Dot Orkney

Study Hours || Dim

@dot-orkney​

You would think that pulling off a literal heist with a man would make him ease up on a person. But no!!! Drakken loved to make her life a constant misery and cause her problems all the time! At least this time around her ‘punishment’ for acting out in class was something that was actually pretty fun. This time around, she had to work on helping Dot catch up on her projects. 

She didn’t really understand what had happened that had made Dot get so behind this time. It seemed like the other girl was in a strange mood, but maybe that was true of everyone. Ever since Spring Break, their whole class had been kind of on edge it felt like. Or maybe that was just the people Mim was hanging out with. 

No matter, biology was something she understood well and felt she could explain well, and it was time to hang out with her friend so she wasn’t too upset. “Ok, so where do you want to start? The library’s open for another 3 hours and I don’t have any work shifts today so we’ve got plenty of time.”

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Dot wanted nothing more than to ditch the human school forever and just live in the Hollow and train and train until she finally proved her worth. But no...Dot was banned from training and forced to go be social and learn something new in this place. It was miserable.

Then again, Dot made it more miserable for herself by not having studied much of this human stuff when she should have. So now she had this project that didn’t make sense to her, and a friend who she admired so much trying to help her out. 

“Uhhh....honestly I don’t know. I feel like I get an itch and want to fly away every time I think about looking at this stuff.” 

Show Me What You Got! || Blot

It was the day of a stupid history presentation in stupid history class in stupid Swynlake Secondary. 

Amity would much rather be anywhere but here. She spent almost all her time right now in the studio, trying to perfect her golem. Trying to design the perfect abomination. Every second she spent away from that was another second wasted in her opinion, but she couldn’t just not do her assignments. She’d already gotten an 80 on a recent French test. An 80! Amity Blight had never scored marks below a 95 in her entire life! 

At least after this project, things would cool off until exams and she could finally dedicated 110% to her abomination craft. There was no other choice. 

Just had to get through today first. 

So where in Titan’s left ass check was freaking Dot Orkney, her partner? 

To be fair, they hadn’t worked on it together at all. When the assignment and partners were dished out, Amity had quickly split the work in half and told Dot to take care of her share on her own. She just didn’t have time to work around a pixie chick’s schedule. But now that felt like a calculated error because her partner was missing. They still had to copy her slides over! 

Wait… there she was!

Amity rushed down the hall. “I told you to get to class five minutes early!” she hissed at her. “You didn’t send me your slides!” 

@dot-orkney 

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Dot hated human school. She hadn’t liked it before she’d completely screwed up and gotten punished. She liked it even less with her punishment hanging over her head and the only thing she was allowed to do was come to this place. She struggled on most assignments and she was behind in most classes.

It took her a while to get to the right class, finding her way to it and startling as that girl Amity came rushing right over. Hoarfrost. Could this day get any worse?

The answer was: yes. Yes it could absolutely get worse. Because Amity was talking about some sort of slides, and Dot couldn’t help but look at her like she was speaking another language. “What are you talking about? Of course I didn’t send any slides. Why would I send slides? You’re not a human infant.”

Need a friend? || Fot

@dot-orkney​

Félix always walked to and from work. Swynlake was only small, there was no real need to drive and… well. He maybe wasn’t the best driver. Was it his fault that traffic drove him crazy? And that he liked to drive fast? And that he thought that the gears were more recommendations and it was totally fine to take a corner in 4th? Plus, the whole driving on the left thing– still difficult, even after all these years.

Besides, walking to work was pretty much the only exercise he got, seeing as he mostly sat at a desk all day. It also made it a lot easier to stop off at Hatter’s or the Moon Market for a little snack along the way.

This morning, Félix had only just got back on the street after stopping off at Hatter’s when he noticed a girl up ahead, looking like she was digging through her bag for something. It reminded Félix very much of Camilo, whose school bag had been in constant disarray so he could never find anything he wanted, and so even though he should probably hurry on to work, Félix decided to stop.

“Hey - have you lost something?”

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Dot had lost a lot of things in the past few months. Her Hollow, her parents, her hope, her dignity, and the chance of becoming a scout anytime soon. But she’d done this to herself. Dot just didn’t want to take things slowly. If her sister was getting closer to becoming a queen, then Dot had to be there right along with her. That was the dream!

The reality was shaping up to be something else. Atta had chosen another person to be her Scout Guard. Dot was still in training and not allowed to continue for a little while. Until she could prove she was more responsible. 

Which was why not finding her homework for the stupid human school was even worse! Dot groaned, tossing her bag down on the ground and debating over just throwing it away in a fit of fury when a voice brought her out of her head for a minute. She turned toward the guy and sighed. “Yeah...my dignity and self respect...and stupid human homework.”

@olaf-likeswarmhugs​

So life was a bit messy in the Orkney home. Or at least, in Dot’s home, because Dot was doing her best and making a right mess. And nearly getting herself killed so her sister triggered some wild queen powers and now...well now Dot was grounded for the forseeable...forever. 

Which of course meant that Dot snuck out of her home (not really that difficult since Atta had royal talent training stuff to do. She’d drank a little on the way, but Dot was still buzzing in her misery and discomfort and she needed more.

When Dot walked into Pixie’s, she was sure the bartender gave her a look, but she chose to ignore it. The first shot she got she downed. And she downed a few more, until more and more of her anger and sadness washed away and she could feel a weird lightness she hadn’t felt since Orkney Hollow had been destroyed. 

Next thing Dot knew she was dancing on the table to some human Britney Spears’ song Stronger. “'Cause now I'm stronger than yesterday! Now it’s nothing but my wayyy my loneliness ain't killing me no more. I, I'm stronger” Dot’s wings fluttered behind her and she just let herself be for the first time, ignoring everyone around her.

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

Atta flew the fastest she’d ever flown. Her wing muscles ached, her body vibrating as she ducked and dodged between the branches. The trees began to grow thicker, deciduous giving way to coniferous, and she knew she was close.

“Princess, wait!” cried Althea, zipping in front of her. Atta skidded in the air. “There it is!” 

Atta’s eyes followed the path of Althea’s finger. Up and up and up. The nest was large, bending the weight of the larch branches. She could see the wings of the baby gryphons as they expanded them, only to contract them a moment later. 

It was clear– they were pouncing. 

In the span of this two flutter rest, Althea had been speaking to the scout team, giving orders and putting together a plan. Atta knew the protocol for when a predator got a hold of a fairy. She’d learned it, taken tests on it, read accounts in the journals of Orkney and also here in Enchantra. This was not a mission to be taken lightly, but the success rates were also quite low as the time ticked on. They had already wasted so much time, Nemo fetching them, the troop flying here. 

There could be no more wasted time. Atta acted.

She darted forward. 

“PRINCESS!” Althea yelped. She tried to grab onto Atta but Atta dodged as she torpedeoed straight for the nest. 

“That’s my sister!” she yelled. First, to the scouts. And then– to the gryphon, as she got closer. “That’s my sister!” 

Atta didn’t know what happened next.

-

From afar, Nemo did. 

Nemo saw everything. He had slumped against a branch, his lucky wing folded completely down. When Atta jet forward, she’d started to glow. It wasn’t the typical fairy glimmer that happened when they used their talents. It was like she’d burst like a firework, brighter than the sun. Nemo gasped and held his hand up to shield some of the intense glow. She was suddenly faster than even a fast flying talent, in the nest before Nemo could blink. 

The gryphon babies floated out of the nest. They writhed in the air, flapping their wings, but they couldn’t get free from the spew of pixie dust Atta must have laced around them. But they weren’t the only things floating–

Nemo gasped again. “Jingles– jingles, the trees!” 

In her path to the nest, the pixie dust that had poured from Atta had rained down on everything below. Trees had become uprooted. Leaves fluttered up in reverse order. Everything floated. 

“By the blue moon,” uttered Althea. “I– she’s harnessed the power of the Pixie Dust Tree.” 

“Can she– can she do that?!” 

“Queens can do that,” murmured Althea. She put her fist against her heart, a quiet salute. 

–

The nest was empty. The gryphons were tumbling upward toward the clouds.

 Atta didn’t mind them, only fell to her knees and threw her arms around Dot. “Dot!” she cried. “Dot, are you hurt?!” 

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Terror. Absolute terror.

Dot’s heart went ba bump ba bump ba bumpBABUMPBABUMP as she twisted past one of the gryphons, ducking away from a sharp claw. She was so stupid. She had risked her life and Nemo’s because she just had to prove herself. But all Dot did was prove that she was too reckless to deserve a position as a scout.

She wanted to cry, but tears would only get in the way of her survival. Dot was locked in that mode...but then...something truly incredible happened.

A glow appeared out of nowhere, covering everything around her and the nest. The babies floated out and were surrounded with pixie dust. Trees were floating....leaves strewn about were floating...pixie dust was...it was everywhere. 

Dot’s eyes were wide with shock as the gryphons tumbled away, Atta suddenly appearing before her. Dot threw her own arms around Atta and started to cry, clutching onto her sister with everything she had. 

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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“DOT!” Nemo cried out, but he just kept spinning and plummeting. He waved his arms out, trying to redirect his air flow, but it didn’t matter. He hit the treeline and kept going, until a cross-section of branches stopped him abruptly.

He groaned, but scrambled up and then zipped out from the leaves into the open air. But he was too late. There! The gryphon had taken Dot back into its nest! Aw no, aw no no no! She was either going to get eaten or played with– 

What was Nemo supposed to do?! He couldn’t take on a gryphon. 

There was only one choice. 

Help. 

Nemo sprinted in the opposite direction, back toward the Hollow

***

He didn’t have to that far. 

His time with the scouts had taught him the paths of the scouts, so he quickly tracked one down. His eyes went wide when he saw that Atta was actually with the small band. He must have caught her on her own round of Enchantra’s grounds. “ATTA!” he cried and nearly ran right into her. 

Atta looked startled. She clasped Nemo’s shoulders gently as he panted and nearly dropped out of the sky, his back aching from his sudden wing sprint. “Nemo, what’s going on?” 

“Dot– she– gryphon–” he panted “–nest–” 

Atta’s face turned white as ice. 

“Dot Orkney?!” exclaimed one of the scouts– Althea. “But we would have known if the gryphons had entered pixie territo–”

“No we went– please, she’s been taken!” Nemo exclaimed. 

“Take us there at once,” Atta said. 

“Princess, it’s not wise you come. Go back with Baxter–” 

“I’m going!” Atta exclaimed. “Please, Nemo, lead us to the nest!” 

Nemo felt like he was going to fall out of the air. He kept dropping several wing-lengths, but he nodded. “Follow me!” 

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Dot’s heart was racing as the gryphon carried her to the nest, dropping her on one side of it. Was this it for Dot Orkney? She didn’t want to do that to her sister. Or herself of course. Dot wanted to go down protecting her Hollow if anything. Not like this as a stupid scout in training trying to prove herself.

She peered around the nest, biting back a cry of fear as she got a good look at the two baby gryphons looking her way. Oh hoarfrost. This was not going to end well. Not at all.

Mim could see the spatter of snow that meant she’d hit and giggled to herself. It was rare she and Dot got to hang out and just be silly as there was usually school and practice and other things to focus on. But for now it was nice to just be two kids who didn’t have to worry about the rest of the world. 

As she popped up, she took a snowball straight to the forehead letting out a loud “OOF” as she fell backwards, dropping her own snowball. “Brain freeze! Brain freeze!” She flailed from the ground and grabbe dhold of one of the snowballs, lobbing it wildly in Dot’s direction. 

Dot couldnt help but cackle as she got a good hit of her on in. “Ha, got you!” She boasted proudly, dancing around in the open maybe a little too long because even though Mim’s shot was wild, it still managed to get her in the shoulder. She shrieked, making a face as she stumbled back and reached for another snowball. “You’re in for another good shot. I hope you’re ready for more!” Dot threw another snowball, aiming at the flailing Mim. Though as she got a good look at the girl on the ground, she debated whether or not she was being a good sport.

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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Nemo did not have super scout hearing, or super scout vision, or super scout anything. All he had was speed… and only a tiny bit more than Dot, considering his wing. 

So he braked hard, nearly flipping himself over in the air at Dot’s question. “What? Where? What?” he said, his heart hammering like a hummingbird’s. 

He strained his ears… 

And then a baby gryphon screeched, bursting from the nest and flying directly at them!

“DOT!” Nemo grabbed her by the hand and dived.

The gryphon was right behind them, just as fast– fast with piercing eye sight. It screeched and tried to grab them in the air. Its talons smacked into Nemo and Dot, and they went spiraling off course. Nemo fluttered his wings frantically, but his little one couldn’t stop his own momentum! 

“AHHHHHHH!” 

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The baby gryphon came out of what seemed like nowhere, diving toward them and trying to grab them. Dot spun as its talons smacked into them, though she was quick to right herself, glancing around for Nemo.

Nemo who had only come to help her...

Nemo who was tumbling off and not able to stop his momentum. Oh Hoarfrost. 

Dot dove for him, flying as fast as her wings could carry her. She didn’t think about anything else but making sure she would bring Nemo out of danger. The gryphon came at them both so quickly, but if Dot moved just right she’d at least be able to stop Nemo from suffering her foolishness. 

When Mim saw Dot duck behind a tree, Mim dived behind a large snowbank for cover herself. (Perks of being a short person). She quickly put together a few more snowballs before glancing over to see if she could see where Dot was. 

Then she immediately had to duck down again as two snowballs crashed over her head. “Missed me!” Following her taunt, she popped up and threw a snowball as hard as she could in the direction she had last seen Dot in. 

Dot squeeled in surprise as a snowball managed to just get her shoulder. What in the world? Dot’s reflexes clearly needed some improving. She couldn’t let a blow like that stand.

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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Dot darted forward, completely ignoring Nemo. 

Oh this was bad. This was bad BAD. What was he supposed to do?! He could go get a scout, but that meant leaving Dot alone in gryphon territory, intent on TOUCHING that stupid nest! If he went along with her though, he was enabling her! 

Thorns, and she wasn’t even giving him time to think. Nemo hissed and zipped after her at that stupid little taunt. “This isn’t about being brave! Gryphons are predators! This is like, rule number one in the scout handbook! Don’t purposefully engage a predator!” He sucked in a breath and steeled his gaze. “Come on, Dot. I dunno what– what you’re trying to prove, but we can still go back to the Hollow. Please!” 

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“I’m clearly not engaging the predator Nemo. I’m scouting the territory,” Dot insisted stubbornly, zipping through leaves and up closer and closer toward the gryphon nest. 

As she got closer, she thought she heard a rustling of leaves...but no. Dot had checked ahead and made sure the gryphons actually weren’t at the nest at the moment. So she wasn’t completely reckless, okay? 

Be that as it may, her heart did skip a beat as she slowed a little coming closer to the nest. “Did you hear that?” 

As soon as Dot decided to engage, she responded shockingly fast. Which meant that Mim ended up with a face full of snow a second later and she found herself sputtering and brushing at her face. “Cold cold cold,” she muttered as she spat out the last bit of the snow. 

“Then I guess you’d better try.” Scooping up her own snowball, she lobbed it hard at Dot and then started running off to the side to avoid whatever would get returned her way. 

Dot started cackling, dodging to try to avoid the snowball that Mim threw back at her, just getting hit in the side and huffing. She would have to be quicker. But she was trained for defensive and offensive moves. She could outmanuever Mim she was sure of it.

As soon as Dot’s outraged cry rang out, Mim burst out laughing, clutching at her sides as she saw the furious expression on her face. It was probably a bad idea to find it as funny as she did. But how was she supposed to resist? She’d probably never have a chance like this again. 

“Oh yeah? You going to make me?” Dimly, she remembered the last time she had challenged Dot. It had ended with them kissing which had been…nice. But it hadn’t really come up again, and then there had been the musical and school and things had settled. So now here they were and she couldn’t stop herself from poking at the fairy. 

She quickly formed a second snowball and threw it at Dot to prove her point that she wasn’t backing down.

Dot snorted, twisting to avoid the snowball and diving to scoop up another ball of snow and throw it at Mim. She wasn’t going to let herself be defeated by Mim. Not even if Mim’s laughter made her want to laugh a little too. No! She was going to win!

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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Nemo’s eyes bugged out. “What?! Are you nutty– no!” 

There were definitely drills for this– for stealth and for speed. Usually they just entailed sneaking up on a blindfolded scout, and hey, Nemo was happy to do something like that! Blindfold him, stick him in a tree somewhere and let Dot hunt HIM down. But sneaking up on a gryphon?! In THEIR territory?! 

Gryphons more or less left fairies alone, but that was because fairies left THEM alone. That’s why the patrols didn’t come out here– there was no need!!!!! 

“Dot, you’re asking to become beak food! No, no no, let’s– we gotta get outta here!” He tried to grab Dot’s hand.

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Dot didn’t really want to take no for an answer. She wanted to prove herself. She wanted to finally show everyone that she had what it took to be a true scout. Dot was going to do it right now. And Nemo was going to help her. 

“Oh don’t be such a bumblebee. It’ll be fine! With the two of us here we’ll manage.” Dot twisted away from Nemo’s grip, wings fluttering as she moved closer to the gryphon nest. 

Dot started flying toward the nest, twisting around when she was halfway to it to look at Nemo. “Are you going to try? I know you’re braver than that.”

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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Nemo’s suspicions skyrocketed. 

As far as he could tell they’d flown out of the path of potential patrols, unless Nyx had switched it up lately. That probably meant Dot didn’t wanna run into any potential scouts. Or– she didn’t want them to get in the way and stop them.

He glanced around, marking where they were. The trees had started to stretch, deciduous giving way to the heavy cover of the pine trees. Here, the forest was still green and lush. Good for staking out, but Nemo also knew there were a lot of predators in this area. And that was never a good thing. 

“Uh… what kind of drill then…?” Nemo spoke slowly, not sure he actually wanted to hear Dot’s answer. 

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Okay, so maybe Dot felt a little bad for lying to Nemo and luring him out here. But who else was going to come with her for something like this? AND would be able to handle it? Dot didn’t trust anyone as much as she trusted Nemo or her sister. 

Dot landed on a tree branch, peering in the direction she remembered seeing a gryphon’s nest. 

She glanced over at Nemo and then pointed at what she had spotted. “We’re going to try and get as close to that nest as we can. Gotta practice using our stealth and speed to not get caught. It’s a big test but I think we can do it.”

Don’t Stop Me Now | Not @ Claire’s

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“Wh– hey! Wait for me!” Nemo exclaimed as Dot darted half-way up toward the treetops. 

He jumped into a wing-sprint so he could catch up to her fast, though as soon as he did, Dot was darting and dipping away from the Hollow. She flew with precision, the kind of flying you could do when you knew exactly where you were going. Nemo didn’t know! And so he lurched and dipped, trying to mimic her movements through the trees. 

“Agh, what’s the rush!” Nemo shouted after her. Dot sped on. With a nose scrunch, Nemo huffed and pushed faster so he could pull up to her left. 

“We’re uh, going kinda far from the Hollow just for drills, don’t you think?” 

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Dot didn’t wait.

In fact, she kept moving. It was better they just kept going before Nemo could question her too much, or before she could second guess herself. This was the fastest way she might succeed in becoming a scout. 

“No...I don’t think it’s too far. Just far enough in my opinion.” 

Dot slowed once they got closer to her goal, glancing over at Nemo and then worried at her lip. “And I mean...I don’t want it to be just any drill.”