#fff25

[sweetcatmintea]

The Hidden Markets

Flash Fiction Friday (Saturday edition)! I decided to try writing for a dnd character I’ve been making (despite having never played and no idea how to play ;u; I can dream right) to try to get more of a feel for her. I hope you enjoy going on a romp with Pepper! Feedback is appreciated ^u^

Big thanks to @cawolters for organising FFF and to @pheita for hosting!

Prompt: Mermaid Lights

Words: 1184

Characters: Pepper

----------

To start an adventure, you must first be equipped to handle the hurdles ahead. That was the wisdom spurring Pepper forward as she hopped through the perfect smooth circle in the centre of the quartz barrier. An uninteresting lump of rock in a vast red desert to the dismissive eye, a satisfyingly formed smoky cube to the interested. To here, the entrance to the fae community she called home. Pawed feet hit cool sand with barely a whisper. If she wanted to avoid the hot, hot, hot, glare of the midday sun, it was only practical to start in the early morning, chasing the fleeing frozen night. She stretched her arms over her head, waking sleepy muscles with a pop. Eager as she was to start, she delayed, savouring the bubbly anticipation. Another step forward. One step closer to the grand adventure of her dreams. A step to the friends, the allies, and the enemies waiting ahead. To the fun and, of course, glorious trinkets and treasures.

Appreciation done, she was off. There was a fair way between her home and the hidden market but sensibility didn’t reach her. Her pace matched her eagerness. Caution to the wind, she darted over rolling dunes, around forests of cacti and thorned yellow flowers, and across craggy paths. Sprinting for sprinting’s sake, she was halfway there by the sun completed its ascent, forcing a retreat. Despite the regulation efforts of her large mouse-like ears, she was still a mere mortal to the sun’s glorious indifference. Pepper perched herself in the cool shade of an abandoned den jutting from a cliff face. The delay was frustrating (and completely expected) at best, but she was foolhardy, not an idiot. She’d have to wait to move again. At least she had lunch. Munching on chunks of baked sweet potato, she watched shadows grow, crawling over sands. Occasionally, a bird call would echo through the stillness, breaking the monotony of it all. It was peaceful. It was beautiful. It was also boring. Pepper had places to be.

Finally, a jackalope lopped in front of her. It was safe to move again. The rabbit eyed her lazily as she shoved her belongings back into her warn leather satchel. He probably didn’t see her as much of a threat, being almost as tall as she was. Rude. She could take him. But not now. She had a market to get to.

A hidden market isn’t as hard to find as you might think. Like most puzzles, it’s pretty easy to figure out retrospective of the answer. All Pepper had to do was pin a mirage in place and jump in. Somehow, the novelty of the fall and stark contrast of daylight and cave depths never seemed to wear off. She loved the markets.

The dim bloomed gradually with coloured stones as Pepper’s eyes adjusted. There wasn’t much illumination but there was enough to guide the way. Clatter and ruckus of merchants and patrons bounced up the walls of the chambers. If she listened carefully, she could just make out the hiss of shifting sands above. The ground was worn smooth by centuries of traffic. Soon enough, the tunnel opened into a massive cavern, bustling and noisy as deals were thrown left right and centre. Fabric stalls littered the mouth, trailing up the walls and poking out of every viable cave. Colour as far as the eye could see. Incense and dried spices peppered the air while fellow bards moulded clamour into music. Unable to hold back an excited wiggle, Pepper hopped from foot to foot, dancing on her toes. Her long tail nearly toppled other visitors as she weaved between their legs. She had to remember not to let it thrash like that. Darting ahead again, she skittered up the walkway to the higher markets, following it deep into the heart of the cave.

The space was massive. Not by design, but necessity. Behind a fabric laid table, surrounded by his wares, a mermaid reclined. His tail, more snake than fish, curled around him with delicate veils of fins toying with light cast from his creations. Long and graceful as he was tall and imposing, desert mermaids were titans in their own right. His hand alone dwarfed the tiny Pepper. She stood proud, greeting him with a voice far bolder than one unaccustomed to feeling small.

“Hail and well met!” She squeaked, “I’m here for a lantern!” Mer made lights were works of art. Living below the sand left them without a need for light but a creator’s soul and admiration for the world above made them skilled craftsmen.

“Hail and well met Little Mouse. What do you have to offer me?” He smiled down at her, resting his chin on his palm like a sculpture bought to life. Turquoise nestled around his arms in slivers of gold woven so fine they put spiders to shame. The problem with mermaids was not that they were unbuyable but that they had valuables in excess.

“I am Pepper, the Soon to be Renown bard! Would you accept my services in exchange for a lantern?”

“I do not need a song Pepper the Bard. There is music all around us.”

“You’re in luck then! I am not a singing bard. I am a story teller.”

His copper green eyes sparkled with mischief. “A deal; if your story can make me laugh, you may have this lantern.”

The doubt never reached Pepper’s face, a confident grin in its place. She would prove that she had the skills to do this. She told of an elf mistaking a jackrabbit for a bugbear, having only seen his reflection in a coin and fleeing before he could approach.

Nothing.

She told of an old wizard accidentally hexing his chair to run away when a guest tried to sit on it.

Not even a chuckle.

She didn’t come here to leave empty handed! But she was also running out of ideas. There was one more, but it was far from good.

“This one will get you, prepare to farewell your lantern! What do you call it when a grandmother gets up to mischief?”

He arched a brow. “I don’t know. What do you call it?”

She threw her hands out. “She-Nana-gans!”

Silence. Both parties eyed each other, Pepper still holding her hand in the air, grinning awkwardly, the mermaid with an almost shocked expression.

Until he snorted. “That’s really bad.” Chuckles made his voice jump. “I’ve never heard a worse joke!” Nevertheless, he didn’t stop laughing, overtaken by the absurdity. It really was a terrible joke.

When he regained himself, he accepted defeat with grace, plucking a staff from beside him. Gently, aware of his size, he dropped it into Pepper’s still outstretched hands. She was too shocked to remember to retract them. It had a good weight to it. Carved agate winding down in a rough spiral. A hanging lantern rocked from the top, filled with water and holding several opal-like pastel stones. No doubt crafted from his own shed scales.

“You win Pepper the Bard. The lantern is yours.”

----------

Tag list

@inkovert, @snobbysnekboi, @kainablue, and @i-rove-rock-n-roll

[nenestansunsthings]

Splashing

saturday stories! i missed last week's friday story so i'm really happy to have another chance to do this one! so! @cawolters and @inexorableblob here's my story! i've been finding a whole bunch of warmcore stuff so i have inspiration now! anyway let's go!

.

.

"Oh, sorry!"

The summer festival is in wild swing, people cheering to music and converging into a massive crowd round the lake. It's still late morning, around ten A.M., with the whole throng creating an excited, carefree atmosphere that matches the festivities perfectly.

Of course, the whole thing isn't perfect. If it was, Maisie's pretty sure she wouldn't have knocked a girl straight into the lake.

"Are you okay?!" she asks, quickly kneeling down and grabbing tight hold of the other girl's hands. She's not that strong, but she's strong enough to at least make sure the girl doesn't sink. There's a surprised laugh, and the girl props herself up onto the ground, her legs kicking skillfully in the water.

Dad's going to kill me if she dies, Maisie thinks. Oh, thank god she isn't dead.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" The girl waves away Maisie's worry quickly, flashing a fearless smile and looking up at her with the brightest brown eyes she's ever seen. Her hair is sticking wetly to her face and her hands must have dirt clinging to them from where she's keeping hold on the ground, but all Maisie can think is god, she's pretty. "You just knocked me over, is all! I'm fine over here."

"Still, I should have been more careful." Maisie flushes, looking away from the site of her little accident. "I was carrying all these things for my dad and I was too focused on not dropping the basket and I bumped you and I'm really, really sorry!"

"Like I said, it's okay! At least I have an excuse to swim." The girl pushes away from the ground a little, keeping herself afloat just by the shore. "My name's Anne! What's yours?"

"Maisie." Do people normally introduce themselves right after these kinds of things? She thought that only happened in books and bedtime stories. "Are- Are your parents going to be okay with this? I mean, your dress is really pretty, and now it's all soaked-"

"That's fine, too. No-one minds." Anne waves a hand nonchalantly, once again convincing her that there isn't a problem. "You said you were carrying some stuff for your dad?"

"Yeah! He's operating one of the stalls, and he asked if I wanted to get some of the apples for him, and- oh, no!" Maisie looks further out onto the lake, where there are a few bright red apples bobbing away into the deep water she can't reach. "Oh, I messed up-"

Anne turns, catching sight of the same thing. "Those aren't that many. It's fine, right?"

I messed up, I messed up, I messed up-

Maisie is intensely aware of how close she is to crying right now.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Her new friend- friend? Is she a friend now?- turns back to her, concern making lines on her face. "Hey, no, don't cry! Do you want me to get them for you?"

"What? But-"

"I'll get them!" Anne declares, turning and propelling herself further into the lake with a splash that reminds Maisie incredibly of the one she made when she'd fallen. Maisie cries out, further fear spiking in her veins at the sight of Anne's dark form bobbing like the apples between the current. Her dad isn't actually going to kill her for losing some apples. But if she got a girl drowned she'd definitely go to prison, and that'd be even worse!

"Anne, no-!"

"I got one!" As if she hadn't given Maisie a heart attack, Anne swims a little closer to shore. She lobs a wet apple at Maisie proudly. It brains her in the forehead and plops back into the water, but Maisie gasps and pulls it back towards herself before it can float away. "I'll get the other two, don't worry!"

"I'm worrying! I'm worrying a whole bunch right now!"

She doesn't think Anne hears her. The girl is grabbing the remaining two now, taking a few moments to steady herself in the water before throwing them again. One lands on the ground beside Maisie, rolling to a stop a little behind her, while the other lands squarely on her lap.

"Score!" Anne laughs, making her way back with that bright smile still on her face. She is unfairly calm about this. Incredibly unfairly. "Again, thanks for giving me the excuse to swim, Maisie!"

"... You're welcome." Maisie looks away. She's not sure how exactly to respond to this. "Thank you for getting back my apples."

"Speaking of, shouldn't you get those back to your dad?"

"Oh, yeah!" Maisie shoots up, grabbing the three apples and shoving them quickly into the large basket she'd been carrying. "Right! Thank you! I have to go!"

"I'll see you sometime," Anne promises, waving Maisie off. "Bye, Maisie! Good luck getting to the stall!"

Distractedly, Maisie waves back before taking off towards her dad's stall. Maybe this time, she'll make it without any more accidents.

[smudged-glasses-writing]

#FFF25 - Mermaid lights

“You should come to visit me someday”, she says as the sun shines above us. “It’s not fair it’s always me who swims all the way here.”

I don’t bother telling her how far my village is from the seaside - I just smile playfully and dip my toes in the water.

“Your house looks like mine from here”

“It does not, she groans, splashing water at me, “and you know what I mean”

I do, and so I walk closer to her, until the ocean reaches my waist. “Good enough?”

Her mouth is strange, lipless and narrow, but her pout is obvious. “No, deeper” she closes the distance between us, takes my hand. “The colors are unlike anything up here, and the lights - you’ll have to see it for yourself”

Her skin is cold and soft, sheltered from the wind for years now. She brushes her fingers against my wrist, and I have no choice but closing my eyes and letting her lead me under.h

I don't open then again until I am fully submerged, unsure if I could tell the surface apart from the ocean floor - and I see her properly for the first time.

Her hair floats around her like a dark halo, graceful while I'm struggling not to sink. She's not quite smiling but she looks content, like it's absurd she could belong anywhere but here.

She laughs, and the sound dies at her lips and returns to me thousand times more.

The water stings my eyes, I feel it in my nose, my mouth, the back of my throat but then she leans in to kiss me, and her teeth gleam, and for a moment I breathe again. I'm left looking into her eyes, bright and dark as the universe.

"Follow me", she says. "the lights are not far away."

And I follow her deeper into the light.

- .... .- - .----. ... / .- .-.. .-.. --..-- / ..-. --- .-.. -.- ... -.-.--

It’s three minutes past 12, but I hope I caught the deadline anyway. Dedicated to @acecutiecharlie bc ae’s the best (and also mermaids, fuck yeah). @cawolters @pheita

[morganwriteblr]

SSS01/FFF25: Splashing

Hosted by the wonderful @cawolters- I hope your small people are doing OK!

I chose to write about mermaids, which is not something I have ever done before...but here it is! (this piece *hints* at domestic violence)

The sound of splashing brought Aurielia out of her revery for it could only mean one thing: someone, or something had entered the water nearby. Something that did not belong. The last time this had happened, it had been a man and a strange contraption of wood and cloth. She is the guardian of this part of the sea after her parents had been killed in a selkie raid. Her best friend entered the alcove as her thoughts began to drift to her family. “The human is alive. She dropped close by and we have given her the elixir.” Aurielia nodded once and collected the bag of pearls that she had been collecting from the small cave. She swam out behind her friend and loyal confidant. She is a young maid called Janispur. She is also an orphan, after her parents were killed in a different part of the great sea. Her skin is much darker than many of the maids in Aurielia’s region and some had tried to alienate her because of it. But her internal strength, courage, determination and wit soon won over the hearts of the other maids. Aurielia was head over fins for her, but it did not matter. Even though her parents were deceased, the Order of the Guardians states that a bloodline must be continued. Aurielia is the oldest and only surviving maid of her line. She cursed internally at her predicament. A male had already been chosen for her- an older, grizzled merman called Cyraeneus. She had only met him once, when she was younger and her parents still living. She had not hated him, nor the scar that ran down the full length of his torso and tail. A different female voice brings her out of her past “Guardian, our scouts reported a large shadow passing over where the woman fell.” Aurielia frowned- the world above was advancing and evolving, whilst all they have is ancient magic. “Inform the witches- raise the barrier.” The ranger nodded and swam away to confer with her scouts. The barrier was more of a mirage field around the homes of the merfolk and prevented any humans from coming too close. From the outside, the entire area looked like a series of dark, foreboding caves, filled with sea snakes, sharks and other creatures that they feared getting too close to. From the inside, the barrier was almost imperceivable. A chorus of sea horns echoed. That was the call for any ranger, scout or hunter beyond the perimeter to return. It would sound a second time in approximately five minutes, to signal that the barrier was being raised. Any who did not make it back would be left beyond the barrier. Luckily, they all had the skills to survive.

The human woman had been carried to a building that had collapsed into the sea some years earlier. It still held many of the human items and features that Aurielia hoped would make any ‘guest’ feel more welcomed. The first thing Aurielia notices about the woman is the purple hue her skin had taken, almost hiding some of the black patches underneath. The second thing: she’s pregnant. A Sea Witch rises from the side of the woman and swims to meet Aurielia and Janispur. “They both live, and the waters tell me that they will survive for a time.” She glances back to the woman momentarily “The babe will be born here. I will consult with my sisters on how to prepare for the event. We have two full moon cycles to do so, if we are lucky. She will wake soon.” With a slight dip of her head, the sea witch exits the building. “By Neptulon!” Janispur whispers. “A human woman, and a human child soon to be born--oh, her eyes fluttered. Aurielia?” Aurielia was so still that she was at risk of floating to the top of the building and beyond. “I would speak to her alone.” she said with a nod to Janispur. Janispur looks shocked for a second before reverting her face to normal and turning around. A groan emits from the bed and Aurielia swims over cautiously. She notices two small feet protruding from the abdomen of the woman as she positions herself lower onto the floor. The woman’s eyes flutter open. They are as blue as the sea, surrounded by pale lashes. Aurielia smiles, knowing that the elixir administered to the woman would prevent her from seeing the true form of any merfolk. To her, they would look human- flesh and skin instead of scales, dresses instead of sea-weed and shells-- or the full nudity that some of the younger maidens were experimenting with. She would also not panic that the room was underwater. That was the most crucial element of the elixir.

“Hello. I am Lia.”

The woman swallows against a dry throat “Where am I?”

“You are...somewhere safe.” The woman’s eyes close again, her hands reaching for her swollen stomach. Her face knots together in pain from the movement “My baby?” Aurielia smiles again. “Your babe is healthy, as will you be after some more rest. You are quite...broken.” Her eyes widen in shock “Broken?” Aurielia nods once. “The vessels under your skin burst when you hit the water. You also have some fractures in your feet. What do you remember?” Her eyes close again, the balls moving left and right under the lids as she tries to recall the events that led her here. “There was shouting. Lots of shouting. I remember crying, maybe hitting someone. My husband, I think. He does not believe me when I say the child is his. He gets angry.” A tear escapes from her lids. “I think--I think he pushed me. From the boat. We were on a cruise, trying to mend our relationship before our child is born.” Her fingers caress the skin of her stomach, finding the place where a small foot is pushing. Some of the words she spoke were unfamiliar to Aurielia; boat, cruise, the concept of paternity. Her eyes are glistening with tears as she re-opens them. “I suppose you are too young to worry about children.” she comments. All Aurielia can do is nod her head, her heart sinking into sorrow.

[poshinmom]

I just added this listing on Poshmark: Very Important Pieces cardigan large fff25.

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