"You are rubber, they are glue...." Normally it was the other way around, but not for THIS spell. The wizard, in secret back alley-ways and run-down shacks found the downtrodden, child Tieflings, child Kobolds, and other such children, and did a spell that ensured, if anyone should physically try to harm them and be cruel, it rebounded upon their abusers. But there's a catch, if THEY were to act in a cruel manner, they were the ones struck instead -- Fighting Fit
They called him Grampa Bless, and he was your best friend if you were orphaned, lost, alone, and despised. Older alley kids knew how to summon him for the little ones, and he was the next best thing to Father Winter. Every kid in need, regardless of species, could get two charmed pouches. One was a Bag of Lunches, which would permit the user to withdraw a wholesome meal to the betterment of their needs, and do so three times a day. The other was a Pocket Shelter, that could give the child a safe place to sleep.
Whenever one of the Reviled Races came into his attention, they got a special enhancement from Grampa Bless. As did any child who showed up with too many bruises and a trepidatious demeanor.
The latest one, a tiny half-Orc with just a shirt and dirt between her and public indecency, had a question. "Are you Wraithvine?"
Grampa Bless conjured her a proper dress and some underwear. "Oh I wish I could be Wraithvine when I grow up." A gnarled hand caressed her hurts away. "I'm just a silly old fool with two kind hands and a need to do some good in this world." He offered the Pocket Shelter and Bag of Lunches. "Do you have a name, lovely?"
"Nobutt's call'd me," said the child, practically a toddler. One of the older teens helped her with the dress and the undergarment. "Ta, sir."
"How do you like the name Jade? It's a precious stone, and very rare. It's also as green as you are."
"M' not a rock," grumped the child. "I wanna be pretty. Like that," she pointed to a symbol on Grampa Bless' patchwork robe.
"That's a fleur. A symbolic flower. Very well, Fleur. A very nice choice of a name." A wave of his fingers, and the same symbol appeared on her dress. "How many people hurt you, Fleur?"
A shrug as she accepted the magical items. "Lots?"
"They will hurt you no more." He tousled her hair and recited, "They are glue, and you are rubber. If they hit you, it's them they shall clubber."
Giggle, "That's not how it goes."
"It is for this spell. Fleur, my lovely, you are now under special protection. You will not come to harm until you come of age, BUT... if you try to harm someone else, you will only hurt yourself. Understood?"
"Yessir. Ta, sir." She fixed the items to her belt and asked, "Are there many like you, sir?"
"Not nearly enough. I try to take on prentices but they all run away to have adventures. Would you come and learn from me? Take up some of the work?"
Green hands protected her newest acquisitions. "I won't be no bother if'n I do?"
"Not to me."
"Ain't got much here," she reasoned. "I'll learn."
"You sit and have a lunch while I see to all the others. Then... we will begin with the best door - learning to read."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / pauljune]
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