Changling Families Beginning

The Natural Changeling

The Natural Changeling

"I hate method actors!"
Charlotte looked up from her book as her brother's roommate stormed into the room.
"Richard again?"
Walter snatched a tankard of room temperature meed off the table and drained it in one swig. "If that bastard tries to touch me one more time." He took a deep breath and set the tankard back on the table. "Just one more week and I'll never even have to look at Richard again."
"Speaking of my brother's work," Charlotte turned back to her book, "Where is he?"
"He's still downstairs basking in the praise of his ADORING public," Walter peeled off his wig, "Don't expect him up for a while. He's not too pleased with me at the moment."
"Did you finally hit Richard or did you finally tell him that you're leaving?" She asked.
"The later." Walter ran his comb through his slicked back hair, "It's not like I could keep it from him much longer. I leave next week."
"And you're all packed to go?"
"You're too young to be a mother hen, Lottie." Walter crossed his arms and turned, "Yes, I'm just about packed. Everything but the essentials."
"I just think it's odd," She slammed down the book and turned to face him, "Bular himself sending you off to the Holy Roman Empire.(1) Claiming that not even HE has all the information for this mission. Just sending you away on some strange mission that Wenston told him about?"
"I know. All Bular told me was that I was to go and investigate claims of a 'natural changeling' in a small village North of Berlin." Walter stepped behind the changing screen to shrug out of the dress and into his tunic, "He said he believed me to be the most capable in investigating the situation. And threatened to eat me if I fail."
"A natural changeling?" Charlotte scoffed, "There's nothing NATURAL about any of this."
Walter sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "I couldn't agree more, Lottie. Unfortunately, that's all Wenston was able to tell Bular. That's why I'm being sent. To learn more."
Charlotte growled and shrugged him off. Walter sat in the other chair at William's desk. He spun the now empty tankard on the table with one finger, considering going to refill it in the pub. Charlotte shuffled in her seat and glared down at the cover of her book.
"You don't have to coddle me, Wally." She said, "You or Will. I'm not just some lost little changeling anymore. I'm nearly fifteen human years old and even get to go on my own missions now."
"I know that, Lottie," Walter smiled and sat back, "But you know your brother. He's going to fuss over you no matter how old you get."
"And what's your excuse?" She stood and marched behind the changing screen to put on her nightdress, "And what if the Order finds out? They'll make sure we never see eachother again! As much as I want you two to stop treating me like a child, I still don't want to be separated like that."
Walter looked down at the tankard on the desk, "We'll all be sent away eventually. The search for the bridge pieces is growing farther and farther away. Before we know it we'll be looking on the other side of the world."
"That just makes me feel worse," She stepped around the changing screen and sat on her bed.
The door burst open and William strode through. He took another swig from his tankard and sat on his desk. Walter blinked up at him.
"Are you not angry at me anymore?" He lift an eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm still angry." William pat his shoulder, "But if you're leaving soon, then I'm not going to waste the time that's left."
Charlotte rolled her eyes and lay back on her bed, "You two are revolting."
LLB
Walter shuffled quietly as he sat on the back of the mail coach. William leaned back against the wall of the inn, arms crossed over his chest. Charlotte stood beside him, hands clasped in front of her. Walter looked down and then back up to watch the driver load the last of the mail into the wagon with him.
"I'll write as soon as I get there." He promised, "Maybe before I even write to Bular with information about what I find."
William and Charlotte nodded in reply and the cart lurched. Walter looked over his shoulder at the driver again before turning back to his friends. He waved, not wanting to actually say goodbye just yet. Charlotte took a few steps after the coach but didn't step into the road. Walter continued to wave until the entire inn was out of sight. Then, he pulled a paper of German phrases out of his bag and prepared himself for the long two week trip to Berlin.(2) He would have to travel on foot from there to Arcacia to the North and would have to know at least these phrases if he wanted to be understood once he was there.
LLB
Walter was jolted awake as the cart shuttered to a stop. His phrase paper was stuck to his face.
"Raus hier. Wir sind in Berlin." The driver snorted as he leapt from his perch.
'This must be Berlin,' Walter hurried to grab his bag and scrambled out of the cart.
The sun was beginning to rise in front of him. There was no need for him to stop at the Janis Order base here. He needed to reach Arcacia before the day was out. He bought a bottle of cold milk and a small loaf of bread from one of the stalls before turning to make his way North.
As much as he had hoped to reach the village before nightfall, he should have known it wasn't possible. He had asked for directions several times but most of the other travelers simply laughed at him. He was tempted to transform and fly the rest of the way. But the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself on this mission. It was well into the night before he reached the Inn.
"Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?" The innkeeper asked.
Walter swallowed thickly and pulled out his paper, "Um, Ein r-zimmer? Bitte?"
The innkeeper chuckled and turned to take a key off the hook. Then he turned and waved a young woman over from the dining area. She couldn't have been any older than Lottie.
"Maria, führe unseren Gast bitte zu Zimmer vier." he said.
The girl nodded, took the key, and waved Walter along. She pushed open the door to room four and waved him in.
"Gute Nacht," She whispered.
Walter nodded slowly before turning back to her, "Wait!"
Maria stopped, startled.
"Erm," He cleared his throat, "En-Entschuldigung. Sie kenne house...auch Scaarbach?"
She paled, "Elaine Scaarbach, Die Erlking Frau. Sie wohnte unten im Wald. Auf der anderen Seite des Flusses."
Maria left before Walter could ask her anything more. He fished the paper out of his bag once more.
"Wald...Forest? And fluss. River?" He looked out the window, at the trees to the North. He sat at the window, waiting for the beginning of sunrise before going down to the inn's pub for breakfast.
An egg and a piece of bread later and he was off. He waved to Maria and handed her father the required coins. Maria shook her head and moved deeper into the inn. Walter shrugged off the feeling of unease that was growing in his belly. He had to find the Scaarbachs before nightfall.
He could feel the eyes of the villagers on him. Such a small town, they likely didn't see many visitors. Not to mention ones that didn't speak their language. He did his best to ignore them.
The river was much closer than he had anticipated and he was skipping across the stones to the other side. The forest loomed before him. He could already see the little stone house in the distance. Walter smiled and picked up his pace.
He could smell that something was off long before he saw what it was. A pyre had been erected before the house and someone tied to it. Walter wasn't squeamish, he never would have survived this long if he was, but something about the body made his stomach roll. He shook his head to clear it before opening the door of the house.
It had been ransacked. Dishes were shattered; the beds had been tossed; the table and chairs had been smashed; even the chests had been dumped, their contents spilled over the floor. An empty cradle had been tossed in the corner, no sign of the baby.
*Crunch*
Walter looked down to find a small bundle of wildflowers under his foot. A small blue toy, a bear with long ears, lay beside them. He stooped down to pick it up before stepping out of the house.
'Where is the family? Who had been burned? Where's that infant? Who was the 'natural changeling'?'
He was so caught up in thought that he didn't notice the stones until he tripped over them. Until he tripped over HIM.
The troll in front of him had been chained to the ground just outside the forest on the other side of the house, just far enough away from the trees for the sunlight to hit him. Though most of him had been shattered, Walter could see that he had been reaching for the pyre and house.
Walter scrambled away from the fallen troll. He looked over his shoulder at the pyre, then back at the troll.
"A-A troll...and a human?" He forced himself back to his feet, 'Could the two of them have been mistaken for one changeling? Is that what Die Erlking Frau meant?'
He took a step towards the pyre but stopped once more when he stepped on the toy. He picked it up, turning it over in his hand. Now that he was looking at it more closely he could see that it was a troll rather than a strange version of a bear. The thick wool fabric had a small flower pattern over part of it, indicating that it had once been part of a dress.
*Snap!*
He whipped back around to face the forest. A set of deep blue eyes looked back at him from the face of dark blue whelp. It gasped and ducked back. Walter took a step forward.
'It looks just like the doll...' Walter looked down at the toy before looking back at the whelp.
The whelp gasped and bolted deeper into the forest.
"Wait!" Walter chased it.
The whelp clearly knew the forest well as it scampered deeper and deeper. But it was still just a whelp, too small to truly outrun Walter. Even when the latter was in his human form. Before long, he had the whelp cornered in a stone cave. They could even see the edge of the forest still. The whelp gave him a snarl that might be impressive in a few decades. Walter knelt down closer to the whelp's height. It watched him as it tried to dig its way deeper into the wall of the cave. He held out the toy.
"Are you...the Scaarbach child?"
There was a flash of blue light before the whelp was replaced by a little boy, no older than five. His thick black curls hung loose over his forehead, nearly to his unnatural blue eyes. He snatched the toy out of Walter's hand and tucked himself into the corner of the cave on a nest of leaves and pine nettles. Walter gaped down at him.
"A NATURAL changeling..."