Strolling through the woods a trio could be seen walking towards a large and colorful flower bed. There was a young blonde girl, who was happily hopping forward, while next to her was an elderly woman, who had a small boy in his arms.
The small boy was probably around 6 years old, with slightly bronze, tanned skin, black shoulder length hair, that was kept in a messy state. His eyes, which had golden colored irises, were currently closed as he rested his head on top of the elderly lady's shoulder.
The boy was thin, his weight caused no problem for the Granny who was humming a tune while gently petted his back.
"Rest your eyes and relax. You must be tired for what you have gone through." Then she turned to Lily. "We could have gone back instead and eaten a late lunch or an early dinner at home instead. Could you finish gathering the herbs, while I let him rest a bit?"
Lilly nodded her small head, and raised her hand to the air. "Leave it to me Granny! Tend to brother, and I'll get you all the sweet flowers! We will have lots of desserts for dinner!"
Then while giggling, she bolted forward and started her little crusade against the flowers. The victories could be identified by the occasional giggles.
At the same time, Granny sat down next to a larger tree and kept pampering him.
---
Aiden who had his eyes closed all the while was having a conversation with Enya along the way.
'Why do they think I suffered some kind of tragedy? And why should I go with them?'
Enya was ready for him once again. [They will be your family Aiden. You need someone to tend to you, you are no longer a wild animal, you can't keep feeding on raw fish, or insects, you need proper meals, and a home. Fate guided these two to you, and they are kind enough to offer their help, just accept it. If you haven't noticed, currently you have the appearance of a fragile human boy. You couldn't even walk.]
'But I do not know them, nor do I know their goals. And now they are taking me somewhere… But I have to admit, resting on her shoulders is really nice… I could doze off actually.'
[Then just give in to this feeling and go with the flow. Sleep Aiden.]
Aiden did not answer, just went with what Enya suggested to him. While being rocked and petted he slowly dozed off to dreamland. His new life, his life as a member of a family started on this very day.
--
Granny relaxed when he finally heard the light snoring sounds coming from the boy. There were no trace of the hard and questioning gaze that she had earlier. If someone looked at her, she could only see care and worry in her eyes when she was looking at this frail-looking boy.
'Just what happened to him? How did he end up here? And what is he? He is certainly not a human, even if he looks like one. Could he really be an Ancient Dragon? But from what I know, Dragons can't transform themselves to human form until they mature, yet this kid was born looking like one. This just doesn't make any sense.'
Granny was filled with questions still, but for the time being, the only thing that mattered was the safety of this child. Seeing him earlier, reminded him of Lily when she met her. In that stormy night, full of bruises, just crying tattered and alone at the base of a tree. Not far way you could see a blond haired female elven woman full of arrows dead on the ground. The sound of the heavy storm shielded them from their supposed pursuers.
Earlier that day, she was contacted by the elven woman, Medalaine, that she needs to tell her something very important. Even if they were not related by blood, she always thought of Medalaine as her daughter. After all, she took care of her for many years.
When she arrived at the meeting place, this scene greeted her. Extending her Magic Sense, she could sense a lot of weak signatures closing on this place from a distance. She knew she doesn't have that much time, and while the signatures looked weak compared to her, they were numerous, and a small girl was also here, that she would be unable to protect.
Crouching down, she looked at the little crying girl, and while slowly and gently caressing her head, she told her the next steps that they need to take.
'Sssh.. little one, listen to me, this is very important. We need to get out of here quickly, before your pursuers catch up. I don't know why are they chasing you, but I was Medalaines mother, so you can refer to me as Granny, okay? I will take you out of here, after we put your mother to rest. Be strong, just for a little more!'
Even though she was still balling her eyes out, and snot was running out of her cute little nose, she nodded her head silently, and slowly crawled behind this elderly lady. She knew that they will meet an old lady, dressed in tattered red clothes, that her mother told her was her mother, and Lily would be staying with her for a while.
Looking at the child silently nodding, a small smile creeped towards Granny's wrinkly face. She then stood up, and with her palms open and pointing towards her deceased step-daughter, she murmured a few words that sounded gibberish to Lily. Soon after Granny finished her incantation, white light enveloped her hands, then slowly after, the very ground started to wrap around Medalaine's body, silently swallowing it to its depths.
A few seconds later, the body was nowhere to be found, and only a single blue colored, star shaped flower was left in its place.
"That flower marks the grave of your mother child. We will never forget her, but now, we have to leave. Are you ready?"
Lily nodded her head, while looking at the grave of her mother. Everything was happening way too fast for her to process, the only thing she knew that she felt safe with this lady. She looked at her wrinkled, and gentle face, and for the first time, in an almost inaudible voice she asked her: "How… how… how can I… call you?"
Granny slowly caressed the girls head, while answering. "Poor child, I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I'll promise that from now on, nothing like this will happen again. You can call me Granny, like everyone does. What's your name?"
"My name is Lily… Granny." answered Lily.
Granny then picked up the child and while walking back towards the treeline she came out of, with her left hand she picked up a piece of cloth from one of the pockets of her ragged clothes, cleaning up the snot and stain on Lily's face.
"There-there, come now, let's go back to my place, okay? I have some desserts that I prepared for you, I'm sure you will love it! You can eat as much as you want while warming up next to the fire."
By the time the sounds of men closed in on this place, Granny and Lily was long gone, and the only reminder of the tragedy that happened here was a single piece of blue, star shaped flower next to a simple looking tree. ..
---
Coming back from her reverie, Granny looked at the still sleeping boy. Lily's laughter could still be heard from around the area, so she probably was still gathering flowers.
'I have a feeling that most of the flowers she picked will be for the desserts. Oh well, we should have enough Devil Cloves for the potions we need to make, it shouldn't be a problem.'
Soon after, Lily came back, with her basked packed heaped with mostly orange colored flowers, with some occasional dark red ones.
"I see you have finished filling up your basket. But why do I see mostly Sweet Sumacs, hmm?" Said Granny grinning at Lily.
Lily laughed at her little mischief:
"Hehe, we need more sweets today Granny! We have a little brother that we need to cheer up! I still got a lot of the red ones!"
"Alright Lily, I will let it slide this time, but you have to be quiet while we go back home okay?" Said Granny, then while looking at the sleeping boy she continued. "He looks really tired, let him rest while we walk back."
Lilly nodded her small head. "Okay Granny!"
Granny then stood up, and while still holding the boy in his arms, she motioned with her head for Lilly to follow while keeping a low voice.
"Now come, let's head home. I will bake you all the sweets you want, and you can eat it with your new little brother."
---
Inside Aiden's soul-space, the soft mature female golden colored blob of light was watching the scene. If she had a face it would be smiling now, but unfortunately, she had no body, she was just the spirit of the system, residing in Aiden's soul.
[Rest up Aiden… You are in good hands now. Hopefully when you will discover the truth, you will be able to forgive me…]
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