#didn't post this yesterday because i was freaking out about half the kotlc tag vanishing for me. so i wanted to wait until it came back

[the-way-astray]

pride pin fic! :D (also you thought this was a pro-strieefe fic? pfft no :P anti strieefe for life <3)

The world was a haze of swirling pinks, blues and greens, bright and blindind.

Until it wasn't.

Stria groaned as she slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes slightly. It took her several moment to get her bearings.

Three seconds and her memories came back.

That Keefe guy had drugged her!

Stria was furious and, she had to admit to herself, the tiniest little bit fearful.

Where was she?

Why was she here?

She glanced around, noticing that she was in some sort of guest bedroom, the furniture organized and neat.

Stria could make out the sound of waves in the distance and she frowned.

Was she near the beach?

How long had she been asleep?

She did not live near a beach.

Stria attempted to sit up, only to fail and flop back onto the bed. It seemed like the drug was still affecting her body. Great.

For a while (it was probably only fifteen minutes, but Stria was bored.), she laid there, upon the bed while she listened to the distant waves.

Then came the footsteps.

When the door opened, Stria bolted upright, succeeding this time.

Standing in the doorway were two guys- a tall, brunette one, and Keefe.

Stria glared at Keefe, who only grinned back.

The other guy rolled his eyes at Keefe and walked inside entirely.

Stria cast a wary glance at this new guy, untrusting. After all, why would she be trusting after Keefe drugged her!?

"Hey," The guy started gently. "I'm Fitz and, well, I'm pretty sure you already know Keefe."

Stria gave Keefe another furious look. "Oh, I know him."

Keefe smirked. "Mhm hm. She sure does."

Fitz sighed.

Stria huffed and crossed her arms. "Why am I here? Where am I?" She demanded.

Keefe leaned against the wall. "I believe you're in a bedroom," He commented. "With a bed, a floor, some walls, a ceiling..."

Stria scoffed. "I can see that!" Keefe was getting on her nerves again.

"Okay, okay," Fitz interrupted. "Let's calm down and talk about this civilly." He gave Keefe a firm glance.

Reluctantly, Stria settled down, leaning against the bed headboard as she waited for Keefe to give her a well-deserved explanation.

"You kids," Mr Forkle began, gazing over Keefe, Fitz, Biana, Sophie and Dex. "Need to find somebody in the Forbidden Cities-"

"We get to go to the Forbidden Cities!?" Keefe interrupred excitedly.

"Yes, yes, Mr Sencen-" Keefe hated it when people called him that. "-, you will get to visit the human world. Only for a specific reason. You can't be messing around there."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Keefe shrugged, exchangin a glance with Fitz that clearly read 'there-is-no-way-i-am-doing-what-this-old-guy-says'. Fitz rolled his eyes.

Mr Forkle turned to the rest of the group as Keefe laid his head in Fitz's lap, like usual.

"There's a girl- Stria Rosier. She's an elf, but she's grown up in the Forbidden Cities. Her parents have raised her away from elvin society." Mr Forkle explained.

Some of the others gasped, but Keefe simply felt mildly curious. He heard Fitz let out a hum of slight interest as well.

"I'm counting on you kids to try and find her and bring her back here- by all means necessary. If she manifests in the Forbidden Cities..." Mr Forkle paused. "It'd be a disaster."

Sophie nodded. "Okay. We can do that." She met Keefe's gaze, her brown eyes filled with worry.

Keefe's expression softened at the sight of his friend's worry.

"We can do that," Keefe confirmed, a grin creeping onto his face. "In fact, I bet-"

Stria was quiet as Keefe finished explaining everything. She was still mad at him. Very mad.

This also didn't make her hate him any less. At least the others hadn't tried to drug her!

Fitz seemed to sense Stria's emotions, for he spoke. "Keefe certainly could have handled the situation better, but-"

Stria suddenly interrupted her. Something Keefe had mentioned.

"Elf. You said I'm an elf."

Fitz sighed, looking like he had done this before.

"Uh-huh, you're an elf!" Keefe piped up. "And a pretty one, at that."

Stria was silent for several moments before snapping at him. "Don't flirt with me."

Keefe shrugged. "Just statin' the facts, Miss-Snaps-All-The-Time."

Stria glared again as Fitz spoke.

"Okay, listen. We-" He gestured to him and Keefe. "Are not humans. You-" He pointed to Stria. "-also aren't human. You're an elf, Stria."

Stria scoffed. "What? Like those ones with the pointy shoes? I don't see no pointy shoes."

Fitz groaned. "What is it with human society and their views on elves? No, we're not tiny with pointy shoes. No, we don't work for 'Santa'. No, we don't have magic."

Stria was definitely getting the feeling that Fitz had done this before.

"So..?" Stria prompted. She was confused. "What are you? You do look pretty human to me. Or, woah, are you guys like shapeshifters or something?"

Keefe laughed. "Shapeshifters? Oh, I wish."

Stria let out a frustrated huff. It wasn't her fault that she was confused!

"Nothing like that," Fitz told her more gently. "We...well, we have special abilities, some of us. Certain people have more than others. We're hidden from the human world- the Forbidden Cities."

Stria was silent as Fitz continued.

"You, Stria, are one of us. Your parents hid you away in the Forbidden Cities, but this is your true home."

Fitz and Keefe had left Stria soon after explaining some things, giving her some time to process things.

She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming and winced from the sharp pain.

This was real.

Was this a nightmare come to life? Stria wasn't sure. It wasn't necessarily bad, the situation she was in- except for the fact that she was away from her family, had to deal with Stupid Jerk Face and still had no idea where she was.

Stria groaned as she stood up from the bed. Glancing out of the window, she could see the beach, waves lapping onto the shore gently.

It was pretty, really.

Just like she was, according to Lord of the Jerks.

Stria sighed. What was she supposed to do?

Stria realised how hungry she was after a while. She crept out of the guest bedroom, trying to find the kitchen.

"Who are you?"

She twirled around to see a tall, blond man with blue eyes standing there, looking stern.

He kind of looked like Keefe, to be entirely honest.

"She's a guest," drawled a familiar voice. "You're supposed to treat guests kindly, aren't you?"

Stria glanced to the side to see Keefe standing there, smirking.

The man shot a glare at Keefe. Were they father and son, possibly? Probably.

"Keefe, this doesn't concern you. Leave."

Stria blinked at the coldness in the man's voice.

"Nah. This totally concerns me." Keefe strolled over and slung an arm around Stria's shoulder, who immediately shoved him away.

"Owch. That hurts, Stria."

The man interrupted. "I never said you could bring a friend over," He snapped. "Let alone bring a girl."

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Well this is important Black Swan mission stuff. So she's staying here, whether you like it or not, O' Daddy Dearest."

Black Swan? What was that?

"Keefe-"

Stria watched the two bicker for about five minutes before the man finally delivered the final blow.

"It's not like you value your friends anyways."

Stria drew in a sharp breath. That was low.

She kind of regretted calling Keefe Lord of the Jerks earlier. That title definitely went to this man.

A brief look of hurt flashed across Keefe's face before he composed himself.

"Whatever. Come on Stria, Fitz called me to make sure to bring you to Everglen. We're leaving."

also ew it's weird to write even tiny bit of keefe angst. fitz angst hits harder tbh

here i am . . . three months later . . . with an update . . . sorry pride pin anon. i'm here now i swear. part one, for those that were never there in the first place and also those that forgot. all you really need to know is that keefe annoys the shit out of me, manages to convince me to take him home, and then drugs me. i just realized this fic was anti strieefe. sorry pro strieefe individuals

correct! i do not live near a beach

i feel bad for fitz in this fic. poor guy. imagine having to deal with keefe's mess

why anybody would trust keefe to go on a mission like this is beyond me

i see those keefitz crumbs wahoo

hello everybody this fic was written and sent before i adopted the official last name sixteen. so that's why i'm rosier in this fic. interesting choice, anon. are you going to keep that or change it

ooh, what's my ability? why is it a disaster if i manifest in the forbidden cities? anon's got me hooked, lowkey. sorry for taking so long, anon. i hope you're still there

I HATE GETTING LOOKS-BASED COMPLIMENTS GOD I HATE HIM SO SO SO SO BAD EW I HATE HIM

at least be good at flirting if you're gonna do it . . . i can be the occasional enjoyer of play-flirting . . . i hate him so bad . . .

to be fair my immediate reaction to fitz telling me about elves would not be santa or the north pole. i'm a fantasy nerd . . . but i digress

i'm not really the sort to ask a lot of questions. it would be like "you're an elf" "okay cool" *i wait for them to explain and if they don't i keep quiet*

I WOULD NOT BE THINKING ABOUT HIM CALLING ME PRETTY IT WOULD LEAVE MY MIND IMMEDIATELY

DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME KEEFE I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL MURDER YOU

and yes i agree anon . . . fitz angst is so much better than keefe angst. he gets too much of it as it is

in conclusion, you've set up a pretty cool premise here. why can't i manifest in the forbidden cities? so many questions . . .