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coolcattime · 3 months

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An Outro to Mistwalker College [An OC Story]

Hi hi hi!

Welcome to the what is hopefully the first of a few different OC pieces I want to write in the world of Libris! This piece is co-authored by my friend @theiratlas, featuring our OCs, in our OC-verse world of Libris! Our OC-verse is D&D inspired, but doesn't follow official D&D lore (or really the rules), but most of our OCs are originally TTRPG characters of some sort!

I really hope you enjoy reading this piece, and if you have any questions, I'd love to answer them as I love to info dump about mine and Atlas' OCs (and they do too!) and would love to share more about Libris as well!

Characters: Medli Mistwalker (water genasi whispers bard), Idric Ba'lor (tiefling glamor bard), Anastasia Gulp (merfolk light cleric)

Addition Tags/Warnings: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Knife Wound, Blood and Injury, Descriptions of Violence, Drowning, Being Chased/Hunted, Impaired Mental State Due to Injury, Unconsciousness, Near Death, Alcohol, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Found Family, Running Away

Description: In the dark and fog, a bloody and battered student runs through the night, hoping to get off the island she'd known as home for her whole life before she ends up dead.

AO3 Link

Medli ran. Stumbling towards the docks, she clung to what little belongings she had managed to grab in her loop back to the dorms. The school’s fog and darkness made her all the more paranoid of where he could be now. Her mind leap to the pool, at least that's where she last knew where he was but, he could be anywhere by now. She was so sure he was still following her, that he wasn't going to stop following her unless she could find a way off the island.

Somehow escaping was the only thing her mind could grab but was that even possible? While Medli might be a strong enough swimmer, she couldn't exactly swim to the mainland, even if she wasn’t currently bleeding through her shirt. That left one plan, pray to see a ship, preferably one that didn’t belong to the college, and then stowaway, stay hidden long enough that it'll be more trouble to turn back. It was barely enough to be called a plan, more a desperate shaking hope in the mind of one currently terrified for their life.

So, she continued fleeing, with more panic than reason in her mind. She didn't want to die and that meant she had to keep running. It had been made very clear that only one of them was going to be alive by the end of the night, so, if she wasn't going to kill anyone and she didn’t want to die then she needed to get off Mistwalker and she’d need to do it quickly.

Sprinting between buildings she knew would make it a straight shot, catching little landmarks on the edge of the fog, she was, for once, thankful for having grown up here. Of course, she still worried that she was headed the wrong way, it wasn’t really possible to tell until she ran into something, doubt like that however couldn't take up space, not when so much of her was already cracking. Her head might be as foggy as her surroundings, but that fog was almost entirely fear, but that fear was pretty much the only thing keeping her moving, so she made peace with it.

Somewhere in the fog, he had to be hunting her. And she had no idea how well he could navigate the fog. Maybe not as well as her, she’d lost him in the fog before, but can't be sure she can do that again, not in this state. She had to just hope he was somewhere far away and would stay that way until she was gone, long gone. That kind of hope struggled against the weight of a terrified fear though. Afterall he was just as likely to be a few steps behind her as he was to be back at the college.

The sound of cobblestones turning to wood underneath her sandals was at least at little reassuring. However, her already shaky movements felt completely unstable on a damp surface. She had always been clumsy, and her current state wasn’t doing wonders keeping her upright. She wasn’t sure exactly how injured she was, but her whole body felt like it was shutting down. She could feel blood flow slowing but she wasn't sure if that’s actually a good sign or not. It did, at least, make breathing out of her torn gills a little easier though no less unpleasant. The right side of her back, however, was only aching more and more as she kept going, courtesy of the stab wound she was quickly realising must’ve been a lot deeper than it seemed.

The other injuries started to blend together, but there was no doubt they were slowing her down.

She was gonna last until she was off the island, wasn’t she? She felt doubt flooding into her cuts as she stumbled over her own feet once more, this time barely managing to push herself back up and grab what she’d dropped.

She did her best to push all the thoughts to the back of her mind, if only so she could instead focus on seeing what's in front of her. She was already on the docks, there was no point thinking anything at all when she could be so close to safety.

She looked desperately around for a ship, anything with easy access. There were always at least a few ships scattered on the dock, but usually those were just the ones owned by the college and she absolutely could not risk getting on one of those. Now she thought of it, it began to be hard to tell if she was even really seeing ships or just making things out of blurry shapes in the dark. Could this be as far as she goes?

No, there had to be at least one real ship, something she could sneak on board, something to give her the start she needed. So, Medli began to run once more, her heart pounding with every passing moment as she could've sworn the footsteps echoing weren't just hers, that his yells would be close behind.

She couldn't keep doing this, she had to check to see if her fate was truly sealed. She scoured her extremely limited view for any signs at all, of anything.

Then, she tripped.

In a moment of flailing panic, she assumed that was the end of the docks and she was about to take a fall into the ocean and lose what little bearings she had. But instead, her nose met with the hard wooden surface of the docks. Before a sob could even escape her quaking frame, she looked back, she realised what she had tripped over and began howling with laughter. Terrified, anxious laughter, but laughter all the same. She’d tripped over a gangplank.

She scrambled up it, half-crawling for the first few seconds, she didn’t care about getting to her feet nearly as much as getting on board the ship. Maybe staying low was for the best anyway as, when she got on deck, a lamp was lit. Someone was still on board, obviously someone was still on board why else would a gangplank still be out?

The idea of being caught by people actually on the ship was not quite scary enough to actually have an effect on her decision making at this point. If she was caught, she'd just have to talk her way out of it, whoever found her couldn't possibly have more worse intentions than where she came from. Though she did still instinctively slow her movements as she approached a door, it was definitely still better to hide without being caught. If they were already at sea by the time they caught her, then she might actually be safe.

She didn't know the exact layout of the ship, but descending stairs quickly led her to what in the darkness her eyes could just barely process as the hold.

Huh, that was odd. Normally she could see in the dark, but right now everything felt dark and blurry. She… she was probably just tired from running. That was the best self-soothing she could manage. She still needed a place to hide. There were barrels, that's where people normally hide themselves away on ships, right? That thought made as much sense as anything else right now. Honestly, now she had stopped running her head felt a little too heavy for thinking things through. Hiding in a barrel had to be enough. She just needed to find a mostly empty one.

Medli would explore the hold, eventually finding one empty enough for her to climb inside, her hastily packed bag pushing down on her chest and legs. She didn't remember it being so heavy.

Then, she blacked out.

If she hadn't, Medli may have realised she was not well hidden, more than a few of her belongings had spilt out across the docks when she fell and the lid of the barrel that she was holed up in didn’t rest anywhere near how it should.

All of that would prove to be far more of a blessing than a curse as Medli slipped into a state where, without help, she would slip away before she woke.

Up on deck, a crew member walked across the well-kept wood. The merfolk kept her way lit by an esca hanging down from the front of her head. The matching sharp teeth and slightly overlarge mouth of an angler fish on a humanoid face made her a striking sight especially in the dark.

She looked down, panning her eyes across the dock that they had currently anchored at, attempting to figure out what the commotion even could have been. She didn't see anything but as she looked over, she saw the door below deck ajar and groaned louder than even she thought possible.

The damn kids of this academy. Well, at least this time she won't be dealing with them alone. So, with another frustrated sigh, she headed out. Gunning towards the hole-in-the-wall tavern the rest of the crew had disappeared to, hoping to grab whichever was the least drunk to help her throw out whichever idiot students had decided to mess around on the ship.

* * *

Idric Ba'lor looked almost amused as he picked up a violin’s bow, seemingly dropped and abandoned by the side of his ship. It was at least the sixth completely random item he had come across in the walk across the dock, though a bow without an instrument was by far the dumbest. He reached down, keeping one arm steady and elevated, for it held the tiefling’s prize possession, a wine glass that would somehow remain full no matter how many slips he took from it.

Eyeing the bow once more, he twirled it in between his fingers for a second more, before turning sharply to face his merfolk compatriot.

“You’re definitely right, it’s got to be one of the students,” He remarked, trying to not sound as thoroughly annoyed as he was by that statement. The students of Mistwalker College were, to put it lightly and precisely, a bunch of utter pricks. Some of them were fine, obviously, but working a market stall for them was hellish and this wouldn’t be the first time some of them had boarded the ship to make nuisances of themselves. At the very least they should be easy to scare off and now he gets a spare violin bow out of it.

He shoved the bow into one of his pockets as he spun up back to his full height, wine sploshing wildly but never spilling as he did.

He cocked his head toward his newest crew member with the same cocky smile that became typical in moments of confusion such as these.

“You didn’t see how many got on, did you Anastasia?”

“No, just heard some crash and then saw the way below deck open,” She replied with a shrug. She doubted it could be more than one or two, she hadn’t heard talking or anything like that, but she couldn't be too certain. Idric took her words as good enough, hiding a grimace at the thought of having to deal with more than a handful of these bastards. He wondered if they were planning to try and steal anything but shook it off with a long swig of his wine. When he finished, he rolled his shoulders and took a confident step onto the gangplank.

“Well, no time like the present,” He said as if he was actually looking forward to this. He strode up to the deck, briefly checking behind him to make sure that Anastasia was following him and then paused at the top, leaning back on a railing until she was once again next to him. Then, he finally, subtly spat out a thought he'd been chewing on, “I thought you were heading to bed, you know, since you didn't come to the bar with us.”

“Oh, I was invited to that?” She mumbled out genuinely, stopping her movement all at once. Idric’s face lit up at her utter bewilderment.

“Of course you were invited, you're a part of the crew now Gulp,” He said gesticulating wildly. Anastasia blinked twice, almost totally lost in Idric's puzzled expression, but she filed that knowledge away for future use regardless and started moving once more. Idric, however, still found himself more than a little concerned, this was his ship after all, and she was the newest member of the crew. Despite the fact she’d never left an invite unattended, without one she'd ignore it with a genuine disbelief that she was invited. Or worse still, Anastasia had the frustrating habit of playing the role of an outsider any chance she got.

All of this was starting to get at The Balor’s captain. Was she not comfortable with the group? Did she not want to be a part of all this after all? She seemed totally at home reading the waves, at the navigator’s desk, or even just diving off the side of the ship to collect whatever random thing Kildrax dropped this time, but there had to be something or at least, the wine thought so. After a slightly too long gap, Idric continued. “And if you are ever confused about that kind of thing then you can just ask.”

“Ah, okay. Why did we come to this shithole?” Anastasia asked without missing a beat. Idric laughed sharply. He was used to asking himself that kind of question every time they had to sail the ship through that same bitter fog every time they came here, it only made things worse whenever in storms like these.

Of course, there was an answer, though given that this was Anastasia's first trip to Mistwalker she couldn't be expected to know it yet. As far as she was concerned, they'd come to an island full of annoying, full of themselves students in terrible weather, an island that not a single member of the crew could mention without grimacing.

“I have a friend here, actually! A couple years younger than us. Unfortunately, she lives here. Well until she can be persuaded to move literally anywhere else, I come here to visit her,” He said, half joking though he did sincerely wish that he didn't need to keep coming to this island. A wish that burned even clearer in his mind as the two descended below deck and the only thing out of place was a knocked over lantern by the stairs.

Really? Was it not good enough for the students to unsuccessfully try to steal from him during the day? Well, at least this whole ordeal wasn't as much effort on his part. He loudly drew his flail, dangling it in his free hand, carefully stomping his way down the stairs. Under the sound of his jackboot against the stairs, he quickly looked back at Anastasia, whispering. “I'm only planning to scare them, using a weapon against the kids isn't a great look after all. But if you could stand by the stairs and grab any that try to run off with stock that'd be wonderful.”

Anastasia nodded, mocking out a rugby guard.

Idric descended down into the darkened hold. The room seemed devoid of people, there was no obvious noise or signs of movement. Maybe they'd left when Anastasia had come to retrieve him, but if that was the case, they surely should have passed each other on the way back. Even if there was no one, it was still a good idea to give the place a once over, just to be sure. He walked around the crates and barrels, wine glass held tighter than his weapon, looking between gaps and listening out for any movement beyond his own.

Then, when he finally spotted it, he merely sighed.

“I'll give you five seconds to climb out of there on your own,” He barked, piercing through the silence with audible disappointment. There was absolutely no response, no talking back or even shuffling against wood.

Apparently, they wanted to do this the hard way. Annoying, but certainly within their rights. Well, if they weren't going to get themselves out of the situation, someone still had to. “Fine, since you'd prefer the kicking and screaming method.”

He strode forwards, barely taking five seconds to reach the barrel. Even without taking the lid fully off, he could see the shape of a person though no actual clear details. Whoever it was, they had guts, even with him looming over them, they managed to remain completely still. Actually, given Anastasia's hypothesis, perhaps they had passed out from whatever cheap booze they found a way of getting hold of. Not that it mattered, either way he needed them out. He slid the lid off with tail, beginning to talk before it clattered to the ground.

“I'm sure this has been very fun for you, but this isn't somewhere you can just-- Medli?!” He caught himself halfway through, a lump in his throat the size of the lid he just tossed. Inside the barrel was the unmistakable form of Medli Mistwalker. Of all the people he expected to find, she was perhaps below even the very bottom of the list. Yet there she was, head resting awkwardly on a backpack, apparently still asleep.

Of course, he wondered why exactly she was stuffed into a barrel, if she'd asked to leave, she would’ve been in a bed by now and they’d be halfway to the next port. She did occasionally have a strange way of thinking and an odd sense of humour - maybe she just fancied being a stowaway. He ruffled her hair. “Rise and shine kid, we'll get you a proper room, shall we?”

Medli did not even stir, a fact that at first was just odd. But then, as he lifted out the backpack, became so much more.

Idric's wine glass hit the floor loudly, with the wine staining through the wood immediately. Every thought he could try and manage left him instead with a white-hot static.

“Anastasia! Get over here now!” His throat immediately went hoarse. “We need help!”

The sound of running and several orbs of light filled the room as Idric scooped Medli's body out the barrel. Blood had totally soaked through her clothes, worse it was cold and dry, an incredibly bad sign. He fumbled to check her pulse, his own thudding in his ears making the task far harder than it should be. He'd barely managed to find it, to actually confirm his friend was still alive before Anastasia was kneeling next to him, muttering words and pressing a hand to Medli's arm as light flowed down from her lantern into the wounds. The bleeding stopped. Her breathing slowly began to clear. She didn't wake up, but she was going to live and that much allowed Idric's blind panic to shift into a far more coherent anger.

It was not an obvious anger, but it was there, just festering under the surface as he held Medli, a small teenager, battered and bruised in his arms.

Someone had tried to kill his friend.

That much was plainly obvious, she didn't get a stab wound from tripping over. It did, however, leave the question of why she had ended up in a barrel in the hold of his ship. Had it just been a coincidence? Someone dumping the evidence of a crime in a ship that would leave the island sooner rather than later. Or has someone intentionally tried to frame him by hiding his dying friend somewhere she might not be found until it was too late. He had no idea which was closer to the truth, only a certainty that someone had done this on purpose in the first place and that was more than enough to leave a familiar cold anger burning inside him.

Anastasia was still looking over the two with concern. For Medli, the reason for concern was obvious. Her magic was still new and something she had no idea the origin of. Though it had clearly helped, she thought it best to check her work. She didn't exactly trust it all just yet. Idric however, well, perhaps she didn't need to be worried about him, but seeing him with emotions like that, threatening to swallow him whole, she couldn't help herself from it.

Idric was a charming young man. He was a merchant and a bard after all, being charming was pretty much a requirement. However, he was also fully capable, and often willing, of being completely terrible. Now, to be very clear, Anastasia had never seen his anger taken out on someone who didn't deserve it, but that didn't mean it couldn’t happen. He may have said earlier that using a weapon against a kid wasn't a good look, but with the way his hand seemed to be resting on that flail handle, she questioned if that would be in his head if another student had done this.

And Idric thought about it, thought about storming into the college and just hurting people until he found the culprit. And it would feel good, and it would feel right at the current moment. It wasn't as if that harpy queen in charge wouldn't gladly break every bone in his body given the shot. It would mean leaving Medli though, and that was the last thing he felt like doing right now. Though the desperate need to hit something wasn't going away, he wasn't going to leave her alone until he knew she was alright. He picked up his wineglass once more and began twirling it in his fingers. He wished it was still full, but the movement helped to quell his want to hurt someone.

“Okay… okay!” He turned the stem quickly between his fingers, almost throwing it before thinking better of the idea. He needed to have a coherent thought, to actually think of what to do, but all he could think was that Medli had nearly died. He wasn't going to calm down, he knew he wasn't. He looked at Anastasia. “Go get the others, will you? I'm gonna take her to my room, but I need a minute.”

“Oh! Of course,” She stood up, beginning to walk towards the stairs, but pausing. She didn't quite know what exactly she should say, but that didn't stop her from trying. “And she'll be alright. I mean, she's clearly a fucking fighter, so she'll wake up in no time.”

Idric just nodded, not confident enough to verbally reply. And Anastasia left. He remained on the floor clutching Medli scared that if he let go of her; she'd just stop. He remained for a minute, until he was actually convinced that she wasn't going to suddenly drop dead. He stood, properly scooping Medli up to carry her to his room. He scooped her backpack onto his shoulder and picked out her violin from the barrel. He'd give her a room later, assuming she stayed, which he really hoped she did, but for now his room was fine. She just needed somewhere safe to sleep.

* * *

Medli’s body hurt. That was her first thought as she woke up, which wasn’t exactly a weird situation for her to wake up in by this point. Enough so that she didn’t actually move for a couple of minutes, happy and warm in bed having not had a nightmare for once. Then the sharp memories of what she was doing before falling asleep, or more accurately blacking on, came to mind, and she shot up. A sharp pain shot through her back, a small squeak escaping her mouth as she tried to cover her own exclamation of pain. She panicked, wondering how she’d been found and taken back to her own bed, what that would even mean for sure.

Then she realised where she actually was.

Or rather she realised where she wasn’t. She wasn’t somehow back in her room in the dorms of Mistwalker College, nor was she in the barrel she had climbed into. She was in a room that felt vaguely familiar, though she was sure in her fuzzy thoughts that it was somewhere safe. A bedroom lit by a flickering lantern on a bedside table next to her, one that she was completely sure was not a room in the college. The only places she would have woken up in the college are her own room or the sick room. So, was she still on the ship? She wasn’t sure if that made sense or not.

She forced herself to her feet, feeling wobbly but probably fine to at least check outside the door. Her body ached as she moved, though not as much as she thought it would have, now her back felt more like it was hit with a baseball bat as opposed to having been stabbed through. That felt like an improvement, even if she couldn't explain it.

As she approached the door, she could hear conversation on the other side. She tried to pick out any specifics, but the wooden walls muffled the words out into static. She took a breath. They were almost definitely talking about her, but that wasn't going to change, and just because they were talking about her, didn't mean that they were discussing something like throwing her overboard or returning her back. She'd just worry herself by thinking that way.

She cracked the door open, more than she needed to look through, but not enough to step through. The conversation was now properly audible to her, but she suddenly couldn’t pay much attention to it, instead the people she saw instead soaked into her mind.

Of the four, there was only one that she had absolutely no recognition of - a woman that Medli snap-decided looked as cool as she did mildly horrifying. She was blue and certain parts of her glowed in the dim light, most notably an angler fish's lantern hung down from the very top of her forehead. She had a long, thick tail that remained Medli of the kind a shark would have, but she also has legs, though they also reminded Medli of the type of legs a shark might have if made humanoid -- not that that really made any sense.

Two she recognised vaguely, a dwarf and water genasi man who she had seen around the docks before. Not often, they definitely didn't work on Mistwalker, but just whenever the markets happened to be in town. To be fair, she didn't go to the docks very often besides that, but it wasn't until now that she actually realised why that fact was true as, though his back was turned to her, she instantly recognised the last person in the group.

“Idric?” She asked, opening the door a little more and taking a hesitant step out onto what she now realised was the deck of The Balor. Idric turned on his heel to look at her, oversized coat spinning out in the same way a dancer's skirt would. And there he was, her best friend, the anger and worry he felt concealed behind as gentle a smile as he could muster. Medli felt all the relief in the world flood through her.

“Is this why you called us all here? You got a new girl?”

“She's seventeen,” Idric quickly cut across the dwarf's question with a sharpness both in his tone and the snap of his head in that direction. The quickness of this shift was matched by the quickness of the horror where there had previously been humour in the dwarf's eyes upon hearing the words. Medli felt a little unsure if she should do or say anything, shifting her weight between her feet as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt, acutely aware that she looked a mess. Everyone was staring at her. She couldn't tell if that was good or bad. She tried to focus on Idric, who was over again looking at her. “You should really rest, kid, you've had a rough night. I'll be through in a minute.”

Medli for a moment hesitated to move, worried about what was being said, but she trusted Idric. He wasn't gonna suggest throwing her into the ocean or taking her back to the college. So, with a tiny little nod of her head, she shuffled back into the room. She realised, with a little embarrassment, that this was Idric's room. To be fair, she had only been in it briefly, but she still felt a little silly for not realising straight away. Well, at least she could feel safe in it now.

The last unmuffled thing she heard before she properly shut the door was a very hurried apology, which she wasn't really listening to. She had much more serious things to think about, but worrying about too much of it was going to make her head hurt. So, she tried to only think of one problem at a time, all-while continuing to listen to the muffled noise outside the room as some kind of grounding method. First thing: her clothes were covered in blood. Looking around, her backpack was sitting on a desk alongside her violin and bow. Did she pack an actual outfit? It had been such a rush that it kind of blurred together and she really couldn't remember. She knew most of the contents of her bag were clothes, but she might've been panicked enough that she'd only grabbed skirts or something. Hopefully she had packed at least one shirt though, else she was stuck with bloodstains.

She opened her backpack, and she began to dig through. Clothes weren't the first thing she pulled out, but rather a thin blanket that she immediately clutched to her chest as she realised how lucky it was that she hadn't been wearing it, that it hadn't been bloodstained or damaged. She bunched it between her fingers, trying to remind herself that she didn't need to be scared anymore. No one was going to get her here. She tried to reassure herself like that, clutching her blanket close to her chest as a safety beacon, but it was hard. She needed to get off the island, then she'd be safe.

“Hey,” Idric said as he entered the room to find her standing rigid. He moved closer to her carefully, knowing how overwhelming the situation must already be. Medli tried to find the words to explain what she felt because she didn't have any. Everything was wrong. She couldn't cry. She couldn't do anything but stand scrunching her blanket trying to calm down. Her chest hurt. She wanted to cry. Idric stood in front of her. Was he going to yell at her? Was she a bad person for thinking her friend would yell at her? Her throat felt tight. Tears were stinging at the corners of her eyes. Idric hugged her. Medli began to cry. “It's okay. It's okay.”

It wasn't okay. Someone had tried to kill her. He couldn't even hug her as tightly as he wanted because of all the injuries. What else was there to say though? It somehow being okay now was the only comfort that really could be given. Medli sobbed. She felt safer in this moment than she had at most points in her life. Eventually Medli ended up sitting on the bed and Idric dragged over the desk chair to sit across from her.

Bruises had started to form on Medli's blue skin. While all her cuts and the more major stab wounds had been closed, dried blood still clung to her skin, some even matted in her blue hair. She felt gross. She looked a mess. Looking at Idric felt like a lifeline into normality. Same white messy hair, same twirling pretty horns in sea-shell-white, with one broken off and dangling around his neck on a cord. His eyes were probably the same too, but she was desperately avoiding looking at them.

“What happened, Meds?” Idric broke the silence softly as he was able. He felt that he already knew the answer to his question, enough of the answer was plainly obvious, but he needed to know what she felt comfortable sharing, if anything. Medli looked down at her knees, still bunching and lacing her blanket between her fingers. Her throat felt too tight to say words, but she did want to tell Idric. How was she even meant to start though?

“I… Clarissa. She said I had to do a test,” Medli started, her voice wavering as anxiety and a want to break down laced into her tone. Idric tensed almost immediately at even her name, though forced himself to remain quiet. She didn't need a rant about the absolute horror-story that ran the school, not right now. Medli didn't want to talk about the ‘test’ she really didn't, but at the same time she needed to. Nothing made sense if she didn't talk about it. “At sunset, she brought me to this room. Inside was Heather tied to a chair and she… she said I had to kill him.”

Medli's voice lost strength in the last words. The whole thing felt horrible. To be very clear, she did not like Heather. He was a bully, he called her names, destroyed her things, would hurt her if ever given the opportunity, hells he had killed at least one of her goldfish. But Medli didn't want to kill him. Medli didn't want to kill anybody, but Clarissa had handed her a rapier and called the task ‘easy’.

“I said that I wasn't going to, that I don't want to hurt people. And Clarissa got so angry, and started cutting Heather loose, said that there can only be one of us alive on the island by morning. So I just started running. Heather ended up catching up, and, and, and I guess he did want to kill me. I thought if I could get to the pool, it’ll be okay cause he can’t swim, but he caught up by the time I got there. I know he stabbed me and tried to block all my gills and hold me under so I'd drown. I think I ended up hitting him with a bit of tile, I don't really remember. I just don't want to die. So I thought if I hid on a ship that would be leaving the island then everything would be okay and that ended up being your ship and… that's it.”

Medli fell into silence. She was still scared. She was still on the island. And what if that meant she'd just die in the morning? Even in her panicked state, that felt almost silly, but it also didn't. It felt as silly as it felt possible. With her falling quiet, Idric found himself trying to articulate a reaction. He was seething, he had never wanted to kill Clarissa Mistbreaker more than in this moment. And had Medli not been right there sitting across from him, he might've done it, but she had fought hard that night for there not to be a murder. So, as much as he truly believed that the world would be better without that harpy queen headmistress, he wouldn't go and redecorate the halls with her own blood and gore. So instead, he focused on the much more important issue of making sure Medli was out of her reach.

“Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna send some of my crew to collect your stuff. And as soon as they get back with it, we're gonna leave. Away from Mistwalker, away from the harpy queen. Wherever you wanna go, and we're never coming back to this island,” He said with a gentle confidence. Medli felt a sense of relief rush in fast enough that she started crying again, though this time accompanied by her chest lightening. She was leaving and leaving with her friend. Something in retrospect she wishes she had done a long time ago, but she was finally leaving. The whole world of Libris, she had never seen any of it beyond the island she was now leaving. She was excited as she was terrified. But most importantly, Idric was there with her, which meant no matter how scared she might be, everything would work out. Idric hugged her again. Wherever they went, it would be away from Clarissa. This would be the last night she would ever hurt Medli. He'd make sure of it.

#cat's oc #cat's writing #original writing #dungeons and dragons character #medli mistwalker #idric ba'lor #anastasia gulp #the libris collection

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coolcattime · 1 month

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So, I think quite a lot about a Mianite crossover with my and my friends OCverse of Libris, which obviously an AU just for me but I keep thinking about it and want to ramble about it for a bit so see under the read more for just my most self indulgent au ever.

Also like feel free to ask me anything about this au (as with any of my aus) cause I like rambling ^-^

So post timeline Mianite, the group is attempting to create a stable magic source for the world, and are doing this through attempting to temporarily borrow magic from another world then figure out a more permanent solution. They know in theory that they can do this, since Sonja has been using the notes Mot used for the portal to Ruxomar, alongside her Thaumcraft knowledge to have temporarily created a rift, she just needs help keeping it open for long enough to get something magical out. Given that most of the group is interested in having magic of some kind she's gathered enough people that she believes in theory she should be able to keep the portal stable. With Martha, Wag, and Mot helping, she begins to set up the ritual. Tom and Capsize are watching off at the side since neither are particularly knowledgeable on magic, but wanted to be there regardless.

Everything seems to be going fine, if a bit slow since Sonja notes that the rift appeared faster before. However, they all know that magic is more than a little unstable in this world so they assume that the difference is just down to that. Until Tom calls for help and the four look over to see a magical glow forming around Capsize. Realising that the rift is forming on Capsize, the group panics, with Sonja, Wag, and Mot trying to stop the ritual and Martha rushing over to the two hoping that whatever domain she had over magic will be able to shift the rift off Capsize and to somewhere safe. Unfortunately neither group succeeded, the glow consuming Capsize as well as Tom and Martha, intensifying before it suddenly collapses in on itself and when it does the three have disappeared and instead there are three strangers unconscious in the dirt. Panic pretty quickly sets in, Sonja calling the others over, as they examine a stranger. A purple skinned man with horns wearing an oversized sailor's coat, a kid with messy hair, and a woman in a fancy yellow dress that looks like Capsize in the same way that most of the alts look like each other. They clearly aren't the same person, especially as she lacks any of the drowned features Capsize has since her revival, but similar enough. With no clue of where the others are gone other than the three new people, they're left hoping they wake up soon to find out where they came from.

Please skip to the end for OC descriptions - I was going to put them here but they became very long info dumps so I thought putting them after everything else would let things flow better

At the same time as these events, on Libris, a small group of adventurers catching up with each other are interrupted by their employer, Atlanta, deciding to show them all why they've been summoned to what seems like a pretty normal hill. The three groups made up off Idric Ba'lor, Medli, and Altair Delphine; Katherine Delaney and Leontine O'Dora; and Orla Waspchild have all previously met, but don't travel together and are all as confused as each other when they're shown the valley below and its covered in an odd purple ooze. Atlanta explains that the stuff appeared in a small patch a few weeks ago, and since has spread to cover what it currently does though they are now using their powers to contain it at the current level. They have no idea what kind of ooze it is, but that it appears to have some sort of hive mind aspect. Either way, they want the group to figure out what the stuff is and hopefully a way to get rid of it - or at the very least a permanent containment method.

Going to the edge for a closer look, so of them confirm that none of them have seen or heard of any slime or ooze that works like this. Leontine notes that it works like a couple of dungeon molds but that none of them would be able to grow on the surface to this extent. She also notes that the mushrooms don't like the ooze, which everyone takes as a bad sign.

Medli presents the idea that the ooze might have come out of a crossing point, from one of the other planes of Libris. So possibly if they can figure out which plane, they'll be able to figure out weaknesses. This is seen as the best idea any of them have, but the difficulty would come that to confirm they'd need to get to the centre of the ooze to the original patch which would almost certainly be incredibly dangerous. During the discussion of if exploring in the ooze is necessary right now, Orla runs ahead with a call that she'll come back if she dies.

Everyone gives chase, ending up having to fight their way through as monsters appear seemingly summoned by the ooze. While they aren't too hard to fight back, they quickly have to rely on Altair's divination to track Orla as she ends up teleporting rapidly ahead when one of the creatures tries to hit her. During the chase, Katherine begins glowing, a fact that none of them think anything of as it seems like a pretty harmless surge effect. That is until they finally catch up to Orla. Idric grabs hold of her and makes a couple of jokes while telling her not to run off again. Then the glow begins to intensify and Katherine panicked calls for the others as it feels like she's being pulled by something.

The group jumps into action. Altair and Medli attempt to counter whatever spell is latching onto Katherine with no success. Orla, Idric, and Leontine rush over to try and help her - Orla and Idric reaching her as the glow appears to almost consume her. Leontine is only a step away when she's knocked back as the glow rapidly shrinks in on itself, their friends nowhere to be seen, seemingly replaced with three unconscious strangers. A zombie in a suit, a human woman with lilac hair, and a woman they assume is half sea elf and looks enough like Katherine that Altair wonders out loud if they're related. Medli and Leontine both panic in different ways. Medli quickly mutters under her breath all the reasons that her friends are actually fine, while Leontine freezes in place, the mushrooms spreading around her both through the ground and as spores.

Altair, realising that they need to regroup, grabs one of the unconscious people and manages to snap Medli out of her panicking to grab the other two. Medli is extremely hesitant to leave Leontine, but can't get through the mushrooms to try and calm her down, calling for her doesn't seem to be working. She reluctantly grabs the other two unconscious people, and joins Altair to be teleported back to Atlanta, having that whoever they are, they’ll know what just happened to their friends and that Leontine will be okay in the meantime.

(OC descriptions;

Atlanta - An androgynous individual that runs a secretive organisation that could, if one was looking for something to call it, be called a magic guild. Their powers primarily focus on the manipulation of space.

They are thin, have a buzz cut, and have the tendency to float everywhere due to the fact that they are missing both their legs (though they do have a wheelchair for when they're fatigued). Notable clothing is a light coat with a structured petticoat bottom

Idric Ba'lor - A young tiefling man that is a merchant and ship captain by trade but is also an experienced adventurer. A violinist bard, his powers are focused around the manipulation of music to create magic, with his “college” (less literal than some bards as he's self taught) focuses on literally enthralling performances that can charm people to his will. Despite his young age could very well be regarded as one of the most talented bards on Libris.

A tall purple skinned tiefling with one of his two horns, a broken stump. He has messy white hair and a tail he will use to gesture with and hold things. Notable clothing include an oversized blue sailor's coat embroidered with constellations and his own missing horn, bejewelled and turned into a necklace with cord.

Medli - A teenage water genasi who is Idric's best friend who has been travelling as a member of his crew since running away from her college/home when her situation there turned from terrible to life currently in danger. Another bard and violinist, she similarly creates magic through music, though her college on manipulation through fear. She was less than keen on these ideas and now that she's left has been studying magic on her own terms to the point of having expertise in arcane theory. A pacifist, Medli tends to use learned spells to heal or otherwise support her companions during combat and when left to her own devices will try to figure out non violent ways to solve encounters.

A blue skinned water genasi with patches of scales around her skin and long blue hair. She’s only just shorter than average height, but all her friends are so much taller than her so she looks extremely short in comparison. Notable clothing is a green blanket typically tied around her waist, featuring a sun on one side and a moon on the other, it’s embroidered with the same style as constellations as Idric’s coat.

Altair Delphine - A teenage aasimar divination wizard who is generally incredibly stressed. They met Medli during a time where they briefly transferred to her school, and met again after she had joined Idric’s crew. Altair has also joined Idric’s crew, though is also employed by Atlanta as an apprentice, a role Altair did not ask for but admittedly Atlanta expects very little and pays a lot so they go along with it. As a divinator, their magic focuses on reading people’s futures, thoughts, and locating people and objects. They cast spells by using tarot as a focus.

They are lanky with long lilac hair tied back into a thick braid. Their eyes and many patches of their skin appear to be made from stained glass, the parts of their skin directly around these patches being blue compared to their otherwise human skin tone. Notable clothing is a tailcoat with the sleeves cut off.

Katherine Delaney - A half-elf woman from a noble family. She can be incredibly anxious due to a previous adventure gone wrong, though she does her best to protect though that she cares about. A wild magic sorcerer, Katherine has the potential for incredibly powerful magic, and a certain amount of manipulation over her own luck. However, her magic is incredibly unstable and when casting she always has the chance of a surge of magic escaping her and causing unintentional effects.

A thin, bronzed-skinned half-elven woman of average height, Katherine is covered in freckles and has long curly brown hair. Notable clothing include a fine yellow dress that has no business being travelling clothes, and two necklaces on golden chains, one with a moon pendant and one with a blue crystal containing liquid.

Leontine O'Dora - An amnesic elven woman with a symbiotic relationship with sentient mushrooms. Originally hired by Katherine’s family to be her bodyguard, Leontine tracked her down when she had run away and the two have since started dating. Leontine is a spore druid, an exceptionally deadly fighter with her quarterstaff and the necrotic powers of the mushrooms, creating mushroom infested zombies of those she defeats when she needs extra help in a fight.

An usually tall elven woman with pale skin and short curly ginger hair. The mushrooms sit in her hair and will often appear on her skin like accessories. Notable clothing is a purple dress with a thick collar of feathers.

Orla Waspchild - A nine year old human with a black and white moral compass expected of a child her age. Orla was raised by her military leader parents, stationed on a blockage around an island in the middle of a particularly deep lake. One night she learnt of something terrible her parents were doing, attempted to flee the ship, and ended up falling overboard. She called out for help, and when none came from the boat, she called out to the waters themselves for help. She hit the water, and turned to lightning striking across the water until she reached the shore. That night Orla learnt of her uncanny ability to not die. Whether Orla should die, a magical effect happens and she doesn't.

A small child with messy hair and tanned skin. Notable fashion is a necklace formed of a ribbon with a bell with the ringer taken out as the pendant.)

#Mianite #Mianite libris crossover #look i just have thoughts about this a lot and sometimes wanna ramble about it #sonja firefoxx #martha the mystic #tom syndicate #captain capsize #atlanta #idric ba'lor #medli mistwalker #altair delphine #Leontine odora #katherine delaney #orla waspchild

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coolcattime · 7 months

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Some slightly old OC art where I've been experimenting with different way of overlaying texture in clip studio.

#cat's art #cat's oc #medli mistwalker #katherine delaney #idric ba'lor

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coolcattime · 16 days

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I was so happy to write down my basic idea of my OC verse Mianite crossover, to get the thoughts out of my head and focus on my frankly stupid amount of WIPs, but then like;

Looks at Jordan and Andor, a pair that have become siblings via found family vibes where Jordan helped Andor gain a lot of confidence he’d previously been lacking due to his abusive dad, Helgrind. When Andor is arrested on Helgrind’s orders, Jordan helps put together a plan and a crew to rescue him, leading to the crew assaulting the prison and breaking Andor out. During his imprisonment, Andor loses his wings. Jordan forges Andor a ring that allows to regrow and give back at least one of the things that was taken from him.

Looks at Idric Ba’lor and Medli, a pair that have become siblings via found family vibes where Idric helped Medli gain a lot of confidence she’d previously been lacking due to her abusive guardian, Clarissa. When Medli is kidnapped by Clarissa, Idric puts together a crew and helps put together a plan to rescue her, leading to the crew assaulting the island Medli has been taken to and rescuing Medli. During her imprisonment, Medli loses her leg. Medli uses her own powers to regrow her leg (or at least a facsimile of one), but that isn’t the only thing that she lost at Clarissa’s hands. Idric collects the ripped apart pieces of Medli’s blanket, and repairs it to give back at least something that was taken from her.

And like I knew there would be some fecking scenes that came to my head, because that’s kinda how AU ideas work for me. But wanting to do a character piece with Jordan as the main focus is maybe the most surprising thing for my brain to wait to do.

#Mianite libris crossover #like i just know that Idric would be incredibly stressed being away from Medli #and probably want to smash something apart #and i can just see a scene where idric is trying to get some stress out and Jordan ends up talking being worried about Medli #and Jordan is just kinda like being reminded of himself and Andor #idk i think it's got vibes #mianite #jordan captainsparklez #prince andor #cat's oc #idric ba'lor #medli mistwalker

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coolcattime · 4 years

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Letter from a Harpy

Authors Note: This story was written by me (@coolcattime) and my friend @atlass-coat. Both characters are used for a dnd campaign ran by Atlas and belong to us.

Moodboard also made by @atlass-coat.

This story is about those characters and their friendship, it concerns the past of one of the characters and the tension that the people from that past can bring.

For more stuff about Medli (one of the characters in this story) check out her character dossier that I wrote: here.

Content Warning: Implied abuse, implied self-harm, implied school-related trauma.

Idric Ba’lor and Medli took their stay in a port town where their ilk ran through the streets. Although the outspoken adventurers and flamboyant merchants may be an annoyance to some, they made the duo feel at home. Well, as at home as a tiefling and water genasi can feel, especially when neither was interested in blending in.

The two have already been travelling together for quite a while, this town serving as just another in a short line of places they had travelled to. Upon arriving, docking Idric’s boat in the town’s port, they had started calling the local tavern their refuge.

This particular night had been spent telling tales and hearing the local fables, as well as more than a few drinks. The night had been another hectic one, ending with the two being the last of the guests to retire to their rooms.

Idric strolls out of his room just before the afternoon took hold. He walks up to the bar with a smirk while jostling his hair, and after a short conversation with the barmaid, he joins Medli at a table. She smiles at her friend, hearing the unique clack of his jackboots. She decides not to question the drink in his hand.

After half an hour of sitting in silence people watching, she chooses to talk rather than continue the quiet.

“Did you sleep okay?” She opens, cocking her head a little. She chooses to ignore her drink and the last scraps of food now her friend is up and about.

“Pretty well, I mean who doesn’t love a hay mattress, yourself?” He jokes, smiling before comfortably sipping his wine.

The conversation feels radiantly normal, a relaxingly regular set of pleasantries. It was a stark change from the high energy of the night before, but it still feels normal for the two.

“It wasn’t the worst place I’ve ever slept,” Medli giggles quietly. The comfort of the mattress didn’t really matter to her, so long as she got a full night’s rest and to talk with her friend. Actually getting to sleep soundly was usually far easier said than done but at least this night was safe.

“And it’s nice to be on dry land again, at least for a bit.” She finishes tentatively, realising how much time she’d let pass in her head.

“I suppose the dorms in the cobbled hellscape that is Mistwalker can’t be great,” He amuses absentmindedly, rolling up his sleeves and tying them back to sit on his elbows.

Medli shrank down an inch or two in her chair.

“They could’ve been nice,” She speaks low with a frown, “they just need doors that lock.” She hadn’t even realised how common that was until she’d left the college.

Medli idly starts playing with her hair, mostly to distract herself but also because the quiet “whooshing” sound it makes, makes her smile. She isn’t really distracted but it stops her dwelling on the past so much, not that that was really fully possible.

“Sounds so damn safe, bet the nights were restful,” He laughs through his sentence but there’s a clear bite to it. Medli had truly suffered at that college, and though he understands that feeling, her lack of anger, or even blame towards those who caused it, never got easier to watch.

“Well,” She opens, unsure of the rest of the sentence. “At least I don’t have to go back any time soon.”

She ends her point with a smile or at least an attempt at one. The memories won’t go away on their own, but she can try to avoid them by switching into a less uncomfortable topic, “So… do you think we’ll get to do anything here?”

“You never know what’ll come up – I’m sure something will be worth the trip,” He responds, more than happy to talk about literally anything. Idric also definitely wasn’t wrong, something always seems to come up, they would always manage to find a story worth telling.

The silence gave Idric a moment to collect himself, trying to decide how to broach the next topic and whether it needed to be done now. Before he could truly decide anything, he begins to speak.

“And you got this, the bartender says it’s from a college,” He tries to sound neutral but, he can’t help but sound invasive. He scrapes the letter across the table “So, what’s she want?”

She untied and unfolded the letter, paying little attention to its content, instead she watches her friend. His furrowed brow, scrunched-up nose, and crocked neck are pretty hard to miss.

Idric knew Clarissa was the sender but that wasn’t enough, he needed to know if his other guesses were right too.

Medli skimmed each line with bloodshot eyes, completely panicked. She spends the time she could’ve spent reading it to try and stop the blaring signs of being caught from showing on her face. This was not done well.

“Why is there another one?” She witters under her breath, not even meaning to speak but being far too flustered to stop herself.

Idric’s face can’t decide between a scowl or a smirk, between anger or vindication.

“Exactly, oh exactly what I thought,” His theory had been proven correct, but now new theories about why this was kept from him start to swarm his mind. Meanwhile, Medli is frozen, doing her best not to scream or cry as her mind berated her.

He breaks the silence.

“Walk with me,” Idric stands, trying to rub the tiredness out of his face. This is something best discussed privately.

He walks into his room under the stairs, Medli follows him, barely stopping herself crumpling the letter. As much as she wants to, she couldn’t bring herself to destroy it. She couldn’t destroy any of them.

After letting her into the room, Idric comes the door with a loud spin, unintentionally making Medli flinch.

Idric, in an attempt not to make another loud noise, confines himself to the bed, kicking his legs over onto the headboard and placing his hands on his knees.

“Right, so, Clarissa is doing what exactly?”

“She, erm, she…” Medli stumbles over her words, completely lost with what to say next. She doesn’t want him to be angry, even if she knows she chose to hide this from him. “She’s been sending me money.” Escapes her before going silent once more, digging her wrists into each other.

“You’ve been getting gold in the mail!? From the Harpy Queen herself?” He can’t help but sound disgusted, the break in his voice only adding tension to the room. “And you didn’t think it relevant to your travelling companion? Your violin in crime? Am I just a set of strings to you?” Idric tries to laugh but the fire in his throat won’t let him form the sound.

Medli feels her heart slamming against her ribs, it’s beat paralyses her, pinning her to the spot. “I…” She is barely able to speak, her voice shakes but her is body rigidly still. She tries desperately to get her words out, but nothing comes. She can’t help but think she’s within a drought, a very dangerous place for a water genasi to be. “I told her I didn’t want it, that we were— but the letters aren’t exactly nice…”

“Not exactly nice, how?” Idric over-straightens his back, interrupting her, remembering who drove this rift between them. He could sense there was something else, something she either didn’t want to tell him or just didn’t want to say.

She gnaws at her gum. For a brief moment, she considers lying her way out of this or just running back to her room, but Idric is her friend and whether he would figure out this situation or not, she can’t keep hiding things from the people she trusts.

More than a moment passes with neither sure of what to say before Medli composes herself enough to answer his questions.

“They all say that the gold is so I can get back to the college… when, I, um, I, come to my senses because you’re just going to…” Medli trails off into silence, choosing not to finish that sentence. The letters were filled with Clarissa’s usual language, the type that Medli learnt to expect would be bad but even that didn’t seem to make them hurt any less.

The question of if she deserves to hear them enters her mind with a wince before Idric responds.

“Wow, they really do not like me, do they? And gods, how low must they think of you, dear?” Idric starkly switches from guttural to a softer mumble between questions.

He remembers feeling that kind of helplessness, anger isn’t the tool here. She needs her friend by her side, not at her throat.

“I mean, she doesn’t seem like she has a high opinion of you either,” Medli bites her lip again, trying to hold her nerve but unable to stop rereading each letter in her head.

“Apparently though, I can still corrupt your little mind with my evil devil powers, apparently,” He moves his hands in the spookiest fashion he can think of before jolting up onto his feet. His coat whips around with him, as he uses a simple bit of magic to create a gust of overdramatic wind, really selling the silliness of his words.

He meets her eyes hoping for a laugh, or at least a smile, but only a tear-stared stare meets him. He exhales softly, trying to create a level of calm that they desperately needs. “You seem more scared than angry that I found out or embarrassed you’d been caught. That’s a hell of a plot twist, what’s this doing to you Meds?” He isn’t even sure if that made sense, but this room can’t lay silent any longer.

“Clarissa, she keeps,” Medli takes a breath of her own, attempting to push through a hive of anxiety. She needs to get her words out; she just doesn’t want to say any of it. It frustrates her. She knows exactly what she wants to say, she just can’t push through for long enough to pick the words.

“In all the letters, she said that you’re going to abandon me. I… I thought that if you found out you’d…” She doesn’t want to finish that sentence either. Everything feel like it’s in an ocean of anxiety, confusion, and a creeping certainly that Clarissa may have been right. She has always hated that thought, but she couldn’t let it silence here anymore, regardless of the outcome.

“No one’s ever stuck by me. Basically everyone at the college stayed away from me unless they were planning something that would make everything worse. I didn’t exactly make many friends before I met you.”

She finally looks up to face him, expecting anger or, at the very least, confusion. She finds neither. Idric instead produces a comforting smile, presenting a dimple she didn’t know he had. Idric had a look like this memorised from far too many evenings on the other side of it, that didn’t mean he actually knew how to help though.

“Before you met me yes, but my dear, this is after. A lot has changed and one of those things, potentially the best change, is that we are going to stick with each other,” He feels confident that would’ve resonated with him, so hopefully that’ll be enough. “I know everything’s all new but listening to the ramblings of a harpy can never be the solution.”

Clarissa’s words have done far too much damage, letting them do more is unacceptable. She will not cost Medli another friend, however clever the gaslight she holds.

“But if I ignore them, then she’ll,” Medli shifts a little, still unable to let go of her fear, even if it felt ridiculous, she needed to give it a voice. “She’ll show up in person again.” Her whisper almost comes out as a scream, with each word laced with sheer dread.

Idric doesn’t miss a step in responding.

“Then we deal with that then, and we deal with it together,” He offers his drink with a sort of ‘half-toast’ before taking a drink. “Hence why we’re a team, I thought you knew what you were choosing when you got on my ship and not hers.”

He still can’t seem to shake her out her quivering shoulders and a winced smile. He is far from giving up, though.

“Though, if I may, I’ll remind you—” He takes a moment, stepping towards her silently, still offering a warm expression. “Clarissa’s reign is over. It’s just us now.”

She still doesn’t know how to respond. Neither of them had been here before, and she had no idea what to say. Offer gratitude and pretend it’s all fine? Start to cry? Keep ranting until he admits defeat?

“What’s the worst thing she can do to us right now?” He tries to prompt her to speak, hoping to get her out of her own head.

“She…” Medli barely gets her first word out, too concentrated in watching her forefinger and thumb press and push at her wrist. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“I suppose you’re right.” She sounds hopefully insincere.

“I mean, you’re hanging with a literal devil darlin’, what’s she gonna do, tell Asmodeus we are being mean to her?” Regardless of what she’s hiding, now is a time for hope. They can face the rest of her story when she’s ready.

Medli feels the load on her shoulders lift, even if not completely, and looks up finally meeting Idric’s eyes. “It’s just… I don’t understand how she knows where we are. Every time we stop, somehow another letter comes. It’s like she’s still watching me.” Her voice sounds far less shook up, and her breath begins to catch up with her, but she still can’t seem to escape her nerves, or the ever-growing number of questions of how Clarissa could be doing this.

“We can definitely deal with that,” Idric speaks with confidence, beaming with the thought of a new plan forming. “I know a diviner or two, I’m sure they’ll know something or learn it quick enough.”

“I do love a crowd but she’s not even paying to see us.” He laughs to himself.

“Well, I mean technically…” Medli interjects, unsure if a joke this early is okay. Idric seems to think so though, and the two share a quick laugh.

“If we can’t figure this out though, I am sure we can deal with Clarissa the best way we know how,” Idric tries to conclude the topic with reassurance.

“I’m sure she won’t see us coming!” Medli remains smiling, doing so properly for the first time since this mess started. Though, that smile almost breaks as the weight of the paper in her hand hits her again. “I suppose I should get rid of this.”

“Give it to me? I want to see what we’re up against anyway,” His tone refuses to force the decision, instead he sits back on the bed, cocking his head in anticipation. She hesitates for a moment, having not sure what might be in this one; but hands it over anyway.

He reads it slowly, each of his features filling back up with anger. The second the last line is read, he sets the letter alight, attempting to burn away his seethe with the ink. Surprisingly though, it seems to work, and he smirks once more.

“That was certainly a read,” He begins. “I— I’ll go find an old friend of mine, and with their help, we will be able to go over some word choices and disputable phrases, then I am sure she’ll apologise, and we can be on our way.” Idric’s intonation falls into a level of clarity and over-pronunciation that only comes with the desperate need to hide one’s anger.

Medli, on the other hand, only has one thought.

“Do you think they will be able to find her?” Her lips can barely keep up as the words fall from her mouth.

“I’ve never known them to fail before,” He smirks reassuringly.

“Well, that’s nice at least,” She pauses, finally seeing the end of this. “Do you want me to destroy the other letters too?”

“Let me take a look at those too - if that’s okay? It’s important to know one’s public perception after all,” He lets out a singular chewed-up breath posing as a laugh.

Medli rushes off to their old table, she returns holding her bag and awkwardly begins to dig through it. She pulls out a tied stack of letters and hands them to Idric. He throws them into his coat, trying his best to not let the thickness and potential number take too much of his attention.

“You didn’t need to keep this from me, you know? We’re a team as much as you want us to be,” He offers with a soft gesture.

“I didn’t mean too. I was just scared when the first one came and by the time that I stopped being scared of that one, there was already three more and then that felt a lot harder to explain,” She almost says every word at once and can’t help but look relieved when realising they were in the right order.

“You’re a bard Medli, you’ll pick all this up as we go. Explaining the bizarre and traumatic is part of the job.”

Medli laughs a little.

“Can’t I just play violin?”

“Absolutely not.”

#original writing #my writing #friend's writing #medli #idric ba'lor #d&d #dungeons and dragons #tw: implied abuse #tw: implied self-harm #tw: implied school related trauma

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