Gelfling skeksis au fic three
“So you felt like you were Mira for a while,” Bree asked from where she was sitting nearby notebook in hand. A sulking Rian was forcibly reclined on a bed in his childhood room. Deet had a podlings treat his wound that had turned out deeper than he thought meaning his father had banned him from hunting until it was healed. “Yes,” he answered, “it was like she was me for a little while until I shredded my thigh to ground myself.” Bree mumbled about it being fascinating as she scribbled some more in her book. Deet was the only one sympathetic as she patted his hair.
He leaned against her in response causing her to laugh. Bree eventually joined the cuddling and Rian found himself sandwhiched between them but he didn’t really care as they gently carded through his hair. Every once and a while someone would find leaves or sticks in a knot in his hair and make a comment about him never washing his hair. It was nice to sit like this. “Ri your hair is super gross,” Bree said as she and Deet has to work together to pull a matt apart as gently as possible, “when was your last bath? Tell the truth.” Rian shrugged, “I rinsed the blood off earlier.” “You rinsed,” she said and Rian could feel the eye brow raising, “you didn’t wash.”
Rian could tell where this was going and started to wiggle to slide down the bed. “Oh no you don’t,” Bree said holding him with all her weight. Deet ran to the door to call for a podlings to run a bath and grab a guard. Rian stood with Bree still hanging on and tried to book it. “Aaaaa,” Bree yelled hanging on for dear life as Rian ran down the halls. He didn’t stop until he was grabbed by the captain of the guard. A rather nice gelfling named Ordon. Rian tried to struggle as he was held in a tight headlock by Ordon as Bree picked herself up. “Thank you,” she said, “could you help us get him into the bathing room? He’s staying in the castle due to injury and he needs to not smell like a day old swamp while he does.”
Ordon let out a surprised snort of laughter. “No I wouldn’t mind Lady Skekbree,” he said as he followed her Rian still struggling though not being quite as formidable of an opponent without his armor and many weapons in reach. When they reached the bathhouse, Rian struggled even more. With a quick nod to him, Ordon tossed him into the bath clothes and all. Rian sputtered rising out of the water. It took all three of the gelfling and a few podlings to bathe him because of several escape attempts.
“There now your looking very fresh and clean,” Deet said patting Rian’s now fluffy hair as he sat trying to gather the remains of his dignity. He was wearing some borrowed casual clothes from a guard named Gurjin that were entirely too big on him. Rian grumbled causing the girls to laugh. Ordon smiles at the group of them as Deet began braiding his long hair back. Bree could see something in his smile as he looked at Rian. Something unbelievably sad and full of longing but she didn’t know what it was.
“If that’s all my lord and ladies,” he said bowing slightly, “I need to go back to work. One of my guards has gone missing and I need to go back to looking for her.” As he left Rian stiffened and gripped his stomach tightly. “Ri,” Bree said quietly laying a hand on him. He flinched a little. They knew why he was upset. “Come on Ri,” Deet said putting on a smile, “come help me catch fluffy. I think they have been hunting down mmmm for the past couple of hours.” Rian seemed to perk up at the idea of getting to mess with Chamberlin.
They had just had a grand time watching chamberlain attempt to fend off attacks from Fluffy the fizgig when they heard the yelling of an old woman. “What have you skeksis done?!” Rian stopped dead in his tracks. A haggard old woman with one eye stomped past them not even seeing the three of them. As Rian silently padded after her he thanked that the girls wore such soft slippers so they made no noise. He’s heard them try to sneak up on him in normal shoes and they were like elephants, though he would never tell them that even under threat of death.
She hobbled past the room for the Crystal then stopped in her tracks and backed up to stare at the crystal. “Oh my crystal my heart what has happened to you,” she said sounding so anguished Deet wanted to hug the old woman. Rian and Bree covered her as the crystal shower once again Mira’s tragic death. What they learned however horrified them. Mira would never be at rest with such a death. Her essence would be in a limbo with who ever drank it, trapping her forever. Rian felt his stomach writhe in response to that. He was trapping her. He…
Rian didn’t get anymore time to think about it as the old woman turned to see them. “Who are you three,” she said, brandishing her walking stick at them, “some more gelfling to doubt Mother Augrha?!” She stared them down with her one eye. “Mother Augrha,” Bree asked looking excited, “like the stories?” She raised the eyebrow over her good eye and began to stalk around the three of them. Rian whirled in place to constantly have her in his field of vision. She walked closer sniffing them. She reached out and touched Deet’s wing, Bree’s hair, and tried to touch Rian but pulled her hand back as he made to bite her.
“Hm,” she said sounding slightly mystified, “you look like gelfling, smell like gelfling, but you are not gelfling.” Augrha rapped a snarling Rian with her cane. “You especially,” she said, “you feral thing. Your no honorably warrior like the rest of your clan.” “We aren’t gelfling,” Bree explained, “we are skeksis. Deet is the daughter of the emperor. I am daughter of lord scrollkeeper. Rian is the son of the hunter.” Augrha laughed, “so even so corrupted they have soft spots for children.”
“What do you mean corrupted,” Deet asked confused. “Your parents,” she spoke the word as if it tasted vile on her tongue, “have committed a grave act against Thra itself, you yourselves have partaken in it.” She jabbed Rian’s stomach and he took a swipe at her forgetting they had taken his gauntlets to he cleaned. “You are not gelfling,” she said, “you are not skeksi. At this point you are so out of place I hesitate to call you part of Thra’s song even if I can no longer hear it.” Deet and Bree looked stricken at the idea that they were nothing in Thra. “That’s not true,” Rian snarled, “we are skeksi. They have raised and cared for us.”
Augrha huffed a laugh. “Did they tell you that,” she asked, “or do you know it?” Rian blinked again the strange question and the old woman hobbled off. “We are skeksi aren’t we,” Deet asked quietly. Rian was quiet before looking determined. “We can find out for sure,” he said, “pack in secret the both of you and meet me here when the three suns are all down.” The girls nodded and Rian went to plan. They would know the truth soon. Were they truly skeksi, gelfling, or had Thra abandoned them for not belonging anywhere?
I apologize for churning out so much. I’m on vacation with nothing much to do.
