#stealthildan

 SO   IT   TOOK   A   GREAT   DEAL     of   pleading   to   convince   her   mother     (   and   aaaaaaall   the   aunts   and   uncles   )     to   let   her   go   out   on   her   own.   but   here’s   the   thing   !!   she’s   fifteen   now,   and   she’s   been   like,   super   ready   for   months.   it’s   not   like   she’s   one   hundred   percent   alone   anyway,   and   she   has   her   sending   stone.   besides,   she’s   just   walking   from   rexxentrum   to   zadash,   not   walking   mapless   into   a   jungle   or   something.   that’s   all   ...   fine   and   good   until   the   first   night   camping   out,   of   course.   dagger   is   circling   overhead,   and   she   spends   a   good   portion   of   the   remaining   daylight   on   arranging   her   little   camp   exactly   the   way   aunt   veth   taught   her.   it’s   just   that   the   woods   are   very   quiet,   and   that’s   never   a   good   sign.

there’s a small noise of frustration that comes from the half-elf,  her noise pressed tightly into the book she was currently reading. normally, it would be her mama who had come into her room to fetch her for dinner, but her father’s presence came as a bit of a surprise. vera really wasn’t upset that he had disturbed her reading, but mostly that she still couldn’t quite find what she was looking for. perhaps he came at a good time, after all.  

the young half-elf walks into the living room of their hut,  clutching a small owlbear stuffy by its ear with one hand and rubbing at her tired eyes with the other. vilya had begun to fall asleep a bit, listening to her mama tell her and vera a story before they went to bed, but she grew restless rather quickly after her mother and twin sister fell asleep in their bed. with all of the stealth she had seen from her father, vilya managed to wiggle her way out from under keyleth’s arm and pad her way back into the living room where @stealthildan​ was sitting.

@stealthildan​ inquired ( prompt ) ; [ FINAL ]:     a letter written in the aftermath of the recipient’s death, where the writer knows they’ll never get the chance to read it.

Stringbean,

     Out of the two of us, I thought it would be me being the one who went willingly with their God after death. I guess my preaching did more then inspire you to find faith in things, you died for them too. I wanted to tell you how jealous I was, yet it’s too late now. I mean, I built a temple and revived an entire religion, while you just put on a suit of armor, but whatever. As much as I’m giving you shit for it, I couldn’t be more prouder of you and I wish I could have expressed that a little more; though none of us knew how little time we had. I do wish to go back, I wish we could have done everything differently and kept you here. She isn’t my God and as much as I disagree, I respect where she stands and your choice to stand with it. I’m glad you found purpose, despite the circumstances that were hard to swallow.  Not only for you. 

     Vex is in good hands. Percy hasn’t left her side, and they’ve become a pillar of support for each other during their grief. As for Scanlan, he’s wrote many accord of you to keep your memory alive ( enough to never let me forget ). Grog’s, you know, Grog; he doesn’t like to talk about his feelings much, and drowns them out in Ale and food. But, you shouldn’t worry about him, he has his own motives that keep him going.

     Our tree whisperer has been keeping herself very busy as of late. She’s been attending to her people, guiding them where they need to go and be, while gracing us with her presence at the Slayer’s Cake every now and then. Though, she’s been quiet and shuts off when the means of your name come up. We all do. I still think she hurts the most out of the six of us, and trust me, my magic can’t heal whatever is broken. Time is what we need, and with this new era of recovery, we are blessed with it. 

     Now, I’m not really a writer, and Scanlan said I couldn’t just hold my own feelings anymore. I tried everything to avoid doing this, yet reaching this point of the letter has brought me a new sense of clarity and acceptance. Maybe there is a point to written word, or even journaling, but I really don’t want to give Scanlan the satisfaction of being right about yet another thing today. So I’ll leave with this sentiment; when I die, before I leave with the light of Sarenrae, I hope it’s you who shepherds me there.

     - Pickle

vax: she felt unsafe

keyleth: well now i feel unsafe

vax: ………..

𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 ♚ 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄 // accepting . ↳ @stealthildan : " i do not tolerate a world emptied of you . i have tried . "

                    𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 , 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐏 𝐔𝐏 , 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 throughout her life —- their life —- has led to this moment . they've been here before , but this feels different somehow . it's colder and closer beyond measure ; as close as she's ever been . in that one excruciating moment before everything fell away to darkness , all she could recognize was the pain of it and the unfamiliar feel of the ground beneath her . when she begins to come to , however , she knows he is with her , can sense him , but lacks the strength yet to reach out to him .

                   𝐀 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 the black that's encroached upon her vision but is quick to dissolve into nothingness once more . it comes again and even stays a moment longer —- long enough to allow her to see vague shapes , blurred indistinguishably at their edges —- until , at last , her vision begins to return stronger with each blink .

                   𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐘 , 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐄 of his arms around her and the way he clutches her tightly against himself . as if she wasn't too weak to fight him off . that , at least , is enough to prompt a weary smile to pull at her lips .

                   ❝ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 , 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 , ❞ she begins , voice trembling just as much as the hand that lifts to touch his cheek , " that we're not quite there yet . "

                   𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄 , or perhaps it had been him . either way , she lets her hand fall to limply pat at his leather - bound chest . it's alright , i'm alright , it seems to say , but she knows it will take more than that to assuage him .

                   ❝ 𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐆𝐎 𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐘𝐎𝐔 —- 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 . i swore it , didn't i ? "