The Shadress (MCD x Reader)

Ch. 12- No Place Like Home

There was a large splash from the pond in front of me, the ripples caused by the large stone falling flat after a bit of time. I huffed with the exertion, my anger not helping my breathing even out. With the back of my hand, I wiped my forehead dry, my workout shaking my muscles.

It's been a full night without any sign of my brother or Zane.

I thought they would've been here by now, but I realized early this morning that I was played. They must've gone somewhere near but not to Phoenix Drop. I can only hope that they didn't go to New Meteli.

I had taken my anger out on the boulders outside the village walls, several of them split or now displaced. The pond is more full than it was when I started. My palms sting with the grip I had on my pickaxe and the rocks.

I pull out a gauze from my bag along with a salve. Gently pressing the ointment into my skin, I wrap the forming blisters with a tight pressure. It staves off the pain.

The rest of the group was supposed to be back earlier this morning, but are not. Cadenza is their friend, so I'm not too pressed about the change of schedule; they likely just want to talk with her longer. I don't know what I'm going to do if pressed about why I left; Zane didn't end up coming so it wouldn't be the most pressing issue at hand.

Staring at my – now-wrapped – palms, I'm trying to decide what to do when I catch a figure at the edge of the clearing. If it weren't for the semi-visible aura lining his figure, I would've tried to draw a weapon. "Vylad." I nod at him.

"You seem to have released your emotions on the nearby nature," he says with a little quirk in his voice. "Did something happen?" As he steps forward, Vylad glances around the area; his eyes landing on my cloak and bag on a nearby rock before falling back upon me.

"Zane never showed."

He hums, a sign for me to continue.

"I was so sure that he was, I felt... his aura and everything. But that- that bastard played me." I gesture my arms as I speak, a slight pain pulsing through the sore limbs.

Vylad walks closer, staying clear of my waving arms. "If he was close enough for you to feel his aura, you would've seen him." I freeze, not realizing that Vylad remembered my explanation of auras. "I'm not pressing for what really caught your attention, but don't lie to me."

I purse my lips. "Fine, so I didn't feel his aura," I dropped the shadows from my face, "but I had substantial evidence that suggests he was in the area." Tiredly I drop my hands to my side and study how Vylad is looking at me.

It's perplexing. "It's been a long time since I've seen your face, Y/N."

I frowned. "That's not what I wanted you to notice."

– – – – –

A hammock is where Aphmau had found me when they returned. I had tied the rope to a pair of trees that sat next to her house, positioned just perfectly for the wind to gently rock me. It was brief, but I had managed to get some rest before I had been interrupted. "Shade?" Her voice delicately called out to me despite my disappearance. I don't deserve to be in her life for a second time.

My response was a hum.

"Where have you been? There- There was an attack in Meteli. Laurence and Katelyn blame you."

I opened my eyes to find the sun on its way down. Aphmau was standing in front of her door, so I stood from my resting spot and walked over. "I've been here. Almost the entire time. What do you mean there was an attack?" I stopped, but before she could respond I continued, "Are you hurt? Who attacked you?"