Chapter Text
Between two mountain ranges, tucked back in the hillside behind a forest of pines older than any living man, sits a small cottage. Smoke curls from the chimney, but mysteriously never hot enough to cause a fire. There’s a sprawling garden surrounding the home, filled with all sorts of plants that the animals and insects never seem to touch. Dandelions and mushrooms dot the lawn, but aren’t considered pests.
If you manage to make it through the forest the locals claim is impossible to navigate, you’ll find that a witch and his apprentice live there.
Early birdsong filled the air of the valley.
The snow had finally begun to melt off the mountain peaks, and the teasing sun of spring warmed Tighnari’s back as he tilled the soil of his flower beds. The sounds of nature kept him company. Collei had disappeared into the woods just after dawn carrying a basket full of pastries for the fairies and he didn’t expect her home till dinner. In his opinion, she was much too kind to the tricky creatures, but she always came home toting more goodies they’d gifted to their favorite witch so he allowed it.
The air was still too bitter to expect any travelers, and he hadn’t bothered to clean the trails enough to make it welcoming. Tighnari had begun delivering to his consistent customers in town, so only the truly desperate came seeking him out. He made a silent mental note to brew another batch of contraceptive potions for Kaveh to stock in his storefront; they always sold out so fast.
Tighnari buried his hands deeper into the dark, cool earth until his fingertips brushed over stone. He curled his hands around the tile, heaving it up from the soil that had stained his hands black.
“Well, it looks like we’ll be laying new runes this week,” Tighnari sighed. He’d carved the set buried around his house several years prior, but the magic seemed to have finally washed away. He dragged his palm over the now smooth quartz surface where a protection rune had once been.
He dropped the heavy chunk of stone to the side and leveled the dirt back out before fishing a pack of seeds from his pocket. Poppies were best sown while the ground was still cool.
Tighnari tossed the seeds without much care. When Tighnari leaned back on his heels, he spied the watering can across the yard. He let out a lazy sigh, waving his hand and conjuring a small rain cloud to sprinkle over the new seedlings.
With a snap, it was gone.
He crawled to the next plant bed; this one he’d set down his mint and rosemary cuttings beside. Tighnari repeated the process of tilling, retrieving the rune stone, planting, and watering until he’d made it entirely around the house.
A groan escaped his lips as he stretched his arms and back while he stood. He cracked his neck and began to gather his tools and toss them into his bucket.
Tighnari washed the windows and pruned the dead branches left by winter. He raked the dead leaves away to his compost pile, and as he finally felt satisfied with his yard work he inhaled a deep breath of spring air. That was what spring was for after all, beginnings and breaths of new life into the old.
He set the pail of tools, seeds, and miscellaneous oddities by the doorstep. Then, he hauled quartz slabs inside a few at a time until they were set in a small stack on his kitchen island.
For it being midweek, he had a lot to finish. Tighnari knew it had to do with the seasonal transition, but he still sighed in frustration as he added the runes to the top of the list- lest there be pixies raiding his cupboards.
Tighnari collected a stick of charcoal and his iron chisel from the supply room, and dug the spellbook he needed from beneath a stack of others on the floor. Dusting off the cover, he pulled out the note sheet he’d made on the runes for outside the cottage.
First, protection on four stones to be placed at the cardinal directions. Then, runes for defense and joy to be dispersed amongst the others. Tighnari usually added a few for growth, though other witches had called it cheating. He drew them all out before setting them aside to have Collei carve. She needed to work on her runes, one could only get so far with a natural affinity for magic.
He put the charcoal away, clearing off the remaining side of his island and turning to find a different spellbook. Tighnari glanced at the piano in the corner before he wandered over and pressed a single key. The enchanted instrument began to play without anyone at its bench and he returned to his work.
Immunity booster, allergy relief, contraceptive, and sunburn cream, he mentally listed off the potions he needed to restock before flipping to the first recipe. He lit the oven and pulled the old, rusty canning pot from the pantry. Collei lovingly referred to it as his cauldron.
He fetched the lemon extract, camellia leaves, and orange slices before tossing them into the pot. Measuring was for the weak of heart. A half cup of sugar for taste, and then he filled the pot halfway with water to let it boil. The tiniest amount of ground ginger was added near the end, and Tighnari opened the kitchen window as it started to steam.
He didn’t mind the scent, per say. It was just incredibly strong, and the benefits of heightened heading and agility from his Fox ancestors were partnered with an overly sensitive nose.
Tighnari grew tired of stirring and charmed the spoon to do the task on its own with a simple flick of his hand. While the potion cooked down he clambered onto the counter to take down the herbs that were done drying from the rack they’d hung from the ceiling. Bundles of wolf’s bane, lavender, and lemon balm were set down on the counter to be cut down for the season.
The stems were trimmed off and tossed into the compost bucket, and he made sure to inspect the flowers for any visible disease or moisture before adding them to storage. Dry ingredients were always less potent than fresh and he’d need these to last until the end of summer.
Tighnari stocked them in the supply room after writing the date on the lids. He returned back to the stove to find it just thick enough to begin jarring. Taking ahold of the spoon, Tighnari muttered the incantation three times and waited for the plume of golden magic to disperse.
He spooned the potion into its jars with a steady hand. It looked a bit like honey, with the thick consistency and off-yellow color. Tighnari had to let each of the jars cool before he could put corks and labels on them, so he plopped the pot into the sink and began scrubbing away the residue for the next batch. An immunity booster would do nothing for the skin, but the orange was fine for his skin so he didn’t bother with gloves as he scrubbed it away.
The rest of the afternoon was spent completing his allergy relief potions for the springtime. Of course, the ones in high demand took the longest to brew. However, Tighnari refused to cut corners because the one time he didn’t let the mint steep long enough the entire batch was ruined.
With nothing to do, he ended up on the couch shelling the bag of dried walnuts he hadn’t bothered to get around to. Collei’s birthday was just around the corner and he needed them for her cake.
“Speak of the devil,” Tighnari muttered as he heard familiar footsteps trodding up towards the house.
“Tighnari!” Collei’s voice called excitedly as she came up the path. He stood up from the couch and quickly stirred the potion on the stove before looking out the window.
Tighnari dropped the spoon to the side of the stove and rushed to the door, throwing it open as he sped down the steps and was stopped in his tracks.
Trailing a few feet behind Collei was a wolf that’s back reached her ribcage, much too large to be natural. Much too tame.
“Collei-” He opened and closed his mouth, hand gesturing behind her. “What is going on?” All the fur on his tail stood on end, and his hand grasped for a staff he’d left beside the coat rack.
She grinned happily, blissfully unaware of his discomfort. “I found him in the woods,” she laughed. Tighnari watched helplessly as she reached a hand over and scratched the fur between the wolves ears. The beast lifted its head into her touch, pressing against her. “He’s so sweet.”
“Collei,” - Tighnari reached up to pinch his brow - “that is a werewolf.”
The green haired witch blinked, looking from Tighnari to the wolf and back again. The silver furred beast’s tail wagged as he bumped his head against her leg.
“But it’s not the full moon?” she said.
“No, it is not.” Tighnari eyed the creature suspiciously.
Collei wasn’t at all discouraged by her mentor’s statement. She just shrugged and continued to pet the wolf. “Can we at least feed him something?”
Tighnari’s brows furrowed. “Why?”
Collei looked more confused by his question. “Because he’s hungry.” She emphasized with her hands. “He ate what I could give him from the fairies’ treats, but I couldn’t give him chocolate.”
Tighnari’s shoulders sagged.
The trees wouldn’t have let the wolf through the woods if he had any ill-will towards Collei or Tighnari. They’d been tricking those who wished to harm for a long time. Tighnari wasn’t inclined to trust the beast, but his mind was soothed by that knowledge.
The house was picky about who it let over the doorway. Tighnari studied Collei and the wolf. It’d kept other creatures stuck at the doorway for less.
“The house will let him in,” Collei said, seemingly reading his mind even though she had never shown any sign of being clairvoyant. He sighed.
“If you’re so sure,” Tighnari surrendered, turning back to the door. Collei let out a small cheer and hurried to her mentor’s side, the wolf padding behind them both as they made their way into the house.
“Oh, that smells good,” Collei hummed appreciatively as she stepped over the threshold. Tighnari gathered the walnuts from where he’d abandoned them, setting the completed bowl on the table before hauling the bag back to the pantry. When he returned, Collei was talking to the wolf.
“Come on,” she urged. “It’s just a silly house.”
The wolf pawed tentatively at the doorway, nose sniffing along where the magic lingered. He looked over at Tighnari who shook his head.
“You’ll be fine,” Tighnari said, and the wolf seemed to sag with relief. He was a bit curious how well the creature could understand them; he’d always assumed they lost that cognitive function as animals.
The wolf stepped its first foot into the house. When nothing happened it joined Collei near the table, nose sniffing at everything in the room curiously. The fireplace lit of its own accord, and Collei grinned.
“The house likes him!” she laughed happily.
“Don’t let it pee on the floor,” Tighnari muttered. The wolf let out a noise like a bark, looking insulted. Collei snorted, still petting the wolf as Tighnari set aside the completed potion to prepare for dinner.
She began to tell him about her day’s adventures. How the fairies had brought her flowers and told her jokes. How the dryads even came out to play.
“And how did you find a wolf?”
Collei hummed. “I made my way down to the creek with the old dryad from the willow, she said she had somebody I should meet.”
Tighnari raised a brow, but let her keep talking about her day while he cooked. The roast had been in the oven all day and was ready to be served, so he just had to finish the salad he’d been procrastinating. He pulled two bowls down from the cupboard, hesitating as he looked at the wolf.
He ended up retrieving a small metal mixing bowl from a different cabinet for the animal as he served Collei and himself. The wolf got the bones and some of the meat from the pot, and Tighnari set it on the floor before joining Collei at the table. He eyed the animal warily as they ate.
The silver furred wolf sniffed the bowl curiously before pulling one of the bones out. He laid near the door and held the bone between his paws as he gnawed on it.
“Thank you,” Collei said quietly.
Tighnari smiled. “You’re too kind for your own good some days, kid.” He shook his head. “You can make it up to me by labeling all the allergy potions and carving the runes for the garden beds.”
Collei rolled her eyes, knowing full well that those were her chores on a normal day. She helped Tighnari clean up the dishes and set to work on placing labels on the potions he’d left aside. When the sun finally set, he left her to work on the runes while he went to put a few things away in the supply room.
The door creaked behind him, and he watched the furry beast slink into the room with his head low. Tighnari leveled his gaze on the wolf whose tail wagged happily against the floor as he sat down.
Tighnari sighed.
“Well, go on then.” He frowned. “Change back.”
The tail stopped. Tighnari raised an unimpressed brow, lifting his arms to cross them over his chest.
“I’ve never met a werewolf who happily acted like a housepet.” He rolled his eyes, waving a hand at the canine. “I’m willing to help you with whatever it is you need, but you have to be a human to tell me.”
The wolf blinked at him with its head cocked to the side. It lifted its front paw and scratched at its nose. Tighnari’s brows furrowed.
“Oh, come on,” he urged. “There’s nothing I can do for you while you’re like this unless-“ Tighnari’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’re stuck like that,” he snapped.
The wolf let out a low whine, dipping its head down as if it were nodding.
Tighnari groaned, burying his face into his hands. “Now, how in the seven hells did you manage that?” he asked. The wolf didn’t answer, of course, because it was a wolf. Tighnari closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
“You're here because you need somebody to change you back?” Tighnari looked down at the creature. It made a noise that landed somewhere between howling and barking, but Tighnari took it as agreement.
Tighnari muttered something between a curse and a decision as he pinched his brow. “Gods help me,” he said with defeat.