#au!eir

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Heart of Thorns

So, for starters, Eir survives, but does so barely. Faolain still stabbed the thorn in her side, and the Vinetooth still wounded and slammed her against the tree. What made all the difference was that Vesska managed to shield her with guardian magic from afar at the last moment just as she came into view, their spell greatly weakened by the distance but still strong enough to deviate the blow to the side of her abdomen. With the attack not being immediately fatal, Vesska rushed to her as the others kept the beast occupied, throwing as much magic as they could spare into healing her wounds and keeping her from bleeding out on the spot, then aided the others in slaying the Vinetooth from afar, too weak to join the fight directly. Such hastened magical regeneration on fatal wounds is never ideal for anyone involved, let alone when the wounded has been a prisoner for days, but that was the only option that gave Eir a chance of surviving and Vesska's lack of hesitation in putting themselves at risk to save her was instrumental. The norn was still in severe conditions, so as the others rested just long enough for Vesska to walk before leaving to find Caithe (who was with them but had to escape to keep the egg safe), Braham and Rox carried her to the nearest camp for further medical attention and safe transport out of the jungle, then they joined back with the Commander in VB.

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Season 3 - Path of Fire

Braham was extremely thankful for what Vesska had done, but once the Pact came back victorious (and after he and Rox tracked and brought Garm home), that gratitude started to sour as he saw the still-terrible conditions his mother was in and the grim reality of settled in. The damage to her back from the impact bothered Eir a noticeable amount, but the hasty-healed scars left by the gash on one side and by the stab on the other made every movement agony, so she was bedridden for months, healing slowly and struggling to even sit up on her own. She was genuinely glad she had a chance to spend more time with her son, often thanking Vesska during their visits and joking about what happened, but she couldn't hide how much it all actually affected her, not when Braham rarely left her bedside. For many norn, that was a fate far worse than death, and while she tried to take it in stride, there was no doubt that her life would never be the same. Tired of seeing his mother in so much pain and refusing to let her legend end there, Braham spent months searching for an alternative way to heal her, looking into dangerous magic and ancient myths, and when the Commander tried to intervene to keep him safe, all that stress boiled over (along with unrequited affection) and exploded in a big argument between them.

In the meantime, Zojja was going through her own canon issues with recovery, including pushing everyone away once she was physically well enough to take care of herself. The moment Eir learned of it from Vesska, she became extremely restless and stubbornly tried to get back on her feet no matter the cost or pain, not willing to let her friend be alone during yet another difficult time. Eir later claimed it was Wolf giving her a powerful blessing for "putting one of her pack first", but as a matter of fact, in spite of her condition she managed to find the strength to transform into the Wolf. With "her" body feeling lighter and stronger than it did in months, Eir dashed out of her homestead and through the asuran gates towards Rata Sum, then tracked Zojja down amongst the panic of the citizens. From the asura's PoV, all of a sudden a massive red beast had just barged into her room and jumped her, so it took Zojja a handful of very long moments of sheer panic before she recognized who was actually simply hugging her. Then it didn't take much longer for the transformation to run out and for Eir to just collapse there without a word. And so, Zojja was forced to reach out to others to help carry the norn back to her homestead, and under the credible threat of Eir pulling that stunt again, she wasn't allowed to isolate herself again. The asura even stayed in Hoelbrak for a few days to make sure Eir hadn't just booked her way to an early grave for her, stressing and fussing over her worse than Braham was (in a way he was happy she managed something like that, but he had to first elaborate the heart attack he had over hearing what happened while he was on the other side of the Shiverpeaks). She kept visiting her frequently, and over time they grew closer as Zojja helped her with recovery, so much that Rox started calling her Eirsdottir to poke fun at Braham.

Taking advantage of her Wolf form to move around (while not painless, that body could withstand a lot more without further damaging her own), Eir became a Shaman of Wolf and learned to stay transformed longer than most norn ever could, as well as finding purpose in her community and helping others who were struggling like she was. During s3 and PoF, Zojja spent a lot more time with Eir in Hoelbrak than back in Rata Sum. The time away from the closed mentality of the city did her good, finding chances to heal and even a bit of joy in the norn community through Eir, as well as reigniting her passion for research as she studied the magic of the Spirits of the Wild more up close.

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Season 4

While the duo didn't get to do much against Kralkatorrik directly, they're still a big part of the narrative from relative safety. [Many events are different in this season and may still be changed as I switch wip stuff around]

After the whole Rata Primus shebabble made news back in Tyria as yet another broken promise of the "reformed for realsies this time" Inquest, Zojja contacted her former mentee to check on her, and learning of Blish's new nature made her return to her golemancy roots, something she hadn't dared to touch since losing Mr. Sparkles after the fleet's crash (the rest of Destiny's Edge had offered to go and collect his remains for her, but she had vehemently refused and allowed what was later recovered to be salvaged).

When Taimi came to her for help against Kralkatorrik, looking for insights from someone who had fought the dragon before, Zojja unsubtly panicked at first, then after shutting down for a few days about it opted to talk with Eir to decide what to do. Going against that specific dragon already was too much for both of them, between the trauma of the way they lost Snaff and what happened in the jungle still being too fresh in their minds and bodies, but they decided to still go and aid them as they could without direct involvement. While Eir's Mists-sensitivity thanks to the Spirits helped a lot with the rifts, Zojja figured out a way to take advantage of the resonance a lot sooner in order to track Kralkatorrik (meaning Blish had no need to sacrifice himself and his input helped greatly on the research side of things) thanks to what Snaff had figured out before their first encounter, though she didn't dare to attempt mind controlling the dragon like he had done (traumatic reasons aside, that trick had gotten him killed and was unlikely to work twice).

Zojja and Eir also got to meet Snaff's ghost as he arrived to summon Aurene, Vlast and their Champion to Glint's trials (they happen in ep4 instead of ep5: she still has those terrifying visions, but Vlast and Vesska chase after her immediately), and they both found closure in the bittersweet conversation with him, finally burying the hurt that they couldn't leave behind for over a decade and the asura admitting they were family.

They don't feel up to the task when it comes to joining the battles in Thunderhead and Dragonfall, opting to stay in the backlines and focus on aiding and protecting the wounded. Still, they did feel majorly guilty about sitting out of the actual fight while the rest of the guild was involved, but the others made sure to comfort them on the "abandonment" front (it was nothing like when Logan had left abruptly) and underline the fact that without their help they would have never gotten to that point. Aurene's temporary death left them both struck with refreshed trauma, but Zojja actually managed to shake herself out of it before it took hold, not wanting to wallow in that kind of misery again no matter what. She got the whole guild to do something to help around, stayed close to Taimi after managing to quite gently get her to stop crying, then kept trying and failing to comfort Vesska about what happened not being their fault, even sassing Vlast into silence (which at least got a meager chuckle out of them) and comforting him too when he tried to get her to leave them alone to mourn.

After Aurene's resurrection, they stayed behind with the wounded in Thunderhead Keep, and once everyone else left Zojja finally cracked under the pressure and directly asked Eir for support instead of hiding away.

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Icebrood Saga

Kralkatorrik's death sure was a boon to their mental health, only for it to take a progressive downward turn between the reveal of Jormag being tied to the recent mess at the charr rally and Primordus return to activity months afterwards. However, this time they decided to get involved: Zojja started helping Taimi, joining her krewe as she admitted the pupil had surpassed the master, while Eir traveled North but had to physically stay out of the action in Bjora, sending Garm to help out and keep an eye on her son and the rest of Dragon's Watch.

After what happened in Drizzlewood, the duo spurred into action without telling anyone. Thanks to Zojja's previous research on the Spirits and the tech she developed from it, they were able to track down where Owl was hiding before anyone else could. Thanks to Wolf's blessing, Eir allowed Owl to use her body as a temporary host in order to keep her on the move, but the dragon's corruption immediately started taking a toll on both norn and Spirit, so Zojja quickly re-engineered her tech to partially filter it out, with the boon of keeping Owl mostly veiled from Jormag.

Together with the other Spirits of the Wild, they hatched a plan that they then presented to the Commander and the elder dragon siblings: Zojja would use her golemancy to aid the Spirits in baiting Primordus to the surface, while Eir would unveil the presence of Owl within her to attract Jormag in the same place. Risky to no end, but everyone agreed it was their best bet. During that version of Dragonstorm, Bangar (who was still veeery mad about being betrayed by Ryland and -big surprise to no one but him- actually collared by the ice dragon) proved to be a major threat that nearly toppled the scales, so Eir spent the entire battle in a deadlock with him to allow Owl to keep his connection from Jormag temporarily severed, leveling the field by greatly underpowering both of them. Then, to keep their Champion from saving the ice dragon at the last moment, Eir had stayed behind to pin the ex-Imperator to the ground as the blast happened, and Owl sacrificed herself to shield Eir from it. However, Eir and Owl hadn't shared that sacrificial part of the plan with anyone but Aurene and Vlast, much to everyone's shock when they didn't see the norn among those transported to safety. Before Braham could even react after the explosion happened, Zojja had already jumped down in the blast zone with her golem suit to search for Eir, totally losing her cool during what seemed like another Snaff situation. When she found Eir in bad conditions but by all means alive, she used her golem to pull her out of the debris, and by the time the others arrived she was fully breaking down in the norn's arms, cussing her to the Eternal Alchemy and back for what she did without telling her.

They later discover that not only Owl's essence still lived in Eir, but that the Spirit was also slowly recovering. While Eir's connection to Wolf was no more, she could hear the Spirit's thoughts growing stronger every day and became the de facto havroun of Owl, eventually finding out she could transform into a stronger than usual Owl form that allowed her great liberty from pain for as long as she liked (imagine a snowy owl with the red of her hair instead of black). Once she was strong enough to speak clearly to her, Owl eventually confirmed that she would return when Eir would die, but that was fine by her. As some put it, no norn better exemplified Owl: a keen hunter who took care of her children, her family and her people's hearth at all costs.

Zojja instead was celebrated by her people for being instrumental in putting an end to Primordus, and while she put her own needs first and only acted as a consultant to the Arcane Council, she was pretty much pushed down a road to eventually become part of it.