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“Luz! Don’t be rude.” Eda rolled her eyes.
“Sorry,” She nodded to you before turning back to Eda. “I just didn’t expect to see someone with goat legs in my house.”
You turned your head towards her and spoke up. “I’m a faun, actually. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never seen one of us before, human, since we live way up the knee.”
“Y/N’s here because his leg’s injured after a run-in with golden boy over here.” Eda explained.
Hunter stood up to face Luz, who had a surprised expression with a twinge of hostility. “I’ve decided to leave the Emperor’s coven, and I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Luz relaxed. “Hurt me? Ha! You never even got a scratch on me!” She had an edge of competition in her words.
“You really gonna start this again, human? I’ll fight you right now!” Hunter went to grab his staff, but Eda put a stop to that quick.
“Hold it. Y’all aren’t starting a duel in my living room, got it? We’re waiting on a healing witch anyways, I don’t want her to see a mess, alright?” Eda gave a dramatic sigh. “Y’all are worse than me and Lillith sometimes.”
You stared at them all in confusion for a moment, then that weird bird in the door called out with an irritating squawk, “Edaaaaaaaa, there’s some people at the door!”
“Don’t start a fight, okay?” Eda walked over and opened it and smiled at the visitor.
Luz turned her head and ran to hug an older girl. “Viney! I haven’t seen you at school for the past week! What’s up?”
Viney grinned, “I went on a trip to my grandparents’ raptor rehab center. I got to see a goosehawk up close, it was so cool! But I just got back today, so I didn’t have time to get to school.”
“Oh, that does sound cool!” Luz flapped her hands in excitement. “I wish I could go!”
“Maybe one day I could take you with me. Right now, I have to focus on fixing up Y/N, but I’d love to talk to you later about it.”
Viney walked over and set her bag on the coffee table and raised your injured leg beside it. She sat down and examined the wound. “I’ve never seen or read about faun anatomy before, but I’ve studied plenty of animals before that are similar. There’s some swelling, but I think it’s only a sprain. Can you put any pressure on it?”
“Kinda, but it really hurts when I do. Is it normal for it to not hurt much at all when I’m not using it?” You asked, still a bit hesitant. “You’re not gonna like-relocate it or something right?”
Viney chuckled, “Oh, definitely not! You’re just gonna have to put an ice pack or two on it and rest, nothing like that!”
You heaved a big sigh and felt much better about this whole situation from her kind and reassuring voice. Then, a jolt of worry struck you. “Eda, where will I go after I get healed? I don’t have anywhere else to stay, and I still have to find a cure for Scarlet’s illness!”
“You can stay here as long as you want, I can afford taking in a few more strays. Hunter, since you’re leaving the Emperor’s Coven, would you want to stay here, too?”
Hunter turned, distracted by his palisman, who was chirping at him eagerly. He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “If Luz could tolerate my presence, I’d be happy to.” He stuck a tongue out at her.
Viney looked up from your palisman, who was sleeping in your arms. She was clearly worried. “You have a sick palisman? That doesn’t happen very often. Do you mind if I check her?”
“Oh, please do. I’ll do anything to help her.” You gently picked her up and placed her in Viney’s lap. Scarlet was shivering again, despite the fireplace warming the room.
The beastkeeping witch looked at the palisman with curiosity. “How about we move her closer to the fireplace? Warming her up will help her fight off the sickness.”
“Of course! She’s probably so cold cause we haven’t had a warm place to stay in so long.” You gave your palisman a sympathetic look and gently scratched her head feathers. She looked up at you and chirped softly. Viney carried her over to the brick fireplace, and you scooted to the far side of the couch to get a better look at Scarlet. Her eyes glowed like the sun when she saw the burning coals. Her feathers were the same shade as the fire, and in that moment, they seemed to flicker just like it, too. She turned her head towards you and whistled with glee before hopping into the embers.
“Scarlet, no!” Everyone scrambled to grab her, but the palisman did not cry out in pain. The flames consumed her feathers, but she was calm and content. Still, her wings were turning to ash as you watched, paralyzed with shock. You called out for her, helpless as the last of her feathers turned to cinders. You stared at the pile of ash, and then at Viney.
She reached her falconry gloves into the fireplace and pulled something out of the ashes. She turned and held it out towards you. She smiled, “It’s an egg! Y/N, your palisman is a phoenix!”