#dtrp

Philza's crow-like wings spread out and started to flap, Quackity following soon after, that was until Tommy pulled on one of Phil's sleeves asking Phil one question, "Can I go up with you?" Phil chuckled at Tommy's childlike behavior, nodding and held his arms from his elbows, soon being high in the sky with Quackity, who occasionally jabbed at Tommy's sides and taunting him. Techno and Ghostbur laughing at the trio in the sky, noticing Present Mic, or to them, a yellow cockatoo but without the grace, was approaching them, evident confusion on his face.

"My name is Present Mic... I thought none of you had quirks?" He introduced with confusion becoming more evident as he ended the question. "We don't have quirks, we have things that might be close to that though. We still don't know what counts as a quirk though..." Techno replied, trying to get information out of this man without having to talk too much. "Well..." And then Present Mic spilt those beans without much input from either of the two males. "Huh. Then if that's true, pretty much all of us have quirks!" Ghostbur exclaims, sounding more ghostly than before. "Have some Blue!" Holding Present Mic's hand, with his icy cold hands, dropping some Blue and then letting go. Mic looked down at the Blue itself, feeling all his sadness drain into the thing in his hands as the Blue got darker.

The sudden gust of wind alerted the ground bois as Tommy nearly fell after having his sides tormented by Big Q, who was laughing like a mad-man at Tommy. Phil came down like an angel with crow wings before announcing to everyone, "We should head back in and set our spawn point before mobs spawn too. It is getting late..." "Mobs?" Mic questions, looking at the older winged man. "Yeah! Zombies, creepers, spiders, skeletons? They tend to be a pain in the ass, especially in the dark, seeing as they spawn at night only." Phil answered. "...Those don't exist here unless its someones quirk doing that... You can walk around at night without worrying about that stuff." "Oh... Really? That sounds fuckin' awesome!" Tommy exclaimed, realizing that the only danger was getting mugged and not mindless mobs walking around. Phil chuckled, as the other Minecraftian men walked back into their new home.

{~Purpled PoV~}

Niki, Fundy and I were trying to bake a cake for the new home that we've found ourselves, it was strange seeing her have nearly all the resources for making a few. She even bought seeds to replant the wheat! Tubbo and her made a small farm in one of the spare rooms, bringing us down to 2 spare rooms. At least if they stop giving us free food, we could just go for a plant-based diet and survive.

The idea of depending on these strange people wasn't one everyone was comfortable with and I can understand why. After all, when you've gone through 3-4 wars, you learn that trusting people isn't always a good idea, especially when you don't know them.

The Sleepy Bois and Quackity all walked in, looking a tad bit happier than when they left as Niki's cake baking had just finished. Phil called everyone to the common room to tell us some strange news that bought us relief. "So the cockatoo guy came round to tell us something. Mobs aren't going to spawn at night, thankfully!"

The room got silent, before Dream started to laugh, who wouldn't? One of the biggest parts of our lives, the danger of night, just didn't exist? It was ridiculous! I didn't believe Phil at first until I realized that he wasn't laughing with Dream, actually, none of those that left the building was. Dream's laughter started to quieten down, nervous as he too realized that they weren't laughing with him. "You're joking, right? That's been one of the biggest parts of our lives, you have to be joking..." Techno shook his head at Dream, which causes Dream to go into creative mode. "Surely we can spawn them in though right? I refuse to believe that one of our biggest threats and chores is just gone..." And he spawned a Zombie in, which lunged at the nearest person, Punz, who kills it without hesitation.

They started talking about something related to the lack of mobs, not that I was listening anymore though. It was... Strange. To think that something as simple and normal had just... stopped existing. I looked outside, seeing the dark blanket of night slowly overcoming the field outside and lights starting to turn on near the concrete paths. It must be lovely not worrying about mobs every night when you don't have a bed or a home to hide in...

"It's getting late, we should all head to our new rooms and set spawn in there too. Good night!" Eret said, his deep voice cutting through my thoughts and clearly the conversation that conspired while I was looking outside.

I started walking to my room, passing Ponk and Jack as I headed towards my final destination for the day. Opening my door, to see that someone had redesigned some of my room, not that it looked bad, but I'd rather have a heads up before someone goes through my things... My bet is on Karl he clearly added one other colour to my already purple room, beige and a note on my makeshift desk.

"Hey, Purpled! While you were making a cake with Niki, I decided to redesign your room to make it easier to maneuver in! I hope you like the new changes! - Karl :)"

Well, I wasn't wrong, so yay me. I headed to my purple bed and lay down. Opening the chatbox one last time, to see the most comforting message anything has given me ever since we got here.

Respawn point has been set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beginning: Part 1

Previous: Part 2

"I enjoy the simplicity of poetry, so much can be said with so few words." Ireena is caught up in her own enthusiasm and does not notice Magpie's appraisal of the house. "Novels are good for escaping entirely to another realm, and you already know of my enjoyment of learning through books." This is said in Elvish, with a smile, before switching back to Common. "But poetry will remain my favourite, I think. If only for its love of pain that cannot be spoken in other ways."

Ireena opens a door on the landing that leads to a damp room piled with books, in the centre of which is a chair. The dust marks on the floor indicate that a desk once also stood there, but judging by the fate of other furnishings in the house, this was probably pilfered to become barricade materials a while ago.

Magpie replies in Elvish, quietly pleased to be able to use his native tongue. "Songs are my favourite, I believe. The dual storytelling between lyrics and tune is wonderfully versatile, but poetry definitely has a beauty of it's own, I can see why it calls to you so." He takes an almost hesitant step into the room, and checks back that she's joining him.

Ireena follows him into the study and responds in Elvish, clearly excited to be able to do so. "I wish I had a better understanding of music. It is a rare thing to hear music in Barovia that isn't a funeral march. Unless you encounter the Vistani whose performances are... livelier." Ireena smirks, and gestures to the room. "This is my library!"

Magpie quirks an amused grin at her Elvish, and takes a slow look around the room. "We heard Vistani musicians at the party. They played very well, Sierra was there among them actually. You'll have to see if she'll play the violin for you, it's truly beautiful."

"I would like that." Ireena pauses, wondering how far she can push her luck. "Maybe you would dance with me."

Magpie crouches in front of a bookshelf, scanning the titles distractedly, not so much as reaching a hand out to touch any of them. "I'm not sure you'd enjoy that, I was... never in a position to be taught any of the proper dances, and quite besides, I've been reliably told I have two left feet."

Ireena crouches next to him. "Then I shall simply have to teach you." 

Her smile is soft and her tone no longer teasing. The tension in her shoulders is heavy, but not directed at this conversation or her present company. It is tension she's clearly been carrying for a long time. 

"I like this one." She selects a book from the shelf. "It's long, but it tells the most wonderful story of a hero who journeys to find his way home after a long battle away from those he loves." She strokes the cover wistfully.

Magpie looks over at the book, admiring the cover. 

"Sounds like a compelling tale." He casts his eyes to the floor briefly, and takes another drink of wine before focusing back up on Ireena and the book. "You have so many books, it must be lovely to be able to come here and escape with them."

"Father loved to read. And there weren't exactly many other ways for me to spread my wings beyond this village." She sighs darkly and gestures at the window. "Even before..."

Aware that her façade has slipped again, Ireena straightens her shoulders and attempts another smile. 

"But yes, I am lucky. There are a few tomes in here that predate the beginning of the Von Zarovich reign in Barovia."

"Really? How old does that make them?" Magpie looks very interested at the promise of old books, a shadow that had fallen over his face lifting a little.

"Well over a century! Father rarely let anyone handle them, they're very delicate, but I always loved the way old books smell."

“Incredible. I shan’t ask to look at them, but what are they about? I often find some of the most fascinating stuff is in the oldest books.”

"There's a first edition of some very dramatic plays, and a couple of these epic poems too. If I'm being entirely honest, I am not completely sure I know what is in all of the oldest books Father had. But please, if you would like, feel free to select any volumes that take your fancy to take with you. It is wonderful to finally have a fellow bibliophile to share these with. My brother is not opposed to literature, but he's mostly been too busy with more important things to indulge me in expounding the joys of fiction."

Magpie looks gently surprised. "You'd let me bring some? Just like that?"

"I doubt Ismark will miss them, I will certainly be bringing some with me, and Father hardly has a use for them any more. Of course you may take some, as many as you would like." She laughs a little. "Or as many as you think you can carry, at any rate!"

Magpie laughs a little in return, a hesitant set to his face still. "It won't be many then. Most of us ended up here without a bag. You're sure I can borrow some?"

"Borrow, have, whatever you would like. And while we can't promise armour or weapons, I feel confident my brother can provide satchels or something to carry possessions in." Ireena puts a hand on his arm gently. "I mean it, really."

Magpie flinches at the touch, and pulls his arm away gently. "Satchels would be a great help, I don't think Fox's bag will survive anything else being put in it."

Ireena retracts her hand, but does not seem offended. "I did notice that sewing does not appear to be among Lord Ripley's particular skills."

Magpie laughs properly this time. “Apparently not, though I’m not sure I can say much after the gods awful job I did on those replacement gloves. It turns out not having something proper to cut the fabric with is a significant hindrance.”

"I hadn't liked to mention it, but they were somewhat unorthodox." Ireena giggles. "I wondered if it was some new trend from where you're from!"

“Decidedly not, just shoddy and hurried craftsmanship on my part.” He gives her a lopsided grin. “If you’re certain I can take a couple of books with me, do you have sections you’d rather I chose from? Or perhaps any recommendations?”

"You must feel free to choose whatever you'd like, although I suggest you take something less likely to fall apart when you touch it! But if you are open to suggestions, then I could show you some of my personal favourites?"

“I’d welcome that gladly, I find myself decidedly in a position of rather too much choice, and while I’d often like nothing more than to stay up all night browsing, I fear after the day we’ve had I need the rest.”

Ireena starts pulling books from shelves and various piles. They're all well-thumbed volumes, but don't seem in danger of falling apart completely. They span a wide range of genres: a poetry anthology by a Lord Byron, the classic epic poem she'd picked out earlier, a trilogy of long form fantasy, a collection of old Elvish plays, a couple of shorter looking novels (one historical fiction and one murder mystery), and a nonfiction biography of ancient rulers of Barovia. She sets them down in a pile in front of Magpie.

"This should narrow down the selection somewhat, I wasn't sure what you preferred, so I have chosen my favourites of many genres." She looks between Magpie and the pile a little nervously. "I hope there's something to your liking here?"

Magpie looks at the pile in astonishment, and brushes a gloved hand delicately across the covers. 

"All of it, I'd wager; I'll struggle to pick those that I can carry from such a fascinating collection." He looks up and catches her eye. "Thank you. Truly."

Ireena shows him a flash of the smile she must've had before the recent events of her life, and it lights up her whole face for a moment. 

"You are more than welcome, Magpie. I am aware that the journey ahead of us will be difficult, but I will not regret the opportunity to spend more time with you." She pauses and then adds almost as an afterthought, "With all of you. It will be nice to be able to say I have friends."

"It would be lovely indeed." Magpie looks back at the books, carefully thumbing through a couple of pages and starting to sort them into two neat piles. "After such a kind gesture, the least I could do is help you with your Elvish, if you still want to learn."

"Very much so, if it isn't too much trouble!" Ireena suddenly looks like she might cry and turns towards the door. "We should be getting back to the others, it is intolerably cruel of me to leave them solely in the company of my brother for too long." She turns back, and if her voice cracks, she doesn't acknowledge it. "Besides, as you said, you've all had a very long day. I imagine you will be wanting to rest soon."

Magpie blinks a couple of times at the abrupt change in mood, but makes no comment on it. He drains the last of his wine and sets the glass down, carefully picking up a stack of five books he'd set aside, the biography of rulers of Barovia, Elvish plays, and trilogy of fantasy, balancing them carefully in his arm before picking his glass back up. 

"Are these alright? Is it too many?"

"No, no of course not! That's fine! Would you like some help carrying them?"

"That's very kind of you, but I have a good hold on them, and there's no risk of me spilling my wine." He gives her a cheeky grin. "Well, shall we go and save the others from the company of your brother then?"

Ireena smiles back, small and shaky, but perhaps more real than some of her smiles up to this point. "An excellent idea, Mr Magpie." 

She leads the way back out of the study. She pauses on the landing and points at another door. "I believe that is to be your room for the night, if you'd prefer to drop the books off there, although I have no objections to you bringing them downstairs to share your finds with the others, if you wish."

"I –" Magpie looks torn, and a flicker of something passes over his face. "Perhaps, I'll drop most of them off. Bring just one down. To flick through."

"Great, I can wait here, or just meet you downstairs if you'd rather?"

"I'll be just a second." Magpie smiles at her briefly, and dips into the room to gently place the books down, keeping hold of the Elvish plays, and returning to her quickly.

"Shall we?" Ireena gestures at the staircase.

Magpie nods, and walks alongside her downwards, gently clutching the gifted book to his chest.

*

Written by Francesca Forrest & Nick Drew

Edited by Rowan E. Madden