Chapter Text
She was alone.
She didn’t know exactly what it meant.
The other times she was alone, she could hear sounds, sounds she didn’t yet comprehend, sounds she didn’t yet understand, but they were familiar. And there was always someone coming close to her to check on her. To see if she was chewing on something she shouldn’t, to see if she hadn’t put something on fire.
This time, she was alone, and it was all strange.
The ground wasn’t soft and furry, it was moist and tickly; the air wasn’t warm and inviting, it was cold and harsh; the smells weren’t tasty and cozy, they were fresh and weak; and the sounds weren’t familiar at all, in a way she couldn’t understand.
She didn’t know the concept of time. Or place. She knew she was hungry, that her mommy was gone, that her daddy was gone, that there was no one around her. She was scared and alone, and she started to cry, and cry, and cry, until she couldn’t cry, and then she cried more.
She didn’t know how long she cried for. She was just a baby, with no notions of time or space. But she knew she stopped crying, when through her blurry sight, she saw a bunch of strange colors, and felt the warmth that was so easily recognizable to people of her kind.
Her eyes stopped watering, her little hands moved up to rub them, and suddenly she had warm hands pulling her up from her armpits, and bright blue eyes stared back at her.
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“How long is this trip?! I feel like we have been walking for aaaaaages!”
“Gricko, we just left an incredibly fulfilling and emotionally changing adventure in the Fey Wilds, how could you care about how long the trip back takes?”
“... Hootsie’s feet hurt, Frosty…”
Kremy couldn’t help rolling his eyes at his comrades’ antics. By the hells bellow, how was he able to spend weeks around those guys and not get absolutely insane?
He ignored the continuing banter between Gricko and Frost, focusing on the road ahead. It would take them some good days to arrive back to civilization in this pace, and he couldn’t wait to return to his home, his sweet sweet home, for some days without adventures or dangers or-
“Mr. Kremy?” he heard, wincing slightly as he felt Torbek’s fur rub against his arm. Gods gracious… this bugbear had no idea what personal space meant. “Torbek feels that you are a bit stressed… can Torbek help?”
“N-no, Torbek, I’m fine” he said, taking a step away from the man and sighing. Not a second later, Gideon was pushing against his other side, arms behind his neck and grin on his face.
“Oh come on Kremy, why the long face pal?” he asked, nudging him a bit. “We're going home! We have some money… things are good!”
“Sure Gid” he mumbled, still feeling exhausted from their adventure. Fact was, he was just tired. Tired of all the intensity of the fey. And here he had thought the Shadowfell was bad. He fixed his tophat, rubbed his left eye, and frowned as he started to hear a sound that wasn’t of their steps or anything like it. He thought about ignoring it, but the further they walked, the louder it got. Louder to him, at least, whose hearing was way better than the others.
From the little contact he had with humanoid creatures… that sounded like a baby crying.
He looked around, concerned, and internally cursing himself as he knew he shouldn’t give a crap about any abandoned child. Seriously, not his problem. Not in the slightest. He didn’t have any kids. Why should he care? Except his heart pulled at the strings as he continued to hear that cry.
The others seemed to endless chat, without realizing any of it: Gideon was walking ahead with Torbek, the two of them talking about women (more like Gideon talking and Torbek nervously listening), while to the side Frost and Gricko continued to discuss about the trip, Hootsie doing her job carrying their bags and Gricko behind her back. They were so loud…
Kremy turned to the side, and frowned when he heard the cries louder and clearer. Wincing, he found himself stopping right on his tracks, staring into the woods to their left. He had to be hearing things. No one could possibly have abandoned a baby in the middle of the woods…
Probably just another fey trick… but what if it wasn’t…
“Kremy?” he heard Gricko’s confused voice reach his ear, and he frowned, gripping his cane harder and heading straight into the woods after the cries. He heard his friends calling for him, but he didn’t stop. The more he walked the louder the cries, and the worst his heart ached for that little creature. Well, he hoped it was a little creature and not an archfey in disguise…
He stopped again to get his bearings after a moment, long enough that his comrades caught up. Now, they were quiet, listening out and looking.
“Can you guys hear that?” Gideon asked, frowning slightly. The others nodded.
“Yes… sounds like a child…” Frost mumbled, using his magic to lighten up the woods, now darker due to the foliage.
“Torbek doesn’t like this… Torbek thinks it's a trap…” Torbek whined, stepping closer to Gideon, who immediately stepped away from him again.
Kremy remained silent, and listening, nodding to the others and continuing deeper into the forest. Eventually, he could hear the cries so loud his head was almost hurting. And indeed, there it was, a little baby, fussing in between several plants. He approached it, and so did the others, everyone looking down at the infant as it cried and cried and cried.
Its tears were large, but they turned into steam before they could reach its chin; its hair was brown but had small sparks coming out of them, with tiny flames sometimes appearing through the strands; it was also naked, apart from a little diaper, which surely wasn’t comfortable in such a weather.
“It’s a genasi” Gideon mumbled as they approached, before Gricko jumped off of Hootsie and approached the little one. He reached down, holding it gently under the armpits, and lifted it up. And the baby stopped crying, the tiny tears turning into mist as it blinked.
“Oh… what a tiny fella” Gricko mumbled, careful with it as he smiled. “It’s a baby… just a little baby…”
“A genasi baby… fire too” Frost said, raising his eyebrow and looking at Gideon suspiciously. “Did you father this child?”
“W-what?!” Gideon gasped, looking at him. “No! What… what do you mean?! I was with you the entire time! When would I have time…”
“Perhaps Mr. Gideon got one of the Carnival goers pregnant…” Torbek offered, leaning over Gricko to look at the little baby. “Mr. Gideon had plenty of fans…”
“I didn’t get anyone pregnant, for crying out loud” he huffed, his hair turning slightly more red, although Kremy knew it was from embarrassment. He also approached the baby, looking down at it.
“Can anyone hear or sense someone else in the area? A mother or a father?” he asked, and looked around paying attention to their surroundings. He could see Gideon and Torbek doing the same, as Frost used his magic to try and find some trace of someone around the woods. Nothing. They couldn’t hear or feel or see anything. It really did seem like someone had just left the baby there and left.
“Who would abandon such a cute little thing?” Gricko whined, holding the little baby, being pretty much the only one of the group that had some sense of care around infants, although perhaps not a lot of practice. Kremy looked over at the baby, taking its features in: the yellow wide eyes, the orange-red skin, the brown fiery hair, the pointy ears. It really was a Genasi, from what he had seen of Gideon in the last few years.
It really was cute as hell.
“I do not know, but we must do something about it” Frost said, bending over Gricko to look at the baby. “Even if it is just taking it to the next town over. This baby cannot stay here, unsheltered and vulnerable.”
“Torbek doesn’t think we are the best option to keep a baby” Torbek whined, stepping away and nervously rubbing his fingers together. “Torbek only hurts what Torbek touches!”
“Then don’t touch the baby! Very simple” Gideon tapped his back, pulling away and wincing at the wetness of it. “Oh gods…”
As they discussed, the little baby watched them with its large yellow eyes and flaming hair. And then it giggled, bouncing a bit on Gricko’s arms, wiggling its little feet and waving its hands.
The sound was enough to make all of them quiet, staring at the little creature with surprise, shock, and fondness.
“Oh that’s… that’s very cute” Frost mumbled, reaching down with his paw and booping the little nose, making the baby giggle louder. “Oh gods.”
“That’s adorable! Hi baby!” Gricko cooed, holding it closer to himself and bouncing a bit, grinning as it giggled louder and louder. “Who’s a good baby? Who’s a good baby? You are!”
“We should probably stop calling it baby” Frost pondered. “Do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“We can always check” Gideon offered, everyone giving him a strange look. “W-what?! I don’t mean anything by it you fucking sickos, I just mean that’s the only way to know!”
“It is how you check for animal sex” Gricko agreed with a slow nod. Kremy grunted, rubbing the bridge of his snout.
“Do it quick please, this can’t get more awkward or horrifying” he mumbled, and Gricko gave him a nod, looking extremely serious as he quickly pulled the diaper and checked and immediately let it go again so it covered them up again.
“It’s a girl!” he cooed, bouncing her again and grinning as she giggled. “A healthy, genasi baby girl!”
“ Fire genasi. The best kind” Gideon said proudly, leaning down and gently ruffling her hair. “Isn’t that right little one?”
She giggled loudly and excitedly, almost like she was agreeing. Agreeing as much as a baby could.
They spent another moment fawning over the little baby girl, Gricko holding her close and making some silly commentary to make her laugh, while Kremy’s attention was pulled to something on the floor, near where she had been left. It was shiny, and when he reached down to take it, he found a small silver pendant. It had a name carved on it, Cinder. He looked at the baby genasi and hummed.
“I think I found her name” he waved the pedant to the others. “It says Cinder in this little pendant. Right next to where she was.”
“Cinder?” Frost asked, humming. “It is a fitting name for a Fire genasi, from what I can imagine.”
“Eh. We can have normal names too” Gideon mumbled, shaking his head.
“Torbek thinks Cinder fits the little baby!” Torbek said, having been watching her from behind Gricko. “Cinder has little grey spots on her hair like real cinder!”
Her eyes moved up towards Torbek, and she giggled, reaching up and making grabby hands at the tall bugbear. That immediately freaked him out, making him squeal and move back, away from the child. She looked confused for a moment before returning her attention to Gricko.
“Alright fellas” Kremy said, cleaning his throat. “Lets get back on the road. We need to find a town, and someone who can take care of Cinder. It will be night soon so we should also make camp, it’s not safe to be walking around at night around these parts.”
“Good thinking Krems. Lets go boys” Gideon nodded and started walking from where they came. Frost helped Gricko get on Hootise with Cinder in his arms, and they traveled back towards the road to find somewhere to set camp.
Although none of them were much father figures (except for Gricko, perhaps), they were constantly turning over to watch the little girl, to make sure she was safe and content, that she wasn’t crying. Gricko was doing a very good job entertaining her, showing her animals and little magic tricks, and the trip was mostly calm, until she started to whine.
No matter what Gricko did, she never stopped quietly whining and whimpering. It wasn’t loud like her previous cries but it was almost as painful. He checked for her diaper but she was clean, which meant she was either sleepy or hungry. Considering the time, probably both.
“How will we find something to feed her?” Kremy asked, slightly concerned as Gricko brought it up to the group.
“Cinder is a baby. Cinder probably drinks milk” Torbek offered, making Kremy sigh.
“Well, we don’t have milk, and we don’t produce milk, and there are no towns around to buy milk” he frowned.
“I think we have some milk, I carry some for making stews” Gricko offered, checking the supplies bag on Hootsie. As he did, Cinder began to slip from Hootsie’s back, Kremy’s eyes widening as he saw her slip.
“Gricko!” he cried out, rushing to the side of the owlbear and quickly picking up the little baby before she fell. He was awkward with it, holding her by her tummy, but she didn’t fall or even seemed to realize she was in any danger. Gricko turned around, terrified, and Kremy growled. “Be careful!”
“S-sorry, I forget that humanoid babies are way less independent than animal babies…”
Kremy huffed, fixing her up in his arms. He was about to hand her back to Gricko, but she gripped on his suit, her little hands tight and strong, way stronger than he ever thought a baby could be.
And when he looked down, her eyes were wide and sparkly, with what seemed like flames in them, warm and cozy, and her whining was gone.
“Oh Kremy… I think she likes you” Gricko said, smiling, and Kremy felt his cheeks burn, even though he couldn’t technically blush. He stopped, sticking his cane on the ground, and then carefully fixing her position in his arms so she could be leaning against his chest, one arm behind her, keeping her close.
She babbled something before resting against his chest, the flames on her hair dimming slightly. He took his cane back with care, and looked up to see his comrades staring at him.
“What?” he asked, embarrassed, knowing exactly what they were thinking. “If it stops her from whining, might as well!”
“Yeah… sure Krems…” Gideon said with a smirk on his face that made Kremy even more embarrassed. Part of him wanted to just throw Cinder back to Gricko, but he wasn’t a child. He puffed his chest out, bounced her a bit in his arm, and walked past the group to lead the way without looking back at them.
And when he looked down at the little girl, she was far gone, gripping on his suit and drooling a bit as she slept deeply against him.
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