Lavender's Spicy January Stories

## Day 3:Roommate AU(Shadows)

((I just need to warn you, there's probably going to be a lot of stories centered around this AU.

Also, Poe's eighteen in this, by the way.))

It was nighttime, and everything was quiet.

In the apartment that both Poe and Dragonfly shared, Dragonfly was sound asleep in his bed, exhausted from a long, hard day at work and having to deal with Poe's shenanigans afterward.

Poe, however, couldn't go to sleep, and was currently staring at the dark room, thinking.

It wasn't that Poe had insomnia or anything like that. Most nights, he could sleep just fine. Tonight, however, he couldn't sleep a wink.

As uncharacteristic for him as it may seem, he was reflecting back on the words that his father had told him the day before he had moved into the apartment he was in right now.

*"Do you really think that the people out there will accept you more than we do? You are foolish if you believe that. Where do you think we got our mindset that you're a freak in the first place?"*

At the time, Poe didn't think much of this. He just thought that his dad was just trying to discourage him from leaving the family that had so toxic to him over the years. It was only when he had stepped out into the world by himself for the first time that he realized what his father had meant.

Memories came out at Poe like shadows. Some of the people on the bus giving him looks of hatred when he sat in his seat and one man even muttering something greatly offensive about Poe when the man thought Poe couldn't hear him. One of the cashiers treating him with general distrust at one of the grocery stores Poe regularly went to.

The street gang who had beaten him up and left him to die just because he was a shapeshifter also came to mind.

Well, not *everyone*was a racist jerk. There were a lot of people he'd met or were acquaintances with that were actually pretty nice to him. Like Dragonfly.

Poe smiled a little as he looked at Dragonfly's sleeping form.

Dragonfly.

The nineteen year old boy had been kind to him ever since Poe had first met him. He'd saved him from dying after Poe had been beaten up by the street gang, and when it turned out that the two were roommates, Dragonfly had no reservations. The two *had*gotten on each other's nerves for the past few months, but they were still friends.

Poe *still* didn't know how he could return the favor. Well, he *could*continue being loyal to Dragonfly, but he felt like that wasn't enough. There had to be *something*he could do to repay him, and yet, whenever he asked the question to Dragonfly, he just shrugged and said that that's just what a good person does. They help people.

*"If only all the people I meet could be like that,"*Poe thought to himself bitterly. *"Then again, that would mean for other people to put aside their biases, and we can't have that, now can we?"*

Poe laughed quietly and bitterly, then went quiet again as he looked at one of the room's windows.

He had always felt like people were watching and judging him for being a shapeshifter in his human form. He had felt like that when he was still with his family, and he still felt like that now. In his raven form, however, he felt freer and happier, more safe and secure. Sure, most people figured out that he was a shapeshifter even when he was in his raven form, but at least he could fly away from his problems. He also could get away with a lot more when he was in his raven form then he ever could in his human form.

Maybe, just for tonight, he could use his raven form to see what the city looked like from above. He'd always seen in movies that cities always looked beautiful from above, and he could use a break from his thoughts right about now. Maybe that was what he needed to clear his mind.

Trying to be as quiet as possible in order to not wake up Dragonfly, Poe slipped out of bed and went his way over to the window, opening it when he reached it. He then shifted into his raven form and flew out of it, letting out a whoop in bird speak(which meant he just cawed in the people who can't understand bird's eyes) when he was sure he was safely out of earshot of Dragonfly.

The rest of the night consisted of Poe flying around and over the city, having the time of his life.

And yes, the city really *did*look beautiful from above.

## Day 4:This weird AU of an AU that's in my head and that I want to write for some reason(Rebellion)

It had all started when Badar was born.

Now, Badar himself wasn't the problem. He was just an average Penumbra baby, if a little bit angrier than normal.

It was his appearance that was the problem.

Instead of having normal eyes, Badar had black sclera and small yellow irises. Instead of just having fangs when he got older and his teeth grew in, all of Badar's teeth were sharp when he got them. Combine that with Badar having more fur than the average Penumbra when it grew in and overall, Badar looked more like a werebat than anything. It certainly didn't help that Badar's voice was louder and deeper than the average young Penumbra as well, though it wasn't a trait of a werebat.

This, of course, worried Badar's parents, making them worry that their baby boy would become ostracized and feared. They obviously didn't want that to happen, so they both vowed to protect Badar from anything that could potentially harm him, even if that meant rarely letting Badar out of the house and never letting him interact with kids his own age.

This kind of backfired, and when I say kind of, I mean it *really* backfired.

For one, Badar was much smarter than what his age might've suggested, for some strange reason, which meant that he quickly caught on to what his parents were doing and wasn't happy about it. At all.

Which brings me to my second point.

See, since Badar knew that his parents were essentially locking him inside his own house and he wasn't happy about it, he decided to use his smarts to sneak out multiple times and see the world outside of his home for himself. He tried to keep it under wraps at first, but his parents eventually found out and Badar began to have arguments with the two of them. Like, *a* *lot* of arguments.

It came to a point where, after a *really bad* argument, Badar's dad decided to lock Badar in his room and make traps and locks out of dark magic to use in his house so Badar couldn't sneak out anymore. This only made Badar more determined than ever to sneak out, however, and after loads of trial and error, he finally managed to escape.

As for where he decided to go after that, he was planning on exploring the other caves, but decided that that was too risky and went outside of the caves entirely, going out into the world outside the caves for the first time in his life.

Or, at least, Badar *thought* that he was seeing the world beyond the caves for the first time in his life. For some reason, he'd always had a vague idea of what the world beyond the caves looked like even when he was younger, which had only made him want to see it even more.

This was even weirder, though. While he didn't exactly know the area, Badar could still identify everything he saw everywhere he looked, even though he was high up. The brown animal on the ground was a deer, the green stuff that was also on the ground was grass, and the logs that were standing upright and were connected to bushes were trees.

It was almost like Badar had seen all of these things before, even though he knew he hadn't. It was also like the thoughts that he usually had that seemed to almost be memories, like the thoughts about reading books that weren't in his room, or the thoughts about how to interact with others, or the thoughts about having a different set of parents who were humans, the species that he had only heard about but imagined perfectly in his mind. At least, he thought he did.

Badar groaned angrily.

Ugh, this was so frustrating! Why did everything have to be so vague and yet so familiar at the same time!?

Suddenly, Badar heard screaming fill the air. It seemed to be coming from beyond the forest, so, eager to distract himself from his thoughts, Badar decided to fly in the direction the screams were coming from.

He might've also been concerned for the people who were screaming's well being, which Badar admitted to himself that he was grateful to his father for teaching him about compassion. Badar still hated him at the moment, but at least his father had *taught* him something for once and it was a good thing to learn.

## Day 5:The Six "Fairies" AU(Prisoner)

When Queen Titania left Kirsty in the locked room she had put her in that was apart of one of the secret rooms of the castle, she thought that Kirsty had given into despair and her mind was ripe for becoming obedient to her and her husband again. All Queen Titania and King Oberon had to do was create a new necklace for Kirsty and she would be theirs to control once more. She probably wouldn't even put up much of a fight if she wanted to, especially because of her current mental state.

As for Rachel, since her necklace was still intact, Queen Titania could still control her fully. Right now, it was best to send her home, but not before lying to her about what had really happened between Queen Titania and Kirsty. Wouldn't want Rachel to figure out the truth, after all.

What Queen Titania didn't know, however, was that Kirsty had only been *pretending* to fall into despair. In reality, while she still felt betrayed and sad, she also felt angry.

Really, *really* angry.

Angry enough to ~~turn into a giant werewolf and destroy the entire Fairyland Palace~~ join Jack Frost out of spite.

At least Jack Frost didn't *murder* a significant portion of his subjects just because they were different from him!

And I mean, sure, *some* of Queen's Titania's and King's Oberon's previous subjects had a different view of humans than Queen Titania and King Oberon did, but that's not a good reason to murder them, either!

Kirsty knew that joining Jack Frost wouldn't accomplish anything good, however, and tried to focus on escaping instead. Looking around, she found that the place had no windows and was barren.

Well, *almost* barren.

There were four paintings hanging up on the walls, each one on a different one. It immediately brought to mind those scenes in some movies she watched where there was a safe behind a painting and the main characters had to figure out the combination that would get the safe to open. Kirsty hoped that she didn't have to open a safe in order to get out of here, though, since she definitely didn't know or hear about any combinations for the past few hours.

Still, Kirsty knew she had to do *something,* so she flew over to one of the paintings and moved it to the left in order to see what was underneath. When it turned out there was nothing but untarnished wall underneath, she moved onto the next painting, which had nothing underneath it, either.

The third painting lead to a dead end, too, and Kirsty made sure to cross her fingers when she got to the fourth one.

Thankfully, Kirsty *did* find something underneath the fourth painting, though she wasn't sure how it would be of any use to her.

The thing she found was an old, patched up book, and it seemed to be a journal of sorts when Kirsty picked it up and looked through it. Again, it seemed useless to Kirsty, especially since she was sure she couldn't throw it at the door and it would just *magically* open after that-

Wait, what's this?

Kirsty stared at one of the pages she had turned to and read the diary entry that was on it.

*"Two of the spells are really hard to remember, so I decided to copy them down without my teacher knowing,"* It read. *"I don't normally do this, but I really need to ace that test in order to become a specialist fairy. Besides, it's not cheating if I don't use this for reference during the test, right? -Anastasia"*

What was below and on the next page were the written copies of two spells and the explanation of what they did by this Anastasia person.

The first spell allowed the person to see whoever they desired in whatever location. It was an easy, if long, spell, and it wouldn't work if someone else didn't want you to see the person you were looking for.

The second spell turned you into something other than your natural form. Experienced spell casters would be able to get the spell to turn them into a form that they needed at the time, but for amateurs, which form you would get would be completely random and maybe even very weird as well. Nonetheless, the book would still be kept on your person no matter what form you got, and you could still talk in whatever form you got.

Kirsty immediately started reciting the first spell after reading through its and the second spell's explanations, already knowing who she wanted to see. After a few seconds, a small image appeared in the air in front of Kirsty, showing her that Rachel was with her parents while seemingly being none the wiser about what had happened. All the while, her necklace was glowing brightly, showing that Queen Titania's control was strong over Rachel right now.

This understandably unnerved and angered Kirsty a lot, and she mentally vowed to make Queen Titania *pay* for using her best friend like this.

Still, she should probably find out where the six members of the Seelie Court were now, especially since they could be in danger for all she knew. Just because they weren't really friends didn't mean that Kirsty didn't want to help them.

As such, she recited the first spell again after the image of Rachel and her parents faded away, and another image popped up, though this one was filled with static and disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. Kirsty took this to mean that Queen Titania didn't want anyone to see where the six members of the Seelie Court were now

((I'll finish this later. Sorry, I just can't focus right now.))

## Day 6:Silly Werewolf AU(Luna vs. The Goblins)

((I'm going to be following in the footsteps of The Shovelwarewolf for a bit and take some liberties with the werewolf mythos, if you all don't mind.))

It had been many years since Rachel's and Kirsty's last fairy adventure. While the two of them had still been able to remain in touch during all that time, they'd also grown apart in a sense. Don't get me wrong, they still were friends, but due to their interests and having developed differing personalities over the years, they had decided to pursue different careers, make more friends outside of each other, and just didn't have as much time to hang out with each other as they used to.

Rachel, driven by her need for speed and competitive spirit that she both got in her preteen years, became a famous race car driver, causing her to go to many places in the world and rarely getting to race close to her home. While she did let the fame go to her head a little, Rachel never forgot about her family or friends, and she tried to help Kirsty all she could, even when she wasn't in Kirsty's area at the moment.

As for Kirsty, well...let's just say that things got really...*interesting* with her. Let's also just say that turning into a werewolf without being influenced by a full moon and a whole bunch of other stuff was involved and leave it at that for now.

Anyway, recently, there had been a mysterious string of break ins happening in Wetherbury Village. Kirsty, who was the local librarian there, and Rachel, who had gotten a rare break from all of her globe trotting and came to visit her best friend after visiting her parents, were visited by the first fairy they'd ever seen in years about the robberies and were told by her about what was happening.

See, the goblins were the ones doing all of these break ins in hopes of finding the five shards of the Literature Crystal, a crystal that could give Jack Frost power over all writing and that he could use to make all writers just write about how great he is. He had shattered it into five shards and sent it to the human world on accident, and, as usual, he was tasking his goblins in finding them.

The goblins had found two of the five shards so far, and after recovering from the fact that a *fairy*, something that they thought was fictional, was asking them to help her, Rachel and Kirsty agreed to help find the rest of the shards before the goblins did.

The three of them were close to finding one so far, but well...

Let's just say they were in a sticky situation.

~

The pile of books that were holding the door closed were starting to not be enough, due to the goblins on the other side's persistence. As the loud sounds of the goblins slamming their bodies into the door continued, Rachel looked at Kirsty impatiently.

"Well?" She asked. "Do you have a plan now?"

"Almost," Kirsty answered, looking at the book the shard was in and then back at Rachel. "Maybe you could act as a distraction while Quinn and I go and get the shard from out of the book- wait, no, there's too many of them and you would get overwhelmed if that happened. Hmm..."

"How about scaring them off?" Quinn(the fairy) interrupted Kirsty's train of thought.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Rachel asked. "I mean, it's not like we can make a scary pogwurzel costume out of nowhere-wait a minute. You're asking for Kirsty to turn into her werewolf form, aren't you?"

Quinn nodded.

"Um, I'd rather avoid changing into my werewolf form," Kirsty said nervously. "It's very painful and you have no idea how angry I get while I'm a werewolf. I mean, I only destroy books, but I'm still pretty angry."

"Kirsty, I understand your concern, but we really need your werewolf form right now," Quinn replied. "It's the only way to deter the goblins from finding the third shard."

Kirsty thought about this for a moment, then took a deep breath in and out.

"Well, alright," She said. "It takes a few minutes for my transformation into a werewolf to finish, though, so I'll need you two to act as a distraction anyway."

Rachel smiled and cracked her knuckles while Quinn just nodded again.

After seeing that, Kirsty retreated further into the room next to a bunch of bookcases with a determined look in her eyes.

"Sorry about this, Luna," She muttered underneath her breath, then removed a rather infamous book from one of the bookcases' shelves. One look at the cover and Kirsty's entire body became full of rage, her hands shaking more and more by the second. Kirsty then fell to the floor, entering into a coughing fit.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, the thirteen or so human-sized goblins were getting really bruised and really frustrated at all of them still not being in the room at this point.

"How on earth are we all going to get in there if the door still isn't budging!?" One of them exclaimed.

"I don't know, but Jack Frost will be furious if we don't get that shard, so we've got to keep trying!" Another said.

Just then, two goblins decided to slam their bodies into the door at the same time and, miracle of all miracles, the door finally moved several inches, much to the slack-jawed surprise of all the goblins.

"Why didn't we think of that before!?" Another one of them exclaimed.

"I don't know," Another goblin said in disbelief.

Then, all in unison, the thirteen or so goblins slammed all of their bodies against the door, arguing and squabbling as they hit each other as well as the door. This did the trick, however, and the door swung open, making all of the books that were up against it fall to the floor as a result.

Some of the goblins fell to the floor after this since there was nothing there to lean against anymore, and the ones that were still standing tried to rush Rachel and Quinn but tripped on the goblins who were on the floor's bodies instead. Soon enough, all of the goblins were on the floor, simultaneously arguing with each other and trying to get up.

Quinn face palmed while Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Looks like the goblins haven't changed a bit," Rachel deadpanned.

"You can say that again," Quinn deadpanned.

Nonetheless, both of them got ready to fight once the goblins started to get back up, eager and willing to give Kirsty enough time to finish her transformation.

((Again, I'll finish this later.))

## Day 7:The Dragon Critic AU("I'm not dead!?")

Ignatius woke up with a start, sitting up and breathing heavily as his mind tried to process what had happened.

He knew that he had been fighting with the dragon a few minutes ago, but honestly, the fight itself was just a blur in Ignatius' mind. That was probably because he wasn't thinking much during it, though. He was so angry that he couldn't, and his only thoughts back then were to keep everyone that was escaping Yoyo's hometown safe.

He *did* remember what seemed to be his last moment alive, though. The last thing he remembered before he had woke up in this blank white void he was currently in was him being thrown onto the base of a tree back first and the sickening snapping noise he had heard after that, which, looking back, was probably his own spine snapping in half.

So, yeah. He was dead, despite him breathing heavily- wait a minute.

Ghosts don't breathe, do they? Or, at least, they don't need to breathe.

Deciding to try a little experiment, Ignatius held his breath and attempted to do so for about a minute. He didn't last that long, however, and the end result was him gasping for air and coughing like crazy.

It was then when he realized he could feel his heart beating faster than he'd ever felt it beat before. Which was also weird, because he was a ghost...right?

Still, he needed to breathe and his heart was still beating, which meant-

"I'm not dead!?" Ignatius exclaimed, feeling *very* shocked and confused at the moment.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Ignatius," An unfamiliar voice echoed throughout the void, though for some reason, it sounded more amused than friendly.

"Who are you?" Ignatius asked, looking around wildly in order to see where the voice came from. "Also, how do you know my name?"

"I am Dr. Frederick Stein," The voice said, it(or he now, I guess) still echoing throughout the blank white void. "As for how I know your name, well, let's just say that's classified."

"What does that mean?" Ignatius asked.

"It means that it's none of your concern," Dr. Frederick Stein said a bit sternly. "What *is* of your concern, however, is why I've revived you and brought you here today.

"You see, I've always been curious about how media affects people. Any type of media can make anyone happy, cry, or scream in rage. However, all media is is still images that people just *think* are moving or code or something of that sort. Why would a person fall in love with or hate something that is so clearly fake?

"The reason why you're here, Ignatius, is so I can find the answer to that question. I want youto pick apart the media you see and tell me why it matters to you. After I find my answer to my question, I will let you back into your homeland and reunite with your friends again while also still being alive."

For some reason, Ignatius understood all of Dr. Frederick Stein's explanation, even though he probably shouldn't have known what media even was. He knew what it was now, though, and it confused him.

He brushed that confusion aside, however, when he heard Dr. Frederick Stein say that if he picked apart the media that was presented to him, he would let him go home free and reunite with his friends while also still staying alive.

"Really?" He said hopefully. "You would really do that for me?"

"Of course I would!" Dr. Frederick Stein replied. "I will only do that, however, if you do what I asked."

"I most definitely will!" Ignatius said, who was more focused on getting to reunite with his friends again than noticing the potential warning signs.

The second after Ignatius said that, a TV and comfy chair appeared in the blank white void next to him.

"Good," Dr. Frederick Stein said, having something in his tone of voice that Ignatius didn't like for some reason. "Now, I'm going to show you a piece of media on this TV. Just remember this:If you refuse to do what I asked, you won't be able to get to see your friends or homeland again. Alright?"

Ignatius nodded, eager to get started.

As the TV came on, Ignatius flew up to the comfy chair and sat in the middle of it, having no idea what horrible things waited for him.

## Day 8:

((Sorry, but I think I'll have to skip this one.))

## Day 10:Miraculous Ladybug AU(Comfort)

For Martina, being sick was a recipe for disaster.

Now, not going to school wasn't an issue for her. Martina knew that she could easily get caught up once her illness went away, and she could easily call up one of her friends on her phone if she wanted to, so being lonely wasn't an issue, either.

It was Hawk Moth and his akumas that were the issue.

Both she and Chat Sith knew that one of Hawk Moth's akumas could attack at any time. If one of them attacked right now while Mariquita was basically out of commission, well...

Considering how strong some of Hawk Moth's akumas could be, it might've spelled the end of Paris as they knew it.

Which was why, when Martina found Chat Sith on her balcony looking worried and worn down, she immediately rushed to his side, asking him in sign language if he was okay and where the akuma was.

Surprisingly, Chat Sith just smiled in relief when he saw her.

"I'm glad I found you so fast!" He said, chuckling at Martina's message. "Don't worry, there's no akuma. I just wanted to come here to talk about things."

Martina was confused. Why would Chat Sith be here for a reason *other* than an akuma attack-

Then it hit her. Didn't she, as Mariquita, tell him to patrol today just in case?

Whoops.

She had probably forgotten about that because she was worrying about Hawk Moth so much.

She was still concerned about Chat Sith's expression and body language, though. If there *wasn't* an akuma, then why did Chat Sith look so worn out and worried? Usually he was energetic and happy. What had happened to make him this way?

"Is it okay if I sit here?" Chat Sith asked, pointing to Martina's recliner with one of her blankets still on it. He still looked worn out, but there was a small smile on his face now. It wasn't as big as one of his usual smiles, but it looked like he was happy to be here nonetheless.

Having snapped out of her thoughts due to Chat Sith's question, Martina nodded, but not before walking over to her recliner and picking up her blanket before Chat Sith could sit down on it. She then wrapped herself up in her blanket and sat down next to her recliner as she waited for Chat Sith to sit down as well and tell her what was going on.

Chat Sith plopped down in Martina's recliner and stretched before putting his hands behind his head and just relaxing in it, despite the recliner being a bit too small for him.

"Thanks," He said, then looked over at Martina asking him in sign language what he wanted to talk about.

"Oh yeah, that," Chat Sith said, sighing. "Well, it's a bit of a long story, so I should probably just start at the beginning.

"Remember Volpina? I'm sure that you do, given that it looked like she did all of these amazing things but turned out to be an akuma in the end. Thankfully, Mariquita and I took care of her, but neither of us could take care of her civilian self much. Of course, that wouldn't have been a problem if she wasn't such a lying, friend stealing, good for nothing JERK!"

Martina's eyes went wide. She'd almost never seen Chat Sith like *this* before. The only times she had besides this one was when she as Mariquita had been in grave danger from an akuma and he had come to her rescue, utterly *livid* at the akuma for trying to kill her. He was almost *scary* when he was like this, and Martina wondered what Volpina's civilian self had *done* to warrant such a reaction from Chat Sith.

Chat Sith noticed her concern and tried to calm himself down.

"Sorry," He said, feeling a bit guilty. "I just really hate her."

He took a deep breath and then continued.

"Anyway, earlier on today, I was just entering my teacher's classroom in my civilian form when I saw everyone glaring at me. Well, *almost* everyone. Volpina's civilian form was crying in the arms of another one of my classmates. When I asked what was going on,

((Sorry, but I'll finish this later. I *really* need a break.))

## Day 12:Raccoon AU("Chanticleer")

"Roo, I'm scared!" Lumpy said, looking around nervously while still walking alongside Roo. "What if we're lost and we never find our way home again? What if, what if the Backson gets us?"

"We're not lost!" Roo replied, bouncing along as cheerfully as ever. "Besides, if the Backson *does* try to get us, I'm sure that we can fight him off! He would never know what hit him!"

Recently, there had been sightings of a strange, large creature around the Wood. While it never stayed long, the creature seemed to be the mysterious Backson that Owl had talked about a few years prior. Sure, it had *seemed* like he was wrong at the time and that there was no such thing as a Backson, but now, the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood weren't so sure.

Back to Lumpy and Roo, Lumpy looked like he wanted to say more, but then someone else started talking instead.

"Hi there!" A sort of high pitched, squawking voice exclaimed from behind both Roo and Lumpy. "May I ask who you're looking for?"

Lumpy jumped into the air, screaming in fear and then hiding behind Roo once he hit the ground again. Roo, meanwhile, turned around and looked at the figure who the voice belonged to with simple curiosity.

The figure in question was a toy rooster, though much smaller than the roosters that Roo had seen in the books that his mom had read to him every night before bed. Well, he imagined them to be much taller than the one he was seeing right now, anyway, who seemed to only be a bit taller than Piglet.

It *did* look like an average toy rooster besides that, though, so maybe Roo was just overthinking things.

"Hi!" Roo said, waving at the toy rooster and smiling. "We're trying to find Raccoon! Do you know where he is?"

"Raccoon?" The toy rooster said, confused. "Who's that?"

"Wait, you seriously don't know who Raccoon is?" Roo asked, also confused.

"No, I don't," The toy rooster said. "I've only just arrived here today, so I don't really know anyone here. Sorry about not being able to help."

"That's okay!" Roo said. "It makes sense that you wouldn't know everyone on your first day here! I'm Roo!"

"I'm Lumpy," Lumpy said, coming out from behind Roo. He was smiling now as well.

"Chanticleer," The toy rooster said, smiling. "It's nice to meet you two!"

"You too!" Roo said while Lumpy nodded beside him. "Want to help us in finding Raccoon?"

Chanticleer looked up at the darkening sky, his expression changing to a worried one.

"I would *like* to, but it's getting late," He said, looking at Roo and Lumpy. "Don't you two think it's time to head home?"

Roo and Lumpy looked at the sky as well, realizing that their mothers were probably worried about them right now.

"Yeah, probably," Roo said, looking a bit sheepish.

"Are you sure you know how to get back?" Lumpy asked, looking at Roo.

"Of course I'm sure!" Roo responded, then pointed to a random direction. "All we need to do is go there, and then turn left, and then...um..."

Chanticleer rolled his eyes, sighed, and cleared his throat, making Roo and Lumpy look at him.

"Come on," He said, turning around and going the other direction while expecting Roo and Lumpy to follow him. "I'll show you two the way back."

Roo and Lumpy looked at each other with their eyebrows raised.

"Chanticleer, how do you know that where we're going is the way to get back?" Lumpy asked.

Chanticleer froze for a moment, then looked back at Lumpy and Roo, looking a bit nervous.

"Well, when I first arrived here and came the way I was going, I soon found myself in the inhabited part of the Hundred Acre Wood," He replied.

"Oh, okay," Lumpy said, then joined Roo in following Chanticleer back to where they came once Chanticleer started walking in that direction again.

The three's little journey was far from being silent, as Chanticleer soon found himself being bombarded by questions by both Roo and Lumpy, much to his slowly growing and hidden nervousness and yet also slight liking.

It turned out that while Chanticleer had found the Hundred Acre Wood as he had said previously, he was too shy to actually approach the residents and hid himself from them instead. He still watched them, however, and that's how he found out about the others thinking that Roo and Lumpy were missing. Eventually, Chanticleer had decided to overcome his shyness and look for the two himself, which led them all back to the present.

Oh yeah, and Chanticleer also had to answer a lot of questions from Roo and Lumpy about trivial things, like what his favorite snack was or what kind of toy he was.

The moon was out when Roo, Lumpy, and Chanticleer were close to reaching the inhabited part of the Hundred Acre Wood, and it was there when Roo and Lumpy discovered something shocking.

While Chanticleer was talking and walking while facing Lumpy and Roo at the same time, his back(somehow) got caught on a low hanging tree branch. As Chanticleer struggled to break free, Roo and Lumpy both got an idea and decided to help by grabbing one of Chanticleer's wings and trying to pull him forwards. Strangely enough, however, Chanticleer was really against this.

"I really appreciate you two trying to help me, but I don't think that what you're doing is going to work," He said, though judging by his expression, he was probably concerned about something else as well.

"Why not-"

And that's when the three of them heard the sound of something unzipping.

"Don't look at my back!" Chanticleer exclaimed suddenly, looking close to panicking at this point.

Obviously, Roo and Lumpy looked at Chanticleer's back, and what they saw was an undone zipper on it showing off gray fur on the back of Chanticleer's neck and Chanticleer's back. Chanticleer's tail was also slightly undone, showing off the beginnings of a familiar gray and black tail underneath it.

"Raccoon!" Roo and Lumpy exclaimed at the same time, both realizing that their new friend was the same toy that they were trying to capture at once.

"Look out! The Backson's right behind you!" Raccoon exclaimed a few seconds later, looking behind Roo and Lumpy and appearing terrified out of his wits.

"Wait, what!?" Roo and Lumpy exclaimed, looking behind them immediately and letting go of Raccoon's "wings"(really paws in things that looked like wings) in their surprise. This, fortunately for Raccoon, allowed him to run faster than light over to a nearby tree and climb up it, nearly avoiding Lumpy's trunk as he did. The trunk did catch Raccoon's fake tail, however, making Raccoon's real tail be revealed fully.

"Come back here!" Roo called up to Raccoon, who was halfway up the tree by this point.

"Make me!" Raccoon called down to Roo, now using his normal, childlike voice.

Roo looked at the tree branches thoughtfully for a moment.

"Hey, Lumpy, can you lift me up to the first tree branch?" He asked, looking over at Lumpy.

"Sure thing!" Lumpy said, coming over to Roo's side and scooping him up with his trunk, then gently putting him up on the first tree branch.

"Thanks!" Roo said, beaming at Lumpy and then climbing up onto the higher tree branches.

Raccoon, who was now at the top of the tree, was watching Roo climb up with wide eyes, and while he soon was getting rid of his remaining costume pieces one by one and throwing them down to Roo in order to distract him, Raccoon soon ran out of them and looked at another tree to his right that was close by the one he was in currently.

Knowing that the idea he had in mind was his only option of escape at this point, Raccoon ran over to the end of the branch he was on and jumped over to the other tree, just barely grabbing hold of one of its branches and pulling himself up on top of it. He then, while being watched a wide eyed Roo and Lumpy, repeated the same process with other trees that were nearby until he was almost out of sight.

"See ya later, losers!" He called out to Roo and Lumpy and laughed a little shakily before he was completely out of sight.

Roo *did* suggest going after Raccoon after that, but then he realized that he couldn't get down from the tree he was in. Lumpy went to get help, and both Kanga and Mama Heffalump were *not* happy with Roo and Lumpy running off like that, even after Roo and Lumpy explained the situation for them.

As for Raccoon, when he eventually got to his literal tree house, he climbed down the tree he was currently in and entered it, feeling a bit miffed at Roo and Lumpy despite himself.

"What were you expecting?" He asked himself as he went upstairs to his bedroom. "For them to *not* want to capture you? I mean sure, it would've been nice to get an apology or maybe just a simple "thank you" from them for trying to help them get back home, but really, when would one of those *ever* come from those two losers?"

Raccoon sighed. Once he reached his bedroom, he went over to his bed and flopped down on it, his anger at Roo and Lumpy growing a little as he did.

"They'll always be losers," He muttered bitterly to himself. "Once a loser, always a loser."

He looked at the ceiling, wanting desperately to sleep and get the day over with already but not being able to for some reason.

Maybe it was because Raccoon felt like he had more of a reason for being angry at Roo and Lumpy than them just not showing their gratitude. He hated to admit it to himself, but despite having been bombarded by questions by Roo and Lumpy while he was "Chanticleer", he still liked having them around a bit.

*Only* because it had given him someone to talk to, though. There *definitely* wasn't any other reason that he liked having them around. Nope. *Definitely* not.

Even *that* was hard to believe, though, since that would imply that he was lonely. He wasn't lonely! He had his puppets to talk to! Sure, he had to literally get them to talk back to him, but at least they were *something,* right?

...

Besides, maybe it was *okay* that they weren't real, especially because them not being real meant that they were *predictable* as well.

Real beings yell at you, too. They hate you and call you a nuisance. They want to capture you and then do...well, okay, Raccoon didn't know what the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood wanted to do with him, but it probably wasn't anything good.

They were pretty lame as well. Raccoon definitely couldn't see why *anyone* would want to be friends with them, and them being friends with each other was pretty weird as well.

And yet...

For some reason, he knew deep inside that he wanted someone who would give the same amount of trust and love that

((I'll finish this later.))

## Day 13:Good Adult Miraculous Holder AU(Le Paon's Return)

((So, I saw Echo add some more onto her Spicy January page a few days ago, and I figured that if she can do it even after the theme month, then why can't I as well?

Anyway, I've noticed that none of the adult miraculous holders in Miraculous Ladybug are good, and that's kind of a shame, since I have a feeling that the current good miraculous holders need someone who has more world experience and maturity than them(*looking at* *you, Adrien/Chat Noir*). I mean, it would also be nice if Marinette/Ladybug had some of her responsibilities lifted off of her shoulders because of there being an adult on her team(and it doesn't help that *CHAT NOIR KEEPS GOOFING OFF AND SACRIFICING HIMSELF-).*

So, which miraculous have I picked for this good adult miraculous holder? You'll see below *very* soon, he he. ;)))

Laurence looked down at the blue and green brooch in his palm for a long while and eventually sighed.

Did he *really* want to do this?

On the one hand, Paris probably needed him at this point. Stoneheart had come back, and this time, he had the ability to turn people into other Stonehearts. He was also seemingly heading towards the Eiffel Tower at this point, and who knows what'd he do to the two girls currently clutched in his giant fists.

On the other hand...

Did he really want to have the pressure of him always having to save the day or else the villain wins again?

Did he really want the burden of not being able to reveal his secret to anyone or else they would be endangered again?

Did he really want to experience those horrible visions of other timelines again?

Laurence *definitely* didn't want to experience all of that again, but the idea of Paris being in utter chaos because he didn't do anything...he didn't really want to experience *that,* either.

There was also the fact that the two active superheroes right now(Ladybug and Chat Noir) were just mere *teenagers,* with *no one* to guide them on how to be superheroes. Laurence didn't know how lucky he was to have had an older, more experienced superhero there to teach him the ropes when he was a superhero, but now, he realized that he was pretty lucky.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had no one to teach them...

No one to help them...

And *especially* no one to protect them-

"Laurence?"

Laurence froze, now noticing the blue kwami(Duusu) in front of him. He must've put on the brooch while he was thinking without noticing it.

Despite his earlier reservations, he smiled when he saw Duusu, remembering her to be a close friend of his before he put the brooch away in an attempt to quit being a superhero for good.

"Hello, Duusu," He said, ready to explain everything.

~

"We demand those girls' safe return!" Mayor Bourgeois shouted through a microphone to Stoneheart, who was currently on the Eiffel Tower. The two girls were still in his giant fists.

"You're welcome to half!" Stoneheart replied, throwing the girl with her blonde hair in a ponytail towards the ground far, *far* below her. The girl screamed in terror, and a horrified Ladybug was running forward to try and catch her in her arms when all of a sudden, a masked man in blue, green, and turquoise caught the girl and ran past Ladybug in one fell swoop.

He dug his heels into the ground shortly after he did, and looked at Ladybug and everyone behind her, panting and looking like he ran from a very far distance in order to get there.

"I was very lucky that I caught you in time," The masked man said in between pants, looking at the blonde girl. "Otherwise, you would've met a very dire fate indeed."

"Who are you!?" The blonde girl demanded, struggling to get out of the masked man's arms. "You're not Ladybug!"

The masked man let the blonde girl get onto her feet and looked at Ladybug and everyone else again. While Ladybug and Chat Noir's expressions were ones of confusion, a few other people there(like Mayor Bourgeois) looked like they couldn't believe that the masked man was there at all.

"My apologies," The masked man said, bowing low as the blonde girl ran over to Mayor Bourgeois. "I almost forgot that most of you don't know who I am or have forgotten. I am Le Paon, and I am ready to again do whatever it takes to protect Paris."