Chapter Text
It was another cold night in Beast Yeast. Snow had just begun to fall, and each breath filling his lungs with a light sting, and each gust of wind sending needles of chill over his legs.
Shadow Milk was tired. Another day of endlessly spreading deceit in the Vanilla Kingdom- his minions were off in another doing the same- resulted in nothing more than being cornered by Pure Vanilla, who gently grasped his hand as he glared at him, praying a sharp look could crumble. The hero dared to ask him to be his friend, again.
He was sick and tired of it! He was a Beast, not some little cookie to help! To fix! And certainly not by that blasted healer!
He kicks his leg where he’s floating, before rolling in the air so he was upside down. It was so frustrating, so much so he had nearly hit him with his staff!
And yet, his minions still had yet to come back. They probably wouldn’t be until the next morning; they always liked to be thorough in their spreading of rumours. He spun around again, upright once more as he flitted through the trees in a dash before stopping at the breaking of trees for a clearing.
He wasn’t too far from the Spire. Shadow Milk didn’t quite like adventuring too far if there was no true reason. It would be a waste of time, then. And, he didn’t have an excuse to fly out far, so he was sticking close. He just needed some fresh air away from the reality-breaking magic that surrounded the Spire, for a break.
The clearing was pretty, he realised. Though it lacked some good Milkcrowns, a few types of flowers dotted the field, and he let himself drift closer to look at them. Witch’s Trumpets were around the edge, wound into the branches of the trees and reaching downwards. Wolfgloves reached high around it, almost like a spiral towards the middle, the ground covered in glowing, bloomed moonflowers. Bunches of Wolfsbane decorated it too.
And, right in the center of it all, in a circle of Delphinium, lay a bundle of… something green?
He floated even closer.
Shadow Milk had always been quite attentive of new plants in his neck of Beast Yeast. He’d even been the one to introduce these plants to this area, a long time ago- before he’d been imprisoned, before he’d become Shadow Milk. Back when he loved plants, dangerous and toxic, and yet so pretty. Other scolded him for it, but he’d remained by the plants’ sides until they could grow on their own- and this was something he was highly unfamiliar with.
He brushed the plants out of the way, ignoring the stinging on his hands as he huffed a breath of air. Frost formed in front of his mouth as he squinted down at the shape. It was just a little too dark to make out what it was, but he swore he could see traces of… red?
Summoning his staff, he spun it in the air before tapping it against one of the moonflowers, the glow growing sharper and brighter until its light was cast on the plants around it, like a dim lamp.
He tensed as he could properly make out what the green object was. It wasn’t an object, no, far from it. With triangles tilted back, ruffled and scuffed. Fluffy, pale green, bristling with fear. Purple eyes staring right at him, like a hawk, if not for the right one being squinted with a deep groove going over it, bleeding a deep maroon jam.
It was… some type of creature.
Small. Maybe the size of a cat. Weak looking, with seemingly no claws, and no defence mechanisms.
Reaching down to it, he watched it lean away from his hands as he slid a finger over soft fur, following the lines of scratches. It’d been hurt by something, recently, and badly. If he could use any healing magic, he would have done that and left.
Alas, his magic was not made for healing. And this creature did not look like it could wait to be patched up any longer, and it felt like the woods were ready to swallow them whole.
Whisking his staff through the air, a portal was sliced open, a chill sharper than the snow beginning to stain the pretty flowers white filled the air. The creature twitched, moving to stand before its scratched leg went out under it, saved by Shadow Milk’s hand sliding under its chest and heaving it up to his own.
He was sure Candy Apple would ask questions. Black Sapphire probably wouldn’t care, though. He shuffled his grip until he dispelled his staff, one arm carefully pressing its upper body to his shoulder and the other supported its back legs. He wishes, for a moment, that he knew how to hold something like this better. He'd never had the need to.
He goes through the portal, and into his room, just in front of his bed. His sheets, he remembered cleaning them recently. Scooping the thickest blanket into one arm and the other hand tapping his staff against the bedframe and using his magic to make it follow behind him. While he certainly hated doing anything that drained more energy than what it was worth, he expected nothing less than perfect for something like this. And, the only way it would be done, would be by hand.
Blue so dark it’s nearly black, diamonds and runes in the same blue as the diamonds on his harlequin jester outfit. He made the blankets himself, had to fit his theme! The underside of it was a white, as well.
He extended his arms and gently placed the green bundle onto the bed. Its head fell the last few centimeters, a puffed squeak coming from its mouth as it opened, eyes wide as it flailed for a moment. He could almost laugh, if not for the jam it was spreading on his poor bed.
Shadow Milk, admittedly, could have acted a bit nicer than placing his hand on its stomach and pinning it to the spot, and its legs immediately splay out as pupils go wide in seemingly alarm.
Before relaxing as he pulled away, remaining in that position as he whisks away and immediately starts rifling through the closest desk. He knew he had bandages somewhere in there; Candy Apple always spent too much time in one area, and didn’t escape quick enough when caught. She’d come back, scratched up and wounded, and he’d sit her down and scold her as he patched her up.
He found the roll, and scooped it up, shifting back to the creature still laid on its back.
No harsh words would be shared tonight, he decided. It had not slighted him to deserve it, nor had he known it before tonight. He settled down next to it, watching it blink up at him blearily, confused. He tears off a strip of the bandage with his sharp teeth, and it makes a weak mewl at him, extending its two front paws at his hand. He let it search his dough, pulling his fingers closer- claws extended when he instinctively pulled back an inch, scratching but not tearing- and sniffing at his own claws.
With his other hand, he gently began to wind one strip around an injury on its back leg. It twitched, and its mouth moved to bite him, before snapping its mouth shut and wagging its fluffy tail. He snorted, before letting it roll over and watching it fluff up its fur the moment he was done with that single bandage.
And then, it crouched low, legs tucked under its body as it stared at him. There was a wound on its back, and it was… showing him it.
All Shadow Milk could do in this situation was help bandage it. The bleeding was sluggish, and would definitely stop before the bandages were stained, but it was more to prevent infection. He didn’t want to risk bringing the creature to Pure Vanilla.
He picked it up and curled to lay on his back, against the pillows and away from the jam stains.
What if the healer decided that, after helping it, that it should be set free back into the wilderness of Beast Yeast? Or decided to keep it for himself-
Shadow Milk laid it on his chest, its nose immediately burying into the ruffles around his neck as it tucked its legs beneath itself. He wouldn’t let anyone take it from him. He had found it first.
He blinked open his eyes- when had he shut them?- at the sound of a buzzing. It wasn’t sharp, and it wasn’t too loud. His gaze drifted down, and he moved his hand to press his fingers to the space between their shoulder blades.
It was… coming from the creature. And, was a familiar sound at that. He thinks he remembers one of the other Beasts making that noise, a long time ago. He’s pretty sure it’s positive.
Shadow Milk closes his eyes, and lets sleep drift over him like a blanket.
⁎
A couple weeks have passed now. That morning, waking up on his side with the creature half on his neck and half cutting off circulation to his arm, he felt… warm. Like something had been filled.
Only for Candy Apple to rush in screaming in joy, waking up both him and the animal. He had flinched backwards, yanking it with him, and it had yowled im surprise, paws stamping his face before it jumped backwards and slipped off the bed. Thankfully, it was fine. Shadow Milk scolded Candy Apple and reminded her that he isn’t meant to be woken up unless it’s something important. Which, it hadn’t ended up being.
And then Black Sapphire came in, took one look at the jam stains on his sheets, on his outfit, and at the creature who had somehow managed to bleed through its bandages. Pointed at it. Opened his mouth. Then turned around and left.
His other minion squealed- his head hurt already- and latched onto his arm, yelling at the older man about leaving her behind. He was just glad she didn’t immediately jump the poor thing that had only managed to get not even a full night’s rest.
And now, it has healed enough to run around without the bandages. Of course, a few of the wounds would likely scar- the one on its back, over its eye, and on its leg- but the rest were going well. He was curious what animal could do that amount of damage to something so small, and not manage to finish it off.
It was only yesterday, really, that he had found out that it could quite easily defend itself at the drop of a hat. One moment, Candy Apple was going to tackle him in a hug, and the next, claws- larger, shining with some kind of magic he didn’t understand- lashed at her. Unpracticed, and based on instinct, it only managed to tear up one of the apples in her hair and wrench out the other, especially as she ducked down and it had to swing to follow. It had landed on all fours, fur fluffed up and hissing towards his minion.
Before being scruffed and yanked up to be eye level.
And now, today, he was having it train with Black Sapphire. It seemingly knew what it was doing, as it walked in a circle that the other was matching after meowing loudly at him asking. Neither had made a move yet; one scanning the smaller to see if it was hiding anything, and the other almost sizing up as if contemplating if the other was prey worth catching or something worth fighting off.
Shadow Milk felt quite proud already! It could have failed within seconds and he still would have picked it up and told it good job. Sure, while the performance would have been subpar, what was an antagonist if it didn’t have pride and bravery to beat up the good guys? The small thing was progressing well in joining his team!
And then Black Sapphire swung his staff, and it lashed its tail back and forth while dodging, chittering as some kind of magic formed, showing itself as dust that glinted in the light. It leaped over one swing, and ducked under another.
Then it finally leaped right at him and he saw those claws again, catching on the staff as it was raised to block. His minion smirked, other hand shifting to grab it and yank it off likely, only for the dark green scruff around its neck to suddenly glow a sharp green.
And, suddenly, leaves- glowing the same shade- flitted around the room in a beam as the creature leaped back to stand in front of him, its tail lashing pridefully as the leaves fell, revealing a rather battered Black Sapphire.
He had immediately picked up the creature, squeezing it in a hug so tight he heard its breath get pushed out, before setting it down and walking over to check up on its sparring partner. His minion quickly stood, shaking his head fervently with a quick refusal of being patched up, and a quick claim; “that animal is far stronger than I thought… we should keep training it. Those Ancients won’t know what’s coming!”
Shadow Milk nodded, but still, moved his hands to pat Black Sapphire over the worst injuries. Fabric was torn, and jam had been brought to the surface, but all wounds were minor. He almost felt a swell of pride that the creature was able to cause such a large impact with little damage, so strong that he didn’t fully process the sweet scent before his feet had tapped against the flooring and he was picking up the animal, its paws pressed together and shifting back and forth, almost like a cookie warming their hands over a fire.
He blinked at it.
It blinked back.
And he swung it over his shoulder, feeling it press its leg against him as it yowled in surprise, a few of the eyes in his hair glancing at Black Sapphire as he vanished through a portal.
*
Shadow Milk stared at the feline as it trained, again. It had taken to smacking itself against a dummy abnormally fast, before jumping back and shaking its head, glancing to make sure he was watching- he always was; he wouldn’t miss seeing it train for the life of him. It wasn’t like he had the duties of being the fount of knowledge anymore, he had the time- and then returning to it.
It was starting to get almost concerning with how long it would do this for. Thud, land, thud, land, over and over. It was, admittedly, starting to get boring. What was it even doing this for? Sure, being fast and ramming into targets was interesting, but it wasn’t an effective method, especially when it was as small as it was.
He snapped his fingers, and it faltered from where it was flaring its fur, sizing up the dummy.
“What are you even doing all… this,” he spun his hand at the training dummy, “for? Why not just use the magical leaf thing you did. It seemed to work well enough. Black Sapphire was definitely knocked out of the ring. Just do that again.”
It stared at him with bright purple eyes before its gaze hardened like he'd just given it a mission. Its tail wagged again, glowing and flicking that strange dust again, before darting forwards at that same speed.
He almost scoffed at the lack of listening until, instead of ramming into it like a bull, it leaped onto the shoulder and let out a loud mrrrrow!!, the green scruff around its neck glowing again before leaves shot out through the air.
Shadow Milk straightened, watching with wide eyes as the storm curled through the air, all slicing against the dummy. Once the gust had calmed down, he could even see all the stuffing that had begun to poke out.
And then it just. Leaped off and landed on the ground, arching its back and shaking out its fur before peaking over its head back towards him. Like it was expecting congratulations, or at least acknowledgement.
He crossed his arms. “Yeah, sure. Good job, or whatever.” He’d already praised it enough for one day, it didn’t need any more than that.
The feline squinted, short tail twitching side to side before it meowed at him. As if that wasn’t enough.
With a shift of his legs to sit midair, he made eye contact with it. Stared straight into its soul, like it would bow down before his might. Because, of course, anything would under the might of the beast of deceit! Who wouldn’t?
Besides the half cookie and that dreaded truth-sayer, but they didn’t count. They were hardly cookies.
It just sat down and looked even harder. Round pupils shrinking. Yawning, after a few moments, a surprisingly purple mouth bared as the tiniest and cutest fangs poked out, before its jaw clamped shut again.
“What do you want?” Shadow Milk growled, curling forwards and tipping until he was as face-to-face to it as he was willing to. He wouldn’t lower himself to a cat's level any further. “I’ve told you good job. Do you want me to hand you the finest fish on a silver platter? Feed you it with a silver or golden spoon? Get you the finest delicacies?”
It chuffed, eyes rolling, before its paws raised to rub insistantly together.
And then a sweet scent flooded his nose, almost choking on how sudden and sweet it was, hands raising to cover his mouth and nose. So strong he could almost taste it.
The feline stopped the movement, planing its paws back onto the ground and trotting over to where he’d- at some point- placed his hands on the ground, nuzzling into his arm and mewling for attention like a kitten at its parent.
He groaned. “Ffffffffffine. You win. You did good. Wonderful, even, in comparison to how training went with my other two minions. And they had far more reasons to be inclined to train extensively.”
It purred.
“And I really need to call you something other than ‘it’. Maybe a name is due? You’ve been here for… about a week, have you not? Just long enough for your wounds to heal, and a little extra.”
A huff escaped from it, and it rolled over onto its back. He booped its stomach, and watched as it sank tiny claws into the cuffs around his wrist. Fangs, not even as large as one of his own claws, hooked into the fabric of his sleeve and tugged insistently.
“Yeah. You have. Now, the question is what to name you! Green? Masquerade? Ficus?”
A quiet hiss.
Shadow Milk huffed in reply. “Yes, yes, I agree. Stupid, all of it. You need something more…” He pinched its cheeks, watching it blink curiously at him. “... regal. Befitting of one of my minions. Perhaps something from that strange book I found in my library that I am sure was placed there by my Silly Vanilly?”
A questioning mrrp.
“I saw quite a few in there. Wildred- feeling so alone in remote places such as a forest or a field. Or Chrysalism, the enjoyment of tranquility indoors during a thunderstorm. Maybe even Funkenzwangsvorstellung- or is that too long?”
It snorted as if in reply to the last question, and he chuckled. “Yes, perhaps it is rather stupid to name a cat after the love of watching a campfire at night. What of the others?”
A… shake of the head. Alright. Yeah okay.
“Well, I suppose I saw another one… Apolytus, I believe it was. I believe it means-”
A loud mrrrow!! cut him off, and he blinked in surprise as it launched itself back to its feel and practically screamed in his face. “I-is that a yes??”
An aggressive nod.
Shadow Milk cleared his throat. “Yes, then, I suppose. Apolytus. It is… quite regal, as I said before. And fits in well with my name, and not to mention my minions. It is not strange to call out, should you walk too far ahead or gander too far behind.”
A loud, body rocking huff.
“Then, I suppose it’s decided!” He clapped his hands together, before tilting again and scooping the feline into his arms.
“Apolytus, the… strangely green cat that has walked upon my doorstep! How lovely it is to meet you, my friendly companion.”
It purred loudly, leaning into his shoulder.
And, because all that couldn’t have been enough, suddenly, its scruff began to glow. And then it began to spread, as the feline began to shuffle in his arms, bracing to leap. Shadow Milk tensed in surprise, all eyes widening. He loosens his arms, letting it scuffle until its paws planted cleanly along his forearm.
And then it just… jumped away, right as the strange glow had taken over. And all he could do was watch as it… changed?
Its legs extended, and chest fluff seemed to grow longer. Fur grew around its front legs- arms? It looked more twolegged than anything as it seemed to shift- and claws lengthened on paws, digits shifting to look separated and almost like fingers.
And then it landed. On two legs- paws?
Pale, cold greens and all. Purple eyes, standing hunched, and slowly straightening besides its hung head.
Then, it- Apolytus- whipped around, swinging its arm around before bending at the elbow a claw grazing a strange purple bud- the same shade as its eyes- free from its chest fur, slinging it on a vine around a digit and then launching it into a circle, wrapping around its wrist excellently. All topped off with a loud mrrrrowp!
He was going to, as the children said from what he’d overhead while wandering the streets, crash out.