Chapter Text
Another summer day, more-so heated out in the desert, but inside the cave at least both canine and bird could keep cool in the shade of said location. Roadie rested in homemade nest facing the entrance and Wile, as almost always, at his desk looking over blueprints from previous ideas and mulling over what’d work for their next game of chasing. The roadrunner merely glanced over the desert grounds, in his own thoughts; not quite related to their chasing games. Things had been feeling monotonous (as he had to look up the meaning himself), sort of dull. Plain in his perspective they needed some type of changes around here, but if left up to Wile, either he’d go through with it or stick to the usual forever, depending the case.
Roadie had pondered over a few of the traps Wile once left for him, mostly coming back to that one time; a large egg which was supposed to explode but rather hatched out an unlikely surprise of a baby bird look-a-like clock (it mainly exploded on Wile, no surprise there). He had spotted a few times residents going about their business, half of them followed around by much younger selves of said parents. Parents… family… would the coyote be willing? Could it be logically possible somehow to produce not only two of same gender, but of different species? There must’ve been occasions of said times, animals from different races somehow able to bring life into the world.
Somewhat snapped from his brainstorm by a crumpled sheet of blueprint rolling his way, Roadie felt his mate’s attention now onto him, no doubt.
“Meep beep. (heya, honeybadger)”
The sign whipped out on Wile’s behalf.
‘Daydreaming again, are we?’
His feathered fingers crossed and uncrossed again constantly, “Meep. (Sort of)”
‘Care to enlighten me?’
Okay, the best way he could put in, being signs were limited… Roadie placed his wings together to look like they were holding something, or rocking something… the gesture had to be repeated a little more till his coyote’s yellow eyes widened a touch, red filling the colour of his muzzle. He had gotten the picture, maybe?
“Meep beep beep, meep beep. (But it’s okay if not, just a silly thought lately)”
Wile found a spot on the back of his neck, awkwardly.
‘It might not be logically possible. I’m sorry.’
Roadie frowned, slowly nodding in understanding but still had a longing look gazing out into the desert grounds. The coyote didn’t really like seeing his bird in a saddened mood, but what could be done about such a want? He thought maybe fresh air would help figure out a situation, leaving the roadrunner to his own devices for the time being.
He clearly wasn’t going to rely on Acme for this case, not if it was of value, but who or what else would be of help? Tumbleweeds bounced their way past him as he trailed onward not really going anywhere peculiar, until a piece of paper smacked his face right up. Wile groaned, carefully peeling it off and only meant to give it a glance before crumbling it up, but something about what was displayed made him stop and ponder.
WITCH HAZEL’S POTIONS
ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRULY TRUE
VISIT AT SAID LOCATION
A witch, she said she was? Any dream come true? It could possibly be worth a shot, but visiting at her location meant…
Clouds rumbled over a large looking mansion, the skies a mixture of purple and blue. Roadie didn’t have to go along with Wile, but better if something happened in case. Said coyote looked over the poster once again and back at the house, confirming it was the place they needed to be at. They just still felt out of place from their usual location, no doubt. One shared look; they might as well get it over with, no turning back right now, not when this close. Wile crept cautiously forward to the front door first, the bird not far behind. C’mon, someone had to do something to get her attention. Wile curled a fist, giving a firm but shaky few knocks before hurriedly stepping back.
No response. Maybe she was just out, they could head back home and think things over-
“COMING, CHAPS!”
Now, Roadie didn’t scare easily; bird instincts just basically threw himself into his partner’s arms, is all. The door opened up, revealing said witch. Her hair black and messy, skin a sickly green and clad in a teal dress. She eyed the two animals, “Can I help you?”
Wile managed to snap from stupor, holding up the poster so she could see herself their reasoning.
“Hm… ah, I forgotten about those.” Hazel leaned in a little too out of comfort to dog and bird, “You have come for a taste of my magic, perhaps?”
Both animals nodded, Roadie letting himself down as he and Wile carefully entered the area. The place didn’t look so bad, had mostly yellow walls and various items of sorts that would seem the usual to any magic using being. Could’ve sworn they heard a cat somewhere.
“So, what sort of magic are we speaking of here?” Hazel began counting down possibilities on her fingers, “Shapeshifter, Invisibility, or perhaps beauty spell?” Wile gave a slight offended scowl, “I wasn’t being offensive.”
Roadie took over, whipping out a sign to simplify their situation; ‘Baby potion, for us’.
“Why, yes, it’s been forever since I’ve made one of those. Last I’ve made such a thing, was for a dragon and her donkey husband. They must have a lovely litter of dronkies at this time.” She paused, “Dronkies,” cackled loudly and sped off ahead. Wile and Roadie shared a bewildered expression; seemed a norm for witches to laugh at their own jokes and lose who knows how many hairpins.
Hazel traced a finger over her collection of books (mostly covered with dust while others not so much), “ah, there you are,” and pulled out a rather large maroon spell book, flipping its pages. “As I remembered, one of those 50/50 spells.”
’50/50?’, the coyote questioned via sign with a raised brow. That could either be a good thing or not so much.
The witch slowly went from gleeful to a more serious facial tone, “It means basically the spell either works as said or it doesn’t. In this case, you’ll either have a full of brood of little ones, half a brood, or no brood happens whatsoever. You’ll have to be prepared either outcome.”
This gave the animals something to think over, positive as well as negative. Roadie seemed the more-so concerned on the idea they might not ever have a family of their own, tears forming on his lashes for some reason. Wile placed an arm around the bird, asking silently in a tone they only knew;
“(Are you sure on this?)”
“(I am.)”
Both animals now fully in agreement, turned to the witch; Wile pulling out one final sign, ‘What happens if no brood?’
“Oh there shouldn’t be anything too serious,” Hazel gave a wave of her hand, “Far as I’m concerned, most have complained of stomachaches for a few days.” She began searching through her ingredients, “Now what do I need again…?”
Coyote and roadrunner watched almost fascinated watching this woman work, mixing into her cauldron various items, the colour changing each time. They both yelped/chirped as Hazel, almost without warning, plucked both a feather and few hairs, adding them into her mixture. Adding a couple stirs (the spoon practically melted), Hazel whipped on a metal mask before adding a couple sprinkles in. The mixture began glowing, almost at an alarming rate, enough that Roadie had to be the one covering Wile’s eyes as well as his own.
Random shot of the house from the outside, sounding off a silent boom and bright light from the windows until it eventually died down.
“Ah, that never gets old.” Hazel claimed calmly, as other two recovered from said stupor. Grabbing one of her many vials, filled it with said newly made potion, that causally glowed a bright greenish shade. “Now then, it is recommended to take with some food and to finish whole potion. The body should take care of the rest, dearies.”
Both animals nodded hurriedly, receiving said vial and politely as possible made their way out to the closest exit. They certainly didn’t wanna visit here again, unless they really had to.
Finally back in their location, it was time to set plan in motion. Wile poured a fair amount of bird seed into a small dish, popping open the vial (that smelled a little strong) and pouring it over carefully like one puts ketchup on fries, mixing it altogether. He had to prevent himself from taste testing, of course, cause who knew what effect might happen.
Roadie awaited restlessly in his nest, no doubt pretty nervous but did want to follow through with it. In came his coyote, holding said dish which gave that funny smell and setting before his bird. The roadrunner seemed uncertain but a firm nod from Wile settled his nerves at most. He brought his beak closer, carefully sampling a taste. Then, another before downing the whole mixture; had a slight lemon-lime flavour to it surprisingly. Roadie licked his lips after, till he began feeling strange; eyes weren’t staying open and head was nodding off. The coyote held his shoulder, steadying him.
‘Try to sleep it off? Might help.’
The bird nodded groggily, setting head down with Wile’s assist into slumberland, which went into the rest of the evening. Wile eventually had to settle in his own bed, doing his best to keep an ear out if the bird felt any sort of discomfort. Mostly sounds of soft cooing, far as the coyote was able to until sleep blocked everything else out.
It was rather misty the next morning, some type of desert fog. The coyote slowly blinked awake, memory half fuzzy as he sat up stretching. Some witch, a spell for them to… Roadie. Wile pushed back his covers, making his way carefully to what awaited. The roadrunner had probably been up before he was, looking out at the rising sun in the distance. The coyote made his way closer, hands fumbling in a worried manner. Roadie glanced his way, tired… but gently smiled, adjusting to the back of his nest to reveal… eggs, three of them, a tad larger compared to a regular roadrunner egg, no doubt from coyote DNA. Now it was Wile’s turn to feel tears on his own lashes, kneeling to get a closer look. The potion had worked, at least so far. It looked like a full on brood. They felt a little warm to the touch, course from Roadie’s plumage but that meant they might just hatch at some point.
Both canine and bird looked at each other relieved and happy… and also started sweating buckets. Did they even have names picked out before all this?? Well… depending if they did hatch at all, maybe how they appeared could help in picking names easier. In the meantime, Roadie couldn’t exactly leave the nest, keeping the eggs safe and warm. Wile had to be the one hunting once in a while so his bird could eat; that roadrunner really loved scorpion, to the coyote’s somewhat surprise. The day went on without much trouble, onto the following night and such.
There came a morning, with Roadie nest resting and Wile having made a sleeping spot next to him, where it seemed almost the usual so far. The bird stirred slightly, wrapping his tail around the eggs gently. Something moved. Twitched. Rolled almost away. Roadie blinked drowsily checking his surroundings; there was Wile still asleep and two of the eggs resting next to him. Two, but that meant… the sound of crackling caught the bird’s attention immediately, spotting the runaway egg which was splitting open from the bottom side. Appearing from it, a pair of tiny puppy feet and a longish tail similar to the bird’s. Roadie chirped excitedly, nudging his coyote to witness the first hatching, which the dog did finally notice. The newly born certainly was having trouble escaping the other half of the eggshell, but eventually got free of it. The baby revealed to look similar to a coyote pup, its fur a shade of greyish blue and where arms would be, it sprouted damped wings. It peeped in wonder at its newer surroundings, before spotting Wile who carefully scooped the infant in his arms. Their first child, and a son from the looks of it. Instincts took over as Wile cleaned the pup of the egg fluid, the little one responding with constant peeps.
“Meep. (Ahem.)”
Oh right, Roadie had to bond too. Wile, trying to hold himself together, held the puppy out to the bird so it too could see its other parent. Pup in question sniffed before licking in response via kiss, while Roadie nuzzled in return lovingly. He almost meeped in surprise as the little one hugged his beak, being carefully lowered back into the nest and cuddled against plumage.
‘Any name ideas?’, Roadie smiled.
Wile pondered a moment, chin resting in hand. He eventually brought the sign out.
‘He’s saying peep a lot. Peeper, perhaps?’
Roadie laughed a little, but nodded in agreement. The sound of crackling happened again; another egg was getting ready to welcome themselves into a new world. Wile and Roadie watched in anticipation … and somewhat jumped at a leg popping out instantly, followed by the other; bird shaped legs. The hatchling clearly wanted a first time jog but only managed so far, bumping into Wile, the rest of the egg falling apart from the impact. It revealed to be a roadrunner chick, her feathers in various shades of brown. She glanced at each parent, preferring to give tiny head-butts before colliding back into the nest, taking notice of her sibling as did he. Roadie nudged her a little, getting her to behave for now.
‘Your turn to name.’
The bird smiled, deciding on what might suit their feisty little girl. He had eventually remembered something as he lifted his own sign;
‘How about Guinness?’ There was this book franchise that wrote down world records, which one page included him among other various toons that had the ability of speed. He flipped the sign for his second reason; ‘Sounds similar to ‘genius’.’
Amused yet flattered, Wile agreed on it. A yipe surprised both parents almost; Guinness had the cry of the coyote, whereas Peeper had the vocals of a bird. This was certainly gonna take some getting used to, but they could manage. Just one more egg has to present themselves…
They waited… and waited… but eventually… they had to accept…
This must’ve been what Hazel meant by ‘half a brood’ in cases like this. Wile dug up a small hole forming it into a grave, clutching what could’ve been their third offspring; the egg having ended up being a dud. He pressed against his forehead before reluctantly placing it inside made hole, being fully buried. It was saddening, but it was just one of those things. Coyote reentered the cave, staring at his new family. Peeper and Guinness, having been fully fed, rested closely to Roadie who was also asleep, last few tears having fallen. Wile had meant to join next to them in made sleeping spot from before, but decided otherwise, snuggling against his roadrunner and their little ones. Long as they all stuck together, they’ll be alright.