As Adrest predicted, the next morning Belle made sure to wake him up early. Belle hadn’t even bothered going to the dragons den as she knew her Big brother was the only one who could deal with a sleeping Alissa.
With the sun just barely over the horizon, giving everything a purple, gray hue, the two got to work making a simple fruit porridge and fresh grilled fish.
As everything was just being put on the table, Adrest and Belle both turned their heads towards the stairs. They both saw a very sleepy Alissa slowly making her way to them, or more specifically the food near them.
“”Morning”” the two by the table said to the girl shambling towards them.
“Goodmowning”
Alissa responded with a cute slur to her words as she sat down and grabbed her bowl that had been filled already. The audience smiled at each other before sitting down as well and digging in.
After the meal, and everyone completed their morning routines, Alissa had new life in her eyes and her eyes were glittering as she grinned widely and pulled out a purple bag with a red ribbon tied into a bow sealing it.
“Belle, come here we have a gift for you!”
“We?” Adrest asked
“We. I couldn’t have finished it without your spacial mana after all.” Alissa said with a smile. Adrest was about to argue but was cut off by Belle speeding out of the house.
Belle went up to Alissa who told the brightly smiling girl to hold out her hands. As she did as told, Alissa set the bag into the small hands and said “This is a gift from Ady and I, you have to promise to never take it off, unless you’re with one of us. Do you think you can do that?”
Belle was confused at the statement but after just a seconds delay, she fiercely nodded her head, sending her ears flopping every which way, which made Adrest choke back laughter from the funny but endearing scene.
“Good, then lets see how it looks on you!” Alissa said, satisfied with the girls response.
Belle slowly untied the lacy patterned red ribbon, that Adrest was sure would be prohibitively expensive, and was sure it could only be found in the wealthiest cities and capitals of nearby nations.
Soon Belle carefully fished out the pendant, and the silver chain glittered brilliantly in the sun. she looked lost as she stared at the deep blue gem with its many facets, each with a reflection of Belle staring back.
After nearly a minute of staring, she looked up slowly, not quite meeting Alissa’s eyes above and said in a quiet voice, “it looks so expensive, is it really okay for to give something like this, to someone like me...”
The adults shared a troubled look before Alissa crouched down and pulled the girl into a tight hug.
“I’ll say it as many times as you need Belle. You are family, and deserve every bit of pampering we can give you. After all, it makes us as happy as you to do things like this.”
Belle hugged Alissa tightly and repeatedly said thank you into her shoulder and Adrest enjoyed spectating the sweet scene until before they separated. Adrest decided it was a good time to step in, saying, “Would you like help putting it on? I’m sure it’ll look beautiful on you Belle.”
She blushed slightly at the compliment, but Adrest didn’t even notice as he unclasped the complicated lock on the thin chain and put it gingerly around Belle’s neck as Alissa moved the white hair out of the way for him. Soon the chain was secured, and it adjusted itself to sit firmly around Belle’s neck.
Alissa stood up and pulled a hand mirror from who knows where and held it in front of belle, who was speechless as she stared at the reflection. Belle stood motionless for a time before looking up at Alissa and Adrest with glassy eyes, filled with unshed tears and gave a brilliant smile “Thank you big sis, big bro. I love you!”
At the unexpected words from the little rabbit, Alissa felt her heart pound and she grabbed the girl in a hug and lifted her over a foot in the air swinging her around. “I love you too Belle! You’re my precious little sister and I’ll pamper you forever!”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Adrest didn’t have the chance to say anything with the overly energetic dragon doing as she pleased, so he just enjoyed the sight of a purple haired flawless beauty with her signature purple hair and sun kissed skin, contrasting starkly with the delicate albino rabbit girl in her arms. Adrest also laughed to himself seeing Belle’s pure white ears flicking around every which way as she became more flustered.
Eventually Alissa let the poor girl go and they set off walking, rather than flying, to help familiarize Belle with her way back. That didn’t mean the group moved slowly however, they raced through the flat forest floor, kicking up leaves and dirt in their wake, and it continued for nearly 6 hours, until they were about a third of the way to the outpost village they had visited, since monsters in the area got weaker the closer to the base of the mountain range it was an appropriate challenge for Belle.
Eventually, Alissa stopped, making the other two halt as well. They were in a section of woods that looked like any other, with just trees as far as the eyes could see in any direction.
“On the way here, I scared off any monsters near us, but once I’m gone some of the braver ones will be back to investigate. Do your best and remember to always pay attention to your surroundings.’ Alissa warned her seriously before giving the girl one last quick hug, changing her tune completely.
“I know you’ll do great Belle; Big sis believes in you!” she quickly set down the girl who looked up to her.
“I’ll be back before you know it! And I promise I’ll be extra careful.”
Adrest nodded saying, “If you see something that you aren’t positive you can handle, don’t risk it.” As Belle nodded, he seemed to think of something and added.
“By the way Belle, how does a party sound when you get back? We can celebrate and have whatever you want, and we’ll stay up all night playing games.”
Alissa’s eyes lit up at the last part of the statement and nodded energetically. Belle’s eyes shone with happiness, and she asked, “Can we have Idren stew, with extra vegetables?”
Adrest nodded saying “We’ll get everything ready and waiting for you to come home.”
With one last exchange of goodbyes, the pair flew off and left the white-haired girl alone to find her way home by herself.
The two quickly made their way back to the house, and both grew a little somber at how quiet it felt. Belle had only been with them for a short time, but she quickly became an irreplaceable part of their life.
Sighing, not feeling like doing any training today and seeing it was already near evening, Adrest made his way to his room and got into his secret stash of good liquor he bought in town. He quickly learned he had to hide his good alcohol, or Alissa would get into it and force him to drink as well, else she would simply finish it all herself.
He returned to the moping dragon sitting outside near a newly burning fire and passed her the bottle he had just taken a swig from.
“She’ll probably be back tomorrow evening or early the day after, we might as well take a day to stop acting like responsible role models, right?”
Alissa grabbed the offered drink and snorted “As if you ever act like a role model. Belle is more responsible than you.”
As she took a deep drink, Adrest laughed at the comeback and sat next to her. They sat and passed the bottle back and forth, enjoying the crackling fire and the busy sounds of nature around them.
By the time the moons were fully in the sky, the two were nearly done with the first bottle and both had a red flush on their faces with a comfortable slight numbness through their bodies. They moved inside and sat at the table playing 21 as Adrest had taught Alissa and she thoroughly enjoyed.
“Hit. By the way Ady did you know I’m the youngest of my siblings? Dragons live for a super long time, my oldest brother is already well over five hundred years old, and my sister who is closest to my age, is already over one hundred. I’ve always been the fragile youngest that’s been doted on when they were around. I’ve always wanted a little sister to spoil, so today made me really happy.”
Alissa confessed out of nowhere, but Adrest could understand that it must’ve felt lonely being the only sibling that was still a child. “It made me really happy hearing her today too, let’s throw her the best party ever when she gets back!”
Alissa nodded and her face turned serious as she closed her eyes in thought.
“We’ll need to figure out a present for her when she gets back.”
Adrest broke into drunk laughter at the dragon already thinking of more gifts for the girl, and suddenly had an idea, slamming the table and getting the dragon to jump in surprise. “What!?”
“Let’s go to the outpost town and buy as many sweets as we can carry. Remember the look on her face when Belle tried that cinnamon pie?”
Alissa rose from her seat, adding “And we can get her new armor, the set she has now is getting tight and we can go all out!”
The drunken Adrest nodded along and took one last long drink from the bottle before handing it to Alissa to finish. His wings shot out while he said, “If we leave now, we can sneak in just before the sun comes up.”
Gulping the last mouthfuls of liquor, Alissa’s wing shot outwards as well, and the inebriated pair shot off into the sky with perfect accuracy.
Just as planned, the pair reached the town just before the very first rays of sun peeked over the horizon. They were starting to yawn, but they were on a mission so as the town just started to wake up, the two found a food cart that had just finished setting up and got two meat skewers to stave off the coming headache.
They ate their skewers and drank some hot tea in peace, watching the early morning people shoot up and down the street. Soon enough, the sun was fully in the sky and shining brightly and the two split up. Adrest to put in a large custom order at a café they had visited before, and Alissa to go order the armor as she knew what modifications would need to be made.
The two killed time after putting in both orders by meeting at the Home and Hearth to catch up with Rose.