Chapter Text
They were warm, this time. They knew it must have been some sort of dream, how soft and fuzzy their surroundings were. But no sooner than they heard a frustrated yell did they bolt up, rubbing at one of their many eyes and looking around. They were no longer at the shack… Everything truly wasn’t a dream. Everything really was burned to dust…
“Webber! Up and at em, kiddo! C’mon, you’ll sleep the whole day away!” Ah, at least she was real too. The woman they now imprinted upon as their mother, it sounded like she was bustling around. Finally opening their eyes, they could see her grinning down at them. Woah.
“Morning! C’mon kid, we’ve got a lot of stuff to do! If I’m as crazy as I think I am, Winter’s gonna be right around the corner.” She scooped him up no problem, handing over the cup of mango tea and leftover peachy meatloaf once they were sat in front of a smoldering campfire. They watched as Willow seemed to weave out colored grass and twigs, everything slowly coming together until it formed a small backpack. It was red.
“There, now you’ve got your own! I noticed you can fit a ton in here, way more than what you could normally carry, so we’re gonna go on a little expedition to find more stuff! I hate the cold, just a breeze alone the other day gave me the worst feeling, so I gotta make sure we’re ready for…” She fazed out then, his surroundings becoming fuzzy and her speech unintelligible gabble as he truly got a good look at her.
Her skin was a beautiful brown, speckles of freckles across her nose and some scattered about her cheeks. This made her bags even more obvious, the same with her eyes like his; White, without a visible pupil.
They slowly blinked, taking in her clothing. A long black skirt, a red sweater with what looked like a white longsleeve underneath. She wore black heels, just as black gloves, and who would’ve guessed it. Black lipstick. Where did she even get it…
“... And that way we’re prepared for who knows how long! Got it, kid?... Oh, I almost forgot! I fixed this up for ya. it had a tear in the back here and was pretty dirty, so I washed it. There ya go!” His winter coat… They remembered Papa fixing it up for them, they were so puny then and the coat went to pool around his feet.
Now it just remained snug over his body, soft white pom poms made out of the last bit of cotton he had hidden away. At least it still smells like him, considering how many days had gone by since he went for that hunt and the clearly thorough washing Willow did.
“Thank you, Mama!” Tugging it on was a practiced ease for them, giving a little twirl from the soft fluff around the edge. Soft giggles left their throat before they launched themself at Willow’s leg, giving it a firm nuzzle as she patted their back.
“Anytime kiddo. Now let’s go, daylight’s burning and the sooner we get this stuff together, the better for us!” She spun him a bit just to get him to laugh again, and off they went, the list in her hand getting passed over to him.
It was a new start, and they both felt great about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Alrighty, see? Rocks are right over there. I’m gonna give you six pickaxes and you’re gonna break down as many of them as you can, then fill up your backpack with all the stuff from them. I’mma be right over here chopping down trees and collecting the sap in these buckets! Then we can go and try to hunt something before sun down, and get to weaving rope before we head to bed. Sound good?”
His eyes were trying to keep up with each thing Willow pointed out on the list, legs twitching and their overall mind being… Almost churned in a butter bucket.
“... Uh-huh!” That didn’t mean they couldn’t try, letting out a tiny ‘oof’ from the pickaxes placed into their bag. A couple bags of trail mix are stuck in along with a few mangos, and he turned to wave as he walked into the rock biome. He saw her figure slowly disappear into the evergreen forest, and let out a tiny sigh as he turned to some of the rocks.
Another sigh and they took hold of one pickaxe, swinging back with all the force they could. They could do this, he could truly do this…
And they did. By the time the sun was far up overhead, he had used up all six of his pickaxes and made two more, sitting under a nearby tree and opening up the leafy bag of trail mix to munch on.
“You think she’ll be a good Mama?... I miss her too, but I don’t think she’s out here. Or Father, not anymore…” He made a few comments to himself, scratching his fuzzy black head as he thought. He had been taken in by others before, even after… After his original parents. Ending up here was no mistake, he soon got a new Father that loved him and took care of him.
His new Father wasn’t very new though. He seemed old, and worn down by the last time he saw him. Maybe he should have gone with him on that hunting trip… They could have kept him safe, couldn’t they have?
Taking in a breath he stroked his arm, attempting to self soothe as he kept looking around
“We couldn’t have. We’re still really small, it’s gonna be okay. Mama Willow’s got a lot of… Of Spunk! Spunk and that moxie stuff, she’ll keep us safe.” A hand gently patted atop his head, soothing himself with a soft smile as he got up.
He saw something out of the corner of his eye, shining and making him get up. He almost fell right back down with how heavy his backpack was, but grinned as he heard a whistle.
“Hello?... Hi!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Alrighty Webber, I think I took down a good part of that forest! Think I should make a firewood chest at this point, the air’s getting colder and…” Willow paused in her rambles, shuffling the bag on her back and stick across her shoulders that carried the buckets. She could see the bits of gold rock left behind, the mango pits she picked up to store, the empty leaf bags…
Where did he go.
“Webber?... Webber, where’d you go kiddo?” She spun on her heel to look around, taking in a startled gasp as she spotted the sun.
It was getting low. Dusk was nearly on them, and the one time she didn’t get her lighter out in time…
“Webber!! Webber this isn’t
funny
where the hell are you?!” Running off in a random direction, she stopped and went the other way to head home. Could he be there already… He was half asleep on their way over here, no way he figured his way.
“Webber! Please, just give a shout if you’re here! If you can hear me, JUST ANSWER ME ALREADY!” Behind trees, in bushes, anywhere he could maybe be hiding. She even climbed up a tree to get a view and just look where he could possibly be.
She swore she heard a scream off in one direction, so she jumped down, nearly busted her ass, and took off over there. Did she get hit in the face by branches, trip over a dirt pile, and nearly stab herself when she stumbled with sharp flint? Maybe.
But it didn’t matter, especially as she used her teeth to tie the flint to the end of a stick she grabbed off the ground.
“Keep him safe keep him safe gotta keep him safe… Webber!!”
“Huh?... Hey Mama!!” She turned corner and almost ran into another tree, the kid literally sitting on the ground and playing with what looked like a broken tea cup. Another was on the ground, a large spot of silk spread out as she pulled herself off.
Those splinters were going to hurt…
“Where the hell have you been! Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you? I’ve been worried sick, look at the sky!” She shoved the spear into the ground, shouting at the now flinching spider boy. Panic and anger overtook her eyes, her teeth bared as she pointed up.
“You could have
died
out here if I didn’t come fucking looking for you!”
“I-I was just playing with–”
“You were playing with your
life
is what–” A sniffle and she blinked, her shoulders sagging from the sight. The curled up kid before her trembling like a leaf as he shielded his head.
Bracing himself. She knew that feeling. Her vision cleared, and she winced as she spoke.
“... Webber, I…”
“I was just playing with some friends I swear!! I didn’t mean to make you upset, I didn’t!” He pleaded as his eyes clenched shut, curling up as small as he could while sitting. She looked around, noting the chopped down trees and buckets nearby. Where did he get those…
His bag was absolutely bursting with gold, rocks, and she could literally see holes where the flint started to try and poke through.
One day in and she was already yelling at him.
“C’mon, it’s… You don’t gotta…” She reached out then, attempting to pat the top of his head and wincing when he flinched away. A slow sigh slipped from her lips, kneeling down to grab at his bag and heave it over her other shoulder.
Wasn’t easy with the buckets
plus
her own, but it was the least she could do.
“Let’s go home, okay? Head back to base and… Talk. Talking’s good, right?” The air was heavy with tension, thick enough to cut it with a pocketknife as Webber slowly got to his feet. He nodded, sniffled some of his small tears away, and as she started walking she mentally smacked herself in the face.
Base was just outside of this forest. He was as nearby as he could possibly be to home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
She should stop dumping things just into boxes… She sighed for what had to be the fifth time that minute, watching the lid barely close after she poured Webber’s contents into it. Tipping it over took effort, all the rocks and gold were heavy, but it did finally fall to the ground and spill all over again.
Despite keeping his distance for most of the dusk, Webber had helped her tip that chest over, now just anxiously stepping a bit away and tugging at the hem of his coat. He’d rotate between that and messing with the pompoms dangling on the front, gnawing his lip and keeping himself quiet.
“... Webber, I…” She paused again from the flinch, gently knocking aside a weird looking blue gem and kneeling down more in his space.
“I’m really,
really
sorry kid. I shouldn’t have screamed at you like that. I was just… There’s a bunch of…” She watched as he slowly peeked at her, still softly shivering before she sighed and rolled up a sleeve.
“Ever got caught out in the dark out here?...” She took note of his head slowly shaking no, now holding up for him to see. Dark lines and gashes trailed up it, almost like something was trying to claw at her from the inside out.
Her brain told her it was some
one,
not some
thing,
but she ignored it as a little fuzzy hand slowly reached out. She also flinched, but took a breath and let him touch the scar.
“Does it still hurt?” His eyes were filled with concern, softly tracing the lines as he stared.
“Mmm, nah. Sometimes it still stings, but not enough to full on hurt. It’s why I was so worried, why I didn’t think and just yelled at you. Doesn’t mean I should’ve though, and I’m really so–” She let out a grunt as she was shoved against, tiny arms squeezing as hard as they could.
This was a very tight hug, but she had no issue scooping him up and resting her back against the alchemy engine. His fuzzy face nuzzled into her neck, mumbling something that made her heart sob.
“You’re still our Mama… And that’s all that matters.”
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and made her squeeze him just a little tighter, pressing a kiss to his forehead as she nodded.
“We’ve got each other, okay? I’ll always look after you out here, I promise.”
“Mhm, me too– Ow! What was that?!” Both of them looked up, then back down at the things that fell on their heads.
“Presents?... Webber go sit over there, Quick, I dunno what’s in these things.” She gently pushed him away, gathering up her spear and poking at… One of the wrapped boxes.
“Webber!!”
“Woah… Look Mama!” He turned to hold out the contents, a set of blue overalls and a green shirt dangling from his hands. “They’re just like the clothes I used to have back home when i would… Oh! I have to show you the garden I made!!” He dropped the overalls onto a chest and took hold of her hand, rapidly yanking her further out from camp.
“I dropped off some of my things from my bag and took the bushes and seeds you had in your chest and ice box thing!” He gestured with his arms wide, gleefully unaware of how confused she was.
Presents just fell out of nowhere on their heads and it had… Clothing. Quickly she unwrapped hers as Webber hopped around, pointing to different spots and what he planted where.
She got a coat… A fluffy collared, shiny buttoned, weird peachy fishy orange colored coat. Her thumbs went over the sleeves, the collar, the buttons being so brand new…
Where did this come from. Who was doing all this?
“Mama? Are you okay?” She blinked, not realizing that she was crying from the feeling of new clothes and tossing aside the coat. Right on his overalls.
“Mm! Ahem, yeah uh, I’m fine kid… What were you showing me agaaaain holy hell.”
From the sight before her, she swore to find a way to turn the grass nearby into proper gardening soil. He got the tea leaves, spice bushes, wheat, grass, berry bushes… Everything was planted into their own little areas. He even had a row of mango and peach pits stretched out, cutely covered in dirt and sticks holding up green sprouts by tied grass.
“You did all this?”
“Uh-huh! So we can keep collecting stuff before winter, just like you said this morning! I’ve been picking up all the seeds that birds drop when you scare them, so… Could we try to plant them tomorrow?”
Her face turned to stare at his little bashful one, quick to scoop and spin him as she laughed. Oh this kid…
This kid would be the death of her.
“Absolutely. Let’s go grab something to eat and hit the hay, okay?”
“I love hitting hay!!”
“Not like that– WEBBER PUT THE SPEAR DOWN WE HAVE NO HAY!”