Irondil
Night had fallen several hours ago, but still the Map Warden worked at his desk. In front of him was the map of Bakersfield, a small village but rather popular with the little band that had formed around the Mountain. He grimaced and stuck the tip of his dagger on the town's marker. But then immediately pulled it out and threw it at the far wall. It bounced off the hard wood and onto the floor. Something had been there. Hadn't it? A flash of pale flesh, of a dress or old ratty robe?
The Warden shook his head and stood from his chair. I'm seeing things. This Baker nonsense is messing with my head. He'd better respond soon. Realizing just how tired he had become, the Warden left his office and made his way down the second floor hallway, intent on his bedroom.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden fought down the scream that had nearly escaped from the knife glinting and slicing the air as it flew her way. Her limbs trembled as she pressed herself into the wall, aware that she had phased halfway through it in her panic.
She didn't know what had possessed her to come here. She was a ghost, wasn't she supposed to do the possessing? Well, if she knew how to do that, anyway. The little ghost silently opened the door and watched the Warden making his way down the hall, and she flitted down the stairs, letting out a tiny yelp and cursing lightly as she stumbled the last few steps. She hated that after all this time, she still hadn't mastered hovering. The spirit silently berated herself. She wasn't brave enough to do serious snooping; if she was a better ghost, maybe she would make herself invisible and steal important papers to give the others, but she wasn't a very good ghost, and that wasn't why she was here.
Her foxes.
A week or so after Sweeventide, she had gifted the Map Warden with a pair of foxes. After the recent events, she worried about them. She was unsure if she should take her gifts back from him, but even intimidating people bent on world domination must have hobbies, right? Maybe he was taking good care of them.
She cringed at the squeaking and screeches they made, hoping they wouldn't get too excited to see her. They might blow her cover; meeting the Warden after what had happened on the mountain might be... Awkward, to say the least.
Irondil
The Warden reached his bedroom door, but stopped before entering. A noise. A terrible sound like the screeching of a tortured child. Something had stirred them up in the next room over. Did he have a visitor?
Warden tightened his lips and walked the other way down the hallway until he reached the furnace room of the castle. Inside the yips and screams were loud and growing even louder. Yes, there was someone in there other than the foxes he had been given. And he had an idea of who. Maybe he had not been imagining things in his office.
Brook Khidpuh
"Shh, sh sh sh, it's alright, I'm here," she soothed the animals as they cried from their place, tied to a post. "Hush now, little ones. It's alright."
Faeden came near to the foxes, kneeling and allowing them to clamber over her and bury their pointed snouts into her chest and hair. She looked them over nose to tail. Their fur was lackluster, and judging from the size of the fire and warmth she could actively feel the poor things must be overheating. They weren't... starving, but they had most certainly not been this thin when she had last seen them. What were they even being fed? Their eyes were not as shiny and bright, either, and they seemed... too excited to see her. They had too much energy, even for foxes.
Worry bit at her. They couldn't be happy here.
"Do you need to be taken back?" she asked in a hushed voice as one bit and played with her hair, and the other curled into her neatly folded lap. "I could take you far from here. We don't live in the stone cottage anymore. That tree that I found, in the forest, it's grown so huge! I managed to build a little house around it. You two might have fun with all your friends and family, right? Or is the Warden good to you? Does he play with you? Mm, I don't think so. What was I thinking, giving you both to him..."
She froze for a moment. Had she heard something? No, just the thud of small paws upon the wooden floor. Right?
Irondil
All in one movement Warden threw open the door and loosed a spell from his hand. The spirit was thrown back and bound to the furnaces behind her by some unseen power. But the Map Warden's face was impartial. He looked from the now cowering foxes to the ghost child, and scoffed. "Domulvmin. For what reason have you entered my castle unannounced?"
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden gasped as she was thrust against the furnace, unable to move no matter how she might struggle. Terror lit in her eyes at the prospect of being trapped. Trapped... trapped in a room like this with nothing but the angry eyes of her keeper upon her. Her breathing stopped and the absence of a pulse roared even louder in her ears than one may have.
He asked you a question. Answer it, before you are punished further!
Breathless words tumbled from her, as she tried to remember how she was supposed to speak before lords and nobles.
"S--Sir! Forgive me f-for entering your d-domain, but I- th-the foxes, that I gave you, they-- I w-was worried, my lord, wanted to see if they were alright!"
Why was she talking like this? Wasn't this the same man who had threatened Mister Ollie, the man she had threatened back in the middle of her cold fury? She had- she had dealt with people like him before. In another time.
"Speak only when spoken to. Those of dignified birthing have no desire to associate themselves with a street rat in ribbons. Remember you place, -"
Irondil
The Warden snapped his fingers and the spirit was released, but the room around them warped into a nothingness of shadow and shimmering, prismatic light beams. It was only the two of them. No fire, no foxes, no floor or walls. Only the illusion he had built for them. He did not normally show his sorcery to the people of this world. It was not necessary, nor would there normally be any profit from it. But this thing, this abomination of life needed to know. It needed to know what it was up against. By the Lady of Twilight no undead would tread on his land without facing consequences.
"I don't believe you. Stand. Or float, I don't care. Now, tell me what you have come here for or you will be locked in this pocket of void for eternity."
Brook Khidpuh
Shivers wracked her frame as she forced herself to do as she was told. Where were they? What was this? He was capable of all these feats? Did they only apply to the undead like herself, or could he do this to anyone? Would he do it to Mister Ollie?
Fear gripped her, its cold clawed hands reaching into her chest.
"B-b-but, my lord, I s-speak the truth! S-- surely you have seen the numbers of foxes n-near my home? I thought you might like a pair, f-for the holiday, I just, I just worried about them!"
Only then did his words fully impact her. Faeden's eyes widened at horror at the thought of being trapped in an empty, lifeless place again.
"N-no, no, no please, p-please sir, don't leave me in here, not for speaking the truth to you, p-p-please!"
Irondil
"They are not your foxes. You gave them to me, did you not? I still do not understand why you did this. Or how. My wards against the undead continue to fail me." His eyes narrowed, and as they did the room grew darker, yet the beams of colored light grew stronger without lessening the gloom. "How did you get past them? What kind of sorcerer were you before your soul was dislodged from your corpse?"
Brook Khidpuh
"A g-gift, sir, they were a gift!" she babbled, the dark pressing down on her causing her stomach to clench. "I only worry about their wellbeing!"
She stumbled to a halt in her words, unsure of what his meant.
"W-wards? I've always come and gone here as I pleased, without touching any of your belongings. B-before your declaration, that is. When I thought you were-"
The ghost cut herself off before she made what would very much be a grievous mistake, and reconnected the thread of her sentence to another seam.
"I am n-no sorcerer, my lord, my life was taken from me on my wedding day. I d-don't, I don't remember very much of that life aside from being the prize of a nobleman. I was called 'street filth' and 'rat in ribbons'! I w-was no socerer."
She scanned his face, desperately willing him to believe her. She couldn't remember much of her life. She hoped that wasn't what he needed to let her go.
Irondil
The Warden's red eyes glowed with the intensity of the Nether. Something flashed in the room, so quick that it was almost impossible to see. Then it appeared again, just as quick in another corner of the room. Again and again the image showed itself and vanished across the darkness. And then it appeared one last time in front of the spirit, the mangled and contorted form of her old body.
It disappeared once again, only to be replaced with the severed heads of several people the Warden knew she would know quite well; a black haired boy, a blue haired girl, a learned but youthful face of a librarian, and the disgusting leaking face of a witch. The heads began to circle the spirit, closing in on her and laughing in the voices that belonged to the true heads.
Warden smiled at the sight of the little undead abomination crouching and cowering in fear. And when it collapsed to the ground, its translucent knees brought to its chin, he waved his hand. They were in the furnace room of Femelv'Girn. The foxes were now fast asleep, like nothing had happened. "Leave."
Brook Khidpuh
Tears spilled unbidden, and if she was alive she would have vomited. Faeden's form blurred as cold took her over and the edges of her vision darkened, on hands and knees on the floor and too frightened to so much as gasp for air. The images would not leave her head. The faces would not leave her mind. She couldn't forget them, they were forever burned there, the blood, the sounds, the faces, the laughter, the tears spilling like rivers off her face.
She couldn't move.
She was paralyzed.
Suddenly, dying to Dresden seemed much, much more preferable.
Black pooled around the whites of her eyes, her pupils shifting to red, but all that came out was a small, choked whimper. She shook so hard her form appeared to be clipping in and out of reality. There was nothing she could say. Nothing she could do. The Warden's warning to her swam through a thick haze of noise that the phantom images still caused, ringing in her ears. But she couldn't move.
Irondil
The Warden groaned at the sight of such a pitiful thing. He grabbed the spirit by the hair, intending to thrust it out the door of his castle. But, it was a strange feeling in his grip. It was not the same as the ghostly forms of elves and men from his homeland. This spirit was different. It was more solid, more...connected to the world. "What are you?" he growled, pulling her up so her frazzled eyes were directly aligned with is. "Is this the work of that Mountain? What binds you to this world, Spirit?!"
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden screamed when she was grabbed. She couldn't help it. His enraged eyes, inches away from her terrified black and red ones, bore into her like the chancellor, the way he would look at her before she was beaten within an inch of her life. He even spoke the same. Her throat worked furiously to produce sound other than the foxlike whimpers that squeezed their way out.
I don't know what you're talking about!
Let me go, let me go, let me go, please, please!
Can't breathe going to die again someone help me oh gods someone help me-
None of the words came out, and instead she screeched. A burst of cold white flame exploded between them, and Faeden rocketed away, crashing into the wall and falling to the floor. The foxes had woken up and were making a terrible, frightened din, and the ghost managed to tear words from her throat in a rasping scream of terror.
The world was dark around her, and her body had nearly become invisible. The tears obscured her vision so that the Warden was nothing but dark blur with glowing red eyes. This. This was so, so much worse than she had ever imagined things could go.
Irondil
Disgusted, the Warden threw the ghost back onto the floor. "Fine. I am a benevolent lord. Say your farewells to the foxes and leave my castle. If I ever catch you here again, I will slit their throats and deliver their skins to that little shack outside my boundaries. Do you understand me, Domulvmin?"
Brook Khidpuh
She slid across the floor, barely managing to choke out her thanks. She was dizzy from fear, threatening to simply collapse on the ground. But that would spell certain doom. The foxes whined anxiously as she collected them into her nearly invisible, shaking arms, and they slipped through her a few times before the spirit collected enough of the shattered shards of her sanity to hold them. Her vision spun as she forced herself to stand with them and face the Map Warden.
A spark of rebellion from her time as the chancellor's accessory lit somewhere inside her trembling form, and she dashed away as fast as she could manage, the foxes still in her arms. The leather leads snapped and whipped back to the post as she fled.
Irondil
Irondil closed the doors to Femelv'Girn behind the ghost and the foxes after they made their escape. Once he was certain there was no one around to see, he let the false emotions vanish from his face to reveal the true fear that he had been hiding. As quick as a fox he dashed to the secret room and threw open the trap door. The advanced wards were still there, untripped and untampered with. The ghost had not found it.
A shudder ran down the Warden's entire body. He had hated doing all of that to the spirit. No one deserved to be tortured, not even the acusred undead. But no one could be allowed to stop him, not now, not after all the planning. All he needed now was allies, and if he had to sacrifice the little ghost child to save the world, then he would do so.
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been playing a lot of Minecraft lately on a lore-based server. gonna try to start posting more again, so here’s a glimpse of the Absolute Complete Mental Breakdown Edomie had last night due to plot things.
After a harrowing experience in the End, Ollie begins to hear a new voice. The Ender Dragon's egg learns it can communicate with other people after a long and lonely life watching from afar. They bond while Ollie struggles to stay focused on his work.
cosmosOgler
A commotion, on the outside. Blips and screams, as the Dragon plucked up the adventurers from the surface and dropped them high above the ground. But, all too quickly, the Dragon's roars cut off, leaving a gaping gash across the collective mindscape like ringing in the ears.
Jostling, and laughter, and cheers. Then, what felt like the Ender Dragon's overwhelming bulk slammed down on the mindscape, and the world became suddenly dark and silent.
Dark and silent for a full day.
What happened?
Time stretched on, and still nothing.
Where is everyone?
Why is it dark?
A single whisper in the mindscape.
Oh. It's you.
Building away, as always.
Building again, huh?
It's probably nice, to keep busy.
Why do you keep going out in the cold? You're making ME cold.
Well, I guess if you slept, there'd be less to watch anyway. Knock yourself out.
Or, I mean, don't knock yourself out. Bad choice of words.
Where are we going today? Same as usual?
LexiDriftander
It took Oleander a while, as usual, to recognize the new voice in his head. At first, it was just like all the others, commenting on his actions, giving mild suggestions. Kaithol gave commands, but this new voice...it was soft. It blended in with the others.
But it was really, really snarky.
At first, he assumed it was a voice to counteract Kaithol, what with its comments about his building and its mildly insubordinate suggestions. But then he realized, while Kaithol's voice carried wherever he went, this voice only spoke while he was on the mountain. He could hear it, whenever he got close enough, welcoming him back.
So...what? What was it?
Out of ideas, he paused his work on the blackstone church and listened to the voice, doing his best to push the others aside. Then, he did something he hadn't done for a long time.
He spoke to it.
Who are you supposed to be?
cosmosOgler
The whisper- the boy, with the castle and the mountain- came and went with time. It took the dragon an embarrassingly long time to realize that the boy faded in and out of existence because he wandered a physical distance away. Distance... a novel concept.
Perhaps he could bring news in, from wherever he went. But the dragon's latest attempt to probe for daydreams, or imagined conversations with others, or any sensory details of the boy's day ceased with the sudden brief interruption.
The boy had addressed someone. Clearly and plainly, within the mindscape.
What?
Was someone else with them? The dragon cast around, but its efforts met with only silence.
Just who are you talking to? It wondered. He never spoke to the weather being that way. Was he in contact with another entity, out of the dragon's range? It wanted desperately to see what was going on out there.
LexiDriftander
It responded.
Oleander leaned on his blackstone wall, brow furrowed in confusion. He pressed his hands against the cool, shiny surface and took a few deep breaths to reorient himself.
You, he thought, pressing the statement as firmly as he could toward the voice. I am speaking to you.
cosmosOgler
The dragon startled. To... me? Why? It barked out a laugh, not quite derisive, but definitely confused.
But, in a way, that made sense. It still did not sense anyone else nearby. And the boy HAD spoken in response to its question.
No one had responded to its questions before. Not even the Ender Dragon had been that starved for conversation. And the adventurers from the surface had never seemed to hear its commentary, before they invaded the End. Or at least, nothing it had said warranted a response.
The boy had asked a question. Who was the dragon?
I've... never had to define myself. I'm not supposed to be anyone.
The dragon shifted in the darkness. Who was the dragon?
A thousand possibilities opened up before it. Not the least of which- this boy could, this boy WOULD respond to questions. It could actually ask questions.
LexiDriftander
Well, how did you get here then? Inside my head?
Oleander huffed out a breath and got back to work on the wall, hoping he could manage to multitask this conversation.
You're not like the other ones. You're even different from Kaithol.
cosmosOgler
That piqued the dragon's interest. The other ones? You mean your friends?
It hadn't sensed the other adventurers of the overworld in so long, it felt like. What had they been up to the last few days? What were they building? What was this boy's latest project? Where else would I be? The real question is- why can you hear me NOW? Not that I'm complaining. I've got lots of other perfectly nice things I could complain about.
LexiDriftander
I meant the other voices, Ollie thought with a modicum of frustration. But...you know I have friends?
He stopped and leaned against the wall again, this time sliding down to sit against it with an exhausted sigh.
I...I don't know how long you've been here. But you...you've got to be something else.
cosmosOgler
The other voices... Ah. The boy's thoughts had that whispering quality. Perhaps they had different ways of describing the sound. Is that why the boy had never heard the dragon, previously? Or did it have to do with that battle in the End?
I've watched you and your friends' antics for a little while. Or, not obsessively, I just didn't have much else to do. It's not like I can build a big house for myself.
It paused, uncertain, for a moment. I... don't know how long I've been here either. I don't know where I am anymore, it admitted.
To say it was "scared" would be an overstatement- an ender dragon had nothing to fear. But it could acknowledge the uneasiness that swirled in its thoughts and collected like dust on the floor of the Library.
I think I don't know your name, either, it prodded. Coriander, or something similar, it recalled. But it was as good of a subject change as any.
LexiDriftander
You're on top of Aldegoldkaithol, Ollie replied. A mountain. Really big. It's got...some towers, that I've built. Oh, my name is Oleander. Some people call me Ollie. That's okay too.
So, if this voice had no idea where it was or who he was, it definitely wasn't just another voice, right? All the others knew his name. He tapped on the blackstone with his heel, replaying its words, combing through for any other clues.
Wait. If you've been watching me and my friends, how do you not know where you are?
cosmosOgler
On top of... on top of the mountain? How in Sweev's name did it get up there?
The dragon had to take a moment to process that. It supposed that all made sense. The boy- Oleander- he lived on the mountain, and he was the only one nearby. Of course the dragon was on the mountain. It twitched inside its shell.
Then... that slamming sensation, the darkness. That was when they had removed it from the End. Tch, it couldn't help but huff irritably in Oleander's direction. It would have to get used to physical spaces and distances. It would have to get used to its new limits, and how disorienting its world had become.
I WAS watching, the dragon began. But now I can't see or hear anymore. You lot could have put me anywhere. Why am I on your mountain? What was your goal?
LexiDriftander
Nobody put you up here, Oleander said with so much uncertainty he may as well have not said it at all. Paranoia wrapped spindly fingers around his heart. Unless...someone else...
Had someone else planted something on the mountain? Somewhere he didn't know about? Ohhh, what if it was in the core, what if someone had been there and he didn't know?
He wrung his trembling hands together and tried to focus on the new voice again. He had to get more information.
What...what were you before? When you could see? What happened to you?
cosmosOgler
Well, I certainly didn't get up here myself, the dragon grumbled. I'm still the same old me, as far as I can tell...
I don't know what happened after the Dragon fell. You should know what happened to me, you were the one who took me out of the End. I am the Ender Dragon's prize. I exist within the prison of its egg. I am the second Ender Dragon.
LexiDriftander
A horrible mixture of dread and relief weighed on Oleander's shoulders.
The egg...? You're in the egg?
The egg that, for some forsaken reason, had ended up with him after the battle? The one he'd thrown into a chest and refused to look at after his fall into the void?
The dragon? You're here?
And it sounded like this? Honestly, he'd expected something...more Kaithol-esque in tone.
cosmosOgler
The dragon got its answer in the blips of anxiety and dread, the flashes of a chest, the mountain, the edge of the End. Shaking hands snapping the lid down, the cold wind under the End's landmass as a small form looked down from above, the absolute silence. Turning away from the chest inside a vague shrine, the falling, the darkness.
An undeveloped wing shifted within the egg.
Yes, that's me. You brought me here.
Something was missing... How had he not lost the egg, falling off the End? Weren't all items that fell lost to the void forever?
It had a vague instinct that asking those questions directly would not reveal any answers.
Why did you bring me to this mountain? it pressed.
LexiDriftander
"I didn't mean to!" The frustrated words slipped past Oleander's lips and into the air, echoing dully in the empty chamber of the church. He snapped his mouth shut and repeated the exclamation.
I didn't mean to. I had no idea you were in there!
He grabbed at his sleeves by the fistfuls and pulled, trying to find comfort in the tension. As if the stitches that held his coat together could hold him, too.
After...the fight. Everyone was looking at the egg. Passed it around so everyone could see, you know, like they used to do in school. And then everyone else was so excited to see what else they'd find, they forgot about it. Left me alone, with you, I guess.
Urged on by a quiver, he pulled his knees to his chest and hooked his arms around them.
I went back and put you in an ender chest, and then went through the portal again. I couldn't find anyone. I...I should have just stayed here. I don't know why I went back...
cosmosOgler
Unsure of what was stranger- the idea that everyone had passed it around like a cool rock while it was out cold, or the idea that everyone had just as quickly forgotten about it- the dragon spluttered. Wait- back up-
None of you had any idea what you had done?
Nothing more than a cool loot drop. They had simply- they hadn't fought the Ender Dragon for any other reason than they would fight an Enderman, or a creeper, had they? Nothing more than to harvest whatever the Dragon dropped upon its death. Not that the Dragon had ever treated its egg as anything more than a part of its Sweev-given property either. Conflicted surprise, wounded pride, and vague drowsy relief washed around within the shell.
How lucky, that they had left it behind with Oleander. Oleander, who threw it in a box and forgot about it. Oleander, who had not attempted to break the shell to harness whatever power he might find inside. Oleander, who had tossed it in a dusty corner and run back outside to play with his friends instead.
And yet the boy seemed upset about that decision.
You regret going back?
LexiDriftander
Yes.
Oleander pushed himself to his unsteady feet and slogged away from the church’s main chamber. He entered the left tower and stumbled up the stairs, looking for the doorway that led out onto the walkway.
I had no reason to go back. I don’t even know why I went in the first place.
With a quick shake to clear his head, Ollie ran along the walkway, through the Portal Tower, into the Sigil Room, and up the stairs to the bottom of the High Tower.
I’m sorry I took you. I’ll put you back. Just, just please don’t be angry with me.
cosmosOgler
Unaware of the boy's movement below, the dragon hummed, uncertain. To see what else you would find, like your friends did, I imagine. You adventurers seem to like to roam in packs.
Do what you like with me, it rambled with the mental equivalent of a shrug. Keep me here, toss me in the ocean, put me back where you found me, throw me over the edge of the End. It doesn't matter that much. I'm not much more than a glowy bauble, even to the Ender Dragon. And the Dragon's gone too.
To avoid thinking about the return to the empty silent unmoving unresponsive End that doubtless awaited it once Oleander finished with whatever he was doing, the dragon chattered with renewed vigor.
Oh, you know what you could do? Hang me from a chandelier or something grand like that. Or, better yet, hide me somewhere in that Wayhouse of yours. Think anyone would remember me and get spooked? Or would they cook me like a little chicken egg? I bet that stray Nether Wraith would make a mean scrambled dragon.
LexiDriftander
Oleander paused mid-way up the stairs inside his tower. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you, he insisted. I'll put you wherever you want me to. If that's the End, then...then I'll go back one more time to leave you there.
He resumed his ascent before the quiver in his legs could pull him over the edge. He'd...never bothered to make the staircase any safer. No time for that anymore. He had new projects to work on.
Finally emerging into his enchanting room, he strode for the chest in the back where he kept his vaguely important things. He lifted the lid and reached for the biggest object inside.
So you're actually inside of this egg, huh? With a grunt, he lifted the egg out of the chest and cradled it in his arms.
cosmosOgler
You're... giving me a say in where I end up?
What a concept! The dragon could hardly wrap its little mind around the idea. It got to have a preference?? It hardly knew what to do with all this newfound freedom. Even though all of the options would feel the same to the dragon. The choice came down to "dark and warm," or "dark and cold," or "dark and quiet," or...
Well, it would have to think about all that while Oleander worked through the day.
Where else would I be- w-wait! It realized that Oleander had moved from his project below when it felt the warmth of his body against its shell. Wait! We're going RIGHT NOW? Already?
LexiDriftander
"We can go as soon as you tell me where you want me to put you," Ollie spoke, keeping his voice soft as he leaned his head toward the egg. "I won't keep you here if you don't want to be here."
He swallowed uncertainly.
"You, uh, you have a choice in the matter, at least. Kaithol doesn't...doesn't seem to have an opinion either way." He rubbed his thumb over the bumpy surface of the egg, marveling at the texture. The shell felt strong, and it weighed heavily in his arms. "You're really in there, huh?"
cosmosOgler
The dragon went quiet for a short while, overwhelmed with the possibilities. It had never HAD to make a decision before. Did it want to be there? Did it... not want to be there? Did it matter where it was?
Physical distances limited its reach now. If Oleander moved the dragon, it might be able to see more people. Or it could see fewer people. The dragon's claws and limbs tensed within the shell as it considered the blank blackness of an empty mindscape, neither able to speak to others nor just listen to them experiencing the world as it had before.
Yes... I am really in here.
In an unbreakable shell. The egg had never felt too small for its contents before. It couldn't say it enjoyed the sensation.
This Oleander. He caused this uneasiness, this restlessness. He had asked the impossible of it, and he just stood there talking calmly as if he had made a perfectly reasonable request. He caused this headache.
Would others cause this same headache, now that it could speak and be heard? Would others ask it to make decisions and choices?
Could it live with an inch of freedom, knowing it could never have a mile?
Well... even if Oleander put it somewhere even more quiet and desolate, it would still have to make requests, and voice a preference, if anyone else ever came by it again. It may as well get used to this new burden of freedom.
Where is everyone else? it asked, thoroughly dazed.
LexiDriftander
Everyone else? Oleander considered the question. Well. Everywhere. I'm the only one who lives up here, most of the others went out pretty far. There's the Wayhouse, he added, tilting his head to the side. No one LIVES there, but lots of people come to visit.
He examined the egg a little closer, fascinated by the shiny black scales. Do you...want to go with someone else? I understand if you don't like it up here. Someone else can take you. I know some people who would be interested.
cosmosOgler
I... stop asking me what I want!! I like it here! Uncle, uncle! the dragon cried as its patience buckled under the weight of EVEN MORE possibilities.
It could... it could stop responding! It could pretend to sleep, and then Oleander would just put the egg back in the box, and go back to whatever he was doing, building his endless castle. The dragon could rest for a day or two, and then go back to commentating, and stay quiet enough that Oleander wouldn't hear it. It could do that.
But. But, but. Could it really? Could it just go back to being a rock again?
I, uh, um, just, don't put me somewhere where I'm alone again. It stumbled over its thoughts. That's all I want. Here, the Wayhouse, someone else's house, I don't care. The egg is yours, o mighty adventurer.
LexiDriftander
I'll find someplace safe for you, Oleander assured it, surprised by the frantic tone the voice had taken on. I'll ask some of the others, and see what they think.
He glanced out the window. Oh. The sun nearly touched the horizon, and he realized just how little work he'd gotten done today.
Well, for...for now, I need to go to sleep. I'll have to work twice as hard tomorrow to catch up.
He paused halfway through lowering the egg into the chest. Wait. Do you sleep? Do you want me to bring you up to the bed? There's room for you up there.
cosmosOgler
The pressure settled into relief as the dragon realized the questioning session was over. Today's activity and the little free-will exercise had depleted its already drained energy.
Or... well, there he went again.
I'll have to heckle twice as hard, it replied. It supposed it could manage a yes-or-no question, and flipped a mental coin.
... Tails. I mean, yes. I mean, I sleep a lot. Uh- I mean- yes.
It wondered if it would be able to hear his thoughts all night, up close like that. Maybe some nice white noise to sleep to, like in the End.
LexiDriftander
Ollie smiled. It was kind of a cute little voice. He liked it.
Okay. I'll bring you up with me, then.
It took a bit of doing to heft the egg up the ladder. He cradled it with one arm and hopped up one rung at a time. Once he emerged into his bedroom, he gently sat the egg on the edge of his bed and sat down next to it.
It's kind of soft. Can you feel it? Are you...are you the egg itself, or what's INSIDE the egg?
cosmosOgler
Oleander's brief moment of fondness plonked on the dragon like a pat to the head. While it pondered the meaning of that little emotion, it felt itself in motion as Oleander adjusted his grip on its shell. Then, the motion stopped.
I can tell when you're shaking me around, but I can't feel the outside of the shell. Can other animals? I have always existed inside the barrier. I don't know how to get out, it chattered. I'm not sure I CAN get out. Can I... see what I look like? You were broadcasting it earlier pretty good, but I was, uh, I was otherwise occupied.
LexiDriftander
I..I don't know, Ollie said with an audible chuckle. I can't ask others animal if they can feel outside their shells.
He placed his hand on top of the egg and gave it a gentle pat. What do you mean, broadcasting? Can you see what I see?
cosmosOgler
The dragon floundered in the million questions about the outside world that threatened to drown it. It resigned itself to the knowledge that it could probably only handle one decision a day forever. Well, maybe two.
And now it was time to do ANOTHER new thing. Could it explain how this works? It had heard the education people in this little community explain concepts before. Maybe it could manage.
I can hear what you're thinking if you're focused on it. Obviously. The same goes for looking at things or touching them. It's how I saw you guys before.
It hesitated. ... Some people are easier to see than others. When people used to disappear underground and just zone out I couldn't sense them at all. Your thoughts are... weird. It's easy to tell when you're around since you make a lot of noise, but I don't get a lot of specifics from you. So you might have to imagine it really hard.
LexiDriftander
I know it's loud in here, Ollie thought with an eyeroll. Believe me, I know. But, uh, I can try to show you what you look like.
He stared at the egg, memorizing as much of it as he could. Then he closed his eyes, retracing every detail, every tiny fleck of color, every scale. As much as he could possibly remember, he relayed mentally to the presence in his head.
Here. You're just a really big, black egg. You're very beautiful, though. You kind of shine in the light, and you have sparkles in a lot of different colors.
cosmosOgler
Unable to swell with pride, the dragon settled for a satisfied hum. Oh, that's much better than I imagined.
It supposed the favor could work as an acceptable apology for the headache of making choices.
You know what? You're alright, Oleander.
LexiDriftander
Uh. Thanks. Ollie patted the egg again and chuckled. I have to go to sleep now. But tomorrow, after I finish the part of the church I was supposed to finish today, I can move you someplace else. I think the Wayhouse would be good. You can talk to lots of people there. Not just me and my noisy mind.
It felt nice to joke about something like that, he decided.
He nestled the egg against the wall and shimmied under his blankets.
Goodnight.
cosmosOgler
Aww, getting rid of me? the dragon teased. Don't worry, I'll make sure to beat around the bush a lot before I tell anyone else I'm a talking rock too. Just so you won't feel silly about it.
Oleander bid it good night, and it sat for a minute before it realized that that was the kind of thing people said to each other. It would have to get used to salutations, too, then.
Miss Librarian arrives at this new world, assuming it was inhabited by anyone at all. Her surprise is big when she realizes she’s not alone, as she meets a boy, Oleander, who offers her shelter at his place.
Kathrine Snow - Miss Librarian
LexiDriftander - Oleander
---
Kathrine Snow
Three days of wandering. Three days filled with the sound of wind and the feel of grass or flowers or bark brushing though her hands. She had never traveled this long without a path before. She didn’t know why she kept going—nowhere seemed right yet, she supposed. But if felt so easy to go on, here. Her pack seemed lighter. She seemed to go farther, not to tire quite like she should. And so, with the sun before her and the rift marked behind, she pressed on.
She had reached another forest, now. Her hands slid over rough and smooth bark as she walked, slower than in the fields, towards the last light of the sun between the branches. She needed to prepare for the evening, soon. Aggressive creatures appeared at night. They had nearly cornered her that first evening, when she thought they were people. She knew better, now. They weren’t quiet—with their shuffling, lumbering steps and and the constant sounds they made—and they weren’t fast, but she still needed to find shelter, or to make some. It seemed so... effortless to dig into the ground for safety—carve herself out a place to rest.
The ground sloped upward until she reached the crest of a hill. Her hand reached out for one of the dark shafts, and her hand brushed... boards. Her brow furrowed. Despite the falling darkness, she traced the shape. Defiantly a building of some sort. Past the hill lay an open space. A space dotted with—little, unnatural lights. Regular shapes lay among them, the lights clustered around them.
The strangest sense of dread rose in her chest. Was this... a village? A town? This wasn’t supposed to be here—no one was supposed to be here. But it seemed very quiet for an inhabited town, even in the evening. She briefly considered turning back into the woods, but it was too late in the day for that. And the silence seemed so strange. Cautiously, she walked towards one of the patches of light.
Then she heard the shuffle of feet. She tensed, eyes darting towards the sound. But the sound didn’t come towards her, and it didn’t groan like the creatures did. Out in one of the patches of light, she saw the slightest sense of movement. If she strained, she heard the sound of loose earth.
She froze, uncertain.
“Hello?”
LexiDriftander
Oleander hefted his bag of minerals higher on his shoulder and quickened his pace. With any luck, he could make it back to the castle with his mining rewards before dark. He was just about to pass Farmer Caltan's community farm when he heard a voice call out to him.
Startled, he carefully turned around to see who he was dealing with.
Oh. He didn't recognize her. He'd grown rather used to this world throwing new people at him, but it didn't make it any less unnerving. Now, who was she supposed to be?
He cleared his throat. "Uh. Hello."
Kathrine Snow
The librarian blinked.
“This—is a town. You’re town?” She asked. She hoped the consternation she felt didn’t show in her face.
LexiDriftander
"I guess." Oleander shrugged. "A few people live here, in some of the houses. There's a Wayhouse up ahead here, and I live on the mountain beyond."
His gaze flickered to the setting sun. "You need somewhere to, uh, stay for the night?"
Kathrine Snow
She understood him. The librarian stood there for a long moment, a nest of unpleasant feelings pulling at her heart. She would have to go back to the rift, then. Start from scratch, search in another place. That wasn’t a bad thing. It really wasn’t. The hostile creatures here would make it very hard to work. She hoped he didn’t try to stop her—didn’t recognize her...
With a deep breath, she shoved those feeling down. Now, it was night, and those creatures would be out soon.
“Yes,” She said. “I would appreciate that.”
LexiDriftander
Oleander nodded. “Okay. It’s, uh. This way.” He took off in the direction of the Wayhouse. “I think we’ll have time to make it up to the tower. It’s...on top of the mountain. Is that okay?”
He pivoted on his heel to look at her. A test. How far would she be willing to follow him?
Kathrine Snow
Her eyes swung around the clearing, for the good it did her. She supposed some of the deeper shadows in the sky could be mountains, but she couldn’t tell against the dark sky.
“Of course,” she said, without moving forward to join him.
LexiDriftander
Oleander waited for a moment, until it was apparent she was waiting for her to make the first move.
Sure, whatever.
He continued on the path to the Wayhouse, veering a bit to the right toward the waterfall that would take them up to his home.
“So, did you come here for any particular reason? Or are you just as clueless as the rest of us?”
Kathrine Snow
The librarian found the path and followed, gradually closing the distance between her and her companion. She couldn’t help but notice how distinctly young he sounded.
“I didn’t expect a town,” she answered, carefully. “I came to chart and search uninhabited territory. It seems I was mistaken.”
LexiDriftander
“It was uninhabited not too long ago,” Oleander mumbled. “I’ve been here for thirty-nine days. Before that, there was nothing here. That’s the Wayhouse,” he said as they passed it. He gestured vaguely in its direction.
Kathrine Snow
The librarian glanced over at the shape in the dark, lights poking though what must have been windows, processing what she’d been told.
“Are there other settlements?”
LexiDriftander
“Some moved farther away. There’s a witch that lives over that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the Wayhouse, toward Plum Pocket.
He paused a moment to glance back at her. “So really, you thought this place was supposed to be empty, or something?”
Kathrine Snow
“Yes,” said the Librarian, and then stoped to consider more carefully “I didn’t expect any sort of settlement here. Now that I know otherwise, I don’t intent to intrude.”
LexiDriftander
“People come and go,” Oleander sighed. “They don’t stay long.”
With a shrug, he continued toward the waterfall.
“It’s up this way. You’ve got to be careful though, there’s not much for support.” Without another word, Oleander stepped into the flow of water and propelled himself upward.
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian watched as best as she could through the fading light, bewildered as Olli’s dark shape disappeared into the stream of water. After a good long moment, she plunged her hands into the falls, feeling for some sort of door in the stone beyond. The torrent poured down her arms, surprisingly warm, and then her shoulder and then down her side until she finally felt the stone wall beyond, solid.
She pulled back, half-soaked, confusion and dread taking hold of her. Where had he gone?
LexiDriftander
Oleander, upon realizing she wasn't following, allowed the water to pull him back down to where she was standing.
"You've got to swim. Up. Can you swim?"
Kathrine Snow
“...Yes. I can. But I’m not following your meaning.”
LexiDriftander
"I know it doesn't make any sense," Oleander said. "But you can do that here. You've just got to..." He trailed off and fought for a way to explain it. "Just. Like you're swimming, just. Up."
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian blinked, ears full of the roaring water and eyes full of the dark. Hesitantly, she stepped fully into the torrent, and did her her best to follow his instructions.
To her shock, she did rise up the waterfall. After a few false starts, she reached the top just behind her new companion, spluttering and gasping. She clutched at the dirt out of the stream, trying to pull herself out.
LexiDriftander
Oleander tried to steady her as she emerged from the water. "Gotta poke your head out to breath. Sorry. Uh. Should have mentioned that." He lifted his head to the darkened sky. "My uh, well, it's not really a house... Anyway, it's this way." He led her toward the little cobblestone hut.
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian started when he touched her, then forced herself to relax as he helped her re-find her footing on solid ground.
When he moved on, she followed over the uneven rocks and earth, feeling the way with her feet. The sound of his steps lured her forward, and then came the creak of a door and the wash of light. The Librarian stepped forward more confidently, with a clear place to go. Dripping, and starting to shiver, she squeezed into the little space.
LexiDriftander
Oleander turned back around to find her shivering in the doorway. “Uh, here.” He gestured toward a bed he’d set up next to his furnace. “Sit here. Forgot it gets cold sometimes. I’ll, uh, cook some food. That’ll get you warm.”
He searched through a chest for some raw fish and shoved it and some coal into the furnace. Immediately, the small room lit up and warmth wafted around the bed.
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian glanced over the chamber in the direction he had waved—to the patch of white against the gray and brown walls. She shuffled towards it to half-trip down two little stone stair, but recovered before she hit the floor. Carefully, she lowered herself onto the spongy surface and cloth—a bed, removing the bag from her shoulders and placing it against her leg.
“Thank you.”
LexiDriftander
With a nod, Oleander straightened up and tugged at the cuffs of his sleeves. In the mildly uncomfortable silence that followed, he wracked his brain for pleasantries.
And then he remembered...
"Oh. I'm sorry. Uh, what's your name?"
Kathrine Snow
“...You may call me the librarian,” she said softly, hands folded in her lap. “What may I call you?”
LexiDriftander
"Hmm." The librarian. Originally, he'd pegged her more as a teacher. An educator of library sciences, perhaps.
A few blinks later, Oleander realized she'd asked him the same question. He wasn't used to people not knowing his name immediately upon meeting him. "Oleander. Is my name."
Kathrine Snow
“It’s good to meet you, Oleander.”
The room fell into soft silence as Oleander hunched over the fire, the room filling with the smell of fish. Her eyes drifted over the cluttered shades of gray and brown across the space—a small chamber, one-roomed by what she could tell. She ran her hands from the blanket to the wall, feeling along the rough, stacked stones.
Despite her previous dread, he did not speak her language—the more she listened, the more sure she grew. She still understood him, and even more surprising, she responded in kind: though her mind formed her words in her home tongue, it was not her home tongue that left her mouth...
LexiDriftander
"It's very good to meet you, too."
Oleander watched her, curiously, as she investigated his sparse living area with her hands. It...really wasn't the most hospitable, was it? He shifted on his feet, struggling to ask the right questions. If she was like the others, he'd see very little of her after today. But he felt she'd come to him to listen, and not to speak. He didn't want to waste his chance.
"Miss...Librarian. Do you think I'll ever make it out of here?"
Kathrine Snow
The librarian’s thought de-railed at the question. There was something in his voice that she couldn’t quiet pin. A... softness, and almost a sureness—like he expected her to know.
“...What do you mean?” She asked, her hands retreating back to her lap, pulling gently with the fabric of her clothes.
LexiDriftander
Oleander swallowed and gave each sleeve a quick tug. "I'm...just wondering how long it will last, is all. Thirty-nine days, that's...that's a long time."
Longer than he'd ever been out of the hospital, of that much he was certain.
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Do you... not want to be here?”
LexiDriftander
Oleander pondered that for a moment. “Hmm. I don’t know. I’m trying not to get too attached. It’s only a matter of time before I leave it all behind, anyway.” He scuffed the toe of his boot on the floor.
“I always wonder how long it will last.”
Kathrine Snow
The librarian sat in silence. It almost sounded like this boy had come though many worlds... She had read of people like that—who live BETWEEN more IN worlds, and the strange effects it could have. Had he come here on accident—stuck perpetually falling between pocket dimensions? He almost seemed to think this world would push him out. Would it do the same to her?
...Did that matter?
But she felt that she had asked enough questions.
“I can’t say that I know. I’m sorry,” she said, her tone soft.
LexiDriftander
“It’s okay. I guess I really didn’t expect you to know, anyway.” Oleander shrugged and sat down on top of one of his storage chests. “So, uh, I suppose you can stay here as long as you like. Just...just, I’ll have to tell you the rules if you plan on building up here.”
Kathrine Snow
“I... doubt I’ll stay,” said the Librarian carefully. “In the morning, I’ll take my leave.”
LexiDriftander
"Where will you go?" Oleander asked. "Are you still searching for somewhere, um, uninhabited?"
Kathrine Snow
Yes, that is my plan, flashed across the Librarian’s mind. But she didn’t say it. The faintest bit of doubt clouded her thoughts. He was not from her home, she was confidant of that, now. How many people lived in this place? If only a few, why shouldn’t she stay?
“I’m not certain. I’ll explore more of this place before I decide.”
LexiDriftander
Oleander nodded. "Well, there's plenty of room to build a house if you'd like. There's, uh, a few people around. None that will bother you, though."
He narrowed his eyes slightly, still watching her. He'd been certain she'd come for a reason, but perhaps she wasn't here for his benefit. Still, she was nice to talk to. He wouldn't mind if she stayed close.
Kathrine Snow
She nodded her head. The room lapsed back into silence. The Librarian’s eyes darted to the light of the grate as it spit, noticing how potent the smell of fish had grown.
LexiDriftander
“Ah! Here,” Oleander eased some of the fish out of the furnace with a stick and into a ceramic bowl. “You’re probably hungry. Uh, I hope you like fish.” He offered the bowl to her. “Or, or you’re welcome to just sleep, if you’re not hungry.”
Kathrine Snow
After a tremor of hesitation, the Librarian accepted the bowl.
“Thank you. I appreciate your kindness.” She slid off the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor.
They ate together in silence: though, unlike their walk to the waterfall, it didn’t feel so awkward anymore. When they had finished, Oleander took their dishes and set them near the fire. He directed the librarian back to the bed she had sat on, and with another moment of hesitation, she accepted, rolling under the layer of covers. With some shuffling, Oleander settled to, somewhere across the room. The lights never dimmed, but soon the Librarian heard the soft rise and fall of his breath.
Thoughts spun in her head—things he had said, the tangled-ness of her own plans, plans of what to do with the day ahead. As she drifted, old doubts fluttered up in her mind. Did she want to be totally alone? Go somewhere where the only human contact would come through the rift? Could she even travel back and forth without being pursued? For as long as she remembered, the idea going away had seemed so appealing. But would having a neighbor—another human in an otherwise empty world, ruin that? Nor did having another soul in this place require staying close. She could move out as far as she like and still know he existed here.
With a sigh, she dismissed her thoughts. She would search here more, see what else this place had to offer. Without that information, she shouldn’t bother considering hypothetical decision. She buried her face in the pillow, blocking out the light. And with uneasy thoughts still swirling in her head, she drifted off to sleep.
LexiDriftander
The next morning, after a restless attempt at sleep, Oleander pushed himself to his feet. The Librarian was still asleep, but Oleander set to work putting more food on the fire for her when she woke up. Honestly, he was surprised to see she was still here, but, then again. He was still getting used to himself still being here.
"Forty days," he muttered under his breath. "Forty nights."
Kathrine Snow
The librarian shifted at the noises he made, but didn’t rise. Outside, the mountain birds had started to sing, and the sunlight crept inside the hut around the corners of the door. Not far away, a skeleton clattered and hissed, burning in the sunlight.
LexiDriftander
Oleander nibbled what little food he could stomach and drew his sword, prepared to slay whatever monsters might be lurking outside for him this morning. He'd been killed-- well, killed in the way dying worked here-- several times over by the horrendous green bombs.
It had been terrifying at first, the prospect of bombs walking around. He'd heard about the bombings in Michigan, about the children who'd been killed. He remembered begging his parents to let him stay home from school.
They'd claimed his fears were irrational, as always. So he went to school. Here, his fears were real.
Miss Librarian still hadn't awoken. He had work to do, and she looked peaceful, so he left her to sleep in his bed and emerged from his cobblestone hut.
No bombs today. Good.
Kathrine Snow
The librarian shifted again at the sound of the door. Before too much longer, she too sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She had lay there, listening, going back over the thoughts that had flocked her in the moments before sleep. The soft crackle if the fire filled the room, and streams of light streaked over the dull-colored space.
Carefully, she reached for the floor until she felt her bag and her shoes. Then she carefully made her way for the streaks of light she thought to be the door, feeling carefully for the steps she had missed the night before. The Librarian push out into the open air, completely missing the little bowl of food Olli had left for her.
LexiDriftander
Oleander was several meters below her, working diligently on a walkway that led across the ridge of the mountain. He worked entirely with cobblestone, simply because Kaithol hadn't specified a material, and it was the easiest thing to find.
He stopped for a moment to wipe his brow and found he was running low on cobble. With an indifferent shrug, he turned back toward the entrance to the tower with his Curse Guide and began to ascend the ladder.
Outside his 'home base,' he met the Librarian's dull stare.
"Oh. Miss Librarian. Um, good morning."
Kathrine Snow
“Good morning,” replied the Librarian, blinking in the light. She raised a hand to shield her eyes as they wandered from him across the tower and a half before her. “Thank you for your hospitality last night.”
LexiDriftander
Oleander nodded. “Like I said, you’re more than welcome to stay.” He puffed out a sigh he couldn’t quite hold back. She’d already told him she wasn’t going to stay, but part of him wanted to hold onto her a little longer. He shifted on his feet and stared off into the sky. It felt so much closer, on top of the mountain. Like he could reach out and touch the clouds.
“Maybe I could...show you the rest of the castle? It’s, uh, it’s a work in progress, of course...”
Kathrine Snow
Her eyes drifted out over the half-tours again. Slowly, her brow crumpled. What did he mean by “work in progress?” Hadn’t he... said he was alone up here? Curiosity got the better of her.
“Yes. I would like that.”
LexiDriftander
The thinnest of smiles emerged on Oleander’s face. “Come on. The entrance is this way.”
He made his way down the staircase to the entrance of the small building he’d built. He watched carefully to make sure the Librarian did not trip, and then held the door open for her.
“There’s a ladder in the back...leads up to the, uh, the tower. The Curse Guide is up there, if you wanna read it.” Not that it would mean anything to her, but he liked to see people’s reactions to it. “Took me a couple tries to get the shape right,” he muttered. “Still not symmetrical. Dunno why it has to be.”
Kathrine Snow
She followed him slowly, and then felt with her feet until she found the stairs. The Librarian’s eyebrows puckered at the the mention of the “curse guide.” Her mind kicked out against the idea instinctually, and the nature of these things made it impossible to ask her companion about the truth of any superstitions. But she knew enough about other worlds to question the wisdom of simply ignoring it. She should at least look.
But the train of thought retreated to the back of her mind at his next statement—his conformation. Her eyes drifted upward at tower stretching above her.
“You... built this?”
LexiDriftander
"I...I did, yeah," Oleander said. "I know it's not that great. I'm still learning how this works. And it's...it's all cobble because, you know, it's the easiest thing to get."
He turned back to her and noticed she was having a bit of trouble getting around.
"Are you alright, Miss Librarian?"
Kathrine Snow
“I am,” she said, and then her brow puckered again as she truly caught up with the question. “Why do you ask?”
LexiDriftander
"Because. I." Oleander bit his lip and looked at her eyes, the eyes that weren't quite focused on anything. "Because, Miss Librarian, I'm wondering. Can you see alright?"
Well, he could have said that a million better ways. But it was out there.
"Just. Just wondering."
Kathrine Snow
Ah. Of course.
“No, I cannot,” she replied simply. “I cannot see in any meaningful way.”
LexiDriftander
Blind. Even though he'd guessed it, the fact still shook him. "I...I led you all the way up here, and I didn't...." He sighed. "I'm sorry."
He moved a little further into the room. She had to be able to at least see something, considering how she hadn't fallen off the mountain yet. "Can...can you see me at all, then?"
Kathrine Snow
“I can see light and color. Movement.” Her eyes swept over him slowly. “I see that you wear blue, and your black hair, but that becomes difficult to distinguish with distance. But I am well adjusted, and manage on my own.”
LexiDriftander
"Ah." Oleander couldn't muster up much more than that. She couldn't even see him. Something about that fact hit him deep, and he couldn't quite place it. A frown creased his features. She wouldn't be able to see that, either, would she? And she'd....reminded him so much of... But she couldn't even see him.
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian sighed softly. An uncomfortable silence followed.
“You said you’ve been here... 39 days. You built all of this since then?” She asked. “On your own? How is that possible?”
LexiDriftander
Oleander offered a shrug. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “That’s just how it is here. It’s easy to build. And he asks me to, so I do it.”
He leaned against one of the walls and sighed.
“Just...something to pass the time before I go back, I guess.”
Kathrine Snow
The Librarian faltered at the sudden lethargy in his voice. Unsure of what else to do, she nodded slowly, and turned her mind back to the situation at hand. She had noticed the ease with which she could shape the ground, here. And if that easy extended to other materials as it seemed to do...
“Will you escort me though the rest of the tower?”
LexiDriftander
Oleander nodded, though his mind soared high above the conversation. Silently, he led the Librarian through the rest of the room, down the ladder, and out onto the walkway. He stopped halfway across and gestured to the unfinished end, where he’d begun carving out part of the mountain.
“That’s where the next tower is going to go,” he muttered. “Uh. Yeah. That’s it.”
Kathrine Snow
“You have done incredible work,” she said, and she meant it.
They stood there at the edge of the tower for a moment, the Librarian enjoying the breeze that blew in off the open cliff before. Below stretched waves on waves of textured greens and browns and—yellow. A massive, flat plane of yellow stretching out of sight.
She had taken in so much new information since her arrival here. It flooded her from every angle until she hardly knew how to process it all. And the more she thought, the more intrigued she grew with this place and what it had to offer. The ease with which she traveled, swam up waterfalls—what Oleander had done here on the mountain. Old ideas played at the edges of her mind: plans she had long abandoned as impossible.
“Thank you for your hospitably, and for showing me your work,” she said, turning once again to Oleander. But he seemed almost not to hear.
LexiDriftander
"You have done incredible work."
What is that supposed to mean?
I did what I had to do.
Can she even see it?
Trailing his hand along the cobblestone wall, Oleander floated back toward his bunker.
Who is she?
Why did she come to talk to me?
Rung by rung, he ascended the tower's ladder, hands grasping at wood he couldn't quite feel.
She can't even see you.
He emerged from the tower building and trudged up the stairs to his cold, empty house.
She can't help you.
Wait, where did...?
Oleander stopped in front of his bunker's slatted door, hand inches from the handle. He spun around.
Just after the Map Warden sent books to many Stor’Sweev’s residents, claiming himself as Lord of the world, people gathered at the Academy to discuss about this situation.
elf - Baker
DresdenG - Professor Grinstead
TheJKWolf - Mit
LexiDriftander - Ollie
jordan.nova - Edomie
MonsterTeeth - The Wraith
Brook Khidpuh - Faeden
---
elf
Baker let out a deep breath as the Academy came into view. He hadn’t waited for Edomie and Oleander to return to her cottage before heading off to where he hoped Professor Grinstead might be. Please, be home.
He looked behind him at the two who had trekked with him on their urgent journey, the Wraith and young Mitt just behind. “We’re nearly there.” Baker said, pointing to the Academy, the large glass dome of the build visible above the tree tops.
The book Edomie had received earlier that day was tucked into his vest pocket, the small volume weighing heavily on his mind as he continued onward with renewed vigor at seeing their end goal in sight. I hope we can find some answers, if not... Baker shook his head. It was too soon to be thinking like that. He had the others to think of.
MonsterTeeth
Monster ducked through the short, strange green trees with what could be called a wince, trying not to touch any of the vegetation any more than they had to. The building ahead - the Academy? - belonged to a knowledge-holder. Hopefully she would know what to do about The Threat.
The thought prompted another teeth-gritting, her hair lashing behind her in aggravation for a short moment. They knew the Warden didn't favor them, they'd had to figure that out eventually, but... well, she had hoped they were the only one. If he was coming for the children-
"Will the Profezzor know... what to do... do you think?" they hummed. It took more effort than they would like to keep the buzzing growl out of their voice, but as a protector-provider they needed to keep calm and serious. Or at least seem it.
elf
Baker paused a moment, hand resting on the rough bark of a tree as the Wraith’s question was posed. He turned slightly back, his voice low. “I hope she can help. But I won’t lie to you,” Baker resumed his quick pace toward the Academy. “I don’t know that any of us know what to do at the moment.”
Baker pressed onward, ducking below the lower branches until the wooden door of the Academy entrance and veranda were before him. Baker didn’t wait before sprinting the last few meters forward, knocking hard on the door.
“Professor! Professor are you home, it’s urgent!”
DresdenG
The Professor looked up at the sound of a knock on her door, eyebrows raised. She knelt beside a box on the floor, a book in her hands that was open to the first, infuriating page. Pushing herself to her feet, she tucked the tome beneath one thin arm, straightening the pale green scarf around her neck before moving to the window beside the front door.
Baker...and the Wraith? Her forehead creased with concern as she took the stone steps in two strides, pulling the door open. She regarded the two of them in silence for a long moment before stepping inside and motioning for them to follow.
She pivoted on one foot and, assuming they'd followed, offered a nod to the Wraith and extended her hand to Baker in greeting. "Urgent, you say, Mr. Baker?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "You look as if you've been on quite the hike. The classroom is just this way, if you need to take a seat before explaining the situation." She glanced up at the Wraith again. "As well, the ceilings are higher."
MonsterTeeth
"... pleaze." It was interesting how short everyone was, but buildings built for their comfort was not the most fun. They ducked through the next door and straightened up gratefully.
elf
Baker shook the Professor’s hand, but quickly pulled the small volume from his vest pocket, his voice once again low as he watched the Wraith exit to the classroom.
“We may have a major problem on our hands; one I’m not equipt to deal with. I was hoping you would be able to shed some light on this.” He took a deep breath, steadying himself as the adrenaline from the hike began to wear slightly. “Others should be coming along soon..”
DresdenG
The Professor clasped her hands behind her back and nodded, taking in the information. Her dual colored eyes examined the book in Baker's hands.
She let out a small, thoughtful grunt and turned without a word, following the Wraith into the classroom and beckoning Baker to follow.
"Sit," she directed him in a short, curt tone, nodding to one of the chairs beside the bookshelves at the back of the classroom. She glanced up at the Wraith, satisfied to see the being seemed more comfortable in this space.
Hands still clasped behind her back, Dresden leaned against one of the shelves. "A major problem, you say? Either of you care to...elaborate?"
MonsterTeeth
Monster growled, unable to keep the sound caged anymore. "Threat," they hissed, barely remembering to use the bulky common language. Again, their hair writhed behind them before settling, quite a bit more slowly than before. "The Warden... wants kontrol." Her hands twitched ever so slightly, wishing more than she would like to detail that she could end the threat quickly and quietly.
the children what would he do to the children delightful sweet Edomie that brash brat Plum poor Olli little cousin
The way the note had been written was so... soft? Kind? Even? They didn't have the words for it, but it rubbed them the wrong way and their ribs practically shook from the force of their growling. With a shake of her head, she tried to ground herself and calm down. This wasn't dignified or honorable.
elf
Baker sat heavily in the seat, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he held the book tightly. The Wraith was right, but as to this sudden change on the Map Warden’s part, Baker could only begin to fathom why.
“This book was left at Edomie’s cottage, along with a trident banner. The same at Wraith’s home... I haven’t found any such thing near my home. The Warden states that he is taking control, and we...” Baker paused, staring into empty space as he realized that he had found no such note himself. Why not me?
“We are to be his subjects. I sent Edomie to find Oleander and to bring him with her as soon as she found him..”
I only hope that wasn’t a grave mistake.
DresdenG
The Professor listened to the Wraith's words, watching as the creature rippled and growled with what appeared to be barely contained rage. The feeling was mutual. Her gaze slid to Baker while he added to the story, and she answered his words with a ponderous nod, reaching under her arm and withdrawing a small book similar to the one Baker held. She looked between Baker and the Wraith, eyes flashing. "I received such an...announcement, myself. Suffice it to say I'm as displeased as you are. Especially so if the others are dealing with the same." Her fingers tightening around the book. She'd thought perhaps it was only sent to the residents of Foxwood.
Edomie... Her heart twinged with worry, wondering how the girl was handling all of this. It pleased her to hear that she would be heading this way. Her hand drifted to the pouch at her side, feeling for the stone. The one which could let her know if anyone in the realm was in trouble. She hoped it would remain silent.
"The acolyte may be...hard to persuade. When did you send her to fetch him?"
elf
Baker let out another deep breath, resisting the urge to tap his foot with nervous energy. “I sent her just before heading here.”
jordan.nova
"Aaaaaaauntieeeeee!" Edomie called loudly as she approached the Academy. She hadn't let go of Ollie's hand since they'd left the castle, half dragging the poor boy along with her. The nice green spirit had followed them from the castle, watching over their trek.
She hadn't bothered trying to find Baker or wait around for him to find her. She probably should have, but after the castle--
"Auntie!" Edomie called again, her voice pitching. She jumped up to peer in the house windows, spotted nothing, so she dragged Ollie around the large structure towards the classroom entrance. "Auntie, are you home? Where are you?"
LexiDriftander
Ollie followed in a somewhat disoriented state, very nervous about this confrontation.
He...he still felt like he hardly knew some of these people...and...they would ask questions.
He really didn’t want to talk about it.
MonsterTeeth
Monster tilted their head to the side suddenly before looking toward a nearby wall. "Edomie," she murmured. The child was here... and from the feel of it, Olli had come with after all. Now it was even more important that they calm down - it had taken so long for the children to not fear them, it would be awful to have to do that again.
elf
Baker’s head jerked up at the sound of Edomie’s voice, standing quickly to go to the door. He’d been on expeditions with the girl before, but never before heard her call like that.
DresdenG
Dresden straightened, her head swiveling as she heard Edomie's shouts. Her heart fluttered as she followed Baker to the door, her brows furrowing as she craned her neck to see out the tall windows of the classroom.
"She made good time," the Professor murmured, a hint of pride in her tone.
jordan.nova
Edomie threw open the classroom door and stumbled inside so fast she nearly ran straight into the others crowded around the door.
"Auntie!" she cried, relief seeping into her voice. She threw one arm around Dresden to embrace her in a tight hug without relinquishing her grasp on Ollie's hand.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden waited until the others had gone in, before softly floating in as well. Her eyes stayed on Dresden the whole time, and the axe, where was the axe, she wanted it as far away from her as possible. The room was filled with people she had either just met or only seen once or twice, and she decided to shuffle behind the Wraith, whom she had interacted with before, and hoped might offer some protection. She shuffled in without a word and hunched defensively behind Monster, hoping desperately that none of her foxes had followed.
LexiDriftander
Ollie stood awkwardly off to the side while Edomie hugged the professor. He refused to make eye-contact with her, still feeling rather unsafe around the woman. A quick glance at the other occupants of the room made him even more uneasy. Baker was nice, sure, but they'd never really had a conversation. Miss Wraith was an entirely different story. He still got chills just looking at them, but...they seemed to like him.
He couldn't tell. He had no idea how to tell if people liked him.
So he stayed silent and tried to remain unseen and unheard. Much like his time back at home, he realized, before his parents had deemed him to abnormal to keep around anymore.
DresdenG
A sharp exhale of relief left the Professor when her eyes fell on Edomie, and she welcomed the embrace, wrapping both sinewy arms around the girl and pressing her nose against those vibrant curls. She stayed there and took a deep, grounding breath.
She opened one eye to peer at the boy attached to Edomie's other hand.
The acolyte. Looking pale and sick as ever, his shifting posture and downturned gaze made the hairs on the back of Dresden's neck prickle. She knew so much and so little about the boy. She felt that she knew his deepest secrets without knowing so much as what he liked to have for breakfast.
Not that she cared to know him. She wished to stay as far away from him and his cursed mountain as possible. Sweev only knew what he got up to in that castle.
But, as Edomie had seen fit to entangle herself in this 'Oleander's' life, Dresden had to adopt other tactics. Learn about him. Study him, his curse, and be available to help if it came down to it. To keep Edomie safe and happy, her friends needed to be safe and happy as well.
Though truth be told, the Professor found this boy to be a lost cause.
"Edomie. You made it," she murmured, drawing back and resting her hands on Edomie's shoulders. "Are the two of you--" her eyes flicked to the ghost as she floated in behind them, taking up quiet residence near the Wraith, "three of you all right? I heard you also received missives from the Warden?"
Having Faeden here made things...interesting. She would have to tread carefully.
MonsterTeeth
Monster looked down at the spirit behind their legs, wondering what in the room made her so fearful. There were no threats here. Still, children fear and it is the duty of the adult to help them learn to feel safe. So they made no motion to move her.
jordan.nova
"We saw Warden!" Edomie shouted, anger and stress flicking over her again as she jerked back from Dresden's embrace. She yanked her wild curls out of her face and a few fell right back between her eyes. "He was up in Ollie's castle. We chased him out and he still came back up there to yell at us."
LexiDriftander
"I pushed him off the mountain," Ollie said, somewhat dazed. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered it. "K-" He retracted his statement a heartbeat too late, leaving the first phoneme hanging in the air. For reasons he couldn't yet explain, he decided now was neither the time nor the place to bring up Kaithol.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden's head jerked up so as to look at Ollie.
"Don't blame yourself. Please. You were only defending yourself, right...? I don't know what he's planning, but it... it can't be good. He... expected us to react poorly. He... he wasn't surprised, when I did the same thing. He deserved to get thrown off that cliff," she added with a hiss. Her fists clenched, as did her jaw, and the temperature in the air dropped just slightly.
"I used to think that he was wise and brave and kind. But the only person who threatens a child is a coward. He's a coward! What kind of peace does he want? His peace? Order? The only people who want "order" want to control those they see beneath them. Threatening someone like you, what have you ever done to hurt him?"
Faeden let out a tight breath. "He's trying to scare us with ominous words, so that we feel like we have to go to him... I'm scared, b-but now? I'm angry, too! No one threatens my friends!"
She suddenly seemed to realize her outburst, and upon seeing the sets of eyes trained onto her, snapped her gaze back down to the floor. She'd said too much, she'd said too much, she was to be seen and not heard. Faeden gripped her staff and twisted it nervously.
MonsterTeeth
Monster bent a bit to "pat" the spirit's head, hard claws and harsh skin passing right through but the intent had to count. "Threatz... mmm... not taken lightly," she breathed. They swayed a bit, trying to remain stoic and calm just like the protector-providers they remembered, a soothing but serious presence. She cut her gaze to Olli. "Well done... mwnesser... to protect zelf... and otherz."
They knew he was after "order" - a disguise for "control" - but if he had said anything specific while speaking to the children, the better they would prepare. Pearls and these diamonds the overworlders loved so much were only so useful with no plan. "What... did he zay... do you know?" they asked the three.
DresdenG
Dresden let Edomie move away without resistance, folding her arms over her chest to listen more properly. The girl was angry, and rightfully so. Auntie would listen as long as there were things Edomie had to say.
They saw the Warden, did they? But they were here, now, so it turned out all right. Best to stay quiet and listen to them rather than let concern overtake her.
One delicate eyebrow raised at the acolyte’s statement. She didn’t think he had the fortitude to do such a thing. Surprising, and not a wholly pleasant surprise.
Before she could think on that too long, the ghost girl let out a torrent of words, some of which resonated with Dresden’s feelings toward the Warden. She watched the girl, doing her best to focus on the here and now, and not when Faeden had first entered the Academy. That night was one Dresden would prefer to forget.
The Professor’s eyes traveled from Faeden as she quieted, sliding over to Mit. The Ender-kin had, so far, remained quite silent and watchful. As Monster spoke, the Professor shifted her gaze to them, and nodded at the their final statement.
Yes...what did he say to them, up in those towers? This would no doubt be important.
TheJKWolf
Mit tagged along after Baker read to her the content of the book-present - or maybe not a present, as it seemed - from the Map Warden. The one looking similar to her was here, too (name, name what was their name?) and Mit couldn’t help but be drawn to them. They felt like they could make it alright, for some reason.
Getting to the Professor’s house, Mit stayed in the background while listening to the conversation going on in front of her.
So the Warden wanted to be on top. And wanted them to be his subject? Mit could only agree with the others in the room; It wasn’t anything to support. Mit spent most of her life alone, doing what she had to to survive and then things she wanted to do - not what anyone told her to do. Even in this weird community she found herself in, she did what she wanted. Sure, not trying to harm anyone but nobody was looking over her shoulder giving her rules on what to do or build.
New people arrived. Edomie she knew. Edomie was nice, if a bit skittish around her. The others… Maybe? She thinks she saw some of them, but she couldn’t place any names or places linked to them. Mit wished Sweev was here. The Goddess would be able to cue her in.
Mit drew back a bit more in the room while tuning in back on their conversation. She narrowed her eyes when she listened to the way the Warden acted towards them. Her eyes glided over to the spirit. She was right. Mit didn’t like the way this Warden thought of scaring and controlling them.
Mit caught herself tapping her fingers on her sword, waiting for the response to the question the Wraith asked the three.
elf
Baker had leaned against the door frame of the classroom once the two younger members and the ethereal being had burst in, but the relief he had felt had all but immediately been replaced with dread. The Warden had been there, and waiting from the sound of it.
Baker focused best he could at the flurry of new information being made known to all of them, a dangerous mixture of anger and fear building inside of him. No. No time for that. Focus!
The Wraith had asked what they needed to know, there would be time for blaming himself later for not going with Edomie, even if the outcome brought them here.
"You've all been very brave," he made sure to look at the ethereal form of Faeden, who was most certainly included in his statement. His voice turning softer as he looked at Edomie and Oleander. "But Wraith asks a good question, please, tell us what you can remember."
jordan.nova
Edomie tugged Ollie closer to her, so she could press against his side. "He was after Ollie. He's mad about the mountain and Kai- Kaithol." she hardly whispered the name, somewhat afraid the being was more likely to listen if she said his name. "He thinks that's why we're undying. That the mountain curse brought us here and it's keeping us here. 'Kaithol is a sham' he said. We can't trust him."
Her eyes flicked sympathetically to Ollie. "I don’t like Kaithol. But, that's not what the curse is. I've always been undying. And if he wants to stop us from tethering and undying..."
Edomie's voice lodged in her throat. She wondered, for just an instant, how long she had left.
She shook the thought off, and her gaze returned to Dresden in a pleading way. She knew things about this world - more than Edomie could ever hope to learn from her. "He said 'the dragon Sweev has lost its power'" she repeated the best she could recall. "He wouldn't listen that this world answers to Sweev - he thinks it's all his! Just cause he showed up at the mountain first, when nobody else was here. But-"
Edomie's eyes drifted to the floor. She found herself repeating Alastair. "The world has its order. Intruding doesn't make you belong."
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden felt comforted by the Wraith's precense, and flattered by Baker's words. He had looked right at her when he said that... he was including her! She found it hard to meet everyone else's eyes, but for a different reason now. she bit down on her shy smile, and grew serious again, piping up in a quiet voice.
"He said that... Sweev lost their power...?"
She ducked behind her staff, as though that would hide her. The others had already covered it. They all knew each other and what they were doing. Why was she even here? She couldn't overthrow anyone or stop a warrior, she was just small and scared and wanted to get out of the Professor's line of sight and back to her foxes and-
And then she looked at the others. They were scared too. Even Miss Wraith, who looked calm but sounded determined, had an underscore of worry in their voice.
"Why does he want to do this...?" she whispered. "We're not his servants. We're not going to be. But... what can we do?"
LexiDriftander
"I pushed him off the mountain," Oleander mumbled to himself. Honestly, he couldn't remember much else about the conversation, save for...
Warden thinks this is MY fault.
He stared down at the place where his hand connected with Edomie's. Slowly, he unlaced his fingers and pulled away from her.
It very well could be his fault.
jordan.nova
Ollie's fingers carefully unwinding from hers seized Edomie's attention, and she turned - confused - when he stepped back from her.
"Well, he needed to get pushed off a mountain," she said firmly, angry all over again. She took a step back to stand beside him, but folded her arms over her chest instead of reaching for him again. "I would've shot him if you hadn't got him first."
MonsterTeeth
It took quite a bit of Monster's already fraying will to not reach out for her little cousin, turning the reflexive reach into a weird aborted shrug.
don't touch him don't touch him you'll hurt him don't touch him
"It waz well done," they insisted, bending at the knees to be at least a little closer to his height. "Edomie... haz it right. He wouldn't leave... it waz needed."
That being said, to hear the Warden's words was... interesting. The overworlder godling Sweev, a dragon? Hardly. They were kind and quiet and unobtrusive. But that they were losing their power... well, Monster had seen proof of that in their own words, that was a point hard to argue.
Still, none of it told them what they would need to know, and from the seat they had now taken on the floor they started to quietly seethe. It would be so much easier on everyone if they could just get rid of him but they couldn't that's not how things work here and you don't even have any information be quiet and listen.
So aggravating.
DresdenG
The Professor cocked her head as she took in the new information from the three. She remained quiet, her expression calculating. The note about Sweev being a dragon intrigued her. Was it true? As far as the Professor knew, no, not in so many words. However...Sweev losing their power? Well, perhaps the Warden knew a little more than she'd originally given him credit for.
And that concerned her.
She met Edomie's pleading eyes and longed to have all the answers. To instill peace. To lay out a plan of exactly how they would take care of this problem.
The fact of the matter remained, however, that she did not know what to do.
Not yet, anyway.
She followed the interchange between Edomie and Ollie, eyes flicking between them, picking up on body language and filing them away for later. She watched the Wraith, and then took a long, deep breath, letting out slowly before she finally spoke.
"The Warden is out of line, I believe we can all agree on that. This is true for reasons deeper than mere offense on our parts." She began to pace the classroom, arms still crossed, tapping the fingers of one hand against her bicep. She continued in cool, factual tones. "Stor'Sweev has existed for thousands of years. This landmass alone has known the rise and fall of many civilizations. Some peaceful, some violent. All of us are but a smudge in the pages of history."
She looked up and around the gathered individuals again. "The Warden has no more claim to this land than any of us do. The fact he is trying to rise above his station is, frankly, unacceptable. If we hope to keep him from getting what he wants, we must present a united front in resisting his efforts."
The Professor paused in her pacing and sighed again, pressing her lips together for a thoughtful moment. Much as she hated to admit it, no one alone could make this work. Scattered, separate efforts would not succeed. This was not something any one of them could do on their own.
"This meeting is the beginning of something very important, where I believe each of us will play a vital role in crafting a solution."
TheJKWolf
Kaithol? Curse? Mit internally shook her head. There was a lot of stuff going on that she didn’t notice. Well, it wasn’t something that affected her so far, so no wonder she hadn’t noticed.
More importantly, the spirit talked about Sweev losing their power. That was concerning; she would have to ask them about it. Maybe there was a way to help. But for now they had to concern themselves with this Warden.
Looking over, she nearly had to smile when Edomie showed her courage. It was good that she knew how to defend herself; all of them. Mit could only agree with the Wraith, it was needed.
Mit listened to the one they call a Professor, agreeing with what she said, too. Mit was also quite impressed in the way this Professor could use her words; Mit would never been able to say it like that. But she also didn't think it to be as much of a problem as its made out to be. They were in the majority after all.
“Well.” Mit opened her mouth for the first time, voice rough from rarely speaking. Mouthing the word first she continued: “He is one. We are many. Get him away from us and this land if he doesn’t stop.” She patted her sword again, looking at each person in the room. “Got some armor and weapons ready to use at my base.”
elf
Baker couldn't help but give a small smile as Mit spoke, his own hand and mind wandering to the weapon currently strapped to his leg. This was going to be difficult, and in more ways than one.
The talk of Sweev losing it's power was disturbing to him. He wouldn't admit to the current group that he didn't quite regard Sweev as a deity, but he did respect it. Having been aided more than once by it's power.
Oleander... the boy, heavens above hadn't the boy been dealing with more than his own share of ordeals since his own arrival here? Baker didn't know how to react to the boy, but he did his best to treat him the same as he had before.
It also seemed time to make something else known, something Baker hadn't been intending on announcing until a later date. But time was now of the essence.
"I may not have weapons, but I have a ship. Some of you have been there already, it's not complete, but it's ready to fly. And if need be..." Baker gripped the butt of his gun tightly. "Can be equipt to fight as well."
Though I hoped it never would need to. Not like the... Baker's brow furrowed, the thought stopped, the rest of it slipping away like a fish in a stream, leaving only a rapidly fading ripple behind.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden jolted when Mit began to speak. She hadn't noticed the enderkin standing there, and her words filled the ghost with a sense of dread. She didn't want any fighting... but what would happen if they didn't? The Warden would simply have his way, and then it would be terrible for everyone. He had no right to do this, and he was going to be reminded of it. She gripped her stick, tapping it lightly against the floor. If the Warden dared threaten her friends again... he would get what was coming to him, and she would be there to meet him each time he rolled off his bed.
Baker's words pulled her from her morose thoughts, however. Faeden peeked out from behind her staff and Monster, unable to contain herself.
"Your boat can fly?! Like the ones in that other world we all went to? That's... that's amazing! Does the Warden have a ship like that? If not, wouldn't we already have the upper hand?"
She paused, leveling herself.
"I'm not very good at making weapons," she mused, "but if any animal supplies are needed, or food, I can provide those. I also could make a few potions, though I'm not the best at those... I'll do whatever I can to help!" she asserted, trying to sound brave and confident like the adults.
LexiDriftander
Oleander watched the others quietly, listening to their plans with half-interest.
It did make him angry, what The Warden was trying to do. He'd just started entertaining the idea of staying on this world. He liked it here. Why was The Warden trying to take that away from them?
It had something to do with Kaithol and, by default, with him.
elf
Baker's heart cheered some at Faeden's remark about his ship. The mention of this other world bringing back Mit's mention of an... End? "It can indeed." Baker replied. "As far as who else has one, I know of no others. Not in this world at least."
jordan.nova
As Mit and Baker spoke up about armor and weapons, Edomie's heartbeat quickened - a cold dread creeping up from her toes. Gradually, and then all at once, this didn't feel fun anymore. She'd gotten so used to everyday adventures with her great team. The sort of game she'd always wanted to play a part in.
This didn't feel like when they all rallied together to fight a dragon. Going off on a dumb quest just for the thrill and the togetherness of it. Every team fought a dragon. There was always a dragon.
This felt like several moons ago when an angry spirit no one could name had crept in and started picking their world and their homes and them apart.
"We're going to have to fight him," she finally managed to say aloud, her voice straining on the realization. "He's going to ruin everything."
MonsterTeeth
Excellent. A fight, the one thing Monster knew that they had. But... they weren't just an unheard-hand anymore. They couldn't just slip away, do what needed doing, and come back. Especially considering they weren't home.
these overworlders and their stones and blades and strange concoctions and whatever that thing was at Baker's side that he put his hand to instead of his sword when someone startled him
And the confidence. They may not have been a leader for long, but they knew no one was that confident without some kind of secret. There wasn't enough information.
When in doubt, then. "We zhould... watch him," they hazarded, looking to the knowledge-holder for guidance. "Prepare to fight... but pay attention... to hiz actionz? I can... gather. Kouzinz would be glad... to help."
Their tone went low, not quite threatening but nowhere near as light as their usual speech. "They don't like... hm... librarian taught the word "prezumptuouz". Warden wants to kontrol? Thinkz he kan... order uz?" They grinned wide enough to show their oral membranes. "Kouzinz won't like that... any more than I do."
DresdenG
The Professor continued to pace and listen, her brow furrowed in her usual, thoughtful crease. She paused beside Edomie when the girl spoke. Her downcast eyes moved the Professor to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder.
As the Wraith spoke, Dresden wrapped her arm about Edomie’s shoulders and drew the girl close against her side, if she allowed it.
Nodding at the end of the Wraith’s statement, the Professor looked around at all of them once again. Particularly to Mit, as the Enderkin had chosen her few words carefully, and Dresden wanted to be sure she took them into account.
“You are correct in a way, Mit,” the Professor began, “He is but one man. As far as we know. Apart from anything else, we must remember that he has been here a long time. Long enough to have an army stowed away, somewhere.” As much as the thought unnerved her, she felt she had to voice it. “We don’t know what he has at his disposal. The Wraith is right. We must watch him, while we also prepare for a fight. I agree that it will likely come to that, history shows us time and again the way these conflicts play out.”
She looked over at Edomie and gave the girl’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “We won’t let him ruin anything,” she murmured, the sharp, authoritative edge leaving her voice for a moment, “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Directing her attention to the group again, she raised her voice back to its usual volume. “Now, in the interests of organization, I propose we meet here again in a fortnight, barring further unforeseen developments. Those who have volunteered to gather weapons, supplies, potions,” she looked pointedly at Faeden for that, “or prepare their airships,” a nod to Baker, “please do those things as soon as possible. It is likely we’ll need them. But, in either case, the effort won’t be wasted.”
She paused for a moment, weighing a thought before continuing. “Be watchful. We don’t need him to know we’re organizing. And...one more thing. Everyone here did receive a message from him, didn’t they? Please speak up if you did not.” Her eyes narrowed, and she waited.
jordan.nova
Edomie gratefully accepted Dresden's embrace, tucking herself into her aunties arms and wrapping one arm around her waist. "What's... what do you mean a fortnight?" she murmured awkwardly, tilting her head up to Dresden.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden bit her lip and ducked her head down when the Professor looked at her. Yes. She could help, even if just a little bit. She stood a little straighter and hovered off the floor again.
"The Warden came into my house while I was there and simply put his banner down, while I stood there. I don't..." her nose wrinkled at the memory.
"I want to remove it," She huffed. "And I want to check on my foxes."
She realized with a start that she was maintaining direct eye contact with Dresden, but after an initial glance away decided to hold it, and lifted her chin with newfound confidence. Maybe it was because of the Wraith standing near her.
"I'll do whatever I can to help."
MonsterTeeth
"Fortnight iz... fourteen rotationz," Monster said after a moment's thought. She stood, careful not to disturb the small spirit behind her with the ebb of her hair. Fourteen rotations... Hm.
They didn't feel comfortable leaving Edomie alone that long. Ollie yes - he'd already proven he could handle himself, and with the Mountain Brat's eyes firmly on the Warden right now he'd have to be safe. Faeden had unexpected force behind her and a willingness to use it, Plum the same. But Edomie... Edomie could fight, but had trouble recognizing... well, trouble.
"Will ztay with you... kome back with you," they decided. "Zafezt that way. And not far... from Meherristess." Especially not with their new wings - even watching over Edomie, they would be more than able to gather useful things for their village.
elf
Baker clenched his teeth as the Professor finished speaking, but his grip on the gun fell away. I shouldn't have expected any less from the Professor, very little escapes her notice.
Waiting until the others had filtered a little further away, Baker patted Edomie on the head and gave her a small smile before giving the Professor what he hoped was a knowing look. "Professor, I would like to speak to you about another matter. If you have the time?"
LexiDriftander
Oleander watched the others with glazed eyes, pondering what had happened.
He wasn’t afraid of the Warden, he was more afraid of what could happen to his friends. Well.
He glanced around the room. Most of these people were merely acquaintances. He caught sight of Edomie snuggled up next to the Professor and was surprised to feel a pang of jealousy.
She was probably safer off with her, anyway.
Silently, Oleander slipped toward the door, and out of the classroom.
TheJKWolf
Listening to the others reaction, Mit withdrew her hand from the sword. She couldn’t help but stare intrigued at the Baker - arming the airship? That would be a sight to behold. She would love to be on it when it's ready.
She looked over at the spirit who seemed startled by her. Didn’t she notice Mit was here? Well, it was nothing new that people were surprised by her. Still, she nodded approvingly when the spirit offered their assistance. Mit could see she was afraid, but still she would fight. She could respect that.
Mit continued to listen to the people speaking. Yes, watching the Warden made sense. This was something she could get behind. And during that she could prepare some equipment for them. She had her eyes on some new potion-recipe she wanted to try out that could help them.
The meeting seemed to come to an end, only more so when the Professor proposed to meet in a fortnight. She should probably write that down so she wouldn’t forget. She still had trouble with reading and writing, but she got better at it and with one motion, Mit took her book out, writing some notes down. She stashed the book back while letting her gaze wander over the group, watching Edomie hug the professor and the way the Wraith easily conversed with them.
They seemed so close with each other. Mit had noticed through the whole meeting the bonds these people had made while she was still, like always in the background. Maybe if she gave them a lot of armor and weapons they would let her in.
Absent Minded she watched as the one they called Ollie slipped away. It probably didn’t matter too much if those people liked her or not. She doubted she would stay for a longer time. At some point, she will move again, as she always did - nothing ever kept her tethered to one place.
Mit stood up, waving goodbye to the group. “See you soon.” Then she took her leave, using the wings to get her off the ground and towards her base.
jordan.nova
Edomie flinched closer to Dresden when the Monster spoke directly to her, an old anxiety striking her heart. She swallowed hard pushed it back down. Monster was not a scary, looming, terrible ender. Well - she was scary and looming. But not terrible. She was... actually very sweet.
Edomie nodded gratefully at Monster, meeting her gaze intently. They could hide at the cottage. A neediness in Edomie wanted to curl up in the bright blue room Auntie had made her upstairs. But, no, that would look like organizing with Monster there too. Cottage it was.
When Baker stepped over, she smiled warmly at him, brightening at the familiar pat on her head. His words to Dresden sounded... secret. She didn't want to eavesdrop, so with one more goodbye squeeze she pulled away from her auntie and reached for -
...where was Ollie?
Edomie's eyes flicked around the room, concern twisting in her stomach as she watched Mit also take her leave. Had Ollie... left? He hadn't said goodbye. She... hadn't seen him.
Edomie headed for the door as well, crossing her fingers she could spot Ollie's bright coat in the woods. She hesitated in the doorway, waiting politely for Monster to follow her, then ducked out of the classroom.
LexiDriftander
But Oleander was nowhere to be seen.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden watched the boy... Ollie, creep closer to the doorway, eyes never leaving the girl and the Professor, before he practically ran out. Something in Faeden's heart tugged painfully and she wanted to go after him, to talk to him more, but she held herself back, convincing herself that now would not be a good time.
Faeden noted the enderkin watching everyone's moves. She seemed... friendly. Faeden could swear she had met them before. She would make note to bring her a cake when all this was said and done. If it would be a possibility in the near future... the little ghost shuddered at the thought. Mit then left, and Edomie and the Wraith were about to leave, and Faeden felt dread claw at her stomach with the thought that she didn't want to be alone with the Professor if she could help it. They weren't.... enemies, not anymore, but the past wasn't one to just let itself go, even if the Professor was nice enough to try. So she mumbled something to the remaining adults and floated out the doorway, her eyes glued to the floor.
On her way out, she cast a forlorn look at the recently disturbed patch of grass. Her hands twisted about her staff. No. Not right now. It wasn't the time. A little moan escaped her trembling lips, and she dashed back to her cottage.
MonsterTeeth
Well. There was the flinch they'd expected from Edomie. It was progress, but it still hurt. But... no, protect. If the Warden showed up at Edomie's house, they would be ready.
Monster followed Edomie carefully, trying again not to either leave scorch marks or bash their head on the ceiling once out of the classroom. Thinking on it again, they ducked their head back into the room for just a moment and looked around. They had noticed Olli slipping away, but not what had driven him off... Unsatisfyingly, they still didn't see anything.
... should go check on him later. They turned and, fed up with the cramped ceiling, flicked a pearl out the open door to the outside.
DresdenG
Dresden caught the knowing look from Baker, his words tickling a thought in the back of her mind. But she would wait until he could tell her what he was thinking before drawing too many conclusions.
She felt Edomie flinch into her, and she glanced between the girl and the Wraith. There was nothing for this group to be frightened of from Monster, the Professor knew, but she was also keenly aware that Edomie had many fears of her own. History which contributed to these compulsive responses.
As the Wraith explained a fortnight, Dresden nodded and looked down at Edomie with an encouraging smile. "Thank you, Wraith," she spoke softly, her eyes not leaving Edomie even as she addressed the Wraith, "I can think of no one better to watch over her."
In the final hug, she wrapped her other arm around Edomie as well and pressed a gentle kiss on top of the girl's head. "Be safe," she whispered near her ear before letting go, and watching the two exit the classroom.
Once everyone had taken their leave but Baker, the Professor's rigid shoulders slumped slightly. She strode to the student entrance, poking her head out to make sure everyone had fully cleared the area. Then she closed it, turning back to Baker and indicating the small reading nook at the back of the classroom.
She took a seat, leaning forward and perching her elbows on her knees, lacing her spindly fingers together. She fixed her eyes on Baker, her mind racing. This whole situation had the potential to get out of hand if they couldn't keep a lid on it. She worried that numbers wouldn't be enough of an advantage. They needed something more, but what? She could not say.
"What is this other matter, Baker?" the Professor finally broke the silence between them, tilting her head to one side. "You seem troubled."
elf
The leaving of the others, and the visually relaxing of the Professor eased some of the tension Baker had been feeling. Taking a seat opposite of Grinstead, Baker's hands fiddled with each other before he settled them together in a firm grasp.
"It's about the messages." He finally managed to say. He felt the tightness in his chest as he prepares to lay open what until now had been privy to a few people... One of whom now may be a threat.
"I received no message, no banner. I was with the Wraith when they found theirs. We had run into Edomie on our way to Bakersfield, but we didn't stay long. You know the rest of her part." Baker bowed his head. Why was this so difficult!
"I.. Fear the Warden may see me... My machines and I, as a threat."
DresdenG
She watched him closely. His posture, the fiddling of his hands. Her mind tugged at the possibilities of what he might have to say, but she could only wait for him to speak.
Her heart skipped a beat when he revealed he had not received a missive from the Warden. She sat back in her chair, regarding Baker with inquisitive eyes. She could hardly contain the smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“Why does a lack of proclamation from him make you believe he sees you as a threat?” she questioned, “Would he not want to dominate you all the more, if so?”
elf
Baker pondered the question, looking at the Professor quizzically. Truth be told he'd not considered any other option besides those of ally or enmity. It seemed logical to him that to have no call of serving under him meant that he was to no longer be here at all. Although, where such stark black and white thinking had come from Baker could only guess. "It had not occurred to me to think of that as an alternative..."
He leaned back in his seat, hands resting lightly on his legs. The near whisper of something tugging at the edge of his mind. "Somewhere along the line, I came to an understanding that it was the law to either serve or to be done away with. It seemed the way of things."
Baker decided to take a chance. "The Warden, knows something of me that you don't. Edomie does as well in fact, though she may not know the whole story. I.. don't like to make it common knowledge. When I arrived here, in this world... I was a blank slate. I remembered nothing of where I had come from, nor of who I was or where I belonged."
He continued, looking the Professor in the eye. Trying his best to gauge what he had told her so far. She appreciated the truth it seemed, and he was only just beginning.
DresdenG
The Professor’s thin eyebrows raised, dark red lips pressing together in a tight line. A blank slate...I’ve not learned as much as I’d like to about world jumping, but as far as I know that isn’t normal.
“Oh?” she responded, finally, her eyes glinting with interest. “This is news.” She crossed one leg over the other, leaving her fingers together over her knee. “Please, elaborate.”
elf
“I will have... bouts, one might say, of lost time now.” Baker continued. “Minutes or even, hours of time I cannot account for. I, don’t know what it is I do during this time.”He realized he’d been fidgeting with his hands again, and stilled them, interlacing them together.
“The reason for these, however, is in the one thing I know that the Warden as of yet does not.” Baker didn’t even realize that a slight smile now tugged at the corners of his mouth. “That I have remembered now how I came to this world, and what I was before.”
DresdenG
She continued to watch him with keen eyes, her focus flicking between each shift in posture, every change in expression. The Professor didn't need to ask him to go on. The urging in her eyes, ravenous for knowledge, said it for her.
She tapped her index finger on her knee and waited.
elf
The look on the Professor's face was incentive enough for Baker to continue.
"I came here during a skirmish, between the ship I served and a group seeking to board us. It was during one of my flights that a storm that I was hit by lightning."
Baker paused, he'd expected the same jolt of fear to come as when he'd last been nearly struck again when traveling with the others, and the Warden. But Baker felt an odd sense of calm in telling the tale.
"I wore wings, very similar to the ones I have here. But they did not come with me. How I survived the strike I cannot begin to guess. But the last clear memory I have before waking up here, was the sensation of falling through the air and into the sea below... I had been a third mate, and a good shipsman from what I can recall."
Baker stopped, and watched the Professor's face. He'd laid out what he currently knew.
DresdenG
The Professor tilted her head thoughtfully at the conclusion of his statements, turning the words over in her mind. She knew of the existence of air ships and the like in theory, but they were certainly not a common site at Haversmith. The inner workings of such things remained a mystery to her, and it pleased her to know she'd found a colleague in Mr. Baker.
Surrounding herself with people who could do things she could not was a favored pastime.
"I see," she responded with a nod, "You've had quite the revelation, then, recently. You seem to be taking it in stride, though. It's commendable." She reached up to tuck a stray strand of her hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck. "All the accomplishments you've made at Bakersfield, and you hardly remembering who you were?" She let out a breath and sat back in her chair again. "Thank you for sharing something so personal with me. I do not take it lightly."
She let the silence hang for a moment before continuing. "It's very good for all of us that you are building your ship, and that your village is so fortified. We may have urgent need of it, and your talents, in the coming weeks."
elf
Baker smiled a bit bashfully at the comment of what he'd been able to build.
The mention of urgency however, brought him back to all of this.
"I only hope that all of it won't be for naught. I have no wish to lose the possibility of aiding everyone here, with the ship or my skill. But I cannot begin to guess the Warden's plan for me."
DresdenG
At his words, the Professor's lips curved into a catlike smile. It looked too wide for her thin face. She leaned toward Baker, uncrossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees. Her eyes sparked with...excitement?
"I can," she whispered, a conspiratorial undertone lacing her words.
elf
The smile on the Professor's face, the look in her eye. She knew something. Something Baker hadn't probably even begun to consider. His own voice dropping low as he spoke. "Tell me."
DresdenG
"Oh come now, Mr. Baker," she crooned, smile unwavering, "Why do you think the Warden didn't send you a message announcing his authority? You're right to say he's noticed your machines and your talents. Anyone would be a fool not to, and the Warden is no fool." A soft chuckle bubbled up from the back of her throat. "But he doesn't want to destroy you, no. Don't you see?" She rubbed her hands together, leaning in closer.
"He wants to recruit you."
elf
A wave seemed to wash over Baker, realization and curiosity intermingling. Professor Grindstead had opened up a proverbial third door that Baker hadn’t even thought existed.
But even with the new door, new questions arose. “Recruit me?” Baker’s voice was hushed, the new possibility turning over in his mind. Then the strike of a single thought. “I could never betray all of you for my own safety, Professor. Unless... you have more in mind?”
DresdenG
She shook her head. "Why do you think I asked if everyone had received a missive?" Her voice quickened, echoing raspily in the quiet of the high-ceilinged classroom. "This is perfect. This is the key, you're the key, Mr. Baker. Don't you see? He'll ask you to join him and you'll say yes and then--and then we'll be able to get the information we need. We'll know what he has at his disposal because you can work with him and you can tell us."
She paused and leaned back, tilting her head thoughtfully once again. "You can lie, can't you Mr. Baker? It wouldn't do to send a spy without a pokerface."
elf
Baker straightened in his seat, something in him was growing--and this time he wasn't afraid of it. For the first time in a long time, Baker felt he finally had an advantage. Over what, he wasn't entirely sure, but for now at least he had something the Warden didn't know, and that made all the difference.
And this time I'm not alone.
A glint came into Baker's eye, a secretive sort of smile crossing his face as he spoke.
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Thrusting out of the ocean, the great trident spire reached into the sky. Inside sat the dark elf on his throne, thinking, wishing, dreaming. Where was Baker? Was he not coming? Was all that a waste of time?
Irondil - The Map Warden
elf - Baker
---
elf
Baker landed a short distance away from the last place he knew the Warden to be. His castle.
Baker stood just on the edge of the trees taking a deep breath. The Warden's arrival had been unexpected, putting Baker off kilter. Not what was needed when the Professor, and unknowingly--the others--needed him to find out what the Warden was planning. He hadn't dared to go to see Grinstead for fear the Warden may be now watching him even closer. Baker ground his teeth together as he steeled himself. He'd never encountered this to his memory. Memory. A laugh it would seem where all this is concerned. Warden had put him off his game.
Time to repay the favor.
Striding boldly up to the front door of the place, Baker knocked a bit louder than he typically did. "Ahoy! Warden! Are you home?"
Irondil
A voice not belonging to the Warden or anyone the man would known rumbled through the castle. "The Lord of Stor'Sweev sits upon his throne. Follow the signs. Enter the Trident." Slowly, the doors of the castle opened without help from any seen servant.
elf
Baker stepped back, the smile gone and replaced with a look of great concern. But the steel deep inside remained as he slowly lowered his eyes back to the door. This was more what I expected of the man.
Slowly Baker entered the open the door of the castle, his hand slowly sliding to be nearer his gun. And stepped inside.
Irondil
The sound of the welcoming spell startled the Warden to his feet. The dim light of the blue flames that sat atop his thrown casting his shadow against every wall of the throne room. "He is here," the elf said to himself. "Finally. We can move things along."
elf
The inside was... Not what Baker had been expecting. Until the other day the Warden had been distant and aloof, he'd figured his home would be much the same. But appearances can be deceiving.
Baker followed the signs that led to what the voice had called the 'Throne Room'. The name leaving a poor taste in Baker's mouth. His wings folded but not locked, Baker's hand never left it's gentle hover over the handle of his weapon. Up the stairs he went, a definite chill in his blood as he came to the last stairs before the throne room.
Irondil
Someone was walking up the stairs of the spire. The footsteps were slow, yet heavy. It was him. When the mustachioed man appeared at the throne, the Warden put on the same friendly, warm, and false smile he had the last time they had met. "My good friend. I can not tell you how much it means for you to visit my home. I've...I've been dreaming about that little spot. That place I want to build my home." The blue fire rustled above him. Yes, I've been dreaming of that too. "You look well, Mr. Baker! Fine contraption you've got on your back."
elf
There it was, the smile of someone who isn't quite telling everything. Baker couldn't help but get an eerie feeling from the blue fires crackling above the massive throne.... and indeed, it was a throne. But the time of timidity was done. Grinstead had put her trust in him, and he'd be damned if he would betray that.
"Warden!" Baker replied, in a cheerful tone, a smile of his own quickly coming to his face. "I must admit I wasn't even sure I had the right castle at first. It is as you said, sadly empty." He motioned to the wings he had still secured to him, "A gift that I had the pleasure of modifying to better suit my needs. But let's not talk about that right now. I've come to give you an answer about what we talked about before." More you than I, but not the point.
Baker's stomach knotted as the lies began to come out of his mouth. He could lie. But it didn't mean he enjoyed it. "I would be more than happy to have you as a neighbor." He declared. "I have but one small word of caution for you however."
Irondil
Warden's thick brow lifted, but his smile did not waver. "Oh?"
elf
"Don't build too near, as you know Bakersfield has a tendency to drawn undesirables when new things occur. I wouldn't want to wish that on my newest neighbor." Baker smile settled to a friendly look, then something he personally needed clarifying on came to mind.
"I... appreciated the flowers you brought, I didn't recognize them. Where did you come by them?"
Irondil
Warden no longer needed the false grin, but kept it regardless. It was best to stay consistent at this point. "I was thinking about that patch of sand just across the river north of the town. Far enough away from the danger, yet close enough that I can visit all of my friends with relative ease." The Warden waved his hand and an entire rosebush appeared in his grip. "I am an ally of Life, Mr. Baker. And you are helping me live mine, now. Thank you." He handed the man the bush.
elf
Baker wasn't unused to seeing magic. He'd seen since day one of waking up in Stor'Sweev, he'd seen some of the others use it around him during battles and in improving their armor, weapons, and whatever it was that Plum got up to. But to have it performed in this manner in front of him, and suddenly be holding it, it took more will than Baker realized to stand rooted where he was.
The Warden has magic. Magic! That can't be the focus, information--GET INFORMATION. Put him off guard, come ON man!
"Oh, no.. no Warden I cannot accept." Baker looked over the rose bush with what was only half pretended nervousness. "I, I greatly appreciate your kindness but I cannot, you are a good man and a friend but I am afraid that's all."
Irondil
The rosebush disintegrated into shadow and nothingness. "As you wish, my friend. Thank you again for giving me this permission. I will let my architect know straight away that he can begin!"
elf
Baker stared at his now empty hands, a feeling and a tingling in his mind as the bush had faded away. Vanished. Slipping through my fingers...
Baker heard the words of the Warden, his control as nonexistent as it had when he had been at Bakersfield. I've learned nothing.
Baker's head ached, weather from the fear or the odd light in the room he wasn't sure. He needed to leave, but he couldn't just walk out. He had to remain the idiot he was turning out to be despite his efforts. "I.. yes."
Irondil
"Wonderful, wonderful. Now, I know you must have had a long trip here, Mr. Baker. But I have to get a few things ready. Please, make yourself at home here at Femelv'Girn. I'll be gone for a few hours. A day at the most." The Warden started down the stairs of the Trident, his gaze not leaving the man.
elf
Baker hadn't turned around yet, there was a decision to be had. Leave and be done with the man.... or stay, and see what I can find. Baker took a breath to calm himself, before turning and replying. "That is most gracious, I may rest a short while before flying home. Thank you."
Leave... Baker smiled. Leave so I can see what more you're hiding.
Irondil
"Just... be careful while you're here my friend. There have been a few snoops and I've had to implement some...safety measures. And if you see that blasted spirit within my walls, tell her I'll be coming for her beasts." And the Warden descended the stairs and vanished into the castle proper.
elf
As the Warden left his sight, Baker stared hard into the empty corridor for a moment, waiting to see that the man was truly gone. And shook.
Baker took his goggles off his head, running a shaking hand through his hair. This was not what he'd bargained for. This wasn't--Spirit
As quickly as it had begun, the trembling stopped. The knot in his stomach slowly replacing itself with a heat that threatened to rise to his chest.
Spirit with beasts.....
Faeden.
His hand still in his hair, Baker gripped tightly as the fog in his head cleared away and for the first time that day clear thoughts ran through his mind.
Baker waited for a few moments before quietly descending the stairs. He may not know Faeden well, but he heard what the girl and the others had said at the meeting. End all with myself. This is about them.
And Baker began to see what he could find in the Warden's castle.
A few weeks after One Needs Not To Be A Chamber To Be Haunted: Part One.
Phoenix gets himself lost again, and bumps into the fox spirit Faeden. Once they find his tower, animals and a chat into the evening ensues as the two make a new friend; each other!
louare - Phoenix
Brook Khidpuh - Faeden
---
louare
A map, he thought to himself, gotta figure out how to make a map.
Phoenix was fairly certain he’d been walking in a circle for at least the past hour. Maybe longer. The trip has started in good spirits- he had intended to just walk straight to the nearby village, see what they were up to trade, and get right back to his tower. It should’ve been simple enough. If his memory was right- though it very rarely was- the village was a straight shot south, right through the spruce woods. All he had to do was walk in a straight line.
Hence, the circle issue.
As Phoenix reach the top of another hill, irritably batting aside a spruce bough, his attention was caught by a flash of red through the trees below. A fox, he thought, and before he could push the occurrence out of his mind, he saw a second one dash by, following the first.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden was sure that finally there was another ghost here, and that she was being haunted by something. Her dogs kept softly woofing at something tramping around past the tree-line, and she could swear she had seen a flash of blue in the shrubbery. Was it a zombie trapped under a tree? It would take several minutes then to gather her courage and grab her staff, convinced that the undead creature would rush her. Any time she tried to investigate, however, it would disappear.
Faeden was beginning to become paranoid. What the heck was this thing? Was this how the people she haunted felt? Like they were going crazy, but there had to be something out there causing all these odd things? What if it was that malevolent being she had heard the others mentioning? What if it had come back?
Before she could think on it too hard, two of her foxes rushed over to her, circling her non-corporeal legs and squeaking in unison.
"What are you two trying to tell me....?" the little ghost smiled as she scooped them up in her arms. A loud noise that sounded suspiciously like a branch hitting someone caught her attention, followed by cursing, and she looked up.
louare
Foxes. They were a little too rare for two of them to just pop up side by side like that, right? His curiosity piqued, he made his way towards where he saw them disappear, only to pause as he noticed the open space beyond the tree line.
Was that… a house? No, just a really big tree. Wait, no, it was a tree house. There was a person living here. That was even weirder. To be fair, he didn’t know a ton about foxes- a ton about anything, really- but from the few he’d seen around, they were notorious flighty around people.
As his eyes finally started to tumble down the enormous house built into the branches of the tree, he froze as he caught upon the red swarming the foot of the trunk.
That was a lot of foxes.
Then, his eyes stopped on the girl, light and wispy, surrounded by sea of animals and looking less than pleased at his presence to boot, if the stick in her hand was anything to go by.
And that was a ghost girl.
His thoughts ground to a halt.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden froze as the intruder entered her camp. The foxes slipped from her nerveless grasp, squeaking and sniffing the stranger-tainted air. Faeden could feel herself take a step back, then steeled herself, pulling her staff out of the ground and in front of her face defensively. Her dogs gained wind of their owner's fear and began pacing near her, some with low rumbles in their throats.
He looked perhaps a few years older than her, wearing protective leather guards over a bright blue tunic. His hair could use a trim, as they grazed his lashes, and was a dark chestnut. She had never seen him before.
Faeden fought back against the trembling that was trying to seize her ethereal limbs. Who was he? What did he want? Was he going to hurt her? She eyed him over frantically for a weapon; he had a crossbow that would make quick work of her animal companions. She stayed her dogs with a gentle wave of the hand. Maybe... maybe he was friendly....?
The spirit's voice quavered, betraying the fear she had tried so hard to contain.
"...Who are you?"
louare
Phoenix winced as she spoke, not expecting the sound after so long a time of silence. Wait, that was fear- was she really afraid of him?
“Uh…” he coughed. “I’m unarmed?” That wouldn’t matter though, would it, it was a ghost girl, those were usually transparent- “And I also come in peace?” Wrong again, that was aliens smart guy- “I mean, mean no harm?”
Least convincing you’ve ever been in your life, he thought.
“I’m just kind of lost,” He blurted. “I really didn’t mean to bother you, I swear.”
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden's grip on her staff tightened momentarily, but she forced herself to relax. The staff was planted firmly into the ground, and she held onto it as though afraid she might float away without it. Grey, her large, burly wolf, let out a suspicious snort, but she patted his head. Her eyes never left the man, though, and she made no move to brush away the hair concealing her eye.
"...Oh.... I s-see.... It's... it's no bother, Mister Just Kind of Lost.... I'm sorry. You s-startled me. Have you been here, before?"
A fox padded towards him curiously, giving his boots an experimental sniff, and Faeden twisted her hands around the staff, debating whether or not to call it off.
louare
Phoenix opened his mouth to reply but paused as one of the foxes padded towards him, sniffing him curiously. He grinned down at the red kit, but stood stock still, not daring to move, lest he startle it.
“Not here,” he said, “But I shouldn’t live too far away.” I think, he added mentally, and after a pause, admitted out loud, “I think. I get lost pretty easily, even though my tower isn’t hard to spot, in theory. Uh…” He gestured down at the fox. “Are they okay? Can…” he hesitated. “Would it be alright if I pet them?” He asked carefully.
Brook Khidpuh
The smile he gave the fox caused a wave of relief to rush over her. Faeden felt almost dizzy as her posture relaxed.
She took pause at his words. Tower? She hadn't seen one... Granted, getting lost in Foxwood was not a difficult task. She had arrived at her home several days later than planned before, bedraggled and starving, when all she had been trying to do was add a few vines to add to the branches of the tree. It was extremely possible that she had simply passed it by, or never even gone near it.
Faeden was about to mention this, when the stranger asked to pet her friend. Immediately her eyes lit up, and the remaining traces of wariness in her melted away. Even Grey relaxed.
"O-oh. Oh! Y-yes, yes, they're all friendly, and unafraid of strangers. That one's Topaz. She's a little nippy, but friendly. I-if you have sweet berries, they'll be more than content to be friends with you for a little while."
Despite herself, a little chuckle escaped. Faeden bit her lip upon realizing she had been rambling again and hid somewhat behind her staff.
...That is, as much as a ghost could hide behind a tall stick.
louare
Phoenix immediately crouched down, his excitement getting the better of him. “Hey buddy,” He murmured, offering her his hand to sniff.
“Topaz?” He squeaked. “I mean-“ He coughed. “Sorry. I love that name? What a sweetie,” He scratched the kit under the chin. “I’ve been wandering around for a while though, so I don’t really have any berries for you,” He murmured to the fox. “Sorry girl.”
He glanced up at the ghost, grimacing at the view of her trying to hide behind her staff. He didn’t think he was that scary- he didn’t even have any arrows left. Or pickaxes. Or axes in general- he shouldn’t have left the tower that morning, he grumbled to himself.
The ghost girl was still half behind her staff- was she talking? He couldn’t see her lips-
“Ah!” He flinched as Topaz sunk her teeth into his thumb. “I said I was sorry,” he crooned to her, petting her head with his other hand. “I’ll bring you some berries another time, promise. "
Brody had been a biter as a puppy, and Phoenix hadn’t had the heart to train him out of it. He’d only gotten worse grown up too-not a bad thing, he thought, with all the mobs that came about at night, but it wasn’t the most pleasant way to wake up, an overgrown puppy nibbling your fingers.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden peeked out as Topaz soaked up the attention she was being given, grumbling and squeaking in happiness as Just Kind of Lost cooed to her and pet her. She brushed some of the hair out of her eye and felt herself smiling. Faeden eyed her guest over with newfound interest. His quiver was empty, and he didn't carry anything else that could be considered a weapon. And Topaz certainly seemed to think he was alright. More of her foxes were beginning to crowd around him, the idea of pets being too alluring to stay away.
"T-Topaz!" she scolded, "Don't bite our guest. He's not lunch. Here now, why don't you take a salmon?"
She tossed the fish towards the fox, and it jumped to it, snatching the prize into its mouth and holding it there. Faeden's eyes followed Topaz back to the man, who was petting the many foxes with a wide grin, oblivious to the shedding fur getting all over him. Her dogs trotted over with wagging tails, one nudging Just Kind of Lost with its nose, and he laughed as he was nearly buried underneath the mounds of fur. Grey opted to stay close to his owner, but the small wag in his tail did not go unnoticed.
"Alright, all you, stop swarming him. Let him breathe. Sorry about them," she said in a breathless laugh, "they enjoy any company that isn't a creeper. You should have seen them when the Map Warden passed by."
She looked at the late afternoon sky, examining the treetops.
"You... you said you have a tower? I've never seen it before.... is it near that small village? I haven't explored much beyond there. The inhabitants are...." she grappled for the right word. "....Superstitious? They treat me as though I'm very special. It makes me nervous. Where is your tower, Mister Just Kind of Lost?"
louare
“It’s Phoenix, by the way,” He said, gently pushing away the animals as he stood. “If ‘Just Kind of Lost’ was my name, I’d have to change it to ‘Definitely Lost All the Time,’ at the rate I’m going.” He paused. “My tower is… well, yeah it’s a tower, like,” He threw out his arms in a measuring sort of manner to demonstrate. “It’s kind of by the village, too. Okay, it goes like this-“
He took a deep breath. “My tower is a straight shot through the spruce forest south I think. From my tower, and that’s where I was actually going this morning, and I guess it’s a shorter walk in my head because I swear I headed out the right direction when I left this morning but I’ve been walking all day and I still haven’t gotten there, so I…” he trailed off. “I don’t really know where I’m going with this,” he murmured. “But yes, its somewhere near that village. I think. I hope we’re talking about the right one. Either way, if you could point me or show me where that one is, I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to get back to the tower? It should be by the Academy too, if you know where that is.”
He paused, rewinding through the ghost girls words. “ Wait, Map Warden? I don’t think I’ve heard of that name before, could he maybe make me a-“ Phoenix stopped. “…I never asked you your name, did I? I am so sorry.”
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden stared for a moment, his words still processing in his head, before she let out a snorting laugh.
"Mister Phoenix. My apologies. Mister 'Definitely Lost All the Time' would be a mouthful, wouldn't it?"
Cold gripped her at the mention of the Academy. She didn't want to go back there anytime soon. Best not to think about it, for now.
"I-I... I know where that village is by heart," she murmured, her merriment quickly fading. It's.... It's a little ways from the Academy," she added with a steadying breath. "I hope to put a map there once someone becomes a cartographer. I get lost far too often in these woods, as pretty as they are. I can guide you there!"
She shooed her pets inside the stone cottage, telling Grey to keep a watchful eye while she was gone. The large wolf huffed seriously and sat guard in front of the door, to her amusement. Several foxes trained behind her, but Faeden made no attempt to stop them as they followed her and Mister Phoenix. They were still wild, after all.
"this way," she smiled shyly, gesturing for him to follow.
"Oh," she added, realizing that she had never answered his last question, "....My name is Faeden."
louare
“Oh, great!” He hurried to follow her, brushing away the multitude of red hairs that seemed to have manifested on his clothes. “Good to meet you, Faeden!”
She was quicker than him- he had to rush to keep up as she floated, ghost-like- okay, duh, she’s a ghost, he reminded himself. But man, did being dead make you lose your memory of lungs and leg pain? That would make sense, he considered, since the skeletons could run pretty darn fast when they were chasing him in the middle of the night.
“Sorry,” he apologized, “Could you slow it down a little? Your faster than the Professor on a rampage- and trust me,” he said, “She’s fast when she’s on a rampage. And scary. Can’t forget scary.”
Faeden started to reply, but Phoenix was distracted as his eyes caught something purple flash in front of them through the trees. He paused, stopping in his tracks. He took a few steps backwards, looking up a spot through the cabal of spruces to a clear spot in the overhanging green. “Hey, I think I see my tower! Look!” He pointed.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden swayed on her feet at the mention of the Professor, her stomach clenching and her hand trailing to the area where the axe had sunken into her chest. Oh, she knew the Professor was scary. She knew too well. Faeden swallowed thickly, trying not to let the memories replay in her mind. She was grateful for the distraction the tower provided.
She gasped, memories in an instant flooding back to her. The town, with its cobblestone roads. The markets, with the vendors and their colorful streamers flying about. The towers, making up the nearby castles, the mystical, fantastical woods surrounding the city, the dogs barking as they ran along with their young masters... It was as though a dream suddenly came back after years of being forgotten. Something about these memories prickled just slightly, as though they should be unpleasant, but the awe that Phoenix's towers invoked drowned that feeling out.
Faeden raced ahead of Phoenix, foxes in tow, and stared up at the tower and the bridge and the mystical woods. She felt whisked back into her own world, and only broke away from her wonder when Phoenix tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to follow.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
louare
“Thanks,” he said with a grin, pleased. “Want the grand tour?”
He led the ghost girl across the bridge, pausing to scratch the cat lying on the railing under the chin. “They’re all friendly,” he assured. “I’ve got a whole pack of cats running around here too. They mostly just keep the creepers away and sleep, really. Sometimes one will come with me when I travel, but I don’t make them.”
Through the trees, dark oaks with thick trunks and a ceiling of leaves so thick you could hardly see the sun through them. “Watch out for mobs,” He called, keeping his own eyes on a swivel as they followed the familiar path towards the entrance. “I’ve hung lanterns all throughout this place, but it doesn’t help at all that much.”
He glanced behind him, noticing the look in Faeden’s face, and grinning a bit to himself.
Brook Khidpuh
At the sight of the swarm of cats, Faeden suppressed a squeal of delight, trying and failing from flitting up to each one to coo over and pet. She nearly lost sight of Phoenix as he slipped inside the tower, and followed after distributing a few fish treats.
The inside of the tower was as gorgeous as the outside, and happiness bubbled up in the little ghost, threatening to spill over the corners. She zeroed in on the dog sitting excitedly by the doorway and instantly began to pet it, oblivious to the nibbles. Her voice was shaky from excitement.
"Th-there- you h-have so many, I-- eee, you have so many animals! I love them all! A-and your tower, it's beautif-ful, and, and!"
She squeezed the dog and smushed her face close to its, looking up at Phoenix with veritable stars in her eyes.
louare
“Uh, thanks!” he said happily. “It um, took me a while to settled here, but… I’m glad the work has paid off? Careful with Brody,” he warned as she squeezed the pup, “He’s still recovering from a bit of Creeper mishap.”
“Er-“ He glanced around the entrance room. There wasn’t much to look at down here, just a few lonely barrels in the corner and a bed for when he couldn’t find the strength to climb up all the steps. “You want to see the top?” He offered. “It’s the highlight, really.”
With one last pet to Brody, Faeden rose to follow him. Phoenix started up the stairs, calling out the rooms to the ghost behind him. “The workshop,” he said, waving a hand to the room as they passed it. “The… library? Okay, book cranny might be a little more accurate,” Phoenix admitted. The library was incredible, no need to shame it, he thought.
Finally, at the very top, Phoenix opened the door and led her up a a last stairway to the quiet, windowed room.
“And this is the top of the tower,” he announced.
He couldn’t help but be a little proud, not in the slightest because of all the times he’d fallen to his death trying to complete it. It was sort of funny then, how safe the room made him feel. How quiet and isolated, how utterly put away from the dangers of the outside and worse, other people.
He glanced at the ghost girl. “What do you think?” He murmured.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden looked about herself excitedly, her hair bobbing around as though underwater. The room felt cozy, and warm, and a pair of parrots sat chirping on their perches. Faeden struggled not to throw herself in the direction of the windows, but instead pressed her face close to the window, gazing out at the forest as night fell. The lanterns all throughout the forest glittered and glinted magically, and a warm wave of happiness washed over the spirit.
"It's wonderful! It feels so secure and it must be very warm! It feels like a home!"
Something vaguely prickled as she tried to envision the insides of towers from her home, but she chose to ignore it.
She turned back to Phoenix, ready to ask a question, but a strange fish caught her attention and she floated past him to examine it. The fish glared at her as much as a fish can, and puffed up to three times its size, with spines pointing in all directions. Faeden gasped and pressed her face close to the glass to get a better look, wonder etched onto her features.
"What is it?"
louare
“Please be careful!” Phoenix yelped as Faeden got a little too close to Louregard for comfort. “He’s… prickly. And poisonous.” Venomous? He thought with a pause, then shrugged it off- he never remembered the difference. “Lou’s a pufferfish,” he explained. “He showed up in the nearby river one day, and… since i wasn’t sure how he got in the river in the first place, I didn’t think he’d make it back home anytime soon. So here he ended up.”
“Very cranky though,” he added. “Would not recommend pets.”
With the effort Faeden seemed to be putting into forcing herself through the aquarium glass, he doubted she would heed the warning for long.
Brook Khidpuh
By the time Phoenix yelped his warning, Faeden had phased two of her fingers through the glass and was stroking Lou with two fingers. The fish aggressively whirled around in its tank, and Faeden recoiled at a prick to her fingers. She inspected them. The pain was already subsiding, and she laughed and tilted her head to get a better look.
"You're right, he is a bit prickly. Alright then, Lou. No pets it is. I wonder if I could find a pufferfish," she mused, lightly shaking her pricked hand. "I had been thinking of making an aquarium. Although, I would have to keep it away from all my foxes. They enjoy going fishing, so it might be... counter-productive. I've heard of jungle cats and jungle bears, too. Perhaps one day I'll go on an expedition to find them. I'd love to take care of some exotic animals!"
Her shy mannerisms had all but disappeared. If Mister Phoenix loved animals as much as she did, how could he be like those other people from her previous life? She felt... comfortable around him, which was a first, for this world.
....Those people? Since when had she remembered those people? She wondered about that quietly to herself. Hmm. Something to think about later. Currently, she was having too much fun.
"Oh, I almost forgot!"
Faeden pulled out a cake from her small satchel. It was light and wispy, and sweet berries decorated the gently iced top. the edges of it seemed blurred, like the ghost who held it, and she beamed proudly as she offered it to Phoenix.
"I make these for my neighbors, and grabbed it before we left. It's a... a ghost cake!"
louare
Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief when she finally pulled her fingers out of the pufferfish’s tank.
“I could help you find one,” he offered. “Though.. You’re right on the foxes, they’re pretty wily. The tank would have to be pretty secure so they couldn’t get in.” He cast a meaningful look at the white cat sitting on the bed, licking its paw. “Cats too, for that matter.”
He flinched as she whirled around, pulling something from the satchel at her waist. It was… a cake? No, a ghost cake, she’d said. At a second glance, he noticed that it seemed almost airy and transparent- he could see the floor through the layers of confectionary.
“I can see why you named it that.” he blurted. “Ah- I mean, it looks really good though. Are you sure I can really eat it?”
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden opened her mouth to respond, then shut it.
"I, uh... I'm not sure. I think it should be edible. This just kind of.... happens, with things I bake. The foxes can eat the berries off them, at least."
She gently handed the treat to him.
louare
Phoenix took it carefully, as though he was sure it would disappear the moment he touched it. “Thank you,” he murmured. “I’m uh, happy to be your test subject?” He smiled, so she’d know he was joking, and set the cake down gently on the nearby desk, looking at it thoughtfully. He didn’t think he’d be eating it for a while- and he had a nagging suspicion it wouldn’t go bad either.
He also thought of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds, and couldn’t stop a shudder.
Desperate to change the subject, he turned his eyes around the room, looking for something to talk about when he finally noticed the setting sun outside the tinted windows. “Hey, it is getting kind of dark, huh?” Phoenix said with a grimace. “Here, do you want to take this bed, and I’ll take the one downstairs?” He paused. “Or, reverse that? It’s up to you, but you can stay the night, I know it gets dangerous out there when it's dark- I mean, if you want to,” He added. “I won't force you or... anything..."
He stopped, staring at the ghost cake. It appeared to be sinking through the desk, but Phoenix was sure it couldn't be, cakes didn't usually-
Before he could finish the thought, the cake sunk completely through, letting out a wet shlorping sound as it pulled through and splattered on the ground.
"That does..." He started, then stopped, still staring at the ruined cake. "Does that usually happen?"
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden blinked several times at the melty, dissolving remains of the cake with her mouth hanging open. That most definitely did not usually happen, at least, not in her experience.
There was a light, chiming sound that bounced around the tower room. It took the ghost a moment to realize that she was laughing. She slapped her hands over her mouth, but the cake slipping right through the table had looked so funny, and Phoenix's look of absolute bewilderment had only added to it. Somewhere through her laughter, she was grateful that breathing was not necessary, because she was laughing hard enough to suffocate.
"I-- oh, haha, please excuse meheehee, I don't think that, that usually happens, but haha, I can, can always make you another. M-maybe I'll start, hehe, start putting them on a plate before giving them out. Ahaha, I don't know why that happened!"
She wiped away non-corporeal tears of mirth, only then processing his previous, unfinished question.
"G-goodness, it is late, isn't it? I um... I'm not too good, at traversing the forest at night. S-so thank you very much for your offer. You seem tired, so I can take the bed downstairs, but whichever you prefer! Th-thank you again..."
She tried something new.
"Mist... Ph-Phoenix."
louare
“A um, plate might help next time, yeah,” Phoenix agreed, giving her a weak smile. He was happy she didn’t seem angry, but couldn’t help feel bad. Baking wasn’t exactly easy work.
He paused at her next words. Something was significant about the way she said his name, without any sort of title before it. He couldn’t quite place why. “I mean, I can stay up here, clean up the uh…” he glanced at the cake again, a mess of berries and oddly transparent icing. “It’s just- downstairs. The cats will swarm you. And sleep on you. So it’s-” He met her eyes with a grin. “Up to you, Fae.”
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden met his grin with mischievous one of her own, forgetting just for a moment to be shy.
"Now how could I refuse such a tempting offer?"
She eyed her host, the shaggy-haired young man with the awkward, jittery cadence in his voice and many animals that all seemed to walk all over him. Faeden felt her hands reach out towards him, but she caught herself and settled to bite down on her lip, the smile seeping through the corners of her mouth.
"Goodnight.... Phoenix."
She hurried to make her way down the stairs, so he wouldn't see her grinning, but paused to look back at him. She knew it was presumptuous of her, but she felt like she had finally made a friend. Topaz squeaked curiously as she looked up at her owner, and Faeden smiled.
"Go on," she whispered. "I think he'd like to keep a fox friend, don't you?"
The fox barked happily and scrambled over to him.
louare
“What-?” He blinked and looked down at the fox currently burrowing itself in his arms. “Wrong person, bud,” He told it, but Topaz only yipped at him. “I really can’t,” he said, looking back up at Faeden, “I really- she’s yours! I can’t take a pet away from their owner, she loves you.”
He looked back down at the fox in his arms, absently scratching it behind the ears as he thought of Brody. The first Brody- He still missed his dog. There were a lot of things he regretted, but leaving him behind was high, high on that list. Topaz deserved a better home than someone who-
Topaz nipped his thumb, drawing Phoenix out of his thoughts along with a wince.
“That’s my good hand you know,” He muttered, but he was smiling.
Brook Khidpuh
Faeden felt a giggle bubble out of her.
"Oh, I'm no owner. The foxes simply decide who they want to stay with, and Topaz decided she wants to stay with you! And besides," she added on a more timid note, "I-I, could always come back, if that's alright, and treat her to some berries. And, and maybe treat the other wonderful animals here. And... t-talk with you. If, if you're alright with talking to me."
She felt her hair fall back in front of her eye, but made no move to brush it aside. After such a brazen sentence, she felt a need to hide behind something.
louare
With a gentle tug to extract his gnawed thumb, Phoenix grimaced and looked back up at Faeden. “I guess I can’t argue,” he said reluctantly. “You can come see her whenever you'd like though, alright? And..."
He resisted the urge to bail and jump out the window. Heart to hearts were not his strong suit.
“I’d… like that. I do get lonely,” he admitted, although saying it out loud made his chest tighten. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you around some more. And I’m sure the cats would appreciate the company too. “ He sighed, glancing at the pufferfish, still angry and swollen in his aquarium. “Louregard too, I think. He didn’t poison you on sight, after all.”
Phoenix grinned, switching his sights to a lighter topic. “When do you want to go hunting for one of your own? I’ve already got a name picked out, hear me out,” Topaz wiggled and he let the fox jump down, watching her trot over to his bed, getting used to her new home. “Phoenix Junior! I have a versatile name, see.”
Brook Khidpuh
A genuine smile pulled at her, and she didn't have the heart to hide it as she beamed at him.
"Thank you! Y-" She cut herself off, a light green blush tinging her cheeks, before sticking her tongue out and deciding to take the chance.
"...You're so very nice. I've enjoyed being around you. Thank you, Mister Definitely Lost All the Time, for getting lost and showing up at my cottage. It's been so nice talking to you, Phoenix. Although, I'm not very well going to name any prickly fish after you, sorry," she added with a giggle. "Maybe a parrot."
She knelt down and scratched Topaz under the chin. "You be good, alright?" she crooned, standing up and floating out the doorway.
"Thank you again for such a wonderful evening. Goodnight, Phoenix."
Faeden smiled as she left the room and descended the long, winding stone stairs. She paused halfway down, glancing up and running the night's conversation and emotions in her mind. The little ghost placed a hand over her chest, feeling a faint warmth there.
"I told you what I'm doing!" Plum shouted, whirling on Edomie so fast she knocked the girl backwards. Edomie's wings righted her on her feet, and Plum advanced another step. Her green eyes shone like beacons in the dark storm and her face twisted into a tight snarl. "Now either help me or stay out of my way."
