I was tagged by the lovely @defira85, so here's another bit of Moonlit Weave that we're nowhere close to yet. Have some angst! As a treat!
Elminster had come and gone in a blur. Love had been polite enough to invite him to ease his burden in their camp while they handled some outstanding business with the githyanki creche, and now her ears were ringing and there was bile in her throat. "The orb." Gale had said simply. It echoed in her mind as she felt her fear and anger rise. Her face grew hot and her eyes stung with frustrated tears as she balled her hands into fists.
"—unleash its lethal combustion at will." She heard Elminster finish his sentence, dimly heard the Dream Visitor comment, heard Elminster begin speaking again. But none of it registered.
"You're tasking him to kill himself? What kind of monstrous notion is that?!" Love shouted, tears beginning to cloud her vision as they clung to her lashes. Gale tried to calm her but there was no quelling her rage. "She saves his life only to cast him aside? What kind of lover does that?!" She practically spat the word lover like it was a curse, hands gesturing wildly in front of her. "Redemption for what, exactly? Trying and failing to please her? He'll never be good enough, will he? All he's worth to her is that stupid orb in his chest!" She was screaming now, her tail whipping angrily behind her.
Gale and Elminster both looked at her in shock for a moment before Elminster seemed like he was about to seethe back at her. She looked between them both, eyes landing on Gale's pained expression. It broke her, and the tears began falling in earnest. "She wants you to kill yourself and you're going to do it, aren't you?" Her voice sounded suddenly so small, and Gale sucked in a breath like he'd just been burned. Without thinking, she turned on her heel and fled towards the forest.
I'm gonna tag @flamemittens again bc I'm greedy uvu
(AKA the Beach part) Also available on AO3!
(This chapter is about 3.1K words, so about double the length of the Nautiloid chapter!)
The burn radiated over her skin when she awoke, somehow very much alive despite the wreckage of the nautiloid blossoming in flames around her. Very much alive, and very much in pain. Checking herself over, she stretched her hands out in front of her, eyeing the damage. Her palms and forearms were starting to blister, and she could feel that telltale tightness on the skin from it. Grimacing, she sighed and finally sat up, taking stock of her surroundings and curling her fingers around her staff again. The pain was bearable, for now, and that would have to be enough. She needed to find a proper healer though, and soon, if she wanted to deal with these burns, and the new resident behind her eye.
She sighed, rubbing her temples. Her head ached for more than one reason now, and Lae'zel and Shadowheart were nowhere in her immediate vicinity. She could see a glimmer in the sand several paces ahead of her that seemed roughly humanoid in shape, and she grimaced. She held her breath, stepping carefully over the body of someone who looked like a fisherman that had been caught in the crash around them. The smell of blood, salt, smoke, and burnt flesh was overwhelming as she picked her way forward. The harsh light of near midday bounced off of Shadowheart's armor to leave dizzying rays of sunlight coasting through the air, catching the smoke from the nearby wreckage in an almost lazy dance.
As she watched for a moment, she noticed the one part of her armor where no light seemed to touch— no that's not quite right. The large circle of obsidian on Shadowheart's chest seemed to devour the light that touched it, leaving not even a reflection on its surface. She grimaced at it, everything in her brain telling her to avoid the woman in the sand. But she couldn't. Her training as a Selûnite told her she should kill Shadowheart where she lay; Shar threatened everything Selûne worked to build, and yet she felt only pity for the woman in front of her. Please don't make me regret this, she thought silently, kneeling on the ground and leaning to shake Shadowheart by the shoulders.
The half-elf sat up with a gasp, her eyes flying open as she startled, nearly knocking foreheads with Love. The latter sprung up to stand as quickly as she'd knelt, offering Shadowheart a hand up. For a moment they just looked at each other, shock plain on Shadowheart's features as she took the offered hand and stood. "You're alive. I'm alive. How is this possible?" She asked, bewildered as she took in the wreckage around them. It didn't seem she was actually asking Love the question; her eyes were distant, fixed on a point in the air somewhere past her head.
"Honestly, I'm not sure either. The last thing I can remember is praying as the ship was crashing, and then I woke up on the beach a little ways away from you." Neither realized they were still holding hands for a moment as Love gestured to where she'd woken up, but suddenly Shadowheart snatched her hand away as if she'd been burned. Love snapped her eyes back to look at her, bewildered, and raised her brows. Shadowheart cradled her right hand against her chest, her left covering it; her face was a confused mask, brows screwed together as she looked at her own hands. "Are you alright?" Love asked, subconsciously reaching towards the woman's hands to attempt to check the damage.
Coming back to herself, Shadowheart dropped her hands and shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing you need concern yourself with. Just an old wound that hurts from time to time." Focusing finally on the tiefling woman in front of her her eyebrows shot up. "If anything you should be more concerned about yourself. Those burns need to be treated." A frown pulled Shadowheart's lips into a bow and her brow furrowed as she reached into herself, trying to find the magic that would mend Love's burned and blistered flesh. Love waited, a gnawing sensation in her stomach as she did. She knew Shadowheart wouldn't be able to heal this, because she hadn't been able to herself. Shadowheart let out a frustrated sigh, having come to the same conclusion. "I'm sorry, it seems it really is our little shared problem causing this drain on my abilities."
"It's fine, I can make do until we find a healer. We'll need one anyway to evict this unwanted tenant, no?" Love grinned bitterly, turning on her heel towards the water. "The… people… here along with the water make me think there must be a settlement somewhere nearby, so I think if we stick together and look around we should find help soon enough." She pointed upstream, at a small dock that had been smashed by the wreckage of the ship around them. "And that is also a good indicator that there's a settlement. After all, why else would there be a pier?"
"As sound a call as any, I'd wager." Shadowheart said, humming her affirmations. "Alright, then, we stick together. Let's go find a healer." She bent down, retrieving some of her belongings from the sand with a grimace. "Besides, the sooner we find a settlement of some kind, the sooner I can wash out all this sand." Love laughed outright at that, nodding when she was finished.
"I know what you mean, the burns aren't exactly comfortable even without all the grit digging into them." Shadowheart grimaced at the thought, sending Love a pitying look. "If we find any waterskins I call first dibs." Love added, raising an index finger with a grin. Clearly she's been through worse, Shadowheart thought, tilting her head in the affirmative as the only indication she'd been paying any attention.
After picking over the beach for any supplies, quietly praying to the gods to take care of the souls lost in the crash, and dealing with a trio of intellect devourers, Love leaned heavily against her staff, groaning. "This was much easier when there were three of us." She sighed, gesturing and humming contentedly as her healing magic settled over herself and Shadowheart in quick succession. The magic knit some cuts and scrapes back together and soothed the ache in her muscles but did not even seem to touch her burns. Shadowheart rolled her shoulders and smiled over at Love gratefully. The gash in her leg from one of the intellect devourers had knit itself cleanly back together, leaving a smear of drying blood and a torn legging the only evidence of the fight.
"I don't know, I feel like we handled that quite well just the two of us." Shadowheart said coolly, not hiding in the least that she was glad to be rid of Lae'zel's constant prickling. Love shook her head and rolled her eyes. It was obvious to her at least that traveling as a larger group would be more beneficial if they were going to continue to encounter resistance, but it seemed Shadowheart was perfectly content to keep to herself. She supposed it made sense, Shar worshippers were used to a certain degree of isolation since they required secrecy in devotion. She wondered if it was normal for Shar worshippers to wear Her symbol so prominently as Shadowheart had, or if she were wearing it because whatever mission she'd been on hadn't required her to hide. "—even listening? Hello? Toril to Love?"
Love snapped out of her musings with a deep flush on her cheeks. In the time it took her to think all of that, Shadowheart had entered her personal space and was currently waving a hand in front of her face. "Sorry! What were you saying? I was…" She searched for some excuse as Shadowheart raised a brow and retracted her hand. "Uh. I wasn't listening, I'm sorry." Love hung her head in embarrassment, the berry red of her cheeks still flushed with a deeper amaranth.
"Yes I did catch that, actually." Shadowheart said, stepping out of her space and rolling her eyes. "As I was saying, I found some dead goblins over here. We should check them for supplies, but knowing there are goblins near means we need to keep our heads on a swivel." She walked away as she spoke, and Love made to follow, but winced when Shadowheart fixed her with a piercing stare on the word 'swivel.' Love smiled sheepishly at her, walking quickly to catch up. It didn't take long for her to become distracted again, however; a consequence of what was surely a concussion.
She broke off from Shadowheart, her curiosity piqued by the brightly swirling purple and black mark in the cliff face a bit off the path. "Oh come on, what did I just say!" Shadowheart groaned, having noticed the other's absence. Love heard her approaching quickly, but Shadowheart was not quick enough to stop the former from reaching out to touchthe obviously dangerous magic. "What are you thinki— AH?!" An arm shot out of the center of the magic, blindly flailing.
"A hand? Anyone?" A man's voice, muffled and distant, shouted as his hand flailed again, trying for purchase. Love looked on, puzzled and determined. Shadowheart shifted behind her, torn between saying they should leave and wanting to help. In the end she resigned herself to just staying silent, allowing Love to do what she would. The mark on her hand stung but she just rubbed it absently with the other. Love had leaned her staff against the cliff, one hand outstretched towards the magic problem in front of them with the other on her chin.
"Ah! I've got it! This is a dimension door!" Love cheered triumphantly, putting both hands out now and spreading her fingers. "So if I just…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip and focusing. She was trying to stabilize the magic in front of her, at least enough for the man trapped inside to free himself. Dimension Door should have shunted him out on its own, though; this is odd, she mused. Perhaps he'll know what went wrong once he's out.
"Whatever you're doing is working wonders! A quick little pull should do the trick!" The man trapped in magic praised. She listened, clasping his outstretched hand in both of hers, digging her heels into the dirt as she tugged. Her stance wasn't quite solid enough to take the weight of the man who practically flew out of the portal and she squeaked as he landed on top of her, thankful that he'd caught himself before they could knock their heads together.
Oh, Love thought, a bit dumbstruck. This is… too big a coincidence. Gale of Waterdeep had just tumbled out of a portal and landed on top of her. She blinked up at him as he groaned, pushing himself away from her and up to his feet. He held a hand out— the same that had been sticking out of the portal a moment before —and helped her to stand.
"Hello! I'm Gale, of Waterdeep." He shook the hand he still held and released it, offering his hand to Shadowheart to shake as well. She did not take it, instead eyeing him suspiciously. The smile on his face faltered for a moment before he turned his attention back to the tiefling woman in front of him. She was openly staring at him, her mouth slightly open, and Gale was altogether unsure what to make of her. But gods, she is pretty, he thought, a slight flush crossing his cheeks. "Apologies, I'm usually better at this." He continued, embarrassment and confusion touching his tone briefly.
"Better at not wasting the time of passing travelers, you mean?" Shadowheart quipped, arms folded over her chest. Love blinked, the other woman's voice snapping her out of her thoughts. Her jaw snapped shut and she rounded on Shadowheart. She was fully taken-aback at the half-elf's audacity, and she was about to make it known.
"You're certainly one to talk, Shadowheart. I recall quite clearly you demanding help aboard the nautiloid, my and Lae'zel's time be damned." She started, her tail was flicking behind her in agitation as she spoke, and the color in her cheeks was rising again. Shadowheart stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, startled, before she shot Love a scowl of her own.
Before she could reply, however, Gale cut in, attempting to diffuse the situation. "Ah, you were on the nautiloid! I thought I remembered seeing you while I was trapped in one of those blasted pods. Am I safe in assuming then that you, too, were the recipients of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region?" The visceral description had its desired effect, jarring the two women out of their conflict almost immediately as they both grimaced at his choice of words.
"Wow, I couldn't have phrased it more repugnantly myself." Shadowheart replied coolly, huffing and turning away from both of them, stalking towards the path they'd come from. She decided a better use of her time would be to pick through the goblins on the path as they'd originally intended in the first place. It certainly had nothing to do with her feeling hurt or frustrated. Definitely not.
"No use sugarcoating it, is there?" Gale replied under his breath, eyeing Shadowheart's back warily. He shook his head and sighed, turning a bright smile back to Love as she relaxed her shoulders and turned back to him as well. She eyed him curiously, head tilted to one side, noting that his smile did not quite seem to meet his eyes. His smile faltered for a moment as he wondered if she could see through him, but he leaned forward a bit and continued speaking to attempt to hide it. "You don't happen to be a cleric by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?" He gestured some kind of stitching motion at the mention of a knitting needle, which made Love let out a small puff of a laugh.
"Adroit enough to know that's not how you'd use a knitting needle, but no. Acolyte, I am, cleric, I am not. I am a warlock, but my healing is… unfortunately rather limited at the moment." Love shook her head gently and shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. "Shadowheart is a cleric, but she herself is on the hunt for a healer, so I think it's a safe bet that she's not able to help with our, uh. Tenant." She grimaced again, swearing she felt the tadpole wriggle in her head like it knew she was talking about it. Love glanced back to Shadowheart for a moment, chewing her bottom lip in thought.
She knew from their meeting on the nautiloid that Shadowheart and Lae'zel both had had their abilities greatly reduced, like her own were, but she wondered to what extent. Even if she'd been at her best, would Shadowheart have been able to remove the tadpoles? Was there such a person who could? She knew, at the very least, that if they didn't, it would mean their ends. She hadn't studied mindflayers in enough depth to know the full specifics, but she knew enough to know that these tadpoles were their spawn, and their means of reproduction. If she didn't find some way to deal with it soon, the creature would devour her. It certainly didn't help matters that her head felt simultaneously like it was on fire and like it was filled with cotton. Her thoughts were sluggish and muddled, and she was desparately fighting her urge to sleep.
Gale shifted his weight in front of her and the movement caught her eye. It wasn't until he cleared his throat that she realized she'd been staring at him again as she thought. Her face flushed slightly and she blinked a few times. "Sorry! Along with our shared problem, I seem to have… quite the concussion. A piece of debris from the ship struck me as it was going down, so I'm… pretty easily… um…" She fumbled for the words she wanted, fighting the sluggish feeling in her mind. "Ugh. It's been hard to maintain my…" She waved her arms around herself to attempt to get her point across and Gale nodded. His apparent understanding made a bright smile cross her features in relief.
"Your concentration?" He supplied gently, exhaling a small laugh through his nose when the woman before him put her fist in her hand in exultation. Love nodded, smiling brightly at him. He was struck, again, by how pretty she was and cleared his throat in an attempt to push the thought away. "Right. Well I've got wits enough for us both, I imagine. Allow me to accompany you, and I'll make sure you don't regret it." He accentuated his words with a flourish and a small bow, and she laughed in response.
"Well I can hardly turn you down; I was planning to extend the invitation for you to accompany us myself, after all." Love smiled again, and stuck a hand out for him to shake. "I realize I didn't properly introduce myself earlier. I'm Love. Love Brightwater. And my prickly companion over there is Shadowheart." Gale shook her hand and beamed at the easy acceptance, and this time, it almost reached his eyes. His smile turned into a hesitant, almost apprehensive look when Shadowheart appeared behind Love's shoulder, arms crossed and a foot tapping.
"If you're both finished exchanging pleasantries, I have a worm that needs dealt with." Shadowheart spoke coolly, but she inclined her head to Gale by way of greeting. He supposed that, for now, that was probably the kindest he could expect her to be. Love huffed at her, however, and Shadowheart sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "So the wizard is joining us, then?"
"Yes, he is, I think he'll be of tremendous help." Love said it matter-of-factly, and Gale beamed again. Shadowheart sighed again but nodded her assent. "Right then. With that settled, should we investigate the crash a bit more? We might be able to find out more about our circumstances or maybe more survivors. I think the more people on our side the better, personally."
Shadowheart bristled a bit at the latter statement but just quietly grumbled to herself about the maneuvaribility of smaller parties or some such and let it go. It seemed to Love that she didn't feel it was worth another fight, so she turned on her heel and went back the way they'd come.
Have this snippet from something a few chapters in! <3
I'm tagging @defira85 (even though I know it's Thursday for you now shhhh)
“I want to show you something. Come with me?” She asked simply, turning slightly in the direction of the woods and holding her hand out. Her nerves almost got the better of her when he hesitated, his brows knitting together as he thought for a moment.
“My… condition is unfortunately rather volatile.” Gale started carefully, “I fear too much… excitement could lead to… unintended consequences.” He gave her an almost pained smile when she turned back to him, wide-eyed. “Go, indulge in the frivolities, they're good for the heart. And mine will be all the lighter for knowing you're enjoying yourself.”
“What?” Love asked, dumbfounded. Realization struck her a moment later and her face burned hot. “No, um. I just want to talk with you somewhere more private. Somewhere quiet.” She said in a rush, nervously wringing her hands together in front of her. Her tail swished behind her when she set her shoulders, giving away her nerves. “I… I won’t take no for an answer. There’s a bottle of Arkhen's Hoard with our names on it, and if you don’t come with me, I’ll just have to drink it alone.” She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, feigning a pout she used often when she was younger.
At his puff of laughter, she opened an eye and looked at him. Gale shook his head, an amused smile on his face. “You’d really rather spend the night whiling away the hours talking to me than… indulge with someone else?” He asked, a hand subconsciously touching the orb in his chest, uncertainty painting his features even as he smiled at her. At her wordless nod and the extension of her hand, he sighed and offered his arm. “You are stubborn, aren’t you?”
Please take this lil snippet of the beginning of a multi-chapter fic I'm writing. <3
(image text under the cut!)
As Love Brightwater, a seemingly normal tiefling woman, wove her way through the streets of Waterdeep towards her home, she paused, as she often did, to look up at the wizard’s tower that had long been a curiosity to her. She’d heard plenty of rumors about the mage who lived there. Rumors that he was a Chosen of Mystra, a powerful archmage, that he’d graduated from the prestigious Black Staff Academy, and more recently that he’d locked himself in his tower and forbade all visitors from entry.
As she looked up today, she caught a glimpse of the man himself, Gale of Waterdeep, leaning against the rail of his terrace and gazing out at the sea. She couldn’t make out much from where she stood, but something about the scene made her heart pang with sadness for him. She wasn’t sure why, but he had the air of a man witnessing his own eulogy.
