Chasing the Edge of the World
(aka: The Time Traveler Who Accidentally Invented a Legend)
2007: 15-year-old Kai lounges on a tree branch: Kai: Tell me something interesting.
15-year-old Rowan, reading under said tree: Rowan: Did you know some historians think the legendary pirate Rook Mariner was a real guy? But the only evidence is a name that shows up in a few scattered records. No one’s sure.
Kai: Wanna find out?
Rowan, looking up: We can DO that?
Kai: I know a guy who knows a clock who knows a continuity wormhole. It’s fine.
Rowan: Then hell yeah let’s do it!
1728:
38-year-old Rowan, staring into the ocean: Rowan: …Bring me that horizon.
15-year-old Kai materializes behind him: Kai: FOUND you!
Rowan: Hah! And here I thought you were a rum-driven hallucination, lad.
Kai: Ancestors ABOVE— you got OLD, what the hell?!
Rowan: And you… have not changed at all.
Kai: What year did I leave you in?! I’ve been searching for WEEKS. I even checked the dinosaurs. I thought I dropped you in the Cretaceous!
Rowan: No need. Truly. I liked the life I built here. I don’t want you to undo it.
Kai: Rowan, come on—
Rowan: Haven’t heard that name in years.
Kai, crossing his arms: What do you go by now?
Rowan, smirking as he rolls up his sleeve to reveal a small sparrow tattoo: Rowan: …Rook.
Kai: screaming internally You just HAD to pick a bird name, you dramatic sea-feral disaster.
Rowan: The name kind of… fell on me. Storms, rumors, you know how sailors are.
Kai: And now you’re a HISTORICAL FIGURE. GREAT. Fantastic. Love that for the timeline.
Rowan: Seems so.
Kai, sighing but smiling: Guess I’ll see you in the future then, Rook Mariner.
Rowan: Captain Rook.
Kai, already phasing out: Yeah yeah ocean man whatever.
2007:
15-year-old Kai bursts through a rooftop door: Kai: Okay so I need you to help me fake a murder.
Vilco the Trickster: Sounds hilarious.
Nightwarden: WHAT DO YOU MEAN “FAKE A MURDER”—
