Druid!Tav and Sneaky God!Gale (post romance after finale) HCs *Part 2* or What if (Druid!)Tav met what was left of the real Gale in the God of Ambition?
Under the whispers and the rumours – the god of ambition allows the statue of his weak, human self to stand tall and proud– can Tav sometimes hear a child calling for them. But it’s voice is so far away, when Tav answers they never get a reply back. Not until one night, when they awake another time from an unruly sleep and a colourful starry sky greets them through the open window. Blues and turquoises and purples and golds. A sky they have seen before, long ago in another life. On what they thought to be the happiest night of their life amidst the darkest shadows and an uncertain future. And there is the voice of the child again, this time closer. It sounds like Thaniel and then like Oliver and then speaks with a voice Tav does not know, not yet, would not know for several, many years to come. A voice that would be warm and comforting, humorous and kind, loving. “Tav, please, come outside. I I have to show you something!” And Tav follows the voice. “I am coming”, they call out for the child. “Stay where you are, please!” They nearly beg.
Tav stumbles out of the house and the world turns, it is no longer Reithwin, it is the clearing that this sky belongs to. The clearing of the happiest night of their life. The child, a boy, barely eight years old, maybe even just six or seven, stands in the middle of it and runs towards Tav. “I am so glad you came. I am glad that I could finally reach you”, he says. His voice sounds young and ancient but through and through human. Tav looks at the boy, brown eyes, familiar and sparkling, brown hair, tousled and curly at the ends.
“Who are you?”, the boy looks up to Tav and Tav knows the answer. “I don’t know… Not for certain. I just know that I need to talk to you, before I am lost forever in the cold…“, he eventually answers and his eyes are big and sincere.
“Do you want to sit down?”, asks Tav and gestures to the ground where a blanket is laid out and memories wait. “No”, says the boy. “It makes you sad. I make you sad. Why do I make you sad?” Tav’s heart feels as heavy as it ever did and they sigh. “Because I remember you. I knew you before, when you were all grown up. In another life, before you were trapped in the cold”, says Tav calmly and fights back the tears. “I don’t think I remember”, muses the boy with a calm, concentrated voice. “But I do know that you like it when I wear green, don’t you?”, asks the boy and this time is Tav’s chuckle real. “Yes, I do. A lot. It always suited you.” And with a snap of the boy’s fingers turns his silver tunic into a rich green. “That’s it! Do you like it?” Tav smiles and nods. “Very much! – We used to swap colors like that, you know”, Tav continues. “I would wear your purple and you would wear my green. I miss that”, they added. “I miss you…” The boy looks sad for a moment until he smiles slightly. “I could make your clothes purple. Should I do that?” Tav nods. “I would like this very much, thank you!” And with another snap of his fingers turns Tav’s shirt purple. A rich, soft purple, laced with some blues. “There, just like old times. I haven’t worn purple in a very long time”, Tav remarks with a careful smile. It’s true, they haven’t worn purple in many, many months. Or was it already more than a year since the brain fell? But they kept his clothes, the rich purple tunic made from the softest velvet with the silver ornaments at the hem. It rests together with their armour and a few other keepsakes, some infused with powerful magic, in a chest under their bed.
“Can I show you some more magic?”, asks the boy and Tav nods again. “Of course. Any time!”
“Look what I can do! Are you looking?”, excitement gleams in the boy’s eyes and Tav smiles and nods encouraging. “I am looking!” And the boy straightens his stance and sets off a bolt of lightning to a metal bucket in a puddle of water that wasn’t there before, Tav was sure of that. The lightning explodes in all the colours of the realms and Tav cheered. “This was beautiful… Look, I can do that, too…“ and they call down lightning from the skies to burn down the poor bucket even more. The boy looks at Tav with big, bright eyes.
“You and I and our friends once fought an army of metal men with just our magic, you know. And we tore the evilest of the metal men apart with only our lightning bolts”, they told him. “Do you remember that?” The boy decided to now sit down and Tav follows. “I think I remember… Was there a big metal door and a really dark cellar with many evil people there who hurt other people?”
“Yes, there were these evil people… But we could fight them and help the people they hurt. I am glad that you remember that. It was a remarkable day!” “I think I was…”, the boy seems to be lost in thought, trying hard to remember something important, “I think I was really happy to help you with my magic! And I think I wanted to be wherever you were. Go with you wherever you went to” Tav smiles and nods. “I was so happy that you were there, too. We couldn’t have done it without your magic! Without you! Do you know that you are special and wonderful with and without your magic?”
The boy looks at Tav for a moment, contemplating their words and then crawls wordlessly over to them and into their lap. Tav tenses. But just for a moment. This is what is left of Gale. A bright eyed boy with magic in his fingertips and a tendency to burn things. So they close their arms around him and let him cuddle closer to them, let him rest his head against their shoulder.
“You are warm”, he remarks and Tav just pulls him even closer as they remember the iciness charged with static that danced around him when he appeared for the party, his divine magic or whatever he called it. It had been uncomfortable just to stand next to him. How much worse must it be for a child trapped in it?
“Should I transform into a wolf for you?”, Tav asks. “It’s fur is so gloriously warm, you would be warm in no time.” Tav feels him shake his head. “No, thank you”, he turns around on their lap and Tav immediately looses their embrace around him. He sits up on his shins between Tav’s legs and looks up at them. “It’s nicer to just be here with you. And not with the wolf you’d pretend to be…”
And Tav’s heart stops for a second. These words, in variation, is what they told him, not him, the boy that currently kneels before them, but their Gale, a thousand lifetimes before, before the pain, during a boat ride through the outer planes. What does it mean that the boy uses these words now?
“Then let us just stay here for another while”, they answer, repeating Gale’s words from before this pain and the boy nestles closer to them and Tav strokes his hair. It is peaceful and calm. A gentle nightly breeze whispers through the trees and the crickets chirp.
And they sit and look up together at the colourful starry sky and Tav sees a life between the colours and the stars pass by. Another life, the same as this, but different. A life where Gale chooses Tav over the crown. A life in which the crown rests unbothered deep down in the Chionthar.
As they watch how the Gale and the Tav from the other life talk with Tara at a party in the wilds that this Tav remembers very differently, is Tav suddenly feeling small hands grabbing the fabric of their shirt tightly and a face pressing against their body, they feel his small body shake and hear muffled cries. Tav wraps their arm even tighter around him while the other strokes his hair. “Oh it’s okay, little one, I am here. You are not alone… Cry as much as you need. I am here for you. You are safe with me!” They soothe and hush and rub his back and fight against their own tears all the while. No, they won’t cry, not in front of him. He doesn’t need their tears, he needs their love and their strength now. They sit like this for a few minutes or an eternity, it doesn’t matter. When he calms down he begins talking.
“Tara… I will never see her again. We will never cuddle again. I remember, she was angry with me. And sad like you were. At this party. Where the other you and the other me, the grown-up me that was normal, just went to. The party when the people were happy. When you and I were there we didn’t laugh, didn’t we? And I was cold. So cold. Why did he do that what he did? Tav, why did I do that? Why was becoming like stone and silver and ice better than staying with you? Why did I leave Tara behind? I will now never see my best friend again. And I am always so cold. I am perishing, Tav, some day soon will the cold consume me entirely – and what then? Then I am gone and you are sad. And Tara is sad. And Mummy will be sad, too… This is all my fault, isn’t it?”
Tav shakes their head, gently and deliberately while still fighting their tears. “It is not your fault, none of this is. You, little one, are the most wonderful, magical person I have ever had the honour of meeting and there will be no one like you ever again. Your magic is beautiful and your gift is truly special, but it is not why I love you so, so much. It’s your kindness and your creativity and your friendship. And Tara knows this just like I do. And your Mummy too. They all love you. I promise you, you have done nothing wrong, Gale…” But before Tav can continue speaking are they interrupted. – “Gale? Is that my name?”, he asks.
“Yes, it is. You have forgotten it, haven’t you?”, Tav answers, heart as heavy as can be.
“I am afraid I have forgotten a lot”, he answers and Tav smiles involuntarily, sometimes he sounds so much older, so much more like the Gale they knew. “No matter”, Tav reassures him. “I will tell you everything you may want to know, if you like. And I will remember everything for the both of us…”
“But I know that I like it when you say my name. I can then remember better what I felt like before the cold…” Tav smiles.
“Do you think the grown-up you and me in the other life are happy?”, he suddenly asks. And Tav answers immediately, not a single ounce of doubt in their heart. “Yes, I think they are very happy. And will be until the end of their lives!” The boy, Gale, smiles. “And are you happy in this life?”, he continues. Tav pauses, silently contemplating everything that had brought them to this point in their life. And they can hear the question that he is not asking out loud. When I leave, when I have to leave you again, will you be alright? Please don’t be alone! Are you alone? “Right now? Yes, I think I am happy. But most importantly, I am at peace. You don’t have to worry about me, Gale! I have the children and the land to look after, to teach them, to see them grow. And I have Halsin. I am not alone. And I am home here…” – “Then I am glad”, Gale says with a smile and for a moment sees Tav their Gale again, brightly smiling, eyes sparkling with confidence and love. Their lips start to quiver and they bite down on them to not start crying after all of their efforts.
“Do you want to say your goodbyes to him?”, Gale suddenly asks. “What do you mean? Do you have to say goodbye now?”, Tav feels panic rising in their chest, not now, it’s too soon! But Gale shakes his head. “To the other me, the Gale we saw in the stars. I can bring you there to him and the other you for one moment. To the moment when he decides to leave the crown in the river… I know you never got to say goodbye to him.” And Tav is speechless, so they just nod. “Please”, they whisper, their voice raw. “Close your eyes”, he instructs and Tav does as they are told.
When they open their eyes again are they standing at the docks, the docks he had left them behind so long ago. They can smell the smouldering, burning city behind them, see the orange sky, feel dried blood and dried water from the river sticking to their forehead. But they are not in their own body, it feels as different as it is familiar. It’s not their armour they are wearing, nor their gloves. But they wear their boots, they notice. Tav would recognise these soles anywhere. Thin but sturdy and infused with magic to misty step wherever to and whenever they would like – these boots truly were a good ‘find’ in the grymforge after defeating Nere… – “A wise suggestion…”, they hear Gale say with a calm face and relaxed voice. A human voice. It draws them into the moment where everything is different. He wears another armour, another magical infused headband. But the same gloves. But most importantly is his face calm, relaxed and a playful hope and faith in the future sparkles behind his eyes. Tav has never seen him so at peace, so content in the here and now. Content with just being human. “I have felt the hubris once before and it landed myself with this orb. I’d rather not make the same mistake again. If this adventure has taught me anything is that there are things in this world far more valuable than power – you for example…” Tav choked on their tears, at hearing these words from him. A tight feeling blocking their throat as they threw themselves around Gale’s neck, cradling his face and kissing him. A quick, desperate kiss that took him by surprise, but he instantly and instinctively held them securely by the waist. Oh it’s been so long… Tav thought. His hands on their body feel like how they have always felt. But it was not their Gale, not completely. This was this Tav’s Gale. And they were not his Tav. This Tav was. “Thank you, my love”, Tav in the other Tav’s body choked out against his lips. “Thank you!”, they repeated now with a light heart, a heavy weight finally being pulled from their soul. “Good luck, my love!”, they whispered urgently and draw themselves inwards, to this life’s Tav’s soul and consciousness who watches with confusion why their body acts this way and why they are feeling so much desperation and so much relief. ‘Thank you for letting me do this, for letting me say goodbye…’ Tav tells the owner of this body. ‘Wait, don’t go yet’, says the Tav from the other life suddenly. ‘I know you. I have seen you in my dreams – you are me in a way, are you not?’ Tav, the guest in this body, nods. ‘So it’s true then’, Tav from the other life continues. ‘I have changed the future… We can be free of the docks. He will stay with me and we will be human together!’ Tav, the guest, nods again and smiles. ‘Well done, Tav! Good luck!’ And with that is the connection severed and both Tavs are back on being alone in their minds and back in their own bodies.
Tav returns to the clearing and sighs, taking in the colorful sky and Gale, still a child, who looks very proud of himself. “Have you done it? How are you feeling?”, he asks. Tav smiles, wide and real and like they haven’t smiled in a very long time. “I am free, I can finally be free…”, they murmur more to themselves. “I feel lighter, relieved”, Tav eventually answers Gale’s question. “I don’t know how I could ever thank you for what you have done tonight for me.” But Gale shakes his head. “Without me, without what your Gale has done to you, to the world, wouldn’t we even be in this situation. You owe me nothing…”
“I feel the cold creeping closer”, Gale says some time later, “I have to go now…” – “Will you be alright?”, Tav asks, not wanting him to leave, wanting to protect him from the cold and the ambition around him, if only they could wrap him in their coat and bring him home… “I will be”, he says, standing up tall and proud, eyes shining bright with the confidence they love so much about him, he is now even more resembling the man Tav knew. A memory of the man he once was. The soul that he still is and embodies. “I will fight the cold as long as I can, I promise. And I will be the voice of idleness in him for as long as I can”, he chuckles at his joke that is not truly a joke.
But then is he a child again. With big, worried eyes. “Can you tell Mummy and Tara that I am sorry? And that I love them? So, so much!” – “Of course, little one. Anything you want!” – “Thank you! I don’t think we will see each other again…” – “You will always be in here”, they promise him and lay a hand over their heart. “For the rest of my life! Remember this. You are loved. So, so much!”
“Goodbye Tav”, the boy, Gale, smiles and waves at Tav and they wave back and smile through the tears that are by now dangerously close to threatening to spill over and energy crackles around him, engulfing him completely, slowly shielding him from view, making him disappear from Tav forever. But his goodbye lingers and echoes around the clearing with the stars full of colours and memories of another life and just before the energy consumes him completely is there a voice laced in the echoes. A voice that is warm and full and confident and kind and all grown-up.
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TAGGING @incrediblethirst 💜
A/N: Thank you for reading, thank you for taking a look into (my) Tav’s life after Gale became a god.
Fun fact: Tav (with the sneaky god) being all teary eyed and choked up when Gale decides to leave the crown be was me in front of my playstation in my fix-it run when I defeated the brain and got this dialogue afterwards. I got so emotional and tried to put into (Tav’s) words what I felt when he decided that I (his Tav) mattered more than being a god. This pixel man… He truly does things to me.
Meeting Gale as a child was something I had in mind for longer as I had to live with the sneaky god ending. But I didn’t think it would be my divorce from the god of ambition that would make the need to finally actually write it down and think about it properly.
Loosely inspired by Elminster’s letter at the epilogue party after Gale becomes a god. I am definitely not a fan of Elminster but the letter touched me, inspired me (obviously) and made me think – a lot. Here are the parts of the letter I hope you will recognise in the HC collection as I worked with them.
“You could have been no more than eight summers’ old, clutching your mother’s apron, eyebrows singed off by the fireball you’d unleashed into your neighbour’s rose bush. You were crying because the flowers were so beautiful, and you didn’t mean to destroy them.
Where is that child now, I wonder? […] [I]s he within you still, lost amongst the trappings of godhood you so casually adorn yourself with?”
And if you are sad now like I am, let me tell you some good news: I am working on putting the happily ever after hcs together, the Druid!Tav X Human!Gale shenanigans 🥹💚 More to come soon!
