I was answering to Yu's answer to my ask and it got me thinking.
If our OCs were actual characters in the game and the fandom could interact with them and write for them and in general make fan-content for them... How do you think they'd misunderstand them the most? And what are some headcanons that you would despise or on the contrary love?
A lil late, but in honor of Caladin's creation anniversary, and the upcoming Beneath the Sands anniversary (and subsequent narration post), I wrote a lil post-canon fluff for the gang :3
They're going to need it.
Enjoy!
Caladin awoke to a cool hand brushing hair back from his forehead and the quiet complaints of his half asleep daughter.
“Dada- the sun isn’t even up yet-“
“Shhhh, helwa, we have a surprise for your Baba, no? Go grab your blanket and your bag, Cage.”
The blonde blinked awake, feeling sunken into bed, limbs filled with molasses and honey, “We’re going somewhere?”
The bedroom was dimly lit, the only light source being the salt lamp glowing faintly on the nighstand. A soft chuckle echoed from above him, warm and fond, "Mhm. Consider it a birthday gift, Albi."
Caladin sighed softly, slowly sitting up, the covers slipping off his shoulders, allowing the morning air to send a chill up his spine. Sobeknesef was quietly packing both their bags, his own side of the bed cold enough he must've been up at least an hour already.
The crocodile hybrid was already wearing his winter layers despite being in doors. Even after they'd both retired to Taoyan Vale a few years prior, the two desert dwellers had never really adapted to the seasonal cold.
Caladin rose, brushing past his partner to shrug on his own winter gear. Thin wool underclothes did more than one would expect, and thicker, canvas outerwear fought back windchill.
"Sit for a minute, Canım, let me tie your hair back," The blonde murmured, gesturing for Sobeknesef to take a seat on the edge of the bed. The crocodile hybrid huffed for a moment, shoving a few more things into their bags before taking a seat.
"Thanks, Cal. I gave up this morning trying to get it out of my face."
They were quiet for a moment, enjoying the peace.
"So... where are we going?" Caladin asked as he finished up. Sobeknesef chuckled fondly, bapping the man's hands away, "Hah. Nice try. Grab your bag and Cage. We're meeting Rover for breakfast."
The blonde pouted for a moment, but complied, slinging both duffel bags over his shoulder with ease before stepping out in search of his gremlin of a daughter.
"Baba!" Cage squealed, knocking straight into the back of her father's knees. Caladin choked back a noise of surprise, almost slamming into the wall when his legs buckled.
"Easy, little one. Do you have your bag?"
"I do! And Nutmeg!"
Caladin paused at that, golden eyes narrowing, "Did you Papa say you could bring Nutmeg?"
The tiny blonde smiled innocently, holding up her half asleep squirrel who was tucked into a baby sling, "Yeah!"
The former knight didn't quite believe her, but... it was probably fine.
Probably.
(This totally has nothing to do with the fact he couldn't say no to his daughter. Definitely not.)
With that, the family of three set out in search of breakfast, braving the icy winds of Jinzhou in the early morning, the sun steadily rising in the distance. They took the short walk down to the riverside where a small, "gilded wastes" bakery had set themselves up- a product of Sobeknesef and Caladin sharing some old pastry recipes with their neighbor.
It wasn't exactly authentic, bu it was a taste of home, and the young woman who owned the bakery was determined to get the recipes right.
Caladin waved, spotting the Rover perched in their seat, already having ordered themselves and Abby food.
"Morning, friend," The blonde greeted, settling his daughter into the only seat undisturbed by the windchill. They smiled, their eye glowing a soft blue for a moment, the reverberations of Aero reshaping the winds to miss their table entirely.
"Thank you," Sobeknesef sighed, pulling his jacket tighter.
"No problem. You two probably still struggle with winter, hm?" They chuckled, passing two mugs of warmed peach resin and pear tea to the grown men, and a mug of warmed honey milk to Cage.
The little girl was already munching on flatbread and happily accepted the drink.
"So...-"
"Hey! DOn't even think about asking where we're going!" Abby interjected, popping up from seemingly out of nowhere. The tiny echo huffed, chest puffed up proudly as though it was only obvious they knew what Caladin would ask.
The blonde just sighed dramatically, sipping his tea instead.
They devolved into chatter, enjoying warm flatbread baked with a thing layer of crispy ground meat, topped with yogurt, pomegranate, and various herbs Caladin didn't recognize.
It wasn't quite right, but it reminded him of the lahmajouns he used to make with Dahlia. How nostalgic.
"Are you ready to go then?" The Rover asked as they cleared their plates, leaving the empty dishes at the small shop window.
Caladin blinked away the memories, sighing fondly as Sobeknesef scooped up Cage. He grabbed their bags with an affirmative hum.
"Aye. Let's go."
-
They walked back up the hills into Taoyun Vale, much to Caladin's itching curiosity. A pass through Moontree Lodge had Cage giggling excitedly and squirming free of the crocodile hybrid's hold to run around.
The blonde only grew more curious as they approached the resonance beacon, Rover taking the lead.
"Ah? We're taking a beacon?"
Sobeknesef just smiled shyly, "There's a few people waiting for us."
Oh now Caladin was really curious. The blonde scooped up his rambunctious 6 year old, carrying her over as the Lord Arbiter themself activated this ancient device so Caladin could take a vacation.
Light pulse around them, both blinding and oh so warm, refreshing and healing in ways the former knight really couldn't comprehend. (But if his sore hips and always-aching rotator cuff felt a little better now? Well that was his business alone, thank you.)
As the light faded, Caladin found his boots sinking into familiar sands. Dry, but cold winds ravaged what was left of his once neat braid, letting his golden hair loose.
It was much shorter than the last time he'd been here, only coming down to barely touch his shoulder blades. His skin was a tad paler too, and he had new scars with accompanying stories to tell.
Yet the Sands didn't seem to change at all.
They'd come out at a beacon on one of the larger crags, looking down on the dunes, and a small oasis where people waited. He set Cage down, letting the little girl experience the desert on her own for the first time.
"Here, let me get your jacket," Sobeknesef murmured, taking the heavy outwear from Caladin. It was warmer here than Jinzhou, but still cool by desert standards, and he'd been gone so long he was already sweating.
"Thank you," the former knight murmured, quickly passing off his jacket and one of the bags as they began their descent.
Tucked away in the silent oasis was be-Khatar, a quiet resting place used by any and all with only one rule: No Violence.
"Cal! Happy Birthday!"
The blonde perked up, recognizing Jiahui and her partner, the Principal Investigator, Xiangli Yao, perched on one of the sunning rocks by the crystal clear oasis pool.
"Jia? When did you get here? Last night I hope, it's much too early otherwise," Caladin chuckled, scooping the woman up into a hug when she rushed at him.
"Mama!"
Jiahui grinned as she was set down, immediately scooping up Cage into a bear hug, "Ah! There's my favorite girl! Let's head inside and get changed! It's going to warm up soon."
"For closure's sake, yes, we did arrive last night along with everyone else," Xiangli Yao stated, helping Sobeknesef with the bags. The crocodile hybrid nodded along, "Good, good. We're all already up early enough."
Inside the bungalow sanctuary, people had already gathered to celebrate. Valerian was lounging on the couch, sipping on some expensive looking alcohol or another while he chatted away with Quay.
Mortefi, Quay's fiance and fellow researcher, was in the kitchen, bribing Cage with sweets in exchange for her help baking brunch bread rolls.
"Oh. Thank you all for coming," Caladin spoke, voice soft and golden eyes full of warmth and emotion.
"Of course. Now come get changed," Sobeknesef murmured, hand gently placed on the small of the former knight's back, guiding him to their shared room for the day.
A quick change into swimsuits and a moment wrestling Cage into wearing sunscreen later, the entire group was outside once more. Valerian had Cage on his shoulders, cackling maniacally as they worked together to douse Jiahui in water while she sunbathed. A shriek from the woman and subsequent splashing let Caladin know it was a success.
Quay siddled up beside him in the shallows, offering him a cup of cold tea. The blonde sniffed it curiously before taking a sip, surprised by the fruity flavor, "Oh...? What's this?"
Quay smiled, sipping from his own cup, "It's this new tea I bought while on a research trip in Rinascita! It's made of gemberries, I think?"
"It reminds me of strawberry-"
"What's a strawberry?"
—
"So this is called a water gun...?" Valerian asked, leaning over a certain crocodile hybrid's shoulder. Sobeknesef huffed in amusement, "It is for the great and might Squirrel Knight, Val. You may not have it."
"Squirrel Knight?" Jiahui snorted, "Has Cal been telling the gremlin too many *Knight-time stories?*" Both men grimaced at the frankly terrible joke.
"What?? It wasn't that baddddd- Yao loves my jokes-" Jiahui groaned, dramatically, clutching her chest as though she were dying.
"And that's why he's *your* boyfriend. Because he can lie to you-" Valerian stated bluntly, making Sobeknesef almost drop the calibration tools as he fought back laughter.
"Did I hear my name?" a familiar voice chimed in. Jiahui shrieked, practically jumping out of the water like a spooked cat when Xiangli Yao appeared behind her, a very giggly Cage in his arms.
"Mama!"
Jiahui just sighed, unable to hide her fondness, "Hi again, Kiddo."
—
Caladin hummed softly, combing through Cage's wet curls, carefully removing knots and re-braiding in beads and rings. They'd spent all morning and majority of the afternoon in the oasis pool, and now everyone was feeling exhausted and sun-spent.
Valerian was already half asleep, tucked into his side, Quay was helping Mortefi clean up after lunch, Yao and Jiahui were quietly discussing the potentials of using the black rock around the oasis in material construction with it's surprising resilience to resonance energy, despite being a natural material older than the Lament.
Sobeknesef joined in, eager to share his personal experience working with the material.
It was a quiet kind of contentment, one earned after years of struggle.
His Clan may be long gone, House Zahra scrubbed from the face of Solaris. Yet... he did not find himself missing it. Not when a smaller little clan was forming right in front of him.
Happy Birthday to him, he supposed.
—
After a little afternoon nap, the celebration picked back up. Dinner was kebab and fireworks out on the dunes, candles burned out for Caladin's many years, and wish boats left to float out on the oasis pool.
"Baba? What do I wish for?" Cage asked curiously, preparing to set her boat on the water. Caladin hummed softly, leaning down to help her light the tea candle in the boat, "Well? Anything, really. However, traditionally, you wish for good things for the receivers birthday."
The little girl paused, having been about to set her boat down, "So I wish for Baba to have good things?"
"If you'd like."
She promptly set her boat in the water with the others, brows furrowed in concentration, "Okay! All done!"
Caladin huffed in amusement, scooping his daughter up and heading back up the steps to the main group. It was time for desert, after all.
What he would not see til morning were the two extra boats joining the water, one covered in doodles of flowers, another made entirely of ice.
Up on the crags above, Dahlia sat on the edge, her husband at her side.
"Happy birthday, Little brother."
—
Sorry for being gone for so long! Had a mini depressive episode and just. Didn't do anything. For roughly five months? Anyways- here is the very delayed writing for Caladin. Few other pieces and drafts coming out of backlog soon!
(Also so sorry if there’s an OOC behavior. I’m slowly getting back into everyone’s unique character voices :3)
Had to get some doodles out tonight, or the WuWa OC brainworms were going to be the death of me. 🤣
Featuring Quay with his usual baby face and Caladin (by @unrealistic-ideas-for-writers) and Valerian (by @uncreative-cryptid) being the usual rock lickers. Quick, hide your rocks! I hope I did them justice 🙏✨
Of Trashcans, Alley Cats, and begrudgingly touch starved Crocodiles.
Aka Cat!Beneath the Sands AU.
-
The fluffy thing was weird. It felt soft beneath his paws but not quite like fur and it smelled like too many things at once. It made his nose itch.
(Caladin would later learn this is called a "rug.")
He had been picked up by the odd green Twoleg and had been staying in their Den for a few days now. He was certainly still wary of them- them and the other brightly colored Twolegs that came around sometimes. But they had been gentle with him.
He would admit that this soft den was much better than the wet box he'd been sleeping in, and the food was very tasty. There were other cats, but Caladin was only familiar with the one who'd "picked him up" with the Twoleg, Valerian. He was relatively respectful- allowing Caladin space to adjust and answering questions. There were apparently at least two other cats- Sobeknesef, grumpy but quiet, and Jiahui, who was recovering from losing part of her leg.
Caladin felt sorry for her. She slept a lot. He'd tried bringing her a squirrel once. The green Twoleg had taken it away and replaced it with one of the tasty things that didn't look like food.
Well. He tried.
Now he was sitting next to Valerian on the smelly, fluffy thing. Sun high made them all sleepy. The bengal was all splayed out in a sunny spot while Cal sat up straight, watching. And waiting.
-
"Hey- Val...? What the fuck, dude. When did you get so many cats- and-" Caladin paused, squinting at the collars around the necks of the bengal and mau.
"Did you name your cats after us????" The blonde snorted, expression both amused and mildly bewildered as he glanced over at his friend.
-
Feel free to add onto this with your OCs. I was just thinking of a little silly modern AU in which Valerian adopts Cats and names them after his friends :3
