ariella

“We’re under attack! Light the signal!”

“Send your troops to protect my people!”

“A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat.”

“I’m going to uh… pray some more.”

“How lucky can they be? They’re dead.”

“This is what you give me to work with? Well honey, I’ve seen worse!”

“You’ll bring honor to us all.”

“Boys will gladly go to war for you!”

“Even you can’t blow it!”

“Who spit in their bean curd?”

“I think it’s going well, don’t you?”

“You will never bring your family honor!”

“Can it be I’m not meant to play this part?”

“If I were truly to be myself, I would break my family’s heart.”

“What beautiful blossoms we have this year… But look, this one’s late! But I’ll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all.”

“[ NAME ], you dishonor me.”

“So you’ll die for honor?”

“I will die doing what’s right!”

“I know my place! It’s time you learned yours!”

“You should go after them – they could be killed!”

“Anybody who’s foolish enough to threaten our family, vengeance will be mine!”

“Well we can’t all be acupuncturists!”

“Okay okay, I get the drift, I’ll go.”

“Jump back, I’m pretty hot, huh? Don’t make me have to singe nobody to prove no point.”

“Just once chance, is that too much to ask? I mean it’s not like it’ll kill you.”

“Don’t even worry about it! I will not lose face!”

“That’s the master plan! Oh, you’ve done it now man!”

“You’re lucky? Do I look like a sucker to you?”

“Stop me? They invited me.”

“By building their wall they challenged my strength. Well I’m here to play their game.”

“How many men does it take to deliver a message?”

“Ah I see you have a sword! I have one too! They’re very manly and tough!”

“It’ll take a miracle to get me into the army.”

“Who am I? I am the guardian of lost souls!”

“My powers are beyond your mortal imagination.”

“That’s it! Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow!”

“It’s all attitude. Be tough, like this guy here.”

“I’m gonna hit you so hard, it’ll make your ancestors dizzy.”

“Ah, you ain’t worth my time, chicken boy.”

“Say that to my face, you limp noodle!”

“This is an enormous responsibility. Perhaps a soldier with more experience…?”

“Leader of [ PLACE ]’s finest troops. No, the greatest troops of all time!”

“I mean, sorry you had to see that. But you know how it is when you get those manly urges – and you just gotta kill something!”

“I didn’t ask for their name, I asked for yours!”

“Y’know, we need to work on your people skills.”

“Place nice with the other kids. Unless of course, one of the other kids wants to fight, then you have to kick the other kid’s butt.”

“Oh, I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover. C’mon, scare me!”

“My little baby off to destroy people…”

“Are y’hungry? ‘Cause I owe you a knuckle sandwich.”

“I’ll get that arrow, pretty boy. And I’ll do it with my shirt on.”

“You’re the saddest bunch I’ve ever met.”

“Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!”

“Heed my every order and you might survive.”

“We’re doomed! There are a couple of things I know they’re bound to notice!”

“I bet [ NAME ] and I could take you!”

“I never want to see a naked man again.”

“Those boys are no more fit to be soldiers than you are to be captain. Once the general reads my report, your troops will never see battle.”

“Hey, I’ll hold him and you punch.”

“Hello, this is the army! Make it sound more urgent please!”

“And I do not squeal like a girl.”

“There’s no time for stupid questions!”

“Hey, think of instead: a girl worth fighting for!”

“Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer.”

“How ‘bout a girl who’s got a brain, who always speaks her mind?”

“Yeah the only girl who’d love him is his mother.”

“Search for survivors!”

“What happened? You just gave away our position!”

“Prepare to fight. If we die, we die with honor.”

“You missed! How could you miss, they were three feet in front of you!”

“We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die! No way we survive this! Death is coming!”

“I knew we could do it! You the man! … Well, sort of.”

“You are the craziest person I’ve ever met. And for that I owe you my life. From now on, you have my trust.”

“I didn’t mean for it to go this far! It was the only way! Please, believe me.”

“A life for a life. My debt is repaid.”

“Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right. So when I look in a mirror, I’d seen someone worthwhile. But I was wrong. I see nothing.”

“You risked your life to help people you love… I risked your life to help myself. At least you had good intentions.”

“We started this thing together, and that’s how we’ll finish it. I promise.”

“They popped out of the snow! Like daisies!”

“Are we in this together or not?”

“Let’s go kick some honey buns!”

“Keep your eyes open. I know they’re here.”

“Your walls and armies have fallen. And now it’s your turn. Bow to me.”

“No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it.”

“You! You took away my victory!”

“You don’t have a plan?!”

“It looks like you’re out of ideas.”

“Stand aside, that creature’s not worth protecting!”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you, [ NAME ].”

“You have saved us all.”

“I think I’ve been away from home long enough.”

“Are they allowed to do that?”

“You… you fight good.”

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”

“They’re gifts, to honor our family.”

“Great, they brought home a sword. If you ask me they should’ve brought home a [ WOMAN/MAN ].”

“Woo! Sign me up for the next war!”

“Would you like to stay forever?”

“Dinner would be great.”

               THE QUEEN GLANCED OVER AT HER COMPANION - a stranger but seemingly nice enough. She nodded carefully, being sure that she was the one being addressed, and smiled slightly - as Queen, she couldn’t help but feel a little PROUD when people talked well of her kingdom, even when it came to things she couldn’t control ( though, admittedly, she had put a little chill in the air this morning ). ❛  It is. Is it your first time here ?  ❜

The moment she began to request his praise he jolted out of his surprised trance and looked at her. He glared at her a little and continued to remain silent while she spoke. It wasn’t until she began to reach the end of it did he finally act. Leaning down he quickly kissed her lips to get her to be quiet before pulling away and begin walking over to the stag while forming a new ice dagger and twirling it between his fingers.

“Butterfly, now don’t take this the wrong way, but between the two of us I’ve known ice-boy the longest. He might mutter such things but ice-boy wouldn’t actually hurt me. And I’m pretty sure he likes me annoying him more than his brothers.” He had lost count of how many times he had listened to Ash mutter one thing or another about his older brothers. “Since you asked I’ll back off a bit. But really what I was doing was fine and I’m sure ice-boy liked it more than what his brothers were doing.”

The ignorance shone through, as Maelys gradually inspected her surroundings. Had she been tricked? “Hurt me?” She had to ask, had to know. There weren’t many clues regarding plausible answers, yet the girl feared most of them already. How stupid she would have been to trust someone who was not like her! Then again, there was still a glimmer of hope that Ariella hadn’t set out to hurt Maelys for what she was. It was strange for her to have hope in the slightest, but it was also a strong desire not to lose her friend - not to lose faith in the possibility that she might ever learn to live a normal life again.. or at least as normal as someone with special powers could be. 

“Oh, no, I’m not cold. I feast off the cold,” she explained, “I’m naturally cold.” Which was something that all Winer Fey had in common. “I just have to ask – but what are you. I don’t think you’re a human, nor do I believe you’re from the Seelie Court.”