#But this is an AU where the Fibulas didn't adopt him so Doc Tenebris I guess

[obsidiancreates]

If I'd Grown Up At Home (Sia RP AU)

"Don't wander off too far, my little shadow." May-Anne puts another iron whistle into Edward's backpack. "Okay? And come right home if anyone you don't know is out there."

"Okay, Mama." Edward tightens his backpack straps. "I'm gonna bring back so many salve herbs."

"I know you are." She smiles and gives him a kiss on the head. "Remember that your father will be back an hour before sunrise, so I want you home by then at minimum. We want him to come home to both of us, alright?"

"Alright, Mama."

And so he sets out into the dead of night, his little eight-year-old legs carrying him deep into the forest surrounding their nocturnal town. He gathers strange plants as he goes. A blooming flower with deep red petals that drip dark nectar and have a metallic smell, a small leaf with razor-like ridges all of the stem they grow from, a large bush with berries the shape of teardrops that have skin too tough to break with your teeth...

Well, normal teeth. Doc bites into one with a bit of effort, his sharper-than-average-but-not-quite-suspiciously-sharp canines slicing through the skin. The berry is bitter but rich, like the chocolate his dad brings home from the city sometimes.

He keeps walking, searching for more, when he hears it.

Snoring.

Not loud snoring like Mr. Newal nextdoor, which sometimes keeps Doc up until nearly noon. Soft, small snoring, like when little Maddie from a few houses over falls asleep at midnight picnics and Doc ignores it so she can get some extra sleep (he knows her dad snores even worse than Mr. Newal some nights, she said so).

But when he follows it, he's pretty sure the Snorer is older than Maddie.

In fact, he thinks the boy is older than him, but it's hard to tell because the boy is dirty and he's wrapped up in a girl's arms, who's also dirty. And skinny. Both very dirty, and very skinny, sleeping in the hollow of a large, very old tree.

Edward sees some scrapes, too. And bruises. Which is no good, because those will get infected for sure. The scrapes, of course. He doesn't know if bruises can get infected. He'll have to ask his dad to get another medical book on the next trip into the city (likely a month or two from now depending on if the wheat keeps doing badly).

He looks in his bag. He's got a lot of snacks... but they're all his snacks. Very high in Iron and Darkness-grown. And they help him be healthy, even if he'll never really be strong or be able to walk for very long or any of that. Even just coming this far, he had to use the shadows a lot. Half-walking, half shadow-moving (he still needs to figure out a good name for it).

But, he knows it can give people who aren't Of Darkness a tummy ache. And he knows they aren't Of Darkness. They have a bit of magic about them, but not very much as far as he can sense. Or maybe they have a lot and don't know about it, Mama told him not everyone outside of town knows about Darkness and Light. Which he can't imagine because it's so obvious, but maybe in the daytime it's less so. Like his Dad says, "There's a reason Light's called Blinding."

He moves through the shadows to get back home. He gestures to one of the many blobs of shadows with eyes that live in the house, and the blob slinks away. It comes back and nuzzle's his leg, and he knows thanks to it that his Mama went out for a minute.

Good, because he's going to take a lot more snacks than he's supposed to.

He gets into the bread his Dad bought from the city last time, some neutral sigils around the paper it's wrapped in keeping it from getting stale (Darkness Magic works better, but it also makes the bread begin to change properties, and sometimes it's just too unpredictable to use with things like Whole Wheat). He finds some turkey in the fridge that's also from the city. His parents used it to show him the difference between those meats and Darkness-Raised meats, and they didn't want to waste the leftovers (but hadn't wrked up the will to actually eat it yet).

He does his best to avoid anything too Darkness-infused, because he has no idea what kids outside of town eat. But he thinks this'll work. Turkey and Bread and some strange juice pouches that his Mama had confiscated from one of the older kids a few weeks ago after they'd snuck out into the city on their own. He's not sure why this "orange juice" is so bright orange instead of the usual deep, almost rust-like color, but maybe Light Oranges are just Like That.

He grabs some bandages too, and water, and a little bit of antiseptic. It's not magic in any way, nor is it from the city. Sometimes non-magic herbs work just fine as backup salve ingredients.

He uses the shadows to get back, and he takes a long stick and pokes the girl. "Hey," he whispers. It echoes. It does that soemtimes.

The girl jolts awake, and the boy wakes up just as suddenly! The girl keeps her arms around the boy and presses further into the tree, scowling at Edward. It softens, and he thinks it's because she realizes he's a kid like her. He'd even brought a little lantern, just for them and their Light-poisoned eyesight.

"Who're you?" the girl whispers harshly.

"It's not safe to give names to strangers, they're really powerful." Doc holds out the plate with the food and juices. "But I brought you this."

"Why?"

"You look hungry."

The two eye him warily. The girl looks at the food, and then at the boy. "... Did you do something to it?"

Doc wonders if maybe he should blink. The other kids say he doesn't blink enough. He tries it. "No."

Either she believes him, or the blink helped, because she reaches out and takes it. She tries it first, and then gives it to the boy.

"I didn't have a lot of city food in my house. I hope it's good."

"Better than we've had in a while," the boy says around a mouthful. "... People live nearby?"

Edward nods. "We have a town."

"Why're you out here at night?"

"Mama let me come looking for herbs for our salves. We sleep in the day instead of at night."

The boy's eyes almost cross in confusion. "Why?"

"Because Darkness."

"... Huh?"

"It's a religion." That's what they say to city people and outsider visitors, anyway.

"Oh."

"I brought medicine too. And bandages, and water. Can I clean your cuts?"

"I can do it."

"It'll hurt your bruises."

"What are you, a doctor?"

"No, but I wanna be. Darkness values Doctors as much as Artists. I'll be really careful, and you guys can keep eating that way."

There's a sheen to the girl's eyes. Yeah, he knew he sensed magic. Whatever instinct or spell she has seems to almost relax her. "... Fine."

He gets to work, using a little cloth and carefully cleaning their cuts. His pale, boney hands work delicately, if a little shaky. He takes great care with what he considers to be His First Real Patients.

"... I'm Sia," she says softly.

"Names have power," he reminds her.

"Okay. But I think... I trust you with it. Sort of."

"People don't usually trust me except Mama and Dad. Everyone else says they do, but I know they don't."

"Why?"

"I freak them out a little. They all admire me, but they're scared too."

"Scared?" the boy shakes his head. "You're so small though. You must be like, six."

"Eight!"

"Eight! You're so small!"

"Evan, stop it!"

"I am, it's okay." Edward shrugs. "I'm sick a lot. It's c... chron... is."

"Chronic?" Sia supplies.

"Yeah, that one."

"... I'm sorry."

"I'm okay." He pats her newly-bandaged cut. "There, now I can do- Evan?"

Evan nods, and Edward gets to work. Evan watches. "... Can we call you Doc?"

Edward doesn't pause, but he thinks it over. "Okay, I like that."

He finishes, and they sit in silence for a bit as he waits to get to have the plate back.

"Are you going to live in this tree now?" he asks as they hand it back to him.

"No." Sia shakes her head. "We need to keep moving. We're... being followed."

"You can come stay at my house. You might be allergic to some of our food, Darkness can hurt people's tummy's if they aren't used to it. But you could stay with us."

"We can't. We're on the run."

"Oh. ... Well, have this." Doc (yes, he likes thta very much) digs into his pocket and pulls out a little stone. "If you rub it I'll know you wanna see me, and I can come visit you or help you. I can move through shadows, don't tell anyone though. Outsiders aren't supposed to know."

"... Um... thank you." Sia accepts it. "... For the food, too."

Doc nods. "Thank you for the nickname."

And just like that, they part.

He gets home an hour before his dad and a few minutes before his mom, and gets the plate washed and dried and the shadow blobs help put it away just before she comes back in.

"How was herb hunting?" she asks with a smile as she cleans some berry juice off his chin.

"Really good. And I have a new nickname now."

"Oh?"

"Doc!"

"I love it, little shadow. And what made you think of it?"

"I'm a good doctor."

"Yes, of course you are. Only the best doctor could collect this many herbs in one night. Now, go change into your pajamas, and I'll make some dinner for us."

"Okay, Mama!"

@jzwicia @sororia04s