Drake Drake didn't even remeber falling asleep, maybe he was just that tired. Something poked him. He didn't move, course he didn't move. Then it kicked him, so hard that he rolled over on the floor. Blinking rapidly, and gasping for air, he looked up at something looming over him. It was hazy, difficult to make out any particular shape for it. The darkness didn't help either. "Wh- what?"
Trisana Trisana was having colorful, energetic dreams that were filled with rainbows and unicorns. Not fake unicorns, but the real ones they had met in actual real life. She was running with them through fields, effortlessly keeping pace, her long hair streaming behind her. Then in front of them, a dark figure rose up out of the swaying grass. It was Vetala, clothed in all black instead of her slinky crimson dress, green eyes shining with evil. Trisana skidded to a stop, but the unicorns kept charging with their shining horns pointing straight at her. Vetala merely laughed and waved her hand. A wave of Darkness issued forth and the unicorns neighed in panic and fear before they were swallowed whole. When the darkness cleared, the unicorns were gone and a great swathe of grass had turned into a shriveled black patch. "N...no," Trisana murmured. "This...you...how could you?" Now she was angry. She summoned the Shiny Sword in one hand and the Silver Staff in the other. Vetala laughed again and waved her hand, sending out another tide of Darkness. Trisana blasted it with the Staff and slashed wildly with the Sword, but the Darkness kept coming, falling over her, filling her mouth and nose, leeching the life from her body while Vetala laughed the entire time... "No!" Trisana jerked awake. She sat up straight and looked around to figure out where she was. Fairywood, she was in Fairywood, and she was surrounded by her friends. "Nora, I just had the worst dream ever," she began when she saw that Nora was awake. But then she followed Nora's gaze to Drake...and a hazy figure that was standing over him. "Back, foul demon!" Trisana cried. She jumped to her feet and summoned the Shiny Sword in the wink of an eye, ready to do battle. She was already full of adrenaline from her dream and this was the perfect opportunity to vent. I lost in my dream, but maybe in real life I can win, she thought to herself.
The blur wobbled and then became clear. It was a tall, slender man, taller than any normal human, dressed in a black leather vest, black leggings and pointy-toed shoes. Wavy black hair flopped in front of his face, covering one of his enormous brown eyes; his other eye glared out at the humans while his hand rested lightly on the handle of sword stuck in his belt. He was almost too beautiful, like a painting come to life. "An elf," Nora breathed. "Elves are the strongest, swiftest and most magical of the fairies. They protect Fairywood." She had been a teacher for so long that she just spouted information as if they were still in the classroom. "What to do?" the elf asked himself. His voice was like an enchanted whisper, soft and silky, sending shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. "Should I exterminate the humans on the spot? Or take them captive? Decisions, decisions." "Please, we mean you no harm," Nora started, but the elf scowled and flicked a long finger in her direction. A glowing white arrow flew from his fingertip and stabbed her through the chest. Nora gasped and fell back, unconscious. Alex awoke at the same moment and blinked in confusion at his teacher. "Nora?" he asked groggily. Then, when he realized she was hurt, he screamed, "Nora!" "That's enough from you, intruder," the elf hissed. "I am Tyran, Captain of the Elfguard, and I will not be spoken to in such a manner."
Drake "What to do?" the elf asked himself. His voice was like an enchanted whisper, soft and silky, sending shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it. "Should I exterminate the humans on the spot? Or take them captive? Decisions, decisions." Drake's breath caught in his throat. He prepared his teleportation. Then he stopped himself, when logic finally overcame his comfusion and fear. The guy clearly didn't think seriously about killing them, or he wouldn't have freakin said it out loud. Unless he was psychotic. Then the elf shot Nora for speaking on their behalf. Yep, that meant option two. They were going to have to fight. The captain was right over him. Drake swallowed down, and grabbed a branch from under him. "Teleport," he said. His spell brought him just above the back of the elf's head. He swung the brach down like a makeshift club, using his fall as momentum. This was going to kill his knees when they fell.
Andreas Then, when he realized she was hurt, he screamed, "Nora!" Andreas woke. Nora impaled, hostile stranger on the scene, Trisana facing him off. Options? Attack, but this guy could be powerful. "That's enough from you, intruder," the elf hissed. "I am Tyran, Captain of the Elfguard, and I will not be spoken to in such a manner." Maybe talk him around, and pick a more favourable moment to attack or escape? "We hold the key... " and at that moment Drake blinked into the air and came down for the attack. It was going to be fight. But distraction was Andreas' calling card, and without a blink, a hesitation, or even a waver of the eye in Drake's direction, he continued - "... to defeating the Darkness."
"We hold the key to defeating the Darkness." "Oh, really?" Tyran replied with a snort of disbelief. He opened his mouth to continue, but that's when Drake came down on his head with the branch. The elf cried out and staggered forward, running straight through their campfire and colliding with a tree on the other side. "That hurt," Tyran growled as he straightened up. "You humans might be weak and short-lived, but you make up for it in duplicity." That said, Tyran took out his sword and pointed it at Drake. His eyes glowed white, and so did his sword, and his hair and clothes whipped in a ghost wind that only seemed to touch him. Then he simply let it go of his sword and yelled, "Fly!" The sword obeyed and flew straight at Drake with tremendous speed. "Raaaah!" It was Alex. He launched himself with all his strength in front of Drake and slammed his hands to ground. Dirt erupted into the air as Alex summoned his largest tombstone yet, made of shiny black marble with a giant cross on top. The sword stabbed deep into the tombstone and cut Alex's shoulder, causing him to drop to the ground and roll until he bumped against Drake. "Humans," Tyran growled, mouth curling with disgust. "You are fools to think that you could defeat me in battle. I have faced far greater threats than thee." Nora gasped and her eyes flew open. "Joe!" she cried breathlessly. "Joe! Heal me!" Her hands reached up to grab the arrow stuck in her chest, but it disappeared before she could touch it, leaving a grievous wound in its place. The blood was coming fast and the front of her sapphire gown was already turning dark red.
Joe It had been a bad night. They'd at last managed to get to sleep as the sky began to brighten with the coming dawn. Now nightmares clung at their brain as angry voices jerked them awake. For some moments they laid still, disoriented, not quite processing the words they were hearing. Their learned defenses were to sleep, or rather to pretend it, when voices were raised. Stay out of the way, and listen. Listen in case some of those screams were out of pain. Listen so you would know when to call the ambulance. Miss Wintersmith gasped, and there was the loud thud of a person hitting the ground. Joe's eyes shot open and adrenaline pumped through their body. They flicked invisible and got to their feet, glancing wildly around for their teacher- who had been shot with an arrow of light. They ran for her as the other students made to battle her assailant. They'd just about reached her when her eyes shot open. "Joe!" she cried breathlessly. "Joe! Heal me!" She made a grab for the arrow- "No, don't-!" -but it vanished before she could touch it, and blood began to pour from the wound. Reaching her at last, they placed a hand on the hole in her gut and spread their invisibility to her as they began their healing. "Please be quiet," they whispered. Let the elf wonder where she'd gone. They needed time to deal with this, or Miss Wintersmith stood a very good chance of infection.
Drake Drake fell to the ground hard as Alex bumped into him. This was another close shot. Too close, once again. He had a feeling that this was going to be their toughest fight yet. That guy could do magic They needed their big guns. "Wake up guys!" he shouted at the top of his voice, before teleporting to Samara and Nyx and personally shaking them, with Nyx going even further to a slap in the face. He was a dead man anyway, what did he have to lose!?
Samara She slept like a rock. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe it was the injuries. Either way, Samara couldn't recall going to sleep last night. She remembered gathering kindling, getting the fire going, and sitting down by a tree, and then... darkness. She dreamt of nothing, no horrible nightmares about the things they'd seen, the people they'd lost, or the dangers they would soon face. These things didn't frighten her. She would be ready the next time she saw Vetala. She would- Samara awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright before her eyes were fully opened. Her body awoke long before her brain could catch up, leaving her with absolutely no idea what was going on, only the notion that there were sounds and a vague sense of denger. She heard Nora crying out for healing and Andreas's voice, telling someone they held the key to defeating the Darkness, but the voices were all muffled and distant. Samara staggered to her feet and summoned her crystal armor. "He's right," Samara said as she marched through the camp toward the enemy. Excalibur materialized at her side and she grabbed the sword out of the air, giving it a quick flourish. Its blade sang as it sliced the air. A shadowy figure held Nora by the throat. It was all very surreal. Their teacher's feet dangled a foot off of the ground, her body lit by the campfire as she struggled to breathe, yet the figure that held her was inky black, untouched by the light. "I hold the key to defeating the darkness," Samara said as she stepped through the fire, looking like a badass, she imagined. "And I demand you release her. NOW." "Oh, really?" the shadowy figure said and dropped Nora before turning to face Samara. Suddenly, the darkness dissipated and Samara found herself standing before Vetala. "You humans might be weak and short-lived, but you make up for it in duplicity," the vampire said, though the voice didn't sound like her own. She summoned an Excalibur of her own, though it was black and glowed a sinister red. The faux Excalibur made Samara's skin crawl, as if it radiated evil. "Humans," Vetala growled, mouth curling with disgust. "You are fools to think that you could defeat me in battle. I have faced far greater threats than thee." Samara charged forward. Even though the vampire was only a few feet away, it felt as if time and space expanded, as if she was running across an endless battlefield toward her adversary. The whole world shook and became a blur. The skies quaked and the trees wept leaves and- "Aghghgh!" Samara said, waking up a second time, this time with Drake standing over her. She stared at him for a moment, still trying to process what the fuck was going on, then swatted his hand away. "I'm good. I got this," she grumbled as she rolled over, stood up, and scratched an itch on her side. She took a moment to get her bearings. Elf. Crazy elf, with a sword. Got it. Samara pinched her arm, in case she was still sleeping. Nope, the Elf's still there. Great... "Hey," she said, whispering to Drake. "Why are we fighting this guy? He's a fairy... right... or something like that? I thought we came to help them... or get their help... or..." she sighed, "look, it's too early in the morning for this shiit. What did you do to piss him off?" Because it must be Drake's fault, right?
Trisana "Oh, heeeeell nah," Trisana growled as she watched the elf doing battle. "You hurt my friends, now you deal with me." She ran forward with the Shiny Sword held high, like a scorpion going in for the strike. From the corner of her eye she saw that Samara was waking up. Good, now she could summon Excalibur. A second blade could really come in handy, especially since this Tyran dude had one of his own. I just hope Samara stops whispering to my man...I mean, Drake, eh-hem...and joins the battle soon. Tyran isn't a giant spider or a rabid werewolf, he's a motherflippin' elf-sorcerer. We can't afford any slip-ups. The image of Will's throat ripped open flashed through her mind, as well as the Oracle getting impaled, and Nora, their loving teacher, getting shot with a magical arrow. The bloody memories only stoked her rage and made her all the more determined to defeat Tyran. "Shiny Sword, a go-go!!!" Trisana screamed when she was a foot away from the tall elf. (She was immediately embarrassed--oh geez, why did I have to say that?!--but she pushed that to the side to focus on the fight.) Then she brought down the Shiny Sword with all her strength, aiming for the elf bastard's chest, the same spot where he had shot Nora with an arrow. He can't fight back, he lost his sword. I should be able to hurt him...right? But there was no more time left for doubts. The blade was coming down and she glared at Tyran with a fiery rage, hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake.
Nora smiled briefly at Joe when her wound was completely healed. "Thanks, love," she said with a brief smile. Then her expression became serious as she turned to glare at Tyran across the clearing. "Tyran hates humans, eh?" she growled. "Well, guess what? Now the feeling is mutual." Her eyes blazed blue and an ice-cold wind buoyed her to her feet, her long white hair flying everywhere, cloak flaring out, and the ugly bloodstain on her chest made her look all the more fearsome. Her hands worked to craft a spell, blue lightning jumping between her fingers at an increasing rate. Meanwhile, Tyran looked down at Trisana as she charged at him...and he disappeared, or seemed to. He moved super-fast behind Trisana and kicked her in the back. Trisana went flying and slammed into the side of Alex's gravestone. "Pitiful," Tyran snapped. Then he turned to Samara so quickly that he became a blur for a moment. "I sense Excalibur," he said, his eyes sparkling with envy. "You stole it from someone, didn't you? That's all humans do. Take, take, take. Well, I'll just take Excalibur off your hands and behead you with it to avenge whoever you took it from." Tyran held out his hand and his sword flew back into his grasp, but he only took one step toward Samara before Nora threw a massive blue lightning-bolt at him. The bolt froze his entire body in a block of ice. "I am Ilianora Wintersmith," Nora hissed. "Have you faced a bigger threat than me, big shot?" Nora hadn't even finished speaking before Tyran started to vibrate and the ice shattered and the chunks flew around the clearing, raining down on everywhere. "An ice witch," Tyran said, looking at her like she was a disgusting cockroach. "Let me introduce you to fire." With that, Tyran raised his hand and the campfire roared to life, becoming a ten-foot-tall pillar. As they watched, the pillar expanded and morphed into a phoenix made of crimson flames. Nora's eyes grew wide with fear and she ran away, but the phoenix lunged and bit the back of her cloak. Nora immediately ripped off the cloak and it burned to ashes. "Help me, North Wind!" Nora cried shrilly and a freezing wind lifted her up. The phoenix flapped its mighty wings and soared after her, chasing her around the trees while Nora tried to throw ice-bolts at it over her shoulder, but it didn't have any affect. The phoenix just kept coming. Alex gritted his teeth and pulled himself to his feet. "You messed with the wrong sorcerers," he growled, then he threw a flaming skull at Tyran. The elf swung his sword and the skull exploded in his face. "Now!" Alex screamed at his classmates. "Attack him!"
Andreas For a half-second Andreas considered using his water to help quell the flames. But in the second half of that second, he realised the flames would probably go away if the Grimm Emo were ground into paté. He ground with all his might, determined to just keep grinding no matter what happened or what was inflicted on him. His only goal was to see if he could make the elf resemble a beached jellyfish.
Drake "Hey," she said, whispering to Drake. "Why are we fighting this guy? He's a fairy... right... or something like that? I thought we came to help them... or get their help... or..." she sighed, "look, it's too early in the morning for this shiit. What did you do to piss him off?" "Hey," he shouted, just a little bit annoyed. "He is just crazy." The others joined in the fight, but seemed to have little effect against the Gandalf-Legolas crazy dude. He dodged Trisana with ease, and Nora's ice seemed to hold him off only temporarily. And then ge sent a flaming bird after her. Nora was running from it, but any second the pheonix was going to catch her. It was fast, Drake noticed, with a small smile. "Teleport," he said, appearing right besides Nora. He grabbed her hand. "Teleport," and now he was right next to Gandagolas, with his back to him. The pheonix swooped in, moving in a straight line. If it missed, Drake's smile grew even bigger, then it will be quite awekward for the elf. "Teleport."
Trisana "Ouchies," Trisana mumbled as she struggled to stand, using the tombstone as support. This wasn't the first time she had been thrown around since they came to the Old Kingdom (that giant spider swatting her out of the sky came to mind), but it was definitely the most painful yet. Her entire left side was on fire with pain; she just knew she was going to get a horrible bruise. Then she thought of Joe. Yeah, Joe could heal her with his new spell...if she could get to him before she got killed. Trisana tried to raised the Shiny Sword, but it was missing. It must have fallen somewhere and disappeared in a shower of glitter. No probs, she would just summon the Silver Staff. She held out her other hand and it immediately appeared in her grasp, the large crystal on top shining like a star. "Take this, you creep!" Trisana yelled as she lurched forward. But the simple act of taking a step was excruciatingly painful and she staggered back into the tombstone again. Okay, so it seems like I might have broken a few ribs. This Tyran guy really packs a punch. Trisana took a deep breath and started zombie-walking forward, beads of sweat rolling down her face and gritting her teeth so hard that her jaw hurt. Just one step at a time, Trissy, one step at a time. 'Trissy' was an affectionate nickname that she made up for herself when she was five. She just really wanted a nickname and didn't feel like waiting for someone to give her one, and so Trissy came to be. She only called herself that anymore in desperate situations to give herself a boost of strength and confidence, and this was definitely one of those times. When she thought she was close enough, she raised the Silver Staff to fire at the back of Tyran's head, but then Drake and Nora appeared before her, only to disappear a second later. "That boy is always leaving me behind," Trisana grumbled moodily. Then she noticed the huge phoenix barreling toward Tyran and, coincidentally, toward her. In just a few seconds, both her and the elf would be burned to ashes. Drake won't like me ruining his plan, but I'd rather not die today, so he's going to have to #DealWithIt. With that, Trisana raised the Silver Staff over her head and fired a huge burst of light directly at the phoenix's head. Please don't let me die, she prayed to anybody who would listen. Please, please, pleassssse!
Samara I am totally not awake enough for this, Samara thought as she ran forward. Or staggered forward. It took her a moment to get up to speed. No matter, she'd get there soon enough and probably get hit in the face or something. Nothing wakes you up like getting sucker punched. She was so out of it, she didn't even realize she had Excalibur until that jerk threatened to take it from her. Must have summoned it in my sleep... that's a scary thought. For Excalibur to show up with so little effort, this guy must be super evil... or a super jerk. Probably the latter. With some clever teleporting, Drake had rescued Nora and redirected the phoenix back at the elf, but that put Tris in the line of fire. Even if her attack landed, it likely wouldn't destroy it and Samara knew she couldn't get theree in time to protect Tris from the flames, nor did she want to, because that would mean protecting Tyran, too. Time to make a split second decision. With her link spell, Samara could pull Tris to her, yanking the girl out of the line of fire, literally. Or, she could position herself behind Tyran and attach her link to the phoenix, ensuring it found its mark... and hoping Tris moved in time. Save a friend... or defeat an enemy. Oh, the classic hero's dilemma! Well, when you put it like that, isn't it obvious? "Link!" Samara said, stretching her hand toward Tris, who was about to get divebombed by an enormous flaming chicken. She pulled with all her might, drawing the girl toward her with telekinetic force.
Andreas used his grinding spell, but for some reason it did not have any affect. Suddenly, a child-sized man appeared on Andreas's shoulder, kicking his legs playfully. He had bright red hair, huge red eyes, red freckles, and all-red cloths. His wide mouth was also shiny cherry-red, as if he had just eaten a handful of juicy berries. "Tsk-tsk, you don't really want to kill Tyran, do you?" the tiny person asked in a high-pitched voice. "He's a little crotchety, but he means well, I promise. I'm Robin, by the way. Robin Goodfellow." Then he started giggling for no apparent reason. Drake's maneuver worked and the giant phoenix was headed straight for Tyran. Trisana was whisked away like a ragdoll by Samara's spell after she blasted the phoenix in the face. The phoenix cried out in pain, flapping wildly as it descended. Tyran turned to face it seconds before it crashed and raised his hand, palm facing outward. The bird split straight down the middle and the fire surged to the left and right. Nora, who was standing to the side where Drake had teleported them, yelled for everyone to get down and flung out her arms. A wave of blue mist spread out from her hands and extinguished the inferno on contact, raining down sparkling ice crystals on everyone. Nora slumped in exhaustion, panting with her hands on her knees. "You are beneath me," Tyran growled. "You will tire before I do, then I will squash you beneath my foot." His eyes blazed white and he raised his sword, but then he froze and turned to Andreas...and the little man sitting on his shoulder. "What are you doing here, Robin?" he demanded. "Go back to the festivities. I will not tolerate any of your shenanigans." "I will not," Robin replied with a beaming smile. "I do as I please and I please as I do. You should leave these humans alone, they don't seem that bad to me." "You should know better than that, Robin," Tyran retorted. "Humans are capable of anything. It's no coincidence that a group of powerful sorcerers have arrived on the eve of our most holy day, Lightmas. They are in league with the Darkness and they are here to assassinate the Fairy King and the Fairy Queen." Robin giggled. "You have no proof, silly boy! You can't kill them based on a paranoid fantasy. But I must say, it is quite suspicious that they are here on Lightmas." The little man pinched Andreas's cheek like he was a toddler that had done something bad. "Are you a baddie?" he asked in mock anger. To Tyran, he said, "No, we should take them back to the Seelie Court to be judged by the High Fairies." Tyran scowled. "I don't have to listen to you, lowly sprite. I outrank you." "Ah, but you forget I have the queen's ear," Robin replied smoothly. "If you carry out this crime, I will fly straight back to her like an arrow and tell her exactly what you have done. How doth that sound?" he asked with a smug grin. "Fine." Tyran angrily sheathed his sword. "Take them to the High Fairies, but I won't help you." He spat on the ground, glared around at everyone, and then simply vanished into thin air. "Good riddance," Alex grumbled. He was holding the cut on his arm that was bleeding steadily. "Uh, Joe, I could use your healing hands."
Joe "Uh, Joe, I could use your healing hands." They weren't listening. They were staring at this...this elf, this thing that had tried to kill their teacher, and listening to the pounding in their ears. The world had narrowed to a misty red tunnel with Tyran's pompous face at the end. He and that imp thing, Robin, they thought this was over now? Just like that? Like human lives, human blood, didn't even matter? Copper-scented red still stained Joe's hands from Miss Wintersmith's wound. The smell filled Joe's nose and mouth until it was all they could think about. That, and Tyran, and making him hurt- "...Uh, Joe?" Their head snapped around to the sound. Alex was giving them an odd look as he cradled his bleeding arm. Joe's nostrils flared. More blood. It was so dark and deep and it smelled...it smelled good. ...Wait, what the hell? They blinked. Suddenly everything was back in proper focus. And they realised they'd been staring at a bleeding guy for several seconds without doing anything to help. Sh*t! "...Sorry," they mumbled, and quickly laid a hand on Alex's arm. The cut wasn't too deep, and wouldn't take more than a minute or two to heal. What the hell had they just been doing? They were too goddamn tired. They were stressed and tired and the bite mark on their neck still hadn't gone away. It didn't itch anymore. Now their whole head and neck were almost buzzing, like a headache that went down to their shoulders. Their teeth hurt. Their face felt stretched. It was a bit like they had a fever, complete with lightheaded-ness and nausea. Dully, they wondered if they'd remembered to cleanse the wound of infection back when they first got it, or... Oh, sh*t. Were they allergic to dogs? They'd never had the chance to find out. Couldn't...couldn't you be hospitalised for bites, if you were allergic? As soon as Alex was taken care of, with only a thin pale line remaining where the cut had been, Joe drifted slightly back from the group. One hand on their neck, they started healing as they walked. There didn't seem to be anything to be affected, but at least their headache was going away a little. Realistically, all this was just stress. They'd made themselves literally sick with anxiety before, after all.
Andreas That was the first time his grind hadn't worked. Had there been metal in the way? He didn't think so. He would have to ask Nora about it, but she'd just been impaled by an arrow so maybe she needed some space. Joe looked a little stretched too. They'd have to stop relying on his healing spell, maybe relying on not being killed!! instead. He looked sideways at the little person still sat on his shoulder. "Hello, Robin. Where I come from, Sprite is a tasty drink, maybe one day I'll buy you a can. Thanks for your help. But if this is the way good people like Tyran treat us, maybe I should be in league with the Darkness, eh?" he might have said that a little too loudly. "What?" he said, looking around. "I'm getting fed up with all the dodgy people who are meant to be on our side." He had his levity spell at the ready. Ah heck! He wondered if THAT spell would have worked on the elf.
"Thanks," Alex told Joe. He rubbed the skin where the cut had just been. Joe did good work, but there seemed to be something bugging them. "Are you feeling okay?" Alex asked as he followed him to the rest of the group. "You look...I don't know...sick." Robin started giggling madly at Andreas. "You're a riot, human boy!" he cried, wiping tears from his eyes. "And I deeply apologize for Tyran's behavior. He's always been a loose cannon. The High Fairies thought it would be a shame to banish him or throw him in prison, he is a very powerful elf and we need every fighter we have for the coming battle against Darkness. It was our wise and beautiful queen, Titania, that decided to make him Captain of the Elfguard but ordered me to watch over him, which is why I was following him tonight instead of enjoying the Lightmas festivities. Our strong, hot-blooded king, Oberon, agreed with the plan as long as he got to personally execute Tyran if he went off the rails." "I stopped your spell, by the way," Robin continued. He raised a small fist in front of Andreas's face and opened it. Sitting in his palm was a jumble of gray barbed wires that kept turning to smoke, then cold metal, and then smoke all over again. The wires twisted and writhed violently, like a living thing. A leaf drifted down from above and landed in the wires; it was immediately ground to dust. Robin closed his hand again and the captured grinding spell was gone. "I may just be a sprite, but even the weakest of fairies has a few tricks up their sleeve." He giggled before jumping off Andreas's shoulder and turning into a red-breasted bird in mid-air: a robin. The bird fluttered over to Nora and landed in front of her before turning back into Robin. "Is she going to be alright?" Robin asked curiously. "She can hear you," Nora retorted, straightening up with a groan. "I'm just advanced in years, little sprite. You wouldn't understand since fairies never grow old. When I was a young whippersnapper, I ran, flipped, and flew all over the Old Kingdom, fighting evil at every turn. But now..." She paused to dab her face with a flowery handkerchief. "Well, now it really takes a lot out of me. That might also have something to do with sitting behind a desk for thirty years," she joked wryly. Robin shrugged. "Can't relate." Then he turned to Samara and smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. "A knight! Yippee! I've always wanted to meet a night! And with Excalibur, no less! You must be the greatest knight in all the lands!" "Yeah, Samara," Alex teased playfully. "Tell us all about being a great knight."
Samara The link spell worked amazingly well, pulling Tris out of harm's way and delivering her right into Samara's arms. Oh, isn't this romantic. If only I were Drake, she thought wryly as she caught the white-garbed princess. Honestly, she was just glad she didn't get whacked in the face with that Silver Staff. "Let's not speak of this," Samara said as she set Tris down and pretended nothing had happened. Meanwhile, a little red imp --erm, sprite-- appeared and pardoned Tyran of all wrongdoing, just as the elf was about to slaughter them all, leaving Samara standing there witha slightly confused look on her face, one of those looks that says, 'is the fight over?' 'Who should I hit next? You? How about you? maybe him?' And this when the little red fairy-man-thing decided he'd like to tease her. "A knight! Yippee! I've always wanted to meet a knight!" Robin said. "And with Excalibur, no less! You must be the greatest knight in all the lands!" "Yeah, Samara," Alex teased playfully. "Tell us all about being a great knight." Samara cast a withering glance in Alex's direction before her eyes locked on the tiny red-garbed man. "Oh, you wanna know what it's like? You really wanna know?" Samara said. "Okay, I'll tell you. First, you wake up and go to school, like everything's normal. Then, a vampire kills your classmate and all hell breaks loose. But that's cool, because you got this. You've trained your whole life for this shit. So, you man up and kick the vampire's ass, right. And you're all like, 'I'm gonna drag your pasty ass to the OK where some sorcerer dudes will do... whatever the hell they do to vampires. "But the army is all like, 'nah, you can't leave. Dakka, dakka, dakka.' So we kick their asses too," Samara said. "I fought I tank, by the way. It wasn't as epic as I imagined it would be." She shrugged. "Then, we get to the OK --where no one's guarding the door, because who gives a damn about border security, right-- and some guy with one hand offers to take the vamp off our... well, off our hands, pun unintended. So, we hand her over, he leaves, and some dogs show up. Werewolves, actually. And then, excalibur. And then no more dogs, because Drake... and unicorns... which are definitely as epic as I imagined. "So, we head to a town," Samara said, finally pausing to take a breath. "And there was an oracle. I said 'was,' because she's dead now. She died fighting the Darkness, after telling us that vamp we let go is Darkness Incarnate. I still think that oracle was up to something. I still think she was a scheming, manipulative, bitch, but that scheming manipulative, bitch did a hell of a lot more in this fight against evil than you and that jackass," she pointed at Tyran, "have done!" She crouched on her haunches so she could look Robin in the eyes and spoke in a calm voice. "I'd say Tyran's gone pretty far off the rails, attacking the one who carries Excalibur, don't you think? Where's Oberon?" She nodded to Tyran. "I wanna see his head roll and I wouldn't be much of a knight if I didn't say so. Pfft. I thought elves had honor, but I guess they're just a bunch of bullies who'd rather pick on some kids on a field trip than face the Darkness. Coward."
Trisana After Trisana fired a lightbeam at the phoenix, she closed her eyes and readied herself for a fiery death...but then she felt herself getting yanked sideways through the air like a flimsy yo-yo. Oh, thank god, she thought. Samara must be saving me. You know, she's not so bad. She barely formed that last thought before she collided with a hard, unforgiving surface: Samara's crystal armor. Blinding pain scorched through her body, causing her eyes to roll up in her head and her limbs to buck wildly. Then she blacked out. I take it back, Samara's a bitch, she thought right before succumbing to unconsciousness. She woke back up at the end of Samara's heated monologue. That girl sure could sting with her words. Note to self: if I ever have to argue with Samara, come with pre-prepared comebacks. And not your own comebacks either, because you'll end up saying something like, "I'm rubber and you're glue!" No, I'll be using Google to get my jokes, thank you very much. Then Trisana recalled that they were in the Old Kingdom and there was no Google equivalent over here. A sharp pain in her side jolted her back to the present. She groaned and tried to sit up; she was laying on the ground at Samara's feet. She could only manage to slightly lift her upper body before the pain became too much and she had to lay back down. "Hey, Joe," Trisana called out, staring up at the lightening sky. "Could you assist me, pretty please with a cherry on top? I think one or two of my ribs are broken, and my leg hurts like hell, too." She hoped Joe wasn't too tired to heal her. If she had to deal with this pain any longer, she was going to start screaming like a banshee.
Joe "Thanks," Alex told Joe. "Are you feeling okay? You look...I don't know...sick." Joe didn't look up. "I'm fine," they mumbled, but hey had to fight to keep the words from coming out as a shout. Why were they suddenly losing control? It was like the wall they kept their feelings behind suddenly had a hole in it. This was bad. Time alone was what they needed; a few minutes to calm down, to get their shit in order. ...But where were they even going to get that chance? They just kept hopping from disaster to disaster with no chance to be alone. "Hey, Joe," Trisana called out. They snapped their head around, breathing fast. "What," they hissed to themselves, "what do you want, what do you f*cking want me to fix now?" "Could you assist me, pretty please with a cherry on top? I think one or two of my ribs are broken, and my leg hurts like hell, too." The heat in Joe's veins suddenly turned cold. Oh god, she was hurt bad. And in their hissy fit, they hadn't noticed. With enormous effort they bundled all the meaningless anger swirling inside them and, once again, buried it. "...Right. Sure." They crouched by her. Had she heard their shitty sniping? It...didn't seem like it, at least. Focus, asshole. They started at her abdomen. Not good, but could be worse. A lot of cracks and near-breaks. This was going to take a while. After a quick pass to start things off, they checked on her leg. This was...worse. A big crack in one bone and a smaller one in the...the tibia? Damn it, why hadn't they paid more attention in bio? Whatever. This was going to take a long goddamn time to get through. And they were so f*cking tired. Even their magic felt dry and stretched after so much healing in a short time. After a quick check to make sure they hadn't missed anything serious, Joe came out of their healing trance to address the others. "Tris, uh, I don't think you should walk. Or...move much. Until I'm done. I...I guess I can try to heal while we carry you, or something, but I don't think it'd be very safe. But, um, this is going to take me...a while..." With that inspiring finish, they ducked their head and got back to work.
"Let me see what I can do," Robin twittered. He skipped over to Joe and placed his hands on their shoulders. Immediately, Joe felt a surge of power that filled them with happiness and sunshine, temporarily lessening his dark inner feelings. The power flowed through him into Trisana and she was healed completely in moments. "There!" Robin chirped, smiling. "I could also turn you into a bird, if you'd like. I turned a farmer into a goose a couple years ago and you should've seen how happy he was. He kept trying to kiss me, but he must not have been used to his beak yet because it really hurt..." "No thank you, Mr Goodfellow," Nora interrupted. "Trisana doesn't want to be a bird." "Are you sure?" Robin asked skeptically. "Positive," Nora answered. "Ah well, if you say so. Well, I guess I should take all of you to the Seelie Court now." Robin started doing stretches like he was about to exercise. "I haven't done a mass teleportation spell in quite a while. Actually, I haven't ever done one. This should be fun!" Nora started to stop him, but Robin was faster: he clapped his hands over his head and yelled, in his squeaky little voice, "Telly-port!" There was a sound like a thunderclap and they were surrounded by thick red smoke. When it cleared, they were all standing in the middle of a raging party. Fairies of all shapes and sizes were dancing around them in extravagant outfits, lit by torches and the rising yellow sun. An incredibly tall woman wearing a cloak of oak leaves was swaying in the middle of the clearing, her enormous hazel eyes staring up at the sky. A man wearing a dark grey robe (that seemed to be made of smoke) was levitating off the ground and spinning in circles. A girl with bark-skin and leafy hair yelled for him to "Do the thing!" and he made heavy rain fall from his cloud-robe on her. She laughed as green twigs sprouted from her neck, shoulders, arms and torso. A bendy pink girl was contorting her body into impossible shapes on top of a boulder. When she nodded to a huge man with rocky skin, he placed another boulder on top of her. She squished flat like a ball of gum, and when he lifted it again, she fleshed out and sprang to her feet. Several fairies clapped and cheered. All the while, beautiful men and women with large white wings floated above, playing golden instruments that made the most enchanting music they had ever heard. "Drinks?" Robin asked them. He waved to what looked like a walking bush, but when it got closer they could see that it had a huge pair of eyes and little hands and feet too. It was carrying a silver tray of goblets that held glowing gold liquid. "Sunshine wine," Robin told them as he picked up a goblet and gulped it down. "I've heard of that stuff," Alex said. "It reminds you of your happiest moments and makes you feel like a carefree kid again. Is it safe for human consumption?" "I dunno," Robin said with a shrug. Then he danced away without saying goodbye, joining the frolicking crowd. Nora had already picked up a goblet and taken a sip. "Mmm," she said, then she downed the rest. "That's amazing. The best wine I've ever tasted." A giant smile split her face and her eyes sparkled. "I feel like dancing!" With that, Nora picked up the hem of her gown and joined the partying fairies. "What about finding Fenn?!" Alex called after her. "We can still find him and have some fun at the same time!" Nora called back. The cloud fairy floated down to her and offered his hand with a handsome smile. She accepted and he lifted her into the air. They floated above the dancers, spinning and laughing with abandon. "That wine must be really good," Alex commented.
Andreas Samara had flipped out some more and Joe was patching everyone up. That usually meant they were finished and ready to move on. Only this time, the destination was good. Even better than underage drinking in a country pub - it was a friggin' fairy rave-up! Heck - he could even get laid. Uhh! Maybe not. Who knows what might crawl out of those oak leaves. Nora gulped down her wine and started going ape. She'd fought the good fight, but it was high time she gave up and just got drunk. Shame there wasn't any scotch. Then he could drink himself into a puddle and break free of his emotional iron maiden. Say things to Nyx. Apologise to Tris. Maybe even give Samara a hug (he became aware of his teeth). And then fail the quest because he didn't have any discipline. Hold on. What had Nora been rambling on about? "No!" he yelled. "We've got to get her down. Everyone stop! See that funny little Robin man dancing away? He's a sprite, right?" He paused to consider his rhyme. "Remember what Nora said? Don't dance with the sprites? Don't look the somethings in the eye or you'll turn into a tree? I bet that tree girl is a something. And don't let the fairies lead you away. What's Nora just let happen to her? And don't eat the food. Let's hope drink doesn't count."
