Uh oh.

There is something oddly mesmerizing with the way the Abomination Coven Head appears out of abomination goop here. Mesmerizing… and also kinda disturbing. Point on him for manifesting himself out of purple goo on a dirty bridge in the middle of the woods and still looking absolutely fabulous doing so.

And now this guy is here too! And they’re in a forest, sure to be home of many creatures for him(?) to use to track and attack Raine & Eda with. I remember what Gwendolyn threatened to do to the Wortlop gremlins in episode four.

Name drops! Eberwolf and Darius!

After a quick google I found out that… I actually got the names right on the first try. Considering my luck with getting names right, I figured they’d actually be called EmberWülf and D’Arias or something like that.

I do wanna talk briefly about their names though. The ”wolf” part of Eberwolf of curse brings to mind wolves, proficient predators. Darius is a real name. It’s Persian and a bunch of Persian kings have had the name, bringing to mind nobility and power.

Meanwhile, Luz and King are dominating in the race, blissfully unaware of the danger their adopted mom and her love interest are currently in. I’ll note that Luz used the invisibility glyph spell and that  I am still a little salty about the fact that I haven’t gotten to see it up close yet.

Exalted Plains: Northern Ramparts and Citadelle du Corbeau

The large fortress known as Citadelle du Corbeau was claimed after the second Exalted March. Originally an elven keep, the Orlesians who seized it never discovered its true name, although they did find the magical wards the elves set in place. Mages of the Orlesian Circle spent years studying these defenses, but the occupiers never fully understood them.

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

From afar we can see in the horizon the big statue of Fen’Harel towering over the strange pointy tower some kilometres away from it.

When you approach to see it in detail, the tower looks unmistakably Tevinter. It was done stacking and pilling up Tevinter objects, like the diapason-like or claw-like artefact and a Tevinter pyramid. This structure is built on an elven ruin, and it’s directed to a city below: Citadelle du Corbeau.

The tower has a complete cover of the Citadelle. This zoom in allows us to understand that, despite what we are going to read in codices or what the Orlesians will tell us, this tower in particular is not Elven.  It’s made with Tevinter assets.

To access to the citadelle, we have to cross the bridge which is decorated with a big pair of statues of  Andraste.

From afar, we see another bridge, but it is impossible to reach in game. We also see another statue of Andraste in the middle of the river.

This part previous to reaching the entrance of the Citadelle, where we have to deal with all the undead in the rampart, is quite boring and has not much to offer than previous ramparts didn’t do already. So move on.

It’s easy to identify the remnants of the elven ruin. There are big tree that feels like vhenadahl, and many  Strange Skull-Dragon totems which keep rising the dead.

As we approach the entrance, we find four Fen’Harel statues protecting it. From the main gate we see the impressive appearance of a revenant which will drop eventually an items called Rendor's Blade, suggesting that this item belonged to a Ferelden hero/Knight who liked ambushing Orlesians, and now his body has been possessed by the demons of this place.

We finally reach the Citadelle du Corbeau [meaning, the citadel of the crow]. Immediately close to the entrance we see a statue of a squatted hooded figure we have seen in the Emerald Dreams. It's a bit hidden since a big tree [another vhenadahl?] has grown around it. It triggers the landmark called The Raven. This information seems to be provided by humans trying to understand elven ruins that have been modified with Tevinter elements, and they can't see the difference between the styles. So, I'm not so sure how much we can trust in this note. We know that Dirthamen may be related to raven, crows or owls due to the elven glyph information we collect along the game. But since his image is so fused with Falon'Din, who may have the same animals as his representations or even as his companions, it's almost impossible to spot with accuracy what truly represents Dirthamen in a unambiguous way. Hence I call this statue: Humanoid Dirthamen/Falon'Din

Personal speculation: I'm not very convinced this statue represents Dirthamen, because as this landmark explains, it seems to have some magical property that makes its shadow look like dark wings.  We know via Mythal's Temple’s codices, that Falon'Din was related with dark/death wings, commanded by Elgar'nan. On the other hand, Dirthamen was called Falon'Din reflection [according to an Orlesian scholar who had shown a more sceptical approach to all elven ruins offering second interpretations that seem to be more rich and, sometimes, even accurate in contrast with the ancient elven scripts we find in elvhenan temples] and Falon'Din was called Dirthamen's shadow. If what we see in this statue's shadow is a pair of dark wings, it means that we are seeing Falondin's shadows. So, playing with the same words we were given, the statue is Dirthamen’s reflection?. Since both twins are incredibly and horribly intertwined in any piece of information we find, it’s always impossible to know who is who. Therefore, this statue may be Falon’Din’s as well as Dirthamen’s in my opinion. It also would make sense if we consider that maybe both of them, as Evanuris, were one. In the Shattered Library we read information that may suggest them as one possessing the other, or two souls merged, like Flemeth and Mythal.

The next thing we see in this city is that a deadly ray of energy is all over the city, killing anyone who tries to walk in the open.

As we explore the citadelle, we can find the elvhen ruins mixed with orlesian's precarious buildings that may have been built during the Exalted March or now during the War of the Lions, I don’t know . We find some wounded people who tell us that there are more orlesian troops trapped in the city.

I believe this note is one of the most interesting ones. On one side, it says that the original elven keep has not a known name, and was called Citadelle du cobeau by the orlesians. The humans could not learn its original name but they found the magical wards "that elves set in place". Orlesian circle mages studied them but they could not figure them out.

I'm not sure how much to believe that "elves set these wards in place". On the other side, these Dales elves were able to put Andraste statues in their elven temples, so there is some possibility that they may have tanken tevinter magical devices to fight during the Exalted March.

There are two possibilities:

The Tevinter device was here before the Dales elves took the keep to fight against the Exalted march. They figured it out how to make it work and humans believed the Dales elves placed them there.

The Tevinter devices were installed by Dales elves in a desperate attempt to fight the Exalted march.

I don't have a preference. It's hard for me to decide. What is clear is that, unlike the other regions in the map, The Dales seem to be quite free from Tevinter ruins or influence: the only ones we find are the astrarium in the Emerald Graves. Exalted Plains has no Tevinter presence at all, not even the astrarium. In this whole region, only this defence device and the strange tower in the ramparts decorated with Razikale Ceremony lid and the Horned warrior holding a sword are the only elements suggesting Tevinter presence. I'm a bit inclined to think that maybe the Elves of the Dales took and co-opted Tevinter devices. A bit of this can be seen in the DLC with Ameridan, who used the devices of Razikale Reach to keep Hakkon at bay, and he not only knew how it worked, that he also added Andrastian passages to its mechanism. 

Maybe the humans that had said this mechanism was implemented by the elves were telling the true.

This citadelle is quite big and intricate to walk around. Along the chaos, there are some elven statues scattered through the streets.

When we finally deactivate the defences and find the trapped orlesians, we are informed that they, in an attempt to desperately fight the undead, activated the ward but then they could not turn it off. They hid inside a chamber, holding until reinforces could come. Many died trapped outside.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

Galexi's Adventure In The Multiverse

Introduction:

Lex was a young earthling who lived a normal life. She had a modest group of friends. She had a deep fascination with beauty. She found herself working as a model, as a way to create and share in the beauty of people. At night she felt most comfortable. She couldn't explain it, but she was always drawn to the starry sky on any clear night. It was almost like being in a trance.

A few times this would happen around her friends.

"Hey, are you there?" they would ask.

"Earth to Lex."

"...Oh! Ye..yeah, nothing. I thought I heard something. That's all."

On the eve of her 21st birthday, there was a brilliant full moon. The stars were also brighter than usual. As midnight approached, her mind raced with ideas of the fun she was going to have tomorrow! Three minutes to midnight.

And then two minutes.

Then one. The sky darkened.

Fifty seconds.

Forty seconds. Blackness darker than the darkest night descended upon the moon.

Thirty seconds.

Twenty seconds. She was mesmerized by the sudden eclipse. Her blue eyes reflected what little light remained, and they seemed to almost glow brownish-amber.

Ten seconds...nine...eight.

The moon was completely drowned by blackness. She could faintly see the silver outline of a mysterious design, penetrating the cloak around the moon.

Seven...six...five.

As the shape brightened, her hair became silver as well. The glyph, which now was brightly stamped on the moon, was reflected on her face.

Four...three...two...one...

The eclipse faded quickly. The night sky was shining brighter than ever before. Everything around her was lost in piercing radiance.

Zero...

...

...

Everything was instantly still. Her eyes had trouble adjusting to the sudden change in light. The stars slowly came back into focus. The full moon was glowing as it had been just minutes ago. As her eyes regained focus, her reflection was visible in the window. The moon looked closer than usual. The detail was amazing. She would have easily seen the familiar "man on the moon"...

...

...if it was there.

It wasn't. It was a side of the moon always hidden from Earth. The features felt familiar yet foreign. Focusing back from the moon to her reflection, another curiosity caught her eye. The silver design that briefly appeared on the moon was now resting on her face. The linework hugged and highlighted the contours of her cheekbones, ran up along the bridge of her nose, and feathered out along her brow. As the design emitted a faint glow, she noticed her eyes also had changed to the reflective color present during the eclipse. She noticed her ears had lengthened and came to a delicate point at the tips. None of this seemed to faze her. It was as if she couldn't remember ever looking like anything else. She recognized it as "her."

Glancing up once more at the moon, a blueish orb came creeping out from behind. Her eyes widened. She gasped loudly. There was no mistaking it. That was the Earth! A soft voice echoed in her head.

"Welcome home, Gal."

to be continued...

Next: Chapter 1

Caleb Widogast Spell Descriptions

I just wanted a list of Caleb's spells and his descriptions for, fic or art purposes or whatever. Under the cut.

Note that this won't contain all casting. Some spells don't have descriptions, some spells have very similar descriptions. This is just whatever catches my eye as noteworthy. It's also a very quick scan so I may miss some parts. If there's anything you think is worth adding that I've missed, feel free to let me know.

Alarm V, S, M (a tiny bell and a piece of fine silver wire)

EP69:  I pull out the silver thread and I start taking the ten minutes I need to cast Alarm on this door.

EP46: slowly and methodically take out the silver wire, and cast Alarm

Banishment V, S, M (an item distasteful to the target)

EP50: I'm going to lean out. I'm going to extend my middle finger to the giant on the bridge, mutter a few arcane words around my hand, and cast Banishment

Cat’s Ire (Reflavoured Bigby’s Hand) V, S, M (a sprig of catmint)

EP69: Pulling out the catmint bloom that I have and I cast Cat's Ire and a small spectral Frumpkin appears just above his head up in the air for a split second and giant hand above and I am going to use my action to shove him down to the ground

Comprehend Languages V, S, M (a pinch of soot and salt)

EP136: 1st-level spell, yeah, I will take out my little pinch of salt and soot, and drop it in front of my eyes, and cast Comprehend Languages.

EP135: I will wave a hand through the air and sprinkle salt in front of my vision and cast Comprehend Languages.

EP120: And I will sprinkle some soot and cast Comprehend Languages in case there's any writing to be found.

EP115: I spend 10 minutes, and do some muttering and wave a bit of soot and salt in the air, and cast Comprehend Languages, and take another look.

Dancing Lights V, S, M (a bit of phosphorus or wychwood, or a glowworm)

EP133: Caleb is going to, with a bit of phosphorus in his hand, taking a half beat longer than normal, cast Dancing Lights and bring globules out. But for once they're roughly the same color as the blue that we can see in the distance.

EP40: I'm going to cast Dancing Lights and send four globules up around the roof so that everyone can see everything perfectly.

Detect Magic V, S

EP38: After a moment passes, I stand behind Caduceus' tall frame and quietly cast Detect Magic.

Disintegrate V, S, M (a lodestone and a pinch of dust)

EP138: Okay, and I draw the dust on my arm and I cast Disintegrate all along the lining holding the gem in place.

EP119: I pull out the lodestone and grip it in my arm with a finger full of dust. I just let the drift globe float. And I'm holding my turn for when I see Beauregard out of the baby, and I will cast Disintegrate once Beauregard is out of the baby.

EP98: Thinking about the conversation I had with Fjord just yesterday, I drag dust up my arm, and point my hand at the head one and cast Disintegrate.

EP96: He digs into his bag and pulls out a lodestone, which he palms in his hand and drags some minerals and dust up his entire arm and points his finger and I cast Disintegrate at this thing.

Dispel Magic V, S

EP139:  And I will then wave my hand toward Essek and shout: Wake up! And cast Dispel at fifth.

Expeditious Retreat V, S

EP35: I mutter a few arcane words and I cast the spell Expeditious Retreat,

Fabricate V, S

EP138:  I hold the residuum shard in one hand, and I hold it together with the medallion that I'm wearing and I'm going to cast Fabricate and slowly melt the residuum around the necklace. and slowly melt the residuum around the necklace.

Fear V, S, M (a white feather or the heart of a hen)

EP36: I will stand at the mast and I will pull a white feather out of my coat and trace a baleful glyph in the air and cast Fear

EP32: In the meantime, I pull out a white feather, and I trace a triangle in the air, and I cast Fear on this one.

Fireball V, S, M (a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)

EP32: Ja, I'm going to back up five feet away, and as I do so, I'm going to pull some bat shit out of one pocket and some sulfur in the other and slap them together, and then stick my hands out and cast Fireball at it.

Fly V, S, M (a wing feather from any bird)

EP100: Caleb will just prepare with a raven feather in hand, will cast Fly and hover up and hold on to the sail, just to move with the ship, as it goes.

EP99: And I pull out the raven's feather again and I cast Fly on the two of us.

Fortune's Favor V, S, M (a white pearl worth at least 100gp, which the spell consumes)

EP122: And will cast Fortune's Favor on myself and little geometric shapes spiral out.

EP90: I hold the pearl up to his forehead and you see some geometric halos of white for a moment, and I've cast Fortune's Favor.

EP86: I'm going to throw my back away from the temple, and squat down and pull out the pearl, and place it to my forehead and cast Fortune's Favor upon myself hidden under my cloak.

EP86: Caleb walks up and cautiously reaches above his own head, and places a pearl against her forehead, and small little fractals and geometric shapes appear briefly in the air. And I cast Fortune's Favor on you.

EP83: Wait just in case, and I hold the little pearl up to my forehead and summon geometric designs in the air, and I cast Fortune's Favor on you.

EP70: ...and I cast Fortune's Favor with a white pearl to my forehead. Then you see geometric shapes for a split second.

EP69:  As I do that I pull out my pearl and hold it to my forehead and cast Fortune's Favor on myself.

Gift of Alacrity V, S

EP69:  Yasha. Would you allow me again to, and I start to trace the same angles through the air and cast Gift of Alacrity on you again.

Globe of Invulnerability V, S, M (a glass or crystal bead that shatters when the spell ends) Cast via Allura’s staff

EP141:  And I move over closer to Essek and slam Allura's staff down on the ground and cast Globe of Invulnerability, so that it encompasses myself and Essek.

Gravity Fissure V, S, M (a fistful of iron filings)

EP139:  And then I will take a palm full of iron shavings and grind my hand through it, and cast Gravity Fissure through space, straight at him. 100-foot range.

Gravity Sinkhole V, S, M (a black marble)

EP134: Yeah, so Caleb is a bloody mess, and he was about to cast a spell centered on the column, but now I don't have to, and instead I hear Fjord go, (yelling). And I hold a black marble out in that direction, and copy my Kryn colleague, and cast Gravity Sinkhole in the far wall behind the eyeball-butt creature.

EP127: Yeah, I pull out a black marble, and bring it into a circle, and I cast Gravity Sinkhole, a dunamantic spell, above him, at the ceiling to pull him up to the roof.

Haste V, S, M (a shaving of licorice root)

EP28: Do I? If I feel the dwarf next to me, I would use a free hand to jam some licorice back into my mouth and start chewing furiously, anxiously. I'm so scared of everything. And cast Haste again, into the dwarf.

EP26: Yeah. I go rummaging through my pack really quick and I pull out a licorice root and stick it into my mouth and bite onto and I start muttering to myself and I say, "Pick up the pace," and I cast Haste on Beauregard.

Immovable Object V, S, M (gold dust worth at least 25gp, which the spell consumes)

EP138:  That's okay. Second thing I'm going to do is smash a bag of gold dust across it and before it goes all the way in, cast Immovable Object on the gem.

Knock V

EP83: I speak a single arcane word and cast Knock on the door.

EP30: I mutter a word and cast Knock and the manacles fall away.

EP28: I place my hand on the door and I cast Knock

Mage Armor V, S, M (a piece of cured leather)

EP44: I give a little tug to the leather tied at my knee and cast Mage Armor

EP37: Yeah, and going up also, I grab hold of that leather thong that's tied around my thigh and I cast Mage Armor on the way up.

Magic Missile V, S

EP46: I begin to weave my hands underwater and cast Magic Missile

EP47: I begin to weave Magic Missile again,

Maximilian's Earthen Grasp V, S, M (a miniature hand sculpted from clay)

EP27: I pull out the clay cat's paw and cast Earthen Grasp and the cat's claw forms out of the dirt and I use it to start digging a hole in the earth.

EP25: I pull out my clay cat's paw and mutter a few words, and I will cast Maximilian's Earthen Grasp. A soil cat's paw comes up out of the ground and swipes.

EP25: So I grasp the cat's paw again, I don't try to pull myself loose, and I cast Maximilian's Earthen Paw again.

Melf's Acid Arrow V, S, M (powdered rhubarb leaf and an adder's stomach)

EP34: Okay, I'm going to move into that corner and I'm going to rifle into my pockets and pull out a small snake's gut peppered in powdered rhubarb leaf, and I stick my hand out and point at the one messing with my human friend over there, and I take the snake's gut and I pull it back like I am drawing a bowstring as I mutter and I let go and cast Melf's Acid Arrow

Message V, S, M (a short piece of copper wire)

EP41: I cough very hard into my hands and cast Message to him

EP38: Excellent, let's stand right here. I casually pull out the wire and I cast Message to Nott. Nott, would you please go, I need you to speak to Avantika and Jamedi together for a moment, please?

Polymorph V, S, M (a caterpillar cocoon)

EP132: Pulling a cocoon out of my satchel and I begin to cast, pointing towards the undamaged one there, and I will turn that undead giant, hopefully, into a sloth.

EP67:  I start going through all my coat pockets quickly and pull out a cocoon and I cast Polymorph on myself and turn myself into an identical mama spider if I am able, and if not, I will just do giant spider, but I'm hoping for it.

Programmed Illusion V, S, M (a bit of fleece and jade dust worth at least 25gp)

EP141:  I take a handful of jade dust that I achieved through powderizing, pulverizing the jade that I melded around my medallion and I cast Programmed Illusion. You were part of a circus and the big tops go up around him and the dancers and performers that he spent his time with and a big burly bouncer woman, and a tiefling handing out leaflets to people on the road. And then a group of weirdos joins.

Slow V, S, M (a drop of molasses)

EP129:  I obviously heard Marion scream. I heard little feet running. I don't hear or see Luc anywhere. Probably. I don't have much left. I will smear molasses along my hands and try to cast Slow on the two creatures

EP96: So rattling through his bag, molasses along his hand which he then spins in the air and I will cast Slow.

EP81: I slide molasses along my hand, and hand in a circle, and I cast Slow on it.

EP50: One handed, Caleb gets the molasses out and starts smearing it and casting Slow

EP39: I'm going to do a little bit of a gamble here. I peek out again and I drop Haste on Beauregard and smear molasses across my hand and cast Slow on the hydra and his little snakey friend.

Suggestion V, S, M (a snake's tongue and either a bit of honeycomb or a drop of sweet oil)

EP69:  I suggest you come clean and I cast Suggest.

EP35: Ja I rub a bit of honey across my lip and say, "Mein Freund, I suggest you throw down your weapons and lie under that desk, just for your safety," and I cast Suggestion.

EP34: Let me make a suggestion. And I cast Suggestion. (not a spell description but I cackle every time Liam does this)

Teleport V

EP141:  Shortly after returning home from Eiselcross, I go to Blumenthal for the first time, and I know where the town cemetery is. And I find Una and Leofric, and sit down on the ground before them. And I unsnap the book harness on the left, And I unsnap the book harness on the left, and take out the book of letters that I have been (tearfully) writing to them since I woke up with the intention of putting it in their hands. I have so much more work to do, trying to be the man you wanted me to be. I still hope to. And if I'm very lucky, I will see you on the other side. And I hold the book, and I cast Teleport, and send it into the earth between them. (sobs) Okay.

Teleportation Circle V, S, M (rare chalks and inks infused with precious gems with 50gp, which the spell consumes)

EP70:  I place my one piece of jade on the ground and start tracing a circle and thinking of the teleportation circle in Rosohna.  And begin to cast.

(Matt):  All right, so... As you guys watch Caleb setting the gemstone, the jade piece in the center, the way he draws all these lines and sigils. It's a large, circular equation on the ground, made of various arcane symbols intersecting, overlapping, and as he begins to progressively fill in, it seems to spiral inward as he fills out the rest of this equation. You watch the surrounding exterior of it begin to glow as an echo afterward. As he gets towards the very, very center, he finishes a central circle, draws in a particular emblem, and then places the jade onto it. As it does, the jade shatters. The entire circle (whooshing) flares up brightly beneath. 

Tongues V, S, M (a small clay model of a ziggurat)

EP134: Before you do, Caduceus, come here for a moment. I'll pull out this little stone sculpture of a ziggurat I have with little letters and glyphs all around it, and I'm going to cast Tongues on Caduceus.

EP100: I pull out a small, clay, pyramid-shaped statue that I have, with little glyphs and characters all over it, and I cast Tongues on myself.

EP50: I pull out a small, little stone pyramid in my hand and mutter a few words and then cast Tongues and speak to this little thing

Wall of Fire V, S, M (a small piece of phosphorus)

EP42: I take a bit of phosphorus and squelch it through my hand and cast Wall of Fire across the entire length of the boat between them and us

Widowgast's Pretty Lights V, S, M

EP99: I cast Widogast's Pretty Lights. They are green, they are glowing a pale green and floating around Jester's head.

Widogast's Vault of Amber V, S, M (5 small amber gems worth 200 gold)

EP98: All right, so he puts out the five pieces of amber, but it takes a while, so you strip naked, I guess, while I cast some mumbo jumbo and... the ascot goes (sucking sound). And it's gone.

EP96: Caleb starts placing pieces of amber in a circle on the ground and begins to ritually cast Widogast's Vault of Amber with the statue.

Widogast's Web of Fire V, S, M (a cat's cradle of thread or string coated in phosphorus)

EP116: I raise the cat's cradle up, and I spin my finger around and wrap it up tighter in string and bring it right back down and cast at 5th-level, and I will send one of the snakes to the final brazier and hit every last creature on the map because there's four of them.

EP86: Pulled up, walks directly behind the Laughing Hand, pulls out the Cat's Cradle, slams it into the ground. And I cast Widogast's Web of Fire, and concentrate it on the Laughing Hand. I'm actually standing in front of the column. So that can jump five feet or climb five feet, so it should be able to go up and slam into his ass.

EP82: I slap the cat's cradle on the ground, dead face like Dwight from The Office, and cast a Web of Fire on it at its level.

EP80: I hear Beauregard shout not to use fire, and to myself I mutter panickedly: Oh, tough titty. And I reach my hands into my bag, fingers going into a cat's cradle crusted over in phosphorus, which I slam down onto the ground and cast Widogast's Web of Fire. A ring of flames goes (violently whooshes) around Caleb and five chains of fire streak out at different enemies on the ground, the two frogmen next to me, the one in the distance over there, two come around this way, one to hit frogman there and one to hit the big

Witch Bolt V, S, M (a twig from a tree that has been struck by lightning)

EP44: I pull a twisted blackened twig out and point it at her and cast Witch Bolt

EP39: I was rummaging in my pockets for the molasses, but everybody is dropping, so instead I pull out a burned twig and hold my hand out and cast Witch Bolt at 3rd-level through the twig towards snakeman.

General

Caleb looking for spell components

EP39: I was rummaging in my pockets for the molasses, but everybody is dropping, so instead I pull out a burned twig and hold my hand out and cast Witch Bolt at 3rd-level through the twig towards snakeman.

Caleb's sense of humor

EP128: I cast Locate Carrots.

EP74: I cast Conjunctivitis.

EP25: Could you please come cast Pull This Lamppost Out of My Stomach?

Just real cute moments

EP123: I cast Widogast's Web of Fire-- Wall of Fire, not Widogast, just Wall of Fire, and make a curtain of fire, so that everyone doesn't have to watch Jester pee.

EP115: I want a necromantic emerald. (Context: That One Time Caleb burned 1x Telekinesis, 1x Cat’s Ire Did a leaping jump away from the tower, only to faceplant and take the necro damage Resulting in 52 (whole party) + 24 (Caleb) damage This noodley wizard only has 95 hp at lvl 15 please Scene start here )

EP71:  Yeah, I'm going to cast a Fortune's Favor on my cat.

Fate and Phantasms #203

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we've only got one goal in mind: Golems! Thanks to Avicebron, we'll make just that; lots and lots of golems! Avicebron is a Battle Smith Artificer, so you'll always have at least one on standby.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: I did naht kill him, I did naht. Oh hi Mark.

Race and Background

Avvy might not look it, but he's still a Variant Human, giving him +1 Intelligence and Wisdom, plus proficiency with Deception to keep your mentees close and your golem ingredients just as close, plus you get the Servo Crafting feat! You can cast Find Familiar as a ritual, but instead of getting an animal, you build a small golem called a Servo. You can speak with and through the servo, plus sense through it, as long as you share a plane of existence. You can also attack with the servo instead of your wimpy noodlearms once per attack action.

You're also a Cloistered Scholar, which gives you History and Religion proficiency. You are nerd! No duh!

Ability Scores

Your Intelligence should be pretty high, you make golems and you don't afraid of anything, that's what you do. After that is Dexterity, you're better off not getting hit than anything else, and also having 4 arms means you're pretty good at sleight of hand. Wisdom is also pretty good, you're a religious man, and while you don't get power from that you're still wise. Unfortunately we gotta make Strength the next highest stat. I mean, two of your arms are robots, so I guess it kinda works? Your Charisma is pretty low, you just don't care about people that much, but we're dumping Constitution. Trust me, it'll make sense in a bit. (Don't do this in-game, this is a flavor thing, you WILL DIE)

Class Levels

You're 100% artificer, so you start off with Magical Tinkering, letting you stuff minor magical effects into tiny items. I don't know why you'd make a fart sound producing golem out of a pen, but I'm not Avicebron. You also learn Spells. They use your Intelligence score for prep and casting. Grab Mage Hand to build a little drone to carry stuff for you, and Message for a messenger golem. Really you can take whatever spells you like as long as you call them golems, but the most golemy are Alarm golem and Catapult golem. Why throw stuff when you can just make it throw itself? You also get proficiency in a buncha stuff, like Constitution and Intelligence saves, plus Nature to figure out good materials for golems and Arcana to build them!

Second level artificers can Infuse Items, adding cool effects to up to two items per long rest from a list of four options. Grab Armor of Tools so you'll always have your golem-making kit on ya, Enhanced Arcane Focus for stronger golems, Homunculus Servant for a golem, and Mind Sharpener to help keep track of your golems. I can already tell golem isn't even gonna look like a word by the end of this build.

Your artificer subclass is the Battle Smith, which makes you Battle Ready, so your golems can use martial weapons. Of course you're not swinging them yourself, so you can use your intelligence instead of strength when attacking with magical weapons. You also get a second permanent golem, the Steel Defender! You gotta use your bonus action to make it do stuff, but it'll hit people, repair stuff, and protect its allies! Also, you can cast Mending on it to heal it. You don't have that yet, but you will! You can also make The Right Tool for the Job over a long rest, and you also get subclass spells for free. Heroism makes a very pretty golem that inspires all your allies to not get scared and get temporary HP. Shield makes a golem that'll stand in front of someone as a reaction, adding 5 to their AC and blocking magic missiles for a round.

Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Intelligence. You use it for pretty much everything, so your brain's gotta be good!

Fifth level battlesmiths get an Extra Attack, so your servo, your steel defender, and your sword-holding golem can all attack at the same time. You also get second level spells, like Branding Smite and Warding Bond. Neither of those are golems tho. Grab Rope Trick for the first of many rope golems, and Enlarge/Reduce for later. Adam's a big boy, so you've gotta make a big golem.

Sixth level artificers get Tool Expertise, doubling your proficiency bonus with all tools. Golem making is complicated, the DCs are gonna be high. You also get two more blueprints and one more infused item, like a Spell-Refueling Ring for extra spell slots and a Rope of Climbing for another rope-based golem to help your bad climbing skills.

At seventh level you get so smart you have Flashes of Genius, adding your intelligence modifier to checks and saves near you intelligence modifier times per long rest. Yeah, it's actually just weirdly specific golems.

Bump up your Intelligence this ASI for more of everything you like. Smrt.

Ninth level battle smiths add an Arcane Jolt to their steel defender and magical weapons. Once per turn, intelligence modifier times per long rest, you can either add extra force damage to the hit, or heal a nearby creature. Still not sure how to make those golems, but you'll figure something out, you've got 20 Intelligence! You also get third level spells, like an Aura of Vitality golem and a Conjure Barrage golem. You can also can Create Food and Water golems for gathering, or turn just about anything into a Tiny Servant. For up to 8 hours after casting, you can turn a tiny object into a tiny creature, commanding it as a bonus action. Finally, a spell that makes golems! You can also use Glyph of Warding now, though it won't be that useful for the build until you get fourth level spells. The idea is, you can keep a bunch of these bad boys in your base, all set to trigger against a creature that knocks you down to 0 HP. All of them summon constructs, beating up the guy after you're already unconscious. This is the closest we could get to Avicebron's third skill, D&D doesn't really plan for character death that well. Also, just a correction. I just found out you can't carry glyphs around without them breaking :(

Tenth level artificers are Magic Item Adepts, giving you an extra attunement slot and you can create uncommon magic items for cheaper. You also get the Mending cantrip for golems, and two more blueprints for an extra infused item. The Helm of Awareness will help you stay out of trouble, and the Periapt of Wound Closure makes it easier to not die. Your master strategy is all about getting knocked out, so it would be nice if you automatically stabilize.

Eleventh level artificers can create Spell-Storing Items, stuffing weapons or focii full of first/second level magical goodness. It's like you're casting the spell, but it uses the other guy's concentration.

Another ASI! Bump up your Dexterity for less dying.

With fourth level spells, you can cast all sorts of golems. You're stuck with Aura of Purity and Fire Shield, but you also get an Arcane Eye for a drone golem, plus Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound and Summon Construct for fighting golems.

As a Magic Item Savant you get another attunement slot, and you can ignore requirements when attuning magic items. You also get the Prestidigitation cantrip to make whatever small tools you need for a second, and two more blueprints for one more infusion. Bracers of Defense will help you not die if you don't think Avicebron's outfit is armor, and the Ring of Protection will also do that regardless.

At fifteenth level you get your last subclass improvement, the Improved Defender. Your arcane jolt gets bigger, and your golem gets tougher and can reflect damage, not just deflect it.

Use the rest of your ASI to bump up your Wisdom. Making yourself better isn't in character, so just be wise.

You've got fifth level spells! Banishing smite isn't a golem, but I guess Mass Cure Wounds could be Adam's feet? Idk. You can also use Bigby's Hand for Adam's hand, and Animate Objects for more item-based golems. Now you can turn your trusty frying pan into a-golem. Everything turns into a golem.

Eighteenth level artificers are Magic Item Masters, letting you attune to six items at the same time. You also get two more blueprints, so grab two copies of Arcane Propulsion Arm for the four arms of your third ascension. Arms are cool.

One last ASI, grab more Wisdom.

Your capstone ability grants you a Soul of Artifice, giving you a +1 bonus to all your saves for each magic item you're attuned to, and you can destroy an infusion to drop to 1 HP instead of 0. Remember, getting KOd only helps if you're near one of your glyphs.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Between your Steel Defender, servo, tiny servants, and animated objects, you don't have to do much. Plus you can just rope trick away and let them take care of everything!

If your DM ever tries to spook the party by fighting you in your own base, you can spook him right back by taking a fall and filling your study with angry golems.

With expertise and flashes to help your repairs along plus mending, you're a great repairman. If the DM tries to block your path with a broken bridge, it won't stay broken for long. Plus, your warforged allies will love you.

Cons:

DONT DUMP CON. You have less than 100 HP at level 20, and your constitution save is really bad (for an artificer). Don't do it. Look me in the eyes, don't. do it!

Having any part of your battle plan being getting knocked out is not going to make you popular with your party members. Maybe you should help out yourself? Nah, golems are better.

All of your infusions and spells are focused on helping yourself, a stark contrast to most of our artificer builds. Keeping all your toys to yourself will not help your party like you, especially with a +0 charisma.

I thought up an AU where Rwby died in the breach train crash but their spirits didn’t move on and can still use their weapons as spirits and they become unseen protectors until someone (maybe someone in team Jnpr) saw them.

Jaune sighed as he stood at the memorial to team RWBY, looking up at each of their faces. It had been nearly a year after their deaths during the incident that is now referred to as the Breach. It still wasnt clear if the cause of death was the crash with the train, or if it may have been the hordes of grimm that seemed to overwhelm everyone. Either way, it was agreed between Beacon and the Vale Council to erect a memorial to the fallen heroes after Doctor Oobleck explained what had happened. 

Jaune sat a bouquet of flowers down in front of the memorial, sighing. “It shouldn’t have been any of you. You all were better huntresses than the rest of us. 

Pyrrha walked up behind Jaune and put a hand on her shoulder. “You know they’re not really gone, right? They’ll always be with us.” 

“Always be in our hearts, I know.” Jaune shook his head and started walking off. “We should start heading on our mission.” 

“Do you really think you’re ready?” 

“No, but… we still have a job to do.” 

Pyrrha looked at him sadly, hoping he wasnt still beating himself up. She had watched Jaune blame himself for RWBY’s death for the last year, beating himself up for not having been there for them. She took a look up at the monument, smiling at it. “Please watch over Jaune for me while we’re on this mission.” 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaune used his shield to block the swipe from an ursa, taking a step back to give himself a bit of room. He made sure to get into the stance that Pyrrha had taught him, readying his sword and waiting for the time to strike. He still wasnt entirely sure how he managed to get separated from his team, but he had to survive and he wasnt going to get himself killed. 

Jaune raised his shield once more, waiting for the strike the ursa was gearing up for. He braced himself, sword ready to thrust as the ursa turned to ash and dust in front of his eyes. He blinked for a moment, trying to register what had just happened. The grimm that had been surrounding him, the ursa that had been attacking him, all of them dead and dissipating into the air as smoke and ash. He put his sword and shield away, calling out into the forest. “Pyrrha! Ren! Nora! Are you all here?” 

Jaune was met with silence and rose petals floating off in the breeze. He plucked one out of the air and looked it over, watching it fade in his hand after a few seconds. He smiled for a moment and started rushing back to his camp, hoping his team would be there. At long last, he finally had proof.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You cant be serious. They’re dead!” Pyrrha pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know I said they’ll always be with us, but I meant that figuratively. That as long as we hold our memories of them, they’d never really be gone.” 

“Then explain the rose petal I found. It was just like Ruby’s! And the grimm! No one could ever kill grimm that fast besides her!” 

Nora shrugged, looking at her team leader. “Maybe you’ve gotten better at fighting grimm.” 

Jaune sighed and looked between his teammates. “Come on, guys, you have to believe me. They’re alive and they’re out here!” 

Pyrrha and Nora looked at each other, sharing worried looks as they listened to Jaune. They had all watched team RWBY get buried, saw the broken and battered bodies. There wasnt a chance that they were still alive. And now, their team leader seemed to be seeing things. 

Ren sat down a large pot of hash, sighing as he listened to Jaune. “Maybe, you need to get a little rest. You’ve been pushing yourself for so long-” 

“I know what I saw! They’re out there! All we have to do is find them and bring them back!” 

Pyrrha sighed. “And how, Jaune, do you propose we find them if they’re out there? Let’s… pretend for a moment that you’re right and they really are out there. How are we supposed to bring them back with us? And why would they fake their own deaths?” 

“I… I dont know…” Jaune laid back, looking up at the stars. “Maybe… they had something else they needed to do.” 

“Or maybe, they’re acting like guardian angels?” Nora started dishing up some of the hash for herself. “I dont buy that they’re still alive. But if they’re still here, maybe they’re protecting those who are in danger.” 

“So for us to see them again, we have to put ourselves in danger!” Jaune got up and started heading out into the forest. “Nora! You’re a genius!” 

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all looked at each other before chasing after Jaune. That wasnt exactly the reaction they were all hoping for with giving him that kind of hope. They all tried to keep up with Jaune, falling a bit behind. The last thing they wanted was for Jaune to put himself in unnecessary danger just to prove a point. 

The three of them finally caught up to Jaune, hesitating as they saw a large deathstalker sitting in front of them, red eyes flashing as it moved its tail up. Pyrrha reached for her weapons, hesitating when she realized she left them at camp. Ren and Nora did the same as Jaune backed up, realizing his mistake. 

“Iceflower!” 

The words echoed off in the wind as a chill started up in the air. A spike of ice pierced the tail from the side, followed by a sharp wind slicing one of the pincers off. JNPR all watched in amazement as the deathstalker in front of them fell, turning into ash and smoke. 

Four figures stepped out from the grimm as it dissipated before rushing off in different directions. A trail of rose petals, glyphs, fire, and shadow were all that could be seen before disappearing a few feet later. 

Pyrrha rubbed her eyes for a moment, trying to understand what she had just witnessed. “That… that was Ruby’s voice we heard, wasnt it?” 

Nora nodded, watching the last of the rose petals disappear. “And that was her move with Weiss.” 

“Yang and Blake were also here.” Ren walked over to where the grimm had stood, looking out to the forest in the directions that team RWBY had gone. “Jaune was right. He did see them.” 

Jaune smiled a bit, glad his team now believed him. “Then we need to find them and bring them back.” 

30 Day DA OC Challenge, Day 19: Courtship

Day 19: Courtship

Does your OC get involved romantically or sexually with anybody? When do they first fall for them or get involved? If they fall in love, when does it happen? Does the relationship last?

Anders! (And yes, it lasts, for better or worse.)

[most of this is a repeat from this post]

I tend to go with the idea that no matter what romance route is played that Anders has at least some romantic interest in Hawke from Act 1. But after Karl’s death, I think there’s a combination of both not being ready and believing that he’s too dangerous for anyone to be in a relationship with him.

Adrian was interested in Anders from very early on. An oddly attractive man with a ‘sexy, tortured look’ develops into honest admiration of the fact that Anders is one of the few people in Kirkwall who’s actually interested in doing something good. But he’s A) used to playing his cards close to his chest (as while Ferelden may not particularly care about same-sex relationships, there does seem to be something of an expectation that such relationships shouldn’t get in the way of family expectations and making children, Leandra has definitely messed with his head, etc.), and B) he’s a small, somewhat insecure ball of anxiety who’s afraid of rejection. He also very good at repressing things, so for most of Act 1, he’s in denial of being interested beyond a “yep, that one’s handsome.”

However, have a show rather than tell.

Hawke has determined that he does not like the Deep Roads. And he hates Bartrand. Who the fuck does that? Leaves their brother to die over a chunk of stone, or whatever that idol was made of?

You let your brother die. You left him.

That was different. I couldn’t protect him. I tried, I swear.

Bethany sneaks up on him from behind and loops her arm through his. She leans her head on his shoulder. “Carver was already dead, ‘Dri.”

He knows that she can’t actually read minds, but sometimes he wonders whether she picked the skill up somewhere. Or maybe it’s a little sister thing. He stops walking and tilts his head to the side, touching his cheek to her hair. “I should have -”

“If any of us could have, we would have.” Bethany pats the other side of his face. “Look about, is this a decently safe place?”

The Deep Roads do require a qualifier for the word safe. Adrian lifts his head and glances around. Ahead, there’s a bridge over a chasm. If it’s sturdy enough, it will give them good lines of sight and walls on two sides. “Ahead will do.”

“Thanks, ‘Dri.” Bethany lets go of his arm and jogs ahead to where Varric and Anders are walking together, both with their weapons in hand, reasoning that if Anders could sense darkspawn, Varric might be able to take them down with Bianca before they got too close. Or thin them out. “Hey. Think it’s night yet?”

“You’re the only Sunshine I see. What’s your opinion?”

“That I’m tired.”

Varric looks around and shrugs. “Then it’s night. Might as well make camp.”

Hawke keeps watch well after they've eaten a sad and meager (who knows how long they'll be searching for an exit now?) meal of hard bread. Bethany told him that he didn't need to; the glyphs she and Anders had set on either end of the bridge would last far past the time Varric's little clockwork watch was set to come. But he couldn't talk himself into following her advice. Darkspawn had killed Carver. They were not going to take Bethany from him.

He isn't the only one still awake. Anders had laid out his bedroll as close to the fire as he could, and he huddles close to the glow of the embers. He’d panicked when Bartrand swung the door closed on in, and once it became clear that neither Varric nore Hawke would be able to pick the locking mechanism, cast multiple spells at the door before giving up on the idea of breaking through it by force. The mage had been quiet since, not even Varric had been able to draw him out.

"You alright?"

Anders lifts his face. There are always dark circles around his eyes, but they look worse in the low light of the fire. "I hate the Deep Roads."

"You could have said no." Hawke asked him to come because he had experience with the Deep Roads, and Darkspawn, and according to what was said of the Grey Wardens would be able to sense them ahead of time. "I would have understood."

Anders smiles grimly. "They're worse without a cat."

"You should try to sleep."

"You should too. Those glyphs I set were designed by a Warden mage. They're strong. This spot is as safe as it's going to get."

"Good to know." Hawke lies down, unsure whether he'll sleep, or just rest his eyes and listen for trouble. "Hey, Anders -"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming with me."

"Well, I'm here now."

It might have been an hour, it might have been two, and Hawke might have fallen asleep, or he might have been awake the whole time, but his eyes snap open the moment he hears something other than the crackling of coals. A low, distressed groan and panicked, incoherent mumbling. Hawke opens his eyes. There’s just enough of a glow left in the few embers to see Anders rolling over fitfully, flinging his arm out, nearly managing to catch his fingers in what’s left of the fire. His other arm falls over his mouth, muffling what might have been a scream if allowed to escape.

Hawke tosses off his blanket and crawls across the pavers to him. As he pulls Anders outstretched arm back from the fire, the mage’s eyes snap open and he bolts upright with a gasp, forehead knocking against Hawke’s chin.

“Hey there. You were dreaming.”

“I can hear them.” Anders curls forward, draws his long legs against his chest, and wraps his arms around his knees. “I can still hear it.”

"Hear what? The darkspawn?"

Anders doesn't respond with words, he just goes limp and slumps to the side. Adrian catches him and lets him lean his head against his shoulder. He's perfectly still for a minute, then awkwardly runs his hand through the mage's hair, not entirely sure Anders is awake enough to know where he is, much less who's holding him.

"Take a few deep breaths, okay?" Adrian wraps his other arm around Anders' and pats his shoulder. His joke about Anders 'sexy, tortured look' didn't seem quite as funny at the moment. "Nothing has tripped the glyphs you set. We're okay."

Anders' breathing calms, at least a little. "It's so dark. I can't do this again. I can't."

"I'd build back up the fire for you, but there's no fuel left." Varric had carefully gathered a certain dry fungus from the walls of the cages as they walked. It was the only combustible material available. "Do you hear them more, in the dark?"

"Or I hear nothing in the dark. Not a sound, not a word. I'm alone in it again, and..." The pitch and volume of his voice begins to rise and on instinct, Adrian hugs him tightly. Maker, the poor man is miserable. Hawke never would have asked him to come if he had only known.

Anders shudders and hiccups. "I can't be alone in the dark."

"I'm here." What happened to Anders that made the dark so terrifying? The Deep Roads themselves weren't always dark. Parts were. Other parts were lit by the glow of some sort of marvelous dwarven lamps that still worked after centuries. This wasn't one of those areas, and the lower the embers grow, the more Anders trembles. Without really noticing it, Adrian begins to rub his back and whisper in his ear, the way he sometimes had when one or the other of the twins woke with a childhood nightmare.

He doesn't know Anders well. It's maybe been three or four months since he sought him out to get the maps of the Deep Roads. He's good to know though - a good man. Bethany agrees. And Varric had taken the mage under his wing; Hawke knew the dwarf was paying off the Carta to leave the Darktown clinic alone.

Anders is also handsome in his own way, devilishly funny, and flirtatious, despite the very sad look he gets in his eyes if someone mentions the word Tranquil. 'I hadn't seen him in years,' Anders said, the one time Adrian got him to talk. 'But you know how it is, with first loves.'

Adrian does not actually know how it is with first loves. What relationships he had in Lothering weren't love affairs, just temporary flings with a presumed end date. A Ferelden freeholder needs a wife, needs children to help him work the land. It's just the way of things. No sense in getting too attached.

Like he's getting attached to this mage who hides years of sadness underneath dry humor. Anders has put himself back together a few times already, and right now, the cracks are showing.

"Lay back down. I'll stay with you."

It takes a few more shivers and hiccups before Anders does stretch his long limbs back out. Adrian intends to just sit next to him, maybe keep their fingers together, but Anders pulls at his arm until he lies down beside him on the narrow bedroll, on his side with his head cushioned on his folded arm. Adrian hesitantly strokes Anders' hair, and when that earns him a soft sigh, loops his free arm around the other man and snuggles a bit closer.

After all, it's not just dark in the Deep Roads, it's damn chilly as well. That’s what he tells himself.

When Varric’s little mechanical clock chimes a fake morning, Hawke still curled up around Anders, and Bethany is smirking at him.

Bonesborough’s Resident Troublemaker

This is part of my Four Years AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bonesborough, even by Boiling Isles standards, was never an incredibly normal place.

First of all, it was the home of Emperor Belos. A town housing a man with such power was bound to be recognizable by name alone.

Second of all, it seems to have a knack for attracting trouble. Even more so than other towns. Small or big, Bonesborough has it. From a thought-to-be extinct basilisk attacking the local school to a cursed owl beast appearing every once in a while to a random human girl of all people staging a prison breakout.

Speaking of the human girl…

Last, but not least, Bonesborough held some of the most powerful and strangest witches the Boiling Isles had ever seen.

The two most notable ones being The Owl Lady, a covenless witch that was once the strongest witch alive. Advanced in wild magic and sharing a half-curse with her sister, also known as the former Emperor’s Coven leader. Until her magic died out. Though there are rumors she is finding a way to regain it.

And then there was her apprentice.

A human girl who appeared out of nowhere and learned her own form of magic. In just a single month she had been banned from Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, somehow managed to enroll in said school, convinced the principal to let students study multiple tracks, befriended the Bat Queen, defeated Grometheus, and fought Emperor Belos himself. And she survived.

To the rest of the Boiling Isles, Bonesborough was a battleground of the strangest people with even stranger stories.

To Bonesborough, however, it was any other morning with the residents of The Owl House. And their most common troublemaker the past few years; The Owlet.

“Owlet, that better not be you.”

Slowly, very slowly, a black and white owl mask poked up on the other end of the stand.

“Hey,” The Owlet waved shyly, slowly pulling her purple hood off.

“Owlet, no.” The greengrocer warned, grabbing her produce at the edge of the stand and pulling it closer today.

“Please?” The Owlet begged, her mask's eyes going as big in her puppy-dog look that everyone knew Eda must have taught her.

“No, bad Owlet.” The greengrocer teased, lightly swatting at the thief's hand as she tried to reach for the vegetables. “Go steal from someone else. Or, you know, pay?”

“But I’m saving!” The Owlet whined. “You see, I had an idea--

“I hate to sound rude but I frankly don’t want to know or be involved with whatever idea you’ve concocted.” The greengrocer butt-in. “I have a business to keep.”

The Owlet whimpered and dramatically lay her chin on the table, staring longing at the vegetables. The greengrocer looked between her produce and the girl for a few moments before sighing and shaking her head.

“If you really need to steal something,” She said slowly, noticing the way the Owlet perked up. “I know of a certain someone who can definitely afford it…”

“Stealing from the rich? Even better!” The Owlet exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “Where do I find them?”

The greengrocer, surprised and mildly amused, pointed further down the marketplace.

“He sells somewhere down there, closer to the richer side of town. He’s got a big banner that’s cluttered with saying how ‘fresh’ and ‘organic’ his produce is.” The greengrocer huffed.

“Normally I wouldn’t care so much, but the guy literally uses magic to grow his produce and only makes his son do it on the side. I’m not exactly worried about his financial status.” She grumbled.

“Well then, I will be delighted to be of help.” The Owlet grinned, pulling her white staff off of her back. “Thanks for the tip!”

“Now you be careful out there, young lady!” The greengrocer warned as the Owlet rose into the air. “You’re still just an Owlet!”

“Pfft, since when did that ever stop me?” The Owlet replied.

She saluted the greengrocer before flying off, vanishing among the growing morning crowd.

The countdown for morning shenanigans had begun.

“Miss Blight?”

“Owlet again?”

“Yes, Miss Blight.”

Amity sighed and rubbed at her temples from where she sat at her desk.

“What did she do this time?”

“Stolen produce,” The guard said. “We have her bound as we speak.”

“Is that Amity in there?” A voice called from outside the tent.

“Think you can handle her this time?” The guard asked, a smug tone in his voice.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Keene?” Amity demanded, a little too quickly, as she stood up from her desk.

“Nothing, Miss Blight.” The guard said simply, turning his head to the side. “Good luck trying to wrangle her.”

“Thank you,” Amity growled through gritted teeth, grabbing her gray beaked mask from where it hung on the wall and slipped out of the tent.

“Amity!” Owlet grinned.

The thief had her wrists bound together with rope and was being led from said rope by one of the newer guards.

Poor guy.

“I’ve taken all of her glyphs, Miss Blight!” The young guard said happily, waving around a handful of paper cards with glee.

“Good job, Laris.” Amity sighed, knowing very well there was no way he had gotten all of her glyphs.

“Where’s her palisman?” She asked, walking up to Owlet and looking down at her, pulling her best ‘Really?’ face.

“Over here, Miss Blight.” One of the other guards said, holding up Owlet’s staff...with no palisman on the end.

“That’s a staff without a palisman, Xena.” Amity deadpanned.

“What? Where--?” The guard, Xena, began looking around frantically for the snow-white owl, who had somehow escaped her grasp.

“Where’s Snowy, Luz?” Amity sighed, turning back to the Owlet, who was looking very smug.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The Owlet said smugly. “I’m not talking. You’ll have to torture it out of me.”

“I can arrange that!” Xena called gleefully from where she was still searching for the palisman.

“No! No, Xena, we are not doing that.” Amity said sternly.

“Aw,” Xena mumbled.

“Titan save me,” Amity mumbled. “Look, why were you stealing produce?” Amity turned back to the Owlet. “I know why you stole from that guy, but vegetables? Can’t Eda steal her own?”

“Pfft, and let me miss out on all the fun?” The Owlet grinned. “And I’m saving.”

“...is this seriously about the glyph tattoos?”

“Yeah,”

“Oh for the love of--” Amity pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering just where she was and who was watching. Best to not reveal more to a whole squadron of Emperor’s Coven guards.

“You’re impossible,” She grumbled.

“I know,” The Owlet smiled. “Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, and especially you,” She nodded to Laris. “But Lilith’s gonna be mad again if news of my capture makes the news. Again.”

“Hey, you’re not going--”

“Laris!” Keene shouted. “Duck!”

The new guard only froze up before a screech sounded from above. The Emperor’s guards all looked up just in time to see a large snow-white owl swoop down.

It knocked right into Laris’ head, almost knocking off his beaked mask as Amity wisely took a few startled steps back.

With Laris’ hold on the Owlet's bindings loosened, she managed to jerk out of his hold. She dug both her tied wrists into her cloak and revealed a hidden pocket within the cape itself and drew a fire glyph.

“Get her!” Xena shouted as Amity pulled on her mask, becoming invisible among the swarm of guards as she moved further to the back.

She’d tried ‘fighting’ the Owlet before, and it did not end well.

The Owlet only smiled and tapped the glyph, burning the restraints off her wrists and sliding out of the way of a guard lunging for her.

The Owlet darted through the crowd of guards, leaping and kicking a few to get momentum to where Laris was frantically trying to gather up all the stolen glyphs he’d dropped.

“Thanks for holding these,” The Owlet grinned, causing him to jerk his head upwards.

The white owl swooped down again, shrieking as it kicked and clawed at Laris’ mask, making him yelp and stumble back.

Owlet ducked to the side as a guard threw a spear that impaled through one of her plant glyphs.

“Hey, rude!” The Owlet snapped, grabbing multiple glyphs off the ground. “Now I can’t use that one.” She complained before grabbing a new plant glyph and tossing it at one of the guards.

It lit up upon impact and a massive vine exploded from their forehead, reaching out and entangling many of the other guards.

“C’mon now, don’t be shy.” The Owlet said, stepping back and scooping up more glyphs in her other hand and spreading them both out like fans, showing what she had to the guards.

“Who wants to go next?”

“Ten snails say that she’s late again.”

“She is not going to be late again.”

Among the many other things the residents of Bonesborough dealt with were certain...thrill-seekers. Namely kids who had discovered the newest hiding spot of the Owl House and tried to have a little fun. Which ranged from waiting to see if they could catch a glimpse of one of the residents or trying to break in. Yes, that happened.

Twice.

The Owl House may have gotten a new hiding spot every month, but it was never overly far from Bonesborough. And Hooty did his job well.

During break-ins, that is.

“Jorah, I’m telling you, Owlet is definitely going to be late. My uncle said she got caught by the Emperor’s Coven again.”

“I’m not giving up my snails that easily!” The boy snapped, glaring at his other three friends. “I still have three minutes left.”

“You stubborn idiot,” One of his friends shook her head.

“Frances, I dare you to go talk to the tube bird.” A second girl grinned.

“I am not doing that.” Frances shook her head. “First of all, I’ll be caught. Second of all, that thing terrifies me.”

“Then why did you come?” Jorah raised a brow.

“Because you guys would bully me if I didn’t,” She grumbled.

“She’s not wrong,” The fourth kid shrugged.

“It’s just because you’re a wimp.” The second girl taunted.

“Would it kill you both to shut up?”

There was a snap and a thump from far off in the trees, and all four kids went quiet. They ducked down in the bushes that were only a few meters from the house.

Frances slowly stuck her head between the bushes and looked around.

Mere moments later, a figure flew out from the trees and crashed to the ground in front of the Owl House, groaning as her staff clattered onto the front porch.

“Hi, Luz!” Hooty greeted.

“Am I late?” The Owlet worried, taking off her needless mask and hanging it around her neck.

“Hmmm, nope! You got here with a minute to spare.” Hooty said cheerfully.

“I’ll take it,” Luz sighed with relief. “Sorry, Snowy.” She apologized to her palisman, picking up her staff and stroking the birds head.

Snowy chirped and turned her head away grumpily, but didn’t refuse the pets.

“I WIN!” Jorah cheered before slapping his hands back over his mouth.

Luz whirled around, staff raised and body tense as Frances darted back into the bush as her, and everyone else, gave Jorah furious glares and terrified looks.

“Who’s there?” Luz demanded, raising her staff.

“Some kids were betting in the bushes,” Hooty said, head coming out of the door slightly. “They thought you were going to be late again.”

“Oh,” Luz instantly relaxed, looking mildly annoyed at the worst. “Well, since they’re game is over and I’ve got a certain someone who’s going to be visiting and berating me soon, do you mind escorting them off?” She asked the door bird.

“Would I?” Hooty said excitedly.

“No, no! We’ll leave, we’ll leave!” Frances shouted, quickly getting up and already backing away.

“Too late!” Hooty chirped before extending his neck straight-on towards the kids.

They screamed and began bolting back through the woods, Hooty talking gleefully all the way.

“Sorry, kids,” Luz winced, a tad regretful as she placed Snowy back on her staff. She then opened the front door and stepped inside.

“You’re late,”

Luz sighed and looked towards the couch, where Lilith was ‘casually’ having a cup of tea.

“No, I’m not. I had one minute to spare. Could you not hear Hooty?” Luz said, hanging her mask on a hook by the door and resting her staff next to it.

“It was a very close call.” Lilith said simply. “You left, what, over three hours ago? You only went to get vegetables and spoons.”

“...well I got the spoons,” Luz said, sheepishly pulling out a handful of silver spoons from a pocket in her cape.

“Good enough for me!”

King scampered into the living room and climbed up Luz’s leg to snatch the spoons from her hand. She didn’t bother to react or stop him as he dropped back to the ground and hurried into the kitchen.

“Nice to see you still alive, kid,” Eda greeted much more casually as she poked her head in. “No vegetables, though?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to get them yourself.” Luz apologized. “I kinda...maybe…” She glanced at Lilith and weighed her options for a moment. “...got caught by the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Again?” Eda and Lilith accused.

“They got the jump on me!” Luz defended. “Besides, it was only Amity’s group again. Nothing to be worried about.”

“Kid, at this point, I’m convinced you want to be caught just to bug Amity,” Eda snickered, shaking her head.

“Well, it’s not true all the time…”

“You both are ridiculous,” Lilith shook her head. “Eda, you need better control over your apprentice.”

“Says you,” Eda rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, not every kid is like Amity.”

The front door slammed open, startling the inhabitants as they whirled around. Even King poked his head out of the kitchen.

A rather grumpy Amity stood in the doorway, mask pushed up on her head. She hadn’t even bothered to change.

“Speak of the devil,” Eda muttered.

“Hey, Amity,” Luz waved shyly.

“Again with the glyph tattoos?” She demanded, shutting the door.

“You’re still on about those?” Lilith blinked.

“They could be useful!” Luz insisted, sitting on the couch, opposite of Lilith. “I may have a lot of pockets and places I can stash glyphs, but the tattoo glyphs could be useful! Especially with the stronger ones.”

“We don’t know what something like that is gonna do to you, kid.” Eda shook her head. “This type of magic hasn’t been used in forever, it’s unlikely you could use magic with those glyphs without causing harm.”

“We don’t know that,” Luz said, scooting further into the corner as Amity exhaustedly sat on the couch between her and Lilith. “It could end up being really useful! And if it ends up being a bad idea, I can get a tattoo over it to cancel out the glyph.”

“You're barely seventeen, Luz. It’s illegal.” Amity pointed out.

“Since when has that ever stopped me?” Luz raised a brow. “And can’t I get them with permission from Eda? Or is that just a human realm thing?”

“How much have you saved for one already?” Eda asked.

“Almost two hundred,” Luz said proudly. “I wanted to try and get a less-dangerous spell first. Like a fire or a whirlwind glyph.”

“A fire glyph?” Lilith exclaimed.

“Would you rather I have a glyph that will shoot a spike of ice from my skin?” Luz raised a brow.

“Luz, for Titans sake, my parents are rich ,” Amity groaned, running a hand down her face. “I can pay for any of your tattoos you don’t have to excessively steal while you save.”

“It’s your parents who are rich, Amity. Not you,” Luz reminded. “I’m not forcing you to talk to them for snails for my sake. What kind of degenerate asks her girlfriend's parents for snails to get tattoos?”

“First of all, you’re not forcing me.” Amity raised a hand. “Second of all, I meant I would ask Ed and Em to be the ones to ask for the money. I promised I’d never speak to my parents again, and I’m upholding that.”

“Too bad, I’m paying for this myself.” Luz crossed her arms and turned on the couch so she was leaning against the armrest and lay her legs across Amity’s lap. “So take that, Miss Blight.”

“Shush,” Amity grumbled, cheeks pink as she glanced away.

“Hmm,” Eda thought, leaning on the other side of the couch armrest. “I guess a small one wouldn’t hurt…”

“You can’t be serious?” Lilith demanded. “You’re allowing this?”

“My kid, my rules.” Eda said, giving her sister a righteous look. “It’ll only be a small one, anyway. See how it goes before we try more.”

“You’re the best!” Luz grinned, reaching behind her to grasp at Eda, who stepped out of range.

“I know I am,” Eda said proudly.

“Amity, you’ve dated into a family of morons.” Lilith deadpanned, looking towards her apprentice and taking a sip of her tea.

“You’re part of the family, too.” Eda pointed out.

“Suffer with the rest of us, you fiend!” King called, trotting in from the kitchen and climbing up onto the couch to flop on Luz’s stomach, making her wheeze at the sudden weight.

“I regret a lot of my life choices, but especially the one that led me to this moment.” Lilith grumbled.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have cursed me when I was sleeping, huh?” Eda sneered.

“I don’t think that cemented it in--”

“Irrelevant,”

Luz, Amity and King all silently watched the women continue bantering for a few minutes before they all looked at each other with faces that said ‘well this isn’t going to end soon.’

“Anyway,” Luz sat up more and picked King up to place him on the couch head. “I told Gus I’d be meeting him at the library for more studying. He said he found some old human relics that could be enchanted.”

“Actual enchantments this time, or alleged enchantments?” King raised a brow.

“Actual enchantments, King.” Luz said, swinging her feet off Amity and getting up.

“I’ll come with,” Amity said, quickly getting to her feet as well. “Since you’re going to be using my hiding spot, as per usual.”

“Excuse you, I think the correct term is our hiding spot.” Luz teased, kissing her cheek. “But don’t you have to send in a report later?”

“Keene can take care of it,” Amity waved her hand like it was no big deal. “You’re more important.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Luz teased, laying her head on Amity’s shoulder.

“Hey, flirting teenagers, could you not do this in the middle of our argument?” Eda snapped her fingers, getting the girls attention. “I’m about to win it.”

“No you are not! I am making reasonable points!” Lilith insisted.

“You’re not even arguing about the curse anymore!” King threw his small paws in the air. “You're just bringing up mild annoyances that happened last week!”

“Your point?”

Luz rolled her eyes before turning and smiling to Amity. She returned her look of smothered amusement.

“Let’s hurry before they start getting into a glyph-fight,” Luz said, grabbing the witch's hand and hurrying to the door, making sure to grab her mask and staff along the way.

“You do know that people recognize you more with the mask than without it, right?” Amity asked, flipping her own mask down.

“I know, but I think it looks cool.” Luz shrugged, bringing up her hood. “Last one to the library has to clean Hooty!” She shouted before throwing open the door and racing out.

“Wha--not fair!” Amity shouted, tearing after the Owlet as she raised her staff and flew into the air, laughing all the way.

Amity summoned her own snake staff from the air beside her and leapt onto it. But by then, the Owlet was already gone, having raced through the trees and into the town.

And aside from the occasional on-looker, nobody batted an eye.

A Necromancer & His Zombie Boyfriend Take A Hike

Short Story 1/2/3/(4)/5/6/7/8/9/10

Relax. Relax. Inhale, exhale; you know the routine. This isn’t the first time you and Sett have been alone with unsuspecting humans. Just the first time where the goal has been for everyone to leave as alive as when they arrived. Simple.

Jen had texted the directions to The Goovenmeyer Hiking Trail, a public entrance to Goovenmeyer Forest, days before the planned excursion was to take place, and so Ulrick had just as much time with which to let his irrational worries ferment. 

In the logical portion of his elixir and glyph-addled mind, Ulrick knew there was nothing to worry about. That forming normal, healthy friendships was good for Sett. Good for both of them. But a nagging splinter dug at a place he couldn’t reach. 

He tried to disguise his busy hive of thoughts, but Sett, of course, caught on to the minuscule valley made from his dipping eyebrows, the tightness of a face steeped in sullen contemplation.

"You seem stressed,” Sett signed, retrieving a sealed, plastic package from his bomber jacket. “Beef jerky?"

"Where'd you get beef jerky?" asked Ulrick. He took a short pause. "And you don't eat?" 

"Yeah, I know," Sett signed. "It's more for the atmosphere." 

Sett stabbed one of the leathery sticks at his masked mouth, but seeing it fail to improve Ulrick’s mood, returned it to its pouch and put an arm around his shoulder. 

“Really, what’s up?” signed Sett with his available hand. 

“It’s stupid.”

“It never is.” 

Ulrick let out a rolling sigh. He stood from their seat at the bench and paced about the entrance of the hiking trail. “Supermarkets in the dead of night, deserted movie theaters, dates on moonlit rooftops. I did those things to protect us, yes, but it was also because…” He looked to Ulrick. “I like when it’s just the two of us. I’m selfish that way.” 

The mask covered Sett’s face, but Ulrick could imagine the goofy, tilted grin underneath from the light shining in his eyes. It urged half a smile out of him before his paranoia could steal back its throne. 

“That’s changing now, and that’s fine, and I’m happy for you. But a small part of me can’t help but wonder…” 

“Wonder...?” “What would they do if they knew?” 

“Knew what?” came a familiar voice from behind them, where a small parking area accommodated an RV, the boys’ rusted red jalopy, and a newly arrived blue sedan. 

It was Jen, followed closely by a backpack-lugging Diane, looking equally curious. 

"That..." started Ulrick, feeling the vacuum of space closing in around him, sucking the air from his lungs. 

"That we've never been hiking before,” Sett cut in with lightspeed fingerwork. “Didn't want you to look down on us rookies." 

Ulrick could not have managed to look at Sett with more gratitude. "Cat's out of the bag, I guess." 

"Ha! Don't you pink bellies worry about that. Everyone's a first timer once,” chortled Diane. 

“Yeah, except you, Di. You were born an outdoorswoman.” 

Exaggerating a shocked expression, Diane said, “That ain’t true! I was born a Led Zeppelin fan, and everything else has been window dressing.” 

Then Jen snorted, not dissimilarly to the way Diane had when the four had met. Ulrick wondered who’d picked it up from whom. 

“Well!” Jen said, clapping her hands together. “Di might have a compass for a brain, but I have something just as good.” She reached into a pocket of her explorer shorts and brought out a smartphone, plastered in psychedelic peace-symbol stickers. “A compass on my cell phone.”

“And I’ve read about a few sights off the beaten path that we’ve just got to check out,” she said. “Y’know, time permitting.” 

“Oh yeah, wandering blindly into the unfamiliar wilderness. That’s never gotten anyone brutally murdered,” scoffed Ulrick.

Jen suddenly placed her hands on Ulrick’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes, her voice silvery and therapeutic. “I see you, I hear you, I feel you,” she said, each emphasized syllable accompanied by a gentle shoulder clap. 

A stammered “Uh…” was the only response Ulrick could muster. 

Turning back to the trail ahead, she began marching. “And we’re off!” 

Irregular stone slabs acted as their guide into the forested incline, but it wasn’t long before they and the beaten path were old acquaintances. Really, it seemed like they’d forgone any path at all, intended or otherwise, as they squeezed past vine-twisted tree trunks, maneuvered around prickly poisonous bushes, crossed rushing, turbulent streams. 

From the clearing at which they found themselves, the whispers of fast moving water could be made out. Jogging up to her position at the head of the group, Sett tapped Diane on the shoulder. “I’ll race you to the next stream,” he signed. Diane agreed with a haughty laugh as the two took off in a sprint. For having only a fraction of the functioning tendons, Sett kept up remarkably well but Diane’s calves were pistons. Jen and Ulrick shared in the rolling of eyes, and after they and Sett had all caught up to the race winner, their spirits were high. On their way over the stream in question, however - wide and deep, nearly a river - Ulrick’s foot missed its landing on the collapsed tree the group had fashioned into a bridge. 

Before he had time to fully assess the situation or Sett’s hand had time to make contact with his, his mouth was flooded with water, and, as the remaining trio stood, frozen in shock, he was shooting rapidly down the violent torrent toward a sound of rushing water so massive, it took not a woodswoman to know what awaited him. 

But it was their woodswoman, Diane, who ripped herself from her jacket, and dove into the frigid gnashing. Her legs beat with a polished verve that contrasted Ulrick’s desperate flails more strongly with every inch of the gap she closed. Then she’d passed him. Her legs kept pumping. 

Only flashes of vision stolen between each blinding crash of the waves revealed to Diane the rock jutting up at her left. She paddled toward it as best she could, knowing she’d made it only when her hand was secured around firm granite. 

She gasped for air, bobbed above and below water level, but managed to swing around with fingers outstretched nearly as far as they would go. 

Wait. Wait. Wait. Now!

She grasped just the slightest bit further, used her legs to propel herself forward. For a microsecond, she was sure she’d waited too long, and then, almost in answer, felt her hand clasp around something bony and warm. “I got you!” she shouted over the scream of the rapids. 

Diane, grip on the mossy boulder growing ever more tentative, soon found a hand around her own wrist as she and Ulrick were dragged, dripping and shivering, onto the gravelly shore. 

The two gave haggard, drained, heaving breaths as Sett ensured they were entirely out of harm’s way, and Jen, sobbing, wrapped her arms around Diane’s neck. 

“This better have been worth it,” Ulrick said when he was dry and warm enough to say anything at all. But when, at the supposed end of their expedition, Jen pulled aside a curtain of vines, what unfolded before them convinced Ulrick it just might have been. 

Ahead, a narrow cavern, lined virtually floor-to-stalactite-riddled-ceiling with glowing, blueish-green mushrooms, tinted each of the four’s awe-stricken faces the very same alien hue. The spotted fungi curved up proudly from their places inset in the stony walls, as if to say, This is our home, and you are right to be astounded. And they were. 

Their jaws were still slack as they made their way out of the small, magical cave, crossed the fallen tree over angry waves, avoided the alluring embrace of stinging nettle. It was by the third time they’d encountered the same twisty, knotted elm, however, that their wonderment had begun to give way to weary impatience. 

"We're not lost. I know exactly where we are," Jen said, yanking free her phone from her pocket. She glanced at the screen for a brief moment and then announced, "We're lost. I have no idea where we are." 

She turned the blank screen to the other three, audibly clicking the 'power' button. "My phone must have died."  

“Don’t fret; there’s no guarantee it’ll stay that way,” signed Sett.

“Your optimism is so refreshing!” Jen said with a happy sigh.

A ragged groan escaped Diane. "Why didn't you charge it last night?"

"Why didn't you remind me to charge it? You know I always forget. And you knew we were going on a hike, too. So irresponsible," Jen said, shaking her head. 

"You!" laugh-shouted Diane before she took off to chase a now-squealing Jen through the isolated wooded area in which they found themselves until they’d run out of sight. 

Ulrick rolled his eyes, "God, is that what we look like?" 

Walking over and sitting next to Ulrick on a log, Sett lowered his mask, gnawed a piece of beef jerky, gave a series of loud smacks, and his head a shake. "Gffrrra rmmrrr. <Heck nah. We're way cuter,>" he spat, shooting out dried, fibrous bits. 

Ulrick’s eyes squinted instinctively to avoid the meat spray. I love this man, he thought dreamily.

"Grgrrrgrr. <Wow, this really tastes better raw,>" he grunted, hocking grisly chunks onto the ground. He handed Ulrick the bag of dehydrated cow bits. "Grgrrr rgrrrRRr. <Here. Can't even look at them.>"

"But you know..." said Ulrick, depositing the package into a coat pocket. "Apart from almost going over a waterfall, ending up hopelessly lost, and getting poison ivy in places I’d rather not mention, this honestly hasn't been the worst." 

"GrrrRr? <Great, even?>"

"Let's not get carried away."

Then, a scream. And not of the marital variety. A murder of crows poured out over the treetops. 

Ulrick and Sett looked to each other, and then, at once, took off after the sound. 

What they discovered upon following the shriek was a somewhat cozy recess, marred only by an edge of burnt, toppled trees, the result of a recent firestorm, and by an eight-foot behemoth of teeth and rage that now cornered a comparatively small Diane and Jen, the latter shaking in the protective arms of the former. 

The bear hadn’t noticed their arrival and Sett, without making a sound, used the advantage to pick up a sizeable rock and sneak behind the foam-mouthed beast. He lobbed the stone directly at its head.

“What are you doing!” Ulrick whispered tightly. 

Sett began signing, “While it’s distracted, get them--” but couldn’t complete the thought as a freight train concentrated in the size of a burly paw forced the words from his fingers and sent his body flying like a limp doll into the shattered, splintery remains of ruined trees.

The broken spikes tore through his chest; the bow of a vessel emerging through fog. 

Like a marionette, strings severed, Jen instantly collapsed. 

"Se--!" Ulrick very nearly screamed, before Di's hand clapped over his mouth. 

"Bad time to scream," she whispered, eyes hovering between the bear and Jen’s supine, unconscious form. 

Drool dripped in strings from the bear's growling, vibrating maw as it decided who it would first maul, and Ulrick's eyes zipped erratically from rock to branch for anything to offer aid or solace. But the only thing his eyes fell to were the bits of chewed jerky Sett had earlier discarded. 

By the time the thought had wormed its way into his consciousness, he was already hands-deep in a jacket pocket. When the hand reappeared, it gripped Sett's parcel of 100% American USDA-approved beef jerky. Almost immediately, the bear was rapt.

“Go...” Ulrick said, collecting his indomitable fear and anger into a single swing, “...get it!” 

And then the package was sailing overhead, deeper into the forest, a ton of muscle and fur and claw galumphing off single-mindedly after it.

The moment the bear had trudged out of sight, Ulrick and Diane were on the rush to Sett’s impaled, lifeless body. The jagged, wooden knives protruding through his chest were painted at their ends by a dark liquid that might have been dried blood, but for its smell. 

“I don’t know if we should…” started Diane, but Ulrick was already beneath one of Sett’s arms, knees bent to allow himself leverage and traction. He shoved and heaved and grunted but barely did the large mass of man budge.

Sweat gathered in rivulets at Ulrick’s forehead as his strain and frustration and sorrow mounted. Each push of his feet left a deeper rut in the ground where there’d once been grass.

“Well?” he cried to Diane, still struggling, wet eyes reflecting the falling light. 

Sighing at the futility of it all, she nonetheless took her place under the other of Sett’s armpits. And the two, though it seemed to take a small, tense forever of bone-fatiguing, swear-filled thrusts, hoisted free Sett’s immobile cadaver from the gnarled, blackened teeth of Mother Nature. 

They’d laid him down on the ground, Ulrick himself sprawled out and breathing heavily, not accustomed to the extent of physical exertion, when Diane decided, without Ulrick’s notice, that Sett’s damaged clothes had to be removed, his wounds cleaned and dressed, if he stood any slim chance of recovery. 

Ulrick looked up, but too late, and the expression stapled to Diane’s face as he saw himself through her eyes was one he knew he’d never forget. 

"Look,” Ulrick said, standing but making sure not to venture any closer. “Let's get out of the forest alive and... I'll tell you everything, okay?"

Diane hadn’t peered up at him once since they’d dislodged Sett’s body from the tree, and she didn’t start now. 

"Okay," she said at length.

Polaris guiding her path, alongside the occasional stop to confirm by way of western-pointing spiderwebs her directional accuracy, Diane led the wiped, half-unconscious quartet of hikers back, after an arduous trek through an unkind night, back to their fabled starting point, her carrying Jen bridal-style, Sett slung over her and Ulrick’s shoulders. Woodswoman, indeed. 

"I'd hoped I would come up with a good excuse on the way here, or that we'd just die first, which would have admittedly been easier,” said Ulrick as they approached the entrance, feeling Diane’s eyes wearing down on him. 

"And?” she said. 

"And I didn't come up with a good excuse. There isn't one. You should know the truth. Sett's..."

A grumbling between them alerted them to Sett’s slow reentrance into the world of the conscious, though not of the living. Ulrick clasped Sett's face in his hands, the two falling to their knees. Sett smiled, the black muck smudged about his features like a Rorschach. 

"I missed you, too," Sett signed groggily, bringing tears to the corners of Ulrick's eyes.

"Let's sit him down," Ulrick suggested, wiping water away, a streak of the muck lingering on his cheek.

As they began to lift him away, Sett craned his neck up to Diane and gave a weakly signed, “Thank you.”

On the wooden bench sitting outside the trail’s entry point, Jen and Sett were positioned next to each other, asleep, head resting on head; and farther back, inside the trail itself, where the trees loomed tall and close, where they couldn’t be overheard, stood Ulrick and Diane, the wordlessness tangible. 

Crickets chirped listlessly in the background. Fireflies drew unplanned paths through humid night air. The absence of sound, of chatter, of life, meant to swallow them completely, make the unsaid forever unsayable. 

When Diane, after a silent eternity, uttered, looking at no one, “I know what he is.” 

Nothing moved. 

“I heard about him staying underwater for goddamn near an hour back at the resort. I thought... maybe he's just good at holding his breath." Diane gave a short, mirthless laugh, seemingly at herself. "Then, today."

She paused, and after what felt like a long while, finally said, "That tree should've killed him, and we both know it. And that blood. That…” She stopped.

“Whatever it was, it wasn't blood...”

Pointedly looking to Ulrick, who couldn’t bring himself to look back, she said, “You wondered what would happen if we knew. Well, now I know. I know what he is." 

Ulrick said nothing. There was nothing to say, and his silence was all the confirmation she needed. 

"What I want to know is,” she said, tone betraying no particular emotion, “how you did it."

"What?” Ulrick said, looked up in confusion as if he’d heard the words wrong. “How I..."

"How you brought him back. I want to know how."

"It's... it's an ancient art. You don't just do it. You need years of training."

The response took a second of thought, and then, as if it’d been obvious, Diane said, "Then you do it. Bring someone back for me." 

"That's... not a good idea,” Ulrick said.

She blew air from her nose. "Oh, but bringing Sett back. That was a good idea?"

"That was different,” Ulrick retorted too quickly. 

"How?” She was then looking him gravely in the eyes. “How was it different?"

His gaze darted to the busy forest floor. "It... just was." 

"Huh,” said Diane, a sound and a sentiment. As if the conversation had ended there, she turned and straightened her leather jacket. 

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Sorry I asked. Don't worry about it." At that, Diane began to make her departure toward the entrance and the parking lot, where only the red and blue cars remained. 

"You…” said Ulrick to her back, unable to will himself to move. “You won't tell anyone about us, will you?"

Diane paused, pretended not to hear him and then continued to exit when, just before she left the small copse of trees forever to return to Jen, unawares, dozing peacefully on the bench, to her life, to her own devices, Ulrick called out.

"Wait," he nearly whispered, and Diane stopped in her tracks, not turning around. His fists balled at his side. "Okay... fine. I'll do it."

"I'll resurrect someone for you."

Rhythm of War Liveblog, Part One Part 2 (Chapters 3-8)

Previous Post Next Post

[to the tune of Things I Bought At Sheetz] Now It’s time for Notes I Took At Work. This is going to be a weird experiment, because I read these chapters while at my job and took extensive notes on my reactions, which I’m now going to try to condense into something coherent. 

Navani revels in a successful invention, Shallan encounters a very bad cult, I quote--of all things--Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, A Certain Fucker reappears, Leshwi becomes a character I like, Shallan finds a journal, I digress on Renarin’s abilities, and everyone is rightfully worried about Kaladin. Content warning; discussion of suicide and suicidal tendencies

Alright, we open Chapter Three with Navani’s AIRSHIP, which is a kickass sentence. She’s leaning over the side of the ship, to the distress of one of her fellow scholars who attempts to appeal to Dalinar to get her to stop. 

“It’s Navani’s ship, Velat,” Dalinar said from behind, his voice as steady as steel, as immutable as mathematics. She loved his voice. “I think she’d have me thrown off if I tried to prevent her from enjoying this moment.” 

This is great both because Dalinar and Navani are great, but also as a contrast to Gavilar saying that Navani doesn’t accomplish anything herself, she just pretends to be an inventor and stays behind other, smarter people. Dalinar says no, this is Navani’s ship, this is her victory. The ship’s base design is one of the chasm bridges; it’s operated on the same principles as spanreeds, a kind of sympathetic link where you link two fabrials and whatever happens to one, happens to the other. Just augmented with aluminum and a LOT of pulleys and hard work. 

My notes also say “Eat Shit Gavilar” which i think is just, a general note. 

Anyway she also wishes that Elhokar was there because he loved being up high and also watching her draw...so now I’m feeling emotions, and if that wasn’t enough, I get hit in the feelings again because the name of the ship is the Fourth Bridge, after Bridge Four because of the time they saved Dalinar and Adolin at the tower, and it not only has the Bridge Four glyph inlaid but the original bridge inlaid. 

We see Dalinar and Lirin interact (my notes call this a “Dad convention”) --Lirin, of course because he’s Kaladin’s father, doesn’t really defer to Dalinar at all but does see the potential of this platform as a movable hospital; he’s discomfited by the reminder that Edgedancers are usually used for that now. Lirin really is a practical man who doesn’t believe in heroes or hero stories, which is unfortunate because they’re coming to life all around him. Also Dalinar calls him Lirin Stormblessed which is pretty funny because Lirin is Not Having It. 

Also, we get this great line from Navani about Lirin and Kaladin: 

However, as she stepped up beside Dalinar, she caught Lirin’s eyes--and the familial connection became more obvious. That same quiet intensity, that same faintly judgmental gaze that seemed to know too much about you. In that moment she saw two men with the same soul, for all their physical differences. 

This is really interesting in light of how Kaladin and Lirin are at the moment arguing; they both are at their core very driven, caring people who want the best for their community, but they are at odds for the best way to achieve that in part because they’ve had such different experiences; Kaladin’s life hasn’t let him be the surgeon Lirin is. 

For more changes in the year since we last met these characters, Dalinar has learned how to recharge stormlight and open perpendicularities at will, which essentially makes him a portable battery for the Radiants. That’s super useful. Navani likes observing the process, hoping that somewhere in it is a key to how Urithiru functions; she knows that it used to be powered by the Sibling, the third god-spren of Roshar, but after the Recreance the Sibling either died or fell so asleep the spren treat it as having died. 

That’s interesting; the Sibling has been something I’ve been wondering about a lot, and confirmation that it was tied to Urithiru seems to preclude it being a godspren of Odium like I’d thought for a bit (and in any case, Odium has the Unmade and doesn’t seem the time to fragment himself into a godspren). Another spren of Honor or Cultivation? Or perhaps a spren of both? More importantly, if it really is dead, is there still a way to revive Urithiru? Last book talked about possibly recruiting Sja-anat; if we do, could she serve as an alternate power source for the tower? 

We also get the Mink, the Herdazian general, slipping up on Dalinar and Navani without them noticing and also calling Dalinar the fuck out for the many atrocities that his armies and nation had unleashed on the Herdazians, which Dalinar can’t really refute. I like this guy, honestly; I’m not sure what’s up with him, if he’s just really good at sneaking around or if he has something Up With Him, but I like him. 

Back with the Three (Shallan/Radiant/Veil), they wake up to find themselves in the chasms with an EXTREMELY melodramatic cult. They’re looking for proof Ialai is now running the Hypocrites Association--sorry, the Sons of Honor; Radiant refuses to move against Ialai without proof, even though Shallan and Veil both kinda wish Adolin had killed her at the same time as Sadeas and saved everyone some trouble. Anyway, the Hypocrites association wear deep, fancy hoods that leads to a great Shallan thought: 

Shallan had a fleeting thought, wondering at the seamstress they’d hired to do all this work. What had they told her? “Yes, we want twenty identical, mysterious robes, sewn with ancient arcane symbols. They’re for...parties.” 

They claim both to have guided the return of the Radiants and to be overthrowing Dalinar, which is hilarious because Dalinar is a Radiant so the only real extrapolation here is that, in the fantasy where they’re right about any of this, they brought the radiants back and lost control of the situation immediately and now are recruiting random strangers to try to help rein it back in. Which is still not a good look. 

Oh and also they claim to be “something greater” than the Radiants, and I really doubt they’re the Heralds, so everything they say is horseshit, as is proven a second later when they test if Shallan is wearing an illusion with a device she herself sold them at an exorbitant price. And then claiming that Radiants can’t tell untrue oaths, right in front of Shallan, who is bonded to a liespren. 

They’re just a very bad cult. 

Also they say Ialai is the true queen, which raises many questions to me about the line of succession that gives them THAT math, especially with Gavinor alive and there. Like, somehow Sadeas’s widow gets priority over the last king’s living child? I know they’re just a stupid cult but guys, that’s not how lines of succession work in monarchies. 

Anyway, Shallan hears them say that they have a mole in Dalinar’s inner circle--bad--and goes off-script, taking control to say she’s not who they think she is, and we cut back to Kaladin for the next chapter, which is called Broken Spears which prompted my note of “I don’t trust like that.” And then instantly I started laughing because of this quote: 

[The windrunners] hung in the air like no skyeel ever could: motionless, equidistant.

This is not a particularly funny line unless you, like me, have never been able to forget a line from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: 

“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.”

So there’s that. 

Kaladin has apparently fought with Leshwi before at this point (she is, iirc, the Fused who was one of the main points of contact for Moash during his arc in Oathbringer); last time, Rock’s daughter Cord managed to shoot her down. The Windrunners, like the Edgedancers, have grown in number; there are about 50 knights, now, and five times that in squires; the problem is that there aren’t enough willing honorspren to bond. Kaladin mentions that “almost all” of Bridge Four had bonded honorspren and that he knew one honorspren who was willing but unbonded, all of which leads me to believe that Rock hasn’t sworn the Oaths yet. 

Meanwhile, these Fused--the Heavenly Ones--prefer one on one battles, as Kaladin noted in earlier chapters, so the Windrunners do the same; as long as they do this, the Heavenly Ones will keep to the ideals of honorable combat and will not gang up on the Windrunners. Again, it shows that they are both the orders that deal with Honorspren, even if the Heavenly Ones deal with...void-honorspren, I guess. 

Also, it’s another nod to the idea of if there can be such a thing as honorable combat in a war. Both the Heavenly Ones and the Windrunners are trying for it, clearly, but is that sustainable? 

Leshwi is in fact there, with a very cool aluminum-edged sword that can absorb stormlight into a gem at the hilt. She, along with the rest of the Fused and apparently the Heralds (Shalash and Taln are both in Urithiru), are stunned by the Fourth Bridge; fuck yeah, Navani and her team. She’s so cool, guys, I love Navani. Also, everyone is worried about Kaladin. 

Shallan, meanwhile, is ad-libbing having even more information, which leads to a hilarious moment of her being accused of treason by a member of the cult who are trying to overthrow the current queen, so...there’s a reason I’m calling them the Hypocrites Association, alright? Anyway, Adolin decides it’s time to attack, and Radiant and Shallan manage to bluff their way into being taken along to the hideout as the Hypocrites Association retreats. 

With Kaladin again, we get that the Fused see him as a particular challenge they enjoy fighting, although Leshwi always has first dibs; he fights another Fused and manages to disarm him, but decides not to kill him because killing him is pointless. Also, the teleporting fucker comes back, and yes, that is what I’m calling him until further notice. 

Something happened in Aimia that led to Cord getting a set of shardplate. Is this the Dawnshard novel? Is that what happened in Aimia? I’m going to read it next regardless but now I’m curious about what happened on the Radiant expedition to Aimia. 

So it turns out that the Hypocrites Association has a secret passage into and out of the chasms with a hidden door, which was probably a bolthole for escape that Sadeas put in early during the war at the Shattered Plains. His keep is also noted by Veil to be fortresslike; she notes that he was a cunning man, not just the blowhard that Shallan had taken him for. Ialai is now the sole remaining leader of the dissident Alethi army; while Radiant wants evidence against her that can have her be taken in, Veil is here just to assassinate her and have done with it. 

And honestly there is a nice symmetry in Adolin killing Sadeas and Shallan/the Three killing Ialai. 

Anyway, we go back to Kaladin as Leshwi fights Sigzil now; she manages to spear him through the chest, and I swear to god if any of the original Bridgemen actually die, I’m going to kick Brandon Sanderson’s ass. Those are my BOYS. In any case, Leshwi doesn’t kill Sigzil, because Kaladin spared one of the Fused earlier--honor in combat, again. There’s definitely a whole essay I could discuss about this opening few chapters and the idea of if continuing a fight is the right thing to do and if that fight can be continued in a way that is moral, but I don’t have the time for that, I’m trying to do NaNoWriMo and read this book. 

I’ll shelve it along with the Oathbringer and the idea of personal responsibility essay. 

We go back to Navani and get another real sense of how well she knows her team; she knows the personal tics and oddities of all the ardents and scholars who are helping her on the Fourth Bridge, which is nice to see. We also get that Renarin is here, distracting crying children by having Glys form a ball of light, and Navani has this observation: 

Renarin claimed the spren [Glys] was trustworthy, but something was odd about his powers. They had managed to recruit several standard Truthwatchers--and they could create illusions like Shallan. Renarin couldn’t do that. He could only summon lights, and they did strange, unnatural things sometimes...

Really excited to see how Renarin’s powers develop similarly to or different from standard Truthwatchers; I agree that Glys is probably trustworthy because Renarin is the best judge of that at the moment and also because “the corrupted spren turns out to be evil” isn’t a very interesting plot development compared to “there can be good corrupted spren” 

And then I got yanked forcibly off-topic because guess who fucking showed up. Moash decided to show his backstabbing, treacherous little face again, wearing--of all things--a uniform cut exactly like Bridge Four’s but in black rather than blue, which is just a stupendous dick move. Navani is the one who sees him, too, and we get a sharp reminder that he murdered her son.

Kaladin doesn’t hear the alarm that Navani raises, though, because he’s busy fighting Leshwi, something he seems to genuinely enjoy as a test of his skills. He pushes his home-field advantage here, managing to distract Leshwi to the point that they both seriously injure the other; Kaladin is grinning throughout, which is actually somewhat disturbing. To me it reads like Kaladin’s stopped caring about his own life in favor of trying to help others at any cost, but I’m not sure if that’ll play through as an accurate read. 

In any case, someone set Roshone’s house on fire, and the teleporting fucker is there and actively attacking civilians. Leshwi is pissed off to see this and gestures for Kaladin to go and deal with that rather than continuing their fight; at this point, I really started loving Leshwi as a character. I’m a sucker for a good principled antagonist lady, they’re just a good trope. 

Anyway, we get to Chapter Seven. Navani’s epigraph notes that zinc makes the spren in fabrials more active, while brass quiets them. So...you could say...that brass soothes them...while zinc...makes them riot....

Anyway, back to Ialai, Shallan notes that she seems extremely worn and tired, and she claims to support Gavinor to the throne--with herself as regent, of course. She and Shallan proceed to have an entire conversation in wine metaphors, talking about who they are working with or for, and Ialai assumes that the Ghostbloods sent the Three to kill her, claiming they want the Sons of Honor out of the way and will send her after Restares next. Veil instantly switches her vote to not killing Ialai bc she doesn’t like to be manipulated, and Adolin kicks down the door. 

Ialai tells Shallan to search her rooms for “the rarest vintage” before the Ghostbloods can, and then--before she can even leave the building--she dies of poisoning, implying there’s a mole somewhere in Adolin and Shallan’s people. That’s not great, and the Ghostbloods aren’t fucking around in the slightest with her. 

Meanwhile, with Kaladin, the teleporting fucker took Godeke--the one named Edgedancer here other than Lift--hostage to lure Kaladin inside, where he uses a strange, void-fabrial to drain Surgebinder powers in the room. And then makes a critical error in thinking that that will be enough: 

The Fused laughed and spoke in Alethi. “Radiants! You rely too much on your powers. Without them, what are you? A peasant child with no real training in the art of warfare or--”  Kaladin slammed himself against the soldier to the right. 

Oh you poor idiots, Kaladin was a prodigy with the spear LONG before he was a Windrunner, went most of his army career without bonding Syl, and--crucially--one of you is carrying a physical spear. Checkmate, assholes. Kaladin quickly beats most of the ones there, including killing the teleporting fucker before he can teleport again, and lets the last one go--of course--before helping Lift get Godeke out and telling her to get the void fabrial to Navani. 

Meanwhile, he’s going to go make sure Roshone is alright, where I have the very prescient note of “I bet actual money Moash is killing him as we speak.” 

Ialai’s probable method of death was blackbane poison in her bloodstream; one of Shallans’ people examines the body for it, while Shallan goes to search ialai’s rooms. 

Another epigraph note, this time about bronze and heliodor being used to make warning fabrials. Scadrial really was just a primer on the uses of various metals with investiture, huh? 

Meanwhile, Kaladin finds the prisoners below the manor killed with a shardblade, and spins around to find Moash slitting Roshone’s throat before making what I called, in a late-night worktime daze, “just a series of rat bastard moves. Hate that guy. Just honestly hate that guy.” 

Specifically, he surrenders so that Kal cannot keep attacking him--because Kal’s a good person--just after taunting him for wanting to rescue someone. 

Back with Shallan, Veil is pushing her again to continue remembering their past, but she still resists; she finds a rare Shin wine in Ialai’s store, before using that to find a pattern on the floor of old, shadowyears-era glyphs with maps of the ten Epoch Kingdoms, under one of which is a notebook of Ialai’s; she tucks it in her safepouch, and we go back to Kaladin. 

I really think the arc for Kaladin in this book is going to be accepting that he can’t save everyone,  particularly from themselves, because he pauses and remembers how Moash had been a friend, but even more than that, he had been Bridge Four--someone that Kaladin had sworn to protect, and he’d failed: 

Kaladin had failed Moash. As soundly as he’d failed Dunny, Mart, and Jaks. And of them all, losing Moash hurt the most. Because in those callous eyes, Kaladin saw himself. 

Kaladin can’t keep blaming himself for Moash’s choices, because Moash chose to do this, and was given ways out, and didn’t take them. It’s not Kaladin’s fault, and believing that it is is going to get Kaladin killed. 

And then, Moash winds up and delivers a grade-A Odium-powered Breaking Speech: 

"They're going to die, you know," Moash said softly. "Everyone you love, everyone you think you can protect. They're all going to die anyway. There's nothing you can do about it." [...] "Do you remember the chasm, Kal?" Moash whispered. "In the rain that night? Standing there, looking down into the darkness, knowing it was your sole release? You knew it hen. You try to pretend you've forgotten. But you know. As sure as the storms will come. As sure as every lighteyes will lie. There is only one answer. One path. One result. [...] I've found the better way," Moash said. "I feel no guilt. I've given it away, and in so doing became the person I always could have become--if I hadn't been restrained. I can take away the pain, Kal. Isn't that what you want? An end to your suffering?”

Odium’s deal all over again--he will take away your pain and your responsibility for your actions, but the price for that is your integrity and your honor. It’s so insidious, especially because Moash is exploiting the fact that Kaladin was suicidal to play into the idea of life being hopeless--he’s implying that Kaladin’s suicidal impulses were right and then offering another way out. It’s so, so so so awful, and Kaladin can’t even bring himself to fight it, because it’s coming from an unarmed man and it’s targeted so directly at him. 

 “The answer is to stop existing, Kal. You’ve always known it, haven’t you?”  Kaladin blinked away tears, and the deepest part of him--the little boy who hated the rain and the darkness--withdrew into his soul and curled up. Because...he did want to stop hurting. 

He wanted it so badly. 

Ugh, Moash’s whole thing here is just seeding that suicidality back into Kaladin--because frankly, most of the time? When someone is suicidal, in my (admittedly limited and personal) experience? What they genuinely want isn’t to die--they just want not to hurt anymore, and they see that as the only way. 

Light exploded into the room.  Clean and white, like the light of the brightest diamond. The light of the sun. A brilliant, concentrated purity.  Moash growled, spinning around, shading his eyes against the source of the light--which came from the doorway. The figure behind it wasn’t visible as anything more than a shadow.  Moash shied away from the light--but a version of him, transparent and filmy, broke off and stepped toward the light instead. Like an afterimage. In it, Kaladin saw the same Moash--but somehow standing taller, wearing a brilliant blue uniform. This one raised a hand, confident, and although Kaladin couldn’t see them, he knew people gathered behind this Moash. Protected. Safe.  The image of Moash burst alight as a Shardspear formed in his hands.

FUCK YEAH, RENARIN. 

I’m gonna end this section by just discussing what happened here, because there’s a lot to unpack there. We’ve seen Shallan use her illusions to create versions of people who they could be, but this isn’t doing that--if you look at the cause and effect, it’s not that Renarin created this illusory Moash, but more that the light Renarin created called forth that Moash from this one. 

More than anything, it reminds me of the effects of Gold Allomancy--creating a past version of the self, splitting the self into who you are and who you were, or who you are and who you could have been. This is not a version of Moash that could exist. He’s burned too many bridges and killed too many people in front of their infant children for that to happen. 

But it could have been Moash. It’s not calling forth the truth, really, it’s showing an alternate path. It’s strange and I can’t wait to see it explored more, and it shakes Moash to his core--because of course it does. Moash’s entire speech was saying “there are only two ways out, dying and giving in to Odium,” and Renarin’s light showed that that was a stark fucking lie. There’s the third choice of deciding to stand up and protect people anyway, and it was a choice Moash could have taken, and that kills him. It eats him up inside; it’s the pain that Odium can’t fully take away. 

As Kaladin said to Amaram: if what Odium says is  true, if what you claim is true, than why do you still hurt? 

Rhythm of War part 4 reactions/thoughts. Rhythm of War spoilers!

Quick notes again so I can keep moving.

Chapter 73 Which Master To Follow

I think it's a bit weird that Honor, Cultivation, and Odium together get called the three tones of Roshar, and their glyphs together make up the glyph for Roshar. I mean, Odium is comparatively new, so how come he gets equal standing with the other two Shards as if he's always been there? Moreover, didn't Roshar already exist before Honor and Cultivation took up residence there? Did Roshar have no tones back then? Did Roshar have a different name?

Everstorm building up in Shadesmar for centuries... Spren waiting at a point out in the ocean... The Unmade still on Roshar between desolations... There is a lot more information than I can process, honestly.

Edit: The Everstorm came from the east over the ocean. Windrunners called themselves watchers at the rim. Descendants of Windrunners settled in old Alethela to look out for the Last Desolation?

Four hundred people went out into the wilderness and sacrificed everything to have freedom and independence. And their descendants thrived! So beautiful.

Chapter 74 A Symbol

Rlain and Hesina can joke together. That's so sweet.

Rlain is brilliant! And he got the maps... though I'm not sure how useful those will be... It is information that the Fused do not have yet, but surely they will make their own maps soon. And both maps (Rlain's or Fused's) won't show secret/locked rooms like the one Teft is hiding in. How will this come into play later?

I wonder what would happen if Venli tried to shape stone while one of the Deepest Ones was immersed in it. Would the Fused simply resist being shaped (Investiture vs Investiture), or would Venli accidentally carve off a section of the Fused?

Just as all the bridgemen grew to see Bridge Four as their hero, people of Urithiru grew to see Kaladin as their hero. Kaladin is going to end up adopting all of them into his brotherhood/protection, you know.

Isn't it poetic how people began to use Kaladin's shash brand as their symbol for resistance? To him, it's something he wants to get rid of but can't because of his self-perception. To them, it's their symbol of identifying with Kaladin. To Kaladin, it's something that was forced on him. To them, it is a choice to stand by him despite all danger. To Kaladin, the brand is a reminder that he is dangerous and there's something wrong with him and makes him not fit in with others. To them, it's hope and solidarity.

Chapter 75 The Middle Step

The description of a Peakspren appearing in the physical realm sounds a lot like what Thunderclasts do. Going into stone, then breaking out of it.

Hello Adolin! Long time no see! So glad to see you haven't died of sepsis from your gut wound!

Shadesmar has weather. I wonder what makes the weather.

The architecture of Lasting Integrity... @_@ I had to read that several times to understand what was happening. I'd get motion sickness so badly if I were there. The way their city works is so honorspren, isn't it? Ignoring normal law of gravitation and deciding "this" is "down." Sounds very similar to Kaladin or Szeth using Lashings.

Even lifespren blink to a beat. The rhythms are everywhere. I wonder if we would have seen more of that earlier if we'd had more Singer or Listener point of view characters.

What made the Deadeyes gather? And how do they know about what is happening in Lasting Integrity?

Look at that, Adolin's extra swords were useful after all. As bartering items.

Upon a re-read, it becomes clear that Veil knew. Maybe the whole time. That's why she was pushing Shallan to face the truth. That's why she freaked out when Pattern brought the Deadeye, and she said to Pattern things like "you should have come to me. ... I could have helped you." This will be another thing to watch out for the next time I do a series re-read. (I should also make note of wood t in charge each time Formless is mentioned.)

Why are you so jumping to murderous conclusions, Shallan? First Ialai, now Restares. Shoulf I blame Jasnah's tutelage?

Chapter 76 Harmony

Should I keep a lookout for hints of Sazed in this chapter?

Raboniel's grandmother saw the first generation human immigrant/refugees... It took only a few Singer generations (and those are shorter than human generations) until the conflict blew up into an all-out war.

Seven thousand years of war, and Taln protected humanity for 4,500 years of it. When was the Oathpact made? Was it within the lifetime of the first human refugees?

Navani is building or developing a connection to Roshar. This is immensely cool.

They made the Rhythm of War!

Even the Shards Ruin and Preservation had a way of working together (feruchemy) even though the forces were opposing. What does it take to make an actual opposite of a Light? (And does that mean there's a theoretical opposite of each Investiture out there? An opposite of mist, for example?)

Chapter 77 The Proper Legality

Axindweth was found out by another of her kind. Was it the many-ringed steward, Gereh? Axindweth was described as a "surgeon" before, but I think it was a misunderstanding. Probably like "doctor" but a Ph.D. kind of doctor, not a M.D. kind of doctor. Ulim called her a "rare kind of specialist." I think she's a Feruchemist.

Nale saw and spoke to Ulim by name. And Ulim was nervous about it. Awkward in the deadliest sense.

Oh goodness. Venli was there too on the night Gavilar died. And she was part of the reason he was killed. Nale instructed her to hire Szeth, and Ulim helped the Listeners find Szeth. So many decisions made on lies, presumptions, misunderstandings, and deceptions.

This night, three different people, each for different reasons, reached the conclusion that Gavilar needs to die.

Chapter 78 The High Judge

So Pattern did use the cube to talk to Wit! Ding ding ding! I was right about at least one thing!

Would Honorblades manifest as blades in Shadesmar?

"They love gemstones, perhaps for the same reason we admire swords." Good, they can start a club where honorspren talk about gems and Adolin talks about swords and they can bond over their nerdiness together.

I really expected honorspren High Judge to be Nale. Because, you know, Nale... and judgement... and law and stuff.

What is Kalak a Herald of? Can't even Google it because the internet is full of spoilers. (Edit: He was patron of Willshapers.)

Chapter 79 Open Wound

It is not Rlain's fault that people make up lies about him. It is not his responsibility to fix their twisted opinions of him.

"Shen" was short for "Parshendi." Ouch.

Noril is there taking care of Radiants!

Rlain is another person (besides Eshonai) who didn't have a good experience with his mateform. And he tried it more than once. What was so unusual about it?

Chapter 80 The Dog And The Dragon

Oh, is Jezrien still alive in a gemstone  somewhere?

This nightmare is too awful. Moash, you... You Moash!!! It is so messed up, the fact that Odium is able to send Kaladin into these supernatural nightmares only because Moash and Kaladin have such a strong connection.

Wit thank you thank you thank you for coming here. You are wonderful. The world needs more bards like you.

Kaladin asked for a story; Wit was frozen speechless. Congratulations, Kaladin, you are the second person ever to make Wit speechless. Shallan was the first and she did it twice, so you have some catch-up to do.

Design is pretending to play the imaginary flute. It's like lip-syncing but with fingers and a flute... but without lips... or flute.

"I'm real! Not imaginary at all! Unfortunately, I am irrational!" Ahahahaha I get it, it's a number joke. She sure is an Odd one. Ahahahaha.

Wit has met (and bonded) his match in Design. Finally, there is someone who can annoy Wit as much as he annoys everyone else.

You don't have to do all the things and fill all the roles. You tried, and you keep trying, and that's enough. You are better than you were, and that's meaningful. You, not others, decide your happiness.

Chapter 81 Trapped

Eshonai had never seen the ocean. And she lived in the Shattered Plains, so close to the ocean, and yet so far.

Chapter 82 Knife

Kalak was leading the Sons of Honor... who were trying to get a Desolation started so the Heralds would come back... right next to Nale who was actively trying to prevent (and later deny) another Desolation... and now Ghostbloods want to suck him into a gem... *my brain breaks*

You know how Mraize says things to Shallan to get her to do stuff he wants? Looks so much like Ulim manipulating Venli.

Chapter 83 The Games Of Men And Singers

Ur really is a name, not just a nickname! "Original." Was Urithiru built before other Oathgate cities? And it used to be a mountain. That is monumentally cool!

Venli was considered an adult by age ten. I'm surprised. Venli must be less than twenty years old. Eshonai was barely a teenager when she asked for Gavilar to be assassinated and started leading her people in following battles. Maybe they grow faster than humans because of gemhearts and highstorms?

Venli already knows how to draw upon two different types of Investiture (Voidlight and Stormlight); I wonder if she'd be predisposed to learn how to use other types of Investiture, too.

"To Raboniel, the games of men and singers are petty things--but so are their lives." We thought Sadeas was terrible with his use of bridgemen before, but apparently, he's just small fry compared to Raboniel.

I am shocked that Lirin would even talk about turning Kaladin in to be killed or just abandoning him to die.

Oh! The radiant that the Sibling sensed back in chapter 42 was Rlain! In a cage on the fourth floor!

Lift and Dabbid are friends? HUGGING friends?

Chapter 84 Scholar

Navani is weaponizing fabrials. *sense of dread*

Raysium? Odium had a godmetal? I thought Shards having godmetals was exclusive to Scadrial! Every time I think I know something about magic, it taunts me! I used to think each planet was a separate system, with small connections her and there, but they're ALL linked, aren't they?

Navani discovered force multiplication, oh that's scary. *sense of dread builds*

Chapter 85 Dabbid

Dabbid had a sort of a brain injury, even before he became a bridgeman. And he stayed silent on purpose. He wanted to hide how he was"different." I did not expect that.

And I guess I have to move Dabbid off the 'possible kandra suspects' list.

Lift shared food with Dabbid. Woah. This friendship goes deep.

Is Dabbid going to be the Tower's Bondsmith?!?!

TEFT!!!

THEY SAVED KALADIN. They saved him. Yes Kaladin it's time for someone to save you.

Chapter 86 The Song Of Mornings

So... The song of storms didn't exactly create the Everstorm. Everstorm was already there in Shadesmar. The song's role was pulling the Everstorm from Shadesmar into the physical realm. Can other songs move things between the realms?

Maybe Gavilar was planning to kill Odium and pick up the Shard himself.

"A form that would let me talk better, more diplomatically" Eshonai wanted to find envoyform. Sadness.

Chapter 87 Trial By Witness

Jaw-dropping surprise when Adolin's tutor shows up to testify against him.

Blended lived at the time of Recreance! She could be hiding tons of knowledge.

They bribed Notum! How dishonorable! Notum was better than them, though. "Honor is not dead as long as he lives in the hearts of men."

Eyree are going around selling... Stormlight jars?

And Shallan now has possession of a perfect emerald.

Chapter 88 Falling Star

And that's how Timbre found Eshonai!

Chapter 89 Voice Of Lights

Navani is being a scholar. It only took the fall of Urithiru for this to happen.

Raboniel and Navani wrote Rhythm Of War together. Okay. That's one mystery solved. I really should have caught onto that sooner.

Kabsal's plate & bow actually belonged to Singers first. Interesting!

So the Sibling did consider bonding Rlain. What about Dabbid, though? Dabbid seemed to think the Sibling had promised to bond him.

So, can spren die, or can they not? Is Sibling talking of "death" as in sleeping, or Deadeye, or as good as death, or annihilation? Which is it?

Chapter 90 One Chance

The epigraphs for Part 4 are coming from Kelek's notepad he writes on during trials. He knows someone's after his life. And on the first read-through, I thought Kelek was gonna get killed any moment now.

Honorspren don't try fairly at all. They talk about honor and law, but clearly they've developed a lot of flexibility for going around honor and law.

I know Dalinar is in the habit of overstepping boundaries (haha), but I had no idea that Dalinar almost killed Stormfather by summoning him as a Blade. Why is this, though?

Adolin and Shallan got very cozy. Hmm, not sure if this can be added to the kiss counter, but it will be noted. I did worry about those two a bit, especially in the weeks they spent on the barge with no privacy.

Shallan jokingly put blaspheming on the same level as playing pranks on Renarin.

Oh Adolin, you complain about being "just me" and being unimportant because you're a duelist and not a scholar or a surgebinder. But you do have a role and it's an important one! Your role in team Radiant is the Heart. (BFF: That's The worst power. Me: No it's NOT!)

"The person who killed that poor Cryptic" "ruined it all today." Then Formless emerged. *Dun dun DUUUUUUNN!* Would you believe, I still had not pieced it together by this point in my first read-through?

Chapter 91 Worth Saving

So Jezrien's not trapped in a gem after all. He evaporated. *disappointed* Why Sanderson do you give me hope just to snatch it away?

So good to hear Teft affirming himself. So positive.

Kaladin is looking hollowed out. This could be just a coincidence, but Ialai looked like that too. And Kalami.

Yes Teft you are worth saving. Always were.

Chapter 92 A Gift

"The bond is what keeps us alive." If the Heralds are sustained by their bond to each other, I wonder if their weakened bond (from abandoning Taln to bear the Oathpact alone) added to their mental instability. On top of living for seven millennias and being tortured for most of it.

How does Raboniel know for a fact that Kaladin is alive?

The Listeners who didn't conform to Stormform are alive! The elders and children escaped through the chasms and lived. They live! Oh, I had given up hope. After finding Eshonai's corpse, I thought for sure nobody else could have made it. Oh, joy!

Chasmfiends being over-hunted in the region might have made the Listeners' passage a little safer. Or maybe another Reacher spren appeared and protected the Listeners.

Chapter 93 Strong Enough

Adolin can sense something is different with Shallan.

One note about Formless though. Back in Urithiru at the bar, Shallan told Kaladin about Formless. That's meaningful. Remember Kaladin envied Shallan for her ability to put on a persona, set things aside, and forget? I have an idea that this is important, but can't put it into words.

Shallan, surrounded by people who love her and tell her she deserves to be loved. Shallan, denying that she could or should be loved. May their love always prevail on the days when your denials are strongest.

I really had to have it spelled out for me until pieces of the Deadeye-Shallan-Cryptic puzzle came together. It's so clear in hindsight. It explains how Pattern was so sure that she'd kill him but the Crtptics would send her another to bond. Because she's already done that. And Cryptics already have.

Shallan... Became... One!

Will Shallan say the words and revive her Deadeye Cryptic?

Honorspren really don't play fair. They made a big show of waiting for the arrival of the high judge to start the trial, but they never intended to let him judge.

Chapter 94 Sacrifice

"Nahel spren?" Not Nahel bonds? What is Nahel?

I knew Maya would play a role in Adolin's mission, but I could not fathom how. This is WOW. What we thought we knew about the Recreance is flawed. This changes everything.

The spren chose. They chose. This probably explains why all spren became Blades in their most majestic form.

Hey, if Blended lived through the Recreance, wouldn't she already have known that the spren chose?

Chapter 95 What She Truly Was

We remember you, Eshonai.

Chapter 96 A Thousand Lies

Venli finally told the whole truth to Rlain. And he still trusts her.

Chapter 97 Freedom

Two different handwriting (one is a bit thicker/darker than the other) in women's script. I guess Raboniel wrote the undertext.

How will the releasing of Ba-Ado-Mishram affect all the spren for the good? I get that the Sibling will be whole and start making Lifelight and stuff, but how will it affect all spren? How did Ba-Ado-Mishram's imprisonment wound Roshar?

Oh dear, I hope Navani managed to keep at least some secrets from Raboniel.

Navani made anti-Voidlight sphere. Then Raboniel used it to kill her own daughter. So horrible. So sad.

If Raboniel's daughter was dropped in a Shardpool, would she have dissolved away?

I knew Raboniel would betray Navani! EVIL!

Hey, so, I answered that ask a bit ago about the fics I write that will never be published. Well, I’ve been in a Bee’s Schnee mood lately and I actually wanna talk about one of these stories because I really like it but won’t publicly release it. So, like, check beneath the cut for rambling. Also, warning for Omegaverse and NSFW mentions. Plus some dark elements.

So, like, this story was written back before we discovered Mama Schnee 1) was alive and 2) was the actual Schnee, not Jacques. Also, this took the ‘hereditary semblance’ thing to a logical extreme. Important notes.

The whole premise is based on the fact that every Schnee is an Alpha. Winter’s an Alpha, Jacques (who is a blood Schnee) is an Alpha, Grandpa Schnee was an Alpha, all the way down the line. Weiss, however, is not, and she’s hidden this fact her whole life to the point of illegally obtaining suppressants and lying on her admissions forms to continue the facade that she’s just like every other Schnee. This becomes a problem when it rolls around the Heat Week, which is essentially a week where Beacon locks up all the Alphas in their rooms and the Betas in the training rooms so the Omegas can experience their heat without the need to worry about unwanted pregnancies (due to some concerns about the long term effects of suppressants being taken for every heat and yada yada, accept the handwave for what it is). Now, Weiss, having lied about her status, is locked in her dorm room with Yang and Blake, who are both Alphas in this (Ruby’s a Beta and is off with them). It rapidly becomes apparent that, ya know, Weiss is an Omega and is going into heat and trapped in a room with two Alphas, both of whom she’s crushing on, and Yang and Blake begin arguing with each other and at one point actually fighting due to their primal instincts overriding their sense. Weiss breaks them up, of course, but it’s a really tense and awkward situation up until Weiss lets it slip that she likes both of them, and Yang and Blake agree to share Weiss as a mate, if she’s willing. Which, of course, she is! And then the sexy times happen. A lot. Because they still have, like, three days locked in the room by this point and they’re going to take advantage of that. It’s just a full on smutfest. This event happens just a month before the Vytal Festival, which happens exactly like in canon. Realizing Weiss and Yang are in danger, Blake leaves, telling a semi-conscious Yang to keep Weiss safe while she goes to deal with Adam. Yang, however, isn’t coherent to hear the whole message and thinks Blake is taking Weiss away to keep her safe from Adam. Qrow- not knowing that Weiss is Yang’s mate and with two injured and unconscious nieces- spirits Yang away before Weiss can say otherwise, leaving Weiss alone to return to Atlas with her father.

---

Flash forward 5 years (to the second installment), and Yang’s fully recovered from her injury and spent the past three years fighting through a sea of Grimm, searching Remnant for any sign of Blake or Weiss. She’s mad- she’s pissed- and she’s taken down entire hordes and even a few White Fang strongholds across Vale and Vacuo with her bare hands in her search. She eventually ends up back at Beacon’s ruins on the 5th anniversary of the Fall, in a weird way coming to pay respects. There, she encounters Blake, who succeeded in not only killing Adam but in taking control of the White Fang in Menagerie and Mistral, turning them into an army that helps Ruby’s quest to find and destroy Salem. Salem isn’t Blake’s priority, however, as ever since she encountered Ruby, she’s been looking for Yang, hoping to be reunited with Yang and Weiss after ensuring Adam would never be able to hurt them. This is when the misunderstanding comes to light, both angry at the other for failing to ensure Weiss was safe, and devolving into a battle between them, showcasing their new strengths and abilities gained after 5 years fighting through an upside down world. This draws the attention of Atlesian Knights and Paladins, however these aren’t the same ones from the Fall, the symbol of Atlas removed in favor of a cracked Schnee snowflake. One of the Paladins has a monitor built into the chest, which flicks on the reveal Winter, who orders both Blake and Yang onto a nearby airship if they want to see Weiss. The two comply, flown to a remote part of Mantle where a facility has been converted into a fortress, surrounded by more of the Atlesian defenses with the broken snowflake emblem. They are met by a highly disgruntled Winter, who threatens to kill them both unless they follow her orders exactly, warning them to not interfere with what they’d about to witness. They’re then led into an expansive training room where two four-year-olds are armed with small swords, facing off against hardlight enemies until an Atlesian Knight appears. Although the children initially look ready to take on the threat, they both falter, and both Blake and Yang are restrained by Winter’s glyphs when they attempt to intervene. When it becomes clear the children won’t be able to defeat the Knight, a giant white sword manifest as Weiss’ summoned knight destroys the threat, revealing that Weiss has been watching from a different vantage point, using a staff to summon as she’s confined to a wheelchair. She calls the children to her- Zise and Noire (which, y’all might recognize from Odd One Out and Handle With Care, the names of the Bee’s Schnee twins, this is actually their first appearance as this was the first story I wrote to feature them) and encourages them, assuring them they did well and better than the last time, even if they couldn’t stop their final opponent. At this point, Winter releases Blake and Yang, allowing them to make their presence known, and Weiss introduces them to Noire and Zise, their respective children. As it turns out, having two mates caused her body to accommodate the innate need for children from both her mates, resulting in carrying twins who have different fathers. Weiss encourages the children to get to know Blake and Yang, sending them outside to play with the promise Blake and Yang will soon join them. Weiss, however, holds her mates there a while longer, explaining that she’s been sick for quite some time and will likely die soon. Her condition made it impossible for her to go looking for them herself, so she had to rely on Winter’s deployment of Knights and Paladins- the facility they’ve converted into a fortress is an old Atlesian Military Production plant they got back into working order, creating their own army to defend against the Grimm and their father. With her end fast approaching, her only concern is ensuring the safety of Noire and Zise, and she’s more than willing for Blake and Yang to become their primary caretakers, but only if the children agree; otherwise, they’re going with Winter, whom they already trust. Weiss refuses any attempt to mend bridges in favor of urging Blake and Yang to get to know their children before it’s too late. As Yang tries to bond with Zise and Blake tries with Noire, they find the twins have two very distinct personalities, and seeing as only the other can understand how they feel regarding the current situation, confide in one another and slowly mend their broken relationship. Weiss, however, is a much different story, obviously getting weaker to the point she’s almost bedridden, which worries everyone. Despite her reluctance, though, Blake and Yang eventually get her to talk, and discover that, after being forced back to Atlas, her father found out about her mating marks- and her pregnancy. Rather than disprove entirely, though, he saw this as a chance for something greater: access to the Branwen semblance. With Zise having both Schnee and Branwen blood in her veins, he believed her combat ability would be astronomical, making her a valued asset and a key bargaining chip for absolute power. (The idea being that the Branwen bloodline has semblances that center on redirecting damage; if Zise was able to either avoid damage or channel it into making her summons stronger, she’d be unstoppable. Hint: he’s right.) Once the twins were born, Jacques offered Weiss a deal: he would allow Noire to live if she gave Zise to him or he’d kill them both. To protect her children, she fought him, but Jacques used a new type of weapon- a sword that broke after stabbing through her stomach. While her aura healed the wound- or appeared to- the wound caused her current condition and has been slowly killing her this whole while. Unbeknownst to Weiss, the weapon didn’t feed on Dust, but actually siphoned away the aura of whoever it was used against, and the part that broke off inside of her is still functioning, slowly draining her life. Unfortunately, the airship that brought Blake and Yang to the fortress was spotted by more than a few people, and one of those people happens to work for Jacques, prompting him to bring the full might of the SDC private military own upon the fortress. In the ensuing battle, Weiss begs Blake and Yang to take Noire and Zise away, to keep them safe from Jacques, while she pours the last bit of her strength into helping Winter fight off the assault. Blake and Yang, of course, can’t abandon Weiss a second time, and instead hide the twins away while Yang uses an emergency broadcast code she’s been saving to get in touch with Ruby, leaving it with the twins in the hopes that, if the worst comes to pass, Ruby will find them and keep the twins safe. Then, Blake and Yang go back in to deal with Jacques’ forces, as the man himself faces off against Weiss again. With her mobility hampered, she can only use her semblance, which is depleting her already low aura even faster, killing her quicker, and though she puts up an admirable fight, her injuries are too much to overcome. Blake and Yang intervene before Jacques can deliver the killing blow, and here it’s proven than the Branwen bloodline can rival the Schnee bloodline in pure power, as every summon Jacques sends against Yang shatters while trying to hurt her, and each blow just makes her stronger. He can’t even hold her in place, as she detaches and reattaches her prosthetic- using rocket propellant and homing technology she perfected over the past few years- to keep pressing the attack. Blake, meanwhile, is dealing with the hired thugs and the Knights and Paladins, eventually causing a full scale retreat after being heavily injured. While Winter deals with the stragglers, Blake returns and Yang quite nearly kills Jacques, but he manages to turn the tables, targeting Weiss and Blake to draw Yang’s attention away. Weiss, using all the strength she has remaining, summons her knight and kills Jacques before he can attack Yang, but falls unconscious immediately after. As Blake and Yang try to transfer their own aura into Weiss to save her, two airships arrive: one bearing Ruby and others, responding to the broadcast, and the other with Terry and the ARRT. While Winter allows both to land- recognizing Ruby from Weiss’ descriptions and pictures and assuming Terry came to help- and follows Ruby to recover the twins, her old friend has come for a very different reason. Terry, along with their team, find Blake and Yang, knocking them both unconscious as Terry instructs Dal to cut Weiss open, allowing Terry to retrieve the missing pieces of the weapon, which is what they came for because, yeah, they’re a villain in this one, too. Winter and Ruby find the twins amid the smoldering remains of Knights and Paladins, having fought their way from their hiding spot back into the facility to find their parents. Only then does Winter realize Terry’s intentions, coming upon the scene of the three and, with Ruby’s help, loading them up and heading to Patch, the last safe haven afforded them. Blake and Yang wake sometime later, in Yang’s bedroom at her childhood home, both confused as to what happened. Ruby finds them awake and calls throughout the house, prompting Noire and Zise to come charging into the room, clambering onto the beds and giving their respective fathers hugs. Although Blake and Yang are relieved to see the twins, they’re worried about whether or not Weiss survived. Much to everyone’s relief, she did, as the removal of the weapon fragments allowed her aura to return, and medicine given by Aegean after the fragments were recollected bolstered her innate healing ability. Winter’s been broody the past few days, of course, unsure what to make of her best friend showing up only to retrieve the weapon fragments while also ensuring her sister would live, but that’s a question they can answer later, as Ruby explains the fight against Salem is still ongoing and she needs her old team’s help. Although reluctant to leave their children behind, Weiss, Blake, and Yang realize that they won’t be safe until Salem is defeated, and agree to leave the twins in Grandpa Tai’s care until the war’s won.

---

So, the first installment in this AU is just ‘smut for the sake of smut’ and the second installment is ‘what do the words “mother” and “father” really mean?’ and yes, I am absolutely ridiculous, you should know this by now. There’s also an AU version of this where the first installment happens as described, save for two important differences: Schnees are always Omegas (Weiss pretended to be an Alpha to prove she was nothing like her mother, the blood Schnee who didn’t quite live up to the name) and instead of splitting up after the Fall, Blake and Weiss go with Qrow to Patch, and Blake, Weiss, and Yang stay there while Weiss goes through her pregnancy, Yang works through adapting to the prosthetic, and Blake obsesses over decoding White Fang transmissions in order to track down Adam’s whereabouts. When the twins are born, Mama Schnee comes to visit Patch, revealing another hereditary quirk of the Schnees: every Schnee bears twins. However, only the ‘stronger’ twin is allowed to survive; usually, the ‘weaker’ twin is stillborn but, in cases where both twins survive birth, the mother must kill the weaker twin herself, just as Willow did with Winter’s, Weiss’, and Whitley’s twins. Later on, it’s revealed that this isn’t true at all; Willow’s parents passed away when she was relatively young and Jacques forged a fake family history depicting the ‘murder one twin’ thing in order to break Willow mentally so he could control the company, which worked, as he took advantage of the fact that Willow’s twin tragically died when she was young. When Willow discovers the deception and that she was tricked into murdering her children, she loses her fucking mind and kills Jacques before disappearing, essentially running off into the mountains to slay Grimm and vent her relentless fury. She’s so efficient that Salem actually notices how many Grimm are being killed and it inadvertently helps RWBY make their final assault against her.

Midwinter Solstice Eve

Seasons greetings to one and all! I hope everyone is enjoying themselves and celebrating the holidays as best they can with friends and family.

Just a heads up: this is a long RWBY fanfic, taking place in the same AU as my first fanfic RWBY: Family Lost and Found. 

For the RWBY fans who made my time here really swell this year and also enjoyed my past writings, @littlemisssquiggles, @miki-13 , @maripr , @blackhakumen @davidellisartworkstuff , @accel-dragons @jade-rosepine and @che1sea-xiao-long this is for you. Hope you’re having a lovely holiday, and I hope you enjoy.

Act 1

Midwinter Solstice Eve had brought an unprecedented level of calm to the island province of Patch, even with the increasing threat of Grimm attacks. The coastal port towns were bathed in warm golden and crimson lights, security was at an all year-high and people went about their ways doing their best to keep merry. Airships and boats to the other kingdoms were preparing to leave. At first, the setting sun pierced the clouds and shafts of bright orange light cut across the frosty blue snow-laden fields and forests. But over time, these clouds grew thicker and snow fell faster and heavier than before, and the last of the daytime light was dying out.

In a secluded forested part of Patch, a two story log cabin stood resolute against the thickening blizzard, and cosy golden light gleamed invitingly within. The home of Taiyang Xiao-Long was a model of Midwinter Solstice preparations. In the kitchen was filled with the tantalising scent of slow-roasting game birds, and Tai went up and down the kitchen with his recipe book while his assistants, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Oscar Pine went about their culinary tasks.

“Alright girls and boys,” called out Tai as he removed a tray of roast potatoes from the oven, “let’s move this feast to the final phase! Nora, stop eating those potatoes and put them in the oven!”

“But they’re so tasty – oh, fine!”

“Ren, how are those vegetables coming?”

“Almost ready, Mr Xiao-Long!”

“Also maybe put a little more icing on the chocolate yule log, you know how my girls love their sweets.”

“I thought you wanted Ruby to eat less sweet stuff?” he asked incredulously, “I mean pudding, mince pies, and yule log?”

“True, true; but since it’s that time of year again we only get to go this big once. Just wait, between Ruby and Nora there’ll be hardly any desserts left!” he chuckled with a pat on the farm boy’s back and went into the lounge to check on how his daughters and their partners were doing. 

It was a much more pleasant sight; the lounge was filled with soft carpets with the walls and mantelpieces decked with crimson, pine-green and gold trimmings. True to form, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee were partnered off on the decorations, while Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long moved in and out of the house doing different jobs in conversation. Chairs were pulled in and a portable Atlesian fire-place where the TV used to be was just starting to burn; ‘an old present from James’ as Tai said. Taking a short break from cooking, Oscar picked up a nearby guitar and strummed it a few times before settling on a soft melody, glancing towards . In the corner stood the decorated festive pine tree, with Ruby happily humming as she placed hand-carved and painted robins on what free branches still remained, thinking fondly about her mother. Weiss levitated a wreath of red and white roses onto the pine tree’s highest branches with Myrtenaster’s Gravity Dust function, smiling as she floated the wreath up and down. Blake came in and gave an amused smile at the sight.

“No offence, but that doesn’t look like the most efficient use of your limited Dust reserves. Couldn’t you just get the ladder?” suggested Blake.

“You’re right I could, but I never get to do any of this festive stuff, so I’m taking every chance.”

“You really are Defiance aren’t you,” chuckled Blake, more to herself than Weiss, who merely stared back quizzically at her as she went out again.

“Actually, I haven’t felt this relaxed – this happy even, in a long time.”

“Oh, it’s great isn’t it? I can’t wait to see your face when you open my present!” said Ruby excitedly, bobbing side to side, making Weiss giggle.

“Well you’ll just have to be a little patient,” she said with an air of playful parental authority, and she smiled softly at distant memories, “I remember when I was little my Mom would say that to get me to wait because I always wanted Midwinter Solstice to come a day early. I used to get so excited… but that really didn’t last long. Before I left for Beacon they had become so suffocating dry, formal and by the end so cold and resentful that I almost forgot just how sweet they could be.”

Weiss looked down sadly, and Ruby lifted her chin up encouragingly.

“Dad and I have tomorrow all planned out: snowball fights, games, movies, and karaoke!”

“Wonderful!” said Weiss with a bigger smile, which faltered as she saw Nora, Ren and Oscar talking worriedly among each other. She pointed this out to Ruby just as Yang and Blake came back in, and the two teams convened.

“Something wrong, guys?” asked Yang.

“This snowstorm is looking worse by the minute,” said Nora looking worried, “and we’re just hoping that Jaune and Pyrrha’s boat made it out in time.”

“They said their ship was leaving before the storm hit, but we haven’t heard from them in a while,” said Ren holding up his scroll.

“I’ve seen blizzards like this before back on the farm, and they’re worse than hazardous to travel in,” said Oscar as he stared out the window.

“Also, this little guy’s feeling homesick,” added Nora, wrapping her arms tightly around Oscar.

“Nora! I said it’s not a big deal!” he said quickly, but too late as a light chorus of endearment broke out among RWBY, turning the lad bright red as Nora grinned and Ren sighed.

“I mean, she isn’t wrong,” admitted Oscar, “I just had a rush of memories of watching the snow from the farmhouse bedroom and keeping warm by the fireplace with my aunt and uncle. Sometimes the extended family came over! It’s my first Midwinter away from them...”

“Awww, don’t worry, Oscar, you’ll feel right at home here,” said Ruby, smiling and placing an arm around Oscar’s shoulders, causing the boy to smile nervously and attempt to hide his blushing. “Dad always makes the best Winter Solstice dinner.”

“Actually, from the looks of things we might have a little too much food on our hands,” said Yang, “Guess we know what we’re having for lunch tomorrow!”

Suddenly, Ruby’s scroll starting buzzing. She answered and put it on speaker.

“RUBY!�� yelled Jaune’s voice; he sounded panicked and hoarse, “Please get down here with Bumblebee fast! It’s me and Pyrrha, we’re stranded and the ice is breaking!”

Act 2 

Within minutes, the four girls strapped on their Huntress gear and wrapped up warm for the mission. Based on Jaune’s description, the river was less than ten miles away winding between two hills. Yang fixed a snowplow on Bumblebee’s front wheel and revved the bike up for heavy duty action while Ruby fixed a trailer to the back. They gathered torches and ropes and packed them in the trailer. Before RWBY could set out, they heard a shrill voice load and clear.

“That’s half our team out there! We’re coming too!” declared Nora.

There was no arguing with her on that matter; time and the elements were both against them. With Yang driving, Ruby on the scroll to keep Jaune calm and determine where he was

“Wait, I want to help!” Oscar called out, covered head to toe in warm clothing, as the bike sped down the road until it vanished behind the snow drifts.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Tai yelled, grabbing Oscar’s arm, “Those kids are tough and capable, and you’re not at their level yet, Oscar. If you run out there you’ll get lost and freeze and I’m not losing anyone on Midwinter Solstice!”

“Tai, this snow’s getting much worse, they won’t be able to see where they’re going!” said Oscar, undeterred by Tai’s warning, “We’ve got to give them their best chance to get back.”

With the headlights at full beam, Yang drove as fast as she could through the forest towards the river, bobbing and weaving without dislodging the trailer behind her. Ten miles of straight road would have been nothing to Bumblebee but the combination of weather and treacherous downhill terrain slowed their progress. Even with the warm clothing and aura, they couldn’t stay out for long. As the trees gave way, they saw the river winding through the two hills and plowed through the heavy drifts to the riverbank. Everyone disembarked from the trailer and searched the area, calling out Jaune and Pyrrha’s names.

“There they are!” called out Blake, pointing towards a faint and distant flashing light several hundred yards away on the river’s ice covered surface. She could make out two distant figures, one stretching out and waving the other collapsed

“Guys, I think Pyrrha’s down!” added Blake, her ears folded down in dread.

“Then let’s go!” yelled Nora as she began to charge, only to be stopped by Ren, pointing out the fickle character of the frozen surface.

“I can use my semblance to get to them faster!” said Ruby with determination, “Nora, can you give me a boost?”

“CAN I?!” she bellowed with renewed vigour.

“Alright, then I’ll follow behind. I can get some distance with my glyphs,” said Weiss.

“I’ll tie the ropes together, Blake can you help me?” said Ren, Blake nodded.

“I’ll keep Bee warm for when we need to get out of here,” said Yang, revving the engine.

With the intensifying blizzard obscuring their vision of Jaune’s scroll light, they put the plan into motion. Blake and Ren had finished tying the ropes together, and passed them over to Weiss.

“Hurry, I think the ice is beginning to crack,” warned Blake, Weiss nodded.

She cast her glyphs across the river and began to run with all speed across her conjured bridge. Ruby stood perched like a bird of prey atop Magnhild, and Nora sent Ruby soaring through the air with a mighty swing in mid-semblance. She careened through the frozen night air, keeping altitude with Crescent Rose, a cascade of red against the black sky and pallid snow. Ruby used her semblance one more time as she spun towards Jaune and Pyrrha and skidded across the ice, clamping down with a swing of her scythe. Weiss wasn’t far behind.

Both of them looked pale and exhausted, Pyrrha was barely conscious but Jaune managed to pull a smile as the two friends embraced with one arm still around Pyrrha. She looked further ahead and gasped at the broken ice just a few yards ahead.

“Oh am I glad to see you!” cried Jaune frantically, “She fell through the ice! I’ve been trying to keep her warm! Help me carry her!”

Ruby nodded and raised Pyrrha up; she was murmuring deliriously and barely able to stand but still managed with the last vestiges of her aura to keep going. They started making good progress towards the shore. Suddenly the ominous sound of cracking ice came beneath them.

“Grab on!” yelled Weiss, tossing them the rope and casting a glyph beneath their feet as the ice ceased to support their weight. Back on shore, the combined strength of Nora, Ren, Blake and Yang tugged them back to shore. When they touched solid ground, the two reunited teams broke into a tight and tearful group hug, Pyrrha especially with light sobs of relief and gratitude.

“Hey guys, plenty of time for this back at Dad’s house,” said Yang, starting to shiver herself.

 “I can’t tell where we are! This blizzard’s getting impossible to move through!” said Blake, barely able to make out the road with the snow obscuring the way and filling Bee’s tracks.

“We just keep going uphill,” said Yang stubbornly, “there barely any roads through here. And Bee’s using up too much juice to keep warm.”

They had been gone five minutes up the road towards Tai’s lodge. Nora and Ren kept close to Jaune and Pyrrha, and Weiss had conjured a small flame to keep them going. After another five minutes of more empty woodland and a winding trail, Yang slowed down and stopped to look around, the others stared around looking for any sign of habitation, like distant lights or smoke.

“Shit… none of this looks familiar,” she said angrily, “Where the hell are we?!”

“Maybe we should double back,” suggested Blake.

“We could get even more lost,” said Weiss, now starting to get nervous.

“Wait, I’ve got Dad’s signal, he must have followed us. I’m calling him!” said Ruby, opening up her scroll and tapping Tai’s number. She didn’t have long to wait.

“Ruby, finally! I’ve been trying to reach you!” said Tai over the wire, “I followed your trail halfway down the southern road but can’t find you guys anywhere!”

“We got lost! Are you out there by yourself?”

“Yes, Oscar’s back at the house. Listen to me; look out for the red signal flare. Find that and you’ll find the road. I’m launching in three, two-”

“Look, there it is!” cried Nora, pointing towards a bright red flash, barely covered by the falling snow and thick snow-laden branches.

“Yeah, I see it too! It’s not that far!” said Ruby excitedly.

“What? Ruby, I haven’t fired mine yet! Are you sure you see a flare?” said Tai incredulously, “I’m firing mine now; keep an eye out for it!”

Seconds later, another much further and fainter red light appeared, coming from back the way they came. The group looked amongst each other, now uncertain what to make of this. Then another flare rose up from beyond the tree line, same as where the first flare came from.

“Ruby, I see it too, you’re a lot further out than I thought,” said Tai, something in his voice sounded different, “change of plan, follow that flare, it’s closer to the lodge.”

Wasting no more time, Yang revved up Bumblebee and made a break for the source of the flare. Bee started to sputter, and fear began to grip the teams at the prospect of walking blind and losing precious time. The light from the flare went out. But before long, the trees became less dense and the familiar warm lights of Tai’s house came into view. Yang laughed and whooped and punched the air as she revved towards the lodge.

They spotted a lone figure glad in green standing in the snow covered field and waving his arms, and a few of the group peered out to see as they got closer.

“OSCAR!” yelled an ecstatic Nora, and with her arm outstretched grabbed him right off his feet and into the trailer locked in a tight tackle hug. He was shivering and had snowflakes tousled in his hair, signs that he had been outside for a while.

“Guys, we all gotta get inside,” reminded Blake, pointing to Jaune and Pyrrha lying prone, everyone nodded in agreement as they convened inside Tai’s house.

Act 3 

Yang had her scroll out to inform Tai that they all made it back. The Atlesian fireplace was burning low with fresh fuel, another one of Oscar’s preparations before he went outside. Weiss went back and forth from the kitchen and came back with mugs of tea and hot chocolate for everyone, and knelt before the closely huddled Jaune and Pyrrha, both of whom were too tired to talk and looked close to drifting off.

“There, there,” cooed Weiss softly to both of them, stroking their foreheads gently, “just take it easy; you both had a tough time of it. But you’re safe now.”

Ruby brought down a high pile of blankets, jumpers and sweaters for Jaune and Pyrrha to put on, one red and one yellow, while Oscar brought extra cushions and draped them both in a thick blanket and sat down beside them.

“I’m so glad you’re both safe, I was scared we were gonna lose you out there,” he said gently.

After every means to be comfortable was taken, the fatigued RWBY and JNPPR sat huddled close around the fireplace in silence for the next several minutes, taking in the welcome warmth and looking amongst one another with in subdued, harmonious relief.

“That was way too close,” said Weiss at last, hugging her knees.

“No argument from me,” stuttered Jaune, as Pyrrha held him tightly.

The door opened again, it was Tai.

“Hey kids,” said Tai discreetly, with Ruby and Yang running up to hug him followed by all the other team members. He went down to green Jaune and Pyrrha, but Oscar guiltily hung back. He turned to face everyone, “Seriously, well done everyone. I’ve seen some daring feats in heavy snow at night, but you just raised the bar. So, you want to tell me what happened out there?”

While Ruby and Yang took turns recounting what happened, Tai listened intently and nodded proudly at each of them, and team spirit was on the rise.

“It sounds like you guys were just legendary out there!” said Oscar at last, looking around excitedly and gesturing to each of them in turn, “I mean, Ruby soaring through the blizzard Weiss with her glyphs, Nora with her hammer, and the rope plan. You guys must have been legendary!”

“You should have seen Yang’s driving, she was on fire!” said Nora with a little bounce.

“Why thank you, Nora! Bumblebee’s gonna need a lot of work after that,” commented Yang, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

“Well, any vehicle is only ever as good as its driver,” said Blake with a smile, “and that placed us in excellent hands.”

Yang grinned and thanked her partner, and the two leaned in closely.

“Oh, and I switched the oven and cooker off before I went out, to not spoil the food,” said Oscar shyly to Tai, “I put them back on and reset the timers when we returned.”

“Smart move; the meal was saved just in time, despite the danger you put yourself in,” said Tai with his arms folded, he seemed to be making a concerted effort not to be cross.

“Dad, please don’t go there,” said Ruby reproachfully.

“Sir, if it weren’t for Oscar’s timely signal flare, we would probably be dead,” said Jaune with a little more strength in his voice.

“We put everyone in danger,” said Pyrrha at last, her eyes misty and cast down.

“Pyrrha, honey, please don’t-”

“It’s true… I wanted Jaune to meet my family for Midwinter Solstice. I wanted to make it this grand, almost fanciful meet-up. After the ship left without us, we argued a lot along the way, I insisted we try to get there no matter wat. We should not have tried to make the journey back to Argus with the blizzard closing in…”

“Pyr, I’m just as much to blame for this, if not more, I said we could make it to Tai’s lodge before the bad weather hit. We got turned around and stranded on that river, and then you fell in the ice!” Jaune cried out racked with guilt and anger, Pyrrha placed her hand on his shoulder.

“You wouldn’t leave me,” she said reassuringly, “I knew I had a chance with you.”

“You two wanted to spend Christmas with family, I think we all understand that,” said Ren.

“I think anyone who has a family they would brave a blizzard to be with is a special kind of lucky,” said Nora, “I know I would”

“We kind of did,” added Ren. Smiles started to bloom among the group.

“You both need to stop blaming yourselves for what nearly happened,” said Oscar earnestly, “You’re right, mistakes were made and it was way too close. But through it all, I’m just happy to have both of you here and alive with us under this roof, brought together in spite of peril and strife. In the end, Midwinter Solstice is all about that.”

“That reminds me about that song you played for me a few nights ago, could you play it again for us?” asked Ruby.

Oscar’s eyes went wide, but with a deep breath he asked if everyone else wanted to hear. With everyone giving consent, Oscar picked up the guitar and sang softly to the low fire crackling.

“When the silence wakes you, when your nights are long,

When the world forsakes you, please be strong.

Nothing hurts you forever, it will fade away,

And the sky will be blue again, one day.

 No matter how cold the winter, no matter how deep the snow,

We will be warm again and the grass will grow.

No matter where life may take us, no matter how hard they try,

They will not break us, you and I.

 When it’s dark inside you, when your flame is low,

I will be beside you, you will know.

Let it fall all around you, let the cold winds cry,

Let the old winds of yesterday blow by.

 No matter how cold the winter, no matter how deep the snow,

We will be warm again and the grass will grow.

No matter where life may take us, no matter how hard they try,

They will not break us, you and I.”

Oscar blushed as applause broke out among the group, and some cheering from Yang and Tai.

“Well sung, little dude, well sung,” said Jaune.

“At Beacon you were all there when I needed help, especially you Pyrrha, and honestly this is just a small way of saying thank you,” said Oscar, still red in cheeks.

“Oh, Oscar, bless you,” said Pyrrha softly, eyes glistening. She held her arm out invitingly, Oscar budged closer and she pulled him into gentle, caressing hug.

“Thank you for being there when we needed you,” she murmured, gently swaying him side by side, enveloping her arms and blanket around him until he was effectively cocooned within. She held his face close and leaned and kissed his cheek causing the boy to open his eyes wide in shock.

“Are there no limits to your adorableness?” cooed Jaune as he embraced both of them within his blanket and ruffled Oscar’s hair.

“Mm-mm” shaking her head and giggled, still cuddling Oscar.

Nora and Ren piled in on either side of the three-way hug. In the middle of them, a series of small squeaks came from Pyrrha, grinning whilst tears down her cheeks. Team RWBY looked on, a mixture of awe and “aww” shared between them.

“I think I’ll skip the dessert, because that was the sweetest thing I’ve ever feasted my eyes on!” Yang whispered to Blake.

Ruby felt Weiss’s hand on her shoulder.

“Hey Ruby, despite the near-death experience out in the wilderness, I just want to say thank you for inviting me over for Midwinter Solstice; being here with everyone is so much better than being back at Atlas.”

“Don’t mention it, Weiss. It certainly crazy how close that was, but it worked out in the end! Just promise me one thing for the holiday.”

“Name it!”

“Don’t think about Atlas or anyone there who makes you unhappy and unfestive; I forbid it!”

“I don’t think ‘unfestive’ is a real word, but deal!” she said happily, drawing her in for a hug.

Tai came back in to announce that the game birds were cooked and there is definitely enough for the two new guests. Blake and Yang went in first, while JNPPR went in as one leaning in among each other. Ruby winked to Weiss and both reached out to pull Oscar in, and he gave a little yelp when both girls pulled him into their embrace. Ruby glanced up, something small and green was floating above them.

“Wait, I don’t remember ever hanging up mistletoe…” said Ruby nervously.

“Oscar, was this your doing?” said Weiss, raising her eyebrow.

“How could it be my doing?”

They paused and followed the line of string hanging the infamous little festive plant and gave out one big, shared yell; “NORA!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: I really did want to write a new poem/song for this story rather than recycle an old one, but it still felt fitting both to the story and for the season.

Thank  you, everyone.

@cosmeregiftexchange my gift for @nightblink !!

Title: Just Different (on Ao3) Summary: In which Renarin and Rlain share more than their silence.  Author’s Note: Aaaaa I hope you like it!!! This is actually something I’ve wanted to write for a while ;; Fic under read more

The first time, they share silence.

Renarin sits down beside him, hesitant and ashamed for it. Though the rock’s surface is even enough to sit on, he can’t push down the urge to fidget and shift his weight. Instead, he runs his fingers over the stone beneath him, catching on bumps and pointy edges, weathered down by ages of Highstorms. Or, more recently, the Everstorm.

Oh. I don't know if he counts.

This thing is what everyone always tells him. Over and over again.

Renarin feels silly for his complaints, as he scuffs the toe of his boot into the dry dirt. Rlain eyes him, askance, and though his expression gives nothing away, Renarin can see the questions in his posture.

He knows what it’s like to be alienated--from the highlords and royalty, from the Alethi, from people in general . But he'll never understand how alienating it feels to be the only Listener in the entirety of Bridge Four. The only one in the entire city of Urithiru, for that matter. The only one treated like he’s somewhat human.

They sit, watching the rest of Bridge Four attempt to take to the sky like their Radiant leader. Their shouting and cheering washes over them, like the rain from a Highstorm, water beating, eroding at walls of the structures they built around them. It doesn’t bother Renarin as much as he worried it would. He finds himself instead glad. They deserve to have their happy moments. But he still finds himself reaching in his pocket for his small box.

He glances back to Rlain, watching their bridgecrew rejoice. No one had come to comfort Rlain when he couldn’t draw in Stormlight. He wonders if he feels envious, as he takes the cube out, beginning to feel the familiar carvings against his fingers. Renarin is surprised to find he is, to some extent, a bit disappointed, while still happy for them, that he isn’t a Windrunner like most of Bridge Four. But he knows that’s mostly on account of him feeling so different once again, and so soon after he began to fit in somewhere.

He doesn’t fit in, not even among Radiants, not even among Bridge Four.

He knows he’s different--an outcast among outcasts--but Rlain is too, and they do, perhaps, share something more than silence.

---

As it progresses, it's much less spontaneous. Bridge Four walks through the towering structures of Urithiru, and Renarin makes a point to fall into step beside Rlain.

"This is different,” Renarin comments. The tower has so much technology, but no one knows how to use it. According to his Aunt Navani, there’s evidence of farming and bathhouses and other fabrial structures. But so far, they’ve only gotten several of the lifts to work. “They look like something carved from the earth.”

Rlain hums beside him. “The walls?” He pauses. “They are stone,” he says matter-of-factly.

Their footsteps echo across the large, high-ceilinged chamber in a moment of silence. Renarin resists the urge to wring his hands together, or to tap them against his pant leg.

The air hums silently, with secrets and life, and an unease that Renarin can’t begin to describe. He knows Glys feels it, too. The marbling of Rlain’s skin is backlit from the Light of gemstones behind him.

“Yes,” Renarin says after a moment, settling on shoving his hand into his pocket, rubbing the fabric of his uniform between his fingers. “But not Soulcast. Like… it was cut--from a mountain.”

It matters, and it doesn’t matter. Maybe trying to find meaning and reason in the midst of all this is like his mother burning glyphs to a god she viewed as lesser, trying to add significance to their lives.

The other considers this. “This would take a lot of work, however this was made.” He pauses, looking at the crest of the arched entryway instead of Renarin's face, but his voice is straightforward and steady in the way Renarin can unusually count on it to be. Not that he minds. Renarin finds maintaining eye contact awkward and hard when forced. “Many things are different, now.”

Renarin enjoys the cadence, a sort of rhythm, in Rlain’s sentences. He can’t quite describe it, but there are differences in the varying tones. He heard of the Parshendi singing while they fought, but he didn’t think that it was necessarily a form of communication that would carry over to other languages. And maybe it doesn’t--not fully--but it’s somewhat there, at least.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “It must feel strange.”

It’s an invitation, one Renarin hopes Rlain might accept, but Renarin also won’t be hurt if he doesn’t.

“It does,” Rlain says.

And that’s where the words run out. He feels settled. He feels unsettled. He still remembers his vision of a violent storm, a force of destruction and terror, and thinking, even if only for a while, that they might just die.

---

Renarin understands the bare basics of the spear. Basic techniques. Basic maneuvers. His use of the spear is like this, too. Basic. And he knows it’s the best he can reasonably expect, as he’s only just begun learning.

Renarin and the rest of Bridge Four train with their leader to oversee them. They split off into pairs of twos after warming up, and Renarin immediately goes to Rlain. He feels that, if out of any of Bridge Four, he might feel most comfortable around him.

The ground beneath Renarin seems to hum in anticipation, the crunch of dirt under his boot suddenly loud in the unsettled air. A light breeze comes from behind him, messing with his hair as he faces black skin and orange carapace. Renarin thinks, fleetingly, that it suits Rlain. He’s tall--taller than Renarin, Alethi genes and all.

Rlain makes an intimidating opponent, and Renarin is up for the challenge. For so long, he was sheltered, kept from fighting and training because of how sickly he’d been. Not only was he odd, but he couldn’t do anything for a worthy Calling. He was pressured to join the ardentia, and for some time even considered it, even though the thought alone was enough to make him want to scream.

But now he can do this, and he isn’t giving up on the chance to pursue it.

Rlain attacks first, delivering two quick jabs, of which Renarin sidesteps, keeping his footing steady. Rlain brings his spear back, coming up to block any strikes the other might have tried to get in. Glys is somewhere behind him, humming as he observes them and the other bridgemen. Renarin lunges, feinting a high-aimed swipe, trying to get Rlain to give him an opening. But, of course, Rlain knows better, and instead steps back quickly out of range.

“Try not to let your legs cross. That is a bad habit,” Rlain advises, watching as Renarin corrects his stance. Yes, it was a mistake. A bad one.

The session is, ultimately, uneventful. Rlain wins most of their matches, though Renarin manages to gain the upper hand a few times. One of which is their last match.

Rlain steps out of range from probably the best, most controlled strike Renarin has managed all day with a few quick half-steps, only to find the ground behind dips slightly. Rlain wobbles a bit, trying to shift most of his weight onto his other foot in an attempt to regain his balance. Renarin strikes again, feeling a bit underhanded and guilty for it, but manages to topple his friend.

Rlain nearly falls the whole way backward, arms flailing almost comically, but he catches himself with an ungraceful pivot of his foot, falling to his knees instead. Renarin winces at the sound of the impact.

“Ah--are you okay?” Renarin asks, hovering nearby, unsure if he should offer more concern or apologize.

“Yes,” Rlain grunts, setting his hand down to haul himself to his feet.

Renarin reaches out a hand. “Here. Sorry.”

Rlain glances up at him, and something like a smile crosses his face as he accepts the highprince’s hand. Rlain’s feel warm and firm in his, carapace covering the tops of his fingers.

“Thank you.”

Renarin gives a slight smile back.

Rlain, mostly by himself, partially with Renarin’s help, makes it back onto his feet. “That was good. Cheating, but good,” he comments.

Renarin fully smiles this time.

Rlain dusts himself off, reaching down for the spear he’d dropped.

Another difference, yet similarity to Renarin. Both of them were initially denied training with spears by the Alethi. Renarin for different reasons, but somehow they share this, too.

It makes him smile again, feeling a sort of connection to the bridgeman. Nothing else is said as Rlain stretches, testing his legs. In silence, they both begin to make their way back to where the rest of Bridge Four are finishing up.

It’s enough.

---

It doesn’t take a Truthwatcher to know that something’s off, but it’s still very hard to ignore when Glys begins to comment on it. “That one…” Glys hums, crystalline figure glowing softly. Renarin glances over his shoulder, to the entryway of the Bridge Four barracks.

Of course, something has been wrong for a while now. It was there, even before Renarin began to seek him out.

“Rlain?” Renarin mumbles softly. His friend in question had retired early, though the rest of Bridge Four still hung around outside, soaking in the last of the dying day.

“His sorrow is great,” Glys says.

Renarin glances around. Everyone else is busy, engaged in conversation or their food. Noise. A soft buzzing, always there. He slips the string he’d been messing with into the breast pocket of his uniform, getting up from the rock he’d been seated on. No one seems to mind him, so he makes his way over to the barracks.  

His hand hesitates against the wooden door, but he eventually gives it a gentle push, stepping inside. He lets the door close behind him with a soft groan from its hinges. The only light comes from dimly radiant gemstones, almost dun, on the wall and a few glowing pouches. On one of the bunks, Renarin can barely make out a figure sitting, head bowed, resting in his hands. Though Rlain doesn’t look up, Renarin doesn’t greet him, or clear his throat, or anything else to make himself known other than his entry. Sometimes people just need silence. In the sleeping quarters, the conversations outside are muted, dulled down to a gentle hum.

Renarin steps forward, his boot clicking softly against the wood, and sits down on the opposite end of the cot.

Silence.

“You are a Radiant, right?” Rlain asks softly.

For a moment, Renarin isn’t sure Rlain’s even spoken. It’s more air than syllables, like his lips only half-formed the word before it came out.

Renarin starts to nod, but realizes Rlain can’t see him with his eyes angled toward his feet. But talking sounds wrong. It feels like interrupting his moment. And because Rlain already knows the answer to his question, Renarin says nothing.

“Why do you come back, when my people are gone?” Rlain asks.

“The Parshendi?” Renarin asks, trying to speak quietly.

“The Listeners,” he corrects, lifting his head up, hands coming to rest on his knees.

He nods. Renarin has never been good with people. Finding the correct, acceptable thing to say was hard enough in small talk, with every how-do-you-do feeling like yet another game among the Alethi, another competition Renarin has somehow been denied access to.

“I miss them,” Rlain continues. “It is hard enough here. Everyone treats me differently. Like I am… an oddity.”

An exception. Yes, Renarin saw this. Rlain, the parshman they let have a spear. The one they let train with them. He saw the way Dalinar’s guards subtly placed themselves between him and Rlain, as if to protect him from potential attack.

“I enjoy Bridge Four,” Rlain says slowly. “But at the same time I want to slap them. They ask all these questions, like it is somehow appropriate. They don’t even know how bad it feels. Then in normal conversation, they don't even talk to me.”

Renarin nods slowly. He’s seen this happen among Bridge Four, too. Asking to feel the ridges on Rlain’s skin, or if he knew something about the Fused, and then in later conversation not asking how Rlain felt about the Kaladin’s decision on patrols.

“Then they think of me like I’m… lucky to be treated with respect,” he continues. He looks up, catching Renarin’s eye.

“And then, you talk to me. Not just because you feel sorry for me, but because you are… genuine.”

Renarin blinks. It had seemed so obvious to him. Well, yes, of course he talks to Rlain, because he cares. But then he also realizes that to someone like Rlain, it means a lot. Because to someone like Renarin, it means a lot. To people like them.

“Yes,” Renarin says, fidgeting. “I mean, you do too…”

Rlain visibly hesitates, opening his mouth, then pausing. After a beat, he asks, “The other Alethi, do they… do things like these?”

It’s Renarin’s turn to hesitate. “Kind of. Nothing quite on that level, but…” he trails off. More lighthearted conversations were already difficult; how could he begin to pick apart what to say and what to not?

Rlain doesn’t prompt him, or get annoyed, or turn away and ignore him. He simply looks on, waiting, head lifted slightly.

“Well,” Renarin begins, “it’s mostly with the other highprinces. It’s usually nothing blatant, but… sometimes they give me looks, or make comments.”

But not for looking different, or being an entirely different race. For simply… being different. Sadeas had been less guarded with his remarks, but even without them, Renarin knows this. He’s known it since he was a child.

Rlain hums thoughtfully. “The others of Bridge Four, sometimes they… talk, too. About you being a scholar.”

Renarin hates how hesitant he is to acknowledge it. Now that he’s finally gained his chance to fight, he still wants to read and write and figure out fabrials like Aunt Navani. Even more than before.

“They’ll talk no matter what I do, I suppose,” he says.

“You do happen to have a special breed of oddity,” Rlain replies, and there’s something in his voice that Renarin thinks is like amusement, or--oh. Rlain is teasing him.

The cot creeks softly as he shifts, bouncing his leg as he thinks. Rlain doesn’t make mindless chatter into the silence, as anyone else would have, trying to coax him into replying while making it more of a struggle for him at the same time. Though he imagines his leg bouncing might be annoying, or seen as disrespectful, Rlain doesn’t make any comments. He doesn’t give any looks, or glare, or roll his eyes.

“Yeah,” he finally says, voice reaching out in the general stillness that presses around them. “We’re both a bit odd, by everyone else’s standards.”

Rlain nods, quiet.

“I suppose we have to remember, sometimes,” Renarin says slowly, choosing his words carefully, “that only we decide who we are.”

They share silence again, sitting in each other’s company until a few other members of Bridge Four begin to come in for the night.

Rlain is still a bit troubled, Renarin is still feeling strange. They’ve both got their problems, their concerns, and nothing much about either of their situations has changed. But for now, they’re okay. It’s enough.

Series: Precious Commodities Chapter: 3 The Impasse Fandom: Star Trek TNG Pairing: Will Riker/Deanna Troi Rating: PG Notes: continuation of my fic for @nothingeverlost, all cross posted to AO3

Dexterity was a precious commodity, and Deanna only wished she could enjoy this display of Will’s intelligence more thoroughly. Distractions and schemes are touchy things. Some distractions are subtle and catch others by surprise. And some are an accumulation of sheer bluster and personality. She excels at the first type. She has used her calm and deep study of psychology to distract and play her own strategies when needed.

Will can do this, too. He’s cagey, smooth, and charming. Between poker, chess, war games, and any number of missions and incidents, she’s had a front row in his masterclass.

But he’s also large and hard to miss. He can leverage this, too, to his favor. Noise, demands, and a lean or a glare can get him very far. He’s using both with their captor and these long rounds of chess. She knows he could have won in fifteen moves or less.

He won the first round, stretched it into a long play. Passed up any number of opportunities to end it swiftly and ruthlessly. It gave her a chance to nap for a bit. And set up legitimacy for his own complaint of standing too long as he teased out a second game. Feigned disinterest. Maybe that wasn’t true. He wasn’t particularly interested in chess. At least not in this particular game.

Deanna can sense the strategies that go far beyond the chess board. His angles have given him a partial view of the brig layout. He’s had time to sneak several overviews of the panels and realized their potential. And he’s still trying to figure out when to make his final sequence. Not to end the chess game, but to begin to put action to the plans and contingencies he’s forming.

He complains that it’s hard to see the board. And Deanna almost laughs at this. She’s known Will to play blindfolded before, moves called out in sequence. His mind can hold the entire board, visualize the moves, keep track of which piece is where, and still win handily.

She does her best to be quiet, to quiet her mind. Food and the short nap helped. But she is still cold enough that she can’t relax. It’s unlike her not to be able to sit still. She does it for long stretches of time during counseling sessions, going especially still and quiet when a patient is on the cusp of epiphany. She’s trying not to distract her mother, either, but her thoughts search out Lwaxana’s as often as she had called for her parents as a small child with a very over-active imagination when she should have been sleeping.

Deanna catches herself right as her mind is turning to her mother again, pulling herself back as she remembers the last time she reached out. Her stomach turns at the thought of her mother and DaiMon Tog. Her mother’s revulsion at the reception is all too real in Deanna’s memory, and she is not okay with Lwaxana doing that, even if it’s an attempt to keep Deanna and Will safe. Betazoids are free with many things, but they also are repulsed by forced or non-consensual situations.

She can’t stand to sit still, so she’s pacing the cell and in motion. Her arm isn’t as sore as it was, but she welcomes the dull ache that distracts her. It’s not a great coping mechanism, but she’s aware there are far worse ones. It’s certainly going to be an interesting conversation with her counselor on subspace, well, whenever they get out here. That poor, amazing woman had helped Deanna through so much already. Her counselor could write entire volumes on the psychological effects of space exploration and its impact on the psyche. More than once her counselor has said that for someone facing as much uncertainty, Deanna was generally handling it well. More than once, Deanna had felt like a complete wreck. She had learned to deeply appreciate one of the few conversations where she could simply exist, without having to be the calming presence in the room. For someone who spends eighty percent or more of the conversation listening, it’s still hard to talk about herself for that long.

Deanna expected it would be easier when Will was outside of the cell. She tried not to hover at the opening. Tried to act casual as she took Will’s abandoned seat. Tried her hardest to focus on a breathing exercise. But she couldn’t settle on which one to use. She felt like a liability to both her mother and Will—she couldn’t do anything to help either one right now, nor to help them find a way off the ship. And while she didn’t want her mother here alone, a thousand “what-ifs” were playing through her mind, all while she watched the chess game intently.

Will shifted on the padded stool, his shoulders stiffening. He gave a slight shake of his head in irritation, as though trying to clear his thoughts and refocus. On some level, she was distracting him.

She took a slow breath in, held in for a four count, and then released it even more slowly. Beneath her, she could feel the lingering warmth on the padded bench from where Will had been sitting for some time before leaving the cell. And another small gust of cool air from the intake made her shiver slightly. This time she welcomed the distraction.

When he finally made his move, Deanna both saw and felt his surprise flare of pain in Will’s hand. She wasn’t familiar with much about Ferengi anatomy, but the skull seemed particularly dense. Hopefully he hadn’t broken anything. At any rate, it felt like a victory to be helped out of the cell. She felt a little safer on the same side of the force field as Will. Even if it was an illusion and re-capture was only meters away.

Deanna was relieved to have at least a small something to do. She’s the connection to her mother, and it was utter relief to see that her mother has once again used her own eclectic blend of charm and firmness to keep things… appropriate.

You’re so prudish, Little One, her mother chided. Those humans have influenced you too much.

A day or two ago, Deanna would have chafed and argued. Protested. For now, she was simply glad that her mother is distracting their captor. And thankful that Will has such a wider understanding of ship systems than she could ever hope to have. Her position and degree from the university and time at Starfleet have put her in the rank of Lieutenant Commander. But the only time she really feels like she’s acting in that position is when she’s acting as Diplomatic Officer. She knows her skills and services in that role have more than earned her right to have the rank.

Yet, she has struggled far more with imposter syndrome as an officer than she ever did as a graduate and doctoral psychology student. She was not a fan of the older uniforms when she first began to serve on Starfleet ships. Her reasons for preferring more casual versions of the standard uniform, however, go far beyond the way the top piece often rides up and requires adjusting. And beyond the fact that it’s difficult for people to relax and open up about personal or professional challenges when she’s wearing the uniform of their authority.  But this echo of imposter syndrome has made her consider, once or twice in passing, taking the bridge officer’s test. To prove she can handle command. To prove it to herself. But there are portions, like the engineering section, that continue to make her inclined to reconsider an attempt.

Uniform or not, Will has brought his singular focus to the console. She wonders idly how much Ferengi or glyphs he can read and how much is instinct. It does seem naïve not to have anticipated the need for access codes. She should have predicted that, knowing how the Ferengi are so insular, how they prefer to keep everything to themselves. In a civilization that thirsts for money and power, of course the risks would be too great to a DaiMon to leave even internal systems without security features—lest some lower ranking crew try to usurp power.

It’s a surprise to both of them when their attempt is denied. And she could sense the wariness in Will, his resolve grinding down by the moment. They’re both drained. He has dark circles under his eyes, his usually tidy beard is attempting to grow full-out, and his hair is mussed in the way she only sees in the rarest of occasions. Mentally, she can sense he is scrambling for a Plan B.

Reaching out to her mother was easy, but the wait time for answers stretched out.

Beside her, Will tried several other combinations to probe the restrictions of the console. By the third attempt, he pressed his head against the console and gave a huff of frustration. “I’m afraid if I keep trying, I’m going to trigger some kind of alert. We’re no good to her or ourselves if we get locked back in there. Especially if someone comes to investigate and finds our friend. I don’t know what their shift changes look like.”

“I know,” she sighed, moving closer and giving his upper arm a squeeze.  When he didn’t turn, her arms wrapped around him from behind, and she hugged him tightly. Her eyes closed, and Deanna pressed a warm kiss against the fabric over his shoulder. Her cheek came to rest against him, and she gave over more of her weight. “Will, you’ve done so much for all of us. We will figure out a way to get off this ship.”

“Deanna, I don’t know what else—”

She sighed and tightened her grip around him. “Breathe with me for a minute,” she encouraged, a small smile crossing her lips when he found one of her hands and gave a gentle squeeze before obeying. “You’re exhausted. We both are.  But we will figure this out. And get back to Enterprise. And have real food—or at least replicated food—again.”

“And a hot shower,” he mumbled with a sigh. “And clean clothes. Clothes that are appropriate to space,” he added. His hand caught hers, drawing them back slightly so he could turn to face her. “C’mere.” Gently, he eased up the ruffle over her left upper arm. “How is this?”

It was nice to have this half moment, even if she can feel a shimmer of upset from her mother, the first signal fire that things aren’t going smoothly with command codes. “A little achy still, but better.” Her fingers covered the spot and rubbed lightly.

He pulled her against him, arms going around her for long moments to offer warmth. “Deanna… if it comes down to it, if we can’t all—”

Her head shook before he could even finish. “No, we need to do this together. All three of us.”

“If it comes down to it, you and your mother should—”

“No!” she protested, pulling back slightly. “I’m not having this conversation with you. There are too many things in our favor on this. If we can’t draw the Enterprise to us now, we can wait it out. We’re both officers. There has to be some trail that someone will trace back to Tog—between Data or the Captain or someone on the ship… Mother is an ambassador. They might be willing to gamble on any number of things, but even Tog and Farek will have to admit that they don’t dare incur the wrath of Starfleet. Or the other DaiMons if Starfleet pressures them.”

He pressed a warm kiss to her forehead. “You have a point,” he sighed, and she could sense he was irritated that he was too tired to have come to the conclusion sooner.

“You were busy getting me out of the cell and trying to signal Enterprise,” she reminded affectionately. “And I’m sorry, but I might have to delay those plans on the holodeck.”

“You’re breaking our date?” he teased wryly, and she was glad to hear the lightness in his voice, even if he was still tired. It meant that he was ready to do whatever they needed to do next.

Her head shook slightly, and she offered a small smile. “A raincheck. No offense, but I really want a bath and to sleep first.”

“Your creature comforts,” Will teased. “With all of your bath salts and oils? What was it, sandalwood and…”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Sandalwood is entirely your fault, you know. I’d never smelled or heard of it until you gave it to me all those years ago.”

His hand slid to her shoulder, thumb lightly tracing her collarbone. “Creature comforts,” he repeated, dropping a kiss to her cheek. After taking a slow breath, he chaffed her shoulder lightly. “And thank you, I’m better now.”

“I think we’re both going to be due a counseling session once this is over, but so long as only one of us is frustrated at once, we’re alright.” She gave his wrist a squeeze and took a breath to refocus, but before she could make any suggestions, dread flooded her and she froze.

“Deanna?”

Her eyes were wide when they lifted to meet his. “It didn’t work… Farek… He interrupted. Will, he’s going to run experiments on her.”

“Experiments?” Will pressed, already moving back toward the console and scanning over the consoles again as if he might see something he missed before.

“Neural scans,” she grimaced, her own fear spiking in harmony with her mother’s. Try to delay. We’re doing everything we can! Deanna swallowed hard and stepped out of Will’s way as he reached across the far side to bring up the strange grid and layout. “Farek thinks he can replicate mother’s telepathic abilities with enough probing and experimentation.”

Under his breath he let out a Klingnon curse that would’ve made Worf speechless. “Like hell they are,” he grunted, “Grab that phaser in case this doesn’t work.” He jabbed a series of commands and smacked the wall beside the work station when those failed like the ones before.

RWBY Chapter 8: Players and Pieces

Hm, that title makes me think those chess pieces are about to become very important.

O.K., what on earth are you doing, Ruby? Are you... Are you riding a giant bird? Is that why you were falling from the sky at the end of the last episode? WHY are you on a giant bird? HOW did you get on a giant bird?

Ruby: Well, why don’t we just jump? Weiss: What are you, insane?

Aaaaaand Ruby’s gone. God damn it, Ruby.

That’s some stellar timing. Congrats, Ruby, you saved Jaune from hurtling even further into the forest. Hopefully he doesn’t crush you when you both land.

Oh great, before Yang and Blake can deal with the Ruby and Jaune situation a Grimm appears from the forest. I sure hope that scorpion Grimm doesn’t join the fray as well.

Nora: Yeeeeeehaaaw!

Oh. Thanks, Nora! That was easy!

Nora: Aw, it’s broken.

She has no respect for danger and I love her.

Nora: I’m queen of the castle~ I’m queen of the castle~

You are fighting hard for my favorite character.

Here comes the scorpion now! It’s fine, the other Grimm is dead and we have a bunch of warriors gathered. I’m sure they’ll be fine. What’s Weiss up to?

Pyrrha: Jaune! Jaune: Pyrrha! Ruby: Woah! Jaune: Ruby! Yang: Ruby?! Ruby: Yang! Nora: NORA!

I sure love the Name Game. Glad to see Nora knows how to play the winning hand.

Yang is shaking in frustration and I can’t tell if Nora is just happily swaying or having fun imitating her, but it’s just the cutest thing.

Oh, there’s Weiss! Boy, that bird is quite a bit bigger than I expected it to be. Gosh... How did you girls manage to hitch a ride on that?

Nora, stop being so adorable this instant.

Ren: She’s falling.

Oh no. Jaune, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. This is not the perfect opportunity to play hero and save the falling damsel. You are the butt monkey, your role to continually fail for comedy. This won’t end well for you.

I know it’s tempting, Jaune, but don’t even try. Really there’s only two ways this is going to go. You’re going to try and somehow make things worse, or one of the other’s is going to rescue Weiss before you can do anything.

Either things are about to go horribly wrong, or Weiss is gonna smack him and call him a pervert.

Music: *is angelic* Jaune: Just dropping in?

Or this will turn out to just be a fantasy Jaune has concocted after hitting his head trying to jump out of the tree.

O.K., not a fantasy. Cartoons physics was employed so that they could float in the air for a moment before gravity picked back up. Now the question is if the punchline is them still crashing to the ground or will it be that one of the others will still end up rescuing them?

Crashing it is! At least Weiss seems fine, since Jaune acted as a crash pad. So I guess... Congrats, Jaune? You managed to save the girl?

Weiss: My hero.

She just sounds so disinterested. That’s gotta hurt him more than his crushed spine.

Oof. That was a crunch. Poor Pyrrha, I thought you’d be able to put up a bit more fight against the scorpion.

Yang: Great, the gang’s all here! Now we can die together!

Glad to see you being positive, Yang.

And of course Ruby jumps into the fray only to get immediately bitch slapped.

Holy shit! That thing has projectile feathers! I’m more scared of it than the scorpion now!

Be thankful it only skewered your cape and not your body! Still, this is legitimately terrifying!

Ruby, no, don’t try to rip your cape free just take your cape off! Trust me, it’s much faster!

O.K., yeah, wow, thanks for the ice wall and all, Weiss, but could we maybe have the getting along speech after we defeat the Grimms?

Ruby: *sighs and whispers* Normal knees...

What are you going on about, Ruby? I know you just wanted to be a normal girl with normal knees, but what does this mean? Are you reminding yourself to just act normally, or are you thankful that Weiss just said “you’re fine” and thus she sees you as normal?

Really though, these friendship building moments can wait until AFTER THE GRIMMS ARE DEAD, YES?

I’m sorry, but I have to point out Yang’s little run here wasn’t the best. She just kind of, slid across the ground. Not great animation. Very slippery.

Alright, so now everyone has a chess piece. Were those missing chess pieces already missing to begin with, or did those two dudes we saw at the start take them? You know, they two people who had character models but no lines?

So the gang tries to run, but it seems the bird has them trapped. Oh, and then the scorpion comes back too. So how’s that “just run and don’t fight them” plan going?

I love Nora’s gun. She has a grenade launcher. I wonder what it transforms into?

You know, for an exercise all about teaming up with one other person they all seem to be working with, well, everyone. I mean, it’s good to have teamwork with everyone at your disposal, but I would think you’d want to stick with your “assigned” partner and learn how to most effectively work with them.

Calling it now, that bridge is either going to collapse and make the scorpion tumble into the ravine below OR it’s going to collapse and trap out heroes in the ruin. Possibly both. Either way the bridge isn’t going to survive this fight.

Well, I was right about the bridge being destroyed, at least, but it looks like everyone is gonna hitch a ride on the bird on outta here. How did Ruby and Weiss do this the first time??

Oh, never mind, they do get trapped in the ruin after all. Looks like only Pyrrha, Ren, and possibly Blake hitched a ride.

GOD DAMN IT! NO ONE GOT CARRIED AWAY? Bullshit! You could clearly see they were all too far away from the edges with the bird came through!

Oh neat! A hammer! Let me guess, it’s gonna have some sonic blast or something that will propel her across the gap when she swings it down?

Ah, no magic nonsense, just basic physics! Yay for levers! Bye, Jaune! Now what will you do, dear Nora? Also what about the others?

Oh that is awesome! A grenade propelled scooter, basically! Who knew hammers could be so versatile?

Aw, and you were doing so well too, Nora! Now who’s going to save Blake from plummeting to her death?

Blake’s gonna save herself thanks to grappling guns!

I like that during the classic “run up all the falling rocks” moment we get to see that each of the four main girls does it slightly differently. Blake immediately gets off the unstable rocks and goes to another classic, “run up the walls”. Weiss uses her glyphs to give herself more stable footing when there are no rocks. Yang uses her rocket gauntlets to propel herself, and Ruby just stays with the classic approach.

So while Ruby has a plan to fight the bird, Jaune seems to be giving orders to the other team fighting the scorpion. Not so much orders as barking out their names and they knowing what to do already. I could be mean and say Jaune isn’t really needed here, but I’ll give him the credit has leader of this team of four. Clearly Ruby will be leader of the other team so he’s being built up as the leader of the secondary characters.

Nora is just the cutest gosh darn thing! Sorry, Jaune, but Nora has been too precious this episode. She has booted you out of the top spot on my characters list.

Poor Ren, someone get this boy some snacks. Nora, give him pats and snacks!

Wow, this is quite the plan, Ruby, How did you manage to tell the others what to do while all of you were fighting?

Ruby: Think you can make the shot? Weiss: Can I? Ruby: ... Can y- Weiss OF COURSE I CAN!

I’m a sucker for confident “can I?” “that’s what I just asked you” interactions.

Holy shit, Ruby is strong! I know Weiss puts some glyphs down, which are probably helping her with the speed and keeping momentum, but Ruby is still dragging that giant bird by her scythe!

Nice decapitation!

Jaune: Wow.

Yeah, I mean, not to downplay your guys’ scorpion, but that was really cool.

I guess we’re all back at Beacon now. Sounds like whatever piece you took assigns you to a larger team. So I guess only one piece was taken per team of two? Then, since it’s chess, there were two of each piece (excluding the pawns) so then the two teams that had the same pieces would get combined here. Still doesn’t sound like a great way to form actually good teams for four years, but whatever. How lucky that the teams that worked together fighting each Grimm ended up being the actual teams. Now they have a basic understanding of each member’s abilities!

Wait, did I just hear Yang Xiao Long? Not Yang Rose? Do you two have different fathers? You usually take your dad’s last name after all. We saw a Summer Rose gravestone. Hm. Well if they’re half sisters it would explain why they look so different.

Ozpin: From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY, lead by Ruby Rose.

Wow, who could have guessed the team named after her would be lead by Ruby. Honestly, it would have been a jerk move to name the team “ruby” and then have someone else lead the team.

OH COME ON! NOW THE SHATTERED MOON ISN’T EVEN ROUND ANYMORE! It’s a shatter egg! I’m telling you, it’s fluctuating size and shape, that’s the cause of it breaking! The moon saga never ends!

Oh? And what is our dapper villain up to in this lonely warehouse?

Hm, I see you have various districts marked out on your maps. Also COPS! and Beacon. What dastardly plans are you concocting?

Man, you’re eyelash game is strong. Are you wearing eyeliner too?

Monopoly money!

Oh, credit cards, not Monopoly money.

A better look at the map. He’s not only marked out COPS!, but also DUMB COPS. I wonder if Forever Fall is a town or a landmark. Beacon seems like a pretty big place.

Torchwick: We’re gonna need more men.

BOO. Cliched line is cliched!

We never did find out how Ruby and Weiss got on that bird...

<Previous Ep. Next Ep.>