#jaysso

Khaan let out a panicked neigh as you were pulled off of him. The Friesian dug his hooves into the dirt. He came to a hard stop. The steed almost fell forwards, but he managed to keep himself upright. Khaan spins on his back hooves trying to ride back to where you must have fallen. He lets out a snort as Anne’s horse comes crashing into him. The horse does not have a rider. Anne was pulled off her horse and she pulled you off with her.

Khaan noticed blood on Anne’s horse. Little dots of crimson covered the mane of Anne’s horse. The Friesian freaks out. He hopes you weren’t hurt. He tries to look for you, but Anne’s horse isn’t allowing him to move. The horse is freaking out in place. It bucked and threw its head back in the air. Khaan tried to use his body to move the other horse aside, but it didn’t budge. His patience was running thin. He tried again to move the horse. This time the horse kicked him during its freakout. Khaan lost his cool. He had no time for the freaked-out horse.

The Friesian let out an angry snort. He bit down on the other horse’s neck. Anne’s horse let out a shrill neigh. They looked to Khaan. Their ears pinned to the back of their head, and they tried to return the bite. While the two horses fought you struggled to get up. You tried to stand but your right leg sent a sharp pain through your whole body. It wasn’t broken you just landed on it wrong. You needed a few seconds to let your leg rest. Luckily for you, you landed in a huge bush. It covered you completely. The bush allowed you to rest safely.

You looked through little gaps in the leaves of the bush trying to see who pulled Anne off her horse. You did not see the culprit, but you did see the target. Anne was on the floor a few feet away from you and she was holding her arm. The girl was out in the open, she was not as lucky as you were. You could hear her cursing and hissing in pain. Her hissing and cursing was accompanied by the sounds of your horses fighting. Blood covered Anne’s sleeve at the forearm. At first you thought her arm was broken then you looked at it closely.

Bloody lines ran down her forearm to her elbow. Something had clawed her. The claw marks on her arm were huge. What clawed her? You heard a snort behind you. Fear pooled in your stomach. You had an idea of what could have clawed Anne. The snort sounded awfully close to the animal you thought had clawed her. You heard the snort again, and you went wide eyed. You did not want to look behind you. You stayed very still, maybe the animal would ignore you if you ignored it? You looked down at the ground. You tried to stay as still and as quiet possible.

You even slowed your breathing, so no movement could disturb the bush and give away your position. The sounds of your horses fighting gave you extra coverage. You hoped Anne would stay as still and as quiet as you. The girl was still busy with her arm. She was still cursing and hissing in pain loudly. Anne was your enemy right now but enemy or not you didn’t want her to get hurt again. You quietly tried to catch her attention. You pspsps’d at her like if she were a cat. Anne does not look at you. She doesn’t hear you. You do it again this time louder.

Anne looks to where you are, but she doesn’t do anything. She remains on the floor clutching her arm. You start to move out of the bush very slowly. You wanted to tell Anne to get away. To get on her horse and ride back to Valedale with Khaan. Pain shot through your right side as you slowly crawled your way out of the bush. You stop crawling for a second when you stop hearing the sounds of your horses fighting.

You start to move quicker. Did the animal get your horses too? You had to help them, you had to move quicker. Your vision became blurry as the pain in your leg started to get stronger. Before you can reach the edge of the bush something grabs the back of your shirt. Your heart drops all the way down to your stomach. You were definitely going to die. Your want to do a good deed ended up being your end.

You are quickly pulled out of the bush. You reach for it trying to hold onto a branch. The part of the bush you had tried to grab onto… Turned into green smoke? Suddenly the whole bush dissipated. It left you speechless. The bush shocked you enough to make you go completely still. It made the job of whatever was grabbing you easier. You remembered the danger you were in when you were sat down on something.

Being sat down made your leg hurt. The pain brought you back to reality. You looked down to where you had been seated. You were on a saddle. You looked up. You were back on Khaan. The Friesian whinnied, and you sobbed. You leaned forwards hugging the horse’s neck tightly. Quiet sobs came from you as you hugged Khaan. The horse had grabbed you, and he pulled you out of the bush. He whinnied again, and he gently nipped at your pant leg. He was trying to comfort you.

You kept holding him until you heard yelling coming your way. You let go of Khaan, and you quickly grabbed his reins getting ready to gallop again. Alex and Linda were coming. They were headed straight for you. You looked down at Khaan asking him to gallop. He doesn’t move. You start to freak out as you see the two Soul Rider’s get close to where you are. You ask Khaan to move again. The horse does nothing. You close your eyes covering your face with your arms trying your best to use your body to shield Khaan as Alex and Linda ride near where you were.

It seemed like they had planned to crash into you since they weren’t slowing down… Two seconds passed… Then four… then six… Ten long seconds passed. When no impact came you uncovered your face. Alex and Linda took a left turn, and they were riding down deeper into the forest. You were confused. Did they give up on chasing you? “Wha-“ you were about to talk to Khaan to ask him a rhetorical question, but you were interrupted “you’re terrible at keeping secrets you know that right?”

The question made you jump in the saddle. You looked to your left side where you heard the voice so quickly you felt like you had snapped your neck. A white Marwari paws at the ground and on his back a very fancily dressed rider sits. She wipes a hand on her pants. A barely seeable red stains the black suit pants. The snorts you heard weren’t from a bear they were from the Marwari. “We’re safe here I set up an illusion” the rider clicks her tongue her Marwari moves closer to Khaan’s side. “It won’t last forever so we have to be quick” she leans over to you putting a hand on your shoulder “you, okay?” You shake your head you want to keep it all in, but you fail. Jay’s small action of comfort makes everything fall apart. You burst into tears. The girl allows you to cry the illusion still has a few minutes before it fades.

Once you’re calm enough to talk and listen Jay explains to you how she found you. She talks while you rest your leg. She tells you that she was near the area looking for some of the plants you told her about. She happened to be in the right place at the right time. Sabine called her, told her you might need help, and that’s when the girl set out to look for you. Jay accidentally took longer than planned because the forest was a maze to her.

She hadn’t been in it as much as Sabine or Katja, so it took her a while to find you. Had she been more familiar with the forest you wouldn’t have gotten chased as long as you did. The girl was the one that clawed Anne, and pulled her off her horse. She didn’t mean to pull you off as well. The bush was made by her to cover you when you fell. That explained why it turned into smoke after you touched it. The current illusion you were in was made after she pulled you out of the bush. You would both be safe in the illusion for a while. It gave you enough time to rest your leg.

When you’re good enough to walk you and Jay begin to make your way out of the forest. Your horses walk calmly in the safety of Jay’s illusion. Khaan keeps his head low. His steps are shaky. It looks like every step he takes will lead to a fall. You walk by his right shoulder trying your best to support him as he walks. Arcebus walks by his left ready to be something for him to lean on.

The poor Friesian is tired. The whole walk out of the forest you thank him and praise him for all he did for you. By the time Jay’s illusion fades you both had already made it out of the forest and to Sabine and your Lipizzaner in Everwind. Thank you’s from you and Sabine are given to Jay. The girl gives you both a “you’re welcome” and a “you owe me one.” She doesn’t really mean the ‘you owe me one’ though. She just says it in hopes of lightening the mood.

Before Jay leaves her and Sabine talk privately. You stand with Khaan and your mare while you wait for them to finish talking. You can’t fully hear what they are saying but you do hear a whisper or two of an oil rig and a man named Sands. When their conversation ends Jay says she’ll meet you both back at the rig and that she’ll talk to Sands.

You had never heard of an oil rig before nor of a Mr. Sands. You want to ask Sabine about it, but you don’t want to seem nosy. You do not ask in hopes of her telling you. She doesn’t tell you about either thing, but she does drop some pretty heavy news on you. Heavy enough to make you start crying again.

You’re a traitor. The druids will now be after you and they won’t stop until you’re brought to justice.

When you were younger you had heard a story of a boy named Justin. You heard that he had betrayed the druids. He partnered up with evil people that worshipped Garnok, and he became evil as well. You heard that he was sentenced to jail for life. The story was completely dismissed by you and the other teens of the village. You all thought it was just a story made up to scare everyone into staying away from Garnok and his worshippers. Your current situation made it clear that the story was real.

The worst part of it was that you were now currently living that story. Without the becoming evil or a Garnok devotee part. The going to jail for life part was very much a huge part in your story. Just before your phone died your dad called you. At first you thought he was calling to tell you to come back. His call was the complete opposite of a comeback call. “Don’t come back to Valedale” he said to you over the phone. “Fripp and the other druids are waiting for you and so are the Soul Riders” your dad had a shaky voice as he spoke to you.

“You are a traitor to the druids and to me” your heart still ached remembering those words. “I love you and because I love you, I call you to tell you to never come back” Valedale was no longer your home. “Stay far away from Valedale and from me” and that was all. Your dad hung up after those words. He didn’t let you get a single one in. You were now a runaway from druid law. A traitor to the druids and to their leader Fripp. You didn’t care about any of them. You just cared about your dad. You just wanted your dad.

You felt like a little kid again. You wanted him to hold you. You wanted him to tell you that it would all be okay while you apologized to him for lying. You knew he wouldn’t do any of that and he definitely wouldn’t hear you out. It very much sounded like he disowned you in that phone call. You were so scared. You just wanted to be home and back with your dad. How you wished things were different. How you wished Sabine and your dad were different people. With no involvement in Aideen or Garnok. You sighed and you covered your face with your hands.

You were in the bathroom of the inn in the fishing village standing in front of the mirror. You were trying to start the day, but you ended up breaking down instead of getting ready. You missed home and your dad so badly it made your chest ache. The constant pain in your chest kept reminding you of your current situation. It always made you want to cry. It always had your eyes watery and your vision blurry. You groaned and you removed your hands from your face coming face to face with yourself in the mirror. You looked like shit.

You had been crying so much that your eyes were red and somewhat puffy. Your hair was a mess. You had tear marks running down your cheeks. You were a huge grieving mess. You let out a sigh and you shook your head. You ran a hand through your hair trying to fix it. Your brush was outside the bathroom in your backpack. You left Valedale with nothing on hand. Everything you currently had was bought with the fifty Jorvik Shillings you had in your pocket or by your very generous girlfriend. You felt really bad about her buying you stuff. Once life got better you would definitely pay her back… But… When would it get better?

When could you start to look for a job? For another place to live? When could you stop laying low? Would the druids ever give up looking for you? You shook your head again trying to keep the tears building up in your eyes from spilling. Your thoughts continued to spiral. When will life get better? When will you be able to find a job? A place to live? A new place to- your thoughts come to a stop as your brain focuses on another thing.

There’s knocking at the bathroom door “you, okay?” It’s Sabine, the girl is worried. You’ve been in the bathroom for a while. You clear your throat it’s dry and it aches thanks to all your crying “I’m good!” You try your best to sound like you’re genuinely okay, but your voice is shaky. Sabine catches onto it there’s no hiding anything from her “you sure?” You bite your lip.

Should you talk to her? You’ve been avoiding talking about… Everything ever since you left. You don’t want to talk about it. It scares you and it makes you feel like if you do talk about it all hopes of things being okay will fade away from you. You feel like if you talk about it the situation will really settle in. You fear that you’ll realize there’s no chance of going back home. You fear your dad will never forgive you. Could you even call him dad anymore? Should you call him Avalon now?

You feel the ache in your chest get worse. “You still with me?” You blink the tears building up in your eyes away and you look at the door. You had been quiet the whole time. You quickly move to the door. You hope you didn’t freak Sabine out by being quiet. You open the door and Sabine takes a few steps back from it. You follow her you go straight to her. You hug her wanting her comfort. She gives it to you. Her left hand holds your waist and with her right she runs her fingers through your hair.

She gently combs her fingers through your hair being careful not to claw you with her nails. The girl hums when you rest your head on her chest. She moves the hand on your hair to rest on the back of your head. The girl rests her cheek on top of your head. “When you feel ready to leave, I’ll call for the ferry” she doesn’t ask you to speak on what you’re feeling. She knows you don’t want to talk about it. If you did you would have done so a long time ago. “You tell me when and I’ll do it” Sabine expects you to need a few more minutes but you’re ready to go now.

“I’ll get my stuff” you make a small movement letting her know that you want to break the hug. The girl lets you go, and you move away from her going to get your backpack. Sabine is surprised by your response. She wants to ask if you’re sure, but you beat her to it. “I’m sure” you grab your backpack, and you look to her giving her a smile. You hope your smile will make her smile too, but it does the opposite. The girl frowns and she nods “we’ll meet you outside.” When Sabine leaves, you gather the rest of your stuff.

You don’t truly feel ready to leave but you really don’t want to spend more time grieving in the inn. The inn just makes things worse. The bed makes you wish you were on your own back h-… Back in Valedale. The inn bed isn’t as comfy as the one you had in Valedale. You couldn’t find a way to get comfortable. All you did all night was toss and turn and sleep for five minutes or so. You wish you were back in your room. You missed your room. You missed so many things, your bed, your clothes, your blankets, and your cozy PJ’s.

The PJ’s you currently have on sucked. They were fluffy but not enough to be truly comfortable. They were all you could find at the Silverglade store, so they had to make do. They made the horrible uncomfortable inn bed worse. Maybe if you had comfy PJ’s, you would have slept a little more. You finish gathering your stuff which is just your dead phone and a half empty bottle of water. On your way out of the room you drink the rest of the water. There’s a trashcan near the door so you finish the water before you hit the door.

Once you’re at the door you throw the water bottle in the trash, and you walk out of the room. You put your phone in the pocket used for water bottles on the side of your backpack. The sun hits your eyes, and it hits them hard. You have to take a moment to adjust to sunlight. You squint as your eyes adjust. When they’re ready you slowly open them. The fishing village makes you feel a little better.

Watching the villagers interact, fish and walk around makes you forget about the ache a bit. You look around for Sabine. When you find her, you see her standing with Khaan and your mare at a bridge. The girl watches your mare as she curiously watches the waves move. Your mare had never seen waves up until now. She didn’t really have any time to see them last time she was in Cape West and she never saw them on her time on the oil rig. You make your way over to your girlfriend and the horses.

Sabine looks to you when she hears your steps on the wooden floors “the ferry should be here in a few minutes.” The girl gives you a weak smile when you stand next to her. “You can look around if you want to” you shake your head “look at what? Fish?” The fishing village doesn’t really have interesting stores. Sabine nods, and she jokes with you “go pick out a bass you can keep it as a pet on the oil rig.” You laugh softly, and you shake your head “there are no bass here.”

Sabine’s smile widens at the sound of your laugh. “There are cod here though” you know that because you studied fish in Jorvik at school. “Well then go pick out a cod” she looks to your mare when she whinnies as a wave gets too close to the bridge. “You can make it rig mascot name it something stupid like dog” the girl looks to Khaan when he neighs in response to your mare. “A cod named dog sounds great” you watch the waves move with your mare. “I’m sure dog will be a great mascot” you laugh again “you’ll definitely strike fear in Anne’s heart when she sees you guys carry team stuff with a cod on it.”

The conversation about a cod named dog makes you feel a lot better. “Thinking about it sure does scare me” Sabine takes her phone out of her pocket. She checks the time. The ferry should be arriving at the dock soon. “The ferry should be here soon-“ the girl pauses to grab Khaan’s reins. She continues talking once she’s got them “we should meet it at the dock.” Sabine can’t wait to get home and lay down in her bed. She’s really tired. Your tossing and turning made her get very little sleep.

She also can’t wait to show you around the rig. At least she hopes she’ll be the one showing you around. Katja or Jay will most likely steal you just to piss her off. “We’re leaving without dog?” You grab your mare’s reins she snorts. “You had your chance to get dog and you missed it” Sabine begins walking down to the docks with Khaan. You and your horse follow her “because you distracted me by talking about dog!” You laugh, and Sabine says to you “too bad so sad.” Your mind is now completely off the ache in your chest as you continue talking with Sabine about a cod named dog.

All the way down to where the docks are the cod distracts you. It works pretty well until something brings you back to the ache. While the four of you walk down to the docks a man yells “stop!” You, Sabine and the horses look back to the voice. Some villagers walking near you also look back. A very fancily dressed man that you recognize at the mayor of Cape West is pointing at you. At first you think maybe he’s mistaken you for someone else. It becomes clear you’re the right person when he says, “they’re right there!” And lightning shoots past you.

It misses you by a few inches. Suddenly you and Sabine are being chased down the docks by all of the Soul Riders. Your mare and Khaan run ahead of you both. Khaan and Sabine seem to be having fun while you and your mare are scared shitless. You apologize to fishermen and villagers as you run past them. Their yelling of “hey!”, “stop running!” and “what is your problem!?” Makes you feel awful. You didn’t mean to disturb their peace by running wildly down the docks, but you had to if you wanted to stay out of druid jail.

To the villagers you, Sabine, and the Soul Riders look like unruly teens running for fun. It pisses them off and they continue yelling at you all. The mayor recognized you thanks to a description given to him by The Soul Riders over the phone. Anne knew you might hit Goldenhills. She knew Sabine might take you with her to the rig since land wasn’t really safe for you anymore. The leader was right, and she was feeling incredibly smart and lucky for having guessed right. “Stop running!” Anne yells out to you “you can come back home!” She’s trying to trick you. You know she is, but a small sliver of hope makes you wonder if maybe what she says is true? You slow down a bit which makes Sabine panic. “Your dad is waiting for you! Just come with us!” Anne loses you with that. Your da- Avalon told you to stay away from him.

He told you to never come home. Hope vanishes and you regain your speed. Your girlfriend is glad you don’t fall for Anne’s tricks. “We need a way to lose them!” You yell to Sabine who’s already looking for a way to lose the Soul Riders before you speak. “Hold on!” Sabine looks to the sea she can see the ferry coming to the dock. “Run for the dock keep running and don’t look back!” Sabine suddenly comes to a stop.

She whistles, and Khaan stops too. He stops, he spins on his back hooves, and he runs to Sabine. You follow her instructions, and you keep running. You pray to Aideen your girlfriend knows what she’s doing. Can you even pray to Aideen anymore? Or does she hate you too? The Soul Riders keep yelling at you to stop and turn around as you run. Your mare looks back at you and she neighs. The poor Lipizzaner is freaked out. “It’s okay girl!” You try to comfort her “keep ru-.”

Now it’s your turn to freak out as a huge burst of heat followed by a blaze of light happens behind you. You can hear villagers yell “fire!” Now everyone is running. Not to you anymore but away from you as the fire continues to grow and spread down the docks. The fire follows you; you don’t look back you’re too scared to, but you know it follows thanks to the growing heat and light. You want to look back you want to make sure Sabine is okay. Who caused the fire? Did Sabine do it? Did Alex do it with lightning?

Your mare neighs again, and she looks past you. You look back you’re met with Khaan running to your side. The steed seems very energetic and not at all scared of the flames behind you. He neighs again, and he shakes his head giving you a little rear mid run. You go wide eyed when you realize his hooves are leaving burn marks on the wood in the shape of his horseshoes. You look behind him seeing Sabine running beside the flames. The further Khaan gets from her the weaker they get. You quickly understand Sabine caused the fire herself. Not with gasoline and a match but with her magic.

You knew she had magic like the Soul Riders, but you had never seen her use it until now. When the girl feels eyes on her she looks away from the fire she’s spreading and to you. “I told you not to look behind you!” She shakes her head at you, and you can tell she’s being playful. “I’m not a very good listener!” You slow down as you realize there’s no more need for running. Your mare who had been watching you the whole time also slows. She doesn’t walk to you she’s too scared of the flames.

Khaan doesn’t slow he keeps running he bucks and rears as he runs. He’s happy it’s been a while since he and his rider worked together to make a fire. Sabine stops the flames from spreading further and she walks to you. She checks you making sure none of the flames touched you. You allow her to check you. When she makes sure you’re okay she checks your mare. You watch the ferry dock as she checks up on your mare. Once docked the person driving the ferry waves to you from the control room.

You wave back letting them know you see them. Normally the people driving the ferry would ignore passengers, but Sands told them to be kind to you. You were his guest after all, and you deserved to be treated with great care. When the checkups on your mare are done you, Sabine, and the horses board the ferry. You are finally free to relax. No more running and no more worrying. You just lean against your mare and you both watch the waves as the ferry takes you to the oil rig. You can finally breathe.

As Anne watches the ferry pull away, she groans and facepalms. Linda and Lisa say nothing, they just watch the ferry pull away from the docks. The further the ferry gets the more the flames die out. Alex frowns, and she fixes her beanie it got messed up while she was running “Avalon is going to kill us.”

Arriving at the oil rig was nothing like how you had expected it to be. You expected to be greeted sure but nothing like how you were welcomed in. You were treated like royalty. Your mare was taken from you, and she too was treated like she was Jorvik royalty. Your backpack was also taken from you. A worker said it was going to your room. You were surprised by the fact that there was a room waiting for you. You were incredibly confused but very pleased.

Sabine didn’t like it at all. Something about it all felt off. She didn’t say anything to you about it. She didn’t want you to worry. You had to climb up a lot of stairs. On your way up you and Sabine talked. She told you about Mr. Sands. From her description of him you understood the man wasn’t very nice. The girl told you to leave all the talking to her. You had no problem with that. You would rather she talk, and you stay out of the way. You didn’t want to piss Mr. Sands off. When all the stair walking was over Sabine led you inside a building.

The building was dark and it was really cold, it freaked you out a bit. You walked down long metal hallways that echoed every step and every word. Sabine led you deeper into the building. She was leading you to the center of it where Sands office was. Halfway through the hallways Katja and Jay met up with you and Sabine. The two said a quick hello to you and then they started talking to Sabine.

This time you couldn’t hear anything they were saying. They were being really quiet so you wouldn’t hear anything. The echoes of your footsteps also made it hard to hear. All the Dark Riders stopped to talk, but you kept on going. You hadn’t even realized they weren’t behind you anymore. You kept walking deeper and deeper into the rig. By the time you realized you were alone it was too far to turn back. You stood in place wondering what you should do.

Should you turn back and make a double trip? Or should you stay and wait for Sabine and the others to find you? As you tried to decide you heard footsteps. They were coming your way. You looked down the hallway you assumed they were coming from. It was really hard to pinpoint where they were from. The echo was making it hard to guess. “I’ve been expecting you” you hear a voice behind you. It belongs to a man who sounds like his throat is very dry.

His tone is happy but it’s not genuine happiness. You look behind you. You’re met with a man who seems to be in his 50’s. He’s wearing a tan coat and a suit with a red bowtie underneath the coat. “I’m so happy you made it” the man smiles at you. His smile seems more like the fang bearing of a wolf than a smile. “I hope your journey here was a good one?” He walks forwards to you. He takes your hands, and he gives them a tight squeeze.

The squeeze is comforting, it reminds you of the ones your d- Avalon used to give you. The action makes your eyes water. The man tells you it’s okay to cry. He tells you he knows what you’ve gone through. The care he gives you makes your guard drop. You feel safe with him. That’s exactly what he wants. The man is just pretending. He has no real care for you. He just wants to use you for information on Valedale. “Welcome home” the man says, and he pulls you in for a hug. You allow it and you hug him back trying to replicate the hugs Avalon would give.

“Welcome to the team.”

It was December 12th. Only a few more days till Christmas and Jay was counting down the days. She really wanted to get a gift for you. The woman had a crush on you, and she decided she should confess on Christmas. It was perfect she could just give you a gift with her confession in it. She was too nervous to tell you in person since she didn’t know how you would react, and she wanted to avoid conflict. She saw the whole Christmas confession thing in a movie once it was painfully cheesy but also incredibly romantic. Jay took Chiyo to the Winter Village and there she learned about a Secret Santa that was taking place. While Chiyo played with penguins and deer Jay listened as a Capran standing under a giant Christmas tree explained the Secret Santa. This secret Santa had a small twist people could choose who they wanted to give a gift to. Jay wasn’t interested in signing up until she saw your name in the list. Your name was among others, and it was unclaimed. Jay blushed as she changed her mind, and she signed up. she could use this as an excuse to give you a gift and if she chickened out of her confession, she could just leave the gift with your name on it and without her confession under the tree and you would never know it was her. she claimed your name and she went to look for Chiyo. She spent the days leading up to Christmas looking for the perfect gift for you. At first, she struggled with finding something for you. Jay couldn’t find anything that would match your style or your horse’s. when she asked Sabine for advice on a gift the woman said to just buy some fuzzy socks or candy and call it quits. Jay didn’t like that so she went to Katja who said the same thing and added that whoever Jay got for a secret Santa would most likely not care too much for the gift so just getting fuzzy socks would be good. The woman couldn’t find anything, and her teammates were no help so she decided she would buy some fuzzy socks and candy three days before Christmas and call it quits. Since Jay was saving the gift for later, she focused on her letter for you. In her letter she wrote her feelings for you, and she added sweet things about you into it things that were really cheesy just like the movie she watched. When her letter was done, and she was sure it was good she put it away in a green gift box she bought days ago for when she got you a gift. The letter sat in the box…Jay didn’t know it, but something was missing from the letter. Three days before Christmas she was on babysitting duty again, so she took Chiyo with her to the store. While she looked at fuzzy socks Chiyo looked around nearby aisles for a better gift. When she found something, she came running back to Jay “I found something!” she whisper yelled “it’s better than boring old socks come on!” Jay followed Chiyo to the aisle she found the gift in, and she went wide eyed. Chiyo was right the gift she found was better than some boring socks and it looked like it matched your style perfectly. The woman looked down at Chiyo “thank you Chiyo” she smiled at the girl and Chiyo smiled back. Jay bought the gift and some stuff Chiyo asked for before going back to the rig with the girl. When Christmas day hit Jay was extremely nervous. She was in the stables of the rig getting her horse. Sands told his generals to take Chiyo out to the winter village again for Christmas even though none of them celebrated it and to enjoy the small time of peace while it lasted. Jay let out a shaky sigh in her hands she held your gift was she ready to give it to you? She was unsure she thought she was ready but now she was having second thoughts. Sabine led Khaan by his reins out of the stable when she heard Jay sigh she looked to the other woman. Sabine stopped walking and Khaan neighed at Arcebus receiving a neigh back. “Nervous?” Sabine asked and Jay shook her head she was lying, and Sabine knew it the woman rolled her eyes “I’m sure the person you got for the trade will love the gift you got them.” Sabine felt she was being too nice, so she added “twenty five percent sure at least”

she nudged Jay with her hip laughing when Jay gave her an annoyed look “come on book brain Chiyo is getting impatient.” Jay scoffed and smiled at what Sabine called her and she opened Arcebus’ stall door grabbing the horse’s reins with one hand and her other held the gift. The woman led her Marwari out of his stall. Sabine and Jay walked out of the stables meeting up with a very impatient Chiyo and a tired Katja. the four dark riders and the three horses took a ship to Moorland’s beach and then they traveled to the winter village. Once there the horses went to eat some hay left out by the Caprans and Chiyo ran around enjoying the snow and the festivities. Sabine kept an eye on the girl and Katja went along with them leaving Jay all alone. She closed her eyes she sighed she was ready she could do this! She opened her eyes, and she walked going to search for you. She spent a while looking for you and while she looked for you, she rehearsed what she was going to say to you. Jay didn’t want to just go up to you and make things up as she went so, she practiced what she was going to say. This would be so much easier if you two weren’t enemies. When she found you sitting near a campfire she blushed, and she cleared her throat getting ready to speak. You looked upset really upset and Jay wondered if she should talk to you…what if you became aggressive with her? You had never done so before, but you seemed like you were in a bad mood, so she worried. Right as she was about to open her mouth to speak to you, she heard one of your friend’s call you to them. Jay watched as you stood up and you walked over to Alex who had called you over to her and she saw the rest of your friends standing with the woman. Then Jay saw Katja and Mortifa and then Sabine who was leading Khaan and Chiyo who led Arcebus. Alex and Katja yelled things Jay couldn’t hear at each other and right as a fight was about to start you stepped in between them. Katja backed up because she didn’t want to fight but Alex didn’t back up, she really, really wanted to fight Katja. that’s when Sabine stepped in and told Katja it was time to go. Sabine, Chiyo and Katja walked away with the horses. The three found Jay standing near the campfire where you were sitting before, and Sabine told Jay what had happened. Jay frowned when Sabine told her they had to leave since they weren’t welcome which wasn’t surprising but still it hurt that Jay wasn’t going to be able to give you the gift. The woman placed it down where you were sitting, and she walked away with her teammates leaving the gift there for you to hopefully find.

Alex groaned “can you believe it? Dark riders showing up here?!” she shook her head “I bet they were coming to ruin Christmas.” The angry woman kicked up a bunch of snow “assholes!” Linda backed up when Alex kicked the snow managing to save herself from it being kicked onto her “I’m glad we caught them before they could do anything.” Lisa backed up as well sighing relieved as she managed to dodge the snow “we should keep an eye out just in case they decide to come back.” Anne nodded she stood next to Alex “I agree with Lisa we can still celebrate of course but as we do we have to pay more attention to our surroundings.” You walked back to your seat as your friends talked and you sighed sadly. Today had been awful you slipped on ice and fell on your bum, your horse rolled in muddy snow and to top it all off everyone who did the secret Santa got a gift except you. When you made it back to your seat you saw a dark green giftbox and you felt like crying. You closed your eyes and breathed in trying not to cry. You picked the giftbox up looking for a name tag. You turned it to the left then to the right and then you saw the tag hidden in the ribbon of the gift box. You took it out careful not to undo the ribbon and you gasped when you realized the tag had your name on it! You flipped the tag looking for the name of whoever left this here for you to find. There was no name, so you undid the ribbon opening the giftbox hoping to find a clue of whoever gave you this gift. When you opened it, you gasped again the gift in the box was something you had wanted for a long time! Who got you this? You took the gift out of the box, and you laughed you were so happy. Your horse who had been eating hay by the campfire neighed and walked over to you wanting to see what you had. They lowered their head sniffing the box your horse found something in it and they grabbed it. Your horse snorted getting your attention and they moved their head up and down showing you what they had in their mouth. You put your gift back in the box and you gently took what your horse had in their mouth. It was a piece of folded paper. You opened the paper and you saw your name and then you sat down to read. The letter had beautiful cursive writing and your eyes got glossy you felt your face get hot as you read the letter. The paper contained the most beautiful love letter you had ever seen and as you read it you felt your heartbeat get faster. Whoever wrote this letter really liked you and your cheeks and ears turned redder as you thought about someone having a crush on you. you couldn’t wait to get to the end of the letter and find out who wrote this for you. when you got to the end you frowned, and you flipped the paper and then you grabbed the giftbox digging through it. Your day had gotten better and just as fast as it had gotten better it got worse. You put the note down in the giftbox and you sobbed you covered your face as you cried, and your horse pressed their nose against your shoulder to try and comfort you. Your friends heard you crying, and they walked over to you going to comfort you. they all asked you what was wrong, and you told them about the gift and the letter crying harder as you told them that…

The letter wasn’t signed. Jay forgot to sign the letter.

The ferry ride back to the oil rig was… Uncomfortable. Sabine was mad at you she refused to speak or look at you. Anything you said to her was ignored she was highly disappointed. Your first mission was messy. Everything had been going well until you went to fight Anne. You told Sabine you would fight Anne, and show her you were a real threat to her team, but you didn’t land more than three or four hits on the Soul Rider. You promised Sabine you were ready to fight you wanted to join her on a mission. You really did feel ready when you promised her, but your feelings took over you during the fight. How could you fight someone you loved before? Anne used to be your friend your brain couldn’t forget that no matter how hard you tried. You still held some love for the woman and her team feelings did not allow you to fight her, and probably wouldn’t allow you to fight the others either. You heard your horse neigh, and you looked to them seeing them look forward. You were at the oil rig now. The ship was circling around the rig trying to find a dock. Your palms started to sweat at the thought of Sands finding out about today. Would Sabine tell him? You wanted to tell her not to you wanted to tell her this was just a bad day and that it wouldn’t repeat, but she was still ignoring you. You really didn’t want to speak to Sands. The man was a rough leader he saw your every mistake, and each mistake made earned you a long talk. You were tired and sore you really didn’t want to deal with a huge long boring talk. When the ship docked at the rig you gathered your horse’s reins leading them off the ferry ramp and onto the dock. Jay waited for you at the dock wanting to hear how your first mission had gone. As soon as the woman saw Sabine’s sour look she knew it didn’t go well. Sabine and Khaan got off the ship first so Jay went to Sabine asking what had happened and your teammate told her everything. By the time you got to Jay, Sabine was done talking, and walking away with her horse. Jay stood still for a second trying to process what Sabine had told her. Once she was able to, she spoke “what happened? You said you were ready?” The woman watched as you frowned leaning against your horse for support “I was.” You said and your horse stood still allowing you to lean on them “I really was but I don’t know what came over me and-.” The thought of what Anne had said to you popped into your head. You hadn’t forgotten about what she said you just pushed it away too scared to think that what she was saying was true. Did the Soul Riders really run away like Katja had told you? Or did they stay and find your body like Anne said they did? What story was true?... You had to find out… You had to speak to Katja. Jay watched as your frown turned to a scowl “I need to speak to Katja” you stopped leaning against your horse walking closer to Jay “where is she?” The woman didn’t answer your question instead she shook her head saying “I think we need to see Sands first.” You huffed your tone changing from neutral to displeased “I need to speak to Katja” you weren’t going to see Sands you were going to see Katja. Jay’s nose scrunched a bit as her brows furrowed. The woman knew you were going to be stubborn about what you wanted. She didn’t want to stay, and argue with you so she nodded “fine” her tone changed from concerned to annoyed “let’s go find Katja.”

You were in your room pacing back and forth as you waited for Katja. You and Jay found the woman in the stables with Mortifa. She was busy, so she told you to wait for her. You didn’t want to speak in the stables you needed more privacy, so you told Katja to meet you in your room. Jay went to speak to Sands about your mission leaving you to walk to your room alone and anxious. Your anxiety grew as you waited for Katja to come to you, and it got worse as you thought about the long talk you would have with Sands over today. Hopefully the woman remembered that she was supposed to meet you in your room. She was taking a long time you were starting to think that she completely forgot about you. While you waited you thought about how to ask her about the story she told you. How do you ask someone if they lied to you without making it… Bad? How can you ask her if she lied without upsetting her in some way? While you thought about how to say what was on your mind you heard muffled footsteps outside your room. The steps were getting louder, and you knew they had to be from Katja. You waited a couple seconds, and when the steps stopped you looked at your door. The door shook a bit as it was knocked on making your room echo. You quickly walked to the door eager to know the truth when you opened it you gave Katja no time to talk. You quickly dragged her in by the arm surprising the witch as you dragged her into the room. Katja really wanted to ask you what your problem was, but you spoke first “did you lie to me?” You decided to just say it not worrying about being kind. If Katja lied to you then she deserved no kindness from you. If she didn’t lie then you would apologize later, but right now you needed to be rude. You needed to make it clear you wanted the truth you weren’t going to keep playing games. Katja laughed surprised by your question and your awful behavior “excuse you?” She glared at you, and you glared back. “You told me my friends left me behind as soon as the explosion happened” when you said ‘friends’ Katja began to feel uneasy. She and the team were your friends now, were you starting to become disloyal? You spoke again backing away from her your body slowly moving you towards the door without you realizing it. “You said I was left out there alone… But when I was fighting Anne today she said they never left me” your nose scrunched your brows furrowed. Your expression reminded Katja of a snarling animal “she said they found my body.” You were getting closer to the door Katja took notice of it. The witch tensed feeling more and more threatened as you spoke and moved. “And you believed her?” Katja scoffed “she’s lying to you! She lied so you wouldn’t fight her!” That was a huge possibility but your brain was saying ‘keep pushing’ so you did. “I believed her because I knew her longer” your body stopped when you got near the door “she sounded pretty fucking honest to me.” The woman looked at the door, and then to you… What were you planning? “Why did you lie?” You knew the truth now, and Katja couldn’t fight back with more lies anymore. The woman rolled her eyes at you “we’re your real friends and you want to go back to the ones who make you work day and night? Who don’t truly see you or your power?” Katja was trying to make you stay, and calm down, but you refused it “answer me!” You yelled at her “why did you lie?!” You were angry now, you wanted the truth. The witch gave in deciding to tell you the true story, but she still had a plan to try and make you stay “we know who you are.” Her glare intensified “Aideen” she said the name like it was the most disgusting thing ever. You tensed not knowing what to say. How did she know who you were? You didn’t get to ask her thanks to your body freezing in fear and surprise. “Jay came up with the plan.” Katja started walking towards you taking small steps, so she wouldn’t scare you.

“She planned everything” you watched as the woman got closer “she had the Drakonium be put out there, she made sure you would be near the smallest pile, she made an illusion of you to trick your friends, and we stayed out there until you woke up.” You felt like throwing up you betrayed everyone for a lie. Guilt ate away at your insides as Katja spoke “we did all that for you” the witch was acting out her plan now “we care for you so much we did all of this for you.” Her plan was to make it seem like you meant so much to her that you would stay. The woman was right in front of you now she held your shoulders, and through your shirt you could feel the cold of her skin. One wrong move and you could end up with frostbite “aren’t we better than the Soul Riders? We cared for you more than they did aren’t we better?” You seemed to be calming down your angry look going away… But only for a second. The look returned your face burning with anger “you lied to me!” You pushed Katja away quickly walking backwards, so her hands wouldn’t touch any exposed skin. “How are you any better!? You fucking lied to me, and took me away from my friends!” You looked to the door, and Katja went wide eyed “don’t you dare.” She watched as you took a step towards the door “leave this room and I’ll kill you for being a traitor!” You looked to her then back to the door, and you ran out of your room ignoring her words. You ran as fast as you could not bothering to look back to see if Katja was following you. You wanted to look, but you were glad you didn’t as a giant spike of ice appeared in front of you. The spike was aimed right for your torso you managed to dodge it before it could hit any vital organ. Had curiosity gotten the better of you the spike would have pierced you. You didn’t escape unharmed the spike grazed your side. Blood poured from the wound covering your shirt in a crimson red color. Adrenaline hit you making you run faster, and it dulled the pain of your cut putting all focus on survival. Katja was serious she really was going to try and kill you. You had to get off the oil rig this was life or death. You ran down the hall taking a turn running straight for the stables. You weren’t going to leave your horse you’d rather die than leave your horse. More spikes appeared in front of you some of them left a cut on you as you ran around them. The cuts ranged from big to small the spikes were getting harder to dodge. Katja was set on killing you, and you knew she wasn’t going to give up until she did. A strong horrible fear hit you as you realized you might not make it out of the rig alive.