Raeda Oneshots

transformation (hurt/comfort)

A/N : Inspired by the art at the top of this, made by Dlsintegrating on Twitter. Takes place pre canon back during their Hexside days. Tw for some fear

Raine had been waiting all class period for Eda to walk in like she always did. She wasn't even on the bard track, but the teacher gave up on kicking her out a while ago. However, on this day, Eda never came into class. It wasn't even as though the young witch had taken a sick day either. Raine had seen her earlier that same day. But she just never came into class.

The other classmates (as well as the teacher) just seemed relieved that the class clown decided to stay out of the lesson for a day, but Raine was worried. Now, Raine being worried was not an uncommon thing as they often had anxiety over even the smallest of things, but now they had a more legitimate reason to be worried. It was just so not Eda, skipping bard class.

The class eventually let out and into free period and Raine decided to take the opportunity to look around for their friend.

First, they checked the girl's bathroom. It made them uncomfortable to walk in there, but Eda wasn't in there anyways so they felt no guilt as they left the room as soon as possible. With the bathroom off the list, that really only left one spot that Eda could be hiding (assuming she hadn't gone home at some point throughout the day).

They walked into the "troublemaker" room and were relieved to see that no students or teachers were in there to see them sneaking around. They went up to the chalkboard and opened up the door to the secret spot that the detention students had made. Closing the door behind them, they then began walking around, occasionally calling out Eda's name. Eventually, they got a response. It wasn't a very reassuring response, though.

No, what they heard was the sound of Eda whimpering in pain.

They quickly ran to where the sound came from and found a panicked Edalyn Clawthorne curled up in one of the dark corners of the place. They quickly rushed to her side and it was then that they noticed the feathers sprouted up all around her body. The curse was still a recent thing, as the infamous duel gone wrong was only a month ago, so Eda still wasn't sure how to manage it.

"Hey" Raine said gently. Eda flinched, having not noticed them before, and backed away. "R-Raine" she said shakily "You need to l-leave. I don't want to h-hurt you" she stuttered out as her whole body shook. "Eda, it's okay" Raine reassured, holding out a hand. "I can hold my own if it really comes to that, but you don't have to be going through this alone"

Eda took a deep breath to regain composure and silently took the bard's hand in her own as she curled up against them. "I- I'm afraid..." the ginger admitted shakily. Raine gently stroked her hair as they replied with a gentle "Well, if I managed to get through a whole performance without panicking and running off stage, then you can get through this"

Eda chuckled slightly, a few tears falling as she did so. "You're such a dork" she said in amusement. Raine chuckled along with her. "I sure am" they replied. The laughter stopped when Eda tensed up in pain with a sharp inhale. More feathers had sprouted over her body and her eyes were beginning to go dark.

"R- Raine" she whimpered out fearfully as she felt her body transforming. "It's okay" Raine replied gently, shoving down their own worries about potentially getting hurt. They hoped that Eda would know not to attack them but there was no way to be 100% sure. They decided the specifics didn't really matter though. After all, Eda was transforming anyways.

Soon enough, Raine was face to face with a big, orange owl creature. It was Eda, but it was also very distinctly not Eda. It growled menacingly as it began to circle the young bard. "Eda" they said, voice coming across stern enough but a hint of shakiness bleeding through. "It's just me"

Something about the way they spoke seemed to get through to the other girl, because the owl creature stopped growling and circling them, instead lying down with a small croak. Raine hesitantly went to pet it (her?), and was glad to see that she wasn't trying to attack them anymore. She actually reached out one of her feathery arms and pulled the bard into a sort of awkward side hug.

"See?" Raine said with a smug expression as if the whole situation hadn't scared the fuck out of them only a second ago. "Told you it was okay" they added, gaining a distorted yet familiar chuckle from the owl. You're such a dork Eda thought to herself, wanting to be able to say those words but finding herself unable to do so in her current form.

The curse sucked, but it wasn't some big and scary thing that had to be feared. Raine understood that, even if Eda's own mother didn't, and she was very grateful to them for that. So much so that she managed to croak out a few distorted and squeaky words. "I love you"

Raine felt their heart skip a beat at that as their face went bright right. They were stunned momentarily before coming back to their senses and finding the courage to respond.

"I love you too, Eda"