#fd outlines

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f4-2)

CHAPTER 4: ON WHAT GROUNDS? (part 2)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Scamall O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [in the midst of talamhdé] [in a clearing within the forest] [night; clear]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Scamall: (voice thick) "—I would-wouldn't do anything to hurt them…"

Scamall: [hesitantly looks back up, pressing her back against the earthen wall behind her and anxiously scanning the broken Faewilde around them]

Scamall: (pleadingly) "not—not even take their essence, if that's what you think! I—I mean, I don't even think I even could, but—..."

[She didn't even have to finish. The pressure immediately, completely eased around her following the first statement. And, before she started to trail off, Talamhdé slowly floated back together]

[Now, Talamhdé formed a forest much more peaceful than the one that'd fallen apart on them. It was no longer full of unruly, tangled thickets forming literal barriers. Now, it seemed like one of Talamhdé's typical forests… with an endless array of wobbly trees, wild nature, and endless magical phenomena causing all kinds of chaos]

Earth: [and, finally, spits Nova out, leaving them splayed across the forest floor, unconscious]

Air: [shudders again with one final echo, though it's weaker and quieter than before) "pro…tec… t…"

Scamall:

Scamall:

Scamall:

Scamall: [slowly, hesitantly looks down at Nova]

Nova: [passed out in the dirt, shivering. Slowly twists in place to curl into a ball, forehead against their knees and arms wrapped around themself]

Scamall: [and looks down at Spéir, in her arms]

Spéir: [tense all over, the blood he'd coughed up staining his shirt and arm, but...]

Spéir: [only has his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed, and ears lowered thoughtfully as he stares at Nova himself]

Spéir: [seemingly completely unaware of Scamall watching him]

Scamall: (voice weak, barely manages to get out) "Spéir."

Spéir: [ears flick backwards, tense, as he quickly looks up at her]

Scamall: [flashes a weak—uncertain—grin]

Scamall: [her ears lowered and brow furrowed, weakly) "are you okay?"

Spéir:

Spéir: [coughs and clears his throat awkwardly, but quickly takes control of the air around him to float out of her arms. Once he’s straightened and regathered himself, places his feet solidly on the ground]

Spéir: [coughs even more as he flexes and stretches his arms and shoulders… all while his back is turned to Scamall. Although she can’t see his face, his eartips are angled diagonally backwards and he seems to be staring at Nova]

Spéir: [finally, slowly comes to a stop in his stretching and coughing]

Spéir: (words just as slow, speaks hesitantly, his voice thick) "… yeah. Just… tried to use too much magic. Ate some ambrosia. Feel much better now."

Spéir: [and hesitantly looks over his shoulder at her, forcing a smile… though his eyebrows are furrowed and concern is clear]

Spéir: (carefully, voice still thick) "are you okay…?"

Scamall:

Scamall: [face flickers—]

Scamall: [face and legs collapse. Falls to her knees, bringing her hands to her face as she breaks out crying]

Spéir: [sighs, an awkward, pained smile coming to his lips]

Spéir: [quickly—but clumsily, still uncoordinated from his overextension—stumbles forward to drop in front of Scamall and—]

Spéir: [wraps his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tight]

Scamall: [just cries against him, her cloudy afro condensing into a waterfall that drips down her head and pours into her dress. Finally processing the panic of everything that just happened—]

Scamall: (sobbing) "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I—"

Spéir: [moves his hand to the back of her head, rubbing it comfortingly and pressing her face into his shoulder]

Spéir: (voice thick and strangled still) "no, it's fine, Scamall. You've always been the nicer one between us. You just wanted to protect someone who helped us. I get it."

Spéir: [hesitates—]

Scamall: [hair slows in its drizzle, but continues pouring down into her dress before its magic rejoins her form. All the while, just quietly cries into Spéir, relieved by his understanding—] :'D

Spéir: [—sighs heavily, squeezing her tighter]

Scamall: [metaphorically melts into him, hugging him tighter for a moment in return as she hiccups]

Spéir: (grudgingly) "… plus… it would probably be better to have someone else with us…"

Spéir: [shifts around Scamall as he turns to look over his shoulder, at Nova]

Spéir: [snarling slightly; bitterly) although… I don't think they are a good faerie to fill that spot…

Spéir: [tenses for a moment, but quickly eases up and sighs again]

Spéir: [turns to face her again, lowering his hand from the back of her head to rub her back comfortingly]

Spéir: (softly—though his voice is still rough from coughing—says) "… so don't beat yourself up, okay?"

Scamall: [feebly nods, sobbing and hiccuping as she clings to her brother]

Spéir:

Spéir: [gives her one more squeeze, then, awkwardly) "… we should probably set up camp, yeah?"

Scamall:

Scamall: [hiccups and sniffles again, but hesitantly pulls away from Spéir. Wipes her tears away with the backs of her hands]

Scamall: [finally, opens her eyes to meet Spéir's with hers full of tears, her eartips against her shoulders, and a weak smile on her lips]

Spéir: [watching her worriedly, but carefully. Clearly analyzing her as he most often did when struggling to come to decisions]

Scamall: (weakly) "yeah."

Spéir:

Spéir: [offers her a weak smile]

Spéir: [and, finally, taking a deep breath, glides to his feet with a gust of wind, then offers his hand to help her stand]

Spéir: (gently) "c'mon. I got you."

Scamall: [lets him help her to her feet, only using a bit of wind to aid her]

Siblings: [and, hand-in-hand, hesitantly step over to Nova]

Nova: [still curled in a ball in the same spot as before… naturally, considering they were passed out and Talamhdé had left them to the siblings]

[Or, well… any other kind of fae-creature could've tried going after them, but…]

[Despite Talamhdé's leaving Nova in their hands, Scamall had a feeling it was still watching them. And that, if they failed to protect Nova, it would step in itself]

Nova: [a small, surprisingly human-looking androgynous faerie… on a surface level. They had warm peach skin, an endless amount of plain brown freckles, and long, ridiculously curly vermilion hair that distorted into the surrounding environment as it got further from their scalp. More typical for a faerie—and suggesting they might be a nature faerie—they had long, pointed ears; fawn-like legs; wooden hands and forearms; two long antennae stretching from their forehead; and delicate snow-white, mothlike eyelashes]

Nova: [last but not least: although their eyes were closed, Scamall had gotten plenty of time earlier to be able to picture their vivid purple eyes, surrounded by a golden ring and lilac sclerae]

Nova: [… even for a faerie, they were far from normal]

[And so was the fact that their whole form was semi-translucent and flickering…]

Siblings: [sigh in near-unison as they look down at Nova]

Siblings: [then hesitate, turning to look at each other awkwardly]

Siblings: [and force awkward smiles, their eartips drooping]

Scamall: [awkwardly looks away from Spéir, raising her free hand to bury it in her hair]

Scamall: (voice soft, awkward, and apologetic) "sorry, I…"

Spéir: [at the same time, squeezed her hand in his, eyebrows furrowing in worry as he watches her]

Spéir: (gently) "Scamall…—"

Spéir: [but goes quiet as they accidentally interrupted each other]

Scamall: [hesitantly looks back to him, face pinched in unease]

Scamall: [gently pulling her hand from his, anxiously) "their form is weak… I'm going to give them some ambrosia."

Spéir: [face twisted in surprise for a moment as she pulled her hand from his, but just as quickly went empty again as he listened to her speak]

Spéir: [sighing heavily, looks away and runs a hand back through his hair]

Spéir: (with his sigh, defeatedly) "… alright."

Scamall: [offers a weak smile even though he's turned away from her—in case he looked back—but quickly drops it to kneel down beside Nova. Awkwardly fishes through the many pockets hidden under the ruffles of her dress in search for an ambrosia square, buried deep within the fabric]

Spéir: (at the same time, hesitantly looking back down at her, voice soft) "I'm going to set up camp by myself. Do whatever you need to for them, alright?"

Scamall: [hesitates, caught off-guard]

Scamall: [can't help a small smile, ears drooping and eyebrows furrowing slightly]

Scamall: (gently) "thank you, Spéir. I know this isn't easy for you."

Spéir: [face flickers, jumping from indignant, to embarrassed, and quickly settling on irritable as he purses his lips and turns his face away]

Spéir: [ears low and pointed back in irritation, grumbles) "I never said that."

Scamall: [giggles softly, raising a hand to cover the lower half of her face. At the same time, draws her other hand—and a square of ambrosia—from one of her pockets]

Scamall: [fae-tipped ears lowered back slyly, teases gently) "oh, you didn't have to say." ;)

Spéir: [scoffs—and, though Scamall can't see it, she knows he's rolling his eyes as he turns away]

Spéir: [stepping away, sulkingly) "whatever."

Scamall: [snorts, then gives a longer giggle]

Spéir: [gives a heavy sigh, his back still turned to her. And yet smiling softly]

Poor, sleepy Nova. 😌

What do you guys think of Spéir and Scamall's relationship? I swear, I didn't even mean to make them mirror each others' actions half the time, it just happened lmao

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

dividers from @thecutestgrotto, @thyming, and @saradika

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f3-1)

CHAPTER 3: “NATURAL” OBSTACLES (part 1)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Scamall O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [outside the dominion of Kilrey] [in the middle of the forest] [night; magic storm-blizzard]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Scamall: [quickly pulls her hand from Spéir's after they travel a distance away from Nova, turning away from him and crossing her arms… but moreso doing the latter for comfort]

Spéir: [hesitantly looks back to her, fae-ears low and his face twisted in pain]

Spéir: (voice thick) "Scamall…"

Scamall: [sucks in a sharp, shaky breath as her hair storms and she struggles not to cry... or snap]

Spéir: [half-sighs, half-growls, putting his head in his hand]

Spéir: (grumbles) "this is your fault, for trusting—"

Scamall: [eye twitches—]

Scamall: [swiftly flips on her heel, turning to pierce Spéir with a glare]

Scamall: (snaps) "no, you know what this was!? YOUR fault, for being so AGGRESSIVE! They only reached for that ambrosia because you scared them!"

Spéir: [flexes his jaw, face twitching, as he stews on his own response—]

Essence: [flares behind them as Nova and Kilrey fight… and Nova is clearly on the losing side, her essence dying away quickly]

Scamall: [twists in place to violently jab a finger in their direction]

Scamall: (voice hard and raised) "they were brave enough to sacrifice thems—"

Spéir: [snarling, throws his hands up and interrupts) "they took responsibility for their own mistake!"

Scamall: (voice sharp and shrill) "what!?"

Scamall: [steps forward, snarling and with gales of wind speeding around them—]

Spéir: [funny! Does the exact same thing!]

Spéir: [crossing his arms, continues stubbornly) "Imagine what you'd ha—"

Both: [freeze]

Both: [shocked, look over their shoulders in Nova's direction again]

Both: [… can feel all too well that Nova shattered Kilrey's will.]

Both: [jaws drop almost in sync—]

Scamall: [turns to face the direction Nova's in again, mindlessly taking a few steps—]

Spéir: [grabs her hand, stopping her]

Spéir: (incredulously) "Scamall!?"

Scamall: [snarling again, flips on her heel to pierce him with a murderous glare]

Scamall: (harshly) "that fae not only tried to sacrifice themself for us, but they overpowered a Goddamned archfaerie WITH A FRACTION OF HIS ESSENCE!"

Scamall: [yanks her hand from his, snarling still, before finishing) "if you're REALLY so uptight that you don't want ANYTHING to do with them, then MAYBE I don't want anything to do with YOU!"

Spéir: [mouth falls open, eyes wide and turning shiny… but stunned silent]

Scamall: [huffs, brushing him off and flipping on her heel to hurry after Nova… who was probably giving Kilrey instructions, judging by how he was still there]

Scamall: [… though she had no idea what Nova could be ordering him to do.]

Scamall: [but pushes that thought from her mind, chewing her lip and scanning the woods around them]

Blizzard: [slowly dying out]

[“The Quaking” is what the residents of Talamhdé called the random bouts of frenzied electricity in the air, earthquakes, and sudden natural disasters that'd randomly strike the planes. Although few had reason to even suspect it, Scamall and Spéir were among the few to know it only happened when God was enraged]

[Thankfully, the Quaking was quickly dying down, leaving the ever-shifting Faewilde forest ominously silent and still.]

Scamall: (to herself, incredulously) … there's no way that's related to them, right…? The storm's just passed… and… the Quaking never really lasts that long…

Kilrey: [far in the distance, starts heading back off to his town]

Scamall: [distracted from her previous thought; can't help a weak smile or keep the proud tears from swelling in her eyes]

Scamall: fae, I may not know who you are… but I'm proud of you. And I'm going to help you.

Spéir: [finally chases after her, though he's dead silent as he trails behind her, shoulders slumped and his hands awkwardly in his pockets]

Scamall: [ignores him, reconsidering everything she knew about him… even though she'd known him for almost the entire time she'd been alive]

Scamall: (finishing her thought) … no matter what he thinks.

Nova: [collapses and passes out… but all the siblings can really tell is that he isn't moving]

Spéir: [silent for a while as they walk, but finally, awkwardly speaks up, his voice soft) "I just… want to make sure you're safe, Scamall…"

Scamall: [bites her tongue to keep from snapping at him, just continuing through the forest]

[The forest is made up of wobbly, ever-moving trees; hanging branches and swathes of moss; and an endless amount of gnarled roots that all shifted to try to get in their way and block their passage]

[As a land suffused with raw magic, Talamhdé was constantly shifting and changing. It almost seemed to be conscious, and purposely maneuvered itself to make travelling through it annoying… if not outright dangerous.]

Siblings: [had been travelling through various planes of Talamhdé for years, learning to navigate its ever-changing ways and live off of its power, but…]

[The forest is being especially difficult right now.]

Spéir: [uncharacteristically quiet and unhelpful behind Scamall as—]

[the trees creeeaaaaaaakkkkk noisily as they, their branches, and the roots all shift, blocking the siblings' passage toward Nova]

Scamall: [growls under her breath, face twisted into a snarl]

Spéir: [still just watching her silently from behind]

Scamall: [may not be looking with her eyes, but can see well enough with the air and her aura—]

Spéir: [frowning slightly. Has one arm crossed, its hand cupped under the other's elbow, and his other hand curled around his cheek as he watches her]

Scamall: [fae-ears low and hair storming in anger, bites her tongue to keep from snapping—]

Scamall: (wants to scream) YOU'RE BEING THIS STUBBORN ABOUT THEM!? YOU WON'T EVEN FREAKING HELP ME!?

Scamall: [—at the same time, dissolved into air to try to push herself through the gaps between the branches, but—]

Scamall: [slams into an invisible wall formed by the very same Faewilde magic that moved the trees to begin with]

Scamall: [gasps in pain and from surprise, reforming in the air as she flies back from the barrier—]

Spéir: [carefully catches her from behind, one hand around her shoulder and the other at the small of her back]

Scamall: [stunned from the impacts—]

Spéir: [peers down at her, his face unreadable, before quickly looking back up at the barrier and helping Scamall stand]

Scamall: [clenches her jaw, ears low and tears forming in her eyes from anger, but—]

Spéir: (voice light, impassive) "it stops at the treetops. We can fly above it."

Scamall:

Scamall: [hesitates, shocked. Hadn't actually thought he was paying enough attention to try to help… much less actually be willing to.]

Spéir: [as she takes too long to respond, looks at her over his shoulder with his fae-ears twitching up curiously. An eyebrow quirked, offers his hand and asks, deadpan) "ready?"

Scamall: [swallows, looking away as her ears droop in shame]

Scamall: [just lets out a slow, heavy sigh as she takes his hand]

Scamall: (tiredly) "yeah."

Spéir: [nods, looking toward the sky as he swells his essence around them—]

Scamall: [relaxes her magic around her body, lightening it and preparing—]

Siblings: [with a joint gust of wind, push themselves into the air, soaring above the treetops. Except… quickly slow down before they can hit the skybox, coming to a stop in midair]

Spéir: [not looking at Scamall, easily peers through the darkness and at the array of trees between them and Nova]

Spéir: [taking charge as always; evenly speaks above the wind) "we can probably fly past any barriers while we're up here. If anything comes after us, I'll take care of it, okay?"

Spéir: [with that, turns to meet her eyes, face focused]

Spéir: [always made the plans between them, working through the various puzzles laid out by the Faewildes… and archfaeries trying to block their paths.]

Scamall: [can't help the tears in her eyes or her small, weak smile]

Scamall: [cupping Spéir's hand in-between hers, gratefully) "thank you, Spéir."

Spéir:

Spéir: [face twists slightly—a flash of guilt showing—but quickly just nods curtly as he looks away]

Spéir: (voice subtly thick) "let's just go, yeah?"

Scamall: (softly, knowing he could hear her just fine through the wind) "yeah."

Hmmm... what's up with how Spéir's acting?

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

divider from @mypixeldiary

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f5-2)

CHAPTER 5: CALM AFTER THE STORM (part 2)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Scamall O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner ⚜ Dhia “Nova” ???

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [in the midst of talamhdé] [in a clearing within the forest] [night; clear]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

[Soon enough, Spéir had finished setting up camp. Their single tent sat close to the campfire; a clear tarp stretched above them to shelter everything from sudden storms; and Nova—who Spéir had helped physically carry on Scamall's behalf, since they'd fought magic being used on them—laid against one of its wooden poles, having slowly consumed half-melted ambrosia in their sleep.]

Scamall: [huddled up in a bundle of blankets, sitting half-beneath the lip of the tent and in front of the fire]

Spéir: [sitting across from her on the other side of the fire. Has a leg propped up against the ground and an arm against its knee, his back against one of the trees that'd shifted its way into their camp]

[Things in Talamhdé often moved as though they had a mind of their own… but, more often than not, it was Talamhdé Itself that had the mind, not them. And the tree seemed to be little different, so Spéir chose to get comfortable with it.]

Spéir: [staring into the distance, his face half-turned away from her and a subtle tension underlying his expression]

Scamall: [uneasy, but…] 😅

Scamall: [tiredly stares down at the half-finished ambrosia-and-herb tea Spéir had made for her]

Spéir: [had insisted she should have some now, since he'd had a whole square to himself earlier]

Spéir: [as the silence stretches between them, finally speaks up to say:) "Scamall."

Scamall: [shakes herself awake, quickly looking up at him]

Spéir: [offers a weak—but obviously forced—smile, then adds uneasily) "about earlier…"

Scamall:

Scamall: [lifts her cup to her lips to silently sip at it. Watches Spéir, knowing he'll continue on his own]

Spéir: [glances away from her for a moment, but quickly looks back as he finishes) "… when Talamhdé fell apart on us. What did you think of that?"

Scamall: [blink]

Scamall: [frowns, ears drooping and eyebrows furrowing as she watches him uneasily]

Scamall: [lets her arms—and the tea—fall back onto her lap.]

Scamall: (uncertainly, because everything about the situation had been obvious) "… what do you mean?"

Spéir: [sighs heavily, lifting a hand to half-cover his face. His beak-nose makes it so he has to do it at an angle where she could see his lips if she really tried]

Spéir: [peers through the gap between his dark, starry fingers as he answers cautiously) "… why do you think it did that."

Scamall:

Scamall: [holding her breath without meaning to, absentmindedly looks to Nova's sleeping form]

Nova: [has slowly dropped from the wooden pole to be laying across the ground, where wild grasses and flowers sprouted around their body. Snoring softly and hugging themself again, but sleeping much more soundly than before]

Scamall: (voice sounding distant even to herself) "… you remember Moyner—"

Spéir: [winces]

Scamall: "—better than I."

Scamall: [eyebrows furrowing slightly, turns a gentle, worried look onto Spéir]

Spéir: [still leaned back against the tree, one leg curled flat against the ground and the other propping his knee up. His hand is still covering his face, but the angle and his glowing freckles make it clear that he’s wincing]

[Besides, they were fae. Unlike humans, it was almost impossible to hide how they felt. Their ears would always betray them.]

[And Spéir's four, long and feather-tipped ears were drooped into his shoulders.]

Scamall: (gently) "… so I don't know why you'd ask. That was obviously God. Though—obviously, I have no better idea than you why they'd be interested in this faerie."

Spéir:

Spéir: [ears slowly pop back up as he takes a slow, uneven deep breath—but he doesn't immediately speak. Clearly still struggling to find his words]

Scamall: [lets out a slow sigh of her own, ears drooping and looking back down at her tea]

Scamall: (voice soft, almost absentminded) "although… their domain is weird. I can't seem to figure it out."

Scamall: [looks up at Spéir again, eyebrows furrowed]

Spéir: [meets her eyes, though his face is empty minus a slight tension]

Scamall: (uncertainly) "what do you think it is?"

Spéir: [swallows, looking away almost… guiltily?]

Spéir: (voice subtly uneven) "… something nature-y, obviously. I can't really tell, either."

Scamall: [ears droop—but sighs, quickly looking away to finish her tea]

Nova: [has managed to curl into a ball again, their arms over their head, but it's loose this time around. They seem comfortable]

Scamall: [smiles a soft, sad smile as she eyes them]

Scamall: [once again remembering their fear, their bravery, and how they'd risked their own life to keep her and Spéir from getting dragged into their problems. How they had all that, when they were only a little faeling]

Nova: [despite their maturity, Scamall got the sense they couldn't be any older than seven]

Spéir: [takes a slow, deep breath, standing up]

Scamall: [surprised, looks back to him]

Spéir: [offers her an awkward, slightly-forced smile as he walks around the fire to sit down at her side. Finally, wraps his arms around her in a tight hug]

Scamall: [metaphorically melts into him, tearing up and laughing weakly as she hugs him back]

Spéir: (gently) "I love you, Scamall."

Spéir: [but, before she can say it back, continues more evenly) "I'm going to keep watch by the tree tonight, okay? You think you can take a stuffed animal?"

Scamall: [smile fading, presses her face into Spéir's shoulder as she hugs him tighter]

Spéir: [usually would be beside her—letting her cling to him—while one of them slept and the other kept watch, but… sometimes, he'd want to stay separate. And, to make up for it, he'd offer her a stuffed animal to cling to in his place]

[Since it was made from his essence, he'd reasoned, it should be little different from her cuddling him]

[But it'd never been the same.]

Scamall: (into his shoulder, voice muffled and disappointed) "… yeah. I love you, too, Spéir."

Spéir: [gives a weak laugh, squeezing her tighter]

Spéir: (gently, though there's an edge to his voice) "sorry… I'm just a little antsy today. I don't want to disturb your sleep, you know?"

Scamall: [gives a slow, hesitant nod as she continues clinging to him, not wanting to let go] 🥲

Poor Scamall doesn't get to cuddle with her brother 😔

On a more serious note... GOD!? God was the one who broke Talamhdé like that!? What's their connection with Talamhdé, and what reason(s) would they have to care about Nova???

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

dividers by @thyming, @thecutestgrotto, & @saradika

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f3-2)

CHAPTER 3: “NATURAL” OBSTACLES (part 2)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Scamall O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [outside the dominion of Kilrey] [in the sky above the forest] [night; foggy]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Spéir: [gives another slight, quick nod before releasing Scamall's hand and fluttering his hand forward, gesturing for her to move ahead of him… so he could watch her back]

Scamall: [takes a slow, deep breath, letting her own eyes scan the dark and unruly forest underneath them—though she's able to see much less than him]

[Even from above, the forest is clearly a tangled mess of branches and trees that do not want to let them through]

Scamall: [lips twitch, brow slowly furrowing]

Scamall: (to herself, uncertainly) ... this... is a lot of effort to eat a faerie with such little essence...

Scamall: [but, forcing a sigh and quickly shaking her head, dismisses the thought]

Scamall: [... though her ears still droop uncertainly as she decides) the forest is probably just really hungry... or it's something about their essence, specifically...

Scamall: [without any more hesitation, drifts forward and steadily gains speed, zooming through the air. Keeps an eye on her surroundings and the forest underneath, but heads toward Nova—]

[Mist quickly rises from the forest in a dense haze, obscuring the area beneath

[… and the mist thickens the air, making it difficult to fly through.]

Scamall: [huffs, snarling slightly, but just forces out a gust of wind to clear her path]

[The mist resists the movement, but it's hardly more than Talamhdé's obstacles usually did. It quickly parts, granting them passage… although it tries to slowly creep back into place.]

Scamall: [relieved, but stifles a smile. Instead, focuses on scanning the forest below as she slows her descent, hovering above a particularly-dense concentration of branches]

Essence: [weak, but very clearly Nova's unusual essence… it was hard to place—though Scamall had never been the greatest at distinguishing between essence—but seemed… vast]

Nova: [almost directly beneath her… and all-but-shielded by the thicket]

Scamall: [takes slow, deep breaths to focus as she slowly drops, still suspiciously scanning every inch she could see of the woods]

Spéir: [silent as he falls not far above her, keeping an eye out... as he always did]

Scamall: (to herself) Spéir would say something if he saw anything, but… this feels too easy? For all this trouble?

[The air was still thick—and grew thicker the closer she got to Nova—even without the mist Scamall continued struggling to clear from her sight]

Scamall: [despite being an air faerie who could see through the air itself… there were plenty of threats that could still manage to hide themselves, requiring vision to notice]

Scamall: [after another moment of hesitation, glances back in the direction they'd come from]

Scamall: [and, feeling a sense of dread settle over her, looks back down at Nova]

Nova's essence: [slowly growing weaker, disappearing beneath the overwhelming essence of Talamhdé Itself encasing them—]

Scamall: [heart pounding in her chest, to herself) … this feels like a trap. This feels like a trap! But I need to—

Spéir: [having lowered himself to her side, gently sets his hand on her shoulder]

Scamall: [flinches, quickly looking at him over her shoulder—]

Spéir: [face dead serious, but flashes her a forced-reassuring smile as he murmurs) "you okay? We can go back if you—"

Scamall: [snarling, snaps) "no! We're not leaving them behind!"

Spéir:

Spéir: [sighs heavily, fae-ears drooping as he looks away, but—]

Scamall: [at the same time, mostly releases her magic around her, all but completely dissolving into air. Only keeps a weak grasp around her body in preparation to stop at any moment, but lets herself drop near-completely uncontrolled—]

[The air is still thick, slowing her descent itself and resisting her every movement—both physical and magical. On top of that, the forest's canopy is woven into a dome-shaped cage, surrounding Nova]

Scamall: [fighting her dread again, takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes. Finally, carefully weaves herself between the branches, clambering through the canopy]

Cage: [except… growing denser—with progressively more and more thorns—the closer to Nova they got]

Spéir: [shortly behind her; a slight edge to his voice) "Scamall."

Scamall: [snarling, quickly turns a sharp glare onto him]

Spéir: [interwoven between branches himself, his half-formed hands and legs carefully wrapped around places with as little thorns as possible]

Spéir: [has an intense look on his face, but speaks carefully) "if you really want to do this, I can teleport us the rest of the way. But it's going to take a lot of what I have, and you're going to have to be prepared in case the forest attacks us."

Scamall:

Scamall: [swallows, hesitantly glancing at the thicket between her and Nova]

Voice: (subtly uneven, nervous) "is this seat taken?" Scamall: [tenses, her ears reflexively going back slightly, and quickly looks over her shoulder—] Faerie: [standing awkwardly behind her, subtly shrunken in on themself and fidgeting with an archfaerie's emblem. Has a shabby, clearly-worn dark green cloak on, its hood over their vermilion hair] Faerie: [flashes Scamall an anxious smile] Scamall: [except… after her years of learning how deceitful other fae could be, has learned how to read emotions well] Faerie: [and has subtle creases of fear and loneliness around their face and eyes] Scamall: Scamall: … :'D

Scamall: [takes a slow, deep breath]

Faerie: [uses a majority of their essence to warp the three of them far through Kilrey and the massive Faewilde storm] Faerie: [dragged them past the edge of Kilrey's dominion… and placed themself between the town and siblings, their arm held out as they shield the siblings with their own body] Faerie: (struggling to raise their voice and sound braver than they felt) "I'm going to take him on. Just run. Even if I can't stop him… you can get away. I'm sorry for getting you dragged into my problems."

Scamall: [slowly lets out her breath, then looks up at Spéir with a determined look]

Scamall: [… though it quickly gets replaced by a forced smile as she struggles to act braver than she feels]

Scamall: [holds out her hand for Spéir to take; voice uneven) "let's go."

What do you guys think of Scamall's motivation to "rescue" Nova? And how determined the forest seems to keep her from reaching them? Or even Spéir's constant attempts to dissuade her, then offering his assistance? 🤔

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

divider from @mypixeldiary

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f1-1)

CHAPTER 1: “A NORMAL FAERIE” (part 1)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Nova “Me” ??? (pov) ⚜ Scamall “Cloud” O'Moyner ⚜ Spéir “Sky” O'Moyner

SETTING:

[overgrown, mossy swamp plane] [within the dominion of Kilrey] [outside of Kilrey] [night; clear]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents < last chapter next chapter >

Nova: [anxiously clutches at the magic around them, watching the bustling faerie town of Kilrey from far away]

[Kilrey was full of fae subjugated under the will of a single other faerie… of course, by the name of Kilrey.]

[Like many other fae towns, most of Kilrey's residents spent a majority of their time working toward expanding their master's dominion. The town was absolutely suffused with power emanating from the fae population within its walls, but most prominently? It was full of Kilrey's power. Even with all the other faeries there, the archfae's always came out on top.]

Nova: [takes several slow, shaky deep breaths as they try to steel their nerves]

Nova: (thinking to themself) I'm not taking much power with me… he shouldn't notice me. I should be fine to enter…

Nova: [fidgets with the magic in the air, warping it around herself to cool the area and set a feeling of calmness over her]

Nova: (still trying to reassure herself) It's okay. If I just teleport in there… few fae will even be able to notice me, with all that power there!

Nova: [flexes her jaw, struggling not to cry despite her magic]

Nova: … except Kilrey. And what if he notices me? What then?

Nova: [shakes his head quickly, letting out his breath and smacking his cheeks to recollect himself]

Nova: (sternly) No. Can't think that way. If he comes… we can fight him. Or escape. Lead him away if we must… and he won't be able to do much by himself.

Nova: [glances far over his shoulder, eyeing the unclaimed plane far behind him… despite it being far out of sight]

Nova: … and if he tries to bring his thralls, he'll still lose access to his power if I take him far enough. I can overpower him, then.

Nova: [nods curtly, looking back toward the town of Kilrey]

[His stomach rumbled again]

Nova: [face determined, but lets out a slow, heavy sigh]

Nova: (still trying to reassure himself) Alright. We can do this, Casey.

Nova:

Nova: (annoyedly) I don't much like that name, either.

Nova: [but just sighs heavily before warping themself into town]

Nova: [now toward the end of a mostly-empty street, head lowered and her hood pulled over her head]

Nova: [hurries forward, quickly opening the door to the tavern and stepping inside]

[The room was absolutely brimming with faeries of many different domains. Fire, air, and even a few storm faeries. With a conspicuous lack of earth, water, and forest faeries]

[Not that Nova was surprised]

[Those were Kilrey's domains, after all.]

[Most of the fae were sitting around tables, chatting amongst themselves and helping themselves to food and drink rations. Like most fae towns, the residents of Kilrey were given rations based on their productivity every day… and, being as Nova wasn't a resident, he technically had no reason to receive any]

Nova: [awkwardly fidgets with one of his Silina Emblems—a token containing a bit of essence from another Archfae, Silina, and declaring she'd owe whomever it was traded to—as he heads to the bar]

[Emblems were essentially the archfaeries' version of currency. They'd hand them to faeries who'd earned their favor, who'd then exchange them for goods and services within other archfaeries' dominions.]

[Technically, emblems were supposed to be handed straight to other archfae, so they could barter over what exactly they would get in exchange. But archfaeries often kept their thralls absolutely overwhelmed with work, and Kilrey was no exception.]

[This tavernkeeper—the surprising exception to the 'no faeries of Kilrey's domain' rule—was swamped. They had grown several extra arms to help them carry and distribute rations amongst the residents who'd oh-so recently returned.]

[Just like planned, the tavernkeep should be far too exhausted to further direct Nova to Kilrey when they had the time]

Nova: [satisfied things were working as he'd hoped, moves on to scan the bar]

[A single faerie sat there; they were air-aligned, with a flowy, layered dress; semi-transparent sky-blue skin peppered with splotches of white; and a white afro. The further their afro traveled from their head, the more the hair seemed to transform into clouds]

Nova: (to himself, reflexively) cloud domain. Weak.

Nova: [eyeing them awkwardly, hesitantly steps up to the seat beside them]

Nova: [all while rocking back and forth on his feet, raises his voice to ask] "is this seat taken?"

Faerie: [tenses, fae-ears subtly bending back as they look over their shoulder to meet Nova's eyes]

Nova: [flashes them an awkward smile]

Faerie: [cautiously glances around themself… then, easing their ears and returning their eyes to Nova, offers a soft, slightly-forced smile in return]

Faerie: (voice gentle, hard to make out over the din of the tavern) "No. But my brother should be back soon…"

[A weight settles over Nova's heart]

Nova: brother…

Nova: [looks away, her ears folded back awkwardly. Still, she moves to sit down beside the faerie]

Nova: (to herself, depressedly) so they have a brother…

Nova: [at the same time, perks her ears back up, turns to grin at the faerie, and forces herself to say amusedly) "ah! Well, hopefully he won't mind me being here?"

Faerie: [smile softening, shakes their head slightly]

Faerie: (gently) "I don't think so... you seem nice. I'm Scamall, by the way… female."

Nova: [grins widely, offering his hand to shake… with as much of his essence as far from it as possible, as was considered polite]

Nova: (keeping her tone amused to hide her nervousness) "oh! Well, I'm—"

Scamall: [took her hand to shake it, but—]

Nova: [hesitates, her grin turning awkward. Finally, she looks away with pursed lips and lowered fae-ears]

Nova: (nervously) "I… haven't actually decided on a name yet…"

Scamall: [essence flutters—]

Nova: [tenses, ears folding back as she quickly looks at Scamall with wide eyes]

Scamall: [has her essence breezing out from her as she smiles brightly, bringing her other hand up to clasp Nova's in-between hers]

Scamall: (warmly) "oh, are you a new faerie?"

Nova:

Scamall: [glancing away as she rocks from side-to-side, attempts to finish) "I ca—"

Nova: (blurts, panic slipping into her voice) "no!"

Scamall: [startled, quickly looks back to Nova with wide eyes and tensed shoulders]

Scamall: [essence—and face—twisted, visibly uneasy]

Nova: [struggling to keep their panic from their face, forces an awkward grin again]

Nova: (voice shaky, but still faux-amused) "I just—I've been awake for a while, but I've just—I've had a hard time coming up with one, is all!"

Scamall: [tension slowly eases as Nova speaks, but her ears and face just droop with the saddest of smiles. Still, her ears perk up as she seems to snap to attention, her eyes going over Nova's shoulder—]

Nova: [tenses, but as they turn to see—]

Voice: (speaks from behind Nova, hard) "Scamall? Who's this?"

Faerie: [now that Nova's turned, standing to her side. Has their arms crossed as they look between Nova and Scamall suspiciously]

Faerie: [has long, voluminous white hair shaped like clouds, blue-purple skin freckled like stars in the night sky, a sharp and hook-tipped hawk's beak for a nose, and two sets of long, feathered fae-ears… all angled backwards, aggressive.]

Nova: this must be the brother! :'D

Nova: [both annoyed and anxious, to themself) but Scamall said he wouldn't be upset… of course she was wrong.

Nova: [offers a wide, awkward grin as they bring their hands up in surrender and struggle to come up with a response—]

Scamall: (from behind them, voice gentle and yet pointed) "this is a faerie I just met. Spéir, they seem nice."

Spéir: [looked at Scamall over Nova's shoulder as she spoke, but quickly returns his eyes to Nova]

Spéir: [lip curled slightly; voice tense and just as pointed) "plenty of fae seem nice, Scamall. That's how they trick you. We've been over this."

Nova: (quickly, before she can think better of it) "I really mean no harm! I'm just travelling and wanted company!"

Spéir: [leaning in closer so his and Nova's noses touch, sharply) "likely story."

Nova: [panicking, reflexively reaches for the nearest bit of unclaimed essence to take it to protect herself—]

Spéir: [except, pulls away?]

Scamall: [at his side, hand clenching his shoulder as she glares at him]

Scamall: [hair darkened into storm clouds, crackling with electricity, and fae-ears held high and back from anger]

Scamall: (sharply) "I said to be nice! They're a FAELING!"

Nova: [bites back a 'I'm not a faeling!', ears low and eyes wide with panic as he looks between the two]

Spéir: [clenches his jaw as takes deep, angry breaths, glancing between Scamall and Nova—]

Voice: "HEY! FAE!"

All three: [tense, turning to face—]

And so the grand adventure begins...

story intro table of contents < last chapter next chapter >

Faerie's Dawn taglist:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter @teamarine777 @caffeinated-starsailor @oliolioxenfreewrites

@corinneglass @thebookishkiwi @storyteller-kara @themongosianhorse @theburningeyeofdawn

@notyourlocalworm @write-with-will @mildlybizarrecorvid @forgottenvalor @huewrite

@vesanal @differentnighttale @plip-plap-plop @olliedoesthings @pupculture

@princessuncertain @mythicalmagical-monkeyman @i-do-anything-but-write @a-zendrial

@real-fragments @lunauphternal @sullymarlowe @aalinaaaaaa (ask and ye shall be added)

dividers by @thyming and @saradika

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f2-1)

CHAPTER 2: KILREY (part 1)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Nova “Me” ??? (pov) ⚜ Scamall O'Moyner ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner

SETTING:

[overgrown, mossy swamp plane] [within the dominion of Kilrey] [in a tavern inside of Kilrey] [night; magic storm-blizzard]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last chapter next chapter >

Nova: [tense, but continues chewing the taffy-like ambrosia as she watches Spéir and Scamall through her aura]

Siblings: [looking at each other, faces twisted and fae-ears lowered stressfully—]

Scamall: [guilty, but…]

Spéir: [furious]

Spéir: (hisses under his breath) "Scamall! This is exactly why I—"

Scamall: [letting out a slow breath, shakes her head and gently pushes him to the side with just a wave of her essence and air. Moves to stop beside Nova and try to meet their eyes]

Nova: [hesitantly obliges her, chomping off a piece of their third ambrosia square]

Scamall: (voice gentle, but serious) "you have a plan? Do you need more ambrosia?"

Nova:

Spéir:

Nova: [shocked she'd offer to help when doing so got her into this mess to begin with, but…]

Nova: [ears low, forces themself to just look away, nod curtly, and swallow their bite. Then, with their face turned away, rips off another chunk of ambrosia to chew]

Scamall: [smoothly sits down next to Nova and reaches with her essence to copy their earlier theft—]

Spéir: [grabs her shoulder, hissing) "Scamall, what are you doing!? You're going to—"

Scamall: [turning a sharp glare onto him in return, evenly) "they escaped from another archfaerie. They know what they're doing, too. We should help them."

Spéir: [stunned silent—]

Nova: 'too'...

Nova: [also stunned, but struggling not to be hopeful. Instead, forces herself to focus on her still-formulating escape plan. At the same time, starts on her fourth and last piece of ambrosia]

[Ambrosia, as a treat made of pure magic, contained immense amounts of energy for needy fae. It was most often made by archfaeries, who learned to break apart the raw magic permeating Talamhdé. By stabilizing it—and taking all that matched their domain—they could then shove it at their thralls for easy-to-serve rations.]

[Without ambrosia, it would be much harder for archfae to feed their thralls. Typical food did little to nothing for faeries, and was more often than not just consumed for taste. Instead, they needed to consume things that matched their 'domains'.]

[Each faerie had a certain 'domain' that depended on what they emerged from.]

[For example: Scamall. She'd been clearly air-aligned, but she did little to nothing to hide the fact that her full domain was 'clouds'. Beyond it literally being her name, her stormy hair, softer personality, and semi-translucent, spotted-like-clouds-in-the-sky skin made it far too obvious she was a gentler storm faerie.]

[On the other hand, Spéir's was much harder to distinguish. Aligning with his name—as most younger faeries did—his speckled-with-stars, night-sky skin matched the night sky outside. But, whereas that was true, his essence itself felt very different from 'the sky'. Nova would need more time to figure out what exactly his domain was.]

[Then, most relevantly, there was Byrne. His appearance—between the crumbling earthen skin, burning hair, and roots keeping his body together—made it clear he had something between an earth, nature, and fire alignment, but his exact domain was harder to distinguish.]

[Still, Nova had always been especially skilled at figuring out faeries' domains just by the feeling of their aura—their concentration of essence, or magic energy—alone. On top of that, Nova's arcane eye was sharp enough that she was able to track precise locations even with massive auras.]

[And that's why she knew Byrne, the faerie of burnt-down forests, had finally reached Kilrey.]

Nova: [taking a near-gasping breath, quickly hops out of her chair. Wipes the back of her hand—and her essence—against her mouth to absorb any last bits of ambrosia as she looks toward the siblings]

Spéir: [has his jaw clenched and arms crossed tight as he's turned away from them, glaring at the other inhabitants of the tavern… to help discourage them from staring, or catching Scamall's theft]

Scamall: [of course, still stealing ambrosia squares. Shifting her airy clothes—made of her magic—to form pockets hidden beneath their ruffles and then stuff the ambrosia inside]

Both: [as Nova hopped out of the chair, stop what they're doing to look at Nova with tense expressions]

Nova: [meets Spéir's eyes, then Scamall's, and quickly turns to march toward the door]

Nova: (voice commanding, sounding far more confident than she felt) "if you want to 'help' me, we head out now. I can collect more essence on the way. Hurry!"

Air Siblings: [meet eyes once again behind her back]

Scamall: [immediately follows close behind Nova!]

Spéir: [half-groans, half-growls, but quickly trails after]

Spéir: [… though his eyes dart from faerie to faerie as he wonders why nobody's reacting to their departure]

Nova: [almost as though she's reading his mind but more reading between the lines, and figuring it's better to say anyway) "I blocked them from seeing us. Come on!"

Spéir: [bites his tongue, unsure of a lot of things… but certain it was a bad time to ask questions]

Nova: [pushes the door open and speedwalks outside, ignoring the frostbite-cold of the now-winter that hits her]

[The seasons, time of day, and weather in general could change constantly within Talamhdé—what humans called 'the Faewildes'. It was all but nonsensical, but often followed themes, the mood of whomever controlled the area they were in, or the strength of raw, unclaimed magic permeating the plane]

[Talamhdé's raw magic was incredibly dangerous even to faeries, its native residents. It was able to take over their minds, make them lose their sense of selves, and turn them into abominations the humans called 'demons'. Creatures with seemingly no consciousness, hellbent on committing atrocious acts of violence.]

[Nova couldn't blame them.]

[She had an anger deep within. A rage she fought down almost every day, that made her cry in the dead of night. A rage that dared to consume her entire being. It wanted to rain retribution upon the heads of all the unworthy—upon those who purposely harmed others, those who used and abused those weaker than themselves, and who ate and ate and consumed until there was nothing remaining.]

[Archfaeries. Who laughed and jeered at others' so-called 'inferiority'. Who flexed their power like gods, then claimed to be superior to God, the namesake of Talamhdé.]

[The god of Magic Itself.]

[They took and took and took, then declared themselves above all else. Claimed they earned their power, that they'd been granted it by God, or that they'd deserved it. That all those beneath them belonged there.]

[More than anything else, Nova wished she could make them suffer.]

[Instead, she was a coward who ran away from her problems.]

[Pathetic.]

Nova: [fae-ears low and eyes scanning the streets around them, paces forward to lead the group through the quickest way out of town]

Spéir: [from behind, voice tense) "what's your plan, fae. Who are you?"

Nova: [tenses, but… keeps pacing, keeping an eye on the area]

[The buildings kept fluctuating, both in shape and material. First they were of wood, then stone, then ice—and it didn't stop there. The same applied to their architecture: they started as traditionally-built houses, but quickly distorted into irregular shapes that should've collapsed in on themselves.]

[… and sometimes did, with massive crashes and panicked faeries stumbling out of their wrecked homes. Still, there was little to worry about.]

[Kilrey would be able to repair it all in no time.]

[Well, he would when the magic storm passed, at least. Until then, there'd be no point in even trying—the storm would continue to ravage the town, erasing his efforts, until it was gone.]

Nova: (voice starts anxious and uneven, but quickly levels to tense and hard as they switch topics) "I'm—... we leave Kil—the Archfae's dominion, so he's weaker. From there, he either gives up, or—"

Spéir: [didn't miss their avoiding answering who they were, but—]

Spéir: (sharply interrupts) "he'll catch up before we can!"

Nova: [twists her form, turning her torso so—while her legs continue forward on her decided path—she's able to face Spéir while walking]

Siblings: [faces visibly twist in disgust at her grotesque display]

Nova: (harshly) "we have a head start and this—" [points up, then twists his finger in a circular gesture, alluding to the magic storm] "—is going to keep him from teleporting to us."

Spéir:

Spéir: [visibly stunned… though also looks paler]

Spéir: [actually, has changed a lot in appearance. His night-sky skin has quickly turned pale white, matching his hair and the snow around them]

Spéir: [now, almost completely blends with the environment as he scans the area, the tips of his fae-ears dropping lower and lower]

Nova: (to himself) ah… that's why he feels a bit different from 'sky'.

Spéir: [returning his eyes to Nova, hesitantly) "is… that you?"

Nova: [breath catches, heart skipping a beat—]

Nova: [barks out a laugh and turns his torso back into place to increase his pace as he tries to hide his panic. Still, he's betrayed by his angled ears, poorly-faked laugh, and the breathlessness of his otherwise-incredulous voice) "no??? You think I'd be like this if I had that kinda power? I just sensed it coming, and we're taking advantage of it. Now hurry up, Kil—he, the Archfae, just left!"

Scamall: [from behind her; voice gentle, but subtly tense) "so… what happens when he catches up to us?"

Nova: [drops his eyes to the ground, falling silent as a cold hand of dread wraps itself tight around his heart]

Nova: (voice thick) "as long as we're outside of his heart, I can take care of him by myself."

YOU CAN WHAT BY YOURSELF, NOVA!?!?!

Aaaaaanyhow, how truthful do you think all of this is? What's with all of their fear of archfaeries? And how in the world would Nova "take care of" one by themself???

story intro table of contents chapter one < last chapter next chapter >

Faerie's Dawn taglist:

@honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling @ashirisu @urnumber1star

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @aalinaaaaaa @thecomfywriter @an-indecisive-nerd

@seastarblue @rae-butter @teamarine777 @caffeinated-starsailor @oliolioxenfreewrites

@corinneglass @thebookishkiwi @storyteller-kara @themongosianhorse @theburningeyeofdawn

@notyourlocalworm @write-with-will @mildlybizarrecorvid @forgottenvalor @huewrite

@vesanal @differentnighttale @plip-plap-plop @olliedoesthings @pupculture

@princessuncertain @mythicalmagical-monkeyman @i-do-anything-but-write @a-zendrial

@real-fragments @lunauphternal @sullymarlowe @aalinaaaaaa (ask and ye shall be added)

dividers by @thyming and @saradika

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f5-1)

CHAPTER 5: CALM AFTER THE STORM (part 1)

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Scamall O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Spéir O'Moyner ⚜ Dhia “Nova” ???

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [in the midst of talamhdé] [in a clearing within the forest] [night; clear]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Spéir: (at the same time, hesitantly looking back down at her, voice soft) "I'm going to set up camp by myself. Do whatever you need to for them, alright?"

Scamall: [hesitates, caught off-guard]

Scamall: [can't help a small smile, ears drooping and eyebrows furrowing slightly]

Scamall: (gently) "thank you, Spéir. I know this isn't easy for you."

Spéir: [face flickers, jumping from indignant, to embarrassed, and quickly settling on irritable as he purses his lips and turns his face away]

Spéir: [ears low and pointed back in irritation, grumbles) "I never said that."

Scamall: [giggles softly, raising a hand to cover the lower half of her face. At the same time, draws her other hand—and a square of ambrosia—from one of her pockets]

Scamall: [fae-tipped ears lowered back slyly, teases gently) "oh, you didn't have to say." ;)

Spéir: [scoffs—and, though Scamall can't see it, she knows he's rolling his eyes as he turns away]

Spéir: [stepping away, sulkingly) "whatever."

Scamall: [snorts, then gives a longer giggle]

Spéir: [gives a heavy sigh with his back still to her, but smiling softly, and stops a few steps away. Begins drawing their equipment from his essence pocket, apparating it into existence and letting it slowly drift to the ground]

Spéir: [like all faeries, had an 'essence pocket': an invisible space adjacent to their plane tucked into his aura. He could summon objects from or hide them within with just a flex of his magic]

[Still, while every faerie had an essence pocket, their ability to use it varied. Like most things magical, Scamall struggled to use hers as efficiently as Spéir. If she let her focus slip for a moment too long—or tried using too much magic outside of it—she'd accidentally let things slip out.]

[So, of course, Spéir was the one to hold onto all of their stuff.]

Scamall: [though she wants to continue teasing Spéir, forces herself to focus and look back down at Nova]

Nova: [like before, is curled into a tight ball, their form translucent and flickering.]

[Like all faeries' did when they were running out of essence.]

[If a faerie completely ran out of essence—or magic—that was it. Their entire existences were fueled by their magic, and they were nothing without it. They were creatures of the elements, of concepts and features, and they'd fade away without their substance.]

[In short: Nova was dying.]

[At least… for now.]

Scamall: [humor drying up, slowly lets out a strangled sigh]

[Ambrosia, as a concentration of pure magic, would be more than enough to bring Nova back from the brink.]

Nova: [despite their condition—or perhaps because of it—barely fights Scamall as she carefully grabs their arms and pries them from over Nova's head]

Scamall: [lets out another heavy sigh as she sits back, anxiously looking down at the faerie]

Scamall: (to herself) I probably shouldn't feed them lying down…

Scamall: [nods to herself, summoning her magic to create a vortex around Nova, sweeping them up in the gust. Trying to keep herself calm—knowing both Spéir and Nova were relying on her to do this—strides beside Nova as she drifts them toward a tree]

Nova: [face twisted and brow furrowed, flails weakly within the vortex—and their essence reacts, feebly trying to fight Scamall's!]

Scamall: [nearly drops them in panic. Instead, with barely a moment to think, quickly zips Nova the rest of the way there and all but drops them]

Spéir: [pauses setting up camp, glancing back at the two with a slightly-quirked eyebrow] Spéir: [unhappy Scamall's worried, of course, but…] Spéir: [annoyed.] Spéir: she really has nothing to worry about. >:/ Spéir: [huffs, rolling his eyes—although his heart skips a beat—and forcing himself to return to his task]

Nova: [flops sideways onto the ground, quickly curling into a ball again… though, thankfully, their essence separates from Scamall's. Instead, it weakly curls around them, tightening on their form protectively]

Scamall: [eyes wide and heart pounding, but… forces herself to let out another strangled sigh, relieved] :'DDD

Scamall: they can interact with air essence? What are they? I thought they were—but that's not important right now.

Scamall: [unknowingly anxiously spinning winds around them to soothe herself, closes the distance between herself and Nova to kneel at their side. Brow furrowed in concern, awkwardly pries their arms from over their head again, then gently sets them with their back against the tree]

Nova: [weakly resists her all the while, face twisted in distress—maybe having a nightmare?]

Scamall: at least they're not trying to fight me magically 😅😓

Nova: [and, thankfully, stays where Scamall put them. Just wraps their arms around their torso, hugging themself with all their feeble strength]

Scamall: [smiles sadly, brow furrowed in concern. At the same time, manifests another arm out of the air to gently brush Nova's vermillion hair out of their face and tuck it behind their ear. With her physical hands, holds the ambrosia square steady and breaks a small piece off of it]

Nova: [weakly stirs in place, but… slowly relaxes, pressing their cheek into the hand Scamall formed from magic]

Scamall:

Scamall: [caught off-guard, but… also can't help remembering how lonely they'd looked when she'd first seen them]

[Her initial evaluation seemed to have been correct… and probably far more so than she even realized.]

Scamall: [letting out a slow, pained sigh, forms tendrils of air—]

Spéir: (voice empty) "Scamall."

Scamall: [hesitates, eyes widening, before quickly looking over her shoulder at him]

Spéir: [by now, has gotten most of the way through setting up camp]

[Over their years of travelling through Talamhdé, going from plane to plane, they've collected tons of materials and even tricks to survive in the ever-changing lands. Both fae and humanity—the latter of which had never been aware of the siblings' true identities as faeries—had helped them, bartering for both information and resources.]

[Now, they have an immense amount of equipment—ranging from leather hides and blankets to lanterns and torches—that they've collected, and oftentimes even expanded upon with their own magics.]

[The camp has utilized much of that; it's comprised of a large tent made from hides, an as-of-yet-unlit campfire, and even a loose tarp Spéir was in the process of unravelling. Usually, they'd have a spit above the fire, food they'd hunted for cooking upon it, but, well…]

[… with all the ambrosia Scamall stole from Kilrey, the group had no need for food for quite a while.]

Spéir: [expression mostly empty, but… Scamall can make out hints of anger underlying it]

Spéir: (voice impassive) "are you sure you should be using so much essence?"

Scamall: [caught off-guard by his anger, but…]

Scamall: [face tightens, ears going back indignantly, and small flashes of light striking from the storm building in her hair]

Scamall: (stubbornly) "there's no reason not to. We have a ton of ambrosia."

Spéir: [face twitches, fury openly showing for a moment—]

Spéir: [but it quickly pinches in frustration instead, and he turns his head to look away irritably]

Spéir: (darkness underlying his voice) "… sure. Whatever."

Scamall: [really doesn't know how to take how weird Spéir's been acting, but… he accepted?] :'D

Scamall: [sighs, turning back to Nova. Still comfortingly cupping their cheek with the invisible hand, forms a separate tendril of air to carefully open their mouth. Finally, places the broken-off, smaller chunk of ambrosia in their mouth to let it dissolve on their tongue]

Scamall: and, if they choke, I can always clear their airway 😅

Conflict between the siblings... 😔

Hopefully it clears up soon! 😄

Still! What do you think of all the worldbuilding, and how faeries operate? :)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

dividers by @thyming and @thecutestgrotto

[ominous-faechild]

FAERIE'S DAWN (f6)

CHAPTER 6: RUMINATION

CHARACTERS:

⚜ Spéir O'Moyner (pov) ⚜ Dhia “Nova” ???

SETTING:

[a wild, overgrown forest plane] [in the midst of talamhdé] [within the forest] [night; drizzling]

approx. 1 BA (talamhdé timeline)

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

Scamall: [fast asleep, cuddling a giant stuffed animal made from Spéir's essence]

Spéir: [always passed those off to her when he was more anxious, might want to get up and pace, or had reason to not want her clinging to him at night]

Spéir: [and, you know… would just reclaim the magic when it was time to go]

Spéir: [leans back against his tree with both of his legs folded; one's lying sideways on the ground, its foot on the other's ankle, and has his other leg propped up, the knee pointing toward the sky]

[The forest—and its gentle rain—is so much calmer than it was earlier, both during their escape from Kilrey and when Talamhdé Itself had awoken to defend Nova]

Spéir: [scowls, an arm against each of his knees, as he fidgets with a Kilrey Emblem. Alternates between rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger and juggling it between his fingers]

Spéir: [ears lowered and brow furrowed in concentration as he stares at Nova, thinking]

Spéir: … I'll need to ask you what exactly went on between you and Kilrey.

Spéir: [ceases juggling the emblem to shift it into his palm, rubbing it against his hand]

Spéir: I'd hate to put this to waste, but… [glances to Scamall, jaw tensing, before he looks back to Nova] … I can't risk endangering her by pulling the same thing as you, you fucking brat.

Spéir: [oops, suddenly realizes he's snarling—]

Spéir: [hesitates, surprised—]

Spéir: [and forcibly releases a heavy sigh and relaxes his face. At the same time, half-turns to look away and stare almost blankly at a tree]

Nova: "now, with them taking that to the archfae, he's going to be able to reach out to her and find that out!"

Spéir: [slowly takes a deep breath, flicking Kilrey's emblem from his right hand to the left—the one sitting on his knee—so he can look down at it]

Spéir: we can do that, huh? Talk to each other through these?

Spéir: [clenches his jaw thoughtfully again, ears tensing back]

Spéir: [—and turns his eyes to Nova again]

Spéir: … I guess that makes sense. Scamall's never noticed—she's never been good at magic stuff—but I'd always sensed their essence within these things…

Spéir: [lets out another slow breath, turning to look down at Kilrey's emblem again]

[The emblem is a brooch of wood carved into a crown of two antlers, both encircling a delicately-painted open book. The entire thing has been carefully carved—or, at least, had its shape manipulated by magic—to have an incredible amount of detail]

[... like most archfaeries' emblems, though their exact designs and what they're made of varies]

Spéir: (to himself) … I guess that'd been their point. It's not the design that matters, but the magic. They reach out to one another to communicate the exact relationships…

Spéir: [takes a short breath, then lets out a long, heavy sigh as he slumps back against the tree behind him. His ears droop as he presses the crown of his head against the tree trunk and stares up at the fake starry-sky above. It was littered by clouds and countless specks of rain that silently clattered against the magically-silenced tarp stretching above them]

Spéir: [has always had such a longing to see a real sky, to feel it… but they'd been trapped within just about every other kind of dominion for all these years]

Spéir: (still thinking, heart twisted] … which means that they probably all have known.

Spéir: [although Scamall also had never noticed… had several archfaeries' emblems tucked within his essence pocket. It was only Kilrey's that he had out for now, while nobody else was awake to see it.]

Spéir: [still staring up at the fake sky, feels for Akas's emblem tucked and hidden within his pocket, the miniscule essence of the archfaerie's within concealed by his own]

Spéir: Akas… have you told the others?

Spéir: is that why they've given me their blessings as well?

Nova: "he's going to be able to reach out to her—"

Spéir: so I can contact them when it's time? I thought it was just… an empty promise, something none of them expected to actually work out, but…

Spéir: [lets out another slow, strangled sigh as he hesitantly looks down at Kilrey's emblem again]

Spéir:

Spéir: [swallows, then flicks it into his essence to trade it for Akas's]

Spéir: [stares down at her emblem, remembering the first archfaerie who'd had mercy on him, who'd let him go, because she'd seen his potential]

[Akas, the archfaerie who'd put him on the path he was today]

Spéir: [takes in—then releases—a slow, shaky breath]

Spéir: [finally, closes his eyes and leans back into the tree trunk, once again turning his face toward the sky]

Spéir: … it makes more sense, if that's what's been going on. They've had more than just my word… and, well, the others' blessings, but… it didn't come out of nowhere. Akas was first, and the others… well, the more who back me, the more others wanted to do the same, huh? 'Votes of confidence' and all?

Spéir:

Spéir: [slowly opens his eyes again, staring out into the skybox]

Spéir:

Spéir: [once again has to fight the longing to be within a real sky, but…]

Spéir: [swallows, then hesitantly looks down at Scamall again]

Scamall: [still sleeping soundly, drooling slightly with her cheek pressed against the stuffed animal]

Spéir: [heart and face soften, a faint smile coming to his lips]

Spéir: [—though it instantly vanishes for a scowl as his eyes dart to Nova]

Nova: [still passed out, but has managed to move closer to Scamall in their sleep. Instead of curled into a ball, is now sprawled out, their head lolled to the side and limbs haphazardly around them]

[Like before, wild plants and miscellaneous bits of the forest had gravitated toward and half-buried their limbs. Nature and dirt of Talamhdé once again stretched over them as though trying to claim them, but didn't plunge them into the earth. Instead it seemed satisfied just littering itself all over their body]

Spéir: [has half a mind to get up just to drag Nova away from Scamall, but… can't help the flutter of panic that comes at the thought]

Spéir: [instead, a snarl slowly grows over his lips]

Spéir: (darkly) … and then you had to get in the way, didn't you?

Spéir: [ears tensed back in fury, but—]

Spéir: [face twitches, then he forces himself to recollect his expression and take a slow, deep breath]

Spéir: okay. Chill. Chill out, Spéir.

Spéir: [transitions his single deep breath into a series of them. Slowly slumps back against the tree trunk, forcing himself to relax as he looks up at the fake sky]

Spéir: [… and remembers the nightmare scenario that'd unfolded when Talamhdé had shattered around them. How he'd been powerless, how Scamall had been left to struggle alone while he was forced to watch helplessly]

Spéir: [… and how Scamall had survived it]

Spéir: [her compassion had got her through it]

God: "with the… faerie… motive!?" Scamall: (brokenly) "I just… want to help them? I'm—I'm sorry?" God: "… not… hurt?" Scamall: "wh—hurt!? No!"

Spéir: [swallows, the familiar feeling of dread and terror settling over his heart]

Spéir: I would have died. God would have killed me. If that were me—if I'd been the one to talk to them instead—

Spéir: [ears tense and lowered from panic, hesitantly looks back to Nova]

Nova: [still visibly asleep, but in the process of pulling their limbs away from the brambles encasing them]

[Except… the brambles easily release them, letting them move freely]

Nova: [snore hiccupping, rolls to the side—and finally bumps into Scamall]

Spéir:

Nova: [sniffles in their sleep. After a moment's hesitation, awkwardly wraps their arms around Scamall and buries their face into her back]

Spéir: [snarls, ears drooping and rage flooding through him—]

Spéir: [until he's hit by the wave of terror at the idea of crossing them]

Spéir: [takes a shuddering, gasping breath before tearing his eyes from them, staring hard at a tree instead]

Spéir: [… remembers all too well the closest thing they had to a 'run-in' with God before. When it'd killed Moyner, the archfaerie that'd enthralled Spéir and Scamall over a decade ago]

Spéir: [never knew exactly what she did to piss God off, but…]

Spéir: [has his suspicions]

[God had instilled an absolute respect for its power in the siblings that day. Scamall respected and admired it for what it did for them, but Spéir…]

[Well, Spéir was bitter.]

Spéir: [hated it for having been so capable of freeing them, but never doing so, until the archfae had slighted it personally. And then, with its vengeance enacted, completely vanishing once again]

Spéir: [lets out a slow, heavy sigh as he finally manages to release the tension in his body]

Spéir: [ears drooping and face subtly twisted, hesitantly looks back to Nova]

Nova: [completely relaxed for once, cuddled into Scamall's back]

Scamall: [turned half to the side to lean into Nova, but still cuddling the stuffed animal Spéir had given her]

Spéir: [returning his eyes to Nova, to himself) … that's almost certainly Dhia, but…

Spéir: [swallows again, dropping his eyes to the leaves littering the ground]

Spéir: … even if they're not… that was God.

Spéir: [can't help but remember the trees that'd warped into long fingers, forming hands and gripping the earth beneath them… which had already shattered]

Spéir: [like, what was even the point? It already had complete control over the world. It'd already scared them shitless. So what was THE POINT!?]

Spéir: (hesitantly) … either way—[slowly looks to Scamall again, then Nova]—we're involved with God now.

Spéir: [gives a weak, broken sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob as he leans back against the tree again, looking up at the fake sky]

[… the fake sky made so by God.]

[God, who kept the world torn apart, who kept them lost, kept everything miserable]

Spéir: (to himself) … so I need to be careful.

Spéir: [eartips drooping against his shoulders, hesitantly looks down at Nova without moving his head]

Nova: [still cuddled against Scamall's back, snoring softly]

Spéir: [eyes dart to Scamall's face]

Scamall: [relaxed, sleeping easily as she most often did… despite the creature clinging to her.]

Spéir: [gives another broken laugh, turning his eyes to the sky again]

Spéir: this is why I've always told you to listen to me, Scamall… I leave you on your own for just a bit, and you get us into this situation…

So... a lot of bombshells have been dropped. Spéir has a bunch of archfaeries' emblems? Why have archfaeries "backed" him? Last but not least: what's with his absolute hatred for Nova?

... and and who is Dhia, anyway?

story intro table of contents chapter one < last part next part >

dividers by @thyming, @thecutestgrotto, and @saradika