Duskborn

Co written by:
Naoi & cait-the-fangirl

Important Notes: Bet you all thought this was never coming, huh? All previous chapters have been revised as of Feb 2013! I made a few major changes in addition to pumping up the wordcount and altering some major storyline plots, fair warning.

Starting now, Harry and Remus will be referred to by their new names within the story. These new names were chosen with meaning, and are more than easily given monikers to be dismissed in three chapters.

See Prologue for list of warnings and disclaimer.

Chapter Six: Spoons

September 4, 1999 ~ Beach, La Push, Washington

Bright verdant eyes watched as the waves of the Pacific Ocean continued their endless, pounding dance with the pebbled shore only a few feet away. An infinite dance of struggle, possession, and loss. The waves would sweep victoriously up the shore, claiming the land as their own, and then they would be pulled back into the main body of the ocean, leaving only faint fingers of ripples to grasp desperately at the shoreline.

Scalloped edges of the tide reached across the dark sand to kiss pale feet fleetingly before scrambling, dragging sand backwards, and being drawn back. The teen on the shore ran his fingers up his bare arms, tracing absent patterns.

An occasional spray would scatter cold droplets of water across his pale skin, leaving a glistening web across his arms and face. Errant black hair- streaked through with bold stripes of platinum blonde- wove around him with the breezes. A thin hand batted the strands away absently as they landed in his eyes and between his lips.

A steady magical pressure grew against his senses before the sharp crunch of gravel to his left announced the presence of one of the wolf boys; Nathaniel James Harrison leant backwards onto his hands in order to look up at the tall, muscular form beside him.

"Still staring at the sea, Nath?" Quil teased lightly.

"Of course," came the lazy answer. "It's more interesting than watching you lot attempt to beat Billy Black at poker every weekend afternoon."

"Hey!" Quil exclaimed as he flopped down onto the ground, one hand flinging outwards to catch Nathaniel in the shoulder on its way down. "The old man totally cheats you know!"

Nathaniel chuckled and let his arms relax so that he wound up flat on his back. The sky above him mirrored the ocean in movement and energy. Hypnotically rolling and clashing and sweeping inwards over the land.

A lighter patch of sky vaguely shaped like a hippogriff captured his attention for a few moments before it was dispersed into nothingness by the ever-invading clouds.

Like Harry was.

Like Harry Potter had been.

Nathaniel dug his fingernails into the sand, relishing in some way the sharp feel of the grit against his skin.

"Looks like it's going to rain tonight." Quil's capricious statement broke Nathaniel from his thoughts, causing his hands to reflexively release their grip. He flexed them absently as he wiggled his back deeper into the ground. "Really?"

He could hear the smirk in Quil's voice as the older boy replied affirmatively. "Yup. See how the clouds look like they're chasing each other? And the movements the same, no matter how deep you look? That means the storm's pushing them to go faster and faster. It'll be here by dinner time probably."

Green eyes flickered to the other teen before focusing in on the movements of the clouds. Reaching out, he let his senses stretch outside himself as he became lost in the flow above him. If he sank deep enough, he could almost taste the approaching lightning on his tongue. It filled his mouth and arced across his fingers as he spread himself open. The edge of danger the storm carried swept across his skin like a knife's edge dancing delicately around him. It made him shiver, and he strained against invisible bonds to get that edge to dig deeper.

A sudden, vicious wave of water slammed hard into the rocky shore at Nathaniel's feet. He bolted upright, spluttering angrily, as a load of water and sand washed up into his pants and under his shirt. It ran thick viscous fingers over his thin form and sank into uncomfortable places. He continued to splutter as he scrabbled backwards, dragging more sand with him and into the waistband of his pants.

The spray from the next wave caught him in the mouth. The thick taste of salt water spread through his mouth and washed away any lingering taste of lightning. His skin now just felt cold, clammy, and gritty from the sand.

Quil was laughing, one arm around his sides and dark skin also streaming thin rivulets of water from the wave. "Oh man! You should have seen yourself!" He didn't seem to notice the salt water as he licked his lips and continued to roll around. "Y-You!"

Nathaniel hissed and kicked sand at him with one sand-filled pants leg. "Shut up," he ground out between closed teeth, trying to keep his tongue still so it wouldn't cause him to gag. "Wanker."

Dragging himself up, Nathaniel tried in vain to brush the sand off his soaking pants. Quil chuckled at him as he stood up gracefully. "Don't even bother. It won't come off until they're dry."

He laughed again as Nathaniel shot him a glare and stepped backwards from a new incoming wave. "I was supposed to come and bring you back for supper anyways," he said as he pulled at the smaller teen. "Mum wanted you in before the storm. Lightning can get pretty nasty out here on the shore."

Snarling at the amused look that still lingered in the other teen's eyes, Nathaniel made up his mind to make sure and dump as much wet sand into Quil's bed as soon as he could.

September 8, 1999 ~ Black Household, La Push, Washington

Rain was pounding on the roof like a drum when the phone started ringing at the Black household. The shouting match over who got the chicken next continued for a few moments before Jacob heard the phone ringing and shouted for the table at large to shut up.

Nathaniel took the moment to steal the chicken for himself from across the table, and scooped another serving onto his plate before shoving the nearly empty basket at Embry beside him. The quiet teen quickly took the basket with a smile and dumped the rest onto his own plate before the rest of the table recovered enough to figure out that the chicken was gone.

"Billy!" Quil the Elder called out from the kitchen doorway where he had answered the phone. "It's Charlie Swan on the phone for you. Sounds real upset."

A concerned expression plastered itself across Billy's face quickly. From what Nathaniel knew, Charlie Swan was a man who kept his cool in just about every situation. For the man to 'sound real upset,' something bad must have happened. The Black patriarch rolled himself back from the table and over to the phone with a practiced ease. With one hand on the phone, he used the other to shift himself and his wheelchair over the doorjamb and around the corner slightly for a semblance of privacy.

Curling a hand protectively around his plate, Nathaniel chewed mechanically on his chicken as he covertly watched Billy's face. Most of the table was attempting to do the same.

First was just the standard concern that had been pasted on Billy's face from the beginning, then dawning horror, followed by deep concern. Near the end, his face had softened and had taken on a sly yet pleading edge. Billy glanced at him quickly a few times with that look on his face, and Nathaniel thought he caught his own name amoung whatever Billy was saying now.

A few malicious thoughts wormed their way into his head: whispering about lies, manipulations, and the past. He ruthlessly shoved them back with a bite of mashed potatoes. Billy didn't have blue eyes, and he'd only been kind so far... another voice whispered that other people had seemed to be kind at first as well. Some green beans shoved that one back.

A quick glance around the table showed that no one else seemed to know what was going on, even the Elder Quil who had answered the phone. He shot a worried glance toward the calm gold eyes at the other end of the table. They wordlessly told him to be patient. So he settled down mulishly with another mouthful of mashed potatoes.

Embry nudged his knee under the table and shot him a questioning glance. Nathaniel shrugged in response and turned back to the table just in time to snatch a roll that Paul had been about to grab. The man snarled at him, but Nathaniel just winked and took a bite of the still-warm homemade bread. The others at the table who caught the interaction laughed.

Everyone quieted though as a pale Billy Black rolled back to his place. No one seemed to want to speak first to ask about the call and the ashen cast to Billy's face.

"What happened, Billy?" Harry Clearwater's voice shook slightly on the question. Nathaniel knew Harry and Billy often went fishing together with Charlie, and the Clearwater patriarch was obviously anxious to know anything.

Billy took a breath before clasping his hands in his lap. His eyes were dark as he gazed at the table. "There's been a situation. Charlie's daughter Isabella was in a plane hijacking incident down in Phoenix."

Several sharp breaths were drawn in around the table. "Is she okay, dad?" Jacob asked quickly.

"Physically she's not hurt too bad. From what Charlie was saying, she'd gotten shot in the arm. A clean through and through shot - nothing bad. She's gone into shock from it though, and she's in a coma back in Arizona. The doctors don't know when she's going to come out of it."

Nathaniel had no idea who this girl was. He had never met her or even heard of her really. He barely knew Charlie Swan. He had no reason to feel sorry for Isabella Swan; she was nothing more than a name to him. Yet some golden kernel of warmth in him begged Nathaniel to make sure she was alright.

He wrapped his thin fingers around some loose threads at the end of his flannel shirt sleeve, mind in a quandary. He tugged them sharply as he tried to figure out how to feel. How much compassion did normal people feel for strangers when they got hurt? Why couldn't he figure it out?

Billy continued. "Charlie is going to fly down to Arizona tomorrow on the first flight he can get. His ex-wife has agreed to let him stay with her for as long as it takes." Nathaniel could almost physically hear another end to that sentence it reverberated so loudly inside him, until she dies. His stomach clenched again, and he pushed at his dinner plate.

"He doesn't know how long he'll be gone, and normally he would have let his house just be left to fall apart." He turned his heavy gaze to Nathaniel now. "I know it's a little odd, but Charlie has agreed to let the two of you move in and house-sit for him. I know you had started to enroll Nathaniel into Forks High on Monday."

Nathaniel jerked a little in his seat and gave another harsh tug to the loose threads he had twisted in his grasp. They gave way under his rough treatment. Not quite knowing what to do in a situation like this, he turned to Romulus. Didn't people just leave their houses alone unless they were going to be gone for a very long time? Did that mean that Charlie Swan knew more than he was saying? His earlier thought echoed through his head again, and the suspicions from before returned.

Golden eyes met his and the older man smiled gently at him. "That's very kind of him, Billy. Especially since he offered to let us move in during such a stressful time." Romulus's tone was gentle yet firm and soothed Nathaniel's raw nerves. "Neither Nathaniel nor I will turn down the offer." He smiled then, and a mischievous twinkle entered his eyes. "As much as we love rooming with the Ateara, Quil's snoring can get to be a little much sometimes."

"Hey!" Both Ateara men called out, neither one too sure who was being insulted.

Nathaniel grasped at the opening and shoved his confused thoughts away to be dealt with later. He laughed, "It's true! And this guy always has the radio on until midnight pretending he can sing along!" He nudged the teen to his left, provoking a squawk.

"I do not, Nath!" Quil whined, drawing out Nathaniel's name in a truly pitiful way.

"Yes, you do, son." Quil the Elder joined in - happy he wasn't being teased anymore. "And it's not like you have an amazing singing voice."

The table laughed as Quil tried to defend himself, proclaiming he could have won America Idol if he wanted to.

"So when were you planning on moving in then?" Embry asked quietly once Quil had lapsed into a pouting silence once again.

Romulus and Nathaniel looked at one another, conversing quickly thought body language. "Probably Friday," Romulus said eventually. It was soon, only two days, but it would them enough time to gather their stuff. The quicker they moved into the new place, the quicker Nathaniel could learn it and settle down. He hated moving to new places, hated waking up in strange beds with strange sheets and ceilings.

Nathaniel quickly turned wide eyes to Jacob. "You'll help us move in, right?" Jacob shoved himself backwards in his chair and tried to look away, hiding slightly behind Seth. In response, Nathaniel leaned forward slightly and tilted his head. "You won't make me and Uncle Rom carry all that stuff by ourselves... will you?" He tried to pout slightly as he continued to look pleadingly at Jacob.

A few useless futile glances to Paul and Sam, and Jacob caved. "Yea," he sighed, "I'll help." When Quil snickered at him, he amended his statement. "And so will Quil, Seth, and Embry."

Quil sputtered a bit but couldn't come up with a fast enough defense before Sam hit him on the back of the head. Embry laughed at his misfortune before chiming in. "I'll be happy to help, Nath." Seth also grinned at Nathaniel from his spot beside Paul.

"Well," Harry Clearwater started, "I don't know about the young ones, but this is about as much news as I want to handle in any one day." Knees creaking with the movement, he pushed his chair back and stood. A somber mood fell over the table again.

"Same here, Billy." Quil the Elder said. "I think I'll head home myself."

Obligingly for once, the rain outside dulled to a light sprinkle. Taking it as a sign, the rest of the table stood as well to make their way out to their respective houses.

A/N: Welcome back onboard for what hopes to be a dazzling ride! In addition to the story, the community on Dreamwidth is also back up and running at full steam ahead. Check by there for plot development details, timelines, character sketches, and more!

This chapter is brought to you as a present for the lovely Caits! We're living in different states now, and this is my gift to her: the story born of our love, crack-headed-ness, and the support of all of you darling readers.

If you have a moment, please leave a review. I want to make this a super special day for her!

Ja,
Naoi and Caits