Growing Up

Everything was new, from the snow to the mountains that seemed to take over what he was learning was the Lowlands, his mother’s origins. He wanted to be happy, he wanted to run around like the enthusiastic child he had always been but no matter how hard he tried, a pit was housed tightly in his stomach as he migrated away from his family. He needed to cry and he didn’t want them to see him drowning in his own tears that drained down his cheeks, staining the pale fur there a darker hue. Why were all his Aunts and Uncles dead? Nassar had been the first to that reality when he had seen her body, watched the culture of his Tiamat family light her ablaze at the forefront of the funeral. It took him a little while to understand what death meant, if he was being honest with himself. He had been confused searching for her along the manse until her ghost entertained him but that had to have just been a dream. Ghosts weren’t real. Magic wasn’t real. Mother had told him of an aunt and uncle he had never met, grandparents he would never know, all having died well before he was born to this world. Birth and death seemed to go hand in hand. There was no escaping either to exist ever in this world. He had a hole in his heart for those that died and a yearning to pay them as many respects as he could as he grew up. He wanted to be that steppingstone between worlds like the family pyromancers and soon he’d be old enough to officially become an acolyte. He was both excited to start that dream next season, but he equally feared failing at it and disappointing those he only wished to assist in death. A sigh escaped him as he continued to wander further north than he realized, completely missing the scent markers that indicated where Saora began. Keep close, within eyesight. He was quickly realizing he had gone too far and was bridging a place he wasn’t supposed to be. He went to turn around, his ears flicking as he caught scents that reminded him of the man that attacked him. His brows scrunched looking for the half face that followed his nightmares ever since until he would glance back and see how short his tail had become. It hadn’t grown with him the past few months, looking more like that of a rabbit. Those thoughts tripped when he heard something in the bushes and a different scent found his nose that made his heart pick up in an entirely different way. “Flower? Flower!” he abruptly yelped without thinking, losing his caution as he crept more and more into Aberdeen, his heart in his ears as he tried to find the ocean blue coat of a girl he hadn’t seen in so long.

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The Highlands were truly a beautiful and wonderous place. Even with the snowflakes falling from the sky and blanketing the region in a layer of white, Dahlia appreciated every second here. The hustle and bustle of a large, chaotic city was gone. Instead it was replaced by nature, and she was slowly seeing why her mother chose to live up here instead of at home, where dad lived.

Lived...

The news of her fathers death was still a very fresh wound. It bled freely through tears that wet her cheeks, and today was no different. Having needed a brief change of scenery, Dahlia had left her sister, mother and step-father behind in search of something new. Deciding that immersing herself in nature may help, she dove into the forest finding an old stump to sit by and closed her eyes.

She could hear the distant crashing of waves closer to the beach. Otherwise, the soft quietness of winter steadied her mind. Birds and critters alike were silent as the season froze over their homes. Her brilliantly blue coat stood out like a sore thumb. She took a big breath in...

And her green eyes flew open. A familiar scent, one she hadn't smelled since she was a fuzzy little puppy back in the Mainlands. Who was that again? She bounced to her paws, nose close to the ground and sniffing through the flakes as she followed the scent intently through frozen leaves and dead foliage.

"Flower!" came the exclamation of a small, pale boy. Her sights landed on him just as he saw her, and a large, wide smile broke out across her face. Dahlia dove at him, clearing the ground easily with her size and her paws outstretched to pounce on him and pin him to the ground.

"Bug!" she greeted back to him, placing a wet kiss upon his cheek. The memories came back in a flood once she touched him, and after a few moments she removed herself before looking upon her old friend.

She leaned over a little, eyes upon the stump of his tail and a single white brow raised. "Hmm, more like Bunny now..." the girl giggled, swatting at his tail playfully as she had no tact for personal boundaries - not with her Bug Bunny at least. Her own tail swung happily at her rump, swishing a layer of snow away.

And then she realized she was looking down at him. Her size triumphed over his tenfold, and her giggles exploded into more laughter. "Did you-" another laugh, "even grow?" and she gobbled him up in her big arms, her crusty teary cheeks forgotten for the time being.

manip + code: clae

Excitement brought a jitter to his paws when he would finally see the girl he was looking for, smiling big in return at how much she had grown from last time though it would quickly be swiped away when she charged toward him. The closer she got the larger she got, becoming a more and more intimidating figure the more her shadow would loom over him in a rather ominous fashion. He didn’t mean to but he would flinch and faintly growl when she lept at him, a flash of red shrouding his mind as the last time he had been pounced at he had lost more than just his balance. He would quickly try to play it off as a playful growl the moment she connected and sent him tumbling, feeling her weight pressing down like a cliffside. Big was an understatement, she was like two of him now, at least from his perspective on the floor beneath her. The kiss helped hide the genuine aggression that had festered, making him giggle and blush underneath her affectionate attack. It was always kind of odd to be kissed by someone outside of his blood, embarrassing and he wasn't really sure why as it only amplified the older he got. He didn’t mind that feeling or perhaps he simply accused his own giggles to be the cause of the funny feeling in his chest. She might call him a bug but it felt like she was the one putting bugs into his chest. “Eww cooties!” he mused a complaint. His paws gently swiped at her chest, pretending like he was disgusted and wanted her off of him. As she motioned more toward his tail, it would bring focus to it, realizing how much it was wiggling in glee at seeing her emeralds again. In a bashful surge, he would tuck his tail a touch as if it would hide it from her gaze. Of course it wouldn’t, though he was surprised she wasn’t asking questions and only gave him another pet name that made his ears splay all the more sheepishly for a moment before a realization hit. “Hey! Don’t demote me to prey!” he huffed a little, glaring up at her with his little fangs sticking out. “Though I guess bunnies still are predators to pretty flowers,” he snickered, feeling like he was still at least higher than her on the food chain of these names. The talk of bunnies made him realize Stomps had stopped following him, making him wonder where his little bearcat went. He frowned a little, searching for only a couple seconds for the pine marten along the trees. It would be her mockery that made his head flick almost robotically to look at Dahlia again with genuine upset forming along his brows this time. “Not you too! I hear enough about being the big little brother from Sheik! Well, I didn’t shrink, you oversized woman,” the words were pointed like daggers though he was hardly scary with his cute baby face. A small wheeze came out of him as she pulled him into her arms, not exactly fighting it though he refused to look at her at first out of frustration that everyone picked on his size. “I’ve been looking for you. Why did you run so far away? You weren’t at either funeral…” he said, suddenly becoming quiet and sullen, allowing his anger to subside to get important answers from her. He missed her, his only friend he’s ever made that wasn’t a cousin.

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Giggles and laughter bubbled from her thick chest as he struggled against her, complaining about cooties and being compared to prey. She responded by slobbering on him more, muffling his protests and paying no mind to him displaying any forms of genuine aggression and instead just playing it off as nothing to give much thought to.

"Though I guess bunnies still are predators to pretty flowers," he mused, sticking his tongue out. Dahlia roared, fluffing out her furs as much as possible, imagining herself as a flower spreading her big petals. "What if I'm a carnivorous flower?" she questioned back, almost stumbling over the complexity of the word. Then, she began to pretend-eat his toes on his forelimbs.

More protests came from him and she quite enjoyed this game. It was like play fighting with Hyacinth, except he was pale and colourless to her vibrant sand. Plus, Hya always seemed to want Dahlia to win, whereas she actually got a fight - if you could call it one - with Haskell. Her smile was infectious and never left her mouth as her ears twitched at his words.

"--you oversized woman," he spoke, and Dahlia stilled. Woman? Green eyes blinked as she slowly realized that yeah, she was approaching womanhood, but not for a while yet. Did that make him a man? The coastal girl looked down upon her favourite prey. He didn't... look much like what she thought a man was. Maybe that came with time. A softer smile spread on her maw now as she regarded him thoughtfully, almost in a new perspective that she didn't quite understand yet.

“I’ve been looking for you. Why did you run so far away? You weren’t at either funeral…”

Dahlia's bright green eyes flickered, falling from his face to look elsewhere; anywhere but at him. Tears welled and spilled over her dark cheeks again, but her cries were silent. There were no sobs left in her body. Not anymore.

"My mom came and took me and my sister up here, we didn't even get to say goodbye to dad..." she replied quietly. "and now he's dead. I miss him," she didn't know how to process the emotions she was feeling. Was this mom's fault? Was it hers? She wanted to talk to Dad again, but now that would never happen again. Was he proud of them, did he even know where they were?

Was what mom had done even... known? Was she right in what she had done? Dahlia had grown exceptionally quiet in the household since the news of her fathers death, and she wasn't even sure why. It wasn't like he had much to do with them when they were there under his care, but then again, were they really given the choice to leave either? Who was right here? The conflicting emotions was eating Dahlia alive, and she had to force herself back to the present.

At least she had her good friend, the Bug Bunny.

"I missed you, too. Are you okay?" she asked him, her nose dropping to nudge affectionately at his cheek. "What's happened back home? What-- happened to your tail?" while she knew it was probably impolite to ask, she couldn't help herself. Curiosity grabbed hold of her tightly and wouldn't let go.

manip + code: clae

It seemed his cover up of emotions had been successful as she didn’t stop her foolery even at the flash of teeth or attempts at intimidating growls. Instead, she seemed set to push him further and try to shrink him even more by talking about something that didn’t sound very real to him. Meat eating plants? Those couldn’t be a thing. He knew there were poisonous or toxic ones, ones that tasted bad too but not ones that could eat something living. Certainly, his father would have warned him of such a threat if it were real. Right? He wasn’t as confident in that as he felt he should be, especially as he thought of how distant the man had been since the war. Not the daddy he knew, and, in a way, it felt like he didn’t have one at times. Now wasn’t the time to get hung up on that again. “I don’t think those exist, so you can’t be one Dahli. You could be a venomouse flower though but I don’t think that suits you,” he said, taking the question perhaps a little too seriously. As she nibbled his toes, he reactively kicked her in the nose. Not too hard but hard enough to potentially spook her, not that she seemed all that easy to spook. A huff puffed up his chest as he stared up at her, his tail thrashing as he was tempted to bite her back but boy did her size give her such an advantage over him in how close he could get to her. All she had to do was lift her head and she’d be out of reach, but it didn’t stop him from trying to snag her cheek where the corners of her smile rested. It was nice to see someone smile, he had to admit as the thought of his family and loss wore on him as they both shifted the conversation to less than playful subjects. Her tears would make him stiffen, frozen there for a second. He wanted the smile back. “Mom?” his ears perked up at that, recalling asking his own mama where Dahlia’s parents were on their playdates. As quickly as her ears had perked, they fell back as she mentioned Leoric and it made him creep closer, gently licking some of her tears away if she let him, something he did to everyone that cried. “I didn’t attend your dad’s funeral but my parents did. Ummm. I- I want my auntie back too, she was killed by the Highlanders the same day as your daddy. I miss her stories and her hugs,” he said with a shaky voice, tears of his own escaping against his wishes. A small smile formed when she nuzzled his cheek, feeling some of that missing warmth though it wasn’t the same. The questions made him pause, glancing up at her before looking toward the Lowlands where he had just been and beyond that toward the forest of red he couldn’t see from here. “I’m here,” he said with a pained laugh, the only answer he had to if he was okay. He was alive unlike others and unlike her he still had both his parents. Taking in a shallow breath, he let out a single whine at the question about his tail. “A half faced man punished me for sneezing on him…even though I apologized. I… deserved it, huh?” he concluded, even though everyone else said it was the man’s fault. He wasn’t so innocent and if mama killed those that were criminals, did that mean he was a criminal for allergy sneezing on someone? Was that man just doing what his mama did?

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As she expected, Haskell perked up when she mentioned her mother. Dahlia smiled again, wiping away what remained of her tears after her little bath from the boy and nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I have a mom now, which is cool - she has a boyfriend, too, so I guess I kinda have a dad again? I don't know - he's really nice, and treats us well. It just feels like something is missing sometimes," as she spoke, her bright green eyes slowly moved to look at her friend, and she realized that it was friends she was missing. Her smile never wavered, and instead she affectionately swiped her tongue across his cheek. In her mind, it was a platonic and normal way of showing love for him - after all, he was her only friend. "I'm sorry about your auntie. This all sucks..." her white brows pinched together as tears welled in his eyes, and in an effort to pay back the favour, she licked them away as well.

Maybe they could run away together, or she could bring him back to Anteros's house without anyone even knowing. Wouldn't that be fun! They could be best friends and spend every day all day together. She was sure even Hyacinth would be excited. She was about to ask him if he wanted to come home with her when he whined and spoke about his tail.

"A half faced man punished me for sneezing on him…even though I apologized. I… deserved it, huh?”

And it was like the biggest boulder ever dropped heavily into the pit of her stomach. He was attacked?! A foreign, uncharacteristic darkness flashed across the young girls face for a split second before she forced it away. He had been hurt, and she wasn't around to protect him. The air was stolen from her lungs, but she forced herself to focus, to grasp onto reality and stay present, here with Haskell.

"No!" she responded with vigour, her dark ears falling back against her oceanic crown as she realized how loud she was. With a guilty smile, she shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. "You did not deserve that, never ever." I'm going to find that man one day, she wanted to say, wanted to vow to hunt him down and maim him like he had maimed her best friend. In an effort to lighten the mood, she pulled away and plastered a smile on her face as she studied his tail again. "It's pretty cute though... I like it! Now it won't get caught in any doors slamming at least." her smile warmed upon her face as she looked at him again, hoping there was a smile there as well.

manip + code: clae

His ears would twitch gently along his head as he listened to her, squinting a little as a boyfriend was mentioned since it really never dawned on him how that was an option after a marriage ended. At least, he assumed Dahlia’s parents had been married, having kind of thought that was part of the way of the process of having kids. Now that he was thinking about it, where did his own big sister come from? Those blue tint flooded his mind for a second, thinking of how Aurora wasn’t his full sister. Would his parents move on to get boyfriends and girlfriends if one of them died like her daddy? His ears flattened at the mere thought of getting another parent, especially so quickly after the first one died. He still was so woven around the death of his Aunt, fathoming replacing her with another was pure torture. Was Dahlia’s mother heartless? His mind was stuck in a tangent until the mention of his aunt threw him out of his head and he let out a tiny whine, lowering his head with a couple tiny but swift nods. “It does-” he would break off as she invaded his space to lick his face in return, feeling his cheeks warm up again as giggles from its tickling replaced his sorrow. "But it sucks a little less with you. That happiness would last a little while, his tail wagging as he admired her caring nature. He wished he could bring her home with him, ease some of his pain until he could handle that suffering of loss. Her presence alone was comforting, let alone when she was grooming him with kisses. A little bit of peace from all the hell they both had endured because of the war he used to wish to join. The war that had taken everything away from them. Anger would echo along his brow from his thoughts, not understanding why war had to even be done in the first place but he would shake his head free of deviating to a whole other turmoil in his heart. He had other things to answer as it was as the focus went to his tail. He jumped a little, hopping to his feet with his ears up in alarm at her sudden burst of rebuking his question to her, not expecting her to be so explosive. His ears were ringing from the sheer volume of it before he found himself being yanked into a warm hug. That shock would melt away as he sunk into the embrace, raising a paw to gently cradle her side as he buried his muzzle into her mane with his eyes partially closed in uncertainty she was right. He had done the very thing he was told not to, didn’t he need punishment? He wouldn’t argue with her as tears were stinging his eyes again, threatening to spill as he started to break under her hold. She really was a giant but that just meant she was nicer to snuggle like his male cousins, Ahkoris and Sethos. They were just as warm. His eyes widened and he blinked away the moisture when she moved from him, having not wanted the hug to end just yet though he couldn’t exactly see her face as she looked behind him. Was something coming after them? He went to turn but found himself almost smacking his face into hers as she spoke and turned back to look at him in return. His head instantly tucked into his neck, startled, just missing smashing their faces together but thankfully he hadn’t ended up doing so, no one was hurt. “Y-you think I’m cute?” he got hung up on the singular word, feeling his tummy twist around inside. “Thanks Dolly,” he smiled a little sheepishly, hoping she wouldn’t mind the nickname. Without the ah sound at the end, her name did sound like dolly after all and he thought it was cute.

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The bond between the two puppies was something that especially warmed her heart, and a friendship that she thought of in the darker times lately. While she had essentially forced her friendship upon him, Haskell had accepted her with open arms and she enjoyed every moment she got to spend with him. When she had moved away to the North and didn't see him for a few months, it made her very sad - sadder than the knowledge that her father had died in the war. But to be fair, there wasn't much of a bond between father and daughter, at least nothing like a flower and bug.

Haskell validated her feelings, confirming that things sucked right now also acknowledging that they sucked a little less with her. A small, bashful smile pulled at her dark lips as green eyes flicked to study him quietly for a moment. While they were not war orphans, the state of the world they lived in had changed the both of them drastically since they last saw each other. If things hadn't been so bad, would he have lost her tail, or her her father? Such questions would keep her up at night, but she tried not to think about them right now. Right now, she was happy.

When she complimented his bunny tail, Dahlia blushed immensely as he seemed so embarrassed. They were clunky together; two bumbling puppies barely missing one anothers snout as she had looked behind him.

"Y-you think I'm cute?" he asked her, before he christened her with another nickname. Her stomach rolled, butterflies swimming in her guts as she giggled and swatted a massive paw gently at his ear.

"Of course I think you're cute," she replied just as sheepishly; she'd always found it easy to give compliments, but for some reason it was different with Haskell. She loved the way he reacted though, it made her want to say more things to make him blush. "I like your company. You make things feel better... more comforting. I wish we could be together forever," she mused, the true meaning of the words she spoke lost on her young little mind for now.

manip + code: clae

The young boy was fixated on his first and longest friend he had ever had, his bob of a tail wagging merrily behind him as he smiled at her though every inch of his body was on fire. He would know, he had once lit his fur on fire once. His ears tilted down at the thought, remembering that was when his training to be a pyromancer had started when he had gone to his Aunt literally smoking due to submitting to his curiosities. He swallowed, hating how every little thing made him think about what he lost, who he lost, instead of where he was going. Soon he would be a proper student, not just learning the basics and he should be excited about that but as Dahlia insisted he was indeed cute, he felt like he might conbust and it made him a touch afraid of fire one day maybe destroying what she found cute. He liked that she saw him as a cute bunny. His ears perked up when she went on, echoing his own thoughts a little bit ago into the air, making him think maybe witches could be real if she was reading his mind. So he was jumping the gun a little there, he realized. Maybe they just had the same feelings as a whole and that made him shiver with an odd sense of glee. He didn’t really understand it all but every part of him agreed with her, smiling a bit sadly at first. “You could come home with me Dolly! I’m sure Mama would be happy to have you, she’s been worried about you and Hyasomething… sorry your sissy’s name is hard to pronounce. I can never get it right, I gave up forever ago,” he giggled, snorting a little bit at his own failure. He stared hopefully at her, wanting her to say yes more than anything in the moment. “Haskell!!!” He jumped to his mother’s voice calling for him, taking in how it trembled with worry, making his head whip toward the Lowlands and he realized he wasn’t exactly where he was supposed to be. He had gone out of sight, which he wasn’t supposed to, let alone crossing into what was probably the Highlands from what Dahlia had said. His head turned to Dahlia again, his expression sorrowful but expectant for her to abruptly agree on the spot. As much as he knew that was unrealistic and selfish to expect her to give up everything she had up here to be with him. The few seconds longer he thought about it, he realized it was stupid to have ever suggested. So, with a heavy heart, he would nuzzle his nose into her cheek in farewell, drawing in her scent to remember in the meantime. “I hope our next meeting won’t be so far apart again,” he decided for her, turning on his heels to run toward the sound of his mother’s voice so not to worry her further. -hask exits-

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“You could come home with me Dolly!" Dahlia perked up a bit at this comment, her green eyes shining at the possibility of it. However, a quiet sadness dampened her excitement as she thought of her own mother. While he spoke of his and mentioned Hyacinth, she simply shook her head a little bit. "I want to - really! But that would make my mom sad I think. But!" she continued on, following up with her pressing herself warmly into his much smaller body. "I'll come visit, okay? I promise. Someone's gotta watch over you and make sure the rest of your cute tail stays attached to you!" she giggled again, not wanting to focus on the reality that he would need to leave, and they would be separated again.

And it happened much too soon, as Dahlia's body jumped along with his as his mother called for him.

Sadness made her ears fall. She had had such a hard time making friends in the North, and she missed the Mainlands and Haskell especially. Green eyes glimmered with unshed tears as she looked at him. And he seemed to feel the same, as he nuzzled into her cheek and left a hot spot where his skin had touched hers, as if he were made of fire itself. How peculiar.

“I hope our next meeting won’t be so far apart again,” and just like that, he hopped up and began to run back home.

"It won't!!" she called after him, and a sad smile crested her face as she stood up, watching his pale form disappear.

-- exit Dahlia --

manip + code: clae