For the prompts, maybe two of the ravio's having to work together even if they don't like it?
Like whether personalities clash or early adventure when they don't trust each other yet?
I saw this and saw the opportunity for both 'personalities clash in early adventure' and to write an episode that I've mentioned before but didn't really elaborate on, so I took that opportunity. Thank you so much for the prompt!
Here's a showcase of Viola and Compass having conflict while under pressure because a certain instrument disappeared c:
"HOW? We were only gone for five minutes, how can it be MISSING?"
Viola's hair was rapidly turning into a knotted mess the more he ran his hands through it, pacing a hole into the ground as he fruitlessly searched for an answer. It didn't make sense. They'd intentionally gone further away from civilization because they were unsure how the enhanced magic of this era would affect the Viola of Space, but that was hardly a problem now.
The new, much larger problem was that it had VANISHED.
"Well, what did you think would happen?" That condescending tone coming from a teenager made Viola want to scream. "You took it out, then ran off to go deal with some monster, leaving it fully unattended. That's asking for something to get stolen."
Viola let out a deep, shuddering breath that sounded more like a growl as he glared at Compass. "And who was the one getting into trouble, hm? I think I remember someone wandering straight into octorok territory and screaming for help-"
"I did not 'scream for help!'" came the indignant retort. "Shouting in surprise is not the same thing as screaming for help! Besides, how hard is it to put the SACRED FUCKING ARTIFACT away before running after someone?"
Goddesses above, Viola wanted to throttle this kid.
Still, the already-present flush of embarrassed rage only intensified because he was right. The viola should have been properly put away before he ran to help Compass deal with those monsters, but how was he supposed to know that Compass wasn't inching closer to death with every second he delayed? How was he supposed to know that he'd simply gotten pelted in the side by an overgrown squid? It hadn't been anything near important enough to warrant the rush he'd granted it, but how was he supposed to know?
Viola ran his hands through his hair once again, with another frustrated sigh accompanying the action. "Well, we still need to find it!" He said sharply, finally turning his frantic gaze at his four companions. "We're stuck here until we do!"
"Uh… with what leads?" Their newest recruit had to point out the obvious, didn't he? Warp even helpfully elaborated, "There aren't any tracks around where it was."
"I DON'T KNOW!" Viola snapped, but the immediate flinch at his volume sent a new pang of guilt through his chest. "There has to be something," he muttered, looking away.
"No reason to yell at somebody else for your fuck-up though," Compass said, sounding more irritated than before. "You don't get to take out your shit on us just because-"
Distant notes carried through the air.
"I said shut the fuck up!" Viola snapped again, turning to locate where the noise was coming from. "Listen. Do you hear that?"
The sound of strings became more clear as the arguing paused. Distant, but close enough to be heard. And whoever was playing it clearly didn't have much experience, but Viola could already tell what melody they were trying to replicate.
Viola all but pushed Compass and Empyrean out of his way as he bolted in the direction of the music, swearing violently all the while. He couldn't wait for the others. The Viola of Space didn't care about skill as long as the correct notes were played in the correct order, and whoever was trying to play it now had obviously heard the Song of Space and was dangerously close to getting it right.
By the time he was close enough that the player had to be just beyond a few more trees, he heard the Song of Space plucked from the sacred instrument.
In an instant, an opaque dome of muted colors appeared before Viola. He stumbled to a halt just before he could run directly into it, his veins filling with ice at the sight. The radius seemed much larger than it ever had before, reaching at least ten feet into the air, and Viola could only guess it was the same all around. And as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, with a sudden gust of wind that pulled every surrounding tree, stone, and person toward the newly-vacant space.
Viola felt like his very breath had been sucked out of him. The force of the gale on his back on top of the knowledge that the Viola of Space was gone made breathing feel damn near impossible.
It didn't take long for the others to catch up with him, announced by an impressed "Lorelle's grace," from Empyrean at the sight of the crater. It likely wasn't more than a few seconds, but soul-crushing despair had a way of stretching time.
"What happened?" Warp asked, awe and horror mixing in his voice.
"What does it look like?" Viola asked, as the need to explain the obvious scratched at his nerves. "Whoever took the viola just escaped! With a chunk of Lorule."
"Goddesses… Okay…" Warp murmured, clearly hesitating before he attracted more of Viola's frustration. "So… what now?"
"Until one of us figures out a different way to travel between worlds, we're stuck here!" Viola announced, finally getting to his feet again. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he asked, "Anyone have any surprise artifacts waiting to be revealed? Anything with space magic? I'm all ears."
"Any space magic?" Compass asked, reaching for his own gold-tipped staff. "Because this might work."
"I'm actually not, thanks for the vote of confidence," he said, ignoring Viola's tone. "This is the Advent Rod. It usually can't create gates to anywhere other than its normal destinations, but clearly magic is off the charts here. So it might work."
There was a moment of stunned silence before Origin - Origin - chimed in, stating, "It's worth trying." When all eyes went to him, he simply muttered, "It's not as if we have any other options."
"He's right," Empyrean agreed. "It's either try this or be stuck in this time while someone or something runs wild with the Viola of Space. I think it's our best shot."
"Fine," Viola spat, loathing the satisfaction that Compass clearly got from the word. "Just do whatever you need to."
The magic of the Advent Rod was far less graceful than the Viola of Space. While the sphere of space magic had appeared in an instant and left a vacuum in its wake, Compass' portal opened much more slowly, accompanied by horrible, booming CRACKS as the Advent Rod's magic tore a hole in the fabric of reality. Air began to rush toward it, as if the dark colors of the portal were hiding just as much of a void as the sphere had.
Viola barely heard Empyrean shouting for them to "GO!" before they all stopped fighting the wind and surrendered to the portal's event horizon.
His final thought before entering it was, "Compass better be able to close this."
