Giant squids and dragons
Cold. Freezing even.
That’s what Toad thought anyway. Caterpillar found this to be a more… familiar environment, considering all the years he spent in the Fortress.
He couldn’t really see his surroundings well because of how cooped up the first years liked to be. Like a pack of penguins, trying to conserve some heat in order to stay warm. Caterpillar assumed this was some sort of a subconscious instinct humans had; there wasn’t any discussion about doing something like this among the children. Too bad he himself didn’t have such instincts. Would it change anything even if he did?
“Aspiration.” an older voice stated, coming from the ‘prefect’ that had led them there.
As if on cue, a reptile-like opening surfaced. Slithery and curvy with scales. As it shifted up, it took the dungeon wall with it, revealing a door, an entrance to something.
“That’s the password to the common rooms. Remember it. If you have any more questions, you can come to me or any of the other older students.” the prefect spoke again before turning around and entering the door that had revealed itself.
The first years quickly followed close behind, Caterpillar included. He was just being pushed along with the crowd. Not that he even attempted fighting against it. He didn’t like crowds. But at least this one was full of people his size. Being ‘pushed around’ greatly affected his ability to take in his surroundings. All he knew was that he was walking down a set of spiraling stairs.
Aspiration.
The strong ambition and wish to achieve something. Hope.
It was a peculiar password to say the least. Caterpillar often fantasized about having an aspiration for something. It was a very human thing to have, and he yearned for it.
The staircase eventually opened up to a hall. Sofas, small tables, a fireplace, and a few windows at the end of the hall, revealing a familiar, blue view. They were underwater, just like the Fortress of Meropide. Caterpillar let out a small hum as his eyes were locked on the long, distant windows for a moment longer until-
-he got shoved along with the crowd of first years, tearing his gaze away from the view as he did.
Not long after, the pressure of being shoved around started dispersing as all the first years began spreading out, walking into different rooms. Caterpillar was guided to a room with beds bearing greenish attire spread around it. The room had vibrant, green wallpaper with images and patterns; something he wasn’t used to seeing, being used to the empty and cold walls of a cell. Caterpillar’s eyes landed on one of the beds. Surprisingly enough, he found his things set at the foot of the bed. Interesting and convenient. They’d been transported for him.
Caterpillar walked over and crouched in front of his luggage, checking if everything was there. Toad hopped off his head, landing on the bed as if it knew full-well what was going on. All of the things Caterpillar had prepared were there; which was not a lot because he didn’t need many things in the first place. A perk of not being human and all. There were his school books and a map he’d bribed Moore to give him. The one with a number of marks, which he got to read his first day in this world.
All of a sudden, the white haired boy felt a couple of taps on his shoulder. Small, delicate. Likely from a child. He turned his head to look up at the culprit.
“Where are all your things?” a small boy with dark brown, messy hair spoke before retreating his hand from Caterpillar’s shoulder and placing it on his own hip. The ‘messy hair’ really was quite messy, sticking out in awkward places. Caterpillar figured innocent kids didn’t care that much about appearances. “You have so little! All my things were here, so…where are yours at?”
Caterpillar snapped out of his thoughts (inner main character monologue) and stood up from his previous crouching position to fully face the kid. “All of my luggage is here. I just didn’t bring many things; I find it unnecessary.”
The child eyed Caterpillar up and down, as if sizing him up. The white haired boy didn’t back away, knowing this was likely just innocent child-like curiosity that human children possessed.
“Is that a hand-me-down robe?” the child huffed, crossing his arms with a scrutinizing gaze. “You also don’t have much luggage, which must mean that you’re poor .”
“Well, not necessarily. I got these items via school’s funding; they’re only willing to pay for the necessities.” Caterpillar explained calmly, tilting his head. He didn’t mind humoring human curiosity today.
“Hmph. I’ve never heard of a poor pure blood. You’re a pure blood, right? You look like one.” The child, as if not hearing Caterpillar’s words, said.
Pure blood.
Pure.
That was a word which wasn’t new to Caterpillar in the slightest. He felt as if he was built and materialized of many pure purities. But those purities mixed together in his creation, making them impure . No, Caterpillar was not pure. Perhaps he once was, but certainly not anymore. It was yet another quality unobtainable by him.
Caterpillar did not know how to answer the brunette child’s statement, so he opted to stay quiet, looking at the other through his empty eyes. He didn’t try to look threatening on purpose. He also noted that there were two other children in the room, all of which — including Caterpillar and the brunette — added up to the number of beds in the room, which was four.
Almost like cell mates. Well, a more appropriate word for now would be roommates.
“Oh wow…You’re Cater, right? I remember from the sorting ceremony.” one of the other kids, a small boy with dark skin and braided hair, spoke up. He didn’t look like anything Caterpillar had ever seen before. He wondered where the boy was from. If he were from Tevyat, maybe Natlan.
“I’m pretty sure everyone remembers Cater with how long it took for the hat to sort him…” the third kid with a small lisp in his voice spoke, nudging the braided boy slightly.
“Plus, he looks weird!” the brunette added with a scrutinizing scowl.
Caterpillar sighed at the children’s blunt wording. Human young were very straight forward at times. “Call me Cater or Caterpillar.” he said, clenching and unclenching his black fists as a small and subtle way to relieve stress.
“Caterpillar, huh?” the boy with a lisp mumbled before being cut off by the brunette:
“That’s a hilarious nickname! Makes you even more weird.” he laughed. Caterpillar decided to refrain from informing them that ‘Cater’ was actually the nickname here, not vice versa. “I’m Alfey.” the brunette said with a confident huff. He then pointed to the boy with light brown hair and a lisp. “That’s Max.” Alfey’s gaze landed on the boy with black, braided hair. “And you?”
“Oh, my name is Kofi. Nice to meet you guys.” he said, scratching the back of his head.
“Aside from Cater, this room seems to be packed with cool people.” Alfey said, eyeing Caterpillar with passive disdain. Passive aggression was very common among humans…
“That’s an interesting way to word it. Disliking me for something so trivial, huh?” Caterpillar sighed as he stood his ground. Toad croaked from the bed, only half- paying attention to the ongoing conversation.
All the kids’ attention were instantly drawn to the oversized frog on Caterpillar’s bed as it croaked. It was as if the previous conversation didn’t matter anymore.
“Woah, you have a toad…” Kofi grinned as he hopped closer to Caterpillar’s bed, crouching down next to it to be in eye-level with Toad. Max and Alfey also came closer, admiring the amphibian.
“It’s albino! That’s so cool.” Max noted, gently poking Toad, making it croak lowly and shrink.
“Hmph. No fair! Why does this weirdo get a unique toad when I, the most promising wizard out there, get a pesky owl?!” Alfey pouted, also poking Toad.
“Huh. How did you two know its name?” Caterpillar hummed, watching the kids pile over the oversized frog.
All the kids raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Caterpillar felt the attention turn back to him. It wasn’t very pleasant.
“Toad, I mean. How did you know that was its name?” he inquired.
“This toad’s name is Toad?” Max mumbled in a very confused manner.
“Is that a normal name? Well, it sounds simple enough to remember I guess…” Kofi hummed, reaching out to get his own poking on Toad like the two other boy’s had. Toad was a strangely patient frog.
“What?” It was Caterpillar’s turn to be confused.
“Hah. Cater’s incredibly mercurial, huh?” Alfey huffed with a distasteful frown. “I bet you won't get half as many friends as I will! No one with a hand-me-down robe would get friends anyway.”
“It’s the school’s-”
Caterpillar was cut off by small giggles coming from Kofi and Max as they played with (borderline harassed) Toad like little kids. He stifled a sigh before interfering by walking up and between the two boys. “Be more mindful…Toad is a sentient being like you as well; it doesn’t like being poked too much.”
Kofi retreated his hand from poking Toad with a small frown on his face. Well, the frown was more like a child-like pout.
“Of course I knew that…” Max said, matter-of-fact. “It’s just so…fascinating…the color of this toad’s skin and all.” he smiled, looking at the oversized albino frog, which was still chilling on the bed, casually licking its eyeball.
“I do agree that Toad is quite special. One of the most distinct frogs I’ve ever seen. Rather large too.” Caterpillar nodded, which caused the other boys to share a couple of glances. “But that doesn’t mean that you can overwhelm it with stimuli by poking it repeatedly.” he further explained, keeping his voice slow and steady to make sure the children understood to a certain level.
“You seriously think that’s a frog?” Alfey scoffed. “That’s a toad.”
“Yeah, this is Toad.” Caterpillar confirmed.
It was moderately bizarre how everyone so far seemed to be able to guess Toad’s name at first glance. Maybe the inhabitants of this world were just naturally talented at name-guessing.
Children were very different from adults. Their views in life varied from elders quite a lot. Innocent, carefree, naive. That was fine. Caterpillar was aware of it. Which is why it didn’t surprise him when his new roommates put the passive-aggression temporarily aside just to crowd around Toad and talk about pets and magic. Caterpillar quietly supervised as the children chatted and got familiar with each other. It was a lot easier making friends when you were young.
The white haired boy worried about what would happen if he were to leave the children alone with Toad. Frankly, the amphibian had been shooting brief glances towards his general direction this whole time. Well, its eyes were rather spread out, it was difficult to dissect what Toad was actually looking at.
Toad will be alright.
“I’m going to explore this place. You don’t have to join me unless you want to.” Caterpillar interjected to the children’s conversation.
No reaction. They were too busy playing with Toad. Alfey, however, did shoot Caterpillar a brief, judging look, but turned back to the oversized frog relatively quickly after.
Caterpillar stifled a sigh before turning around. “Be careful with the amphibian.” he said before departing and leaving the room.
Slytherin common room.
Caterpillar walked through a hallway with doors leading to various rooms which likely held more beds. He afterwards arrived at an opening. The hall with the fireplace. There was one specific thing he wanted to see-
There they were. The tall windows showing outside. Showing the fact that they were underground, underwater. The hall itself also seemed to have more people — more students — than he previously recalled it having. Perhaps a lot of students spent time here. Well, it was called the common room for a reason, perchance.
Caterpillar walked down, stepping fully into the hall. He swiftly picked a path in which he wouldn’t run into anyone. The students seemed to vary in age. Likely all the year groups were mixed up. He passed some small tables where students were playing some sort of board game. One of the players, an older female with raven black hair, was complaining about Professor Black canceling Quidditch season. Everyone around her was just having to deal with her rambling.
Caterpillar hummed and continued walking, not wanting to be part of that heated, rambly conversation. He instead quickly made his way towards the tall windows at the end of the hall. (By tall, I mean tall . Probably at least x10 Caterpillars worth. The character, not the insect.)
He spotted a familiar figure; the new fifth year — Adelaide, Caterpillar recalled — talking to another student, another fifth year by the looks of it. Caterpillar walked past them and moved to stand in front of the tall windows, peering at the marine life.
The water was a lot more…duller and emptier than the underwater life in Fontaine, which was a lot more vibrant and clear. Caterpillar sighed. A strange feeling started swirling under his skin, near his chest. As if something was gnawing at him through the morphing and evolving inner turmoil.
Was this what they called ‘homesickness’?
No, that’s ridiculous. Caterpillar couldn’t feel such things. How would that even work? Or perhaps…
“I heard a wild dragon attacked your carriage. That’s strange. Those things don’t just happen randomly…Not that it’s any of my business.”
Caterpillar turned his head around, eyeing the two fifth year students conversing. Now that he saw it in more depth, he noticed that the boy Adelaide was talking to wasn’t exactly looking at anything at all. Perhaps his eyes didn’t permit it.
Dragon. Right. Rumors spread extremely quickly in this place. Caterpillar remembered hearing about that pretty much the second the girl had arrived.
“Yeah, what a strange dragon it was, hah…I was able to escape it of course; no dragon could ever get me.” Adelaide said confidently, which earned a small scoff from the boy.
Adelaide’s gaze then flicked to Caterpillar as she could already see the smaller boy from her peripheral vision. His eyes were looking upwards towards the two taller fifth years, not wavering even after he was caught staring.
“Oh, you’re that weird first year that took forever to sort.” Adelaide remarked. “Cater, right? The rumors about you are really circling around.”
“Certainly…” the male fifth year sighed and started complaining: “My ears and head are starting to hurt from the excessive rumors. Cater…dragon attack…Quidditch- the academic year hasn’t even started yet.”
“It’s not that bad, is it, Ominis?” Adelaide smirked. “Can’t you handle a little chatter?”
“I can, but it is unpleasant…” ‘Ominis’ explained.
Caterpillar shifted on his feet before speaking up. “Rumors about me too, huh? Haven’t heard of those yet. Only about the dragon ordeal.”
“As a first year student, you shouldn’t dwell on it much.” Ominis said, still not looking at anything specific with unfocused eyes. Those colorless eyes further proved that he was blind. Caterpillar didn’t need to ask.
“I’m not entirely familiar with idle rumors, but your case is still pretty intriguing…” Adelaide hummed, eyeing Caterpillar up and down. Just like everyone always did; taking notes of his soulless eyes and black hands that resembled gloves thanks to his long sleeves. Not Ominis, though. Because he was blind. “I’m Adelaide Atwood, in case you didn’t know.” he did. “And that’s Ominis Gaunt.” she pointed at Ominis. Caterpillar was aware, again.
Ominis cleared his throat as Adelaide spoke his last name, but didn’t comment on it. It was clear that the fifth year became a little more self aware after his last name was spoken.
“Oh, and I’d rather not inform you about the nature of these rumors about you…You’d better go find out for yourself.” Adelaide added, waving a dismissive hand.
“I don’t care for rumors. It's fine.” Caterpillar assured, not taking offense.
“Oh? Rather mature for a first year…” Ominis commented, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Of course I’m mature. I’m not a-”
POW!
A loud sound caused the floor beneath Caterpillar to shake. He couldn’t resist a small flinch. His gaze snapped behind him, one thing on his mind: danger…
The window was slightly vibrating and there were dozens of bubbles covering what had so abruptly moved outside the window. It looked like the ocean had turned into a fizzy drink that popped open like a bottle of shaken alcohol, leaving nothing but hundreds or even thousands of small bubbles.
The whole common room went silent as the bubbles slowly dispersed, revealing-
Circular shapes attached to the window. Suckers. A giant tentacle. Belonging to a squid. It was only the tip, and yet it covered nearly the whole window. If that was one small tip of one tentacle, the creature in its entirety had to have been giant. The size of a full-grown dragon, if not more.
Caterpillar let his shoulders slump in relief as he saw that it was only a squid. Frankly, he had gotten flashbacks of the sinking of the tower of Ipsissimus, thinking he’d be tossed back into Tevyat.
He cleared his head and turned around to check up on the other students. The common room was quiet for a moment as everyone stared at the window. Some seemed more used to it, while other younger students seemed more startled at the sight. Caterpillar could see that the gigantic tentacle was casting a shadow over him as he stood in front of the window. Adelaide seemed like she wanted to whip out a Kamera and take a picture as she stared onward with a freakish grin on her face paired with big eyes. Beside her, Ominis was covering his ears with a sour expression on his face.
“Haha. Wicked…” Adelaide smirked.
“Who set it off this time? I would personally like to give them a talking to…” Ominis murmured before lowering his hands from his ears.
“So this happens often?” Caterpillar tried to get a clarification. He turned his head and watched as the tentacle slowly retreated back into the muddy depths. Caterpillar wondered how deep the water surrounding Hogwarts was…
“‘Occasionally’ is a much better word.” Ominis said, shifting on his feet to get into a better standing position. “It’s a sea monster that lives in the water around Hogwarts. A lot of students actively try to catch a glimpse of it by using a telescope that should be over there, near the window.”
Caterpillar’s gaze drifted to where Ominis was gesturing at. Sure enough, there was a telescope, pointing at the window. Adelaide quickly hopped towards it and adjusted it to her height, which was average for her age. She then peered through it with her lips slightly parted in curiosity.
“...Are you peering through it right now? That is hopeless, trust me…” Ominis sighed. He could likely tell what she was doing based on the sound of clothes shuffling.
“I know, I know. Can’t a girl be curious sometimes?” Adelaide huffed before backing off and noticing Caterpillar slowly approach the telescope as well. “Oh? You wanna take a look too? There’s pretty much nothing to see, but be my guest.” she lightly patted the white haired boy’s head, which earned her hand a light swatting away by Caterpillar.
The boy walked closer and adjusted the telescope to his…short height. He looked through it to see the murky sea behind the too-reflective glass. There was nothing to see. Caterpillar’s mind traveled to the seas of Fontaine again… It strangely irked him.
The common room had returned to normal after the tentacle had retreated. Caterpillar could distinctly hear how some students were still complaining about Quidditch and talking about rumors. Caterpillar unconsciously rubbed his shoulder. The faces and figures of everyone were starting to seem blurred as Caterpillar felt increasingly out of place.
Usually, Caterpillar’s mind would be flooded, but right now… There was only one thought circling around the pool of thoughts:
Where am I?
A question asked by Caterpillar, which Caterpillar didn’t have the answer to. He was not going to sugarcoat it; he was lost in a different world with no knowledge on how to get back. He wasn’t even sure what happened to his companions in Tevyat and it created a strangely uncomfortable feeling at the bottom of his stomach.
He became more aware that he’d been zoning out once the number of students in the common room started to decrease. Ominis had also left. Along with- ah, nope, Adelaide was still in the common room, spinning some sort of rotating globe with a childish grin on her face. Caterpillar had to have been zoning out for some time. He was glad that no one bothered to confront him about that. That would’ve felt strange to explain…
Caterpillar sighed and started walking through the hall.
It felt so strange. He felt stranger than he usually did. He felt more detached from everyone else than he usually did. Usually, the detachment would only be emotional, but now it was physical. Right there in Caterpillar’s face, poking at him. He wasn’t human. And he wasn’t from this world. He didn’t belong here, nor did he belong in Tevyat. What was his purpose in this life?
Caterpillar’s thoughts were cut off as a door opened in front of him. He stepped inside and entered the sleeping accommodation, where he’d left the three children with Toad. The room looked the same as it did when he’d left. The lights were more dim. The curtains were drawn on three beds, creating cozy private spaces for the children, who had obviously gone to sleep.
By first glance, he couldn’t find Toad at all. Caterpillar stifled a frown as he stepped deeper into the room, the door automatically closing behind him.
“Toad?” he called out quietly. As if on cue, the curtains of one of the beds moved slightly as a familiar oversized frog hopped out from under the curtains. It was evident that one of the kids had taken the frog as a sleeping buddy. Toad hopped towards Caterpillar and stopped a meter away, looking up at the boy.
Caterpillar gave a slight nod as a greeting before taking off his robe, revealing the sweater he wore underneath. He walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, setting his black robe aside with the rest of his things. Toad jumped up and settled next to him. Caterpillar didn’t feel like sleep. Not at all. He didn’t feel like pretending to sleep either. The curtains were convenient in that way; he didn’t need to pretend since no one would see him anyway.
For now, he didn’t bother pulling down the curtains around his bed since his new roommates were already asleep. He just let the silence drag on as he stared blankly at a wall, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
Sniffle.
Caterpillar’s eyes snapped to the direction of the small, but audible sound. It was coming from one of the beds. Not just that, the quiet sniffles continued. One of the children was crying.
Caterpillar hopped off the bed and walked towards the bed that was making crying noises. He stopped next to it and glared at the curtains before inhaling a soft breath. “Do you need help?” Caterpillar asked quietly, trying to keep his voice low.
The sniffles temporarily stopped and Caterpillar heard the shuffling of sheets and clothing. The curtain surrounding the bed got slowly moved aside as a small, pouty face peeked from behind them. It was Max. His light brown hair drooped over his face and his puffy cheeks were dampened. Caterpillar’s expression softened slightly and he tilted his head, trying to look non-threatening.
Max sniffled and wiped his dampened cheeks with his sleeve. “Sorry, Cater…I just miss my mom already…” the boy mumbled out an excuse. Homesickness. This was only the first night at Hogwarts. Strangely, Caterpillar felt as if he could sympathize; he also felt as if he wasn’t at home here. Not that he even had a home in Tevyat either.
“That’s completely normal. I’m sure everyone else feels the same way to some extent; you’re not alone in that matter.” Caterpillar assured the young boy.
Max sniffed as he wiped his dampened cheeks yet again as if tears were actively streaming down his face, even though they weren’t. “Yeah…I guess you’re right. But I’m still sad.” he frowned. “And I can’t sleep.” he innocently added salt to the wound.
Caterpillar nodded in understanding. “Do you want me to help you go to sleep? Classes start tomorrow morning, and sleep is important for young minds-”
“I know that! And…” Max sniffled, “Yes please…”
And just like that, the curtain on the left side of the bed was drawn open, the side where Caterpillar was standing. Max still sat there, his lower body covered by the blanket. The boy was wearing slightly rumpled bedtime clothes and his hair was a mess. Caterpillar slowly sat on the edge of Max’s bed and looked at the boy. He recalled his time in the Fortress. His time with…Lanoire.
“I can tell you a bedtime story.” Caterpillar suggested, resting his black hands on his lap. Max nodded shyly. The young boy seemed to be growing a bit embarrassed of how Caterpillar had caught him crying. It was too late for that though.
Caterpillar hummed at Max’s agreement and closed his eyes, thinking of which tale to tell… Dragons. Those were on his mind. Adelaide had had a dragon encounter. It was an interesting piece of information. Caterpillar felt as if a tale about a dragon would do. He quickly skimmed through all the stories he’d read about dragons in his mind…
Max flopped down, his head hitting the pillow as he waited for Caterpillar to start telling a story. And start he did…
“There once lived a glorious dragon. The Dragon of the East, they called him. He, an entity, was entitled to the protection of the city of Freedom. Centuries passed. What fine centuries they were… A dragon so glorious and so unrestricted by the chains of evil. When he covet flight, he flew. And when he did, he twisted the skies askew.
These days of freedom and glee soon twisted into a tormenting reality as the foul poison set by an evil group one cannot mention. The poison tainted his eyes, his movements. Soon enough, all he could see was red and all he could feel was pain and fear.
This pain and fear need not last long, and it didn’t, as an old friend, a trusted companion, helped the dragon be freed from this tormenting fate. And so, he could live a life of freedom yet again. With the rescue of his mind, he discovered a new definition of freedom. Or, rather, it was the true definition of freedom. He had just always seen it the wrong way. He learned how to be truly free and rid of his duties. This was all thanks to the old friend, the companion, that had saved him..both physically and mentally.
Hardships are sometimes necessary to achieve true peace. The Dragon of the East determined as such…” (maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way)
Caterpillar opened his eyes before continuing, only to find an interesting sight-
Max had fallen asleep, comfortably covered by his blanket. Surprisingly, Alfey and Kofi had also found themselves near Max’s bed. Alfey was curled up on the ground next to the bed, his head supported by a pillow that he’d likely brought himself. Kofi was sitting up next to the bed, his back supported by the side of the bed. Kofi’s head was slightly tilted up and his lips were parted. The two were also sleeping.
Perhaps…they were all having trouble sleeping due to homesickness…
Caterpillar hummed. He was about to get up until he felt a small pressure on his lap. Toad was curled up on his lap, sleeping. Great. Now he was stuck. He couldn’t hold back a sigh anymore as he grew silent.
That story he’d told…something about Mondstadt. He didn’t recall ever visiting that nation…Nevertheless, it didn’t matter anymore. He wasn’t in Tevyat anymore.
The room grew silent. Caterpillar could hear the faint, unsynchronised content breaths of the unconscious children. It really did remind him of the times he would tell stories to Lanoire. He hoped she was doing well living with her family. Toad also let out a couple of sleepy frog sounds/groggy snores. Caterpillar wondered what it would be like to…have a peaceful sleep…
Caterpillar closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift…