Black Doom's Past Life

"Derek...baby, wake up."

A little dark grey, almost ebony hedgehog was lying stomach-first on a misshapen bed, little bits of hay and straw sticking out of little holes of the cloth. His burgundy-dark red striped right arm dangled over the side as his head was nearly face down on the bed, mouth slightly open against the fabric and right eye only being shown. The voice called him again, this time with a shake.

“Derek. You gotta wake up.” The voice wasn’t soft, but wasn’t cold either. The voice was raspy yet it was smooth and felt like it had a motherly tone to it. The voice nudged him again this time actually waking him up. The small hedgehog whined and squinted one eye open to look at the person annoying him. His eye, however was yellowed instead of white and his irises were a blood red.

“We have to go,” said the woman in front of him. She was a 5’ 5" hedgehog with purple eyes, strawberry colored fur and white-cream fuzzy stomach and chest fur. Her quills were short and messy, some of the bangs were covering her face depending on the day. She wore a deep green, tattered robe with gold embroidering on the low collar, cuffs, and edge of the front it that trailed down to the end. Her sleeves were long and belled around her hands, but they each had a big gap to show off her shoulders, also with golden stitching. She had always kept the robe closed tight to make sure he never saw what was underneath.

Derek pushed himself up from the bed, yawning. His dark jeans hung loosely from his waist and the woman helped him with the belt. He was given a tunic and a tattered brown robe to put on but just placed the latter on his body. His mother put whatever little food and water they had into their two pouches and held out her hand. Derek took it and they walked outside the little hut they made a temporary home in.

The hut itself was only a one-roomed place, it was fairly old and was covered in fungus and moss. The wood was rotting, wet from rain the night before. The boards covering the roof were loose and revealed large holes to the inside. Not to mention that the door seemed to be literally hanging on by a thread from falling. Derek's mother faced the hut and took out a thick, leather-bound book with weird symbols along the spine, turned to a page, and started to speak the words inside.

"Fiyero sikayli avante ka-shik... Fiyero matethi potru pterkin..."

From what he could make out, "fiyero" meant fire or to burn something. The other words were still a blur but he always knew they meant the same thing for the past few months and past few houses.

It took a few moments due to the rain, but a crackling sound was heard from the dead grass surrounding the hut. Soon smoke rose from the grass and drifted onto the wooden boards of the makeshift hovel. The wood started to burn with sounds of popping and crackling when the flames appeared as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The hovel was it's kindling, its lifesource, and the fire would devour it.

In the lighting of the bright flame in the early morning hours, you could see the two's features clearly. Derek didn't have normal eyes, he had a third just above the other two but it looked more human, almost Egyptian looking as well. He had white chest fur in contrast to his sleek & smooth darker color and had wings instead of two spines on his back like normal hedgehogs. The mother had a scar running the length of her cheek to the corner of her mouth and the edge of a very deep scar was showing between her right shoulder blade and neck.

"Why do we always do this, Mama?" he asked her as the hut was now smoldering pieces of logs and bark.

She looked down at him. "To keep us safe, honey. The fire is created with magic but it helps burn away all traces of it as well. We have to make sure he can't find us."

"Who's "he"?"

She sighed inwardly and pet his head. "A very bad man...he's someon-something that you must always stay away from. Understand?"

He nodded for her sake but couldn't think who would be rude enough to force them to burn down rut after rut. He was only 6 years old of course and still had alot to learn.
Derek, still holding the tunic, threw it into the last of the fire and watched it get eaten through. His mother however nudged him. "Why did you do that," she demanded in a shocked tone.

"Because I don't like wearing that. It's itchy. And I wore it for a long time anyways."

"I just got it for you 5 days ago."

"Oh....that's a long time right?"

The mother sighed, shaking her head with a smirk as they started to walk away down the path. "Well, that's 3 Silver pieces down the hole."

"That's not alot right?" All she did in reply was give a soft chuckle.
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As they walked for the next few hours, the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. It was a little chilly when the wind blew by and was basically the only thing keeping the little hedgehog awake. His eyes kept drooping closed, his pace grew slower, and either the wind or his mother had to keep him awake.

His mother saw him dragging his bag behind him and smiled ruefully before picking him up and carrying him, his head lying on her shoulder. She kissed his head and stroked his quills as he asked why they had to wake up so early.

“Because we have to get to The Haven and this will be faster,” she said. “But we’ll be there very soon, by the end of the day, hopefully. Just one more village to buy more food and we’ll be done with walking and waking up early.”

Derek yawned. “And... then we’ll be at the “heaven” place, right?”

She chuckled again. “The Haven, baby. And yes, we will. We’ll finally be safe forever there.”

“Why…,” he yawned again and his eyes closed, “...is it so special?”

“Because there are others like you and me. Those who have been hurt by the ones that we’re staying away from.”

“...like what Papa did to you?”

The hedgehog staggered in her step before she kept walking. “....How did you figure it out?”

“Because I know you try to hide those scars from me and you never talk about him...I mean, how else could I have been born?”

She gave an incredulous look. “Weren’t you just about to sleep?”

He shrugged. “I thought I could stay awake for important stuff.”

She kissed his third eye and rubbed his back between his shoulder blades and wings causing him to purr. This also caused him to start falling asleep on her shoulder. “Just sleep, Derek. I’ll wake you when we get to the village.” He didn’t even hear the last part as he drifted off into dreamland. His mother kept petting him and took her blue marble & black iron pendant out from under her robe. The iron wrapped around the marble in a swirling pattern. It felt heavier than what a normal necklace would feel like, and when she placed her nail in between what seemed like a crack in the stone, she flicked it open to reveal gears, springs and other mechanical things inside like a music box.The hedgehog whispered a few words and the music box came to life playing light melodic tones. She always played it for him as he slept and knew he probably wouldn’t be able to live without it.

As the pendant played its song, she started to hum a few words as she walked along the beaten path. “...Don’t you dare look out your window, darlin’, everything’s on fire...The war outside our door keeps ragin’ oooon…Hold on to this lullaby...even when the music’s gone...Gooone…” Derek shifted in her arms, burying his head into the crook of her neck as she sang. “Just close your eyes. The sun is goin’ down. You’ll be alright...no one can hurt you now. Come mornin’ light...you and I’ll be safe and soouund…”
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It was now noon where the hovel was left behind. Dust, ash, and faint scents of smoke lingered in the dried area. The wood remaining was still smoldering with a few embers. While everything seemed to have been disintegrated by the magic fire, not all of the tunic was. Although most of it were charred strands of thread, there was one strip left of the once whole garment.

A small slimy creature with long arms and suction cups on the ends, multiple eyes like a spider, and dark purple, almost black skin slithered its way over to the strip. It made gurgling noises as it lifted the garment with one of its many limbs, slithering back over to its master.

The master had the appearance of a man, but his skin was a deep tan with a purple tinge to it when you looked at it in a particular light. The man had three blood red eyes that had a hungry look to them, his teeth were sharp and like bright lights against his dark flesh. His hair was slicked back with a dark red color to it, and his height seemed very intimidating. Though nearly 6’ 5’’, his attire made sense for him. He wore dark brown pants, a black tunic with long sleeves, and a belt. But this belt held several weapons, each one sharper and deadlier than the next. They grew in size from daggers to knives to a long, onyx-colored sword. The weapon had a pure silver handle with a different red symbol across the three branches, a leather grip, and the quillion, two parts of the hilt that stuck out straight on both sides, faded from its silvery color to a dark grey metal.

The man took the strip and felt it between his palm and thumb, all of his fingers having clean cut onyx nails. He closed his eyes, the third at the top however stayed opened and glowed a pule blue color causing him to see in a sped version of the upcoming path. Everything was colored in black and white, the ground moved towards him at a supersonic pace as well as the trees and sky around him. The sight went through several turns before stopping in a village. The mother and son were walking to little stands picking up food and maybe a few other little things. But the son was glowing, almost emitting a pale red mist as the soundlessness of the vision faded out.

The man opened his eyes and looked to see the strip glowing the same red as the vision of the hedgehog he’d just seen. He grinned a malicious smile and turned back to the Dark Star. I’ve finally found you, my son…
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In the village there were several shops, stands, and even little crowds watching different species of humans and mobians doing several measly tricks that confused the eye of a normal person. The strawberried hedgehog, however, knew how fake these little mockeries of magic were. And she despised them. But she let them keep doing their stupid little tricks because they needed money in their own lives, and she didn’t have time to be bothered with childish things right now. She needed to get them away from the world forever. And the Haven could do that.

The little hedgehog stood close to his mother as they stopped at a stand selling fruits. He had a hood to cover his head so others wouldn’t see his third eye and become afraid of what he was. He knew enough to be afraid of everyone because of his Mark, and was afraid of himself for his own powers. Some came from his mother but others came from from what the people feared. whatever his father was, it handy given him an easy life to live.

His mother noticed him watching the other kids play around and asked him why he wouldn’t go over along with them. He shook his head.

“Well, why not, baby?”

He tugged on her sleeve signaling her to come down lower and whispered in her ear, “Because they might see my eye.”

She scoffed. “So what? We’re almost to the safe place. Go and relax a bit.” She kissed his head. A worn, brown leather ball came rolling towards them and he picked it up, confused on where it came from.

A 5 year old half mobian girl with blue eyes, brown hair and dreads, and a slightly pointed nose was wearing a dirty cream colored & green dress. She ran over to him. "That's my ball." Derek gave it back to her shyly.

The little girl stared at him and smiled. "Wanna play with us?" Derek looked at her and shook his head. "Please? It's r-really fun," she said stumbling over her speech.

The ebony hedgehog looked at his mother who nodded. He nodded to the girl in response mumbling an "okay".

The hybrid grinned, grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the other kids who eagerly let him join in their game. Derek's mother smiled happily. He finally had a chance at normalcy and what better way to experience it than with others his age? He laughed as he and others were being chased by the person that was recently tagged and she chuckled softly before focusing on the stand again.

"Um, two apples, three pears, and...five sweet crisps, please," she asked while pointing to the three items. The ivory and beige-striped owl nodded and gathered the fruits and cookies into her pouch. As she started to thank her, she suddenly felt pain in her brain and placed her hand on her forehead, wincing.

"Are you alright?" The owl placed a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder but she waved it off.

"I am fine, really." She knew she wasn't and didn't want her to know.

But luck wasn't on her side. The owl saw the Mark behind her bangs and gave a small gasp. "Shadowbane's Mark..." she whispered. The Mark was a bright red symbol against her already light red/dark pink fur, a type of swirling design with four lines that curved away from its starting point on the swirl taking the look of claws. The two on the bottom half of the swirl were smaller but all 6 lines were still as sharp.

The worried mother looked around before begging the woman not to say anything to anyone and starting to take out more silver pieces for the seller to take.

"No, no. I do not want your money." The mother stopped instantly, very confused. “You need more for your son than I do….my brother had a demon’s mark. Not by the same one but, he was able to make it to the Haven.” The woman gave her extra snacks for the road.

“Is it normal for others to pass by here?” the hedgehog asked after a long pause.

“Yes, but...none have ever made it with their child...Usually the demon has already taken their immortality away.” She tried to lighten the mood. “At least you’ll already be safe by the time he comes.” The owl told her an even quicker way to get to the sanctuary even better than before which took an entire two hours out of her way.

The mother nodded and thanked her once again for her help. Suddenly as she turned around, the woman was hit with a wave of power that made her slip to the ground. The Mark on her head burned brightly as the woman came around her stand to her her up. She tried to speak to her but no words could be heard as the strawberried girl focused on one thing.

The man was walking into the village in the distance, along with his monstrous ship, the Dark Star. The ship itself was said to be completely made out of mountains themselves, colored a dark blue to blend in with night easily but was obviously seen in afternoon light. It had the appearance of a meteorite in a sense, the front being covered in black frost then fading into the blue color the rock was known for. Its sides poked out with different sized shards of ice that grew in size towards the rear of the flying vessel that seemed to glow as the light touched it...if there was light to be seen. It seemed as if its presence cause the sun to hide behind big grey clouds. People grabbed their food and belongings as chaos started to ensue in trying to hide from the demon. Children cried as they raced to their parents, and Derek was grabbed by the arm into his mother’s embrace as she raced behind a small stone home.

She knelt down to his level and spoke fast. “Derek, I need you to do something for me, okay?” She took the spell book that she had never let go of and placed it in his hands. “I need you to follow that path and run as fast as you can and never turn back, okay? Never turn back, understand?”

“But w-what about Mama,” he asked completely afraid of what was going on.

“Mama has to do something to keep you safe. You just need to run for me. Run until you get to shiny gates and when they ask who you are, just show them the book Mama gave you.”

“B-but how will that help m-me? Where’s Mama going!” A blast was heard down one of the dirt streets and he jumped into her arms. She kissed him multiple times and hugged him tightly, nearly crying herself.

“Because only you can read the book like Mama can...now go.” She gave him one last kiss and pushed him towards the path at the end of the village. He started to run for his life but that was all she saw of him before she stood up wiping her eyes. The strawberry hedgehog walked away from behind the house, her green robe flapping behind her. She walked towards the center of the street and stopped when she saw the thing she loathed with a deep rooted passion.

The demon saw her and grinned as she did. She was so stupid. But he knew she was clever enough to risk her life for his son’s. He lifted his arm at half length and flicked his fingers forward at the ship as he kept straight ahead. The ship’s ice shot at the ground causing a deep crack into the earth, destroying a few stands in the process. Slimy, shadowy, disgusting creatures climbed out of the rock with their claws digging into the ground as they pulled themselves up. Some flew around the area while others screeched along the floor, trying to find Derek’s scent. There was a great distance between the two figures, but the demon seemed to take a step forward before appearing inches away from her.

“Rathia,” he spoke in his dark, raspy tone, “I’ve missed you.”

“You don’t care for anything, Drakoe, let alone miss,” she snapped back.
Drakoe stepped slowly around her. “On the contrary, my dear. I’ve missed every little thing about you. Your lips against mine...Your legs wrapped around me...Even the way you screamed every time you felt a little scratch.” His nails grew into sharp claws as he traced them down her arms swiftly, a thin line of a cut beginning to bleed.

She whirled around aiming a dagger at him. “Those little scratches caused me to lose a lot of blood and nearly die.”

The demon chuckled. “That’s not my fault is it?”

“You’re the one that raped me. Who else could it have been?”

“Well, I guess all that fun led to one thing….where is he?”

“Far from you.”

He glared and took a step forward. She took one back. “Where. Is. My son.”

Rathia threw the dagger at his chest but only caught him in the arm since he moved the block it. She ran a few steps back to gain some ground between them as she readied her mind with multiple spells to use. “Matikal!” She whipped her hand in front of her and the ground seemed to throw up rocks aimed at Drakoe. He however just rolled his eyes and dodged between them with graceful and sharp ease. When he was done he took out her blade from his arm and dropped it, the scar healing in a blink of an eye.

The hedgehog shouted a three-worded spell causing glowing spears to form out of thin air and shoot at Drakoe. He dodged all but one. That one hit was enough to make his temper shoot straight through the roof.

The demon started to to advance towards the woman at a heightened speed then throwing a punch once he was close to her face. Rathia mumbled a spell to throw up a shield to protect herself as he threw blow after blow, trying any way to injure her, to make her bleed and suffer just as before.

The strawberry hedgehog was pushed down by the forces of his strength and the shield started to fail her.

Come on, Rathia, THINK! she scolded at herself. She decided to do one final attempt to gain ground again. “K-kay…Chaos...C-control…” As Drakoe brought down the last blow, breaking the shield entirely, she shouted an unknown spell that caused everything in time to slow down. She drop-kicked his legs in the time frame and ran to the other side of the street before letting the spell stop; by this point she was tired. The spell she used to slow down time was something beyond her element, causing her to weaken in strength and mind. The effects were dizzying, her vision become doubled and her balance staggered.

Drakoe, growling as he stood from his unlikely faceplant, saw her and grinned a malicious smile. Ripe for killing, he thought. Before he could charge and slash her throat out, three flying demons came and dropped a little boy to the ground in front of the monster. His brown robe was shredded, the hood was ripped off, and there were stray streaks of blood on his dark fur.

“Derek!” Rathia screamed.

“Ah….so this is my infamous son.” Derek tried to scramble away from him but was pulled up by the scruff of his neck. “Well, I see you’ve already made him as soft as cotton.”

“Let him go,” his mother growled.

“Why should I? He’s my property. Just like you.” He started to drag Derek away and back to the Dark Star, the little hedgehog crying out for his mother. The demons charged at Rathia eager to eat at her flesh, but she wouldn’t go down that easily. Her vision became clear as day, white hot rage building up inside of her as it seem her line of sight turned red as well.

Rathia shouted at the top of her lungs at the beasts. "BYZANTEM!!!” The earth and magic within the spell seemed to respond in a disastrous way, boulders shot from the ground instantly causing the soaring demons to hit them in their way. Magic sparked in multiple blues and blacks before slashing at the clawed demons on the ground. Their screeching was loud and even caused Drakoe to let go of Derek and cover his ears in actual pain.

Derek took this chance and ran back to his mother as fast as he could, the book surprisingly still in his grip. As he ran, demons that were held back by the spell chomped at him hoping to tear off his soft, fresh fur but were not allowed consent from their master. He was reaching for her hand, to be in her warm embrace, to have her hold him close and never let go again, to always make him feel better. But fate thought otherwise.

For being only 6 years old, he didn’t know what else there was in the world to curse at. To curse at them for ruining his life. To curse at something that decided to hurt him so much. Whatever that thing was, it seemed to make him stop running and freeze where he was, the book slipped from his grip and hit the ground with a dull thud despite its size. Everything seemed to go silent and blur when he saw Rathia twist to the side with her hand at her chest. Everything lost color when he saw the bright red blood dripping down her once green and gold robe from four deep claws marks imbedded in her body; the same red blood dripped from Drakoe’s claws with his evil grin. The hedgehog staggered in her step facing him before collapsing completely to the packed earth.

Derek somehow reached his mother’s side in his shocked state and was too scared to touch her. “Mama?” he muttered trying to be brave. He touched her arm lightly. “M-mama...get u-up.” His mother was the strongest person he knew, she was always strong, she would always get up to face another day of walking and waking early. She could face this...right?

She’s gone, an unfamiliar voice nagged at the back of his head. Just accept it. She probably gave up on taking care of you anyways and took her life on purpose.

The little hedgehog became frantic now, shaking the lifeless body of his mother, blood soaking his gloves and pants as he screamed for her to wake up. Her once bright purple eyes were dull and clouded and stared straight to the sky, never blinking. Her chest rose only incredibly slightly, making it seem as if she would never breath again. Her heart would never beat again. He started to believe the voice in his head until a clawed hand grabbed his arm and dragged him away from his mother. He grabbed ahold of his mother’s pendant as a desperate attempt to pull him back to her until the chain snapped. His kicking and screaming was futile against the demon’s strength, and when he saw blood drip from his hand, Derek realized nothing was his fault in this situation. It was his. The man that murdered his mother in cold blood.

The winged hedgehog saw that Drakoe was about to grab the spell book and did the unthinkable for anyone else that wasn’t a child….he bit him. As hard as he could. On his arm.

Drakoe yelled and pried him off but not without having the kid’s sharp teeth draw pure black blood from his limb. His third eye glowed a dark blue when he glared down at him and reached for his quills to yank him back, but Derek had already ripped open the book and, in a rush, started to shout a random spell.

“Invocasis v-viralor...tia araucio, f-fiyero rytijah...” He said one or two words wrong causing the spell to worsen and the breeze picking up to a few miles per hour. Sparks of fire flew through the air and landed onto already destroy stands making them go up in flames. "Acaniosa...ne-nikenaptyl....Kelinte-AHH!!!" The books words glowed and burned his gloves to shreds, small black claws being shown to the world that he wanted to hide. The power from the book expressed itself into the world; earth cracked into droves beneath them, the air thickened with smoke as the fire intensed, the wind howled loudly with an ear-splitting screech making Derek scream louder, only in fear.

Suddenly the screaming was cut short as Drakoe knocked the little hedgehog out cold, his little hand clutched around the pendant released a bit, the blue marble winking in the gray light. The demon clamped the book shut with his foot and everything instantly stopped. The hurricane turned into a light breeze, the fire doused itself, and the smoke lingered in the air. A few stray demons surrounded their master as he picked up the book. "The little brat can read it..." Drakoe only chased her for the spell book because it had amazing power that he knew could make him an even stronger demon than he already was. The problem was that he couldn't read it himself and only Rathia could...but she taught Derek a few things as well.

Drakoe stared at the hedgehog before picking him up and carrying back towards the ship, the pendant hanging from the tiny hedgehog's fingers...

...The strawberry hedgehog could barely focus on anything when her chest was slashed. She knew her life would last only a few seconds afterwards and saw everything flash before her eyes. Living her life, practicing spells, being hurt by Drakoe, having Derek, everything that held the longest in her memory. She felt her head loll to the side, her vision becoming blurred by a white light trying to make it's way towards her. She fought through it to see faded images of Derek being taken by the monster with her pendant dangling from his fingers. Her lips twitched and she choked out the last few words.

"J-just clos-se...your e-eyes...yo-ou'll be a-alright...Co-ome mornin lig-ght...you and I-I will b-be safe...and...sound...."

All life disappeared in her last words, and everything went dark.
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Derek woke up in a plush bed & pillow early every day like usual. He washed up, got dressed, and walked down multiple dark halls to a big oak door. As he stepped inside, he saw Drakoe at the big wooden desk looking over papers and other things.

"You w-wanted to see me, sir," the 6 year old asked tripping over his speech.

Drakoe stared. He knew only a month or 2 ago he had taken him but he was still amazed how early he would wake for a child his age. The man walked over and left the room and, as usual, Derek followed. He knew the routine well enough to know by now. The demon led him downstairs of the compound into a huge room with no windows whatsoever, a huge stone hearth, big cobblestone flooring, cupboards and a big table in the center. Food was misplaced around the area and it filled his nose with many different scents and spices.

A graying, light sea-green fox was currently chopping vegetables and placing them in a pot before shoving back into the hearth to cook more. She gave no acknowledgement to his presence except saying, "What do you want now, Shadowbane?"

"This is Derek," he said shoving him further into the room. "I need you to watch him till I need him."

"I know who he is. How long does he need to be here?"

"Like I said. Until I need him. Raise him or something, I have work to do."

She finally looked up from her table, hand frozen in the middle of cutting venison, in slight shock. "You want me to what?"

"Watch the kid. I don't care what you do but keep him out of my way."

The fox stepped up to him. "Why should I do it? I've enough to do on my own doing here cooking for YOUR damn army!"

"Well now you have your own little help. You know your place, Celeana," he glared daggers at her. "Now do as I say or I'll need a new servant."

She glared straight back. "I wish you would, Shadowbane."

He started to leave. "Be careful what you wish for."

Celeana groaned then faced the child with hands on her hips. She stared as if to survey him and he the same with her. Derek had never seen anyone talk back to his father without getting reprimanded for it. Much less anyone talking back at all. She wore a plain brown gown with a dirty apron tied around her waist and black flats. Her once bright hair paled to to a dirty blue-gray color but still retained it's curly volume. Her tail was ragged and the fur clumped together at the end. Her fur and hair were gaining grey streaks here and there, wrinkles forming under her eyes.

The fox stepped back to the hearth after hearing high-pitched whirring and took out the pot boiling inside the flames with her bare hands. Derek watched silently amazed and she smirked.

"Wondering how I didn't burn myself," she stated. The hedgehog gave a dull nod. "Well...I'll tell you a secret but you can't tell anyone, okay?" Derek nodded again. She gestured for him to come around the table and she showed him her fingers. Her index and ring fingers on both hands each had a small silver or gold band with either a red, purple, clear, or opaque stone on it.

"Each ring used to be normal until I had a little magic thrown in," she said after crouching down to his level. "Notjing special of course. I can't afford that. The red stone is a garnet and it helps me avoid getting burned. The purple is an amethyst and it helps make it so I can not hurt myself with sharp things like cutting myself while cutting food. The clear is a diamond and it helps me cook as fast as I can for your father."

Derek stared at the opaque gem on her left ring finger. He wondered why it looked so much more dull than the rest. "Why do you have that one?"

She looked down at it and smiled sadly. "That one is called an opal...and it reminds me of the family I love..." She held her hand close to her heart and smiled sadly at him. "Do you...ever remember your mother?"

"What's that?"

"The woman you were tak..." It was then, when he had a genuinely confused look, that she knew Drakoe had done something to the memory of his mother. She hadn't really known her but knowing the demon, she knew he probably wanted him to forget her entirely. To make sure Derek stayed loyal to him and only him.

She decided to step of the subject before he asked any more questions and went back to cutting the meat. Derek sat on the floor and quietly watched not really knowing what to say to her. He was alone and didn’t exactly know why he felt that way. He felt like someone should be holding him or comforting him but...he didn’t know why that feeling was there, nagging at him and making his fur stand on end. He suddenly felt chilly and rubbed his arms when the feeling worsened.

Celeana saw him then looked at the small basket she had on the outer edge of the hearth. “Derek,” she said making him look at her, “want a sweet crisp?” He asked what it was and she nodded over the the basket. The little hedgehog pushed himself up and shuffled over to the hearth. He could tell that the basket wasn’t placed inside the fire but just close enough to keep whatever was in it warm. He stood on his toes and grabbed a cookie bigger than his palm. It was light and warm to the touch, a pale yellow color with sugar dusted across the top. Derek sniffed it, a wonderful scent that made his stomach growl. He took bite a bite and moaned at how tasty it was.

Celeana smiled as she placed the meat onto a thinly oiled pan and put it in the oven. “You like the cookies?” She was rewarded with a “mm-hmm!” and she grinned. “Well you’ll get more if you help me cook. Can you do that for me?”

“Y-yes, Miss,” Derek said. After she taught him how to peel the skin off the vegetable with a knife, he successfully did it by himself and was pretty careful for a 6 year old rookie. Celeana watched him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. Maybe she could teach the son of a demon a thing or two.