#inkheartexchange

[firejugglinghobo]

As an extra bonus gift, I made some textpost memes based on @shydragonrider‘s Inkworld fancast!  Click through for descriptions.

@inkheartexchange

[silver-words-and-inky-secrets]

Here’s my contribution to the @inkheartexchange for @tinuviel-tinuviel : ) I hope you like it <3 It was certainly fun to write

A Family Reunion

The snowflakes were bigger in the Inkworld, Meggie had noticed. It was her second winter in this world, and this time, she could actually enjoy it. The peace and quiet of bright winter days. The trees around the lonely farmhouse were covered in a thick, white blanket, slumbering and sometimes whispering in their sleep.

It was quiet most of the time, but today, voices and laughter sounded loudly through the trees. Dustfinger and his family had come to visit, Roxane, Brianna, Jehan and Farid were all there, and the Black Prince had come, too. Additionally, Elinor and Darius had decided to visit as well, and Fenoglio had also tagged along. Their house was pretty crowded right now, but Meggie did not mind. Their home was so full of life now, and she enjoyed the happy and relaxed atmosphere. Elinor was cooing at Dante, Fenoglio was telling the Prince and Darius about the song he intended to write next, and everyone seemed lively and busy. Meggie slowly turned around, searching for someone, until she found Farid standing in a corner, watching the family he had found with a smile on his lips.

Farid held a steaming mug of tea in his hand, although he seemed to have forgotten about it. When he noticed Meggie's gaze, he looked up and his smile grew even wider.

It had been a while since they had last seen each other. Farid travelled a lot, visited villages all over Lombrica and Argenta and sometimes even further away. But he always came back again. Back to Dustfinger, back to Gwin and Jink, and back to Meggie. Their relationship had changed, but they were still dear to each other.

Meggie was happy to see him. She went to Farid, who put down his mug, and drew him into a hug.

"Where have you been?" Meggie asked and listened as he told her about his latest journey. He had been in the south, at the coast, and even there the people had already heard of him. The fire-dancer's apprentice, almost as good and as famous as his master, the boy who was loved by the flames he played with. Meggie smiled as she listened to him.

"I think you'd enjoy Luvarno," Farid told her with bright eyes, "It's such a beautiful city! And the small villages along the way, too. Maybe you could go there with your parents when Dante is a little older?"

"Maybe, yes. Although travelling is definitely easier in the other world!" Meggie laughed, "But you know what? Let's take a little stroll outside. The forest is so beautiful in the snow,and I haven't had the chance to show you yet. You'll love it!"

Outside, the air was cold, and Meggie wrapped her cloak closer around herself. But the sun was shining, making everything glitter and sparkle. She breathed in and felt at peace.

It was so quiet. The songbirds huddled together between the bare twigs of ancient trees, the fairies were sleeping in their nests, but some creatures were still awake, despite the cold. A squirrel was scurrying through some branches. A crow watched them with wise eyes as the wind ruffled its feathers. Between the undergrowth, the bushy tip of a reddish tail disappeared. Meggie smiled. Sometimes, the Inkworld was so beautiful that she could barely believe that it was real.

They walked for a while, until Meggie began to shiver slightly. Farid noticed that she was cold, and rubbed his fingers together. A few whispered words later, and sparks were dancing on his palms. Carefully, he took Meggie's hands in his and warmed them.

Meggie sighed as the warmth seeped into her chilly bones.

"I wish I could do that, too."

Farid raised an eyebrow, and then slipped a hand into one of his pockets to take out a small packet. Meggie knew that this was where he kept a small amount of firehoney, and suddenly she felt a flutter of excitement rise in her chest, the same kind of excitement she felt when Resa told her about the years she had spend in the Inkworld, the same flutter she felt when she watched Mo save a poor mistreated book.

"I can teach you," he offered, the smile dancing in his dark eyes, and Meggie all but grinned back at him.

"That would be great."

[firejugglinghobo]

Gift for @shydragonrider for the @inkheartexchange! A mid-length drabble of some key events leading Firefox to where we find him in Inkspell, and tying in with Inkheart. (Put under read more so as not to clog up everybody’s dash!)

“What the hell is taking Basta so long?” Firefox grumbled, glaring out into the forest as if his frustration could speed things along.  He and Capricorn seemed to have been waiting for hours, and the evening sun was quickly slipping behind the trees.  If Basta didn’t turn up soon, they would be left waiting all night.  Firefox knew he was much too superstitious to venture into these woods after dark.

“He’ll be here,” Capricorn said coolly.  He was always much more confident in the knife-wielder than Firefox had ever been.

“I don’t know why you put so much faith in him,” he scoffed.  There was no love lost between the two of them, and he didn’t make any effort to hide it.

“Basta never disappoints.”  There was a familiar bloodthirsty gleam in Capricorn’s eye.  “If he says there’s something worth seeing out here, we’re sure to have some fun tonight.”

Yes, even Firefox had to admit, Basta seldom let his master down in that arena.  Even if Capricorn’s second-in-command would have prefered Basta himself as the evening’s entertainment… He was just pondering whether Capricorn would take favorably to the suggestion if he didn’t arrive soon when the man himself burst through the underbrush, pushing a sorry looking figure ahead of him.

“There!” Basta declared triumphantly, snagging Dustfinger by the collar.  “Didn’t I always tell you he was spying for the Black Prince?”  He shook the fire-dancer roughly, making him cough and grip at his shirt collar feelby.

Capricorn looked down at him with distaste, as if he were a dead beetle stuck to the sole of his shoe.  “What’s all this, Basta?  Have you lured us all here just to tell us what we’ve heard too many times already?”

Firefox smirked.  Basta had accused Dustfinger of every crime under the sun, in an attempt to convince his master to kill him or send him away for good.  They all knew he wasn’t trustworthy, but he had his uses, and Capricorn was wise enough not to allow his little rivalry with Basta get in the way.

Basta paled slightly at Capricorn’s condescension.  “Well, I’ve got proof now, haven’t I?  This little twerp-” Dustfinger cringed as Basta punctuated the insult with a knee to his ribs. “-followed you all the way from the fortress.  And I’ve just caught him red-handed sneaking closer for a good listen to what you were saying.”

“Oh, come now, Basta.”  Firefox scowled at firmly at him.  “Don’t tell me you’ve had us sitting out here in the middle of nowhere just so you could spy on our favorite pet fire-eater spying on us!”

Basta opened his mouth for a retort but never get the chance to speak.

Another voice was suddenly speaking, a commanding, alluring voice, drowning out all other sounds or thoughts.  Firefox clapped his hands over his ears to block it out, but it kept speaking, as if coming from inside his own mind.  He wanted to follow the voice; he didn’t know where, but he wanted more than anything to allow it to carry him away…

The other three clearly heard it, too.  Capricorn reached for his sword and Basta swore loudly.  The forest seemed to fade away around them, replaced instead with a cozy fire-lit room, lined with shelves of books.  There was a woman - no a child - and a man whose voice spoke their names, calling to them like White Women coming to take them away.

When the man looked up at them, the voice stopped just as suddenly as it had begun.  Firefox blinked hard to clear his vision, which was still swimming dizzily with desire.  The room was gone, with all its books and strange lights.  He was back in the forest once more.  And he was alone.

Or at least, he thought so.  Behind him, the underbrush rustled ominously, but when he turned with his hand on his sword, nothing but a cat ran past.

“Capricorn?”  His voice came as barely a whisper.  The light was fading fast now, and despite his best efforts, he felt as anxious as Basta to get out of the forest, but not before looking for his master.

There was no sign of him anywhere, or Basta and Dustfinger either.  No tracks that might give away their direction, no voices or sounds in the dark.  Just three imprints in the grass where they had stood just a moment ago.  They had all three vanished, as if snatched into thin air.

That man whose voice had so tempted him...he had to have been a wizard.  The others must not have been able to resist his call, and they had gone to him, wherever he was.  Firefox shivered at the thought.  He had been so close to going, too, kidnapped by words and a more powerful magic than he had ever witnessed.

Wherever they’d gone, they didn’t seem to be coming back in a hurry, but Firefox was feeling more uncomfortable in the forest by the minute.  With one last sweep of the clearing, he turned and began the grave trek back to Capricorn’s fortress.

Fortunately, Capricorn’s men were all quite used to their master disappearing without any explanation.  It didn’t take much coaxing from Firefox to make them believe he’d been called away unexpectedly on business.  As far as the day-to-day business of the fire-raisers, the following days were much like any others.  Firefox filled in for his master when it came to settling petty disputes among his men and giving orders for protection fees to be gathered from the surrounding villages.

Nobody seemed to miss Basta or Dustfinger.  As time went by, fewer jokes were made at their expense, and the gaps in entertainment that the loss of their quarrel left were soon filled by stories of one of Cockerell’s lovers.

Apprehension didn’t begin to grow until about a month after the disappearance, and even then Firefox acted quickly to quell the rumors of magic and murder that began to circle among the men.  He promoted those who were most loyal to him, and by some stroke of luck, many of Capricorn’s favorites eventually disappeared on their own - Fulvio, Cockerell, Mortola.  They left just as suddenly as if they too had been plucked away by the magic voice.  It saved Firefox a good deal of the trouble it would have taken to get rid of them himself.

Years stretched, until Capricorn was barely more than a legend, and the boys Firefox had recruited in the beginning were seasoned and loyal followers.  Even the Shadow seemed to have forgotten that it had ever had any other master.

Yes, things were going well.  Firefox had almost pushed the strange voice from his memory by the time it all happened a second time.

It had been an entirely unremarkable day.  Several of the men had blackmailed a local farmer into handing over a pig and had spent the day butchering it and laughing loudly at crude and bloodthirsty stories.  In the gathering dusk, the smells of the roast wafted temptingly through the battlements, and the Piper’s voice sounded through the courtyard, singing songs of feasting and triumph.

Firefox took it all in with a smile: his loyal men, the fortress under his command.  With him in charge, the last nine years had been more profitable and enjoyable than any he had spent under Capricorn.  It was good to be the one in charge.

A clamor of voices pulled Firefox from his idyllic pondering.  He scowled in their direction, expecting some petty dispute over seating at the table, but his mood turned grave at the sight of the Shadow rising unbidden from the ground beyond the fortress walls.  It never appeared unless called, and Firefox himself was the only one with that authority.

The Shadow let out a low, sorrowful moan and swayed slightly as it hunched over the fire-raisers, sending them scattering in all directions to avoid being peppered with the ash that flaked away from its towering form.  Something was wrong.  Firefox had never known the Shadow to posses any weakness, let alone show it.

He was moving toward it, ready to speak the words that sent it slinking back to wherever it hid while its master did not require it, when a familiar shiver snaked down his spine.  Just like that day so many years ago when the fate of the fire-raisers had been surprisingly changed, a voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.  This time Firefox didn’t even bother to press his hands over his ears.  He knew it wouldn’t do a thing, and this time he was eager to know what the voice was saying.

It was a different voice this time, a young child’s voice, perhaps a little girl.  How strange that such a young voice could be so enticing.  But it didn’t seem to be calling to him this time.  It had only one victim in mind.

The Shadow was gazing about for the source of the voice, as well, the look in its fiery eyes more panicked than that of any of Firefox’s men.  At its feet, the world appeared to warp and bend.  Firefox focused hard on the scene that seemed to be unfolding there.

There were no books, no room, no comfortable-looking chairs.  Only what seemed like a raised platform and - was that Capricorn!?  Damn.  Not dead after all this time, after all.  And in a cage not far off, that couldn’t be Basta!  If it was, he certainly had found his place where he belonged at long last.

Just as Firefox moved to get a better view, and some of his men began shouting that they too had caught sight of some familiar faces, the vision, along with the Shadow, vanished without a trace.  Confusion erupted everywhere, some men running toward the site of the apparition, hoping to catch sight of what was going on, and some away from it, fearful of a witch’s curse.

It took what seemed like hours for the men to calm down enough that any of Firefox’s words of reassurance would reach them.  They all had questions.  Was Capricorn still alive after all?  Had they all betrayed him by following Firefox?  Was he coming back to extract his revenge on them all?  Or was Firefox himself behind all that had happened?  Had he kidnapped Capricorn all those years ago?

The short answer to all of their wild accusations and frantic questions was, of course, “No.”  But they wanted more of an answer than that, and Firefox didn’t have it.  He’d always been much less of a believer in the supernatural than his predecessor, but this was something he simply could not explain.  Instead, he chose to look to the future.

What came next?  What would become of them all now that their greatest strength, the Shadow, was seemingly gone.  Without it, what set them apart from any of the other gangs of fire-raisers and bandits?

These were the questions Firefox was ready to answer.  For a long time, he had felt that he was thinking too small, and that greater things awaited him if he only had an opportunity to reach for them.  Now, the opportunity had presented itself to make a change, and he would be damned if he didn’t seize it.

So, when the voices finally settled and all questions had been asked, he raised a hand for silence, and unfolded his plan for their future.

“You are all right.  Things cannot be the same without the Shadow.  But it is high time we were finished with all of this magic and mayhem.  Something much more powerful is stirring in the south - conquest and the might of men.  We’ll need no more of spells and charms when we have a new benefactor: the Adderhead.”

[bottomoftheriverbed]

@inkheartexchange's winter exchange.

For @firejugglinghobo a tiny drabble set between inkheart and inkspell alternating between Elinor and Dustfinger's reflective angst

Was it a gift or a curse, she wondered. It had brought her family so much pain and sorrow but to be able to wrap your tongue around the words and bring them to life... What magic was that? How many worlds did she hold in her library. Did you have to read them out to make them live or were a thousand, living, breathing souls lie underneath her fingertips. If so, did they die when the pages they lived in turned to ash. Elinor shuddered at the thought. What if her own world was merely a story, repeated over and over for a thousand years until all the ink to write it had run dry.

-

They camped near the village, close enough to slip in and steal some food but not near enough to be noticed. The boy had long since fallen asleep, curled up by the fire. He must be the same age as Brianna. Did is daughter curl up by the fire and dream of him, as he did of her. And little Rosanna... She would remember as much of him as Resa’s daughter had of her. Had Roxane told their daughters the same thing silvertongue had told his. Did they think him dead? Or did they just believe he had abandoned them.

No. He pushed them from his mind and focused on the flickering flames. It would work this time he told himself, but how many times had he told himself that only to fail at the last hurdle. Still he could not bring himself to resign himself to this world. He would keep trudging forward till he found his way home, even if it took him a lifetime. The boy stirred in his sleep.

-

Resa but her arm around her and laughed at her face. She dragged her back to where Meggie and Mortimer were, curled up on the settee and placed the book in her hand. They had decided it was best for Elinor to be the one to read the words to them, after all, there was no chance of Elinor whispering life into the words. It was poetry this time: Here where the world is quiet... The irony made Elinor stumble over the next line. Once this had been one of her favourite. Here, in her library sanctuary the world had been quite. Now, Meggie's laughter filled the halls, and even Resa seemed to add to the noise. She found she did not truly miss it, however much she grumbled, for even if they left the books would never be able to whisper now she had heard them scream.

-

You fool, Dustfinger. To think that this would be the one, that foolish foolish hope. All this one had brought had been a butterfly, and Dustfinger could not say what had been snatched from this world in return. Farid had smiled at him almost pityingly. The next one, he told Dustfinger. We will find someone to read us in. But when, he wondered. Ten years was a very long time to be gone. They could all be dead by now: Roxane, Brianna, Rosanna, the Prince. The old man had said nothing of their fate. Did time even move the same in their world as it did in this one. Perhaps to them he had only been gone ten days. Or ten lifetimes. No. The boy had to be right. Must be right. They would find someone. Someone who could do it; someone even better then Silvertongue. He would go home.