#irisi

Mooshu’s lands were revitalized and its emperor healed by two children of a healer, who had grown up in a small village and were some of the few wizards willing and able to stand up and fight. Mahamari ‘Mari’ Jade, a twelve year old theurgist, and her older brother Emrys Jade, a thaumaturge of thirteen, adventured out and began healing a sick world in search of a cure for a sick ruler. Right before they reached the Ancient Burial Grounds of Mooshu, the siblings fought, Emrys’ need for control in order to feel safe and Mari’s endless anger and ability to push her brother’s buttons making them clash horribly. Mari returned home, and not hours later Emrys was attacked and kidnapped by vengeful spirits who claimed to be restoring their lost honor. After weeks of torture and starvation, he was rescued by his sister Mari and their father Quyen Jade. The family worked together to finish the quest, and the emperor was saved. As a gift they were given priceless swords, and a key to Dragonspyre, more of a tradition than anything else. It took a full year for Emrys to physically recover, however.

Krokotopia had one protege of Alhazred who was able to fix the problems created by the Marleybonians that had destroyed ancient tombs and desecrated old homes of the dead. Irisi, at thirteen years of age, was the only one able to stand up to them, unwavering as she insisted they leave the pyramids and instead camp in the Oasis, receiving the undeserved hospitality of the manders. Irisi methodically set each pyramid to rights, carefully preserving what was left, and sending the undead back to their rest with her magic, utilizing balance to restore the equilibrium between life and death. She was brilliant, though learned of her own intense fear of ghosts, how their whispers and haunting only reminded her of how little life her adoptive father, the aged krok Alhazred, would have left. She powered through until she reached the Tomb of Storms. While on her way to defeat Krokopatra and ensure the safety of the Krokonomicon, she came face to face with her namesake. The first human queen of Krokotopia was now a memory of what she once was, a ghost bearing the name and withered face of the first Irisi, but nothing else. It was the hardest battle of the entire adventure, and after that Irisi secured the Krokonomicon with ease from Krokopatra. The Marleybonians left, and Alhazred had the Krokonomicon destroyed, but not until he was able to transcribe the text in a place where it could not be stolen, the only people alive who knew of its location being him and his daughter.

Wizard City was cleared of its monstrous invasion by four students of Ravenwood Academy who had fallen behind in their studies, whether by simple procrastination or by other extenuating circumstances. Noah Dreamtamer and his twin Haley Raintamer were one half of this group. Ianthe RavenHunter and their partner Leo Nightside were the other. They split the streets between them, uncomfortable with the other pair of students. Noah and Haley relished in being able to find a practical use for the skills they were being taught, and found it a much easier way to understand their magic. Ianthe and Leo were quiet, intent on mastering the use of their spells, and explore Wizard City outside of their home in Nightside. The four of them gathered again for the intense final battles, realizing that they worked best as a team, and became awkward friends, both pairs still distant in their mistrust of outsiders, yet still they had forged a bond.

Wysteria held its tournament, unaffected by the threat an ex-professor from another world could wield. Outstanding wizards from many schools were called to join, but those we follow in this world are from Ravenwood Academy and Krokotopia’s small school, run only by Alhazred and his few mander students. Mari Jade was invited to join, as now she had been attending Ravenwood since she was thirteen, and now was fifteen, the top of her class, though quiet and easily pushed around by her peers. Irisi was also invited, as the best of Alhazred’s students, now fifteen, two years after her eventful cleansing of her world. This was the first time Irisi had seen fellow humans, as well as those who were not a krok, mander, or dog. Irisi was starstruck by visiting a new, much larger world for the first time, though many there treated her as a rarity, a foolish stranger who did not know the basics of common life. Mari was different, as were some other kind souls. But Mari was far different. Irisi saw her and felt the quiet, joyful thrill of realizing a flower was blooming, as so few did in her home world. Both were inclined to shyness around strangers, and so rarely spoke, even when they were framed as a pair, and sent to find the true culprit so they were not punished. The subtle brushes of their arms, the few times they had to grasp each others hands for stability, the times when they would tend to the others wound, wrapping bandages and brushing fingertips over heated skin in order to check for breaks and bruises. They would spend extended moments staring into each other’s eyes, Mari’s a dark brown of rich earth and endless potential, and Irisi’s an amber that whispered of gold and bronze, of sunlight. They found the Spiral Cup, and then were able to compete in the final battle of the tournament, against each other. Irisi won, bringing glory and recognition to her small and easily dismissed home world, and was able to publicly speak of how she had to save Krokotopia from the ignorance of Marleybonians who saw the place people lived as nothing more than a museum exhibit to be made. 

Marleybone had no problems on the surface, and made a perfect world for Irisi and Mari’s first date. They had spent a year apart, sending letters across worlds to each other, as they both had studies to attend to. Slowly, over their year of letters to each other, they shared their lives, their hardships, and fell in love with a girl a world away. After this date, Irisi would begin living in Wizard City, assisting Arthur Whethersfield (who happened to be practically a brother to the her) in teaching balance magic, and hopefully beginning to set up a proper school building. Before that, they were to meet in Marleybone, and walk the streets at night, simply talking withe their hands intertwined, until they were to have a picnic at night, lit only by small balls of magic and the moon. It was not to be. Their moonlit walk in a park was interrupted by a cat on the run, who stumbled into them and pleaded for their help. Out of duty, Irisi agreed, and they assisted Baxter in running from a gang he had gotten on the wrong side of. This was how they ended up running across the rooftops of Marleybone, breathless and laughing as they ran from gang members to assist a very unlucky cat. It was after helping Baxter that he gave them information, having been told of Irisi’s Krokotopian origin. He told them of how there was still an exhibit on what little the Marleybonian had stolen from Krokotopia before Irisi intervened, and then he was gone, into the safety of his house. Mari seemed even more furious than her date, and they both entered the museum later with their magic flaring in bronze and brilliant green. Then, of course, they were informed by a rather terrified museum curator that the infamous Meowiarty had already stolen everything from the exhibit. They ran across rooftops yet again, this time chasing a mastermind to make him face justice. In this race, Meowiarty taunted them, claiming he now had the Krokonomicon. Irisi, enraged, told him that the Krokonomicon had been destroyed by her and her father’s hands, as she had explained clearly in her public speech only a year before. They had to chase Meowiarty to the top of Big Ben, fighting his cronies along the way,  and at the top, that was when Meowiarty grinned, and told them that he had already known Irisi was one of the only people alive who knew of the contents of the Krokonomicon, and that this had been a long con to bring her here, to this moment. They were both knocked unconscious, and Meowiarty’s ally, Malistaire Drake, who needed the Krokonomicon to wake the Dragon Titan, kidnapped Irisi. Mari woke to an empty room at the top of Big Ben, and a deep rage was unleashed from inside her.

Dragonspyre was the known home world of Malistaire Drake, and the resting place of the Dragon Titan that would destroy the Spiral to bring one woman back to life. Mari knew this, and was intent on going there, but she couldn’t do it alone and risk Irisi’s life like that. She returned to Wizard City, single-minded to the point of roughly shoving a bully she frequently avoided, making many students shocked to the point of finally noticing little Mari Jade, sixteen and five foot two, the long hair she had when entering Marleybone now cut short, as her braid had gotten caught in some iron fences during their chase and was swiftly cut by her own hand. She entered the ice school without hesitation, finding the nearest ice wizard near her age and demanding for her brother, who now went by Emrys Pyre. Emrys, age seventeen, was a closed off, easily annoyed prodigy. He had only three friends, and adamantly refused having any friendships at all. He always regretted the years long distance between him and his sister, even when they went to the same school, but he was ashamed of his own weakness and trauma after Mooshu, and hadn’t held a proper conversation with her since. Until now. His friends, lead by little Genevieve, had freaked out upon learning that he had a sister asking for him, and dragged him out into the main classroom of the ice school to properly see her again. Mari, covered in dirt and blood and missing a majority of her hair after her ordeal in Marleybone, told him in simple words that they were going to go rescue her girlfriend from the ex-professor of death, who had kidnapped her and likely brought her to Dragonspyre. At this deluge of information, Emrys insisted she rest for a day before insisting they go on a quest to murder a man. Mari allowed it, but while she stayed in the dorm of Castian and Jen, his friends, she ended up spending most of the night restless, and so the two took it upon themselves to assist her in a style transformation. That morning she met her brother over breakfast with half of her head shaved, a leather jacket, and a new appreciation for some of Jen’s favorite American and British bands from Earth, all of them punk and/or rock. Emrys just sighed, and was convinced by his sister to use their Dragonspyre Keys, given to them by the emperor of Mooshu years ago. They went, just the two of them, and with their skill and knowledge in magic, they spent only days going through Dragonspyre to reach Malistaire. Mari was fueled only by rage, her magic manifesting in a mass of writhing vines she could stand atop of and use as a method of transportation. Emrys, ever analytical and cold in order to cut off his emotions and cope with his trauma alone, was silent and expressionless as they cut down draconian soldiers (who looked so much like his draconian friend, Castian) and the ghosts of dead warriors. The siblings never spoke, they simply fought and defeated and repeated over and over, resting only when one of them collapsed. They reached the Great Spyre, and using Mari’s climbing vines and Emrys’ spikes of ice, they scaled it. The pair battle Malistaire’s small army of the undead and evil creatures who would gleefully see the Spiral rendered into nothing but stardust. The two of them faced Malistaire finally, but Mari only had eyes for Irisi, who was injured and barely conscious, her face a mask of agony as she was held by Malistaire’s hand over a river of everflowing lava. Using the siblings as a distraction, Irisi managed to push away Malistaire, though she herself fell in a heap by the deadly river. Mari and Emrys battled Malistaire, both far more powerful than the man expected. Emrys summoned creatures of immense strength, as well as creating shields for himself and his sister to save them from the necromancer’s draining attacks. It was Mari that struck the final blow, the sharpened and rage filled centaur she summoned firing a volley of thorned arrows, piercing Malistaire’s chest and killing the man before he hit the ground. They saved Irisi, as well as the Spiral, though Mari secretly, guiltily, thought that Irisi was more important, and knew she was no better than the man she killed.

The first arc was completed then, the first threat to the Spiral destroyed. Vines covered Malistaire’s body and bloomed at Mari’s first sigh of relief upon finding her love alive. The rage and need for vengeance spilled from Mari alongside her tears, and that magic sunk deep into Dragonspyre, life magic infecting and infesting into the deep core of the world.

Mari and Emrys walked into Ravenwood after that, Irisi on a conjured stretcher behind them, and they never returned to Dragonspyre, far more occupied with the trials to come.

But Fledge was sent in a ragged baby blanket, pale patches of soft sheep worn from their pastels into white though still stained, frayed stitches and moth eaten holes throughout. It was a small threadbare quilt, barely covering Fledge’s swaddled body, and the rush of a fresh breeze startled Fledge from their sleep, causing them to cry out in distress.

Grizzleheim was not a peaceful world at this time.

The Bears were a prosperous people, their trading culture expanding across the Spiral, their invented Common language becoming a staple of all questing wizards, all of their fellow merchants as well. Their monarchy was strong, centralizing their trading into coffers for the entire society to thrive. Their strongest warrior, Valgar Goldenblade, had recently ascended to the throne, his teeth sharp and gilded blade sharper.

The Wolves were an instinctive people, focusing on what it means to be one with nature, their healers fundamental to their community. They favored the environment around them most, finding solace and meaning in the trees, the waterfalls, the rivers, the genuine and unapologetic nature of nature itself. Their land was encroached on, their trees felled with no regard for their funeral practice of planting a new sapling. The Bears cut down the strong, aged trees of ancient Wolf ancestors for timber, for their new cabins and ships, and that was cause for the Wolves to fight back. They sharpened their claws and gritted their teeth, and their healers prepared to work long days.

The Ravens were an intellectual people, focusing on philosophy and the meanings of what people think and do. They created vast libraries of knowledge, compiling it and trying to find the significance of the everyday aspects of the Spiral. Trying to find deep magic, how it interacted with wizards, exploring what history was recorded, interpreting a history that is not theirs. The Ravens were called pedantic by the Bears and Wolves, in far less kind words. What the Bears and Wolves also suspected was how the Ravens would hide and plot in secret, stealing what little recorded histories and academic texts the other two cultures had. The Ravens knew they would be found out one day, and so they kept their talons sharp and quills sharper, prepared to fight and then record their victory, as all histories are written.

And so, claws screeched against the metal and wood of finely crafted shields. Talons scraped and knocked against horned helmets. Blades cut into flesh, whether it be furred or feathered, the tool itself tasting blood, uncaring of its use.

All anyone outside of Grizzleheim knew was that trades were stopped, and merchants had gone to their home world, and nothing more.

Why, then, did the Spiral Door send an infant into this world?

Why, then, is anyone brought into such a cruel world, one might as well ask. The Spiral Door was not truly given a sentience, only as much as any tool of destiny or fate has.

But what right does any tool have to make a decision without a master to guide it? When does the hammer gain some sliver of sentience and smash the priceless crystal of its own accord?

Largely, people believe the Door itself cannot think, cannot reason, and does not decide where lost infants go. That is the only reasoning the young wolf had when she found this swaddled lost child, cold, afraid, and alone. A battle ended a day ago, and she had planned to sneak away, back into Wolf territory.

Her name was Eir, and she was first and foremost a warrior, no time or need for any kind of romance, though her friendships ran deep, and she had never thought of bearing pups of her own, too intent on being another pillar of support to her community. But Eir was a Wolf of duty, of protecting the weak with her own compassionate strength.

So this large armored woman, pale grey fur matted with blood and dirt,  set aside her spear coated in the flaking dried blood of those who destroyed the land the Wolves saw as sacred, and she carefully lifted the young human with her large paws, her sharpened claws causing more tears in the fabric. It was reminiscent of how her claws so easily raked through thin, feathered flesh...

Eir’s eyes widened, her breath catching in a rough puff of air, the flash and recollection of how the civil war was progressing sinking into their mind. This, Northguard, was no place for a child.

But then, where was there a place for a child? The pups of the Wolves’ entire society were all hidden deep in the caves of Mirkholm Keep, but any fortress could fall, and that was so very far away from the Spiral Door.

She quickly, automatically, set the child aside for merely a moment as she discarded her armor, laying it aside to rest with her weapon. She wore only a woven tunic colored a deep blue, coppery brown designs to match her eyes in runes of strength and protection weaved throughout it, alongside her leather skirts to protect her. Eir gathered the infant in her arms, only to swaddle it clumsily in her warrior’s tunic, leaving her furred back bare, cold wind already rustling her fur and seeping into her flesh.

Eir knew she would do anything, anything for this child. So she wrapped them in her tunic and held them close, attempting to soothe their whimpers with soft croons of song as she began to walk the rainbow bridge, the bifrost sparkling and tinkling musically. The soft chimes of the bridge seemed to soothe the child, for which Eir was grateful, but then she was in Northguard proper.

There was only one choice. She would not gamble with the child’s life, would not expose it further to the elements to avoid conflict. Eir always preferred to face problems head on, anyway, and keep hope in her heart.

It was with that hope that kept her head held high as she surrendered to a pair of bear guards that held their blades to her throat.

The only defiance Eir showed while imprisoned by the enemy was in the care of the child she held in her arms. She insisted on keeping them at her side always, on never letting them out of her sight. Soon the child grew hungry, thirsty, and dirty, and thus the guards were forced to bow to her demands lest they sit and hear endless wails of an infant and know it was their fault.

They knew of Eir. Of her prowess in battle. They knew that even without a spear or armor, to truly fight her would result in many deaths, and the bears would not stand for that needless bloodshed when they could simply assist in the care of a child.

Then a council was held, because word escaped and spread through Grizzleheim that a child was being held alongside a war prisoner.

The oaths of peace and pacifism, just for this meeting, were held on magic and blades, the knowledge that breaking those vows would result in painful death sending shivers down every oath taker’s spine. And then they all sat, outside, in the emptied marketplace of Northguard.

Three groups sat there, tension rising.

The Bears, at a well crafted table, the redwood’s varnish shining in the weak winter sunlight, the carvings’ depiction of violence causing others to scoff. The king himself, Valgar Goldenblade, sat between his advisors and weaponless guards, his chair just slightly more intricate, facing his own stronghold where the famed warrior would come.

The Wolves, on woven mats and rough rugs, furs as well, all sat on the well trodden ground. All of them were slight, with keen eyes, smelling of herbs and spices, obviously healers. They were wise almost to the point of cynical, the war sharpening them into fine, dangerous points. They awaited Eir’s arrival with bated breath, the warrior a friend, a pillar to their community.

The Ravens brought their own table and chairs, spindly things, old and used with no thought for upkeep. Some of the Bears sneered at the poor craftsmanship, the crude make of their furniture, treating it as another tool as opposed to a facet of a home. The Ravens sat, curious about the child, wondering how it appeared in Grizzleheim at all.

Eir was brought forth from the stronghold of the Bears, and the Wolves murmured in discontent, lips pulling to reveal teeth without them thinking of the threat.

She was hunched over a bundle in her arms, her large form conveying a weariness everyone could see. Her fur had patches matted and encrusted with blood and dirt. Her coppery brown eyes were anxious as she quickly gazed at those gathered in front of her, though she obviously found solace in the sight of the elder healers from the Wolves.

“The child?” The leader of the Ravens croaked as Eir approached, standing in the middle of the semicircle of gathered people. “Is it truly a human?”

Eir clutched harder at the swaddled form in her arms. “Yes, and they are healthy and safe in my care.” She stared hard at the leader, fur bristling.

“The warrior is truthful. She has only requested or spoken on the behalf of the child, and has been almost fervent in her care” Valgar spoke, face passive.

“Yet still, a human child does not belong with the Wolves.” A raven spoke.

“And yet it belongs with you birds?” A wolf healer spoke, his nose scrunching with distaste. “For what purpose, to examine them, to experiment on someone with so much potential yet no bias of race?”

“How dare-“ The same raven spoke again, standing up abruptly.

“Calm yourselves!” Eir snapped, her voice a stage whisper, as she rocked the baby back and forth, intent on soothing the child who had awoken.

“Forgive me, Eir.” The wolf healer said with a bow of his head.

“Forgiven, Helge.” Eir answered absentmindedly.

Words were paused as the child still fussed in her arms, and everyone witnessed one of the living legends of the Wolves coo and rumble to comfort a human infant, mumbling in a sing-song with kind, gentle eyes.

“We... must decide the child’s fate.” Valgar spoke again. “The child was left at the Spiral Door... correct?”

“Yes.” Eir did not look away from the baby’s swaddled form. “The poor pup was left in rags, I could not leave them to freeze, so I gave them the clothes off my own back for their safety.” She did not appear to notice how jaws clenched, how they all knew what it supposedly meant for a child to be sent through the Door.

“But still...” Valgar’s voice became firmer, more insistent. “We cannot allow for the human child to be raised as a Wolf. It would be far better to have the honor of a Bear.”

“A Bear’s honor?” The Raven’s leader exclaimed. “What use is honor? Why not the safety of becoming a Raven? We could teach them magic, we could-”

The eldest wolf, fur greyed and eyes milky with blindness, scoffed loudly. “Besides. Saying a Bear has honor is an oxymoron. Since when has a Bear possessed the amount of honor I have in a single claw?” The wolf raised their paws, showing some missing digits, but still wiggling them mockingly.

“We have honor! Just due to your Wolves’ jealousy we have-“ A bear advisor snarled.

“Jealousy! Jealousy?!” The elder spoke again, spitting at the ground. “Jealous of what? Gold? Bowing to the whims of others who demand your goods? Or maybe, maybe jealous of the sacred trees you callously felled and carved into what, a bookshelf? Another pretty table? Bah, jealousy.” They spat again. “The nerve.”

“What?” Valgar stood, pressing a hand on the angered advisor’s shoulder. “Sacred trees? I was not told of any sacred trees.” 

“The Wolves plant trees to mourn their dead, and to imbue life in the world where death has touched. It is common knowledge.” A raven piped up, then bashfully turned away once attention was on them.

“Yes. Everyone knows of the significance, yet you Bears chopped down our most ancient of trees.” Eir spoke again, voice soft in its reprimand.

Valgar looked around, mouth open slightly. “We... did not know...” He sat back down hard, a paw to his face. “I cannot believe...”

“You truly did not know?” Eir asked.

“No.” The helpless, almost vulnerable tone caught everyone off guard. “No, we would never! As far as I knew, that land was in our territory!” The king gestured widely in the direction of the Wolves’ land. “And yet, my ignorance deceived me, and I have ruined... oh, to imagine if the tables were turned, and our stones were desecrated...”

The Wolves were almost statues, the eldest of them shaking.

“Aside from that, we had no quarrel with the Bears.” Eir’s soft, forgiving tone was simply another blow to Valgar. “Everything since has been a result of that, retaliation for and unknown slight...”

“Did you Ravens do this?!” A young bear guard growled. “Manipulated us into war?”

“No- we were caught in the middle of that as well... simply nearby, collecting artifacts.”

“Artifacts?” Another Bear sneered. “You mean stealing from us? Our masterpieces and treasured items?”

The Raven’s eyes widened. “They were untouched for decades! Artifacts!” She insisted.

“They were kept safe! To be used is an honor, but some are so old to use them would be to ruin them, and thus they are kept secure and isolated! And you stole them!” Valgar’s voice was stern, as if he had come back to himself.

“None of this matters!” Eir’s voice flared into a yell, unrestrained. “The war is nothing, apparently, built on lies, yet still that does not matter!” She gestured forward, displaying the now awake and staring young human. “They matter! This child! And all the others that we dared endanger in our foolishness! To argue of artifacts and territory is to ignore the youth who cry for warrior parents gone for months, for homes that are ruined, and empty bellies neglected. You all must come to a compromise. Now.”

With that, she walked purposefully to the Wolves’ area, where the healer Helge had set up a soft nest of furs and woven fabric for Eir and the child. With a nod of thanks, Eir sat with legs crossed, settling the child with a large paw gently supporting their head.

“... She is right. A compromise, and peace, must be made. Today.” Valgar’s determined tone washed over the rest, conveying the need and trust that they could reach peace in so few words.

“We shall.” The lead raven nodded sagely, leaning forward, now eager.

The peace was almost laughably simple, once met.

Eir sat, letting words pass over her tired mind in a low rumble, her eyes only for the child in her arms.

They were so small. So soft, fragile. They had bright brown eyes, dark brown skin. They had two little hands, terrifyingly small in her large paws. They had a little nose, its bridge wide, and it was so much more charming than any human trader she had seen, she wanted to prod at it with dulled claws and cause them to laugh like she did at times for the pups at home.

This child deserved a world to grow up in, a peaceful, kind world.

And they got it.

Fledge had three names, really. As part of the peace treaty, they moved from pack to stronghold to roost, rotating around and learning the ins and outs of every culture, of what it meant to be a Wolf or Bear or Raven. Their three names were simple, just called Pup (sometimes Puppy, by a teasing Eir), Cub, and Fledgling. 

They changed who they were with ease, happy and content with the shifting, asking to be a girl or boy or neither when it suited them, and their families complied. Almost every citizen of Grizzleheim had housed them at one point in their life, had seen how small and charming and wonderful this strange child was.

They were allowed to speak as much or as little as they wanted. They could spend weeks only communicating in the broad, blunt gestures of the Grizzleheim sign language, or more nuanced of Common sign language. Then other times they would grow excitable, teeth bared as they rambled on to their friends and fellow wolf pups as they played in the creek, talking of their studies with the Ravens and the honor code of the Bears.

They learned the ancient runes, their own strange passion that few understood, but they allowed it, they encouraged it, because to see their Pup or Cub or Fledgling smile like they were given the world was enchanting.

They were a natural fire wizard, as well.

The destructive magic would usually be a worry, but they were taught control of their strength with the Bears, and an appreciation for wild untameable things from the Wolves, and an understanding of magic itself from the Ravens.

And so their fire magic was life, was what kept people warm in the harsh winters. It was the necessary burns to control the forest and keep it from destroying itself later, it was the cauterization of a bad wound to keep someone alive. Their fire grew so quickly, still in control. It was a spark that quickly flared and crawled each kindling of knowledge and passion into a bonfire, something to be loved and celebrated.

Just as Fledge had been loved and celebrated.

Whether she was their Cub, or he was their Fledgling, or they were their Pup, they were loved so very much, and always cared for, and always warm.

Irisi (her tag) balance wizard, lesbian, my first oc!

Noah Dreamtamer (his tag) myth wizard, trans, a twin, probably one of the ocs im meanest to.

Haley Raintamer (her tag) Storm wizard, Noah’s twin, and This is the best reference I’ve got aside from people’s art of her, none of which is in color i think?

Mahamari (Mari) Jade (her tag) life wizard, gay disaster. Gave her anger issues because I too, am Angy.

Emrys Pyre (his tag) Ice Wizard Gifted Kid. Mari’s older brother too.

Darcy (Rusty) Rhode. I’m getting bored of answering this, so here’s my pirate101 oc who’s a disaster gay in a gang of criminals/vigilantes in Cool Ranch. I just love her someone look at her. She has red wings and acts like a ditzy frontman but Will Stab A Bitch.

Emrys, Mari, and Irisi: 

They live together in a small house, one of those floating castles, with one of those teleport swirls like in Triton Avenue, only it takes them outside of the general dorms at Ravenwood. They turned off their teleport station, though! 

Irisi, the only one who cooks, tries in vain to get Mari to learn how to make anything other than her favorite veggie wraps/sandwiches. Emrys ends up learning though, and is very good with the preciseness of baking!! He gets the finer details on decorating better than Irisi, who’s not the best with artistic touches, preferring practicality. 

Also Mari breaks out the cards and tries to hustle them at poker. She fails and ends up watching Emrys and Irisi pick up the game too quickly and become too good at it. 

Haley and Noah:

They have a small shared home, which I’ve kinda just Assumed is a castle plot like the in game wizards can get, on the outskirts of Wizard City. Neither of them are accomplished cooks, and they kinda end up just living on soup, stir fry, and the breakfast foods they actually can cook. 

Haley gets BORED. She probably ends up cleaning the house top to bottom and going through her projects (mostly attempts at making clockwork creatures) and probably finding about 15 tools she borrowed from the storm school and lost.

Noah is the type to seclude himself in his room, but he’d probably go to check on Haley and also work on his own runes projects or read in the same room she’s in.

Morelle, Morae, Ianthe, and Leo: 

Morelle is used to it, because she has a tendency to hide out anyway, cannot be seen in public in Wizard City. Now she just gets to relax a bit more at home and spend time with her wife Morae.

Morae has decided to continue making the more basic breads and such in her bakery, and has set up a system so their daughter Ianthe and her partner Leo can deliver them around Wizard City, so people can have food. They do have to shut down their bakery. Morae tries and fails to teach her wife how to make macarons (again). 

Leo turns out to be very good with macarons. Bonus points for future child-in-law, I suppose. 

Serpentine King/Quyen Jade:

In the canon main timeline, he’s probably revamping his garden’s design, and worrying over his children, because he’s in Mooshu far away.

In his origin timeline, where I had a completely wack kingdom au, by the end he and that timeline’s Mari would be probably live off by themselves in the middle of nowhere or in a completely different kingdom in hiding, along with that timeline’s Noah, Haley, and Emrys. They’d probably rehash old stories, a lot of SK’s stories about his late husband and his four other children that Mari grew up with.

Elissa Silvertusk:

She’s not developed enough, I don’t have much planned for her aside from relationships with NPCs. Probably in Khrysalis or Zafaria.

Fledge (in their own timeline):

Probably with their adoptive family, Iridian and Corry! Now without school to deal with, they’re a lot more stress free, because they’re used to being on their own now after their awful trauma. They probably spend time having to confront that though, because they’re not used to being so restless and ‘useless’. 

Ursae (Fledge’s timeline again):

As a mermaid she would have her own tank and probably just not surface. She has her own stock of crystals that contain information (like in Dragonspyre) and could go through those, but also, she has lil’ fish friends to interact with as well, and can sign with Fledge through glass.

Rust/Rusty (Pirate): 

Would be with her group, an all female/NB vigilante gang in Cool Ranch. They’d all stay at HQ, probably getting everyone’s Sad Backstories after a bunch of family bonding and card games and shit. Rusty would probably get a little tipsy in order to bear it. Also maybe having to go out just a few times to make sure people aren’t being jackasses and making necessities cost more. That’s more fun, because they’re threatening people lol. 

Darling Alexander Dove (Pirate):

"But still-!" Noah was still breathing heavily, eyes fixed on the woman. "You didn't have to, so thanks, really. I don't know what I'd do without Haley."

Haley blushed, turning to look at the horizon. "So, you've got a group?" She changed the subject.

Irisi perked up even more. "Yeah, my dad, my girlfriend, and her brother and dad. Our dads were doctors- a surgeon and family doctor. The rest of us know basic first aid too- that's how we help people, we know our ways around hospitals too, so we've got a stockpile of supplies."  

“Sounds like a good set up.” Noah said blankly. “Well, we should get going, we’re heading across the city-”

“No-!” Irisi cut him off, then awkwardly shuffled in place before talking again. “I mean, you can stay with us. We found this gated community, we cleared it all out- so you can come pick a house and stay.” 

Haley snorted now, mouth twisting into a scowl. “What’s the catch?” 

“Catch?” Irisi’s amber eyes caught the light of the sunset, and she squinted at Haley.

“Yeah. Catch.” Haley’s eyes flashed with anger as she stepped forward, Noah automatically moving behind her, unknowingly in sync. “Nothing in this world is free anymore, Irisi.” 

The unspoken knowledge that the world didn’t give a fuck about fairness made Noah want to sigh and just take a year long nap, but it wasn’t the time for that. Maybe later.

“I-” Irisi bit her lip, turning away. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. My group does our best to not hurt or take advantage of others unless provoked. We could meet outside of our base first, if that made you feel better? We wouldn’t have a home advantage or anything?” 

“Fine.” Haley relented, all gratitude gone now, taking her endless anger out on a stranger as opposed to her brother, the only person she cared about nowadays.

Noah stepped in, "There's a cleared out diner two streets away, with the most god awful gold and blue booths inside. We can meet there."

Irisi simply nodded, eyes darting to look at Haley with a new wariness, and ran off, hopping from roof to roof carefully.

"Stop acting like a bitch, Haley." Noah muttered sharply, hefting his golf club back over his shoulder and turning, looking down at the alleyway they had escaped from. The dozen zombies were now feasting on the one Irisi shot. His lip curled with disgust as the undead ripped open their fallen ally, the stench of rotten innards and whatever the zombie had stuffed inside itself now wafting upwards. 

The more recent ones smelled even worse in his opinion, but that's just the combination of fruits and vegetables and whatever processed crap people scavenged and rotted meat. 

"We'll have to get down to the diner, Noah." Haley finally said, her voice small and apologetic in a way that meant more than any 'sorry'. 

"Sure thing, Hales." The nickname was an indicator that everything is okay, so when Noah turned to look at his twin, her shoulders were relaxing slightly. 

Making their way through the streets in early spring was a dichotomy of soft white and pink petals and dried brown splashes of blood, both resting on the concrete and only one temporary. The wind whistled through bare limbs of trees and broken windows, it sent ash and flakes of rust off of the cars that had long been pushed aside to create a clear path down the main boulevard for anyone lucky enough to get a working vehicle. 

In their silence they walk down the middle of the street, cautious of zombies in those cars and in alleyways. In these cities there was a tendency to be so many things that used to be people, especially if they hadn’t been evacuated, and instead quarantined. It hadn't worked, because it could take weeks, even months, for the disease to set in and show any symptoms. So before they knew it an entire city could be dead people walking. 

Sure, they made a vaccine. It worked pretty well, considering the alternative was dying and then becoming a monster. There was too much panic, and no one wanted to trust it. They deluded themselves into thinking that they could play apocalypse as opposed to trusting science and logic.

Noah and Haley had been watching it happen, sitting side by side in matching dresses they hated, glued to a television that gave updates to their area, their little generator working overtime, cautious of the mandatory lights out that the quarantined areas enforced. They watched the live footage of a mob storming the lab producing the vaccine, they watched as researchers and interns and students ran out of the building as it caught fire.

They watched the last hope of humanity go up in smoke, both of them guilty because they had been vaccinated just weeks before, a bonus for their mother being a good soldier, keeping peace in their little city district.

Considering how everything played out in the end, the only thing you could get out of the twins about their mother that didn’t end in breaking things or panic attacks was the fact that she was a good soldier.

Even then it would set Noah on edge, teetering, and would make Haley clench her fists so hard her tendons become frayed piano strings.

Noah was brought back to reality with a subtle shift, Haley’s knuckles brushing against the hairs on his bicep when she pointed to their destination, likely knowing of Noah’s contemplative mood. Noah was a half step behind her, golf club over one shoulder and the other holding onto the one untorn strap of his backpack. With every step he was reminded of the pistol shoved into the back of his jeans, how it had been without ammunition for weeks.

Haley had a metal baseball bat held loosely in her left hand, adjusting her jean jacket and frowning as another waft of something rancid hit them. They shared a look with the same expression, wrinkled noses and a grimace, then a shared smile at the reminder that they are two sides of one coin, even if it is long out of rotation currency, left in the bottom of a junk drawer with useless keys and forgotten things. 

The glass door into the diner was completely broken, traces of old blood on the shards in front of the door and on what little remained in the frame. Long dead neon signs and ragged flyers caked in dirt both decorate the wide and grimy windows. 

The diner was empty, and Haley promptly flopped down in a booth, sending up a cloud of dust and all kinds of likely hazardous spores. With a cough she turned around, resting on her back and letting her head fall off of the edge. Her hair barely touched the filthy linoleum, and she shifted for a moment before closing her eyes, resting but unable to sleep and render herself vulnerable.

Noah sat on the table of that booth, between his twin and the door, and kept watch.

It only took half an hour until he saw people. A group crossed the empty street, Irisi at the lead and pointing towards Noah, who waved lazily and tapped on the table to get Haley up. With a short, stifled gasp, Haley sat up slowly, eyes narrowed. Noah made eye contact with her so she could gage the situation, and seeing his relaxed posture and only slight nervousness, she relaxed as well, hand reaching for her bat nonetheless. 

The hinges creaked as Irisi pushed open the door, holding it like a gentleman for her group. An older man with a wispy white beard and spotted skin the color of teak wood walked in first, back hunched slightly over his cane. Following him was a pale asian boy with blue hair, a turtleneck, and glasses, who stared at them accusingly and had a hand over a holstered gun at his hip. Then a friendlier face entered, the shorter and older asian man nodding at them, but quickly moving to ensure the oldest man got a stable seat. The last to enter was a very short girl dressed in a leather jacket and a sneer, combat boots crunching savagely against the broken glass on the floor. Her wavy hair was half shaved, the other side just reaching her chin and she watched them with a similar glare to the boy’s. However, she had no gun, just a well used wooden baseball bat and an array of knives in what could’ve once been a bandolier.

The fathers, the girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s brother. Charming. 

“Hi, Noah. Haley.” Irisi said, letting the door swing shut. 

“Hi.” Noah smiled weakly. “Nice to see you without the gang of zombies about to murder us.”

Irisi huffed, smiling. “Yeah.” She hopped to sit on a table across from them, so they could look each other in the eye. The older man, seated in the booth for the table, placed a hand on hers and smiled shakily. “Oh! So this is my dad, Alhazred.”

“Nice to meet you.” Haley muttered, nodding.

Irisi began pointing to the other three, who were seated at the bar by the window, facing the rest of them. She pointed to the short girl with dark skin. “That’s Mari, my girlfriend. She’s best with up close and personal stuff, and first aid on the field. That’s Emrys, her brother and our best with handguns- and generally being a badass.” The boy with blue hair gave a short wave, then turned back to the window to watch the street. “Then that’s Quyen, Emrys and Mari’s dad, and the best with big problems, generally makes sure the rest of us aren’t idiots.” 

“I’ve never done anything wrong in my life.” Mari deadpanned, an obvious lie if her brother’s derisive snort was anything to go by. 

“Yes dear.” Irisi smirked, then turned back to Haley and Noah. “You two seem capable, and you did grab what was probably the last pharmacy supplies in the city, so I’m thinking you guys staying a while is the least we can do if we split the meds.” 

Haley turned slightly, catching Noah’s eye. She was not on board at all. 

Noah raised his eyebrows, making it clear that two backpacks instead of one full of medicine was not worth it. Not when they could potentially have a place to go back to if they needed, and maybe extra necessities if they leave on good terms.

Haley rolled her eyes, and turned back to the ragtag family. “That’s fine. As long as we both look through it and make sure it’s fair. By the end it got chaotic and I sure as hell don’t need like, fifteen boxes of laxatives or whatever when the other bag is full of painkillers.” 

Noah huffed, smiling and amused at her dry tone. If Haley still weren’t shaken by their close call she would probably have argued and made a scene just for the hell of it.

Quyen nodded, a slight smile on his face. “That sounds more than fair.” 

Haley’s shoulders relaxed subtly, the tension in her clenched jaw gone, her hand on the table grabbing at the thick fabric of the hoodie Noah had tied around his waist. A faded pink thing with blood splatters and stains decorating it like a modern painting.

“Yeah. Fair.” Haley said quietly, unable to eye the strange adult with anything but distrust. 

Noah made the big move this time, moving a hand off of his golf club and setting it on Haley’s, gripping it loosely until she twisted her wrist to interlock their fingers comfortably. Undoubtedly, every person in the room noticed, but he didn’t have it in him to care.

This might be the first good group they had found since setting out on their own. They seem kind, reliable. 

A family. A good one. A real one. 

After all Noah and Haley had been through, they deserved that, at least.