Stay Warm

Sledder turned Scouter

[runnerless-sled]

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

When This Rain Stops || Sleighing Princess​

-

.

At first, Atta frowned at some of the things Sled said. She had never thought of friendship like that. Wasn’t friendship supposed to be about giving? But then, in order to give, someone had to receive– to be open to receiving. And of course if this was just one way, that didn’t sound healthy to Atta either.

She wasn’t sure where she and Candace fell on this scale, exactly. For a while, at least while Atta wasn’t the princess of the Hollow, things had been natural. They met up often and shared each of their worlds generously. 

Atta wanted to get back to that. 

She nodded slowly. At least her crying had stopped and she saw a way forward. “Maybe…maybe that is right. Thank you, Sled.” Her lips lifted in a real smile. “I have a lot to learn from you.” 

Sled was glad he could help, even just a little bit. Atta was his oldest friend (which was a bit sad when you really thought about it, no one else had lived as long a life as him, he was really one of the elder Winter fairies left from their Hollow, and he was still fairly young by fairy standards).

“You are welcome, Miss Atta.” Sled smiled a bit, “I’m always here to help, no matter what the topic is. I might not always be the brightest or most tactical, but I know fairies and people and have learned a couple things in the many, many moons I’ve been around.” He placed a hand on her arm gently, “Even though we’re not, I do view you as family, Atta.”

[runnerless-sled]

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

When This Rain Stops || Sleighing Princess​

-

.

Atta sniffled and she listened, and was so thankful for that– for the opportunity to just listen for once, and to not be expected to have any answer. There were very few places where that was the case for her. In all conversations, Atta knew she had to have a response. An opinion. A piece of advice. She could not simply exist, she had to be a royal, or a sister, or a role model– even now, with Candace– 

She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to let that go and tried to just believe what Sled told her.

She knew in her heart that he was right, of course. Sled had always been very wise. 

She opened her eyes once he was finished. “I…I hope so. I hope I get an opportunity…” her lip trembled again and she blinked back a few more tears. “I just feel like I’ve ruined things forever, Sled. I’m not very good at this.” 

-

Sled nodded with a small smile, “You will, you’ll get an opportunity. One fight does not make a good friendship just go away.” 

He paused a moment, “Do you think I was always the friend I am?” He chuckled, “I was once a fledgling too, you know. Very long time ago, but it did happen.”

“Friendship is not an innate talent, each friendship is different because each person is. Friendship takes time, Miss Atta.” He stood up from his kneeling position, straightening himself up a bit, “And what you must learn is that friendship has to allow for some selfishness, friends should allow each other to do what is best for them. Maybe they won’t always see it like that at first, but they will. You and Candace will work this out.”

[runnerless-sled]

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

When This Rain Stops || Sleighing Princess​

.

Atta always felt like there were two very different sides of her. There was the royal-talent– and it could see things clearly. It knew that what Sled said was true. Candace spoke from a place of hurt, and she certainly was going to regret her words, and she probably hadn’t meant it at all–

But then there was the other side of her. Just Atta. She could be just Atta, sometimes, right– not the logical and fair-minded royal-apprentice, but just a girl who had never been allowed to be just a girl? 

That was the part in control now. She shook her head at Sled, as the tears bubbled over the brim of her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. 

“But I– I’m not sure I even d-deserve it,” gasped Atta through the tears. “I’ll never be the– the friend she needs.” 

-

“Everyone deserves to have friends and to be friends.” Sled spoke softly, like his tone pushed out evenly to soothe the choppy waves of Atta’s words. He held her hands tenderly in his own, giving them a small squeeze as he continued to kneel beside her.

“You are just one fairy, Atta. An important one, but one. And you cannot expect to be everything for someone, whether that is for a friend or for the Hollow. It’s just like the Hollow, every friend has a friend talent.” He gave her a small smile, eyes kind and warm looking into her teary eyed ones, “Some are listening talents, some are cheering up talents, some are practical advise talents and some are shared interest talents, and although you can maybe be good at one or two, you can’t be all of them, just as you cannot be every talent in the Hollow even if you are queen.”

“She will not need you every time for every situation, Atta. I mean, could you imagine me helping the scribe talents take notes? Or Captain Nyx trying to make flowers grow?” He let out a chuckle at the thought of the Captain down in the dirt trying to coax a seedling from a seed. “But she will need you and you will be there and she will be reminded how good a friend you are.”

[runnerless-sled]

professor-lungri​:

runnerless-sled​:

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO || shogan || trope extravaganza

@runnerless-sled​

The smile on Suta’s face as his partner moved more fully into the room, and when the boys started chattering on about wanting to hear The Story, filled the man’s heart with a love he never thought he’d experience. Yes, they were all a rather peculiar fit, an odd little puzzle, but this was his family, and he loved them dearly. Especially when Eoghan was indulgent of he and the boys’ mischief, joined in even, instead of scolding them all for it.

It was why he loved him, after all.

A great bellowing laughter escaped Suta when Eoghan lunged at one of the boys, snagging him up with arms round his middle, shrieking laughter accompanying the action. Suta took the cue he was given and snatched their other son up, too, fingers tickling at his sides as he tossed him playful into the air once, twice, before settling him into his arms.

He and Eoghan gathered on either side of them at their bed, tucking them both in. Suta swept hair away from one boy’s brow as he snuggled down amidst the covers, listing into his other father’s side. “Mm, I suppose we have time for it…”

–

There was someone in the bloody castle.

There was someone in the castle and the dragon was angry about it. Lovely.

Suta was almost of a mind to jump out his own window at the prospect of having to be saved (again). Of having another fool try and best the beast and whisk him off to some lord or lady, marry him off, gain the bounty his father had promised.

But, Suta was his mother’s son, and so he bid his time, and he waited. He wanted out of this place as much as the next man would, really, and this was his best option. He had tried, once, and had not gotten far. Only so far as to injure himself and to realize his father was never coming back to get him.

No, he had to make his own way, even if it meant going along with this daft plan to have someone save him. Ugh.

Hearing a loud crashing just outside his door, Suta scrambled to his bed, playing along, shutting his eyes just as another figure came into the room. This was how it was supposed to play out, or some such, wasn’t it? The man would wake him –

With a shake, apparently.

A cry of protest flew from Suta’s mouth before he could stifle it, flinging himself upright with a glare. He could barely see a face beneath the soot and the helm, anyhow, but the voice was certainly…something.

“Right, and how do you suppose we get past the bloody dragon, eh?” As if punctuating that statement, a great roar shook the castle walls, and Suta sighed, slinging his legs to the floor, momentarily careful not to twinge his now-bad leg. “Can’t I at least know my champion’s name, so I may bestow upon him a token.” The sarcasm was heavy on his tongue, unimpressed with the display. Clearly, they were running out of options. Perhaps the dragon had eaten all the best.

--

That was a very good point. “Your champion’s name is Eoghan. Now we’ve gotta go. We’ll figure out the dragon and just wing it. Now c’mon, the token can wait until I’ve got you out of here.” 

“Right, yeah, winging it always helps!” The sled muffled from his back, “Lovely to meet you, sir, by the way, you look rested as always, I’m Sled. The noble steed.” His trusty magical talking sled spoke as if that were totally normal.

Eoghan grabbed the man’s hand and ran down the stairs to hear the soft snores of a dragon. Luckily, it was asleep. He and the other two tip toed their way around the dragon until Sled let out a heavy sigh, runner slipping and clanking into a suit of armor loudly so the others also echoe’d. “Oops?” 

A low rumble sounded out as the dragon got up and they sprinted forward, trying to loop the dragon around the various pillars until Sled shoved the sword from the armor into the chain link so it would catch. “We’ve gotta make a break for the bridge!”

[runnerless-sled]

Elmtail

Age (in moons)**: 84 moons (he old man) Clan: Forestclan Rank: Elder Mate: N/A, deceased Mentor: Definitely in Starclan by now Apprentice: Badgerpaw, now Badgerfoot (former) Skills: Tracking, hunting

Beliefs: Elmtail has always thought that Starclan was a comforting notion. It was calming to know that those who had died were some how part of you still. As he’s grown older, he’s been looking to the Silverpelt more and more, what else is an elder to do?

Appearance: Elmtail is a fluffy, lanky, big cat. Though his fur has become a bit more patchy with grey in his dark brown over the years, he thinks it just makes him more distinguished. His whiskers are fairly long and his eyes are emerald green. Though he seems like he’s not entirely there sometimes, he’s always watching and will give any wisdom he sees fit for the clan.

STORY SO FAR:

tw/cat death

Elmtail has been in Forestclan for many moons. Easily, he’s one of the oldest cats and though some may think him not the sharpest, he is full of wisdom that others look to in times of confusion. 

Many moons ago, he had a mate, one who would bring him kits and fill his life in the clan with joy. But it wasn’t to be, she grew sick in a way that the Medicine cats couldn’t fix and she and his hopes of having a family passed.

This clan is now his family, he looks to all the kits and apprentices as his own children. He never mated with another as he felt his heart belonged in the Silverpelt with his former mate.

[captain-nyxquillspear]

Changing of the Guard || Slyx

TLDR; Nyx has a conversation with Sled about the future of the Scouting Guard… and feelings?

@runnerless-sled

Keep reading

[runnerless-sled]

the-princess-atta​:

runnerless-sled​:

the-princess-atta​:

When This Rain Stops || Sleighing Princess​

.

At first, all Atta could do was cry.

So silly of her. Princesses weren’t meant to cry. Queens were not meant to cry. How was she to rise to the throne and protect Pixie Hollow if getting yelled at by Candace broke her down into little pieces like this? She felt ashamed, but then, guilty about that shame– because shouldn’t she be much more upset that she’d failed as a friend? 

She had failed. And she would continue to fail– fail her people and fail her friends and fail Wendy– the thought struck her so suddenly that she sobbed a little harder. 

Thankfully though, whereas Atta was a trembling leaf, Sled was as sturdy as ever. He drew her to a hallway and let her cry until she was able to dab at her tears and catch her breath. “It– I don’t know if you can,” she finally said, breath hitching. “Candace got– she– it’s not her fault really, it’s mine…” 

She saw the confusion move like weather across Sled’s face. She sniffled and tried again.

“She… she got upset with me because I’ve not been around,” said Atta in a quiet voice. “She’s right, isn’t she? I’m a terrible friend.” 

Sled’s heart could break just right there and then. This strong future queen, crumbling in his arms, reminding him that she was barely a fledgling in their world and a newcomer to the life of human friendship as much as he was. 

His brows furrowed as she spoke, taking a knee to be down at her level so she could speak to him without having to stare up at him. His hand grabbing hers between two of his, holding it as if he were holding the pieces of her together in his hands. 

He shook his head, “I do not think you should take this to heart, Miss Atta.” He looked into her eyes as he spoke so he could try to aim his words to flood through them and into her own thought path, “She is upset, yes, but she just had a very upsetting thing happen and I don’t think you caused that. She is just a mouse who got scared and when someone came to feed it a berry, it snapped.” 

The older fairy tilted his head, “You are a good friend, Miss Atta. You’re my friend.” He squinted a bit to try to figure out the words he was about to say, nose scrunching up slightly, “Friendships and bonds, they are always there. Even in the coldest, bitterest of winters, they are just buried under the permafrost. But once you uncover them, they’re just as they were before, they still flower and bloom. You just need to melt the ice slowly, Atta.”

[runnerless-sled]

the-princess-atta​:

When This Rain Stops || Sleighing Princess

After her fight with Candace, Atta stumbled back into the auditorium. 

The play was still going on. The doors were closed, the hallway outside the theater empty, or at least, Atta thought it was. She was seeing through tears, desperately trying to hold them back. But as the door swung closed behind her, she let them loose. 

With a whimper, she pressed a hand over her mouth and began to cry softly.

“Princess Atta?” 

That was when Sled appeared. 

Well, truthfully, he had been there all along. He was her guard, after all– never too far, though he often did keep his distance to give her an illusion of freedom when they both agreed she needed it. Often times, it was at events like this, when Atta was trying to be a friend, not a princess. But she’d failed at that. As Sled swept closer to see what was the matter, his presence only confirmed that, didn’t it? She wasn’t normal, she wasn’t good, she wasn’t… 

“Sled,” Atta cried his name and folded into his chest at once, too upset to even pretend to be the princess she knew she had to be.  

@runnerless-sled​

Sled had watched Atta run after her friend, he’d kept an eye on the doors, but stayed a decent enough distance to let her have her conversation. It was really a shame that her friend had had that happen to her, but even performance talents sometimes had problems when they were first starting out. It could be a lot to handle. 

But as Atta broke off, Sled knew something was wrong. He knew the way she carried herself was different, it was slumped, fallen, like a tree that had a burst of wind too great for it to keep from tilting and its roots being pulled up from the ground bit by bit. Sled didn’t want Atta’s tree to topple over so he called out to her to try to ground her. To try to do anything really. 

Sled never thought of himself as her royal guard. Atta had always been his friend. A friend he would protect even if it wasn’t his job to do so. But the duties of the Hollow had aligned for it to be his job now. 

“Miss Atta...” He wrapped his arms around her, sheltering her in himself, making himself as hollow as sturdy as possible so she could make a nest and calm down. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but as your friend, I would like to know why you’re so upset and if there’s anything I can do to make it better.”

[professor-lungri]

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO || shogan || trope extravaganza

@runnerless-sled

A great roar echoed through the corridors of the great hall, echoing off stone and crawling into the smallest of stone crevices. Moments later, children's laughter followed. It was the deep, belly aching laughter of contentment, of a happy home. Tossing his son onto his bed covers, Suta Mukherjee sprung atop the covers after him, mindful of his bad leg, and crooked his fingers into his son's ribs, egging those peels of laughter on. They were supposed to be readying for bed, he knew, but this was far more enjoyable. After all, he had just been away for some time, attending to their estate, brokering deals with the other lords of the area. They could prolong their time a bed in the morning. A small but fierce grip around his neck and astride his back "felled him," rolling Suta onto his side, his other son giggling wildly as he "saved" his brother from the beast. Suta flopped dramatically off to the side, the beast slain, and the boys piled atop his chest and belly, sprawling across their father as he gathered them close. How he had missed them. And to think, once, Suta had believed that he'd never get the chance to have them. A noise from the doorway made Suta prick his ears, he and the boys both lifting their heads to see their other father leaning in the doorway. "Hello darling," Suta said, voice soft and sweet but sheepish. "The boys were just off to bed. We...may have gotten carried away."

[runnerless-sled]

professor-lungri​:

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO || shogan || trope extravaganza

@runnerless-sled

A great roar echoed through the corridors of the great hall, echoing off stone and crawling into the smallest of stone crevices. Moments later, children’s laughter followed. It was the deep, belly aching laughter of contentment, of a happy home. Tossing his son onto his bed covers, Suta Mukherjee sprung atop the covers after him, mindful of his bad leg, and crooked his fingers into his son’s ribs, egging those peels of laughter on. They were supposed to be readying for bed, he knew, but this was far more enjoyable. After all, he had just been away for some time, attending to their estate, brokering deals with the other lords of the area. They could prolong their time a bed in the morning. A small but fierce grip around his neck and astride his back “felled him,” rolling Suta onto his side, his other son giggling wildly as he “saved” his brother from the beast. Suta flopped dramatically off to the side, the beast slain, and the boys piled atop his chest and belly, sprawling across their father as he gathered them close. How he had missed them. And to think, once, Suta had believed that he’d never get the chance to have them. A noise from the doorway made Suta prick his ears, he and the boys both lifting their heads to see their other father leaning in the doorway. “Hello darling,” Suta said, voice soft and sweet but sheepish. “The boys were just off to bed. We…may have gotten carried away.”

Sled heard the various growls and roars from his partner and knew exactly what had been going on. He looked to his two boys, and the very large third and just chuckled with a smile on his face as they excitedly beamed at him. 

“We just wanted to hear the story, Da’!” The tiny scottish accent appeared just like their father. 

“Yeah!” The other pipped up next to him and the both gave him those pleading eyes. 

“Well, it seems to me, that I came just in time, eh?” Sled stalked forward towards the boys, “To rescue you from the dragon!” He lunged forward and grabbed the two shrieking children who tumbled into laughter as he looked to Suta to help him tuck them into bed.

“Now, it seems to me that you’ll be wanting to know the full story...”

--

Eoghan ran through the massive expanse of the castle, his trusty sledding steed at his side, slung over his back.

“Eoghan, why are we in a place of FIRE. You know I’m made of wood! I can’t handle this heat!” The sled called out to him and he just laughed.

“Oh, c’mon now, we’ve just gotta rescue the prince from the tallest tower. Easy. We just got past that dragon, how hard could the rest of it be?”

Then he stared at the stairs before him, he didn’t dare pull out his wings for fear that it would damage them in this heat, so he got to climbing. Up to the highest room in the tallest tower where a prince was said to be sleeping.

He opened the door and looked to the man on the bed, leaning forward before...roughly shaking him awake.

“Aye, we’ve gotta go!” After all, he wasn’t gonna just kiss a sleeping lad without consent. He wasn’t supposed to be his true love anyways, that was the lord back home.

[runnerless-sled]

cinderellaashbourne​:

Snow day || Sledda

Ella got herself as settled as one could get on a sled, tucking Willa in close as keeping an arm tight around her so that she could be sure that the toddler wasn’t about to fall out of the sled and into the passing snow. Willa was already giggling, clapping little mitten-clad hands together as they moved off.

It was actually quite relaxing once they had settled into a steady pace, admittedly much more enjoyable then making herself dizzy by pulling her daughter round and round in circles. Had she ever been properly sledding before? Ella couldn’t really think of it. Maybe when she was younger, with school friends or something, but that was a very long time ago now.

When Sled turned back to look at them Ella smiled, about to say thank you under the assumption that their little ride was over. She wouldn’t have minded at all - it would be a nice, peaceful little moment in the middle of the day. But then he said something about a little extra speed, and before Ella could process what that meant he pushed forwards, and Ella had to be careful to cling on to the sled, and her daugther too. Willa started shrieking with laughter, and even as her eyes watered from the cold wind hitting her face Ella found herself laughing too, her eyes meeting Sled’s as he turned back to look at them again. She was glad he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as they were, and she felt a little breathless as they stopped at the top of the hill.

“Again!” Willa giggled, clapping her hands together. “Again!”

“That was amazing,” Ella grinned, a little touch of laughter left in her voice. “I can’t believe how fast we were going!”

-

Sled could still hear the shrieks of laughter echoing in his ears from the little one. Beaming smile on his face, cold air in his lungs, he felt as if he could fly even without his wings. He chuckled at how eager Willa was and just looked to her mother. He knelt down to her level and spoke very seriously in a stage whisper, “We’ll go again, very fast. Let me just talk to your mom, real quick.” 

He chuckled and looked over to Ella, “Well, you know, I’m a little out of practice, but I’d say I’ve kept in sledding shape.” He sighed a bit, looking up into the sky for a moment, remembering all the little fledgelings he’d taken on sled rights back at the old Hollow. Their laughter. The fun he once had in those forever winters. 

“Ready for downhill? I’ll let you two go down on this one.” He pulled the tiny sled that Willa had been dragging around, “I’ll make myself comfortable on this one.” And before she could say anything else, he placed the rope in her hands in front of Willa so she could keep her close, “Alright... 3... 2... 1″ and then he pushed them over the crest of the hill and the sled slid down, carving through the hillside. 

Sled crouched down on the children’s sled, his hands gripping on the handle as he basically looked like a snowboarder trying to hold onto a sled, pushing off and then slipping down the hill quickly before he jumped up at the end, soaring through the sky and then somersaulting over into the snow with a laugh, landing on his back with a flumpft. 

[runnerless-sled]

cinderellaashbourne​:

Snow day || Sledda

Ella was about to decline the offer out of sheer politeness, because she wouldn’t want to take up any of his time, but… to be honest, she didn’t want to decline. He seemed quite enthusiastic about getting to do a bit of showing off, and it had been a very long time since Ella had gone properly sledding. She wouldn’t mind having a go, she thought, instead of just pulling Willa around in circles and figures of eight all day.

She smiled at the comment about serving a fairy queen. She thought about mentioning the fact that Willa was in fact a princess and very good at acting like one, but she didn’t. A conversation for another time, maybe, if they didn’t monopolise too much of Sled’s time now.

“Mama please?” Willa pouted, looking up at Ella.

“Oh, alright then,” Ella said with a smile. She had meant to sound put upon, but she didn’t really have it in her. She looked at Sled as she picked Willa up, and her little plastic sled with her. “If you’re positive you don’t mind?”

-

As Ella pulled Willa into her arms while she was on his sled, he grinned a bit, a prickle of excitement in his chest at the thought of finally carrying something around on his sled again. “Oh no, not at all. Let’s get going, you ready?” 

He ripped the rope to his sled, his arms flexing a bit to measure the weight, his training as a sledding talent coming back to him again. You didn’t just forget those things that had been your life for decades. 

The fairy dug his feet in, giving a slight tug to dislodge the runners from their current position. Though Sled didn’t seem like the most muscular and heavy lifting of individuals, looks can be quite deceiving. He dug his heels into the snow, turning back around so he could be the front of the sled, pulling it as the two others sat back.

As he turned away, he felt the tears prick at his eyes a bit, the familiar feeling of home, of snow, of sleds, of laughter washing over him, but he blinked those away. This was a time for Willa and Ella. “You both alright back there?” He was making excellent time at this leisurely pace, “Because I think it’s time for a little extra speed.” And with that he pushed off and started clomping forward, feet thunking in and out of snow as he ran forward, the sled pulling behind him and cutting through the snow easily as he sped up the hill to stop at its peak. He breathed out the cold winter air and just looked back to the two of them and grinned. A lightness to his heart was back, one he’d thought he’d lost. 

[runnerless-sled]

baenxietydad​:

seasons greasons || sledlin

`

Here, Mu-yeol wanted to rewind time and take back what he’d said. He should have thought about it before opening his mouth, re: Sled’s small Christmas list. Of course he wished it were longer. All of his family and most of his friends were dead, lost to the oil spill that destroyed his home.

That was nothing compared to his own grief. So his wife was murdered, big deal – he had his son, and his family was still alive in Korea, yet he was bitching about having to spend money he didn’t really have on them? Aiya, think, would you?

And this was what Marlin had meant when he said Sled could be private. He never addressed what happened to his Hollow except in one-off comments like this even though Marlin knew it had to weigh heavily on him. It was still so fresh, only a couple years since it happened, as opposed to rapidly approaching twenty for Marlin’s own earth-shattering traumatic event. Then again, Marlin hadn’t exactly talked about his own trauma and his own grief in any meaningful way to anybody in this Hollow except for his listening-talent fairy. 

It wasn’t exactly Circle meal time conversation.

…still. Sled seemed to do with his grief the exact opposite of what he’d done with his. Marlin let it consume him. Sled pushed it down, down, down. And Marlin knew better than to call him out on it, ever, especially while gift shopping.

“Hey, I understand.” He said gently, figuring it would be almost as rude to not acknowledge the vague mention of it. “Every few years I’ll come across something and think to myself, ‘she would’ve loved that.’ It…does get easier to live with.”

A cleared his throat. “Sometimes though, I’m not sure if it’s more of a Nemo thing. Like, these fuzzy sloth socks. They both like-slash-liked sloths.”

There. Bring it back around to Nemo, give Sled a quick out to the vulnerability, he can ask ‘oh, what other animals does Nemo really like?’ 

-

Sled knew that he’d said what he’d said and that would invite Marlin into his grief. But it had been long enough without letting someone know, he’d decided. He knew he had pushed everything down so deep to get Miss Atta and little Dot and all the others to where they were safe, to where they were comfortable. They were established with where they were at now and Sled was just... floating. Existing. After basically eight decades with land beneath his feet and the sky over his head, he didn’t know himself anymore.

He nodded a bit, his normal cheery smile faltered as he thought of the things he would’ve gotten his other sledding talents. His friends. His family. Sadness clouded his eyes for a brief moment like an oncoming storm before it quickly vanished all over again and he came back to the present.

“I’m sure he’d enjoy slipping around the floors on those fuzzy socks and making dances in them.” The former sledding talent offered with a sad smile, his voice not quite conveying the level of amusement he wanted. “I value both of you, you know. You’re both part of my new home.”

[runnerless-sled]

cinderellaashbourne​:

Snow day || Sledda

runnerless-sled​:

Sled just chuckled, the woman still seemed rather dizzy, “Perhaps you should have a seat. Here, take my sled.” He slipped it off of his back and placed it on the ground for her to sit. It seemed weird to ask a human to sit in the snow. They weren’t nearly as used to it as Winter fairies. 

He tugged on the poms of his hat and grinned, “That would be me. Eoghan, or the fairies sometimes call me Sled because well, I’m a really good sledder.” He chuckles with a shrug and then looked to the tiny one. 

“I am also very excited about the snow.” He kneels down to one knee so he’s at eye level with the fledgling. “Snow day is right. A lot of snow. I like snow. Do you like sledding?” 

Ella smiled, but she was admittedly a bit bashful. The last thing she wanted was to make a scene by falling face-first in the snow, but needing to be rescued from her own rather demanding daughter didn’t seem that much better. Regardless, she took a seat. Falling into a snowpile would definitely be worse.

Willa was now in charge of her own little pull-sled, holding it in one mit-covered hand as she looked up at Eoghan. “My sled!” She declared, holding it up by the string as if to show it off. She blinked at Eighan expectantly. “Sled now?”

“Soon, darling.” Ella nodded. She already felt a bit better for being closer to ground level. “She can be very demanding when she wants to be.” She added, gaze flicking to Eoghan for a moment. “And very persistant.”

“Sled now?” Willa interjected, as if to prove her point.

Sled just grinned fondly at the little human girl, crouching down to her level to be near her sled. He turned to Ella, “If you’d like to take a break on mine I could help her up one of the hills right over there. Or, I could pull you on my sled. It’s kind of what I’m known for in the Winter fairy world.” He was pretty proud of it and proud when he got to show off what he was really born to be.

He turned back to Willa, “If your mum says it’s alright, we can sled very close to now.” He always enjoyed little ones. They were simple. They had simple needs and such a new and interesting way of looking at the world. 

“I don’t mind demanding. I serve a fairy queen, I’m no stranger to duty.” He stood up and gave a bit of a shrug with a good natured smile.

[runnerless-sled]

baenxietydad​:

seasons greasons || sledlin

`

“You’re right, I don’t want to be on the wrong end of the wrath of Meg. I’ve been on the right side too many times to chance it,” Marlin said, chuckling at what he imagined Meg’s response might be.

“Captain Nyx does do a lot for all of us. And you’re right, most people probably don’t think of her because she’s not the most extroverted.” Marlin did feel kind of bad for not thinking to get her a gift before. “Maybe I’ll make her another scouting first aid kit. She helped me get my son back after his mothers parents kidnapped him, and I made her one to thank her after.”

“I envy your small list. My family is visiting from the Korea Hollow for Christmas and Slumber; and two of my siblings have two Promise partners, aish, so many people to gift.”

-

Sled grinned a bit. He’d met Meg once or twice, she always seemed friendly but also had like an air of ‘don’t mess with me or my wife.’ They were a really cute couple though. 

“Yeah, I think she just has a hard time connecting over things that aren’t just duty based but she tries her best during our festivals.” Sled nodded, “I think she’d like any sort of thing that meant we were thinking of her.”

Sled shrugged, biting his lip a bit, getting a little bit sad thinking about all the people he could have on his list who aren’t here anymore. “I wish there were more sometimes.”

[runnerless-sled]

cinderellaashbourne​:

Snow day || Sledda

Whilst Ella was trying to distinguish the sky from the ground, Willa had decided to get up off of the sled entirely, stomping her feet and making little jumps to try and stamp her footprints into the snow. She was giggling all the while, apparently not bothered by the brief interlude, which Ella was certainly grateful for.

When she heard a voice she spun round, a little too quickly - she put her hands out a little at her sides to try and keep her balance. The world wasn’t spinning as much as it was before, thankfully, but she still didn’t trust herself not to topple over.

It took her a second of wondering why she recognised the man’s face before she placed him. It might have taken her longer had they not been talking about sledding on tinder, but Ella did recall the conversation. Eoghan, wasn’t that it? She was usually pretty good with names (she had to be - she’d had to learn the names of 25 small children in the space of about 24 hours, because they got very upset if you didn’t remember their names), so she was quietly confident.

“Oh, yes - just dizzy. She’s been running me round in circles.”

Ella looked down at her daughter, who was now looking up at the new person. “Hi!” She chirped, clapping her little mitten-clad hands together. “Snow day!”

“She’s very excited about the snow,” Ella added, smiling softly. “Eoghan, right?”

Sled just chuckled, the woman still seemed rather dizzy, “Perhaps you should have a seat. Here, take my sled.” He slipped it off of his back and placed it on the ground for her to sit. It seemed weird to ask a human to sit in the snow. They weren’t nearly as used to it as Winter fairies. 

He tugged on the poms of his hat and grinned, “That would be me. Eoghan, or the fairies sometimes call me Sled because well, I’m a really good sledder.” He chuckles with a shrug and then looked to the tiny one. 

“I am also very excited about the snow.” He kneels down to one knee so he’s at eye level with the fledgling. “Snow day is right. A lot of snow. I like snow. Do you like sledding?” 

[runnerless-sled]

baenxietydad​:

seasons greasons || sledlin

`

“In hindsight, I should have gone for the grouchy old man concept and not the friendly pixie who is everyone’s work dad.” Marlin said as he looked around the shop. “Ah, but I do love those kids.”

And they were all kids to him, even if not necessarily the way his son was. More in the way that he’d describe his twenty-six year old cousin as his “kid cousin” probably until he hit thirty.

“Good luck shopping for Captain Nyx, she’s so private. I wouldn’t know where to begin. Mm, so are you in some ways. It took me a long minute to think of something, but I did. No further hints.”

-

“Kids? Careful. Don’t let Meg hear you say that.” Sled teased with a smile. Even Meg cracked a smile when he was around at Pixie’s. He was very proud of that. “Although I understand, they’re all kids to me as well.”

Sled raised a brow at Marlin, “Me? Mysterious? That is ridiculous. I’m an open book ready for a scribe talent to read.” He held his arms out in front of him to open his chest. “Captain Nyx is definitely tough. But I feel like no one ever gets her much of anything and she does so much. Always so busy.”

[runnerless-sled]

cinderellaashbourne​:

Snow day || Sledda

@runnerless-sled

Willa was obsessed with the snow. Ella wasn’t sure exactly what it was (Agatha said it was natural, she was a winter baby, she liked the winter), but since the first blanket of snow had fallen, Willa had wanted nothing more to be out running about, making footprints, trying to catch flakes of it out of the air, or heaping it  up in little piles and declaring it a snowman. She had all but decamated the snow in their back garden, so once the weekend rolled around, Ella decided she would treat her daughter to a very fun, very free activity: snow day in the park. 

It thankfully wasn’t actively snowing when the two of them headed out, but there had been a recent enough flurry that there was enough snow for everything Willa wanted to do. Which was mostly snow angels, tiny misshapen snowmen, and piles of snowballs that she had no real desire to throw. 

Her favourite thing, though, was the pull-sled Ella had invested in. She had been leading her daughter in very loops and figures-of-eight for a good ten minutes now, and though she was starting to feel sort of dizzy, Willa’s unending giggling sort of made it worth it. She did have to stop after a moment, though, when the white of the sky, promising more snow, started to blend into the white of the ground. “Again!” Willa demanded with a giggle, clapping her mitten-covered hands together. “Again, mama!”

“In a second, sweetheart,” Ella smiled, but she was still trying to blink the world into focus a little. 

Sled had made a return to Oaken’s and through a very awkward and blushing Wendy as he complimented her but also reminded her of the advice he’d given her, bought that sled that he’d been eyeing before. 

There was enough snow around and nothing made Sled happier than showcasing what he was made to do. He slung the sled over his back and walked towards the hills that most of the residents of Swynlake had started to go down.

He was watching all the little fledglings and clumsies go by, smile on his face when he spotted a familiar woman. One he’d matched on that thing... It was like ... Tinderbox? Or Firewood? Or Flame? Something like that. Anyways, they had had a really great conversation about sledding so he figured now was as good a time as any to walk up to her. 

She looked a bit dazed though, “Um... Miss, are you okay?” He waved to her as he got closer and the little one ran around and yelled.