Which of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse is it?
Lancelot is the one I am expecting. But if it did end up being Percival or Tristan instead, I wouldn't be surprised with that.
Well, I would be, but I would be more surprised with the fact that it isn't Lancelot, than the fact that it is Percival or Tristan. If that makes sense?
Gawain, on the other hand? I would be shocked if it was her. And, unlike with the previous case, it not being Lancelot wouldn't have anything to do with my surprise. It would have everything to do with the fact that it was Gawain.
I just don't see why she would be the precarious one. I can see reasons why it could be Percival or Tristan though.
The Book of Stars pulls 16 year old Isolde back in time. Tristan and Tioreh meet her. Also on AO3.
"She's so pretty." Tristan said aloud, spotting a tall girl with long pink hair. She looked lost in thought about something.
"Hm?" Tioreh followed his gaze. "Have you fallen in love with her?"
"Of course not! I just think she's really pretty!"
Isolde hearing his voice when he raised it, looked over and got quite the shock. "Sir Tristan?! Why do you look younger?!"
"You know me?" This was what Tristan had chosen to focus on.
"Younger?" This was what Tioreh was focusing on.
This pulled Isolde’s attention towards her. It wasn’t that Isolde hadn’t noticed her before, but she hadn’t quite registered her properly. Too focused on Tristan suddenly being younger.
Who was this girl, Isolde wondered. She was cute, she seemed close to Tristan.
"I know you but I don't know her." Isolde told Tristan, gesturing towards Tioreh, her voice coming out a little harsh.
"I'm Tioreh."
"Never heard of you." Isolde responded, her voice still a little harsh.
Tioreh blinked. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well... Now you have. It's nice to meet you."
"...It's nice to meet you too." Isolde wasn't being entirely sincere when she said this, but she wasn't being entirely insincere either.
"Um, excuse me! You said you knew me?" Tristan asked, wanting to know how this girl knew him. He didn't think it was a case of her knowing him because he was the prince. If that were it then wouldn't she be more likely to be calling him Prince Tristan? But she was calling him Sir Tristan. So he suspected she knew him on a more personal level but he didn't know her.
Although... She did look kind of familiar. He couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen her somewhere before.
Isolde looked sad. "Yes. But... I guess you don't know me, huh?"
Tristan shook his head. "No, sorry. Not yet anyway."
"She did say you were younger. She must come from the future."
"From the future?" Isolde repeated. That would explain why Tristan was suddenly younger. And how she had been in one place one moment and in a completely different place the next. Though that later point she had originally thought was due to teleportation.
But how had she time traveled? Certainly such a thing would require quite a lot of power and she'd gone back years too.
"Yes. It's because of the Book of Stars. It's pulled a lot of people and things from different times." Tristan told her, gesturing at the creature floating beside him. "Ah! Not on purpose though!"
"Hmhm. Though, you're the first to come from the future." Tioreh added.
"The book of stars? This... creature?" Isolde looked at the cat like thing beside Tristan. This creature must be quite powerful in order to do such things. And it hadn't even meant to? Quite powerful indeed in order to accidentally casually mess with time itself.
-
Isolde had joined Tristan and Tioreh on their journey. Tristan was ecstatic having quickly grown fond of her. Tioreh on the other hand... Well, Isolde didn't seem to like Tioreh very much.
Tioreh found that the girl could be pretty huffy around her and her responses were short or even rude. Not very rude but a little.
One day Tioreh decided to confront her about it.
“Why are you being so, so snippy with me?” Tioreh asked the girl from the future, frustrated. “Do you just not like me or something?”
Isolde felt guilty. Tioreh was sweet, she didn’t deserve her ire. Isolde was just…. “I’m sorry. It’s not you, really!”
“Then what is it?” Tioreh asked, pushing for an explanation.
“…I’m jealous.”
"Jealous?" Tioreh repeated. Why?
"It's just, you're so cute and Sir Tristan..."
"Ah! Could it be you like Tri-Tri?!" Tioreh exclaimed in realization.
Isolde nodded her head.
Tioreh released a sigh. "If that's all it is then you don't have to worry. Tri-Tri and I don't like each other like that. We see each other as friends."
"I see but..." Isolde said, remorse in her eyes. "Even if you did I had no right to act like I did." Isolde was a jealous girl and she hadn’t quite learned how to deal with it yet.
“Oh, you weren’t that bad. Just a little snippy.” Tioreh had been annoyed at the situation but she ultimately didn't think it was that big of a deal. “Sol-Sol, now we’ve got that cleared up, let’s be friends.”
-
Since her new friend liked Tristan, Tioreh decided she would play matchmaker. Since the Tristan and Isolde she were currently with were of different times they wouldn't be getting together. But maybe she could get them to pursue the Tristan and Isolde of their own times.
Since Isolde seemed pretty convinced Tristan wouldn't like her, Tioreh decided that the first order of business was to convince her that Tristan could indeed have an interest in her.
“Hey, Tri-Tri, remember when you said Sol-Sol was pretty?” This, Tioreh had decided, was her start. She knew that Isolde wouldn't be convinced that Tristan could ever be interested in her romantically based purely off of the fact he found her pretty. But she thought knowing he found her pretty would help a little.
“Yes, why?”
“Why don’t you tell her that? I’m sure it would make her happy.” Tioreh suggested.
That was true, Tristan thought, getting complimented was nice.
And so, as soon as Isolde returned: "Sol-Sol, Tri-Tri has something to tell you."
"Right now?!" Tristan exclaimed, flustered.
"Why not right now?" Tioreh asked. "Oh, I get it! You'd rather be alone, huh? I'll leave then."
And without waiting for Tristan's answer, Tioreh left.
Tristan and Isolde stared at each other for a moment. "So, what was it you wanted to tell me?"
Well, right now worked, he supposed. Though he really didn't have any time to prepare. "I just wanted to say... I think you're really pretty!"
"Ah, really?" The Sir Tristan of her time had complimented her appearance before but... There was a part of her that couldn't shake off the possibility that he was just doing it to be nice. Because he knew she was sensitive about her appearance. But this version of Sir Tristan had no way of knowing about that, so in his case that couldn't be the reason.
"Mn! As pretty as my Dearest Mummy!"
Isolde blinked.
Hiding behind a tree nearby, Tioreh was also taken by surprise.
Isolde couldn't but laugh a little.
"Hey! Why are you laughing?!"
"I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting it." Isolde told him through her laughter. Once she calmed down she gave him a smile, touched at the compliment. "I'm flattered, really. Thank you."
