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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 11 months ago

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weee another fantasy au snippet <3 a little shorter than usual cause that's what the scene is <3 shorter <3

Something is wrong with Wally.

It’s not serious, or at least Barnaby doesn’t think it is. If he didn’t pay such close attention to his buddy, he’d never know that anything was amiss at all - Wally has an excellent straight face. But not so excellent that Barnaby can’t read him.

There’s a different curve to his smile these days. It’s sort of pinched, sort of sad. It matches a look in his eyes that puts Barnaby on edge, if only because that deep, dark pensiveness is so wildly out of place on Wally’s soft face.

It scares him. Something is off.

What is it?

Barnaby taps his claws on his middle as he stares at the tent roof, thin enough that firelight from outside bleeds through. Despite the late hour, his eyelids feel magicked open. The other side of the tent yawns empty, and that is precisely the source of Barnaby’s insomnia.

Everyone is asleep except for two - and Barnaby is only awake because of one.

With a deep sigh through the nose, Barnaby sits up and clambers out of the tent. He shivers as he stands up and crosses his arms, rubbing at his fur. The night sky is clear, but the breeze cuts him through to the bone. It isn’t even winter yet, sheesh…

The campfire casts a fuzzy outline of red-orange around Wally. He doesn’t turn away from the embers as Barnaby shuffles behind him, and Barnaby doesn’t have to look to know that he’s staring directly into the low flames. He tweaks Wally’s raised hood as he passes, just to make sure Wally knows he isn’t alone anymore. He spaces out, sometimes.

“Can’t sleep?” Barnaby asks as he takes the log next to Wally’s rock of choice. Wally just hums, and Barnaby frowns.

There’s that look again.

With how Wally is perched, his legs drawn up and arms folded on his knees, his smile is hidden. It’s unsettling. Barnaby scans Wally from the corner of his eye, taking in the tension in his shoulders and the nearly invisible pinch of his nonexistent brows.

“Yeah, me neither,” Barnaby says. Another breeze, another shudder, and a quick glare at the stars.

Should he press? The obvious answer is absolutely not, but… Barnaby isn’t sure how much of this - thisness he can take. He has no idea what to call it. A mood? It’s too serious to be considered a mood. All Barnaby knows is that when Wally is like this, something itches under his skin.

Tonight would be a perfect opportunity to ask. Everyone else is fast asleep. Wally isn’t putting up the fronts he usually does. The knowledge that this Wally, the Wally all covered up and curled in on himself, is as vulnerable as anyone will never see - it makes Barnaby want to reach.

“Hey,” he murmurs, nudging his knee against Wally’s boot, “I’m starting to worry for the fire with how you’re glarin’ at the thing. What, did it emberass ya? Give ya the coal shoulder?”

Wally doesn't laugh, but his gaze softens. Barnaby curses himself.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with glarin' - I’m sure the fire deserves it,” Barnaby is quick to add. “But really… is everything alright, kid?”

“Yes,” Wally says, but it rings like an untruth. It's just something he’s saying because it’s what he always says. Everything is always fine with Wally.

“You know you don’t gotta pretend with me. There’s somethin’ bothering you, I can tell.” Too far, too much, Barnaby is sure. He shouldn’t be so pushy.

But instead of clamming up, Wally’s eyes flicker down and away, guilty. The bloodhound in Barnaby perks up its ears. It’s all he can do not to point and shout AHA!, because that would assure that Wally would put up the same masks around him that he does with everything else. Vindication wars with his concern, as if he thought he might have been imagining the funks Wally has been slipping into.

Those too-long periods of silence that no one notices because Wally isn’t much of a talker. Moments of utter stillness that no one notices because Wally is always so stationary. The way he doesn’t drink in every new thing with a hunger like he usually does, as if Wally has been starving his whole life.

Those passing glances where his pupils seem too big, the blackness of them infinitely deep as if someone could fall into them. Maybe Wally is. Barnaby doesn’t want him to.

“You don’t gotta say a word,” Barnaby says, wishing the campfire log was just a smidge closer to the rock. “I just want ya to know that I see you, and I’m here. Whatever’s goin’ on in that pretty head ‘a yours, I’ll be right there for whatever you need. I got your back, Walls.”

Wally’s smile peeks over his arms for a moment - he always has liked being called pretty, or handsome, you name it. Barnaby preens over being able to coax him even the slightest bit out of the pit he’s slowly spiraling into. He’s winning big at the whole ‘best friend’ thing, Barnaby thinks - a complete natural.

For a long while, Barnaby doesn’t care to keep track, they sit in companionable silence. The fire cracks and pops when Barnaby adds a chunk of wood to it, coaxing it into a flame that actually takes the bite out of the breeze. Crickets chirp in the forest around them - something howls far away.

The tension doesn’t leave Wally. In fact the longer they sit, the worse it gets. Barnaby keeps his mouth shut and eyes on the fire, the woods, the stars - anywhere except Wally. It’s the kind of tension that makes him suspect that Wally is gearing up to speak. Sometimes it feels like there’s a sinkhole of silence that opens up whenever Wally has something of his own to say.

Reviving the fire was either a smart move, or a dumb one. It depends on how quickly Wally thinks of how to share. Without the brisk chill of night keeping Barnaby fresh-faced, sleep is finally starting to sink into him with the fire’s warmth. He briefly considers sneaking into Howdy and Sally’s tent to sneak an energy potion from Howdy’s pack. Pros, he’ll certainly be awake for Wally. Cons, he’ll be awake long past Wally’s spiel, Howdy will have a fit over missing an item, and Sally will have a bigger fit over Barnaby sneaking into her tent when he inevitably comes clean. Also, the potions don’t taste great. Or maybe he should fetch his pipe-

“I think. I don’t…”

For a second, Barnaby misses that Wally spoke at all. He double-takes when the half sentence registers, casting a quick look to Wally. Okay, no, don’t do that. Focus on the fire. Be casual - give him space. Barnaby nonchalantly pokes the coals with the fire stick.

Wally sighs - such a small sound that the crickets almost drown it out. But Barnaby has big ears, and they perk up. When does Wally ever sound frustrated? Curse him, but Barnaby finds it novel. Wally shifts on the rock, curling up impossibly tighter and turning his head away. Barnaby watches the back of his hood.

“I don’t think I’m a good person,” Wally admits in the smallest, deadest voice Barnaby has ever heard.

“What?” Barnaby says, or he means to. The air in his throat doesn’t quite form sound. He turns to Wally and clenches his paws on his knees to keep from reaching, floundering for words.

How could he - why would he - who told him that he -

“What do you mean?” Barnaby says, a disbelieving chuckle slipping out. “Wally, kid - you’re the best guy I know. You’re my best guy. Out of all the ways I could describe you, a bad person isn’t one of ‘em.”

Wally whips his head around, his eyes flashing - Barnaby tenses his entire body to keep from recoiling, though he can’t keep his eyes from widening.

For a second there he thought… he thought he saw… it must have been the firelight reflecting in Wally’s dark eyes.

Wally’s intense gaze pierces straight into Barnaby’s soul. He feels flayed raw and seen in a way that makes him want to run. But there’s something else. Something scared. Wally is searching for something, and Barnaby doesn’t know what or how to give it to him. His claws splinter bark.

As soon as it appeared, the look fades. Barnaby can take deep breaths again, and he lets go of the log. Wally blinks slowly and lets his sleepy gaze slide back to the fire. “I don’t know… maybe.”

Barnaby carefully lays a paw on Wally’s back. “You’re a good person, Wally. I don’t know who told you otherwise, but don’t listen to ‘em. You’re a fantastic friend, an even better best friend, and I gotta say - you make a pretty bang-up wizard. You’re the most.”

“I’m the most?” Wally murmurs, sounding surprised. He makes a sound that might be a laugh, might be a scoff. “No… you’re the most.”

“Tell ya what- we’re both the most.”

Wally casts him a sideways look, but doesn’t protest further. He hums.

“C’mon, lil’ wizard,” Barnaby says with a pat to his back, “let’s give the fire a break and turn in for the night.”

Just as he was starting to relax, Wally shies away from his touch, curling up like one of those shelled bugs Frank likes so much. “I think I’ll stay up a little longer.”

Barnaby swallows down the hurt and pulls away. “Alrighty. Don’t stay up too late - we got a day tomorrow.”

“Ha. I know.”

With that, Barnaby stands. He gently squeezes Wally’s nape through the hood as he passes, and breathes a silent sigh of relief at how Wally leans into the touch.

All’s forgiven. Though he isn’t sure what for… whatever Barnaby said or did wrong, he’s just glad Wally doesn't mind.

Barnaby clambers into the tent and another shiver ripples through his fur. All the darn heat leeched out of it... He wraps himself in his thin, too-small blanket and shivers as hard as he can manage to generate some kind of warmth. It’ll heat up soon, he just has to wait. Wally usually casts a little sun spell on cold nights, but Barnaby can do without. Even if the tent gets comfortably warm, Barnaby isn’t sure if he’ll sleep.

Wally didn’t believe him.

And Barnaby doesn’t know how to make him believe.

How could he think that he isn’t a good person? Barnaby meant what he said - Wally is the best person he knows. Wally is kind, patient, and just - just - him. There isn’t a single bad thing about him. Barnaby is so proud to call him his best friend.

There has to be something that started this. A moment that made Wally doubt himself. Did someone say something? Not anyone in the Neighborhood, they all love Wally to pieces. He’s their wizard! He’s saved their lives and countless others, and their group simply wouldn’t be complete without him. He rounds them off with an artsy flourish.

So. There’s no reason that Wally should be feeling like this. But that look in his eyes… the guilt… there’s something else going on. Something deeper than just ‘I’m scared I’m a bad person.’

Something is wrong.

Firelight flickers outside the tent, and Barnaby watches it until it goes dark.

#just a lil nighttime conversation...#in my mind wally let the fire die and then Immediately ran off into the forest for home time™️#this au is so fun bc i really get to have fun with giving wally Extreme Guilt For Existing #and also to play around with him being Unintentionally Sinister on occasion #i hope its obvious that this is pre everyone-knows-about-home era <3 #snippets from the bog #wh fantasy au #one of these days ill write a snippet centered on someone else...#i do have one in mind for frank & julie...#well. Multiple in mind for frank & julie #them <3<3<3<3

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jalo-parker · 1 year ago

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Ok I'm making an official post for Estrials. (or well official until I make a better one)

Everything below cut so I don't make anyone scroll past the novel length (/hj) post I'm about to make when they're just trying to browse their dash :]

Alright so Estrials! They're a species I made up (though they are definitely inspired by some other things like atla cause of the elemental abilities) and they can be anthro, feral, or even like catboy esque(?) (for the lack of a better term) (an example of what I mean would be my sona)

Heres some examples of existing Estrials (in order: my sona (he/it/pup) (small child edition), evil xisuma (little creature and non little creature forms), jimmy (again little creature and non little creature forms), and bigb (little creature and non little creature forms) gotta love bigb and his little sweater) (also ex is part voidwalker too which is why he looks so different from the others, so like yeah you go combine Estrials and another species that would be epic)

Here we have some of my ocs and a few of the others listed above! Ryder is also part voidwalker and technically doesn't have a little creature form, but I did include a little bust shot doodle of him

If you're still here, now I'm going to tell you how to make your own! (please do I beg I want more little creatures in the world)

Ok so, they are an open species, though there are a few rules (both like actual rules and trait rules so you stay in line with the species)

-First rule: don't be a dick. I will revoke your Estrial rights if you're not a decent person (no like actually I can't take your character but I can make a list of no good icky people so other Estrial fans know not to interact with you)

-2nd rule: have fun! No really I'm not going to be an evil overlord about people making Estrials. Just enjoy yourselves and be kind to others

-3: more of me just saying this than a rule but you can totally have more than one Estrial! Make like 50 of you want I really don't care

Now rules for like traits and stuff

-1: your Estrial has to have some sort of wings (preferably feathered ones but you can do bug or bat wings if you want) (mechanical wings are also cool! Especially if they're meant to be like a prosthetic or something that would be sick) and some sort of horns (literally any horns idc go wild) you can have any number of these traits too

-2: only one elemental ability per Estrial please (or none at all, you can make an element-less Estrial if you want) there's only one Estrial that has more than one elemental ability and he's not even really an Estrial (it's my sona, it's complicated and lore related don't ask unless you want a novel length reply full of lore)

-3: they have to be either based off of some sort of canine or some sort of feline, though you can totally add features from other things (ex: lizards or fish or deer idk) as long as the base creature that has most of the features showing (so like the main body and head I guess?) is a canine/feline you're good (so like the tail, legs, and even ears can be some other creature if you want) (River, shown above, has a fish tail and some fins kinda like vaporeon. So really, go wild)

-4: any patterns and colors are ok, so yeah make that sparkle dog looking thing !! Go wild, be free my friends. Make the shadow the hedgehog Estrial (no actually you totally could)

Ok no more rules! Info time 😈😈

-Estrials can be any size that's bigger than like a small dog (so like chihuahua ish or bigger) and smaller than a horse (yippee big creature)

-The anthro and catboy(?) Estrials can be any human height btw (anthros can be a little smaller than humans too as a treat)

-They can have any length of fur (so yeah you could make a hairless one, I'd actually be real interested to see that someone do it before I do) and be from any region (hence the different fur lengths. Some of them live in real cold places and have to be real fluffy to keep warmth in, and some live in warmer places and have a lot less fur to cool off easier)

-All Estrials can hide their wings (like magic poof they're gone completely and then poof they're back now) and the catboy(?) ones can sometimes hide all their Estrial features (so like their nose, horns, ears, wings, and tails)

-I'm leaving a whole lot up to interpretation so like go wild I guess. Just don't do anything too weird.. I don't want strange things associated with my species..

Ok now the big thing: elemental abilities

So we have 5 elements + no element (though I'm kinda thinking of adding a 6th.... maybe..). Every Estrial falls under one (and only one) of these categories, though their power levels can vary (so like some fire Estrials can only do tiny poofs of flames and others can have like whole fire tornados going on)

Fire, water, air, earth, and plant

They all overlap with others a little too

-Fire Estrials can bend/control/whatever you want to call it magma, lava, fire, and lightning. They can also heat things up, which does mean they can heat other elements enough to somewhat control those (so like heating metal until it's molten and being able to shape it, or heating water enough that it turns into steam. Though steam is a lot harder for fire Estrials to control) though they lose that ability once the element cools off again

-Water Estrials can bend things like water, ice, some gasses (if the gas has a liquid state at a reasonable temperature. So like not things that require to have subzero temps to be liquids like oxygen), and any other liquids (not including molten things if you count those as liquid).

-Air Estrials can control all gasses (unless they need to be superheated to be a gas) and air. They can also definitely move things with air, so like sandstorms and using lots of wind to lift and move big objects. They can even control the weather a bit because of this (though water Estrials also kinda can. They can make it rain at least) by blowing storms around (including hurricanes and tornados, though they can also cause them too)

-Earth Estrials can control anything that's made of some sort of metal or mineral. So like glass (even if it's not molten, they can still change its shape, though they can also control molten glass) any rock, and all kinds of dirt (including compost in case you were wondering. So like if its considered dirt they can control it)

-Plant Estrials can control all plants. And can move things using plants. And can grow plants. Idk what you want from me the name is kinda self explanatory.. they can also grow plants in their fur (or hair if you have a catboy(?) Estrial) (again I don't really know what else to call them..) this does include stuff like coral, mold, and fungus btw so go wild with your biohazard mold guy (omg Ethan Winters ??? Somebody call crumb immediately) (that is a joke do not call crumb cuptoast just because I referenced Ethan Winters..) (though crumb if you somehow see this hiiii you can make an Ethan Winters Estrial, that would be so sick actually)

That's about it for now! If you have any questions feel free to ask away by commenting, dming me, asking them in the reblogs, sending an actual ask, hell you could even dm me on another platform like twt or something idc. Also, if you make one Please.. please show it to me.. I will be so incredibly happy if I saw your Estrial.. as a treat, for me.. please.. (also do credit me for the species if you post about them. You could just tag me or do like a @/jalo-parker just as long as my user is there you're good)

Ok, bye bye now have a good day :DDDD

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