Mianite Supernatural Creatures

A Quiet Day

Redbeard

I sit listening to the sounds of Will and 'Nita playing, a smile sitting comfortably on my face. They need to have some time to just play more often, they shouldn't have to worry about what the rest of us do. I know growing up in our family isn't easy but they don't need to be worried about that right now. Capsize may have been forced to accept her role early but there's no reason for them too.

Today is quiet. That's why they're playing in the first place. For seemingly the first time in weeks, I haven't been given any tasks. Capsize and Jordan both are with Elder Idlestorm but Capsize never minds that and Jordan enjoys doing anything with Capsize. It's lucky and somewhat adorable. It means I don't have to worry about them being unhappy about what they're done today. I'm alone but that's okay, I can cope with that.

For a while I'm just thinking, lost in my own thoughts, but then I'm pulled into reality. A creaking noise turns my attention to the back of the house. I remind myself to keep calm, even as my wings flap frantically, as it's probably just Capsize or Jordan. That doesn't stop terrible thoughts sticking in my head, the idea that it's someone who shouldn't be here refusing to get out of my head.

I turn into the room to see what's going on. As the logical side of my thoughts were telling me it isn't an intruder, it isn't a stranger. Yet somehow the person standing there surprises me more.

"Dad?" I ask, not quite understanding what I'm seeing. He isn't meant to be home yet. I mean I'm not upset since it's great when he's home but I'm still confused. Did something go wrong at one of the other tribes?

"Red, good to see someone's here," He says, a tired look in his eyes like he always has when he gets back from the other tribes. He does legitimately look happy to see me though. It makes sense, he usually comes in when no one's here so this must be a change of pace. It's certainly a change of pace to be with someone during the day when I'm not working. He wraps his arms around me. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too Dad," I always do miss him when he's gone and he's nearly always gone because of his work. It's not his fault but it sometimes feels like he's never here. It was months before he met Jordan. Him coming back early is still worrying though. The only time he's back early is when something's gone wrong. I think he realises my concern because he pulls away from the hug, his wings much more still than they normally are, showing me a smile.

"Come on, I want to talk to you before anyone else gets back," He says, leading me back into the living room to sit down. A few ideas of what he could want to talk about run through my head. I try to ignore them because they're all so negative. I'm sure he isn't really going to tell me about some incoming destruction or war. Even if there was one coming it wouldn't be his place to tell me, that's for the Elder's to know. When he sits next to me, he seems far more relaxed then if he was going to tell me bad news. "So, what have I missed?"

"Not too much," He hasn't been gone long enough to miss anything major. He knows Jordan is back which was the real last major event. There are small things I can tell him, he likes to know what's been going on even if it is small. "Will and 'Nita have been enjoying the weather being warmer, Capsize has been feeling better now she's found Jordan, and... well, I met someone interesting in the village."

"A human?" Dad asks, clearly intrigued. The humans in the village, while not openly hostile to us, aren't all that friendly to us. I doubt they'd actually stand us if our dust wasn't worth its weight in gold to them. I shake my head. He wasn't human, he was very close to not being anything.

"No, he was a vampire. I think I saved his life," There's still some horror in my thoughts when I remember the scene Will and I came across, a crowd gathering around someone dying on the ground, just watching. I know vampires have a bad reputation but that's no reason to just let them burn. I try to figure out Dad's expression, how he feels that I've been interacting with a vampire.

"That's great Red. Are you seeing him again anytime?" I feel a weight being taken off my chest as I realise he's not unhappy about the situation. I'm not even sure why I thought he would be. While he was worried about Capsize being punished for what she did, he was never worried about Jordan being unsafe for her to interact with. He just saw he happy she was. He didn't even question why she spends the full moons with him (not that she'd be unwilling to give an answer).

"I'm not sure, he said he'll be in the village again in a few days. I'm just not sure if I should meet him," It's not that I don't want to see him again, I really do, but I just have never felt like this before. I know it's stupid, I'm raising Will (and I'm pretty much raising 'Nita) yet thinking about meeting another person I got along with is what makes me nervous. It's not even a type of nerves I can describe. It's like nothing I've experienced before.

"Red, how do you feel when you're around him?" I find myself lost in my thoughts, trying to find the right word. I'm not actually sure if I can since I've never felt like this before. Then some words echo in my head, the words that Capsize used when she described how she felt when she's with Jordan.

"Warm, warm enough that it affects my glow," I say the words nervously, not sure if they're actually true. It always seems right when Capsize said them but I can't find the confidence saying them myself. Yet Dad smiles at me, taking my hand as he must realise the lack of confidence I have about that sentence.

"If that's really how you feel, go and meet him."

A/N:

So here's a longer part for this story and hopefully it makes up for how short the last part was. I hope it okay since it flowed pretty easily once I started writing it. The next part of this story will have Mot and Alyssa in it since there are the last people that haven't been in a part who are going to be in the part where (nearly) everyone meets.

This part was originally going to have a few more details about what Capsize and Redbeard's family actually do in this universe but I've decided to leave that out since that could be said better in a different part.

Anything, if you have any questions feel free to ask and I hope you enjoyed the part :D