#realizing now that I flipped this too many times and drew her ring and tattoo on the wrong hand but I’m too lazy to fix it so yeah

[akamikazae]

@thepromptfoundry Oc-tober day 3: partners in life, crime…whatever

Hows about a partner that matches your freak !

The amount of Gomez and Moritica inspo I have for these two is criminal ~ tbh the first time they really bonded was at a cemetery too ~ and you better believe Sasuke is their little Wednesday ‪‪❤︎‬

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 15.20: “Carry On”

I’ll warn you right now - I did not hate it.

THEN: Chuck loses. Jack is God. The Winchesters are finally free.

NOW: Friends, get ready for a whole lot of fan service in the next few minutes. It's like TPTB have been reading everything we say and giving us what we want.

As a song about "ordinary life" plays, Dean's retro alarm clock goes off at 8:00. He shuts it off and sits up so we can see he's wearing a henley shirt (fan service points: 1). As he stretches, he's greeted by Miracle the dog (fan service points: 2)! Who is apparently his dog and definitely not Sam's!

But it's okay because LOOK AT THEM.

Meanwhile, Sam is running (fan service points: 3) and enjoying the beautiful day. When he gets home, he cooks (fan service points: 4) the same dry scrambled eggs that Stevie made for Charlie. Dean wanders in, wearing the dead guy robe, just as two slices of toast pop out of the toaster. I am not giving the robe any points because I don't think it's anything we all publicly long for and get excited about when it comes up, but I am willing to consider any opposing arguments. Sam, wearing just a t-shirt (5 points), tells Dean "it's hot" and I say mmm, yes it is. Dean adorably burns his hands on the hot toast and then brushes his teeth. You know what, I think the robe deserves a point after all. We're up to 6.

And we're not even two minutes into the episode.

And then they JUST KEEP COMING because Sam walks in, exposing his tattoo (7) because he's SHIRTLESS (8), scrubbing at his WET HAIR (9) with a towel, and I curse The Husband for deciding to watch with me because it means it would be kind of awkward to rewind and watch this a few more times. There's not even any dialog I can pretend I didn't catch.

I was NOT PREPARED FOR THIS.

He pulls on the grey v-neck t-shirt of sex (10) and proceeds to carefully make his bed. Dean, meanwhile, kind of sloppily throws his bed together and calls it done. Domestic Winchesters for 11 fan service points, please. Part of me feels like Dean's messy room is OOC, considering how proud he was to have his own room in the first place. But then I have to consider the trunk of the Impala, especially when compared to the hyper-organized neatness of her trunk when Sam's all alone in Mystery Spot, and it feels right. (Why am I thinking about Sam being all alone in Mystery Spot? NO REASON, NO REASON AT ALL.)

Sam's hair in his face while he makes his bed? Yes, please (12 points).

Dean washes the breakfast dishes (13), sneaking some leftover (because they were nasty) eggs to Miracle and looking around to make sure Sam doesn't see, because obviously Sam's going to be the one who doesn't want the dog to get table scraps. Sam put on a plaid shirt earlier, but we see him in the laundry room back down to one v-neck t-shirt (thank you Jack). He's reading as his laundry tumbles in the dryer, and he has to kick the dryer once to stop it from making noise, which I guess is why he's in there babysitting it. I keep reading on Tumblr that people want "at least one laundry scene," as if that didn't exist in The Monster at the End of This Book, but here's your laundry scene, friends. You were right to want it; it is marvelous (14).

Just look at that collection of plaid shirts and tell me it doesn't make you happy.

Dean times himself assembling a gun, complete with plenty of hand closeups (15) and then sits in the library with Miracle, scratching his ears (Miracle's, not his own) and apparently looking for a case. Sam comes in and joins them. He hasn't found anything, but Dean gets a serious look on his face and says "I got something."

Spoiler alert: It is my heart.

Title card!

The Impala pulls to a stop and the guys get out, still with serious looks on their faces. Oddly, the episode title flashes on screen really quickly. Or maybe it's just me. "Sure you're ready for this?" says Sam. "Oh, I don't have a choice," answers Dean. "This is my destiny." And that is exactly how I felt about watching this episode, friends. Not ready, but no choice. The camera pans to show that the boys are at the 43rd Annual Akron Pie Fest. In Akron, Iowa? Just north of Sioux City? Five hour drive? Say hi to Jody and the girls while you're there? Probably not. Probably in Akron, Ohio, almost 16 hours away.

(NO ONE CARES. STOP IT.)

Give me a break. This might be the last time I ever get to calculate driving time.

Anyway. Just pies! Nothing serious! Whew, I was concerned for a second. Dean is emotional.

This is just so beautiful.

Are you crying?

What? No. You're crying, I'm not.

No one is crying. There is no reason for ANYONE to cry.

Sam sits on a bench and watches happy pie eating families (sob). Dean returns with a giant box with six slices of pie (16 points). He sits next to Sam, and they have this conversation:

What's wrong?

Nothing. I'm fine.

Nah, come on, I know that face. That's Sad!Sam face.

I'm not Sad!Sam. I just. I'm thinking about Cas, you know? Jack. If they could be here.

Yeah, I know, I think about them too. You know what, that pain's not gonna go away, right? But if we don't keep living, then all that sacrifice is going to be for nothing.

Dean's right, Sam. Do not be sad. We will have no Sad!Sam tonight. Live your life, or else those sacrifices are wasted. (ahem.) Sam responds by pushing a slice of pumpkin pie into Dean's face. "I've wanted to do that for a very long time," he laughs. "You're right, I do feel better!" Dean scraping the pie off his face and eating it is pretty adorable.

I'd pay good money to lick that off his face. And not just because I love pumpkin pie.

Not quite 6 minutes in and we're up to at least 16 guaranteed bits of pure fan service. Just sweet, domestic Winchester brothers living their lives. How long has this been going on? I've decided it's been at least a year since the last episode. Maybe longer. A good long time. Lots of time for them to enjoy their newfound freedom. But right now things are getting dark. Because it's nighttime, and because I think somebody's about to die.

A mom sends two young brothers upstairs for bathtime. They pause when the doorbell rings. No one seems to be there, but then the dad is stabbed by people wearing creepy masks. The boys run into their room and hide. From their room, we hear the mom scream, and then a thump. One of the masked guys comes into the room and, after a fake-out when we think they might be safe, drags the boys out from under the bed.

So, domestic life in the bunker and then a hunt? Wow. We're getting it all. What a great episode, full of the things we love.

Is this Becky Rosen's living room?

Daytime. Agents Kripke and Singer (ugh, really? Kripke is good, but how about honoring someone other than the current regime?) show up at the scene. They learn that the dad's blood was drained, the mom is alive but her tongue was ripped out (wow), and the kids were taken. The mom drew a picture of the masks they wore, which the brothers recognize.

In a lovely, picturesque spot, the guys flip through John's journal. And I didn't realize we hadn't seen the journal in a while, but Tumblr informs me many of us were exicted to see it again, so boom. 17 points.

You know what this is? Mimes. Evil mimes.

Yeah. Or vampires.

VampMIMES. Son of a bitch!

Dean comes up with a silly portmanteau name for a monster? That will be 18 points. Sam determines the vamps will be heading for Canton if they follow their pattern, and the victims are families who live on the outskirts of town with children between the ages of five and ten. Well, that couldn't be too difficult to narrow down in a city with a population of over 70,000.

I'll handwave it. The lip biting. You’re welcome.

Night. Canton, I presume. Two masked vamps get out of a van. One of them gets decapitated by Dean. The other is shot in the leg, and then the head, by Sam. Well, he's a vampire, so of course it didn't kill him, but the bullet was soaked in dead man's blood. {Sidebar: "Soaked?" Dipped, maybe, but do you soak metal? Discuss.} They ask where the missing kids are, and the vamp is all, you're gonna let me go if I tell you? "No," Dean explains, adorably disappointed that the vamp isn't a mime after all. "This isn't a you walk out of here kind of situation. But see, if you tell us quick, you get this." He displays his bloody machete. "But if you take your time, you get, you get that." And "that" is a switchblade which Sam casually pops open right on cue.

Yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that itty bitty one.

It's a bad choice.

You see, this, this is quick. It's clean, you know? No muss, no fuss. You blink and you're dead.

But a blade this small, I'm gonna have to keep sawing and sawing to get your head off. And you'll feel it. Every muscle, tendon. Every inch. Could take hours.

Oh, and if those kids are dead? He's gonna use a spoon.

GUYS. I said it before and I’ll say it again. I absolutely love when they remind us that Sam Winchester, that sweet boy with the huge heart and the endless supply of empathy and the puppy dog eyes, I love it when they remind us that he is a fucking psycho when he needs to be. I'm not going to give it a point, because I don't think it's anything we've asked for, but again I'm willing to hear all arguments. Especially if they come with detailed examples of Sam going psycho. Just for evidence, you know.

Just casually talkin' bout torturing you to death. No big.

The vampire wisely decides to reveal the location of the nest where the kids are being held. Next we see the Impala pulling up in front of some kind of barn. The guys open the trunk to get their gear out, and Dean pulls out a throwing star. "Come on. One time." Sam says no. There will be plenty of other times for Dean to use his throwing stars, I'm sure.

The guys enter the barn and find it apparently empty, although we see masked vamps peeking at them from outside. They find the kids locked in a closet, but four vampires appear before they can escape. They shoo the boys outside and shoot the vampires with their dead man's blood bullets from a safe distance. No, they don't. Why? I got no goddamn idea.

{Sidebar: At some point during this fight, I realized they hadn't played "Carry On Wayward Son" at the beginning. And that we got a regular montage, not a season finale extended montage.}

Sam gets knocked unconscious, and Dean loses his machete and then gets pinned by a couple of vamps. But they don't kill him; they just hold him down while an unmasked vampire strolls in. Dean recognizes her from season 1, and pretends not to notice Sam's now-conscious hand surreptitiously creeping toward his machete. Suddenly the vampire loses her head, because Sam is behind her, and the fight starts up again. Dean gets thrown into a wall right next to a big metal spike, which we focus on oddly. And then he gets thrown onto the spike. Oops. Sam kills the last of the vamps and doesn't notice Dean's predicament. He's all, cool, fight's over, let's go get those kids out of here. "Sam," Dean says, "I don't think I'm going anywhere."

Dean tells Sam there's something stuck in his back and it "feels like it's right through me." He keeps touching his chest as if he expects to feel it poking through. Sam reaches around to touch his back and his hand comes back bloody, and if that gives you All Hell Breaks Loose feels, there's a good reason. Sam tries to pull Dean off the spike, but Dean stops him. "It feels like this thing's holding me together right now." Sam's starting to panic and so am I. He wants to go get the first aid kid and call for help, but Dean stops him. And y'all, I'm just gonna have to type the whole thing out.

Sam, Sam. Stay with me. Please, stay with me, please.

Okay. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Uh. Right. All right, listen to me. Um. You get those boys and you get them someplace safe, all right?

Dean? WE are gonna get them somewhere safe.

No. You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right? I mean, look at us. Saving people, hunting things, it's what we do.

Stop, Dean, just stop

It's okay. It's okay. it's good. It's good. We had one hell of a ride, man.

I will find away, okay? I will find another way.

No. No. No, no no no no. No bringing me back, okay? You know that always ends bad.

Dean, please.

I'm fading pretty quick, so, there's a few things I need you to hear. Come here. Let me look at you. There he is. I am so proud of you, Sam. You know that? I've always looked up to you. Remember when we were kids, you were so damn smart. You never took any of Dad's crap. I never knew how you did that. And you're stronger than me. You always have been. Hey, did I ever tell you, that night that I came for you when you were in school? You know, when dad hadn't come back from his hunting trip?

Uh, the woman in white.

The woman in white, that's right. I must have stood outside your door for hours, cause I didn't know what you would say. I thought you'd tell me to get lost, or get dead. And I didn't know what I would have done if I didn't have you. Cause I was so scared. I was scared. Cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It's always been you and me.

Then don't leave me. Don't leave me. I can't do this alone.

Yes you can.

Well, I don't want to.

Hey. I'm not leaving you. I'm gonna be with you. Right here. Every day. Every day you're out there, and you're living, and you're fighting, cause you, you always keep fighting. You hear me? I'll be there, every step. I love you so much. My baby brother. Well, I did not think this would be the day. But it is, it is, and that's okay. I need you, I need you to promise me. I need you to tell me that it's okay. I need you to tell me it's okay. Look at me. I need. I need. I need you to tell me it's okay. Tell me it's okay.

Dean. It's okay. You can go now.

Bye, Sam.

NO, IT IS NOT OKAY. THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF OKAY.

And of course I haven't described Sam's face as he understands what's happening, Dean's occasional spasms of pain, the handholding, the fucking FOREHEAD TOUCH, the tears, the way Dean's hand drops away, the way Sam's hands shake as he clutches his dead brother (hello, AHBL again).

Maybe we just need to watch it.

Gifs borrowed from @jaredandjensen​.

And there's also the Always Keep Fighting shoutout, the "I love you," Dean calling Sam his "baby brother," the "I can't do this alone/Yes you can/Well I don't want to" parallel with 1.01. Infinite points, friends. I can't count that high.

(Things not to think about: Sam putting Dean's body in the back seat, and then putting the two young brothers in the front and driving them to safety. Sam driving 15 hours back to Lebanon with his brother's body. Do not think about these things.)

Aftermath. Sam and Miracle, and no one else, are giving Dean a hunter's funeral. And I know Covid means Sam couldn't have any friends there, but also? This is kind of perfect. Sam facing it alone. The song we hear as Sam lights his brother's pyre is "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, in case you're not emotionally wrecked yet.

Yeah, I'm already there, thanks anyway.

Next we see Sam's slightly more modern alarm going off at 8:00. Note that Sam gets up later now, because at the beginning of the episode, he had already gone for a run and was cooking breakfast when Dean woke at 8:00. But now there's no one to cook for so he doesn't need to get back early and I AM NOT OKAY.

ANYWAY.

Sam gets up and faces his lonely day. He cooks eggs. One piece of toast pops up. He sits in the library with Miracle and looks at the names carved into the table. He wanders the halls with his dog at his side. (SAM HAVING A DOG WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE HIM HAPPY. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE US HAPPY. HOW DARE YOU.)

{Sidebar: Has Sam ever had a dog when he wasn't at a low point in his already-low life? Discuss.}

Eventually he finds himself at the door to Dean's room. The room is just as Dean left it, kind of messy, kind of very full of Dean. He sits on Dean's bed and pets the dog and cries and it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I am ROLLING AROUND IN ALL OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PAIN.

No one at all.

@annianvi thinks he’s wearing Dean’s hoodie when he cooks his sad lonely breakfast? Could it be?

Sam hears a phone buzzing in Dean's desk. He digs out the one labeled "Dean's other other phone" and answers. The caller asks for "Agent Bon Jovi" and says he's had some bodies turn up without hearts in Austin. "A friend of mine, Donna Hanscum, said you were the one to call." Oooh, are we sending him to Austin? Is Walker, Texas Ranger just going to be another fake name and fake badge? Now that's how you do a spinoff!

{Sidebar: Does Donna know about Dean? Did Sam tell anyone yet? Is the trying to get him out of the bunker and keep him busy? If so, wouldn't she have given the guy Sam's number, not Dean's other other phone? But maybe it's someone she talked to weeks ago. Discuss.}

Sam tells the caller he is on his way, and we see him with a packed bag, heading out of the bunker with Miracle. He turns to look one last time and then turns off all the lights. We haven't seen the bunker this dark since the day they found it. I don't think he's ever coming back. Goodbye, bunker. I know some people hated you, but I was not one of them. {Sidebar: Did he give the bunker key to anyone? Surely he wouldn't want all those resources to go to waste!}

So, I guess the episode title refers to Sam having (choosing?) to carry on after he loses his brother. THIS IS FINE.

Now we're back at Dean's pyre, and this time we drift up with the smoke. We catch up with Dean, outdoors, in a lovely setting with trees and birds. "Well, at least I made it to Heaven," he says. "Yep," someone answers. It's Bobby! Real Bobby, not AU Bobby! Dean's actually standing next to a building - a cabin, maybe - and Bobby is sitting on the porch.

What memory is this?

It ain't, ya idjit.

Yeah it is. Cause the last I heard, you, you were in in Heaven's lockup.

Was. Now I'm not. That kid of yours, before he went wherever, made some changes here. Busted my ass out. And then he, well, set some things right. Tore down all the walls. Heaven ain't just reliving your golden oldies any more. It's what it always should have been. Everyone happy, everyone together. Rufus lives about five miles that way. With Aretha. Thought she'd have better taste. And your mom and dad, they got a place over yonder. It ain't just Heaven, Dean. It's the Heaven you deserve. And we been waiting for you.

So Jack did all that.

Well, Cas helped. It's a big new world out there. You'll see.

So, I guess Cas made it out of the Empty? Dean smiles at that, but doesn't suggest finding him or anything. I approve. Bobby pulls out a couple of beers (the green cooler made it into Heaven!!!) and they share some bad beer. Dean comments that Heaven is "almost perfect," and Bobby knows EXACTLY what's missing, because of course he does. "He'll be along. Time up here, it's different. You got everything you could ever want, or need, or dream. So I guess the question is, what are you gonna do now, Dean?" Well, Dean doesn't have everything he could ever want or need, but he does see one thing - Baby. With her Kansas plates! Friends, that's two things I requested before the end that I didn't think I would ever see: a forehead touch, and Baby wearing her original plates. Thank you, Jack.

Dean's face lights up. "I think I'll go for a drive." As he walks to his car, we see the cabin is actually Harvelle's Roadhouse, albeit smaller, I think. Dean settles into his car and says "Hey, Baby" and when he turns her on, "Carry On Wayward Son" begins to play.

I know he looks good in Purgatory, but DAMN if he don't look fine in Heaven, too.

We cut to the name Dean, which is embroidered on - a little boy's overalls. Sam's little boy. Oh, wow. I was not prepared for this. Sam has a son named Dean, and we switch back and forth between Dean driving through Heaven and scenes of Sam's life with his son and his mysterious, barely-seen wife. She has long dark hair, and I'd like to point out that she could easily be either Eileen or Dr. Cara Roberts. Just saying. Sam's house is full of family photos, including the one of him and Dean from his memory box and a new one from the episode Lebanon. I never thought about the fact that they might have actually taken a photo, and if they did, would it still be around after Sam smashed the pearl? Well, obviously, yes. We see Sam throwing a ball with his son, helping him with his homework (Sam in glasses? Check!) and just obviously really loving this kid and giving him the childhood he never had. We also see a really, really unfortunate grey wig that I refuse to screencap. You're welcome. As aging Sam sits in the hundred-year-old car in his garage, his dead brother drives happily along dirt roads in Heaven, and I'd prefer my Heaven have paved roads, thanks.

We end in Sam's house, now complete with hospital bed. Sam could be in his 80s or even 90s, which means he could have lived another 50 years, more or less, after Dean died. His son doesn't look any older than his 20s or 30s (and also looks vaguely South Asian to me), and I wonder how old Sam was when he finally let himself have a family. Remember when Dean said his happy ending was for Sam to have kids and get old? Well, he got it, finally. Did Sam get a regular job? Did he keep hunting? We don't know. What we do know is that his son has a anti-possession tattoo. Some people have taken this to mean young Dean is a hunter, but I don't think we can jump to that conclusion. It could just be 1) Dean wanted a tattoo like his father's, or b) Sam knows there are still demons out there and that his son would naturally be a target, hunter or not.

All right, I had to screencap teary-eyed Sam grasping the steering wheel and reliving his years with his brother in this car, so we can just pretend we don't see The Wig, okay?

Sam's evidently in hospice care. Or maybe we'll all have hospital beds in our houses in 50 years. Who knows. His son sits on the bed and takes his hand. Sam smiles at him, and Dean says "Dad, it's okay. You can go now." PARALLELLS! As some woman sings "Carry On Wayward Son" for whatever reason (why didn't they use the lovely a cappella version they already had from Fan Fiction?), Sam places his hand on Dean's and takes his last breath.

{Sidebar: Where is Sam's wife in all of this? Divorced? Already dead? She doesn't seem to be in the family pictures, so I'm going with divorced. Discuss.}

Heaven. Oh, guys. I've done this rewatch without tearing up at all but I'm about to tip over. The Impala pulls onto a bridge. Dean gets out. (Now your life's no longer empty, surely Heaven waits for you.) He stands at the bridge railing, enjoying Heaven, smiling. And then he feels something and he smiles even more because he knows it's Sam. Oh god, Jensen did such a good job here. Just this fucking smile killed me dead. "Hey, Sammy," he says. He turns and there is Sam, wearing the same outfit he wore in 1.01 (they both are, but Sam's is a bigger departure from his later years). Why? I don't know. But I know it means Sam Winchester is spending eternity in something that isn't a plaid shirt. How do we feel about that?

"Dean," Sam says. They face each other and smile, and it's the smile of we just survived a hunt I didn't think we'd survive or our son just overpowered God or something along those lines. Then they embrace, and I love the way Sam hesitates just a little before clapping a hand on Dean's back. Like he's afraid it isn't really happening, and he doesn't want to break the illusion. I also love that Dean, as always, takes the top (oh, get your minds out of the gutter) and hugs as if he were taller than Sam. Then Dean puts his hand on the back of Sam's neck and turns him to admire the view and he has this joyous smile like now, this is FINALLY Heaven. And he gazes at Sam like look, Sammy, look what we did. Look what we get. The lack of dialog in this scene is just ~chef's kiss~. The camera goes wide and we see the three main characters, Sam and Dean and Baby, enjoying the Heaven they deserve.

I would like to know where they filmed this, because it's gorgeous even without the Winchesters.

Did Sam's entire life go by in the span of Dean's drive? Or did Dean just decide he'd drive until his brother arrived, no matter how long it took? And how much do I love the fact that he could have gone and visited his parents but instead he said "nah, I'll drive around and wait for Sam?" SO MUCH, PEOPLE. SO MUCH.

Also, can we talk about the fact that Sam didn't know what to expect in Heaven? I mean, Ash said they were soulmates and would share a Heaven, but why would he believe that? And he might have even still believed he'd have a hard time getting into Heaven. What a relief it must have been to show up on Dean's bridge.

And then Jared and Jensen thank us. You're welcome, boys. Thank you.

So. Thursday night I was mildly positive about the episode. But on rewatch, I'm extremely positive. Sure, I would have loved the Six Feet Under ending where we see everyone's fate. And maybe that would have happened if not for Covid. But I'm just relieved we didn't get the Game of Thrones or How I Met Your Mother endings. I'm not sure this current cohort could have done better, honestly. Sam wanted a normal family life. Dean wanted Sam to have a normal family life. But Sam was never going to stop hunting as long as Dean was hunting. And Dean wasn't going to stop hunting as long as he was alive. Dean got the end he wanted/expected and the Heaven he earned (and Sam caring for Jack was directly responsible for Heaven's improvements). Sam got to live a normal life and have a family. As I said earlier, I suspect his marriage didn't last. (Or maybe he and Eileen or Cara got married for insurance purposes, and happily co-parented little Dean, but knew they weren't each other's one true love.) But I actually prefer that. Dean loved Sam more than he loved anyone. Sam loved Dean the same way. I'm glad Sam got to have a child (who he loves as much as his brother, but in a different way), but I don't want Sam and Dean to share their Heaven with Sam's wife.

Now, would I have done Dean's death differently? Yes. I did appreciate that they had him upright, so the brothers were face to face, just like AHBL. But being impaled on a spike was just less dramatic that I would have liked. I would have preferred that Sam immediately see his brother was dying, instead of Dean having to explain it to him. Dean could have had his jugular torn, slowly bleeding out, and still been on his knees (held up by Sam, hell yes) making his deathbed speech. And then I wouldn't have thought "would an ambulance be here by now if you'd called them?" halfway through it.

{Sidebar: What if Sam had fed Dean some blood from one of the dead vamps. Wouldn't that have kept him undead long enough to get fixed up, and then they could have done the vampire cure? Discuss.}

I know some people are very unhappy about the finale. Honestly, from what I can tell, most of those people are hard-core Destiel shippers. And I guess they wanted, as they always do, for the Dean and Castiel relationship to be more important than the Dean and Sam relationship. Sorry, guys, that was never gonna happen. In the end, it came down to the epic love story of Sam and Dean, just as it should have.

So, I'm sad and I'm happy. I'm bereft and I'm full. I miss my boys, but my boys will always be with me. I hope you guys will be with me for a long time, too.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Under the Apple Tree--Chapter 9

Ship:  Outlaw Queen

Rating: T

Synopsis: After being hit by the Olympian Crystal, Robin was transported to Seattle, unable to return to Storybrooke or any magical. When it was clear he had no way to return to his family, Robin finally decided to bury his broken heart in work–founding a landscaping business, Sherwood Forestry.  Fifteen years later, Robin receives an order from the last person he ever thought he’d see again, making him realize that hope never truly dies.

Previous: Chapter 1  Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6

Chapter 7  Chapter 8

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Robin trudged dejectedly up the stairs and down the hall to his apartment.  He unlocked his door, flipped on a light and then headed straight for his whiskey bottle.

He’d failed.  He’d more than failed.  He’d cocked the entire operation up royally.

Not only had Regina not remembered this evening, he’d scared her off and it was anyone’s guess if she’d ever so much as agree to speak to him again.

Robin took a quick swig from his glass, feeling the tears sting the back of his throat.  He loved her so bloody much he could almost feel it as an ache in his chest.  They’d been separated for so many years and he’d finally, finally found her again and within a matter of days he’d driven her away.

He could have sworn she was starting to believe, that her memories were starting to poke through. When she’d asked him about the book, he should have been noncommittal, made some vague reference to the universal truth found within stories or some such nonsense, but it was as though he couldn’t help himself.  In that moment it had simply become too much.  He could no longer play the role of the landscaper who was a virtual stranger. He had to let her see the truth, let her see his heart.

But he’d miscalculated, and now he’d harmed not only his own heart, but his chance to get back to Roland and the little daughter he’d not even had a chance to name.  He’d destroyed Henry’s chance to find and save his true love.  He’d destroyed the hopes of all those slumbering in Storybrooke.

It had all been riding on him and he’d failed.

Robin cursed, setting down his glass and putting his head in his hands.  He could only hope Henry and Lucy had more success breaking through Killian’s curse.

The doorbell rang and Robin cursed again, knowing it couldn’t be anyone but Regina’s son and his daughter. Well there was nothing for it. The story must be told eventually. Now was as good a time as any.

“So, how was the big date?” Henry asked as soon as the two of them crossed the threshold.  “Is romance in the air?”

Robin stalled, asking if they’d like something to drink, taking as long as he could get by with to fetch them bottles of water from his refrigerator.

When he finally joined Henry and Lucy in the living room, he sat heavily on his couch and sighed, fixing his eyes on the coffee table in front of him rather than on his guests.

“It didn’t go well, did it, Grandpa Robin?” Lucy asked softly.

Robin shook his head, took one more fortifying sip of his whiskey and then looked the little girl in the face.  “I’m afraid not, young one.  I rather spectacularly failed.  Not only did I not share True Love’s Kiss with Regina…I fear I’ve driven her away from me altogether.”

Henry leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs.  “I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as all that.  Tell us what happened.”

And so he had.  In short, choppy sentences Robin recounted the events of the evening.

“I was so sure she’d begun to believe,” he said finally, “so convinced her questions meant something, that I threw caution to the wind, and she all but bodily threw me from her home.”

When Robin looked up once more at the end of his tragic tale, he caught Henry and Lucy sharing a look and then turning identical smiles in his direction.

“Are you quite certain you heard what I just said?” Robin asked.  “Your reaction seems curious.”

“Don’t you see, grandpa?” Lucy said.  “Grandma Regina is scared.”

“Yes, I dare say she is,” Robin said, his brow furrowed, “but why does that make you smile?”

“Because it’s proof that what you said struck a chord,” Henry answered.  “She’s starting to remember, and it all seems so unbelievable that she thinks she’s going crazy.  You telling her the truth…well it only made that worse.  She’s starting to remember, so we’re in a far better position than you think.”

“But she turned me away, lad,” Robin said.

“And do you know how many times my mom Emma ran away?” Henry asked.  “More than I can count.  But with every moment that seemed too much for her, she came closer to believing, and eventually she accepted all of it—home, family, true love.  Everything. Operation Cupid may have suffered a setback tonight, but it wasn’t destroyed.  Not by a long shot.”

Robin felt his optimism returning in spite of himself.  The truest believer and his equally believing daughter were a balm to his troubled spirit.

“You just need to give her time, grandpa,” Lucy said, coming to sit beside him and taking his hand.  “She needs to get used to the idea and then she’ll come to you.  True love never fades.  Sooner or later she’ll realize that even if it sounds crazy, she wants to believe you and be with you.”

“Sooner or later,” Robin said with a grimace.  “But there are so very many people in need of our help—your mother for one, Lucy, my son and daughter for another—that waiting, doing nothing is an agony.”

“We can only do what we can do,” Henry said, the worry covering his face for a moment at the mention of his wife.  You’ve done the best you can, and now we have to wait.”

Robin nodded.  “And how did the two of you fare this evening? Did you make any headway in bringing back Hook’s memories?”

Lucy shook her head with a slight frown.  “None at all. Grandpa Killian didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want to talk about Grandma Emma.”

“Said it was still too painful to talk about,” Henry said, “and when we told him mom’s still alive, just in a sleeping curse, he got angry.  Told us he didn’t know what cruel game we were playing but he wouldn’t be party to it.  Whatever the darkness did to this curse…it buried everyone’s real memories down deep.”

“So hardly a red letter night for any of us,” Robin said taking the final sip of his drink.

“No, but tomorrow is a new day with all kinds of possibilities,” Lucy said.  “And it doesn’t matter what the darkness does to us.  We’re going to win.  Love is stronger than any darkness.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Rayna spent a miserable week after her first (and only) date with Robin.  It had been an unqualified disaster.  Oh it had started out nice enough.  She’d felt herself fall harder and harder for him as the evening progressed. He was…everything she’d ever wanted in a man.

But then he’d started spouting absolute nonsense—about fairy tales being real and the storybook being a history book and her real name being Regina and the two of them being soulmates because of a lion tattoo.

How was anyone supposed to believe something like that?  Robin Locksley was certifiable.

And yet…no matter how much she tried to reason with herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was truth in what he told her. She’d read Lucy’s storybook so many times in the past week that she nearly had it memorized, and with every new reading, more and more flashes of….something…came to her.  Little things—feelings, emotions, moments in time.  It was like there was an entirely different set of memories trying to break through her consciousness.

But that was entirely ridiculous.

For several days Rayna tried to go about her business, putting the whole unsettling incident out of her mind, but something always drew her back.  It was more than just the memories.  More than just the unsettling feelings.  

Rayna couldn’t put the incident behind her because, quite simply, she couldn’t put Robin behind her. It made no sense, they’d only just met, had only one date, hadn’t even kissed, but still there was no denying it.

She was in love with him, deeply, passionately, irrevocably in love.

There was no denying it anymore, no changing it.  Robin Locksley was an important, maybe even vital part of her heart and it didn’t matter how crazy he was.  She needed to see him again, needed to explore the budding relationship that had ended so abruptly a week ago.

And so it was that one week to the day after their disastrous date, Rayna found herself standing in front of Robin’s apartment door, finger poised before his doorbell. She took a deep breath, smoothed her opposite hand down her soft, cotton dress, and then pushed the button.

It felt like a lifetime went by between the ringing of the doorbell and the moment the door finally opened, and Rayna feared her heart would beat entirely out of her chest with her nerves.  But the moment the door opened, the moment she saw Robin’s face, it was as though everything suddenly fell into place.  Whatever the difficulties, whatever the impossibilities, this was right.  She was meant to be with him, and she could no more deny that than she could make her heart stop beating.

“Reg…Rayna,” He breathed, the moment he saw her.  His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and he took a small step toward her, his hand raised as though he meant to cup her cheek, before he dropped it with quick, jerky motions.  “Forgive me; where are my manners?  Would you care to come in?”

Rayna stepped inside and watched as Robin closed the door and the slowly turned toward her.  “I…I was hoping maybe we could talk,” she said, hands clasped in front of her.  “I couldn’t stop thinking about how we left things, and I just wanted to apologize for my reaction.”

Robin’s eyes softened, the lines around them deepening as he slowly smiled.  He stepped forward, putting both hands on her upper arms.  “You’ve no need to apologize,” he said softly.  “I know how it all must have sounded.  You must think me quite mad.”

“No,” she said quickly. “Or at least if you are, I must be too, because…even though it can’t be true, something about it…I just can’t shake.”

“Really?” he asked, his smile growing.  “That’s what you came to tell me, that you’re starting to remember?”

She shook her head slowly, her curls bouncing around her face with the movement.  “Actually, there’s more, and…well, this is the part that might make you think I’m crazy.”

“Never,” he said gently. “You can tell me anything, Rayna. Anything at all.”

Rayna took a quick breath and then slowly let it out.  She deliberately looked into his eyes.  She wanted to see his reaction to what she had to say.

“Robin,” she said, “we’ve only known each other for a matter of days, but…but it doesn’t matter.  I couldn’t stay away.  I couldn’t put you out of my mind.  The thing is, I think…no I know…I’m in love with you.”

For long moments he merely looked down at her, his expression inscrutable.  Rayna began to worry that she’d misread things, that she was coming on too strong, that she’d scared him away this time.  “Robin,” she said finally, “please say something. I know it’s too early to say the l word and I know this probably sounds crazy but…”

Robin suddenly surged forward, his lips crashing into hers.  Rayna was startled for a moment, but then the feel of his lips against hers, the feel of his arms holding her tight, overwhelmed her.  Her heart feeling as though it might burst from her chest, tears filling her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her head and kissed him back with all the love in her heart.

And that’s when it happened. Rayna felt a burst of something that felt like a force field issue from their joined lips and spread in all directions like a shock wave.  Suddenly memory after memory crashed over her.  The first curse, rescuing Henry in Neverland, meeting Robin, falling so desperately in love, Hades, losing Robin, somehow rebuilding her life despite the Robin-sized hole in her heart, Henry growing up, Lucy, the darkness, the new curse…

Regina broke the kiss, cupped Robin’s face in her hands and let the tears flow in rivers down her cheeks. “Robin?”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Robin knew the moment she remembered him, the moment the memory curse was broken.  The tears came to his eyes and he let a couple spill over as he reached up to cup her face as well, both of them smiling and laughing.

“Regina,” he said.  “You remember?”

“Everything,” she said, raising on her toes to kiss him again, this time gently, slowly, tenderly. “Robin I remember it all.”

They kissed for long moments, both holding each other so tightly it was almost painful.  It had been so long, so desperately long.  Robin felt as though his heart was beating again after nearly fifteen years of lying dormant.  Slowly Robin maneuvered them until they were seated on the couch, Regina lying on top of him, caressing every bit of skin she could reach.  

He would gladly go on kissing this woman for years, decades, the rest of his life, but eventually the need to breathe forced him to gently pull away, his hands coming up to dry her tears.

“How?” she croaked finally, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.  “Robin you were hit by the crystal.  I saw you die.  I held your body.  I buried you! How are you here?”

Robin heard the agony in her voice, and leaned forward to wrap her once again in his arms, his face nestled in the crook of her neck.  “Hades lied, my darling.  He lied. The crystal didn’t kill me; it merely sent me here.”

“All this time?” she asked, pulling back and looking into his eyes.  “All this time you’ve been here on the other side of the country. Why didn’t you ever come back?”

“I tried,” he assured. “I did everything in my power to get back to Storybrooke, to get back to you, but no matter what I tried, it was as though Storybrooke had disappeared.”

Regina began sobbing, aching, heartbroken sounds and Robin could do nothing but hold her, rocking her gently as she let the years of pain and grief bleed off.

“I missed you so much,” she said finally.  “Sometimes I thought the grief would kill me.  Sometimes I wished it would.”

“I’m so desperately sorry for the pain I caused,” he said, voice far from steady.  

She shook her head.  “No, don’t apologize.  It’s not your fault.  All you did was sacrifice your life for me.”

“And you’ve no idea how relieved I am to find it worked,” he said.

They kissed again, long, passionately, desperately.

“Roland and my little girl…?” Robin asked when they finally broke apart again.

“They’re fine,” Regina reassured.  “Roland went back to the Enchanted Forest with the merry men and your daughter?  We named her Robyn, and she’s perfect, beautiful, happy, healthy, as fiery as Zelena, but with your gentleness and honor to mellow her out.  She just celebrated her fifteenth birthday, you know.  When we get back to Storybrooke….”

Regina stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in panic.  “Oh God, Robin, Storybrooke!  There was another curse!  They’ve been cursed again!”

“Calm yourself,” he said gently.  “They’re fine.  Under a town-wide sleeping curse, but fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” he said, “and Regina, I know it now!  We will win. Whoever this darkness is, whatever it wants, it’s as good as defeated already.  With you as it’s enemy it doesn’t stand a chance.”

She leaned forward and kissed him softly once again.  “So what do we do.  How do we fight against the latest villain in our midst?”

“We talk to Henry and Lucy, develop the next phase of our operation,” Robin said getting to his feet and offering her a hand up, “but first, my love, we have fifteen lost years to make up.”

His heart full and brimming over, Robin slowly lead Regina back to his bedroom.  There would no doubt be a hell of a fight waiting for them in the morning, but for now, for this night it was just him and his true love, his soulmate, and he was determined that he wouldn’t waste a single moment of the second chance they’d been given.

Notes:

--So there you have it, basically the end of this story. Regina and Robin end up together and true love conquers all—including curse-induced memory loss.  The darkness isn’t going to know what hit it when Regina and Robin (and Henry and Lucy and Killian and Gold) come for it!

--This chapter ended up being more difficult to write than I anticipated.  How do you give a reunion scene the emotional resonance it deserves when one of the people spent the last fifteen years believing the other was dead?

--Up next: A CS-themed epilogue where we follow Killian from the moment he “wakes” (as a result of OQ’s TLK) to the moment he goes back to Storybrooke desperate to save his Swan…and their two little cygnets.

[bloodshedfalls]

ACCEPTED!

Hey, is that JAKE GYLLENHAAL? Oh no, it’s GRAHAM HARPER. I hear he is THIRTY and he can be DECISIVE and DEPENDABLE but can also be BITTER and ISOLATED. Not to mention they are a WITCH. (mandaaaaaa)

Accepted! Welcome to Bloodshed Falls! Be sure to send in your account in the next 24 hours, track these tags, be sure to read through our plotdrops, post a starter and follow everyone on the blogroll! 

(tw: death, violence)

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION:

Before the fire.

After the fire.

This is how Graham Harper has come to think of his life. Two chapters. Two parts. The old him and the new, irrevocably changed him.

Born to members of the Mercier coven, Graham grew up being taught their ways and the ancient, dark magic they practiced. His father and Joel Mercier were as close as brothers and the coven was his extended family. A determined and curious boy, Graham was as confident and decisive as he was loyal. He knew what he wanted just like he knew what company he would keep and it’s why himself, Marie Leblanc and Lenore Mercier became inseparable early on.

Maybe it was because they were born on the same day, years apart, or maybe it was simply a choice the three had made. Whatever it was drew them together and forged a connection between the three that everyone could see. That was the thing about family in the Mercier cove: you could choose your own along with the one you’d been given and that’s exactly what Graham did.

He spent mornings with his father, being mentored by the one person he looked up to most, afternoons being taught by his mother and every other moment with the other two. When his sister, Evelyn, came along, it was like he’d gained another part of himself he didn’t know he was missing. Evelyn was his shadow, a small, bird like girl, seemingly delicate but as powerful as any of the young witches in their coven and Graham saw her as another extension of who he was, someone to pour into and teach alongside their parents.

Life was good and his skills grew year to year, his decisive nature making him more determined than most, willing to go further than some, just like Marie and Lenny. The three of them continuously pushed the boundaries of their skills and, eventually, linked their magic together in a bond meant to strengthen them and avail their magic to each other. It didn’t feel like being weighed down or drained, far from it. It felt right. To have the most important part of themselves connected by the very thing that made them what they were.

This was the very bond that prompted them to perform magic together, doing complex, dark spells of every kind. This was the bond that prompted them to perform magic in the cemetery that fateful night that both spared their lives and simultaneously ripped everything from them. It was that bond that caused the three to try and put out a fire that was never meant to go out, to watched the bodies of dead family members, dead coven members before homes collapsed and they were consumed entirely, rendered to ash and memory. And it was this bond that seemed to break– to snap in the face of such loss.

Were they survivors? Or victims?

Whatever they were– one thing was true. The three remaining members of the Mercier coven were lost. They were broken. And that’s ultimately what pulled them away from each other. Marie was falling apart and Graham was doing his best to keep her from breaking, same with Lenore but it seemed as though Lenny had other ideas. When the three split ways, Graham and Marie together and Lenny on her own, Graham knew it was a bad decision, knew they should’ve stayed together but two days later when he went back to where they’d split, to where he thought Lenny would be but she was gone. It felt like betrayal but not one he could dwell on.

He and Marie had a mission in mind– they needed to find those who’d taken everything from them, with or without Lenny, before the trail went cold and so they did the first thing angry, hurting, lost individuals often did; went headfirst into a fight they couldn’t hope to win. It took only three weeks before Graham was on his own. He and Marie weren’t a match for the members of the other coven and it cost her her life.

The moment she died, Graham felt as something snap inside of him– literally, something tear away from him and sever in the most painful way, leaving him gasping as their bond was cut, ripped from him. And days after, he felt the same exact pain when, wherever she was, Lenny severed the last link between them as well with a cloaking spell. It didn’t stop Graham from trying to find her, though, carrying Marie’s ashes with him in hopes they could honor her together before realizing it wasn’t going to happen. She was gone and so he had to do this on his own. Spreading his best friend’s ashes before starting on a journey that would take him years. He was determined to face the witches who’d taken everything from him and would do whatever he could to take them down.

His leads led him all over– mostly the states but parts of Canada as well and one particular lead around two years ago led him to a small pack of wolves outside Montreal. He was able to kill most of them but was viciously bitten by another, leaving the warlock to suffer the bite’s side effects– the sickness, the hallucinations, the pain of the change without the actual change, his magic protecting him. It was in this state that he was found by a one Shelby Fontaine, a witch who, as fate would have it, happened to be studying medicine. And she was the one who was with Graham in the worst of the sickness, through the agonizing pain of his body and magic rejecting the curse trying to overwhelm him, the hallucinations of his family, of Marie and Lenny and his sister. She used medicine and what magic she could to nurse him back to health.

Perhaps Graham might’ve felt differently about her help had he known her family name but for what it was worth, she was the person who helped him and when they parted ways after he was back to full health, he knew he was in her debt. From there, he kept searching, finding anyone with answers or who knew anyone with answers, prying it out of them by whatever means. He managed to tick off a small number of the coven members who’d strayed too far from the pack but it was never enough; they’d taken it all from him, every single person and even those who’d survived were gone as he’d long since been prepared to find Lenny’s body whenever he caught wind of a deceased or killed lone witch.

For the past year he’d returned to the states, growing increasingly aimless in the way only a man who’d been lost for years could be. Who’d never admit to being lost and isolated and on a path that would only lead to death. It was this that prompted him to reignite his search for Lenore, even just to get closure that she was dead– that he wasn’t thinking of a ghost that wasn’t there anymore. Still, there was nothing, like all the other hundreds of times he’d tried. He spent the latter part of 2016 finally returning to a home that had become a graveyard of unconsecrated witches and lost souls never to be found again.

He was tired. His determination and resolve increasingly wavered and he wondered what it was all for? Marie was dead, Lenore probably was, his parents were, his sister, everyone he cared about was. Graham was isolated. He was a wanderer. His home was gone. He was in a place darker than he’d been and for someone born into blackness, it was a foreign feeling. It might have ended there, he might have given up but decided to try the spell once more. The locator spell that availed nothing for years, a last ditch attempt to find someone who was probably long gone by now.  But then it was like someone had finally flipped a switch that had been off for half a decade and he could sense the last remaining member of his coven. Whether her being alive was false hope, a twisted trick or the truth, it didn’t matter because Graham left Louisiana that day and headed for Red Creek.

HEADCANONS:

Graham couldn’t consecrate Marie when she died since they were so far from home. Instead he carried her ashes with him for weeks, hoping that he’d find Lenore in that time and they could honor their best friend together. But he never found Lenny. After too many weeks he finally scattered Marie’s ashes in an area he knew lone witches traversed through, knowing that’s what she’d have wanted– to avail her magic and spirit to the disillusioned and disenfranchised, to the lost and the isolated– to the outcasts. To people like them.

He has little to nothing left of his family or coven but one of his most precious possessions is his father’s signet ring. The ring has magic imbued in it, passed down for generations with magic from his ancestors.

His second most important possession is the pendant Marie wore with the Leblanc family crest. Much like his father’s ring, it too is imbued with generational magic from her bloodline that he’s not dared to even think of using.

Both objects are spelled so only he can remove them.

A few years back Graham encountered an imp with a penchant for bargaining for rare objects. The witch needed a favor and he had enough to pay Callum Rook to get the job done. However, after their initial deal, he became aware of the ring and pendant Graham carried and attempted to take the powerful objects for himself. Needless to say it didn’t go over well and the two’s temporary deal was no more.

He has a black bird tattooed over his heart for his sister, Evelyn.

Fire makes him flinch for but a moment before he’ll get as close to the source as possible, almost as if twistedly daring it to touch him– to do what it did to his family and coven and consume him. But then it’s as though the bird on his chest flutters– his conscience forcing him away from self destruction and toward the one goal he’s had since his life burned to the ground: revenge.

At one point he was attempting a sacrificial spell about to kill a young werewolf when  Vaughn Wilde and his partner stopped him and while Graham got away, if he were to ever cross paths with that hunter again, it most likely wouldn’t be pleasant.

Graham has significant scarring on his left shoulder from the werewolf attack, from the socket to right before his neck.

CHARACTER OCCUPATION:  unemployed for now.

[knittedkikwi]

Ironsworn update

I know I said no more mega posts, but this game is too fun to put down. Have half a mega post instead. Story’s below the cut. Summary is down below.

Spoilers: Mira tracks the gaunts into the Deep Wilds. Discovered they’ve been transformed by a mystic, who plans to do the same to the kidnapped kid. She runs into her elf buddy, they help her fight. She learns she can do magic. Now she’s got to find the equivalent of Hogwarts in a low magic campaign setting.

Mira walked to the edge of town and stared at the forest in front of her. One tree marked the line between the village and the Wilds. It was a gnarled, ancient,ugly old thing. Mira had never seen any leaves on it, despite it being well into summer at this point. The village took its name from this tree. Children were apparently warned never to pass the tree when they played, lest the hollows get them.

Hollows were a myth, but Mira was still hesitant to head back into the Deep Wilds. She knew there were a lot of very real monster’s in those woods and this time she didn’t have Dotani to help her.

“Deep breath, Mira, you’ve got this.” She adjusted the pack of supplies on her back and strode past the tree, towards what she hoped would be a very near herd of gaunts.

She trekked through the forest for a couple of hours. Her cloak was drenched, thanks to the almost constant rain in the Wilds. Daydreams of fires and dry clothes danced through her head. A nip on her ear brought her out of her reverie.

“Ouch! What is it Gabriel?”

The owl looked pointedly at the ground. She had been so lost in thought that she almost missed the signs that something had passed through. She dropped to her knees and took a closer look. There were definitely hoof prints. Gaunts were all over the wilds, so that wasn’t surprising. These were leading away from the village, so probably the ones she needed. She followed them for a few minutes and was rewarded with a single pair of boot prints, small enough to be a child’s. It looked like the group had stopped for a minute. Finding only one set of prints meant Sagura was likely riding on one of the gaunts. Why? Gaunts weren’t typically known for kidnapping. They’re beasts, they don’t have a use for hostages. And they certainly weren’t known for letting people ride them. Something strange was happening here. For now, she just needed to follow the tracks.

She walked for another hour or so before she ran into a surprise. A gaunt hung from a tree, trapped inside a hunter’s net. Mira scanned the area for whoever had set the trap. Seeing no one, she turned back to the skeletal horse. She’d seen gaunts before and found them disconcerting. Now that she’d been in a town, she knew why. Horses shouldn’t have scales or pure white eyes. This one was different though. It had spines protruding from its neck where its mane should have been. As Mira circled around the hanging animal, it lashed out with its hooves. She stumbled back in time and watched as the creature continued to kick towards her, even as she backed away.

“Gabriel, have you ever seen a gaunt react that viciously?” she murmured. The few times gaunts had seen her, they opted to run rather than fight.

“Hooo” Gabriel’s feathers were fluffing up as he shuffled from foot to foot.

“Yeah, I don’t like it either. Something’s changed this one. Filled it with hate. We need to hurry before whatever did this does it to Sagura.”

Mira continued in the direction the tracks had headed. It took several more hours, and a stop to eat and redo bandages, but she finally caught sight of the group. Thankfully there weren’t many. These ones also had spiked manes and seemed more aggressive than normal, but the concerning thing was the people riding two of them. One she could easily identify as Sagura. The other was covered in tattoos and wearing clothing that looked like it had been made from leaves and vines.

“Shit, it’s a mystic!”

Mira had seen a mystic come through town a couple of months ago. Same tattoos, better clothes. The villagers had been equal parts excited and scared. Magic may be real, but it is very rare. Mystic’s were some of the few people who could actually harness it.

“I guess that explains the weird gaunt. We’ll have to be very careful.” She turned her head to look at Gabriel. “I hope you don’t mind, but you are staying far away from this fight.”

An ambush would probably be the best. But how would she sneak up on them? And how could she get Sagura safe first? She needed some way to scout ahead of them. She shadowed them for a bit until she saw them start into a small hollow that she recognized. It was a winding path that narrowed towards the other end. She decided to sneak across the top and set up an ambush at the end.

She moved as quickly and quietly through the woods as she could. She found the area of the hollow she needed. It was more of a gorge really. Narrow with steep walls, the gaunts would be forced to walk single file. Perfect, now she just needed to get everything ready.

“Bud, I’m gonna find a tree for you to hang out, ok?” She whispered. Where was a good place to stash an owl? She moved partly into forest and found a hollow in a tree. It was just big enough for Gabriel to hide and close enough that she could hear him if he needed her. She lifted him inside then turned back towards the valley, only to be confronted by a wooden mask with two luminous eyes staring back at her.

“I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” A hand pushed the mask up, revealing a handsome, but unearthly face. The eyes were too large, the features too pointed with sallow, green tinged skin that crinkled like dry leaves when the elf talked.

“Dotani! You have impeccable timing, as always. Would you be willing to help me with something?”

“For my favorite enigma, certainly. What do you need?”

This was perfect. With two of them, that mystic didn’t stand a chance.

“A boy went missing from Grimtree. It turns out he was kidnapped by a mystic riding these strange gaunts. I need to get him back. I was going to ambush them when they were bottlenecked in. How about you station yourself on the other side and we take the mystic out together?” She spoke quickly as they walked back to the gulch.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. I assume we are trying to get the boy away from the mystic as soon as possible, then.” Their long, pointed ear twitched as if they heard something. “The group is almost here. Hide.”

Dotani placed the mask back over their face and then jumped to the other side of the gulch easily. Mira pulled her axe free from her belt and got ready to throw her knife.

The gaunts rounded the corner. She took a deep breath and moved into a crouch to hide while she lined up her shop. Her injured leg chose that moment give out. She lurched forward, trying to throw her knife, but it went wide. Even worse, she lost her grip on her axe. It fell to ground, maybe ten feet in front of the mystic. Mira looked at Dotani, who was staring straight at her. He gave a swift nod towards her axe before standing up to take his own shot. Mira jumped to the ground as Dotani let the arrow fly.

The mystic reached his hand up and caught the arrow midair. Mira watched as he drew it back through his closed hand and smeared blood on his forehead.

“I see you, Mira. You are think you are brave, but you’re just as frightened as the day you awoke in that grave. Leave the boy to me and you still have a chance to find out the truth about yourself.”

His voice echoed of the walls, seeming to come from everywhere. The sound filled her mind. Part of her wanted to agree, wanted to run away and focus on herself. Then she thought of Sadia and Emelyn and Alban and all of the rest of Grimtree. They may have been slow to embrace her, but she was one of them now. Which meant Sagura was one of hers.

“You know nothing about who I am,” she replied, picking up her axe and facing him.

He drew a sword she hadn’t seen before and scrawled a rune on it in his blood. As he raised it and charged, she realized it looked awfully familiar. She raise her axe to stop the blade, but felt something sharp pierce her shoulder. Looking down, she saw a dagger sprouting from her shoulder. Sagura had his arm outstretched with a strange, manic smile on his face.

“Dotani, he’s cast a ritual on the boy. Knock him out if you can but don’t hurt him!” She pulled the dagger out and slashed out as the gaunt standing beside her. The animal danced away as its rider brought the sword around for another blow.

Mira got her axe up in time to block and used her chance to slash at the legs of the gaunt with the dagger. A solid blow! The creature went down, but the mystic used her moment of distraction to wrench her axe from her hand. Dotani pelted the man with arrows, but he was too fast. The gaunt took most of them and stilled.

Thunder seemed to sound all around them as Mira realized Sagura was charging at her on his own mount. Mira tried to dodge to the side, but there wasn’t enough room to escape completely. She was thrown to the side as Sagura galloped past and flew into the wall. She shook her head, trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop. She now had an enemy on either side of her. Dotani was managing to keep the mystic at bay for now, but she needed to get Sagura off that gaunt.

She ran at Sagura as he tried to wheel around in the narrow space. Pulling with all her force, she brought him down to the ground. She flipped the dagger in her hand and brought the pommel down on his head. Sagura raised his arm and blocked the blow. He started wrestling with Mira over the dagger. The now riderless gaunt finally managed to turn itself around and started charging.

Mira watched as two arrows sprouted from the gaunt’s side. She continued to wrestle with Sagura for a moment, but the kid played dirty. He reached for her belt and grabbed her own knife. She tried to stop him, but that only gave him the chance to get his own dagger from her hand as well. The enemy had managed to completely disarm her. She hear footsteps rushing up to her.

“Mira, behind you!” Dotani shouted.

She whirled in time to see the Mystic raising her own axe against her. Fuck him! That was her axe! She screamed and threw her weight into his chest, knocking them both to the ground. As they wrestled for the axe, the mystic caught Mira’s gaze. Something about his eyes frightened her. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

“You’ll never belong to that town. They don’t know you. How could they when you don’t know you either? You must have committed atrocities in your past to earn the fate you got. Surrender and I’ll end it for you.”

Tears streamed down Mira’s face as she finally got her axe free of his grasp.

“I’m going to make the boy stronger. He’ll never have to face what you have. He’ll be strong enough to avoid it. Humanity will pay for what it did to the Old World and he’s going to help me bring about that vengeance. Starting with you!”

“Shut up!” she screamed. He was right. She didn’t know herself. Humanity had destroyed the Old World. But she wouldn’t let him punish those who had never even seen it. She couldn’t let him turn a child into a monster!

Her axe lashed out with a speed she didn’t even know she had in a desperate attempt to turn this fight around. She swung the axe low and swept his legs out from under him. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dotani jump down and knock out Sagura. Acting on pure instinct, she wiped some blood from her shoulder and scrawled a rune on her axe. The same one she’d seen the mystic draw on his own weapon. She raised her weapon high and brought it down onto his chest. She felt ribs crack and saw blood spray.

Mira watched as the rune that she had written glowed. All of the blood on her axe seemed to disappear inside it as a faint red glow traveled up from the weapon to herself. She could feel the dagger wound closing. Even her leg felt better. The mystic looked up at her with surprise on his face.

“You are one….of us! One of….the magic wielders! Spare me….and I can….teach you….” His breath came in short bursts. She could hear him getting weaker.

“I’ll find a teacher on my own. One who isn’t going to waste their skills taking revenge on the innocent.” She raised the axe once more and brought it down on his head this time.

The forest went still once more. Mira heard footsteps behind her and felt a hand on her shoulder.

“So you can use magic. That’s not something I expected from you,” Dotani’s voice whispered like dry leaves blowing in the wind, “He’s right, you know. You should find a teacher.”

“I know. I didn’t actually expect that rune to work though.” She didn’t even know what she drew. It happened so fast, she let her hands guide her. The frightening thing was that this hadn’t felt like the first time she’d done that.

Dotani turned her around. “I know not how human magic works, but Firstborn cannot even duplicate the rune if they cannot wield it,” he glanced at her axe, “That looks like a bloodstain to me. I see no shape.”

Mira blinked and looked at the rune. It was still clear to her, although it was fading rapidly. “Where would I even find a teacher? I only know one town and the people there practically ran away when a mystic traveled through.”

“I would suggest asking someone who might have spoken to that mystic.”

Mira looked up sharply. “Sadia. She runs the only inn in town. If anyone knows it would be her.”

“Excellent. You have a plan. Now I suggest you go get that owl of yours,” Dotani’s ear twitched, “It sounds as though he is starting to worry.”

Mira ran as fast as she could out of the gulch and back to the tree. Gabriel had hopped out onto a branch and was shuffling side to side as he waited. He started screeching as soon as he saw her.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to drop out of sight, but my leg gave out and I dropped my axe and it all went wrong!” She scooped the panicked owl up and placed him back on her shoulder. He immediately leaned into her, making soft hissing sounds all the way back to the scene of the fight.

Sagura lay on the ground, still unconscious, but now tied up in thick vines. Dotani was nowhere to be seen. So much for having some time to catch up on the way the way back.

“Thanks Dotani!” Maybe he was still close enough to hear. If not, the trees would probably tell him. Mira grabbed the mystic’s sword. She then picked up the teenager with ease and started the trek back home, somehow feeling stronger than when she started.

The journey back led her past the gaunt that was stuck in the net. As she passed, she noted that the spikes had disappeared and been replaced with its typical mane. She set Sagura down and took a moment to lower the animal and release it from the net. As she’d hoped, it immediately sprinted away and back into the Wilds.

“Good to know that the effects fade after death, I suppose.” Gabriel gave a small hiss in agreement as Mira picked up Sagura and headed home.

A frantic woman at the edge of town greeted the group, along with Emelyn. She examined Sagura with critical eye and then gave Mira a surprisingly strong hug.

“Thank you for getting my baby back! You have no idea how worried I was. What happened?” Sagura’s mother still hadn’t let Mira out of the hug, despite the fact that they were probably crushing her son.

Mira sighed as she extricated herself, “A mystic took him.” Sagura’s mother took her son from Mira’s arm and the headed back to town at a brisk pace. Emelyn and Mira trailed behind.

“A mystic?” Emelyn asked. “Like the one that passed through a while ago?”

“No, this one didn’t seem like the other one. He wanted to do something to Sagura so he could help him get back at the Ironlanders for what they did to the Old Country. He’d already transformed some gaunts into more aggressive forms. I think he had started the process on Sagura already. He did something to him to make him fight against us.”

“Us?”

“I ran into an old friend. He helped me fight. Knocked out Sagura so I could focus on the mystic.” Mira glanced at Emelyn. “Do you know anything about magic?”

“I know a bit. Rituals usually require some sort of rune or talisman, though I have seen some use the essence of nature.”

“Could you show me any of the runes?”

Emelyn shook her head. “I’ve never seen any. The one time I saw a mystic cast something, it was like trying to look through fog. I could tell something was there, but not what.”

Mira frowned, “I don’t suppose you know where I could find a mystic?”

“No. Why do you need one?”

“I learned something about myself out there and I think I need one to help me sort it out. I’ll see if maybe Sadia knows.”

“Good idea. She tends to hear all sorts of things from the folks staying at the inn,” Emelyn placed a hand on Mira’s shoulder and turned to look at her. “For now, consider your oath fulfilled. The village is safe, Sagura is back where he belongs. Go rest and speak with Sadia in the morning.”

Mira smiled and nodded. Her bed sounded amazing at that moment.