#aasoaf 1

I gave the room another pass when my body tightened nervously, and the breath departed my chest. Just along the back wall was a short human woman, adjusting a sheer pink shawl over her shoulders. Her hair, a soft sandy brown. Her skin, a pale olive color. And her waist…yes, small and pinched. Could it be…Miss Frère? No, it couldn’t be. Had she truly spent everything I had given her? And why was she here, of all places? Is this what she meant when she said I should not seek her out? And what about the knights who took her? Where were they? She flipped her fan open and turned to look in my direction. My heart pounded hard in my chest. If it was her— No. No. It couldn’t be. I waited, like a fish gasping for life on the end of a fisherman’s hook, as her eyes lifted to meet mine. Through her lashes, I spotted a pale blue color, not at all like the gentle and warm almond of Miss Frère’s. And her face was all wrong too. Her features were too handsome. Miss Frère wasn’t ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but her face was not…well, it just wasn’t like that. She had a softness to her as if she were always being seen through fogged glass. One’s eyes could easily roll back and forth across the gentle slope of her cheeks and the tiny bow of her lips. My heart sank for a moment, but why? I should be relieved it wasn’t her, right?  “Cassia, come here, dove.” The madam called out to her softly.  The woman began to approach with slow, deliberate steps. Wrong again. Miss Frère walked with a bouncy urgency that swished her skirts ever so slightly to make the most gentle rustling sound. Perhaps to sound, well, like the beating of a dove’s wings. Yet another thing this woman was not. “Cassia is one of our newer girls.” The madam began as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind the woman’s ear, “Is she to your liking, sir?” She couldn’t be further from it. There was something unsettling about how much she resembled Miss Frère. As if she had been hired to impersonate her though she was a sorry substitute. “Aye, she be.” “Then she is yours for the night, sir. Please enjoy yourself.” The madam said as she placed Cassia’s hand in mine.  Wrong once more. This woman had lithe hands with long slim fingers and smooth palms. Miss Frère’s hands were small and delicate but calloused, betraying the years of hard work and toil she’d put in as a servant to her mistress. This woman, Cassia, was beyond disappointing.

Tagging (gently): @sarahlizziewrites @mysticstarlightduck @crowandmoonwriting @thewardenofwinter

M.O.W Taglist: @moonluringfrost @writeblr-of-my-own @illjustpretend @sparatus @outpost51 @captain-kraken

From @talesofsorrowandofruin

bandages

The words tangled in my throat as the open door revealed the lavender lizard pirate standing there, bandaged and supporting himself on a cane. I clutched my hand to my chest and nearly bit my tongue to avoid screaming. Of all the guests I might have expected, he was not one of them. But I suppose I should speak, shouldn’t I? I couldn’t simply stand there looking at him.

crawling

He departed, and while I did my best to temper my anger, it got the better of me as I seized one of the paperweights from my desk and threw it across the room, shattering some glass thing wherever it landed. Mar-Dur knew we would not follow him into waters crawling with the Pale Navy. It would be suicide. Though if he was going willingly into those cursed seas, it must mean that he was searching for powerful allies, heavy artillery, or both.

dull

I missed him more than I could put into words, and much as I tried to deny or convince myself otherwise, I loved him. The dull ache in my chest grew, and I started to cry. I’d missed people before; in fact, I’d spent most of my life yearning for the company of those I could not be with, but these feelings were different and altogether more painful.

extraordinary

Perhaps it was silly, but it reminded me of his grandmother’s story about the Kingdom of Frogs, hidden under the humble visage of a well, just as this place was hidden within him... A wonder unlike any other took over me, and with it came an overwhelming need to protect...to protect what? Him? This place? I got the sense that it was extraordinary despite his writing it off as ordinary.

From @oh-no-another-idea

black

I sat up and reached over to the small end table beside the tub to retrieve my soap when I saw a strange black smoke creeping in from outside my tent. A panic entered my stomach. Was this the Third Prince’s magic? I choked back the scream in my throat and watched it closely to see what might happen next. It began to grow thicker and started to crawl up the air, coalescing into the form of something.

gauze

I don't have this word, so have an AASOAF fun fact instead! In the original telling of AASOAF, Wilkes attends a formal event dressed in Lizardfolk robes heavily inspired by Mexican Mariachi dress because I think he'd really like the style IRL!

skin

She was leaning against one of the masts and somehow managed to look imposing and enchanting at the same time. Her face was long and elegant, each feature upon it well-defined and distinguished. Her eyes were a golden color that stood out against her skin and hair; both appeared the color of rain-dampened soil, rich and dark.

paper

She’d traveled in nightclothes, a cloak, and bare feet; even I could admit that probably didn’t feel good despite not personally needing to wear shoes myself.  Humans had paper-like skin on their feet, so they could hardly withstand things like pebbles and small branches, unlike my kind, who stepped on things like cactuses without issue.

fabric

The fabric of her dress rustled as she produced the pouch of treasure I had snuck into her bag the night before. She wasn’t here to return it, was she? She couldn’t be that stupid, right? Though I suppose she could be. Intelligence was not a credit she could be so confidently assigned, at least not in the same way one could with her honesty.

From @justnerdy15

heart

“Do you think they’re alright?” I asked softly. She laughed. “Child, don’t tell me you are still soft-hearted after being in my service for two years. Very little should concern you about society now; you should see this as nothing more than mere entertainment. When you get to my age, things such as these are commonplace.”

rain

It seemed one of the ropes of my makeshift tent had come loose from the branch I’d tied it to, freely letting in the rain as a welcomed guest. I frantically gathered my things, but it was no use. They were ruined! But what about—?! I gasped and dropped the blanket I’d been holding and patted my pockets hurriedly, sighing relief upon feeling the card tin safely inside one of them.

sound

As I chewed, I looked over the landscape and marveled at how peaceful it was. There was a gentle breeze, the sound of tall grasses sliding past one another, bugs flitting all throughout the air, and birds chirping, hidden in the boughs of their chosen trees. I might enjoy it more if I wasn’t in the company of an absolute tyrant.

bold

I wouldn’t be bold enough to say it looked comforting because it didn’t, but it was a relief to lay eyes upon, if only because it was the last remaining gesture of kindness being shown to me. I reached up nervously and took it. He pulled me up with ease and then quickly replaced his steady grip with my bag’s handle instead.

From @sam-glade

wing

The woman began to approach with slow, deliberate steps. Wrong again. Miss Frère walked with a bouncy urgency that swished her skirts ever so slightly to make the most gentle rustling sound. Perhaps to sound, well, like the beating of a dove’s wings. Yet another thing this woman was not.

want

It was an odd way to sleep, but I didn’t want to question it if that’s how she was most comfortable. I shifted ever so slightly, and then it was silent again. The low crackle of the fire in the hearth and the occasional firework outside punctuated how uniquely awful this lack of sound was. I wanted to take her into my arms, but she didn’t seem to share the desire, or else she would not be so far away. But she was cold, right?

win

“If’n her type be tall and handsome, she will forget ‘bout him entire when she claps eyes on me. Landlubber be right squat.” I declared smugly. She laughed. “Well, let’s make this interesting then. If you don’t manage to win her over, then tomorrow night, you must wear a corset.” I eyed her for a moment, then glanced back at the woman in the starling mask. Perhaps I was a little out of practice when it came to charming women, but surely I was not so useless. Pulling a woman away from a man like that should be easy for someone as dashing as me.

wait

I expected her to come back after that, but instead, she stood there until the vessel disappeared from view entirely. Would she wait like that for me if I ever sailed someplace without her? And would she be awash with tears as she was now? I hissed quietly, trying to shake the image from my mind. I didn’t like it.

From @ellatholmes

iron

I took a few deep breaths and cursed my hands for being so uncooperative as they failed to strike sparks with the flint and iron that had been sitting on the mantle. After several attempts, I gave up and decided to use matches instead. Though I wasn’t sure why I thought that would be any better. Upon opening the box, several tumbled out and onto the floor, and I even snapped a few as I tried to light them.

ache

Okay this word is in the snippet for dull somewhere up there and since I don't want to put it here gain, have an AASOAF fun fact! Axtapor was original a blue Lizardfolk but then I realized that I had like four other Lizardfolk characters who were blue and decided that I needed more variety so I chose to make him lavendar instead.

ice

Her voice was smooth and cool, like a piece of ice upon the back of one’s neck on a sweltering day. Still, her tone did nothing to take the annoyance out of paying for setting foot in here. I eyed Hartim with a frown as I fetched the advertised twenty-five pieces from my pouch.

bone

I watched as she carefully sliced the meat away from the bones of a desert hare I hunted earlier. The meal would be that and roasted potatoes. A far cry from the handsome meals she was cooking back when we lived in a proper house, but it was better than starving.

From Sam

coin

From AASOAF 1:

“Evenin’.” I said as I pulled up a chair to sit beside him. “Ye be a sore sight at these hours.” He remarked as he puffed a cloud of smoke.  “Aye, could no sleep.”  He reached into a pouch at his waist, kissed his fist, and tossed a coin overboard. “Kava provide. Be ill tidin’s if a Dreamer canno find sleep.” 

crane

I don't have this word, so instead, have an AASOAF fun fact! Axtapor's "pirate speak" took me about 2.5 years to develop and takes inspiration from the US Appalachian, US Southern, and Highland Scottish accents.

crack

From AASOAF 1:

“Please eat. The potatoes will become hard if you let them get cold.” Her small voice brought me to the present, and I turned to see her sitting beside me with her own humble portion of food.  “Aye. Thank ye.” I replied as I picked up the cracked dish she’d plated my portion on. We began to eat quietly, and despite the meal being simple, it was somehow packed with flavor. She really was a master of the domestic craft.

creak

From AASOAF 1:

I laughed; of course, it would be something simple. “Aye, then a sweet it be. Bloody matches, where did I leave ‘em…?” Her chair creaked, and I did a double take to see her making her way toward me, a small box of matches in hand.  “You left them in the pocket of your other coat…you should be more careful. I could have washed them by accident.” She admonished me softly. I cleared my throat. “Oh. Aye, thank ye.”

From Tori

belly

From AASOAF 1:

I squeezed him a little tighter, feeling a strange and new sort of satisfaction in my belly. Was this what it felt like to be free?

sway

From AASOAF 2:

I squeezed my eyes shut as it felt like the world around me began to sway uncomfortably; then I felt my stomach lurch, squeezing its meager contents up my throat and out of my mouth to land on my own shoes. The woman sighed in disgust as I fought to catch my breath and retched once more.

dark

From AASOAF 1:

I walked at a slow, numb pace down the dark and empty corridor toward his chambers. And my steps made not a sound as moved through that quiet and eerie space. I was not a large person and wore no shoes nor a great and fancy nightdress that might flutter behind me to create some sound as I went. Was this what a ghost might feel like? It must be. The thought should strike me as sad, but instead, I felt happy. How peaceful it must be to wander the world untouched and unchanged by its horrors. Simply to exist as an onlooker with the freedom to say, ‘Better you than me.’

force

From AASOAF 1:

If eyes were the window to the soul, then hands were glimpses into what forces weathered a person, not unlike looking at the rings within the stump of a fallen tree or the colorful layers of sandstone.

From Cass

eight

From AASOAF 1:

“Aye, she be. But she convinced me to jump into a well durin’ the dry season when I been a lad of eight so she be sly too.” He declared with a laugh. “How?” I asked wide-eyed. “She said wells be portals to the Kin’dom of Frogs, and I wanted to go there to see as so for myself. So I jumped into the first well I could find. Broke my leg and near scared my mother to death.” He said with a nostalgic look on his face. 

ear

From AASOAF 2:

I sat up with a small gasp, the voices of the night forest filling my ears instead of his familiar one. The same tears wet my cheeks, but no matter how much I brushed them away, they wouldn’t stop falling.

empty

From AASOAF 2:

But the dreams rarely came. Instead, the times when I lay with my eyes closed became spaces of terror. I started to wish the wind would take me to the very end of the world and throw me over its edge, but it didn’t. Rather plainly, it brought me back to this place, which only seemed more wretched and empty than ever.

eager

From AASOAF 2:

I fell back into my seat abruptly as he eagerly ordered us to move up the hill. He must really not want me to change my mind about deciding to stay. And judging by his current expression and previous actions, he was rather pleased with himself. I frowned deeply now. I suddenly didn’t want to think about why.

end

From AASOAF 2:

The turning of wheels and the rhythmic creaking of an approaching carriage pushed my eyes open. I supposed it was time. I sat up with a sigh and got out of bed, slipping on a silken robe, then peered out the window with a frown to see the aforementioned vehicle coming to a stop at the end of my drive.

From Kraken

hug

From AASOAF 2:

He hugged me close as we labored towards the door, each step feeling like one taken through heavy mud with dense chains affixed to our ankles. Once inside, he struggled to shut the door, and an eerie, deafening silence met us.

comfort

From AASOAF 2:

He nodded, trying to keep his face steady. “...I nay be deservin’ of ye.” “Yes, you are.” I replied softly as I inched closer to him and gently took one of his hands into my two. He nodded and pulled me close to him, but the way he embraced me was like that of a child seeking comfort.

free

From AASOAF 2:

“So, Miss Jane, is there anything I can get you? You may ask, and I will do my best to provide.” I said, bobbing my head at her. “How do I know I can trust you?” “Because I trust you.” I replied softly, “Miss Jane, I will take whatever you tell me as unadulterated fact. So, since I believe you, you are free to also believe me. I’m rather uncomplicated, you see.”

flower

From AASOAF 1:

I sighed quietly as another knock came at the door, removed my apron, and then wiped my hands clean of pollen from my flower-arranging escapades. My skill had greatly improved at the task now that I had been doing it for a few years. I hadn’t forgotten how the first arrangement I put together was tossed straight out the window by Lady Price, claiming it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen.