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Pearl loves Oakhurst. It's her home, she's lived there for two hundred years. She misses her little brother; of course she does! He was her everything, her flock to protect, the only reason she kept going for so long. But she has Cleo now, and everything's okay. Mostly. There's still that beast within her, that overwhelming need to rip and tear through anything that looks awry at the people that are hers, but, well… she'll get over it. She's sure.
Of course, even now she's a vampire- werewolf- whatever, she still has to eat. Be it blood or meat, she's still got to survive, and so does Cleo. So occasionally, when neither of them feel like hunting, Pearl walks into town to the butcher.
The butcher is a kind man by the name of Beef. A minotaur, with soft eyes and a steady hand as he packages the side of venison Pearl's asked for. He makes small talk as he works, and she obliges, chatting about the weather, the harvest, anything they can think of. There's a new guy in town, apparently. Pearl hopes he'll stay.
She pays Beef and leaves, humming to herself. It's a lovely day, and she prefers to stay at stage one, so the sun doesn't bother her. There's a flower stall near the centre of the market; they sell lots of flowers she likes. Poppies, roses, lilacs… oh! They sell sunflowers. Cleo will love that, she thinks. As she chats with the florist–Jimmy, she thinks the golden retriever's name is–she hears her name.
It's shouted from across the market, and oh, it's been so long since she's heard that voice. She's afraid to look, almost. She turns, and there he is. Her little brother.
Grian.
He looks so relieved, but almost betrayed, a deep hurt in his eyes. His skin is rough, textured like bark. Pale oak, if Pearl had to guess, just like the dead wood, but he's too far to make it out. Maybe he was created in Oakhurst all those years ago. He has antlers, she notices, with vines and flowers woven around them–or maybe growing from. His eyes are black, not fully, but that's all she can make out before he crashes into her and pulls her into a tight hug. Distantly, she thinks if she weren't a vampire she'd be bruised, but all other thoughts are put out of her mind as she drops her basket and hugs him back.
"I missed you," he whispers. "I missed you so, so much, after you left. It's been so long, since I've seen you, and I thought you'd be dead. You- you should be dead. How are you not dead?"
He pulls back, holding Pearl's shoulders, and she realises she has to look up at him. "You're all grown up," she whispers.
His eyes soften. "You, too." She was an adult when she left. So was he. But to each other, they were still scared kids with a werewolf snapping at the door. Grian's expression darkens, and she knows he's got a question. It's the furrow of his brow that tells her she won't like it.
"…did you know about me?"
She chews her lip. "…would you like to come home for dinner?"
"Pearl."
"I'm not evading! I just… I'd rather answer your questions at home. And I'd like you to meet Cleo."
He hesitates for a second, then nods. "Alright. I'll come have dinner with you."
Pearl lights up, pulling him into a hug again. "Oh, I have so much to tell you about! What do you want to eat? You're the guest, after all!"
It takes them two hours to shop. They keep stopping at every booth. Pearl introduces him to some of her friends around town– the slime bard, who tells stories of his adventures in a world that shouldn't have been possible. The catfolk seamstress, who insists they both need a matching hair bow, and to be careful around holes. The siren bartender, who ruffles Grian's hair and tells him not to hurt Pearl, or she'll sic her husband on him. By the time they get back to the castle, the sun is nearly setting. It's a good thing she doesn't have to sleep, Pearl thinks.
Cleo is waiting in the main foyer reading when she arrives. No doubt, they'd heard the two talking as they entered, but Pearl still announces Grian's arrival as she rings her chime.
"Cleo! I'm back! I've got the venison, and some other ingredients as well! You'll never guess who I found in the market! Or- well, I guess who found me?"
They place a ribbon into their book and set it aside, lifting their head. "Oh? Who is this, then?"
She rushes over to hug them, before pulling Grian over. "My little brother, Grian!"
Cleo stands and holds a hand out, red eyes assessing the figure before them. "Grian? Pearl's told me a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."
"You, too." Grian takes their hand, shaking once, twice before they both let go. "Well, I haven't heard about you, but- it's nice to meet you too."
They laugh, grinning. "Well. Why don't you let me know what dish those ingredients are for, and I'll get started on cooking, hm? You two need to spend some time together."
By 'spend some time together,' what they seem to have meant was 'shove Grian and Pearl into a nest and insist they're not allowed to leave until dinner.' Not that she was complaining. Grian seemed comfortable enough, and she was just glad to be there with her little brother. If she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder, well. That was nobody's business but theirs, now was it?
By the time dinner was ready, they were back to acting like nothing had happened. Like there'd been no passage of time at all. Like they were still just brother and sister, thirteen and ten, and their father had never turned and nothing had ever gone wrong.
Pearl could feel her heart in her throat.
Dinner. The one time, aside from a full moon, when she was most obviously inhuman. The moment she'd promised to explain everything to Grian.
She sits across from him, hoping her nerves don't show. It has to go well. It has to.
Cleo sets Grian's alfredo down and heads back into the kitchen for their own and Pearl's.
"…did you know?"
Pearl blinks, caught off guard. "Know?"
"What I am. Surely you had to- you taught me to keep my eyes one colour, to talk to people. You had to have known, I- there's no way you couldn't have known, Pearl."
She hesitates. "I… was never sure. I didn't know what exactly you were, not until you appeared here in Oakhurst, but- I had my suspicions. Mother wasn't pregnant before she came home with you, and I think I'd have noticed that."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought I could… I don't know, protect you, maybe. Keep you safer if you didn't know the truth."
"How would that have kept me safer? At least now I know there was a reason I was outcast!"
"I don't know!" Pearl puts her head in her hands. "I don't know. I just… I couldn't lose you too."
Grian sighs. "It's… not okay, but I understand. Now, are you going to tell me why you're still alive?"
"Well, that's-" She cuts off as Cleo places their plates down. He stares unblinking at the deep red sauce, looking back up at her as they pour a red liquid into glasses, the sharp scent of iron unmistakeable in the air.
"Pearl." He looks a bit green- literally. The bark of his face is tinted greener than it had before.
"…you're right, I should be dead. But… I came here, to Oakhurst, two hundred years ago, and… a lot happened, but what matters is I was turned. I'm vulonsosah now. A- a vampire."
He shoves his chair back. "You- you spent so much of your life training to hunt and kill creatures that hurt people. You didn't want anyone to get hurt like us. And- and you've become- this?"
"Grian-"
"No! I- you've gone back on everything you worked for-!"
She stands and reaches for him, and he yanks his arm away, stumbling towards the door. "I can't- I can't do this-"
Pearl is frozen for a moment. It's almost dark, what if he gets hurt, what if something kills him? After a split second, she's pulling on her boots and dashing out the door. "Grian, please!"
She glances around the forest, heart pounding. This can't be the last time she sees him. Her brother, baby brother, and she's just gotten him back.
She finds him in the dead wood, only spotting him because of those dark eyes with the violet centres, and trips over her own feet thrice to get to him. "Grian, please!"
He's sat on the earth, back against a tree, watching her. "What? Here to explain to me why you've gone back on everything you worked for?"
Pearl sighs, sitting in front of him. "I would've changed either way. I- when I killed our father-"
"Your father."
She winces. "-my father. When I killed him, I- I tore his throat out. With my teeth. I swallowed some of his blood, by accident. It was- it was starting to change me. Not that I was… fully human beforehand, but… I would've become something eventually no matter what. It was just a matter of time."
"Of course it was. It- wait. What do you mean, you weren't fully human?"
Grimacing, Pearl waves a hand. "I… don't really know how to explain it? It's… I've never really felt like a human. Even as a little kid. I've always felt more like- like one of those livestock guardian dogs, y'know? The big ones, that defend their flock with their life. And a wolf, a bit, but… the dogs always felt closer to me."
Grian doesn't say anything, so she continues. "It got stronger, after we moved. We were out in the country, and… I always thought of you as my pack, you know. Pack protects pack, and all that. I used to growl at the townspeople when they got too close to me. This new wolf form, it feels like me."
He sighs. "I… understand. We're not so different, huh?"
She laughs. "Yea. We're really not."
"I…" Another sigh. He does that a lot more now than she remembers. "I don't know if I can forgive you. For not telling me that you at least suspected what I am. Maybe I can forgive you for turning. It's… I'd be a hypocrite to hate you for not being human anymore, huh? But… I'll have to think about it."
Pearl's heart sinks, but she nods anyway. "I get it. It's hard. We've both changed so much, and… well. Yea. I'll be here, though."
"I'll come back, probably." He stands, stretches with the creaking of wood, and shakes fallen leaves out of his antlers. "I just… need time, if you'll give it."
"Of course."
When Pearl returns to the castle, she's alone. Cleo doesn't pry, and when they curl up in the nest that night, they let her cry into their shoulder.
A wolf without a pack is a lonely thing, indeed.