#battlecrown

Takari Week 2024 - Day 1: First Summer

Tai, Yolei, and Ken are setting off on a trip. There’s a lot of yelling between Tai and Yolei as they get ready, but Tai takes a moment to check in that Kari will be okay for a week or so. She reassures him and sends them all off with a smile. It’s already late in the day; Tai and the others prefer to travel at night. Kari and Tai promise each other that they’ll stay safe, and then they’re gone.

It’s been three days, seven hours, nine minutes and exactly sixty nine seconds since Vea Amaris broke into our ballroom, collapsed on the floor and cried. In the past three days, seven hours, nine minutes, and exactly sixty nine, well seventy seconds since then, a lot has happened. My mother has decided to acknowledge herself as the queen until I breach eighteen. After that, I will be the ruler, and she an advisor.

Vea Amaris is now well enough to sit up straight, well partially. Their ministers  have already received a letter, explaining where their acting ruler is, as their father’s whereabouts are unknown.  Eren left early yesterday morning, determined to find King Amom. 

There’s so  much to do. Father’s funeral has already been held. We had no body to bury so we buried his falchion, even though he never used it. He stuck to his daggers until the very end, but they were lost at sea along with his beloved bow and arrow, if only we had them. 

Grief weighs down every move in the castle, Zuri can no longer be seen sketching the horizon or taking one of her long walks on the beach, she’s shut herself in her wing and has allowed no one to see her. She’s even stopped taking her meals with mother and I! 

I wish I could fault her, blame her, but it would be hypocritical of me. If I could, I would  hide away in my room as well, but I have duties. I am expected to rule while my mother recovers from the shock, she is still queen but I am still the heir. I still have to lead my people, I still have to look after Vea, soothe our agitated allies before they turn on us, defend my kingdom and most importantly, find my father’s killer.

There aren’t any leads to follow, I haven’t been allowed near Vea, therefore I cannot question them about his death. There’s no ship to inspect, no bodies, no witnesses, nothing. Nothing. NOTHING. 

Nothing’s such a horrible word, there’s no point to it. It’s the only lie we accept. Every question in the world could be answered with those seven letters, but it’s never nothing, is it? There’s always something, or someone. 

This is basically a long winded way of saying, I’m sneaking into Vea’s hospital room to ask them questions about my father’s brutal murder. Yay! This will definitely not backfire, Amaris is… reasonable, for the lack of a better word. 

My shoes are off, and all that could give away my identity is hidden away in my room, where I’ve arranged a few cushions to pretend that I’m asleep in my room. The borrowed (read: stolen) servant’s gown is slightly uncomfortable but nondescript enough that no one will pay attention to me. 

Now. I have a royal to harass. 

-X-

I quietly make my way around the clinic, careful to stay on my guard, while Ababyomi may be out for now, she’s sure to return soon, and she knows every single nurse that works for her. The second she’s back, I’m screwed.  The other nurses mill about restlessly, currently the only patient in the castle is Vea. That makes my work a lot harder. I manage to disappear behind the curtain that separates my mark from me and my questions. Vea looks less pitiful today, the swelling around their eyes has gone down, making them look less racoonish. The blood that clung to their armour and skin that night, has been painstakingly cleaned, the only trace of their injuries are the stitches that line most of their body. 

They cock their head to the side, and sit up. Their smile is tired and their hands barely obey them when they lift it in a silent gesture. “You’re welcome here.” It’s small and silent, a mutual understanding. We’ve both lost our fathers and for tonight, there is to be no mention of the war, only a grim compromise. 

 I’ll tell you what you want to know, and you’ll tell me what I want to know. No ifs, no buts. 

“Good evening, Vea.” I drag a chair next to their bed, allowing my body to finally rest. For the past three days, I’ve done nothing but run around, and deal with agitated allies. A few moments of rest and relaxation was much needed.  “Daraja. I am truly sorry about your father, I wish I could have done more , helped him, somehow.” 

“You still can, help me find who killed him, Vea. Please.” I want to scream and cry but diplomacy helped us before, perhaps it can again. 

“I’ll  help however I can…. For a  price.” 

“A price?” “Nothing is ever free Princess.” They smile at me softly, their gaze carries no heat, a simple aura of cool intellect hidden by a weak exterior. 

“I’m aware, name your price.” “A walk around the palace?” Well. That was…surprising. 

“Uh. Sure.”  What could possibly go wrong?

  -X-

After a nerve wracking  escape from the clinic, we wander around in the gardens, there is not a single soul in sight. Only Vea and I. 

For a few moments neither of us speak, the only sound passing between us is that of their cane sounding against the cobblestones. 

“So.”  A brave attempt at breaking the tension, a failed one but brave nonetheless. 

“Right.” “I don’t know how to start.” A beat. 

“I’ll tell you exactly what happened and then you can decide what you want to do with me.”  Vea offers, their gaze turned away from me.  They don’t wait for an answer.

“We set sail almost immediately after the treaty was signed. He didn’t want to wait until dinner, he didn’t want to wait a second longer. All he could talk about were his girls, he talked about Zuri and The queen but mostly, he talked about you and how proud he was of you. He really loved you Daraja.” The weather is exceptionally warm, even my eyes are perspiring.  

“  I wish both of us could have made it home Daraja, I really do, but when those monsters took me…” 

“Monsters? Took you? Wha-” WHAT MONSTERS? LITERAL? FIGURATIVE? ELABORATE. 

“They didn’t tell you, did they?” Of couuuurse they did, I’m just pretending not to know. Read the garden Amaris. 

“I’m sorry, um I forgot that Aiga wasn’t aware of  the skelons.”  Skelons? What? 

“Skelons?”

“It’s a long story…” “I’ve got time.” 

A/N: Has this been beta read? Absolutely not no. Has this been posted after a billion years? Absolutely yes. 

I apologise for the incredibly long hiatus, I really didn't mean to do that. I’m really hoping y’all haven’t lost interest yet.

Mod Tag: @tiredguyswag@ne0npurplefantasies

I already started on the second chapter

The restraint it takes to not post a new chapter as soon as it's written

Is so much

HOLY FUCK, YESSSSS I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE SECOND CHAPTER

Takari Week 2024 - Day 5: Fifth Adventure

@takariweek

Kari finds T.K. outside the house, staring at the old forest. When she expresses concern, he tells her that he heard his brother calling and that he needs to answer. She’s confused.

T.K. tries to say goodbye to her but she has this strange feeling that she has to go with him. Before she can tell Tai, T.K. bolts. 

Kari and Tai chase after him, leaving Yolei and Ken behind. Kari feels very unsettled about the whole situation and how distressed T.K. is. She and Tai can barely keep up with him. 

T.K. disappears into the trees, and Kari gets separated from Tai, too. She keeps going through the forest, completely lost, feeling increasingly desperate. She just knows she has to find T.K. or something will happen.  

Finally she stumbles into a clearing and comes face to face with a giant white wolf. Its hackles are up and it’s growling. It locks eyes with Kari and she stops moving. She’s never seen a wolf before. A second later, she feels like that’s not true because the wolf has blue eyes and she knows she’s seen them before.

This time feels very different, though. She’s frozen, not knowing what to do. The wolf doesn’t attack her but it keeps growling. Suddenly, its growls increase in pitch and she hears footsteps behind her.

“Matt!” It’s T.K.’s voice. Slowly, she looks away from the wolf and at T.K. He doesn’t seem afraid, just concerned and a little confused. He puts his hands out, calling the wolf “Matt” again and apologizing for taking so long to answer him.

The wolf only snarls, eyes darting between the two of them. T.K. smiles at her and tells the wolf her name, explaining that she helped him. 

Kari stares. She didn’t expect this at all when T.K. said he was looking for his brother, but she just knows that T.K. is telling the truth. Somehow she knows that what she does next is important. Very slowly, she moves towards T.K. The wolf is still tense, fur raised, watching them.

When Kari lays her hand on T.K.’s arm, the wolf lowers its hackles and shakes its head. It looks confused and distressed. 

Kari smiles at it, following her instincts. She doesn’t really know why she’s doing this but it feels right. The wolf shakes its head again. T.K. asks what's wrong. He pulls away from Kari to approach it. 

The wolf backs away from him, but T.K. follows it. He reaches out to it and the wolf freezes. Kari blinks and for a moment she sees not T.K. but another white wolf, a little smaller, standing there. Then she blinks again, and it’s T.K. holding the wolf’s head in his hands. The wolf leans forward to sniff him and its tail begins to wag.

Takari Week 2024 - Day 2: Second Year

@takariweek

T.K. and Matt were born in the same litter, the only two survivors. The wolves are dying out and there are fewer and fewer living pups. Matt grew strong and healthy but T.K. was always weaker and more sickly. Matt protected him, and he rarely strayed from Matt’s side. As they got older and Matt got stronger, though, he had more trouble staying close, especially when Matt was hunting, so Matt started finding safe places for him to hide nearby.

Tai and Kari were the children of a wealthy family. At a young age, Tai decided that he wanted to be an adventurer and a treasure hunter. He would often take off exploring the woods around their family’s lands, searching for treasures. As soon as Kari was old enough to walk, she started toddling after him, although he never meant to bring her. 

One day she was following Tai and got lost in the woods because she couldn't keep up with him. She wandered around until night fell, not really frightened but increasingly unhappy that she couldn’t find him. She was also getting cold and hungry and ready to go home. As the night got darker, she started to cry.

The bushes next to her rustled, and she found herself face to face with a young wolf, just barely grown, although Kari was too young to know that. They stared at each other for a moment, then the wolf licked the tears from her face. Kari giggled. 

Suddenly, there was the sound of shouting and there were lights in the distance. The wolf shrank back and fled.

Takari Week 2024 - Day 4: Fourth Contact

@takariweek

Kari and T.K. are out in the market. Kari is tired because she didn’t sleep well the night before. She keeps drifting back to the strange dream she had about people running through the old forest near her home. They didn’t seem to be running from anything, just running together for the sheer joy of it. And the one in the lead, he’d looked back and his eyes were a familiar piercing blue. 

Kari can’t help but feel like the dream meant something, but she’s not sure what it could be. T.K. just lets her think, taking in the sights and sounds of the market with his usual wide-eyed wonder. 

Then, they’re stopped by a girl with red hair, offering to sell them a flower. Kari is startled back into awareness and realizes that, though she rarely passes through this part of the market, it’s very familiar to her. She’s been here recently. Her eyes drift over the familiar buildings and come to a stop on an empty pedestal. 

She knows that pedestal. She remembers that night so clearly, seeing the statue sitting forlornly in the snow. She’d been caught by how sad the wolf’s eyes looked. But the pedestal is empty now. Kari sweeps her eyes over the street, looking for some sign that she’s mistaken but it’s the same street, the same shop. Only the statue is missing. The statue with sad eyes.

T.K. leans over to look at her, concerned by her sudden distress. She looks up into his face and realizes where she’s seen the eyes of the man in her dream. T.K.’s eyes are the same brilliant blue, with a touch of sadness in them. Just like the statue of the wolf. 

Takari Week 2024 - Day 3: Third Meeting

@takariweek

Kari is making dinner as quickly as she can, eager to wrap herself in blankets and sit by the kotatsu on a chilly winter night. She feels a little lonely without Tai and Ken and Yolei but looks forward to them returning within a couple of days. As she’s moving around the house, she’s startled when she sees someone’s silhouette through the door. Worried for whoever is out in the cold so late in the evening, she opens the door to find a young man she’s never seen before, with strangely pale hair. He’s wearing the scarf that she wrapped around the statue. 

@snowwhite-andtheknight

It would be sunset soon and the forest was coming alive. Obi could hear the sounds of animals moving and calling to each other, unaware of his presence. He walked too softly to alert them, born from years of long practice.