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queen-scribbles · 5 years ago

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Legends

Kei had been raised on legends of kraken.

Over the years, they went from bogey-monsters that would eat her toes if she got out of bed during the night, to pure myth, to real but rarely sighted leviathans that lurked in the deepest waters of the Deadfire

And then she killed one. In a frozen lake under a fragment of a fallen moon, smack in the middle of the White March mountains. Seeing one herself, she thanked every god that came to mind the terrain worked to her advantage and prayed she never had to fight one of these monsters--which could easily swallow her or any of her friends whole--in its natural habitat.

Like so many other things she’d prayed for, the gods had very different--opposite in fact--plans.

It came in the middle of the night, well after the gentle patter of rain on the window had lulled her to sleep. A lurching stop, warning cries from up on deck, and the vague shadow of something big visible outside her cabin window, even through the rain. She didn’t even dare pause long enough to don her armor, just grabbed sword and shield and headed for the deck. The earlier drizzle had worsened into a torrential rainstorm that quickly soaked through her clothes and severely curtailed visibility.

Still, it was hard to miss the massive form that reared up over the starboard rail. Even as Kei took rapid stock of the situation, tried to process that they were being attacked by a kraken of all things(she’d almost have preferred fighting that vithrak pirate again), she caught the silhouette of a torso-thick tentacle swinging toward the deck from the opposite side of the ship. She was already moving, stumbling across the rain-slicked deck, before she’d calculated where the tentacle would hit.

And who was in its path.

The rocking of the ship threw off her aim, but Kei still managed to grab Tekēhu’s arm and half-spin, half-yank him out of the way just before the tentacle smacked into the deck hard enough to dent the boards and send up a shower of splinters. The two of them slammed into the mast but caught their balance a moment later.

Tekēhu grinned. “My thanks, Captain.”

Kei matched the grin as she dashed water from her eyes. “Would have been a bullshit end for Ngati’s favorite, and we wouldn’t want that.”

He laughed, the sound rising in harmony with yet defiance of the storm. “Very true, indeed. Let us vanquish this monster, instead, I say.” He tugged her down as the writhing tentacle swung toward their heads. “And add another impossible feat to our own legend.”

She shook her head at his teasing enthusiasm, water flying from her hair. “I’ll settle for driving it off before it sinks my damn ship!”

As if to underscore her sentiment, the kraken bellowed and slammed another tentacle to the deck, splintering the rail and knocking several crates into the turbulent water.

“Don’t let it wrap around!” Kei hollered, pushing off the mast with her shield arm to hack at the tentacle trying to do just that. It took three blows of her sword to cut away the upper part. The kraken screeched as it flailed the maimed tentacle away, knocking Irrena and Kostanten perilously close to the shattered rail as it withdrew. They caught their balance just in time.

Several frustrating minutes passed, where no one armed with guns or melee weapons could do much damage to the beast itself, thanks to either the pouring rain or the distance. Kei lost track of how many times she or Edér or Rekke wound up sprawled on their backside for trying. But there was only so much good that could be done hacking off tentacles; it would take more serious injury to drive away this beast.

Finally, however, the rain started to slack off even if the kraken didn’t relent. Indeed, it appeared the barrage of spells--along with several lost tentacles--it had suffered made it all the more determined to drag this ship down. Or at least exact recompense in kith’s lives. The tentacles not trying to curl around the Defiant or too badly injured swept toward sailors and companions alike, and there was only so much dodging one could do while also keeping the beast at bay. It showed particular malevolence toward Xoti, Aloth, and Tekēhu--the ones doing the most damage. Kei deflected so many hefty blows from arrow-pricked or bleeding tentacles in their defense, her shield arm started to go numb.

Xoti jumped a tentacle swiping at her legs and took advantage of the increased visibility to drop a pillar of fire on the kraken’s face.

It screeched and reared back, and a few seconds later came a muffled bellow belowdecks as a pair of the Defiant’s cannons took the opening to fire. Another, even angrier, screech filled the air and the tentacles snaking across the deck jerked back toward the water. One snapped a yardarm as it went, forcing several of the crew to scramble aside as the spar swung down toward the deck.

“Get this thing off my ship!” Kei hollered in frustration, and though the words were lost to the wind, the cannons roared again as if in answer. Two of the tentacles went flying, blown off at the root.

The kraken thrashed, bellowing and screeching in turn, the remaining tentacles flailing in search of something to grab, a way to claim recompense for damage suffered. Every time one started to close around a sailor or other kith, however, someone nearby pulled them back or made it pay. Another volley of cannon shot thundered over the dying storm, the casters each hit it with spells in quick succession, orange flame and purple energy illuminating the barrage of thorns, and Rekke and Serafen each hurled bombs at its head.

This final assault was too much for the kraken. What tentacles remained on or around the ship withdrew, still twitching.

“Kuldrun, get us out of here!” Kei yelled hoarsely toward the quarterdeck. Kuldrun’s reply, if he made one, was lost to the weather and what she hoped were the death howls of the repelled leviathan as he brought the Defiant about. She made a quick scan of the deck as adrenaline faded into exhaustion. They’d taken a beating, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired, and it didn’t look like they’d lost anyone, which was a minor miracle--

As if in a final Fuck You to the meal that got away, a tentacle whipped through the air, wrapped around Kei’s hips, and yanked her into the air. Her sword and shield dropped from her relaxed grip, but even as she cursed the lack of weapons, the tentacle fell limply away. Not that that improved her situation much; she was now in freefall over a part of the ocean she knew contained a very pissed, very hurt kraken, not to mention the still-dizzying waves from the storm.

She was close enough to feel the spray from the waves and see the kraken’s blood staining the water when something else wrapped around her waist and suddenly she was flying back toward her ship. Kei’s hands instinctively went to the pressure around her midriff, found it malleable and... wet? Water?

Tekēhu. She smirked as the water-tentacle twisted around so she could see the rapidly approaching ship, her friends’ worried faces, and Tekēhu towering over the rest of them as he concentrated on reeling her back in.

The Defiant rode up a wave at the worst possible moment and threw off Kei’s landing. She hit the deck at the wrong angle, barely got her arms under her to keep from cracking her head, heard something snap on impact, and rolled a couple times before running into a crate hard enough she just knew it was going to leave a bruise. She sat up with a groan, shook her head to clear the dizziness, and sent Tekēhu a still-dazed grin.

“My hero,” she said glibly, leaning back against the crate she’d hit as she started tallying various aches. “Knew sweet-talking the Watershaper would pay off someday.”

Tekēhu chuckled, but she could see the worry lingering in his eyes as he glanced at the wrist she held cradled to her chest. “Ekera, Captain, I would have preferred not to injure you in the process.”

“Of saving my life?” Kei finished for him. She pushed wet braids out of her face, winced at the sting as her hand grazed a cut on her forehead. “Trust me, this is vastly preferable to being kraken bait.” She tried to stand, but her knee and hip both flared with pain.

“Or drownin’“ Edér chipped in cheerfully as he helped Beodul tie down loose crates.

“Or drowning,” she agreed with a nod.

“The ocean, of all things, is not allowed to take you from me,”Tekēhu said, and light-hearted as the comment sounded, Kei could hear the underlying seriousness in the words.

“It hasn’t yet,” she promised with a wink.

“Perhaps not, but you still need to see the surgeon, beloved,” he returned quietly as he crouched to help her stand.

“No arguments here,” Kei grunted. Besides the various other bumps, bruises, and aches, she was fairly certain her left wrist was broken. “But surely there’s others who need it more.”

“That’s why you hired more than one,” Aloth countered as he raked hair out of his face. “For situations like this.”

“True.” But thinking about the healers made her mind leap elsewhere as Tekēhu guided her up to her feet. “Oh, gods, Vela!”

“I saw Daelia scoopin’ her up on my way to the deck, Kei,” Xoti said, looking up from the bruise on her arm with a smile meant to comfort despite the priestess’ large black eye. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

Kei’s knees wobbled, a combination of relief and pain, and Tekēhu caught her elbows to keep her upright. “Thanks,” she mumbled, her good hand clasped against his bicep.

The soft light of ship lanterns showed the mischief dancing in his eyes. “My pleasure, Captain. Now, let’s get you seen to.”

Even if she’d intended to protest--she hadn’t--the faintest brush of his hand against her injured wrist made her whimper. Tekēhu gently shifted them so her arm was around his shoulders to help her cross the deck.

Kei tripped over the threshold as they reached belowdecks, started to rest weight on her bad leg to compensate, and yelped as she promptly fell against Tekēhu’s chest. His arms wrapped around her in support, and he seemed content to let her take her time recovering from the slip.

“How long have you been dreaming of me all soaking wet and snuggled close like this?” Kei asked playfully.

Tekēhu chuckled. “More months than is likely wise to admit.” He carefully wiped blood off her forehead with his thumb. “The injuries are a less welcome addition, I say.”

You and me both. She laughed, rested her forehead against his temple. “That’s a relief. Might’ve had to end things if you were fantasizing about me getting the shit kicked out of me.”

“Perish the thought,” Tekēhu declared, pressing a tender kiss just below the cut on her forehead. “I’d much rather you whole and hardy, my lioness.” He winked. “There is much more fun to be had then.”

Kei raised a brow and smirked. “Well, if we stop flirting and start walking, I think one of the surgeons can help with that.”

He eased back ever so slightly. “You are ready to continue, then?”

She nodded. “Fun as it is to flirt with my handsome fish, I would prefer doing so without various background aches.”

Tekēhu grinned. “Your handsome fish would prefer that as well.” He nodded toward her cabin, the door still ajar from her earlier hasty exit. “What say you wait in there, while I fetch one of the surgeons, beloved?”

Kei hesitated. She hated to be so much trouble, but walking was an ordeal right now, and steps would be extra tricky… “I say that sounds like a good plan,” she finally nodded. “One that minimizes further jostling of my injuries and doesn’t risk you hurting yourself to help me.”

“Ekera, Kei, never fear on that count,” he protested, carefully shuffling them toward her cabin. “You would be worth a tumble down the stairs, I say.”

“Very romantic,” Kei deadpanned, but she couldn’t fight a smile. Her wrist twinged and she instinctively cradled it closer to her chest as Tekēhu helped her across the room to the wide seat under the window.

He kissed the top edge of her forehead. “I’ll bring one of the surgeons with all haste, beloved.”

“Only if they’re not busy,” she called after him. Badly as parts of her hurt, she’d hate to pull Daelia or Tylla from someone who needed the patching up more.

Tekēhu didn’t reply, but she thought she saw him shake his head slightly before he was out of sight down the stairs.

As promised, he was back only a couple minutes later with Daelia right behind him--and a giggling Vela wrapped around his arm like a spider monkey.

She let go as soon as they passed the doorway and dashed across the cabin to perch on the corner of the bed. “Did you win, Mama?”

Kei chuckled. “We did. Is it that had to tell?”

Vela shrugged. “You us’lly don’t get hurt so bad when you win’s all.”

“Usually we’re not fighting something so big,” Kei said with a smile. “Did you stay with Aunt Daelia like I told you?”

Vela gave an emphatic nod. “I ‘membered what you said if anything happened to the ship. An’ I was good,” she added, anticipating the next question.

“She was,” Daelia confirmed with a chuckle as she rolled up her sleeves.

“Happy to hear that, and happy you’re both safe,” Kei said. “Were there a lot of injuries?”

“Mainly bruises and the like,” Daelia replied. “Tuliak’s shoulder got sliced open, so Tylla’s stitching her up. And what about you, Captain? Aside from the obvious”--she nodded toward Kei’s swollen wrist--”what other injuries did you sustain?”

Tekēhu sat next to Kei as she started to list off the ones she’d found, lacing his fingers between those of her good hand. Daelia pointed out an additional gash Kei hadn’t noticed across the inside of her arm just below her elbow.

“Best to take care of your wrist first, though,” she mused, “since that’s the most serious.”

“Won’t hear me complaining,” Kei muttered, squeezing Tekēhu’s hand. She glanced at Vela. “You don’t have to stay, sweetheart. It’s late; you can try to go to sleep.”

Vela shook her head and fiddled with her carved fox necklace, a gift from Sagani for her last birthday.”I know you’re okay even if it hurts, Mama. You’re very tough and very brave.” She wrapped her hand around the wooden pendent. “‘I’m not sleepy anymore, an’ I wanna see.”

“Ekera, it seems you have a surgeon in training here, Kei,” Tekēhu chuckled.

“Or else just an insatiably curious daughter,” Kei said wryly. “You can stay if you want, Vel.”

Vela nodded. “I do, Mama.”

“Alright, then.” It didn’t really surprise her Vela wanted to stay; both to be close and out of that insatiable curiosity.

“Would you like a better seat, dear one?” Tekēhu asked, extending his arm toward Vela in clear invitation.

Another eager nod. “Thank you, Teku!” she effused as she climbed down from the bed and up into his lap. She giggled and made a face--“You’re all wet!”--but settled in regardless.

It made Kei smile, even as Daelia started feeling out the extent of damage to her wrist and the pain spiked. She tightened her grip on Tekēhu’s hand, teeth grinding together.

“Fairly simple fracture,” Daelia commented. “Shouldn’t be hard to set straight.”

“Good,” Kei managed between clenched teeth.

Tekēhu leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Breathe, my lioness,” he whispered.

Kei pulled in and released a deep, slow breath at the remainder, and it did help. Daelia was as good as her word; she had Kei’s wrist set and splinted in short order, then set about tending the other injuries.

Despite her assertion of not being tired, Vela fell asleep halfway through, curled up against Tekēhu’s chest. He just shifted her more center on his lap with one arm and settled in again, hand still intertwined with Kei’s.

Finally, though, everything had been tended. Her hip was just bruised, she’d wrenched her knee, the gash on her arm had needed a few stitches, but the cut on her forehead wasn’t serious, just needed cleaning and would scab well enough. After Kei had thanked Daelia profusely for her help(and the pain draught that had her a very pleasant level of numb), the elf took her leave and Tekēhu very gently settled Vela on the bed.

He ran a slow, appraising look over Kei, taking long enough she finally arched a brow.

“What?”

Tekēhu chuckled quietly. “Just musing on the likelihood you would desire dry clothes before turning in, beloved.”

“And planning to offer your assistance?” she asked, smirking.

“Ekera, it is as if you read my mind,” he grinned. “You do only have one good hand at the moment. And I promise to behave myself with your daughter in the room and you so battered.”

“What a relief,” Kei deadpanned, mischief sparking in her eyes. “In that case, I accept.”

His grin widened, but he made no comment as he dug in her trunk for dry clothes, coming up with deep brown trousers and a short sleeved, off-white shirt.

“Good choice, with this,” Kei said wryly, briefly raising her splinted wrist.

“My thoughts exactly,” Tekēhu confirmed. He returned to his seat by her side, helped her gingerly remove her sodden clothes and dry off before just as carefully pulling on the new ones.

Once she was dressed, Kei paused to cup Tekēhu’s jaw with her good hand. “Thank you, Teku,” she whispered playfully, leaning in to kiss him.

His low laugh rumbled into the kiss. “It was my pleasure,” he murmured, then kissed her back. “And I won’t tell Vela you stole her nickname.”

“Borrowed,” Kei protested with a smile, resting her forehead against his. “Just this once.” She kissed him again.

“Ekera, beloved, you are making it quite difficult to keep my promise,” Tekēhu mumbled, breath ragged, between kisses. His hand cupped the back of her neck, fingers toying with the narrow braids.

“Which one?”

“To behave myself.”

She leaned more fiercely into the current kiss for a moment before pulling back. “Sorry.” She traced a finger down his cheek. “You’re just extra irresistible when you’re being sweet.”

He favored her with a warm smile for that, turned his head to lightly kiss her palm. “All the more reason to do it frequently, I say. But for now…” He reluctantly sat back. “I believe Daelia instructed you to rest?”

Kei nodded, letting her hand fall to her lap, the warmth of his skin lingering. “She did. And it is very late. Or is it early, now?”

Tekēhu chuckled, helped her stand. “I don’t imagine it makes much difference either way. You should go to bed.”

It was a short journey, but he didn’t let go until she was safely settled in bed. Vela easily shifted in her sleep to curl up snuggled with her mama. Kei ran a hand over her hair and looked up at Tekēhu. “Thank you,” she repeated. “For everything.”

He bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You are most welcome, my lioness. Though I do wish my help had not cost you such an injury.”

Not wanting to wake Vela, Kei rolled her eyes instead of scoffing. “And as I said, I’d rather have a broken wrist than be kraken bait. Thanks to you, my handsome fish, I lived to tell the tale. My wrist will heal.” She smiled. “Now, you should get some sleep as well; you look ready to fall over.”

“I would lie to deny it,” Tekēhu admitted with a wan smile. “So if you have no more need of your handsome fish tonight, Captain, I shall do as you say.”

I always need my handsome fish. Kei giggled and rolled her eyes again. “Goodnight, Tekēhu,” she said, patting the bed next to her and Vela.

His eyes fairly glowed as he accepted the unspoken invitation.

Kei had been right; he was asleep with his head on her shoulder mere seconds later. Her own lingering aches made it take a few minutes before she followed into slumber, and she didn’t truly mind. They’d fought a monster straight out of legend tonight and lived to tell the tale(grown their own legend in the process, she was sure he’d point out). Sleeping sandwiched between her two favorite people in Eora was as perfect a celebration as she could want for now.

Everything else could wait until daylight.

#queens fic #kei ghan #tekehu #vela #tekei #god they're so sweet sometimes just aaaahhhhh #pillars of eternity #first time writing vela whooooo #watcher wednesday #(last one)#(I promise)

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