#debating crossposting this one to ao3 despite the fact that it has literally nothing to do with superheroes

[spacebird-diaries]

Sisters

Bailey turned over in bed, her brain too full of noise to sleep.  She peered at the alarm clock on the nightstand – 11:30.  At this rate, she’d never get enough sleep for school tomorrow. And trying to fake sick for the third time in two weeks would only get her into trouble.

Sighing heavily, Bailey pushed her stuffed unicorn aside and reached for her slippers.  Phoebe was across the room, dead asleep in her own bed.  Bailey couldn’t turn the lamp on, but there was just enough moonlight coming through the window that she could sort of see.

Bailey opened and shut the door as quietly as she could, slipping down the hall with hardly a sound.  All she needed was a drink, and maybe a snack.  Just something to distract herself with.  She was almost to the kitchen when she heard voices in the living room.

“I just don’t know where I went wrong with that girl,” her mother was saying.  “Why she’s turning out like this.”

“Sweetheart…”  Bailey’s father’s voice was tired, heavy with something Bailey couldn’t quite grasp.  “You know how often she and Portia would get into fights.  It’s not your fault.  It’s just… In her nature.  She’s short-tempered and volatile, and she gets that from me.”

Bailey froze, pressing against the wall.  Were they talking about her?  Or Phoebe?

“I had my share of scraps with my brother too,” Mom countered.  “But she’s getting so violent, Sam.  And she’s only twelve!  I’m worried! I mean, listen to this: ‘I’m so full of rage.  The kids at school won’t quit bugging me, and I know there’s some kind of joke I’m not in on. That I’m some kind of joke to them.  I want to hurt them.  I don’t like that about myself.’”

Bailey’s eyes widened and she pressed a hand to her mouth.  They were talking about her.  Worse, they were reading her diary!  That was supposed to be private!

“She’s clearly not getting along with the other kids at school,” Bailey’s mother continued.  “We might have to pull her out if this keeps up, homeschool her.  I keep getting called into the office because she threatened to bite someone’s face off or something!  She punched Amy Baker’s little boy the other day!”

“Isn’t he the boy that tried to invite her to the church social because he was worried about her going to hell or something?”

“That’s the one.  I know, I’d probably have bopped him too at her age, but that doesn’t make it right!  Besides, she broke his nose.”

He deserved it, Bailey thought to herself, crossing her arms and balling her fists up.  Stupid jerk said I was gonna burn in hell just because I didn’t go to church and read vampire books instead.

“Ava, honey, I really don’t think it’s as bad as you’re afraid.  It’s not like she wants to hurt the other kids, after all.”

“It is exactly as bad as I’m afraid!” Mom’s voice was rising despite her best efforts.  “That girl is trouble.  Something’s wrong with her and I don’t know how to fix it!”

Bailey bit down on a sob, hating the way she flinched at that.  Something was… Wrong with her.  She was broken.  She’d known it, but hearing her mother echo it unprompted…  It hurt.

Bailey pushed away from the wall, teeth clenched to keep herself from crying, and snuck back up towards her room.  She didn’t feel like getting that snack anymore.  The bedroom door slammed behind her, and Bailey winced, curling away from it.

“…Bales?”  Phoebe sat up in bed and turned her lamp on, the shade casting light around in moon-and-star shaped cutouts.  “What’s goin’ on?”

Bailey sniffled, hot, angry tears finally welling up in her eyes.  “I – She – It’s –”  Her words fell apart faster than she could form them, punctuated by wet, gasping sobs.

“Oh, shit.  Uh, c’mere.”  Phee opened up her arms.  “I know Ed’s hugs are better, but let me try.”

Bailey threw herself across the room, scrambling into her big sister’s bed and trying to fold herself into Phoebe’s smaller frame.

They sat like that for a while, Bailey muffling her sobs and Phoebe tucking the blankets around her little sister’s shoulders. A knock sounded at the door.

“Girls?”  It was their dad.  “We heard the door slam.  Everything alright?”

“It’s fine,” Phoebe called, protective arms pulling Bailey close.   “Just a nightmare.  We’ve got it handled.”

 “…Alright then.”  He clearly didn’t believe Phoebe, but he didn’t argue.  “I hope you sleep better.  I’ll see you in the morning; I love you.”

Phoebe sighed.  “Love you too, Dad.”

Bailey pulled back, peering at her sister with red-rimmed eyes.  “I’m sorry.”

“Shush.”  Phoebe booped Bailey’s nose.  “This is what big sisters are for, after all.  Not just stealing your shirts and embarrassing you in front of cute boys.”

Bailey giggled, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes.  “I keep telling you, I don’t like-like Gavin.  He’s just a friend.”

“Suuuure.  And you’re totally playing knights-and-wizards in the woods every Sunday as friends.”

“…Sometimes we pretend we’re enemies?”

Phee sighed and shook her head.  “Whatever.  Now go on – I have band practice in the morning, and didn’t you say you had a test first-hour?  We both need sleep.”

Bailey stuck her tongue out at her sister, but slid off the mattress and crossed to her own side of the room.  “Fii-iiine.  But you gotta wake me up when you get up.  I need to cram for that test.”

“I’ll try, but you sleep like a log.  Don’t blame me if you get a bad grade.”

Bailey smiled and snuggled down into her blankets, dragging her stuffed unicorn close.  “…Hey, Phee?”

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“I love you.  A lot.”

“…I love you too, Bailey-bean.  Now get some sleep, okay?”

“’Kay.”

[soulstealer1987]

Arc 1, Chapter 2

Ziist Grozein

A wild pair of Companions appeared! Probably a good thing for Gallus, considering that he hasn’t even been around for a day and he nearly got himself killed again. He’s doomed.

Crossposted from AO3. Masterpost is here.

Arc 1: The Illusion of Memory

Arc 1, Chapter 1 ~ Arc 1, Chapter 3

Gallus wakes to the sounds of a crackling fire and raised voices. There's two people talking somewhere close by, a woman and a man. The man sounds rather pissed, and the woman… equally so.

It suddenly hits him that maybe he should try and figure out how he got here before figuring out where ‘here’ is. He remembers waking up in the tomb, and eventually leaving, into the snow, with literally no idea where he was going. In retrospect, maybe that wasn't the greatest idea on his part, especially not once the wind picked up and a raging blizzard resulted...

Well shit, he thinks. That definitely wasn’t a good idea.

He remembers seeing something bright through the swirling snow and struggling on to reach it. He must have reached it, or at the very least come close, because clearly he hasn't frozen to death, not yet. Quietly, he sits up, and looks around. He doesn't recognize this place - then again, he'd honestly be surprised if he did - but it's walled in from the blizzard. From the sounds of things, the storm’s beginning to wind down, which makes him wonder just how long he's been out for.

There's a campfire going on the other side of the place, and two figures next to it. Both heavily armored, but one’s a taller man with dark hair and intimidating-looking war paint - a Nord, his brain supplies helpfully - and the other is a more slightly built woman with somewhat lighter hair and significantly lighter armor - an Imperial, he thinks, even as he’s not entirely sure what the difference between ‘Nord’ and ‘Imperial’ even is.

Gallus wonders for a moment what he himself is, then realizes that the talking’s stopped. Both of the warriors are looking at him now, and Gallus stares back, more than a little intimidated, because both of them clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to fighting. He wonders if the man he’d been before he lost his memories had been able to hold his own in a fight.

He wonders what in Oblivion he’d been up to that had resulted in him waking up in an ancient tomb with no memories of who he’d been, what he’d been, what he’d stood for…

“Hey, you’re not frozen,” the girl, the Imperial, says a little too cheerfully considering the subject matter. Right. He can’t lose himself in his thoughts here, not while other people are around and clearly expecting him to say something… but what? He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. “So… can you talk, or…?”

“I can talk,” Gallus says quietly. His voice almost hurts from how long it’s been since he’s spoken - and he wonders, not for the first time and not for the last, what he’d been doing. “Did you…?” He gestures helplessly to the area they’re in, some sort of shelter from the snow, and the girl nods.

“Save your life? Keep you from freezing to death? Her idea, but yes,” the taller, older Nord agrees, looking significantly less friendly. Gallus is suddenly very glad that the girl’s here, because he has a sinking suspicion that the other guy may well have left him to die. “What were you even doing out there, anyway?” Gallus tries to keep his eyes from going wide, and he’s pretty sure he failed miserably, but he’s got bigger things to worry about.

“I…” He begins, then trails off.

I don’t know.

“...got lost,” Gallus finishes lamely. Neither of them look particularly convinced, and part of him’s rather annoyed at the fact that his bluff didn’t work at all. Granted, it wasn’t exactly a good bluff, but still. “So, who are you?” The girl  grins,  and if the Nord’s expression is any indication, Gallus may just have gotten in a bit over his head.

“We’re the Companions,” she exclaims, then her grin lessens slightly. “Well, we’re two of the Companions, anyway. I’m Ria, he’s Vilkas.” Vilkas scowls, but Gallus isn’t entirely sure that he hasn’t been scowling to begin with, so…

“I can introduce myself,” Vilkas mutters. “And you’re not a full Companion yet.” Ria’s grin all but fades, but she shrugs lightly anyway.

“No, but I will be when we get back to Jorrvaskr! Right? Besides, you weren't actually going to introduce yourself, so…”

“I was, actually,” Vilkas says, sounding mildly annoyed - not that he hasn't sounded mildly annoyed this entire time, of course, “and it’ll depend on how you do on your trial, which definitely does not involve keeping random people from freezing to death.” Gallus frowns, and while his gut tells him rather sternly that what he's about to ask is not a good idea in the least, the blizzard is letting up outside and he figures if things get too hairy, he can book it. Or try to, anyway, it's debatable how far he’ll actually get on his own.

“My name’s Gallus,” he offers a little too quietly, “and I’m sorry, but… who are the Companions?” He's all too aware that both of them, both of the Companions, are now staring at him like he's crazy or something.

Crazy, no. Amnesiac, yes.

“You mean you’re in Skyrim and you haven't heard of us?” Vilkas asks, and Gallus thinks he can detect a hint of incredulity in his voice. “How?” Gallus gulps.

“I, well...”

Might as well trust them, he thinks, hoping to whatever gods might be listening that he won't come to regret this.

“I can’t remember how I got here,” Gallus admits after a moment, staring intensely at a crack in the stony floor simply so he doesn't have to look at either of them, and hoping fervently that this isn’t a terrible idea that’ll get him killed. “I don't remember anything before that, either. I can't remember anything, and believe me, I've tried. So I likely have heard of you, and I just… can’t remember.”

There’s silence for several seconds, but it seems to Gallus like so much longer than that. While neither he nor Ria nor Vilkas speaks, it’s not completely quiet. The blizzard outside is winding down, but it’s still clearly audible. Something’s dripping, too, within the place. Melting ice, or water. Whatever it is, it fills the silence until Ria awkwardly clears her throat.

“That explains why you’ve never heard of us,” Ria says uncomfortably, “but… you really can’t remember anything? Nothing at all?” Gallus shakes his head.

“For all I know, my name might not even be Gallus,” he says miserably. “It could be… I don’t know, Ragnar or something.” Vilkas snorts, amused, although by the time Ria glances back at him his usual stoic mask is back on.

“Somehow I doubt your name is Ragnar,” Vilkas says dryly. “Nobody’s named their kid that in decades, at least. Probably because of the song.” Gallus makes a mental note to look into this song when he can, although he does have better things to do. Like, for instance, figuring out who he was before he lost his memories and why he woke up in the final chamber of a Nordic tomb. And there’s likely a good reason he can’t shake the feeling that he’s supposed to be dead.

“Probably,” Gallus agrees, despite having no idea what’s being referred to. “So, ah… Companions. Who are they?” Ria’s eyes light up, and Gallus can tell he’s going to be here for a while even before she opens her mouth. Fortunately for the sake of his sanity, Vilkas steps in before she can start.

“Ria, the blizzard’s let up, we need to be going,” Vilkas says firmly, and Gallus can tell pretty easily it’s an order. Ria nods reluctantly, and it’s then he turns to Gallus. “We’ve got business in the area, dealing with a pest problem. You can come with us as far as Winterhold, if you stay out of the way and don’t get yourself killed. Or you can stay here. Your choice.”

It’s clear to Gallus what the smart choice is: going with them. After all, if he couldn’t make it far on his own before, chances are things won’t be any different now - and he doubts he’d be lucky enough to run into other people a second time. It’s probably best to stay with others as long as he can, at least until he knows he can hold his own.

“I’ll go with you,” Gallus says, getting up and trying to ignore how sore he still is. “So… where are we going?”

“This is Stillborn Cave,” Vilkas says, likely just as much for Ria’s benefit as Gallus’ own, because it’s rather obvious at this point that she’s new to this whole Companion thing, and he’s almost certain that she’s never been in this area of Skyrim before. (At least, he’s pretty sure Skyrim is what this province is called. He’s not completely sure.) “Farkas and I were here a few months back, had to clear out a group of Falmer that decided they liked here better than Dwemer ruins. Turns out there’s more of them where the others came from.” He hefts his greatsword, and looks to Ria, who draws her own, smaller sword and readies her shield.

“So do you want me to just wait out here, or…?” Gallus questions. His hand travels to the sword he’d found just after waking up, and while he doesn’t unsheath it quite yet, he figures it probably would be a good thing to get some actual combat experience.

“If you want,” Vilkas says with a shrug. “If you think you can avoid getting yourself killed, then go ahead, but stay behind us, and let Ria do all the fighting.” Gallus nods in understanding. On the way here, Ria had taken the opportunity to explain everything she knew about the Companions, which was… a lot. For example, every new member has to complete something called a trial where a senior member observes to see how they fight, and make sure they’re honorable. Said senior member doesn’t step in unless they have to.

As it happens, this mission is Ria’s trial, and the senior member accompanying her is Vilkas.

“That I can do,” Gallus agrees. Ria goes in first, Vilkas following surprisingly quietly despite the amount of heavy armor he has on, and after taking a moment to tell himself quite sternly that he is most certainly not going to his death and he needs to stop being such a pessimist, he follows them in, dropping instinctively into a stealthy crouch.

The first enemy within is the biggest spider Gallus has ever laid eyes on, and he doesn’t need his memories to know that. The thing’s an absolute monstrosity, an extremely large monstrosity, but a monstrosity nonetheless. It could easily give the faint of heart nightmares, but Ria dispatches it easily with a shield bash to the mandibles and a stab while it was stunned. Vilkas nods approvingly, and the pair continue on, Gallus following silently behind through icy tunnels and past what Gallus assumes to be Falmer things.

“You can go forward or right from here,” Vilkas murmurs so quietly that Gallus can barely hear him from where he is. “However, there’s an alcove to the left with Falmer in it. You may want to take them out first.” Ria nods, and turns left. Yelling a battle cry, she charges in, and steel meets something that’s most certainly not steel if the resulting clank is any indication.

By the time Gallus has maneuvered around enough to see into the alcove, there is one very dead, pale-skinned creature with pointed ears that Gallus figures must be a Falmer, and the other is fighting Ria rather unsuccessfully, mainly because its only weapon appears to be a bow. It screams something in a language Gallus definitely doesn’t understand and attempts to whack her over the head with its bow.

Gallus can tell even before it tries that it’s not going to work out in its favor. Ria blocks the Falmer’s panicked strike with her shield, then slices. It collapses, and Ria looks back to Vilkas.

“Not bad,” he says, which Gallus suspects is the closest he’ll come to saying Ria did well. “Which way?” Ria looks to each passageway, clearly weighing the options in her head, and Gallus does as well. The larger of the two is closer, and has enough room for several people to fit through. The smaller and father, the one directly across from where Ria currently is, only has enough room for one person to proceed at once.

Ria makes her decision, and starts towards the larger passage. Vilkas follows her. Gallus moves to do the same, then stops, looking again toward the small one. By the time he returns his attention to the Companions, they’re around the bend and out of sight, so he goes for the smaller one just because.

Gallus soon finds that while the smaller way is a dead end, it’s a dead end with a significant amount of loot in an extremely disturbing-looking chest. Truthfully, he’s not even sure how he knew it was a chest, but he’s not complaining, because some of the things within look like things he could definitely use. There’s some sort of armor, made out of hide or fur or something similar, and he stuffs it in his pack, making a mental note to change into it at some point when he’s not in a place full of homicidal cave elves.

There’s also a pair of decent-looking boots, and these he pulls on, because the ones he’s currently wearing are all but falling apart. The sounds of fighting begin to echo down the corridor, and instead of checking the rest of the chest’s contents, he shoves what he can in his pack, unsheathes his sword, and heads the way the others headed, only to find Ria going toe to toe (or toe to wing?) with some sort of nasty black flying insect thing. Considering that the thing is considerably more agile than her, she’s at least holding her own.

If she was doing too badly, Vilkas would step in, anyway, and while Vilkas does look on edge, he’s not to the point of stepping in. Gallus is seriously considering stepping in himself despite knowing next to nothing about what she’s fighting when a flicker of movement catches Gallus’ eye, and he looks, only to see another of the Falmer.

This one’s attempting to sneak up on Vilkas, and seeing as Vilkas is paying close attention to how Ria’s fighting… it’s succeeding. It doesn’t seem to have noticed Gallus, though, and it’s with this in mind that Gallus slips behind it and rather sloppily slides his sword through its backside. It falls, yes, but rather loudly, a little too loudly.

By then, Ria’s finished fighting her nasty black flying insect thing and now both Companions are looking at Gallus like he’s crazy. He sheathes his sword, takes a step back, and mumbles an apology.

“What are you apologizing for? That was awesome!” Ria exclaims. “And I think you’re allowed to intervene if things are sneaking up on Vilkas, anyway.” Vilkas looks suspiciously like he wants to disagree, but he says nothing.

“I… alright,” Gallus says, and glances around the cavern they’ve found themselves in. “This one is a dead end too?” Vilkas nods curtly.

“There’s another way to go from where we were,” Vilkas says. “It’s just past where you killed the first Falmer.” The rest of Ria’s trial passes without incident, and while Gallus isn’t entirely sure what exactly Vilkas was looking for, if he’d been the one in charge of determining whether she became a Companion or not he would have let her pass immediately.

It takes the rest of the day, but the trio - the two Companions plus Gallus - makes it to what Gallus assumes is Winterhold just before dark, and it’s then that Vilkas and Ria take their leave.

“Not that we have to camp out, of course, but it’s fun and, more importantly, free,” Ria explains with a grin. “And hey, if you’re ever in Whiterun, you should stop by Jorrvaskr and say hello. Who knows? Maybe someone there will have known you before, you know… the amnesia thing.” Gallus nods, but somehow, he doubts this, and he isn’t quite sure why.

“Alright,” Gallus agrees. “Thank you both. For everything.” Ria nods, and her grin only grows.

“Hey, it’s what we do, and- hey, Vilkas, wait up!"

She runs off after Vilkas, and Gallus watches them leave with the faintest of smiles on his face. He hopes he’ll run into them again, and he hopes he’ll remember more of his past by the time he does. Then again… hoping doesn’t do much on its own, so he heads to the local inn and gets a room for the night.

Truthfully, Gallus has no idea where to go from here, and while that terrifies him more than it should… that’s alright. He’ll just take one day at a time, and with any luck, he won’t pass out in any more blizzards.

Then again, he thinks, if I had any luck I wouldn’t have woken up without any idea of who I was.