#but. Arlin is still out there. He needs to find him.

[haunted-doodles]

"Well, Bad Luck."

[fr fr? Click for better quality.]

Was wondering what would happen if each of the Riptide pirates didn't end up getting what they wanted in life, or rather, finding eachother.

After Jay refusing to join his crew, Chip continued island hopping about. His ship wouldn't have exploded and thus Chip would have never visited Loffinlot, nor do I think alone he'd of been able to get up and go gambling. Eventually though upon travelling to Noctis, he fell victim to Grimm at the ball. Without anyone there who'd be able to save him, Chip was thoroughly charmed and became a vampire. Eventually he breaks out of the trance and books it out of a window, yet the damage has been done. The only real connection he'd been able to make was with Rebecca and thus he mourns her a fair lot more than he did in canon in this. He's still searching the seas for Arlin, to recreate the black rose in his own image. Grimm's corruption lays heavy in his mind though as he starts to plan with Lizzie on how they can win the war.

Jay continued on with her Navy training alongside Kira, the two becoming a recogniseable force. After the death sister, The weight and preassure from her family to help in the cause of ending the age of pirates is far stronger than before and her drive alongside it began to falter. Yet still she remains persistent in her studies, in her commanding of her crew. She begins to fall in love with Kira as they grow older together and they get engaged. Of course, the most preassure to end the war comes from her father, who is overbearingly watching over her shoulder almost every second. Life in the Navy for Jay is awful. Sometimes she wonders what it would've been like if she accepted that scruffy boy's hand all those years ago. Other times she wants to just get everything over with.

Gillion, instead of being shunned for his act of killing the Navy Officer, was actually praised highly as the perfect soldier he was. Because of this, he was driven further and further into his path as the chosen one and his mind is broken deeper and deeper into the depths of what the elders desired. He grows spiteful and hates anyone who does not bare undersea blood, even to the point of snapping and lashing out at others. He begins to learn about the oversea for when he must travel land to fufill his prophecy. Begins to prepare. Eventually, he is sent overseas as their perfect soldier, who always write home to the undersea on his findings. Who travels island to island, slaughtering the awful creatures that have caused his people so much pain.

He will be the one who swallows the land whole. It is his destiny.

[artandbrimstone]

First things first 

!!!! Riptide 115 spoilers !!!!!

And if im wrong about anything i am sorry :( also this might be nothing but i need to say this somewhere

Chip and his lack of control over his own fate is so interesting to me. The guy who tells gillion tidestrider “I didn’t believe in destiny before i met you” is somehow, out of the three of them, the one who is seemingly following a predetermined path set out for him. 

Gillion, whilst being the chosen one, struggles with this identity and was exiled, which may be in his destiny but was clearly not intended by the elders. 

Jay has her prophecy (type thing I know its not exactly a prophecy) but it has no clear path for her specifically to follow.

Chip, however, was destined to end up back at the hole in the sea, but barely remembers actually being there in the first place, and yet when he does return to the black sea, there is a message from Rose from a decade prior knowing not only that he would return, but that he would be there looking for them after their disappearance. (i dont have the brainpower to go into how insane that message makes me so just know i think about it at least once a day). Even chips search for arlin, which was originally his own, was used against him and taken advantage of by Niklaus (with whatever the fuck he is planning im not smart enough to figure that out im just insane) making what was originally a goal into an “incessant urge to not only find the other members but also do what you [chip] were told and return to the hole in the sea”.

Not only that, there is also the compass, which is further twisting and intensifying chips desire to find arlin and return to the hole in the sea (niklaus also told chip to stop using the compass but yknow) so not even his desires, his main motivations that have led him to where he is now, arent truly his own. ( interestingly despite rose knowing he would go back to the black sea, still urges him to leave behind the legacy of the black rose pirates and do something greater) 

Even his death he had no part in, no crucial mistake, nothing he could have done differently to avoid it, he was simply chosen and made an example of for the sake of making a point of how fucked they were against captain widow, yet again a pawn in something he had no control over.

And then, when they do finally reach the hole in the sea, chip is led by the compass (THE FUCKIGN COMPASSSSS) and (im getting into insane territory here) has strange parallels to captain rose. He is separated from his crew (namely the only other black rose pirate, drey), made a deal with niklaus regarding the hole in the sea has the hole in his chest (idc if its not there in canon its there to me) however what is he met with? “Welcome home”. Now what does that mean? I dont fuckign know but it makes me very insane and this is long enough already so i hope you enjoyed my incoherent chip just roll with it ramble :D

[the0retically]

Ok seeing Skywerse’s post about 114 triggered the brain rot and made me think about Another part of how clear it should’ve been

Jay and Chip hear the noise and then hear footsteps running up the stairs, BUT they’re quiet footsteps. Jay even makes a comment about how that couldn’t be Gillion because he isn’t quiet. Like they both were suspicious because Gillion in now way can be stealthy and yet he somehow made it up the stairs to exactly where they were and only made enough sound to alert them that someone else was there

The image of Dopple-Gilly just running out of the laboratory as Gillion is trying to catch up and trying to hide from the other creature but just unable to move fast enough is both so upsetting and so disturbing. There is nothing that Gill can do to get there faster and it’s only when Destiny’s Blade says “Chip is going to die” that he gives up on stealth and fully books it to make sure he doesn’t and that he gets out of the stronghold because after all like he said it is Chip’s quest, being in the Black Sea, trying to get Arlin back, that’s the entire point so Chip needs to live through this and get out

But then Chip immediately gets rid of that logic and tries to get Jay to get Gillion out instead?? I feel like in that moment he fully is with his crew and his co-captains. Yes he wants to find Arlin still, that’s his dad, but his crew is more important and he can’t let them get hurt or go down for him and this quest, they’re the ones that need to make it out, not him

[bu-blegh-ost]

Hey, hi.

Sooo, I've been rewatching Riptide as you do right? And so I finally got to the episode in which Chip makes his deal with Niklaus and after refreshing my memory on that I do believe that we are entering the point in which Chip has to fullfill his end of the bargain and I'm so fucking worried actually. So first things first let's look at what Mr. Hendrix actually requested from Chip.

So in exchange for returning lost years back to Ollie Chip Has to:

-First: Make the right decision in the hole in the sea.

Arlin is supposedly still trapped below and in great pain. Niklaus for some reason NEEDS Arlin to be kept alive and he wants Chip to keep him alive no matter the consequences which worries me so fucking much. Cause first I was just worried that they are gonna go to the Black sea and find out that there is no way to save Arlin, that he'll die and this will break Chip beyond repair, but now what I'm dreading is that Arlin can't be saved in a way that matters. That Chip will have to make a decision between killing Arlin to let him rest or keep him alive and let him suffer, or even doom the whole world for the sake of preserving his painful existance and that...shit guys, just saying, we're in Black Sea now so brace your fucking selves, we're gonna C R Y. AND THE THING IS if Arlin dies SO DOES CHIP, so he really fucking Has to survive. Cause Chip promised Nik that Arlin survives so even mercy killing Arlin will be breaking a deal and Chip will turn into goop and that's just so damn bad jejdjdjsi

- Second: Supposedly there is an Orb at the hole and he can't touch it. I don't like the way he said it. Nik said sth like "not YOU at least". So what worries me is that he wants someone else to touch it and sth nad will happen because of it, but who then? Gill? Jay? I mean if they find a room with a suspicious object we can kinda count on Gill to touch it immediately, so I'm hoping that Chip doesn't get the chance to interact with it, even if he doesn't remember that he wasn't supposed to. Or maybe sth would happen if Chip touched it? Sth that Nik doesn't want to happen? Either way Chip can't do that now cause if he does he breaks the deal and fucking dies probably, so well shit.

- Third: When the time comes and Nik requests his favor from Gillion, Chip can't interfere. Whatever Nik will have Gill do, Chip can't stop it. He cannot and that of all things I fear will be the hardest thing to do. See, Nik never expected Chip to even come to him. But he was clearly glad that he can use him to shift things in his favor. I feel like whatever dark force turned Sakura into the Black Sea is connected to Alrin's life force and Nik wants the Black Sea to stay. It is messing with the world and unleashing twisted magic into it and I feel like he needs it to stay that way until Gill's time to fulfill his prophecy comes. And whatever Nik wants Gill to do Has a potential to be catastrophic.

Black Sea is definitely not the last chapter, but it's gonna be full of anguish and sorrow. Buckle the fuck up lads, we're in for a ride

[tobeywobey]

this is me asking about your grandberry pirate gillion au :0

YESYAYYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this spawned cuz of a swordfish supercut and also the joke lizzie made abt "you come on this ship you're my crew"

ok SOOO its canon-compliant UP until 53/57, around there ! gilly takes Not Ferin Well a whole lot worse, especially the almost jay betrayal! hes basically the same as he is in canon (atleast to jay and chip) but hes so upset over jay lying to them this whole time even after what theyve been through together. lizzie and caspian roll up on the half a ship and yk yk, gill goes to help and lizzie makes the "hes on my ship, hes on my crew" and. gill just thinks shes serious and hes shocked and then kind of relieved? he didnt know how to confront chip and jay about what happened on block and now he doesnt have to! and so he just. says goodbye to jay and chip and lizzie is like oh shit youre fr? ok welcome aboard. LOL .

jay and chip take this as well as youd expect! theyre obviously very betrayed and upset, and chip is mad at both gill but also Lizzie cuz in his mind she has just taken his best friend away from her :( they go their separate ways after an argument between all of them (mainly gill, lizzie and chip) and jay keeps trying to convince chip to go back, chip keeps trying to sail them forward and is even more deadset on finding arlin now (they drop off ollie way sooner, as soon as they get to zero-- which they leave for after allport)

gill would start to feel guilty but also the training hes doing with caspian and lizzie starts to help him, and hes also coming to terms with being in the oversea and in his mind the grandberry ship is helping him a lot!

anyways a lot of time passes, both ships go on canon-compliant adventures (HOWEVER. grandberry pirates fight off against the navy a lot more than riptide crew does in canon, so gill is also dealing with that .)

since it starts out near ep 50ish, its near ep 100 where they are reunited (in the black sea!) niklaus tempts lizzie (and by proxy the rest of the crew) by saying if they go and help him with what he needs (which is uh. gillion. its the same thing he wants gill to do in canon) that he will bring ava back (he can Totally do that guys.) and then he gets A BIT SILLY and goes to riptide pirate crew (atp theyd have all the normal npcs minus queen cuz that was all gillion's doing) and is like. Do you Want your Fish Guy? Hes somewhere in the black sea. find him for me and ill make sure he comes back to you guys . :D (he can also Totally do that.)

they meet in the black sea, have the same battle they did when they first got there (both albatross and grandberry together) and gill is still the one who saves jay which leads to sillyness ^_^ gill and jay . talk it out and whatnot, chip (once he stops refusing to talk to gill) and gill argue about it and have. surprise. another ice arena moment. theyre so insane.

---also extra notes--- :D

i dont exactly think hed say hes happier on the grandberry ship than with chip n jay i just . think hes definitely less worried about being the main protector? he knows caspian and lizzie can hold their own (not saying jay and chip cant its just .. you know..) and is living with a lot less stress and also has worked through undersea trauma like how he does in canon except with lizzie and caspian so . hes definitely living a better life, and if offered a place back on the riptide crew he wouldnt just abandon lizzie and caspian after all that especially cuz he still has lingering pain from jay betrayal ^_^

has lizzie/ava (past), swordfish QPR (i love them), liz/casp (QPR) (have you heard how caspian talks abt liz?), and uh........ yeah thats it.

also little idea idk where to fit in here . thinking abt gill missing ollie and chip (once theyve made up) being like "the three of us can go back to Zero and see him!" and gill is just like .. "chip this is my family now, im so much happier here than I have been (OUCH.) I can't in good conscious rejoin you as a riptide pirate after i've spent so long with as a grandberry pirate. However I would Like to see ollie." but both ships go and see ollie bc. yeah ^_^. chip is. devastated :(

hes much stronger and also slightly crazier! the navy trying to kill you will do that to you ^_^

i feel like i had something else to say but i forgot it.

[sodaquail]

HIII OLIVER

So normal about chip and Reuben rn… so… so normal. So normal about how Chip’s relationship with Reuben was shaped by his time on the Black Rose. Because, beforehand chip was an orphaned child who had never experienced familial bonds before. Then, for a beautiful moment, everything was perfect; he had a family and a crew and a place to belong in a world that had never had room for him. Then, the hole in the sea happened, leaving him alone and yearning again on skullslice. Enter Reuben, all sharp angles and hard edges from a life of just getting by. But, he said he loved him. He said he’d loved him and Chip had only ever been loved once before, so surely it was worth it? For so long Chip chased what he had on the black rose, begging for that scrap of fleeting belonging back. And he tried so hard to find that in Reuben. Because surely being knocked down was okay, as long as the one person left that still loved him stayed.

•-•-

Sorry this is really incoherent. It’s like 12am where I am BUT GRAHFVRBREH. I miss the rat bastards soooo much.

👋👋 :DDD

HELLOOOOOOOO dude you are so right. I’m in the middle of a history final right now but all that’s on my mind is chip and price.

I think this outlines just like. A lot of what Chip’s motivations are as a character, yk? He spends the entire story chasing after the only people who ever loved him in the midst of loss and horrible conditions, and being so fragile around the idea of losing even more people (SEE: Gillion Feywild arc) and then clinging onto the people he has not lost (SEE: Drey in ep 52/53) to the point of diminishing his value as a captain because he wants things to be simple again (SEE: his constant saying of “let’s just find Arlin and he can be the captain, not me.”) He wants to be a kid, wants to be just a boy on a pirate ship with no responsibility on his shoulders.

.

Chip, fresh from the violent loss of the only people who ever loved him and gave him a chance to be more than a malnourished orphan, would have absolutely clung onto the first person who offered him the time of day.

At first, I dont think Reuben would have really taken care of Chip in the way he needs — how could he? He was also just an orphan, more preoccupied with feeding himself — but slowly they begin to rely on eachother. They share food, body heat in the winter, secrets, dirt on the other influential people in the city, and even play pretend about being brothers to make themselves feel better. Feel like they still have someone, something real.

It was happy at first, surely. They lived, they loved, they struggled — and then Reuben gets worse. He gets in some bad shit, starts to be eaten up by the need for power, the terrible, all-consuming terror that Chip will leave him the way everyone else (C. Rose) has. He clings on tighter, he retaliates every action of Chip’s that threatens their stability — gives even the tiniest hint he would leave — with fear, shouting, meltdowns; violence. Violence to a certain point that Chip no longer knows what to do with it, doesn’t recognize the boy that lies under his brother’s skin anymore.

Who’s behind the handle of that smoking gun, bullet buried in a local? Who made those fist-indents in the wall? Who cried and begged until Chip devolved too, promising not to leave again? Who gave him that black eye?

Not Reuben. Not his brother.

It’s that reason I think Chip stays for so long, clutching onto the memories of what they used to have, hoping desperately that if he just tries hard enough, he can get Reuben to be okay again.

Too attached and needy for the love that pours into his hands after another violent fight. Chip employs his promise not to leave, his tried, true method of laying down belly-up just to make it a little more bearable. Taking out his anger on other street-kids and getting into fights Chip knows damn well he will fucking lose, punching walls that will hurt his hands because it’s better than fighting back against his brother. His poor, paranoid, violent, used-to-be-happy brother.

Chip is not strong enough to forsake the love he needs and tear away. Reuben needs him, doesn’t he? He’ll never get better if Chip can’t man up, can’t stay and help.

[niunaix]

scars by the crane wives perfectly mirrors the albatrio in such specific ways???

like of course the line “maybe born in a storm beneath an angry sky” is perfect to gillion and the prophecy, but also so is everything else in that verse. the first line, “i’m not the person that i thought i was. i couldn’t tell you where the ache came from” describes his journey on the surface. he went from being the clear champion with an exact destiny to his own person and i don’t know if he could pinpoint the moment his destiny became uncertain. was it the moment he emerged? when he spoke to the tree? when he grew to be friends with oversea creatures?

now, i think the second verse is a little less clear on comparisons HOWEVER i think it could be seen as describing jay. the first line, “all the love, all the kindness, all your best laid plans couldn’t stop me from becoming the way i am” could be seen as a reference to jay’s mother. despite how kind her mother is and the rigid upbringing she was given, that clear path to being a navy soldier, she still became a pirate. her family sinks everything they have into making sure all of their children become incredible navy soldiers, but it still didn’t work. the love and kindness line is a little bit of a stretch when referring to jay’s upbringing but like…. her mother was good?? kind of?? i’m struggling on an exact comparison for the second half of the verse so i am going to move on.

i’m gonna tackle the chorus last cause i think those lines are a mix of things, but verse three is, of course, going to be chip. right of the bat the lines, “i’m not the person that i thought i was. i’m trying to come to terms with what you’ve done” feels like chip’s journey into becoming a better person. he always thought he would just be the bastard, pissing off the people around him, lying to get what he wants, but jay and gill have changed him. overtime he’s slowly become a better and more supportive friend to them in ways i don’t think he fully comprehends. he’s always had the hardest time shaking his old habits and getting over that he’s not just some pirate. in the last lines of the verse “i’m still burning like a tire fire deep down inside. oh i’m burning like a tire fire and i don’t know why” it reminds me of his constant need to find arlin. that fire that was lit in him as a child, that fire that led him to becoming a pirate is still burning, but there’s not a real reason to go search for him now. chip has everything he could need with his current crew, but because of that deal he still feels this constant need to find arlin. and also his fire powers yada yada that’s an obvious comparison.

the chorus!! i’m using the last version cause it’s the longest, the rest are just variations of the same thing and this post is long enough as it is. right off the bat “cause i was born with a whole in my heart” island of desire, chip gets his heart ripped out. all very obvious links. it’s literally the name of the song they sing while they’re there so i don’t think it needs a lot more explanation. the rest of the chorus, “yeah we were fucked from the start. tell me it’s inevitable that i’d end up with scars from falling down, down. we were always meant to fall apart.” makes me think of them jumping down into the black whirlpool. kinda of an echo of the black rose pirates. the scars line could also be the marks on drey and finn’s backs.

but it could mean nothing who knows.

[sillycyan]

For the ask game, can your paras parallel park? (i wanna know if Adonis can tbh)

FREAKING HELLOO !-!-!!/ man this ask game is so fun thank you for giving me more to answer hehehehe I’m not sure how many to list off here so I’ll do the “main” ones and some extras??

7. imagine your paras have at least a basic knowledge of driving (or even just like, cars). can they parallel park?

We gonna answer the Donis thing first cuz it’s a crazy answer, BUT I’m still going through all the ones that CAN drive and actually have a car.. Donis : I’m going to say yes, but only sometimes, and when he has to. He ones of those rich mfs who will use VELET SERVICE at any opportunity and only will ever park his own car when getting home. He hasn’t experienced parallel parking enough to say a solid “yes” but he’s got it down for the most part yk? Rich people man.. When I say eat the rich I swear he gotta go first cuz he stress me out- Reign : That’s a parallel parking god if I’ve ever seen one. I don’t think any other para can compare to the smoothness and skill of driving level he is at. I mean it makes sense, his teenage years was full of competing against siblings to get a first car. Even if he wasn’t the first one, he got a lot of experience under his belt TRUSTTT Meil: Absolutely not 💀 He is lucky he the got NumberWon staff parking code from Reign because without that his parking game would actually be so cooked. Think that one “songs banned in my car and why” trend, yk with the random cars crashed on the roof of someone’s house, but just take out the whole first part. If anyone needs to switch to public transport, it’s him. It’s amazes me how he gets to work everyday, and I’m sure everyone else who knows him feels the same. Arline : No, but if she didn’t have such a small and jacked up car then she could. This actually is a problem that is brought up A LOT because of how much she is behind the scenes of stuff. There was also a whole bit of her using almost her whole check on car repairs. Anyways, yeahh she is off with her parking regardless if it’s parallel or not. BUT THE CAR IS CUTE SO ILL GIVE HER A PASS Ameriel : She don't got time to max out her parking skills.. I haven't brought her up much, but she is basically an overworked doctor. No one off a constant 4-5 hour sleep for YEARS is going to parallel park or be able to drive WELL- Yasmin & Khoson : They aren't even finding a parking spot.. "uhm... where are we?" ahh drivers trust me...

[codgod]

trying to think of how a sort of albatrio swap au would work. like, pirate jay, triton/chosen one chip, navy family (human) gillion

gillion’s backstory isn’t too hard to figure out? he’s still estranged from his parents, edyn practically raised him and they were inseparable up until she went mia during a navy mission, and now he’s trying to find out what happened to her. it’s unclear whether or not she’s alive

jay also not too hard to figure out — orphan who got taken in by the black rose pirates, maybe got her name from a bird that she liked rather than a mispronunciation of ship. drey isn’t blood related to her but he is the one who took her under his wing (ha) rather than arlin so he considers her his niece

in this scenario it’s (human) finn who went against his high ranking navy family to become a pirate, and i’m not quite sure what to do with arlin. i guess leave him as-is? there doesn’t necessarily need to be a triton on the ship but it’d be nice if there was. idk when it gets to chip and the stuff directly connected to him it gets a little more complicated, for me at least. i feel like he would’ve run away from the undersea rather than be banished, just because that’s how he is as a person, but i haven’t quite cooked up how that effects the story yet

[shepherdess15]

Wrote a little something, just my take on a fnc interaction for episode 109 of riptide.

Chip looked around, slightly dazed. He half-heartedly walked over to a pile of rubble and sat down, resting his head in his hands.

He felt.... empty.

As if everything that made him human had been pulled directly out of him in one visceral motion.

He needed to cry, but nothing happened. No tears, no sniffling... nothing.

"What the fuck- What the actual fuck." He mumbled. "What have we gotten ourselves into."

Gillion watched carefully as Chip made his way over to the rubble. He felt his own heart sink and twist in pain as he did. The thought of what had just happened seemed so incredibly unreasonable it was impossible to believe it was true. Yet, there Chip sat. His skin pale, clothes bloodied, eyes filled more horrors than before.

Gill slowly made his way over to the rubble and sat next to Chip, wrapping his tail behind him.

"Hey-" He started. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about, Gill?" Chip said, sitting up to look at him. "I literally died, my heart was ripped out of me and now I'm-"

He stopped, his voice wavering. He himself didn't even know what had fully happened. His eyes felt heavy and his mind raced as the moment played in his mind over and over again. The force Captain Widow used, the pain-

"Hey."

Chip's mind stopped as he felt Gillion's hand on his own. He didn't look up, just kept staring down.

Gillion felt the building anxiety and fear in Chip halt as he took his hand. It was cold, the tattoos barely flickering.

"I'm here, Chip. Just as you were for me. I can imagine how.. helpless you must feel, but everything is going to be alright. I swear to you. We'll find some way to fix this." Gillion spoke, his voice wavering for a moment.

He held Chip's hand and tried to look into his eyes. "Its going to be alright."

Chip stared at the ground, Gillion's words made him want to cry even more. Still no tears came. He leaned over and curled into Gill's shoulder, Gillion wrapping his arms around him.

"I want to go home-" Chip said with staggered breath. "This fucking place is horrible. We need to find Arlin.. and get out of here."

Gillion squeezed Chip a bit tighter.

"I know.. we need to go, and we will. Let's get the others back and to safety. Then we will find Arlin and figure out how to fix this."

"Thank you, Gill."

"Of course, Chip."

After a moment they both stood and faced one another. Looking into each other's eyes, Gillion's riddled with concern and compassion for Chip. Chip's, though a bit dimmer, were filled with gratitude for Gillion. The two embraced and Chip whispered.

"I don't know what I would've done without you, Gillion Tidestrider. Thank you again, for everything."

[deviljayman]

Darksider - Vampire Fantasy Novel (WIP) Chapter 5 - The Witch (Draft 2)

If you want to read the full story and become a beta reader, message me and we'll talk!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thought you’d get away with it, huh?” The guard snarled. “No one steals in my town and gets away with it.” 

She was surrounded; one guard held her up by her arm, and the second stood behind her, brandishing his dagger. All around her were the townspeople, a dense crowd that formed into a mass of vitriol and curses. 

“Witch!”

“Thief!”

“Beast!”

They continued to curse her out, each cry a knife against her throat. It didn’t stop there, one person decided to cast a rock at her which just barely passed over her head. The others took this as a sign and as well started to throw stones at her. She tried to shield herself, some of the rocks missing but others leaving their mark as they clashed against her exposed skin. Arlin and Leon hid near the entrance to the alley as they looked on helplessly. 

“A horned child.” Leon whispered. 

“A what?” Arlin asked.

“They are a group of monsters born with distinct bark-like horns, unfortunately, they are not trusted by the public. As you can see now.”

“But why?”

“I, am unsure, actually.” Leon said, his usual confidence dropping for a moment.

“What? If you don’t know, then what are the chances they do?”

Leon sighed. “Sometimes the reasons created for belief vanish, unquestioned and simply accepted as fact.”

The thought stayed with Arlin for a moment, an uncomfortable weight laying inside him. He didn’t like not knowing the reason and even less just accepting things for how they were. Why did they hate her? What in the world could she have possibly done to them? He knew that he needed to run, to just escape amongst the commotion and find a better place to hide. But the way she looked at him, the way he could see the desperation in her eyes. He knew he couldn’t just leave.

“We need to help her.” Arlin said. 

“I do not believe that would be wise.” Leon said. “Getting involved could put you in danger, if you are seen by the Coven Guard they will know where you are and come for you.” 

“But she needs help, if we don’t do something no one will. I’m not going to run off again, but I want to help her.”

Leon seemed apprehensive, it was clear he didn’t want Arlin to go out and get into trouble especially after what they had just gone through. But the look in the young vampire’s eyes told him that regardless of his answer, Arlin had already made up his mind.

“Alright.” Leon relented. “But I must stress to you how important it is to hide your appearance, we can not let the Coven Guard see you.”

“I understand. So, how do we help her?” Arlin asked.

“Did you not think of how you would help her before making up your mind?”

“I- Maybe…” Arlin got a bit red.

Leon once again sighed. “We will talk about that later, but for now let us think of a plan. Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, the biggest problem is the Coven Guard. I could never beat any of them during sparring, they’re crazy strong.”

“Then how do you think they should be dealt with?”  

Arlin thought for a few moments. “I could distract them with something, maybe I could try throwing dirt in their eyes. They can’t fight if they’re blind.”

“That will do. Now, let us approach and wait for an opportunity.” 

With their hoods drawn low, the two slinked into the crowd, blending in with the angered masses. The townsfolk hadn’t gotten any calmer, they were still calling out insults and casting stones. The horned girl tried to struggle out of the guard’s grip but she couldn’t muster up the strength she needed. With his free arm, the guard put his hand up and silenced the crowd with nothing but a gesture. It was a nauseating contrast, to go from all the screaming to now being so quiet Arlin could hear his own heart beat. 

“People of Silvala!” The guard yelled. “Today we have found not only a witch, not only a horned child, but a thief. It’s not enough that she endangers us all with her mere presence, but she seeks to upend the very laws that keep us all safe. Does she not deserve to be punished?”

The crowd erupted in agreement, the guard’s word had a large sway on everyone here. Being in the middle of it was frightening, Arlin just wanted to slink back and be nowhere near here. But he noticed something while he was there, something he hadn’t seen when he was looking from afar. Not everyone was screaming and yelling at the girl, some, like him, were just trying to hide amongst the crowd. Many held their heads down, not wanting to be noticed by anyone around them. It was clear that they didn’t like this anymore than he did. He didn’t understand, why would they just stand by and watch if they didn’t want this to happen?

Hearing the people’s desires, the guard nodded, a sick smile coming across his face. 

“Then the punishment will fit the crime! You used your hands against us, so now you will lose them.”

He took out his knife, raising it up to strike down on her hands. 

“You deserve this, witch.” he spat out, as if the word ‘witch’ were toxic on his lips.

He began to bring down his dagger, the girl closing her eyes and bracing for the pain. At that moment Arlin ran forward, going low to the ground as he pushed through the crowd. His small size was actually a benefit here, he was able to push through the crowd and wasn’t noticed by the guards for just a moment. When the guards actually noticed him, it was too late for them to do anything about his attack.

“Who the hell?” the guard yelled.

Arlin threw a handful of dust and dirt into the guards eyes, covering his face and blinding him. 

“Agh!” he yelled out, grabbing his eyes in pain.

His grip loosened, giving the girl the chance to slip out. She fell down and ran to get behind Arlin. At this point the crowd began to back up, retreating from the fight that had now broken out. The other guard sprang into action, trying to stab Arlin with his dagger. Arlin managed to move to the side, the knife stabbing through his cloak instead of his stomach. The two of them stumbled back, now gaining some distance from the guards.

“Took you long enough.” the girl said snidely.

“Sorry.” Arlin said. “I’m not really a quick thinker.”

In that moment the first guard had just managed to brush away the dirt from his eyes, his sight now clear as he glared straight at Arlin and the girl, his orange eyes flaring. 

“You’ll pay for that boy!” the guard cried. “I’ll skin you both alive!” 

He ran at the pair, taking his knife and planning to make good on his promise. Arlin put his hand to the ground, trying to summon shadows to defend himself. The shadows of the people all around them moved and flowed to Arlin’s hand, it started to take form into something big. But just as it started to take the form of a wolf, it sputtered out and dissipated, almost blowing up in Arlin’s face. His magic had failed.

“What?!” Arlin yelled.

He thought back to what Leon had told him in his lesson.

‘Magic is quite a powerful thing, it can shape the world around us and even ourselves. However I would refrain from overusing it, as you saw when you summoned that falcon, it can be taxing on your body if used too much.’ 

This is what he was referring to, Arlin had just hit the limit of his magic. He cursed himself, he didn’t expect for this to happen so soon and now of all times. The guard was running toward him, ready to make due on his promise. The dagger swung down to gut him, but just before the attack landed the girl tackled him and pushed the two of them out of the way. The guard’s blade slammed into the stone street, part of the blade chipping off upon impact.

“Now’s not the time to space out!” the girl yelled. 

She reached for a belt around her waist, along it were several glass bottles filled with various herbs and liquids. Some were filled with twigs and leaves, some had strange concoctions that seemed to glow, others had a mix of both. Placed on the third loop to her right was a vial filled with a deep forest green liquid. Quickly, she took out the potion and slammed it into the ground. The bottle didn’t shatter and instead bounced, the potion changed from the dark green to a vibrant orange before exploding into a cloud of smoke. The crowd scattered even further, backing away from the strange smoke that was spreading through the square. 

Arlin stood up, trying to orient himself with his sight obscured. He felt something grab on to his shirt and start dragging him through the smoke. Once his vision returned, he saw it was the girl.

“Come on!” she cried. “Let’s get out of here!” 

Just as she was about to take off, a spear slammed into the ground right in front of her. She looked around her and saw a number of Coven Guard had appeared all around them, most likely drawn by the commotion they caused. 

“Halt!” one guard commanded. “By order of the High Coven, you are charged with assault of a Coven Guard! Your punishment, death!”

“Death!?” Arlin yelled. “Just for throwing dirt at that jerk!?”

Despite Arlin’s claim of how ridiculous the punishment was, the guards were set on carrying it out. They were surrounded on all sides, being backed against a building they had no hope of scaling. But just when they felt they’d lost hope, a blur jumped over the line of guards and raced over toward. Before they could realize who it was, both Arlin and the girl were picked up as the man started to scale the building. Arlin looked up to see who it was and saw Leon in his wolf form, he was holding on to Arlin by the back of his shirt and had put the girl under his arm.

“Quickly!” Leon almost snarled. “Let us depart!”

Leon had reached the top of the building, quickly getting low as the guards flinged their spears at the werewolf. Most of the spears smashed against the building’s shingles but two ended up grazing Leon, one slashing his lower arm and the other his shoulder. 

However, the guards couldn’t keep up with the lycanthrope, his speed far superior to theirs. He tried to put as much distance between them and the guards as possible, leaping between the city’s uneven buildings. They had escaped from the Coven Guard, but they weren’t sure for how long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leon had been running for about a minute, doing his best to obscure himself as he scaled across the rooftops. When he felt he had gained enough distance between them and the guards, he dived into an alleyway with Arlin and the girl. It was quiet there, they could have some privacy for the moment. As soon as Arlin was put down, he immediately went up to check on Leon.

“Are you alright, Leon?”

“Do not worry, the spears did not pierce too deeply. They just grazed me.”

As he said this, the small cuts on his arm and shoulder began to slowly heal, Leon expending a small amount of magic doing so. There was a small pang in Arlin's chest as he watched it, a near envy for how he could control his magic. 

“Uh, hello?” the girl said, waving her hand to signal that she was still there. 

“Oh! Right, sorry.” Arlin apologized.

The girl snickered before approaching the two of them, putting her hand out for them to shake. She gave the two of them a smile.

“Name’s Erica, thanks for giving me a hand.”

Arlin was a bit apprehensive at first, but shook her hand. Managing to muster up a smile of his own. It was the first time he actually got a good look at her, the whole time he was so busy trying not to get stabbed that only now was he able to process her features. 

She was a fair skinned woman, taller than Arlin but not nearly as big as Leon. Her hair was a bright red, almost matching Arlin’s eyes. It was short, shaggy and messy with several twigs and leaves being stuck in it. Perhaps Erica just didn’t bother to take them out or maybe she just liked it this way. Aside from her red hair, her most eye-catching feature were her horns. They looked like bark and bramble, it seemed to go around her head like a crown until pointing out into two small pointed horns.

But the thing that Arlin noticed most about her was her face, each little feature sticking out to him. Her eyes were a sage green, they didn’t glow like his but they had a depth he couldn’t quite put into words. She had freckles that danced from her cheeks across the bridge of her nose. And the thing that drew Arlin’s attention the most, she had a small gap between her front teeth. 

“So, can I get your name?” Erica asked.

Arlin paused for a moment before saying. “Arlin, my name is Arlin. It’s nice to meet you.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Arlin. Who’s your friend?”

Leon stepped forward. “I am Leon, and I would like to ask you some questions.”

“I was going to say the same thing, Leon.” she replied. “It’s not everyday people stick up for me, so I want to know who did it, and why.”

“I see nothing wrong with that, although there may be questions we will not be able to answer.”

“Understandable. I don’t need your life story, I just want a good impression of you both.”

“What do you want to ask?” Arlin questioned.

Erica hopped up on a crate in the alley, sitting down with her legs crossed. She seemed to situate herself before looking to Arlin.

“Well, the first question on my mind is, why?” Erica started. “Why did you save me? You’re a vampire, you didn’t need to stick your neck out for me. You don’t benefit from it, so, why’d you do it?

Leon simply looked to Arlin, the only person in this moment who could actually answer the question. In the moment, he didn’t actually know why he did it, why he had put himself at risk to help her. It was all spontaneous, he didn’t really think why he should, he just did it.

“Honestly, I don’t really know why I wanted to help you.” Arlin stated. “I just didn’t like how they were treating you, it wasn’t fair. No one was sticking up for you so, I thought I needed to.”

Erica considered Arlin for a moment, trying to judge his intentions from his body language. Arlin himself could see her judgment, although it was not as aggressive or cruel as the judgment his caretakers often target him with. She was inquisitive, not trying to find his flaws but instead trying to judge his character, to figure out just who this young vampire was. 

“If that answer was sufficient.” Leon interjected. “I would like to ask you a question.”

“Go right ahead.” Erica replied.

“The guards mentioned you stole something, can you tell me what actually happened to get you captured by the Coven Guard?”

She chucked. “Do you think I’m a thief?” her tone seemed more serious than before, but still inquisitive as always.

“I do not know what to think of you, just like you I wish to get a better grasp of you as an individual. That includes how you got into this mess, I think that it is a reasonable question.”

She looked up at him, matching his stoic demeanor before smiling. 

“You’re right! That’s a fair question, I can tell you what happened.” 

“Did you really steal from them?” Alrin asked.

“I did, but only cause they stole first.” Erica explained. “I was helping a family get out of the city. I was making sure they had everything they needed for the journey, but the kid said that the Coven Guard took her doll. I couldn’t just let that slide, so I went over to get it back for her. Thing is, I’m a pretty good pickpocket. For instance, Arlin, I don’t think you noticed that I snatched that box from you when we were on the way here.”

Arlin for a moment was confused before realizing what she meant. He frantically patted down his pockets and found nothing. Just when he was going to start looking around the alley, Erica took out the candle box and waved it in front of him. He exhaled in relief, his anxiety dispelling once he saw that she had it. She ruffled his hair before handing it back to him.

“Bit of an odd thing to be carrying around.” Erica said. “Is it important to you?”

Arlin nodded. “It’s very important, I got it from…I-”

When he actually started to think about it, he didn’t remember where he got it from. For as long as he could remember he had it, and every year he’d light it. Where did it come from? Did someone give it to him?

Arlin felt a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

He looked up, Leon had walked up to him and was looking at him concerned. Erica as well seemed confused and a bit worried.

Arlin shook himself out of it. “I’m alright!” he managed to say with a smile. “Just got lost in thought is all.”

After thinking about it, his head started to hurt. Perhaps it would be for the best to not think about this for the time being.

As soon as Arlin seemed fine, Leon resumed his questioning. “If you were caught, I assume your retrieval of the doll was unsuccessful.”

“You’d be right.” Erica confirmed. “I got sloppy and they caught him, it’s a bit embarrassing honestly. But hey, you two came in and helped me out, so thanks for that again.”

Erica gave Arlin a smile and he smiled back, it helped him to reorient himself in all of this.

“I do have another question.” she started. “What are the two of you doing out here? No offense but people like you don’t exactly need to wear hoods and hide in alleyways.”

“Actually, my next question was related to that.” Leon said.

“Really?”

“Yes. You are a witch, correct?”

“I am yes, I’m sure the potions and pretty face gave it away.” Erica placed her finger on his cheek and looked very smug.

Leon completely ignored this. “If you are then I would like to ask about your knowledge of secret paths and safe havens. We are in need of that skill.”

“Ah, I see.” she said. “I’m guessing you’re on the run from some people and need somewhere to hide out. Just who are you hiding from anyway?”

Leon looked to Arlin for a moment before saying. “Currently we’re being pursued by the High Coven, Arlin here is their primary target. We tried to get help in hiding from them elsewhere but were unable to.”

Erica seemed taken aback by the information. “Wow, you two are in some real trouble.” She looked to Arlin. “Who are you to get them chasing after you?” 

“Oh.. Well I-” Arlin stuttered out. “We would like to keep the reasons for them pursuing us to ourselves, it is a personal matter.”

Arlin seemed relieved at the interjection, if he had let him go on any longer he was sure that he might have just yelled out ‘I’m the Shade Lord!’ with how poorly he did under pressure.

She seemed to consider the two of them, clearly deciding whether or not to clue them into things she knew. After a minute, it seemed she made up her mind.

“I do know somewhere that could work.” she admitted. “But as of now, I can’t say I trust you enough to tell you about it.”

“What?!” Arlin yelled. “But why?!” 

“I’ve only just met you both, you helped me get away from those guards and I thank you for that but this is greater than myself. If I can’t know why you’re running from the High Coven then I really can’t help you. I just met you both, I can’t just trust you for one thing you did.” 

He wanted to argue against it, to scream all the reasons why she could trust him and how much he needed this. But he couldn’t argue against her. She was right, she had no reason to trust them, especially not him. He needed this, he wanted to be free more than anything. 

“Is there no way for us to earn your trust?” Leon asked.

“This isn’t something as simple as that, I can’t just tell anyone.”

Arlin shook his head, trying to get himself out of his spiral. He stood up straight, putting on the bravest face he could muster.

“Please.” he said to Erica. “I don’t know what I need to do to earn your trust, but please just give me a chance. I need this, so whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it!”

Leon stepped forward. “I don’t believe that is necessar-”

“It’s okay.” Arlin interrupted. “I want to do this, I can’t just have you solve all my problems.”

Leon’s face was mixed, a combination of pride and apprehension. He wanted to stop this, but he trusted Arlin so he stepped back and let him continue. Erica seemed to consider Arlin once again, trying to see if she misjudged the boy.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I’m not gonna hold back on you, I need to know for absolute certain I can trust you.”

“I’m sure.” he said simply. 

She nodded, reaching into her bag for something. He heard the sound of glasses clinking together until she pulled out a small vile. It was filled with a dark gray liquid and had what looked to be a small root in the center.

“This is Truth Root, if you drink it and have lied or withheld information from me, it will cause you incredible pain. Are you still sure you want to do this?”

He took the potion. “If I drink this, will you help us?”

“I will.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Just as he said that, he drank it. Both Erica and Leon looked surprised, it seemed they weren’t expecting him to actually go through with it. For a moment nothing happened, Arlin bracing for any pain that might come to him. Just when he thought he passed it, he felt something. A scent hit his nose, it sent shivers through his body. His eyes started to water, he curled up in on himself as this terrible sensation went through him. 

“Arlin!” Leon yelled, running up to him. 

He went silent for a moment, Leon and Erica holding their breaths as they waited to see what was happening. Another moment passed, and Arlin coughed. He spat on the ground and stuck out his tongue.

“Yuck!” he said. “What was that?!”

“Ginger and peppermint, it’s supposed to help with stomach aches.” Erica explained. 

“Ginger?! I hate ginger!”

“You do?” Leon asked.

“Yeah! It smells weird and gives me shivers! It’s the worst!”

Erica snickered, before breaking into a laugh. She cackled, tears and snot started to run from her face as she couldn’t control her own laughter. Arlin and Leon both looked at her confused, not sure what to say.

“So uh…” Arlin started. “Did I pass the test?”

She managed to stop herself from laughing. “Oh night sky, yes! You pass the test.”

“What about the Truth Root?” Leon asked.

“There’s no such thing, I lied about it to try to scare you off. But, I guess it didn’t work cause he’s so brave.” she said, pointing to Arlin. “Well, brave or a little dumb. Could be both honestly.”

That last comment made Arlin giggle, and as soon as Leon saw that Arlin was alright, he smiled. Erica took the bottle that Arlin drank from, placing it back in her bag before closing it.

“So.” Leon started. “Will you tell us about the safehaven?”

“A deal’s a deal, I’ll help you two.” 

She waved her hands, a trait of spectral leaves traced the path they carved. With this magic she created a symbol in the air, and with a push of her palm, the spell disbursed. For a moment it seemed nothing had happened, but soon the effect was clear. The sounds of the city faded away, now being replaced by the sounds of the forest. 

She smiled. “Let me tell you about Mother Lileas and the Silent Sanctuary.”

[navysealt4t]

i listened to the first bit of the hole in the sea and. man chip was so happy. he was just a little kid, so new and so excited by the pirate life. he wanted to find treasure and he wanted to be a stealing pirate with his dad . man. :(((

he never got that. he never got that happy childhood sticking around with arlin. he was all alone. then he found price's gang, family he thought he could trust and he thought they cared about him. he was just trying to have a family again.

he never stopped looking. he wanted a family he wanted to replicate what he lost so badly. he found jay, who needed an excuse and needed an out and then he found gillion who was alone and clueless and he made due. he made a family out of people who didnt even know they needed a family.

and throughout it all he's still looking for an answer. for the family he lost. but. he wont let his current family come into harm's way for his past. he's dropping off ollie first and man. he's grown so much.

at the beginning, he cared about himself. he cared about finding arlin and getting rich. if he could find arlin but had to ditch jay & gillion, he would have. but now. he cares so much more than hes even comfortable with and he'd do anything for his crew. he got struck by lightning and almost drowned because he didnt want to even slightly risk not saving gillion. he had an opportunity to venture to the black sea and find arlin. but he couldn't put ollie in that situation.

he cares so so so much more then he ever wants people to know man. he loves quickly and hard. and thats been taken advantage of before and even though he's tried not to get attached he always does :((((

[transwhorefinn]

I love albatrio so much. Even though they all have different traumas and backstories there’s a lot of overlap. They’re all so relatable and great characters with their own complexities. Their struggles are layered and dimensional.

Chip struggles with letting go of the past to focus on the people who are here with him in the present, wanting to be something else instead of himself, that faux insecure self-confidence to hide his insecurities that he will never be good enough as himself that in order to be Something he needs Arlin or Drey or the rest of the Blackrose Pirates. His unhealthy coping mechanisms, maybe his teasing of gill gives him some sort of superiority idk. In the beginning I was always like “haha bastard boy” but he’s been growing on me and I find him deeply relatable. His struggles with letting go is something almost everyone has to go through. Trying to find the balance between self confidence and narcissism. Trying to figure out who you are in the world, who you are in comparison to the people around you, trying to figure out if you will take the well worn dirt road or create your own legacy. Struggles almost every teenager can relate to.

Gillion struggles with similar things: his self worth, following this life that was laid out for him and do something for himself for once, I also do believe he has abandonment trauma. The choice between following authorities or taking the risk and do something different, dangerous, and something you might be shunned for. Living up to the expectations you were given and the ones you give yourself. Gillion’s expectations of himself are probably higher than any expectations the elders could’ve set for him. Everyone can relate to the struggle of balancing the things you want to do and the things you have to do, whether it be work vs leisure time or school vs childhood. His abandonment trauma is clear as day too. Putting up a tough act so his friends don’t see him as weak and leave him. I mean he was literally separated from his family. His reaction to Pretzel being gone. That comment he made in the BLOCK episode (“oh cool like when my parents dropped me off for training. You’ll come back though right?”). Not all of us have abandonment trauma but I’m sure everyone’s lost someone/something, had times where we needed someone but there was no one, or doubted our relationships sometimes.

Last but not least, Jay. She struggles with role confusion, again with the conform or do your own stuff, I’d say she comes off as the least insecure of the Riptide pirates. Her self-esteem never comes off as a way to make herself feel better than others or as an act she puts up to hide her flaws. Most, if not all her struggles come from her dad (no one is surprised). As someone with similar issues. Jay’s dilemma of her opinion about her dad feels so real and genuine unlike a lot of other portrayals ive seen. She doesn’t really hate her dad but realizes he isn’t the best either. She’s confused about their relationship and had a lot of difficulty deciding whether or not to cut him off, and I don’t believe Jay’s dad is intentionally being abusive (this is not me justifying anything he has done this is me explaining maybe the thought process) he likely grew up with this harsh mannerism of raising kids so it is just “normal” to him, he’s definitely scared to lose Jay as he lost Drey, emotionally he was not there for Jay but I highly doubt he even knows how to process his own mental/emotional issues. Too busy with his job to connect with his kids. Either way he still loves Jay (Just look at her wanted posters) to some degree. Jay probably knows this, but also knows his behavior wasn’t the best and can’t be excused. Letting go of family is hard and every little nice thing they do makes you question if you’re just overthinking and being insecure and every little bad thing they do makes you wonder where you’ll draw the line if you ever do. Cutting off toxic relationships (especially familial ones) is just like this. It’s not as simple as “this person is being bad i hate them and im leaving” because sometimes they’ll do something kind and it’ll make you doubt everything. Jay’s confusions and mixed feelings of her father, the difficulty of choosing to leave behind a toxic relationship, it’s all so real and very relatable as someone who struggles with similar issues. And ofc not everyone has daddy issues or whatever but I’m sure everyone’s been in a few relationships that just didn’t work out and you had to choose whether or not to let that person go.

Idk if anyone will read this long ass rant but have a nice day if you did, and remember that you aren’t alone. Peace.

[can-of-pringles]

Look After (Chapter 1)

Rating: Teen and up audience

Warnings: A bit of angst but still some fluff

Word Count: 3k

Notes: Hello, this is the first thing I've written about my Arcane OC, Arline!

Also Read On AO3

When Heimerdinger told Viktor to go check out the situation involving the heist, explosion, and potentially dangerous items that needed to be removed; he agreed, like always.

Though there were better ways to be spending his time. But Viktor didn’t complain. He followed orders and went to get the task done.

Finishing it was going to take longer than he originally thought. Finding a child among and slightly buried with rubble from the explosion was definitely not what he had been expecting.

---

“I hear something from under here… like coughing…? Quick! Move the debris!” The enforcers worked on clearing the rubble.

Once they had removed what they could, they discovered what had made noises.

A young child cramped up from the explosion. The dust caused them to cough more. They couldn’t have been older than seven, at least. Miraculously, they appeared to be unharmed by the explosion; except for a minor cut on their forehead.

“It’s just a little girl! How long was she under here?”

“Do you think she was involved with the robbery?” Jayce asked.

“Not sure, we’ll probably have to question her,” Grayson answered.

Viktor scoffed. “Question her? How could’ve she been involved? Look at how young she is; doesn’t seem like it.”

“We question everyone who is a suspect,”

“Of course, she would say that…” He thought.

The kid didn’t move. She appeared to be frozen with fear.

Viktor muttered something under his breath before moving past the enforcers crowding her. “Move out of the way, can’t you see she’s terrified?”

For some reason, they actually listened and gave her space.

Viktor slowly moved to sit down in front of her. Realizing he probably wouldn’t appear as intimidating to her at her level.

He recognized the clothes she was wearing to be from Zaun. Though they had gotten torn up from the explosion.

“It’s ok, we’re not going to hurt you,” Viktor spoke gently. “You’re from the Undercity, right? I’m from there as well,”

She seemed to untense her shoulders once she realized he wasn’t going to harm her. But still gave him a cautious look.

Viktor glanced up at the cut on her forehead. He had a small frown on his face. “We’ll have to do something about that cut, won’t we?”

---

“I’m going to clean the scratch on your face, ok?” Viktor said, holding a cotton ball with wound disinfectant soaked into it.

The child said nothing but, after a minute, nodded.

He was the only person she would go with. She would start crying otherwise. Viktor agreed to watch her for a little while. It’s not like he had much of a choice, seeing as she wouldn’t let go of his hand at the place of the explosion.

If he had to look after her, he might as well fix her cut while she was under his care.

Annoyed by it, the enforcers complained. Saying they needed to question her immediately. Though they didn’t get their way.

Viktor couldn’t have cared less.

“This might hurt, ok? But I’ll be quick, promise.”

He carefully wiped the cut.

She scrunched up her face in discomfort and tried to move away from it.

“I’m finished! Ok?” He said. “I’m just going to put a bandage on it to protect it.”

Once he was done, Viktor threw away the cotton ball.

“Now that we’re done with that, maybe we could talk; what’s your name?” He said from across the room.

“What?” She asked.

“Finally, she spoke.��

He walked back over to where she was sitting. “I had asked, what’s your name?”

“Arline,” she answered.

Viktor smiled. “That’s a lovely name.”

Arline grinned and said thanks.

“Now that you’ve told me your name, it seems only fair for me to tell you mine, I’m Viktor,”

“Viktor…?”

He nodded.

“Thanks, Mister Viktor, for fixing it.” She pointed to her bandaged spot.

“Of course; it doesn’t still hurt, right?” He asked, moving to sit down next to her on the sofa.

Arline reached her hand up to touch the edge of the bandage. “Not really.”

“That’s good to hear,”

Now the hard part.

“So… do you want to talk about what happened?”

Viktor knew the enforcers would want to question her eventually. Maybe if he could ask her a few questions himself, then she wouldn’t be forced to go through that.

Arline shifted in her seat. She glanced down at the floor and fiddled with a loose string of her shirt.

Picking up on her anxiety, Viktor opted for something lighter.

“Ok, let’s start with something easier, how old are you?”

“How old am I? I turned seven… a month ago,” she answered.

“I knew it! Pretty young to be involved with the heist, no way.”

“Seven is a nice number to be,” Viktor commented.

Arline smiled. “How old are you?”

“Oh, I am so old, you’d never guess, believe me.” He joked to lighten the mood.

She giggled. “You don’t look old, old, just… grownup age.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment.”

---

After a while, Viktor managed to get some important information about Arline. Like he had originally thought, she hadn’t been involved with the heist whatsoever. She had simply snuck along and shown up at the last minute.

That also meant that she was most likely left behind by accident. He hoped whoever left her behind would come back to get her.

Later, the enforcers showed up at his place, demanding to question the kid. Viktor had been able to tell them enough information that they were satisfied and left her out of the investigation.

Viktor felt silently relieved at that. Perhaps the enforcers could leave him and Arline alone now.

After the bit of questioning about what happened, their conversation turned more casual; finally letting some of the nervousness go.

“I like your stick, I mean cane! Sorry…” She spoke, glancing at his cane currently propped up against the sofa next to him.

Viktor chuckled shortly. “You’re fine, and thank you.”

“I could sew something for it! Like a little pocket bag thingy!” Her eyes lit up.

“You know how to sew?” He asked.

Viktor knew the basics of sewing, but it wasn’t something he particularly focused on perfecting. Most Zaunites knew at least how to hand-sew. It was often a lifesaving skill to have.

She nodded. “Yeah! I’ve made lots, I got to use a sewing machine one time.”

“I know that there are a few sewing machines at least around the Academy… perhaps I could borrow one that you could use; would you like that?” Viktor said.

“That would be awesome!” She exclaimed.

He smiled at her enthusiasm.

“I could fix my clothes,” Arline muttered to herself.

Viktor sighed. “It’s worth a shot.”

He knew her clothes were beyond basic repair. Maybe could be fixed with lots of patchwork. Though, even that was a bit of a stretch.

He didn’t want to crush her hopes of fixing it. So he kept this to himself.

“Yikes.” She examined her ruined shirt and the rest of her clothes.

Viktor agreed. She did look rather uncomfortable.

“I think I could get you some spare clothes to wear for right now, would you like that?”

He beat himself up mentally for not thinking about it earlier.

“You won’t throw these away, right?” Her fist clutched her shirt.

“No, I would never let them be thrown away if you don’t want them to be,” he assured.

Arline unclenched her grip on her shirt. “Thanks.”

“Maybe Sky knows where to get some spares…” Viktor muttered.

“What?”

“Sky, she’s a friend of mine, you’ll like her, she’s very sweet,” he explained. “I said she might could help with spares,”

Arline smiled. “Oh, ok!”

---

Since they figured it would be a while until anyone showed up to claim Arline, they helped her settle in more while she would be there.

After a warm cooked meal and cleaning plus a clothes change, she already felt so much better.

Viktor volunteered to look after her for a few days. Just until she went back home. After all, it was just for a few days.

Right?

---

“It’s been a week… no one has come to claim Arline…” Viktor spoke to Heimerdinger.

“A week? Hm, I wasn’t aware,” he replied.

“What should we do?”

“I suppose we’ll have to find someone to be her guardian until she can eventually go back home.” Heimerdinger suggested.

“And what if she won’t ever be able to go home? If they really don’t come and claim her…?” Viktor asked, preparing for any outcomes.

“Then… I guess the guardianship would be permanent, or I suppose adoption is a more appropriate word?”

“She doesn’t trust anyone, I don’t think it would work well…” Viktor pointed out.

“She appears to trust you,” Heimerdinger responded.

Did she really? He was the only one she felt safe around. And she wouldn’t be looked after anyone unless it was him. Trust or not, they definitely had a bond.

“Maybe… where are you going with this?” He asked.

Heimerdinger pondered to himself. “Yes, that could work…”

“What could work, sir?”

“You could be a mentor of sorts to Arline! Yes, I think that would work splendidly, you could raise and look after her, my dear boy!” Heimerdinger proposed.

Viktor froze, speechless.

“Uh, excuse me, what did you say?”

“Yes, I think that would work out nicely! What do you say, Viktor? I think you two would be an excellent team, so to speak,”

His first thought immediately was no. This was supposed to be just for a few days, not a lifetime.

But he thought about it more. It could be good to have someone to pass down knowledge to. And Arline really was a genuinely good kid. She sort of reminded him of himself when he was around her age.

Sometimes it got a little lonely being by himself, he had to admit. At least Jayce was his friend and partner. But maybe another addition to his circle of relationships would be good.

This couldn’t just be for his benefit though, he couldn’t be selfish. Viktor had to decide what was best for her.

She would probably have more opportunities if she stayed with him. He recognized that she’d have a better life in general if he accepted this.

And it wasn’t even a hundred percent. There was always a chance she’d be taken back by her family; even if it grew slim with passing time.

“Ok…” Viktor agreed, albeit a bit hesitantly.

“Wonderful, my dear boy! I’ll tell her the news!”

“Wait, I think I should be the one to—never mind…” Viktor tried to interject, but Heimerdinger was already heading toward’s Arline’s direction.

“Arline! I’ve got great news to share!” He said.

She had been exploring some of the hallways and rooms when she heard.

“What?” She shouted.

“Over here, dear girl!”

Arline looked around until she spotted him. She ran towards him and Viktor.

“You really ought to get her hearing checked.” He joked to Viktor.

When he wasn’t looking, Viktor rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“What did you say? Mister Heim… Heimer…” She stuttered.

“Hei-mer-ding-er.” He corrected.

“Oh, sorry, Mister Heimerdinger,”

“It’s quite alright, I have news I need to share,”

“Ok!” She said.

“It’s been decided that since nobody has come to claim you, Viktor will look after you until further notice!” He announced.

Viktor glared at how bluntly he announced it, but Heimerdinger didn’t seem to notice.

“W-What?” Arline gasped.

“He’ll be your mentor of sorts, he has lots to teach, I think you’ll learn great things under his teachings,” he explained.

Her eyes watered. She felt her chest tighten. “No… Nobody came to… get me?”

“Well… um… yes?”

The tears in Arline’s eyes threatened to spill. Her throat hurt and she started crying and hiccuping.

“Nice going Heimerdinger…” Viktor thought.

“Look, Arline, it’ll be okay, let’s just take a second to take a deep breath—” he interjected.

She took off running, sobbing the whole way.

“I… thought she would’ve taken that better…” Heimerdinger frowned.

Viktor sighed. He liked the dean, but despite his wisdom, he really couldn’t read the room sometimes.

“I’ll go after her, and try to talk with her about it,” he said.

“Oh, are you sure? She ran quite far away, that’s a lot of walking—”

“I’ve got it handled, sir.” Viktor interrupted.

“Alright, I’m sorry for causing this, I really didn’t mean to make her upset…” He spoke.

“You should tell her that, not me,”

“I will after things have settled down,” he said.

Viktor set off to find Arline and to talk to her about what happened.

---

“Arline? Arline!” Viktor called out as he searched for her.

Deep down, he had this small fear that she had decided to run away.

It went away as soon as he could hear her sniffles and sad whimpers back at his place.

“Arline?” He asked.

He found her curled up alone in a corner. She hugged her knees close to her chest and hid her face.

Viktor tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump and scream.

“It’s ok! It’s me, Viktor, you’re safe.” He tried to calm her down.

Arline felt her heart beating extra quick. “Don’t sneak up on me!” She shouted.

“But I didn’t sneak up on you, I was calling your name the whole time—nevermind, it doesn’t matter; we need to have a talk,”

“I thought Mister Heim—Heimerdinger did that already,” she muttered.

“Err, well technically yes… but I think I could explain it better if you’d let me,”

“Fine…” She said.

“But could we do it somewhere else? I know you’re sitting on the floor right now, but I think I need an actual seat at the moment,” he added. “You ran very far,”

“Sorry…” Arline mumbled.

“It was impressive, that’s all,”

She smiled for a second until she resumed her sad look.

Arline walked over and hopped onto the couch and sat down; waiting for Viktor to sit next to her.

“So… I don’t believe that this will be an easy conversation to have, but it is necessary,” he started off.

Arline looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Let’s start with the facts, you’ve stayed here for a week,”

“That’s a long time…” She remarked.

“Depends on the situation but, I’d say yes for this,” he added. “The longer you stay, the less likely it means that you could potentially go home… It’s been a week, and the amount of time it becomes more uncertain is getting closer…”

“What do you mean?” Arline asked.

“I’m saying that I’m trying to prepare you for the worst outcome that you wouldn’t ever be… claimed, add two more weeks and it would have been a month…” Viktor wasn’t sure he was doing any better than Heimerdinger but he was at least trying.

“So… I might not see my family again? Or go home?”

“That is a possibility… yes…” He winced.

Arline stayed silent.

“They forgot about me… right?”

“Oh, I don’t think forgot is right, I’m sure they… tried looking,” Viktor spoke.

“I’m really screwing this up, aren’t I.”

“They gave up?” She asked.

Viktor hid his face in his hands. This was probably the worst talk he ever had to do.

“I don’t know…” He murmured.

“What?”

“I said, I don’t know, I’m sorry, but I don’t have an answer, as much as I would like to.” Viktor sighed. “I don’t even know if they knew you were there…” He muttered.

“But—you’re a scientist! You have all the answers!” She exclaimed.

“Unfortunately, that’s not always the case,”

Arline sunk back into the couch cushions; wishing she didn’t have to go through this. “They left me and didn’t come back…”

Viktor’s heart ached. He wanted to make everything better so badly.

“It’s possible that they assumed you were taken in and cared for… I don’t know how likely that is, but it’s definitely a possibility.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know if knowing that helps or not…”

“Out of any possibility, I want that one to be it,” she murmured.

“Arline, I’d just like to say, I know this isn’t the outcome you wanted, but I’ll try to help you in any way that I can, alright? You deserve that after everything…” Viktor spoke. “I’ll tell you if there are any updates about your situation, as long as you’re here, ok?”

She looked up at him and nodded. “Thanks, for helping.”

“You definitely have every right to be upset right now, I know you probably know this, but it’s ok to be sad,”

She nodded again, wiping her eyes.

“So… am I going to be adopted?” She finally asked.

“Well, Mr. Heimerdinger was the one that suggested it but, only if you’d be ok with it, he says that I should be a mentor to you, look after you, be your guardian,” Viktor answered.

“So, like it’s been?”

“Yeah, I suppose so, but more permanent?” He added. “You don’t have to make an immediate decision on this, it’s a big choice,”

Arline thought for a while. She didn’t really know anyone else. And there was no way she’d get placed with a random family she didn’t know. Viktor was the best choice. He was genuinely kind to her. And didn’t talk down to her like Mr. Jayce and the enforcers did.

“Ok, but only cause it’s you, I like you, you’re nice to me,” she answered. “You’re different from most grownups… better,”

“Alright, I’ll try to help you get settled in here more, I’m still sorry about the situation…”

“Not your fault, don’t say sorry,” she replied.

“You’re very smart, but I’m sure you know that already.” Viktor complimented.

Arline allowed a small smile to appear on her face. She leaned against him.

“Thanks, Mister Viktor.”

---

After a long day, it was actually nice to lie down and drift off to sleep for the night.

Viktor pulled the bed covers closer, finally falling asleep.

Until he heard little footsteps.

He held back a tired sigh.

“Mister Viktor, can I have a cup of water?” Arline stood by the side of his bed; staring at him to make sure he was awake.

“Shh, whisper, and didn’t I already get you a cup earlier?” He mumbled.

“I drank it,”

“All of it?”

She nodded.

“And you’re still thirsty?” He questioned.

Arline glanced down at the floor. She moved her foot against it, feeling the cool texture.

“Not really…” She admitted, voice small.

Viktor begrudgingly sat up. “What’s really the matter, hm?”

“I had a nightmare… and I’m not used to sleeping all alone really…” Arline admitted.

Was Viktor about to lose sleep? Potentially. Did he already do that on a regular basis? Pretty much.

“Ok, sleep on the other side.” He pointed to the empty side of his bed.

Arline smiled and moved to the other side. She pulled up the sheets and settled in comfortably.

“I know your feet are cold so don’t touch me with them.” Viktor joked.

“How do you know if I got cold feet?”

“It’s a… hypothesis,”

“So, a guess?” She asked.

“Go to sleep, Arline,” he muttered.

“I need to tell you something first…”

“Ok.” He sighed, struggling to stay awake.

“Do you think I couldn’t be claimed because… they died somehow?” She whispered.

Viktor turned to face her. He was speechless.

“I… don’t know, let’s hope not,”

“That’s what the nightmare was about…” Arline confessed.

He cautiously reached his hand out to hold her hand.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She squeezed his hand for comfort.

“One last thing before sleeping, it’s not sad, ok?”

He nodded.

“I can’t hear in my left ear,” she said.

“At all?” He asked.

“Yeah,”

All the times she had asked him to repeat something, every time she had trouble finding him when he called her, the times she would focus her gaze on people’s lips; lip reading.

It all suddenly clicked in Viktor’s mind.

Oh, my gosh, why didn’t he think of it sooner? So stupid.

“I can’t believe Heimerdinger was right…”

“So, do you not like me now?” She asked.

He stared at her in disbelief. “What? Why wouldn’t I like you?”

“People get annoyed with me about it, that’s why I waited to tell you,” she said.

He could relate to that feeling.

“Arline, I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me until now, that’s not right.” He sighed.

“Oh, it’s not uh… personal, I don’t tell anyone till I know they’re nice,” she replied.

“Doesn’t make it right still, you deserve better,”

“You deserve a better world.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“I know that one day you won’t have to do that, have to hide a part of yourself, hoping it’ll be sooner than later,” Viktor responded.

“Thanks for the talking, I’m ready to go to sleep now.” Arline smiled.

“If you want, we can talk more about it tomorrow,”

“Ok! Cool..” She murmured before falling asleep.

Viktor found himself falling asleep as well.

[universe-of-fangirls]

Ayo it’s time! It’s time for another addition to my JRWI headcanons: Captain Lizzy/Elizabeth! JRWI episode 31-41 spoilers! You’ve been warned!

Starting strong, Lizzy mentioned to Chip that she survived alongside Chey after the Midnight Rose went down. My thought is the two of them just barely scraped by, managing to either steal or find the money for food and made shelter. The two of them most likely survived off very little before Chey and or Elizabeth managed to find work. From what it sounds like, Elizabeth did not have much during those years. They got by on what they had. At least, they had each other.

I hope Chey got Elizabeth something that she kept. Maybe a necklace she keeps hidden, a reminder of the ship and of Chey. It would only be fitting if it was a rose.

Elizabeth said Chey died of old age. Elizabeth probably stayed with her until the very end, when she was cast into the world alone.

She had to get her riches somehow. Elizabeth most likely found herself gambling and stealing, or into a much larger and very different occupation. Either way, Elizabeth found herself surviving under a mask of herself, slowly gaining the funds she needed.

She most likely bought herself a smaller ship, began sailing and doing work to continue working her way up. I have a feeling that gambling side Hasn’t gone away. There’s always a gamble in business.

Lizzy speaks of a raid on pirate soil to Chip, and how it was a bloodbath. She knows, because she was there. A new pirate on her own, just figuring it out. Caught in the crossfire and barely making it out alive.

That’s when she shed the name Elizabeth and instead became Lizzy. Captain Lizzy, out of necessity. She made a vow to push back against the Navy, for her people. She built a reputation, stealing and doing what she had to. Soon she found herself the owner of a brand new ship.

This is most likely about the time she finds Caspian.

She needs a crew. And soon enough, she finds a certain water genasi, looking for work. Wanting to sail the seas and not be tied down. And so, they made a deal to work together. They’ve been together since then.

Caspian was the one that had the idea to head to Geraldo Island. An island full of pirates, infamous for being dangerous. And that’s how they met Marshall John and the Albatrio, out on their expedition.

Lizzy still carries the small pin that Arlin gifted her on the Midnight Rose. It’s pinned to the inside of her coat, by her pocket. It’s one of the few things she still has from the Black Rose Pirates.

She carries a small notebook with her, and she takes notes and records everything. She can’t forget what she’s been through and has a lot to lose.

While she would never admit it, Lizzy is a cat person and wishes for an animal companion on the ship.

There is speculation as to whether or not Lizzy is a warlock, and her patron is Nikolaus. I think it’s very plausible. I think she would probably meet him at a Blackjack table and inevitably loose to him.

While Lizzy is an excellent craps and Blackjack and Roulette player, she’s horrible at Chess. Caspian always manages to beat her.

She has a letter she wrote to Chip as a kid, thinking he was dead. She still has it, in a box under her bed in her quarters.

[pondjrwi]

Just Roll With It Recap

Riptide Episode 41 - Growing Pains

-  Chip keeps reassuring Ollie that it’ll all be fine, that he’ll fix this. Ollie goes to his room. Chip admits to Gil that he kept the compass. Gil realizes he doesn’t have his Necklace of Tidestrider, and Chip gives it to him. 

- Jay comes down. She and Gil want to destroy it, and Chip despondently hands it to them. But right before they attack it, he yells at them to wait, that they might need it to turn Ollie back. They don’t think that will work and attack it anyway. It doesn’t break. Gil wants to throw it in the sea, so Chip tries and fails to snatch it from Jay. 

- Jay discreetly uses the compass to see which direction the person who killed her sister is. Gil tries to use the Luxbris Pearl for answers for this but can’t, so he puts the compass in the briefcase of holding. 

- Gil goes to the Grandberry Pirates ship to heal some of the sick people they evacuated. They all go to sleep. Chip wakes up to see Apple pecking at him.

Chip: “What, you wanna hang out so I can get you killed too?”

- Rudith, the doctor, thanks Gil for healing people, saying that he loves helping people, but the sea isn’t for him. Jay wants a map so Lizzie shows them their map. Lizzie plans to head through Allport to the Northern Ocean so she can find stronger pirates for her army. Chip says he’ll follow them. Lizzie whispers to Chip, asking him what’s wrong. 

Lizzie: “Why are you calling me captain? Isn’t this your crew? I thought you had a direction? I thought you were looking for Arlin?”

Chip: “Maybe that’s not the best call anymore.”

Lizzie: “What happened to you? It’s been like one night.”

Chip: “If I’m honest with myself, you seem like the only captain around here.”

Lizzie: “Don’t aimlessly follow me. That’s how you get killed.”

- Chip checks on Ollie, who’s still as shaken as last night. He says he can’t go on like this. Chip once again reassures him that they’ll fix this soon. Jay has a nightmare of her taking the place of the Navy Admiral from the attack, watching her friends pirate ships sailing off.

- As the days on the sea pass, Ollie begins to come out of his shell; eating and walking around more. He’s still very jittery and easily scared. Chip goes to check on him again. Ollie apologizes for using the compass, but Chip stops him. 

Chip: “I’m sorry. I gave you that, I never should’ve done that.”

- Ollie talks about how it made him feel like it would take him wherever he wanted to go. After the first time he used it, he felt compelled to use it even more, and kept using it over and over to check if it was still in the same direction. Chip promises he’ll make it right. He asks Ollie if he wants to go home, and he says yes. 

Chip: “I was a kid on a pirate ship like you, once. I didn’t have a home to go back to, so I… it was the only place I wanted to be. I guess I… in my mind you were like me, but you’re not. You have a home and you should go there.”

- Ollie mentions that his mother is probably worried sick about him, but wouldn’t recognize him like this. Chip hugs him and Ollie sounds like he’s crying. He asks where John is, but Chip says he let John down too, that he got captured.

Chip: “I’m not a good captain. I’m barely a good person, but I’m not gonna let you down, okay? I’m not.”

Ollie: “You promise?”

- They pinky swear on it. 

- Caspian almost beats Pretzel in chess but Gil makes the ship shake so the pieces fly everywhere. During that night, they hear strange sounds from the ocean. Chip goes to wake up Jay but she won’t wake up (failed charisma save). Suddenly, a giant sea serpent attacks the ship.