#tristant

Ditchwater Sal was the witch’s name and every night that you held your hand out and told your story to people heading for the marketplace, you cursed her name under her breath. You couldn’t be the bigger person here because you were caught up in this trap for many a year. You had almost lost count. Not a single person had a bit of silk on them that they would give to a poor, ugly, old begger who slept beneath the trees and lived off of bread and milk that was sometimes thrown to her in a whittled flask from Ditchwater Sal. You drank up each drop out of necessity, no matter how many times you got a sliver of wood stuck in your lips.

You hadn’t anticipated that it would take this long to get someone to give you a piece of silk, but twelve years had gone by. You only knew because you marked it off under the tree you slept under, using a pointed rock that you had found in the forests. It was your birthday, in fact. You made a line on the tree then hobbled your way to the road to try to attract anyone who was going to the town of Wall, or perhaps leaving it. Those who had passed by you before waved you away, not wanting to hear your fanciful tale of flying without wings, and looking for silk for your papa. With the age you looked - they doubted your parents were anything more than dust in the ground.

The road was well traveled today, many people coming to and fro, and you had told your story so many times that your throat had gone dry but there was no other story to tell. The sun was beating down on your back and so you sat down under the shade of a tree and drank the milk from the wooden flask. Your teeth caught the pieces of wood, every single one, due to experience.

Although your eyes had become weakened with the curse, they did rest on someone that you did not remember approaching before. You called out, “Boy, I have a story for you, and if you could give me some silk in return, any little bit will do.”

The young man came to a pause and looked forward as if he was in a hurry but curiosity over took him and he sat down on the cool grass for a moment, letting his feet rest. “I’d like to hear your story.” He told you.

And so you told him about how you had a father that flew through the sky, and you were often with him, and that no wings were required. Through snow and through rain you flew, no matter how soaked you became. And now you needed a piece of silk to return to your father so that he would be happy and you two could fly off again.

A strange feeling went through your fingers. Soft, smooth and slightly cold, it felt weightless in your palm. You jumped up in excitement, the arthritic knees cracking from being unused for so long. But they did not stay that way - as you cheered and danced in a circle to the surprise of the young man, your wrinkles disappeared, the glazed look over your eyes went away to reveal the true color, your hair went from grey to the original shade that it had been when you had met the witch and your body stopped the sagging to reveal fresh, young skin again. “Oh thank you!” You said, holding the silk to your face to feel it. “I’ve been trapped in that body, cursed to repeat the same story over and over until someone believed in me and would spare me this bit of fabric.”

You finally had a chance to look at who had saved you, and saw that it was a woman who had given you the bit of a silk. A beautiful woman with shining blonde hair and a blue gown with a bit ripped from the front. The fabric between your fingers was of the same material. Beside her was a man in distinguished dress and shaggy dark hair, along with a goofy smile. “Thank you, thank you.” You bowed your head.

“Who did this to you?” The blonde asked you kindly while the man seemed to be in awe of the magic that he had just seen. You caught his eye and then blushed, looking back to the beautiful woman.

“Ditchwater Sal, in the village. She thought that I was lying but my story is true. My father is-” You started but you were interrupted by the man.

“Captain Shakespeare?” He asked, which made you smile and nod.

“Do you know my father?” You asked. “Is he okay? It’s been so many years...”

“We just saw him!” The man said, enthusiastically. “Sorry - I’m Tristan, Tristan Thorn.”

“And I’m Yvaine,” The woman said kindly. You introduced yourself in return before imploring for more news about your father.

“He collects lightning, and is the captain of his ship.” Tristan said. “He seems to be in good health. Though he never mentioned a daughter.”

“He wouldn’t. He has many enemies, my father.” You said, breathing out. That little bit of news was reassuring - at the very least, he had never changed. “Is there anything I can do to thank you further for breaking my curse and for giving me this information? Now that I know he’s alive, I can find him again.”

Yvaine and Tristan looked at each other and then at me and then both of them broke out in grins. “I think I know where we can find him,” Tristan told me. “We were on our way back through to the forest to bring Yvaine home but after-”

“I’ll come with you.” Yvaine said, quickly. “It’ll be closer to home anyhow.”

“You’ll take me to him? Oh - that’s too much to ask for,” You started but then Yvaine shook her head.

“Everyone deserves to go home.” She said. As she smiled, her beauty was bewildering. She seemed to have a glow about her that you hadn’t seen in anyone in a long time. Unsure if it was just your eyesight getting back to normal after being cursed for so long or not, you agreed to let them take you to your father so that you may see for yourself that he is well, and bring him the piece of silk that had once belonged to him, according to Yvaine.

It took over two weeks for you to find your father. He had departed not long after Tristan and Yvaine were dropped off on Earth. Of course, none of you knew that he had been questioned by the Prince, but regardless - he had gone. You told your new friends that it was alright if they wanted to leave, you would get a room at the local inn until he would come back and sell his wares but Tristan insisted on staying with you.

“I’m not in a hurry to get anywhere.” He told you, a smile on his face. Truth be told, the two of you have been getting closer as of late. During the day, when Yvaine would sleep through the mornings, the two of you would talk for hours. You learned all about the woman that he had once cared about Victoria, and that he felt his feelings were dwindling. He told you about his father, about never knowing his mother, about the town that he wasn’t sure if he missed because this world was so wonderful! You talked about how your father had adopted you as a baby, how you grew up learning how to man the ship, how the lightning delighted you rather than scared you, and then how you ended up being cursed and what you had done all of your time as an old begger.

Yvaine had also told you her story but your favorite thing was listening to Tristan, who thought his life was boring but you thought it was fascinating. You, who had no time to be a normal child or a teenager at all. One moment you were young, the next you were old, then years later you were an adult. Nothing could bring back the time that you had lost but you liked to imagine that your life may have been a bit like Tristan’s.

Soon enough, you saw the boat descend upon the nearby waters and sail into port. You watched from the window and your heart sung with glee. You quickly awakened Tristan and Yvaine and then in your very modest grey dress which was all that you could get with what little money you  had, you ran towards Ferdy’s place of business, darting between people with the excitement of seeing your father again, your hand raised in the air with the piece of silk as if it were a beacon.

Tristan followed behind you, apologizing and pushing people out of the way to try and catch up to you, Yvaine on his heels. With the three of you running, it took no time at all for you to reach the ship and scramble on board to the surprise of the crew.

“Back already?” One of them, a swarmy looking man said, eyeing both Tristan and Yvaine.

“Hi!” You said, approaching him and shook his hand, which made him step back confused. “I’m looking for Captain Shakespeare? I’ve been waiting years to see him again. If you could tell him that I’m here please, my name is -” You said your name and a hush went across the ship. You looked around, startled by the quiet. “Am I on the wrong ship?” You asked, Tristan.

“You are not, dear girl.” A familiar, gruff voice said. Loud footsteps made their way across a plank onto the deck and there your father stood, looking proud and a little worse for wear but still as handsome as you remembered.

“Father!” You exclaimed, and ran into his arms. You blurted out everything, your entire story, and handed him the silk which you had not let leave your hands throughout the journey here. “I finally brought it home, thanks to Tristan and Yvaine,” You smiled at your friends.

Your father had happily embraced you back into his life, and was going to train you how to take care of the ship and be it’s Captain when he would either die or retire. The crew took to you well, giving you little head bows and was being very respectful to you. Your father introduced you to his closet full of beautiful gowns and you could wear whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. It was like a dream come true.

But you knew it could not last.

Yvaine and Tristan had come along, at least for a little while. But it was time for Yvaine to go home. They had gone to the town of Wall to find a special candle that would take her back home. She thanked Tristan with a lingering kiss on the cheek that made your stomach churn, though at the time you figured it was just because she had been a good friend to you. The two of you hugged, and then she went to the bow of the boat. You and Tristan sat down against the cabin, huddled together for warmth in the chilly night, the two of you sitting extremely close. At first you had felt cold but your blood felt warm as it traveled quickly through your veins. Tristan was having a strong effect on you.

Yvaine lit the candle and looked up towards the sky. That was the last you saw of her, unless you went star-gazing and tried to determine which star was her. It was something that you would do a lot, and when you would lie in your bed, you would look out that window and speak a little and hope that she would hear you. She had meant a lot to you, and a lot to Tristan, you could tell. It gave you that same weird feeling when you thought about them together before you had entered the picture.

When the boat docked again a few weeks later, you felt that you weren’t ready to say goodbye to Tristan. You didn’t want to. You were to stay on the ship with your family and continue your training and you were sure that he was going to go back across the Wall and go to his dearest Victoria, who he still talked about on the odd occasion.

The two of you met on the deck and you instantly gave his once thin and spindly frame a hug. “When you see Victoria again, you tell her - you tell her that she wasn’t worthy of a star in the first place,” You laughed, letting Tristan out of your embrace, but you kept your hands softly on his arms. “If she didn’t see you as being a star in yourself, she wouldn’t know any other star if it was right in front of her face.”

“I don’t think I’m going to go back,” Tristan said. He had returned the hug and now his hand was on your waist. He hadn’t seemed to notice - he normally got sheepish when the two of you were close together. It was nice ... you relished the feeling.

“After all of that talk about Victoria, you’re not even going to go and say goodbye?” You asked, furrowing your brow.

Tristan shrugged and looked back at the water, the wind blowing the hair out of his face. He looked like a prince in a fairytale at that moment. “I like it here. I can send messages to my dad through the wall guard, or he can come visit.”

“So you’re going to stay here... with me?” You questioned, not sure if he meant the world beyond the wall or on the boat.

“Aye aye, captain.” He teased, looking back at you.

“Good to know I already have a first mate,” You laughed and hugged him again. But this time, you didn’t let go right away. Your arms were around his neck and his were around your waist and you felt so very comfortable, moving didn’t seem like a good option. “I’m happy you decided that...” You whispered into his ear. “Saying goodbye would be impossible.”

“I don’t ever want to say goodbye to you.” Tristan whispered back. Over his shoulder, you could see the crew trying to get in close to hear what you were saying to one another and you giggled at how they were eavesdropping. Tristan was the one who broke away and looked over at them and laughed. “You mind keeping me on your crew?”

The guys all cheered, having enjoyed Tristan’s presence while he was on the boat, though he had spent the most time with you. You leaned in towards him, and rested your head on his shoulder, and lightly kissed his jaw. He held you close and kissed the top of your head.