#(feel free to still include nightshade details in your reply if u want!! or we can focus on sam and feld and maude for now!! <3)< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[hearthtales]

Nettie giggled at Nightshade’s compliment, swaying back and forth on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back. Most of her shyness had faded, but sometimes happiness stole her voice as well.

Gruff sniffed Nightshade’s hand. His ears perked at her human words, hearing friendliness even though he didn’t understand their meaning. When she barked, however, the dog jumped slightly and backed away on instinct. Nettie burst into more giggles, stifled behind her hand, while Bran looked at Nightshade in surprise. Gruff stared at her as well, stunned, before woofing in reply. (‘Cat…..??’)

His surprise passed and clear excitement took its place. He padded back to Nightshade, his eyes shining and his tail wagging, and instantly tried to lick her face. He’d accept any and all pets now.

Bran breathed a sigh of relief at Nightshade’s hidden sign of understanding. He nodded gratefully before he left to find the innkeeper. Beaming, Nettie held Nightshade’s hand and went along with her to the hearth room. Gruff followed closely behind them.

—

Bran found Maude dusting a dresser in the hall downstairs. He explained what happened as quickly as he could, leaving out any mention of his tears.

“He— he said he’d go talk with Feld,” Bran finished, breathless. “I think he’s gone to the attic.”

Maude stared at the boy. Her face had gone ashen pale, the feather-duster slack in her hand. Her gaze flicked past him to look down the hall, toward the stairs. She rubbed her neck as though it ached.

“Stay here,” she ordered Bran at last, her voice quiet but firm. Her expression held a grim seriousness. “Don’t go upstairs for now, no matter what. Don’t let Nightshade or Nettie go up either. Understand?”

Too startled to argue, Bran nodded.

With that, she hurried toward the stairs, her feather-duster abandoned on the dresser. Bran stared after her, frozen. Dread coiled in his throat.

—

Samhain caught Feld by the mouth. It jerked its head backward but couldn’t free itself. Samhain’s grip tightened even more and forced a wheezy hiss from the creature. Its tail whipped back and forth feebly.

The air pressed in around them. Through the ringing in its skull, Feld heard the ghoul speak. It saw the cold lines of his face, the way his eyes darkened.

Ah. So the dark-haired girl was the reason for all this.

Fresh fear glittered in the creature’s eyes. Then, as Samhain’s words echoed in its mind, a realization struck it, and its fear of Samhain’s threat faltered. It had remembered something terribly funny.

All at once, it stopped struggling and went limp in his grasp. Its eyes glazed over in a mimicry of death. After a moment, a second snake head twisted itself from its form between Samhain’s hands. Its scales were duller than the first head, but its fangs were just as sharp. It didn’t try biting him this time, though.

Instead, it spoke.

“Try it,” the creature rasped from its new mouth. Glee flickered in its gaze despite everything, sharp and wild. “Burn me. See what happens.”

Nightshade beamed, squatting down to the child's height to see her and the flower crown better. Before she did anything else, she stuffed the two journals into Samhain's backpack to keep them safe. After that, Nettie had her undivided and full attention. "Ohmygosh!! It's so pretty! Thank youuu~ You really outdone yourselves this time, huh?"

Oh yes! The dog! How could she have forgotten? And right on cue, Gruffud came a-trotting. The confusion on his face made Nightshade giggle, but it was nothing she hadn't seen before; most normal animals had the same reaction towards her. Luckily Gruff was known to be good with cats but even if he was, Nightshade would not have been afraid. She's dealt with bigger, badder things after all.

Nightshade stayed where she was, low to the ground and offering Gruff her hand (which had now curled as if it were a paw) to sniff as etiquette asked of them. "Heyya Gruff! Nice to meetcha too!" she bid, knowing full well Gruff wouldn't understand her human tongue. She then switched to something he could understand. ("Hi there!") she quipped right after, which just sounded like 'bark bark' to everyone else.

“I-I’ve, ah— got to talk to Maude..” Fortunately Nightshade was quick on the uptake, giving Bran an 'okay' signal with her hand where Nettie couldn't see. She winked, as if saying 'I'll take it from here'.

"Oh sweetpea, you're still damp! Lets get you all warmed up an' cozy by the fire, hm? The hearth room's this way right?" Nightshade asked, getting up and leading Nettie away by the hand.

—

It changed forms in mere seconds and its new fangs were sharp, but Samhain's eyes were sharper. He caught the shapeshifter by the mouth with an ivory hand that could no longer feel pain, nor any flesh for teeth to sink into. Fingers clasped around the creature's head like a metal trap instead, holding its mouth wide open, while his other hand held its body like a vice.

"At first ah thought you were a djinn," the ghoul said flatly, the lines of his face unreadable. "You see they love tricking people, especially the bereaved, by wearing the faces of their loved ones. An' djinn are made entirely of smoke, so ye can see where ah got that idea from."

If Feldmire thought Samhain's grip on it couldn't get any tighter, it thought wrong. The energy within the attic was even growing more dense, more suffocating, as the ghoul's spirit energy filled the entire room; the energy pulsating with the boiling emotions inside him.

"The last time a creature decided to trick me by wearing my beloved's face... It didn't end well for them," Samhain recalled, his eyes darkening. "...an ah found out that my fire burns smoke very well."