If there was anything Xanxus knew, it was that strangeness in the slums was either a curse or a boon. Depended on the type, but it was usually hard to tell, so the smart ones steered well clear unless they knew for sure someone else' strangeness was gonna be useful.

When those eerie, glowing green eyes met his, Xanxus knew. So without so much as a word, he grabbed the girl's wrist and dragged her to the abandoned shed that currently served as his base. He was still on edge, filled with the fury that had made the raging fire that had killed the men who killed his mother, just days ago, but those eyes…

They called to him. This little girl was like him－alone, but refusing to falter, choosing to thrive instead of wither. She was a survivor. And she was now his, because his instincts demanded it. She didn't quite fight his hold, but she refused to be lead around trailing behind him; she grabbed him right back and kept pace at his side.

When they finally reached the old shed, covered in dark ivy and the only safe entrance a small gap near the back wall only children could push through, he turned to face her, studying her properly. She looked thin, the wiry kind that meant she knew enough to find food, even if it wasn't enough. Her vivid green eyes burned, irritation and curiosity in equal measures.

"What's your name, trash?"

She blinked… then asked something in a language Xanxus had only heard a couple times, only enough to know a few insults and swears. Shit. She'd probably been nabbed by one of the bastard who worked for the flesh traders, brought back to Italy from wherever she'd been born. With a growl, he pointed to himself.

"Xanxus," he said firmly, then motioned to her.

Her eyes lit up in understanding, mimicking the self-pointing. "Freak."

And he was going to kill someone, someday, because even bastard slum kids got actual names. At least he understood that word, otherwise he might have let her keep it. He shook his head sharply, taking in her appearance. Her long, inky black curls, green eyes, and inner fire made him think of one thing.

"Thorn," he named her, and then spent the next week correcting her until she understood that it was her new name.

XxXxX

Thorn had magic. Since Xanxus had his own fire, it didn't really faze him－Thorn's power was more flexible than his was, especially after he insisted she practice with it. She could summon things to her, make things float, make them invisible to other people, change the shape of old wood to make cups and plates, make plants grow, create water… she could even shrink and unshrink things.

Xanxus was a smart kid. He realized that Thorn's power would be their ticket out of the slums, so long as no one else found out. By this point the boy was sick and fucking tired of the stress of slum life, always having to watch his back every second, always having to be planning something, anything, to stay ahead of the game. He'd already lost his mother to it. Honestly he just wanted to get himself and Thorn the fuck out. So he plotted.

With it being just the two of them, they had to be careful. He figured their best bet of getting away from both the cops and the mafia was to simply stay away from other humans. That meant roughing it in the woods, which meant they had to figure out how to live by themselves where there'd be nothing to steal from. Which meant they needed to steal lots of dry food and then store it－shrunk to save space－in stolen duffel bags. Thorns magic was crucial to the plan.

After a year of living together, she'd finally learned Italian, as well as taught Xanxus passable English. She suggested stealing as many types of seeds as possible－her bitch aunt had made her do all the gardening before they'd sold her, so she knew how to take care of plants, and they could use it to feed themselves.

What they also needed was as many clothes, blankets, and shoes as they could get their hands on, in as many sizes as they could find. Thorn could sew, so as long as they had material, they'd have things to wear and keep warm. Xanxus got very skilled at nicking all sorts of fabric to bring back to the shed, and a sewing kit from one of the meaner whores who liked to throw dirty water down at the street rats below her window. Thorn dutifully shrank everything and packed it away in preparation for their departure.

It took them another year before they were ready, and by then the mafia had their eyes on Xanxus. It was getting hard to evade them, even with Thorn's magic hiding their tracks.

"We've gotta leave now," he told her, already slinging one of their several packs over his shoulders. "They don't know where we live yet, so we gotta hit the woods and get as far as we can before they find out."

Thorn nodded. She didn't talk much, but her eerie green eyes were very expressive. She followed him as they snuck out into the night, heading away from the city and the slums, out into the wilderness that no one else was smart enough to use. Not that Xanxus cared about all the trash they were leaving behind, all the better for himself and his partner－because she was his equal, and like hell he'd let anyone else have his Thorn.

What neither child knew was that this was a major twist in fate, which would shake both the world of Flame users, and the world of magic users to their foundations.

Because one Holly Potter, AKA Freak, AKA Thorn, was lost to the wizarding world, to the ire of one Albus Dumbledore and all his plans. He couldn't find the girl, because her magical signature had changed out of necessity, and the time she accidentally shared blood with Xanxus altered the magical properties of her blood, making what samples the old wizard had useless.

Because one Vongola Don Timoteo Vongola was intent on having the rumored Wrath Sky under his thumb, and even though it would take them several years, he was determined to find the brat. It just never occurred to him to have his men go hiking to find Xanxus, which was why they only found him and Thorn by way of the Mist Arcobaleno.

XxXxX

Thorn was content. Despite the first few months being rough without any proper shelter, she and Xanxus were free of the slums. They had walked into the wilderness determined to never come out, and that's exactly what they'd done, traveling as far as they could every day. Eventually they'd judged themselves to be far enough away from that city (Thorn hadn't bothered to learn the name) to be safe, and found themselves a rather large abandoned animal den. They then set to turning it into somewhere to live, though she needed many breaks after using her power so much.

With her magic, Thorn willed the dirt around it to shift away, making the den larger, with actual rooms, almost the whole thing being entirely underground, safely hidden away from prying eyes. Xanxus insisted on their garden being accessible from their new home, so that they wouldn't have to risk being out in the open too much. She willed a wide hole to open up in the ceiling of the most remote room, to let in sunlight and rain for the plans.

They planted the vegetable and fruit seeds, and it was left to Thorn to grow them quickly, before their dry stores ran out. Meanwhile Xanxus taught himself to hunt, how to skin rabbits and deer and cook the meat while saving the pelts for whatever they might need them for. He was a natural hunter, with the instincts to match. Thorn thought it had something to do with the reason his eyes were a bloody red, but usually she just shrugged and moved on.

Over the months they pieced together shelves from whatever fallen wood they could get their hands on, turning the old den into a home. Xanxus taught any predators in the area to respect him, be wary of him, the now-ten year old able to wrestle and beat full grown wolves with vicious glee. He also made himself some weapons, with help from Thorn to get them the right shapes and materials. His collection of knives, bow and arrows, and a blood-stained spear lined the wall of the main room.

Honestly, Thorn thought this was probably the best place for them, considering her partner's instincts. Meanwhile, she made friends with the crows, the song birds, and local snakes, learning how to speak the languages so that they could be warned if any humans showed up in the area. She used her magic to will collected wood into cabinets and tables and chairs, willed clay from near the riverbanks into dishes and basins for water she willed into existence.

She was technically the homemaker and Xanxus was the protector and provider of meat. From what little she remembered of England, it was rather ironic that they'd made such a 'normal', relatively peaceful life once escaping the slums. Thorn was around eight now, teaching herself to cook properly using their fire pit and stone shaped by her magic into pots.

In the open-ceiling garden they had fruit trees and berries, all sorts of food-plants like potatoes and bell peppers and peas, anything with seeds that they could plant again, really. Xanxus had brought back some plants he'd seen animals eating when he was out hunting, which ended up being some kind of onion.

Basically, life was good for the two of them. They were happy here, had their own friends in the animals of their territory, they were warm during the winter and had an entire little underground mansion with magic-infused rocks to give them light. Had either known what Lord of the Rings was, they would have noted they'd made themselves a rather respectable hobbit-hole.

Petunia Dursley would have been baffled and irritated by the homey nature of the place, despite the walls being made of magic-packed earth.

So it stood to reason they didn't want to leave their territory. When humans entered the woods, the birds were off to warn Thorn, who instructed them to send Xanxus back to their den immediately. He arrived with a fully grown deer being dragged behind him by the antlers. Thorn took one look at the bloody carcass and curtly told him to take it through the back door. Blood was a bitch and a half to get out of the dirt floor even with magic, and they didn't need the smell attracting anything to the main rooms.

She hissed to the nearest snake to spread the word that the other humans were most certainly not welcome here, and to encourage them to leave the best they could without getting hurt.

XxXxX

Timoteo could hardly believe that he himself had gone out into the wilderness to search for that damned Wrath Sky. But he could not let such a powerful young Sky outside the hands of Vongola, so here he was, hiking through these woods with his Lightning and Cloud Guardians, along with a Rain and Mist, and some mooks from the CEDEFs ranks. It would have been almost relaxing if not for them being constantly dive-bombed by angry crows, finding themselves half a step away from venemous snakes, or being targeted by what felt like every mosquito in the damn country.

He'd had to pay a handsome amount to the Mist Arcobaleno in the first place to find out where the brat had gone. That might have been fine if it hadn't been out in the middle of fucking nowhere, but the risk of such a powerful young Sky being in some hidden base of a Famiglia other than Vongola had been enough of a threat that he would not wash his hands of the brat. If needed, he would claim the child was his bastard son, just to ensure his loyalty.

Of course, none of the group was prepared to find what looked like a hobbit hole, charmingly round front door complete with an actual doorknob surrounded by lush grass and wildflowers. There was even a little stone walkway.

"... Do… do we knock?" One of the mooks murmured uncertainly.

Timoteo resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but couldn't deny he was intrigued. The Mist confirmed there was no trickery about this, that someone had actually built this little 'house'. It was very fairy tale-like.

A crow landed on the grass-covered hill that contained the hobbit-hole (and he could not for the life of him call it anything else, he would have to tell his mother about it－perhaps the thought of it would get her off his back for a few days about hounding him over his child-rearing skills).

The bird cawed loudly. A moment later the door opened, and a young girl with piercing green eyes and aristocratic features stepped out, narrowed eyes taking in him and his men. She was wearing a simple but clean dress of cotton, the fabric a shade of purple that made her eyes even more noticeable against her wild black ringlets. Her feet were bare, there was a neatly tied apron around her waist, and she had a sturdy-looking homemade broom in hand. She was also very obviously a Cloud, Active and bristling.

This must be her territory, Timoteo mused. How cute.

"Your kind aren't welcome here," she said bluntly. "I don't care what business you think you have, but these are our woods, and we don't want you here."

His Guardians bristled at the dismissive and outright hostile attitude, but he waved them off. Despite living in the wilderness, this was no savage or feral child.

"I'm actually looking for a relative," he began, knowing that despite the Sky brat not being his son, the few pictures they had as well as the confirmed Wrath Flames were a good indicator of the brat being a descendant of Secondo's. "He's a boy with black hair and red eyes, do you know him?"

She studied him carefully. "Why? Nobody out here needs the likes of you nosing around, we're all just fine with making our life here in our territory. None of us need to go back to those god-awful cities and the stupid humans there."

So young, so jaded… an ingrained distrust of other humans, especially adults. She was a stubborn little thing, but untrained, didn't know how to hide her tells. At least he knew where the Sky brat was, and unfortunately his Cloud Guardian. Depending on how long they'd been together, it might be impossible to break the Harmonization. That could pose a problem.

The sky rumbled ominously above them, the clouds dark and heavy with rain. The girl looked up, frowning, before she sighed. With a small growl, she shook her head.

"No use leaving you out here when the weather kicks up like this. But you best behave, or I'll kick you back out in the rain," she threatened, opening the door wider and waving them inside. "Get in, then."

Lips twitching to hide a smile, Timoteo had Visconti go in first, then followed, the rest of the group trailing behind. He noted that the little Cloud kept glaring at his own with no small amount of amusement. If he could sway her loyalty to Vongola, she might make a good little wife to the Sky brat.

To his shock, the inside of what he thought to be a small, dug out shelter was actually far bigger, with hallways leading to other rooms, and directly to their left upon entering was a kitchen, complete with a stone-lined fire pit, wooden cupboards and shelves, and a table with chairs. The floor was tightly-packed earth, covered by a… was that a bear-skin rug?!

And that wasn't even getting into the many hanging baskets with glowing rocks that provided light. There was no Flame residue on them either, which was making his men unnerved－just who was this little girl? What power did she hold?

"This is quite cozy," he commented.

The girl snorted. "That's because its home. You can take a seat here and in the living room－"－here she motioned across the entryway to the room on the right of the front door, where there were wooden benches, what was probably a coffee table, and more animal-skin rugs－"－but don't break anything. Its tiring to make so much furniture."

"Of course," Timoteo nodded amicably. This really was such an interesting find, he could hardly find it in himself to recall the annoyance of the hike. He took a seat in one of the surprisingly sturdy and comfortable chairs, watching as the girl dragged what looked to be a stone pot over to the fire pit, shoving it onto the ledge that protruded about a foot over the bottom. A glance above showed a hole in the ceiling, though the shadows in it indicated that the smoke hole was slanted.

Without another word, the girl grabbed two stones and struck them together near the bottom of the bit, coaxing a fire into existence. Then she started pulling food out of the cupboards, and a bag that must have been waterproof, as evidenced by the water in it being poured into the pot. Vegetables were chopped with experienced efficiency with a carved bone knife before being tossed in as well.

"... Nobody's going back with you," she said after a while. "We don't get involved with other humans."

If only he could ensure that, because otherwise the Vongola Don might just have left them here. But if he could find them, so could another Famiglia that the children couldn't defend against or defy. No, it was for the best that he took them back, kicking and screaming if he had to.

When no one spoke, she huffed. "Xanxus will say the same. This is our territory." She turned to the hallway at the other end of the kitchen as movement was heard.

Timoteo had to hide the urge to gap as a tiny Secondo with blazing red irises walked in with a wooden plate of raw meat, hands stained in blood, who then proceeded to glare at the 'intruders' before ignoring them in favor of starting to cook the meat on a slab of stone that was laid over one side of the fire pit. The brat's Sky Flames were practically crackling beneath his skin, making his eyes glow ever so slightly.

"The rest is already being smoked," tiny-Secondo said gruffly. "Bones are clean, too."

"Should be good for another few weeks, then. The wolves?"

"Got their own prey, that big ass badger that was trying to move in on our territory. They got the fucker good."

The girl nodded in a vicious sort of satisfaction, than jerked her head towards the Vongola. "The crows said they won't leave without their prey."

"They better learn to fucking deal with disappointment," the boy grunted, leaving the room.

"The crows said?" One of the nameless Mists hissed.

The girl turned to give them a deadpan look. "Just cause you're too stupid to learn their language doesn't mean everyone else is. They told us you were coming the moment you stepped foot into our territory, and the snakes kept an eye on you while you were making all that noise. We keep everyone well fed and they make sure we get a heads up to everything that goes on in our territory."

That… was concerning, if Timoteo was being honest. This was beginning to feel a little too much like what few records of the magical society the Vongola had… if the girl had magic, she was self-taught, but even he knew that necessity always made those self-taught the most dangerous. She might even be able to track this Xanxus down even if they left her behind. That could pose a problem, as he didn't particularly want to kill the little girl. Even his weak Intuition told him that would be a Very Bad Idea.

"That sounds like a useful gift," was all he said out loud, though he did share a meaningful look with his Guardians.

XxXxX

They stayed for a week.

Thorn really did not like the men that had come into their territory. Her instincts were displeased at their presence, but she knew that attempting to get rid of them could only end badly for her and Xanxus. They both had known immediately that Timoteo was lying when the man claimed Xanxus was his son, and said so.

"There's no blood connection," Thorn explained bluntly. "I'd be able to sense the link between you if there were." That was a skill they'd discovered long before leaving the slums. By this point, both she and Xanxus had accepted their instincts telling them that they would have to leave with the old man and his regardless. "Whatever your reasons are just say so, we aren't stupid. It's probably just greed anyways, you want Xanxus' flame and my power, right?"

Timoteo seemed taken aback by her shutting him down, but didn't deny it. Instead his gaze seemed to sharpen. "Fine then. Yes, we want both of you for the Vongola. We cannot risk you falling into the hands of any other Famiglia, regardless of your wants. But I do truly believe that Xanxus is related to Vongola Secondo, due to the nature of his Flames."

Green eyes searched the old man's face before turning to her Sky－they'd had discussions about the mafia and Flames once it became clear that they did not have the skill to make the stupid humans leave without their prey.

Xanxus was silent for a long while, before he finally scowled fiercely. "Fucking fine, we'll go with you trash. But only because you manned the fuck up and didn't try to stick with that bullshit 'bastard son' excuse. So how's it gonna go, we join the ranks or some shit?"

"As a Sky, you'll have more opportunities than other orphans who join the Famiglia. As Thorn is already your Cloud Guardian, you will still need to find the rest of your Elements. I believe it would be best to take you on as a ward of the family, and if you perform well I might properly adopt you－the previous Donna can teach you how to use your Flames, and tutor your Cloud while I sponsor you in the Mafia Academy. You will be expected to excel in your studies as a ward of the family."

"You need to find someone to teach us how to read, then, first," Thorn frowned, mind whirling as she came up with plans to share with her partner once they were alone. If they couldn't escape the Vongola, then they sure as hell weren't going to just roll over and become little puppets to this man. "We left the slums a while back, and it's not like anybody has books there. I only know a bit cause I stole Dudley's old primers, but that won't help with Italian," she directed at Xanxus in English.

"Whatever, we'll manage," he replied.

"You know English?" Visconti－the other Cloud who was intruding on Thorn's territory－questioned.

"I'm British," Thorn replied flatly. "I taught Xanxus English while he taught me Italian."

Timoteo looked pleased, and Thorn resisted the urge to scowl at him. Instead she laid out a plan to pack the things they would be taking with－some clothes to hold them over until they got the new ones the mafia Don insisted on, the collection of crystals and river stones that Thorn had found worked well with her magic, and a few of their nicest pelts to be used in custom clothing for both children. She shrunk everything and put it all in one of their bags, much to the shock of the mafioso they were unwillingly hosting.

Then they cleared out anything that would rot, and Thorn created a dirt ramp down into the garden for the deer and other animals to use to eat the plants so the fruit and vegetables wouldn't rot either. After all that was done, Thorn willed the actual house into a sort of stasis, sealed off from the world. She wanted to have a clean place to come back to just in case.

The morning they left, the animals of their territory came out in droves to see them off. It clearly unnerved the adults, something the two children took great pleasure in, but the farewell was actually a very serious affair. These animals had basically been their family and wards for years now.

Even the wolves, Xanxus' rivals and occasional hunting partners, showed up to see them off, escorting the entire group back to the large cars at the edge of the woods. A pair of snakes caught rides on long limbs, and when they arrived at the cars, make their way over to Thorn.

$We will come too, little Speaker$ The largest, an adult grass snake that sounded like a female, announced as they slithered up to wrap around Thorn's ribs. The meadow viper didn't bother saying anything, instead climbing up to take over her left arm.

$Just don't bite anyone, these annoying humans have power we don't yet understand,$ Thorn hissed to both of them. $Watch them, until we know how to best them.$

$Hunt then,$ Xanxus added, his own snake-speech significantly accented and broken but passable for someone who'd had to learn the language from scratch. Thorn had had the advantage of always being able to understand and speak to snakes, and had taught him the best she could when he asked. He had an easier time with crows, as for them he just had to learn to understand and not speak, which was helpful because cawing was hell on the throat.

$Very well, Speakers,$ the meadow viper, now identified as male from the rhythm of his hissing, dipped his head in assent, curling farther around Thorn's arm, much to the bug-eyed dismay of some of the adults.

"That's a venemous snake," one of their human escorts squeaked.

"Yes, quite lovely, isn't he? They've decided to tag along," Thorn informed him seriously. "Don't worry, they won't attack unless we're attacked first. Try not to make any sudden movements though, these little ones might be a little jumpy until they get used to you."

The other Cloud that she very much disliked turned a rather entertaining shade of gray-green.

XxXxX

Xanxus was holding onto his control by the tips of his nails. At his side, Thorn's presence seem to darken, shadows becoming a little more solid, eyes glowing that eerie way she had when she was pissed. The idiot tutor they'd been assigned was either arrogant in believing nothing the two young ones could do would affect him, or was truly too stupid to notice.

The tutor was in the middle of yet another rant about street rats and bastards, which they could ignore, but then he'd gone after Xanxus' mother, and something inside the Sky was dangerously close to snapping. His Thorn noticed the warning signs, and after a few moments of deep thought, snapped her fingers. The tutor's voice cut off abruptly, but he kept moving his mouth for several seconds until he realized he was no longer able to make any sound.

"Better," Xanxus grunted, now able to ignore the fucker and focus back on the workbook the tutor had been supposed to be helping with. "Now what the hell is this supposed to mean."

"Order of operations," Thorn replied shortly, inspecting her own copy of the workbook. "Two chapters ago."

"Why couldn't the fucker have just said that instead of the rest of that bullshit," the boy snapped, already moving to complete the page of practice problems. Xanxus wasn't stupid－far from it, he was actually highly intelligent－but he wasn't the type to work with 'subtle hints'. Especially when they were all basically veiled threats and insults with little to no actual hints.

Ignoring the furious and slightly frightened tutor's increasingly wild－and still silent－attempts to demand Thorn remove or undo whatever she'd done, his Cloud snorted. "It seems that books skills don't necessarily transfer over to being able to teach. I will ask Madam Ottavia if we can do self study until we're ready to enter the academy."

"We'll get more done that way," he replied, still irritable but no longer on the edge of losing himself to his rage. "This trash hasn't bothered teaching us a damned thing. And somehow Nono thinks that he's the best at both math and history."

"I've learned more about local history from the local snakes than I have from this… individual," Thorn barely refrained from sneering in their still-silent tutor's direction. $Speaking of, the snakes in the gardens have heard rumors of how to create a 'King of Serpents', one whose very gaze can kill when fully matured. I'll tell your more about what they told me later.$

$Sounds good.$

A King of Serpents… How interesting.

XxXxX

"Erm... what are you two doing with that many toads?"

Frederico Vongola watched, bemused, as his family's new ward and the boy's Cloud stacked up the plastic containers they had caught nearly a dozen toads from the garden in. He had to admit, he rather liked Xanxus－and despite how distant the relation, he was happy to have the boy as his cousin. He just didn't think Xanxus was going to use those toads for pranks.

"Magic," Thorn said shortly. "Hatching the King."

"At least one of these fucks will get us a big ass snake."

"... Ah," Frederico said flatly. Of course it was something dangerous. Everyone in the Iron Fortress was aware that Thorn could control snakes, and usually had at least two concealed on her person at all times.

While some of the higher ups in the mafia new about the magical enclaves, rarely did a magical activate their Flames. For Xanxus to have drawn a magical Cloud in was both incredible and slightly worrying, considering their inclination towards mass property damage. Frederico wasn't sure he wanted to know the details of the children's current experiment; blending Flames and magic was not very well recorded as it was so rare.

The idea of a very large snake being under control of the tiny terrors made him shudder and make a mental note to himself not to piss off the kids.

"Well, be careful and have fun," he managed to say brightly before he turned on his heel and left. He wanted no part in this.