#jabbering

Legend is swimming around lazily in the sun, trying to get away from it all.

He's half asleep when a bottle knocks against him.

He's pretty far off and nothing should be able to get in or out of this water. But he decides it's not his problem.

He likes the bottle, and he's a bit of a hoarder, so he takes it. Back in his den he opens it to find a dead looking fairy.

He has no clue what to do, but feels kinda bad so he rests him on a ledge.

He covers it with a soft cloth, hoping it would die peacefully, but it clutches at his fingers, a gesture legend takes as wanting to live.

Legend is secretive but also a little lonely, so he decides to take on the task.

He flunders for a couple days. A first it's too hot, so he cools it with water, but then it suddenly starts to shiver, so he puts him in the sun under some blankets, that makes him get some kind of seizure. All the while he's accidentally getting attached.

It takes three days for the annoying human to come looking for him. It's warriors and he brought some fish. He's really after his flame rod for a bonfire.

Legend is stressed as it is and tries to get the intruder to leave, but wars finds out anyway.

Legend shields him protectively, but wars insists that the fae will die at this rate. Out of options, he accepts help.

Wars suggests time, who supposedly grew up with fae, but leg can't get that far into the island and is unwilling. He tells him to help him himself or don't help at all.

Wars does what he can, he's having a hard time with such a small patient. They have a breakthrough when his breathing is steady and he's no longer fitful, but he is still definitely going to die without any food.

Legend gives in and they go visit four, unfortunately that means including war's charge wind. Four has a forge near a river that legend is able to get near to, but he cannot go all the way. Wars leaves his scarf with legend as insurance and goes with the fae to get help.

Legend is beside himself despite himself and it shows so clearly that sky tries to cheer him up. Leg bites at him though. Sky says he wishes he'd hang out with them more, and he'd love to help him with whatever, but he needs to talk to them.

Sky flies off, and the trio returns with the patient. Legend tolerates four and vice versa, so four agrees to be a live in nurse in exchange for some sea minerals for his forge.

Legend is appalled at the idea of more people in his sea cave, but wars insists that the fae needs better care, so he agrees. Four moves in.

The fae child improves rapidly with someone his size to feed and look after him. He even wakes up one night. Legend alone talks to him, he's not very present, but he says he's lost and gives him his name. Leg is against it, but hyrule doesn't understand why, and learns that the fae boy is probably an orphan.

During Hyrule's recovery wild finds them, begging four for a new sword. He's mostly uninterested in the fairy. Four doesn't want to leave so soon, but hyrule is ok with it and legend is more than happy, like a liar.

Wild makes a meal for legend and crew as an apology for taking four away. Wars explains that wild is the only soul on the island who can cook a decent meal, and will constantly use this to bribe for his own way. It works too.

Legend has to coax hyrule into eating, and then learns that he enjoys watching his new little friend thrive.

Hyrule gets better on tall tales from Wind's seemingly imaginary time as a pirate and war's time in the army. Legend never knew the islanders had actual lives like that. Hyrule asks him about his own past.

He doesn't tell them all his trauma, but just that he was accused of kidnapping his own sister, the princess and was banished away. This was his second time washing up on an island.

Finally Hyrule tells his own story, he's a rare type of male great fairy nymph, with royal blood that can be used for premium dark magic, so he was being milked for his blood. He tells the story in an extremely innocent way.

His bottle fell out of a window, and he was at sea for a very long time. He thanks legend for all his help.

Later, hyrule worries about his wings. He's been trapped all his life and never learned to fly. Legend does not hesitate to enlist sky for help this time. Hyrule caught on quickly and they make a day of it, legend leaps as high up as he can to try to catch the airborne creatures.

The avian invites legend to a campfire. Legend hasn't been to one before, he avoids them, but this time he agrees. Hyrule is excited about the food. Sky warns him to introduce Hyrule to twilight first so there won't be any problems.

Legend does try, but hyrule falls into a panic attack at the scent of dark magic, and they learn that he isn't completely ok. Twilight is a little put off, but respects their space.

Time just pushes himself in at that point, wondering why he hasn't gotten to see the new islander yet. Time adores fae and is very good to hyrule, making legend jealous.

He leaves Hyrule in time's care to go hunt. When he returns hyrule tries to tell him about time teaching him that all dark magic isn't evil, and that he gave him something to show him, but legend brushes him off.

They're at sea when hyrule brings up the bonfire again, legend asks if he's sure, and hyrule isn't afraid of twili magic, only dark. He wants to show him the item time gave him, but legend has no time to react to the twili crystal and suddenly he's a drowning rabbit in the ocean.

Legend resigns himself to death, but the entire chain joins a rescue mission. Now legend is the sick one. He wants a moon pearl so he can grovel in his misfortune in his cave, but nobody will let him, in fact they take advantage of his situation and show him around the land bits of the island.

When he does turn back, he's just a dude with pink hair. He's forced to admit that he's cursed with legs if he gets beached, but he has to drown on air before it kicks in so he doesn't. The rabbit thing is a different curse. He's just really cursed.

They convince him to stay human just for the bonfire.

Izen sees his drider transformation as a victory over death — society told him that he was cursed, condemned, and in need of redemption. He refused to internalize the guilt and blame and fought tooth and nail to separate himself from anyone who would manipulate him.

Izen is driven by equal parts hope and fear. Fear of death, fear of captivity, fear of pain — but an unwavering hope and raw belief that life has to be good, that freedom is obtainable, that there must be a kinder and softer place for him out there somewhere.

Now:

Izen is trying so hard to embrace the second chance at life and freedom that the surface has provided him. He has a best friend in Phaela, someone who has proven to him that he was right all along. He was right to never give up, never give in, that the world could be better and kinder than what he was raised in.

Izen is absolutely enthralled by what he finds on the surface. The moon, the stars, the changing of seasons. And he’s torn between being fully enamored with the people he meets while still harboring a paranoia at being found out and returned to the drow. But every person he’s met, from Phaela, to the party, to strangers along the way, has only reaffirmed that the cruelty he experienced in his past was the outlier.

He loves bright colors, clashing patterns, soft blankets, scented soaps, and beautiful candles. Simple and beautiful things that brings such small but profound comfort and vibrancy

AAAAHHHHH Lore Notes:

Enlightenment: The Drow are a culture that lives in division. There are the days of Enlightenment — the days of now, where they have agriculture, cities, infrastructure, mining, industry — and the days of Descent — the days of a previous age, where they were nothing more than primitive warriors who had to fight to survive in a savage time, barely more enlightened than the monsters and beasts they fought against.

Death: The Drow believe that the moment of death is the most important time in a drow’s life. Death is when they return to Lolth, death is when Lolth sees how far the drow have come. For every drow returned to Lolth, her judgement of their entire progress shifts. This is why the Drow believe that it is imperative for each individual to die with pride and dignity — to never fear death and always welcome its embrace. Only animals fears death, and the Drow are not animals. And the individual will be held against the whole.