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queenrhenpendragon · 7 years

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Night Watch (In Pieces 7)

If I actually had to obtain sap from trees to have it in my stories, this piece would have resulted in the obliteration of half the world forests*. (*Fortunately, story sap does not need to come from trees and no plants were harmed in the making of this fanfiction.)

Set in the late hours of the night while the party is camping in the woods.

All the constellations mentioned are references to one of the games. Mostly AP, cuz that's the one I know best, having played it approximately fifty million times.

It was Rhen's turn to keep watch. Usually they just let Te'ijal keep watch, but the vampress had asked for time to explore, by which she likely meant hunt— but anyway, Elini had woken Rhen up to take her turn about an hour ago, and at first everything had been quiet and uneventful (besides Dameon's soft snoring, and Lars's sitting up suddenly to throw a boot at him before falling back asleep like nothing had happened). But then she'd heard rustling leaves and the sound of cracking twigs from somewhere just beyond the glow of the dying fire.

She hadn't wanted to wake everyone up if it was nothing, so she'd drawn her sword (and the shhiiish of the metal against the scabbard made her heart race) and she'd gone to investigate alone. And now here she was, fumbling through the darkness, looking for who knew what. She was probably going to get attacked before she could even find a place to put her feet—

"Oof!" Her foot found a root and she was careening forward. Her sword went flying and her palms found the forest floor and scraped against the dirt and foliage— whatever it was heard her crash to the ground and dashed away. Probably just an animal, then. Maybe a very lost rabbit.

She pushed herself to her feet and scowled down at her hands. They were bleeding and stinging and had bits of dirt and twig stuck in them. Stupid, clumsy. It was going to be hard to hold her sword now, when she found where it had landed. If she could find it, in these woods. She should have woken someone up. She scowled and blew her bangs away from her face. She hated to ask for help, especially for something so trivial, but she had made enough mistakes for one night. She'd better go get somebody.

Probably Dameon. Maybe he wouldn't mind, because he had the next watch anyway. He could probably conjure some kind of light to help her look around. And, he wouldn't scold her or tease her.

So she made her way back to the campsite and managed to find where Dameon's mat was without stepping on everyone else (though she nearly kicked Elini in the head), and she kneeled beside him.

"Dameon," she whispered, and reached out to shake his shoulder—

Except before her hand got there he shifted and his eyes opened, and he was looking at her very seriously, and sitting up. "Is it my watch?"

"Er— no, I—" She hesitated. He was going to think she was so stupid, for waking him up for something so unimportant. She should have just waited for her watch to be over. But he was up now, so she stammered, "I— I need your help."

He blinked.

"I lost my sword," she explained, and pointed at the woods. "There was something moving, and I went to investigate, and I— er, I tripped." She was blushing and he still looked so serious. "And I scraped up my hands," she added, holding them up for him to see— why was she mentioning that? She folded her arms and shoved her fingers under her elbows and tried to finish her thought. "So could you— help me?"

She was ashamed to look in his eyes but she didn't have anywhere else to look— but he just nodded, and held out his palms towards her.

She stared at them uncertainly for a moment, until he whispered, "May I see?"

"Er— what?"

He furrowed his eyebrows (he had nice eyebrows, which was a weird thing to think but there it was). "Your hands. You said they were injured?"

"Oh— er— yes," she stammered. "But I meant— I didn't expect— well— I guess— here," she finished defeatedly, and put her hands, palms up, in his. She guessed they could look for her sword later.

He had long, graceful fingers that made her hands look like they belonged to a dwarf, a clumsy dwarf, because they were all scratched up, and she felt very self-conscious and stupid. And burdensome— why had she not just waited? "Sorry about waking you up for this. I— should have let you sleep."

"I don't mind," he whispered back, now holding her hands— her clumsy dwarf hands— in one of his so he could use the other to pull out his waterskin. "This is my job, isn't it?"

She tried to feel guilty, for making him feel like he was expected to do things like this, but he had a soft sort of voice and she just felt soothed.

He poured the cold water from his waterskin over her hands and rubbed her palms gently, cleaning off the dirt and blood, and she shivered and thought that his eyes were very dark, and that his long, long fingers were warm, and that they fit around hers kind of nicely, and somehow what she decided to say from all of this was, "You have very big hands."

He glanced up at her and it seemed like his ears were pink. "I guess I do, compared to yours," he said, putting the water away now, and drying her hands with his sleeve.

He started whispering one of his spells and she looked up at the sky and wondered why she had to be so awkward. If she had to be tasked with saving the world and ruling a country and all that nonsense, she at least could have been fortunate enough to have a little natural tact, a little innate charm. Something.

"Are you looking at Serendipity?" Dameon whispered, letting go of her now-healed hands and gesturing up at a group of stars. "The sort of diamond shape?"

"That's supposed to be Serendipity? The Nymph of Luck?"

He smiled. "Yes."

Rhen stifled a laugh. "She looks like a box."

Dameon made a sound that seemed almost like a chuckle, which made her blush for whatever reason. She cleared her throat and scanned the sky— the stars were kind of pretty, and comfortable, somehow. They were always the same. Constant. "What else is up there?"

He shifted next to her. "Well... there's Eliza Stoneheart." He traced a few seemingly random stars with his finger— which looked very elegant, silhouetted against the night sky.

"Hmm." That was a strange name. "Was she a dwarf?"

"What?" He looked at her and then back at the sky. "No, she was a warrior. Like you."

"Oh." Rhen felt herself blushing, and she wasn't sure if Dameon could tell in the dark. "Why did they call her Stoneheart? Was she cruel?"

He crinkled his eyebrows again, which was nice. "I don't know."

Rhen looked up at the stars he had traced, and she thought they looked very far away. Sort of solitary, and... and maybe a little sad. "Perhaps," she began uncertainly. "Perhaps she was really kind. And she was just... just lonely."

He looked at her and there was a sort of softness in his eyes. "Maybe."

And maybe Eliza Stoneheart was lonely, but Rhen wasn't, not right now, with Dameon sitting beside her talking quietly about things that didn't matter a bit.

"Is there anything over that way?" she asked, pointing.

He followed her gesture and tilted his head. "I think... do you see the triangular shape? With the line through it?"

She moved closer to him to see where he was pointing— and she felt warm. "Yeah, I think so."

He continued slowly, "I think that one is Yeccanuath, the mother of the Tehyor dragons."

"Hmm." Yeccanuath was big, and bright, and— "She looks more like one of Te'ijal's arrows."

He smiled at her, and shook his head. "There's also Squeakerbane." He was pointing at an arching line of stars. "The rooster."

She tried not to laugh. "The rooster?"

"Yes."

"Why is there a rooster constellation?"

"Well," he began hesitantly, "he was supposedly a scholar."

This time she really did laugh— but still quietly. "What, was he the scholar of chicken-scratch penmanship?"

Dameon smiled and she found herself trying to think of something else funny to say. "Professor of the most annoying morning sounds? Disciple of eggheads?"

He smiled wider and she couldn't stop herself. "Or maybe," she waggled her eyebrows, and leaned closer to him, so that their noses almost touched— "an expert on fowl love?"

He laughed, but it came out all choked, and his eyes were wide and his face was red, red, red— she pulled away from him. What was she doing? She felt very warm, and he was warm, and— and the stars were very, very bright.

And even though she knew they were far, far away, they seemed to be right there with her, shining with the opposite of solitude.

"What— what other constellations are there?"

He was quiet, and still red, but in a comfortable way, and his dark eyes were searching the sky.

"There's the glass coffin, here," he pointed. "The rectangle with the point at the end."

She leaned towards him, slowly and carefully this time, and found the shape he described.

"A coffin?" she asked, smiling maybe because it was funny, or maybe because it was bright.

"It sounds sort of morbid, doesn't it?" he said, and smiled too. "It goes with an old story about a sleeping princess."

"Mmm."

It was pretty, and she felt warm, and also— safe, maybe, and—

She yawned. "I wish I were a sleeping princess."

He touched her arm, just barely, and said, looking at her with that serious expression that was becoming familiar, "Why don't you go to bed? I can finish your watch."

She looked back at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded once. "Of course."

She tried to refuse, to do what she was supposed to do, and finish what was expected of her— but the starlight sparkled timidly in his eyes, and instead she whispered, "Okay. Thank you, Dameon."

And she crawled to where her mat was, and settled into it, and watched the outline of Dameon scan the campsite, and stir the fire, and move in and out of the stars, like he belonged to them—

And she fell asleep, and completely forgot about looking for her stupid sword.

But when she woke up in the morning it was by her mat, and Dameon was picking twigs out of his hair.

#aveyond #rhen pendragon #dameon maurva #rhenxdameon #rhen darzon #in pieces 6 #in pieces #fanfiction #fluffyaveyond #do not reblog if you support character bashing or have anything remotely resembling it on your blog

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betwccnworlds · 3 years

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tags part 1!!!

Written on the pages is the answer to a never ending story (ic)

The squeakerbanes (crack)

Stay close to me. Don’t look behind us. There’s nothing to see below (dashcommentary)

All the living are dead & the dead are all living (gallery)

Lay down beneath these falling stars. We are mirrors of night (musings)

Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds (headcanon)

And I could see beyond the ordinary (aesthetic)

Reach the stars. Fly a fantasy (mp3)

If I don’t come back here will you remember me? (main verse)

I don’t know this feeling as we break through the other side (grimwalker verse)

Out into the dark I stared. Out here at the edge of the world (ghost verse)

Now you’re moving idle and you say you’re alone. Suspicious that the string is moving your bones (swap verse)

I have nothing left to prove because I have nothing left to lose (into the future verse)

Break out. Dive in. There’s no knowing how it ends until you gut up and begin (BATTs verse)

In the forest of slumber I wish for the power to protect (ooc)

In the whirlpool of chaos that disappears into the sea I go beyond the truth (anon)

The dream you choose tomorrow tells you of a new happiness (startercall)

Get up off your knees. Hope is still alive. That place you’re searching for I know you’ll find it (inboxcall)

#Written on the pages is the answer to a never ending story (ic)#The squeakerbanes (crack)#Stay close to me. Don’t look behind us. There’s nothing to see below (dashcommentary)#All the living are dead & the dead are all living (gallery)#Lay down beneath these falling stars. We are mirrors of night (musings)#Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds (headcanon)#And I could see beyond the ordinary (aesthetic)#Reach the stars. Fly a fantasy (mp3)#If I don’t come back here will you remember me? (main verse)#I don’t know this feeling as we break through the other side (grimwalker verse)#Out into the dark I stared. Out here at the edge of the world (ghost verse)#Now you’re moving idle and you say you’re alone. Suspicious that the string is moving your bones (swap verse)#I have nothing left to prove because I have nothing left to lose (into the future verse)#Break out. Dive in. There’s no knowing how it ends until you gut up and begin (BATTs verse)#In the whirlpool of chaos that disappears into the sea I go beyond the truth (anon)#The dream you choose tomorrow tells you of a new happiness (startercall)#Get up off your knees. Hope is still alive. That place you’re searching for I know you’ll find it (inboxcall)

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