#his cover of subhuman is good too... which is saying a lot bc I really don't like subhuman lmao

[bleaksqueak]

my life has devolved into nothing more than little v mills' cover of coral crown on repeat

[livvywrites]

wip: three birds

so this is an old WIP that i’ve been thinking about again?? it was actually a fanfic when i first started thinking about/writing it, but... it’s canon-divergent/au enough that i want to turn it into my own thing. so i’m still in the process of doing that, but, i’ve gotten enough down that,,, i think i’m ready to talk about.

it’ll be a long time before i write this bc Metanoia is taking pretty much all of my attention but!!! i still enjoy thinking about it & i kinda wanna gush about it, y’know?? so!!

the working title is three birds, though i’ve also been playing around with the last time. three birds is a little more fitting, though. mostly because i want my three main characters to have nicknames after birds.

it’s a romantic fantasy/fantasy romance, more than anything, though i definitely want to add some conflict in there.

under a cut because this is kind of long!! AND tagging two people who showed interest :D

@idreamonpaper & @writinginslowmotion

the main protagonist’s name is Inalyn Keets. she often goes by “Ina” for short, or by “Sparrow,” a nickname who’s origins i’ve yet to figure out. she’s a half elven mage.

the country/empire that she’s from, though, sees mages as subhuman. the government rounds them up as soon as their magic presents it self and takes them to various “compounds” where they’re raised to be used as soldiers/healers for their armies. which, in turn, allows them to expand their borders and gain more power/influence.

her magic presented itself when she was a little older. as did that of her best friend, Corbin Anderson. Corbin, often known as Hawk, and she actually met after both of them had been rounded up and were on their way to the compound. they bonded during that trip. even though both of them were afraid, he made her laugh, and feel so much less alone. they’ve stuck by each other ever since.

Corbin was from one of the countries that her country had conquered/added to the empire. his father had actually turned him into the soldiers, in hopes of getting compensation from the government. (which both he & Ina’s family did get.)

because both of them were older (Ina was 12 and Corbin was 13) they were among the few their age to actually remember what the outside was like. and neither of them ever stopped wanting to get out--to do something other than become soldiers or tools for the government to use. Ina wanted to wait. to get the training the government offered and then slip out, use it against them and hide away somewhere they could never find her. Corbin wasn’t as patient, and he was constantly escaping. and in turn, getting punished for it.

as such, the other friends that Ina made weren’t very fond of Corbin. he wasn’t fond of them either, though he never told Ina not to hang out with them. Ina didn’t really care what her other friends thought, though. Corbin was her best friend--and, when she grew older, also her first love.

unfortunately, relationships are discouraged in the compound. friendships were allowed, as it made for better teams, but romantic relationships (or sexual relationships) were considered a hazard, and so forbidden. that didn’t stop Ina and Corbin from sneaking around, though. (they had rules, though. they were too afraid that romance would make it too hard to keep from blowing their cover; would make it so that staying inside the compound was too unbearable. they swore off saying ‘i love you,’ even though both of them felt it. they kept it light. casual.)

sadly, though they had a good run of it for a while, eventually it got to be too much for both of them. to almost have it, but not quite... it was just. it was a lot. combined with Corbin’s repeated escapes---and then him being dragged back and punished, more and more harshly each time... it was. it was something they mutually decided they needed to wait for. they remained close friends, though.

and then, when Ina was 21 and Corbin was 22, Corbin managed to escape. he escaped for an entire year. it was the longest he had ever been gone, and for a while, Ina dared to hope that he would make it.

he didn’t.

they dragged him back, and decided that this time; this time they would make an example of him. they decided to throw him in solitary, and keep him there for as long as he had been gone.

Ina was horrified. she knew the possible consequences of keeping someone in solitary for a year. luckily, though, during her early days of exploring the compound, she’d discovered a secret passage down to the prisons. she was able to sneak down there every now and again and visit him.

for eleven months, that’s what she did.

and then, she was approached by one of her other friends, Rian. Rian had a problem. he had fallen in love with one of the Wardens--their guards--and she for him in turn. they wanted to escape. to live a life on the outside, where they didn’t have to worry. they had a plan to get out--but they needed a third person to pull it off.

Ina agreed. she told Corbin what was happening, and promised to meet him “on the other side.”

unfortunately, though, both she and Rian had been duped. the Warden was using them to cover up a crime that she and her actual lover (another Warden) had committed--knowing that they would never be believed over one of the Wardens. they were going to be executed, or perhaps locked away in one of the special mage prisons... until one of the Vigilant stepped in.

the Vigilant were an ancient order devoted to protecting this world from evil. right now, i’ve got the “undead” as the main problem they face, but i may change that. they reserve the right to conscript people, & are often used for places that some criminals can get a “second chance.” the Vigilant had come to find recruits for his order... and he found them in the form of Rian & Ina.

on the way to where the army had gathered, he told them that there had been recent sights of a Rift, and that the Vigilant had assembled alongside the Emporer’s army just in case there was something bigger on its way. however, the Vigilant’s numbers had thinned out recently due to some problems in the south, so they were bulking up.

once at the camp, they were introduced to some of the other recruits. both those who had already been initiated, and those who had yet to be initiated.

among those already initiated was Theron “Finch” Jamison. (another name I’m considering for him is Finley/Finn!) Theron had the natural talent of a Warden, who could suppress magic if they focused their will. he hated the lifestyle, though, and did everything that he could to make himself as undesirable as possible. it worked. so much so that when the recruiter came around looking for someone, the teachers told him not to even consider Theron. but, of course, he was recruited away.

he’s been a member of the Vigilant for six months now, and he’s assigned to watch over a handful of recruits--including Ina & Rian.

Ina finds him charming, and even a bit funny, but she’s wary around him due to his past. they get to each other a bit before the initiation, and Ina does warm up to him some, but she’s still wary.

the initiation, though... it’s rough. i haven’t figured out all of the details yet, but it’s something that not all of the initiates survive. Ina survives--but Rian doesn’t. on top of that, she finds herself... changed by the initiation. more sensitive to the dark forces present in the world. more attuned to other peoples auras, able to sense intent. her eyes have also changed. they’re now a shade of gold that almost glows in the dark--much like every other Vigilant she’s met.

Ina doesn’t have much time to recover from the pulsing headache or soreness, though. the grief hasn’t even really set in yet when the alarm bells ring. the people assemble. the Vigilant who recruited Ina & Theron tells them to start rounding up the servants and other non-fighters. they didn’t expect to be swarmed at their own camp.

unfortunately, though, things don’t go as planned. the camp is overwhelmed. Theron and Ina fight for as long as they can--and they expect that to be the end.

but then. they wake up.

they were saved by a mysterious woman who lives in the surrounding wilds. she’s part of a coven of magic users who escaped the government’s thrall & have made lives for themselves outside the empire’s borders. however, the arrival of rifts & the undead has thrown everything into disarray... and she wants to help stop it, instead of cowering in the forests. so. now she’s babysitting a couple of Vigilant.

(why them? they were the only ones she could save.)

& thus begins a long journey. not only do they save the empire & make several friends in the process, but... Ina and Theron fall in love. she resists it, really hard, at first, because she always imagined having a life with Corbin. but... she has something with Theron, something she can’t ignore. and when everything is dark, when everything is burning, when the whole world is falling apart--Theron is there, and she needs that.

when it’s all over, Theron & Ina stand before the emperor himself. he thanks them for saving the kingdom, and he promises them a handsome reward. however, his hands are tied, as many people aren’t happy that it was a mage who saved them---or that a mage is now in charge of the new Vigilants. so. to reward them but also to make the people happy, Ina is awarded a fortress for the Vigilant to build in and grow... but it’s a fortress on the edge of the wilds, near a teensy farming village.

it’s something, though. it’s freedom, really, so Ina is happy with it.

they’re joined by a dwarf named Saeora, whom they met during the course of their travels. Saeora wants to join them and become a Vigilant--a request Ina is happy to grant.

of course, when they get there... everything is in disarray. there’s something out in the Wilds terrorizing the locals; the fortress is half-falling apart; and... well. there’s a disgraced son of the previous lord locked in the dungeon, alongside a pair of elven twins, and a very familiar mage.

after some discussion, Ina decides to induct them all into the Vigilants.

but there’s still the matter of the town to save, and a fortress to rebuild. oh. and figuring out how she’s supposed to manage her love for two different men.

well. okay. Theron has a solution for that third one. polyamory. but there’s still some balancing to be done to make everything work--and Ina is going to do her damnedest.