The Other Clans

Practice

The sun set on Manhattan and the now combined gargoyle clan broke from their stone slumber. Lilias hopped down and started to stretch out her limbs. She didn't get very far though due to two particular males.

"Lilias, I've got to see you breath fire!" Gillian said excitedly. Brooklyn stood just behind him.

"It'd be a good idea to practice anyway," Brooklyn added. Lilias stared at the two.

"Guys I don't know how I did it in the first place," she told them flatly. "How am I going to figure something out that I've done by chance only twice?"

"You can fly, can't you?" Ivar asked as he passed by.

"Wha-" Lilias realized what he was getting at. "Touche."

"So..." Gillian trailed off expectantly with a grin. Brooklyn also looked excited for her to answer.

"Ok, we can go practice my ability," she relented. Both of the guys cheered and gave each other a high five. "We have to find a secluded place though. I don't want anyone else seeing us, and I don't want to accidentally set anything on fire."

"I know just the place," Brooklyn said, hopping up on the stonework beside her. For some inexplicable reason, the fire in the pit of her stomach fluttered pleasantly at his close proximity, but she refused to let it show on her face. He gestured for them to follow before jumping off the building. Gilian and Lilias followed close behind. Lilias relished the cold night air as it ran over her skin. She looked down at her palms and remembered holding the bars without a problem while they had burned Hudson. Questions ran rampant through her mind and she almost missed Brooklyn's and Gillian's decent to an abandoned section of river bank. "Here we are," Brooklyn told them as he waved a hand around at the dark around them. Lilias smiled and nodded.

"This'll do nicely." She turned away only to turn back not a moment later. "Now what?" Gilian and Brooklyn glanced at each other before looking at her.

"We... don't know," Gillian admitted.

"How did you feel when you fired at MacBeth?" Brooklyn asked.

"I felt... desperate." She thought back to that night and felt her anger start to mount merely at the memory. "And angry," she growled, "furious even."

"Why were you angry?" Brooklyn prompted and Lilias turned away to hide the murderous look that still lingered.

"Because he was about to hurt those I care about and I was not ok with that."

"Why do you care?" he questioned curiously.

"While there may be more gargoyles where we come from, there are only the fourteen of us here. I wasn't about to let that number be diminished in any way, shape, or form. Especially by a no good, dirty rotten human like that."

"You said it," Gillian growled. Brooklyn looked at them both with an expression that was parts curiosity and shock.

"What?" Lilias asked Brooklyn, wondering why he looked at them as if they had grown another head.

"You two are just so... fascinating?" He said it as if that wasn't quite the word he was looking for.

"How so?" Gillian tilted his head in confusion.

"Well, we haven't know each other for that long yet you guys are willing to protect us with your lives."

"We're all gargoyles. Why wouldn't we?" Gillian said simply.

"Yeah, well not every gargoyle shares your ideas," Brooklyn mumbled under his breath, but Lilias heard him clearly.

"Who?" she questioned even as she felt the fire crawl up her throat.

"What?" Both males said at the same time. Gillian hadn't caught Brooklyn's comment and was confused by the sudden question. Brooklyn was surprised that she had even heard him.

"I asked who." Lilias felt the same anger that she had when MacBeth had almost killed the others.

"A gargoyle from our old clan." Brooklyn turned with a huff of air. "She tricked us into helping her and Xanatos steal some technology. She then tried to kill us." That was the last straw for Lilias.

"Why would anyone...especially from..." she growled in frustration and tilted her head back and roared into the night sky, venting her anger as well as a steady stream of flame.

"Woah," Gillian said in awe at the sight.

"You said it," Brooklyn agreed. Lilias shut off the fire and turned back to them with a irritated expression.

"Whoever that jerk is, she better hope that she and I don't ever meet," she growled.

"So... can you only do that when you're angry?" Gillian asked carefully.

"I don't know. So far, yes," Lilias replied hotly.

"Why don't you concentrate and see if you can still do it," he suggested. Lilias merely nodded before tilting her head back and blowing into the air. A small ribbon of fire split the air. "You can do better than that," Gillian challenged with a smile.

"I'd love to see you so better," Lilias shot back. Brooklyn was worried that she was serious, but he was relieved by the wry grin that played on her lips.

"I probably could... if I could breathe fire that is."

"Oh please," Lilias said as she rolled her eyes, "we all know that I can hone my abilities better than basically anyone."

"Prove it," Gillian challenged. Lilias tilted her head back once again in a silent roar. Flames spewed from her mouth before fading into the night.

"Is that enough proof?" Lilias asked with a smirk. Gillian laughed and nudged her shoulder.

"Yeah," he told her. "But I'm still the better looking one."

Lilias didn't respond immediately; she just pat his shoulder as if she was comforting a child. "Whatever helps you sleep at dawn."

"Hey!" Gillian exclaimed, but they all laughed at the conversation. Lilias suddenly stopped and looked up into the dark sky. Something sparkled faintly above them in the moonlight.

"What?" Brooklyn asked.

"Nothing," she told him with a tight smile. "Probably just my imagination. Let's head back to the clocktower."