Call me Dottie and you die!

eilonwy-notjustgirl: 

 .

All this talk was making her feel like she should bug Ian for details about Being American. Even though she sounded Welsh, and there was no way she was going to learn how to not sound Welsh in time for the show so people were just going to have to deal with a Wlesh-American-British Donna who went to Greece. You know what? She wasn’t going to think too hard about that in this moment or they’d never get anywhere. 

“I mean, if we’re thinking about “Dancing Queen”, maybe knowing our character’s feelings about religion? Since Donna was raised Catholic but hasn’t gone to church for a long time. I guess she probably stopped going when she got to uni now that she didn’t have to put up with her mother making her go. But the two of you are making fun of my Catholic guilt so I’m guessing you aren’t Catholic either. Maybe that would change if you just found it funny or frustrating when you’re saying that line?” 

Not being Christian at all, she found the rampant Christianity of the mainland intriguing, and she still remembered how much of an outcast that had made her in the Texas dream. So that was part of what brought it to the front of her mind. 

@exsqueak–me @a-seed-named-dot

.

Oh this discussion was going to go over suuuuper well with Dot. Pip spared her a glance, but managed to jump in before she did. It was important to bolster everyone, you know? And so Pip didn’t really think they had to talk about their own character’s religious beliefs– that was private character work, you didn’t have to reveal everything to everyone else!– but he didn’t want to shut her down. 

At least, not their very first reading and practice. 

“Right,” said Pip then and he smiled. “I mean, I’ll be honest that I’m not raised very religious myself so like, I don’t know all the ins and outs of Catholicism, but I do think a lot of Catholic people say that thing about Catholic guilt,” said Pip. At least from all the media he had consumed.

And oh yeah, he’d consumed a lot. 

“But since I don’t have a background in that stuff, I think Tanya will remain pretty secular for me, personally. She’s totally just teasing Donna, she’s the type to make a lot of remarks like that.” 

@a-seed-named-dot 

@eilonwy-notjustgirl 

.

Oh yeah, this human religion stuff went right over Dot’s head. And why wouldn’t it? What even was this Catholic guilt thing? It didn’t sound like a nice thing. Or something she wanted to think about. Thankfully Pip seemed to agree with her there. What a miracle. 

Maybe Dot would have to thank him later for not forcing her to try to figure out whatever in the world Catholicism was. Humans were so weird. 

“I have no idea what Catholicism is, so I’ll probably stick with the playful teasing thing too,” Dot said after a moment, wrinkling her nose a little. “Shouldn’t we focus on something else? Like getting the connection with the friends well?”

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Perhaps this was not something that she should promise. 

She should at least talk to Queen Clarion first– no, actually, she should talk to Nyx first. She had a feeling this was a matter for the Captain. And she was already risking a flutter through the thorns when it came to making Sled her personal guard over other scouts who had been scouts much longer…

But it didn’t make sense to keep Dot back an entire extra season-cycle because of her mistakes. Those mistakes weren’t even her fault. As long as Dot took her recovery seriously and got better, why couldn’t she take the exam again during a different season? 

And so Atta nodded. “I am serious in that–I’ll do everything I can to make that happen. But you have to talk to a listening-talent the way I have been, alright? And I won’t ask Captain Nyx to schedule your assessment until that listening-talent has told me you’re ready. Deal?” She held out her pinky for her sister to latch her own around. 

.

Did Dot like the idea of talking to a listening talent? No, not at all. Not even a little bit. But if it meant there was a chance she wouldn’t have to wait a whole season to be able to be take her placement again...well Dot would do anything. 

Listening talents or not...Dot was going to be a scout.

Sure she was going to human school and stuff and learning there, but she had no intention of broadening her horizons or whatever. She was going to be Atta’s royal guard. Who needed all that math and nonsense to be able to do that? 

Dot sucked in a breath and let it out again. “Deal.” She held out her pinky and hooked it with Atta’s. “I’ll do it. I promise I’ll do better.”

eilonwy-notjustgirl: 

.

So Pip had clearly thought way more about the backstory than she had. When Eilonwy thought of Donna, she thought much more of the emotional arc of each scene and how she should feel to get it across. But she supposed that if studying history taught her anything, it was that little things led to other things which because bigger things that mattered. So maybe that was true of characters they played as well? Anyway, she didn’t mind chatting with them and imagining a whole past as friends. Maybe it would work with cookies to make them friends now. 

“I like that idea, that Rosie and Tanya have a longer history. And then maybe I met the two of you in uni. Maybe during orientation week or something? So that we were friends through all of uni before I went away to Greece.” Went away, fell in love, had her heart broken, got pregnant. You know. All those things that Eilonwy had no experience with outside of a brief dream. But she had a feeling she could manage. “It sort of matches that I’m newer to Swynlake than the two of you, which is cool as well.”

@exsqueak–me @a-seed-named-dot

.

Well if it makes it easier to play…

Honestly, if Pip were choosing favourites, he’d want to do a more in-depth backstory with Eilonwy. He loved Eilonwy. Eilonwy, for some reason, really liked him– he wasn’t sure why besides the obvious facts that he was 1. adorable 2. hilarious and 3. fun to talk to. He wasn’t going to complain though. He loved turning devoted customers into besties; it was what he was made for!

Dot, however…

Dot was a difficult case. Pip had only talked to her a handful of time in class or whatever, and boy, she was weird. Not normal fairy-weird either, okay. She was just very one-track-minded, and anything that didn’t relate to her ‘scouting training’ she basically kicked to the curb. So why was she even here, huh?? To make his life difficult? Ugh, he was so banking on Mim being his Rosie!

(What Pip was not realizing in this moment was that he and Dot had more in common than he realized. The intensity. The passion. The single-mindedness. Even the confidence.) 

So he paused one second before answering. “….Yeah. Yeah! I think that can work.” Pip glanced at Dot, trying not to look skeptical. “Maybe our parents knew each other? They were in politics or whatever, and so you were at the same international school as me?” 

@a-seed-named-dot 

@eilonwy-notjustgirl

.

These details seemed completely pointless to Dot.

Honestly she didn’t see how any of those would matter, but she’d already said she didn’t really get the point. If this was what they wanted to focus on then fine. What were lines without some random backstory? 

Dot didn’t really have much of a sense of what human politics were, but whatever. She would go with it if it meant they could get to actual practice stuff sooner. “Sure, that sounds good to me. Met at some international school. Kept going on til Oxford and stuff, met Donna there.” That seemed like the list so far, she was pretty sure.

She finished the cookie she’d grabbed and glanced at them both. “Is there anything else we need to talk about with that stuff?”

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Frost– Dot was just so stubborn. 

This wasn’t a surprise. And despite her own frustration with it, Atta couldn’t help but sigh into a smile, gazing at her sister’s earnest, eager face. She gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Dot’s ear. If only there was something Atta could say… she didn’t know if there was– 

But well… Dot maybe respected Atta as a queen more than a sister. 

“I am your Queen, you’re right. And so it’s as your queen that I want you to take this extra time that you need,” said Atta. “I don’t want to order you around, you know but– I do believe the listening-talent is right. The best way you can serve me right now is to take some time off, and then return to training when you’re ready. And then,” she leaned in and smiled, “I am sure I can use my influence to help you retake the test before next spring. How about that? Can we make a deal?” 

.

It was true. Dot felt so duty bound as a scout, that that nudge as a royal talent pushed past her bristly stubbornness. Her determination to do well and to prove that she was the best of the best that could protect her sister. 

She still thought that, and she still wanted to prove it, but...she did have to listen. Even if Dot didn’t want to. And she really didn’t want to. Dot didn’t see how taking time off could be helpful. But then, she’d buried herself in training and everything so she wouldn’t have to think so hard.

“Oh.” She blinked at Atta for a long minute, and then an excited smile spread across her face. “Really? You could really do that Atta? Because I swear I’ll try and figure this stuff out if you’re serious!” She didn’t want to wait until next spring. That felt so long. She wanted to be a full fledged scout soon!

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Atta’s eyes brimmed again with tears, her throat tightening enough that for a moment, she could not speak at all. She only squeezed her sister around the shoulders, and she wished, oh she wished, that things were different. 

Dot had always been like this of course– even before Orkney fell. She had a single focus and impressive determination. She didn’t want anything or anyone to stop her from joining Atta in the royal palace. She believed it her destiny, just as Atta’s destiny was to be a queen. 

But oh, that was so much pressure for such a little one. Atta felt it was all her fault, even if it wasn’t. If only she wasn’t a royal-talent at all. 

Finally, she swallowed the lump. “You will. But you’re so young, Dot. You have time, I promise– time to grieve and time to learn and I’m sure you’ll become my guard. You needn’t rush it though and hurt yourself in the process.” 

.

Dot didn’t care about how young she was. Not at all. And she hated that people always looked at her age and thought that meant she couldn’t handle it. She absolutely could! Just because she’d screwed up the placement didn’t mean she couldn’t do it. She was so sure she could. 

She just needed to retake it. She could prove to everyone that she had what it takes. Would they let her retake it right away? Dot wanted to. She wanted to be Atta’s guard so bad it ached.

“But who else could possibly guard my sister better than me?” Dot asked, eyebrows furrowed at the thought of it. “I don’t trust anyone else to do as well. You’re my sister and my Queen. You have been since we knew what talents were.”

eilonwy-notjustgirl: 

.

Eilonwy snorted at Pip’s dramatics. “Well, since I’m not planning on getting you drunk in the immediate future, I can try some sugarfree cookies the next time I’m in a baking mood.” Eilonwy filed the information away, along with the fact that Dot reached for the chocolate chip. Score one for her. 

“Ooh, Dancing Queen could be a great place to start. I don’t think I’m up for immediately jumping into Chiquitita or anything like that, but that gives you two the chance to do a lot while I’m busy being lectured over my Catholic guilt.” A thing that especially amused her as a relative pagan, but you know. 

While she waited for Pip’s response (since he was bound to have approximately 800 feelings about it), she took one of the snickerdoodles for herself and started to nibble on it. 

@exsqueak–me @a-seed-named-dot

.

Pip could do Dancing Queen, sure. 

But this was their first ever rehearsal? They couldn’t just jump into it like this, not without a bit of chitchat first on their characters, intentions, goals, etc. Obviously this was their first rodeo– but that was more than okay. Pip was, in a way, a novice himself… to the world of leads. 

Still, he was pretty sure he could provide some guidance here. 

“Totally down for that. I think we should do a little character work first though? Like, the three of us have been friends in the musical for like twenty years– even more depending on various backstories we could establish. I’ve left lots of Tanya’s details open so we could chat about it together.” Pip beamed. “Like– did we all meet in uni? Or for example, Tanya is American like Donna, so maybe we knew each other before, went to Oxford together, met Rosie. Or maybe Tanya has lived in England for much longer, going to an international secondary situation– things like that! That type of stuff is really going to shine through on stage, believe me.” 

@a-seed-named-dot 

@eilonwy-notjustgirl

.

What in Enchantra did he mean by character work?

And who cared about where they met or whatever? That wasn’t really a focus in the story or the play or whatever. Or at least, Dot didn’t think so. But then, she hadn’t done something like this before. The only reason she was doing it was because...well because it was better to keep busy than to think about screw ups and everything else.

“I’m not really sure why we need that sort of detail,” Dot replied after a moment, taking a bite of one of the cookies she’d grabbed as well. “But I guess if you do care about that stuff, Tanya and Rosie feel to me like they could have known each other a little longer based on some of the banter or whatever.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But I also don’t really know what those details add to the show.”

eilonwy-notjustgirl: 

Couldn’t Escape If I Wanted To | Teen Dynamos

So, this was a bit of a strange dynamic. Eilonwy liked to think that she and Pip were friends by now, especially after all the time they had spent together in Hatters and all the stories that they had told each other. Her only memory of Dot was that frustrating argument in Enchantra when she had just arrived. But no matter! They needed to learn to be friends on stage, and the best way to do that was to become friends off stage. 

The best way to make friends in Eilonwy’s mind? Cookies. She didn’t know what either of their favorites were, so she made chocolate chip cookies (since it seemed like almost everyone liked those) and snickerdoodles (in case they didn’t like chocolate for some reason). The last batch coming out of the oven was slightly late, so she had to quickly throw them into the box she was bringing before she grabbed her script and raced down to the theater. 

“Sorry! I ran a little bit long on revising and I almost missed the timer going off. But I have cookies! We can eat them as we figure out our scene or you guys can take them home with you at the end, whichever works. Is Pip here?”

@exsqueak–me @a-seed-named-dot

.

Ofc Pip was already here. Being punctual (or early) was his thing. 

He’d actually arrived before Dot, but when it was clear that Eilonwy was going to be late, he’d excused himself so he could go to the bathroom (and secretly do some Spill management, mostly checking the queue/queuing new posts, etc. etc.) 

But he was back now! He pushed through the doors and performed an overdramatic flick of his own fringe, channeling the energy of the diva he was about to embody, heart and soul. Miss Tanya Chesham-Leigh. The best week or so, he’d been hard at work journaling, building a specific Tanya-mood board, and even purchasing several sunglasses (currently in the mail) he planned to wear in rehearsals just to help him get ~in character. But more important that all that work was certainly this: the bond between Dynamos! 

“Oh my god, cookies?! I so would, but Tanya is sugar free unless you get her drunk,” said Pip with a playful grin. “But I’m sure our Rosie is more than happy to partake. So! What scene did we want to do first?” 

@a-seed-named-dot 

@eilonwy-notjustgirl 

.

Well this was going to be interesting.

Dot eyed the weird girl from the forest for a long minute before she shrugged and reached for a chocolate chip cookie. Why not? It looked good. And Dot could appreciate the gesture at least. “I hate when anyone assumes anything about me but...yeah. I will take one. And I’m sure Rosie would too.” It would make this time with them working together go a little smoother probably.

“Well that depends. Do we want to start with the sort of bondy scenes with the three ladies with Dancing Queen and whatever? Or do we want to start from the beginning? I personally think we could warm up to the more dramatic stuff.”

@eilonwy-notjustgirl​ @exsqueak--me​

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Atta nodded, the lump in her throat as hard and large as stone. The tears were welling in her eyes even as she barely held them back. 

Being idle could easily become a cesspit of grief, which wasn’t actually much better than ignoring it. Atta knew that– it was why, like her sister, she’d tried her best to stay as busy as possible. But she’d been too busy. They all had. The Orkney fairies had to migrate from Scotland to England with limited resources and fragile hope grasped between their fingers. They’re been no time for grief during the journey, no time as they settled into Enchantra. 

But they had to process it sometime. 

“I know, bumblebee,” said Atta with her voice thick with those tears. “But we need to. For them and also for us. Look, I’m not saying… you have to stop scouting entirely. We can talk with the listening-talent and Captain Nyx and work out a new schedule for you. And maybe working closely with Sled could help? He’s from home, he understands.” 

.

Dot sniffled, scooting forward so she could hug her sister. She didn’t often seek comfort in quite that way, mostly because she was so determined to prove she was strong. To prove that she was the one who could protect Atta. That was her duty after all. Her talent was the way it was so she could look out for her.

But she was also young and she needed her sister, and she ached for the family that they had lost. She ached so much. 

“Right...Sled. Sure.” She didn’t really want to work with anyone else. She just wanted to prove she could do it. “I guess so. I just want to...I want to be your scout Atta. I want to keep you safe. That’s all I want. I don’t want my stupid feelings to get in the way.”

@eilonwy-notjustgirl @exsqueak--me​

So Dot was in the play, which she honestly wouldn’t have cared much about if she hadn’t completely failed her placement. Now it was like the only thing that kind of distracted her from not being who she was supposed to be. So wasn’t that just perfect? She could pretend to be some weird girl named Rosie. 

Dot didn’t really care for one of the people who were supposed to be her closest friends...well. Actually, if she were truly honest she didn’t really like Pip that much either. He was loud and opinionated...much like Dot could be actually, and Dot generally liked to avoid dealing with that.

But now here she was in the theatre at the agreed upon time with her script in hand and settling in on one corner of the stage. She glanced through some of the words (and lyrics) until she heard the sound of the door. “It’s about time! You know I do have other things I could be doing...” Not strictly true, since she was supposed to figure herself out more before she could do more training. Bleh. They didn’t need to know that though.

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

If there was one thing that Atta was supposed to be very good at, it was listening. 

And so that’s what she did. She stayed still, her hand still on her sister’s back like she might provide some kind of anchor among her storm. And she listened. Even when Dot paused or her words grew stilted, Atta did not press. Silence was one of the most useful tools for a royal-talent; this lesson she had not forgotten. 

But it got harder the more Dot’s voice trembled. Atta had never heard her sister sound so…frightened. 

Atta finally roped her arms around Dot’s shoulders and gently hugged her. 

“Oh Dot,” she sighed. Tears welled in her own eyes, for her sister’s struggles but also because she understood– no, her wings had never frozen, but she knew what it was like to freeze. Hadn’t she been frozen for moons, refusing to move on past the death of their Hollow? She hadn’t wanted to be another Hollow’s queen. Even now, thinking about it filled her with guilt as sticky and thick as the oil that Dot once battled through. Like she was betraying Orkney, and letting down Enchantra, all at the same time. 

Of course Atta was not the only one with these burdens, even if Dot’s looked different.

She sniffled a little and drew away, though her arm was still around her sister’s shoulders. “Darling, healing-talents don’t just heal the body. They help heal our hearts. That’s the problem. And I understand, I…you saw me trying to run away from my problems. But you are stronger than that Dot. Sometimes, the bravest thing to do is stop and rest, not try to fight.” 

.

Dot felt so guilty for unloading it on Atta. She knew her sister had been going through a lot herself. And like her sister, she hadn’t wanted to place any more burden on her. It was just so hard. Dot didn’t know how to get herself help with this. And she really didn’t see how a healing talent could do anything about it.

But something had to change. Dot clearly couldn’t keep going the way that she was. And that was upsetting, and frustrating. What if she wouldn’t become a scout because of her stupid trauma? Dot refused to have her dreams be dashed forever. 

She wished mom and dad were there. Sometimes she would think about the way they would sit down with her when she’d get frustrated with somebody during training. Or when she was upset...but thinking about them only made the ache worse. She didn’t let herself think about them much.

“How are they supposed to help with that?” Dot asked, rubbing her eyes furiously. “I don’t want to rest. All I end up doing is thinking and missing everyone and it really really hurts! I don’t want to think about it.”

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Atta frowned and reached out instinctively, her hand falling softly between Dot’s wing joints. They were beautiful wings– much like Atta’s own in shape though slightly longer and definitely stronger. In all ways, that’s how Atta thought of Dot: stronger than her. She was bold and confident, never doubted herself, knew exactly what she wanted. Part of that was her talent, of course, but most of it was Dot herself. It wasn’t easy, you know, growing up with an older sister who was supposed to rule an entire Hollow. Atta could never understand all the particular challenges that came with that– from judgment and jealousy from other fairies, to the fact that Atta had rarely been around– but she knew that it had only ever made Dot stronger. 

But maybe not as strong as Atta thought.

She shouldn’t have thought her sister was invincible. 

“You need to talk to me,” she said softly. “I know you didn’t just– fail your test out of nowhere. This um, this…this issue with your wings? What is going on there? Why didn’t you tell me or the Captain sooner? Or– talk to one of the healing-talents?” 

.

Dot sucked in a shaky breath and let it out again as Atta’s hand touched right between her wing joints. It felt strange, if only because Dot hadn’t really let anyone close for much. Maybe that was part of the problem. She hadn’t let anyone in and had pretended that everything was fine. 

Well...it wasn’t fine. She’d known it wasn’t fine but she had tried so hard to contain her grief. Much like Atta had, until she couldn’t anymore. The two of them had never really talked about it. Not that Dot had really known how to talk about it all. The ache was there. Dot missed their parents so much sometimes she could hardly breathe. 

But she knew all of the worries that Atta had. She’d watched her sister carefully. And Dot had figured the one thing she could do as a budding scout talent was not burden her sister with more. “Because! Well because...well you were already dealing with so much, what kind of scout would I be if I threw this at you too? And the Captain? Please, I wanted to train. Training makes sense. Nothing else makes sense anymore but training...trying to become a scout is all I’ve ever thought about.”

Her vision was getting blurry and she reached up to rub at her eyes furiously. “I know my wings aren’t actually hurt so what’s a healing talent going to do? I just....I...sometimes I get these flashes and I forget where I am and it feels like...like...like that awful day again and there’s oil everywhere...all over...over my wings. And then they feel like they’re glued together and I fall. I don’t know what to do about it Atta. Except keep going the way I always have.”

Now there’s only emptiness | @ 

.

Yes, Atta heard about everything that happened– her sister, one of the most dedicated and hard-working scout-students in any Hollow, completely failing her placement test. It wasn’t like Dot at all. 

But then, when she spoke to Captain Nyx, and the Nemo sparrow boy had confessed about Dot’s wings…

Atta knew she should have seen it all much sooner.

At first then, she’d tried to give Dot some space, knowing that she needed time to be frustrated, and sad, and embarrassed, and didn’t need Atta prodding her for answers and explanations. Atta had her own secrets taken from her; Atta didn’t want to force Dot to talk if she wasn’t ready. But after a few days, when Dot did not come downstairs… 

Atta fluttered up to her sister’s bedroom and then sat down on the bed. 

“Now how would you know that with your head buried so far under the pillow, you little groundhog?” Atta said and reached forward to pinch Dot’s toe through her sheets. Then softer: “Come on, Dot. Won’t you talk to me about this?” 

.

Dot lifted her head reluctantly to look at her sister, rolling a little on her side. She would honestly prefer to keep wallowing, but she didn’t want to ignore Atta either. She trusted her sister more than anyone else in the whole world, and even though Dot wanted nothing more than to just disappear beneath the pillow and wake up to a world where she had aced her placement...that wasn’t going to happen. 

“I could know it. I know that everything is rot right now,” Dot insisted. And it was! How was Dot going to be a good scout that could keep her sister safe as Queen one day if she couldn’t pass her placement the first time? What did that say about her? And why did her wings have to give her trouble like this anyway? 

Dot forced herself to sit up properly now, rubbing her eyes quickly. “Talk about what exactly? I totally failed. Nemo was the only reason we got through it in tact.” That and the other scouts that appeared after a while. She knew there had been something wrong for a long time. Dot just hadn’t wanted to admit it. “I don’t know what to do Atta.”

Study Buddies || Dim

@a-seed-named-dot

Mim grabbed a caramel latte and one of the salt packets, dumping the salt in as she sat down at a table in Hatter’s. Salted caramel was a relatively normal flavor combo so she figured she wouldn’t get 8000 weird looks for it. Maybe only down to 4000. Not that she really cared. But since she was supposed to be meeting Dot to study, she didn’t want to start it off with an argument. 

Mim was one of the few people that was doing well in Dr. Drakken’s class right now, mainly because her dad started giving her extra lessons in biology and physics as soon as she could read. So when she had heard Dot complaining about some of her scores and how weird human school was, she had jumped on it. 

After all, she really wanted to have friends again that were girls. A friend that was a girl and also part of the Magick community? Better. Sure her parents would be pretty dismissive of her friendship with a fairy, but that was only more reason for her to make this friendship happen. 

So, here they were at Hatter’s so they could work on this week’s paper and start studying for the final at the end of the year. When she saw Dot walk in she waved quickly. “Hey! I’ve got a table over here.”

.

Dot didn’t really like to visit a lot of these human places much. She’d been forced to, since she’d been forced to go to human school and all that, but she had to say she still didn’t like the pace of it all, or the way people would tap their toes wanting to rush off somewhere else. Or the weird coffee drinkers who got angry if they didn’t get just right. 

Hatter’s was a weird place. And she wasn’t sure that it would help her learn any of this science nonsense either. But she still came anyway, and was able to spot the girl who actually understood what was going on in that class. Mim. 

@the-princess-atta​

Dot was m i s e r a b l e. 

She had never messed up so badly on anything in her whole entire life! And now she couldn’t be a scout apprentice and she would have to keep training, and she hadn’t proved anything to anyone. Nothing but the fact that she was reckless and didn’t think to mention how her wings messed up sometimes.

But she hadn’t thought it would happen like that. Why should she? She could never really tell what things brought her back to that awful moment when the Hollow disappeared.

In any case, Dot hated everything and she absolutely was not going to go to school. She refused. Instead she was wallowing in her bed, fully intending to hibernate in there until a whole season had passed. Maybe then she’d be able to hold her head up around anyone.

She heard a flutter of movement and she lifted her head slightly. “Go away Atta. Everything is awful.”

The Bravest Of All || Not.

. 

The gust had knocked Nemo out too, through the sheer amount of his own breath it had taken to summon. He had collapse on the litter. His heart pummeled. His back burned, the pain screaming up and down his spine. And his wrist hurt too, bloodied from the string digging into his skin. 

But he had to get up. 

Nemo sucked in another breath and used it to kip into a standing position, whirling around at the sound of his name. Dot! She was up, thank the seasons! And by the looks of it, the force of their fall had snapped the string in half. It was still tied to Nemo’s and Dot’s wrists, but they weren’t completely tethered together. 

But they were still partners. Still scouts on the same guard.

And so they practically collided as Nemo ran toward her and Dot ran toward him. “C’mon!” Nemo grabbed at her hand and started pulling her toward the hole in the tree trunk. He didn’t want to fly– wasn’t sure if Dot could fly. Considering his own twitching, sore wing, maybe he couldn’t fly. So he shoved Dot into the trunk and dived into it himself, scrambling as far back as he could go, until he was pressed against the other side of the tree. 

The bird’s beak smashed into the hole the next second, pecking and scraping bits of bark.

“Shoot it again, shoot it again!” Nemo pointed at its soft pink tongue, its nose, anywhere. 

.

Dot didn’t get a chance to try shooting at the bird again. 

Several things happened at once. A few fairies hopped down from the trees and started directing their weapons at the bird, driving it back. Another two came for Dot and Nemo and started tugging them away from the situation.

Now that Dot had collected herself a bit she could feel all the other feelings that had been blocked out by sheer fear. Shame, embarrassment. All the other fairies had seen what happened. How she froze. How her wings failed her and how she left Nemo in the lurch. 

It felt awful. It felt completely rotten, and she didn’t even know how she was going to look her fellow scouts in the eye. Or Atta...she’d kept this from Atta for months.