#dream arlin wanted to see Chip he thought Chip would kill him he wanted him to stay away he was afraid of hurting chip

[enderspawn]

also I simply think more attention should be given to the nightmare arlin that tried to kill chip bc. the fuck was going on with that

[eepyghost]

im putting it in a diff post just for easier access.

TITLE: what the ocean stole WORD COUNT: 1.7k DESCRIPTION: after finding arlin in the black sea, chip is forced to choose between saving him, or saving gillion. CW: major character death, the usual depictions of heart-wrenching grief that u see in j rune fics, strap in. credits to @lesbianchipbastard and @keysinthecouch for the pain they've caused /lh

Chip could see him. He’s everything he had remembered.

Arlin James stood before him like a personified memory, a body encapsulating everything warm, everything kind. His childhood memories had opened their arms to him, offering solace from a world that had been so cruel, and the solace came in the shape of a familiar Goliath. A Goliath that Chip had dreamt of seeing again since he was ten, since the ship he called home had been swallowed by the unforgiving mouth of the Black Sea. In a world that was barbaric, that was wretched, he still had the escape of imagining seeing Arlin again. 

It was selfish, he knew it, but there was always a deep-rooted part of him wondering why he was the only one on the ship without closure. Jay had Drey back. Gillion had lived to see his grandfather again. But Chip? He had a memory, a childhood figure that lingered in his memories like a spirit. 

But there Arlin stood, cloaked in darkness, but unmistakable.

His beard had grown out beyond a bit of whispy stubble, peppered in gray, but it was still Arlin.

His eyes, once lively and gentle, were painted with darkness from the lack of sleep. But it was still Arlin.

He’d changed. He’d grown. The years had gone by. But god dammit, it was still Arlin.

But it wasn’t that simple. 

Why could it never be so simple? Why had the world insisted on ripping everything kind from him?

Chip wondered, vaguely, if he was meant to be another ghost, lost to the ocean’s arms.

**

It’s like he’s waving in and out of consciousness. 

He tastes blood. He thinks it’s his own. When had he bitten down on his tongue? What words did he have to swallow back?

He hears it. A command. A bellow from a voice he does not recognize. Both Arlin and Gillion stood before him, grappled.

It’s your choice, pirate. Your past, or your present.

One must go. One will return to the surface.

Chip couldn’t feel his own face.

**

Chip had once dreamed of the world where Arlin would join them on the ship, a part of the crew. His crew. Their crew. The dream was so child-like in nature, like a piece of his younger self was still living in his ribcage, begging to be released one, final time. He would’ve showed Arlin everything. He would’ve told him every story, every adventure. I fought monsters. I defended my friends. Gillion tried to kill me once, too, can you believe that? I kissed him, too - Gods - I grew up, Arlin, but I carried you with me. The entire time. 

Everyone’s waiting for you, do you know that?

I was waiting for you.

He didn’t want to think of a world apart from Arlin ever again.

Gillion and Arlin were barely ten feet away, but they felt miles apart. Chip could taste the bitterness of their distance. He wants to reach forward. To touch. To prove.

He can’t.

**

If you had asked him this same question years ago - Gillion or Arlin? - he would’ve said Arlin without a moment’s hesitation. Before he’d ever thought of pulling the triton onto the ship. 

How long ago had that been? Chip could barely remember. The memory came in flashes of color, of feeling. The color of Gillion’s sea-kissed skin hitting the light of the afternoon sun. The sensation of his cool fingers intertwining with Chip’s. The moment of their eyes first meeting, deep brown meeting cerulean, the sea crashing into the shore. 

Jay had been so insistant on letting him go. He’d felt like a child, begging his mother to let him keep a stray cat he’d found, but both of them knew it was meant to be more than that. Gillion Tidestrider had left his mark on that ship the day he’d first set foot on the deck.

He would’ve been alright, living in a world where it was just the three of them. 

He would never be so lucky.

**

The past or the present.

One will remain.

Chip could practically taste the guilt that rose in his throat like burning hot bile. It rises from his chest, fogs up his mind, blurs his eyes with unshed tears. A captain doesn’t cry in front of his crew, but Chip wasn’t confident that he wasn’t about to shatter. 

Past or present.

He’s meant to choose.

Instead, with a broken, trembling whisper, Chip shakes his head.

With his eyes squeezed shut, he hears Jay screaming. He wishes he had the voice to apologize to her.

I’m sorry, Sureshot. I know you’ll be more of a captain than I could’ve been.

I know you’ll rip this ocean the fuck apart. I know you’ll lead with the same fire you live with. I know you’ll be the most revered pirate this side of the Black Sea.

And I hope you forget about me. For your sake. For their sake.

For my sake. If you’ll let me be selfish, one last time.

**

When Chip came to again, he’s left to the mercy of the darkness.

There’s a body beside him. Breathing shallow. Hitching, desperate tears. Teal skin. Webbed fingers, holding onto his legs, curled up like a frightened child.

He recognized the sound, and found himself reaching forward, skin meeting skin. Gillion sat beside him. 

“Gillion-?”

No. No. It wasn’t meant to be like this. He’d given up his own life for two others. Gillion was meant to go and do what he always did - fight. Live. Thrive. He was meant to live decades on. But he sat beside Chip in a trembling heap.

It clicks all at once. 

Chip wants to throw up.

“No, no, no-” he hurries to his knees, reaching for Gillion, blindly groping towards a shadow. “You aren’t supposed to be here - where’s Jay? You need to be with Jay, what the fuck are you thinking? I made my choice!”

There’s a piece of him that wishes he had the ability to ignite that same anger from months ago, the same anger that drove Gillion to press a sword against his throat, surrounded by an arena of ice. That anger would be strong enough to separate them. That anger would be enough to taint Gillion’s memory of Chip, to keep the grief from soaking into his bones.

Gillion inhaled. His breath shook. Chip no longer knew if it was from the pain or from tears - he couldn’t see.

“And I made my choice alongside you,” he replied. “I would rather die beside you than simply die knowing you.”

“But-”

“No.” He speaks with such certainty. A martyr, dying the way he was meant to. 

“You could have lived, you could’ve done so much-”

“Not without you by my side.”

“-you could’ve settled down when you were older, you could’ve forgotten about me-”

“Forgotten about you?” It’s the one phrase that shakes Gillion to his core. “You think I could have forgotten about you?”

There’s no filter left for him to use. He spills it all like he’s bleeding himself dry.

“I was already dead,” he says, “I - I was just another captain, you and Jay - fuck, you would’ve been so much better off without me. What the fuck was I going to do in a few years? I don’t have anything-”

If he could see Gillion’s face, he’d see the budding tears. The tightness of his jaw. Shedding the same tears that flowed heavy down Chip’s face. Chip heaved a sob. The air felt too thick for him to properly choke down.

If he could see Gillion’s face, he’d see the way he watched Chip with solumness. Heartbreak.

But never pity.

“You were everything, Chip,” Gillion said, as he reached a hand out and intertwined their fingers together in the dark. “And I will die blessed to know you and to love you.”

Chip doesn’t know which word lingers longer. Was seemed to leave the same handprint on his soul that Love did.

Like he was already gone. Like the love they shared was already in the distant past.

Perhaps he was made to rot the same way he lived; lingering with overwhelming, soul-encapsulating love.

**

Jay Ferin would spend her life in the open sea, leading a crew all older than her. In the back of her mind, there would always be the need to find the final resting place of her two closest companions. Two bodies lost to time, lost to the sea. She hopes death is merciful. That the afterlife, if there may be one, is kinder than the world they once resided in.

She doesn’t have the same hope that Chip once did for Arlin. 

Arlin. 

She’s so certain he would’ve been such a kindhearted man, a joy to be around, if she’d met him under different circumstances. He’d lived his life wracked with guilt, stuck in a memory of a son he never truly got to reunite with.

If the crew ever returned to Zero, if they ever met Ollie again, she knew he would ask where the other two were. He’d ask in the same, gentle way that he always had. Miss Jay, where did the others go? Are Chip and Gillion coming over on a different boat? That’s so cool!

She wouldn’t know how to tell him otherwise.

And lord - Lizzie. The way her face had fallen so knowingly when she’d seen them. A crew with two missing. Perhaps working with Chip had given her some semblance of hope, and death had done what it always did: ripped it away.

She didn’t even want to think about meeting Edyn again. That day would come. She’d see the empty space where Gillion Tidestrider had once been, and she would see the ghost of a martyr.

She’d sleep beside Chip’s old jacket and Gillion’s sword until then. And she’d whisper to the stars, as if they were there to respond to her. As if they were standing beside Ava in the night sky. As if they were all drinking on the deck again, dreaming of another world. Another adventure. Another Riptide Pirate’s promise.

She’d fuck shit up for as long as she could. But it wasn’t with them.

[jrwiyuri]

hello i saw your tags on my post and i'm new to jrwi as a whole, i'm only on ep 16 for riptide but i am begging you to infodump to me about riptide tell me everything you've got ping me talk to me who's your favorite character

aHSKjd Okay so honestly I don’t even have a favorite?!!

Like I’ve tried to think about one but I love them all so much equally and they’re so great!!

Chip is such a god damn bastard but I love him so god damn much (he is trans. I know this for sure 100% it’s real Bizly literally told me <3)

He’s so loyal and kind and loving and omg;; his relationship with Ollie?? Fucking lvoe rhat holt shit catch me crying I love the fact he loves kids man ajfkajfksbf

I just rlly like his personality and I also think his morals are a bit interesting. From what I can tell he is very loyal to friends, strangers are a no go and he’s willing to put them in danger over his fitness & himself, and he has a strict no kill rule even with villains (for the most part anyway,)

Plus his entire thing with Arlin? Love that- <3

Gillion is very interesting and I’m so invested into him! Like besides his whole being clueless about the over seas, his entire moral guidelines are very strict and can put the crew into a lot of situations. (But he’s also very self sacrificing so like aha holy shit don’t die 👉👈)

I want to see what happens if a situation presents him with two choices that both seem morally wrong to him and whats he do. I’m just intrigued on his moral guidelines in general

I’m ALSO intrigued on his prophecy and in general culture and I wonder if that’s going to also cause conflict and if he maybe eventually with defy his people / prophecy? Perhaps he feels / realizes that maybe the prophecy is actually shading his moral beliefs or maybe it’s something else Idk!! I have no damn clue but it’s exiting!!!

Also his entire deal with the Dream guy? So god damn scared!!!! (If I had a nickel for every time a dnd character played by Charlie slimecicle made a possibly reckless and not well thought out deal with a more powerful entity & gained a symbol on their body I’d have TWO nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happens twice and based upon the first nickel I’m very scared <3)

But like I do also really like goofy Gill. No serious moral dilemmas, no trying to kill ur friends for honor, just him being him- even if he’s fuckin clueless ^^; (also he’s pangender and Pansexual. It’s real I swear charlie slimecicle sent me a dm I have proof )

And jay!!! The one brain cell (and cannon bisexual?? Fucking hell yea! Also she uses she/he/they pronouns because I condi literally told me on a phone call I had with him it’s totally real I swear)

I feel like I don’t have much to say about jay and I feel very bad but like I’m super interested into her backstory and overall goals more!!!

Her past with with navy is very interesting with the navy and shit?? Like that’s so cool and please tell me more Jay!! You want to open up to ur possible probably trauma and dealings so bad ooOk

She’s is very much a middle child out of the group both literally and physically.

Her dynamic with chip is fantastic and I hope one day she bears the shit out of him just for fun (I mean, Gill already got to- its jays turn now! /hj)

Some other people I’m very excited for are the Lizzie girl who is like the biggest pirate?? I find it very funny that chip is jealous of her but I also just would really like to know more about her 👀👀

And like I already said I want to go more into each of their backstories (well I guess not chips since we know his backstory) & also just to see what the future holds!! Especially with jay since out of the three we know the least about her and what her biggest goal would be (chips is obviously to find the black rose & we can assume gillions is for him to fufill his prophecy)

I think I just- I am excited for the world building snd what other cool secret shit is to come from all of this! I want to know how deep this shit goes and if things like the navy, the thing with the black rose, and gills prophecy could be connected OR clashing in some way?!! (And maybe Lizzie? OH and of course mr Dream daddy- I’m so damn afraid for him)