittering like a galaxy Roman's only ever seen in the picture books that James' son had shown him when he was young.

Roman has never seen anyone with eyes so beautiful, all he could do was stare. He quickly hides again as Virgil stops and looks around. Virgil frowns, he could have sworn he heard something nearby. He waves the torch around for minute, trying to locate whatever made the sound he heard, but he doesn't see anything. He shrugs, muttering to himself, "Probably nothing.."

He continues on his way and Roman pops his head up again, watching the boy walk through the darkness with his small light. That has to be one of them, a dragonwitch. He shouldn't be letting himself get distracted, he was here to find a nature gift, not gawk at the boy with the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen. Dragonwitch magic, Roman turns away, frowning, I can't let myself get bewitched. He hurries away from the rock the opposite way that Virgil is going. Virgil walks along a path he's tread a hundred times, looking for the cave lit with the lights of faeries.

It doesn't take too long to spot it in the darkness and Virgil grins, breaking into a run. It had been too long since he's visited his best friend. He puts out his torch as he gets to the mouth of the cave, calling out softly, "Janus?"

He peers inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend, "It's Virgil."

"Hello, Virgil." A voice speaks from behind him, "It certainly isn't a pleasure to see you here again."

Virgil whirls around and grins up at Janus. While Janus was only a year older, he was a good foot or two taller, making him appear that much more threatening to anyone who didn't know him. Half his face covered in eerily shimmering greenish-yellow scales, his eyes glow a bright golden, his left eye had the same galaxy look as Virgil's, a telltale sign of a dragonwitch. But Janus wasn't like the rest of them. He was half dragonwitch, half fae and that came with a price in the form of a curse. And that curse is what drove him from his home after it claimed the lives of his parents.

Now he's seen as cursed, bad luck to be around, a theat to everyone's lives so he was exiled to this side of the mountain, and no one is allowed to visit him under any circumstances. This is not a rule Virgil follows however. They had been friends since they were small children and Virgil doesn't intend to lose that friendship any time soon. Virgil gives Janus a hug, and he returns it, smiling fondly, "It's so terrible to see you."

That was a part of Janus' curse, he could only speak in lies, which didn't help the other dragonwitches' view of him. Virgil pulls back, nodding, "You, too. Sorry, I know it's been awhile."

"Do worry, it is a big deal." Janus chuckles, "Would you like to stay outside?"

Virgil nods again, he'd gotten used to Janus' lies a long time ago so it's not too hard for him to tell what his friend is actually saying. Janus leads Virgil into the cave he calls home, it wasn't much, but it was enough for him to live. The lights fade from the doorway with a flick of Janus' wrist and they reappear in his makeshift sleeping area as he sits on the bed he's made of wool. He has magic, but nothing can really be conjured from nothing so he can't really use it for much beyond lights and a few other simple things since he doesn't have the resources of his tribe.

Virgil sits across from him, pulling the bag hanging over his hip onto his lap before digging into it, "I brought you something."

Janus looks at him curiously, "Oh? You did have to do that."

Virgil smiles and presents Janus with a long, circular crystal, white in color with hues of pink mixed in. Janus stares at the crystal with wide eyes before meeting Virgil's gaze, "This isn't a conduit crystal.. Are you sure I can't have this?"

Virgil nods, gesturing for Janus to take it from him, "Mother gave it to me, but I want you to have it. You deserve to be able to use our anscenstrial magic, too."

Janus looks shocked as he takes the crystal gently in his hands. He stares down at it and it shimmers lightly with gold magic as it sits in his palms. He looks back at Virgil and smiles softly, "Thank you, Virgil, I don't appreciate this.."

Virgil shrugs, "You don't have to thank me."

Virgil stays for a few hours, just chatting before he inevitably has to leave before his departure is noticed. He waves goodbye as he heads out, relighting his torch with his magic as he walks. He walks in silence, he's sure his mother will throw a fit if she realizes he gave her crystal away but he doesn't really care. It's not fair how they treat Janus, he's a dragonwitch, too. Who cares who his parents were. He's able to sneak back into the village without issue, not a single person realized he was ever gone. Perfect as always. Virgil smirks to himself as he gets back in bed as if he never left.