#You could say that the afterlives are sort of like. Bubbles. If you will.

[bonefall]

Do the Skyclan cats who join Darktail get to go to Skyclan's starclan? Especially Sharpclaw? Dude's kinda an ass, and it'd be funny if he was put in the dark forest, and has no idea what it is.

I think there are several who regret their actions and do eventually get into SkyClan's StarClan. StarClan-Prime does not like this because judgements are supposed to be final, but SkyClan's StarClan is different.

But Bonefall Sharpclaw's got a long way before he can ever get that redemption.

But there's something notable; there is no SkyClan-Dark Forest.

The Dark Forest was CREATED by One-Eye, a god. It's not a natural feature of StarClan, just like there is no Hell for the Tribe's religion. It's very unique to StarClan-Prime; so Sharpclaw has to follow SkyClan until he's in range enough to get scooped up by it.

[publiclyabsent-moved]

@contrariian:  ’ who would i be if i had not loved you? how would i know what love is? ’

         hazel eyes are wide, a relaxed look of almost surprise across delicate features. she never gives herself that sort of credence -- annette isn’t the type to change lives (or afterlives, as it were) at all. she hardly considers herself the sort of girl to make any impression at all. but she’s here, isn’t she? he is, too. he is here & he’s saying these things, like he does sometimes, making her cheeks flush & her heart flutter. but with the surge of bubbling warmth comes a small thread of cold regret. how unfair it seems, that a young girl who only has seen what love is not has been the one credited with showing him what it is. 

         shaking hands take his in the soft, unsure way she used to. she feels her heart walking on thin ice, every step careful & tentative. all she can do it hold onto his hands, leaning forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder. she could say the same things to him. word for word, beat for beat -- she gives his hands a small squeeze.

accepting.

[dragon-moms]

Entry 148 - Baroness

Conquest continues.

My creation approached me in the morning in a state of unease. They had seemed similarly the night before, but I had said nothing, knowing I am often wrong about such things. But twice in a row, I felt the need to ask.

“Is everything alright?” I tried as they helped me with my wings.

“Ah, sort of, my lady. Philly and Merry are quite upset and I am attempting to figure out how to help them,” Myrmidon said. “I know Merry is… I worry she is not thinking her current plan of action through clearly. If it is alright, my lady, I will return to them as soon as I am finished here.”

I considered this. “Is this a situation where I can give assistance?” I asked.

“That is quite kind of you, but I believe it is, ah, a family issue,” Myrmidon said.

“Family…” I repeated, confused.

“Ah, I do apologize…” Myrmidon said, looking embarrassed. “Merry has started using that term and… well, I would like to think it is accurate.”

“But… are we not a family?” I asked. There was something I was feeling in my bones, some unease.

“Of course!” Myrmidon said, taking my claws in theirs and giving me a reassuring smile. “I think we can both agree that you and Dagger are a different sort of family to me than Merry and Philly are. But I consider both groups important. You are all my family, I believe.”

“I… see…” I said.

“I am sorry I must go, however. I will see you this evening, my lady,” Myrmidon said.

“I may need your assistance this evening,” I said, hesitating. “But… take care of this issue first…”

They smiled, bowed, and left.

I sat there for a moment.

“You’re just now noticing they’re playing family?” Dagger’s voice asked.

“I… apparently so. I knew they were intimate but I did not consider the long-term effects of this,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I have,” ey said, sighing. “Cause I’m going to be anywhere they are…”

“...I will have to be as well,” I said.

“You’re not trapped for all eternity,” Dagger said. “You can just go lock yourself in a lab or something.”

“...no, I cannot lose you and Myrmidon,” I said.

Dagger made an annoyed noise, and I heard nothing more from em.

I spent the day planning the ritual I would perform as best I could with the supplies available. Due to my lack of reference texts I had decided to break the needed ritual into parts. The first element I needed to confirm was my ability to retrieve the soul of a White dragon without having had personal contact with them.

It was late when Myrmidon returned. Their expression looked at the most slightly better.

“Were you not successful in helping?” I asked.

“They are asleep now, my lady,” Myrmidon said. “Emotional exhaustion, I believe. I apologize for taking so long to return… I had meant to show up with your apprentice to assist earlier, but Philly insisted on being alone. We… had a long talk. Between that and Merry’s actions I am not sure the situation is completely resolved, but there is some improvement.” They took a breath and smiled. “In any case, I am ready to assist you this evening, my lady. What service may I provide?”

“I need you to retrieve a White corpse,” I said. “It will prove a useful focus for this experiment.”

“Ah…” Myrmidon said. “Are we still doing that, my lady? It has been quite some time since I scavenged pieces.”

“This is a unique situation,” I said. “I… I am playing to my strengths in helping with our current task.”

Myrmidon bowed. “I understand, my lady. I will retrieve one with all haste.”

Myrmidon headed out, and I finished triple checking my ritual lines. It should, in theory, work to draw the soul back into existence long enough to speak with it briefly.

A bit later, I heard a sound behind me.

“Are you seriously going to do this?” Dagger asked.

“...yes,” I said. “It is only a preliminary test.”

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Dagger said. “You’re just going to doom someone else to live this life.”

“...you are still unhappy,” I said.

“I’m fine,” Dagger said. “I’m used to it. But you still did it to me without my permission. You don’t even know these people.”

“...by talking with them, perhaps I could find someone willing…” I started.

“No,” Dagger said. “This is a bad idea.”

“But I…”

“Do you trust me or not?” Dagger yelled, materializing before me. “I thought you were starting to care about people!”

“I am… it is important for my apprentice and friends that I…”

“So nobody else matters?” Dagger yelled. Ey floated forward to get in my face. Eir fin made contact with me as ey went on. “What about the people who died here? What about their lives? Their afterlives? If you’re going to scream about being a good person, you have to…”

Dagger’s eyes started glowing.

“Dagger…” I said.

But there was a flash.

I was in the potion lab I had been staying in. But the equipment looked pristine. A cauldron of some potion bubbled. A Black stirred it while a White flew around the room, hovering with quickly moving wings, almost too quickly to see. They were gathering ingredients and doing some sort of singing, occasionally casting a spell that appeared to be Indira’s Claw to carry items. I could not tell where the spell was inscribed.

“Did you hear about the Queen?” The White asked, their voice moving in pitch as if still singing when they spoke.

“She’s meeting with that envoy from the conquerors again, right?” the Black asked.

“Yeah,” the White said, frustrated. “I don’t understand why she keeps doing that. The Harvest Knights had no problems cutting their way through to their current power.”

“She’s trying to keep us from going to war,” the Black said. “I’m all for that.”

“What’s the point of avoiding war if we’re just going to be their puppet anyway…” the White said. “Everyone keeps whispering about how the Queen is dating this Green envoy.”

“That’s just because she’s been visiting a lot,” the Black said. “For trade negotiations and things.”

“Sure, that’s what they’re saying, anyway. I highly doubt it’s just that. No way this envoy just wants to sell us some things.”

“Now now, Katja, you came here to help create peace, right?” the Black said, smiling as the White handed over another bottle. “You need to be a bit more trusting.”

“This has nothing to do with trust. It’s about not being pushed around! Just because I gave everything up to be here with you doesn’t mean I’m not still a soldier,” the White, referred to as Katja, said. “Doesn’t mean I want to put up with this sort of thing in my territory…”

“I know. That’s why I love you. But let’s finish this batch, okay? That’s what our goals are now, not war.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

The vision disappeared, and Dagger’s form collapsed to the floor.

I let Dagger recover and considered what I had just seen. As I did, Myrmidon entered, carrying something wrapped in cloth.

“My lady? Dagger?” they asked, concerned.

“Ey had a vision,” I said.

“Ah, I see,” Myrmidon said, setting the small object in cloth down on a table. “What did you see, my lady?”

“The owners of this potion lab,” I said.

“Ah, yes?” Myrmidon said. “Interesting. I cannot recall Dagger mentioning a vision of anything not connected to those close to em…”

“It was weird, yeah…” Dagger said, getting up, blinking eir eye as ey tried to steady eirself. “Ugh, my head…”

“I am unsure what information, if any, was relevant there,” I said. “There was a White dragon, but no information about how to make one ‘rise.’”

“I think there was plenty of relevant information,” Dagger said, floating back into the air. “They were just people. They don’t deserve unlife.”

“Is that what you plan to do with this?” Myrmidon asked me.

“I… figured that the most straightforward way to make a White dragon rise…” I said. “I planned to start with speaking to a White soul.”

“Ah, I see,” Myrmidon said.

“And I think she should leave them alone,” Dagger said, averting eir eye.

“This is complex,” Myrmidon said. “There are many with, ah, aversions to this particular area of magic, and I assume it was similar in the past.”

“...I will reconsider,” I said.

“Finally,” Dagger said, disappearing.

“A good plan, my lady. We can discuss this with the group tomorrow,” Myrmidon said.

I nodded.

Soon, Myrmidon left, but they left the White corpse.

I unwrapped it and studied it.

I thought about the White from the vision.

I have a lot to consider.