Shadowed Protector

Making Plans

((This beautiful image above was drawn by the wonderful Robin (Robinsdraw). Go check out her other work on Tumblr and YouTube. She's the one that is animating the wonderful story of A Lesson in Practicality. (By residentanchor)
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“He found the letters. The one’s I sent Emily. Oh this is bad, this is very bad.” Virgil paced around the room pulling on his hair. “What if he-”
“Virgil calm down. It’s okay. He doesn’t know they are from you so you’re fine.” Skylar attempted to calm the boy.
“But not many people have a name that starts with V. What if he finds out?” Virgil turned to face her.
“Virgil, take a deep breath.” She over-exaggerated her own breathing to get him to mimic.
Virgil did as told. After a couple minutes he was noticeably calmer. “Thanks Sky.”
“Now let’s talk about this,” Skylar sat on the couch. “I’ve known you for awhile.”
“Only because I need a guardian to get things sometimes,” Virgil mumbled.  
“You’re going to keep worrying about it until we find a solution.” Skylar continued.
“What can we do about it?” Virgil exclaimed. “They were from Emily. I wrote things only she needed to know and now...What are they going to do with that information? What if they are with the hunters.”
“Virgil, this is not finding a solution to the problem. If you keep going like that you’ll only put yourself in a panic.”
“I’m already in a panic, Sky! They found the letters!”
“Take a deep breath again.” Skylar looked at Virgil. “In. 1. 2. 3. 4.” She smiled when he followed her instructions. “Good. Now Hold. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.” She watched him close his eyes. “Now out. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.” They went through the exercise several more times.
“I’m sorry,” Virgil blurted after a minute.
“You did nothing wrong, Virgil. You’re anxious about it and it’s okay. If I was in your position I would be anxious about it as well. But we need to find a solution to the problem, or else nothing is going to be done about it.”
“What can we do? The only option is to get the letters back?” Virgil sighed. “I don’t know how we’re going to do that.”
“Well, where are the letters now?” Skylar asked calmly.
“Some kid has them and he showed them to Mary.” Virgil started pacing again.
“So you need to know where he’s keeping them. You need to interact with him long enough to get the letters back.”
“Yeah, but he’s probably in school all day. I can’t find out anything about the letters if he’s stuck in that prison-like place all the time.” The anxious male slumped his shoulders. “It’s impossible.”
“Why don’t you start school then?” Skylar asked.
“What?!” Virgil stopped and stared at his friend. “Did you not hear me just say-”
“Think about it. You can get to know him and find out where he’s keeping the letters,” She responded.
“But...” Virgil’s breathing quickened. “What about my name? What about my wings. You know I can’t  hide them forever. What if someone finds out? What if hunters find out? What if they are really a part of the hunters trying to get me out of hiding? What if-”
“Virgil! Calm down! It’s going to be okay.” Skylar exaggerated her breathing again, getting Virgil to follow. “We can sign you up with a different name. You can hide your wings all day and take them out when you get home and if you have any problems at all; you can call me and I’ll be there right away.”
“Are you sure? I still don’t like the idea-”
“I’ll be here for you. Whatever you need. That’s what I first said with I met you. Besides someone needs to keep a closer eye on my nephew. That kid gets himself in all kinds of trouble.” Skylar chuckled.
“Yeah he does. There’s only so much I can do.” Virgil mumbled. “He reminds me a lot of Emily.”
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“Virgil! Virge! Come here! Look what I found,” Emily shouted through the fields. Virgil ran across the wheat towards the girl.
Once he was there Emily held out her hands. “It’s a caterpillar.”
“It’s very pretty.” Virgil responded smiling. “It will be prettier as a butterfly.”
“Hey Virgil?” Emily got serious. She leaned towards her friend and whispered. “Can I touch your wings again? In the barn. Father isn’t supposed to be home for another couple of hours.”
Virgil thought for a moment. “Yeah, let’s go.” They raced towards the barn and went inside.
Once inside with the barn door shut, Virgil let his wings show. It was hard keeping his wings hidden for a long time and even painful.
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“My mother always liked exploring things. She told me stories of times its gotten her in trouble,” Skylar sighed, a faint smile on her lips.
“She was an...interesting person.” Virgil chuckled.
“You better now?” Skylar asked.
“Yeah, a little. I know with your help I can get those letters back. I feel more confident about it.”
“I’ll always be here for you as long as I can.” Skylar ruffled Virgil’s hair. “I can call into the school tonight.”
“What would we tell them?” Virgil sat on the couch next to his friend.
“We just moved to this city and you need to go to school. I can set you up and say I’m your guardian and that you are adopted.”
“What about my name?” Virgil played with his feathers.
“Hm?” She thought for a moment. “You probably want one that’s unique, but not in relation to your real name, but believable to be an actual name.”
“I don’t want one that’s too common either, that would be suspicious.” He said.
“Yeah, one that’s unique,” Skylar repeated. “I’ve always liked the name Alexander.”
“Too plain.” Virgil blurted. He started playing with his hoodie sleeves.
“Alright, Mister Anx-ander. Pick a name.” Skylar huffed playfully.
Virgil smirked. “I like that one. Unique but not too different.”
“Anxander?” Skylar asked.
“Why not?” Virgil shrugged.
“Okay then.” Skylar nodded. “Anxander it is then.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll call them while you set the table for dinner.”
Virgil walked to the other room. What if they find out what I really am? His fears still in the back of his mind. He stretched his wings as far as they’ll go in the small kitchen. He knew if he was going to be able to not feel the pain of hiding his wings all day he’d need to stretch them as much as possible while at home.
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“The school says you can start soon. I’ll need to go there tomorrow to finish giving them the information they need before the exact date.” Skylar walked into the kitchen.
Virgil sighed. “No going back now.” He mumbled folding his wings by his side.
“I’ll stay by your side the entire time.” She patted Virgil on the shoulder. “You know you can call me for anything.” She smiled.
“Yeah, I know.” Virgil smiled back at her. “Dinner?”
They got ready to make the meal, both talking and laughing to get their minds off of the near future. Both of them just as nervous as the other.