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littlemisslol-fic · 3 years

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Summary: Two years after the events of Barviel Keep, Varian has tried to adapt to the expectations brought by being a King’s Ward, with mixed results. Haunted by ghosts, Varian is forced to face the demons he tried to leave behind in Bayangor when his abdication is forcibly stopped by a third party, out for revenge against the Bayan Royal bloodline. On the run, with few allies left to turn to, Varian finds himself chasing a ghost through a series of tests that only a true heir of Demanitus could ever hope to pass.But the shadows are ever present, looming and dark, and not everything is as simple as it might seem.

Notes: One problem gets dealt with. Another gets worse.

The woods were quiet.

Varian scowled as he shoved at a branch, stalking down the path. The letter in his hand was nearly crumbled from how hard he was holding it, balled up tightly. He winced when he realized how it was starting to tear, finally slowing his pace.

He’d left Rapunzel and Eugene behind. Eugene had put himself between Rapunzel and Varian before she could chase after him, not that Varian had taken the time to really look. The alchemist wasn’t sure if that was a good thing- on the one hand, he definitely needed the space, but on the other he was now alone in an unfamiliar area with who knows how many Bayan operatives skulking around. He needed to slow down, get his bearings. To take a breath.

Varian sighed, stopping in a small grove in the woods. He huffed for air, wheezing at finally taking a break. He didn’t know how long he’d been running, at least half an hour, but it felt like longer. His lungs burned, even as he choked air back into his chest through gasping breaths.

Tears stung at his eyes, but he pushed them away. He’d done enough crying, by the Sun, he was sick of it. Varian rubbed at his face with his free hand, shaking his head. The sting of Rapunzel’s betrayal was still fresh, a somber pain deep in his chest that refused to leave. He couldn’t believe that Rapunzel had been hiding this the whole time, while he’d been suffering, desperate for answers after all this time, and she’d taken them from him. She, he knew, would have denied him the truth so long as he was protected, just as she let Corona burn while they ran.

Something in Varian’s stomach curdled at the thought. He wiped at his face again, ignoring how the rough fabric of his cloak rubbed at the skin. He felt stupid; in the time since he left Barviel Keep, he’d spent so long wallowing in his own misery he’d failed to see an extremely dangerous anxiety growing in Rapunzel- and now it was coming to bite him.

It was high noon, the sun weak through the clouds as it tried to break through the treeline. Varian sighed as he walked into the glen in front of him, an open, grassy space surrounding a massive, gnarled willow tree on the bank of a small creek. The alchemist kicked at the dirt under his boots, shaking his head and making his way to the base of the tree. He twisted around, gently falling back against the bark, and sliding down until he was curled at the base of the tree, nearly hidden by the massive roots poking out from the earth.

He sucked in a breath through his nose, taking a second to compose himself. He wasn’t sure what exactly his plan was- he’d never been to the Wildshore Isles, had no idea how to even get there, but it wasn’t like he’d go anywhere else. He pushed a niggling sense of doubt away, shoved it as deep into the back of his mind as he could, and looked back down to the note.

It was basic, simple parchment and elegant script in smudging ink. He read it over once more, shaking his head at the audacity of his sister hiding this from him. He couldn’t help but feel a small splash of guilt at the memory of her heartbroken face, but shoved it right next to the doubt to fester. He was making his own path now, and damn the rest of it. The brook to his left babbled quietly, a soft song that whispered through the trees. It was almost loud enough for Varian to miss the sound of twigs snapping nearby.

Almost.

Varian’s hand flew for his alchemy belt, grabbing one of his bombs. He felt himself tense, fear skuttling up his spine. Varian tightened his grip on the glass, cursing himself for stopping- stupid, stupid, he wasn’t safe here- as a familiar pair of green eyes glowed from within the darkness of the forest.

Rapunzel gasped as she burst through the trees, her hair a mess and her dress dirty. Eugene was close behind, the man obviously relaxing once he caught sight of Varian. Rapunzel moved from the forest, her eyes wide with relief. Varian let his arm drop at the sight of his sister, though the glare stayed. Rapunzel rushed to him, her dress almost a blur.

“Varian,” she sighed, putting her hands over her chest to calm her breathing. “Thank the Sun, we found you.”

Varian scowled, refusing to stand up from where he was hidden in the roots. “Yeah,” he griped, “You found me.”

She paused, stopping at the center of the glen. Her dress swished around her for a second, revealing Ruddiger at her heels. The raccoon chirped with delight at seeing his boy, the animal running along the grass to park himself in Varian’s lap. Rapunzel’s face fell when she saw that Varian was still upset, but she bit her lip and pressed forward. Typical, an angry voice in Varian’s head whispered.

“Varian I-” she cut herself off, her hands dropping to her sides. “I am so sorry.”

The boy only scowled, tears he’d just managed to brush away returning in full force. “That’s great for you,” he said, “But it doesn’t fix this. What you did- what you said.”

Rapunzel looked hurt, green eyes blinking away tears of her own. “I… I know,” she said softly. “I know, it won’t magically fix things. But please, Varian, we have to deal with this once you’re safe.”

Varian felt himself uncurl a bit, meeting her eye a little more as she went on.

“I’m sorry,” Rapunzel said, her voice thick. “Varian, really, I am. I just wanted to protect you.”

The boy scoffed, shrinking back into himself. Rapunzel seemed to notice him closing off, brazenly stepping closer. Her bare feet were silent in the grove, like a ghost. Varian felt the sudden urge to kick at her ankles when she got in range, but shoved the impulse down. Even if he were upset, it wouldn’t be right. Rapunzel sank to her knees so that they were eye to eye. Varian was struck by a feeling of familiarity, of the two of them hiding away in the depths of Corona Castle together, the chill of the earth easy to mistake as the cool touch of polished tile. He shook himself, trying to cling to the feeling of bitterness in him- lest he sink back into the terrified apathy he’d been in since the beginning of his birthday.

Varian moved back when she reached for him. Rapunzel shook her head, trying again and succeeding in taking his hand the second time.

“We need to keep moving.” She sounded close to begging. “Even if-” A heavy sigh, “Even if that means going to the Wildshore Isles, like you want.”

Varian’s head snapped up, eyes widening. “You mean…” he trailed off, unbelieving. Rapunzel nodded, the motioning seeming to pain her. Eugene’s face broke into a small smile behind her, obviously approving.

“If you’re sureyou want to chase this, then that’s where we’ll go,” she said.

Varian felt his lungs twist, the boy sniffling. “I want to,” he said it hesitantly, like he was afraid to say so. “I need… even if she’s just as bad, she might be all that’s left. I need to know. I want that closure.”

Rapunzel winced when he said so, but didn’t argue. Eugene stepped up then, putting a hand on her shoulder and offering the other to Varian.

“Alright kids,” Eugene said, “Glad we got to kiss and make up, but we really should be taking this show on the road.”

Varian huffed, taking his hand and letting Eugene pull him to his feet. Rapunzel followed, wiping at her eyes. The boy shifted from her grip, keeping Eugene between them for now. Varian couldn’t help but still want distance from her, the sting still fresh even with the apology, but it was when he shifted to the side, he saw something move in the woods beyond.

“Look out!” he screamed, shoving Rapunzel roughly to the side. Varian toppled as well, landing a bit to the left. She yelped as she hit the dirt, but the noise wasn’t enough to cover up the loud thwack of a blade embedding itself into the bark of the tree. Eugene let out a shocked shout, the knife having missed him by a hair. All three of them snapped their heads towards the woods, eyes widening in shock as Cerise stood from a lunge, her hand outstretched from throwing the blade.

“Shit.” she sighed. “Must be rusty. Oh well.” She reached behind her, bringing her halberd out from its place on her back. Varian’s heart sank at the heavy thudit made as she settled it in the dirt. Cerise grinned, rolling her shoulders casually as she fixed them with a smug look.

“Who’s ready for round two?”

There was a split second of silence, the four of them staring at each other, waiting for the other side to make a move. Rapunzel had her frying pan ready at her side, Eugene had his sword. Varian’s glove tightened around his last bomb- he couldn’t help but feel underprepared for a fight. The silence stretched, thick like molasses; Varian started to worry no one would ever make the first move.

But Cerise, it seemed, was out of patience.

With a small cry of exertion she ripped the halberd from the ground, running toward the Coronians. Eugene let out a startled noise, moving himself between her and his prone charges. Varian scrambled to his feet, a hand already on his alchemy belt, and looked over just in time to see Cerise stab the axe end of her halberd into the earth, using the momentum of her run to use it almost like a pole vault. She launched herself into the air, her cloak flaring out behind her like bat’s wings that blocked out the sun for a quick second, before landing both feet on Eugene’s shoulders, the man yelping as she used him as a jumping point. Her grip on the halberd never faltered, dragging it behind her as he sprung into the air.

He hit the ground with an oof, knocked to the dirt from the force of her jump. She landed in front of Rapunzel and Varian in a crouch, taking a second to blow a wayward piece of hair from her face. When she stood, Varian felt himself tense. Cerise stood, shifting her weight once onto her heels with a little bounce.

With that, she swung the halberd around, sending Varian backpedaling with a yelp. Rapunzel shot to her feet at long last, only to be smacked to the side by the blunt edge of the axe. She shrieked as she was batted away, being thrown a good few feet and back into the dirt. Ruddiger screeched, disappearing into the treeline, knowing better than to stick around.

Varian winced, his hand tightening on his final goo bomb. He chanced a wide-eyed look up to Cerise, who seemed to be over even trying to play around at this point, and threw the bomb. The Bayan woman seemed to have figured out his tricks, however, and it too was swatted away by the halberd, launching it to the side and- Varian noticed with a grimace- hitting Eugene head on, trapping the man flat on his back with the sticky chemical.

Eugene let out an indignant cry at that, something about his hair and dirt, but Varian was too busy being forced to duck as the halberd, now with the blade pointed towards him, was swung back around. He hit the dirt with a gasp, curling into himself as the blade embedded itself in the tree trunk behind him.

Varian heard Cerise snarl, something in a language he’d never spoken, and took the chance to push himself off the ground and around her, dodging a grab when he did so. He ran to Rapunzel first, trying to pull her to her feet. She shoved him back gently, shaking her head.

“GO!” She screamed at him, her voice echoing. “We’ll handle this, just go!”

Varian stumbled back, his gaze flicking between Rapunzel and where Cerise was pulling at her halberd in an attempt to get it unstuck. “I can’t just-” he started to say, only for Eugene to butt in from behind.

“Kid, we love you, but get outta here!”

That was enough to get Varian moving again, shoving a vial into Rapunzel’s hands. It was neutralizing agent, which he was confident she knew, and took the second to look at her. She caught his eye, getting to her feet and shaking herself.

“We’ll find you once this is done.” Rapunzel muttered, running past him to get to Eugene. Varian didn’t take the second to think, his feet moving without thought. The treeline opened up around him, the boy sprinting for the brook without thought. At least if he followed the water he’d be able to find his way back.

Varian sprinted along the bank of the river, his boots sinking into the damn earth and causing him to stumble a few times. He cursed when he nearly twisted an ankle, only just catching himself on a knee before pushing his weary bones back into a run. His lungs burned, his tired legs pumping as hard as he could force them. He was exhausted, from the run earlier in the afternoon but also just from the past week in general- Varian forced air down in a gasp, nearly tripping again and sliding in the mud.

The ground began to rise in front of him, turning into something of a ramp taking him up, up, up and into a gorge. Before he realized it, Varian found himself on a high footpath along the stone wall, the creek having turned into a rushing river nearly forty meters below. Varian shuddered when he caught sight of how far up he’d managed to run, forcing himself to pay attention to the thin path in front of him.

He felt like a coward for running, but at the same time he knew Rapunzel and Eugene were right on this one. It was wise to get Cerise’s target away from her and give the heavier hitters have more space to work. It was smarter, sure, but as he felt his body slow from the exhaustion creeping in, his stomach churned. What if his family got hurt, and he wasn’t there? He had full confidence that Rapunzel and Eugene could take their Bayan opponent, but she was still formidable enough, and it was obvious that Cerise had started to learn their tricks.

He slowed to a walk, gasping for breath through his aching lungs. His legs hurt, mostly around the knees and ankles after the rough week. He wiped sweat from his face, trying in vain to rub the salt from his eyes. His ears perked up at the sound of moving stones from the path, the snapping of twigs. He listened, trying to pinpoint the noise, and tensing when he realized what hey were.

Footsteps.

He turned around, looking down the path he’d come from, foolishly hoping to see Rapunzel or Eugene coming up behind him, but only groaned when he caught sight of black hair. Of course.

“You’ve gotta- ugh- gotta be kidding me,” he sighed in between panting breaths.

Cerise seemed to have lost her halberd somewhere along the line. Her hair was a frazzled mess, and she had a horrible bruise started on the side of her face. She caught sight of Varian, and seemed to run even faster- Varian stepped back with a yelp, already turning to run farther down the path. She must have seen him following the river, of course.

“Get back here you little shit!” He heard the Bayan woman scream at him, sounding nearly feral with rage as he ran. She also sounded much closer than he thought she was, and he spurred his aching legs to work double time.

The canyon around him was becoming taller by the second, covered in thick foliage, creeping ivy and stubborn trees, and far below the river grew more and more violent. Up ahead was a fallen tree trunk, the thick column spanning across the cliffs and creating a bridge of sorts. It was wrapped in ivy and vines, grown over with foliage. Varian’s heart sank when he saw it, knowing exactly what it was.

An opportunity.

If he could just get across before her, find a way to dislodge it- he’d have time to get back to Rapunzel and Eugene before Cerise could make it around the gorge. He groaned, forcing himself to run faster toward it. Stones clattered when he ran by, dropping the long fall into the water below. He tried to ignore how long it took for them to hit the ground.

Gods, this is the worst, he thought to himself, the absolute worst.

The log drew close; Varian didn’t bother to stop before he jumped up onto it. He grit his teeth as it wobbled under him, rolling nauseatingly to the side a bit before settling back in its place. He threw his hands out to either side, his balance absolute crap as he took the first few shaky steps on the bark.

It was about ten meters to the other side. Varian shuddered when the wind blew past him, making his footwork falter in a way that sent his heart into his throat. He chanced a look down, tensing up and nearly screaming at the sight of the drop below. The log gave a sickening creak, rocking in place again.

Varian was forced to windmill his arms to keep balanced, stopping so that he could regain balance. Bile rose as the log settled, but he choked it down.

“Don’t look down,” he muttered, “Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down-”

He looked down.

The makeshift bridge shuddered again. Varian chanced a look behind him, and saw Cerise step up and onto his little platform. Shit. The alchemist was only halfway across. Cerise was still for a second, seeming to gauge how good of an idea stepping fully off solid earth was, before looking up at him with a scowl.

“Are we really going to play this game?” she asked, “This seems like a hell of a gamble, crow.”

The log swayed again, but Varian stood his ground.

“Worth a shot,” he replied, already cautiously taking a step backward, never breaking eye contact with her. Cerise responded by taking another step, mirroring his movements. They went like that, back and forth, until she was fully onto the log and over the gaping maw of the gorge. She was putting up a brave front, but Varian could see a tenseness of her shoulders and the way her eyes darted between him and the drop below them both.

They reached another stalemate, both of them waiting for the other to make a move. Varian knew she wasn’t out to kill him- she’d had enough chances to murder him and every time she’d aimed to get him back to Corona, just like her brother. Why they wanted him alive, Varian didn’t know, but he was willing to bet it was important enough to keep her from sending them both down to a watery grave.

He wasn’t sure what to do, barely able to think over his racing heart- he’d wanted to knock the log away after crossing but Varian wasn’t sure if he was capable of doing so while someone, even someone out to hurt him, stood on it. The log wobbled under him again; both of them swayed a bit to keep their balance. The wood under them let out a terrifying groan, and began to shake.

Varian hissed when the shaking didn’t stop, and with horror he looked behind himself to where their bridge was connected to the stone. With a sinking feeling he saw the ivy begin to snap, and the whole structure begin to slide.

“Oh no,” he gasped, stepping back. Cerise looked around him, her stance going horrified when the log slipped down a level, jostling them both.

”Shit!” she yelped, ducking down on her knees to grab at the log with her hands. Varian mirrored her, lost as to what to do, trying to slowly scramble toward her- he had to get the hell off this thing before-

Snap.

Varian shrieked as the one end of the log dropped, sending their bridge pointing directly down into the chasm. He felt his stomach swoop out from under him as his side of the log fell, swinging like the worst pendulum in the history of man. He clung to the bark with all the strength left in him, his aching fingers surely bloody with how tightly he was clinging.

Cerise wasn’t faring much better, having slipped a bit down the log until catching a foothold closer to Varian. He could see the way she gnashed her teeth against the pain. The log swayed, held up only by a series of clinging vines and a dash of terrified prayers.

Varian was the first to move, raising a shaking hand up to grab onto a branch above him. He managed to snag it, hesitantly pulling himself up a little more. Cerise seemed to get what his plan was, the woman spitting out a curse. Varian flinched when she too grabbed another branch, reaching into her boot with her free hand.

His heart sank as she pulled out a small dagger from her boot, the metal shining in the weak sun.

He nearly fell when she swiped at him, forcing Varian to grab onto another branch. His sweaty hands almost slipped, his gloves the only thing keeping his grip on the rotting bark of the tree. Another gust of wind sent them spinning, their log twisting and swinging in a way that made Varian motion sick. Cerise seemed unaffected as she took another swing with the dagger, narrowly missing as Varian shuffled his way onto another branch. Her blade sliced through a vine cleanly, causing it to fall away from the tree.

He chanced a look behind him, seeing the insane glint in her eye. A line of ruby red blood dripped from her temple down into her eye, coating nearly half her face and pasting whisps of hair to her face.

“I’m donewith this,” she snarled, moving after him like a hunter after prey. She took another swing when she was close enough, the blade of the knife catching Varian’s arm. He shouted at the burning pain of the slice as it cut cleanly through Quirin’s cloak and into his skin, but the cry was cut off as he saw her knife go through another vine.

The tree gave an unhappy groan, sinking a bit. Varian felt ice cold fear creep up his spine, looking up towards where the other vines were keeping them attached to the cliff were taut and strained with the weight.

“Stop,” his breath was a whisper, choked as he tried to push air past the knot in his throat. “Stop!”

Cerise raised her blade high, either unaware or uncaring of what he was saying. Varian scrambled for a higher foothold, grabbing a branch higher up and tucking his knees up against his chest to keep the blade from him. The cut in his arm burned, his fingers ached, but all of that faded to the sound of another swishof a vine being cut.

“You’re going to kill us!” he gasped, scrambling higher along the tree. Cerise followed, snarling like a beast. Varian felt another cut, this time on his leg, and screamed again. He kicked at the woman, wincing when his boot connected with her nose. She fell away with a yowl, catching herself on her branch as she held her nose. Her knife dropped, disappearing quickly into the water forty feet below. Varian took the chance, moving away while she was distracted.

He was close to the top when he heard another long groan from the log, followed by a small snap. Blue eyes widened in horror when he saw another vine give way, not cut, but snapped under the pressure of holding them up over the long drop. He watched with terror as the vine fell, following Cerise’s knife in dropping into the raging water.

Varian scrambled for the top safety and caution thrown to the wind, just wanting to get out. He was nearly to the top when he felt a hand grab at his boot. Blue eyes frantically looked down, seeing Cerise clinging to his ankle with a steel grip.

He swung his foot again; Cerise let go to avoid another kick to the face. Varian pulled himself up another foot- the edge of the cliff was right there- and managed to get a hand on the uppermost branch of the tree when another vine snapped.

Varian grabbed hold of the rockface, the breath in him leaving with a huff of relief as he finally grabbed something solid. Another vine let go with a horrifying groan; the tree began to slip, falling a good few feet down. Varian felt a pulse of terror at that, his feet leaving the wood as the tree dropped away from under him. The tree swung away, spinning once more as a few more vines let go.

Varian twisted to look down, swallowing bile at the sight of the drop. He caught site of glowing green eyes through the foliage of the tree, wide and furious. Before he could think, Varian was reaching down with his free hand, his shoulders straining and his feet digging into the stone wall.

“It’s going to fall!” he screamed, stretching as far as he could push himself. Even if she was out to kill him, she was still a person-

Another vine snapped.

And the tree dropped.

Varian shrieked as the broken vine smacked his hand, hard enough to surely bruise. He winced and drew his hand back, eyes slamming shut against the pain. In that split second things were nearly silent, save for a small whoosh but then- with a noise like snapping bone- a massive crack of wood against stone.

When he opened his eyes again, the tree was shattered against the rocks. Wood splinters littered the water, which had turned a sickening red; the colour spread like an illness, changing white and blue to ruby without preamble.

Varian was unable to tear his eyes away, scanning the wreckage for any sight of Cerise. She’d just- not even a scream- dropped like a stone-

Varian felt his chest hitch roughly as a body floated to the surface. His heart stopped. The boy’s arms were shaking not from exertion, but from primal horror. He watched Cerise’s corpse float a few feet from the wreckage of the tree, coming to rest on the bank. Blood, fresh and deep red, flowed freely along the water, staining the white sand crimson.

The alchemist bit at his lip, forcing himself to turn away. He bullied his aching arms to pull himself up and over the edge of the cliff, the wave of panic only just slowing when he had solid ground under him. He lay flat on his stomach for a second, forcing himself to breathe his way through the adrenaline rushing through his system.

He trembled, rolling onto his hands and knees, unable to shake the image of the corpse below from his mind. He retched, though nothing came up from his empty stomach. His whole body shook violently, harsh tremors that rattled his entire frame. She was dead, and he was to blame for it. He’d killed a second person.

The river below continued to rush by, loud in the deathly silence that surrounded him. Varian’s trembling fingers gripped the stones under him, a tight hold that surely turned his knuckles white under the gloves. The shock of it was immense, a wave of terror that refused to abate no matter how long it had been since the danger had passed-

“Varian!”

Eugene.

Varian didn’t look up at the familiar voice, his eyes locked onto the dirt. He didn’t move when hands fell on his shoulders, shaking him lightly, nor when Eugene’s voice grew more frantic. Varian felt like he was underwater, the noise around him filtering away and the world smudging- everything spun, his soupy thoughts unable to make connections with anything. His head nodded a bit… oh, Eugene was shaking him. Varian blinked slowly, looking up to the man with a blank face. Eugene’s face was pale, obviously shaken. He said something, but the words filtered through Varian’s mind without sticking.

The boy focused on the direct center of Eugene’s face, not registering. The man shook him again, slightly rougher, but still Varian did not respond. Something in him couldn’t, wouldn’t; if he opened his mouth, he’d surely vomit. His stomach rolled again, but Varian forced it down- Eugene surely wouldn’t appreciate sick on his jacket.

The man finally seemed to give up, releasing Varian and pushing to his feet to peer over the edge. Eugene made a disgusted noise when he saw the corpse Varian had put there. The boy gagged again at the thought, spitting into the soil to rid his mouth of the foul taste.

Eugene moved back to the boy, spreading a hand in between his shoulders in a move that was probably supposed to be comforting.

“Varian,” he said, soothing, “Buddy, we should go. This isn’t a good place to be.”

The boy shuddered, shaking his head. His knees were like jelly, trembling and weak; if he weren’t already kneeling, they’d surely give out from under him. Varian spat the taste of bile from his mouth.

Eugene was in front of him again, his voice swimming in and out of comprehension.

“-go, get away-”

“-Rapunzel-”

“-Varian.”

That caught his attention.

Varian forced his eyes up from looking at the dirt, blinking dazedly as Eugene’s hands came back to rest on his shoulders. The man seemed disturbed, eyes wide and frantic. The man shook him gently, but Varian still didn’t reply. Eugene switched tactics, holding his arms out and wrapping Varian in a gentle hug, his movements slow, like he was approaching a spooked animal. When the alchemist didn’t pull away, he tugged the boy closer, holding him tightly.

Varian forced a hand away from the dirt, grabbing onto Eugene’s coat with a sudden purpose. His fingers dug into the fabric of the jacket, a vice grip that trembled as Varian sank into the man’s hold with a sob.

“Oh, shit, hey kid,” Eugene murmured, “You’re okay, it’s over.”

Varian could feel hot tears trailing down his face, the adrenaline and fear leaving his body and leaving only a hollow feeling. He gasped for air, burying his face into the front of Eugene’s jacket and refusing to look up. Varian felt arms wrap around him, supporting and calm.

“Let it out, bud.” Eugene murmured, placating.

Varian barely registered when Eugene scooped him up off the ground. If it were any other time he’d be surprised- Varian may be short but he didn’t think he was that light- but for now he only felt a strange numbness. It was similar to how he’d felt after Barviel Keep, but less intense.

Less biting.

He buried his face into his friend’s chest, letting himself be carried for a while. It felt… nice, to be honest, to be wrapped up and held tightly, to not have to think, to run, to work. Thick arms around him, ones he knew wouldn’t let him fall, safe and warm. Varian’s breathing began to even out, shuddering gasps relaxing into deep sniffles.

He drifted, adrenaline leaving as quickly as it had come. Varian shuddered, pressing closer into Eugene’s shoulder. He didn’t notice as the scenery changed, the cliffs disappearing and slowly filtering back into forest, only to thin once more. The sound of waves were audible, a gentle lap that was in sync with the rocking of Eugene’s footsteps. Varian kept his eyes closed, letting his shaking hands relax from their death grip on his friend’s shirt.

He was nearly asleep when Eugene stopped.

Varian cracked his eye open, wincing at the bright sun. They were out of the forest, on a sandy beach. There was a large body of water in front of them, one that Varian knew eventually connected to Corona’s bay. He sniffed again, the fresh air helping to clear his head. Eugene’s arms hugged him a little tighter, not constricting, but solid.

“Rapunzel?” he called down the shoreline, and his grip on Varian tightened marginally when the boy tensed up at the name. Varian shifted, moving to look down the sand. He blinked away the sunlight, noticing an approaching figure.

“Eugene,” Rapunzel’s voice filtered through the buzzing in his skull. “Varian! Thank the Sun, you’re okay!”

“We’re fine,” Eugene soothed. Rapunzel’s figure came closer, her hands lifting up towards Varian’s face only to stop when the boy flinched away. Varian began to squirm, pushing at Eugene until the man set him down on wobbly legs.

“Sure,” he sighed, “Fine. Let’s go with that.”

Rapunzel was pale, frazzled. Her arm was still covered in blood, ruby red; Varian shuddered at the sight of it. He stumbled a little when his feet hit the sand, boots sinking into the earth. Something in him felt almost numb. Cold.

“Is she still following you?” Rapunzel asked, clearly talking about Cerise. Eugene grimaced, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“She’s dead,” Varian said bluntly. Rapunzel blinked, rapid and confused, but when Eugene nodded, she turned her focus back to Varian. The alchemist refused to meet her eye, instead turning out to watch the waves.

“It was an accident.”

Eugene, ever the mediator. Varian slowly blinked as the waves continued to pound at the sand, pushing and pulling with the tide. The water rushed over the tips of his shoes before receding, a hypnotic ebb and flow. The numbness in him did the same, slowly washing over the remaining horror. The noise of his friends faded away, taken out with the tide. Little bubbles crept up from under his sinking boots; he wondered if he stood here long enough if he’d disappear completely beneath the waves.

“Varian?”

Varian looked up at his friends, finding them both looking at him. Eugene rolled his shoulders casually, before clapping his hands together.

“Well, goggles,” he said with a false cheer, “This is your circus, what’s the plan?”

Rapunzel’s face soured, but Varian elected to ignore it. She could be upset if she wanted; he knew what he had to do, with or without her. Varian pulled Aisha’s note from his pocket, looking down at it once more. He nodded once, more an assurance to himself than anything, before looking back to his friends. A tentative grin crossed his face, weak but obvious.

“We’re going to need a boat.”

>>>><<<<

When Arianna heard Merrick scream, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

The war room, the same one that had been in use by the Bayans since the start of this whole thing, echoed with the wail. All heads snapped towards the front of the table, Coronian and Bayan alike. Merrick’s lieutenants, a group of men and women about the same ages as Rapunzel and Eugene, all looked to their leader in concern as he doubled over, the scream ripped from his chest in animalistic agony.

Arianna watched in unsettled curiosity as Merrick dropped like a stone, his metal hand catching the edge of the wooden table. The two Bayans closest to their leader stood to help him, but stopped when the shriek cut off with a terrifying silence. All Arianna could see was Merrick’s metal limb clutching the table, the grip tightening with every second until the wood finally gave way. Metal claws sank into the softer surface before finally tearing a fistful of oak from the edge, as easy as one would a handful of snow.

She could hear clicking gears and whining steam- a spark of something fizzled through the air. Arianna didn’t seem to be the only one perturbed by the sudden change, everyone in the room holding their breath as Merrick pushed himself to his feet. The queen shuddered, forcing herself to maintain a blank look on her face even as a cold feeling sank into her stomach.

Merrick had gone pale, a sickening white pallor crossing his face with reckless abandon. His eyes were wide, bloodshot; his chest heaved as if he’d just run a marathon. He pressed both palms to the table, slumping over it with tenseness in both shoulder and spine.

There was a brief second of tense hesitation, no one in the room willing to make a move, until one lieutenant got brave.

“S-sir?” her voice shattered the silence, leaving the air oddly empty save for Merrick’s still heaving breaths. “Sir, are you alright?”

Merrick’s wild eyes snapped from the table up to her, the blonde woman shrinking in her chair at the manic grimace that crossed his face.

“Cer- the general,” his voice actually broke; the room’s atmosphere seemed to break with it. “She- I felt her-”

“Sir?”

Arianna watched that metal hand grab into the table again, Merrick sucking in a deep breath through his nose. He pushed himself upward again, forcing his gaze forward. Arianna noted, from her place to his left, that his eyes were strangely bloodshot and red. Almost like-

“Our general is dead,” he said bluntly, loud and strong and oh no, Arianna recognized that voice. She’d heard it from Fred, from Rapunzel, from Eugene, seven hells she’d even used it herself; it was the sound of someone trying to be strong in the face of tragedy. Someone pushing down tears to seem infallible to the people under their command. Arianna was grateful for the lieutenants all exploding into a cacophony of questions, demanding to know what he meant, the noise covering her own shock.

Merrick sucked in another breath, and held up his metal hand. The room went deadly silent.

“We can only assume she found the crow-” The words rang out, accusatory. Arianna caught a few of the Bayans flinch at that; one lieutenant covered his mouth with a hand. “-and that she wasn’t able to best all three of them.” Merrick paused then, swallowing thickly. “She is- was, a brilliant general. One of the best. She will be remembered in the light of the new Bayangor, just as any of us will be.”

Arianna felt sick- she couldn’t see her children murdering the woman, but Merrick certainly seemed convinced she was gone. The queen couldn’t help but think back to Varian, just a child, in a mechanical monster, grabbing at her, crushing her, blinded by rage-

“This meeting is over.” Merrick’s voice snapped her from the memories. “I… I have to think over our next steps.”

Arianna had never seen a room empty so quickly. One of the Bayans, the one who had asked when Merrick had fallen, took a second to approach her leader, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. Merrick caught her eye, nodding to her. She patted his shoulder once before leaving, shutting the door behind her.

The room was quiet, save for Merrick’s thick breaths. It was just Arianna, Frederick (or what was left of him in the obedient shell that he currently was), and the Bayan man who had done nothing but cause them misery. Once his underlings had left, Merrick slumped like a corpse, falling back into his chair without any of his usual bravado.

Everything was still.

Until it wasn’t.

Merrick began to shake his head, quietly mumbling to himself. He wiped at his face with hands on flesh and metal, pushing and pulling at his skin in rough movements. Arianna tried to ignore the small sliver of pity in her heart at the sight of tears in his eyes. Suddenly the person in front of her didn’t seem like a brutal separatist who had attacked her home and family- if Arianna didn’t know better, Merrick almost reminded her of Varian, right after he’d lost Quirin for a second time. A young man, barely into adulthood, in mourning.

The Bayan in the chair shuddered, his shoulders shaking with some kind of emotion. He brought his knees up to his chest, shrinking into himself- and he truly did seem small. Merrick brought a shaking hand- the human one- up into the air, quietly drawing the shape of some kind of rune into the air. Where his finger traced, he left a small flaming line, as if drawing with chalk on a board. When he was done, Merrick leaned back, curling tighter into the chair.

“S-show me,” his voice cracked with the command. The pity in Arianna’s gut began to grow at the absolutely devastated look on her enemy’s face. Merrick didn’t even seem to notice she and Frederic were still in the room with him, instead looking at the rune a little more intently. “Show me!” he snapped, waving his hand in a rough motion.

The rune gently spun in the air, flat like a disk, until an image began to appear in the very center. Arianna couldn’t help but feel fascinated by the casual show of magic; Corona had always been less inclined towards the arcane arts, so she couldn’t help but marvel at the spectacle.

The image solidified.

The first thing Arianna saw was Varian. Her heart stopped at the sight of him, bloodied and bruised and filthy but alive, a hand splayed out towards the viewer. Varian looked terrified, pale and wild. The image moved, almost like it was from the point of view from someone- Cerise, if Arianna were to take an educated guess- dropping down from what looked like a cliff.

Merrick watched with focused eyes, scanning the image as it ran through. Varian’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and the image began to shake and twist in a disorientating way. The last thing it showed was the rock face rushing past, a river drawing close at an alarming rate- Cerise was falling- before suddenly going black.

Merrick flinched when it did. The Bayan huddled tighter as they watched what must have been his sister’s final moments, from her eyes. He waved a hand again, reversing the images until they were back at the top of the cliff, Varian scrambling to safety and kicking at Cerise to keep her from grabbing him. Merrick made a growling noise when the boy’s boot slammed into her face, the vision snapping to the side with Cerise’s head.

Arianna focused mostly on her boy- Varian looked rough, and where was Rapunzel? And Eugene? The fact that it was just Varian holding his own made her concerned over her daughter and son in law, a wave of dread coming over her at only seeing one of her children safe-if-not-sound.

Merrick waved his hand again, pausing the image. He had stopped it on a view of Varian’s face, scrunched up in anger as he kicked at Cerise. Merrick stood from his chair, leaning forward.

“He killed her,” the Bayan breathed into the silence of the room. Arianna paused her own thoughts, turning attention to Merrick as he leaned closer and closer to the image of Varian’s face. Something furious took over his face, locking eyes with the still image of Varian. “He killed her.”

Arianna felt her heart stop.

Merrick leaned into the table again, palms down once more, but this time was different. Where before he had been shaking in misery, now… now it was very obviously rage. Arianna jumped as a nearby candle’s flame burst, the fire growing to five times its original size. A quick glace showed all the candles in the room growing, the flames rising towards the ceiling. Nearby, one of the bayan banners lit up as well. Arianna could feel the heat on her face, silently counting down until the moment she’d have to give up her ruse and run for her own safety.

The nearby hearth, once only embers, was spilling out from the stone, eating at the wooden mantle and floors, singing everything nearby. Merrick hunched over, jerky and uncoordinated, before letting out a guttural shout of pure, feral rage. He brought his arms up, swiping at the table in front of him and sending the contents scattering, papers, pens, and inkwells flying across the room.

The flames grew, wild and uncontrollable- like an animal prowling through the air. Merrick’s shout cut off into a snarl, the man slamming his hands onto the table with a loud BANG and the fire around them growing even higher. He seemed to be scanning the image of Varian, searching for something. His eye seemed to catch something, leaning closer.

“Oh,” his voice was deceptively small. “Oh, I see your game, crow.” He nodded to himself, and Arianna heaved a sigh of relief as the fires all puttered out, trails of smoke floating through the air.

Merrick pushed himself from the table, walking toward the door his lieutenants had left from. Though Arianna ached to follow, she kept herself still as he kicked the door open. She caught site of the Bayans, the group waiting outside. Merrick paused when he saw all of them waiting, but the queen watched the façade spring back up in the way he threw his arms wide.

“Time to pack your shit,” Merrick declared, “We’ve got our heading.” The Bayans cheered at the declaration. Merrick’s arms dropped, the man making his way from the room and into the hallway beyond. The meeting room was plunged into a silent darkness, the fires snuffed out and filling the space with hazy smoke. It was a false peace, like the eye of a hurricane.

Arianna couldn’t get her hands to stop shaking.

#Varian #Tangled the Series #fic #tts

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swamplatibule · 3 years

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Well since nobody asked me about Aurum Argentum I guess I just have to ramble huh (no offense to you guys you’re awesome)

No cuts this time we scroll like men

So this is like a fantasy world, there’s magic and the occasional dragon and also swords, those are cool.

Let’s start with Aurum, shall we?

He’s the king of the Isles (It’s fully called the Leranian Isles, but everyone just refers to it as “the Isles” because I said so). And also? He’s a bitch. Fuck this guy. He sucks. The way Aurum rules the Isles tends to fuck over the people who actually need help in favor of keeping the wealthy happy. Those who support him are pretty much blind to that, but anyone who would dare even say a word against him are quickly taken care of by the guard. So clearly he’s Not A Great Guy.

And on the other end, we have Argentum. He’s Aurum’s younger brother (though only by a year and a half, and that gap seems to be wayyyy smaller when everyone lives for about 1,000 years) and also on what could be called magical house arrest for the rest of his life! For trying to murder his brother! How that works is that there’s this house, and there’s an enchanted dome around it. Anyone other than Argentum can go in and out of it as they please - which will be important later - but for him it’s just this invisible, indestructible wall.

Almost nobody goes near his house. Everyone on the Isles has been told that he’s insane, a complete madman, and would kill them in seconds if they were to step foot through the barrier. The frequent explosion noises coming from that direction don’t really deter that belief (He’s just a very talented alchemist, and also does a lot of experiments because there isn’t really a whole lot else to do). To be honest, Argentum would be very lonely in his lil house if it weren’t for the three different pled who actually talk to him.

Also, you’ll notice - Aurum and Argentum. Gold and Silver. Argentum’s always been second best, and I feel like the names highlight something about the two’s childhood that I can’t really name.

Anyway. Back to the three people.

First we have Adelio. He’s Aurum’s kid, but basically lives with his cool uncle because his dad sucks. Adelio walks with a pretty heavy limp that he’s had since he was born, and he usually walks with a cane. Aurum, however, would rather him use an illusion spell or something and walk without the cane so he didn’t appear weak to the public. And he knows full fucking well that it would hurt Adelio to walk like that, but he cares more about appearance. That’s the first of a long list of abuse.

Adelio went to check on Argentum’s house one day, just out of curiosity, and realized two things. One, his uncle is definitely not crazy, and is actually pretty cool and wayyy less of an asshole than his dad. Two, the man is really fucking bad at taking care of himself. He’ll go for a full week without eating anything because he has quote unquote “more important things to do”. So Adelio just decided that someone’s gotta remind Argentum to take care of himself (And also he just wanted to spend more time with his cool uncle) and started hanging around his house more.

Argentum didn‘t fully appreciate it at first, but Adelio grew on him. They care for each other, and the kid basically lives with him now. It’s... 🥺 I love them.

Aight forget that now it’s time for DUN DUN DUNNNNN Taffeta Vince! She’s... *sigh* where the fuck do I start? Taffeta is a thief-assassin combo, with a questionable moral compass and possibly more questionable number of knives on her at all times. She’s quite possibly the most wanted thief in the Isles, but most people are terrified of her and so they leave her alone. Taff is extremely sassy and chaotic and flirty and she will either kiss you or tear out your throat in seconds. Or both, in that order. You have been warned.

She met Argentum (who I will be calling “Gen” from now on because that’s his actual nickname anyway) wayyyyy before her reputation was as good as it is now. She was a beginner thief, got caught and had to run from a few guards, and went straight towards Gen’s house, not knowing who it belonged to. The guards abandoned the chase, figuring that she had basically just rung the underworld‘s doorbell and they didn’t feel like following. She broke in through a window and chilled in that room for maybe half an hour, until Gen came upstairs and found this heavily injured woman just vibing in his attic without any context.

So that’s how they met.

Shiv is Taffeta’s brother, though they were separated for a very long time and only met again and figured out they were siblings about 50 years ago. He’s a hired mercenary, and also a complete himbo sweetheart who I would murder everyone on this planet for. Very skilled with a bow. He met Gen and Lio through Taffeta, so here’s how he met her-

Long story short, he got hired to kill her. And then heard what her name was and decided to look into it. The two were twins, separated at birth, and Shiv never actually knew what his real name was. He was named by the Random Mercenary Dude who found him (that’s why he has an angsty-ass name) and took care of him. He did, however, know Taffeta’s name, because it was in a letter that was left with him. For some reason, Shiv’s name wasn’t in the letter. Just roll with it.

Taffeta knew she had a brother once, but she didn’t know his name. So when this guy, very bounty-hunter-looking, approaches her and asks for her by name, her first instinct is to attack. And so they’re just fighting and they figure out who the other is and I haven’t worked out the whole thing but it’s FINE i’ll figure it out.

Anyway so there’s Gen with his three friends, and OH YEAH! THIS MOTHERFUCKER!

Let’s talk about Cray Girani for a second.

He’s the captain of Aurum’s guard (Which is called the Gilded Guard, by the way) and also Taffeta’s nemesis. The times there two have clashed? Immeasurable. They’ve both given each other a number of scars and bruises, though Taffeta always gets away. It’s gotten to the point where he’s almost directly hunting her, because of all the shit she’s caused him.

He’s very cold, angery boi, calculating and sharp and doesn’t waste time on being nice. Cray is very commanding and a good leader, definitely, but he’s... there’s some shit going on with him. The man has issues. Maybe he’ll get a redemption arc, but who knows.

And there you go! Just two hours of typing nonstop! Wonderful! Anyway my asks are still open if you wanna know anything about these six~

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robbyrobinson · 4 years

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OWL HOUSE X CTHULHU MYTHOS (XVI)

The next thing Eda, Lilith, and King knew, they were being escorted into the dungeon whilst still being stronghold by a few of the imperial guards. Nyarlathotep walked in front of them, humming some tune to himself. Once more, he was in his Black Pharaoh form. He turned to look at the prisoners with a half-amused smile. “Be sure to make yourselves at home.”

At the entrance of the dungeon with its large, heavy iron casing, stood Warden Wrath. He gave a slight bow towards the Crawling Chaos to which Nyarlathotep responded to with a wave of his hand. “At ease, Wrath.”

Wrath examined the prisoners. His yellow button-like lens of his mask lit up. “Eda, the Owl Lady! We meet again.”

Eda groaned in irritation. “Oh, Titan, not him.”

Nyarlathotep smirked and tried to stifle a laugh. “I take it that you know this woman?”

“Yes, my lord; the Owl Lady was the one that always escaped my clutches! Yet for as much as I desired her, she always rejected my advances.”

He walked up to Eda and morphed his hand into a bouquet of flowers. He held it in front of Eda’s face. “Perhaps now that there is no escape, you could change your mind?”

Before Eda could reply, Nyarlathotep broke the two up. While his smile was still visible on his face, he tapped his finger against the side of a wall. The sound of his finger echoed through the walls in a dry, hollow thrust. Warden Wrath immediately backed away. Nyarlathotep’s glare never faltered.

“The human girl is essential in my plans; what would you think would happen if she knew that you laid a finger on her mentor? Need I remind you of the punishment that could transpire for your insolence?”

Warden Wrath held his hands up. “Yes, my lord. Forgive me.”

“You are forgiven; now show the three guests to their room.”

Warden Wrath and the guards took the prisoners and tossed them into a glass cage. Once all three were in, the bindings that were placed on their limbs were removed. When the last guard exited the cage, the door was sealed shut with a wave of the guard’s finger. Nyarlathotep took a chair and propped it down to sit on it. His smile widening to the point of wrapping around the sides of his head, he crossed his leg and held a cup. Almost on cue, another guard arrived on the scene and poured a liquid into it. Nyarlathotep grasped the head of the cup and brought it to his lips.

“What is your game, Nyarlathotep?” Eda asked.

The glass clicked against the Crawling Chaos’ teeth. He brought the cup down and sighed. “I really love this apple blood you witches brew; maybe moreso than the typical games I engineer.”

“What are you planning on doing to us?” King said.

“You are all much too valuable to threaten,” Nyarlathotep stated, “it’s really the most mundane of gambits, but I am keeping you all hostage for as long as I like.”

Eda knelt down and clasped some of the shackles. She then made an unprovoked dash towards the glass. The cuffs slammed against the cage. Instead of doing what she had hoped, sparks of white lightning struck her and propelled her back to the ground. The walls jiggled from the magic that composed them. Once the gelatinous walls settled down, the cage regained its still composure. Eda tried it again only to be met with the same result.

“What is this?” Lilith inquired. She casually poked her finger on the wall only to draw it back when a surge of lightning shocked her. She clutched her other hand over that one.

“It is a wall that was created by some alchemist using some of my dark magic,” Nyarlathotep explained. “Any normal magic you witches could dish out will only bounce off it. It has the additional benefit of absorbing the magic and blows of other people making it three times as strong as it initially was.”

“That can’t be true,” Eda denied, “every cage can be broken...just takes effort.”

Nyarlathotep got up from his chair and rubbed his chin. “It isn’t like you can do much; I sense that your magic bile sac is faulty.”

“For your explanation, if you must know that I ended up using it in order to save Luz.”

Lilith looked down at the floor. She really wished that she could forget driving her sister to that point, but what was done was done. There was little inconceivable way that Eda would be able to perform magic again through the biological way.

“Even if you and your sister, hypothetically speaking of course, transform into your beastly forms, that will not be enough to free you from that cage. Unless...”

Eda’s eyebrow arched. “Unless what?”

“You and your sister can always align yourself with me; I can remove your curses if you so please.”

Eda turned her head in disgust. “Forget it; I am not going to agree to that deal especially because your little pet project lied to my sister about promising to remove my curse.”

“Of course, he was unable to remove it; he represents only a sliver of my power. If he was able to cure anyone of their ailment, it would only be a temporary fix for a temporary situation. But once I have the Necronomicon in my possession, I can remove your little curse if in return you become my acolytes.”

“I said no, Nyarlathotep. I will not spend the remainder of my days serving you until the Boiling Isles crumbles away.”

Nyarlathotep sighed in disappointment. “Very well then; I may as well should just leave you condemned to your tragic fate.”

The Black Pharaoh snapped his fingers not taking his eyes off the cage. In walked in Kikimora with a plate in her hand. On it was a silver cloche to conceal the contents within. She made a slight bowing gesture to Nyarlathotep and directed one of the guards to create a hole big enough to slide the plate into it.

“What are you doing now?” Lilith asked in confusion.

King grabbed the cloche and pulled it away. Underneath the plate were three sandwiches comprised of peanut butter and jelly. The crust of the bread was cut away leaving only the whiteness of the loaves. The three eyed the sandwiches suspiciously before directing their attention back to Nyarlathotep. He sat back down and drank more apple blood from his cup.

“You may want to eat that,” he said.

“You can go to Hell for all we care,” Eda declared.

“Hell? Aw that’s cute,” said Nyarlathotep in a chuckle. “But I do insist on eating those sandwiches; it could may as well be the last time that you eat something in your life.”

“You likely laced them with some...alien drug,” Eda said, “we do not want anything to do with your sandwich or you.”

Nyarlathotep shrugged. “No skin off my back then; the clock is ticking.”

He waved his index finger back and forth as a visual metaphor. “The Day of Unity is just about to take wing.”

“You always say things on Day of Unity this; Day of Unity that. What exactly are you detailing?” Eda asked aloud.

“It comes in two forms: first, my servant, Belos, wanted me to specifically destroy the Earth for his cause. I will admit that while I hate the idea of him gaining free will away from my control, he did keep the Isles nice and tidy while I was on temporary leave. I will do such once I regain my full power.”

Eda tensed up. Her blood ran cold; shivers went up her spine. “Why does he want that?”

“It is a very interesting story he told me: the reason he hates the Earth so much has to do with him being a temporary parent of sorts.”

Eda sat down with her sister and King. “A parent? Belos?”

She turned to look at Lilith. Lilith shrugged her shoulders expressing the same confusion that her younger sister was showing. “Belos never mentioned having any children.”

Nyarlathotep laughed. “I would suspect not; one day, some human girl found herself wondering in the Boiling Isles along with scraps of metal and other things coming from the human realm.”

“There were more portal keys out there?” Eda asked.

“I am certain that there were at least a few keys aside from the one that you had in your possession; whatever means she came here, Belos saw some potential in raising the child as a mentor. The child was always kept away in the deeper parts of his kingdom where he bestowed some of his power to her whilst keeping her being a human a top secret. The old man taught her every kind of magic there was under some belief that she would likely continue in his footsteps.”

King was ripping his teeth into one of the PB&J sandwiches and shoveling large chunks into his mouth. “Wvell, hwhat rappened?”

“She started to realize the corruption he was poisoning the Boiling Isles with, and she fought against him. Before she vanished, she left Belos in such a bloodied, beaten state, he swore to have his vengeance. From the way he described the beating he was delivered, Belos can now barely hold it together. Give or take a year and a half, I am quite certain that he would be shuffling off the mortal coil soon. With no heir to succeed him, this may as well spell the end of the coven system.”

The three prisoners looked at each other whilst mentally trying to figure out what human girl would have even dreamed of defeating Belos and leaving him in a near-death state for the rest of his rule.

Luz and Amity were arriving to Earth at a skyrocketing speed, the pressure of the air around them smacking into them. The brown rat was already further down and using the streams of cloud as a surfboard. Hypnos was following closely behind. Unlike the two girls who flailed their arms against the winds, Hypnos gracefully floated through the mist, his arms pinned squarely on his sides.

“No fair, how can you do this?” Luz asked.

“Tons of experience, and...lots of drugs,” Hypnos bluntly stated.

“Oh.”

The two turned back to glaring at the brown rat. “I have the tiniest inkling of where he is going.”

“Where?” Amity asked.

“Let me confiscate the rat, and you can find me then,” Hypnos stated.

Hypnos’ astral body curved in the air and jetted down like a heat-seeking missile. It was now just Amity and Luz plunging towards the Earth. Amity’s eyes were open in small squints. The pressure bounced off her eyes shifting them behind the back of her head. She grabbed onto Luz’s hand for dear life hoping that with her combined strength, they could slow down the speed with which they were free falling.

She looked up at the sky seeing the portal that they had just leaped from. She could hardly believe it: she was now in another realm filled with alien tech her little mind couldn’t even bear to understand. Naturally, she knew that the Earth existed because Luz was a denizen of that world. But never in her imagination or calculations could have prepared her to the implication of a multiverse. The scenarios were limitless: in one, Amity could have been the one who was not born with magic whereas Luz was. She could likely be some other species on another world with a completely different personality. Perhaps there was one where she and Luz..she couldn’t finish that thought due to her feeling the warmness of her cheeks.

“Amity, is the motion sickness making you sick?” Luz asked.

Amity shook her head to keep her thoughts at bay. “Oh...no. No, I’m fine.”

She yelped when Luz placed her forehead onto hers. “Are you sure, Amity? Your head feels warm.”

“Pfft...I’m fine, hahahaha...who’s Amity?”

Amity’s oddness aside, Luz shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, we should probably brace ourselves.”

She pointed to the ground which was now within reach. “Makes me wish Hypnos considered giving us parachutes.”

Amity was confused. “Par-A-what now?”

“Whatever, get ready...set....”

Luz wrapped her arms around the witch girl’s waist. The pupils in Amity’s eyes shrunk. “L-Luz!?”

Before she could say anything, the air tightened around the two as they faced the full brunt of the fall.

#owl house #the owl house #cthulhu mythos #mythos #cthulhu #cthulhumythos #fanfiction #owlhouse #owl house fanfiction

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hersheyotaku · 5 years

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Cloaked Feelings

Fandom: Tangled Characters: Varian, Ruddiger, Rapunzel Pairings: One-sided Varipunzel, heavily implied New Dream Tags: post series, before wedding, minor fluff, minor angst, unrequited love, pining, Varian being a dork, also starring Eugene’s face

Summary: Stumbling across the shapeshifting cloak was a complete accident. But with a bright and inquisitive mind like his, Varian can’t help but want to study it. However, a case of mistaken identity soon forces him to choose between doing what’s right…or falling further into a tangled web of deception and selfish impulses.

Read on Ao3 here

“Ruddiger!” Varian called in exasperation. “Get out of there! You can eat your apples after we finish sorting through this stuff.”

With a grumbling chitter, the pudgy raccoon abandoned the bucket of apples he’d been rooting through and ambled over to where Varian was sitting cross-legged on the floor. The young alchemist gave his friend a quick scratch behind the ear before nodding his head at a nearby basket, and the raccoon dutifully clambered up the side and disappeared over the rim.

Satisfied that Ruddiger was doing his part, Varian went back to rifling through his own box, which was filled with an assortment of unclaimed goods that had been salvaged from the wreckage of Corona a few months back.

Rapunzel had told him that since no one had come forward to claim any of the items, he was free to sift through and see if there was anything he could use for his experiments. He may be a fully-funded royal engineer now, but he still had personal projects that he liked to work on.

Besides, he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt! Back in Old Corona, he and Ruddiger had spent many days together digging through scrap piles for hidden treasures, though Ruddiger was usually more interested in gobbling down the remains of someone’s half-eaten sandwich than extracting metal bedsprings from a mattress to be melted down later.

Lance had helped him haul half a dozen boxes and baskets full of odds and ends down to his lab in the basement of the castle, but he’d paid the price for the help by spending the next half-hour cleaning up the minor explosion the larger man had caused during the five minutes he’d spent in the lab, touching everything Varian told him not to. Once the exasperated alchemist had contained the globulous purple fire and sent Lance on his way, he had finally been able to start sorting his haul.

Varian had just dropped a dented pocket watch into his pile of useful objects when he heard a hissing sound from Ruddiger’s basket. Brow furrowed, he stood and leaned forward to peer inside.

An orange tabby cat lunged out at him, and Varian let out a startled yelp. “Gah! What the—?!” He ducked his head as the strange cat clawed its way up his vest and curled around his shoulders. Where had it come from?! And where was Ruddiger? Grabbing the edge of the basket, he tipped it towards him, searching for his friend.

“Ruddiger?” he asked, then winced when the cat yowled right into his ear. He reached up to grab it, but instead of fur he got a fistful of fabric. Baffled, he pulled at the material, and in a shower of sparkling light a dark piece of cloth slid off of the cat and revealed Ruddiger instead.

They stared at each for a moment, then both of their gazes darted down to the cloth hanging from the alchemist’s hand. What…had just happened?

—

To Varian’s utter astonishment, he discovered that the large piece of cloth was actually a cloak. A hooded cloak with a chameleon-shaped brooch that could change a person’s physical features and was apparently controlled by neural oscillation or…something close to it. Essentially—as he’d had to explain to Ruddiger when the raccoon had tilted his furry head in confusion—you think of the person you want to look like, and boom! Instant change! And just as astounding, the cloak itself shifted into whatever outfit the wearer willed it to, making it the perfect disguise!

Remarkably, the cloak wasn’t simply bending light to create an illusion; it changed the physiological structure of whoever was wearing it. While experimenting, Varian had shifted to look like Quirin, and his head had collided with a high shelf that normally wouldn’t have posed a risk. Aside from the forming bump on his forehead, it was an exciting discovery!

He’d also found that the cloak only functioned correctly if the brooch was attached. Separated, the two items lost their transformative properties, and even when Varian tried attaching the brooch to other materials, it never yielded any results. But if he could find a way to replicate the materials, the scientific possibilities could be endless!

To that end, he’d laid the cloak out on a workbench that he’d hastily cleared of beakers and books. One corner of the fabric lay under the lens of a microscope, while the chameleon brooch floated in a beaker of chemical solution that Varian planned to test to see what properties it contained. He also had a few stray pieces of thread from the cloak floating in their own solution. He was going to find out exactly what these things were made of!

Plucking the brooch from the solution with a pair of sterilized tweezers, he carefully cleaned it before reattaching it to the cloak. Then he took the two chemical compounds and poured them into labelled test tubes. Since the day he’d tried to test Rapunzel’s hair, he’d improved on the process and come up with an alternate method in the form of a chemical solution that could analyze the composition and properties of whatever he soaked in it.

Once he’d placed the test tubes into the chamber of a small centrifuge machine of his own design and set it to run, the teen alchemist placed his hands on his hips and took a step back, letting out a satisfied huff. That should do it!

But it would be a few hours until the results were ready, so now he had some time to kill.

Glancing around his lab, his eyes landed on his bookmarked copy of Flynn Rider and the Cursed Isle of Sairaag. He grinned. He knew just how to pass the time.

—

“Ha! You think a few scurvy pirates can stop the great Flynn Rider?” Varian goaded his invisible foe, brandishing his prototype electromagnetic sword. Wearing the face of one Eugene Fitzherbert, he swiped at the rubber ball that came flying towards him, envisioning it as a savage pirate charging him at the command of the Dread Pirate Ruby-Eyed Rick.

While Eugene might not be the Flynn Rider from The Tales of Flynnigan Rider, his was still the face Varian associated with his favorite fictional character. And with the help of one totally non-magical cloak, he now had the chance to be his childhood hero!

“Is that the best you’ve got, you flea-bitten rapscallion?” he taunted, hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation of the next round.

Dropping the ball he’d been about to load into the Varian’s homemade launching machine, Ruddiger gave an indignant chitter and planted his paws on his sides.

“No, Ruddiger—I know you don’t actually have fleas,” Varian reassured his friend with a touch of exasperation. “It’s just a line from the book!”

Ruddiger didn’t seem entirely convinced, but nonetheless, he picked up the ball and dropped it into the machine.

“Ha-ha!” Varian crowed triumphantly as he cut through the projectile. “Give it up, Ruby Eye! Your two-bit lackeys are no match for—”

He froze at the sound of the door creaking open. Shoot, he hadn’t been expecting anyone!

“Hey Varian, have you seen—oh there you are, Eugene!” Rapunzel stepped into the lab, a wide grin on her freckled features.

“O-oh, no, I’m not—” Varian stammered, his cheeks flushing at being caught in what was essentially an elaborate game of make-believe. Why did he have to give in to his childish impulses without locking the door first? And why did it have to be Rapunzel of all people to catch him?

But apparently Rapunzel had drawn a completely different conclusion, and she let out a light laugh as she approached him. “Were you playing with Varian’s inventions again?” She took the sword from his hand and placed it on the nearest table. “You know how he feels about people touching his stuff. Remember how you crashed his Flynnoleum-powered cart into the city fountain?”

Wait, that had been Eugene?! Varian knew he hadn’t forgotten to set the emergency brake when he’d—

The alchemist was jolted from his thoughts when Rapunzel gave his nose a light tap. “Don’t worry!” she told him, before leaning in close and whispering conspiratorially, “I don’t think Varian has it out for you the same way he does for Lance.”

With Rapunzel so close, her large emerald eyes and cute freckled nose mere inches from his own, Varian was finding it extremely hard to articulate any of the thoughts tumbling around in his head, and that gave the princess time to move on to the very reason she’d come looking for Eugene.

“Now, who’s ready for our date~?” she practically sang, bouncing on her heels.

“Date?” Varian echoed, before realization dawned on him and he held up his hands in alarm. “Rapunzel, I’m not—”

“Oh very funny, Eugene,” Rapunzel smirked. Then her fingers curled into the material of his shirt to pull him down—a foreign feeling for the normally short-statured teen—and she pressed a kiss to his mouth.

Time ground to a complete standstill for Varian, his every sense zeroing in on the feeling of Rapunzel’s soft lips pressing against his own. She—she was kissing him!

Then her lips began to move against his, and Varian couldn’t help himself.

He kissed her back.

He had no idea how long the kiss lasted—it felt like an eternity and a split second all rolled into one—before Rapunzel pulled away with that shining smile of hers.

As Varian slowly came back to his senses, he realized that his arms had wound around the princess and pulled her into a tight embrace. But it was unlike any embrace they’d ever shared before. It was intimate, and Varian could feel a hot flush creeping up his back and neck as his heart pounded fiercely, keenly aware of the feel of Rapunzel’s body pressed against his.

He wasn’t given too much more time to think about it before Rapunzel expertly twirled out of his hold and grabbed his hand. “C’mon, let’s go! We don’t want to miss the sunset!”

Before Varian could ask ‘what sunset?’ he was being pulled towards the door.

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he caught sight of Ruddiger watching from atop his workbench. ‘Help!’ he mouthed to the raccoon. Ruddiger tipped his head, seeming to consider the idea before giving him a toothy grin and curling his small raccoon hands into double thumbs up.

What…that little traitor! Varian didn’t even have time to glare at the raccoon before Rapunzel towed him down the hall, chatting excitedly about their date.

Now, Varian’s first instinct was to protest and tell her he wasn’t Eugene and that she was mistaken. But the fresh memory of what had just transpired between them kept his lips sealed as his pulse thundered in his burning ears.

He couldn’t let her know that he wasn’t Eugene now! What would she think if she found out she’d kissed him and…oh geez, he’d kissed her back! If he hadn’t been an idiot and gotten swept away in the moment he could probably play this all off as the huge misunderstanding it was.

But he had kissed her back and even wrapped his arms around her, which had just prolonged it. There was no explaining that away! She’d find out—she’d know how he…how he felt about her, and then what would happen? She was engaged! To Eugene! One of his best friends!

If Varian’s hands had been free he would have tangled them in his hair in frustration. What was he gonna do? The kiss had been wonderful, everything he’d ever imagined it could be, but he couldn’t let Rapunzel find out!

The best thing he could do now was escape before things got out of hand.

“Oh hey, um…s-sunshine?” The nickname tasted foreign on his tongue. He was so used to calling her Rapunzel or princess, but Eugene usually reserved the first for more serious occasions and never used the second. This was going to be tricky.

“Hm?” Rapunzel glanced back at him curiously.

“Uh, I forgot that I had a…a thing that I need to do. Y’know, captain of the guard stuff and…uh…” Varian trailed off as Rapunzel’s face fell, his chest constricting uncomfortably.

“Oh…does that mean we have to cancel our date?” Her large green eyes stared into his sadly, and suddenly Varian felt very small, despite his magically-enhanced height. Well…it wasn’t like one little date would hurt anything. It would make Rapunzel happy and—if he was honest—the idea of actually going on a date with her was pretty thrilling.

“No,” he finally said, giving her a lop-sided grin. “It can wait.”

The beaming smile that lit Rapunzel’s face effectively washed away all of Varian’s doubts about his decision, and he willingly allowed himself to be whisked down the hall.

—

Varian glanced around the docks uneasily, his doubts resurfacing now that they were actually here. Eugene had apparently made arrangements for a romantic sunset boat ride, which made the teen alchemist wonder where the real Eugene was. Shouldn’t he be here if he was the one who set up this date?

Rapunzel hopped down into the boat and held out an inviting hand. “Ready?” she asked, her smile drawing Varian in like a moth to a flame.

Well, the fact of the matter was that Eugene wasn’t here. And someone had to take Rapunzel on this date! “You bet!” he said, taking her hand and joining her. She untied the mooring rope while he grabbed the oars, and soon they were headed out towards the open water.

They found a spot where Rapunzel insisted they would have the absolute best view of the sunset. Already the darkening sky was turning a dusky pink, and Varian had to admit that it was probably going to be a spectacular view when the sun dipped below the horizon.

But until that happened…he had no clue what he was supposed to do. What were they going to talk about? What did she and Eugene talk about when they were alone like this?

Fortunately for him Rapunzel was a take-charge kind of girl, and she was all too happy to snuggle right up into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she sighed, gazing up at the pink and purple streaks coloring the sky.

A response popped into Varian’s head and, emboldened by his concealed identity, he decided to voice it.

“Not as beautiful as you.” Then he held his breath, not knowing how she would respond. Was that too cheesy? Too forward? Too out of character?

Rapunzel pulled away from his shoulder, and Varian felt his heart jump into his throat. He’d messed up, he’d definitely messed up! Slowly turning his head, he was shocked to see Rapunzel looking at him with a soft smile, her cheeks lightly tinted pink. “Aw, that is so sweet!” she cooed, and this time Varian’s heart skipped a beat for an entirely different reason.

With his confidence boosted and nerves soothed by Rapunzel’s positive response, Varian committed himself to the task of enjoying his time with the bubbly princess.

Amidst amiable chatter, he gave her compliments, enjoying how she’d flush with happiness. He took her hands and softly rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, brushed her hair back from her face, gently pressed his forehead to hers. No matter how small, each touch was absolutely electrifying to him, charged with an emotion that Varian could only describe as…well, love.

This was a side of Rapunzel that only Eugene got to experience, and while it wasn’t like the couple hid their affection in front of others, there was just something about being the direct recipient of Rapunzel’s coy looks—how she would bite her bottom lip while looking at him from beneath her thick eyelashes—that stole his breath and made his stomach do somersaults.

He relished each small romantic gesture—both given and taken—that he’d otherwise never dare to indulge in, and committed each and every one to memory.

This was both the best and worst idea he’d ever had.

Then Rapunzel leaned in, her eyes slipping closed, and Varian’s heart beat a million miles a minute. It was happening! She was going to kiss him again!

Varian was no stranger to physical affection from Rapunzel. She was the type to give out hugs like candy, and she had no qualms about holding hands with Varian or even snuggling up to him if they were sitting next to each other. But it was always platonic in nature, and while Varian enjoyed it, he hadn’t realized how different those innocent gestures of affection were compared to what Rapunzel shared with Eugene. Even if it was the exact same physical action, it was the emotion and intent behind it that made it special.

And none of it was truly intended for him.

Then her lips were on his, and Varian allowed himself to forget that crucial little detail and be swept away. One hand tangled itself in her hair while the other settled at the small of her back, pulling her closer. He could feel the light pressure of her hand on his chest, and the sensation of her thumb brushing along his jaw sent a delightful jolt up his spine.

By the time Rapunzel pulled back, Varian’s head was buzzing pleasantly and he felt lighter than air, like he could just float away on the slightest breeze.

“Th-that was great, thanks…” he mumbled dazedly, a goofy grin on his face.

Rapunzel giggled at his dazed expression. Then she tipped her head to the side, studying him. “Y’know, you’ve been acting a bit funny, Eugene. Is something wrong?”

Panic sliced through Varian’s euphoria, and he quickly shook his head. “N-no! Of course not! Why would—why would something be wrong? Nope, ev-everything’s cool, we’re cool!” Chuckling nervously, he made to lean on the side of the boat, but his elbow missed and he nearly tumbled into the water.

“Woah!” Rapunzel exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and yanking him back before he could fall overboard. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Should we head back?”

Varian took a second to calm his rapidly beating heart, which felt like it was about to pound his ribs to dust. “I-I guess maybe that would be a good idea,” he conceded reluctantly, almost shakily. As much as he was enjoying spending time out here with Rapunzel like this, on an actual date, he was also painfully aware of what a charade it was. And the longer it continued, the more likely he’d be found out.

Taking both of his hands in hers, Rapunzel locked eyes with him, gazing at him so intently that Varian’s previous attempt to calm his heart became an effort in futility. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Completely entranced by her soft tone and those vivid green eyes filled with understanding and concern, Varian’s mouth automatically opened to confide in her. But at the last second he caught himself and snapped it shut.

He loved her. He’d loved her since the day she’d offered him forgiveness and the chance of redemption, from the moment she’d refused to let him kill himself to clean up the mess he’d made. But he couldn’t tell her that, and he couldn’t tell her that he’d selfishly taken advantage of her to see how it would feel if…if she returned his feelings.

But it was a pale imitation. She thought she was with Eugene, not him.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Varian gave her a weak smile. This was something he couldn’t share even with her.

So instead, he told her, “I think I might’ve had some…bad fish for lunch. Didn’t um…taste right, y’know?”

Sighing, he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. Maybe it was wrong, and she certainly wouldn’t know the true meaning behind his words, but this might be the only opportunity he had to tell her without potentially ruining their friendship.

“I love you, Rapunzel,” he told her gently, combing his fingers through her soft brown hair reverently.

Rapunzel’s eyes lit with a warmth that made Varian’s heart ache, and she reached up to rest her hand on his cheek in turn. “And I love you, Eugene.”

It felt like she’d slapped him. Even with her tender touch, and even when she leaned in and pressed her mouth to his once more, Varian felt the sharp ache of Eugene’s name on her lips. He hadn’t even been expecting anything, he’d just wanted to finally tell her, but…it was too much.

The feeling of something warm and wet sliding down his cheek made Varian’s eyes snap open. To his horror, he realized that his vision was swimming. No, he couldn’t cry, Eugene wouldn’t cry!

Breaking the kiss, he was thankful that Rapunzel’s eyes were closed as he swiped his sleeve across his face. What was he doing, he’d known all along that he had no place with Rapunzel. Not like Eugene did.

“Eugene?” she asked, utterly confused when she opened her eyes to the sight of her fiancé vehemently swiping at his eyes with his sleeve.

“All-allergies” was his weak excuse. Leaning down, he picked up the oars and attempted a reassuring smile. “Let’s head back, we can…we can do this again some other time. When there’s less…pollen.”

A lie. She would do this again with Eugene, but not him.

Varian could tell that Rapunzel suspected something was off, judging by the concerned looks she kept shooting him as he rowed them back to shore. So he did his best to buck up and make light small talk, for her sake. He didn’t want her to worry…or to question Eugene about it later.

That thought sent a jolt of horrified realization down his spine. Eugene. There was no way Rapunzel wouldn’t mention the date to him later, probably to ask what he’d been hiding from her. Stupid stupid stupid! They were going to find out!

It took a lot of effort to not let his panic show as he helped Rapunzel out of the boat, a wide smile plastered onto his face that probably looked a bit manic, if Rapunzel’s raised brow was any indication. “Eugene…maybe you should go see a doctor?”

“No!” Varian exclaimed hastily, before clearing his throat. “It’s just that I uh…I need to…need to go.” He stood there for a brief moment, his overly wide smile still in place. Then he ducked away and booked it down the street.

“Wha—Eugene!” Rapunzel exclaimed in surprise, reaching after him. “Where are you going?!”

Somewhere he could take off this stupid cloak and try to figure out a way to salvage this whole situation! But Varian thought back to his ‘bad fish’ excuse and decided to roll with that. “Bathroom!” he shouted back.

As he disappeared around the corner of a building, Rapunzel’s hand slowly lowered. Well that was…weird.

—

Back in the relative safety of his lab, Varian took a moment to lean against the door and catch his breath. Initially he’d wanted nothing more than to rip off the cloak as soon as he was out of Rapunzel’s sight, but had thought better of it. He couldn’t risk someone seeing him go into a building as Eugene and come out as himself, especially while carrying such an incriminating piece of evidence.

So instead, the citizens of Corona got to witness their illustrious captain of the guard tearing through the streets like his tail was on fire. Which…really wasn’t all that rare of an occurrence, but still.

Varian grabbed the cloth at his shoulder and pulled the cloak off, his body returning to normal in a sparkling flash of light. With a heaving sigh, he ran his fingers through his bangs. He had a lot to think about.

Dragging the cloak with him, he sat down at his desk and let his head fall on top of the scattered blueprints and schematics with a thunk.

On the one hand, he’d never imagined he’d get the chance to be with Rapunzel like that, and it had been amazing. But any joy he might derive from the memory was tainted by his gnawing guilt at the false pretense those stolen moments had been under. And he still had to figure out what he was going to do when Rapunzel inevitably talked to Eugene…

A knock at the door nearly made Varian jump out of his skin, and he frantically stuffed the cloak under his desk, kicking it against the wall and nearly tripping as he scrambled from his seat. He’d locked the door this time, but it’d be suspicious if it took him too long to answer it.

“C-coming!” he called, heart pounding as he undid the lock and cracked open the door.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of Varian’s neck when he saw who it was.

“Rapunzel?” he squeaked, before clearing his throat and opening the door fully. “I mean uh, h-hi!”

“Hi Varian!” she grinned, then tilted her head as she took in his frazzled appearance. “Are you…busy?”

“Busy…um, no!” Varian stepped back and gestured for her to come inside, making a valiant effort to keep his hand from shaking as she moved past him. “What—” He paused, wetting his suddenly dry lips as he struggled to maintain eye contact. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you something.” The princess twirled a strand of brunette hair in front of her ear while Varian held his breath, dreading her next words. “Earlier, I went on a date with Eugene and…he was acting kind of funny.”

Varian’s mouth went completely dry. She knew.

“But,” Rapunzel continued, clearly not reading into Varian’s wide-eyed expression. “it turns out he was just having indigestion from eating some bad fish for lunch.”

Varian’s fight or flight instinct had been about to kick into overdrive, but just like that it vanished, leaving him somewhat numb as he tried to comprehend this turn of events. “…what?”

“Yeah, I think he came here earlier to see if you could help him, but you weren’t around and I might have dragged him off before he could get something to fix it,” Rapunzel explained sheepishly. “So I was wondering…do you have anything that could help with an upset stomach?”

Varian blinked. “Upset stomach?” he echoed. That’s why she was here? Not to force him to give her an explanation for his actions, or chew him out for tricking her, or kick him out of the castle? “Uh I…don’t really do much with medicine, though I could probably whip something up if you need me to.”

It’d have to be something with no potency whatsoever, since he doubted Eugene—wherever he was—had actually had bad fish for lunch.

Rapunzel’s smile was dazzling. “Oh, thank you, Varian!” she said, grabbing his hand and giving it a quick squeeze that made the young alchemist’s heart flutter. Then she was out the door, giving him a lighthearted wave. “I’ll be back once I find where Eugene went!” And she was gone.

Varian slowly let out the breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding as he closed the door behind her. He meandered over to the cabinet where he kept his alchemical supplies, absentmindedly plucking a few colorful vials before moving to his workbench.

So he hadn’t been found out. And really, if nobody knew he had the cloak, they couldn’t possibly pin him as the fake Eugene, even if Eugene and Rapunzel did talk. But the thought of Rapunzel worrying about who the stranger in the boat had been, touching her, kissing her—Varian didn’t want to imagine the distress that would cause her.

…should he come clean? Before Eugene could confirm that he hadn’t been the one in the boat with Rapunzel?

The very idea made Varian’s gut twist into an anxious knot. Telling Rapunzel would keep her from worrying about being molested by a stranger, but would she forgive him? Be able to trust him again? Understand why, in his prolonged moment of weakness, he’d done it?

Well. She’d been able to forgive Cassandra but…somehow that felt different. Cassandra hadn’t tricked Rapunzel into kissing her. And he hadn’t had an ancient demon manipulating him.

The sound of squeaking door hinges jerked Varian from his spiraling thoughts, and he whirled around. Then he let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was just Ruddiger coming through the special door flap he’d installed for him. “Oh, it’s just you,” he breathed. Then he noticed the raccoon had something in his mouth, and he kneeled down to get a better look. Was that…an empty vial?

Ruddiger deposited the vial into his waiting hand, and Varian’s breath caught as he read the label.

Quirinian 2.0

Ironically, in his attempt to help Rapunzel’s parents regain their memories, he’d actually managed to create a weaker version of what the Quirinian was originally supposed to be: a memory-erase serum. The effects of the serum caused whoever drank it to forget everything they’d experienced in the last 24 hours. But since it didn’t help people regain their memories, and the king and queen had managed to remember their lives without his help anyway, he’d shelved the serum and moved on to other projects.

His eyes darted back to Ruddiger. “Did you…” He swallowed weakly, afraid of the answer. “Did you give this t-to Eugene?”

Ruddiger nodded, looking immensely pleased with himself.

Varian’s heart dropped. So this was why Eugene hadn’t shown up? Because he’d forgotten about the date altogether? Varian had no idea how recently they’d made their plans, but apparently it had been fairly impromptu, probably something they’d decided last night or this morning.

Oh no. Ruddiger must have interpreted his plea for help when Rapunzel had taken him from the lab as asking for help with the date, not getting out of it! No no no, he hadn’t wanted this!

“Ruddiger…no,” Varian said, his voice cracking as he clutched at his hair with both hands. “No, you went too far! I—” Slowly, his hands fell to his lap. “No…I went too far,” he admitted miserably.

Dimly, he was aware of Ruddiger’s concerned chitter, how his friend patted his leg in a gesture of comfort. But that left Varian to wonder just why he was so upset. Was it because he’d tricked Rapunzel? Broken her trust so he could live out a fantasy for a few hours? Indirectly drugged Eugene? Or was it because…

He swallowed thickly. Because he knew that he’d never experience that sort of happiness, that sort of thrill, with Rapunzel again?

Varian’s eyes darted to the cloak, and he chewed his lip, torn. There was a chance, just a small one, that he could experience that happiness again. But it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be fair. To Rapunzel, to Eugene, to himself.

All he had to do was get rid of it and no one would ever know. Rapunzel might even blame the bad fish thing for Eugene’s memory. But…

Shaking his head, Varian tore his eyes away from the shimmering fabric. He shouldn’t even be tempted to use it again. He should just move on, cherish the memory of his short time with Rapunzel, let everything go back to the way it was.

But there was a dark, desperate part of himself that wanted to experience being with Rapunzel again, regardless of the cost...and it scared him. If he kept the cloak, the temptation would be too great.

He couldn’t let that happen. He’d made enough mistakes in his life—he had to get rid of the cloak before he made any more.

Resolve hardened, but afraid it wouldn’t last, Varian moved to where the cloak lay crumpled on the ground and snatched it up. “C’mon Ruddiger, let’s get rid of this thing.”

With a chitter of agreement, Ruddiger climbed to his shoulders and the alchemist strode from his lab to dispose of the magical cloak.

Not a moment after the door shut behind them, a high-pitched ‘ding’ echoed through the lab as the centrifuge machine came to a stop, and the spectrometric press hooked to it printed out two sheets of data.

The test results were ready.

#varian #rapunzel #tangled the series #rapunzel’s tangled adventure #tangled #tts #rta #fanfic #varipunzel #hershey’s written works

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dumners · 5 years

Text

my tes ocs

also known as, i focus way too much on the messy dunmer and sadly no one else

The Seryiils (+the Gimayns)

Just the most dramatic family in Tamriel

oh my god there’s so much for Llirala im so sorry

Indrasi S (nerevarine)

Dunmer - Any pronouns (tho i’ll use they)

Actual reincarnation of Nerevar, and their repressed memories affect their life in ways they don’t realize until later. Born and raised in the Imperial City. Raised in an orphanage after being abandoned there by unknown parents. Grew up to be an alchemist in the city and ran the store The Main Ingredient. Met Raldis when he delivered ingredients, they grew closer and got married, and Indrasi took his last name bcuz they didn’t have one. The two have a daughter, Llirala. Raldis dies in a bandit raid when Llirala is 6, and afterwards, Indrasi becomes distant bcuz they are working to provide for Llirala. Llirala grows up making bad decisions in an attempt to get Indrasi to pay attention to her, which eventually leaves Llirala abandoning her newborn son, Calden, with Indrasi. They raise Calden, but rarely sees Llirala during that time. Eventually, they take on an apprentice at The Main Ingredient, Ogier Georick (the actual in-game owner). Calden grows up and goes out on his own. Llirala comes back after a lotta of her own nonsense. She ends up framing Indrasi for murder, which gets them noticed by Uriel Septim VII and sent to Morrowind.

They really only do the Main Quest in Morrowind and maybe a few side quests, but no faction quests. They slowly get their Nerevar memories back during the course of the Main Quest. They then do the Tribunal and Bloodmoon dlcs in that order. During the Tribunal dlc they basically just ignore Helseth, and during the Bloodmoon dlc they side with the Skaal. They help build Raven Rock, and then just kinda never leave. They try to go through everything with as little death as possible. By 4E 201, they are still on Solstheim, drifting in and out of Raven Rock, hanging out with the Skaal, and mooching off of Neloth.

Raldis S

Dunmer - He/Him

Pretty chill dude, kinda unfortunate that he strongly resembles Voryn Dagoth, but what can you do. Born and raised in Gnisis. Later joined a Hlaalu trading company and made deliveries mainly to Cyrodiil. Met Indrasi on one of those deliveries. They became closer, eventually married, and had Llirala. He dies in a bandit raid when Llirala is 6.

Llirala S (hok)

Dunmer - She/Her (later Daedra - Any)

Ah, my favorite shithead. Born and raised in the Imperial City. Born to Indrasi and Raldis Seryiil. Raldis died when she was only 6, which caused Indrasi to throw themself into their work so they could support Llirala. Llirala grows up to be a self-destructive mess who keeps making bad decisions in an attempt to get Indrasi to pay attention to her, and this turns into her just craving any kind of attention from anyone. She had a fling with a friend that ended in her son, Calden, who she abandoned with Indrasi. She then proceeded to travel around Cyrodiil doing favors for basically every single Daedric Prince. She joined the Arena and killed her way to the top, loving every second of the validation from the crowd. Now with the idea that “murder is okay actually” in her head, she stabbed a man who catcalled her, and proceeded to frame Indrasi for the murder, killing two birds with one knife. This got her noticed by the Dark Brotherhood. She loved her time in the Brotherhood and loved her Family, and she killed them all when ordered to. This messed her up pretty badly, but she just went “if I keep my body moving and my mind occupied at all times, I will avoid falling into a bottomless pit of despair.” She managed to convince herself that she was fine bcuz she still had Shadowmere and Lucien. But then Lucien died, and Llirala killed Mathieu but it was too late bcuz everyone was still dead. Llirala basically had an epiphany like “oh, maybe killing is bad,” and she abandoned the Dark Brotherhood leaving it to fall into ruin. She joined the Thieves Guild and found out that she kinda liked helping people, but by the end she didn’t want to be the Grey Fox, so she gave the job to Armand Christophe. After that she bought shoes from the Copious Coinpurse and got arrested for grave-robbing.

Then the Main Quest happened, Llirala made some good friends in Martin and Baurus, and she constantly mocked Jauffre. I’m cliche and like angst so Llirala and Martin liked each other but didn’t say anything about it until right before Martin sacrificed himself, he kissed her. Yay cliche angst! When Dagon was breaking down the Temple roof, Llirala pushed Martin out of the way of falling rubble, but it ended up falling on her instead, breaking her leg and pinning her under it. Martin sacrificed himself, and Llirala was stuck under the rubble until someone showed up. Baurus helped get her out, and Jeelius healed her leg, but she wouldn’t be able to fight the way she used to, no more sneak. Llirala spent two depressed weeks in the Imperial Palace, before being presented with the Imperial Dragon Armor. She basically snapped and ran away again, leaving behind everything that could identify her as a the HoK.

She threw herself back into adventuring in the hopes of getting herself killed. She did the KotN, but didn’t find any peace with the Nine, and left when that was over. Immediately after being resurrected, she left and went straight to Bravil, where she heard rumors about a door out in the Bay that no one came back from the same, if at all. Before leaving, she spoke to the Night Mother who called her out on constantly abandoning everything, and berated her for still having Shadowmere and the Blade of Woe despite leaving the Brotherhood. So before Llirala left for the door, she said goodbye to her oldest companion and sent her back to the Brotherhood with her Blade of Woe.

In the Isles, Llirala fit in, but she kept refusing to acknowledge that. She killed the Gatekeeper despite it not attacking her, and she wielded a perfect order sword for the majority of it. She tended to pick Dementia when she had to make a choice bcuz she was too depressed to deal with the brightness of Mania. Over the course of the questline, she began to really love the residents of the Isles and by the time Sheogorath turned into Jyggalag, she refused to abandon the Isles bcuz she didn’t want everyone there to die. In the fight with the Tree Clone, her order sword shatters, so after that she wields a madness sword. She became Sheogorath with the thought that it wasn’t going to be permanent, so when Jyggalag disappears she’s left standing there like.

Calden S

Dunmer(+Altmer) - He/Him

Born from a fling between Llirala and one of her friends. Raised by Indrasi in the Imperial City. Practiced destruction magic mainly. Tried to join the Arcane University many times, but was always rejected. Later traveled to Skyrim to study at the College of Winterhold (pre-Collapse). Met his future wife, Nephelle, there. Great Collapse happened. Him and Nephelle have Viri, but Nephelle dies in childbirth (bcuz i need her gone and im lazy lol). Calden loses faith in his ability to raise Viri, and when she starts speaking a strange language (dovahzul) as a baby, Calden freaks out. He asks around, is pointed toward the Greybeards, and leaves baby Viri with them due to a lack of Indrasi to foist the kid onto.

Calden just kinda fucks off after that, but if tes vi takes place within 100 years of tes v, then he’ll be the protag if it works.

Viri (ldb)

Dunmer - She/Her

Raised by the Greybeards. Grew up only being called Dragonborn, so she had to name herself. Got the name Viri from Akaviri. When she was 2, young (like 8) Ulfric arrived to be trained, so Viri grew up with him as an older brother*. Most of Viri’s childhood was spent training her Thu’um, and reading the books available. She became fascinated with magic and practiced what she could by herself. She had a strained relationship with the Greybeards, but was very close with Paarthurnax. When the Great War started, Ulfric left, and Viri tried to go with him, but she was like 12 so she couldn’t. Later, she ran away from High Hrothgar at 17, but the war had already ended. She spent some time in Ivarstead before going up to the College of Winterhold to study magic. During her time at the College, the whole Eye of Magnus business happened, but Mirabelle survived it. After a while, she tries to leave Skyrim to explore the rest of Tamriel, but she walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there. She does the Main Quest up until the point that most people break off, bcuz she does not want to go back to the Greybeards just yet. She does the Thieves Guild, becomes the Guildmaster and returns it to its former glory. She does the Dark Brotherhood bcuz she is trying to find the familial love she never had with the Greybeards, but she just ends up being a murderer with a weird ghost friend and a demon horse. Finally finishes the Main Quest, does not touch the Civil War. And through all those questlines she completes all the Daedric Quests for one reason or another. Then she does Dawnguard, sides with the Dawnguard, gets a vampire gf, and then that vampire gf leaves to see the world, but promises to return**. Then Viri goes to Solstheim. There she meets Indrasi and manages to convince them to help her rescue Miraak, bcuz she is sick and tired of playing into the hands of the Daedric Princes, and saving Miraak would be an excellent “fuck you” to Hermaeus Mora.

*i don’t like ulfric at all, but this creates an interesting dynamic.

**Serana just needs to figure out who she is in the Fourth Era away from Viri, bcuz she doesn’t want to end up constructing her whole life around her.

Sethesi (Seth) G (kinda silly* vestige)

Dunmer - She/Her

Seth is baby and I love her so much. I made her 15 bcuz I wanted to make a shonen protag, but I also made her a mage, so she’s also a magical girl, but I also made her a necromancer, so she’s a dark magical girl. She was born and raised in the Worm Cult with her older brother, Llondryn. She had a knack for necromancy, and never really saw a problem with it bcuz she was not immune to propaganda. Llondryn managed to convince her to leave the Cult with him, but on the way out, Llondryn tried to sacrifice himself to save just her, but she didn’t realize that was happening so she ended up saving Llondryn instead. The Cultists found her, and she ended up being sacrificed to Molag Bal as an example of what happens to traitors. Escapes Coldharbour, but ends up on the Daggerfall Covenant questline bcuz I think that one fits the Main Quest best. Seth spends most of the Main Quest hiding her necromancer origins and trying to pass herself off as a templar, but finally snaps during the fight with Mannimarco and reveals her true power. She also does the Fighters and Mages Guild quests during the Main Quest, but she’s much more fond of the Mages Guild. Basically everyone who interacts with Seth adopts her as a younger sister/daughter/niece bcuz she is baby. She does quests pretty normally, and always tries to save as many lives as possible. At some point she becomes a vampire as a “fuck you” to meridia, but I’m still considering when. She also abandons her morals after that and joins the Dark Brotherhood bcuz I really need her to do that questline*. I’m not actually done with everything in eso yet, so Seth’s progression might change.

Unless something happens to contradict this in eso, after eso, Seth just wanders around Tamriel, occasionally checking in on how the world is doing.

*I say kinda silly bcuz in the spirit of mmos I gave Seth a travelling party. However, that party is Indrasi, Llirala, and Viri after their games. Yeah, that’s kinda op but all of them are hiding their true abilities, and Llirala is just not at full power bcuz of the original sheo still being around. I’m doing this bcuz it is so funny to me, especially bcuz of how many references to those games there are. The reason they are there is bcuz Viri pulled some time travel bullshit.

Llondryn G

He/Him

Born and raised in Worm Cult with younger sister, Sethesi. Never showed much aptitude for necromancy, which made him expendable. When people started getting executed, he convinced Sethesi to try to escape. While trying to escape, Sethesi sacrificed herself to let him escape.

I don’t know what he does later, but he eventually has kids and the family tree eventually leads to Indrasi.

Unrelated - i dont have much on them :(

Korabi

Khajiit - They/Them

Mage. Travel partners with Andenyerinwe (the Oblivion Duo). Does the Oblivion Mages Guild quests.

Andenyerinwe (Andy)

Altmer - She/Her

Goes by Andy. Battle-ax wielding, heavy-armor wearing warrior. Travel partners with Korabi (the Oblivion Duo). Does the Oblivion Fighters Guild quests.

Laurri (blades hero)

Khajiit - She/Her

Uuuuhhhh....... idk..... she’s dating Saashi??

Haj-xo (serious ep vestige)

Argonian - She/Her

Shadowscale. I think it’s funny if she dates Naryu bcuz it’s like assassin romeo and juliet. Also that means Veya gets two murder moms.

Nhaz (serious dc vestige)

Redguard - They/Them

I need more on them.

Mizar (serious ad vestige)

Khajiit - He/Him

I need more on him. But he is trans. I’m also not done with the Aldmeri Dominion quests yet.

#thank goodness i remembered to add a read more or im pretty sure everyone would hate me #my ocs #holy shit this is a lot of words #i'm just glad i got that all down

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thegreatnyehehe · 7 years

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A Winter Veil Carol: Part 5

And with the unfestive fiend’s descent into hell, we can assume that this fiend has finally received his long-awaited comeuppance! One of those open-ended endings, I suppose? Surely, it is a true cautionary tale for those whom are wicked and miserly! Sad, of course, but a wonderful lesson! Well, that’s the end, of it, then. Hope you enjoyed it, children!

...

Oh? Oh!

Hoho! Looks like the last few pages were stuck together! Perhaps this The Great Nyehehe fellow may be redeemed after all! Let’s take one last peek into Chrrgglls Drrrkggnss’s “A Winter Veil Carol!” Hope you enjoy it, children!

The flames of the deepest pits of the fire region of the elemental plane consumed The Great Nyehehe, burning every fleck of flesh upon him to ash, reducing his bones to brittle. A horrible, raging fire took him, and the old fool had perished from the universe forever. The inferno was the final end for the legendary fable of the madman, The Great Nyehehe.

And then he woke up.

“Bah!!”

The Great Nyehehe jumped up with a start, terrified but immensely relieved that he was, in fact, not dead, but back in his own ‘Evil Lair’, relatively safe and sound. “Oh, by the Light!!” he cheered to himself, uncharacteristically religiously.

“The spirits!! They were true, and they were real!! Oh, Maldy!! Oh, spirits!! Nyehehe!!” yelled The Great Nyehehe ecstatically. He was alive after all!

But then, a thought came to him, and he popped out from behind his dirty nook in the Cathedral Square of which he resided in, peering around. His eyes found a hulking, shambling abomination standing beside a lone Death Knight, whom was very distracted checking his mail eagerly for a Winter Veil party invitation. Nyeh called out to it, “You there!! Boy!!”

“Wot, me?” moaned the undead golem of flesh and formerly living souls as he stomped closer, having failed to realize he had just been mistaken for an average human child.

“Nyes!! You!! What day is it, good child?” Nyeh yelled out to it.

“Why, eet’s Weenter Veil!” blubbered out the abomination, having no real sense of time or appropriate knowledge of something as complex as a calendar, but it recognized all the pretty lights and Winter Veil trees well enough.

"How incredibly dastardly!! Er... How nice!! The Great Nyehehe hasn’t missed Winter Veil!! The spirits did it all in one night!! Nyes, they can do anything they please!! Nyehehe!!” cackled Nyeh as he pranced around gleefully.

“Mmmhmmm...” mumbled the abomination dumbly, its sight steering elsewhere out of slight boredom and a very low attention span.

“Oh!! Nyes!! Do you know the Cratchcrank household of 12710 Swindle Street on the isle of Kezan?”

The abomination took its attention back to Nyeh, “Nope.”

“Perfect!! Go there, and fetch some medicine for Tiny Tib!!” Nyeh exclaimed, far too consumed by joy, rather than by fire as he had believed not two minutes ago, to realize what the abomination had answered with.

“What medicine?” wondered the brely sentient wall of flesh.

“All of it!! Obviously!! Now, off with you to Tiny Tib to deliver the medicine!!” demanded Nyeh before bursting into another joyous jig, “And take The Great Nyehehe’s spare sack from last year’s evil scheme of stealing Winter Veil!! The Great Nyehehe shan’t be committing any further wicked acts such as that anymore, so it shan’t be of any use to him!!”

‘D’okay!” the abomination burped as it ran off to blindly follow the old madman’s order, stumbling and bumbling on the way with Nyeh’s empty red sack in one of his stubby hands.

Having finished checking his mail, as well as sorrowfully accepting the fact that he’d likely never get that invite to the big upcoming Winter Veil party due to his current condition as a corpse, the abomination’s Death Knight master had been looking around for his near-mindless servant. When the abomination had totally ignored his order, “Stop!”, the Death Knight had began to run off behind him, in a futile attempt to catch it. Despite its immense size, the abomination sure was swift!

“Light guide you, small child!! And merry WInter Veil!!” called out Nyeh after them. “Now, to make things right with all those The Great Nyehehe had wronged!!” he vowed to himself as he donned his old Father Winter’s hat he had stitched together the previous year.

And then, The Great Nyehehe began his not-crooked crusade for redemption. He put his very soul into each festive song he sang with the Winter Veil carolers he had intimidated away just yesterday, though admittedly he was comparatively very dissonant with the rest of the group, his singing voice was admittedly quite wretched.

Furthermore, he gave plenty of gold to charity,...

He gifted toys and presents to orphans...

He gave a present even to the officers of the Stormwind City Guard, of whom they had both shared a rather heated past. Truly, he had changed for the better.

And to further support his redemption, The Great Nyehehe had turned to religion, becoming a devout and faithful believer in the Light! No longer did he claim to be superior to the Light, nor any deity, or truly to be better than anyone else. He was fully forgiven of his sins by Brother Arthur, whom had taken over Bishop Farthing’s duties after the good bishop had mysteriously disappeared during his inconspicuous trip to the Tirisfal Glades.

The Great Nyehehe had vowed to redeem himself, and he was better than his word. He had seen the error of his ways. He became a generous, humble, kindly, and loving man for the rest of his days. He became as good a friend. as good a priest, and as good a man as the good old city of Stormwind ever had!

And it was always said of him that The Great Nyehehe knew how to keep Winter Veil spirit well and alive throughout the whole year!

...

Or... that WOULD have been what they had said, had the following event not occurred, which it unfortunately and undoubtedly did.

“Nai-hee-hee!” cheered the Draenei sincerely, “It is so good to see that you have turned over a new leaf! I am so proud of you, Nai-hee-hee!” The Draenei then made a tragic mistake, and gave Nyeh a congratulatory slap on the back.

Though the Draenei had considered it to have been a rather light and playful gesture, The Great Nyehehe reacted comparatively dramatically and fell right over. Whether it was due to the Draenei indeliberately using a surplus amount of strength he was unaware he had, The Great Nyehehe’s ironic and immense frailty despite his earlier view of himself as an unstoppable deity, or a mixture of both, the slap left The Great Nyehehe tumbling down the stairs and his head colliding harshly with the hard, white pavement of the Cathedral.

When he had came to, it had seemed that the ensuing concussion had left The Great Nyehehe feeling nauseous, discombobulated, and, once again, seeing things.Most importantly, it had left him with a vastly different view of the world: the exact same one he had not just yesterday, on The Great Nyehehe had seen the error of his ways! Again!

Raving and rambling, Nyeh had thought aloud to himself “The proper way of celebrating Winter Veil isn’t being kind or generous or festive, obviously!! It is to be even more villainous and wicked to combat the season’s tidings of goodwill with evil schemes, dastardly deeds, and acts of hate!! Oh, how wrong The Great Nyehehe was to ever think that being a goody two-shoes would ever aid him in the slightest!! Drat those spirits!! Drat them all!!”

And The Great Nyehehe went against his earlier word, and went to make wrong again all the wrongs he had literally just righted.

He stole from charity...

He had took back the toys and presentshe had given to orphans...

He had even forcibly taken back the present he had propounded to the officers of the Stormwind City Guard, of whom they shared a now even more heated and less friendly relationship than before...

And to further renounce his redemption, he cursed the Light, dratted the church, and imprecated all forms of goodness, heroism, and love on Azeroth and within the universe. “Curse you, you lousy Light and your clueless clergy and cretinous crusaders!! Bah!!” Nyeh swore at the Church building itself with a hateful shake of his fist.

There was one, almost heroic deed that The Great Nyehehe could not make wrong again, however, was when he had ordered a Death Knight’s abomination servant to deliver medicine to Tiny Tib of the Cratchcrank household at 12710 Swindle Street on the isle of Kezan, The abomination had no idea what medicine it was the sickly goblin child had needed, so the hellish simpleton had ransacked the homes, laboratories, and bathrooms of various alchemists, apothecaries, priests, and engineers, leaving dozens of years of work between them all down the drain. Luckily, he had unwittingly found an antidote after storming through the hut of a Gurubashi Witchdoctor who never quite got over the death of Soulflayer Hakkar. Still, his presence was not immediately met with welcome by the Cratchcrank family.

“Stay behind me, kids!” directed Ms. Cratchcrank, all three of them, as well as her husband Bozo, immediately following suit fretfully.

“Mama, I’m scared!” peeped one of Bozo’s daughters, the other screeching in agreement.

“G-Get ‘em, dear!’ whimpered Bozo.

“Stop” uselessly demanded the Death Knight to his abomination, having been running just behind after his near-mindless servant in atttempt to catch it, the wall of flesh being just out of reach each time. As mentioned earlier, despite its immense size, the abomination sure was swift!

“Shush, honey! Now, you monstrous brute, what are you doing knocking down OUR door on Winter Veil of all-” scolded Ms. Cratchcrank as though she was nagging a boy that had been playing too carelessly around her garden rather than a half-sentient wall of flesh and souls, before she was interrupted.

“Medicine for Tiny Tib.” the abomination burped, indifferent to the family’s fear.

Popping out from behind his mother and willing to try and anything, Tiny Tib, WHO DID NOT DIE, piped up “Oh? Why didn’t you just say so, then?” Tiny Tib chugged down the antidote after the abomination had handed it to him. He then did a wonderful little diddy of a dance with his now working legs cheerily to celebrate, his parents and sisters awestruck.

Tiny Tib was now perfectly healthy, and the very next week Bozo was promoted from a mid-level accountant to mid-high level accountant, which despite being only a single level above mid-level accountant paid far more handsomely. The Cratchcranks lived happily forever after, never even knowing the name of The Great Nyehehe.

“Drat, drat, and double drat!!” the old fool roared into the air, his stolen goods hoarded in his Evil Lair, “The Great Nyehehe drats all those spirits a nyehehillion times over!! How dare they try to trick The Great Nyehehe into becoming a goodie two-shoes!! And now he can’t even intercept that blasted child from delivering that moronic medicine!! Curses!!”

Far above Nyeh’s head, upon the yellow-tinted roofs of the Cathedral District, the spirits looked down upon their wayward student whom had refused their teaching so strongly with great disappointment.

“Well, the testing session for Operation didn’t seem to work. If we can’t even persuade our one, some foolish old madman to become good, how could we ever trick the faction leaders into trying to call for peace with the Legion?” sighed the first spirit.

“Guess we’ll have teh call off the real thing. Why even botheh tryin’ et on Sylvanas er Anduin at this point.” muttered the second spirit bitterly.

“In that case, can we take off these stupid disguises? These weights are killin’ my shoulders!” complained Maldy, rattling his chains.

The third spirit nodded in agreement.

“Ach, fine. Don’t matter much now anyhow.”

*POOF!*

“Ah, we feel so much better now that we don’t have to look like some prude elf!” admitted the succubus as her illusion faded.

“Well, now tha’ tha’s all done, yeh guys wanna go terrorize some Orphans?” suggested the hulking felguard to his fel fellows, failing to realize he was still speaking in the Dwarvish accent of his illusion.

“Ah, wait, guys, one more thing...” interjected the Imp, whom had not a moment ago been the nonliving phantom of the former Tradeprince Maldy.

“Merry Winter Veil, everyone!!”

“...”

“What was that fer?” thought the second spirit aloud.

“I... I have no idea... I just had the urge to say that... as though that was the only way this all could end...” shuddered the Imp.

~The End.~

I’m utterly amazed, children. What a book! That was, undoubtedly...

The worst book I have ever read! Ugh... remind me to re-gift this for next Winter Veil, children. I probably should have just read ‘T’was the Night before Winter Veil’, anyway... Anyone care for some hot cocoa?

#winter veil carol #winter veil #5/5 #holiday

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crisasthewakener · 7 years

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Crisas and Tah during Classic WoW Pt 1

After the death of Crisas’s mother during the assault of the Kul’tiran fleet on the Echo Isles, she and Tah started to do different small jobs and errands in order to help maintain their sisters, since they were still too young to fend for themselves. Crisas mostly perfected her hunting and fishing skills during this time, while Tah gathered herbs and helped her with the skinning proccess of her catches.

When Zalazane seized control of the Echo Isles however, Crisas decided that instead of staying in Sen’jin village, they should move to Orgrimmar; one, because she thought they would have more chances in the city, and two, because after loosing her youngest sister to the Witchdoctor’s uprising, she just couldn’t bear staying close to the isles.

Once they arrived to Orgrimmar, they kept doing similar small jobs to sustent the family, and as they traveled and did more dangerous errands, the pay got considerably better, pulling them farther and farther from the capital city, first into Durotar, and, later, into the Barrens.

Anuka.

When the second older sister of the family, Kuji’ta, managed to get a job as an apprentice and assistant of a local Alchemist (thanks to Tah teaching her how to differenciate, carefully pick appart, and preserve the Herbs), and the remaining 3 sisters knew how to manage the money and the house with her help, Crisas and Tah decided that they could journey further into Kalimdor.

Sending their earnings by mail, they could stay more time away, and gather much more than before. It was during this time in the Crossroads that they met a Tauren named Anuka, a young and enthusiastic hunter set on the acomplishment of taming the legendary beast named Echeyakee. In echange of helping her track and tame the lion, she offered to guide the pair across the Barrens, and while doing so, formed a strong friendship with the duo. Even after a long month of attempts and frustrating failures, Anuka didn’t acomplish her goal of taming the white Lion, but the three agreed to meet up once more in the Crossroads to continue traveling together. After the Trolls had decided to go back to Orgrimmar to sell what they had gathered,

She was also the first time Crisas and Tah came across Tauren Sign Language, or Handspeak, as Anuka called it, and she had no problem in teaching them along the journey.

Ashenvale.

Following at first the call of the Horde, the trio went north to assist on the fight against the Night Elves, but soon they realized it had been a mistake.

The money they earned was not that much better, gathering herbs or pelts was much harder because of the ruthless Sentinels, and more often than not, the wounds they suffered in combat would need days to heal (even in Crisas’s and Tah’s case). There was also a sense of wrongness for them in many of their assigments; Tah and Anuka specially, did not like the little to no respect most of those orcs had for the nature that surrounded them, and both Trolls, while not liking Elfs one bit, recognized the signs of people defending what they knew as home, which would make the uneasiness grow in their stomach.

Sometimes they talked about leaving, but it wasn’t after Crisas’s first encounter with a particular elf, and an attack where Tah nearly lost an arm and Anuka nearly lost an eye, that the Troll huntress decided that she would not risk it any longer. Before a neccesary a trip to Orgrimmar, the group decided to travel South instead, to the Thousand Needles.

Perhaps the weather would be harsher, the jobs harder, or they would be much farther from… home, but she knew she could make herself and Tah survive through those, and the three agreed that, while understanding why the Warsong Gulch’s labor was needed, they wouldn’t take part on it.

——-

Sign Language and Troll culture

Crisas and Tah during Classic wow Pt 2

Resuming their background this way and adding small short comics is much more efficient than making a lot of uneventful stories just to explain their past.

Also, I couldn’t find a natural way to write in this information, but in case you’re curious, Crisas and Tah were 12 when Daelin Proudmoore attacked the Echo isles (she is barely a month older than him), and 17 to become 18 at the start of classic WoW, while Anuka was 19 by the time they met her.

#crisas #tah #anuka #World of Warcraft #troll #wow troll #tauren #huntress #shaman #story bits #background post #tyra'jin #man I want to finish my college proyects already and tell this gaddanm stoy Dx

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pkrs-fr · 7 years

Text

wisteria whirls: the shortcut edition

Alright, I’m lazy as hell and have realized I’m never going to get my lore together (at least in a timely fashion). I really want to send out a general idea of what’s happening in my clan because I’m sick of half my dragons and want to do a lair purge, but can’t without a Lore Reason because it’d bother me. So here’s the abbreviated version of What’s Going Down and What Has Gone Down, feat. the snarky tone I use when I really don’t want to be writing stuff and can’t take things seriously.

My clan lore revolves around two struggles for the most part: “how many familiars is Enough” and “what are the limits of humanity” or something like that. Y’know. Just “is what we’re doing SERIOUSLY a moral thing to do”, applied to a whole bunch of situations. What’s a story?

Oh also here’s the page with lore and titles and stuff. Fancy.

1. In the beginning, there was Titania, a Fae who hatched in the realm of the Arcanist and wandered for years before meeting Solus. Solus was kind of a jerk but hey he was better than wandering and their magic apparently worked well together to make a bunch of little dragonbabies. They settled in the Crystalspine Reaches and quickly made long-distance allies in Wind and Lightning. These Wind and Lightning clans sent Notturna and Aya respectively. Notturna helped Titania with day-to-day duties, and Aya used his knowledge of. Another clan, one from Light, sent a hatchling named Marimba.

Titania found the Auction House went on a journey around the fringes of the Starfall Isles and rescued a bunch of kids. Byzantium, Aster, Opalus, Tiay, and Geode. Byzantium and Aster bonded with Marimba quickly and became the clan’s fighters. Opalus became an alchemist, and Tiay and Geode became interior and fashion designers respectively. Gotta make this lair livable SOMEHOW.

However, something quickly became apparent and that something was “Solus is a racist prick”. In his eyes, none of these new additions to the clan were valid members of Arcane because they came from other flights. Dude. Chill.

2. Notturna and Aya mated and kept Auxiliary, who became a healer in training under Aya’s tutelage. Along the way, Notturna found her own out of flight babies, those being Fulgurite (Lightning rep), Julien (clan mascot and woobie), and Pendergast (guy who sits there and is abrasively protective). They also found an old Pearlcatcher named Blake wandering around and being a prick. Although they only meant to shelter him for like three days or something, it got out of hand and now he’s a permanent fixture and no one likes him except Fulgurite for some reason. Like, they mated. And had eggs. So many eggs. Do you want an egg? I don’t want an egg. Please take their eggs.

Anyway a problem was that Pendergast immediately took his charge to be Tiay and was a massive jerk about it. “Don’t come anywhere near her she’s my charge” sort of thing. Another problem was that Blake was a filthy freeloader and we’re not sure why we didn’t kick him out but here he is, 2 years later, still being a dick.

Four more hatchlings came to the clan. Ruby, Leviathan, Phaino, Tridacna, and Tanzanite. Ruby and Leviathan immediately stuck together like glue and refused to stop plotting the clan’s downfall, as tiny troublemakers are wont to do. Phaino went with Opalus to become an apprentice alchemist, Tridacna wanted to become a coli fighter, and Tanzanite also is a freeloader but at least she does jobs that she’s asked to do. (just @ blake next time) Anyway Opalus is like the dad to all these kids now.

3. Even more new dragons. Rhyolite was brought in as an ambassador to Fire, and Fulgurite remained a Lightning ambassador. (To this day I have friends in neither flight.) Adonia came to the clan as well and was tiny and cute so she became the representative and messenger of the clan itself. That’s cool.

Gavotte and Robyn came along as well as Merriam and Gioclase. Gavotte and Robyn became journalists and started documenting what happened in the clan, so that was cool. Merriam was convinced she was a wizard. I don’t know why, don’t ask why. She has zero combat experience and regularly convinces herself that she’s a Nature/Fire/Wind/whatever mage. She’s an Ice dragon. Why is she like this. Gioclase, as a rogue for hire, immediately gravitated to Leviathan and Ruby and they just plotted for weeks on end.

More importantly, there was Fortissimo. Fortissimo was cranky but he had a good reason for that, that being “he’s prone to magical outbursts for no reason that often end up destroying chunks of the lair and he hates it”. He tried to keep that on the down low so no one really paid attention or noticed. He thought Merriam was pretty cute though and also eggs. E G G S

Hirwen and Nacre are also there. I forgot to put this in my outline. Hirwen saw the clan, went “nah”, and then abandoned it for a while. She came back though. Now Nacre, her girlfriend, is sad and full of abandonment issues. Anyway they’re both mechanics.

4. It was my birthday and I hatched one of Fortissimo and Merriam’s nests. The very first child of their entire Coatl/Nocturne 3% Coatl rate was, in fact, a Coatl named Vega. I kept him. He’s my avatar. The IMPORTANT THING IS he also had a brother named Pulsar, who proceeded to wreck things with a giant magical blast. Things happened and basically Fortissimo is now Very Dangerous And Full Of Magic. Vega could stay because he didn’t seem to exhibit any of the magical outburst things, but he was given some semi-parasitic mushrooms to feed off of his magical energy (wait I could make a new lore thing out of this) and keep outbursts from happening.

There was also Theia, who immediately flocked to Under Gavotte and Robyn’s Wings and became an amateur journalist who put on adorable little “okay this is what happened in the clan” things. And Aubade, who was an Imperial for a while and thought it too clunky so he got breed changed to a Fae. Follow your dreams. Aubade tended to see the good in everyone and everything.

Also the fact that Pulsar was taken away from the clan led Vega to develop serious abandonment issues but shhh

5. Aya thought that Solus’s blatant racism was pretty bad so he organized a squad of people to check it out and figure out how to convince everyone else to throw him out. They all wore birdskulls. It was cool.

6. Mie and Shilling came into the clan to work as hoard guards with Mila, an old and cantankerous drill sergeant. About as soon as this happened, Solus started being Extremely Cranky, the worst he’d ever been. Gioclase immediately bailed because he was a cowardly wretch. Mie and Shilling were mostly confused and politely asked to leave, please. (And so they did.) Robyn and Gavotte were screamed at by Solus and understandably left, leaving Theia feeling very alone and sad. Mila left too, mostly because she got bored. Same with Tridacna.

In the meantime, someone realized we had WAY too many dragons in the clan, so we moved to the Starwood Strand. And stayed there. Because the aesthetic is good.

Also I think I had dragons named Linnia and Kranion at some point but I forgot what they did and I sold them anyway so who cares.

7. So by the way our hoard apparently needs guarding. Mie and Shilling did this for a while, watched over by Mila. Unfortunately they all left. Amaris and Amicitia came along later but that’s not relevant right now. But here’s the thing about how our familiars work: Coli enemies are typically just puppets controlled by the Shade at this point, and defeating them drives the Shade out, leaving them lifeless. HOWEVER they sometimes imprint on a warrior dragon and go home with them, but they’re reliant on the magical energy of the dragon to Maybe Not Die. This is unfortunately impractical when your clan has upwards of 800 familiars, so Hirwen and Nacre rigged a device to use the elemental energy contained in festival currency and chests to keep the familiars from dying forever. But no one has to KNOW that.

So that’s why we need a familiar commissioner to watch over them and the hoard guards don’t know why they’re guarding the hoard. It’s very serious business.

8. Along the way somewhere, we picked up a dragon named Acapella, and obviously she was Shade-possessed. I mean there’s a 666 in her ID. I think I just ran with it. Anyway everyone’s suspicious of her and her actions, except maybe Aubade, who started having weird dreams about a singing Mirror child. Coincidentally, Amaris and Karalynn came to the clan. Karalynn’s an astronomer and wanted to investigate the influence of Arcane energies on the study of the stars. She then realized that there was a massive dark patch over the clan’s area of sky, which was worrisome to say the least.

Amaris is tired all the time and has occasionally prophetic dreams. So that’s cool. The prophetic dreams foretold death and destruction in the clan. So that’s not cool.

9. Okay so we finally got a familiar commissioner and his name is Jones. He brought a mate. She’s Pica, a chocolatier. But whoops a daisy, we also have Boysen, a not-pastry chef! The conflict between Pica and Boysen grew to a head and eventually Phaino stepped in to offer Boysen her patronage. Aw, cute. Insularia came to the clan too, a roaming vagabond who was taking shelter. She immediately became suspicious of Leviathan and cozied up with him to figure out his deal. Ruby is jealous. Amicitia came to the clan too, a wide-awake hoard guard to be friends with Amaris, a never-awake hoard guard. They’re not very effective.

For some reason even though Insularia and Amicitia look entirely different they’re related. I don’t know how that happened.

Oh also I finished my breeding projects around this point and got Zayla, Mel, Oliver, Cory, and Nathaniel as OC fandragons. They’re cute. Just imagine them sitting on the sidelines of the lore and going “not dealing with that” every time something happens.

10. If the familiars stay alive because of dragon energy, and Fortissimo has too much dragon energy, what if we made a machine for him to release excess energy into?

That went terribly and now he’s locked in the Vault in a comatose state because he tripped on a wire. Good job team. But in the aftermath there was an egg, which hatched into a quiet little Noc named “Unnamed”. This is because Denizen and Finite, those lovely Guardians who are my lorekeepers and very creepy, found her in the vault and didn’t see a reason to name her. She never speaks, having no reason to. It’s funny because Finite doesn’t speak either. Literally the only one who speaks is Denizen, and even then it’s a sometimes thing. It’s amazing that no one’s gotten suspicious of them yet but here we are.

Anyway Jones is freaking out. But no one can know about this. NO ONE.

11. Acapella actually managed to influence enough of the Shade to like, crawl out and poke Blake a little. Blake then attacked Tanzanite, who was like “okay Blake is a whiny baby not a fighting whiny baby SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE” so they investigated it and found out that it was, indeed, Acapella’s fault. As it tends to be. For some reason no one’s doing anything about this because Aubade is completely convinced that she’s a good person somewhere. Tanzanite got a breed change to be a Bogsneak to combat Acapella’s influence by going where no dragon in the clan had gone before.

12. Meanwhile, Julien, Pendergast, Geode, and Tiay got tired of dealing with the clan and straight-up left. Notturna is really sad over this. Merriam is also really sad over the fact that FORTISSIMO IS MISSING. So now they’re sort of just holding on to each other and scream-crying.

13. Amaris and Karalynn are gay. Amaris manages to take Karalynn up to see the stars, but ends up passing out. So it turns out stuff’s going down behind the scenes, or something. Bad premonitions. Anyway they hurry back to the lair.

14. Re: the familiars, Jones comes to the realization that Fortissimo is only alive in the loosest sense of the word and that it’s most moral to pull the plug on him. So Fortissimo’s dead now. ONE CASUALTY SO FAR, I guess. Jones announces it to the world, Vega and Merriam are heartbroken. However, the Unnamed starts speaking in plain freaking Draconian that “hey by the way I’m the last child please love me” and so on. Anyway she takes the name Myosotis. Because forget-me-nots. Because don’t forget Fortissimo. Ha. Hahaha.

Jones leaves the clan out of guilt and the weird looks everyone’s giving him. Pica goes too because they’re mates and she likes him more than she likes the clan, and also it’s really dangerous these days. Boysen almost leaves because without Pica’s rivalry, there’s no reason for him to stay and spice up his life. Phaino, his mate, is offended.

15. Acapella somehow influences Solus and makes him think he’s a boss or something and he henceforth wreaks havoc on everyone. He’s like racist, but also dangerous and feral now. Aya attempts to intervene, and winds up dead. TWO CASUALTIES. Notturna freaks out, finally takes a stand for herself, and leaves with Auxiliary in order to protect themselves. Blake gives everyone a really long Reason You Suck speech, except it’s just for the clan, and leaves. Fulgurite follows him. Hirwen is mad because SHE wanted to do a Reason You Suck speech but Blake beat her to it and also leaves. Nacre, not knowing what to do with herself, leaves as well, but on a pilgrimage to the Arcanist to figure out what she’s doing with herself.

16. Leviathan and Ruby are doing just fine causing minor chaos, but Ruby’s heart isn’t really in it. She reveals to him that she’s worried, he laughs it off. He stops laughing it off when Solus leaves Ruby near-dead. She leaves the clan feeling alienated and frustrated, and Leviathan acknowledges his mistakes and feels Really Really Bad. Insularia comforts him somewhat, reveals her past, and makes him feel worse. But he’s more self aware? Anyway they become an Actual Couple instead of a Functional One and Leviathan resolves to reform.

17. Aubade continues to insist that Acapella is not actually mean. There’s some pseudo-religious and science things with notes left behind by Hirwen and a lot of puzzling through with Amaris and Karalynn, but long story short the Shade is banished from Acapella. Yay. Aubade, however, realizes that she’s completely vulnerable at this time, and suggests that she goes to follow the Arcanist as well. He accompanies her to work in her service, leaving Vega and Theia sad and somewhat abandoned. Solus no longer has as much Shade-fueled power to Go Forth And Cause Chaos and he’s really upset about that.

18. Did I say “upset” because I meant “REALLY PISSED OFF”. Solus realizes that everyone’s scared of him and is bitterly joyous about it, He intimidates Rhyolite into leaving and tries to kill Amicitia, and nearly succeeds. Wow everything is so dark™ and edgy™ here in the Whirls. But Amaris and Karalynn save Amicitia by… changing his appearance entirely and also he’s kind of a cyborg now. He’s not sure how to feel about this. I’m not sure how to feel about this, and I wrote it. Just bear with me.

19. Titania finally takes charge and screams at Solus to leave the clan. He does. He’s exalted. Bye binch. With that, everything calms down, but no one wants to try and rebuild.

20. Meanwhile my OC fan dragons are like “well this is a thing that is happening” and generally having a good time while ignoring everything else. They’re approached to lead the clan because they’re the only ones who are having a good time. They agree and have no clue what’s even going on, bless their souls.

ANYWAY YEAH. So half my lair is supposed to be gone. If anyone happens to be interested in buying some I’ll have a thread set up in a week or so to figure out what’s up. Hope this was entertaining and not too long-winded.

#flight rising #long post #fr lore #flight rising lore #fr writing #creative corner #wisteria whirls

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tacticalthaumaturge · 7 years

Text

The Wolf King of Thedas - Chapter 2

You know that Wheel of Time / Dragon Age fic I started writing all those months ago? It wasn’t dead, just sleeping.

Prologue - A Tear in the Pattern Chapter 1 - To Heal a Shattered Sky

Also crossposted to ao3 / fanfic.net

Chapter 2 - What Dreams May Come

Perrin dreamed.

He knew it to be no ordinary dream, but it was nothing like the Wolf Dream he knew. Islands of rock hung suspended in a misty green-gray void, heedless of gravity or common sense. Fragments of buildings dotted the floating isles, but even the most intact obeyed an alien logic – walls hung unsupported, and angles bent in strange ways. The Wolf Dream was a reflection of the waking world, and Perrin could not imagine any place that would be reflected like this.

That he was not here in the flesh, then, was of no small comfort. He could feel the path back to his sleeping body in the back of his mind, but somehow he knew that attempting to wake would prove futile - whatever had happened, whatever that mysterious tear had done to him, had left him too physically drained to simply will himself to consciousness. Faile would likely have sharp words for him when he returned. He did not dwell long on the problem, however, as it was a small detail compared to the mystery before him.

The familiar weight of Mah'alleinir formed in his hand, but Perrin dismissed it with a frown. The massive hammer was a weapon of war and men, ill-suited for exploring this strange place. Absentmindedly he grasped a Two Rivers longbow before dismissing that as well. A weapon of men... but this is no place of men, is it?

Between one moment and the next, the curly-haired man was replaced by a large wolf. Leaping, he disappeared in a blur and reappeared at the edge of the nearest island. Pausing, he tested the air: there was a faint hint of two-legs, alongside a mix of unfamiliar scents that made its fur bristle. He would have to be careful. Silent as the swirling mists, he loped into the unknown.

Young Bull had answers to hunt.

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"Are you telling me another bleeding idiot came out of that rift?"

Adan was as cranky as ever, despite the celebration that had overtaken Haven. The good Mother Giselle may have declared a holiday upon the sealing of the Breach, but Desa was unsurprised the alchemist-turned-apothecary busy mixing poultices. He was practical-minded, even to a fault, and it would take more than a mere "divine miracle" to make him turn away from his work.

Desa suspected he was also allergic to fun, or at least any sane definition of the world. He shunned both the tavern and campfires, complaining of the noise, and the first time she'd seen a genuine smile on his face was when she brought him a recipe for Antivan fire. Finding it among that Hinterland merchant's wares had been a stroke of luck, as Adan's own notes had been lost in the chaos of the Conclave; Leliana had forbid any attempts to reverse-engineer it after the third time his lab caught fire.

It was with this in mind that she'd sought him out. Their mysterious stranger from the Fade didn't seem to be in immediate peril – unlike in her case, there was no alien mark trying to kill him – but he had yet to regain consciousness. That left the Inquisition leadership with a conundrum. His existence was as closely-guarded a secret as it could be, given that his arrival was witnessed by well over a hundred Inquisition soldiers, agents, and allies, and they wanted answers before he became the talk of the camp. However, questioning him would require healing, and the process would lead to the same attention they were trying to avoid. It had been Cullen who ultimately suggested Adan. Not only was his lab relatively isolated from the rest of the camp, but he had been responsible for Desa's treatment when she herself fell out of the Fade.

For all his grumbling, the alchemist seemed far from upset about halting his poultice-mixing. The Inquisition was always in need of more, but tasking Adan with making them was like asking a master armorer to make nails; even knowing his work saved lives, he was itching for something more interesting or explosive to work on. Adan wasted no time in clearing a workspace, snapping at the stretcher-bearing soldiers as he did so.

"Shift your damn asses! Lay the lad on the table, then get out. Herald, you stay here – you've got more nimble fingers than those oafs, and my bloody assistants decided to take a damn holiday."

Desa made no complaint; she would have had him send a runner anyway, so staying simply cut out the middleman. Pulling off her gloves, she moved to help Adan with his examination. While she was well acquainted with field medicine, the gulf between their respective skills quickly became clear. Some of the methods the alchemist used mystified her, however – how did listening to his chest through a bone tube help?

It took almost half an hour before Adan seemed satisfied. Leaving the stranger lying on a cot they'd moved into the cabin, he set a kettle to boil while he sorted through his herbs.

"So Adan, what do you think?"

The alchemist ignored her until he had found the herbs he was looking for – mostly Elfroot, with a pinch of Embrium, and a few she didn't know – and deposited them in a mortar. "Exhaustion, mostly. But I'd bet a fat purse of royals that we're looking at Fade-sickness as well."

"What in the name of the Stone is Fade-sickness? I assume it's got something to do with him still being unconscious."

"Aye, that it does. Not surprised you haven't heard of it – you dwarves don't dream, so you can't catch the damn thing. It's usually only an issue for mages, and doesn't much trouble us normal folk. You know how mages' dreams go deeper into the Fade, lucid dreaming, right?"

Desa thought she could see where this was heading. "But I though all dreaming touched the Fade."

"Yes, but there's touching the Fade, and there's touching the Fade. We all do the first – you dwarves excepted – but mages' dream different." He paused, trying to find the right words. "It's a bit like how a branch floats, but a rock sinks. Or like how birds have wings, but some still can't fly."

"Anyway, Fade-sickness happens when someone's mind get stuck in the Fade," Adan explained as he ground the herbs. "Something to do with the body being too exhausted for the mind to return, and the mind being too deep in the Fade for the body to recover proper. Do nothing, and they waste away - thankfully, though, you've got me."

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On a jutting spur of stone, a wolf blurred into existence next to a crackling campfire. It had been too long since Young Bull had run on four legs; there was a freedom in it, despite the strangeness that surrounded him. Each step had carried him a dozen spans or more as he explored the coastline of one of the larger islands, his dreaming mind twisting distance as easily as breathing. The rush of discovery was fading, though, and he could feel a familiar exhaustion soaking into his bones. Deciding it would be as good a place as any to rest, the wolf became a curly-haired man, who sat down on a nearby rock. That the campfire's flames danced a cheery blue rather than a familiar yellow-red now seemed a minor detail.

Perrin had lost any pretensions that this was the same Wolf Dream he knew. Hopper had been thorough in his teaching; the Wolf Dream had rules, and this place either distorted them or broke them entirely. He could still manipulate the dream – if anything, it was easier than it should have been – but the landscape did not reflect the waking world. Rather, it contained pale, partial imitations of it: upside down staircases, anatomically questionable statues, gravity-defying towers… it was an unsettling combination. And then there were the creatures.

He'd noticed them not long after he started his exploration, or rather, they had noticed him. Even now they skittered at the edge of his awareness, alien thoughts brushing against his mind. It was unlike anything he'd experienced; a conversation between wolves and even Wolfbrothers was a sequence of images and emotions, but the minds touching his seemed almost human, questing whispers in a language he could almost understand. None had revealed themselves physically, which was strangely comforting. They seemed as wary of him as he was of them.

Shifting to human form, however, seemed to spark some hitherto unrealized interest. The pressure on his mind grew, one voice overwhelming the others. Rather than pull back when he blocked its touch, it continued, insistent, until –

Welcome, Dreamer.

The words echoed in his ears as well as his mind, understandable at last. Thin mists coalesced on the other side of the fire, forming a human-shaped figure that did not stand so much as float just above the ground. Lithe in build, nearly as short as a Cairhienin, and with long, pointed ears more akin to an Ogier than human, it brought to mind Mat's description of the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. Perrin hefted his hammer. Both the snake- and fox-people were said to feed on human experience and memory, and Mat insisted neither were to be trusted; if this creature was kin to either, he would have to be on his guard.

Be at ease. I am Curiosity, and I mean you no harm.

#The Wolf King of Thedas #Wheel of Time fanfic #Dragon Age fanfic #WoT #DA #Alex writes #Perrin Aybara #Desa Cadash

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