#Falk had a terrible morning. they learned a lot of unhappy lessons because Zakurr was dead set on teaching them to be accountable | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ten-thousand-paper-wasps · 4 years

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"Falk. What, in all of ashing creation, was that?" Zakurr growled.

He waited until morning to demand an explanation. Last night had been too much, too fast. Everyone needed time to calm down.

Falk shifted from side to side. "You're going to be cross."

Zakurr did not tell them he was cross already. Falk had been in a temper as of late, prone to explosions. He had to present his grievances in a calm, constructive manner. He kept it in. He kept it in.

Zakurr sighed. "Will you tell me what you were feeling when you did it?"

Fury, desperation, and panic all rolled across their face before they settled on an answer. "Was mad," they mumbled sheepishly.

"What made you react the way that you did?"

Falk shifted again before they spoke, clearly uncomfortable. "No one gets to touch Morrin like that. No one. He had to die."

Zakurr did agree, at least, that the Earl had been out of line. Morrin did not easily permit touch of any kind. But Falk still had much to answer for. "Do you think killing him was the only option? Do you think that Nells or I or even Morrin herself would not have been able to stop him with our words?"

That made them pause. They looked down, ashamed. "Was I wrong to kill him?" they asked.

If one were only seeing Falk in a fight, devastatingly powerful and sly as a pack of dragons, it was easy to forget how young they were. It was easy to forget that they didn't have enough life experience to know when or even how to hold back.

"Yes, Falk," he says, "it was wrong. I do not blame you," he reassures, "but it was wrong, and Morrin will be cross."

"Cross?" they sputtered, "Some rat bastard ashing hounds her half the sputtering night and she'll be cross with me for getting rid of him? Smoke on the wind, Zakurr, but that's madness!"

He tried to remind himself that smacking Falk a few dozen times, while tempting, would not teach them sense. He was the oldest one here. It was up to him to make sure Falk didn't die of stupidity.

He resigns himself to teaching. "So, today we're going to talk about autonomy, diplomacy, and consent. And then after that, we're going to look at my map, and we're going to talk about bounties and what it means to be an outlaw."

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Morrin sat on the stump and slowly sipped at her tea. The lizardfolk girl was still with them in the morning, and now that they were on the road again, she'd likely be with them for the foreseeable future.

She was very, very pretty, Morrin would give her that. Perhaps Falk had been looking for a bed partner. Or an easy mark on their continued string of utterly distasteful robberies. Or perhaps they simply wanted a girl who wasn't Morrin.

She was not especially fond of that option.

She filled her cup again and looked into the girl's slitted blue eyes. "Tea?" she offered. Whatever the reason for their newest addition, Morrin could at least be polite.

"Oh, please! Thank you," she replied, soft and sweet as morning rain. "I'm Jaanta. We were never formally introduced, last night."

Jaanta was a mottled grey-blue with silky black hair that fell to mid-back. Her eyes were large and her snout was long, and when she smiled she displayed dozens of sharp teeth and a distracting forked tongue. Morrin couldn't keep her eyes off of her. Candlesticks.

"I'm Morrin," she said, instead of Gods you're beautiful. "There's Zakurr, he's the big one. Nells is the fool. You've met Falk, I'm sure," she says dryly. "Owlsby probably won't eat you. Probably."

"Owlsby?" Jaanta looked around, hunting for him. Morrin knew the moment she saw him, because Jaanta gasped and went very, very still. "That's..."

"Big, yes. And a mite smelly. Still, fastest horse you'll ever see, and he eats any bandits. You'll get used to him, if you’re coming with us." Her smile was only a little vicious. One should always be polite, even if one was feeling perhaps a touch jealous.

Then, Jaanta had to go and ruin her victorious mood by bowing to her. "I'm delighted to know you, Morrin. I hope that we can be friends."

Well, she thought, fighting down a blush, perhaps Jaanta wouldn't be so terrible. Perhaps Morrin could be her friend.

And if Falk brought her along for the reasons she suspected...Well, Morrin would deal with it. She's had to deal with Falk's lustful conquests for her entire life. Just because this one was so incredibly lovely was no excuse for poor behavior.

Falk could go and sit on a candle, for all she cared. She was beyond cross with them. It wasn't bad enough, lying to her face about their thefts. No, the blasted pile of ash had to kill an Earl. Did they not trust her to handle things herself? Did they think it was the first time a man had tried to cause trouble with her? Armed or no, one squishy human was never a match for her. She felt sick. Sick, and angry, and insulted that her dearest friend would be so presumptuous.

Humans were easily intimidated. All it would have taken was for her to take his dainty little hand in hers and crush it like so much rotten stone. No fuss, no felony charges, and no ashing arson.

She felt humiliated. And on top of this she was trying to befriend Falk's newest darling, like Jaanta actually cared about her, like she wasn't just going to replace her if Falk liked her enough to keep her.

So she was deeply, deeply confused when Falk took a seat in front of her, Zakurr holding her wayward love in place. Nells took a seat beside her and took her hand. He squeezed once, Are you okay? She squeezed back three times. Yes. I think. He pressed his whole body up against her side, soothing and firm. She breathed.

"Morrin," Zakurr huffed, "Falk has something they would like to tell you." He gave them a cold look. "Go ahead, dearheart. Tell her what you told me."

"I'm sorry I stabbed the Earl," they grunted mutinously.

Zakurr took one of their wrists in his giant hand and squeezed. "You can do better."

Falk's face tightened in pain. "I'm sorry," they tried again. "I'm sorry that he touched you, and that he was a bastard." They glared at Zakurr. "Are you ashing happy now?"

His grip tightened and Morrin heard the tiny bones creak in protest. He'd break them, if he wasn't careful. "Remember, dearheart. A proper apology must acknowledge your wrongs and offer reparations. Don't say words you don't mean."

"Falk," she started, "do you know why I'm upset with you?" Nells squeezed her hand again, once. Are you okay? Should I intervene?

She squeezes back gently and leans into him briefly. I'm okay. Thank you for being here.

She tears into them. "You didn’t even ask if I was alright. Or if I wanted help. You didn’t say a word, no attempt to shoo him off or anything. You just spent the evening stealing from people, and then you stabbed a man for no reason other than because you wanted to and you could. You burned down Duke Enerwaeir's ashing house. What in hearth is wrong with you?"

She's crying, her eyes are hot and Falk is staring at her in shock. She's never sworn in front of them before, much less at them.

For a time, no one says anything.

"Morrin, I...I..." Falk tries, before the words fall away and they can't do anything more than cry. "I..."

Jaanta takes her other hand and Morrin is so preoccupied with emotion that she almost forgets to blush over it.

"I'm sorry," Falk manages. "I'm sorry that I lied to you about what we were doing. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you to take care of yourself, and so dishonored you. I'm sorry that I stabbed him without even trying anything else first. I hurt you, and I'm sorry for it, and I won't ever do it again."

Zakurr lets Falk go, a nasty bruise already beginning to form. Morrin gives a brittle smile. "I love you, Falk, more than anything. I always have, and I always will. Thank you for apologizing."

And then she gets up, and she walks away, calling behind her, "I'm going to the river. See you later." If she is very lucky, none of them will follow her. She could really, really use some time alone.

#the wasp writes #my writing #the beastmaster series #Nells #Zakurr #Falk #Morrin #Owlsby #Jaanta #I guess there's gonna be a part three later #because apparently I don't know how to wrap things up neatly #Morrin is feeling a whole lot of feelings right now and she needs some time away from her favorite idiots #Falk had a terrible morning. they learned a lot of unhappy lessons because Zakurr was dead set on teaching them to be accountable #Zakurr comes from a culture where the elders all collectively teach the children and since he's the oldest one here that means it's his job #all of them are adults but Falk is an idiot so they must be taught #it was just like teaching his daughter to eat vegetables: stubborn and with a body count #Falk is feeling pretty bitter #They had to be told what they did wrong and they had to admit it in front of the Morrin Defense Squad #she's so precious and I am going to hurt her so much #but later #right now I have a fanfic to write because SOMEBODY keeps giving me ideas MOON

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