#love you and naia to death!!! *hugs tight*

[love-marked]

(just gonna share these sketchy sketches now becuz who knows when I will ever finish them and something is better than nothing i guess ahjsgd)

my fan art of the amazing elf OC Naia from @callmenaia that I love and adore with the depths of my heart and I hope I did her even a smidgen of justice!!

[dkscribe88]

Tavronica Week Prompt 5: Promises

Alright! We move on today to the second-to-last story in the Tavronica Week saga, since prompt 7 is not part of that universe. This story goes into the first private conversation Tavra and Onica have after Tavra returns in her spider form. There is a change in how I’m going to do prompt 6. I sprained my rhymer with that first poem, so instead of another poem I’m just going to keep with the vignette theme, instead. It’s much easier for me. Anyway, enjoy the story.

Onica harnessed the landstrider and made sure Tavra had everything she needed for her journey. Her lover’s arm was secured in a sling and her wing was splinted from her adventure in Sog.

After the battle with the darkened Nebrie, Tavra had allowed the Drenchen Maudra Laesid to heal her just enough to ride before setting out. She knew she needed to catch up with Naia before the Skeksis got their hands on her. Even before she’d first entered the Sog, Tavra knew the Skeksis had wanted both the Drenchen heir and her brother, but for what, she’d yet to find out.

She figured Naia to be about halfway through her journey to Ha’rar and knew she’d easily be able to catch up with her landstrider, so she decided to make a quick detour to the coast. When told about Tavra’s mission by the All-Maudra, Onica conducted a Far-Dream reading, to see what clues she might be able to give her girlfriend. In the vision, Onica had a distinct feeling of danger, saying afterwards that she’d planned to sail down to the middle of the Western coast to be as close as she could for when Tavra felt the urge to meet with her again.

After the encounter with the Nebrie, Tavra felt that urge, strongly. She rode hard for the coast once out of Sog, streaking across the Spriton Plains as fast as her steed could manage. Once she and Onica had met up once more, the seer again consulted the fire and smoke for guidance. This time, when they’d asked about the Skeksis’ plans, Thra answered very clearly. It had shown Gelfling running through the woods, one carrying a bright blue bottle that seemed the most precious thing in the world to him. They were being chased and got caught up near the Black River’s edge. The man with the blue bottle escaped, but the Drenchen, Gurjin, was captured and taken back to the Castle of the Crystal.

Onica saw a brief image of Gurjin, trapped in some kind of a machine, forced to stare into a strange crystal that emanated a sickly violet glow, while the Skeksis Scientist spoke of essence and draining Gelfling to give their life to the Emperor, making him immortal. She watched as the Chamberlain came, stopping the procedure, saying they needed Gurjin and his sister for some type of special draining, though it didn’t make much sense to the seer, or to Tavra. But she did know she needed to find Naia, now, before she made it to Ha’rar.

Once everything was ready, Tavra turned to Onica, giving her a last, lingering kiss before she headed out.

“I’ll be back. I promise.” She gave her a loving smile as Onica helped her up on her steed.

“I do hope you’re right, love. Now, go. Rescue that girl. I’ll sail further up the coast and meet you at the tree near the seafarer’s lanterns. You know the one. Good luck. Stay safe.” There was real worry in the redhead’s voice, so Tavra gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’ll make it back in one piece. One way or another, I’ll find you, Onica.” With that, Tavra urged her landstrider on, disappearing into the landscape.

“I pray that you will…” A tear rolled down her eye, before she wiped it off, turned around and got ready to make way.

Many days later…

A group of Gelfling had arrived, just as Onica had recently foreseen. There was the Spriton, Kylan the Songteller, Amri of the Grottan, Princess Naia of the Drenchen, and-Onica rushed to open the door, her eyes immediately focusing on the small spider perched on Kylan’s shoulder.

“Onica! It’s-” The seer quickly reached out, carefully taking the tiny arachnid into her hands, holding her close as she cried.

“Tavra! Thank the suns, you’re alive!”

After the group had returned to the ship following the rescue of Rian and the visit to the dream-space, Onica had gotten everyone settled in and warmed up as they made their plans to journey to Cera-Na. Then, after all had gone to bed, she picked up Tavra and went to her private cabin, shutting the door behind them. She laid back in her hammock, silently staring ahead, unsure how to begin the conversation. So Tavra did it instead.

“See, I told you I’d make it back in one piece. Just happened to be a different piece and with a few more legs than I left with.”

“Tavra, I do not see the humor in this. I saw what befell you on your journey,” The seer’s voice began to get tight as tears formed in her eyes. “That machine…You were in such pain…Then being taken over, forced to watch as an enemy used you to spy and betray…You fought so hard to free yourself. To protect your friends. You suffered so much in this life, and then I had to watch you die and it broke me…” Onica trailed off as she was overcome with grief from what she’d witnessed, looking down at the sight of Tavra’s withered body, face pale with exhaustion and the shadows of approaching death.

Tavra desperately wished to comfort her distraught lover, but found she had no arms to embrace her with. She crawled slowly towards the Sifa’s face, gently placing a leg on her cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Onica. I never meant for any of this to happen. *sigh* Perhaps it would’ve been better had I died back there. Now that I’m finally able to be with you, we’re no longer free to be together. At least, not like we were. I can’t even comfort you now, I feel so useless!” She bowed her tiny head, frustration in her movements. Onica had quieted in order to hear her small-voiced girlfriend better. A shaky hand moved up to gently cradle the Spiderling to her chest.

“Please don’t say that. I’d hate it if you died. I’m happy you’re with me, no matter what form you take. We’ll work this out, Tavra. Somehow. I just-I don’t understand. You were not a spider in my vision of our future. Well, at least now the tattoo you had makes sense, but I never imagined it would signify this.” Onica stroked a thumb down Tavra’s back. Tavra’s head lowered, not wishing to face her love.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’ll be honest, when I went into that castle, I was almost certain I’d never come back out. Truth is, I broke my promise to you. I was stupid and foolish in the way I went about searching for answers. I went willingly into the den of the enemy to find the truth with no way to relay what I learned to others, should I fail to escape. I simply trusted your visions to show you. Without asking, I gave over a huge burden for you to bear, having to brave going to my mother and telling her you saw me perish, in a Far-Dream and by the Skeksis, no less. She would’ve thrown you in chains if you told her that. I nearly forced all of that on you and now I’ve simply passed the torch to Naia and those boys. I’ve made a mess of everything and ruined our chances for our dream of our own clan. Those daughters you described are never going to be born…I’d understand, you know, if your heart chose another.”

“Don’t even think about continuing that thought,” Onica jumped in quickly. She concentrated hard on her tiny girlfriend, trying to make eye contact. Tavra tucked her head in shame. “Tavra? Look at me, please.” Tavra raised her head reluctantly, focusing on her lover’s beautiful face, currently hardened with resolve.

“My vision was not wrong. You know that when I see something, it will happen. We will find a way to return you to Gelfling form, we will pledge to each other as mates, and we will have a lovely family and life, far away from all of this. I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but it will. It is a certainty. The vision was too strong, too vivid to fail. I love you, Tavra, not anyone else. That will never change. I promise.” She leaned her head down, placing a light kiss on top of her Spiderling’s head, then returned to running gentle fingers down her jewel-like back. Her other hand came up, offering a finger for Tavra to hold. Little legs grasped the comforting touch, the closest they could come to a hug.

“I love you too.” Tavra said softly. They stayed that way for a long while, before finally drifting off to sleep.

- DK