Kit the Enderbat Hybrid

"We aren’t the most understanding lot, are we? Us humans…" He sighed and looked over at Kit, who seemed to be unconsciously fidgeting at the presence of good food nearby. Chuckling, Alabaster nodded again in her direction and took a sideways step back towards the door.

"Your friend looks hungry after a good night’s healing from the spider bites. Should I bring your breakfasts here or will Callie come to you herself?"

He turned his attention back to the bedridden hybrid when Alabaster pointed out the sounds her stomach were making. Tak smiled a little - that was a good sign, she was feeling hungry. That meant her body didn't have to devote all of its energy into fighting the poison anymore.

"Thanks, but I'll get some myself-"

Before he could stand up, the boy returned with arms (and mouth) crammed full of freshly baked bread, eagerly holding out a few in offering to the half-dragon and the sleeping Kit. Tak blinked before taking the loaf gratefully.

"...never mind. Thanks, kiddo."

Tak opened his maw and bit down on the bread with his sharp teeth, relishing the sweetness of the jam Callie had cooked into the hollow inside of the bread. Mmm... calico bread was a real treat. Hard to make, but delicious and filling. Callie was probably the only person the half-dragon knew that was a better cook than Kit.

Speaking of which...

He stood from his chair and carried the second loaf of the cake-like breakfast loaf, holding the food in front of Kit's short muzzle. A snuffling noise could be heard, and the hybrid's head tilted toward the food, her bleary eyes blinking open.

Wonderful pieces of art with words and phrases. Even without the use of a picture, y’all create a friggin MASTERPIECE out of your works. A shame that many brush those off as just things too long for them to read through. :(

Shoutout to all those writerly folks, both known and unknown to me, who are severely underrated for such awesome works!

My parents went back on their promise to help me figure out how to transport my tablet to college with me, so now I guess I won’t be seeing it again until Spring Break.

In three months.

Goodbye, Paint Tool SAI. I’ll miss you and your beautiful pen pressure :c

Until I have access to it again, looks like my drawings will be solely scanned and edited drawings without full digital enhancement.

—————

Though he could smell the food cart as it clattered up the stairs, the thought of food didn’t reach his mind through a thick mental soup of questions and feelings.

After some moments of washing and ecstatic, yet mournful, speculations, he returned to the hybrids’ room. His hair was still wet after hastily trying to dry it, and his eyes a little puffy and red from crying. It was hard to lift his head and face Tak without feeling embarrassed, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to hear anything if he didn’t.

Tak glanced at her briefly, mulling over grabbing them some of Callie's fresh cooking, when the traveler stumbled back into their room. The half-dragon's yellow eyes slid back over to look at him, though it seemed Alabaster had a little trouble meeting meeting the hybrid's eyes. Tak wasn't surprised - humans were often unnerved by his strange reptilian eyes, and it seemed the man had been crying as well.

When the other asked him the question, Tak's tail curled further around his chair's legs at the thought.

"We were heading here on a casual visit to trade goods - things took a series of rapid downhill turns once we ran into the kid, though. He's mostly harmless for a wild child, though, so he followed us down the mountain, I'd assume out of curiosity. He lured a horde of spiders on our asses, and Kit got bit at least seven times. Normally forest spider venom is barely potent at all compared to cave spider venom, but getting too much at once can still cause problems. So we rushed her to town to get treated."

The dragon's eyes narrowed lightly.

He barely noticed Callie bounding past him and into the hallway, all his attention focused on the valuable paper.

Unwrapping and unrolling one of the papers, he scanned through the letter, examining the handwriting. Tak would be able to see him squint a couple of times behind the paper to reread a few lines of illegible scribbles.

"Well, whoever wrote this must either have a serious issue with their hands, or they just don’t know how to write in general," he muttered, frown of confusion set deeper the more he read off the paper. He shook his head, and rolled that paper up again, returning it to Tak.

Upon opening the nest letter, eyes grew wider upon reading this neater handwriting. A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, his other hand coming up to cover it. The man seemed to be almost on the verge of tears. Quiet and close to hysterical laughter escaped from his throat.

"You’re…you’re alive…" He whispered, opening the rest of the letters. "I knew it! I knew it…mother of Notch I knew it…”

The small curve at the end of each “y”, the sharp turn of the first hill in every “s”, and then “Ridgewall” with a “R” whose second foot ended with the sharp flick of the hand….

Now, could it have been a forgery? Absolutely. But this was far closer to his brother than what he could dig up in the past several years.

A sniff. Followed by another, and another, until the sleeve had to come up to wipe his face dry.

"I-I’m sorry, it’s just…hahahaaaah, goodness…excuse me for a second please."

Then again, he did say 'I knew it, you're alive'... maybe this imposter was who he was searching for? Hm.

Tak sighed and curled his tail around his chair. Not much he could do now but wait.

Kit murmured in her sleep, turning over to face the other direction. Her fever had finally broken, and she looked much more content and peaceful than the previous night.

He hesitantly reached a hand out to Tak. “May I…may I see these letters, please?” He asked in a quiet voice, outstretched hand slightly trembling. Perhaps the handwriting could give him some clues. No guarantee that he would recognize it, but if he did, then good for the both of them. Both parties would be a step closer to finding this person’s real identity.

Who knows? It could be one of his adversaries—he had a lot more of those than close friends and family, anyway.

—————

"We haven't talked all that much - Kit knows more than I do, since she's the one who came across the house in the first place, but she's not doing so well right now. Also, that paper is valuable material, so I'd like it back when you're finished."

Callie seemed pleased that the boy understood the drink was for him, although it appeared that he only comprehended once it was signed to him by the half-dragon. "Oh dear, I forgot the poor boy couldn't speak."

"He can't understand common Craftian tongue, either," Tak turned his head to look at Callie for a moment. "Gestures and body language are about all we've been able to use to get him to understand us."

"Tak…and Kit…?" He answered at last, scratching the back of his head. "No—I don’t believe I’ve met anyone with those names. Until now, at least. Why?"

He raised his own eyebrow at the half-dragon. He only asked for their names, and the other posed a question wondering if he had already knew them. It was obvious that the question asked if he knew them directly in the past, as they were, most likely, a pair that would want to keep a low profile.

So who was it? Who was the “Alabaster Ridgewall” that they know?

—————

Tak reached into the travel satchel that sat next to his chair, removing a quill and a roll of paper wrapped in a purple ribbon, twitching it between his fingers.

"We've been exchanging correspondence with a pair of gentlemen that go by the names 'Steve' and 'Alabaster Ridgewall' for about a month now. 'Pen Pals', Kit calls it. If you're Al..."

Tak held his chin in thought. "Hm. It seems someone has taken your name without your permission. Pretty uncommon name to take, though - you're the only other person on the planet I've heard with that name, aside from whoever's been responding to our letters."

Callie came back in the room with towels fresh from the wash, and placed a washcloth soaked with water on Kit's forehead to help cool the fever. The villager woman took a milk glass from the nearby tray, and held up Kit's head again to help her drink it. The half-bat responded with a bit more energy this time, gulping the drink down more easily now that the pressure on her throat had lessened some. Callie held a glass out for the boy. "Here, you can have some, too - this batch was sweetened with a bit of sugar, to help it go down easier," she said with a warm smile.

"But I know of you.”

What?

Another nervous adjustment. “You…you know of me.” He blurted out first, the sentence coming off as a statement. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You know of me? How, if I may ask?”

Knew of him…if anyone was going to know about an Alabaster Ridgewall beforehand, then they must have met someone close. But friends and family for a Ridgewall were scarce and few.

Could it be that somewhere, along the way a close connection befriended this…this intimidating…he didn’t want to say “beast”, but the hybrids’ names had yet to be revealed to him.

"I-If you don’t mind, perhaps you could also introduce yourselves as well?"

—————

"My name is Tak Halfdragon. Her name is Kit Halfbat," he angled his head towards the mattress with the sleeping hybrid, "for obvious reasons. As for the kid... truth be told, I don't think he even has one. He's tagged along with us since we came over the mountain. Do either of those names ring a bell to you at all, Al?"

Tak's tail twitched about as he thought.

Would he be intruding by entering without knocking? The door was open, anyway because Callie entered before him, but from last night…

Another moment’s worth of hesitation. Decision finally forming in his head. He finally let his hand settle onto the knob and pushed the door open wider, taking a cautious step into the room.

"Good, ah, good morning, everyone! Just wonderi— oh! I see you’ve got my letter from, aheh, from last night. Um…" The man nervously adjusted his strap. "S-sorry for coming in without knocking, but do you… So do you… By any chance, have you…ever seen or heard of my brother anywhere?"

—————

"Good morning, Alabaster," he said slowly. The name seemed to roll off the hybrid's poison-yellow tongue as if he were turning it over in his head. "...and I apologize for my behavior the other night."

The half-dragon twitched the paper back and forth in his claws, then held up the photograph so he could examine the differences between it and the face before him.

Hm... they did appear very similar, so it was likely this man was telling the truth and this photograph was someone with whom he shared a familial bond... or it could be a forgery.

But all the same.

"No. I do not know this human. His face is unfamiliar to me, as is his first name."

The hybrid was staring right at him.

"But I know of you."

Hopefully, this could be a lead, he thought for the umpteenth time, removing his bag from shoulders. Hopefully, his brother isn’t dead like they all say. That boy wasn’t trained for that.

He lay there like that for a few moments longer, thinking through a few thoughts before getting up to wash and prepare himself for tomorrow.

—————

True to Tak’s word, the boy merely blinked at Callie’s lecture and slowly put Kit’s glass up to his face, too, pressing the warmth against an utterly blank expression. He looked back at Kit, completely ignoring Callie’s look towards him, and set down the cups he held before he moved to the foot of the bed to unzip his coat.

Effortlessly pulling the zip open, he removed his coat to reveal a boy wearing a black sweater two sizes too big, the bottom of it shoved into his pants to keep it from hanging loosely over his legs. The boy lay the coat flat onto the ground and climbed into the bed with Kit, immediately falling asleep once his head hit the mattress.

Perhaps Al didn’t have to pay for him, after all.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Al sat up in his bed, pencil scribbling across notebook pages. Every time he had a dream, he would try to sketch out a scene from it, and last night’s dream seemed to be about dragons and snow. He could only guess where the dragon came from. Finishing up a detail, he stuck the pencil into the notebook and stood, giving a good morning stretch before slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Today was an answer. Most likely to be a disappointment, but he would be ready. He quickly left the room and made his way down to theirs.

—————

Kit looked considerably better than she had the previous night. Her rattling breath had steadied somewhat, and some of the color had returned to her face. The half-bat's face was no longer quite as drawn and sickly-looking, the milk having soaked up some of the poison from her system. She didn't seem aware of the mute child playing with her coat of fur, but there was a light smile on her face as she dreamed of happier days, when her sister did the same.

Callie passed by Al's room as she as she returned to the hybrids' quarters, replacing the tray of empty milk pitcher and glasses with a fresh batch. She carefully took one of the glasses and tilted Kit's head to help her drink another dose of the steamy milk.

Tak looked up and smiled at her gratefully, feeling immense relief at the more peaceful look on Kit's face.

"Thanks, Callie."

Thank gods, she was going to be fine.

Lifting one of the glasses, he pressed it against his cheek and sighed with contentment, the warmth seeping through the glass and spreading onto his face. Taking one of the other cups off of the tray, he brought it up to Kit’s face, careful not to spill any of the contents inside of it, and pressed it against her muzzle.

—————

This wouldn’t have been the first time he was snarled and glared at. Traveling around so much gave him more than his share of unfriendly meetings, and he had to deal with all that trying to find one person.

Al sighed, putting a hand on the doorknob to his registered room.

"Boyo, you’re making me go through a lot of trouble trying to find your trail…"

He stayed like that, standing in front of the door with his hand refusing to turn the knob it rested on. He looked down the hallway, back at that room and the boy and the tenants. It seemed like a bother to ask at this hour, but…maybe he could drop them a small note? It was hard for him to hear them in such dark room lighting, anyway.

Making up his mind, he grabbed a notebook and pen out of his bag and set off back to the room.

*****

The note was written, a picture and tape attached to the top of it for the receivers to see when they got it. Al opened their room door slightly open, just enough to reach out an arm and stick the note onto the inside.

After successfully posting the note onto the inside of the door, the hand retreated, the sound of quick and quiet footsteps retreating down the hallway.

The paper read:

"My boy, I know you mean well, but her body has a fever - her brain thinks that she's chilly, but in reality she's burning up to get rid of the poison. Too much heat on the outside will only make things worse," the villager woman spoke in a warm, yet firm, motherly tone.

"He can't understand what you're saying, Callie," Tak spoke up, watching. "We found him in the mountains. I'd wager he's never seen another human being in his life, probably doesn't even have much of a family."

Callie frowned sadly. "Oh dear, that's awful."

"He doesn't seem to mind - the kid acts like a savage, or at least is totally clueless. He was gutting a cow when Kit stumbled on him."

The sad frown quickly went taut with surprise. "My-..."

Tak sighed. "He's okay, though. I think it's how he gets food. He has yet to lay a finger on either of us, and we don't even remotely look like other humans. Mostly, he acts like a toddler. Tried to eat a spoiled potato from our bags - his face was priceless."

That seemed to placate the woman's fears, and she glanced at the kid in curiosity as he pressed the warm milk glass to his cheek like it was a lukewarm piece of coal.

Tak heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and glanced back towards the door, catching a whiff of the foreign scent again. It was the same man from before. He almost growled again, but then he noticed the slips of paper attached to the door. With a grunt, he stood and walked over, his footsteps heavy as he thudded across the room and removed the letter from the door. His eyes ran over the letter, and he paused.

Alabaster?

Wait.

That human was-?

....

Well, it was too late at night now.

As he saw the now discernible dragon hybrid sit down in disappointment, he noticed another figure laying on the bed. The way they were positioned, dragon looming over the other creature, suggested a stance of protection, most likely someone they very much cared about.

"I’m…sorry for barging in on you all like this," he said quietly, fiddling with the bag strap, "Must be a bad time to talk, much less to come in. Please tell the boy I got him a room. Might not mean much, but seeing how close you two seem to be, it’s the least I can do."

And with that, he silently slipped back into the hallway.

—————

The bigger hybrid rose to that threatening position again, this time directed to the old man that kept following him everywhere. Though the danger of being ripped apart was not focused on him, it still scared him just how powerful the horned hybrid could be. He remembered their fight with the spiders back on the trail—get one powerful swipe from this beast and say your last good-byes.

"God dammit..." he swore quietly. "Callie, please tell me you're going to keep an eye on him. The last thing we need is humans chasing us out."

Callie nodded. "Of course - if he leaves the building, I'll let you know so you have time to pack up and run."

Tak ran one hand over the top of his head, looking tired.

The hybrid angled his head down toward the mute boy, who looked at him as if he wanted to ask a question while pointing to the ill individual on the bed. The boy also appeared to look very uncomfortable, being wrapped up in the half-dragon's tail. Tak blinked. He hadn't even realized he had done it, since he was focused on the person in the doorway. He uncurled the limb so it fell back on the floor. Tak sighed.

"Callie, do you have any milk?"

"I was heating a pot downstairs for her when your friend barged through the front door - which should be about done by now."

The villager woman turned and looked back at Tak one last time before turning to head downstairs.

Tak just sat there, his tail twitching in agitation.

More footsteps, surprisingly quieter but just as fast, entered the hallway and ended up behind Callie, looking into the room. Turning to see who it was, the boy huffed again in annoyance of the old man.

"I’m so very sorry for him running off. I’ve only just met him, and I just figured out that he has a knack for disappearing." He then turned to the boy: "Kid, I don’t know what you were thinking, going off on your own like that, but you’ve got to…" He stopped, noticing a large creature with spines raised and mouth pulled back in a snarl. Now who was this?

Callie noticed that Tak was snarling, and surprisingly, glared at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oi, listen here young man - you will NOT trash this room and hall, you hear me?!"

The half-dragon closed his maw and looked at her incredulously, like a child that had just been told he couldn't play with his Craftmas present.

"Callie, you have to be kidding-"

"No buts! I am still finishing the repairs on the third floor staircase from last time! If you insist on fighting, take it outside."

The half-dragon growled, his spines flaring briefly before flattening again. Well, shit. She was forcing him to pick between running the human out - and essentially getting locked out by the innkeeper - and remaining where he stood next to his partner.

Giving the newcomer one last glare, he sat back down and grumbled lowly, looking irritable as he hovered protectively over his mate. The dragon's tail curled around to wrap around the mute child, instinctively pulling him closer and away from the threat.

Callie sighed in relief that she had managed to placate the much larger hybrid - she had thought for a moment that he would ignore her and start destroying the place again. She turned to apologize to the other traveler, still getting her breath back.