New Friends

"Please just ... come back inside. Please, you're only making this worse."

The young elf whom those words were intended for didn't want to hear. He hurried away; he wanted to be outdoors, not again in a building where he felt captured and threatened. He resisted the attempt of the healer, lady Meldisse, getting him back into the sickroom. No, he didn't want; he just wanted to sit out there under this big tree on a bright, flower-covered meadow.

But even in the light of this wonderful sunny day he couldn't escape the darkness of his mind and thoughts.

Close by, upon a low wall, there sat a boy and watched him. It was now for three days that the boy was watching him once in a while. But the young elf noticed him only now, for the boy advanced to him, a little bit shy, slowly. He assumed the boy to be about 12 years old; he was slim, with long red-blonde hair. He obviously was an elf too, although there was something about him he couldn't get.

The boy stopped at some distance, then hunkered down before him.

"You're wounded badly ... maybe you shouldn't get up ..."

The elf only shook his head and didn't answer.

"I'm Adair", the boy tried to talk to him. "What's your name?"

Again, the elf didn't answer, but looked at him. Adair saw the fear in his eyes.

"You are not in danger here; this is a safe place. And granny Geradine is nice. She's worried about you, you know ..."

"I-I'm ... Amaranth ...", the young elf suddenly answered his previous question.

"Hello Amaranth!" Adair smiled. "Nice to meet you!"

Amaranth looked at him, then he dropped his gaze and withdrew into his thoughts.

But Adair didn't want to give up. He was curious of this elf, and he felt sorry for him.

"I'm here now for almost 3 years; headmaster Morituri is my adoptive-father. You can stay here if you want, you know - you surely will like it here!"

Amaranth looked at him - wanted to say something - but then dropped his head and covered his face in his arms. Adair heard the elf silently crying. He slowly got near him and gently laid his hand on Amaranths healthy shoulder.

Amaranth felt the cautious touch; he shrank back. Adair immediately withdrew a little bit. Amaranth's crying stopped slowly, but he didn't move yet. Long time they only sat there. Amaranth stayed silent and didn't move. Adair told him about how he lived, from his friend Ricky, from his lessons and that he was learning using his magical abilities. Eventually, Adair saw that the bandage at Amaranths shoulder was covered with blood. "Please, your shoulder is bleeding again", Adair said anxiously. "You really should return to granny Geraldine!"

Lady Meldisse stood at the door of the infirmary, watching them from afar, but not moving yet. She was surprised; Adair seemed to stand well with him. Maybe, with his help, it would be possible to quieten her patient.

The young elf looked up and took a deep breath. He saw lady Meldisse slowly advancing to him, begging him once more to come in, for he needed to rest, and assuring him that he would get a bed right near the open window so he could look outside whenever he wanted.

"Please, Amaranth", Adair repeated. "I have to go now, back to my lessons, but I promise I'll come tomorrow to visit you again!"

Now finally Amaranth stood up and let the healer lead him into the house, without resisting.

*

The next day, when Adair came to the infirmary after his lessons, Amaranth sat again under the tree. Of course he didn't stay in his bed; he ran out in the early morning, refused to go back and stayed there. Lady Meldisse told him in vain that his wound would get worse when he didn't keep rest.

Adair ran towards him, suddenly stopped, and advanced slower. "Amaranth, look what I've learned today!" he said eagerly. Amaranth looked up. The boy focused, and slowly the picture of a flower appeared between his hands. Blurry yet, but a minute later more clear. Adair was all smiles. "And this one: look!" Again he focused, and shortly after there sat, beside the boy, a reflection of Adair, yet blurry and a bit flickering, but recognizable. "It's the first time I really got the hang of it!"

Amaranth looked at the blurry double which slowly faded. Now, only for short, a little smile flashed over his face. "Well done!"

A happy glowing appeared in Adairs eyes. "Thank you!"

While Adair told him from his day, Amaranth thought about the boy. His youthful light-heartedness and his eagerness to help him touched the elf's heart. Maybe it wasn't so bad to stay here ... the hours passed by way too fast, and this afternoon Amaranth agreed to go to bed while Adair stayed beside him. And later, when Amaranths horrors came back to overpower him once again, he didn't even shrink back when Adair touched his arm to comfort him.

*

By and by, Adair managed to get Amaranth's trust, and one day the young elf found himself waiting for the boy to come. The whole morning there was all darkness and fear in his mind, and he couldn't stay inside, but then his young friend came, and he got a little bit better, listened to his stories, and at last Amaranth even agreed to lay down under the tree to get the rest he was in dire need of.

Slowly but surely, a regularity developed between Amaranth and Adair. Amaranth always waited for him on the meadow unter the tree. Adair came at the early afternoon, talking to him, bringing him things, sometimes sweets, sometimes a book, and showed him what he learned at his lessons. Amaranths wounds healed only slow. But at least he had now a little distraction and maybe a friend in Adair.

One day Adair came already earlier; he just couldn't wait to join his friend. Some time later Amaranth noticed that the boy seemed to get tired. It was just when he wanted to ask him if he was all right when he saw the boy's hands slowly changed, from small elven hands into black, scaled hands of a --- shapeshifter?? -- with sharp claws... The boy looked at him, startled. "Oh nooo ... sorry, Amaranth ... I didn't want to frighten you! It's just ... I didn't pause after school, and I sneaked out; I thought I could get it ... Please Amaranth, don't be afraid of me!"

A shapeshifter-boy sat before him, blue skin with black scales, a scale-covered tail, and white eyes. Even without seeing pupils in Adairs eyes, Amaranth knew that the boy felt uneasy. Adair wanted to help his new friend - and now ... did he make all worse?

Adair couldn't know that there was nothing Amaranth would be more afraid of as what he went through the last years - the man who—  he abruptly stopped his thoughts. Of course he heard from shapeshifters, and they were dangerous indeed, but this boy wasn't. He was cheerful and friendly and eager to help.

"I'm not afraid of you, Adair," Amaranth assured him. "It's alright."

Adair took a deep breath. Only now they saw that Adair's trousers were torn when he shifted. Well, trousers and tails didn't get well along with each other ...

"The other students shouldn't see me", Adair explained. "Morituri said, they could be afraid of me."

Amaranth smiled a little bit. "Then, Adair, maybe we should go inside? Too many people could see you out here."

Adair nodded eagerly. "Yeah - let's go!"

Lady Meldisse smiled when she saw the two unlikely friends coming in. So the boy sneaked out, once more ... later she would go to Morituri to tell him where he was, and to get new clothes for him.

*

But after a while their daily meeting suddenly stopped. When Adair came at afternoon, Lady Meldisse told him that Amaranth refused to come out, after drinking all night, and that nobody could get through to him. When Adair tried it, even he hadn't any chance. Amaranth was back in the dephts of his horror, and his only "friends" seemed to be the alcohol and the numbness that followed the drunkenness.

"We don't know what he went through", lady Meldisse said to Adair. "But we will try everything. If you want to continue trying to help, I have to tell you that it could take very much time."

"That doesn't matter, granny", the boy replied. "I just wanna help him. He is my friend, you know!"

With these words he took his book, went into the room, sat near the elf, and continued to read the story which they began to read the day before.

***

It's a "The Night Watchers" fanstory

The first sentence is from PinkRobin's picture, here http://www.dolldivine.com/Anime/PinkRobin-3024729

Amaranth belongs to PinkRobin

Morituri and the Night Watchers belongs to AvalonTheQuin

Geradine Meldisse and Adair belong to me :)

***

Just a try to figure out how Adairs friendship to Amaranth could have begun. This should show only a short period of the time after Amarath escaped the Necromancers.

As to Amaranth's story, please also read PinkRobin's story "Amaranthine", here: http://www.dolldivine.com/stories/PinkRobin-25439