OK, this will be a little longer.
You've noticed that the content here has changed in the last half of the year - mainly because I lacked the working tablet :) The equipment is back, the new page FINALLY in making.
But some changes are to stay.
The whole story now split into 3 separate projects.
#theApiaristROTG will remain a fanfic, mainly the comic.
#theApiaristBook is for the roriginal version of the story and everything around it ripped out the fandom.
#theApiaristFairyTales is adjacent to the previous - but for kids.
The Apiarist as a book, as bedtime tales and as a lore works without the ROTG lore - but I couldn't get rid of one of my co-protagonists.
Shadow grew up from Pitch during the years spent on the comic. In some moments they are very close to each other - especially in the latest development of the fanfic. So much the fancomic reads as AU.
I basically took the latest version of Pitch I got within the comic, released him free of rotg villain lore and put him into a different world.
I thought that would be done :) It, of course, wasn't. Ever since Shadow has kept proving that he is, actually, someone else. Different motivations, no villain sticker slapped on his forehead, different trauma (where Pitch is the vilified and rejected one, Shadow is the failure to his world), different ethics.
Pitch is still one of the rising darkness and drama.
Shadow is the one with practical pockets in his cloak.
(Small switching the places here)
They are simply two different creatures - and I'm talking about MY version of Pitch. I'm pretty sure that there's almost nothing connecting Shadow to the movie Boogeyman.
In my head they still look similar. I call that a habit :)
Well. So, after answering questions no one asked and leaving this here as a way to tidy the space a little, I'll leave a smal bit of the book for you:
The boat on the underground river was so old, it seemed carved out from a single trunk. Under further inspection, it was. Hazel certainly saw logs that as means of travel gave a better impression.
"Well, this will take some rowing to get there," she sighed. Both spirits shot her identical long-suffering smiles.
It took her only a few seconds to catch up.
"Oh. Right. My mistake. I forgot we are in the laziest corner of existence," she smirked.
Hannes invited her to the boat: "You can certainly row all the way, if you insist, dear girl."
"Absolutely not," Hazel sat down on a bench, smoothing her skirt and amused by the absurd way he called her, "I'm already too spoiled for that. Go on, show off, Wassermann."
Hannes glanced at her - his grin of approval undeniable.
She felt a bit lighter. There was something to do, someone new to talk to - when she tried, she could be there with them.
Both Hannes and Shadow took their places next to her and the water spirit flicked his fingers. The water rippled, the boat started to move.
"Spoiled, are you?" the Wassermann mused, watching his friend being all of a sudden interested in the river, "that's nice to hear."
"It would be a lot nicer if you paid attention to the currents," Shadow grumbled.
But Hannes just chuckled: "Don't worry, Schatten, I have plenty of attention to spare. And I want to hear everything about how one gets spoiled in the company of this overgrown crow," he turned to the Apiarist.
Hazel didn't miss how stubbornly Shadow refused to give her a single look. But unlike Hannes, she had a little mercy with him: "Oh, I'm well taken care of down in the Palace. I drank tea galore, never saw a kettle once," she chuckled, "I already understood that a normal spirit would rather bite their arm off than to do any work with it..."
The Wassermann nodded cheerfully: "Shadow mentioned that you are a fast learner. He had a lot of kind words for you in fact," he poked the Fear again.
He got irritated silence in response.
"Well, I noticed,” Hazel leaned back on the bench with a soft smile, catching Shadow's gaze at last, "it was nice to hear."
Ever so slightly, the spirit of fear blushed. Hannes burst in laughter.
Shadow snapped his head to him: "Do you care to share?" he gritted his teeth.
Hannes just tapped the water by the boat, letting the float speed up: "Oh nothing. It just came to me how people sometimes simply get what they need, without ever knowing it before."
Shadow rather refrained from the answer and Hazel smiled for herself.
For a while their ride was quiet. The water kept softly striking against the prow. The boat was skimming through the darkness of the tunnel, the faint light they had glistening on long, elegant stalactites hanging from the ceiling and on monumental cascades forever frozen in time on the sides.
They were admiring the filigree work of nature, the delicacy of petrified veils.
The deeper they got, the deeper echo every drop of the water got. Slowly every splash resonated in their ears, an ominous whisper in its wake. The sound was omnipresent and yet shifting, coming from the high and from the depth both.
Hannes narrowed his eyes.
Hazel watched the dark water, uneasy feeling of unknown danger rising within her...
She quickly glanced at Shadow next to her - and noticed the mischievous spark in his eyes, the corner of his lips twitching a little.
"Having fun?" she hissed.
"At least for the last half an hour?" He looked at her with a full grin now. "Yes."
