Jake's Story Original concept
A Werewolf's Mate (2015-2016)
In his introduction we see that Jake is the leader and planner of a group of mercenaries known as Crow, consisting of Yazmin and Damian, a romantic couple both skilled in different ways of dealing and handling weaponry, Quinn and Luke, siblings who work as fighters, Alice, the poison specialist, Felicity the medic and Ash the informant and scout, Nathan and Neil are the ones who act as distractions and deal with trade.
I don't really remember the reason for creating such a group but we first see them running through the woods away from government agents tracking them down since they refused a job, Damian is injured and his wound is likely getting infected, he's feverish, Jake and Yasmin are carrying him while Ash is shielding Alice and Quinn and Luke are shooting back against the agents.
Nathan and Neil are in front, clearing a path while Jake is telling them where to go, trying to keep Damian steady.
But they're stopped by Lucy, one of the second in commands of the Bloodbourne pack.
She is silent, black mask concealing her face not revealing anything but glowing red and blue light in place of eyes.
She looks at the state of the group then at the shouts heard behind them.
Before acting quickly, black clear shields form around her handpaws, concealing the group before she steps over them to look ahead.
The government agents stop and she gestures to the shields.
To step over would be to tresspass on pack territory and since packs are independent from the government they wouldn't want an incident.
They try to ask her questions but she tilts her head in confusion.
Meanwhile they are confused as hell because who the hell is this werewolf? Why did she help? And can she be trusted?
But before any of those questions can be answered, more werewolves appear.
The group keep close to each other but Damian is getting worse.
One of the smaller werewolves, the one with a navy blue pelt that was still larger then the humans takes one look at him.
She glances at Yazmin, noticing the tight grip she has on Damian before grabbing them both by the collar of their shirts and lifting them up and onto her back.
Nathan and Neil are hesitating because they can't fight back but turning around, the agents are arguing amongst themselves before the sound of something snapping is heard.
They teleport immediently once the sound of dragging chains is heard.
Lucy turns to the group, gesturing with her nose for them to move.
Quinn and Luke do so but give her a look.
Lucy gently grabs Alice's arm in her mouth, getting a couple looks from them before pulling her up and onto her feet.
Ash helps her steady herself, thanking Lucy with a nod before all of them start walking.
They end up deep into the pack's territory and Damian gets treated in the medic's den, they're stripped of their weapons and injuries looked over before being given a change of clothes and a place to sleep with a bit of food.
Fallensky asks why they are here.
Jake explains as discreetly as he can before telling her that they'll be out of here soon.
Lucy explains the situation to the pack leaders and they agree to let the group stay if they help them with a bit of hunting before leaving.
Prey was running low and they couldn't figure out why, the Crows agreed to help for free room and board.
The pack leaders, Rain, Brooke, Talon and Blaze suspect that the government has something to do with it.
A suspicion that is proven correct when wired traps catch onto one of the younger pups of the pack and she is almost taken.
Only for Yazmin to cut the wire and free her before destroying the trap and bringing the evidence back to the pack leaders.
The plan was to deprive the area of prey to make the pack leave, and force them to settle down into city living or else they'd all be seperated.
It had almost worked but the Crows threw a wrench in that plan.
The Crows and the Bloodbourne pack begin to form connections and start trusting each other, with Ash getting closer with Alice, learning new inventive ways to help the vampires with their thirst while Nathan and Neil learn more about the harpies.
Jake gets closer with Lucy as the two go on frequent trips to dismantle traps and fix gaps in the shields while Yazmin learns about nontraditional medicine from the pack medics while waiting for Damian to wake up.
It's eventually revealed that Quinn and Luke sold the Crows out in exchange for new identities/lives.
They're killed by Neil but the damage has already been done.
Damian wakes up, reveals what Quinn and Luke had said was true and that government agents would storm the place eventually or attempt to burn them out from cracks in the shield or traps.
They revealed all of this before attempting to kill him in his sleep with poison, luckily Fallensky's mate Scarletfeather extracted the poison before it could reach his heart.
The rest of the story was the pack dies, Yasmin and Damian shot each other because they refused to let the government take them.
Lucy is taken and experimented on before the remaining Crows break her out and she destroys the facility she was in before leaving with the Crows, they take her to the gravesite, she makes a stronger shield with her blood.
Nothing over or under will go through, the dead will not be disturbed.
She reunites with Wildberry, Scarletfeather's apprentice and wishes her well after showing her the gravesite understanding why she'd want to leave.
Lucy and Jake end up falling in love but he ends up dying from a bullet and reincarnated into a regular wolf.
Lucy restores his previous human form and the two stay together only for her to lash out at Andrew for helping the government kill the rest of the Crows.
He was originally going to be Jake's brother but I scrapped the idea and the reason he sold out the pack was because he needed blood to restore his powers. He's a weak vampire with psychic abilities. Yeah, this story was a mess.
Its basically just angst, death and gore, not any real substance to it.
A Twisted Tale is a different thing entirely however.
A Twisted Tale (2024-2026)
Jake was born and raised in a deserted burnt down forest in the far east of the Ash Mountains, isolated from his own kind and only having his parent Malcolm to care for him.
He was socially isolated and didn't know remember or know any knowledge about his godly parent, Canta until years later.
He cared for his mortal parent even if he acted cruel and didn't know where he was half the time.
Malcolm was verbally abusive towards him, giving him the bare necessities of a cupboard to sleep in and minimal food/water and sunlight.
Jake grew malnourished and small, Malcolm had sent him on runs to get a specific plant that could help numb his pain, Jake didn't know it was a drug until much later but Malcolm just wanted the plant.
Jake was silent, only knowing how to follow orders and he didn't know how to sing until he was about 5.
It was during one of his runs that he found a withered leaf crown, he didn't know what it was but felt a connection to it.
He wore it as a bracelet, only for Malcolm to rip it away from him, using it to create a new shield that would hurt anyone who tried to enter the dome.
Jake had gotten angry and unintentionally used his magic against him, injuring him.
Malcolm was furious, a look in his eyes that was full of disdain and hate.
Jake had curled up into a ball on the floor, afraid that he went too far.
Malcolm knocks him out and takes his chord from him, severing his connection with the world around him, he hated that the brat took more after his godly parent, it didn't help that he looked like him.
He ripped his chord away from him, shredded his leaf mane and cut his hair.
A muzzle was placed on Jake's mouth to prevent him from speaking, the only reason he hadn't died was because he photosynthesized, he didn't know what was wrong with his body or how to heal his voice until much later.
When he first felt Lucy's power, it was a far too humid day, he hadn't been given water and he decided to plead to anyone who was listening, one moment he was far too warm and then the next he was chilly. He heard soft whimpers and growls in his head and figured it was the one who gave him water or snow, so he began making some noise, testing out something that wouldn't hurt his throat.
They wouldn't be able to speak telepathically to each other until their late teens.
During one of his runs, Jake encounters a mystcreat on the other side of the dome, he looks worried and seems to be yelling, banging on the dome, Jake gets scared and attempts to leave only for the mystcreat to make a familiar sound, a small chirping sound that Jake had once made.
He stares at the mystcreat and moves closer, the shield had struck him from what Jake saw, he was hurting and bleeding but Jake was surprised that they were slowly going away.
Jake couldn't heal him, humming only seemed to sprout odd looking plants.
The myscreat had stepped back and let out a low noise, tilting his head to the side before he placed a book on the dome, it went through and landed near Jake.
He didnt understand what to do with it until the person across the dome mimicked opening it.
Jake learned about the species and their respective godly parents this way, from reading the book given to him by who he learned was named Rook, he knew he couldn't bring it with him, so he kept it hidden in one of the hollow stumps near the dome, he grabs the plants his Chord needs and leaves, it was already late and he couldnt risk him getting more angry at him.
Malcolm doesn't yell at him or hit him, he grabs the plants in his hands and shoves him into the cupboard, locking it from the outside.
Jake is just relieved he wasn't as angry as that day.
He carefully removes one of his vines from his mane even if its painful and makes a small altar with a piles of rocks stacked as neatly as they could be into a makeshift tower, he places his vine on top of it and lowers his head, thinking of what to say.
Sunlight peeks in from a crack in the wall and a silhouette begins forming, its tall and feels warm, it looks and gently raises his hand about to touch him only for the cupboard to slam open.
Malcolm is furious, staring at the silhouette near his kid and burns the vine causing the silhouette to glitch and try to reach for Jake only for Malcolm to snarl and drag Jake away by his arm.
Jake is confused and scared, he thinks he knows who that silhouette is, it felt warm and he wants it to come back.
He looks at Malcolm and is suddenly angry, biting his hand and being slapped across the face for it.
Malcolm hisses in pain as he collapses onto the floor, poison spreading up his arm to his neck, he spits out his last words.
"I should have burned you when I had the chance, that way I wouldn't have to deal with his mistake"
He dies in front of Jake, eyes wide and bleeding purple blood from his mouth.
Jake stares at the corpse and suddenly the muzzle falls apart and he can breathe properly again.
He starts crying, not knowing what to do and his tears quickly to small pieces of ice.
The ice starts spreading, forming a puddle on the ground and something is wrong with his friend.
Snow Girl as he called her, she's scared, he can feel her panic and her heart is beating too fast.
His eyes sting, they're burning with something he doesn't recognize.
Its getting hard to breathe, he tries to think of something, his magic acts in self defense, cutting a thin line in between his neck and air starts to seep in.
Snow Girl is panting, crying and its as if something warm is staining her-his, their face.
His vines cover his mouth and he starts to calm her down.
She is hiding, from the way he can tell that her breathing is almost non-existant.
His magic touches hers, those strange looking plants from before circle her, he thinks he knows what it is now and if this can help defend her, then its good.
A pull then a snap, something grabs her and before he knows it, hes running, he doesnt know where but the smell is getting weak, faint.
He knows she somewhere in the snowy part of the mountains, if he could find her, he could help, more plants sprout from his panic.
'Please, please' he thinks.
A scream then a whimper, something warm dribbles down his mouth, its not his blood, its not hers either.
He's out of the cabin, reaching the dome and slams against it, it starts splintering, Snow Girl isn't breathing, something hard squeezes the back of his neck and he's being slammed into the dome.
Its breaking now but not fast enough.
His face is bleeding, her face is bleeding, something is tearing at her skin.
Then the sound of struggling, a whine and ragged breathing and the silence.
By the time, he gets through the dome, its quiet.
He can feel her, but not like before.
Her magic is gone from him but his isn't.
He's growling before he's realizing what hes doing, he won't let her die, he feels his body be shoved to the ground and something sharp stab his shoulderblade.
He knows what the liquid seeping out of his mouth is now, its blood but if he could just turn his head, he could help her turn that blood into poison, its slow in turning her head.
Her shirt is yanked forward and he spits blood in the face of the attacker.
A surprised painful scream and they're dropped into the snow again, a pool of blood forms a puddle around Snow Girl, leaves curl around her back, he won't let her die.
The pain in his back is burning like his skin had been peeled but he knows how to treat exposed skin.
A numbing feeling spreads throughout his body and he breathes out, steadying himself, he has to heal her.
He can, even if he's only ever done it on himself, he can try, he has to try, and succeed.
He opens his eyes and its as if he's in the snow, his hands feel larger and more fluffy.
She's a mystcreat, he didn't realize until now and he knew they were resilient but something, something stronger.
Someone stronger did something to her.
He can feel her body being dragged away, the large leaves coating her back, seep into her fur like a second skin.
He keeps running, camouflaging himself by dipping his body into mud and soaking up as much sunlight as he can.
He's ten when he meets Gauss, and the small group he has with him.
He can tell that Gauss wants something from him but he won't give him anything.
His friend has been quiet for a long time, the only reason he knows she's alive is because of her heartbeat and breathing but she's in tremendous pain.
He can't feel her emotions anymore and that worries him.
He notices a mystcreat with a heavy mask covering their entire face.
At least he hopes its a mask.
Gauss gives him food and Jake doesn't eat it.
Something’s really wrong with it.
It isn't until Gauss orders the masked mysctreat to eat it that Jake is forced to eat it, he doesn't want them to get hurt.
He passes out and is taken.
Jake is fed food and water and he doesn't trust it, he doesn't trust them because something feels off.
Gauss trains him to fight, he doesn't force him to spar against the masked mystcreat but against the other adults, he wants to know more about the specific type of magic Jake has.
It isn't until Jake uses his quick thinking to knock out Lillian and Wright with his claws that Gauss gets what he wants.
He extracts the poison from his claws and leaves him with a tray of food, dragging Lillian and Wright out the training room using his tail.
Jake doesn’t know what to do with the food until he hears the sound of boots hitting the floor.
He turns around snarling, only to see the masked mystcreat's face peeking out from the wall.
She blends in with the room they're in, and the gray cracked mask is a lot clearer now.
Its a half skull, shaped and covering her whole head but its the muzzle on the lower half of her face that has him thinking questions.
He wonders how she eats until she moves closer.
Her handpaws are small and white, scarred with large pink tree lines, the tips of her fingers are inflamed.
She wears an oversized greyish blue jacket with muted green pants and her black and white tail is thin, half her height and matted.
She tries walking on all fours and its awkward with the gray boots.
He copies her and she tilts her head at him, the food tray is between them and he nudges it towards her.
She ducks her head but doesn't eat.
Jake hears her breathing and heartbeat.
She's confused and he mimics her confusion.
She is looking at him now, he can sort of tell.
He shakes his head, giving her his attention and she pushes the tray closer to him.
He shakes his head, she growls at him, he does it back.
She jumps, a bit spooked, fur rising and standing taller in an attempt to appear bigger and moves back, he lowers himself to the ground and frowns.
He moves closer to her, trying to make himself look less threatening.
She moves her head closer to his.
The muzzle touches his forehead and he nudges it upward, the ancestral fear his species would feel being so close to a predator is not there.
She hasn't moved and it worries him.
He breathes out only for her to scramble away from him back into the shadow of the wall.
He doesn't know what compels him to eat but he can hear her stomach grumbling and he won't eat if she won't.
He seperates the food, giving her the plate and leaving the cup for himself.
She stares at him before looking at the plate, he begins eating and she slowly does the same.
"Whats your name?" He asks after he finishes the food in the cup.
She looks at him between the messy muzzle and is about to speak when the door slams open.
Gauss looks between the two of them before his magic envelops Jake's, friend?.
She's his friend now and he won't let Gauss hurt her.
He shouts that whatever she did wrong he'll take her punishment.
Gauss magic conjures up red ribbons that wrap around his friends's throat and limbs, slamming her into the ground.
"She ate your food, she's not allowed to do that, not when I already gave her her portion for the week."
"It was my fault, I gave her food because I didn't want to eat alone" Jake yells and Gauss stares at him.
The boy is sprouting poisonous plants around their feet.
But whats interesting is his tears, its blue water.
"What did you do?" he asked calmly.
His magic holds her in its grasp but doesn’t loosen.
"I said, what did you do to him, Lucy?"
Lucy doesn’t say anything, she can't cry, he'll hurt her more if she cries, weapons don't feel, they only fight.
They may bleed or break but they don't feel pain.
"I won't ask a third time, Lucinda" Gauss warns.
She feels something else, a flicker of someone's magic.
Her Leaf Boy, he's trying to help her.
The muzzle snaps, splintering and the wires dig into her cheeks.
"Didn't. Infect. Him" she whispers.
"Didn't infect him with what?" Gauss says, he wants to humiliate her by saying it.
His grip on Jake's shoulder renders him immobile, he's forcing him to watch.
"Didn't-Didn't. Infect. Him. With. My. Disease" the words are difficult to say even as the ribbons cling to her throat and blood fills her mouth.
"And what disease do you have?" Gauss says rhetorically, he's looming over Jake but his eyes are on her.
"Wilting blood," she says, her handpaws hurt.
"Exactly" Gauss grins, clapping Jake on the back, he doesn't say anything.
"Wilting blood, you can't touch anyone, remember? Or else they'll get sick," he reminds her firmly, she nods.
He kneels in front of her, hand moving to touch the skull.
"Now, you understand why I had to take the necessary precautions right, we can't have Jacob get infected, now can we?"
He's touching her head as if she were a mere companion, she's shaking fearfully and answers meekly.
"Correct" Gauss states, the smile on his face isn't kind, the ribbons disentegrate and she's finally let go.
She doesn't move, he hasn't told her to move yet.
"Now Jake, you know you can't feed Lucy your food, it isn't healthy for her" Gauss says, turning his head to reprimand him.
Jake is in shock and Gauss sighs, he grabs him with his magic causing Jake to flinch.
"Now you both are still young, but there is still rules you have to learn if you want to live here, okay?" he tells them.
They're not saying anything but he knows they're listening.
"Jake, you can't share your food with Lucy because she'll make you sick.
Lucy, you can't touch anyone because your magic is incredibly unstable"
He places his hands on one of their shoulders.
"Now, I'll let it go just this once but you two will have to be seperated for the foreseeable future, alright?"
"Its only for a week" he says, seeing Jake's sad look.
Lucy doesn't like the look in his eyes, he glances at her.
Gauss moves towards her, and she fliches as his hand touches her cheek.
"Let's get you cleaned up" he says, her eyes widen, she knows what that means.
Jake takes a step and Gauss whips his head around to look at him.
"Jake" he says calmly but his voice has an edge to it, "you have to stay here" he tells him.
Jake slowly shakes his head.
"I know you don't want to be alone but Lucy can't heal properly if your distracting her"
"I said no" he sounds angry now and Jake wilts, making himself smaller.
Gauss pinches the bridge of his nose and holds Lucy in a bubble of magic, she yelps in pain as it moves only to stop when he glares at her.
Jake sees it but waits, waits for what, he doesn't know.
Gauss instead pats his head, claws missing his skin by a second.
"I'll give you a room with more light when you've earned it" he says.
"Do you understand?" Gauss says, Jake nods his head.
He understands that this person is Lucy's Malcolm and they have to leave.
He glances at Lucy, she shakes her head as if sensing his thoughts, he frowns.
'He will kill us if we disobey, we have to behave or he will hurt us'
He doesn't let anything show on his face.
Jake raises his head, looking at Gauss in the eyes, "I understand" he says, voice wavering.
Gauss grins sharply, "wonderful" he purrs.
He gets up and leaves the room with Lucy.
The door closes and locks from the outside.
Jake throws up his dinner into one of the empty pots.
That is how he grows up, with another emotionally ticking time bomb of a person controlling his every action but with his friend he survives.
He learns to brutally kill larger opponents and hunt prey and how to vomit on command.
He doesn't interact with Lucy again face to face until he's 10.
They're both taller now and still growing.
Still thin and hungry but their magic is stronger as well.
Gauss has him produce as much poison as he can and gives him water as reward.
He has to survive against the elements to get it.
The coat Lucy had gifted to him had helped, the scarf he had given her helped with her scars.
Jake figures out that Lucy is SnowGirl when he finally sees her use her real magic for the first time.
He activates his own healing magic and feels her.
He feels her properly for the first time in years, her emotions, her thoughts, her.
She looks terrified as she stares at him and her thoughts hit him in a flurry.
He will kil you when he finds out'
'You have to leave, he won't bother hunting you down himself but if you leave he will-he'll send me after you'
'Please Leaf Boy, you have to leave, he doesn't know who you are to me, not really, you have a chance'
'If I leave, will he hurt you? Will he really send you after me?'
The conversation stops as Lillian bounds up next to Jake and wraps an arm around his shoulder.
"Pack your bags brat, we're going on a mission" he tells him.
Jake glances at him then at the snow.
Lucy doesn't say anything, because Wright leaps at her, grabbing her scarf and pulling her towards him.
"Boss ain't happy with you"
They're seperated as quickly as they reunited.
Jake only protests against Gauss's assignment for Lucy once.
Gauss slaps him and removes the fingers on his left hand with his magic as a warning of what will happen to Lucy should he ever disrespect him like that again.
Jake takes his missing fingers and attempts to heal himself.
A leaf absorbs the missing fingers and he places the leaf on his left hand.
His fingers are slow to grow.
He can only give Lucy a handshake under Gauss's watchful gaze.
Gauss gives Lucy an empty round cork bottle.
"Bring back their teeth" he states.
She nods once, no showing fear even if her tail droops.
"Follow my orders and you'll get back in one piece" he warns.
She leaves and he pulls out a round device, a tracking chip.
Jake glares at it, his emotions tightly shut in a chest under lock and key.
'Jake, he chipped my ear, we can remove it,' she tells him.
'He chipped one of my replacement teeth'.
Lucy comes back with the teeth and Gauss feeds her properly for the first time knowing she'll throw it all back up later.
No one sees or senses Jake taking some food to store for later.
Lucy throws up the food later and Jake is ordered to leave her be.
He refuses, Gauss cuts off her hand when she won't stop vomitting and Jake goes to help her, giving her his own hand as a mold for a new one to grow.
Gauss cuts off his tail in retaliation for his defiance, Jake doesn't care, even if the stump is uncomfortable and the ache even worse, at least the blood stopped.
He won't give that piece of shit the satisfaction of seeing him cry again.
Gauss rendered them both immobile and unable to complete missions, he leaves them alone to lick their wounds.
It isnt until late at night when everyone is asleep that they start talking about everything.
They start planning how to leave.
They don't want to do these missions but it means no food, water, shelter, necessities, or magic for them if they don't.
Gauss knows where they are and his magic keeps theirs under lock and key but he doesn't know everything.
He doesn't know what their real magic is or how dangerous it has become.
So much so that they figured out how to kill him.
It isn't until they're 15 that their plan bears berries.
Becoming fake versions of themselves, playing the game that Gauss set up.
He's suspicious and has Wright and Lillian keep a closer eye on them but they don't break their facade, not once.
They are both 16-18 when Gauss finally allows Jake to feed her.
Perhaps he hopes that seeing Lucy in such a state will let him be able to manipulate Jake better.
Jake sees Lucy muzzled and chained and he moves closer, they hadn't fully thought this part out, her next molt was supposed to be a year earlier not now.
But if he can break the muzzle it will let her eat.
The muzzle burns him when he touches it and he curses internally at Gauss.
The room is dark, no one can see them except Gauss but he's bound to sleep.
Then the door opens once and is locked using a sigil.
"Try not to kill each other" Lillian spits out.
He doesn't care about the consequences, he just wants them dead because they threatened his standing with the group.
Jake settles himself in between Lucy's paws and tries again to remove the muzzle.
He breaks his hand succeeding.
She won't look at him, her form is different.
She's taller and bigger now, fluffier too with long smooth fur.
2 eyes peek from the now too small mask.
Her chin is white with whiskers.
The topcoat of her fur is dark grey with a light gray and white undercoat. Her markings were black.
He could see some glow around her eyes, red and blue.
He looks at her face then.
Her side fur tufts droop, she doesn't wnat him to see her.
He doesn't look away but carefully cups her face in his hands, she flinches warily, his fingertips glow lightly.
He presses his forehead to hers, her ears fold back against her head and he hears her quiet whines.
He stops, hands pull away.
'You won't like what you see' she warns him.
'You deserve to breathe, see and eat properly, you deserve a lot of things.'
Just let me do this for you'
She isn't looking at him as she explains everything.
'My sister, he manipulated me, he forced me to kill her, because if I didn't he was going to do something worse to the both of us'
'He forced us to fight, our parents were already murdered'
'The strongest one would live'
Jake pulls her towards him, her head the size of his arm but he breathes out.
'Emerald, Emerald let me win and I-' she gags and coughs.
She was holding onto him tightly now, ice growing tremendously and her body was shaking.
'He skinned her right in front of me and held me down and, and he grabbed my face and he-I couldn't-'
'There was-there was so much blood'
'He left-he left them there and.....'
Jake begins rocking back and forth, hold tightening.
No one should witness that, to have their family taken from them in such a gruesome manner.
To end up here, no one should be here.
Tortured and molded into a weapon
Chained and muzzled just for doing what their body needs.
'It's, its all I have left of them'
'He didn't kill me but gods, sometimes, sometimes, I wished he had'
Jake listens, he listens and presses her head against the side of his neck.
'I was so lonely and terrified, he isolated me and tortured me during my first molt.
'He took my wings, he took my wings from me'
Jake wanted to kill him, he wanted to kill this monster who had hurt her.
Who had taken her family from her, who tortured her and muzzled her and-.
His thoughts were interrupted by Lucy slowly nudging him.
His back pressed against the cold wall.
The chains were heavy but he made sure to destroy the muzzle.
He wanted to hurt the monster that was slowly killing them both.
He wouldn't keep them, no, not if he had any say in it.
Lucy slowly nudged her nose into the crook of his neck, not touching or pressing closer but just breathing him in.
Her tears stained his jacket collar, he let out a slow breath as she slowly enveloped him in her arms, he wrapped his arms around her torso carefully, being mindful of her scars.
Pressing his face against the side of her head he breathed out and just willed himself to relax.
'I can finally touch you.'
Her voice was full of awe and almost soul crushing relief, it sent a shiver down his spine before he realized that she was right.
For the first time in literal years, no handshakes or trading items hoping no one would notice, no speaking to each other through the link.
For the first time since they were children, they could finally touch each other.
'I knew that disease was a load of shit' she laughed tearfully.
He teared up, chuckling and trying to be mindful of where he put his hands, instead choosing to let them rest under her armpits, being careful of not touching her back.
Her long fur was thick and soft in his hands, her claws were a grey color, she was larger then he was and stronger then he expected.
Her paw pads weren't bruised or cut, they were pink, white and black.
Her tail was half the height and size of her own body, fuller now instead of thin and patchy.
Her limbs were long and her fur seemed to have small white snowflakes.
Her hair was smooth but wild, not matted or dirty.
She looked better, but she wasn't well.
She seemed to be inspecting him closely.
Touching his hair and gently pressing her hands against his face.
Before settling her face against his neck and sniffing him.
Her ears folded back against her head and she frowned.
'Something is wrong with your vocal chords'
'No, it was, it was someone else. They're dead now'
'Do you think it can be healed?'
'No, I-I tried but this is as healed as it'll get'
'Focus on healing yourself, it's fine, I'll be fine'.
Pressing the side of her head against his chest.
'You feel different' she tells him, handpaw moving upward to clasp the side of his neck, smoothing out the hair on his nape.
Jake tries to avoid the shiver attempting to creep out of his body.
His mouth feels dry, something’s different now.
'Yeah, its-its definitely good'.
'No healing, you have to save that for yourself, your-'
'Lucy, hey, if its not something bad, I'm willing to do it.'
'We've experienced worse'
She looks at him then, and whispers a single word that causes his mane to droop in shame.
He's never kissed anyone before and he wants to do a good job but he's worried that it won't be what either of them hopes it'll be.
She takes his hesitation for rejection and ducks her head.
'I told you it was embarrassing, we don't have to-'
He responds by giving her a small peck on her mouth.
Before pulling back, eyes wide and covering his mouth with his hand, mane puffed up in surprise.
He turns his head to the side and glances at her.
'Shit, I-I'm sorry, I just didn't know if I'd get the chance and I didn't want to make it seem like I was rejecting you but I-'
'I'm really sorry, we don't have to do it again'
'I mean, I was probably really bad at it'
He looks at her at the sound of his name.
Her voice is deep with a soft rumble, the fur around her cheeks is a dark blue color.
Her face is all he can see and he doesn't know what to expect.
"You didn't give me a chance to kiss back"
He stares at her and slowly, a sheepish smile spreads onto his face.
A soft giggle rings out and he kisses her properly this time, she kisses back with just as much warm.
The differences between them are more staggering now, but they find a pace that works for them.
She places her hand on his hip, he rests his hands against her arms.
Its good, its warm, his tail unintentionally wrapped around her leg and her own curls around his waist.
He pulls back from the kiss to laugh as her tail starts tickling him.
She continues tickling before stopping when she can tell he's out breath before she kisses him again.
A bit more forceful this time, her handpaw clasping the back of his head, fingers interwoven with his hair while the other holds his hand.
He shuffles closer, pushing back and locking his legs around her waist.
She's cold and he's far too warm.
He runs his hand over her furred cheek, feeling fuzzy when she nuzzles into it.
Who knows when they'll get a chance like this again.
They just rest against each other for a bit.
A week passes before everything goes to shit.
They had just gotten back from an unsucessful mission and there is a blizzard, they are walking alongside the paths when the snow gets heavier.
Its about 5 minutes before Lucy strikes first, falling into the snow and struggling to get up.
Gauss orders her to get up and injects her with a adrenaline shot for not doing so before demanding that Wright carries her.
He does so, and she pushes them both out of the Trail before removing herself from his back.
The blizzard is stronger now and her and Jake can hardly see from the snow but they find each other.
Jake takes down Lillian with a poison dart but not before he shoots out a syringe, Jake dodges and it hits Lucy instead.
She kills Wright and the 2 of them run.
Blood seeps out of her leg, it hurts, she's far too warm.
A scream then anger and then ribbons shoot out.
One of them catches Jake's leg and he cuts it just as quickly as it attatches itself to him.
Gauss is shouting for them before another angry scream is heard.
Screaming that they disobeyed him and its time for their punishment.
The poison is making Lucy sluggish, its the only poison Jake doesn't know how to treat because his is different but if he can distract Gauss somehow.
Something shoots out and Jake is hit with something.
He feels like his entire back is on fire.
He collapses to the ground a few inches away from Lucy.
Ribbons wrap around both their bodies and a sickening peeling noise is heard.
Jake hears his own blood pounding.
The ribbons tighten around his body cracking his skin and a plan forms.
Gauss pulls out a syringe, Lucy's head is turned away, Jake can't see her, but her lifeforce, her life force is fading.
He tears the ribbons with his teeth, breaking the tracking chip tooth in his mouth and pulls, not caring for the wounds on his arms or the bloodstains on his face.
Gauss doesn't see it coming.
His hands break, splinter and crack as ribbons tear holes into his palms.
Jake doesn't stop, hes going to kill him for the pain he caused them both.
His hands sting and burn as they meet bone and Gauss attempts to headbutt him to push him back only for Jake to stab him.
He doesn't stop stabbing, its violent, its cold and desperate but he's not stopping until this bastard is dead.
His eyes burn and his hands are shaking, he rummage through Gauss's pocket finding a syringe labeled 'regen' and pushes himself off the corpse and drags himself towards Lucy, stabbing the syringe into her neck and pressing down.
Emerald's skull is a few feet away and he grabs it gently, holds it carefully in his arm and takes Lucy's hand.
He passes out before the Snow Caste find them.
He ends up waking up drowsy and confused.
He's given medicine by Nightwalk who introduces herself and is about to ask a question when Little-Snarl interrupts him.
"Your friend is safe" he tells him.
"Both your injuries were severe but treatable, the corpse that was near you was already burning upon arrival"
Jake's body relaxes tremendously but it could just be the medicine helping, his nose is stuffy but he can feel her breathing close by.
"And where's, where's Emerald?" Jake whispers, his voice cracking, Lucy would be upset if her skull wasn't near.
The 2 medics look at each other before answering.
"We had to be careful extracting whoever's magic was attached to Emerald's skull that clung so tightly to her, but once we did that, we managed to purify it and attach it to the rest of her body"
Jake's eyes widen at that and he protests, "no! Its not part of her body, its Emerald's, where's Lucy?"
Little-Snarl steps closer, and Jake moves to sit up and Little-Snarl stops.
"Emerald is the skull, isn't she?" Jake nods.
Little-Snarl sighs, glaring at his mentor.
"The Skull analysts were right.
That is Emerald and the myst we found with him is Lucy, they never switched"
"The last of the Froststep clan" his mentor whispers.
Little-Snarl's ears fold back and he bares his teeth in frustration.
Nightwalk's eyes are pained as she presses her chin to his forehead once, whispering an apology that Little-Snarl accepts by doing the same action.
Jake has turned his head and is looking at Lucy.
Her face is scarred and he can understand why she didn't think he'd want to see but he disagrees with that notion regardless.
But she's alive and he wishes that Gauss suffered more for her scars.
But he's gone, he's gone and Jake doesn't realize he is crying before Nightwalk cleans his face with a soft rag.
She's taller then Lucy with a long pinkish black scar on her shoulder.
Her navy fur was thinner with a black and brown undercoat, and white handpaws.
The gray stripes around her mouth and eyes were signs of her age.
It isn't until he meets Anolith and Mildred that he understands why.
He's been sick for a long time, the poison he produced helped heal him by feeding off of another's weakened lifeforce.
Gauss had taken advantage of this to manipulate him without him even knowing.
He blamed Lucy's pain on him instead of himself.
But now that Gauss was gone, the poison had turned into a form of healing in some rare cases.
It wasn't uncommon, but there was only so much Jake could process until he got tired.
So he holds Lucy's hand and goes to sleep.
Its 3 days later until Lucy wakes up and everything is explained to her.
He holds her hand, not knowing what else to do.
Nightwalk comforts her as best she can.
But its clear that Lucy isn't used to it and she shrinks away.
Mildred steps in and takes it from there.
Explaining that she could take as long as she liked to come to terms with this and when asked what they want from her, she frowns and says she only wants the two of them to be safe and explain things that happened from their side.
The 2 stay in the medic's den for about a month before its finally deemed safe for them to leave and another packmate, Redheart gives them a tour of the territory.
He makes sure that the two are appropriately dressed for the cold and shows them the teens' den.
They stay close to each other and most of the pack worries that them being bonded to each other at such a young age may have caused them to develop codependency or littermate syndrome.
The codependency is right but they take to teaching them things with 2 different mentors though it is very slow progress.
Jake learns more about his species and culture while Lucy learns more about what customs she remembers and her family's values.
Shes not exactly ready to be part of a pack again but she sees how comfortable the other teens are with using her powers and wants to try to be like that too.
His song is cracked and his vocal chords have healed as best as they can but without a Chord he won't be able to interact with the physical and spiritual world around him.
He feels a sort of disconnnect with the other Songs.
Growls, snarls and yips mean different things to them.
He plays too rough and they don't like that he can remove body parts from himself like they're nothing.
His song is scratchy and it hurts to listen to with a raspy voice, it doesn't mold well with the others, even if a lot of them have damaged vocal chords.
The others are older than him and do like that he plays roughly but they can't play with him all the time.
The Mysts don't mind that he plays roughly or he's too touchy, and his hisses sound like a shriek's.
They don't mind that he produces poisononous plants because they know it doesn't hurt them.
Though they do watch over him when hes conducting his experiments, some even help, with the cures and logging.
Overall though, they welcome it, they welcome him with small snarls and happy growls and teach him how to use a bow.
They don't mind that he's different, they just care about him.
So Jake introduces Lucy to Lunarmist even if its scary and she's nervous but they need time apart, they need to learn how to be individuals again and grow on their own.
The conversation goes well and the 2 end up becoming friends.
Lunarmist teaches her how to hunt and he learns how to fish from Redheart.
They grow with the pack, they heal, they make friends and eventually get together and become partners.
And Jake gets worried that he won't be able to give her children if thats somethibg she desires because, its something he cant give her
The poison his body produces is dangerous for a newborn or a child to grow with.
He tells her and they talk things out.
They lean on no kids but if the possibility were to occur that a child needs help then they will give it.
He's been poisoned, and he's decaying right in front of him.
Jake sees himself in the young Fang and he acts quickly.
Then Lucy is there, shielding the two of them from the unbearable heat while Jake tends to him.
He removes the poison and hopes, hopes that this boy ends up okay.
It isn't until his body starts reforming itself that they move, they take him to Nightwalk and call his sibling.
They meet Lucille and Jake explains everything.
They are angry, and remove the hold their parent has on each of their siblings and the couple can only watch as she places a curse on the other end.
They will never reveal what it was but are glad for it.
For Malek to have such a caring sibling.
They welcome the two into their home and care for them like their own.
Having children was never in the cards for them but they would do the best that they could.
It isn't long until both of them start trusting them to varying degrees.
Though they do end up teaching Malek everything that they know and how to fight off poisons and the siblings teach them more creative ways to use their magic and different spells and sigils.
They become a family though Lucy did take oaths to never harm them as a reassurance to Lucille.
Jake took similar oaths but his were more extensive, as in he will do whatever is in his power to keep the three of them safe even at the cost of himself or legal matters.
Life is good for the family of four though Lucille is nervous about telling them things and once she does, they support her.
She thought she would have to choose between the two families that care for her but that's not the case, in Jake's mind.
Lucille's partner and her partner's family are just more people who care about her and they wont take his Small fur away, they're just more people who will protect her and keep her safe and will love her as much as he and Lucy do.
Malek stays with them for a long time, still getting used to a home that doesn't involve yelling or violence.
And it took a long time for them to get there.
For Lucy to see herself beyond the bloodshed and the violence.
To see herself as something other than a weapon.
It took even longer for Jake to see himself as anything other than a freak who didn't deserve good things.
He was insecure and scared for a lot of his youth and it took time and a lot of talking to help get him to a proper healthier mental state.
To see himself as someone deserving of love and that he shouldn't be afraid to face his fears even when scared.
