I can’t believe I forgot this, but there was a meme we made when Shams and I were doing that RP. It’s the B99 meme with Rosa, just with Ivy’s face and Morgana’s name.
‘I’ve only had Morgana for an hour and a half, but if anything happens to them I will kill everyone in the room and then myself’
Bard’s Note: Special thanks to @theshapeshifter100 as always! I’ll put the meme in the end notes XD
—
As expected she was up at dawn and heading back to the Bastion. She travelled for the same day and a half time span, and arrived there about midday.
She sat down in kitchen more or less as soon as she arrived and began to eat, ravenous.
Meanwhile in her room, Green set aside her quill and glanced over at the window. It was noon, and she hadn’t left her room since yesterday evening. All she had to eat was a leftover apple so far, and her stomach wasn’t having it.
She went downstairs to eat, and spotted a familiar face.
Ivy had gone from eating her food to fending off Otto while trying to read her notes from Morgana. Half distracted she was only partially successful in holding him off.
Otto spotted Green before she did, and let out a gleeful caw before flying over, landing on her shoulder.
“Well hello again, little Buddy! It’s been a while! May I consider this an invitation?” Green made her way over to where Ivy was sitting. “Look at who I found, or rather, who found me!”
“Huh?” Ivy looked up from her work, having barely noticed that Otto had disappeared. Her stew was 90% broth at this point. “Hi Green! You’re still here?”
“Yes, I am indeed! It’s quite a lovely place here, and I have to admit I missed the slightly higher altitudes… I could stay here even longer!”
“Haven’t you got a kingdom tour to do?” Ivy asked. She eyed Otto, who was preening Green’s hair. “He really likes you. He doesn’t do that to just anyone,” she remembered she was hungry and picked up her bowl to drink the broth from.
“Glad to know that!” Green grinned profusely at Otto’s display of affection. “That is precisely my problem. But I will enjoy the time I can spend here!”
“I’m sure someone has something to say about the raid on the bridge, or have you already found them?” Ivy half grinned. “Oh, by the way, I found Morgana.”
“Oh, did you?”
“Yes, just the other day.”
“How’d you manage to catch that wild girl?”
“Otto pulled Eamon’s tail, her bird chased mine and I asked her if she knew a Mage Morgana,” Ivy shrugged. “And, I wouldn’t have called her ‘wild’. The girl I met was pretty subdued.”
“But all over the place nonetheless. Just a wonderful balance! And by now I am convinced Otto is your go-to conversation starter.”
“He is. It can be very annoying,” she narrowed her eyes at Otto, who continued to run his beak through Green’s hair. “Either way, I have the translations,” she jabbed a finger at her journal.
“Oh, you made quite a bit of progress!”
“We did! The first page is a phrase of protection, do you have some spare paper or parchment? I don’t like ripping pages out of here,” Ivy admitted sheepishly.
“Do-ah, do I- how dare you!” Green spluttered. “I am a bard and a scholar! What would I do without pen and paper!” with an exaggerated look, she pulled out a miniature notebook and a stick of graphite from a jacket pocket.
Ivy held her hands up in defence. “Sorry, didn’t want assume!” she held back laughter. “Don’t write it down yet, I’m not done,” she moved onto another section. “We got the back pages too, four names. Names of Fae,” she trailed off, waiting for a reaction.
“Names? Full names? As far as I know they might give us power!”
“They might do. One we’ve come across before, Phantom. One I already knew, Le Fey. Then we’ve got Natemare and ÆlfswiÞ, which translates to ‘Strong Fae’. I’ve also got a theory. The other Fae in the Forest was called Author, and the author of the book disappeared. I just, wonder if the two are one and the same.”
“ÆlfswiÞ? Did I say that right?” Green had no ideas on Ivy’s theory. “It seems so… different from the others,” she glanced at Ivy cautiously.
“I have no idea, I can barely even spell it let along say it!” Ivy shrugged helplessly. “Here’s my book to copy it all down,” she pushed her journal over. “And, er, we could always ask Morgana for the exact pronunciation, later.”
“Of course, she’s the expert…” Green was copying everything feverishly.
Ivy shifted awkwardly, waiting for Green to finish before dropping her last piece of news. She doubted Green was going to like it.
“Yes, well, we will be able to ask her at some point… she’s coming.”
Green’s head snapped up. “She’s what now?”
“She, she wanted to come, and after some arguing, I said yes,” Ivy had a sheepish expression. “I mean, she’s survived a raid in the Western Forest, so she’s tough and knows magic. And we might need a guide.”
Green stared blankly at Ivy for a long, uncomfortably minute. She moved in close to Ivy’s face. “Do you know what that poor child has been through?”
“She told me some of it, yes. About her mother, and her father, and I sympathise, but she has a really scary glare!” it was a weak argument and she knew it.
“She… she has,” Green looked away. “We have to protect her at all costs.”
“I agree.” Ivy nodded. “I do not intend for any further harm to come to her if I can help it. I intend for her to guide us in the forest, and hopefully navigate a way for her to not go into the Fae Realm. If that fails, we’ll just have to see what happens.”
“I’m sure we can manage… though I, too, had a thought! I hope you don’t me employing other messenger’s services, but I sent someone to my room in Noefrach. Wanna guess why?” she was obviously trying to distract herself.
Ivy noticed. “Of course I don’t mind, but go on.”
“I remembered a nice piece of clothing I had locked away as a means of avoiding bad memories… that I may or may not have had gotten from a certain someone…”
“…Who, Morgana?” Ivy was lost.
“No, not quite,” Green smirked. “Think better.”
“Your family? You don’t seem to like them.”
“Noooo, when I said better I meant more convenient to us…”
“Is it enchanted?”
“Might as well be, but who knows with their kind…”
“It’s from Nathan and Paultin!” Ivy finally had it. In her defence she was tired from riding all day and her brain was a little fried from trying to memorise the protection phrase.
“It is! It must be Paultin’s if I remember correctly. I thought it would be the perfect bargaining chip, or at least a bait of the good kind.”
“Yeah, I could imagine he’d want it back.” There was some relief at the idea of not having to sell her soul for this, but she didn’t dare get her hopes up too high.
“So that is another reason why I’m still here. I’m waiting for it to get delivered.”
“Makes sense. I don’t know if I’m still going to be here tomorrow or not, but we’ll see.”
“Oh, you don’t have to stay really. I’m just collecting useful items for the journey to come, one day.”
“Hopefully it won’t be too long,” just thinking about it made Ivy nervous. “I’m almost there with the shield, I think I can convince Irnas to get me into the Enchantment Tower next time I see them. Then I can go get my mother’s hagstone, and get honey. Morgana’s going to get her hagstone as well, then I’ll probably head to Stiofán, it’s where I keep most of my stuff.”
“Wow, we almost seem well prepared…”
“You would think that, wouldn’t you!” Ivy tried to laugh. It sounded a little hollow. “Honestly Green? I’m terrified. I’ve done raids countless times, but this is somehow worse. The anticipation, what we might find, I just…” Ivy leaned over in her chair, hand over her mouth. “I’m scared shitless thinking about it.”
“I… I’m sure we’ll be fine. We are adaptable, all of us, and we have quite a number of options by now. Something is bound to come up our way.”
“We’ll just have to see won’t we,” Ivy smiled tightly. “Now, are you going to eat or what?”
At the word ‘eat’ Otto croaked loudly, excited to get something from Green.
“Well yes, I’m going to eat. Let me just get my plate, also I think I stole your raven…”
“You’re welcome to him!”
Otto croaked in protest and Ivy laughed, properly this time. “I’m joking Otto, calm down!”
In about a minute, Green returned to the table, set the plate in front of her, and eyed it as hungrily as the bird on her shoulder. “Man, I’ve only had an apple so far today, I could eat two of these…”
“I’d better deal with the thief then,” in a swift movement Ivy leaned over the table and grasped Otto around the middle, clamping his wings against his body. He squawked in protest as she lifted him off Green’s shoulder and plopped on the table by Ivy’s bowl. “Steal from mine, like you usually do.”
“Aaaaw, it’s fine, really, he can have a piece or two.”
“Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile,” Ivy warned as Otto hopped over, eyeing Green’s fresh food.
Green eyed him suspiciously. “How about, my dear friend, I eat first and you get whatever I leave for you? As I understand it you’ve already had quite a lot.”
Otto looked like he might be contemplating it as he slowly shuffled over. He then shot his beak forward, grabbing the biggest vegetable he could and flew up into the rafters to eat it, making muffled laughing noises.
“I did warn you.”
Green grinned and shook her head. “I’ll have to eat quickly then…”
Ivy grinned in return and flicked her eyes up. “Indeed. I hope you don’t mind not tasting your food.”
“I don’t mind at all when I’m hungry!” Green began to eat, as quickly as promised. Ivy tried to hold back her laughter as she followed suit, not that she had much left.
Ivy held up her empty bowl in Otto’s direction, who had just finished his massive vegetable. “All gone!”
Otto looking hopefully at Green, who wiped her mouth.
“I have a small carrot here, want it?” she offered.
“Don’t encourage him,” Ivy groaned as Otto perked up and flew down to take the carrot, it disappeared down his gullet in seconds. “You’ll get too fat to fly at this rate.”
Green almost choked on her food from that, giggling.
Otto didn’t care, taking a moment to preen his wing feathers before flying out of the door as someone opened it. Possibly to prove a point.
“What a diva,” Green commented as he left.
“He really is…” Ivy leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of tea and letting her food go down. “Well then, how about we go over some fighting after lunch, hmm?”
“Sounds like a wonderful idea!”
—
I can’t find what raid the thing about the bridge is referring to I’m afraid. And I think this is 23rd July, catching us up to Gus and Jon meeting.
Bard’s Note: I don’t have time to find the references atm but i might come back and add more end notes in the future. Anyways have a meme.
Bard’s Note Update: Okay so technically its the 22nd, but that’s just bc of the whole timeline date issue that is probs going to be present for the rest of this series. Also the bridge raid may be referring to the one in April? There were like a half dozen raids in the first half of 1614 so it’s hard to pin down specifics.
We're going to jump forward a little bit (we'll be jumping back again, but this seemed like a good place to put this)
23rd July 1614, Fort Conchúr, we finally see where the hell Gus has been, since Ivy couldn't find him!
Jon Quillan belongs to @marginmaster87
Bard's Note: And everything else is @theshapeshifter100! Thanks for writing this up as always.
---
Jon sat at a mess table in Fort Conchúr with a bowl of soup. He poked at it before getting out his knife to fiddle with it. He was a wiry young man of around 16 with red hair and just generally looked strong, so even though he wasn’t from this garrison, he looked like he belonged.
Across him sat Gus, a tallish and broad man with black hair speckled with grey. He saw Jon sit down and titled his head to get a better look at the knife.
It was simple but sturdy, a single piece of iron with a strap of leather appearing to be the only thing holding the wooden handle on. Gus wasn’t impressed by this and narrowed his eyes at it.
“Hope that’s soldered on underneath there,” he muttered to himself, expecting the sound to be swallowed by the loud eating area.
“Of course,” Jon had heard him. “I did it myself.”
Gus started a little,” Good to hear my man!” he saved with a winning smile. “You a blacksmith? You’ve got the build for it.”
Jon smiled good-naturedly, but it was tired. “When I have the time. They wouldn’t happen to be hiring?”
“You can always ask. The Smith here’s a good man,” Gus took a spoonful of stew from his bowl and continued to speak with his mouth partially full. “Can’t give you a definite answer, I’m just visiting today.”
“Me too. Too bad I couldn’t find what I was looking for. What are you here for?”
“Some of my family wanted to see me, but I couldn’t get to all the way they are, and they couldn’t get to where I was, so we’re meeting in the middle,” Gus paused, doing the mental geography. “Roughly.”
“Makes sense,” Jon’s expression dropped. “I’m looking for family, too.”
Gus shifted to lean a bit closer over the table. Jon’s expression was not a happy one and that would not stand. “I’m sure you’ll find them.” He smiled warmly. “I’m Gus Graham, you?”
“Jon Quillan,” he held out a hand to shake.
“Quillan?” Gus asked as he shook Jon’s hand. “That’s a familiar name. You don’t happen to have a sister, do you?”
“I do!” Jon sat up a little straighter. “You wouldn’t happen to know her? She’s about average height, red hair…” he trailed off as Gus’s expression turned sombre.
“I’m sorry. She went with my friend into the Western Forest, and only my friend came out. She was, really upset about it. Last I saw her she was heading to, Cnocrann? Something like that?”
“Cnocrann,” Jon confirmed. “My hometown. I met her there when she…” Jon paused to take a deep breath, “...broke the news. I should have asked more questions, tried to get her to take me back where they went, but…” he trailed off, looking helplessly at his hands.
Gus tried to find the right thing to say. “There’s a lot of things that should have been done. I saw them two days before she disappeared. I wonder what have happened if I had convinced them to stay,” Gus stared off into the distance for a second before coming back to himself. “I need to see if I can get hold of Ivy, see if she remembers. But getting hold of her is a nightmare at the best of times.”
“You couldn’t have convinced her to stay. Not even my other sister was able to do that.”
“She seemed like a lovely girl,” Gus took a gulp of tea. “How’s, how’s everyone coping?” Gus floundered for appropriate subject matter.
“My sister is… not doing well. My parents are devasted, obviously, and I tried to join the Guard before I learned it took a few years before you get to do anything.”
Gus tilted his head at that. “The Guard huh? Yeah, if you want to do something immediately, Guard’s not good,” Gus leaned back for a minute. “My family will be here for a day or so, but, they’re not here yet. I could show you a few things.”
“Really? That would be great!”
“Good to hear,” Gus continued to eat. “Not good to train immediately after eating. Meet you outside in an hour Jon?”
“Sounds good.”
--
An hour or so later Gus was waiting in the training fields. The late July sun beat down in the early afternoon, and he had dispensed with his shirt, revealing a solid physique as he stood in his trousers and boots.
Jon, a bit more self conscious, has kept his shirt on as he stepped onto the field. He approached Gus, who clapped his hands together and turned the weapons rack.
“Do you have any experience with weapons?”
“Not unless you count horse whips. Well, that’s not true, I know a few knife tricks.”
“Okay, there are targets over there, but we can do that later,” Gus turned back around to face him. “What about hand to hand? Like, wrestling?”
“Ooooh yeah, major pastime where I’m from.”
Gus grinned. “Okay then,” he settled into a crouched position, arms out in front to grab. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Jon barely got into position, just rushing forward. Nothing special, but not bad. Gus dipped to one side and tackled Jon’s knees, aiming to take him to the ground.
Jon went to the ground, but recovered quickly and wriggled away. Gus tried to snatch his ankle, but Jon turned out to be a bit more slippery than the ex-blacksmith though. Gus jumped to his feet and slide carefully towards Jon.
“You’re a fast one,” he grinned.
“Thanks,” Jon grinned back and feinted left before going for Gus’s legs, mimicking Gus’s move. It managed to take Gus by surprise and he didn’t move away in time. Gus went to the ground, and attempted to roll, but Jon had him pinned.
“Damn! You’re good at this!”
Jon grunted as he struggled to hold Gus down. “You’re strong!”
“Why thank you!” Gus grunted, still unable to get free. “My Pa’s a blacksmith and the Guard was good for something I guess.”
“You’re in the Guard?” Jon panted. “How was it?”
“Alright,” in a sudden burst of strength Gus managed to roll so that Jon was trapped underneath him. “Took me a while to notice how much the Guard didn’t like anyone who didn’t fit that well.”
“That’s a shame. You’d think they’d have the sense to be nice to potential allies,” Jon tried to escape the pin, but was knocked back to the ground.
“You’d think. It’s an old group. They have their way of doing things, and it worked for me for a while,” Gus grinned a little down at Jon, “I used to think the Watch was nothing special honestly.”
“Why not?” he wiggled hard, but to no avail. “I mean, isn’t it just the Guard with more nerds?”
Gus burst out laughing, and his grip weakened, but still managed to keep Jon pinned. “I suppose it is! Leaning more towards nerds than the Guard,” his whole frame shook with laughter, but he got it under control as he spoke. “But yeah, didn’t think that. Just thought it was a bunch of untrained nerds who were sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong.”
Jon managed to wriggle from Gus’s lax grip and rolled into a standing position. Gus got up and they circled each other. “Well, that’s kind of stupid, no offense. You know, back in our town most people consider the Watch and the Guard to be the same basic thing.”
Gus made a grab for Jon’s knee and missed. “It is and isn’t. Guard has standardised training across the board. The Watch is a bit hit and miss with quality. And there’s more nerds.”
“Oi! I come from a long line of proud nerds!” Jon cried jokingly. He grabbed for Gus’s leg and managed to pull him down. Gus rolled along the curve of his spine and kicked up a Jon, kicking him off.
“Never would have guessed!” Gus grinned.
“Ooof!” Jon landed hard on his backside, but quickly recovered by leaping at Gus. He didn’t react in time and back to the ground.
“Touch a nerve did I?” Gus had a shit eating grin on his face.
“Nah, I’m just that good,” Jon was doing his best to keep Gus pinned. Despite that, Gus wriggled free and sprung up into a crouch.
“You are good… for a nerd.”
Jon went into a crouch as well. “You’re smart, for a jock.”
Gus’s grin got wider as Jon participated in the ribbing. “Brains and brawn, the winning combination!” he leapt for Jon and took him to the ground. Jon struggled, but he remained pinned.
“We should form a team!” Jon suddenly declared.
“I like that plan,” Gus continued to hold him down. “Rescue team?”
“Water first,” Jon gasped, “then rescue team.”
Gus half considered keeping him pinned, but he wasn’t that much of a jerk. “Oh alright then,” he rolled off and up to his feet before holding his hand out to help Jon up.
“Thanks.”
“No worries,” Gus took a step back. “I did not bring water, kitchen?”
“Sounds good to me,” Jon followed Gus back to kitchen to get water.
Gus did not bother putting his shirt back on as they got two cups of water.
“Gotta say, it’s pretty warm out there,” Gus admitted, now that they were no longer rolling around on the ground.
“Yeah, it is pretty steamy,” Jon took his own shirt off finally. A light breeze kicked up and it felt amazing. Gus glanced over before looking into the distance across the training fields.
“So, rescue team. Find your sister and any other lost souls in the Forest,” Gus spoke dramatically.
“You better believe it,” Jon took a sip of water and looked at Gus, expression quiet. “She’s not dead. I’d know if she was.”
“I believe you. Ivy said she wasn’t dead.”
Jon took another sip. “You sure you want to come?”
Gus had not been completely serious about the rescue team, but with how earnest Jon was being, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Sure, rescuing fair damsels, distraught gentlemen, saving the day, sign me up!”
Jon smiled fully and looked down at his cup. “We should find Ivy then. Let her know we’re coming to help.”
“Good luck with that!” Gus laughed. “Even I don’t know where she is right now!”
“Oh,” Jon looked pensive for a moment. “Well, she’s a Messenger, right? I can just leave a message here for the next time she comes around.”
“Which could be either tomorrow or next year.”
“I’d stay myself, but it’s almost time for harvest…”
“I’m usually at the Hold,” Gus shrugged. “I can try and get something out to her, but I can’t guarantee anything.”
“Would you? That would be amazing, I might also send a message to Stiofan, just to be sure.”
“Alright, I’ll drop something at the Hold and leave something here. Other than sending a message to every Outpost that seems like the best shot… Although I could so that, if no one got too annoyed.”
“I think those three big ones will be enough. She’s bound to hit one of them before too long.”
“The Hold’s not a big one, but it’s often getting messages. I just happen to be stationed there. But, yeah, she should hit one eventually.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the game, man. And thanks for coming along on the mission,” Jon held out his hand to shake.
Gus was a little surprised at the abruptness but shook Jon’s hand. “Sure, no problem…” Gus looked back down. “I’d better get my shirt back on, my family will probably be here soon.”
“Your family?” Jon put his shirt back on.
“Yeah, they’re coming up to visit, since I’m living so far from home these days.”
“That’s nice. Tell them hi from me. I better get back home.”
“Already? Your home’s what, on the other side of the kingdom?”
“That’s why I need to get back. Liked I said, it’s nearly early harvest.”
“Makes sense. I’ll send you a message if I actually get hold of Ivy. Jon Quillan right?”
“Right. See you sometime, Gus,” he waved as she headed for the message station.
“See ya Jon, good sparring!” Gus went to go find his shirt, so he wouldn’t get lectured by his aunt about decency.
---
So, I feel like I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Gus is bi. This is relevant because this was origionally where that got revealed. Months after this rp I did the numbers and realised that Gus was at least 7 years older than Jon, so, no. I took it out. I hadn't realised at the time.
That said Em coming into the chat going 'GUS LIKES GUS?!' 'GUS LIKES GUYS?!" and me responding 'yes, to both of those', is a treasured memory XD
I also haven't really done much with Gu's extended family. They exist, they're mostly horse ranchers.
Bard's Note: Oh my gosh I remember that! Yeah I was so stoked. I found the screenshots for posterity's sake too:
Bard’s Note: Day 9 of Inktober 2020 is a tale that features @viostormcaller‘s Mage Vio Stormcaller, @a-septic-mind‘s Nurse Dawn Elizabeth Hatch, and @theshapeshifter100‘s Messenger Ivy Paris and Knight Gus Graham. The inspiration came from my plans for the second book of the novelization, so I don’t really have a equivalent AU date to match. It could be anytime post 1613 honestly, so I’ll just throw a 1615 date on here and call it a day for now XD
__***__***__***__
Vio’s valiant attempt to hide her disgust was quite sweet, really, but the bitterness of the dish in front of her was completely overpowering.
“In my defense,” Keyes said, laughing at her partner’s appalled expression, that was likely mirrored on her own face, “those herbs taste good in cheese, and cheese is a protein, so I thought-”
“You drowned a perfectly good rabbit stew in rosemary?” Ivy asked, looking horrified.
“There was a bush right there!” Keyes protested, pointing behind her at a clump behind their camp. “Dawn said-”
“-That it’d be useful in A meal, not THIS one!” Dawn insisted.
“Hold on,” said a deeper voice as Gus, who had been alternating between disgust and amusement in the background, stepped closer to the firelight. “I’m no cook, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had rosemary in meat stew before-”
“See!”
“- but you picked so much, I could smell the stuff from where I was keeping watch back there!”
“Oh.” Keyes deflated, but only slightly, a tiny smile still attempting to push its way past the twist of her mouth against the lingering bitter aftertaste. It was a testament to their group dynamic that she had long since stopped confusing the gentle ribbing of friends with true harshness, although...
Ivy’s brow had shot up at her old friend’s statement. “If you knew beforehand, you could have done us all the courtesy of warning her before she used that much.” Her voice was dry, but not exactly unkind, prompting Gus to throw his hands up in surrender.
“I didn’t realize she was going to use all of it!”
One thing was for sure: she wasn’t going to volunteer to cook for the group ever again.
Author’s Note: This takes place Oct 1614 in Rúnach Hold.
Bard’s Note: This is @theshapeshifter100‘s submission for Day 6 of Inktober 2020; thanks Holly!
__***__***__***__
Gus shuddered, shoving his hands under his armpits, and stamping his feet a little harder as he walked to try and get some feeling into his toes. It was a cold day in October, and not an unusual time for drills, but holy shit he did not want to be here.
Still, he and the rest of the group grabbed their drill equipment and filed out into the training field, metal armour clanking and breath misting in front of them.
At the head of the field already was an older man from Tandeli, one of those old men who was still somehow in his prime. A neat white beard clung to his face while leaving his head bald, and he watched the arriving fighters with a steely look in his dark eyes.
Gus moved to a spot in line, standing to attention as though he was back in the Guard. He almost might as well have been, Alf was about as strict as any drill instructor at the Whetstone.
“Warm up!” Alf barked, his own practice sword at his side. “Five jogging laps around training field, then we stretch! Go!”
Whatever chill anyone might have had, either from the physical cold, or the Western Forest looming nearby, was quickly dispelled as they shambled into a jog in full armour. Five laps wasn’t too bad, but Alf never started hard, he just worked his way up. If any one of them, in any way, was cold after this, they wouldn’t be for long.
Gus shifted awkwardly, looking over his shoulder as he waited for Ivy to show up. It didn’t take that long to get to Mulladún and back, she should be here soon!
He clenched his hand around his tankard and tried to relax the rest of himself, with little success. Part of him knew it was stupid, but…
He, a Knight, was sitting in Runner’s Haven, surrounded by Green Cloaks.
He was enemy territory, even if the Haven was the least militarised Watch outpost. The only reason no one had picked anything with him was because he wasn’t wearing his tabard.
Gus snorted to himself, ‘militarised’, yeah, because the Watch was even a patch on the Guard. These people were just civilians, they didn’t have the years of training a Knight had.
Finally he spotted Ivy weaving her way to his table. She didn’t exactly stand over the crowd, but her sun bleached blonde hair was easy to spot. He passed her the now room temperature mead as she sat down, and she just nodded thanks.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah,” Ivy took a swig before putting the cup back on the table. “I had to offer to collect all of Glenbeg’s messages didn’t I?” she still half smiled at that, finding it a bit funny.
Gus rolled his eyes. “Of fucking course you did! You really are a messenger.”
“It was fine, it’s what you do. I got paid for it so no real complaints from me,” Ivy raised her eyebrow at Gus. “Although maybe have a word with your aunt about sending care packages.”
Gus groaned. “She didn’t…”
“She did. Had to tie it to Firefly’s saddle and she was not impressed.”
“Sorry.”
“Damn, you apologised. That’s rare.”
“Shut up,” Gus groused, taking a drink. “I just know what she’s like, it just hasn’t been a problem before.”
“I suppose, Firefly’s just not used to it,” Ivy folded her arms onto the table and leaned forward. “Also, interesting note, before you spotted me you looked as uncomfortable as a rabbit in a fox’s den.”
“How do you know I’m the rabbit? I could be the fox!”
“A fox in a rabbit’s burrow would be having the time of their lives and dominating the room. You looked like you wanted the floor to swallow you up.”
Gus leaned back and ran a hand through his dark hair.
“It’s fine.”
“Really? Or are you just saying that because feelings are not for the likes of the Guard?”
“Shut up,” Gus hissed, leaning back in again.
“Oooooh, you just don’t like being surrounded by Green Cloaks,” she raised an eyebrow at him.
“If they knew-!”
“That you’re a lone Knight talking someone most people recognise the face of by now then I think you’ll be fine,” Ivy took a sip. “Or is the big bad Knight afraid of untrained civilians?”
Gus was about to throw his tankard at Ivy’s head.
“No!” he insisted through gritted teeth.
“Then what’s the problem?” Ivy looked incredibly smug as she calmly drank her mead.
“There is no problem.”
“Good. Anything interesting happen in Glenbeg?”
“Not really. Had to stop Ciara from skipping post.”
“Ah, all happening there then. Doesn’t sound boring in the slightest.”
“Are you deliberately trying to wind me up?” Gus grumbled.
“Yes. Is it working?”
“I’m about to tip this ale over your head.”
“That’s fair,” Ivy was smirking behind her drink as she took a sip. “You want to spar later? One of the patrol groups will head out in an hour so they’re just warming up a little bit.”
“Fine,” Gus sighed. “They better be prepared to lose,” he added, downing his drink.
Ten minutes later he was lying on his back with a training sword at his throat. His sparring partner, a Green Cloak at least ten years his senior, withdrew the wooden blade and held out their hand for Gus to help him up.
He strongly considered not taking it, but he could feel Ivy glaring holes in his head, so he took the offered hand.
“Pretty good,” the Green Cloak noted. “Knight? Ex Knight?”
“Still with the Guard,” Gus sent a pointed look, and the Green Cloak nodded.
“I see I see. Well if ever change your mind, we can always use more swords.”
Gus let out a short bray of laughter at that, but the Green Cloak wasn’t concerned, even has Ivy stormed over.
“I know I know, but there’s enough of us ex Guard and ex mercenaries to whip the normal folk into shape.”
“Yeah, and how do you take? Days? Weeks? You know the Guard takes years.”
“We don’t have years,” the Green Cloak flicked their eyes over at a glowering Ivy. “Stand down Paris, I’ve got this,” they looked back at Gus. “I know you don’t trust us-”
“You’re trying to do the Guard’s work without the same level of training, so no I don’t trust you to do this properly!”
“Gus!” Ivy interjected, but the other Green Cloak held up their hand.
“He has a point. That’s why we have Knights and mercenaries as Watchers. They do a lot of the training and organising.”
“So, the cheap way out.”
“Maybe, but it works.”
“Okay, maybe that’s enough for today,” Ivy stepped in. “Gus do you have to stand post or something?”
“Yes. I think I do,” Gus was rarely this irritated, but this whole thing tended to get a rise out of him. “Thanks for delivering the package Paris. I’ll see another time.”
With that he walked off at what he assumed was a reserved pace.
(This is only a few days after this one, so late 1610/early 1611. Gus comes around, eventually)
He remembers the man who approached his father. They were dressed in a red and blue tabard, the mark of the griffin standing proud.
It was a Saturday, when Pa would open up the front of the shop to customers and Gus would watch and try to pay attention to how it all worked. He was a big boy now, his Pa trusted him with the forge every morning.
The man in red and blue was talking about this big project, but Gus wasn’t listening as much as he should be. Just outside the shop were two figures in shiny armour.
He looked between his Pa and the man, and they both seemed distracted. So without anyone noticing, Gus slipped away from the shop and went outside.
They were standing either side of the door, dressed head to toe in shiny metal armour, with red and blue tabards and helms covering their faces. Gus only reached as high as their hip, so they didn’t see him immediately.
He stared at the swords sheathed at their hips. He didn’t know that these were not the standard arming swords of the Guard, they were a bit fancier with detailing on the crossguards and pommels, while the scabbards had the same red and blue of their tabards, along with the symbol of the Guard.
He startled back a little as the shop door opened and the man who’d been talking to his father came out. The man paused, quickly spotting Gus.
“You’re the blacksmith’s son, aren’t you?”
“Yes sir,” Gus squeaked, wondering if he was in trouble.
“I’ve just given your Pa a big order, are you going to help with it?”
Gus nodded earnestly.
The man thought for a second before crouching down to Gus’s level.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Gus hadn’t really thought about it until now, but he just looked at the swords on the Guard’s hips. They had noticed him now, looking down at him with their eyes but otherwise not breaking position.
“A Guard huh?” the man ruffled Gus’s fluffy black hair. “Well hopefully I’ll see you at the Whetstone in a few years time lad.”
They straightened up, and with a wave to Gus, walked away. The two Guards marched after him, keeping perfect step.
“Gus!” his Pa called from the chop, sounded worried.
“Coming!” Gus scampered back into the shop.
---
It was rumours at first. Something that customers would mention to each other, thinking that Gus and Griff couldn’t hear them. Or gossiped about around the wells in Archath.
The Red Knight was riding again, having donned his gambeson.
Gus was supposed to be working, helping Pa with orders, bringing water from the well to douse the metal in or assisting in the forging. Instead, the moment he heard anything that sounded like ‘Lord’ or ‘Jack’ or ‘Red’ or ‘Knight’, he’d stop everything and listen.
School, when he went, wasn’t much better, and the time Gus had free was spent trying to find what Lord Jackie did before he was a Lord.
He made a decision then, that he would be the Red Knight’s squire.
He spent ages picking a name, trying to work out what he would wear when he joined the Red Knight saving people in the kingdom and fighting the Enemy, the coward who hid in the Western Forest.
He challenged his Pa’s apprentices to sparring matches, not that Gus really knew how to fight, he was just strong.
He made plans to run away and join the Red Knight. When the workload was down, so it didn’t affect the forge too much. When they got an apprentice again. When it got warmer.
Suddenly no one was talking about the Red Knight.
He’d vanished.
---
He had joined the Guard now. That was where Lord Jackie had trained. Since Lord Jackie seemed to no longer be around, someone had to take his place. Someone had to be hero.
Gus felt like a hero. Each movement felt right. His weapons felt like extensions of his own arms. His armour as light as a feather. He could do anything!
“Hey Bellows!” a Squire in his year sat on his bunk while Gus polished his boots. “Time off tonight, want to ride out to the tavern?”
Squires were supposed to be disciplined, but they were also only human.
“Sure!”
---
Something itched inside Gus’s brain. Standing post in a nowhere hamlet called Glenbeg. This wasn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t what he was meant to do!
Be patient. His mind whispered. Climb the ranks. Be the best.
That was a point. He’d been waiting most of his life. He could wait a bit longer.
---
Gus winced, nursing several injuries as a nurse patched him up.
A group of fighters from Fort Conchúr had been asked to help out in House Brody with recent raids, and Gus couldn’t wait to go with them.
His first real battle had been shit.
It was like everything he’d ever learned about fighting had vanished from his head and something in his core had frozen solid. He’d just watched as a horde of creatures he could barely even see came charging at him.
Something had clicked and he began to fight. Endless drills had made all of this second nature, but this hadn’t been sparring. They weren’t going to stop when a claw nicked his arm. Or when another got his leg. Or when something had jumped on his chest, knocking the wind of him and shoving him to the ground.
“It doesn’t hurt too much does it?” asked the nurse wrapping up his arm. “I can get you something for that.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” Gus lied. It didn’t hurt that much. Not as much as his pride.
The nurse hummed under their breath and carried on.
“You lot did good out there. Kept ‘em off the village.”
Gus just looked away. They couldn’t be talking about him.
“Now, are you being modest or do you disagree with me?”
“…It went to shit.”
“Really? Between all of you, you kept them off the village, we managed to get the planting finished. No one died or went missing. All in all, it went pretty well for us.”
Gus looked up, confused. “But I-”
“It’s not all about you,” the nurse interrupted. “It’s a nice story, for a chosen one to rise up and defeat the evil. A chosen one isn’t going to end this. It’ll be ordinary people on the ground. You, me, the person writing the maps, the farmers. We’re all in this together. So get your head out of your arse and use the brain you were born with!”
Gus sat up a little straighter, and nodded. He wasn’t sure he believed them, but what they were saying did make sense.
(This one, as you can see, jumps around quite a bit. The first section is in 1597. The second one stretches across 1600 to Feb 1601. The third is late 1605. The fourth is late 1609 or early 1610, haven’t quite decided. The last one is March/April 1612)
can we pls talk about gennie and augustus bc i need this hc to thrive ngl
oh okay listen up buddy, in the au world where tom is with rose then you know for a fact that gen and gus would rise. they would be so soft oh goodness me I can’t even think about them like can we just…imagine her introducing him to her family and they would just love him because he comes from another family with strong values and like they know how lovely he is with rose and so they know he would never treat gennie badly and just AGH.
Amelia coughed over her arm, avoiding the powder she was grinding.
“That’s the third time in less than a minute” her boss noted from the front counter a few metres away. “You feeling okay?”
“Fine,” she coughed again.
Her boss let out a long sigh.
“It’s just a little cough.”
“We both know what ‘just a little cough’ can do to you.”
“I’ll just get something out of the store.”
“Fine, but only if you promise to see a doctor before it gets any worse.”
“You would think I was dying,” Amelia muttered, before sighing.
It was pride getting to her. She was frail, she just, didn’t like being reminded. She was rather sick of it.
“I’ll go after I finish today,” she said, putting her current work to one side and going to the store cupboard to look for something to sooth her throat, honey perhaps? Honey based tea sounded like an excellent idea.
“You do that,” her boss sighed before going back to work themselves.
(This is Amelia, Gus’s mum! Before she met Griff, but not long. This is possibly around 1586 @thewatchau)
