#mianite batb au

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Twelve - A Dangerous Pastime

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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It had been a week. A long horrible, hellish week since the magical carriage had dumped Redbeard back in town half-frozen and in mental anguish. A week since Jordan had thrown him to the ground outside the tavern, laughing at him as he begged for help. A long week where he had been forced to accept if he was going to save his sister then he was going to have to do it completely alone.

The first night he had ended up stumbling back to his and Capsize’s home, managing to make it to the living room and light the fireplace with shaking hands. He had sat there, the fire’s warmth almost unpleasant after the day in the freezing cold of the cell. He didn’t care enough to move back. He wasn’t sure he even had the strength to, anyway. He sat alone in the house, so unbelievably broken. Capsize had exchanged her freedom for his. His sister was locked up in his place, in that freezing cold cell. He had just sat there trying to process that fact. He still hadn’t actually completely managed to actually do so because, gods, Capsize was at the mercy of that Beast. How was he ever meant to process that? That cell had been terrible, and he’d only been in there for a day. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her locked her there, saw the look of terror and panic she’d had in that last moment when he had been dragged away. Every day it was getting colder. How long could she really last in that cell?

He needed to save her. That was the surest thought in his head from the moment the Beast had agreed to imprison Capsize in his place. He still could hear it leaning over him, telling him not to return if he valued his life. As terrible as it was to think, he truly didn’t. Capsize’s life was far more important than his own. The only reason he hadn’t already tried to return to the castle was his own physical weakness. He’d been so cold, so close to freezing. As it turns out, that isn’t something a person can just recover from with a single night’s rest. Even now, he didn’t feel at his full strength, but he had recovered enough to try to return to the castle. He couldn’t bring himself to wait any longer.

He'd been doing his best to prepare even in his weakened state. He’d started that first morning, when he had woken up from a fitful sleep somehow still cold. He had known that he needed to do something, he couldn’t just sit feeling absolutely terrible. So, he had forced himself to move, had gone to Capsize’s room to try and find a map to mark the route back to the castle. Entering the downstairs bedroom had been hard. It looked like she could enter at any moment. He had found his entire body stuck, unable to actually search because if he moved anything it would mean losing some remnants of her presence. The room was so neat, the only real mess being her desk and a shelf that contained a small collection of books and a couple of trinkets, a glass that would’ve housed a rose had the trip to the market been normal. The thought of roses made his stomach turn, the reason he was labelled a thief: a teasing joke towards his sister. The desk had notes about trinkets scattered across it, and Redbeard knew they were all old, that if Capsize was here she wouldn’t mind him moving them, but he felt so hesitant to move any of it anyway. She should be here, she should be in this room reading or making notes on some trinket, but instead he was here. He forced himself to sit down.

Thankfully, he didn’t actually have to move too many of the papers to find a map. One was pinned under a couple dusty journals in the back corner against the wall. He felt a tinge of curiosity at the journals but didn’t dare to open them. It would be pointless to read them, Capsize clearly hadn’t written in them for quite some time, and even if she had, there was absolutely no way she had known that she wasn’t going to return to the town that day. There was nothing to gain from reading them, but he still found his thoughts drawn to the journals as he worried that he had missed something about his sister. He knew she wasn’t happy here. He wasn’t so oblivious to miss the obvious and it was clear that neither of them really belonged here, but how could he do anything but worry that he had missed things when she had willingly made a deal to stay in that cursed place. He knew nothing good would come from him reading them. Either there’d be nothing to find, and he’d be left with the guilt of invading Capsize’s privacy, or he’d find that he had missed how unhappy she was and be left with that guilt instead. He had no idea which would be a worse feeling, so it was better not to look at all.

That’s what he told him as he forced himself to focus on the map, marking the route back to the castle. It was so easy to spot now. How had neither he nor Capsize ever acknowledged the odd road to nowhere? It was so strange, one of them should’ve said something about the oddity, but it was as if he had only even thought of its existence on that night when he had been forced to take that path. He supposed he should be glad for it. Had Capsize ever noticed there was an oddity so close to the town, she almost certainly would’ve gone to investigate it. At the very least this way, he knew where she was. All of this would’ve been so much worse had Capsize just disappeared one day, leaving him with no idea what could’ve happened to her.

Marking the route back had only been a temporary distraction. The moment it was done, he was once again forced to face the fact that he had absolutely no idea what to do. He had no idea how long it would take him to get through the woods on foot completely alone. He had been so sure that someone would help him, that at the very least Jordan or Tucker would care enough to want to help Capsize, but instead he was completely without help. Where did that leave him really? Maybe he could make his way back to the castle – though the weather from the quickly coming in winter would slow him down, he could prepare for a long journey. He had weapons he could take to scare off the wolves and any other predators, he was sure he could prepare food and supplies and, while he’d probably need to search through Capsize’s limited books for the information, he could likely find things in the woods themselves to keep the journey going longer if needed. But he knew that he had no chance of fighting the Beast. If he couldn’t fight it, he couldn’t save Capsize, so what was he supposed to do?

A hopeless, lost feeling overwhelmed him. He’d been unable to shift out of it for days. Every moment he was recovering his physical strength, he couldn’t stop the berating thoughts that he was allowing Capsize to suffer. She had found him so quickly despite how she couldn’t have had any idea where to find him, the kind of trouble that he was in. Meanwhile, he didn’t have the strength to do the same. Gods, he was a shameful brother. He had tried, he truly had, to leave that first morning after marking the route on the map, but his entire body shook as he walked. He had ended up passed out by the fireplace, waking up and sobbing as he realised that he didn’t have the strength to save Capsize as she had saved him. Days passed of him spending so long by the fire, feeling like a complete failure.

Until finally, today a week later, he found the strength to be able to force himself to actually do something. Movement still hurt, though it was a dull ache that he could ignore for the most part. He didn’t care if no one would help him, he had to help Capsize. There was enough food and supplies in the house that he could use, he could make the journey to the castle on foot. He knew it wasn’t a good plan, in fact it was a completely terrible one, but what other choice did he have? He needed to do something. Good idea or not, he forced himself to begin packing. Food and some basic survival and camping supplies were easy enough, though he certainly couldn’t pack nearly as much as he wanted to. He ended up shoving a natural guidebook that Capsize had on her shelf into his bag as well, hoping that he wouldn’t have to use it, but knowing it was better safe than sorry.

The next task was emotionally harder. The wooden chest under his desk had gathered dust over the two years they had been here. He had never intended to keep it hidden, and seeing the dust saddened him. Better now than never to finally use his belongings once again though. He opened the chest, coming face to face with his and Capsize’s old equipment, from those days back on the ship. Folded black coats with dulled golden embellishments, a compass left to tarnish, a pair of cutlasses, a pistol, and a crossbow with ammunition packs for both. He ran a hand over his sword and his crossbow. How long had it been since he used either? He’d put all the things away with every belief that it would be a temporary storage. Capsize had just been so sad looking at their old things, putting them away had just seemed easier. It was just until they could leave, he’d told himself, but them leaving had never actually come. So, they had laid untouched for the whole time. As he picked up the crossbow, it felt almost alien in his hands before it quickly felt normal again, which made a twinge of guilt snap within him. None of this would’ve happened if he was just more careful back then. All of this would’ve been prevented. Capsize had never blamed him, but he knew it was his fault. It was too late by far to fix his original mistake, but he could fix his newest one.

Placing his crossbow on the bed, he scooped out his sword and the quiver of bolts, placing them alongside the other weapon. He’d only put it on when he was actually leaving, he could do without any more stares judging him. The clear judgement as they looked at the town drunkard telling an insane story. Maybe they were right to throw him out of the tavern. He wondered if they truly had the correct opinion of him. Obviously, he knew the Beast was actually real, that Capsize was actually in danger, but maybe he was crazy regardless. He planned to go and face the creature that he knew was far more powerful than himself and had threatened to kill him if he ever returned. Even being completely gentle with his words, he knew his plan was foolish. But of course, that wasn’t why everyone in town thought there was something wrong with him. They thought he was a drunk idiot that was making up a ridiculous story. Perhaps that was a trap that he had walked himself into, but he was so confused about what he was meant to do if they just weren’t going to believe him. He just had to keep telling the truth and hope somehow someone decided to help him, that they cared enough about Capsize to want to help despite the situation being unbelievable.

“Please… Please, send help,” He begged, clutching the necklace bearing the symbol of the goddess he was praying to. Praying made it sound far more formal than his half-sobbed words could ever be described as, but he felt so desperate. He needed someone to help. Surely Lady Ianite wouldn’t abandon Capsize, surely, she had to be helping her in some way. Or maybe he just had to keep telling himself that because if it wasn’t true then he was truly alone in trying to help his sister. No, no. There was no way. He wiped away his tears. He had to keep some hope.

Then there was a thought. A far-off spark of hope in the form of someone who would help. Jeriah. Jeriah, the one person in this town that Capsize would say she was friends with. Sure, he might not believe the story, he certainly didn’t seem the type to believe in monsters. But the man had been a knight once, he’d devoted so much of his life to helping people, surely, he’d help Capsize. It felt like the only hope he’d had this whole time, but Jeriah was out of town, and wasn't going to return for weeks. He couldn’t wait that long, but at the very least, he could leave a letter to explain the situation to the man, leave him the map showing him the route to the castle. That way if Red failed, at least someone who cared about Capsize would know about the danger she was in and where she was. There was a sickly rise in his throat as he thought about failing, of Capsize ending up completely stuck without anyone who might come to help her. Why did he have to get her into this mess?

His body began shaking again. He knew Capsize being in danger was his fault. If not for him entering the castle in the first place, she would be safe. He brushed away more tears. He couldn’t allow himself to wallow in those feelings. They wouldn’t help anybody, least of all Capsize. So, despite how pushing down emotions and forcing himself to leave was no healthier than his self-loathing, he went to find paper. All that mattered to him was Capsize being safe, so he had to make that the only thought in his head if he wanted to carry on.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Walking through the streets was unbearable. He had hoped that the snow beginning to fall would mean most would stay inside, but the market was as bustling as ever. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his own skin. He was used to being seen as a drunk, was used to being called the names associated with such a reputation, but he had never felt nearly as horrible about those facts until today. They weren’t just calling him drunk anymore. They were pretending to whisper as they called him crazy, talked openly that Capsize must be glad for some time away from him. It took more strength than he cared to admit to not either snap at them or just break down into tears. How had he told Capsize to just ignore them?

He kept his head down, trying so hard to tune out the noise. It was far harder than it normally would be as his thoughts were not a safe place to retreat to. All he could really cling to as a focus were physical sensations. The cold wind biting against his skin, the letter he was clutching in his pocket that he feared he’d crumpled beyond readability. They were not particularly nice things to focus on, but they were far nicer than any alternatives. He just needed to stay out here for ten minutes. He could do that.

It was in this state, trudging through the quickly building snow trying to ignore the world, that an arrow fell past him. He felt it graze his ear as he stumbled, almost falling as the ground gave him very little traction to keep his footing. He managed to keep himself upright, something he was glad for as he heard laughter coming from behind him. Despite the actions that he’d just experienced, the laughter didn’t sound malicious. It was as if he was hearing laughter from a pleasant conversation. That made it feel all the colder. He contemplated just continuing on as if nothing had happened, to not face the man that he knew was behind him, but there was still a tiny part of him that wanted to believe that he hadn’t completely misjudged the man that he had honestly believed to be a friend. So, he turned around.

There stood Jordan, his bow held loosely in his hands looking thoroughly entertained by his actions. He didn’t look any different, he didn’t even look cruel as he had that night when he’d thrown him out the tavern. He looked so normal, with a smile that made him look approachable despite everything. Beside him was Tucker, not quite smiling. Redbeard had no idea what to make of either man. He had trusted them, given them the benefit of the doubt whether Capsize had given her complaints. He wanted to believe that he hadn’t misjudged them, because the idea that he had been so blind was pain that he didn’t want to face when everything else was so painful, but what else was he meant to think?

“Looks like I can miss,” Jordan said, a chuckle laced in his tone. He was joking. Obviously, he had only meant to graze the man. Redbeard was an occasional annoyance, but he certainly hadn’t planned to do any actual harm to the man. Even he wouldn’t be able to get away with that, even if the man was a drunkard. It was clear to everyone that the man was harmless entertainment, so he could get away with teasing, but not anything beyond that. It was all in good fun, anyway. Everyone knew he was just joking around. “Seen any more monsters? We’re all curious about the beasts in the woods.”

“Don’t joke around! Capsize is in the clutches of a monster and you couldn’t care less,” Redbeard felt his throat burn as he spoke, not quite being able to yell. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to, he just couldn’t hold back his anger and act like nothing was wrong. Jordan had said he wanted to marry Capsize, called her perfect and brilliant, but hadn’t taken the idea that she was in danger with any kind of worry. He just couldn’t understand it. Jordan had no idea if he should be impressed that the man was still keeping up with the ridiculous story, though he really couldn’t be. It was likely he was keeping the story up out of stupidity rather than bravery, and it wasn’t as if the man had any sort of reputation to lose from his actions. He should just try and get this over with. So, Jordan, with a roll of his eyes, took a step towards him.

“Come on, Red. You don’t need to keep pretending,” He said, even offering a hand in an attempt to be friendly. He knew that the man would likely be a little wary after the tavern, but he could be the bigger man and take the first step in mending that bridge. Yes, he didn’t particularly need to be friendly to the man, but once Capsize was back, she’d probably ask after him and her brother would be the first person she’d ask. Better to keep him on side, even if he was telling tall tales. And besides, if the man could take a joke, he’d laugh off the whole being thrown out the tavern thing. Everyone else had found it funny. Redbeard didn’t take his hand. He stared at it, completely unable to trust the action. It wasn’t as if he was apologising, in fact he was still suggesting that he was making the whole thing up. Jordan frowned just ever so slightly at the man’s hesitance. Why was he acting like this? “Look, we all know that Capsize just got a bit embarrassed and decided to leave town for a little bit to avoid her problems.”

“Leave town? Do you really think that’s something she can just do on a whim?” He felt so utterly confused about the situation Jordan appeared to have just completely made up. Maybe he shouldn’t ask the question that he did, after all, most would take it as a good thing that someone didn’t doubt their sister’s abilities, but his mind could only think of her complaining about the man, about how he didn’t ever seem to actually see her as a person. For the first time, it felt like he was seeing what she meant by that. And that alone was enough to infuriate him. He knew that rising anger meant that he should leave. He should just leave and not say anything more to Jordan, as it likely wouldn’t lead to anything good, but he was so tired. He’d already lost Capsize, what more did he really have to lose? The least he could do now was to finally believe his sister’s words as he should’ve done a long time ago. “And what do you mean she was hiding from her problems? What happened in the day I was gone that she’d feel so desperately that she needed to leave?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Jordan could admit that the man sounded genuinely confused, but all that meant was he was a good actor. Obviously Capsize had told him about her rejecting him, why wouldn’t she have? She would’ve needed to tell him why she left town. He went to step forward but felt a sharp tug on his arm from behind. He looked back, finding Tucker frowning at him. If the man wanted to say something, he didn’t, but Jordan could predict what he would say anyway. For whatever reason, Tucker actually seemed worried about Redbeard. Jordan couldn’t understand it, the only problem the man had was being caught in a ridiculous lie. Fine, though, if he really needed to say it out loud. “Capsize rejected my proposal, being difficult as always, so obviously she’s decided to run off and hide rather than confront the issue.”

“What?” His response was flat. Redbeard genuinely could not believe the words that he was hearing. Jordan had actually proposed to Capsize. That idea wasn’t clicking in his head. Yes, he had asked for his blessing to marry her, but they weren’t even dating. Not to mention, Capsize avoided him whenever it was physically possible, how had she even been around long enough for him to propose? He stood completely dumbfounded, trying to figure out any kind of response to the man. Jordan, looking at the expression of the man in front of him, considered for the first time if perhaps Redbeard hadn’t been playing dumb and actually hadn’t known about the failed proposal. Maybe Capsize just hadn’t told him, he seemed like the type that would just do as his sister told him and return back with a ridiculous excuse for her absence if she told him she wanted some time alone. Maybe he should’ve played this slightly differently. No. No, he was still acting like a madman. He didn’t need to be polite when someone was acting like that. Redbeard ended up shaking his head, tiny movements as he just truly didn’t understand what had happened in the short amount of time he had been gone. “You proposed to Capsize? You aren’t dating, she doesn’t even—”

“Obviously we’re dating!” Jordan interrupted, speaking as if that fact was the clearest fact in the world. Capsize had given him a rose, they’d been on a date. How was there any other explanation except for the fact that they were dating? How could anyone not see the fact they were a couple? They were perfect, they were destined to be together. Lady Ianite had sent Capsize here to be with him. Anyone with a brain could see how great they were together, which was why it was ridiculous that she had had the nerve to reject him. He was so focused on Redbeard that he didn’t notice the confused look from Tucker. Were they dating? Jordan certainly seemed to think so, and he said the words with so much confidence that Tucker almost just wanted to go along with it, but when Capsize was leaving there was so much resentment towards the idea of being in a relationship with the man. Both ideas couldn’t co-exist, and clearly if one person said no that meant there wasn’t a relationship. He considered saying something, or even just quietly nudging Jordan to check if he was actually sure, but he ended up remaining quiet. Redbeard, however, found himself unable to hold back, especially as Jordan continued to talk. “Lady Ianite clearly wants us to be together. And we are together, Capsize just likes playing hard to get. When she gets back, she’ll—"

“Capsize can’t stand you!” Redbeard yelled the words that he absolutely knew he would regret, but he was beyond caring. He had never been so annoyed at himself for having any kind of faith in someone.

“Hey, maybe we should all just calm down,” Tucker said, stepping properly into the conversation for the first time. Jordan and Redbeard both looked on the verge of snapping, actually maybe both already had, but surely there was a chance to de-escalate the argument. They both turned to look at him. Jordan looked annoyed, like Tucker was interrupting something that just didn’t involve him. It was an unpleasant look to have directed at him, but it was better by far than the look from Redbeard. The look from him felt painful to be under. It was not quite anger, though Tucker certainly didn’t want to move into striking distance of the man, rather he looked at Tucker with so little respect that it was as if he had physically struck him rather than telling him to calm down. Redbeard truly wondered why he had thought Tucker was going to be any different than Jordan.

“No! Do you know how many times I’ve defended you? How many times that I told Capsize she was just assuming the worst about you?” He shot rhetorical questions as Jordan. He was so upset with himself as he thought back on the incidents. He should’ve listened to her, then maybe something would’ve changed. It didn’t really make sense as a train of thought, him taking Capsize more seriously about Jordan wouldn’t have changed the Beast’s presence, but maybe if her life in this town had been even a little bit more pleasant, she wouldn’t have been so willing to give up her life for him. He’d never know for sure, and his anger at himself for that fact just fuelled his feelings towards Jordan all the more. “I told her that you were just excited to meet another Ianitee, that you hadn’t grown up in the culture and wanted to learn, but she was right. You don’t see her as a person, she’s just a thing that Lady Ianite had sent for you to have. If you really cared about her at all, you’d be worried that she’s vanished, but don’t! So just leave me alone to help her, because if all you care about is having the perfect girl for your made-up relationship, then here’s some news for you: Capsize will never marry you!”

The townsfolk who had been listening and watching the argument quickly averted their gazes, speed walking away to try and cover that they had been listening at all. Redbeard, feeling a certain amount of confidence leave him as his anger actually formed into words, decided not to remain near Jordan and Tucker. The only thing sticking around would do was make him regret his words, and regret was something he currently had far too much of anyway. He turned on the spot, heading towards Jeriah’s house hoping he wouldn’t see either man again. He’d head out tonight to the woods rather than waiting any longer. He’d been wrong to wait around so long hoping for any help in this town.

Tucker and Jordan remained still watching the ginger man disappear into the falling snow. Tucker felt cold, though not from the weather. He thought of the events of the previous week, of the failed proposal and throwing Redbeard out the tavern. Neither sibling had been treated correctly, and he’d done nothing to actually correct that issue. And there was still the lingering worry that he couldn’t shift because Redbeard was still sticking to his story of Capsize being imprisoned. Jordan, meanwhile, was feeling a very different set of emotions.

“He’s gone mad. He’s crazy…” He said, audible to Tucker but only just. It was the only explanation. Capsize didn’t dislike him, she was just stubborn and liked playing hard to get. They were meant to be, so obviously she liked him. Redbeard had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. With this alongside his insistence of a beast in the woods having taken Capsize, it was clear that whatever sanity the man had once had was completely lost. And that, that put a far darker thought in his head. “He’s actually gone completely mad…”

“Hey, let’s head back. We, err, we should probably…” Tucker had absolutely no idea what to say. They should help Redbeard, or at the very least try and figure out what actually happened to Capsize. A creeping fear told him a bear or wolf could’ve gotten her, Redbeard coming up with the story to explain something horrific, but he didn’t want to believe that was true. Maybe in a few hours, they could go out and check the woods. Better late than never, right? He doubted Jordan would go for such a place after what they’d just learned, but maybe this could be a turning point to make Capsize actually reconsider her thoughts on him? He gently put a hand on Jordan’s shoulder. He expected to have his hand shrugged away. He didn’t expect Jordan to turn with him with a wide smile, placing a hand on each of his shoulders as he gave off the air that he’d won a prize rather than having been told that the woman he wanted to marry hated him.

“Tucker, I’ve had a thought,” He said, lacking any anger or upset in his speech that one would expect from someone in his situation. In fact, he sounded elated. It was disconcerting, but Tucker tried to smile. He had the feeling that his expression wasn’t quite reaching his eyes.

“That’s dangerous,” He joked, and Jordan actually laughed. It was as if nothing was wrong. No, not as if, truly and genuinely nothing was wrong. Jordan had figured it out, the absolutely perfect plan to get Capsize exactly where he wanted her.

“Oh, I know, but with everything Redbeard’s been saying can you blame me?” Again, his tone didn’t match how Tucker thought he really should be feeling. But Jordan was elated, he’d figured out the solution to his problems with Capsize. “Because he’s clearly gone crazy, Tucker. All this talk of a beast and Capsize being imprisoned. Everyone’s heard, everyone knows he’s lost it, but Capsize loves him, she’d do anything to defend him.”

“Yeah, I guess she would,” There was a growing pit in Tucker’s stomach. He could barely manage the reply he gave as he was scared of the look in Jordan’s eyes, of affirming whatever ideas he was thinking. Jordan leant in closer. He couldn’t let anyone else hear his plan.

“So, let’s say the asylum gets wind that Redbeard isn’t doing too well. Capsize would agree to anything to make sure he wasn’t locked up,” He whispered. If Tucker didn’t know his friend’s tone so well, he’d assume he was making a very dark joke. But he knew, he could just tell that this wasn’t one. He had never had such a deep pit in his stomach. He should say something. He should try to tell Jordan that this was insane, that he couldn’t blackmail Capsize into marrying him, but the look in his eyes, it scared him. He needed to stop this, obviously he did, but what chance did he have of doing that with direct confrontation. There was a chance that this was just a reaction formed from shock and anger, that tomorrow Jordan would wake up and realise what a terrible thing he had suggested. “The asylum director, he definitely seems like the type to take bribes, don’t you think.”

“Oh definitely,” Tucker felt a little hope drain out of him as he knew full well that Monsieur Furia was an unscrupulous man. He would most certainly take money to detain someone. He couldn’t let this happen. At the same , though, he couldn’t let Jordan know he thought this was completely terrible. The man would just storm off and do it anyway if his previous experiences told him anything. So, what could he do? He was sure however that he could, at the very least, slow this plan down. He plastered a smile on his face, trying to match Jordan’s energy. “But we’re gonna need to come up with a plan for this. One wrong move and he’ll have proof and blackmail you. He’d much rather have you at his beck and call than money.”

“You’re absolutely right,” He said with a grimace. He couldn’t afford to be caught doing this. If he went about this correctly, he could be seen as a charitable man who selflessly rescued his bride’s brother from a terrible fate. But one wrong move and his reputation would be held in the hands of a man who he knew wouldn’t hesitate to use such information to ruin him at this first convenience. He would need to think this through, to make sure his plan was absolutely foolproof. Thankfully, he had Tucker to help him, and time before Capsize was likely to arrive back in town, but he was absolutely sure that his wedding was in his grasp, and he wasn’t going to let it go now he was clearly so close. “But we’ve got time. Come on, let’s go somewhere private to discuss this.”

Jordan began to walk towards their training grounds. For a moment, Tucker hesitated to follow. Maybe he should go and try to warn Redbeard. That would certainly be the best thing to keep the man from danger, but there was truly a part of him clinging to the idea that Jordan would realise what a horrible idea this was. Tomorrow, if he was still convinced this plan was in any way a good idea, he’d warn Redbeard. He prayed to his Lord that it wouldn’t come to that.

The next day, he would find the home of Capsize and Redbeard dark and empty. Redbeard had already left for the woods, having no idea what awaited him back in town. Tucker stood in the snow-covered streets and realised that he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He couldn’t let Jordan imprison a man to blackmail his sister into marriage, but once he had an idea in his head, he rarely managed to be talked out of it. And, as much as they were both god’s champions, Tucker knew that Jordan was far more admired and respected than himself. It sometimes felt like whatever Jordan said was just taken as fact. And suddenly something Tucker once might’ve said as a joke felt like an absolutely terrifying reality that he was inescapably stuck in.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefoxx #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #foxxsize #skipper redbeard #jordan captainsparklez #tucker iijeriichoii

[kiwibirdlafayette]

hi drops this and leaves. silly little fixation on lumiere!Tom from @coolcattime 's very wicked BatB AU (which u should read BTW im just sayin im just sayin- it has Sonja x Capsize which is very awesome)

((yes im sorry this is all ive drawn so far. not a specific scene from the fic, just a little design for now between stuffs kekw))

#i thought about also drawing martha but the mechanisms of a clock person scared me #eventually. #mianite au #once ive cleaned up my art queue i wanna draw somethin nice bc im gen enjoyin this fic sm #tom synHD #lafakiwi draws #artists on tumblr #mianite batb au #i doodled this when the chapter before this one came out i just forgot to post it kekW #gkm arts

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Eleven - The Wolf Chase

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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Capsize’s thoughts were very much still panicked when she found her way to the entrance doors of the castle. All she could think about was escaping. How could her thoughts be on anything else when she was so aware that she could be stopped at any moment? If the Beast caught her now, stopped her from leaving, what would happen to her? Would she be thrown into the cell she had found Red in? Would she somehow have a worse fate? She hadn’t originally been scared of being locked in the cell, that was the circumstances she thought she had been agreeing to, and even now it was not the worst fate she could think of. However, she was so afraid of being at the mercy of the Beast, of what those claws could do to her if she was in reach of them when her mood turned. She hadn’t been hurt yet, but how close had it been? She couldn’t remain in this place and just wait to be harmed. She had to go back to the town, because even if she hated it, she could at least be sure she was safe there.

As she approached the grand entrance doors, she still felt shaky. She hadn’t collected her few belongings, not wanting to risk the extra time it would take to collect them. However, that also meant she didn’t have her cloak on her, as she opened the heavy doors and felt the cold air hit her. Winter was just the beginning, but the nights were already bitterly cold. Her shirt and trousers were warm enough inside, and she was technically wearing a coat, but it was thin and not designed for travelling, let alone for travelling through winter nights. But she needed to leave as soon as she could, so that wasn’t a problem she could fix. Yes, it would be an unpleasant journey, but what did that matter? She could deal with a few hours of unpleasantness. She needed to leave now. She’d head back to town and pretend this was all just some dream.

“Miss, what are you—?” Capsize whipped around in fright at the sound of a voice behind her, only calming slightly upon seeing the small form of Martha. Even if she was not afraid of the person who had found her, she could not calm completely. She hadn’t been calm before the voice had spooked her, and she was still trying to leave – the one thing that she had promised not to do. Martha understood immediately upon seeing her face that something had gone terribly wrong. Her features were highlighted with fear, her breathing quick and fast and her gaze did not stop shifting to the staircase as if she was terrified of someone following her. It did not take a genius to figure out who must have scared her. And it was far too much fear to have just been caused by a chance encounter. The clock realised with a terrible sickening drop that she must’ve entered the West Wing. Usually that realisation would’ve led to lectures about that being a ridiculous and unnecessary action that only served to get her in trouble, but she knew such words would be at this moment as cruel as they would be unneeded. She moved forward as gently as she could, trying to think of any way to provide her comfort, to get her into a calmer state of mind, but very few things came to mind. “Miss, just try to steady your breathing… you shouldn’t be making any rash decisions in your current state.”

“No, it’s not rash, I…” She swallowed, realising that she was talking far too fast as that’s the only way her breath would currently allow her to speak. She took the advice, trying to slow down her breathing, though she struggled to actually do so. She didn’t feel like she was acting rashly. She knew beyond all else that she could not remain here, that she needed to leave as soon as possible and not matter what the risks. Perhaps if she was calmer, this would be seen as rash actions, but she saw her panicked thoughts as perhaps the most logical she had had since she had arrived. Because she was sure at this moment that she could not remain here, and if she could not remain here, she had to leave now. If she stayed here when she had tried to escape, there was as good a chance that she would be locked up in a way that meant she’d never be able to try again. Maybe she’d deserve that, for going back on her word, but that didn’t stop that thought from once again making her breath quicken and her chest tighten. “I know what I promised, but I— I can’t stay here. I just can’t!”

“Did she… Did she hurt you?” Had any of the others been around, Martha would not have had the bravery to ask such a question. None of them liked facing the idea of the Mistress being violent, or rather they didn’t want to believe she had fallen so far as to physically and purposefully hurt a person. Martha didn’t particularly want to consider it either, but she had to check. How could she not check if she was this scared? Capsize shook her head, though there was a certain hesitance to the action. She wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t even sure that she had been close to being hurt, but the uncertainty wasn’t enough to ease her fears. Though it did add to the odd guilt she had in this situation. She was breaking her word. Thinking about it that way made her slightly sick, but what choice did she have? “Okay, that’s good. Do you want to come to the kitchens? Or somewhere in the castle she can’t reach?”

“No! I… Please, I swear I won’t tell anyone about this place, about any of you, I just. I can’t,” She almost begged despite the fact that the clock could not physically stop her even if she wanted to. Martha just looked at her sorrowfully. She knew she should argue with her, try to convince her to stay. This girl was the only chance they had of breaking the curse, she had to remain here, but how could she stand here and argue that? How could she argue that anyone should stay in this place? She thought about what Tom would say, something that she had never thought about before in her life and frankly seemed to make all the clearer just how desperate she felt, but nothing came to mind that was actually helpful. The only thing she could think to say was that the woman clearly was not ready for any sort of journey through the night. Even without the cold, she knew there were predators in the woods, the sort that had originally started the mess with her brother’s arrival. Did she have any chance of fighting or even just scaring them off without some sort of supplies? With the rush she was in, she didn’t even have a light. While she may not in good conscience be able to argue for her to remain here, she also could not allow her to leave without saying anything.

“Okay, I won’t make you stay, but you really aren’t in a fit state for the journey. At least come with me to collect your cloak and at the very least a light,” She spoke softly, hoping to mostly just get her out of danger and perhaps delay her decision a little. She couldn’t let her run off into danger. Even if she ends up leaving, she could at least feel okay with that decision if she knew the woman wasn’t running off into danger. And maybe if she collected her things, had some time to think, she’d choose to say of her own accord. She doubted such an outcome, but stranger things had happened. Capsize found herself frozen. The logical part of herself wanted to listen, to prepare rather than just running out into the night when she knew she wasn’t ready, but that part of her mind was barely audible at the current moment.

Perhaps if she had remained alone with Martha for a few minutes longer, she may have been quietly talked into properly preparing. Her thoughts were already swimming with doubt, perhaps she could’ve been convinced to not go out into the night at all. However, she saw movement in the upper landing. It wasn’t the Beast, had she looked for more than a mere moment she would’ve seen that fact clearly, but her mind was moving too fast for that. Her panic restarted as if it was fresh. She could not remain here. She just couldn't.

“I’m sorry!” Were her last words before she dashed out the door. Her flight was seen by an already panicked Tom and Mot who had been desperately hoping to find her before any sort of altercation could happen between her and the Beast, only to realise they were now far too late. All three cursed individuals that witnessed the scene had a different kind of devastation run through them. They were doomed. None reacted in quite the same way.

“Capsize!” Tom called out, hopping as quickly as he could out the door after her. Her horse was in the stables. She’d need to saddle it to ride back to town, and he had to hope she was planning to ride and not just run. He had to still have time to try and persuade her, to beg her to stay. Neither of the others even tried to stop him. Neither had any belief he’d be able to bring her back either, but there was no point in stopping him from trying.

Mot wanted to follow, he really did, but he could not feel anything but a numb pessimism. He wished that he could just be disappointed, angry that he had once again put his faith in the Beast and that he had been so thoroughly let down. However, he couldn’t feel anything but numb as it was not only his fate that was sealed by Capsize leaving, but Alyssa’s was too. His daughter would never be human again. Neither would the champion and princess he was trusted to watch over. The sorrow and guilt combined into a numbness. All their fates were being sealed in that moment, how was he meant to feel anything else?

Martha, meanwhile, found herself completely frozen with thoughts far away from their fates. Instead, all her thoughts latched onto a memory of a time that felt almost like a dream now. Years before the curse, a good handful of years before even she found herself taking residence in the castle, back when for a few months between travels she had been staying with her father. Her mind had been lingering on those particular few months in the past few days, a fact she had attributed to simply missing her father and being reminded of that fact more by the arrival of someone with such a close family relationship to this cursed place. It was only now though that it finally clicked.

She had met her before. The woman had been young, still a child, she hadn’t realised until now. She had been brought to her father, looking very much like she suspected herself in trouble, as the woman that had brought her there questioned him about the young girl’s possible connection to Lady Ianite. To be honest, she hadn’t paid much attention, it had seemed like a private affair after all, but it was clear to her now that child had grown up to be Capsize.

That realisation, however, left her with a deep sickly nausea rising within her, the sort she had not felt since losing her human form, because she remembered what her father had offhandedly mentioned about the girl. How had someone that had talked to Lady Ianite ended up here? A messenger of the very god that cursed them. Could it really be a consequence? But the woman certainly didn’t seem like she had been sent here intentionally. She seemed like she had no idea what was going on, but that just left Martha with further questions. However, there was an even worse fear that came into her mind now she had realised this fact about the woman. The woods were dangerous, that was the exact reason she had tried to talk her into staying, but if she truly was one of the goddess’ favoured, what would that mean if she didn’t make it back to the town? The goddess had already cursed them for one woman’s slight, what would she do if the same woman’s anger led her messenger into harm’s way? Ironically, Martha could only pray that they would never find out.

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It was no longer than ten minutes before Tom re-entered the completely dejected as Capsize rode away from the castle. The most interesting person he’d had to talk to in years and she’d left in fear. He honestly wasn’t sure if he was more upset about the fact that he’d be stuck as an object for the rest of time, or that he was losing someone he had seen as a friend. It was almost certainly the former, not much could bring down a person’s mood like knowing they were stuck with a terrible fate, but he couldn’t help but think about her clear unhappiness whether she talked about the town and how she was riding right back into the life she clearly disliked. Really, how could such a fact sit easily in his mind?

It was only around another ten minutes later that all the living furniture were gathered together in the kitchen. It was incredibly rare for them to all actually be in one room, but at the current moment it has seemed a good idea to all gather in one place. Originally, they had been attempting to form some kind of plan, but that very quickly stopped as the mood succumbed to the inescapable truth of the curse. That wasn’t to say that the room was silent, but the talking that was actually taking place was, well, anger and annoyance that hadn’t been directed towards each other for years once again causing sparks.

“Why do you even have an opinion? You didn’t even meet her!” Steve was not quite yelling, though he was certainly more riled up than he had been in years. It was unsurprising to the others that Wag and Steve had so quickly started arguing, the two had never gotten along. However, they had not interacted for years at this point, after all it was quite easy for the wizard turned fabric to avoid someone that was literally stuck to a wall. Now they were actually in the same room, their dislike of each other had quickly rebloomed and it was easier by far for Steve to yell at him than to actually confront the actual painful situation they were all stuck in.

“Well, I’m just as affected by her leaving as you so I should get some kind of opinion. Besides, it’s not as if me meeting her would’ve changed the outcome,” The robe shrugged, fabric flopping around as he did so. His nonchalance only annoyed the stove more. The rest of those gathered were frankly exhausted, not just from the bickering, though it certainly did not raise their moods. Most of them had tried to interrupt the arguing at some point, though none had had any success in stopping it. Normally Martha would’ve yelled at the two to actually act like adults, but she simply didn’t have the energy at this moment. “I know it’s a little hard for you to know what’s going on in the castle, but I have been working on breaking the curse.”

“Oh of course you have! Working on some magical solution. Go on, tell us all about the way you’ve figured out that’ll put us all back to normal,” He didn’t hold back his disdain. The amount of disrespect he’d suffered prior to the curse from the princess for not having any magical abilities. He’d only put up with liking magic at all because of Martha, because of the friends he had in the castle. He’d had his annoyances towards magic, and particularly the wizard and the princess even prior to the curse, but then he had been magically fused to a wall. Unsurprising that left a man with more than a little resentment. “No, you can’t, because you haven’t found a solution, because magic is what got us into this mess in the first place!”

“No, the Beast is what got us all into this mess in the first place!” Alyssa spoke full of annoyance, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. She didn’t care if she was being improper, or whatever it was that everyone used to lecture her about. She was so entirely done with being respectful about the Beast, about this curse. She was always expected to be nice and polite. She had been expected to bite her tongue when her dad was being disrespected. The number of lectures she’d gotten from Martha about proper etiquette and manners she was meant to have, while the one she was meant to use such things around barely used them herself. She was so bored of it all. “It has nothing to do with magic. If she’d just let an old woman stay for a night, we’d all be fine!”

“I mean, she isn’t that bad…” Andor said quietly. His words were somewhat undermined by his current form, though he did truly mean them, as much as they were not much of a compliment. Alyssa rolled her eyes. How many times has she heard such a line? It was always some variant on not so bad as if that was the highest compliment in the world.

“She got us all cursed and has now chased off the one person who could’ve broken said curse. If she isn’t that bad, then who is?” She huffed. Her words were met with silence, none quite knowing what to say. Mot wanted to comfort her, but what could he say? He certainly couldn’t deny her words, and he certainly couldn’t blame her for them. How much of her life had been spent as an object rather than a person? He didn’t want to blame the Beast, obviously he didn’t, since she hadn’t even been an adult yet when she had triggered the curse. She had been old enough to know better, to act kinder, but still a child nonetheless. He could not place the blame fully on her, so he took on that guilt himself as much as he knew saying such a thing would only cause his daughter to lay more blame upon her.

Outside the kitchen, the Beast stood frozen, hearing the words she was not meant to hear. She deserved their dislike. She knew that she did. That’s why she needed to break the curse. She deserved her fate, but she needed to start taking responsibility for her actions and that meant attempting to fix the effects of the curse on them. She had no idea if her idea would work, though as she gripped the mirror tightly, she hoped beyond hope that it would because there was nothing else that she could do at this point. But… she needed to do it in front of them. She’d chicken out if she tried alone. However, she also couldn’t bring herself to enter the kitchen. She had already let them down once that night, what would happen if she did so again?

“Mistress, you should come inside,” Martha said, her tone hollow in her exhaustion, but loud enough to gain everyone’s attention. She knew that she had been lingering for a number of minutes, which she regretted not mentioning until now as she realised, she likely should’ve warned Alyssa, but she had not really been in the headspace to register such things. She was far too drained from the realisation she had had as the woman was leaving, one she knew she could not reveal to anyone for fear of what it meant, for how it would change things. Besides, it was not as if warnings had ever dissuaded the teenage flowerpot from speaking her mind before, still she could not stand the fear that appeared on Mot. Perhaps she should be scared too with what the Beast’s anger she had done today, but she simply could not muster it.

The Beast entered the room hunched inwards, the fact that this was intentional on her part to try and avoid looking any of them in the eyes, to hide the shame she felt at her actions that night, at first hidden by her need to duck to enter the room at all. It was impossible for her to look small, especially to the rest of the castle’s residences in their current forms, but still she tried to make herself tiny so she could not be stared at. She couldn’t look at any of them, sure they were all staring at her in anger and knowing she would feel all the worse if they weren’t angry. The idea that they might still see her as possible of being better, that any of them were disappointed rather than angry or resentful being the thing she wanted to confront the least.

“I’m sorry,” She said. Her voice was rough, all the hopelessness that had wormed its way into her spilling out in her tone. Though still almost a growl, she sounded so much more human in this moment, and that made listening to herself all the harder. There was an indecisive look between Tom and Mot. They wanted to confront her, but both knew she needed to speak on her own accord, else she may never try again. It did look like she may retreat at any moment, though at the same time she was almost painfully still. All she could think about was that everything was completely over for her, so she had to try and fix some part of this. “I’ve… I’ve ruined everything for you all. I don’t expect any of you to forgive me, but I…”

She couldn’t say the words she wanted to, it felt far too much like justifying. She pulled up the mirror to actually be able to see herself in it, forcing herself to look at her reflection. She hated seeing it, the horns, fur, and fangs. She hated that she could not fully remember the face that was meant to be staring back, the portraits that could’ve served as reminders were long since torn apart. However, on this night she forced herself to keep her eyes open and to look at the monster that stared back, it was not as if looking at herself made her feel any more ashamed than that she deserved for her actions tonight.

“I’m going to try and fix what I did to you all,” Her voice felt weak as she tried to believe what she was about to do would do anything. The furniture looked between themselves, though none said a word. There were words that some wanted to say, of course, some gentle some not, but none actually did. There was such a fragility. It was as if a single word would shatter the moment that continued to drag on. The Beast kept staring into the mirror, the last beads of hope within her hooked with frayed thread to this idea. “Show me Lady—”

A distant noise cut off every thought in her head as if it was right next to her. Her ears pricked up and focused as soon as she heard the howls, far closer to the castle than they normally would be. She had heard them like this a few nights ago, though covered by the rain. She had had no reason to care, no reason to think any of it. Expect for now it made her blood run cold as she remembered painfully the words of the man. She had not cared about any of his excuses when she had been dragging him to the cell, but she remembered them, his cries of having been attacked by wolves. Her entire focus shifted.

“Show me her—the woman! Show me Capsize!” She desperately spoke to the mirror, an impending terror of what her rash actions might have caused. The amount of time it took for the mirror to actually work and form the image was agony, but that agony did not leave her when the image actually formed. Rather than the terrible images in her imagination being proven false, she saw them in front of her. No, this couldn’t—she couldn’t let her be hurt because of her. She dropped the mirror, bounding out the room on all fours, focused now on nothing but reaching her in time.

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Capsize barely managed to shift her body to land on her good side as she was thrown from Phillipe, the shock of hitting the cold, frost-hardened ground coming in a quick wave of pain that quickly dulled but didn’t disappear. She did not have time to focus on it. She had to get back onto her horse and away from the attacking pack of animals as quickly as possible. Her horse that was currently panicking as wolves were quickly surrounding him. The horse that only hadn’t fled already as his reins had become tangled around a tree’s branches keeping him stuck in place. The horse that currently had her cane strapped to her saddle and she had been thrown an uncomfortable distance from. She tried not to focus on how utterly screwed she was. She wasn’t going to die here, so she needed to do something.

She grabbed the first thing she could feasibly use as a weapon, the frost covering the fallen tree branch unpleasant against her bare skin in a way she just had to ignore. She had known it was stupid to leave without preparation. She had known it was too cold and too dark for her to just leave, but fear had overwritten those thoughts, and had been louder than the voices both within her own head and from others telling her to stay. It had been rash and reckless, and where had it gotten her? Dashing with a painful limp to hit away wolves from trying to attack her horse.

As she swung the branch, knocking them back at least a little, the wolves quickly changed their focus. Very quickly, rather than leaping at Phillipe, they were leaping at her. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her arms swinging as the growls turned onto her. Her thoughts were run by simply knowing if she didn’t, she would not be alive to see the sunrise. And that kept her going until one of the wolves leapt up at face. She swung the branch wildly, knocking the creature back with a sharp crack and a whine. However, the crack was not from an injury she had caused. Only half the branch remained in her hands, splintered and useless and the other half had been thrown back with the wolf.

She stood frozen, completely frozen, attempting to come up with anything she could do. She tried to scramble for another branch, but ended up dragged to the ground as a wolf grabbed her coat. Her left leg was painfully twisted in the process, completely ruining any tiny chance she had of getting back up. She let out an unhelpful, pitiful sob as she tried desperately to think of something to do. Another wolf leapt at her. She threw up her arms as the only shield she had. She awaited the pain of a bite.

It never came. There was a wave of air as the wolf was thrown away from her. It was so sudden that she didn’t stop bracing for impact until something else touched her. Stood in a protective stance, growling at all the wolves, was the Beast. She almost thought she was dreaming. It didn’t feel real that the reason she had been scared enough to land in this situation in the first place was now standing protecting her. She had saved her life.

The wolves changed their target as she threw back another one, focused on the larger threat rather than the easy pickings they had originally been targeting. As they began to circle her, Fox roared ready for a fight. Capsize tried to process everything but found herself completely unable. So instead, she stood up. There was a wave of pain she hadn’t felt for a long time shot through her as she stood, the weight on her left leg far more painful than it had been a minute ago. She tried to push that fact to the back of her mind, as hard as such a thing was, and pushed herself to move back to Phillipe.

Despite only being a few feet, it was painful, the lingering fears of what she had done to her already weak leg haunting her with every step. The only other thing to focus on was the growls, grunts, and whines coming as the wolves pounced at and attacked Fox, which wasn’t exactly something more pleasant to focus on. Despite the leg pain certainly being worse, if she could choose to ignore one, it would certainly be the noises. She tried to focus on Phillip as she found herself now in front of the horse, stroking his neck with shaking heads to calm him before untangling his reins. As she did, she knew that she should leave now, while she had the opportunity and distraction to make good progress back to town, but instead she found herself transfixed on the wolves and Fox.

The wolves had encircled her, lunging at her with claws and teeth as she fought against them. She seemed so powerful, batting away the wild creatures as if their attacks were nothing. However, some still broke through her defence, managing to claw or bite her, though Capsize struggled to know if they were actually doing any damage as she never reacted to any of it. She tried not to pay attention, to instead focus on escaping while she still could. An opportunity she was sure was fleeting by the second as, after one took a particularly nasty hit from Fox, the wolves begun to flee.

She stared at Fox, wondering how much time she had before she was forcefully dragged back to the castle. She expected her to start looming towards her, braced herself for it in fact, but what she feared didn’t actually happen. Instead, she looked at her, blood covered her right arm. She wasn’t glaring as she had been earlier, there wasn’t anger or anything of the sort, in fact her gaze barely seemed to reach her. It was so unlike anything Capsize had seen from her within their few meetings. She kept staring, trying to figure out why she seemed so different. Her features seemed lighter, and her expression almost sorrowful. And then she collapsed.

Capsize grabbed her cane from the saddle, rushing over to the Beast. Crouching, ignoring the aching pain in her leg telling her such an action was a bad idea, she examined her arm. Her stomach turned as half-hidden by blood matted fur was an injury that she just couldn’t tell in this darkness how bad it was. Her breath shook as she tried to process the sight. She had been injured protecting her. If Fox hadn’t turned up, she surely would have died, but instead she was lying unconscious on the floor of the woods. She wasn’t going to get any better out here in the cold. Capsize had no idea what she should do. No, actually she had a very distinct idea of what she should do, but every fibre of her being was telling her it was a stupid idea.

She should just leave. She should go back to the town, find her brother, and go about her life as if she hadn’t been missing for days. Back to that boring life surrounded by people who made her question everything about herself being constantly bothered by a man who she absolutely couldn’t stand. Wouldn’t that be easier? Was that what she should do? At the very least, it was the logical thing to do. She was a prisoner, wasn’t she? She should escape now that she’d been given such a good opportunity to do so. But she wasn’t scared anymore. Or rather, she was scared in a very different way. She was scared of what was going to happen to someone who had saved her life. Regardless of circumstances, she could not bring herself to abandon her. She sighed. She could only imagine what Redbeard, Jeriah, or Ianite would say if they knew the decision she was making, but she knew she would only have regrets if she left someone, regardless of who they were, in such a situation when she could’ve helped.

It was going to be a long walk back. One she knew she would likely regret when she actually rested as, while having her cane to support her was certainly helping, the fall had not done her leg any favours. However, there clearly was not any other choice. Given that she was unconscious, Phillipe would need to carry Fox. There was no way he could carry both of them without a cart, so she would just have to be on foot. She was, ironically, quite relieved that she had not made it far in her escape attempt. While she might be stuck in the cold and dark, she would be back to the castle sooner rather than later. She did not like how that statement reassured her. There were a thousand questions poking into her mind as she guided her horse with a sleeping beast on its back back towards where they had just fled from. She didn’t understand why she did not fear going back there, but as she looked towards Fox, she knew she was doing the right thing. Though that didn’t shift the tightness in her chest nearly as much as she wished it would.

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The world came back to the Beast in groggily bursts at first. Noises and sensations, but not actual wakefulness. The first time she actually felt awake, the first thing she acknowledged was that she was moving, the second was that her arm was filled with the worst pain she had ever felt. The second thing quickly became her only focus as it was sharp and biting as opposed to the rest of the world that was foggy and far away. She groaned, the noise escaping her as a low growl as she tried to move, but still was not awake enough to have the strength. Whatever had been moving her stopped. There was, for a moment, nothing in the world except for the pain in her arm and the cold wind hitting against her body, only partly shielded by her fur.

“We’re almost back, just a few more minutes,” She heard a reassuring voice, one that steadied her mind as the movement began again. The woman was safe, she didn’t need to worry about having caused someone death. Though, why would she be hearing her voice? Surely, she had continued her journey back home, to the normal life that she deserved, once she had fallen unconscious. So maybe she was just dreaming, dreaming that the woman would be trying to help her. Wouldn’t that be nice. That was the explanation her mind settled on as she drifted, and she was asleep once again.

The next time she woke up, everything was far clearer, and she realised her explanation did not make sense. As she opened her eyes and had the strength to look around, she saw she was in the castle’s grounds, the thick rose bushes surrounding her. Why was she back? She had been in the woods, by all means she was alone, so how had she gotten back? She looked up, her head momentarily dizzy before the actual things she saw brought her back into control as if she had been physically shocked. She was slumped over the woman’s horse, hanging over the animal as she had clearly been carried onto it while she was asleep. The woman was on the steps, rushing to open the doors. She had brought her back. It was an undeniable fact, but it did not fit right in her head. There was no reason for her to have done so, no reason the woman should’ve come back at all. Unless did she really…? No, no. There was no reason for this to have happened, so the Beast decided she was going to ignore it.

She stood, her legs feeling weaker than they should. Her steps were shaky, her arm was killing her, but she had no reason to stay out here any longer. She should just go back to the West Wing and lick her wounds, leave the woman to do whatever she wanted, leave and go back to her life. As she walked, the cold air quickly killed her wooziness. The horse startled a little as she walked past it, an expected reaction that unfortunately got the woman’s attention. Widened eyes met her as the woman turned and saw her moving, though they did not have the fear they had contained earlier. However, the look did nothing to quell the Beast’s thoughts, she could not bring herself to believe she was actually concerned.

Capsize found herself distracted from her original task of opening the door, concerned more that the Beast may fall again than the fact she was moving towards her. She moved down a couple of steps, attempting to figure out if she should say something or help her, but she found herself being brushed past without so much of a look. There was a brief moment of confusion, wondering if she should have expected anything else. Something had been different, hadn’t it? When she came to save her, the moment before she had collapsed, something had been different. And something, at least to her, was still different, as the fear that had previously always been at the back of her mind when being around Fox was no longer there, but it seemed as if Fox was not willing to act as if anything had changed. Capsize turned as the doors were opened behind her, following the Beast as quickly as she could, unsure if the concern she felt was still reasonable.

“If you’re awake, your arm needs to—”

“You’re back! You’re safe!” She was cut off by a very relieved Tom as she entered the room, Fox not giving a single look towards either of them as she proceeded to the stairs as if there was nothing to be said. Maybe there wasn’t, maybe she should just let her stalk off to wherever she wanted and deal with her injury alone, but she couldn’t do that. Whether she wanted her help or not, her wound needed to be treated and Capsize was the only person in this castle with hands. What would’ve been the point of bringing her back, if she just went off and let her wound fester and get infected? Still, Capsize decided not to ignore Tom.

“Yes, I’m fine, just cold and had a bit of a fall. But she—”

“Get her a change of clothes and make sure her fire is lit,” The Beast said, aiming her words and gaze at Tom. She could tell the woman’s clothes were not nearly thick enough to have protected her from the night air, and her fall into the frost must have left them at least slightly damp. By now, she must surely be freezing. If she gave Tom the task of making sure she warmed up, it’d distract the two and stop word from spreading about their return, at least for long enough for her to rest off the pain. That was her thoughts as she turned around, intending to go back to the West Wing and sleep.

“Are you being serious?” Capsize’s incredulous voice stopped her from continuing to leave. She turned around to see her staring with a frown and a glare laced with a very different kind of anger than she was used to seeing from anyone, let alone the woman. It was not quite enough to make her change her mind on her plans, but it was certainly enough to leave questions in her head. Why did she look like she cared? Capsize, with an absolute annoyance that the person she was talking to apparently had so little care about her own health, took a step forward. “Your arm has a massive wound on it. It needs treatment.”

“I’ll deal with it,” She tried to deflect, to ignore whatever concern she was imagining in the woman’s tone. Capsize scoffed. She couldn’t understand such an attitude. No, actually she very much could. It was her own attitude of just pretending everything was fine to her own detriment. It was the very same attitude that had slowed and damaged her own chances of recovery. She took a few more steps forward, to the point that she was now standing on the bottom step of the grand staircase. Yes, she was cold and frankly her leg was killing her, but she could deal with both of those things at the same time as making sure Fox’s arm was probably looked after. Her determined expression should not have been intimidating. Logically there was no reason the Beast should find any person intimidating as she towered over even the tallest of them, and certainly processed more strength than any of them. She was a good two feet taller than the woman looking up at her and would certainly win against her in any physical contest. However, it was the look on her face, one that made it so clear that she was the one in charge, making her completely unable to look away.

“Just let me help you,” She said, her voice clears in such a way that the Beast knew she couldn’t say no to her. She had a look of authority that simply seemed to exist. Like she knew just by instinct that she should not be questioned. It almost offended the Beast. This was her castle, her authority shouldn’t be questioned, she was the one who should be in charge, but she could not bring herself to be. What she actually felt, well, she couldn’t quite describe it. However, she could not ignore the woman’s request, not when she could still feel her eyes boring into her. She huffed.

“Fine but get changed first. I’m not having you collapse from the cold; it’d just make you a hindrance,” She growled before stalking off in a direction away from the West Wing. Tom blinked in disbelief. She was still being rude, but she’d actually accepted help rather than yelling that she knew best, and she should just listen to her. That meant something, didn’t it? Even if it didn’t, it certainly excited him despite the situation it had occurred in. He hopped up to Capsize.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re back,” He said, giving her a smile. She smiled back despite her thoughts being filled with confusion. Despite everything, she was glad to be back, glad to see Tom. She had made friends here, more than she had had back in the town. Maybe that was foolish of her, but… maybe she had had too much activity and excitement in the day to actually process such thoughts.

“I’m glad to see you,” She said, sure of that at least. The rest of the situation she was less sure about. She had no idea why she felt the need to help the Beast. Yes, she had saved her life, but that wasn’t enough to make her feel indebted to her, after all she wouldn’t have needed to be saved in the first place if not for her. She should by all means leave the stubborn beast to her own devices, if she didn’t want help, she did not need to provide it, but unfortunately, she couldn't bring herself to actually do that. Or, maybe not unfortunately, her thoughts on the subject were a little unfocused.

She shivered, maybe she was colder than she thought. Well, she remembered there being spare clothes in her room. She had no idea why, given that they certainly wouldn’t fit anyone who lived here, but she was appreciative of the oddity at this moment. If she was going to remain here, she might as well use them and figure out the mystery behind it later.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Despite the woman’s words, the Beast did not expect to actually see her again that night. She was sure she would realise that helping her was a lost cause and would instead go to rest. Yet, still had still slumped off into her actual bedroom rather than her study turned den in the West Wing she didn’t want to force the woman to enter again. She almost didn’t recognise the place. How many years had it been since she was here last? She had entered it since the curse, though not many times before she stopped using it as it just stood as another reminder to her of her lost humanity. The room was not in disrepair as her enchantments were still strong, cleaning and keeping the room dust free despite how she had not dared to enter the place in years. The fireplace lit at her presence, a warm glow illuminating the room. It all felt as familiar as it was alien, a piece of the past where she no longer belonged. Her possessions still littered the room, books open, pens and inks abandoned mid note taking, all still fresh as if she had abandoned the place hours ago rather than years. There was a part of herself that wanted to leave immediately, so she could ignore the memories of the past that the place was bringing to the front of her mind, but her exhaustion won out against that idea.

She looked towards the bed, made and welcoming, but she ended up slumping onto the rug in front of the fire. She lent on her right arm at first, an uncharacteristic yelp escaping her as she put just a bit too much pressure on it. She took a sharp breath and grunted as if she wasn’t in pain despite having no one to try and cover for. She curled up in front of the fire, staring at the flames as they danced around giving her warmth that she didn’t need due to her fur but still appreciated. Despite the amount of time the room had sat abandoned, familiar smells still lingered. The magical wood burning nearly overwhelmed the lingering scent of the odd fruit blossom that she originally used in the wards that ran the room's magic. It was still there though, still clinging on and reminding her how excited she was when magical research wasn’t just some desperate hope that she was clinging to to solve a mess she created. She had been so young, still using common ingredients in her experiments as she had not yet gained the confidence to use anything rare in case it ended up wasted; still messing around with Tom rather than seeing him as a distraction. When did she lose those feelings, that passion? If she could, she’d retreat back to those times, not change. Though, for once, her memories felt pleasant rather than an uncomfortable reminder of how terribly she had failed.

For once, she did not mind being lost in the memories as, even with the melancholy undertone they had now that she was stuck in this form, they were still a nice distraction from the unpleasantness the night had brought both physically and emotionally. Her arms still ached, though it was easy enough to ignore as long as she kept it still. Granted, this was not a great solution, but it wasn’t as if she actually knew what to do. She’d never gotten an injury like this one, one that felt serious. Obviously she knew that she shouldn’t have tried to reject the help offered by the woman, but she just couldn't ignore the pit in her stomach whether she was with her. She couldn’t quite describe it. She wanted to pretend that it was guilt for having led her into danger, but it had been there before tonight. She knew what it really was, like she knew the real reason she had allowed the woman to stay instead of her brother, but she didn’t want to acknowledge those thoughts. She just wanted to stay away from the feeling, even if it meant hoping that her injury would magically heal on its own. It was not as if the woman would actually come and help anyway.

However, despite her sureness that she would be alone for the night and that would be for the best, she was not disappointed to look over when she heard the door open and see Capsize standing there. In fact, she found herself staring at her, mostly out of disbelief that she actually came despite how clear she had been about her intentions, but also because she looked so nice. Not that she hadn’t looked nice before, but she had changed now, and well, the outfit suited her. It was still simple, as her previous clothes had been, a soft shirt and a long deep blue wool skirt, but both pieces were decorated with beautiful embroidery and not worn so often that the colours had begun to fade. She didn’t recognise either piece. Had they been Martha’s? The Beast reasoned they must have been, though they fit Capsize so well that she could not imagine them having been tailored for anyone else.

There was the briefest softening on the woman’s features before she turned serious again. Not stern nor angry, but merely just a look of knowing she had a task she must do. Still though, she almost hesitated to enter the room, just almost, but as quickly as that thought sat in her mind, she shook it away. It was not as if she was unwanted or uninvited, and even if she was, the wound needed treatment so she would do what she must. With a breath to steady herself, she entered into the room hoping that the supplies she had gathered would be enough. As she did her eyes were drawn to Fox, her form slumped on the floor. She did not look small, Capsize doubted she ever could, but she certainly was not the large looming creature she had been previously. Perhaps that’s why worry formed rather than fear. As, while she was at least awake, her arm was clearer in the firelight and not easy to look at with the amount of blood covering it. As she walked across the room, the tea cart she had gathered supplies on followed her as it had followed the furniture on her first night here.

The Beast was unsure if she should move or try to help the woman in some way currently unknown to her. Unsure, she merely shifted away as Capsize took a place in an armchair by the fire. They were closer together than they had been at any point during the past few days, and she hesitated to move any closer. Yet, after Capsize poured water from a metal kettle into a china basin, she looked up at Fox confused.

“You know, we’re going to need to be next to each other for me to be able to do this,” She said with the smallest amount of confusion hidden in her tone. Fox knew that her face flushed, though thankfully that fact was hidden by her fur. She was already embarrassed enough as she shifted her position to be sat in front of Capsize without blushing like an idiot. She sat in such a position that she could place her arm on her lap, but she was still facing the fire so she could ignore the world and that suited her just fine.

Being ignored suited Capsize well enough as well. It was better for her to actually focus on the task, even if there were pressing questions in her mind. After all, she still had no idea how bad the wound actually was and that wasn’t going to change until she got to work, even if she was a little unsure where to begin. She was experienced enough in first aid, it was kind of a requirement of a lifestyle where you’re always travelling, as well as one where you need to make sure you haven’t injured yourself terribly while recovering from an already serious wound. However, she had never actually done any sort of first aid on animals, as awkward as she felt comparing Fox to such a thing when she could talk and seemed built far more like a person than any animal she had ever seen, but really, how was she meant to deal with fur? All of it up to her elbow was matted with dried blood and it was near impossible to tell where the wound actually was, but she guessed cleaning up the arm was the first task regardless of any other questions she might have.

The task was quiet, just the occasional splash of water as she rinsed off the cloth she was using. She found herself concentrating, making sure to be gentle as she could as she had no idea where the wound was. The Beast found herself struggling to stay focused on the flames. She was being treated so gently. Why? Why was she going out of her way to help her? The questioning felt almost as bad as the wound, like some false hope had wormed its way inside her head. She almost did question, the words forming then rearranging in her head, but a sharp pain interrupting her thoughts pushing out everything else in her head.

She yelled, short and sharp though it still sounded more akin to a roar and yanked her arm away. Capsize didn’t quite flinch. She hadn’t expected to find the wound so soon, but she had hoped she was being gentle enough. Clearly, she was mistaken. There likely wasn’t any amount of gentle enough for a wound to not at least sting when being cleaned. Still, she couldn’t just stop because of that.

“You need to keep still,” She said, sternly but not without sympathy. She understood the pain of getting wounds treated, obviously she did, but there wasn’t really anything she could do about that. Thankfully, despite the fact that it had initially looked a mess, the actual wounds were not all that deep. There were three long scratches, but they seemed manageable. The Beast tried to bite back her frustration. She didn’t want to yell, didn’t want any sort of repeat of their previous interactions, but she also didn’t want to be around anyone. Her arm hurt, even with the careful actions touching the wound sent even more waves of pain through it. She wanted to be alone, completely alone, to just wallow and ignore the fact that anything is wrong. And, seeing that her commands had not been listened to by the woman in the slightest, the only thing she could think to do was yell and insult until she left of her own accord. “I know it hurts, but it’ll sting less and go quicker if you stay still.”

“It wouldn’t hurt at all if you hadn’t run off,” She said, deliberately trying to sound harsh. She watched the woman’s face flatten, her eyebrows lowered, and she frowned. But she didn’t leave, she just sighed.

“I wouldn’t have run if you hadn’t frightened me,” She said, barely raising her voice. She didn’t have the fear of Fox she previously did, and frankly was not in the mood for whatever argument she wanted to have. She was not going to take being yelled at and blamed for this situation. Though she was, frankly, confused by why the Beast was acting this way. She must surely care at least in some way, else she wouldn’t have saved her in the first place, but at the same time she seemed almost resentful towards her being in the castle at all despite that being entirely her fault. “And no matter who you think is responsible, the pain isn’t going to stop unless your wound gets treated. So, I would suggest that you sit still and let me help you.”

“I--!” She tried to come up with any argument, anyway, to be belligerent and get her to leave. However, looking at her she shrank back down. There was something about Capsize that made her feel as though she had to listen, like there was no question that she was the one in charge. It was almost overwhelming how confident she seemed, but she wasn’t cold, just clear. She could not find the words nor the will to argue against her, so she just silently put her arm back. She should hate the feeling, this was her castle, she was the one in charge! Yet… she did not mind. There was something about how the woman looked at her, not like she was a noble nor a monster that was so fascinating and gave her such a warm feeling that she would not chance changing it. Though she knew that it would change, at least if she did not change the way that she had been acting, with her yelling and allowing her frustrations to get the better of her. What exactly was she meant to do though? Tom would say that she should do some grand gesture to get romance going, but this definitely didn’t feel like the moment to do anything of the sort. She knew, as she looked at the focused woman, that she needed to say something. She had to try to fix the situation that she had created. “I’m sorry for yelling at you… and for scaring you…”

“Thank you,” Capsize looked up for a moment, almost unsure what to make of what sounded like a genuine apology especially as Fox was looking down at the floor. She had not spoken so softly before, even the first night her gentler words had been interlaced with growling and yelling. She seemed so vulnerable for the first time. Capsize placed a gentle hand atop her paw. “And thank you for saving my life.”

“You… you don’t need to thank me for that,” She said, so quietly that it was only audible because they were right not to each other. The Beast did not want to admit that she had been terrified upon realising the danger she had been in, that she was beyond glad that she received a major injury rather than her. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing to admit, but she did not feel in any way safe in saying it. Capsize tried to look at her, but she was still looking into the fire and avoiding her eyes. She chewed a little on the inside of her cheek as she looked back down at the injury and continued to treat the injury. Only then did the Beast speak again. “Why did you come back? You could’ve left and gone back to your life.”

“Well, whether you want to be thanked or not, I wasn’t going to abandon someone who saved my life,” She said, quite sure of her words, but hesitant to say the rest of the truth. She did not want there to be any mistake about the unfairness of the circumstances for her being here. She still was not happy about her freedom being taken, even if she had willingly come back, but she also knew the truth in her own thoughts. The life she had been living, the one she had given up in order to remain here, was not the life that she missed and resented losing. But did that really need to be said out loud? Likely not, but perhaps it would make clear that her help was not some form of paid debt. “And there was not much for me to go back to. Aside from my brother, I only had one friend. I can’t exactly say I had much love for that town.”

“Oh, I… I’m…”

“Don’t be sorry, Fox. It’s an unfortunate fact, but it’s not like you had anything to do with it,” She said, trying to laugh and sound as neutral as possible about the situation so as to not give away how much the town actually bothered her, how there was some part of her glad to never see the place again. However, for the first time since entering the room, her face was not quite steady. There was a clear frown, and while she had tried to stop them, a tear was rolling down her cheek. And the Beast found herself staring, wishing more than anything that she could cheer her up. She couldn’t understand how she could only have a single friend when she was so kind, so needlessly kind. She was a monster, a beast who had taken her prisoner and she was helping her and… she had called her Fox. She could call her monster and it would be completely reasonable, but she didn’t. What had been wrong with that town to not want to treat her kindly? And Fox thought of her own actions, and realised she needed to do something, however small, to make up for them. And something sprung to mind, something she had been keeping hidden for such a long time.

“Anyone who rejects your friendship is clearly a fool. You’ve only been here a few days and I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone so happy,” She said. Capsize laughed a little, a sound that made the room feel lighter. It was enough to almost make the Beast feel confident in saying her next words. Almost. “And I should know myself… I’ve been terrible, and I know that it’s not possible to start over, but… let me introduce myself properly. My name is Sonja.”

It felt wrong to say out loud after so long of rejecting her own name like she had rejected every remainder of her humanity. Capsize looked not quite in shock, but definitely in confusion. She had suspected that Fox had not been entirely truthful about her lack of name, but she had not expected it to be so ordinary. Their eyes met briefly, the Beast quickly looking away as she still felt shameful. She wished she could hide or take her words back. But that wasn’t a choice she actually had. Instead, she just had to continue on.

“I’ve not used it in years, but if you—”

“Why?” Capsize questioned before actually thinking about how inappropriate such a question might be. The Beast knew she couldn’t tell the whole story, that her name was a remnant of a human that no longer existed, but she needed to say something. She couldn’t keep avoiding topics because she wanted to ignore them.

“It is not a name for a beast,” Her voice betrayed her grief. She hated what she had become, but it was so much easier to try and forget and cast away her previous self than have the crushing feeling of longing for it back and knowing she never could. Capsize heard her tone and, though she had no idea its actual cause, she understood the grief all the same.

“Perhaps not…” She started, wishing she had fully formed her thoughts before starting to speak as she saw the way Fox shrank away. It felt wrong for her not to yell, and indeed it felt far worse. But she needed to actually think, because she did not want to say empty words. “But I doubt many people would say my name is one for a woman. Names aren’t rewards; you don’t need to be deserving to have one. And, for whatever it’s worth, I think Sonja is a nice name.”

The Beast looked back at her, not quite believing what she had heard. She was met with Capsize genuinely smiling at her. A small smile, but it was warmer and lighter than the fire burning beside them. And, for the first time in years, Sonja smiled too.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefoxx #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #foxxsize #martha the mystic #tom syndicate #mot screziato #farmer steve #alyssa screziato #prince andor #waglington

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Ten - If I Can't Love Her

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

It took three days for the moment to arrive, for Capsize to be sure that Fox had left the West Wing. She’d been tempted to explore it at certain moments before, when she had thought she’d heard footsteps retreating to different parts of the castle, but she had never been completely sure before this moment that the West Wing was actually empty. She’d seen her through a window, retreating off somewhere into the castle’s grounds, and that meant her opportunity had finally come. She was going to find out what secrets were being kept from her. She just needed to get in and out quietly, a task that seemed like it was going to be much more difficult than she anticipated as Tom had decided to follow her.

“I’m telling you, there’s nothing interesting up there,” He said as he hopped after her as she got ever closer to the West Wing. He’d honestly hoped she’d forgotten about it, or just decided it wasn’t worth her time, as she hadn’t mentioned the place since her first night, but obviously that had been optimistic. Obviously, no one was going to forget a mysterious, forbidden wing of a magical castle. He needed to distract her, and he needed to do so quickly, but he’d already shown her the most interesting parts of the castle. All the obviously magical stuff was in the West Wing, and he needed something that would actually impress her, not just seem like he was throwing out random distractions. After all, he liked her, he didn’t want to seem like he was taking the Beast’s side over hers, but he needed to keep her out of trouble. How on earth was he meant to do that?

“Well, if there’s nothing interesting then I won’t be in there for very long,” She said, having thought over that point over quite a bit over the past few days. If there was truly nothing interesting, then she wouldn’t spend more time than required to just give the rooms a quick once over. Of course, she knew there must be something up there. No one would forbid entry to a place for no reason, especially not after staying the whole place is free reign. And perhaps it was just what Martha had said that it was Fox’s living quarters, and she wanted her privacy, but she didn’t understand why that wouldn’t have just been said rather than the yelling. Well, she supposed it wouldn’t be out of character for the Beast to just be aggressive for no reason, but still she wanted to see for herself. She just hoped that Tom would be quiet if he continued to follow her, or that he wouldn’t tell anyone where she’d gone if he didn’t.

“I just don’t think it’s worth trekking through all the dust,” He said, kind of shrugging but not quite having the ability to do so in his current form. Despite his best attempt to sound convincing, Capsize lightly shook her head. She wasn’t going to be dissuaded by anything, she wasn’t even put off by the possible danger at this point. She could see the West Wing now, which was worryingly close for Tom as he was very quickly running out of time to move her attention and person elsewhere. He racked his brain as he hopped after her. There had to be something, anything that would be more interesting to her than a secret forbidden area. Why was his life so hard? “Why don’t we go look around the gardens or… the gallery or…”

He desperately tried to think of anything that would draw her attention as she was steps away from entering the West Wing. He’s interacted with her enough over the past few days to get a basic grasp on her interests, though it was hard to actually think when she was seconds away from trouble. However, something did spring to mind, he just hoped that it’ll be good enough.

“What about the library?” He asked, genuinely unsure if she was even listening at this point. Capsize paused. She turned.

“There’s a library?” She asked, thoroughly distracted as her thoughts almost completely shifted. Books had been her lifeline for so long, something she had found joy in even when she’d felt at her worst, the idea of there being more here than the one she’d brought with her was more than intriguing. Her right leg bounced a little as she thought about it, about the sort of library this place could have, and Tom smiled. Honestly it took him a lot to not sigh in relief that he’d managed to distract her, but he was pretty sure that’d give the game away. And Martha said he never listened to anyone.

“Yes! A giant library stuffed to the brim with books! Any book you can think of, it’s probably in there! Come on I’ll show you!” He said, a little too loud though he was certainly enthusiastic. He gestured for her to follow him before hopping off down the hall.

And Capsize almost did follow him. She almost left behind the mysterious forbidden West Wing. She could so easily follow him, her cane was half off the floor, but she hesitated. She could see the library anytime, but she had no idea when her next opportunity to enter the West Wing would be, especially when right now she could enter completely alone. No matter how much she wanted to see the library, she couldn’t give up her current chance to explore.

Mentally apologising to Tom, she turned back around and began to walk into the darkened wing. There was not an immediate change in atmosphere, though she guessed such a thing wasn’t something that happened in real life. Though she did always have the lingering sense whether she was alone in this place of unease, one that she had no idea if she should attribute to the very real possibility of running into Fox or just the fact that she felt the same sense of not belonging she had felt even prior to being stuck in this place. Though it was not the trapping feeling of unease that she felt as she entered the West Wing. Rather she felt the sort of curiosity that made her chest feel light and caused a small smile on her face despite the weariness she still had. She knew she had to be careful, even if she’d seen Fox outside, she could so easily return at any point, and the last thing she wanted was to be caught in a place that she had been directly told not to go to. Mostly though she felt her heart beating, as there was an undeniable excitement to properly exploring someplace new.

The further she walked, the more obvious it became that this was where Fox spent most of her time. While the castle as a whole had been in a state of abandonment, none of it had seemed any worse for wear. It was just that it seemed unlived in and had a sense of coldness. The corridor she was currently exploring, however, looked far more how she had expected the castle to look from the state of the outside. The walls and floor were covered with claw marks, and most of the furniture looked at the very least splintered if not completely broken. The floor was covered with shreds of fabrics and, most notably, shards of shattered mirrors. Several frames on the walls had broken shards left in the frames, the rest of the glass on the floor. Most of it had been pushed to the side out of the way of, but some still crunched under her foot and others she brushed away with her cane. It was a mess, more so than any part of the castle she had been to thus far, and perhaps she should just a little scared by that fact, but her eyes couldn’t stop searching around for anything hidden from her.

While the rooms were in disrepair, they weren’t abandoned. They felt lived in. A lot of the damage looked old, but it was something real due by someone alive and there wasn’t just damage. Well, it was still damage, but among the claw marks that looked like the typical made by an animal lashing out or just scratching in general, there were carvings that looked like magical runes. Some were on their own, some were carved in long strings, but they all looked like they had been scratched into the wall with some desperation. She ran her hand across one of them, it flickered a little with a glowing magic, but for mere seconds. What were they meant to do? They must’ve been for something important as despite the rough carvings the lines were clear and distinct, and they were carved with such desperation.

Further down the hall, she walked, the damage to her surroundings grew worse. It was also getting darker, as night was drawing in and she’d left herself without a light source. It was still light enough to see, but details were certainly getting lost in shadows, she ran her hand along more of the runes to light up the corridor just a little more. The dim light didn’t bother her too much, but she did manage to scare herself when a pair of eyes came into view. Mildly chastising herself, she realised that she’d jumped at a portrait. Though, oddly, the realisation of the eyes being painted didn’t stop her from staring at them. Why did they seem familiar?

She approached the ripped-up painting, attempting to figure out where she could’ve seen the eyes before. She didn’t have any clues from the image as it had been torn and clawed apart, with the eyes the only part intact of the subject’s face. They were a bright green, which contrasted with how bored they looked, though she supposed that was likely down to the painter more than the subject. Did she know anyone with green eyes? One of Red’s eyes was green, but this obviously wasn’t a portrait of him. She placed her hand on the portrait, lifting one of the tears of hanging off canvas to reveal a little more of the face. A woman. A pretty woman yes, but definitely not one that she recognised. Except she still couldn’t stop looking at the eyes. Maybe it was just the way that they were painted, but they looked almost like—

“Capsize…!”

“Ia--!” She whipped around at the sudden whisper that was so close she was sure had felt breath on her ear. That voice, the one she hadn’t heard in months, had been right next to her. But no one was there. Of course, no one was there, why would she be? Yet in the direction she'd turned, there was a door slightly ajar. From beyond it there was a pink glow. So, there was something here. With a small smile forming on her face, she walked towards the room.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The Beast slogged through the halls back towards her room, less than entertained by the snuff box following her. Was there something wrong with her wanting to be left alone? It had never been a problem before, especially not since the curse began, but apparently the woman being here meant she needed to be social or a good host or something. He acted like her making appearances would help matters rather than hurt them.

“I’m not going to see her. She wants to be left alone, so I’m leaving her alone,” She said in an annoyed tone that came across harsher than she intended as she growled. She didn’t miss his exhausted look that only annoyed her more. She got it, this woman was their chance to break the curse, but the disaster that had been trying to have dinner had made it beyond clear that that wasn’t going to happen. She was rude and stubborn, she was a follower of the goddess that had cursed them all, and she… she was too good for her. No one was going to fall in love with her while she looked like this, let alone someone who had so selflessly given up her freedom for someone else’s sake. So, what was the point in even trying? For his part, Mot hadn’t wished to smoke so much in years.

“She doesn’t want to be alone. She’s been hanging around with Tom non-stop and frankly seems happy with any company she can get,” He said, voice gruff but he was still trying to be gentle. He’d seen Capsize a few times over the past few days, most of the time with Tom seeming far happier than she had on that first night, but he’d also seen her alone. She still seemed uncomfortable when she wasn’t with someone, a feeling he had to admit was reasonable, and he knew it was likely due to the Beast rather than her absence, but still. Still, her not wanting to interact with her wasn’t going to change if the two just kept avoiding each other. And, even if she really didn’t want to, it was very much on the Beast to make the first move, not the woman. Sure, them not interacting was technically better than them yelling at each other, but not in terms of getting the curse broken.

“Good, I’m glad that she’s making herself at home,” She said, trying not to sound frustrated that other people had been able to interact with her. She wasn’t frustrated, she definitely wasn’t jealous that she’d seen through the mirror her being delighted in the company of Tom. She’d been mopping over the past few days in the lingering feelings of incompetence she felt. She wanted to interact with her, to get to know her in the way that seemed so easy for Tom, but she was also completely sure that it just wasn’t going to happen. She’d never really had friends, let alone anything more, how was she meant to create such a bond now? “It’s just easier this way. If I avoid her then she’ll actually be happy. She’s never going to like me.”

“Don’t talk like that. She’s not going to be ordered into anything, but if you just talk with her, you might find something you both connect with,” He said, hoping she would listen to him. He had no idea of the chance he actually had of getting through to her. She had listened to him once, back when she was a kid, but he supposed that back then she had had little choice. He wasn’t her parent, but he’d very much been left in charge of raising her. So maybe he should’ve pushed her harder when she first started not to listen, but he’d written it off as her just growing up until it was far too late to try and fix the attitude she’d developed. If he’d tried to push at that point he’d have been out of a job, which probably would’ve worked out with him less cursed in the long run. But as long as he was still very much stuck in this mess, he was going to try and fix the part of it he’d created, for the sake of making sure the curse got broken if nothing else. “She’s lonely. She’d probably appreciate another friend.”

“There’s no way she’ll want to be friends with me, and even if she did, just being friends isn’t enough anyway, is it? I should just let her be,” She wished that she hadn’t let her remain in the castle. Not that she wished she had kept the man instead, just that didn’t want to run into the woman who she knew had more than good enough a reason to dislike her. Yet she also couldn’t bring herself to let her go. As much as she already felt defeated by the curse, she couldn’t bring herself to let go of her one single chance to break it. Was that wrong of her? Was it wrong to want to cling to the chance of being human again even if she doubted that such a reality would come to pass? To want to fix the mistake that got everyone around her punished and doomed alongside her? She needed to fall in love, to make the woman love her, but… but it was cruel. The woman didn’t want to see her, it was cruel to force her. “I… I just want to be alone, Mot.”

“I can’t force you to interact with her, but you have to know that it won’t get any easier if you don’t. I know you want to talk to her, so you should try,” He said softly. She looked at him, a small box that bore absolutely no resemblance to a person anymore, a box literally marked with her crest as if to mock the way she’d treated him leading up to the curse. Yet despite everything, she could still see him like he was staring back with his actual face. An ever-tired face that she never managed to stop disappointing. She looked away from him.

“Okay, I’ll try,” She said weakly before trudging off towards the West Wing to continue hiding from the world, wanting more than anything to just disappear forever. Both of them knew she didn’t truly mean her words. Mot looked on as she disappeared from view and just sighed. He knew he couldn’t force the two to interact, that such a thing would be as futile as it would likely be harmful in the long run, but that didn’t make it any easier to see the situation so close to a possible solution but so completely and utterly far from it actually being fixed.

He hopped off, hoping to see if he could find Tom and Capsize. As much as he didn’t want to put the first move on her, he thought he had a chance of persuading her to talk to the Beast. Maybe if she did, the Beast would see how much the two had in common, she might actually open up to her. It was worth a shot at least.

He would realise when he arrived in the library to find a very panicked Tom completely alone where Capsize was, and that another encounter was going to happen between the two. All he could hope was that it wouldn’t be nearly as much as a disaster as he was imagining.

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The oddly glowing room made Capsize’s eyes light up as she found herself in what looked like an old study or workshop with odd trinkets, tools, and tomes covering nearly every usable surface. Research no longer seemed to be the actual use of the room, as the majority of the surfaces had at least a thin layer of dust, and in the corner was a large mess of fabrics that seemed almost like a nest – and she assumed likely was. This was very likely Fox’s den, the place she’d return to once she was done outside, but while that knowledge made her cautious, it couldn’t dull the curiosity within her. The room was so full of trinkets, like the ones she’d restore and repair, all just gathering dust.

As she wandered inside, she picked up the first item she could reach. A small snow globe. It reacted to her touch, a smile growing on her face as she saw the effect of the scene inside coming to life. It was simple, a tiny snowman moving around a forest as snow railed from the top of the globe. Maybe it shouldn’t have given her such delight, after all this place was full of talking trinkets with full personalities. Whatever magic had brought them to life was clearly more impressive than whatever was powering the snow globe, but she could so clearly see the work put into the piece she was holding. The stand wrapped around by carved runes, all glowing at her touch, that were clearly controlling the movement and the snow. The scene on the inside might’ve not been insanely detailed, but it was handcrafted, and still she could tell the effort put in. So much effort was put in and now it was just gathering dust… and it seemed the whole room was filled with similar items.

It baffled her. Why had Fox wanted to keep this place hidden from her? Sure, it was clearly in disrepair and felt a lot more like the home of a beast than the rest of the castle, but these trinkets were beautiful. She couldn’t imagine wanting to hide such things away. And there was still the glow. In her distraction of the number of items in the room, she had almost forgotten it as just an unusual light source, but now her eyes actually focused on the source, and she almost laughed.

In the middle of the room on a table, or rather flowing slightly above a table, was a glowing rose. Of course, she’d been led in here by a rose. Was the flower never going to stop showing up as if to tease her? Though obviously this wasn’t an ordinary rose. Even beyond the obvious magic, which this place had in abundance, this piece was clearly special. It was protected, covered by a bell jar.

She approached it, questions on her tongue that no one was around to actually answer. It was the only thing she had seen protected in the whole place, which posed the question as to why. What was so special about it? She looked over her shoulder, once again checking that she was alone before lifting the bell jar from the flower. Just to investigate a little closer. She’d be careful, she just wanted to see.

The glow seemed to grow brighter as she removed the cover and placed it to the side. The flower was obviously real, that was confirmed by her gently brushing her finger against the petals which were clearly natural, they had a feel that couldn’t be replicated by fabric. The flower had begun to wilt, a number of petals had fallen to the table under it, and both the flower and its leaves had begun to droop. She couldn’t help but think it was a shame. She wasn’t exactly fond of roses, but the flower in front of her was clearly special. It was glowing and beautiful, and she couldn’t imagine how it must’ve looked in full bloom. And, on looking at it trying to figure out what was causing the magical effects, she saw something impossible on each of the petals. A symbol was on each one, as if drawn onto them. She realised that to get a good look, she’d end up pulling one of the petals out, which she would rather avoid. So, she picked one of the fallen petals from the table, just to see if the design was still there or if it was faded. And it wasn’t, but that wasn’t the part that shocked her when she got a proper look.

“Ia…? Why?” The symbol wasn’t some unknown magical glyph as she had assumed it would be. It was a set of scales, drawn in such a particular way that it was unmistakable, it was the symbol of Lady Ianite. She couldn’t stop staring at it, the petal feeling like some impossible weight. Why would her symbol be here of all places? It was in this position, in front of the rose clutching a petal that the Beast found her.

Immediately there was a growl, low and intimidating as every wrong and worst assumption the Beast had had about the man originally had returned to her head now about the woman. Capsize tensed at the noise, realising that she’d been caught, and stumbled back as she was bounded past by Fox. She had a few seconds to make her decision. Perhaps against her better judgement, she didn’t try to flee though she did take a good few steps back from the table as Fox replaced the bell jar over the rose, clinging to it as she started her down.

“You’re not meant to be here,” She said, her voice low. She was forcing herself to hold back, not very well as she had already assumed the situation in her head, as the woman still had a petal in hand. She’d taken days from them. Was it just the one? She quickly scanned the space under the rose, attempting to figure out if there were more petals present, she swore there were less, but that didn’t make any sense. The only thought in her mind was the horror at knowing that she’d lost some of the little time she had left. “Do you know what you’ve done?! Why did you come in here!”

“I’m sorry, I—” Capsize tried to come up with some excuse for her presence, but that had never been her strong suit and being stared down by a Beast wasn’t making the task any easier. Her mouth felt dry, and she knew if she tried to lie that her body would betray her. It wasn’t as if she could just say that she was lost. She tried to come up with words, any words, to explain. “I just wanted to see what was up here.”

“No! No, she told you to come here!” She yelled and Capsize stumbled back a few more steps. She had no idea what Fox meant and that made her feel all the more vulnerable. She’d known, or rather she had rightly assumed, that she’d be in trouble if she was caught in here, but her words, the idea that someone had suggested she came here just confused her. This only compounded with her fear. What was she meant to say? How could she get out of this situation?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She said, trying to figure out if she should edge her way towards the door. Fox’s glare on her felt more intimidating than it ever had before, and she certainly had no way to escape it, but it wasn’t just anger, there was something that she couldn’t read. She knew logically she should try to escape, but she had no idea if she could safely. The Beast didn’t believe her, even if she sounded confused, even if she was backing away. The goddess had told her to come in here, she must have done. Just cursing them hadn’t been enough, she needed to ruin whatever chance she had left of fixing things. “No one sent me in here. I came in of my own accord because I wanted to look around.”

“I heard you talking to her! What did she tell you?!” She advanced on her. The Beast bearing down as she demanded answers. Capsize had no idea what she was being yelled at about. She wanted to run, to get out of the room, to get anywhere she wouldn’t be followed, but she didn’t. As scared as she was, she still wanted to stand her ground, to question exactly why she was so convinced that someone had sent her here. So, she did, she stood her ground rather than fleeing, hoping she looked braver than she actually felt.

“I haven’t been told anything but to stay away from this wing. Who do you think I’ve talked to?” She said, trying beyond anything to just keep her voice steady. She was frankly terrified, but she couldn’t let that stop her. She couldn’t waver, no matter how much she wanted to shake looking at the anger in Fox’s eyes.

“Was it not good enough for her to ruin everything once?” The Beast didn’t answer nor really listen to her words at all. She was sure the goddess was the reason she had been looking at the rose, why she had taken a petal. She needed to know why. Why couldn’t she just be left in peace? She took another step towards the woman, who this time didn’t take any back. Capsize wanted to, she wasn’t exactly feeling confident at this point in her ability to calm the situation, but she couldn’t back down. What kind of life was she going to lead if she lived in fear? She needed to stand tall, to at least pretend she wasn’t scared, because if she didn’t, what did she have in this place? However, as she looked at her, the Beast saw defiance, saw the goddess’ cold anger from that night. Her thoughts could never escape that night.

“Who’s she—”

“You know who she is!” She yelled, lashing an arm out. She was far enough away that she knew she wouldn’t hit her, but her claws caught onto an already damaged piece of furniture. She tossed it across the room with force, it shattered a few feet away from the two. The sound of smashing wood echoed in Capsize’s head. Despite how not a single shard of wood or any part of the Beast had come close to touching her, her entire body went rigid as she felt a terrible pain across her left side. She knew it wasn’t real, but it was. It was far too real. She could hear her heart pounding, the yelling, the rain falling around her so loud that it’s deafening. She felt the terrible pain that marked her entire life changing. She stumbled back with a choked breath, unable to remind herself that she was out of danger because she wasn’t. Just because she wasn’t in that moment didn’t mean she was safe. How close had she been to being hit? It was one thing to know in theory how someone could tear you apart, and another thing to see such clear proof of that fact.

The Beast saw her eyes suddenly widen, her body stiffen as she shifted backwards, and it was as if she suddenly realised reality. The look on the woman’s face was one she hadn’t worn yet, she looked terrified. In that moment, seeing that look, she realised that she’d ruined everything. She reached out towards her, to try and figure out any words that might somehow fix and excuse the mess she’d created but Capsize moved back. Her movement was shaky, and she shook her head as she backed away.

“Stay away from me,” She said, just trying to keep her distance. She couldn’t do this. She had really thought that she could, that she could keep her word and stay here in Red’s place, but the reality had been made clear now. How close had she been to being hurt? She had no idea, but she knew that she couldn’t stay here any longer. Fox’s arm dropped, something about her expression changing, but Capsize didn’t pay attention to that. She instead took off, just running as fast as she could, ignoring everything with the only thought in her mind being that she had to leave.

The Beast fell to her knees. It was over. She’d ruined everything. She’d terrified her. There wasn’t any coming back from it. Sure, she could chase after her, either try to explain and apologise or just stop her from leaving by any means, but what good could that really do? She’d just be forcing her to stay for the principal of the matter, because she agreed to remain here, and what good would that really do? Maybe it was better that the woman disappeared before she really got her hopes up of anything happening, before anyone here really believed that she could change. If any had been made clear to her at this moment it was that she couldn’t change.

By some miracle, someone had come to this cursed place that didn’t look at her like a complete monster. By another, that person had been willing to give up her freedom to remain in this place. And what did she do with that opportunity? Completely ruined any chance she possibly had to bond with her. She’d treated her terribly, caused her to run off in fear, and for what? Not listening to her? For following the goddess that cursed them with no proof of anything more? For not knowing not to touch something she hadn’t mentioned let alone mentioned the consequences of messing around with it? For those frankly pathetic reasons she’d chased off the one person who had brought even a ray of light into the castle in years. Maybe she did deserve this fate. Maybe the goddess was right that she was heartless and better off forgotten.

But why had she doomed everyone else too? That was the question that ate away at her. Had they deserved punishment for her mistake, or was it just some way to motivate her to actually try and break the curse? Why was it that they were left in such a state and their only chance at salvation was her? No matter the reason it felt cruel, and just made her feel all the worse that their only chance was definitely fleeing the grounds as she made no actions to stop her. She needed to find a solution, for their sakes if not her own. She had to; they didn’t deserve to be doomed because she didn’t make an effort. But how?

She was sure that she’d already wasted her one chance at doing this the way the goddess had presented. Every other method she had tried had resulted in just more failure. So, what was she meant to do to help them? She could only think of one method beyond the intended one that might still work, begging the goddess to at least reverse the curse on the others. Maybe if she accepted her own fate it would be good enough. How could she even get her attention to try though? She’d simply shown up the first time and then disappeared just as quickly.

She sighed and slumped fully to the floor. It all just felt hopeless. The instructions had been clear: fall in love and be loved in return. Yet when someone was in front of her who she had wanted to get to know, had been brave and beautiful and curious, she hadn’t even tried. If someone like her hadn’t moved her to try and act decently, then could anyone? So maybe she deserved to be forgotten by the world, stuck in this monstrous state. She’d figure out a way to help the others, to make sure they were doomed for her mistakes, but herself? She guessed this was exactly what she deserved. After all, if she couldn’t love someone like her, what chance did she really have?

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefoxx #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #foxxsize #tom syndicate #mot screziato #i'm published so much fanfic over the last week

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Nine - Be Our Guest!

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

Tom had to hand it to the new girl, when she said she could stay in a room forever, she might actually mean it. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, it had only been a few hours after all, but that was more than enough time for Tom to regret volunteering to keep watch. A few hours were far longer than he thought he’d have to wait for her to emerge. He’d never been the best at waiting around, and the years of having literally nothing to do haven’t exactly made him better. So maybe he had decided to wander off briefly, just to do something other than endlessly waiting. He couldn’t have been gone for more than a few minutes.

The problem came when he returned to find the door to the room open. That by itself would’ve been a good thing, but the room was also empty, their new guest nowhere to be seen. And that was more than enough to make him panic. Of course, she’d wandered off the moment he wasn’t looking, that was just his luck. If he didn’t find her, he’d get more than an earful from Martha, which sounded less than appealing after spending most of the last day experiencing one of her lectures. However, he didn’t actually know where the woman could’ve gone, though at the very least he was sure she couldn’t have gone far. So, after her he tried to go.

The corridors of the castle were far too familiar to him after all this time. They’d already been familiar before the curse had begun, and now without being able to leave they’d almost become maddening. They weren’t quite the same as they had been before the curse, everything seemed darker and just more stretching, though perhaps that was the fact he was so much smaller than he was before. It was confusing, the layout hadn’t changed, but everything felt distinctly different. However, the oddness of the effect of the curse on the building itself wasn’t important right now, finding the girl was. Thankfully, he knew the only place she’d logically be heading. He just had to hope he got to the entrance hall before she left, presuming she had headed in that direction, because if not he had actually lost her.

Now, he didn’t know the girl personally, a fact that he was mostly glad for, but it did mean that he didn’t have a lot of guesses for what she might be interested in finding, except for the obvious guess of her trying to find food. Of course, she had no reason to actually know where the food was, but he assumed heading downstairs would be her first guess. He didn’t like basing it all on guessing, but he really did need to find her. If she tried doing something that would get Fluffles attention, like exploring the West Wing or leaving the grounds, well then there was no way she’d keep her temper under control. He didn’t think there’d be any plan he could get them to like each other if there was another blow up like earlier. So, he needed to find her and show her the sort of welcome that would make her feel like the guest that she was.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Capsize looked around the darkened corridors, wishing she could rid herself of the lingering nerves as they were kind of dampening her spirit of exploration. Of course, maybe caution was not the worst thing to feel when exploring a magical castle with an angry beast possibly lurking around any corner, but she didn’t want to be cautious. She wanted to feel like herself, to feel brave and not like she was cowering. Though today had been the first time she had felt like herself in quite a while, or at least like she wasn’t being constantly judged for being herself. That thought made a smile play on her face. It almost felt ridiculous, she had been so scared and exhausted, and, if she was being honest, she still was, but she hadn’t bitten back what she had wanted to say. Gods, despite everything, that was refreshing.

She couldn’t stop looking at her current surroundings, attempting to find hidden details she was sure were there. The first time she’d been on the stairs, she’d been far too worried to properly take in any of it. She hadn’t known at the time that she was somewhere enchanted, nor would she have been able to guess just by looking around. It was odd, this place had rune enchantments, she had seen it herself, but they weren’t physically carved. It was as if they reacted rather to presences, only appearing when needed. Or at least she didn’t understand them enough to come up with another explanation.

However, despite not understanding how exactly the place was hiding its enchantments, she still found herself examining the details of the place. This place, even with the dust and surface damage, was by far the richest she had ever been in. It was intriguing. This place had the appearance of a royal castle, one in some disrepair, yes, but it didn’t feel like it had been abandoned at any point. Nothing was crumbling or cracked, at least not by her eye, it was more just as if there was no reason to clean. So why didn’t this place exist, either in her memory or on maps? It couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere, so why hadn’t she had any idea of its existence until today? Now, that was a question she couldn’t get out of her head. That gave her an answer to find.

Surely, somewhere in this place, there was an answer as to why it was so hidden. And she supposed that even if there wasn’t, she’d find something while exploring that would catch her interest. Even if she was stuck here, this was still somewhere new, somewhere she hadn’t completely memorised, that was exciting. Though she paused as she descended the stairs and found herself staring at the grand doors that made up the front entrance. What was stopping her from leaving right now? Obviously, there wasn’t anything stopping her from going outside, she’d been told she was free to explore the grounds, but what about beyond that? She took a few cautious steps towards the doors, there had to be something right? Some enchantment that would stop her from riding out the gate. It couldn’t just be her own promise. Of course, she wasn’t just going to leave, even if it was possible. She’d given her word, and she did mean it. Red’s life had been spared and she wasn’t about to go back on her promise. She couldn’t. She wasn’t a liar, wasn’t the person to go back on a deal, even if she really should, even if it might be the easiest thing in the world. She sighed, stopping her approach towards the doors. Why was she like this?

“Ah, Miss! There you are!” A loud voice from the top of the stairs pulled her attention back where she had come from. She saw a small flame at the top of the stairs. She approached, moving back up the stairs to see who was speaking. It was perhaps the best description of the day she had experienced that she was not surprised to find herself facing a candelabra. He was as fancy as the previous three alive pieces she had met, and quite obviously was alive himself. The golden was painstakingly carved and detailed to look like a man, almost too painstaking by her judgement as she’d never seen any trinket with such detail, but here one was, she couldn’t argue that clearly someone must’ve made one. He looked up at her with a confident smile. Capsize wished it wasn’t such a pain for her to crouch as she felt a little awkward looking down at him, but there was unfortunately little she could do about that. “I didn’t think I’d find you exploring tonight.”

“Oh, believe me, I hadn’t planned on it,” She admitted with a laugh, a little more casual than she had expected to be. She had been fully prepared to remain locked in that room for the rest of the night, possibly even longer. She’d been exhausted, her body ached, and she was sure she’d just fall asleep. Sleep hadn’t come. Instead, she’d begun to feel the itch, acknowledging the impossible to ignore thought that she wanted to explore. It had taken a while. She needed to be sure that the Beast wasn’t going to return, that she wasn’t going to be caught. Of course, she had been caught, but she wasn’t scared of that fact, because, she realised, she had seen the candelabra before. He’d been in the alcove of the stairs that lead towards the cells. So, she’d been right, the light had been moving. He led her to her brother. She hoped that meant she could trust him. “I’ve not been anywhere new in years… I wasn’t about to sit around when I could be exploring. Though I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, Mister…”

“Tom! Tom Syndicate, at your service!” The candelabra spoke with enthusiasm at a volume unexpected from someone so small. He bowed slightly, though the gesture seemed more playful than serious. Capsize couldn’t help but smile, which in turn made Tom grin. This was going to be easier than he thought. He could make her feel like a guest, he could probably help her explore, he knew all this place’s secrets after all. Then maybe, when they got to know each other a little, he could get her to tell him some of the goings on in the town. Obviously, his own curiosity wasn’t all that important, but who could blame him for wanting to know about the outside world after years of isolation? “And you’re Capsize, you’ve caused quite a stir.”

“I suppose you can call it that,” She said, though she felt quite sure he was downplaying the situation. Causing a stir sounded minor, while she had felt the Beast’s reaction warrant a stranger term being used. Yet she still smiled. She’d yelled and fought and said no to something she desperately didn’t want to do, and she wasn’t worried about that fact. She didn’t need to be worried about the opinions of townspeople who didn’t respect her anyway. Despite everything else, that felt refreshing. Sure, maybe she’d rather be back having to constantly bite back lest she offend the town hero, better that than a prisoner, right? But she’d take satisfaction and little victories where she could. “I don’t think Miss Fox would describe it so gently.”

“Well, Fluffles’ has her—Fox?” He cut off his own words at the nickname. Of course, he’d been there when she’d said to call her whatever she wanted, but he hadn’t expected something quite so normal. He guessed a fox was the animal she looked most like, even if the size made the comparison not feel quite right in his head.

“It felt right,” Capsize shrugged. It felt wrong to call someone clearly intelligent Beast. Possibly an apt description given her actions, but still it reminded her too much of Jordan and his hunting. Though the name Fluffles did bring her a little amusement. “If she doesn’t like it, she can voice her complaints with her other ones.”

“Well, I doubt she’ll care what you call her, but speaking of her complaints,” He said, a little annoyed but not towards the woman in front of him. Sure, it would’ve been nice to get this all done and dusted in one night, but he could accept a slightly slower approach. Then she’d nearly ruined everything. Well, maybe that was an extreme way to put the situation, but she’d definitely made things harder. Still, what could he do but continue trying to make this situation work? To somehow break the curse? “I assume you’re hungry.”

“Yes…” She admitted, feeling embarrassed to do so. It wasn’t until after the very clear refusal of dinner that she actually realised how hungry she was. She hasn’t thought to eat after the disastrous ‘date’ with Jordan, and she’d barely eat during. She’d just had enough emotions ruining through up until now that she hadn’t realised that she was hungry. Of course, she’d deal with it, though. She didn’t need to get anyone in trouble for her sake. “But you don’t need to worry about that. I should be able to figure something out.”

“Nonsense! You’re a guest, I’m not gonna let you go sneaking about scavenging for food,” He found her confidence at being able to do so admirable, but he wasn’t going to let her go hungry. He was nowhere near scared enough of the Beast to listen to her orders of starving her. He doubted she really wanted that anyway. If she did, they had bigger problems than this curse. But he wasn’t going to wait for her to calm down to start making Capsize actually feel like a guest. Capsize herself felt a little hesitant. A guest? She really didn’t feel like the description fit, but he spoke with so much enthusiasm that she really didn’t want to object. And she wasn’t about to turn down a meal that didn’t include company she’d rather avoid. She wasn’t quite at the point of actually starving herself for the principle of it. “Seriously, just come with me, I’ll make sure you get the best meal of your life!”

“Well, I can’t turn down an offer like that,” She said, finding herself unable to turn down such enthusiasm. With confirmation from her, Tom began to lead her towards the dining room. As they moved, a quiet settled between the two. Not an uncomfortable one, as neither truly noticed it. Tom was quickly trying to figure out how much he could persuade Martha, who was probably still in the kitchens, that this was a good idea. He could already tell she was going to be a bother about it, want something simple when they could show off and be impressive. Meanwhile, Capsize was once again wondering about the talking furniture. Now, maybe that wasn’t her best idea as she knew that attempting to figure out why they acted so much like people was not going to be a question she could figure out. The amount of magic it would take to enchant objects in such a way, she wasn’t sure that anyone had such power. But someone had to have enchanted them, because the only other option was… well, she preferred not to think about it. Luckily, the walk was short, being over long before her considerations could go anywhere too similar to reality.

Capsize looked around the new room with the same level of curiosity she had the rest of the building. There was still a fear, an anxiety at the end of her mind about the whole situation. If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t feel completely safe. How could she feel safe? There was still a Beast lurking somewhere and she was doing something she had explicitly been told not to do. Well, she’d just have to deal with that if Fox made a reappearance, and right now deal with her mind not being at ease.

Tom looked at her, seeing curious eyes but a hesitant stance. She wasn’t quite rigid, but she was certainly close to it, almost reluctant to move despite clearly wanting to. He frowned briefly. He almost didn’t want to leave her for the short amount of time it would take to get her some food, but he didn’t really have a choice. Well, the sooner he left the sooner he could come back. So, he looked to her with as comforting a smile as he could.

“I’ll be back in a couple minutes. Relax, make yourself at home,” He said, hoping his words would have some benefit to her mood. And after those words he hopped off through a different door, leaving Capsize alone in the darkened room.

She remained still for a moment, staring after him as the light he gave out disappeared. It was only once she could no longer see it that she actually moved. She wondered if she was being too cautious in not wanting to be alone, or not nearly cautious enough in trusting a stranger. She decided that she was closer to the former, if only for her own sake. She had a new room to explore after all, no point in worrying.

The dining room, as she had to assume she had found herself in, was not the most comforting place to be. Mostly because she knew this was likely where she was meant to have eaten dinner earlier. And it felt cold. Not literally, though the fireplace was out in the corner, but rather it just had an air of loneliness. In the centre of the room was a long table, one that as she ran her fingers across it, she got the sense that it had not been eaten at for a very long time. That was perhaps the reason she felt this room was so wrong. Aside from the echo of her footsteps and the shadows cast by the thick curtains hanging from near the top of tall walls sweeping all the way to the floor that cast a dark atmosphere onto the room’s current state, there was a feeling that this place had not been host to joyful meals in the past.

She did not want to remain here. Mostly for the previously mentioned atmosphere, but she felt distinctly like she didn’t belong in this room. It was a feeling she had had throughout most of the castle. This place, even without the magic, was somewhere she should not be. It was regal and beautiful, and she was… well, she was a merchant. She didn’t belong somewhere like this and that brought back all the feelings that she’d been feeling when back in the town. The feeling of being odd and not fitting in, the kind that made her just feel so utterly small.

Attempting to take her mind off that feeling, she looked down the corridor that Tom had disappeared down. Though it was dark, she could tell it was nowhere near as fancy as the current room she was standing in, or for that matter any of the other rooms she’d been through thus far with the exception of the tower cells. Thankfully it wasn’t similar to the cells, rather it felt more somewhere simply designed to be practical, not needing to be shown off, just somewhere behind the scenes. Now she had been told to wait for the candelabra to return, and she had absolutely no reason to believe it would take long for him to do so. However, Capsize had always been perhaps a little too curious for her own good, and well, she wanted to see where he’d gone. Maybe she’d find something that gave her some answers about the questions about this place picking away at her head.

So, she began to make her way down the corridor. She made a conscious effort to step softer than she normally would, to keep her boots and cane hitting the ground quiet so she wouldn’t be heard by the person she was following. Now she didn’t particularly think she’d be in any trouble for following him, but she wanted to see what she could learn while people didn’t know she was around. The corridor wasn’t long, only taking about a minute for her to see light and hear voices. She slowed her pace more, making sure to stick to the shadows. She knew eavesdropping was never the best idea, but right now she just wanted to quell her curiosity.

“Oh, come on, please, I’m asking for one meal, not a banquet,” The rather annoyed voice of Tom came into focus. Immediately she felt a twinge of guilt. Of course, helping her was causing him trouble. She should’ve known it would, no matter what reassurance he gave.

“Interesting. Let me remember what happened last time you asked me to help you with cooking,” A gruff, heavily accented voice replied. To describe the man as sounding annoyed would be heavily understanding how he sounded. She felt pretty clearly though that she lacked context as when on earth would the candelabra have needed help cooking?

“Well, it’s not like that can happen again.”

“Because that makes it so much better!”

“I feel like I’ve apologised more than enough times for asking you to take over that night.”

“No, I think I need to hear it at least a couple more times! If you haven’t noticed I’m—”

“You should really come in, darling. They’ll bicker until the end of time if not,” A woman’s voice cut through the increasing volume of the men. Capsize, who had been slowly creeping more towards the room, completely froze at realising she had been heard. She ended up skittishly entering the room, as if she was a child about to be in trouble.

She found herself in a kitchen, one that was large and well-kept, but not one that she felt was in any way overly fancy. It was somewhere to be used, not to be viewed by guests at all. Though, of course, it still had three talking furniture pieces, which at this point she couldn’t exactly say they were unusual to see. Aside from Tom, there were the two others, lining up with the voices she had overheard. On a large wooden table alongside Tom, was an ornate table clock. Or at the very least, Capsize presumed that she was a clock due to the winding key on the back of her, but her face didn’t have any hands. Though, due to the actual face that was painted onto that of the clock face, she presumed that having clock hands would simply get in the way of her being able to see.

The other was, well, different from all the others she’d seen so far. Had his face not been so clear she may not have considered him being alive at all. The stove, a large wood burner affixed to the wall, was the other talking furniture in the room. All the others she had met thus far had been small, able to move around, but he clearly wasn’t and that… that gave her pause. She couldn’t blame him for being annoyed in such a position.

“Ah, I… How long have you been listening?” Tom asked, realising nervously that she might’ve learned some things that he really couldn’t easily explain. Thankfully they hadn’t directly mentioned the curse, that they were all transformed humans, but they had definitely gotten close and if that information got revealed there was really no taking it back.

“Not long! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have followed you, I just…” She mulled over her words. She didn’t really want to explain that she’d felt uncomfortable, because the feeling wasn’t something they could fix. However, that left her without any real reason to explain why she had followed after him. “I want to see as much of this place as possible. I’ve never been anywhere like this.”

“Well, I doubt there’s many places like this in general,” Martha said, knowing a place with this level of magic really couldn’t exist from anywhere else. She certainly hadn’t found another place like this in her travels prior to all this. Annoyingly, if the place hadn’t been so impressive and unique in that sense, she wouldn’t have even stayed. Even if she was now frankly sick of being here, she could still understand why someone would find it fascinating. At the very least, the woman was finding something to enjoy in this place. Of course, she did need to work something out with her having a meal. “Here, I’ll get you some leftovers—”

“Oh, come on, we can give her something warm,” Tom complained. He wanted to make her feel special. How was he meant to do that with leftovers?

“You really don’t need to go to any trouble,” Capsize quickly insisted. “Leftovers are—”

“Hang on a minute. That accent, where are you from?” The stove cut her off before she could insist on the leftovers being fine. And Capsize looked at him with questions on her own lips. Why on earth did he care about her accent? Well, she supposed he had an accent, but she still had far too many questions about the nature of the objects. However, she decided it was likely best right now to just answer the question and attempt to figure out all her confusing thoughts later.

“Ianerea, originally anyways. I spent most of my life on ships, and then I ended up in the town for the past two years,” She said, now acutely aware of her accent. It was another thing that had been pointed out a lot when she had first moved to the town, though that had thankfully faded over time compared to the other comments. Now she was again a little self-conscious. However, the stove smiled. Why hadn’t either of them mentioned she wasn’t some prissy noble? Well, maybe they had, he hadn’t really been in the mood to listen.

“So, you’re a worker? Not a layabout noble like these two.”

“Hey! I work!”

“Love you too, darling.”

“Yeah, I work. Well, I did, not exactly gonna be doing much here,” She said, sure most people would be happier than she felt about not having to work. The stove smiled a little wider. Now he still really didn’t want to cook, which was an extremely annoying state for a stove to be in, but he couldn’t find it in himself to reject this girl. She hadn’t done anything wrong and, like quite a few people in this place, she was a long way from home.

“Alright, I’ll make you something, but don’t go telling Beasty. I’m not in the mood to deal with one of her tantrums,” He said, still sounding gruff, but attempting to be friendly. And Capsize felt, oddly enough, that she could feel safe here.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on seeing her at all if I can avoid her,” She said, not being gentle with her tone. She knew what she had agreed to, she wasn’t about to leave, but she also wasn’t going to interact with Fox if she could at all avoid it. Tom and Martha shared a look, one more worried than anything. They needed the two to interact, obviously they had no chance of the curse breaking if not. Yet they couldn’t exactly argue with her not wanting to. Tom had loosely planned for this and gave Martha a nervous smile to attempt to communicate that he had some sort of plan. Martha, trying her best not to doubt whatever he might have planned, hopped forward.

“Well, I doubt you’ll see her much. She’ll likely be in her room for the next couple of days. She really doesn’t come out much,” She said, hoping to be reassuring. And her words certainly were as Capsize realised that she’d likely be free to explore without fear for the next few days. That idea genuinely excited her, something not unnoticed by the others in the room. It was refreshing in a way, to see someone new, even with the reality of everything. “And if you do need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you, that’s very much appreciated, Miss…”

“Martha, darling, Martha Conway. And this is Steve, my fiancé,” The clock introduced with a smile. Again, Capsize felt an itching feeling in her mind. Where had she heard the name Conway? Why was it bugging her so much? She felt like it was important, else her mind wouldn’t be so focused on trying to figure it out, but she just couldn’t put her finger on why on earth it felt so familiar. As all her thoughts focused on the same issue, Capsize grew quiet.

Tom looked at Steve as she was distracted, smiling as he attempted to gauge his opinion of her. He had to like her, right? Steve rolled his eyes, how Syndi had managed to get exactly what he wanted was beyond him. Of course, he never could stay annoyed at him for long, even if being asked to cover for him one night had left him literally stuck to a wall. However, even if he did like him, he didn’t want him grinning like an idiot at him while he was cooking. So, with another roll of his eyes, he spoke.

“Take her back to the dining room, Syndi. Martha will bring it when it’s ready.”

🌹 🌹 🌹

The dining room felt less oppressive with company and a lit fireplace, enough so that Capsize didn’t feel uncomfortable eating there as she supposed she would have. Maybe she was just hungry enough that a warm meal was more than enough to make her feel safe. However, she couldn’t deny that she was enjoying Tom’s company. There were so few people she’d met who seemed genuinely friendly and wanted to get to know her. It was nice, even if some of the things he was saying seemed completely ridiculous.

“You’re telling me you’re a cook?” She asked with more than a little doubt in her tone. Now she didn’t exactly want to assume based off of appearances, but he was a candelabra. She felt like that really limited his ability to cook. Sure, he was probably able to heat things up, and she’d seen things more around on their own in this place, but she still couldn’t quite believe that he was cooking full meals. Tom grinned, because obviously he knew that what he was saying was true, but he also knew how it sounded ridiculous and that made it all the more fun.

“Yeah! Well, it wasn’t really a job, more of a volunteer thing,” He said, entertained by the bewildered look growing on her face. He knew that if Martha could hear him right now, he’d be getting a lecture about how they’re meant to be keeping the curse hidden. But he didn’t see any harm in what he was doing. He just sounded like he was making things up. Even if she did figure out that they all used to be human, there were explanations they could give that didn’t involve the curse. Oh course, Capsize just found herself with more questions from his statement.

“I dread to ask, but what is your job then?” She asked, more than a little curious. Because logically he shouldn’t really have a job beyond lighting up a room, but she had the distinct feeling that wasn’t going to be his answer. They were all a bit too human like for their tasks to simply be what they were designed for. Tom smiled again a little too widely.

“Champion of Dianite, at your service,” He said with a bow and a flourish. Capsize laughed almost immediately.

“Really? You’re Lord Dianite’s champion?” She said, convinced she must have misheard because, well, it was unbelievable. She leant forward, resting her elbow on the table to prop her head up on her hand. She still wasn’t quite eye level with him, but she was close enough with him standing on the table. He could see the amount of doubt on her features and hear it in her words. He wasn’t quite sure how to take it. On one hand, he had expected doubt. After all, he knew that no one remembered him. However, he still was a little nervous because… well, he had no idea if the forgetting also extended to his god. He was scared that it had, and that in turn he might’ve been replaced. He absolutely couldn’t stand that idea.

“The one and only! Haven’t you heard of me?” He said, making sure to keep his joking tone. Even knowing that she couldn’t have possibly heard of him, she might’ve heard of another Dianitee champion. Capsize mulled over her words. On one hand, she wanted to reject the idea outright. Firstly, she was pretty sure she’d know if Lord Dianite had a champion. Secondly, with all the frustrations Jordan had caused her, she’d rather not think about the concept of champions if she could avoid it. Yet, she couldn’t help but grin, because this felt ridiculous. She wanted to know where this was going.

“I’m afraid I haven’t. In fact, I’m pretty sure Lord Dianite doesn’t have a champion,” She said, maybe a little too matter of fact judging by Tom’s reaction. He had no idea if he should be disappointed or not. He hadn’t been replaced, there was a comfort in that, but even if he already knew, it was disheartening to hear that he basically didn’t exist. His frown was brief, and he tried to hide it, but Capsize did notice. Did Lord Dianite have a champion? She hadn’t heard of one, hadn’t been told about one by either of the champions or Ianite, but thinking about it she was getting that same itching feeling that she got when thinking about the name Conway. No, not quite the same, here she was sure she didn’t have the information, but all the same her mind itched as if she should. Now, why was that? But no matter the cause for the annoying feeling of missing something she really should know, she didn’t focus on that, because she felt bad for that frown. “I mean, I don’t think he has a champion. I’ve met the other two, and I assumed that I’d have met a third if Lord Dianite did have one.”

“So, the other two still live in town?”

“Unfortunately,” She said without thinking. Her eyes went wide when she realised what she’d just said, a level of panic in her despite how she wasn’t there anymore, it shouldn’t matter that she’d just insulted him. And it was Tom’s turn to be dumbstruck.

“What… Have the champions… done something to you?” He didn’t know quite how to phrase his question, because he almost felt the idea was extreme, but she had sounded so disdainful. What had happened in the years since the curse? Had his fellow champions changed so much that he’d no longer recognise them anymore than they’d recognise him? Tucker was his friend, had been for years, it was hard to believe that he could’ve changed completely even if it had been years since their last meeting. He’d only met Jordan a few months before the curse, but he had seemed nice enough. Sure, now he had a less than great opinion of the goddess herself, but he still had some good memories of her champion. But he’d not seen them in years, meanwhile she had and her tone, her expression, it left him very little doubt that at least one of them had done something. Capsize chewed the inside of her cheek. She hadn’t really discussed her issues with Jordan with anyone besides Red, who had never really gotten it, maybe because she’d held back the worst of it from him. She didn’t quite feel right sharing her problems with someone she’d barely met. But, if not now, when she was completely free of the judgement of those in the town, then when was she going to?

“I… I guess yes. I mean, he hasn’t hurt me, or done anything like that, but Ianite’s champion kind of… well, he doesn’t leave me alone. Ever since he found out that I… follow Ianite he seemed to just get obsessed with the idea of me. He’s never gotten to know me, but acts like I owe him attention,” She tried her best to articulate it, to actually express how he made her feel uncomfortable. Of course, she still didn’t mention certain things, the idea bringing a little too much anxiety to her mind. Just thinking about the proposal made her throat feel dry, she didn’t want to talk about that anymore than she wanted to see Jordan. And she also hesitated to share about her connection to Ianite, the fact that had started the whole mess. Though Tom did pick up that she was hiding something about her closeness to the goddess, seeing the lack of honorifics compared to when she was talking about Dianite, but he decided it was best not to push. After all, it was probably better for the time being that she kept any connection beyond following the goddess a secret, lest the Beast find out and react in the extreme.

Though frankly Tom was kind of speechless, because he couldn’t imagine Ianite’s champion acting in such a way. Not because he disbelieved her, in fact he believed her more than anything that she was likely holding back most of the actual details seeing how hard it appeared for her to say the words she had, but given that they’d all been cursed, he had expected that her champion would be held to some standard. Well, he’d need to lodge his complaints when this was done with, as much as that may be a terrible idea given that she’d already cursed him once. But right now… right now, Capsize looked beyond sad and he couldn’t let that stand.

“Well, he sounds like an absolute piece of work. But he certainly isn’t welcome here. Only one champion around here, though I assure you, Dianite has much higher standards for his champion than the other gods,” He made sure to have a joking tone when singing his own praises, not wanting to sound like he was ignoring the hurt she clearly felt. And she did laugh. She felt more relief than she ever had in a conversation about Jordan. “But, just to prove that, how about I give you a tour of the place? I can show you all the secrets.”

“Wait, really? I… I’d like that a lot.”

“Well, then, follow me.”

🌹 🌹 🌹

Tom’s tour was not what anyone would call informative, mostly because he wasn’t really focused on the tour part of it at all. Rather he and Capsize had started talking and their conversations were taking the place of any actual information he could give.

“I just don’t see how you came to the conclusion that I’m a pirate,” She said, with an entertained grin despite some actual confusion. He had sounded so impressed with himself for ‘figuring it out’, which left her feeling a little guilty having to correct him. Yet he was quite adamant that she must’ve been some sort of pirate, leaving her as entertained as she was confused by this.

“Well, you’re from Ianerea, that’s where pirates are from,” He said, as if the fact was obvious. He’d heard the stories. Sure, they might be old stories, but there were loads of pirates from there. Capsize laughed a little. The pirate legends had never really died, despite how long it had been since Ianerea had been a pirate haven. “And you said you grew up mostly on ships. Also, you’re called Capsize – that’s a pirate name.”

“I’ll give you that one,” She said, not really able to agree that her name was suited to piracy. Her parents had been traditional after all. Honestly, they probably would’ve been happy if she had become a pirate, but she was good with ships, that was the important thing to them. “But I’m afraid I’m a regular boring merchant captain.”

“Well, that’s close enough to a pirate,” He says, gaining another laugh in response. He’d love to meet an actual pirate, but he did think she was close enough. He hadn’t even really met anyone who’d spent much time on ships at all, so maybe he’d let his imagination go a little wild. Still half-distracted by his conversation, he noticed they were going past another actually interesting part of the castle. “Oh, and this is—”

“Thomas!” The voice of Martha cut through his words before he could finish. Both Capsize and Tom turned to see the clock standing on a table in front of the corridor Tom was pointing down, as if she had been guarding it. Tom groaned, wondering what she wanted. Capsize meanwhile stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt before she knew what’s going on. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Giving a tour…? Do you want to join?” He asked, honestly a little confused about what he had done wrong. Clearly, she was annoyed about something, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of what she could be taking issue with. Martha hopped off the table and close to him, really trying to keep herself level-headed. She had to stay calm in front of the girl.

“You do realise where you are, right?” She half-whispered, trying to only be heard by him. Her attempt at communicating the need for discretion was not successful as Tom just rolled his eyes. Obviously, he knew where he was. Did she forget he’d been here for most of his life?

“Obviously, that’s the West—!” He realised the problem one word too late into his reply. Still, he felt like she was questioning his competence a little. “Well, I wasn’t gonna take her in!”

“So that’s the West Wing?” Capsize’s curiosity was instantly captured. She peered down the darkened corridor of the one place she was told she wasn’t allowed, and therefore the place she was the most interested in exploring. There was something she wasn’t meant to see, which meant she needed to see it. Tom and Martha both glared at each other, both distinctly blaming the other for this situation, and in turn being annoyed that the other could even think of blaming them. “What’s in there?”

“Oh, nothing interesting. You know, broken furniture, dust…”

“Old studies, abandoned rooms,” Martha added as Tom’s mind went blank. They were quick and far too insistent that there was nothing. Capsize looked at them unimpressed, not falling for their false smiles.

“If there’s nothing then why is it forbidden?” She asked. She didn’t know if she expected any sort of answer, or if there was one that would persuade her away from exploring the place. Again, the two looked between themselves. Martha sighed.

“It’s mostly the Mistress’ living space. I assume she’s asleep right now and I really wouldn’t recommend disturbing her,” She did consider lying, making up some reason why it was dangerous or unsafe, but frankly she felt the reality of the situation should be clear enough. Capsize did pause. She didn’t want to run into Fox, and she definitely didn’t want to do it tonight. She could be careful, but she definitely didn’t trust her own quietness in an unfamiliar place. It was frustrating. She wanted to explore that wing, she was sure there was something there, but she certainly couldn’t risk it right now. Tom hopped forward again.

“It really isn’t interesting, I assure you. Come on, I’ll show you some actual interesting things around here,” He said, though he seemed less like he was trying to distract her and more like he just wanted her to listen. Of course, that seemed very much like the same thing to Capsize at this moment as she wanted nothing more than to step over them and walk straight into the forbidden wing, but she knew that was not advisable. Even if Fox, who she very much wanted to avoid, wasn’t in there, she doubted the two would let her go alone, which would just kill any chance of exploration she had. She had to concede, she was not going to be able to explore the West Wing tonight. So, still with more than a little reluctance, she followed him as he hopped away, though she still looked back at the mysterious West Wing, more than a little disappointed that the clock never moved away from the entrance.

Tom could feel the difference in the mood, the clear fact that she was now with him reluctantly rather than happily. And he knew he needed to say something, because the silence was just growing heavier as he didn’t, but he had to make sure that Martha was completely out of earshot before he did. And once he was sure they were far enough away, he stopped and turned back to look at Capsize.

“You’re planning on exploring the West Wing, aren’t you,” He said it as a statement, because he knew. Frankly if he was presented with a forbidden area of a building, he’d want to explore it too, but she couldn’t. He couldn’t have Fluffles blow up at her again, and if she caught her in there, he couldn’t stop it.

"Not tonight…” Capsize said, technically not lying. She knew there wasn’t much point in the half-truth, he’d clearly seen through her, but she didn’t want to make him more complicit than he already was. If she got in trouble herself that was… well, not fine, but it was better than getting other people into it with her. Still, she felt bad at his sigh. He needed to talk her out of this, he really did, but he could almost feel already that it wasn’t going to happen. She had a look, one that could either be described as determined or stubborn depending on how charitable you were being. Tom had no idea which side of the coin he fell on. “Look, I’ll be careful. I just…”

She couldn’t really explain it. She could stay anyway, it’ll make her life easier, but she needed to see if something was being hidden from her. If it really was just for privacy, she’d leave, she’d probably feel bad afterwards, but she was sure that there was something more. If there wasn’t something she wasn’t meant to see, they wouldn’t all be so quick to try and stop her from entering. She just had to know what it was, to know if it had any answers about the nature of this place. Though maybe, she thought quietly, she just wanted to prove that she didn’t need to listen.

Tom considered if there was any way right now to try and talk her out of it. He couldn’t think of anything, but she said not tonight. That meant he had time on his side. Depending on how much of a mood Fluffles was in, he might have a few days. He just needed to get her to listen to him about this being a bad idea. And while that might be difficult, he liked this girl, he couldn’t let her make this decision that was just going to lead to trouble. As impossible as it seemed at this moment, he was sure if he tried, he’d be able to keep her distracted enough that she forgot all about the West Wing. So, he put on his best smile.

“Well, so long as you’re not exploring it right now… How about we continue the tour?”

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #tom syndicate #martha the mystic #farmer steve

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Seven - Jordan

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

Jordan was not sulking. If there was one thing that he was certainly not doing it was sulking, because there was nothing to be sulking about. Sure, he was utterly humiliated by the woman he was meant to be marrying, and he didn’t want to see anyone because he was definitely going to be laughed at, but he was totally fine. He fired another arrow towards a target, hitting the bullseye as every one before it had. At least one thing today was still working as it was meant to. For once he was quite thankful for the fact that the training area was so private, as he didn’t want to see anyone right now, despite his normal desire for an audience. Even just the one pair of eyes on him right now was annoying him to no end.

“I’m going anywhere, she humiliated me!” He said, not turning to look at Tucker who he knew was here trying to get him to leave the privacy of the training yard. Despite how he definitely wasn’t hiding or sulking, he still couldn’t believe it. She had rejected him. She rejected him! Threw him into the mud like he was some kind of animal. All that effort and she didn’t say yes. Who did she think she was embarrassing him like that? “I’m a disgrace, Tucker, mocked by the whole town!”

“Oh, come on, no one in this town would ever mock you,” Tucker said with absolutely no doubt in his mind that his words were true. While he wasn’t sure if Jordan was sullen, angry, or just embarrassed, he knew there was little reason for him to be. Sure, the proposal hadn’t gone great, but not a single person in this town was going to mock him for it. If anyone had anything to say about it, it was that Capsize was insane for rejecting him, and Capsize being strange wasn’t exactly a new conversation. Unfortunately, his attempts to persuade Jordan of this fact weren’t going anywhere. “You’re still the town’s hero, you just need to relax, have a few drinks, and remember that.”

“How will drinks help? I’ll still be the town’s laughing stock!” He said, notching another arrow and firing, the thump as it entered the target punctuating his annoyed tone. He’d been publicly rejected by the woman he was so clearly meant to be with, her stubbornness apparently knowing no bounds. How was he meant to show his face when he had failed to get the one girl he was interested in? He didn’t even understand where he was meant to go from here. He couldn’t back down, he said he was going to marry Capsize and he was, it was his destiny. He needed to continue his pursuits, making sure she does what Lady Ianite clearly wants just as much as himself, but he couldn’t let himself go through such an embarrassment again. “And what if we run into her? I don’t want to see her without a plan.”

“We won’t, she went on a walk out of town,” Tucker assured, deciding not to mention that running into her after such an event would’ve been incredibly unlikely anyway. She was hard to find at the best of times, which he was wondering now if that was an intentional avoidance as opposed to her simply being busy, there was little chance she’d be at any places he and Jordan frequent after today. He’d know that even if he hadn’t literally seen her walking out of town. Hearing his words did catch Jordan’s attention a little. If she was gone, he could easily spin the situation before she returned, making it far less embarrassing for him. That way no one would question his continued pursuit of her, see it as just a little bump in the road. Yes, this was the best news he could’ve gotten. He smiled, and Tucker did too, too happy at his friend showing any positive emotion to see the hints of malice in the expression. “I doubt she’ll go anywhere but home when she does head back to town. I mean, is there really any chance of her turning up at the tavern?”

“No, not with Redbeard out of town,” Jordan laughed, remembering the number of times the man had been dragged out while far too drunk by his sister. Even in those moments she still looked composed and beautiful, even when having to deal with that idiot. How the two siblings could be so close but so completely different was beyond him. It didn’t really matter anyway, he’d never have to worry about Redbeard again once he married Capsize, the man could very well act however he wanted. The fact that neither sibling would show up to remind him of the day’s failure got his mind settled. He could use some alcohol right now, not that he had sorrows to drown, it would just be easier to come up with what to do next when he felt more relaxed. He turned on his heel, with far too wide a smile for a supposedly heartbroken man. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Great!” Tucker said, happy enough that Jordan seemed to want to act more like himself that he didn’t say that, obviously, he had been waiting for him. On a better day he might point out such a thing to mildly poke fun at him, but not when he’d already had a rough day. Jordan barely waited for him, immediately striding for the exit, keeping his bow in hand and his quiver strapped to his back. If he was leaving, he wanted to do so quickly, before anyone could get the idea that he was hiding.

“Hurry up!” He called over his shoulder as he hopped the fence, right back to confidence and impatience. Tucker was barely a few steps behind, not that you’d be able to tell from the yelling. Jordan rolled his eyes as he jumped the fence a little more clumsily than he had.

The walk to the tavern was brisk, Jordan walking faster than he normally would. He wasn’t desperate to get there, but he was annoyingly cold. For once he wasn’t wearing his coat, as it was still covered in mud from Capsize shoving him into it. It better not be completely ruined, else he… well, she’d learn pretty quickly he was not the type of man you wanted to anger. Of course, he couldn’t do anything too rash, that’ll ruin his chances of marriage, but he was sure there would be some way to teach her for that. But, right now, he had other things to worry about.

“I swear to the gods, if anyone in there makes so much as a joke,” Jordan said with annoyance lacing his words. He didn’t want to hear anything of the sort, no matter how well natured they might claim to be. Frankly nothing about his crumbling future was funny. Tucker held back a laugh, knowing that would not be received well currently, but, well, sometimes it felt like he just didn’t know his own status in the town.

“No one’s going to make jokes, you’re like the main character of their lives,” He said, only half joking. Jordan grinned. That was the sort of thing he liked to hear. Obviously, he knew it was likely a bit of an exaggeration, but it still gave him enough of an ego boost for him to confidently throw open the doors of the tavern and stride inside.

Immediately there were eyes on him, something he was very used to and typically enjoyed. And it wasn’t as if he wasn’t enjoying it right now, but he was slightly on edge attempting to find any sign of laughter aimed towards him. He was ready to latch onto whoever tried and give them a lesson they wouldn’t forget, but it never came. That surprised him, had this happened to someone else, no one would’ve laughed harder than him. But not a single person made anything resembling a joke or a laugh. Jordan smiled, maybe Tucker had a point.

“Next round is on me!” He shouted, met with cheers from the room. He had never felt so happy to hear that sound. How was his life this good? He obviously knew he was well-liked in the town, only a complete idiot would miss that, but he never really thought about how much that affected his life until this moment. Anyone else in town would have been left a laughingstock who had to hide themself in their shame if they’d had someone react to a proposal like that, but not him. Gods, his life was great.

“See, I told you. They love you,” Tucker said, throwing an arm over his shoulder. If his words weren’t enough to let that sink in, his surroundings certainly were. There was an area set up by the fireplace for his exclusive use, well his and Tucker’s exclusive use as champions of the gods, but that was still a pretty exclusive club. Despite how in a time of relative peace and the gods barely being around, he knew that he deserved his title and clearly everyone else did too. And the area set up for them was nice, with three large armchairs and a low table, furniture that was arguably nicer than any of the other furniture in the place. Various hunting trophies of his decorated the place, which always gave Jordan a nice little ego boost to see.

“I suppose you can be right sometimes,” He said, his tone jovial enough, as the two sat down opposite each other. Drinks were hurried over to them, the staff not needing to take an order as they saw the two enough to know what they’d want and know to make the drinks stronger considering the day Jordan had had. And Jordan began drinking almost immediately.

He was not drowning his sorrows. He didn’t have sorrows to drown as the whole thing was a fluke. It wasn’t as if Capsize wasn’t going to marry him, she just… didn’t want to. Admittedly that was a bit of a problem, but nearly as much as the ego bruising that would happen if he needed to ask her again. He needed another way forward, for her to come around without being prompted a second time, but he had no idea how he would accomplish that. His frustration shone through as his grip on his glass was too tight, his brow furrowed.

“You know, I don’t think there’s a single guy in this town who wouldn’t want your life. Even today,” Tucker said, nursing his own drink. He genuinely meant that as, despite how they were both champions, there was something about Jordan that just drew people in. Everyone loved him, those who didn’t want to be with him instead wanted to be him. Even Tucker would admit, though not out loud and certainly not while still sober, that he himself could be jealous of all the attention the other man got. Of course, he’d never actually bring that up, it was an awful thing to think about a friend, especially when his life wasn’t bad. Just, gods, did Jordan’s seem great.

“Don’t exaggerate, no one would want to be me,” Jordan said, his tone not making it obvious that he was fishing for a compliment. It was a little subconscious as he was in a bad mood and getting an ego boost always cheered him up, but it was still fishing all the same. But seriously, who would want to be him right now? The only two Ianitees he had ever met, people sent here by the personal request of his Lady, and he’d utterly failed to win over the one that actually mattered. Sure, Redbeard liked him, but he was just a tag along and frankly there was no way that man had his Lady’s favour. It was Capsize alone that mattered. She was the one that was actually sent here, the one that his Lady so clearly wanted to meet him, and she was so needlessly stubborn about him trying to be with her. The whole situation was unbearable, he couldn’t understand how anyone could want to experience his life at this current moment. He downed the other half of his drink.

“Why wouldn’t someone? You’re the town’s hero!” Tucker raised his voice as he spoke, something noticed by Jordan, though he didn’t realise it was intentional. He wanted to get some others to join in, to get him as distracted as possible from his problems by reminding him how great everyone thought he was. And he did successfully catch the attention of a few people.

“I’ve never seen a better shot than you with a bow! Think I could’ve trained my whole life and not be as good as you!” One man chimed in, lending on the back of the spare chair with his free drink in hand. He didn’t need to be bribed to compliment the town’s hero, but it certainly helped.

“Yeah, you must be the best hunter in this town’s history!” Another said, joined by a couple of cheers. Truly Jordan was a boon to the town. Obviously, he knew he was, but it never hurt to be reminded so he didn’t object.

“You’re the most handsome guy in town! I’d give anything for even a quarter of your looks.”

Similar statements were yelled through the tavern, anyone who could be heard giving compliments to the man. The cheers and compliments filled the air of the tavern, all bringing a smile to Jordan’s face. Yes, while he may have had a bad day, he still had all his supporters. He could forget about his troubles for the night. And when he did need to figure out how to actually… persuade Capsize over to making the correct decision, well clearly, he’d have more than enough help to do so. After all, what was better to get someone listening to reason than a crowd?

🌹 🌹 🌹

Hours passed, the sunset having passed, and the world dipped well and truly into darkness. The tavern, however, was still lit up, full of life and cheer. Drinks were being downed far too rapidly, to the point that most of the crowd in there were drunk enough to have not noticed Jordan had stopped buying for anyone but having a good while ago. Of course, he’d paid for a few rounds, as a little thanks for reminding him that he should be his confident self. However, the activities had long since devolved just into general drunken rowdiness. Not exactly an unusual state for the patrons of a tavern to be in, but not something he felt the need to fuel when they weren’t actively boosting his self-esteem. Still, the atmosphere was fun and carefree, something that seemed like it would be impossible to break until the doors were thrown open with a yell.

“Help! Oh gods, I need help!” The last person anyone was expecting to enter the tavern that night yelled desperately. Redbeard, who most certainly was not meant to be back in town for a number of weeks, half-stumbled into the building looking more a mess than anyone had ever seen him. He seemed to barely be managing to keep himself standing, his movement clumsy and frantic as he tried to get anyone to actually look at him. No one had any idea why this could be, though they had a very strong guess. But even Jordan had to wonder how being drunk translated to yelling like a madman. “Please, someone needs to help. She’s imprisoned!”

“Whose been imprisoned?” Tucker asked, the first to speak above the half-worried half-amused muttering and murmuring of most other people in the building. He felt as though he already knew the answer. There was only one ‘her’ that could make him act like this, but he didn’t want that to be true. Redbeard, turned upon hearing his voice, realising that his friends were here. Surely, they’d help, they had to help. Attempting to move over to them was harder than it should be, as those in the tavern decided it would be fun to grab him, which wasn’t helpfully to his general distress in the current situation. Some were just watching, but they didn’t make him feel any better as despite his clear distress and confusion, they found how he was acting more entertaining than concerning, quietly laughing as he stumbled.

Jordan watched, twirling an arrow between his fingers, with a dull smile on his face. She’d actually gone off and hid. There was not a single doubt in his mind that, despite how Redbeard was acting, Capsize was perfectly fine. That after embarrassing him she had gone off to catch up to her brother and switched with him so she could be out of town for a few weeks and not have to confront what she’d done. And, of course, Redbeard was now going to spin some ridiculous tale to explain his return and her absence. Yes, it was clear to him that was what had happened. The fact that, unless something had already gone extremely wrong, there was absolutely no chance Capsize could’ve caught up to Redbeard when he’d had a day’s head start didn’t occur to him. Not to mention the fact that if she was confident in her ability to make the journey, she most certainly would’ve already been on the trip. Neither of these facts were so much as a thought in his mind as Redbeard stumbled his way over, instead his focus on having fun wanting whatever ridiculous nonsense the man was going to spew, how far he’d take his story.

“Capsize! She’s locked in a dungeon!” He said, voice shaking from trying to keep even a semblance of calm, as he reached Tucker. He took a hold of the man’s shoulders, clinging to him as if he was his only lifeline. With such close contact, it was impossible to miss that he’d clearly been crying, that his clothes were deshelled and damaged. Jordan rolled his eyes at seeing his friend seeming to actually buy this nonsense, but he supposed not everyone could have as good a mind for spotting lies as him. “It’s all my fault. She just wanted to help me and now—now she’s—”

“Red just calm down, you’re not making any sense,” Tucker’s words made Jordan snicker. The man wasn’t going to make sense, it was clearly purposeful, and his concern for him was laughably unnecessary, so why not laugh? Tucker looked at him with brief confusion, an emotion that would’ve been shared by Redbeard if the man had been less panicked, if he was processing how people were looking at him. Jordan gave his friend a knowing smile which only confused him more. Shouldn’t he be concerned about Capsize? She must be in terrible danger if he was acting like this. But such an idea was not in Jordan’s mind.

“Please, just listen. There’s a Beast, a towering, horrible Beast, and—”

“A beast?!” Jordan said, his mocking tone lost on the other man. He’d never heard a more ridiculous notion, of a beast with the ability to imprison someone. It was a nonsensical claim that made it clear the man must’ve downed at least a bottle before bursting in. At least if he’d said ‘dragged off’ that might have been realistic. The crowd, hearing Jordan’s tone, turned to watch, quieting down a little in anticipation of what was to come.

“Yes! A Beast in a castle in the woods!” Redbeard said, his attention turned fully to Jordan. He had no idea of the man’s true intentions, that he didn’t believe his words, much less take them seriously. After all, Jordan was his friend, at least as far as he was concerned. Not to mention the man had proclaimed his love for his sister, surely, he must want to help her. Unfortunately, Jordan had already decided what he was doing and helping was the furthest thing from it. “You can help right? You said you could hunt any animal. I don’t think I’d call it an animal, but I—I don’t know who else is going to be able to help.”

“Well, it really depends. How big is this beast?” He said, still twirling the arrow as he took a step towards the panicked man. He felt like playing, seeing how much he would say before he broke. He knew he was making things up, but it wanted to know just how far he’d go. Would he just keep saying more and more insane things, or break and admit at some point that he was making things up because Capsize was hiding in embarrassment?

“Huge! Bigger than me! Bigger than a bear!” He couldn’t tell if he was exaggerating, he could only remember through the layers of fear that stretched the true terrifying appearance of the Beast into something even worse. He could easily picture it looming taller than it did in reality, the fact it now held Capsize at its mercy only adding to the terrifying visage his mind had created. He tried to ignore the only half-stifled laughter from the onlookers, and tried to reassure himself that it didn’t matter. Jordan was listening, that was all that should matter because what he did, the rest of the town followed.

“And did it have horrible claws?” He questioned, taking another step forward to the point that he was almost too close for comfort. Redbeard was starting to feel unsure of his tone, as it sounded almost joyful in a way that it certainly shouldn’t. But Jordan didn’t care if he was being obvious, he was having fun, people were laughing. Frankly the man was a joke, he couldn’t get upset if someone took advantage of that. Perhaps he should and try his smirk, to be able to keep the joke going longer, but he was enjoying himself far too much for that.

“Yes, claws and fangs…” He felt a little more hesitant, not quite trusting the look on his friend’s face. He glanced briefly towards Tucker, but he didn’t have the same concern as he did before. Of course, he was still worried, but if Jordan thought this was a joke, surely it must be. Sure, the state Redbeard was in seemed beyond anything anyone would do for a joke, but everyone else seemed to think this was funny so, maybe it was? Jordan himself was far too entertained, but he was annoyed to see the wavering. The man hesitating meant goading him was going to get less fun and he wanted to hear more about this apparent beast. “Please… please help. I don’t know who else can and… I can’t save her myself.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can’t,” He said, his voice almost dark and certainly mocking. He knew what he was doing, trying to get him to give him and follow him. He was probably going to shove him into the mud like Capsize did. Well, he wasn’t about to be humiliated for the second time today. If he thought he could play this kind of joke, well he was going to show what he thought of that. Only one person here was going to be humiliated and it wasn’t going to be Jordan. He was going to show he was on top just as he always had been. “Don’t worry, Redbeard, I’ll help you out!”

“Thank you! I can—” Redbeard’s voice froze cold as Jordan took hold of his arm in a vice grip. He tried to pull away but found the hold far too tight as he was marched towards the door. And, for the first time through his panic, he fully realised that people were laughing, that despite his words being true not a single soul in the building believed him. No one was going to help, a stark and terrifying fact only made clearer by Jordan throwing open the tavern door and shoving him to the ground outside. As he looked up more confused than anything, Jordan looked down with a smirk.

“There, you’re out! I trust you aren’t too drunk to make your own way home.”

“Wait, please, I’m not making this up! A Beast had Capsize! She needs help!” He begged, and in response Jordan laughed. He laughed harder than anyone should at the statement that the apparent love of their life needed help. Because, gods, he was really committed to keeping his sister’s whereabouts completely hidden by such a ridiculous claim. It would be a great show of loyalty if he didn’t sound pathetically insane.

“Oh, I’m sure she does. And I’m sure that once the market is over, she’ll miraculously escape and return fine as ever,” He said, to make clear he saw through this. He didn’t wait for Redbeard’s response, turning back inside and letting the doors slam. Though he didn’t actually do anything to stop him from returning inside, the resounding laughter from inside kept him out as well as any lock. No one believed him, not even the people he thought he could trust, or at the very least he thought would want to help Capsize. He felt lost, completely and utterly unsure of how to proceed if no one was going to help him. Completely drained of emotion and strength, he stumbled to his feet towards home having no idea what he was supposed to do now.

Inside, Jordan finally feeling like himself again, returned to the chair. Another drink was handed to him as he sat down, a smile on his face. He looked to Tucker, expecting to see his friend in the same high spirits as everyone else, but instead found him frowning. Was he seriously still concerned after hearing that ridiculous story?

“Don’t look at me like that. You really believe that nonsense? If there was a castle and a beast of that sort in the woods, we’d know about it,” He said with disdain that he had to say the words at all. Sure, it was fun to listen to the man drunkenly spin tales, but there was no point in putting any thought into the reality of them.

“I know, I know, just… What if it’s a test? You know, you go out on a wild goose chase to prove you truly care about Capsize?” He was unsure, more just trying to justify the fact that he was concerned, that he wanted to go and see where Redbeard thought Capsize was. However, Jordan scoffed. As if he needed to prove his love for Capsize, it was as clear as it was destined to happen. And even if she somehow didn’t know, well, he wasn’t going to do some test to prove it when she was the one constantly being stubborn about the two of them.

“No, she’s just gone to the market to hide from the embarrassing situation she created and got Redbeard to cover for her. Then that idiot came up with the idea of a beast because no one will go and check that. You’ll see, he’d probably tell us himself tomorrow,” He said, sure that the man would give up out of embarrassment in the morning. Frankly he knew Capsize loved to disappear and avoid him whenever things weren’t going her way, this was just the latest example of that. She’d be back soon enough, and this whole story would be forgotten as another ridiculous thing Redbeard had said. Which was a shame, if this beast wasn’t a fabrication from a drunken half-wit, he’d have no end of enjoyment in hunting it down.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #jordan captainsparklez #tucker iijeriichoii #skipper redbeard

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Eight - How Long Must This Go On?

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

Capsize wasn’t sure how long she cried for before her tears ran out and she was just left numb. She should move. She should do something to distract herself from the terrible reality she was stuck in, but she couldn’t make herself do anything. What would possibly distract her from the fact that she was stuck as a prisoner of a Beast for the rest of her life? She doubted anything she could do would shift the numbness, but still, surely anything was better than continuing to just lie here. She couldn’t know until she actually tried. Sad moods had a way of trying to convince her that she should remain in them rather than at least trying to be productive. There was nothing she could lose from at least trying.

She sat up, trying to properly take in the room that was now hers. It felt wrong. Not in an obvious way, after all, it was beautiful, the type of fancy that she had only read about. She could not claim there was anything objectively bad or uncomfortable about the room and that made it all the worse. This place was nicer than anywhere she had ever been before, somewhere she could have only dreamed of seeing, but she could never leave. It was better than a cell, obviously she could admit that, but there was very little practical difference given the actual circumstances. She sighed, a deep shaky breath, this wasn’t helping.

Something else, some other distraction. She must have something to distract herself. The only things she had that were actually hers were the few things she’d put in her bag, a book and a handful of pain relief tinctures. Knowing she had the book, her book, was like a lifeline, the same escape she’d been clinging to for the past two years. Surely, it’ll still work here.

She supposed in a less physical sense, she had her stubbornness. She could resist, and refuse, and in general be frustrating. Anything she could do to show that she had thoughts and feelings and wasn’t going to just give into this whatever the Beast wanted. She had her doubts that would do much, she’d seen her effortlessly drag her brother away, there was no reason she couldn’t do the same to her, just drag her whether she wanted her to be. But it was better to be dragged than to willingly give in. She’d been attempting to bite back and keep the peace for the past two years, and it had led to nothing but feeling awful. Like hell was she going to continue that when she was stuck here forever. She might’ve agreed to stay, but that didn’t mean she needed to be happy. Though she might need to be careful about her pushing, she didn’t want to catch the wrong side of the Beast’s anger.

A knock at the door put a slight waver in her heart. Had she been crying long enough that dinner was ready, and she was expected to go? Possibly, she certainly hadn’t been keeping track of time, but that meant she didn’t have any time to actually get ready. It didn’t really matter that she looked a mess, she wasn’t planning on going after all, but she’d hoped she would have some time to mentally prepare. Still, she rose to her feet, an argument forming on her lips that would go unused as what she saw on the other side of the door shocked her enough for any fierce words to die before they escaped.

The Beast was not on the other side of the door, not that she thought she would be as the knock had been soft, but there also weren't any people standing before her. Instead, she was faced with an oddity. Outside the door was a tea cart that upon which, alongside a beautifully crafted tea set, sat a snuff box, a flowerpot, and a feather duster. Most days such a thing would merely be out of place objects, nothing to even give a second thought to, but all three had faces. Faces almost certainly too detailed to be crafted or designed. Even before she saw them move, she was acutely aware that she wasn’t just looking at objects, but that didn’t stop her from taking a stumbling step back, needing to steady herself with her cane, when they did as she realised her life was just getting stranger.

“What— who are--?” She stumbled out, confusion flooding her mind.

“Mot Screziato. I hope we’re not interrupting. I thought… well, I thought you’d like a stronger drink, but it was a lot easier to convince everyone on the tea,” The snuffbox said as the tea cart moved into the room as if someone was pushing it despite that clearly not being the case. He spoke not quite with a laugh, though he did try and bring some brevity that he was sure she needed. Capsize… well, she managed to keep her shock at seeing talking furniture mostly internal. She knew it was impossible, the sort of thing that even if it was possible in theory, the amount of magic you’d need to use and understand and keep supplying would make it a ridiculous project to actually complete. However, she was seeing it with her own eyes. And given the rest of her day, was this really worth more than mild shock?

“Oh, er, tea is… tea is fine,” She tried to push through, to just talk as if she was talking to a person. However, her confusion still came through in her tone, she was too emotionally drained to actually hide it. She had no idea how she was meant to react to talking objects other than just pretending this was normal, which her brain wasn’t really catching up to. She ended up sat on the edge of the bed, attempting to process the sheer number of oddities she had experienced, the odd enchanted place she was now apparently living in. The furniture looked between themselves as her reaction, as subdued as it was, made it clear she wasn’t doing great. That probably should've been obvious, was there really a chance of her being okay? But they’d had a little hope that she would’ve actually been told about the fact there was talking furniture. Meanwhile, Capsize was wondering, and half worrying, how much of the furniture might be alive. She didn’t quite like the idea that anything could be alive, but it wasn’t as if she could do anything about that possibility, so she tried to push it out of mind and just continue as if everything was fine. “I’m Capsize, who are you… two?”

“Oh Andor. Andor Conway.”

“Alyssa Screziato, and don’t worry, most of the stuff in this place isn’t alive. Most of us don’t shut up so you don’t need to worry about the regular furniture suddenly coming to life,” The flowerpot spoke in a matter-of-fact way, answering a question she hadn’t yet asked while leaving her with just more questions. Though she didn’t think it was the best idea to ask any of her new questions out loud. Primarily how a snuff box and a flowerpot could be related, as the concept didn’t seem to be something you’d want objects that could possibly be broken to comprehend, but that question was honestly just a smaller part of how the situation was itching at her brain. Why did the snuff box sound older than the others, who frankly sounded younger than herself. It didn’t make any sense, why would they have age? Most annoyingly, part of her brain was telling her she had heard the name Conway before. She couldn’t recall where, and she was quite sure it couldn’t be related, despite the itch in her mind attempting to come up with some connection. Maybe it was just a way of her mind attempting to lessen the situation, by thinking of something normal that she could focus on instead. Again, her silence was noticed.

“Are you from the town? I don’t think I—you don’t seem like someone from there,” Andor said, attempting to fill the silence, and barely managing to correct himself before saying something he couldn’t take back. He’s heard the lecture from his aunt had given them all, making sure none of them would mention the curse to the woman. He understood the vague point, if she learned everything then actual love wouldn’t be able to form, it’d be an obligation. But it was a little hard to remember not to even allude to them once being human. Luckily, Capsize wasn’t quite in the headspace to acknowledge the odd way he had phrased the sentence.

“I’m not originally from there. Moved there two years ago after getting injured, recovery just ended up being a much slower process than expected,” She tried to not sound resentful of the place or the situation, as much as she almost wanted to laugh that he seemed to know instantly that she didn’t fit in there. Of course, the fact that the furniture seemed to know of the town was curious, as they certainly couldn’t have travelled there themselves. Maybe other townsfolk had come this way? Though somehow, she doubted this place had many visitors. Maybe there were more mysteries here to keep her busy than she had expected. “I never fit in there, always just waiting to be able to leave. I guess I finally got that.”

“Well, this place isn’t so bad…”

“Yeah, if you ignore Beasty then there’s loads of cool stuff,” Alyssa interrupted, ignoring the stern look of exasperation her dad gave her. Of course, she got it, they were meant to be pushing them together so romance could blossom, or whatever Tom was going on about, so they could break the curse. It was just that she didn’t have much good to say about the Beast. She had never cared about anything but magic when she’d still been human, and then she’d gotten them all cursed. Was she meant to say she had positives?

“I’m sure that’s true, but I’m not sure I feel much like exploring right now. I…” She hesitated. It felt odd to admit any of this, that she felt so unlike herself. She’d doubted herself a lot since her injury, the way people spoke when they didn’t care if she could hear them making her question so much. She wanted to explore, she desperately wanted to, but she wondered if that would even make her feel better. She sighed, unable to know how much of such thoughts were from the sheer emotional drain she had experienced tonight. “I don’t think anything is going to replace what I gave up.”

She almost immediately felt guilty about her words. They were being kind, there was no reason for her to be telling them her worst thoughts. She reached for a teacup, somehow hoping making tea would make her thoughts quiet. The younger two quieted, as they were a little unsure if they’d made the situation worse, but Mot didn’t.

“Everyone here, we all think you're beyond brave for agreeing to stay,” He said, trying to be cautious. He couldn’t quite believe when he was told what had happened, that she had exchanged her own freedom for her brother’s. He understood, of course. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do to keep Alyssa safe, to keep Tom and the Beast who he’d watch grow up safe. But that didn’t mean it would be easy, and he couldn’t imagine how terrible she must feel at the current moment. She looked at him, wishing that she could feel brave.

“I’ve lost everything. My whole life, everything I’ve ever dreamed of, just gone.”

“Hey,” He spoke again, softly but more just trying to not sound gruff. This woman, she wasn’t a child, but she was around the age that the Beast and Tom would be if they were still human. So, far too young to be lamenting lost dreams, however true it might seem to her. Though it was perhaps ironic that there were other people in this castle that had similar thoughts, and no one had such thoughts more than the very person who had put her into this situation. He decided not to mention that. It was best to make her comfortable just being here. He would worry about curse breaking, or matchmaking as Tom put it, later. “This place, it's… not any of our first choices, but there’s joy here, if you look hard enough.”

“I… I hope that’s true,” Capsize tried to sound like she actually believed it could be. Could she really find anything even resembling happiness here? She doubted it. She was a prisoner. What joy could she find in a place she wasn’t allowed to leave? But, also, this was the first time in over two years someone other than her brother had acknowledged that she might be unhappy. That was enough for a small smile to appear on her face, and Mot felt a slight bit of relief. Even the mildest hope was better than the alternative. This castle didn’t need another listless person.

“I’m sure it will be. You’re a survivor, I can tell,” He saw something in her eyes, beyond the numbness there was spirit. And perhaps that’s exactly what this place needed. He had been in this castle for a long time, working here since the Beast had been a child, long before the curse. And he knew that back then, before the curse, she wouldn’t have been welcomed here. Back when she was human, she would’ve been too lost in her research to consider anyone without magical powers or knowledge, and maybe that’s why, as much as he hated to think Tom might be onto something, she might be the exact person who could break the curse. To at least bring out whatever hope there was hidden in this place. But, of course, that wouldn’t happen all at once, and she unfortunately had something else to do tonight. “We’ll leave you to get ready for dinner.”

“Oh right…” Capsize tried to not sound obvious that she had no plan to actually attend that dinner, not wanting to get anyone in trouble or, worse, anyone trying to talk her into it. While the three noticed her low energy, it wasn’t unexpected. It seemed unlikely for her to be anything else, but the Beast wanted a dinner so there wasn’t going to be any talking her out of it. Capsize watched as they hopped off the tea cart, or rather as two of them did as Alyssa reminded atop. She assumed for a moment that the flowerpot simply didn’t want to jump off, seeing that she was more breakable than the others. However, as she stood, intending to help the girl down, she spoke before she could.

“I’ll catch up, Dad,” She said, hoping not to be questioned. A hope snuffed instantly when he gave her that look, the one she could still picture on his human face as she whenever she was about to avoid responsibilities with Tom.

“It’s late Alyssa,” He said, though he was actually more concerned about what she was planning to do while staying behind. He loved his daughter, but he knew she was a troublemaker, and he could tell just from her tone of voice that she was planning something.

“Yeah, I won’t be long,” She said, not wanting to disappoint him, but also not wanting to leave before she’d done one more thing. His eyes felt like they were piercing through her.

“Okay, just please stay out of trouble,” He said, his tone clear to her that he actually meant for her to stay out of the way of the Beast whenever she was done. He didn’t think she’d do anything to her, but he somehow doubted that whatever she wanted to do was going to make her happy. Still, he couldn’t force her to come along, so feeling more than a little uneasy he left.

Capsize watched this quietly, curiously. The conversation felt normal, something she could watch anywhere if it were not between two objects. Though, of course, she felt like there were things being unsaid, wasn’t there always between family members? She decided not to linger on that thought, else she’d make herself sad again. And instead, as she was left alone with her, she turned to the flowerpot, attempting to smile and act normal.

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be great company, lass,” She said, attempting to cover the fact that she was about to barricade herself in this room. As much as she appreciated any company that wasn’t automatically treating her as strange, even if that company happened to be sentient furniture, she didn’t want to lock anyone in here with her, especially since she had no idea what kind of mess it was going to turn into.

“Oh, that’s fine, I didn’t wanna stick around for long. I just thought you might want to know that there’s an enchanted key in the door. When you lock the door with it, other magic can’t break through and open it,” She said, hopping down from the cart without a second thought. She knew that Capsize wasn’t planning on attending the dinner, who would be in her position? And well, if she was going to skip it anyway, she might as well give her a way to do it safely. Maybe it wouldn’t be what her Dad wanted, or even the best thing for the progression of breaking the curse, but it was definitely better than watching their only chance fade anyway because the Beast decided to drag her through the halls rather than actually thinking.

“I… Thank you,” Capsize didn’t have much else to say to her as she hopped out the door. She was just thankful that she would be given any information that could keep the Beast away from her. Alyssa stopped briefly at the door, looking up at the new person with a smile.

“No problem, just don’t tell my Dad I told you.”

And with that, Capsize was once again alone. However, this time as she closed the door, she noticed the key that she had missed originally. She turned it, for the first time just how enchanted this place was sticking in as a small glyph glowed on the door handle as the lock clicked. It wasn’t just the large showy magic, it seemed everything in this place was enchanted. She smiled a little, maybe there would be joy in exploring this place, even more than she had expected, but first she needed to survive tonight. She took a breath. Okay, Captain, time to actually face a challenge head on for the first time in forever.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Downstairs, a good hour or so later, the Beast paced in front of a lit fire, anxiety riddled as the minutes drew on. To call it pacing was underselling as she moved on all fours, more animalistic and certainly not the sort of movement you’d expect royalty to be making. It was the absolute lack of refinement that was concerning the candelabra and snuff box watching her. How were they meant to make this work?

Both were attempting to figure out something different, even if they had the same end goal. Obviously, some kind of romance needed to be started, it had to be if the curse was to be broken, but both had a very different idea of said process in mind. Tom was, well, optimistic. To him romance was a quick affair, something he could prompt and craft in a few days if only the Beast would take his advice properly. Mot, however, was a little more realistic. He was hopeful, he had to be, but he knew this wasn’t going to be quick. To get anyone to fall in love was a slow task. He couldn’t imagine how hard a task this was going to be when one felt as though she had lost everything and the other was the cause of those feelings. Frankly, he wasn’t sure this dinner was even a good idea, but he knew suggesting that they postpone or cancel it was just going to fall on deaf ears.

“Where is she? Why is she taking so long?” The Beast growled. It objectively hadn’t been all that long since Martha had been sent to retrieve the wo—Capsize, but it was long enough for her to feel antsy about the lack of her return. Surely, she had had plenty of time to get ready, there was no reason she should be taking so long. It was taking all her concentration to not just tear apart the floor and she prowl-paced as her anxiety bubbled into an amping frustration.

“I think I’ve already told you to be patient,” Mot said, his softness from when he was talking to Capsize not present here. He was trying to keep his own patience, something he’d thought would be easier with how long he had known the Beast, but that actually just made him all the more frustrated. He knew that she could be better than this, if she ever tried. She looked at him with a glare. She was being patient. She’d already been more than patient. Her point was that she shouldn’t be kept waiting in the first place.

“Maybe her not being here is a good thing, we can make you a bit more presentable before she gets here,” Tom said. He was sure he could get a romance going, but he needed Fluffles to look as nice as she currently could given the whole curse thing. He wasn’t asking for perfection, just not a prowling animal. Looking at her right now, it was like she wasn’t even considering what was at risk here. The Beast wanted to bat him. ‘Look presentable’, was he being serious? She was already doing this on his advice, now he was asking for the impossible. She was never going to look presentable, why would he even suggest that? So, she glared at him too, and Tom glared right back. “Don’t look at me like that! You’re realised right, that she could be the one to break the curse, right?”

“Obviously! I’m not stupid!” She growled. Of course, she knew that this was perhaps her only chance to break the curse. With how much time seemed to be left, there wouldn’t be another person. Even if there was, what chance was there of anyone else who didn’t immediately look at her like a terrible monster? Though she’d already ruined that, she was sure. “I’m trying, alright.”

“Well, try a little harder. Stand on two feet, maybe smile, definitely stop growling,” He wasn’t in the mood for her self-sabotaging especially when it was also going to affect him. She wrinkled her nose, huffing as she stood properly, towering at her full height. She didn’t smile, though she stopped scowling. She didn’t see any reason to go through effort for something so unlikely, and she felt weird standing. It felt like pretending everything was still normal when it never would be again. Tom, however, did smile. She was already looking less like an animal about to strike. “See, easy enough. Look, you get this done, and keep acting like a normal person for a few days and we’ll have the curse all broken and you won’t be pretending anymore!”

“Maybe we could look at this with a little bit of realism,” Mot cut through Tom’s words, more than a little frustrated at how fast he seemed to believe falling in love was. He couldn’t argue against his initiative, he certainly was glad for his focus on breaking the curse in the way that it was actually meant to be broken, but assuming it could be done so quickly was just setting up for disappointment and failure. Everyone needed to accept this was going to be a slow process. “Love takes time, this isn’t simple flirting that’ll be over in one night.”

“But we need it to be quick, the rose is already wilting,” Tom said, his words making the already anxious atmosphere worse. They only had a limited amount of time left to get this done, exactly how much completely unknowable except that after years petals had begun to actually fall from the flower. Slow romance wasn’t exactly a welcoming idea given the circumstances. Mot didn’t have an argument, instead just sighing, as he fully understood the rush even if he was sure it wouldn’t work. Meanwhile, the Beast slumped. How long did she have left to accomplish an impossible task? How long until she had doomed everyone over one decision? She looked away from the two cursed men in a wave of shame, regretting that action as she caught a brief sight of herself in a polished trinket on the mantelpiece.

“What’s the point? Why would she ever fall for me?” She couldn’t draw her eye away from the slightly distorted reflection. The face that wasn’t hers, that wasn’t human, staring back at her. “She’s so beautiful and I’m…”

“Hey now,” Mot spoke softly once again, approaching her carefully. How many destroyed mirrors had he come across since this had begun? The anger had long since turned to despondence, but that was all the more reason to be careful. The curse had affected them all, but it was her curse, she was the only one who could fix it and that fact, well, it was not an easy burden to bear. She didn’t understand how they didn’t all hate her. How any of them spoke to her without disgust. They should hate her, though as she turned towards the concerned snuff box slowly approaching her, she still desperately hoped he didn’t. “You need to make her see past appearances. Is all your interest in her simply because of her looks?”

“No, but—”

“Then make sure hers isn’t.”

“Yeah, charm her! Turn on that obsessive passion you’ve always had!” Tom interjected. If she could turn that part of herself back on, it would be impossible to not see her as a person despite appearances.

“But be gentle. She’s lost a lot today.”

“Yeah, yeah. Gentle, and careful, but compliment her. Make her feel special,” Tom hopped forward, gesturing with his candle to help himself think. Fine, maybe Mot had a point, and this wouldn’t be wrapped up as quickly as he would like, but he still knew romance. He was sure they could make good progress tonight.

“Sure, listen to Tom. Just don’t expect this to be quick,” Mot said, knowing none of the advice was bad, just possibly not what Capsize would be in the mood for. He did truly worry about the woman, his meeting with her not convincing him she was at all ready for any kind of courtship. He worried that if they pushed too hard, she might completely close off, which they really couldn’t afford, as selfish as that thought was. However, it was that fear that led him onto his next statement, perhaps the most important one he could think of. “Just whatever happens, no matter how frustrated you get, you need to keep your temper under control.”

“I don’t have a temper,” She huffed. She looked towards Tom for support only for him to avoid her eyes. He unfortunately couldn’t give her the comfort she wanted as, well, she did have a temper. Her frustrations had been bad before the curse, now they were amplified by her current form and not a pretty sight. She hadn’t exactly been gentle with the ‘invitation’ to dinner. The Beast huffed again. She knew how to talk to people.

A shift of the door got her standing straight as she panicked for the first time in times over her appearance. Gods, Tom’s words had actually gotten to her. Why did she think she could do this? Her panic grew to a unbelieve height only to immediately flatten and subside as only Martha entered the room, the clock a little too nervous. Seeing the lack of Capsize, she let out a low growl, just causing Martha more panic.

“Where is she?”

“Oh, well, interesting story. She, erm, she’s not coming,” She, though stuttering through her words, spoke in such a way that the Beast almost didn’t catch what had actually been said. A few moments later, it was fully processed, and a flash of rage manifested.

“WHAT?!”

🌹 🌹 🌹

It was barely a minute after the Beast received the message that she stormed upstairs and began slamming her fist against the door. None of the furniture managed to keep pace, meaning there was no one to stop her before she started yelling.

“I told you to come to dinner!” She yelled through the door as she failed to get it open. It was only after a little more fumbling with the handle that she realised it was quite firmly locked.

“I never agreed to that!” Capsize yelled back, the Beast only getting more annoyed at those words, a growl escaping without even a thought. Why did it matter if she had agreed? She’d been invited, she was meant to turn up. She attempted to force the door open with magic, only to remember why that wasn’t going to work when the spell failed. Why had she made those keys? “I’m not coming unless you break down the door and drag me!”

“You think I won’t do that?” She slammed her fist a few more times against the wood. Who did she think she was? She was meant to come to dinner. Was that hard to do? Well, if she wanted to be dragged then she’d happily oblige. She raised her paw, claws extended, ready to give the woman exactly what she wanted. Luckily for any future chances with her that she had, it was at this point before she could actually damage the door that the three who had been hurriedly following her rounded the corner.

“You stop right now and calm down!” Martha yelled as she saw that she seemed to actually be about to break the door down. The Beast froze. At first, just because it had been years since Martha had spoken to her in such a harsh tone, but then as she stood frozen, it dawned on her what she was about to do. She shrank back. It wasn’t fair. The woman was being beyond frustrating, but she was the one getting looks like she was terrible.

“She isn’t listening! What am I meant to do?” She desperately whispered, looking towards them for guidance. How was she meant to get her to fall in love? How was she even meant to get her out of the room?

“Just be nice, charm her. Surely you have some idea of how you’d want someone to charm you,” Tom tried, hoping that would give her some ideas beyond yelling. However, instead, she just looked more lost. She did have ideas of what she wanted, that was why the woman was still here, because she’d spoken to her as if she was a person and not a terrible monster to be cowered away from, but that didn’t translate. She was a normal person, being talked to like that wasn’t going to be something she desired. She needed to somehow be charming, which she had no idea how to do. She looked towards Mot, hoping for anything more.

“Be gentle, ask her calmly,” He said. He was sure that she could do this, that she could be gentle and patient if she just tried. However, she still hesitated. Could she be gentle? Her paw shook slightly as she knocked on the door, scared it would still sound like slamming no matter how gentle her movement was.

“Will you come to dinner?” She asked at a normal volume. She had no idea if her voice was even heard on the other side of the door. The silence as she waited for a response was agony. Had she been gentle enough? Polite enough?

“I’m not hungry!” Capsize called back. The Beast just about managed to keep her frustrations kept within. Why was she putting in so much enough for absolutely nothing in return? She looked towards the furniture, gesturing at the door in frustration. Martha hopped forward, assuming she might regret the words she was about to say but needing to suggest anyway.

“You could try saying please,” She expected the annoyed glare she received, but it was her only genuine idea to persuade the woman. From the way Tom had described her argument with the Beast, she wasn’t about to be persuaded by force. And her brother had called himself a merchant, that meant they were just normal, or rather not nobles. So, noble expectations weren’t going to work, so that left the one option. Of course, she was glared at as if she had told her to grovel and beg, but she expected little else from her. It was her best suggestion, and she could take it or leave it.

“I would be honoured if you would please come down to dinner,” She felt like she was just embarrassing herself at this point.

“No thank you,” Her response was quick, and her voice was calm. Which was enough to push her frustrations over the edge.

“You can’t stay in there forever!” The Beast yelled, ignoring the reactions of those watching her. If she didn’t want to be yelled at, she should stop being so stubborn. She had a nice room, free access to nearly all of the castle, it wasn’t as if she was locked in a cell so why couldn’t she do this one thing? On the other side of the door, there was a short, sharp laugh.

“Oh, I most certainly can!” She spoke with far too much confidence and too little respect. It was as if she was completely sure of the outcome, as if she had no fear of the Beast on the other side of the door. In most circumstances her having no fear would be exactly what they wanted, but this was distinctly the opposite of romance. Worse, the Beast once again slammed a fist against the door. “You think that’ll persuade me? I’m not coming to dinner!”

“You either eat with me or you don’t eat at all!”

“Completely fine with me!”

“Then starve!” The Beast roared. Her speech was almost too animalistic to be understood.

She stormed off towards the west wing, reverting quickly back to being on all fours as she no longer cared about any of the advice given. As the far too loud sounds of her retreat vanished into the depths of the castle, Martha sighed as if she had witnessed a teenager in a huff rather than what had actually occurred.

“Well, she’s certainly stubborn,” She said quietly, nodding towards the door. She’d frankly run out of comments on the attitude of the Beast, that’d happened around the time the curse had originally been cast. However, there was plenty of time for her to make them about the new girl. It was quite clear now what Tom had meant by her being a match for the Beast as she definitely left an impression.

“She’s spirited! Which is exactly what we need,” Tom knew this hadn’t gone exactly to plan, or at all to it, but she wasn’t scared. Well, maybe she was, he couldn’t exactly see her face, but if she was scared then her fear had a bite to it. They were going to have to work on the two interacting, but he could figure that out. Martha looked less than entertained.

“She’s certainly something,” Martha said, unsure why he seemed impressed. Well, she did. Tom was always a troublemaker, of course he’d be happy that another one had turned up. No, she couldn’t blame the girl for lashing out, obviously she couldn’t, she was mostly just frustrated that the task of sneaking her food was definitely going to fall onto her. Thinking of food, there was a full dinner that wasn’t going to be eaten and needed to be tidied away. She sighed. “I’m going to clean up the mess downstairs. Can one of you just keep an eye out in case she comes out?”

“Of course! I’ll watch all night!” Tom said, his tone confident. She wasn’t sure if he’d actually make it that long, but at this point she was tired. So, Martha took him at his word, and went off to clean up. As she left, Mot turned towards Tom.

“I assume you have a plan.”

“Obviously, but I need to wait for her to come out of her own accord,” He said with a shrug that didn’t at all persuade Mot that this plan was relaxed.

“Look, please, just promise me you’re not going to push her immediately towards romance,” Mot said, and Tom pouted. He didn’t want to be slow, he wanted to be a handsome champion of a god again. But he also knew, unfortunately, the older man had a point. He needed to be clever.

“Yeah, I get it,” He said, a new plan forming in his head. If she needed to feel comfortable before romance could start, then he’d make sure she felt more at home here than she’d felt anywhere in her life.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The Beast stormed into her den, frustrations flowing into her body as she threw an already splintered piece of furniture, watching it shatter against the wall. The wood breaking apart gave her momentary satisfaction before it just made her feel empty. Here she was, surrounded by broken furniture and once treasured relics that had now fallen into disrepair. This place, it had once been her study and now it was a museum to her failures. The damn rose was at the centre of it all, glowing and floating as it always had. Why couldn’t she figure out another way to break the curse? Why did she have no choice but to watch as the goddess’ ‘gift’ began to wilt signalling her approaching failure?

“What the hell am I meant to do?” She muttered. The woman was beyond stubborn. It seemed nothing short of begging was going to get her attention, and she wasn’t that desperate. Maybe she should be, but she wasn’t.

“You could try not waking me up for a start,” A voice behind her huffed. She turned in embarrassment to see the floating robe. Of course, someone had been around to see her outburst, that was just the sort of day this was.

Waglington was an oddity among the cursed residents of the castle, his form apparently being a hooded robe that lacked a face or any of the clearly human features of the other furniture. The Beast suspected this was because he wasn’t actually the robe at all, but rather some smaller object. She suspected that he’d put himself into the pocket of a robe and he was just using whatever magic he still had to make the robe move. She had absolutely no proof of that, but she thought it seemed like something he would do. After all, he still looked almost like himself this way.

“Why are you here, Wag?” She questioned, just tired at this point. She didn’t even have the energy to yell. Not that she wanted to yell, but she was absolutely not in the mood for company. Wag shrugged, or more flopped as the fabric was loose as any clothes were when not worn. Though he floated at the robe’s full height, none of his actions had much physical weight to them.

“Same thing as always,” He said, not needing to say that he’d been attempting to figure out another way to break the curse. It was pointless. The Beast herself had long since given up on the idea, all her research amounting to nothing when going against the power of a goddess. She supposed that was probably the point, her obsession with magic was part of what she was being punished for, but he kept on trying. She couldn’t exactly tell him to stop without admitting that she’d completely given up, but she didn’t bother asking if he’d made any progress. She already knew the answer and didn’t need it to hear about more failures.

She trudged into the corner where a mess of blankets formed a pile she’d been using as a sleeping area. As she slumped down, she grabbed an ornate hand mirror from an intact table she kept within arm’s reach, considering if she should actually use it. The robe floated over.

“I’m guessing dinner didn’t go as planned,” There was just a touch too much humour in his tone for her current mood.

“She’s the most stubborn, frustrating—” The start of her venting was cut off by his laughter. She looked up at him, glaring. “It’s not funny! She’s my only chance to fix this!”

“I know, I know. It’s just, well, I’ve heard this exact list of complaints before. Once upon a time, Martha was complaining about a stubborn, frustrating young princess. I wonder who that was about,” He said, and for once she was glad, he didn’t have eyes because she didn’t want to feel a stare like that boring into her. She wanted to bite back that this was completely different, but she couldn’t. She was completely silent until he floated out of the door.

She slumped into her fabric nest. She wasn’t like the woman. She had a reason to be like this, a curse that it seemed like she had no chance of breaking. How could anyone’s frustrations possibly compare to her own? It was a ridiculous idea to even suggest. Even if she’d caused her pain, if the look and question earlier asked by here were still bothering her.

‘What kind of a monster are you?’

That question, one that could’ve been asked with disgust and triggered so much rage within her. But that was not how it was said. It had been said in anger, yes, but very much how someone would talk to a person, to someone who could be better. And that made it all the worse. Why did she have to find the woman so… different? Different from anyone she had ever encountered before. Why her? Why someone who was never going to want to get to know her after what she’d done? Why now when she looked like this? Why when she had become a creature that no one could love?

She drew the mirror close to herself, cringing at her own appearance as she was forced to look at it. A horrific mishmash of different creatures, no description for it, for herself, except for just a beast. And to ever see the outside world, to just watch without being able to interact, she had to look at herself. She shook, squeezing her eyes shut and holding the mirror close.

“Show me… the woman,” She couldn’t bring herself to say her name. Saying it would make everything different, admit there was a part of herself that wanted a connection she wasn’t going to achieve. She kept her eyes closed until she felt the magic working, until she knew she would not need to face herself again. Anything the woman could possibly be doing, any anger she could possibly be expressing would be easier to see than her current appearance. Yet the sight was not what she expected.

She had expected anger, maybe some confident look on her as she muttered to herself about never giving the Beast a single chance, but that was not the state the woman was in. She sat on the edge of the bed, the only expression on her face was exhaustion. She was gripping the man’s coat in her hand, clinging to it as if her life depended on it. She shouldn’t be seeing this. This felt worse than anger.

“Please, Ianite,” Hearing that name froze her in place. Why? Why did she have to be praying to the goddess? Why the one that left her like this? She almost shoved the mirror away instantly, as if that would make her forget what she heard, but she didn’t. She kept listening. “Please just tell me what I did wrong. What I did to deserve this.”

She stopped the magic before she could hear anymore, feeling nothing but shame for even listening beyond the first two words. She had no idea why she had gotten her hopes up. She was never going to be seen as anything other than a monster. One careless, terrible decision and she’d doomed everyone. The only way to fix any of it, to earn any forgiveness, an impossible task that seemed to exist just to mock her.

And she wanted to be able to insist that she just wanted to break the curse. That she had just allowed the woman to stay because she was a means to an end. But that wouldn’t be true. There was something she found so deeply interesting about the woman, something that she did want to get to know. Something that stopped her from getting angry when she heard her say the name of the one who’d doomed everyone in this castle to the worst of fates. But it didn’t matter. She was never going to be seen as anything but the monster who had imprisoned her so why even try?

“What did any of us do to deserve this?”

Neither woman would receive an answer, just the everlasting silence that led to more desperate questioning.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #mot screziato #alyssa screziato #prince andor #martha the mystic #waglington

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Two - No Matter What

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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Capsize found herself fixated on the current page of her book that she was holding in one hand as she walked, having flicked directly to her favourite part. She couldn’t quite describe to anyone else why particularly this part so close to the beginning of the story was her favourite, why this part that had lingered in her mind even when she wasn’t reading it. Of course, not many people actually cared to ask, but Redbeard had when she had described the story to him. He’d asked why, of all the adventure, the travelling, and the combat, within the story, things that she longed to be back in her own life, her favourite part was the comparatively mundane meeting between the two lead characters.

Now, to be clear, he had said it in such a tone that it was clear that he was joking, and it was not the sort of thing he would’ve said if she had at all been sensitive to such jokes. Yet it had given her a slight pause. Not due to questioning her own opinion, but rather the exact tugging feeling the scene gave her being hard to describe. There was something about the first meeting of the two women, who by the end of the story would trust each other above all else and would be so deeply in love, just swirled in her head. One a princess in disguise, one just an ordinary woman, with no reason for their lives to intertwine but a single decision binding them together. How could she not look at that moment in fascination? Obviously, there were more exciting moments in the story, but none she thought so much over as this point.

Even now, rereading over the words of the two locking eyes for the first time she just wanted to stop moving and completely lose herself in the pages. Though she resisted that urge, if only because she’d have all the time in the world to do so once the day was over. She wanted to say once she was home, but she needed to do the final checks over everything that would be going to the market. And she would want to spend a little time with her brother before he left for a few weeks. Obviously, that would take over most of the rest of her day, but she didn’t exactly have any plans for her near month of alone time. She’d have plenty of time to lose himself in the fictional world soon enough.

“Capsize!” She came to a sudden stop upon hearing that voice somehow in front of her. She cursed the fact that he wasn’t behind her, that she couldn’t just keep walking, pretending she didn’t hear him. No, that was quite difficult to do with him blocking her path. So, she looked up with as polite a smile as she could muster, hoping she would not be stuck talking to him for too long. There, unfortunately, stood Jordan, his usual hunting outfit on, with Tucker right next to him. She was unsurprised to see the other champion with him, as she rarely saw the two apart, though she was a little baffled to see them both panting slightly. Jordan typically tried to look a little more dignified at the beginning of a conversation with her. She attributed it to the two having been hunting, as the two still had birds hanging from their belts so clearly they were not long done with the activity. This spared them the embarrassment of her knowing they had sprinted through a side street to end up in front of her.

“Jordan, Tucker. A lovely morning isn’t it,” She said, giving a half-hearted attempt to turn whatever this was into just small talk. While she could deal with Tucker alone, every conversation with Jordan was draining and always went on far too long for her liking. While most days that would simply be an annoyance, she really didn’t have the time today for whatever he had planned. Jordan smiled, happily oblivious to Capsize truly not being in the mood for him. In fact, neither of the men read the annoyance coming off her, perhaps as it was the typical emotion she felt when Jordan was around, and it was hence being read as neutral.

“It is, and it’s turning into a lovely afternoon, so I was wondering if you might join me for lunch. We could go to the tavern, look at my hunting trophies. You know, like, a date,” He said, using all the charm that typically worked on people in town. He thought it was surely the perfect plan for properly wooing her prior to his proposal. A nice meal with a gift at the end, that was the type of thing women talked about wanting. He’d need to figure out the gift on the fly, but he’d be sure they’d be flowers or something shiny he could grab. Or maybe Tucker could find something while they were eating, he always had his back like that.

“Unfortunately, I’m busy. I’ve got a lot to do, you know, final stock checks, seeing my brother before he’s gone for nearly three weeks,” She said, a little more briskly than she typically would in the hope that they might get the point that she was busy. She wasn’t in the mood for whatever Jordan thought passed for a date. She already spent far more time with the man than she wanted. Unfortunately, neither man moved from her path, because apparently what she had to do today wasn’t at all important. She considered just pushing past them, but people were watching so she resisted, despite how much she wanted to.

“I’m sure he can wait a little longer,” Jordan said, more than a little confused as to why she’d prefer to spend the day with her brother than him. Sure, he didn’t have anything to worry about as the man certainly wasn’t competition, but surely, he was a better person to spend the afternoon with than Redbeard. She saw him all the time, why choose him over a lunch date when she was always so busy? Of course, Capsize was not actually busy nearly as much as she told Jordan. While she had work to do, she spent far too much of everyday with nothing to do. It was just that she found doing nothing more appealing than spending time with Jordan. She couldn’t actually say that to his face, so blatantly insulting a man that was much more popular than herself who also unfortunately happened to be Ianite’s champion would frankly be a terrible idea. That wasn’t to say it was completely out of the question, just that it would need to be at a moment when she had truly stopped caring.

“He could, but I’d prefer not to keep him waiting. So, if you’ll excuse me,” She said, her tone authoritative enough that Tucker moved out of the way without thinking. This gained him two different reactions, with Capsize smiling briefly at him as she was about to proceed with her day, and Jordan staring daggers. He could only give an embarrassed shrug in response to his friend. However, there wasn’t any time for reprimanding him, Capsize was about to make her escape. So, as she took the steps directly past Jordan, he grabbed the object in her closest hand to him. As the book was pulled from her hand, she turned back with barely concealed annoyance. “Give me my book back, Jordan.”

“I’m just looking,” He said in response, with a tone far too playfully for her liking. As he flicked through the pages, he treated the book with little care, just making her all the more desperate to grab it back. However, he just took her attempted grabs with a smile. She was agile, far more than he had expected when he first met her, but in a situation where she needed to take something from him, she was rather on the backfoot. After all, she needed to keep one hand on her cane, especially with the amount he was moving, and thus only had one hand to actually attempt to take the book back with. So, whenever her hand came close, Jordan simply turned 90 degrees on his heel, and it was as if she was never close in the first place.

Tucker, and indeed a few of the older onlookers who were not jealous of the attention Capsize received from Jordan, laughed at the apparent flirting. To them, Capsize’s frustration towards the man was feigned, a way of covering her feelings for the man. Because surely, she did have feelings for him, who didn’t? However, in reality her annoyance and frustration were not feigned in the slightest. In fact, she considered the only positive of her current situation to be that he hadn’t grabbed her cane as he had on a couple of prior occasions, when he had apparently forgotten that it wasn’t a fashion accessory. How everyone found him so charming was utterly beyond her.

“Do you really read all this? All these words, no pictures. It doesn’t seem very you.”

“What on earth do you mean?” She said, mildly exasperated, but much more confused. Of everything she had heard about her reading, the idea that it didn’t suit her had never once come up. And while she doubted that she was about to have some revelation about herself based on his opinions, she was morbidly curious. What impression did he actually have of her?

“Well, it wasn’t all that long ago that you couldn’t even spell my name,” He said with a laugh as Capsize resisted the urge to punch him. If she could choose the moment in her life that she regretted the most, it would be giving him that rose. She had just wanted him to go away, had thought that getting his name wrong might convince him that she didn’t like him, and gods had that gone wrong. Tucker, for what it was worth, saw Capsize’s anger. He did not, however, understand fully why she was angry.

“He’s joking,” Tucker said, with an exaggerated laugh as he took a hold of Jordan’s shoulders. He pulled him close, feigning a hug to whisper into his ear hurriedly. “She’s really sensitive about that, maybe don’t make jokes that make her want to leave.”

“Oh, yeah totally joking,” He said, batting Tucker away from him. He didn’t understand why she was so sensitive about this. She did spell his name wrong on the gift tag so why shouldn’t he bring it up? It was funny. But he didn’t want her to leave in a huff as she so often did, so he quickly came up with something else to say. “Obviously, I actually mean that you’re one of Lady Ianite’s favoured. So, you should be focusing on things important to her, like me.”

He leaned closer to her, hoping that was a good enough correction. Capsize became once again confused. What exactly did he mean by ‘like me’? That she should be spending more time training to shoot, like how he spent most of his days? Or, goddess forbid, that she should be spending more time focusing on him? As he came even closer, she realised, to her own unhappiness, that he definitely meant the latter. She had never wanted to leave a situation more in her life. Thankfully, there was one upside to his close position to her, combined with his attempted flirting making him forget what was keeping her here.

“I think I’ll stick with reading, but thanks for the suggestion,” She said as she managed to tug the book from his grip, batting his arm gently away with her cane as he tried to grab it back. He frowned, completely lost for what he was meant to do as she was turning away. Should he have brought a gift to start with? That probably would’ve made her more likely to hang around for a bit, wouldn’t it? In reality, no, but in his actual limited understanding of her, he had no way of knowing that. He looked towards Tucker for some help, the other man not really wanting to interject again. After all, this should really be a conversation between the lovebirds, but Capsize was leaving. So, he had to say something.

“Come on Cap, Redbeard can wait an hour.”

“No, he really can’t.”

“He must be able to. It’s eleven in the morning, he can’t be drunk already,” Tucker said, with a slight laugh. Jordan laughed too, unable to hold back. Capsize froze, turning back to look at them slowly. She took a shaky breath as she tried not to react, to turn back on her route and ignore them, but their laughter. Gods, how could she ignore them laughing like that.

“Don’t talk about my brother like that!” She so often heard people talk about Redbeard, and it was always frustrating. They treated like he was some incompetent drunk, a notion which would possibly be less infuriating to her if she hadn’t once also joked about such a thing. But that had been a joke between siblings, something said once in a while in good humour, not everyday relentlessly. She knew her brother wasn’t a genius, but he wasn’t nearly as stupid as people acted like he was. However, what she understood even less than the whispers, was how people could say such things to her face and expect her to be okay with it. Jordan, for once, did actually recognise the annoyance on her features.

“Yeah, don’t talk about her brother like that!” He said, elbowing Tucker a little too hard in an attempt to cover that he had also been laughing. Capsize was less than entertained. Frankly, she’d had enough of the two’s theatrics for one day.

“I’m going to help my brother because I want to help him, not because he’s some drunk idiot that can’t be left--!”

She was cut off by the noise of an explosion from her house, her eyes flying wide. She turned around, quickly rushing up the path as the two men began laughing uncontrollably. Neither tried to stop her this time, far too lost in the hilarity of the situation.

“It’s like he can hear her,” Jordan said as he managed to control his laughter enough to get out a sentence. He honestly had no idea how Redbeard survived when he went out of town without Capsize, but at least he could always be relied on to provide a few laughs. However, laughs could only distract him so much. He looked at Tucker. “I don’t get it though. Why didn’t she want to have lunch?”

“Well, she never said that. She said she needed to get back to her brother. But she also said he’ll be gone tomorrow, so…”

“Tucker you genius! There’s no way she’ll say no then!”

🌹 🌹 🌹

Redbeard lay on the floor wondering what he’d managed to do wrong for a box to blow up in his face. Dishevelled as ever, ginger hair had fallen in front of mismatched eyes as he stared up at the ceiling. Everything had been going so normally. One moment he’d been quite normally doing the stock check, the next that lockbox had spit an explosion in his face that knocked him flat. Is that really what Capsize meant when she called the thing temperamental? Just when he thought he understood the sort of things his sister was capable of. To be perfectly honest, he didn’t know a lot of what his sister did with the antiques she restored, though she would sometimes explain when he found her sitting surrounded with parts apparently to fix the tiniest fault. She always insisted that it wasn’t much different from the larger pieces he worked on. He, however, had never had a chair blow up in his face because someone years ago had decided it needed a defence mechanism.

“Red! Are you alright?” Capsize’s voice came in a hurried yell as she flung the cellar doors open. The natural light flooding in reminded him to move rather than continuing to lay prone. Thankfully, he didn’t feel injured, the explosion having apparently been loud and shocking rather than actually dangerous. Not that Capsize had any way of knowing that as she rushed down the stairs, only knowing her brother’s penchant for getting himself into danger from seeming just terrible luck. Hearing the speed of her footsteps, he realised how panicked she must be, and that he should probably assure her he was okay.

“Yeah, I’m good,” He called back as he properly got to his feet, pushing his hair back so he could properly see. He smiled sheepishly as Capsize came into view, seeing her visibly relax upon seeing him unharmed. That was good, he wasn’t completely sure he was uninjured, so her relief was as good a confirmation as any. Capsize chastised herself a little, of course she shouldn’t have expected the worst, but it was only natural to worry after hearing such a sound. She sighed slightly as she saw the lockbox, knowing that it must’ve been the cause of the noise. Something so small just had to be the cause of so much trouble.

“I thought I fixed it,” She said, mildly annoyed that it was no longer inert. She picked it up from the floor, cautiously as she knew that it may well just explode again. It didn’t, which she was both thankful for and frankly annoyed at the object’s inconsistency. As she set it down on her worktable, she looked over it, letting out a small huff as she saw a glyph that she had been so sure that she had deactivated glowing dimly. What on earth did that one do? How did she get it to turn off the first time? Gods, she hated dealing with magic. “I’m not going to be able to reset it again. We’re going to have to keep a hold of it.”

“I could still try and sell it,” Redbeard said, peering over at the thing. He knew himself well enough to know that he could sell a box that might explode in someone’s face, it probably wouldn’t even be that hard. It wasn’t necessary, they avoided meeting any one market trip to be successful to continue living or even to buy their next set of junk objects to restore. However, he wasn’t sure if leaving stock behind that was technically sellable was a great idea, especially when he didn’t particularly want to keep that thing.

“We can’t sell something that keeps exploding in our face. I’ll just need to spend another season trying to work on this stupid thing,” She said, beyond annoyed at the object. Restorations were a bit like a puzzle, typically fun to figure out and a good distraction when she needed one, but quick to become frustrating if they didn’t work the way they really ought to. The lockbox had been a fun puzzle at first, figuring out how to reset the code and have it stop trying to explode at every simple touch. But in the first few weeks she’d had the thing in her possession, the glyphs she’d been sure she had deactivated had started glowing again. She didn’t want to admit defeat, but when it happened at least once a week even when she was completely sure that she had actually done it successfully. Magic just wasn’t something she understood well or could easily figure out. Though, of course, she likely would not be so frustrated if it were not for her general frustrations gathered throughout the day, which Redbeard could tell as his sister slumped into a nearby chair, resting her forehead in her hands. He would hope that anyone could.

“Are you alright, Ize?” He asked, dragging another chair over to sit opposite to her.

“I’m fine, I think the idea of not having anyone to talk to for the next few weeks is getting to me a little,” She said, attempting to ignore the gossip and the encounter with the champions that were still sitting in her mind. Redbeard smiled gently. Jeriah typically didn’t leave town, and it just happened that the first time he did it coincided with one of Redbeard’s trips to market. It had obviously been playing on Capsize’s mind with just how lonely she felt in this town other than those two.

“Well, I mean, Jordan and Tucker talk to you, don’t they?” He said, not expecting the groan that almost immediately escaped from her. He knew that she didn’t always get along with the champions, but she typically didn’t have such a reaction to them merely being mentioned.

“No. Well, yes, they talk to me, but only about things Jordan wants to know about. He doesn’t care about me, he cares about what I can tell him about Ianite,” She saw him raise an eyebrow, which almost made her sigh again. She knew he wasn’t disbelieving her, or at least he wouldn’t describe it like that. It was just unfortunate that Redbeard didlike Jordan and Tucker, and for some reason he never had them belittle him to his face like he did her. She didn’t exactly want to bring up her latest conversation with the two, but she did wonder what he’d made of the two knowing how they’d blatantly insult him. She wasn’t going to do that though. It’d just make both of them feel bad. So, she tried her best to instead smile to convince him that she felt fine. “I mean, I’ll be fine really. I’ve just been lost in my own thoughts a bit, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

“You aren’t acting like normal,” Redbeard tried to be gentle as it wasn’t particularly often that Capsize actually wanted to talk about her frustrations. He was aware that she had quite a few with their current living situation, but she tended to push her negative feelings down and refuse to talk about them, leaving him to pretend everything was fine when it so clearly wasn’t. Pretending wasn’t all that hard. He could act the way he always had, acting as if he didn’t notice what people thought about him and how his sister was retreating inwards. But what bothered him was he wasn’t sure if she had gotten better or worse over time as, unlike her physical injury, it was a lot harder to notice if she was faking being fine.

“It’s been a normal day. Normal enough that it shouldn’t… that I shouldn’t…” She struggled to come up with how she should be reacting. As, while she was sure it was unreasonable to feel so upset about the gossip given how it was a daily occurrence and she really should be used to it by now, it hardly felt like something she could be neutral on. She heard so much said about herself whenever she went outside that she couldn’t just ignore all of it. It all kept scratching at her mind and making her question herself. Though it wasn’t until now, in this moment of quiet alone with her brother, that she actually voiced the question forced from this lingering uncertainty. “Red, am I odd?”

“What? No, of course, not!” He said quickly, in disbelief that she would ever need to ask such a thing. He was so used to her confidence, to her complaints about the town being her boredom, that the question had come as a shock, like he got a bucket of ice water dumped over him. His sister odd? That was a ridiculous idea. Yet her voice was so unsure, as if she could be swayed into believing such a thing.

It took a lot to maintain his composure. As much as he wanted to grab her by the shoulders and force into her head that anyone who would say such a thing was an idiot, that wouldn’t exactly be productive and there was little point expressing such anger when it was only her here. So, he took a moment, before continuing to speak as calmly as he could.

“Where did you even get an idea like that?”

“It’s all people ever seem to say,” She said, attempting to recall if anyone, bar Jeriah and Redbeard, really seemed to have any other opinion of her. Even Jordan, who continuously tried to get her on side, had decided to comment on thinking that reading didn’t suit her. Sure, that might have just been to try and get her to focus on him, but it was still just another person saying how weird they found something about her. Every day, over and over, she heard how she was strange, how she didn’t fit in. And that, in turn, had led to her beginning to question if maybe she had always been an outcast, that she simply didn’t notice how strange she really was because previously she was always on the move.

“Yeah… They do that with me as well,” He said with a frown. It was undeniable that the siblings didn’t match the town’s idea of normal. He knew everyone saw him as a drunk, admittedly it was not something he even tried to dispel the idea of, but that didn’t mean he appreciated the comments. However, there was also one thing that had been constant no matter how bad all the comments got. “But I also recall someone telling me not to listen to what they have to say.”

“I… I really thought it would stop. Or maybe we’d leave,” She hadn’t expected this situation to last years. She honestly thought it would maybe last a few months and they’d been off again, travelling as they always had. But life hadn’t lived up to her expectations. She’d been more injured than she initially thought, recovery was slower, and leaving a permanent home, even just for another one, would be an expensive process that could require months of planning. And the longer she had been stuck here, the more it seemed like she might never leave this town, the harder it had become to follow her own advice. She could no longer just ignore the gossip like she originally had. She couldn’t even pretend it was just one or two people saying such things. It was everyone. So, over time, a quiet voice had begun to stir, that perhaps there was some truth to the words. “But it’s been two years. Two years of being here and existing and living this life and… and I still don’t even kind of fit in.”

“Do you really want to fit in?” Redbeard asked. He already knew the answer, or at least he hoped he did, but still the question was gently prodding. She looked up, very aware of what he was doing. However, that knowledge didn’t stop it from kick-starting her thoughts, dragging them away from the loathing they had been spiralling into. Seeing the smallest signs of his sister’s unhappiness disappearing, he smiled a little. He could do this. He could get her out of this falter of confidence. “Okay, so maybe you’re the odd one out here, but that doesn’t make you worse than them. Take my word Ize, you’re better than the lot of them.”

He gently poked her, trying to see if she would crack a smile. She did, a small one, which was a relief to see because he truly meant what he had said. Obviously, he wouldn’t say it to anyone else, he wasn’t looking to cause arguments, but he felt the people of the town to be rather, well, closed minded. While they had been excited about him and Capsize moving into town, it had been apparent rather quickly that she didn’t really understand that people might like travelling. Others who, like him, had to occasionally travel to make money treated it like an undesirable experience and assumed he felt the same without any evidence. No one considered that Capsize could even have a desire to leave, seemingly unable to understand that she could be discontent living here.

“You are too, you know. You’re better than this town,” She said, her confidence coming back with each word. Redbeard almost laughed. Of course, she couldn’t just let him cheer her up, she needed to remind him of his own worth too. But to Capsize it made so much sense. He kept her sane in this place. She couldn’t thank him enough for that. And maybe she was still annoyed about Tucker’s comment earlier, upset that no one in this town treated him with any respect, but why shouldn’t she be annoyed about that? He was her brother and he deserved respect. “I’d be lost here without you. Really, I think I would’ve lost it by now. So don’t even think of changing, alright.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” He said with a laugh. Her last sentence was also her promising herself not to change, to not give into her negative thoughts. Neither of them were going to change for this place. Redbeard didn’t have any real desire to, and he wasn’t going to let Capsize waver when them both being here was all because of— He flinched a little as he caught a thought before it fully finished, as he knew precisely what it was going to be. He couldn’t keep thinking like that, keep dwelling on the past that when the way he worded it always just annoyed Capsize. Not when he’d just cheered her up. So instead of thinking back, he decided instead to look towards the future. “I mean we’ve come this far without changing. Why would we change in the last few months?”

“Don’t get my hopes up,” She said with a laugh before looking at her brother to not see his usual signs of joking. He looked, for once in his life, completely serious. Which didn’t make sense because he had to be joking. Yet he didn’t laugh or smirk or for even a moment show a sign that he might not be genuine. Her eyes widened as it actually sunk in that he wasn’t joking. But how could he possibly…?

“I’ve had a couple of conversations at the last market, working out the exact cost of moving us out of here. Obviously, I know this place was recommended by Lady Ianite and that she said she wanted you here for a—”

“How long? How long until we could leave?”

“If both this market and the next one are as good as the last few, we could be out of here in spring.”

“I…” Capsize found herself speechless. It sounded too good to be true. Sure, it was still half a year away and rested on a pretty big maybe, but it was also the closest they’d been the whole time to leaving this town. She wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip out of her grasp. She grabbed the lockbox back, it thankfully not exploding despite her enthusiastic movement. Her heart was beating wildly, her excitement barely contained, as she spoke again. “I am going to fix this stupid thing before you’ve packed everything else onto the cart and you need to leave. This is going to be the most successful market you’ve ever done. And… and we’re going to get out of this damn town.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Redbeard laughed, but he certainly didn’t lack confidence. Capsize was not the sort to have false convictions, if she said something it was because she believed it. And right now, she believed her words more than anything she had ever said. They were going to get out of this town. Even if they didn’t do as quickly as theoretically possible, they were going to get out of here soon enough, she was sure of it. The two of them together, in the life they were meant to have.

He really had gotten her anyway from her negative thoughts. And, as she began to busy herself with finding the vague notes she had made when being tempted to smash apart the lockbox the first time, she made the mental note to thank him for that later. She never told him enough how much she appreciated him, how sure she was that she couldn’t have survived here without him. But there was plenty of time for that. While he was away, she’d put something together for him. She didn’t exactly have the best resources in this town, but she’d be able to figure out something, she certainly had the time. It’ll be nice for him to come back to a surprise. Though knowing his luck, she’d set up such a thing and then he’d never see it.

She laughed at the thought. She’d just have to set it up in such a way that he’d need to not return to town to not see it. Then even her brother couldn't be so unlucky. After all, the two of them had always been together, and even if he left for a short amount of time, he always came back. They always had each other, no matter what.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #jordan captainsparklez #tucker iijeriichoii #skipper redbeard

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Five - Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

Capsize stayed slumped against the door for far longer than she would’ve at any other point in her life. With her heart beating far too fast, she was half convinced that Jordan would find a way to break in if she moved despite the bolt securing it. She couldn’t make herself move until at least ten minutes had passed, her panic mostly subsided though she still couldn’t believe the situation she had escaped.

Jordan had asked her to marry him. That statement by itself felt wrong, because it was the last thing she ever wanted to imagine happening. Yet he had asked, acted like it was some sure thing, like it was destiny. Gods, the way he had spoken about it had made her skin crawl. Him speaking of them being some perfect couple set up by Ianite made her so deeply uncomfortable, because, despite desperately not wanting to, she could picture a world where his words were true. A world where Ianite had sent her to this town just to meet him, to be with him. A reality where her whole life was meaningless because she was meant to be here with him. She could picture it like a waking nightmare, and she hated it. Just the act of imagining sent waves of dread through her, almost putting her back into panic despite how she was out of the situation, able to reassure herself that marriage to that man was not going to happen. Yes, she reassured her to calm her breathing, no matter what the future might hold she could guarantee it was not being Jordan’s wife.

Still, she felt on edge, and she knew that feeling wouldn’t shift if she stayed in the house. As much as she was sure he couldn’t get in, he could come back. He could linger around to once again catch her by herself. She needed somewhere she knew he wouldn’t find her. Thankfully, she did have a place like that she could retreat to, if only for a couple of hours, which she would just have to hope would be enough to clear her mind from the events of the day. She’d take her book, she’d read, and she’d forget about Jordan and the uncomfortable vision of her future he’d forced into her head.

She properly straightened, her leg whining despite the posture making her feel more herself and began mentally figuring out what she needed to take, the least she could get away with. It was not as if she could take much in the first place, she needed to walk there and back so taking any more than absolutely necessary would just slow her down. And, even if she wanted to disappear from this town forever, she would only be gone for a few hours, she wouldn’t need much. She could probably get away with just taking her book and a drink, along with a bottle of her pain tinctures in case she had a flare up. As much as she wanted to get away from the town, leaving of her own accord was a very different fantasy than getting stuck because she ended up unable to move. Or worse, she didn’t want to end up being ‘saved’ by Jordan or Tucker.

She packed these things into her bag as quickly as she could, wanting to leave as soon as possible. Once the town was out of sight, she’d feel relaxed, she was sure of that much, so the faster she could get to that point the better. Though she did pause for a moment before leaving. The cold had been creeping in earlier and earlier into the evening, even if she planned to return long before dark, there was still a chance it’d turn colder than her current clothes were designed for. That and there was the chance of rain given the previous night’s storm. So, she took her winter cloak, a long purple thing made, like most of her clothes, to be practical rather than showy, and put it on. The additional layer felt almost grounding, despite how she had just put it on as a precaution.

With a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst on the other side, she cracked open the door slightly. She peered around, trying to keep herself steady as she checked that Jordan was actually gone. She couldn’t deal with him again, certainly not today and preferably not ever. Thankfully there was no sign of him, the only person present being Tucker who was dismantling the flower arch. She didn’t particularly want to see him either, but she could deal with him. And she supposed she was at the very least happy he was getting rid of the proposal mess. An extremely low bar, yes, but if she had been left to deal with it, she might have actually snapped. So, with confirmation that the person she absolutely did not want to see wasn’t waiting to ambush her, she stepped out of her house.

It took nearly half a minute for Tucker to notice her making her way towards the road, lost in figuring out how to best dismantle something he had worked so painstakingly to put together in the first place. It was not as if he expected her to walk past as he had assumed she, like Jordan, would spend the rest of the day hiding. He apparently had not learnt the lesson abundantly clear that she was very much not like Jordan. When she did walk past, and his brain actually acknowledged that fact, he did a double take.

“Capsize?!”

“I’m not in the mood,” She said, not looking back as she continued down the path to the road. Despite her words, Tucker jogged after her, which did not surprise her. No one did listen to her in this town, why would she be surprised at this point? She obviously wasn’t going to run, he wasn’t worth that much effort, so he caught up to her almost immediately. She gave him such an annoyed look that he shrunk back.

“I just want to talk.”

“You want to talk? Tell me why in Mianite’s name you decided to help with any of that.”

“You mean with the proposal? Jordan asked me too,” He said, not quite thinking how those may not be the best words to say. Capsize scoffed. She couldn’t believe him. He knew that she and Jordan weren’t together. While he might not know that she couldn’t stand the man, he had to know that a proposal wasn’t anywhere close to something she would want from him. And to his credit, he did feel a little guilty when he saw her expression. He had assumed she would be embarrassed, but overall seeing the whole thing in good nature, but instead, she looked angry. He did not like having her gaze on him when that expression was laced in it. “Come on, Cap, I put a lot of effort into putting that together. Anyone else would’ve loved it.”

“Oh! In that case I’m sorry for not just smiling and accepting, I didn’t realise my reactions were meant to be based on everyone else’s,” She said, the annoyance that had been festering boiling to the surface now she was in a safer situation. It probably wouldn’t have if she had been talking to or even in view of anyone else, but as much as it pained her slightly in this moment to admit it, she did like Tucker more than she liked most of those in town. That’s why she was quite so annoyed at him. She had thought he would’ve considered if she would want a proposal from Jordan before just going along with such a thing because of his friendship with the man. It seemed that faith in him was ridiculous as even now he looked confused at her reaction. Was she really this mad at him? She hadn’t seemed angry during the proposal, she had seemed… every word that came to his mind made him feel worse. “Seriously, do you really think I want to marry him?”

“Well, I mean, err…” He tried to figure out an answer beyond that being what most people in town seemed to want but couldn’t come up with anything. She bristled a little. He truly just hadn’t pictured a situation where someone wasn’t in love with Jordan. Somehow this was just another reason she didn’t fit in here. She started walking quicker. He realised he had said the wrong thing, or rather that stumbling to find an answer didn’t give a great impression. He reached out and gently took hold of her shoulder, not trying to turn her but rather just stop her for a few moments. She tensed at his touch. He had never seen her like this. While she was often short with Jordan, she had always done her best to bite down her annoyance in front of him so to see it actually slip out was shocking to say the least. “I’m not trying to push you into saying yes.”

“The problem is not a single person seemed to have considered that I would say no,” She said, wrenching her shoulder away from his hand. No one had made any effort to get to know her, even the basic notion that she wasn’t fond of Jordan seemed to elude them. If she didn’t act exactly how they pictured she should, then she was odd. Everything she could possibly desire outside of the border of this small town was seen as some quirk she had, and there was no way for her to escape hearing such unwarranted opinions. Just another reason she needed to go and clear her head. As she began walking again, following the road in the direction out of town, Tucker called after her.

“Wait! Where are you going?” He had heard of her penchant for wandering it. Redbeard joked about it and Jordan complained about it, but he had assumed that meant through the town. Seeing her wander towards what he knew was just a few fields then wilderness outside of the town’s borders, including the woods which he knew from experience were filled with danger if you went in the wrong direction, he felt nervous. Even if she was annoyed at him, he didn’t want to see her hurt. She looked back at him with an amused smirk.

“As far away as possible,” And with those words, she walked off on her way, leaving him to wonder her exact destination. At that moment, neither knew how long it would be until she returned, though they both believed, or at least hoped, it would be before nightfall.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The small space Capsize had found by the river during one of her earlier wanderings away from the town was odd to her. She was, as far as she could tell, the only person who ever came to it as she had never seen anyone else even approach in the times she had come, but it had clearly once been used by other people. The small, cleared area, the grass flattened and bare from frequent use, had two tree stumps, one of which she had been using as a seat well she was here, and a large tree that had multiple carvings into the wood. She found herself lost in those carvings because they were old, years old. She couldn’t exactly tell exactly how long ago they were carved, she wasn’t that good, but she knew all of them were done a good number of years before she discovered the place for the first time. And she could also put them into a vague order based on the progression of skill, seeing them go from shakily done initials, to far more intricate drawings. She wished she could meet who did them, though she had no idea who could’ve as there were none in town that she could imagine coming out here and doing such a thing.

She herself only came to this lonely place when she felt overwhelmed and needed some sort of escape. She found the river was the best place to be when she wanted to feel free. As much as it was relatively small and calm, it was also the closest thing she had to the ocean, the closest she felt to home. Being away from the water was the thing that had pained her the most in the early days, so finding somewhere that at least had some had been wonderful, somewhere she could fully relax even if it took some time to get there. And she did feel relaxed at the current moment, having spent a good few hours reading and just taking her mind away from what the situation she had been stuck in. But now, as she knew she would have to leave soon, her mind had gone back to wondering.

Why was she stuck in a place where no one understood her? Why had Ianite sent her here? Those questions were well and truly stuck in her mind as she lingered back on Jordan’s proposal. She didn’t know, as much as she wished she did because this life was the exact opposite of what she wanted. She wanted adventure, to be able to travel and not know where she would end up. She wanted to not know what would happen on any given day, to walk down a street and not already know what everyone was going to say. And, sure, she could technically say she hadn’t expected Jordan to propose, but she also didn’t want to be stuck with him.

He was perhaps the person who understood her the least. A man who seemed almost obsessed with her, but at the same time didn’t seem to care about her in the least. He who had not left her alone since learning of her connection to Ianite, all the while insulting her interests and, half the time, her brother. Why was she stuck in a place where he was so beloved? Now that she’d rejected him, she was bound to be even more isolated. Gods, the next few weeks were going to be unbearable without Redbeard and Jeriah. She wished she could remain here by the river forever, but that unfortunately wasn’t an option. She needed to head back. If she stayed for much longer, she’d end up walking back in the dark and even with her reluctance she knew that wasn’t advisable.

So she stood up, and she had begun to walk towards the road. She had fully intended to make her way home, but when the road came into view, she saw something that threw that idea out of the question as worry was sent to her very core. On the road was Phillipe, the horse panicked and clearly confused, but she was far more focused on the fact that he was alone. Redbeard was nowhere to be seen. With such a panic, she rushed over to the horse, shushing him and doing her best to calm the large animal. She managed to, despite her own panic building within her. What had happened for him to come back alone? What on earth had happened to her brother?

“Where’s Redbeard? What happened?” She said as the animal calmed, though she knew he had no way of answering. She just needed to say something to keep herself thinking and to stop her panic from taking over. All Phillipe’s riding gear was still on him along with the saddle bags, but the cart was missing, leaving the odd read of Red having to stop but not for a full night. Maybe there had been an accident, but Phillipe seemed physically fine, just spooked. Then again, she couldn’t think of any better explanation. Though a coldness did run through her as she remembered her own joke of Phillipe coming to find her if Red was attacked. She tried to escape that feeling but couldn’t quite shift her fears. As much as she didn’t want to believe her brother had been attacked, he was missing, and she did need to find him. “Can you take me to him?”

In response to her question, to her worry riddled voice, the horse tugged her towards the woods. Whether he actually understood or not, she was confident he could lead her to her brother. Though she was slightly hesitant about if she should go now, so close to dark, when she was alone and unarmed, she also knew there was little point in postponing. There was no one currently in town who would help her, none that she trusted to actually help find Red anyway, and she didn’t exactly keep weapons herself. No, all going back would do was delay and make whatever situation had caused this worse. She needed to find him as quickly as possible.

So, despite her worries, she climbed onto Phillipe. She had no idea how long this would take, but that didn’t matter. As she slipped her cane into one of the saddle bags, she had only one thought in mind, to find her brother no matter how long it took.

🌹 🌹 🌹

The ride was long, the sun setting during the journey, and frankly uncomfortable. She did in theory know her way through the woods, she’d spent long enough staring at maps and natural guides in order to plan routes, but that was quite different from actually riding through. Honestly, she felt claustrophobic. She was used to travelling along oceans, wide open spaces with endless horizons, not woods with trees so closely packed that she could barely see the sky. But she just had to bite through. Her brother was lost somewhere, and she needed to find him. Her nerves of the situation had only grown when she had come across the fallen tree, having to travel away from the route she could picture in her head and into the unknown. She was a little nervous that it had fallen sometime last night after Redbeard had passed, but with the speed that Phillipe began to walk the other direction, she realised that was unlikely.

She just had to trust Phillipe to lead her as she only had a vague inkling of where this route went. She supposed she had no idea where Redbeard had disappeared, so she would’ve had to trust the horse even if they had travelled on the regular route, but she just felt more nervous travelling somewhere she could only vaguely remember from the map. It was made worse that she really was lost as to where Redbeard could’ve disappeared to as the darkness made it near impossible to see what little tracks hadn’t been washed away by the storm. And, of course, Phillipe was quite hesitant to keep travelling along the route, still remembering the events of the previous night. Capsize merely saw it as the general skittishness of an animal travelling through unfamiliar darkness, intermittently calming him to try and continue the journey with as little interruption as possible. And after the journey continued like this for quite a time, the horse brought Capsize to the rusted open gate and the overgrown castle grounds.

“Red…” She breathed, worry hitting her as she saw the cart still abandoned where it had been left the night before. There was no sign of a struggle or any sign that it had been left there by anything other than free will. She looked up at the imposing castle before her. Maybe Phillipe had just been spooked by the storm before Red could tie him up, leaving him no choice but to stay here? That was the only explanation she could come up with that didn’t send a wave of panic through her. He had to just be taking shelter.

Even with attempts to reassure herself, she felt uneasy as she retrieved her cane and slipped off Phillipe. There was something very wrong here, she could tell that much, but there was also no doubt that Redbeard had been here. She had to go in, to either find him or someone who knew where he was, but she didn’t exactly want to. She tried to chastise herself for being hesitant, she had wanted something interesting to happen for over a year, but this was not exactly what she had had in mind. Still there was no point in delaying. With more nerves than she wanted to admit, she approached the imposing doors, unsure whether to be grateful or worry upon finding them unlocked.

“Hello? Red?” She called out as she entered the darkened castle, not realising just how many were able to hear her in the abandoned looking place. It was dark enough that it was hard to see much at all, though quiet enough that she did not feel the need to hide her presence. She just wanted to find her brother as quickly as possible then leave, but in such a large place she had no idea where to start. She took a few cautious steps through the entrance way, unsure where to even start in such a big building. “Are you here?”

She felt like she was calling out to no one, to just an empty building. It felt like she was the first person to be inside for years despite how few things seemed to be in disrepair. It was more a feeling than any logical reasoning. A feeling that caused her to treat a light from beyond a slightly ajar door with more curiosity than anything else in the building. She approached cautiously despite how it must surely be her brother. There couldn’t be anyone else here. However, as she cautiously opened the door, she was surprised to see no one at all, just a lit fire in a seemingly abandoned drawing room.

Now someone must have been in there recently, she reasoned, as surely no one would just leave a fire unattended, but there was no sign of anyone having recently been in there. She had no way of knowing as she stepped inside towards the one sign of human life that she had seen in hours that the snuff box, flowerpot, and feather duster sat on a short table were all watching her. She certainly felt watched, but she attributed that feeling to being in an unknown environment rather than the furniture watching her. And during her look around the room, her eyes fell on something that held her attention far more than any of the trinkets in the room, though it would be of little interest to anyone else. Still in a heap by the far wall was a long green coat that she desperately wished she didn’t recognise. She rushed over to it, hoping she was mistaken. As she picked it up, the thick fabric still uncomfortably damp as it had not been left in a position where it could dry, it was undeniably her brother’s coat. It was abandoned alongside a half-crushed rose, the floorboards around it filled with large scratch marks.

“Redbeard!” She called out, fear spreading through her mind. He was here and something terrible had happened to him. She had to find him, find out what had happened, make sure he was okay. As she rushed out the room, the coat tightly gripped in her free hand, the furniture watched in horror. Though it was only when she actually left the room that they moved.

The feather duster, whose handle was carved to look like a young man and feathers, though clearly not artificial, were a distinctly unnatural purple colour, moved towards the doorway. He moved silently, almost floating over the ground as his feathers barely seemed to touch the ground but he moved smoothly regardless of that fact. He peered nervously around the open door in time to see the woman disappearing up the grand staircase, her cloak billowing out behind her as she travelled with speed rather than caution. He turned back to the other two, knowing they knew more of this situation than he did. After all, he had not seen what had happened last night, though he had certainly heard.

“She isn’t just here by consequence, is she?” He asked despite already knowing the answer. Years had passed with no visitors, and now two had shown up one after another. Had the Mistress reacted better they could’ve called it a miracle, but as it stood it was horrifying. Because clearly, she was connected to the man from last night, and that meant there was about to be a world of trouble.

“That’s his sister, she must be!” Alyssa said as she hopped forward, possibly a little too excited. There was no other explanation in her mind for her reacting the way she did to the coat. And it was exciting, though scary at the same time. On one hand, they needed a normal person to break the curse, and this woman could very well be their best chance to actually do that. However, she was also looking for her brother, who, assuming he was the man, she wasn’t going to find in a good state. With these contrasting thoughts, she looked towards her dad. “Should we tell her? Take her to him?”

“I think any of us interfering again is just going to make it worse when the Mistress finds her,” He said, feeling almost hollow. She was going to be found, she had no reason to believe her calling out was putting her in any danger, and he feared what would happen at that point. He wanted to believe it would not be a repeat of last night, that the Mistress would keep her temper in check, but even if she did, the situation could still easily go south. After all, there was no way to know how the woman would react to seeing her brother in the situation he was currently in, but he doubted it would be good. But as much as he feared for both of them, he also knew that there was unfortunately nothing he could do. Last night had shown he had little control over the Mistress. He just had to wait for whatever confrontation happened and hope for the best.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Upstairs, an argument had been going on continuously since the previous night. Or rather, Martha had been lecturing Tom since the previous night and he had not yet successfully lost her. Both were at their wit’s end, though each for a very different reason. Martha was fed up with the candelabra’s lackadaisical attitude that had ended with an innocent traveller imprisoned with no hope of escape. While Tom was fed up with the clock lecturing about said attitude as if he was the only cause of the situation.

“Really, what were you thinking? You invite him in, the Mistress doesn’t notice him for the whole night, and then what?” She demanded, having already asked a few times, but only gotten sarcastic answers meant to chase her off. But she needed to know. She needed to know what hairbrained, half thought out scheme he had decided would certainly work. He considered making up another lie. Her annoyance at him dodging the question had been the highlight of his day, but he was exhausted of this. She was going to be annoyed at the truth anyway, her not being annoyed at something was a rarity, but she might also be convinced to leave him alone after hearing it.

“I was hoping we could make him feel welcome enough that he’d be willing to come back once we had Princess Fluffles all prepped to not bite his head off and get this whole curse breaking business on the go,” He saw the anger growing on her painted features. She wasn’t sure what was more maddening, that he assumed falling in love was something you could just prep someone for or that he was still using that nickname. He was always trouble. He never thought ahead. He never considered the delicate balance of the situation they were stuck in. And worse, he wasn’t actually done speaking. “And then he said he had a sister, so I was going to get him to bring her too, so we’d have two tries!”

“Please tell me you’re joking. Do you seriously think that’s how falling in love works?” She said in response to his words, though she unfortunately could tell he was serious. He really thought that breaking the curse was something they had multiple tries at, something that could be fixed by the first person who came through the door without much effort. And sure, the man didn’t deserve what had happened, even if he was a trespasser and a thief, but he clearly wasn’t going to be the one to break the curse. Even if they didn’t have many, or rather any, options, love was not something that could be forced, and he very much was not the Mistress’ type. Tom rolled his eyes.

“Ah yes, you’re right! I’m so lost in the ways of love, I should’ve given up on the idea of breaking the curse and instead done what you wanted! After all, tossing an unfortunate traveller out into the rain had never caused anything bad to happen to us!” He said with false excitement.

“Oh, that was different, and you know it.”

“Yes, the difference is she was capable of punishing us!” He wasn’t happy to have been cursed, especially not for someone else’s actions, but he had to admit, she had gotten worse over the years. At least she hadn’t tried to imprison the disguised goddess back then. And, yes, being transformed into a beast likely had some of the blame for that, but she was never going to be transformed back with the way she was currently acting, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. While it might be selfish, he had plans beyond being a light source for the rest of his life. “Look, I have a plan to get him out, I just need a little time.”

“Time? You think he has--?”

“Redbeard! I found your coat! Please just come out!” They were both immediately silenced by a woman’s voice coming down the corridor, loud and desperate. With the door of the room completely open, they saw as she passed, Tom putting out his flames as to not be seen, to just watch for the moment. And past the room walked a young woman with a cane, a deep purple cloak covering her, desperately gripping the coat that the man had worn the previous night. Martha felt a dull horror as she realised this was surely the man’s sister, another innocent person about to feel a beast’s wrath, and there was absolutely no chance she could persuade this one away. Tom, however, somewhat oddly for the situation, smiled. He could work with this.

“Or perhaps we don’t need time at all!” He said in hushed excitement, hopping off before he could be questioned or stopped. Even if Martha wanted to, which to be clear she did, she could not without alerting the woman.

Capsize was facing the wrong way to notice the unlit candelabra hop up to a closed door and open it somehow without touching it. She did, however, hear it creaking open, and see a new light disappearing behind it as she turned around. A light that was quickly retreating. That was all she needed to see to enter the newly opened door.

“Wait! Come back!” She called after whoever she was now pursuing up a set of stone stairs. They had to know where Redbeard was. They weren’t about to avoid giving her answers. However, when she found the light’s source, she found no one. Instead, there was merely a lit candelabra in an alcove in the wall. She could’ve sworn it had been moving away, but there was no sign of anyone. Was she so desperate for answers that she had imagined one? She wanted to say no, but she had little other explanation. Was the person hiding? Afraid of her intentions? “I mean no harm! I’m just looking for my brother!”

“Capsize…?” She had not expected a response, after all she had been yelling into the darkness the whole time without one, but the one she received set her moving once again. His voice was hoarse and unsure, but it was her brother. He was just up the stairs.

“Red!” As she rushed up towards him, she did not see the candelabra’s eyes following her, hoping some good would come from this.

Capsize was not sure what she expected to find at the top of the stairs, but it was certainly not cells. She stopped dead at the sight of them. She couldn’t imagine being locked in one, in this room that was so cold that felt she would be better off outside. And worse, there was someone in one. She rushed over, barely managing to make it without losing her composure.

“Red! Oh gods!” Stumbling over on the opposite side of a barred door was the terrified form of her brother. It was hard to believe she had only seen him the previous day as he looked a terrible mess. His clothes and hair had barely dried in the cold, and what had was wrinkled and had clear tears from where he had tried to escape the Beast’s grasp. His hands shook as Capsize took them, his skin freezing which she desperately tried to warm with her own hands. Each sibling looked at the other in horror. “You’re freezing, if you don’t warm up soon… Who put you in there?”

“How did you get here?” He asked, barely hearing her question through his own fear and shock because she couldn’t be here. Capsize couldn’t be within the grasp of that vicious beast. He sounded terrified. If he could be warmed by her boiling anger, then he would no longer be in any danger from the cold.

“That doesn’t matter. I’m here now and I’m going to get you out of here,” She said, trying her best to sound reassuring and to not let her anger be heard in her words to him. She’d figure out a solution for whatever monster had locked him in a cell to freeze to death but getting him out and safe was a far more pressing issue. She shifted slightly to study the lock. She didn’t have her tools, but the lock also looked old. Maybe she could just shove enough force in one place and force the door that way. As she studied, Redbeard’s fear grew. Every moment she spent here was a risk. She needed to leave, to get out of this place before she was found. He grabbed her arm, dragging her attention back to him.

“You need to get out of here. Just forget about me and go,” He said, trying to stop his voice shaking despite the reality of what he was asking. Capsize looked at him in confusion. Did he understand what he was saying? Leaving him here in this condition, it was basically leaving him for dead. He surely had to know that, so why was he begging for her to do so? Why did he look so scared, but was asking her to abandon him here? She just needed to calm him down. She shifted her arm, taking a hold of his shoulder without removing his hold from her, and tried to smile.

“I’m not leaving you. I don’t know who did this, but you don’t need to worry about them. I can handle them,” She said, so sure of her words, but he knew she wouldn’t be saying them if she knew. He couldn’t be reassured, not knowing what would happen if she stayed here for too long. And when she shifted back to the lock, his eyes no longer being locked onto her, he realised to his horror that he was too late. Far too clear, standing in the stairway, he saw her approaching. Still on all fours, but somehow silent, as if she knew she would have to ambush this time. And she was approaching his sister.

“Run, Capsize! Please just run!”

“What are you doing here?!” A roaring woman’s voice came from behind Capsize as a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around. As she was knocked off balance, knowing she would hit the ground in a few short moments, she threw her elbow back in hopes of hitting her attacker. She felt it connect with something, though only briefly before she was fully around and on the ground. She was facing the floor for a moment, grasping for her cane in panic as she had heard it clatter. She needed to get out of his vulnerable position. It was only when she grabbed it that she looked up, and realised the one casting a shadow over her was not a person at all. Suddenly all of Redbeard’s fear made sense.

In this moment, Capsize found herself staring up into the eyes of a Beast.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #tucker iijeriichoii #tom syndicate #martha the mystic #prince andor #alyssa screziato #mot screziato

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Four - Me!

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

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Full Story Tag

Capsize truly wasn’t sure how she had landed in her current situation as nothing about her morning seemed atypical enough that she should now be sat at a table, gritting her teeth as Jordan talked. Yes, her morning had been quite normal for one she’d be spending alone, doing basic chores before sitting down to read, realising just how much she needed to relax. And frankly she had been enjoying herself, but unfortunately such things rarely last. It was turning to late morning when she got a knock on her door and that was enough to send dread running through her, but rather than trust that feeling and wait until whoever was there to leave, she had answered the door.

Jordan had been waiting for her, of course it had been Jordan. He had the same confident smile on his face as ever. Gods, she had regretted opening the door when she saw that, but he took a step inside before she could close it again leaving her thoroughly stuck with the man. She had tried to smile politely despite the intrusion, asking him what he wanted. And then, to her dismay, he had invited her out on a date, to “make up for her being busy yesterday”. She had racked her brain for any excuse she could use to not attend, but she didn’t actually have a genuine reason. Sure, she had the fact that she didn’t like him and didn’t want to go on a date with him, but she had doubts that he’d listen to such points. Her half-baked attempt to get out of the invitation was to say she wasn’t dressed for such an occasion, which obviously hadn’t discouraged him. He’d said something about her being beautiful no matter what she was wearing and barely let her put shoes on before dragging her out the door.

And thus, she had ended up sitting across from Jordan in the tavern, picking at her meal pretending to listen as he had not stopped talking since they had arrived. To make matters worse, she was acutely aware that everyone was watching them. They weren’t staring, not suddenly having to shift their gaze away, but they were watching, quite intently as far as she could tell. It put Capsize on edge as it felt almost foreboding. She was absolutely sure this was leading to something she desperately didn’t want. If it weren’t for all the eyes on her, she would’ve bolted already. But as it stood, she was counting the moments until she had an opportunity to leave.

Despite what Jordan has said when dragging her out the door, she did feel underdressed. She hadn’t exactly wanted to dress up for a date with the man, but when she compared her own outfit to his, she couldn’t help but feel he should’ve let her. It was not as if she was dressed messily, rather it was just her everyday outfit of a long-sleeved blouse, soft pants, and a sleeveless long blue coat that went down to her knees but did little for the cold regardless. She did not look a mess, but when you compared what she was wearing to Jordan’s outfit? He had clearly dressed up for this as, except for his coat which was the same as ever, every piece of clothing seemed to have some fancy detailing that matched the shining jewels in the jewellery he was wearing. There was a stark difference between their two outfits, which would not bother Capsize if she was not anxious for why Jordan was so dressed up in the first place.

“And that’s how I took down a whole pack of wolves that were terrorising the town!” Jordan said, the fanfare in his voice snapping her out of her thoughts. She had missed the whole story and had no idea how she meant to react to it. She waited a few moments to see if he would laugh, but he didn’t. He just waited on edge for a response. She must be in shock from just how impressive the feat was, he assured himself as Capsize tried to figure out what to say. She was probably meant to be impressed, right? He never told stories that made him look bad so that was surely her best shot.

“Wow, Jordan, that really sounds… impressive,” Gods, she was floundering. Why did she tune out? Well, she knew why she was tuning out, but that led to the question as to why she was currently stuck on a date with Jordan. She couldn’t have even imagined it the night before. She’d spent part of the night worrying for Redbeard when the rain hit, listening to a storm she knew he’d be stuck in all night, but at this moment she’d give anything to switch places with him. However, no matter how much she wanted to be, she couldn’t be on her way to a city far, far away from Jordan and her brother wouldn’t have taken her place on this date even if he was here. And… and Jordan was still staring at her waiting for her to say more. “And you did it single-handedly?”

“Of course!” Well, Tucker had also been there, but it was mostly him doing the work. Besides, he was sure the man wouldn’t mind having his participation minimised a little so he could impress Capsize. That’s what a good friend would be okay with, and Tucker was a good friend. And it wasn’t that much of an exaggeration. Obviously, he could’ve fought the whole pack himself. He was just stretching the truth a little. Capsize forced herself to smile at the overconfident words, still having no ideas of how he had apparently taken down a wolf pack, but she also didn’t really care. Frankly she was just searching for a polite moment to leave. “I can show you the coat we made from the furs.”

“That won’t be necessary,” She said, a little too quickly. She didn’t want a long tour of all Jordan’s hunting trophies. She found them… distasteful. She hadn’t thought much of his hunting when she first arrived in town. After all, people need to eat and dangerous animals straying too close to town obviously was a problem that would need dealing with, but after so long it had become clear that it was far more an activity of bravo than one of necessity. Even if that was something she found attractive, which she most certainly did not, surely it would still get tiring to constantly hear such similar stories. But, aside from his musings on Ianite and his status as her champion, it was pretty much all Jordan spoke about. Did he speak about other things to the rest of the town or were they all just happy to hear the stories as many times as he wanted to tell them? She supposed that neither scenario made her feel better, so she might as well not think too hard on the point. Looking at Jordan’s mostly empty plate she considered making an exit, maybe if she said she felt sick, he’d leave her alone for a few days. “Look, this has been—”

“Fantastic right? I mean, why haven’t we done anything like this before?” Jordan cut her off before she could say something less positive. He felt like this was going beyond great. After all, he’d never spent so much time alone with Capsize and it didn’t occur to him that might be her preference. After all, everyone enjoyed his company, he was a goddess’ champion and a town hero, who wouldn’t love him? And obviously none should be happier than Capsize. Another Ianitee, one with Lady Ianite’s blessing, how could she be happier with anyone else? And, of course, he was sure she felt just as sure as he was that they were destined for each other. He missed the unimpressed look on her face.

“However, you want to describe it. I think it’s about time for me to head home,” She said, some of her exasperation clear in her voice despite her best efforts to bite it down. While he certainly didn’t understand that she was frustrated, some of those watching did. And she could hear them quietly murmuring. It was not as if she was desperate for them to like her, but she was aware that her life would get much harder if she was outwardly hostile to the champions. She still needed to be in this place for at least half a year, if she could just keep her current reputation of being weird as opposed to being rude or whatever they’d call someone not in love with Jordan. She’d worry about what Ianite might say too, but she had barely been keeping track of how long it had been since she lasted talked with her.

Despite not sensing her frustrations, Jordan did frown at her words. Why would she want to leave? They were having a good time, and they could be together for the full day since there was nothing she had to do. Not to mention, he hadn’t even gotten to the good bit. How was he meant to keep it a surprise if she wanted to leave, she’d run right into Tucker doing the setup. As soon as he knew everything with said setup was done, he’d happily leave with her, but he certainly wasn’t going to let her go wandering off alone, he’d never find her again. She always seemed to avoid him, going somewhere outside of the town that he knew must be within walking distance, but he had never managed to find it, and no one else had any idea either, not even her brother. And he understood vaguely, why wouldn’t she play hard to get? He was sure that she must’ve had dozens of suitors in her life, hell he’d had to chase off a few from her himself. She was beautiful and such an important person to Lady Ianite, she obviously had to pick the person she’d be with forever carefully. But he was sure that none of her previous suitors could’ve been as impressive as him, she just needed to realise that. So, he needed to get her to stay with him.

“Come on, it’s a bit early to leave, isn’t it? You haven’t even finished eating yet,” He said, hoping Tucker would come and give him the go ahead soon. He was sure he could keep her here for a little while longer, but he was still worried about how long that little while would be. It was always just a matter of time before she slipped off and he was unable to find her for the rest of the day, which he couldn’t let happen today. Capsize looked almost resentfully at her plate. She wasn’t exactly hungry, but she almost regretted not eating more anyway so Jordan wouldn’t have that as an excuse that she should stay. Frankly though, listening to him just talk on and on had killed what little appetite she had had.

“I’m really not that hungry,” She said with a slightly forced smile, feeling like she was explaining things that she shouldn’t have to. She just wanted to leave, to be away from the staring townsfolk and Jordan acting like he had some grand plan. Jordan himself panicked slightly, she couldn’t leave, she just couldn't. He looked desperately towards the door, almost sighing in relief upon seeing Tucker who gave him a thumbs up when they locked eyes. Finally, he was done. That meant this was going to be manageable. He just needed to turn on the charm and then he’d be practically strolling over the finish line.

“Well, I suppose I can understand that, but you owe me a full meal together sometime soon,” He said with a smile. Capsize waited for the catch, though she also wondered if she was being uncharitable to him. She knew that’s what Red would say. Of course, she found him near oblivious to the way Jordan acted around her, but maybe he might be right in this context. Obviously, she didn’t want to go on another date with Jordan, but he wasn’t stealing her things to try and stop her from leaving, which was better than he typically was. “But could I walk you home?”

She hesitated. She didn’t have any reason to say no beyond just not enjoying company. And maybe she was just being judgmental or too careful as there was little that could really happen on such a short walk. Obviously, she wouldn’t have the best time with him walking her back, but she’d been having a bad time with him for over an hour now, what real difference would ten more minutes make? She reasoned that the actual walk would surely be shorter than however long he would annoy her for if she said no to him. Gods, that was setting up a bad precedent, but she really just wanted to deal with him for the shortest amount of time right now. But there was little chance that this could go as badly as she imagined, so she could think about untangling any mess this was making by giving into him later.

“Sure, you can walk me home,” She said, trying her best to not sound strained. She could do this. Ten minutes, what could happen in ten minutes? Jordan could barely contain his excitement. Of course he had to, acting as excited as he wanted to would ruin the surprise, but it was a hard thing to do. Just a few more minutes and he’d be engaged. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face. He was going to make her the happiest woman in the land, so of course she was obviously going to say yes, but he still couldn’t wait to actually hear it.

Capsize, completely unaware of what was to soon happen, stood up, making sure to keep the weight off her left leg. She was well practised in doing so, and it felt natural now, but she still remembered the first few months of walking where she was sure she slowed her recovery immensely with the amount of weight she had stupidly put on her weakened leg. Yes, she was very much done with self-sabotage and pretending she was perfectly fine. As it turned out, not actively denying the pain she was in was quite important to making any sort of recovery. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she was close to not needing her cane, if such a day would ever come, but she didn’t have frequent pain flare ups as she once had, and her walking speed wasn’t any slower than the average person’s. Now if only people would stop whispering about the apparent mystery of her leg and she might actually feel comfortable with the situation.

Jordan stood far quicker, rushing over to Capsize to offer her his arm. Again, she felt hesitant. The absolute last thing she wanted to do was lead him on and give him the impression that his crush was in anyway mutual. But again, every time she rejected his advances, he just got more persistent. She shouldn’t let that mean she just gave into him, she knew that, and any other day she would push back. But today, with so many people watching? She just wasn’t in the mood for their gossip and whisperings if she rejected Jordan. So, despite feeling like this was giving in to something she really shouldn’t, she allowed him to wrap his right arm around her left and him to lead her out of the building, desperately attempting to ignore the people she overheard calling them ‘cute’.

Outside, Tucker hurried out of the way of the door, doing his best to not be seen by Capsize. He didn’t want to interrupt any of their couple time. If she saw him, she’d probably have questions as to why he was just standing outside the tavern or just want to talk to him. Though he noticed that she typically only wanted to talk to him when Jordan wasn’t around so maybe the latter was unlikely. But even if she didn’t want to talk to him, he knew it’ll make her cautious of them planning something, which would ruin the surprise aspect that Jordan wanted for the proposal. He did, however, want to keep an eye on them. While he was sure he had set up a beautiful area for it, maybe beyond even Jordan’s expectations, he was fully aware this could go very wrong very quickly, something that Jordan had not considered at all. So, while he was certainly staying out of sight, he was watching as the ‘happy couple’ emerged from the tavern.

Capsize felt more than a little uncomfortable at the amount of people still staring at them as she exited the tavern arm in arm with Jordan. She was used to them staring in general, at least it happened enough where she thought she should be used to it, but the fact it was happening when she knew every single person who saw her would think she and Jordan were a couple… Gods, she hated it. Worse, the way Jordan had wrapped his arm around hers was unexpectedly tight. It was like he was trying to stop her from escaping. And in a way Jordan was. Sure, he thought there was absolutely no way she was going to reject his proposal, but she also had a habit of slipping away. He couldn’t let that happen today, not when they were about to become the happiest couple in town.

“Capsize, do you ever wonder why Lady Ianite sent you here?” He began, having thought about the question the night before. She stopped herself from answering sarcastically as this was the closest any question that he’d asked her had actually come to being about her. Sure, it was still mostly about Ianite, but it was at least somewhat about her. And it was a question she had pondered for herself oh so many times.

“I have wondered, quite a lot actually,” She said, the lingering sadness in her words missed by Jordan. ‘Why here’ was something she still wondered, still such a mystery to her. A question that Ianite had never answered even in the few times they’d spoken since she had sent her and Redbeard here. Sure, she had originally said the town would be a safe place for her to recover, but that reason had made less sense the more she had thought about it. There wasn’t any war or even trouble brewing between the gods, her injury had been caused by an accident rather than an attack, she’d be in no more danger in a city than a remote town. However, when she’d asked directly, the last time they had spoken months ago now, the goddess had merely said that the reason would become clear. So, a distinct non-answer.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it too,” Jordan said, his tone far more jovial than hers. He was so sure of the reason his Lady wanted her here, in this town, with him. He couldn’t imagine another one. “And I think that she sent you here so you could meet me.”

“I guess that’s a possibility,” She said, not even close to matching his enthusiasm for the idea. Even if the man had managed to become her closest friend, she’d still resent the goddess if she sent her to such a remote place just to meet him. To be sent to somewhere she would struggle to travel away from for one person who could’ve easily travelled to her no matter where she was, who wouldn’t resent that idea? Jordan just kept smiling, happily oblivious to her dislike of the idea. To be fair, Capsize thought, seeming oblivious to her unhappiness towards him seemed to be one of his favourite activities.

“I’m sure it was so we could meet! That Lady Ianite wanted us, two people so important to her, to be in the same place,” He said, so sure of himself, so full of confidence. They were meant to be, his Lady wanted this to happen. Meanwhile, Capsize was growing distinctly uncomfortable. He’d never actually spoken to Ianite, she knew that from how he had reacted to learning she had. So why was he acting like he knew the goddess’ desire and plans beyond a shadow of a doubt? She didn’t know such things and she’d directly asked about them! “And I was thinking that perhaps she wanted us to do more than just meet?”

“What do you mean?” She was really regretting agreeing to walking with him, those words giving her an uncomfortable feeling that she couldn’t shift. Just the way he said them, she wanted to be anywhere but next to him. Even if she didn’t go home, she wanted to be away from him, but his arm was still locked around hers. She didn’t have an option to escape. She had just to hope this wasn’t leading in the direction she was sure it was.

“Isn’t it obvious, Capsize?” He said with a laugh. She surely couldn’t be so oblivious. No, she was playing coy, he was sure of it. After all, if she didn’t feel the same way as him, she wouldn’t have given him that rose. His rose. The only gift she had given out to anyone in the town, one he had treasured for months before it had finally wilted. Yes, she was just playing around as always. “We’re meant to be together, a couple.”

“I—”

“You don’t need to say anything, obviously I know you feel the same way,” He said, cutting her off before her objections could spill out. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Well, she could. She could very much believe that said words were coming out of Jordan’s mouth, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear them. Really how? How did he think she had any interest in him? When had she ever given that impression? She hadn’t, she was sure that she hadn’t, but somehow, he was acting like she was head over heels in love with him. “And I’m sure you can just picture it. The two of us, together in a remote cabin, husband and wife away from the world.”

“Hus—husband and wife?” This couldn’t be real. The idea of him wanting to date her had been bad enough, now he wanted to get married? Suddenly the grip on her felt like a shackle. She needed to escape, to get as far away from him as possible. She didn’t care if she made a scene, if everyone thought she was crazy, she couldn’t let this happen. And that feeling, the panic inside her, only got stronger when her house came into view, and she saw what was set up there.

It was like a wedding aisle had been set up on the path, an arch woven from flowers and golden and silver cord standing halfway up the path, under which was a small table with a ring box. Flower petals were scattered along the path, all varying shades of purple. In any other circumstance, Capsize might admit that it looked beautiful, however she was far too deep in panic to do anything of the sort. She was barely processing how this could’ve been set up, she’d been Jordan the whole time and this certainly hadn’t been here when she left. It took almost half a minute in her panic riddled state to realise Tucker must’ve done it. So not only was Jordan proposing to her, but other people also knew and were involved. How had this become the most horrifying situation she had ever imagined? As Capsize tried to stop herself shaking, Jordan smiled. It looked perfect, he couldn’t have done a better job himself. He’d have to properly thank Tucker once he was officially engaged.

“You see it too, don’t you Capsize? You see how perfect we are together,” He said, not at all actually looking for confirmation. He led Capsize to the table, her legs and arm barely functioning as she tried to think of someway out of this. She couldn’t marry him. She couldn’t leave him any opening to think she would marry him. But that still left her needing to escape. She was so close to her house, to be able to lock him outside and away from her. Just any brief moment where he let go and she’d be able to make it. Then she could let him know she wasn’t going to marry him when she was able to put walls between them. “This is destiny, our destiny.”

“This is… This is all just so—”

“I know, you’ve been waiting for this,” He cut her off again. She must be overwhelmed by how excited she was, he reasoned. Why else would she look so flustered? Well, all that was really left to do was to show her the ring and officially ask the question, as much as that was really just a formality. So, he went to grab the ring, and in doing so, he unwrapped his arm from hers.

Almost immediately, she took the opportunity to start moving. She didn’t run, she wasn’t about to risk him noticing and stopping her, but she did hurry as fast as she could while still being quiet towards the steps. She just needed to get out of here, before he convinced himself that she agreed to marry him. She was about halfway up the steps towards the door when he spoke again.

“So, Capsize, what do you say?” He said, looking up with the open ring box in hand, only to get confused when she was no longer where he had been. He turned a couple of times, stopping as he saw Capsize stood frozen on the steps with a sheepish smile. Why was she going inside? Surely, she wasn’t actually leaving in the middle of his proposal. Capsize milled around for exactly what to say, especially as he took a step towards her, letting her know she didn’t have much time.

“Oh, Jordan, I… I just don’t deserve you,” She said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. As Jordan smiled at the seeming compliment, she hurried to the door, almost breathing a sigh of relief as she opened it. However, as she took a step inside, he realised that she maybe wasn’t just complimenting him before saying yes. He rushed up to the door, grabbing it as she tried to close it. At him trying to stop her locking him out, she admittedly panicked a little. She shoved the door towards him, the unexpected shift in weight causing him to stumble back, falling from the short stairs into the grass, muddy from the previous night’s storm. His landing was soft but caused enough of a splash to cover him in a good amount of the muck. He looked up at her in half-anger and half-genuine shock. As she noticed Tucker rushing over, she knew there was nothing to help the situation even if she had a particular want to fix it. “But thanks for asking.”

She slammed the door, quickly sliding across the bolt and slumped to the ground. She needed to get out of this town.

Outside, Tucker rushed up to Jordan, pulling him up from the ground. He wondered if he should’ve tried to intervene sooner, but what could he have done? He couldn’t exactly force Capsize to marry him. Jordan ripped his hand from his friend’s, not in the mood for any sort of conversion. It was bad enough that he was going to have to walk through town covered in mud, that he had been rejected by the object of his desires, he didn’t want to stick around for people to actually see the scene and him to be even more humiliated.

As he stormed off, Tucker sighed. He was going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day, possibly the rest of the week. Obviously, he’d cheer him up, what kind of a friend would he be if he didn’t, but he regretted not persuading him to at least go slower with her. Then, if she did reject him, it maybe wouldn’t have been so extreme.

He looked towards the door, considering if he should try and talk with her, but decided against it. She was probably as embarrassed as Jordan was, so he doubted he’d be able to persuade her to open the door let alone have a conversation. Instead, he turned to cleaning up the proposal set-up, hopefully saving anyone who hadn’t yet from seeing it and more people putting together what had happened. Yeah, he’d do his best to make people forget about this situation, Jordan included. After all, even if he didn’t understand why, Capsize clearly didn’t want to marry him and there was no way to change someone’s mind about a thing like that.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #jordan captainsparklez #tucker iijeriichoii #sparksize i guess? but like mega uncomfortable and onesided

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Six - Home

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

The Beast looming over her was not a natural creature. Perhaps an overly obvious observation given that she had spoken, but it was the most overpowering thought in Capsize’s head as she stared up at her. Stood in the light, her features were clear and impossible. She had a head that almost reminded her of a fox, with pointed ears and features defined by sectioned fur that, though definitely brown, did have an orange hue. However, she lacked a snout. Instead, her nose was more like that of a large cat’s, separate from the mouth, large and dark in colour. She also had horns which suited neither animal, ones that grew out of her forehead, curling around her ears in a way that didn’t quite feel like it should be possible.

She was currently standing on two legs, towering over her. Capsize guessed she was probably seven foot tall, though being on the floor didn’t give her a great position to estimate such a thing. Not that it really mattered, the Beast was certainly taller than herself no matter her exact height. She was built in a way that felt human, her shoulders set so she had arms rather than a set of front legs, and though they were clawed and covered in fur she appeared to have hands rather than paws. However, the rest of her stature was animal-like with a tail and elongated paw-like feet, like if a fox was given the size and weight of a bear.

There were signs of her being beyond some animalistic monster, aside from the obvious that she had the ability to speak. Like the fact she wore torn and tattered clothes, albeit only pants and a cape. But most notably were her eyes. Though they were full of rage that seemed far more animal-like than anything more reasonable, they were a striking green and unmistakably human.

To take in such a sight, it would be overwhelming for anyone, and Capsize was no exception to this. She had seen a great many things, and imagined a great many more, but finding her brother imprisoned by a monster was not something she had ever fathomed happening. It was perhaps the most terrifying scenario she had ever found herself in, but that did not mean she could allow herself to cower on the ground. This Beast had imprisoned her brother, that was not something she could allow to stand. While she certainly was not in a position to fight, and even if she was, she doubted she would win one, this did not have to be such an altercation. After all, the Beast had spoken, if she could speak then there was the possibility she could be reasoned with. Likely a slim chance, but it was the best shot that she had. So, clinging to the idea in order to push her fears back enough for them to not be clear on her face, she rose cautiously to her feet.

“I came here to find my brother,” She said, staring up at the Beast and trying to keep her voice neutral. It was not the easiest of tasks given that she was incredibly aware that she could be easily put in the exact same position as Redbeard or a significantly worse one. She was scared, obviously she was, but she couldn’t show that without putting herself even more on the backfoot than she already was. “And now that I’ve found him, I’m going to take him home.”

“You won’t be taking him anywhere,” The Beast said, her voice unfeeling. The words were spoken as if there were no arguments to them, the creatures acting as if her word was law. Of course, in her head it very much was, but as an outsider with no context, it just made Capsize angry. An emotion that she forced herself to bite back, to not give into the urge to snap at the Beast.

“And who exactly are you to decide that?” Despite her efforts to try to speak calmly, her words still came out with more than a hint of anger. The Beast noticed, but didn’t jump on it, intrigued by the woman. She shouldn’t be letting her talk, she had hit her and so clearly had no respect in her tone, but she spoke to her like she was a human. She wasn’t cowering, wasn’t speaking fearfully. And that was enough to let her continue talking, even if her question was more amusing than anything. She truly had been forgotten, hadn’t she?

“I am the Mistress of this castle,” She said, not needing to say her real title. She doubted the woman would take her seriously if she did say it, and besides it didn’t feel right anymore. The one she had presented was more than enough anyway. This place was her domain, and she could do as she wanted. Her words did their job in that respect, as Capsize felt slightly stuck. Technically she had no room for argument. If this Beast truly was the Mistress of this place, she could do what she wanted on her land. It may not be right or just, but it was within her rights. Of course, she wasn’t going to let such a fact stop her, but it did remind her to be careful with her tone. “He is my prisoner. I suggest you leave before I decide you should join him.”

“Please, just go, Capsize. I’ll… I’ll be okay,” Redbeard said, unable to meet her eyes when she turned her head to look at him. He knew that he didn’t sound convincing, he didn’t believe his own words, but he needed her to believe him, to leave while she still could.

“I’m not going to leave. He’s sick, he’ll die if he stays here,” She said, directing her words towards the Beast, but attempting to reassure him with her first statement. She wondered if her argument was too extreme, but she reasoned that it was true. Honestly, she had no idea such an argument was going to persuade the Beast, as she did not exactly seem empathetic, but she had to try to persuade her with the clear consequences if she did keep him here. Though Capsize did not exactly like saying the words as they felt far too much like cementing reality, despite that being the point, as she could no longer pretend in her own thoughts that he would just be fine.

“Then he shouldn’t have trespassed, shouldn’t have stolen from me,” The Beast gave no measurement of sympathy despite the desperation being clear in her words, though she did avoid her eyes as she spoke. She did not want to say the other reason she had locked up the man, her anger that led to a split-second judgement that she now refused to go back on. She didn’t want to admit that she was wrong, that the man had likely not been sent by the goddess, especially when she could still see the amulet hanging from his neck. However, facing the eyes of someone begging for his release made sticking to her judgement even harder. Sure, she could assume the woman was sent for the same reason, the long purple cloak she was wearing was so similar to the one the disguised goddess had worn that night, but for a reason she couldn’t comprehend, or perhaps just didn’t want to think about, she didn’t want to jump on that assumption. Capsize shot a brief look towards her brother, what in gods’ name had he stolen?

“I’ll pay you for whatever he took, ten times whatever it was worth. Those crimes, they aren’t worth his life,” She was getting more desperate, and it was becoming clearer in her tone. She’d had to bail him out of situations before, mostly when his own guile had failed to convince someone not to try to fight him, but never had she had to do so in a situation where the one she was trying to convince was so willing to allow him to die. Sure, she’d met far too many who had wanted to punch him until he was senseless, but none would’ve wanted him to die. And sure, she had no idea how much she may have just offered to pay, having seen some of the trinkets laying around she knew it may be all they had saved, but that wouldn’t matter if he got to live. The Beast looked at her, almost scoffing but managing to hold back. Did she truly think such an offer would persuade her?

“I have no use for money,” She couldn’t leave this place without being hunted down, what purpose would money have? She couldn’t spend it. It would just sit around gathering dust like everything else in the castle, a reminder of her inability to do anything but remain here.

“Then an item to replace it, anything you could want I’ll find it and bring it back here,” There was always something, everyone wanted something. There was not a single person in this world that didn’t desire something. Yet there was no change in the Beast’s emotionless stare.

“There is nothing you can offer me,” She honestly meant those words, despite how the offer would’ve been taken without thought for any sort of magical trinket she could receive. All the passion she once had had faded over the years of being stuck slowly becoming more animalistic. Her claws and barely controlled strength meant she couldn’t use the precious items she needed to pursue such things. If she was being honest, she was only really doing this on principle, out of resentment for what had led to this situation. She didn’t care for the rose, but if she could be cursed for not taking one then why couldn’t she imprison someone for taking one? Capsize, though having no idea the reason for it, was biting back a long string of curses in reaction to her indifference. She didn’t care, she could so clearly tell that she didn’t, but she was letting him die because of it anyway. The only thing that stopped her was knowing she would lose any chance she had of helping him. The short-term satisfaction of being petty wasn’t worth it. “Just leave before I change my mind.”

“No! There has to be something I can do. Please, I’ll—” A thought came into her head. A desperate thought. One that once she said it, she knew she would not be able to take it back. She hesitated to actually say it, but it was the last idea she had. “What if I stay instead?”

“What?! No! You can’t!”

“What do you mean?” Both of the others in the room spoke at once. Redbeard spoke in panic. He fully understood what she was saying. He couldn’t let her do it, he couldn’t let her give up everything for him. The Beast, meanwhile, was confused. Of course, she understood the words, but that didn’t mean that made sense to her. Who would willingly stay here? The two met eyes, the Beast forced to see the desperation within those of the woman.

“I’ll take his place as your prisoner,” She said, making the offer clear so there could be no doubt. She could see the Beast considering, each second feeling like an eternity to Capsize, as the creature was stuck in confusion wondering how she could be genuine about such an offer. There were no signs of deceit on her face, no reason to disbelieve her other than the fact that no one could make such an offer.

“You would agree to remain here forever? To never leave this place?” The Beast pressed, though with a less harsh tone than she had been using. For the first time, the Beast properly looked at the woman before her. She was dressed simply, her clothes lacking all the fancy trimmings and embellishments of the clothes those that had once surrounded her wore. Her hair had come loose when she had been turned, her dark brown curls falling over her shoulders and framing her face. And, Gods, her face, she couldn’t drag her eyes away now she was actually looking. She had bronze skin, freckles covering her cheeks, a couple of small scars that had faded with time. And her eyes, she couldn’t stop looking into those desperation-filled brown eyes. The Beast realised that she was looking at someone beautiful, someone full of life, and she felt that wrong. Because she wanted her to say yes, to stay here, but she knew it would be far better if she left because she most certainly did not belong in this place.

Capsize, unaware of the many thoughts in the Beast’s mind and the reasons she was being so intensely stared at, considered her questions. She didn’t want to hesitate, but how could she avoid doing so? She would have to give up everything. It wouldn’t just be her freedom, her chance to return to her old life or to even just see the ocean again, she’d never see her brother again. These moments in this cold prison, these were going to be their last together no matter what she agreed. And it was that thought that made up her mind. She would lose him either way, but she could not live with herself if she left him to die.

“If you let him go, then I promise you. I’ll stay here forever,” Her voice felt like it was going to give out before she could finish the sentence. She could not imagine staying here in this empty, cold room for the rest of her life, it felt hollow and wrong, but such a feeling was far easier to stomach than the terrible shame she felt for even imagining leaving Redbeard here. So, she summoned whatever resolve she could muster, standing tall and hoping her fear did not show on her face.

“No, please! I don’t—”

“I accept,” The Beast cut off Redbeard’s desperate pleas, to his absolute horror. This couldn’t be happening. Capsize couldn’t be the one to stay here in this place at the mercy of this Beast. He couldn’t let this happen. Meanwhile, Capsize felt an odd mixture of relief and terror, knowing he would live, but also knowing what she had agreed to. She only managed to stay on her feet rather than slumping to the floor from the adrenaline leaving her body because she needed to make him think she would be okay. If the last time he saw her she was in distress, he’d live his whole life in guilt, and she would do anything to avoid that.

The Beast cared little for the man’s outburst, pushing past the woman to get to the cell door. She tried to ignore the swirling of her thoughts, the reason she had accepted the woman’s offer. She shouldn’t get her hopes up, shouldn’t have made a deal on something so unlikely to happen, but the way the woman had spoken to her. The whole time, she never cowered, never spoke like she was speaking to an animal or monster. And perhaps that led her to wanting to agree, to keep her here rather than the man, but she couldn’t think about that. It was never going to happen, she just accepted because it didn’t really make a difference and at least the woman might be quieter.

As she gripped the door, a rune appeared and glowed from within the keyhole as the lock clicked and the door finally opened. It likely would’ve fascinated Capsize under different circumstances, but she barely had time to acknowledge the magic. As soon as the door was open, Redbeard had rushed out and past the Beast to grip onto her shoulders. His movement was stumbling, he had never felt so weak in his life, but he couldn’t let her do this. She had to take it back, to let him be the one to stay. She was worth so much more than him, how was he meant to live with himself if she gave up her life for him?

“Please Ize, take it back. You already gave up so much to save me last time, don’t—” Before he could finish his plea, the Beast grabbed the back of his shirt. With little concern, she began to drag him away. She wasn’t in the mood for a back and forth, she’d made her decision so what was the point in letting him try and change her mind?

Both siblings panicked as they realised what was happening. Redbeard struggled, needing to remain here, but lacking the strength to do that. He hadn’t been able to fight back when he had been at full strength, what chance did he have after a full day of slowly freezing? Meanwhile Capsize realised that this was it, the last time she would ever see him. There would be no goodbye, no reassurances that she would be okay, just this.

“Wait!” She begged. She didn’t care anymore about looking strong, she just wanted a real goodbye.

“Capsize!” Redbeard yelled, attempting to reach out to her as he was pulled into the darkness. The last he saw of her before he was dragged down the stairs was a look of panic and fear that burned into his mind.

He was dragged through the castle remarkably quickly, the Beast’s speed not slowed by his struggling and begging and ineffective clawing at her arm. She paid little attention to him, the faster he was gone the better. He should just be happy she wasn’t going to dump him in the woods.

The outside came far too fast, the cold air painful on his skin as she dragged him to an old carriage, half covered in ivy that retreated as the Beast laid a hand on the wood. Once again, glowing glyphs lit up on the surface of the object from her touch. Her magic was stronger than ever for what little it mattered. If it couldn’t help with what she really needed, at least it could get rid of unwanted guests. The moment she felt the enchantment settle, she threw open the door and dumped the man inside.

“Please let my sister go! It’s me who wronged you, she doesn’t deserve this!” He gave one last plea. He couldn’t have doomed Capsize to a life at the mercy of this monster. What kind of a brother was he if she was paying for his mistakes? He knew that he wouldn’t last more than a few days, but at least that meant he wouldn’t spend years in that cell. Why did she always insist on saving him? The Beast looked down at him, covered in shadows as she had been when he had first seen her. No feelings in her eyes.

“She is no longer your concern. Do not return here if you value your life,” Were the last words he heard before the Beast slammed the door, locking him inside for the journey back to town. He would not be able to escape until he was there, she was completely sure of that fact, but that did not stop him from attempting to claw his way out. There was no handle on the inside, leaving him just desperately trying to shove his nails into any ridge or opening, all his efforts fruitless.

As the vehicle began the move, pulled by the command of magic, his attempts grew weaker as sobs began to wrack his body. He’d failed her. His sister was the prisoner of that monstrous Beast, doomed to spend the rest of her life in the shadows and cold of that cell. Such a terrible fate he would wish on no one. And it was all his fault that she would suffer it.

🌹 🌹 🌹

Back upstairs, Capsize stood staring down at the scene from the barred window, trying not to shake and cry as she watched her brother being taken away and failing miserably. The last she would ever see him was from a window where he certainly didn’t see her. She felt all her resolve leaving her, as the uncertainty of what would now happen to her began to sink in.

From the stairway, she was unknowingly being watched. Tom had come up, candles unlit as to not be seen, as soon as the Beast had. He had planned to intervene if the worse had happened, and arguably he should have, but instead he found himself just watching as the woman fought for her brother’s freedom. Completely transfixed as she agreed to something unimaginable. How could one interrupt something like that? Martha had joined only when the man had been dragged yelling and screaming past the room she was in, lectures and questions ready to be said, only to fall silent at the sight of the woman. She listened to Tom explain the events in disbelief.

“She chose to stay?” She whispered, not believing despite being told, despite seeing the evidence in front of her. It was something that seemed impossible, who would choose to stay in this place after seeing such a terrible room? However, she couldn’t deny the story when she had clearly seen the Mistress dragging the man outside, when the woman was standing and not running while she had the chance. Yet it was still perplexing to her.

“Yeah, and it was her own suggestion too,” He replied, feeling there was a distinction there. It had not been the Beast’s, a deal she had just gone along with when offered, but instead her own idea that it almost seemed the Beast had been hesitant to go along with. The clock blinked, looking towards the woman with an equal amount of curiosity and disbelief. She wanted to question her, to understand how anyone could make such a decision, but there was little point. There would be no changing things now.

“I suppose we should go and tell the others what the commotion was about.”

“You go. Her Majesty is in a better mood than she was yesterday. I think I’m going to try and get our new guest some better accommodations,” He said with cautious optimism. Martha wanted to tell him not to bother but found herself unable. He wasn’t suggesting anything outlandish, and she couldn’t see any harm that could result from the attempt. She just hoped he’d be polite about it… Who was she kidding with that thought?

“Very well, just don’t make things worse,” She said, before taking her leave. Tom muttered to himself about her not trusting him as she went. Seriously, you’d think she had lived here longer than him. But she was gone, and there was at least a little time before the Beast returned, so he gave a look towards the woman.

She was the one, he was sure of it. She was going to break the curse. Frankly there weren’t any other options, but that was not where his sureness came from. He watched the way she had spoken. She was more than a match for Fluffles, she’d already proven that. Now he just needed to make the circumstances for them to be able to like each other. That was going to be at least a little difficult. He was sure he could pull it off though, just not in the tower.

As he heard the Beast approaching, he hopped down a few of the steps, lighting his candles once out of view of the woman, hoping to not give away that he had been eavesdropping. As the Beast appeared, she paid little attention to him, not in the mood to speak to anyone at this point. However, the candelabra was not about to be ignored.

“Hey Fluffles! Beasty! Princess!” All three calls were ignored without so much of a glance. He decided to do something drastic. “Mistress.”

Immediately the Beast flinched. The title sounded wrong in his voice. She whipped around to look at him, more worried than annoyed though that didn’t show on her face.

“I was thinking, I don’t think we need to lock the woman in a cell,” He said without acknowledging the way he had gotten her attention. Instead, he focused on just trying to make his words sound convincing. Romance wasn’t about to start with her locking the other person in a cell, she’d already ruined one potential option that way and he couldn’t let her do it again. Selfish as it might be, he was quite invested in getting some romance started here. She looked mildly annoyed at the suggestion, or perhaps just being interrupted at all. “I mean, the reason you lock up prisoners is to stop them escaping and she promised not to leave so…”

“She agreed to replace the prisoner. She’s staying in the cell,” She said, growling without meaning to. She wasn’t about to give a prisoner free reign of her castle. Even if she felt there was something wrong about locking the woman up, she was just as much a criminal as the man. She’d trespassed, she’d hit her. Still, though she tried to tell herself those facts, she still felt off about the situation. Nevertheless, she continued without another word.

“Great talk,” Tom muttered as she disappeared up the stairs. At least he’d tried. He’d sneak her into a guest room in a few hours. He could get away with doing that for this one.

Capsize had her back to the Beast as she came back into the tower, though she did feel the returning presence. There was a difference in her stance, one the Beast noticed but could not precisely point out what was different. Just a change in the air. Capsize tried to quell herself, to not show the tears that were falling and the anger that had built up even if half-dulled by sadness. But when she heard the smallest creak of metal, the sign that she was about to be locked in here and left alone, she realised there was no point in staying quiet. What worse could happen to her now?

“What kind of a monster are you?” She spoke quietly but not softly. If her question had not been enough to make the Beast freeze, her tone certainly would’ve. While before there had been panic-driven desperation, now there was a cold anger. A lack of any real drive to actually hear the answer, instead just for the question to be heard. And the Beast found herself unable to do anything, an overwhelming sense of guilt growing worse as she turned around to face her. Seeing the tears, seeing eyes filled with an anger that had not been there in their previous conversation. She took a step forward, her grip on her cane turning her knuckles white as she forced herself to not attack. “I agreed to stay, I gave you my word. I’m never going to my brother again and… and you didn’t let me say goodbye.”

Her anger faded into something more mournful as she spoke, a hollowness creeping through her as a few more tears fell. The reality being spoken out loud made it hit her again. She did not expect sympathy from her, she honestly didn’t expect anything from saying the words, she just needed to say them. But, hearing the words, looking at her tears, the Beast could not stop the waves of guilt and shame that travelled through her. What kind of a monster was she? The metal door she had not hesitated to slam the night before felt so heavy in her hand. She let go.

“Let me show you to your room,” She said, stepping back to gesture towards the stairs. She couldn’t leave her in the cell, even if it pained her to admit Tom had a good idea, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the woman here. She had agreed to stay, her words clearly more truthful than she had given credit for. What was the harm in allowing her the little freedom the castle and its grounds would allow for?

“My room?” Capsize said, her anger flattering from sheer confusion. Redbeard had been locked in here, so given the Beast’s lack of concern thus far, she had assumed that she would be left in the same position. That had been so clear in her mind that she hadn’t even doubted it, but she was now being told otherwise. “I thought I’d—”

“Do you want to stay in the tower?” The Beast interrupted, trying her best to speak softly. She didn’t succeed, but she at least didn’t growl.

“No…” She muttered. She half-considered saying yes out of the annoyed principal that this had been where her brother was left when it would literally kill him. But where would that get her? There was no point staying in a cold, dark cell if she was given another option.

“Then follow me,” She made sure the woman was at least making her way towards her before turning around as she seemed hesitant. And she was. Frankly, Capsize was scared this was some sort of trick. Call her pessimistic, but this wasn’t the easiest situation to be optimistic in. But what could she really do aside from hope she was not being lied to?

As she began to move, the Beast walked over to the stairs, looking for Tom. She’d need a light source, as while her eyes were able to see without issue in the dark, she doubted the same applied to the woman. And while she was unsure if bringing him along was a good idea, there wasn’t any other light nearby. That and given that he was hopping up the stairs with a grin on his face, it was clear he was coming whether she wanted him to or not, might as well make him useful. Before he could speak, she took a hold of him, unwilling to explain talking furniture right now. Glancing behind her to make sure she had not witnessed the candelabra moving, she instead saw her picking up the coat that had once again fallen to the ground. Looking at that made her feel another wave of guilt, so she turned back towards the stairs.

“Try not to fall behind.”

Capsize did just that as the Beast began to lead her down the stairs and through the halls of the castle. Despite a current dull throbbing beginning in her leg, she wasn’t slow, and certainly wouldn’t be on purpose in this situation. However, in the silence and trapped with her own thoughts, her pace did slow as she took in her surroundings. The first new place she had been in over a year, the last new place she would ever go. It was as terrifying and saddening as it was building her curiosity, she wanted to explore. Yet as she looked around, she couldn’t help but feel the place felt oddly tragic. It was not as if the place was destroyed, in fact all furnishings looked well-kept and far fancier than anything she had owned. Rather it felt inescapability like something terrible had happened here and the whole place had bent and changed to fit such an event. Not a single thing gave any hint of warmth.

Tom, from his somewhat awkward position of being held by the Beast, looked over her shoulder toward the woman. He frowned at her expression, the way her eyes were wandering as she seemed lost in her own world. This wouldn’t do at all. How was romance meant to bloom if they weren’t talking? Well, what was he here for if not to assist with them getting together?

“Hey, talk to her,” He whispered, making sure not to be heard by the woman. The Beast stared at him. What on earth was she meant to say? She doubted the woman wanted to talk to her. Why would she? It was properly better to leave her to her own thoughts. However, Tom gestured for her to look, not being nearly careful enough considering his hands were open flames, he was insistent enough to get her to look. Her careful glance back let her see tears and a numb expression.

“What’s your name?” She asked, breaking the silence between the two. Capsize looked towards her, trying to figure out if the question was genuine. Redbeard had said her name a couple of times, she thought it would’ve been heard, but she supposed her name didn’t really sound like one.

“Capsize,” She said, disliking how hoarse her voice sounded to her own ear. She felt weak, she supposed she always would when before someone that was over a foot taller than her and had the strength to lift her brother in one hand. She should probably feel more scared than she currently was, but well she never quite felt as scared of things as she was meant to be. Though right now that was more due to a numbness that was ebbing away at her. “What’s yours?”

“My name?”

“Well, I mean, I need something to call you.”

“I…” The Beast felt shocked at even being asked, but worse she had no idea what to say. Her name was not something she used anymore, something that was not meant for a Beast. She had long since stopped responding to it, and those cursed alongside her had stopped trying to use it in turn. However, the names they used instead weren’t ideal to give either. It would be beyond rude to force her to use a title, and all of Tom’s various nicknames she only put up with because it was him. So, did she even really have an answer to give? “I don’t have one. Call me what you wish.”

The answer brought more silence. The Beast did not want to say more, worried that any more words would give away that she had technically lied. She did not want to be reminded of who she was, to be made to hear that name again. She didn’t deserve such a thing. Meanwhile Capsize was trying to consider if her hesitation was due to her lying or just because admitting such a thing was embarrassing. She supposed it did not matter, as even if it was the latter, she still did not feel much pity for one who clearly felt none for her. Still, she needed to figure out what to call her. The only thing she had referred to herself as was ‘the Mistress of the Castle’, and she absolutely was not going to call her Mistress. Even if she was a prisoner, she had more pride than that. Just calling her Beast felt like too much of an insult, even if it was an apt description and, frankly, she felt she deserved to be insulted. Maybe she should think about such a thing later, when her situation had fully sunk in.

Tom didn’t notice the reforming silence at first, too busy attempting to read the Beast’s expression to see if she really had forgotten. He obviously knew she didn’t like hearing her name, that none of them had used it in years, but he was sure she still knew what it was. Yet he did look at her face for confusion, just to check that she wasn’t so far gone that she had lost that part of herself. And the moment he was sure there was no such thing, he snapped back to realise the quiet had once again descended. He almost sighed, but instead just gestured for the Beast to continue talking.

“I… I hope you like this place. This is your home now so feel free to explore as you wish,” She said, Capsize perking up ever so slightly at her words. She almost chastised herself for it. She shouldn’t let herself be so easily excited in a situation as unfair as this, to allow her captor to possibly think that she was in the right. The Beast, however, slightly panicked at her immediate excitement as she remembered the space that could only result in horror if she entered. If she saw that, well, then whatever horrible monster she was thought of as would be cemented in her head. “Except the west wing!”

“Why? What’s in the west wing?” She asked, curious about the sudden correction.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Then why can’t I go there?”

“It’s forbidden!” The Beast roared. Capsize shrank back from her position that she realised was far too confident. She needed to remember that this was a monster who had imprisoned her brother and now her, that she was very much powerless in this position. She couldn’t press such questions. The Beast regretted her harshness seeing the reaction, but how else was she meant to keep her away? If she explained what was there, it would just have the same effect as her wandering in there. She had to scare her away to keep her from wanting to explore that place. Little did she know, it hadn’t worked as Capsize made the mental note to find the place as soon as the Beast forgot her initial curiosity and was not watching her.

Thankfully, or at least both the women found it thankful, there was not much more time for conversation before they came to a door that the Beast opened, gesturing for her to enter. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have been shocked, but she was ever so slightly to find a guest room. Fancy and beautiful, but with the same lack of warmth she had felt about the rest of the place. Still, better by far than a literal cell, she could appreciate that much, but she couldn’t exactly feel happy as she entered. That was very much noticed by both of those watching her.

“If you need anything, my… servants will be happy to fulfil any request you might have,” The Beast quickly said in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. She wasn’t sure how true that was. She wasn’t even sure it was right to call them servants given the various things they had been prior to being cursed, but what else was she meant to call them and not scare or confuse her? Whatever description she gave would not explain talking furniture. Capsize felt curious again, she hadn’t seen any other people when she was looking around nor had there been any sign of them, but she did not question this time. She wanted to be left alone without being yelled at again.

“Invite her to dinner,” The Beast had started to turn away when Tom whispered those words. He was sure it would be a good start. Sure, this might not be a one-night thing, but if they started working on them getting together tonight then the curse would be as good as broken in a couple of days!

“You will join me for dinner tonight,” She said it a little too harshly to be considered an invitation, a little too loud to just have been raising her voice to catch the attention of Capsize who had turned away. The Beast didn’t see anything wrong with this, it’s how she would’ve made an invitation to a dinner prior to her transformation, it was just that such a tone seemed less threatening, if just as rude, when coming from a human. Capsize turned in shock, though not from the aggressive tone but from the request itself. The words and the tone were far too similar to ones she had already heard once that day, the seeming expectation rather than request. Her mind was unsure if she was hearing her or him. All she knew is her entire being was sure she did not want to do anything that reminded her of that horrible moment again.

“No, I—”

“That wasn’t a request! Someone will be up to get you when it’s ready.” She slammed the door closed to avoid anymore arguments, not understanding why the candelabra seemed less than happy.

“You’re terrible at this.”

“I only did what you said!”

Capsize was left very much alone. She barely made it to the bed before collapsing, numb beyond anything else. Tears fell freely as she had no reason to try and hold them back, nor the strength to do so if she did. What had she done in her life to deserve this? Yes, she knew she had made a choice to remain here, and she would not go back on that decision even if she could, but that didn’t mean for a moment she thought she deserved to lose her freedom. She wondered if this was some sort of ironic punishment. All her complaints of the town, of her lack of ability to leave or be respected as a person. She said she’d do anything to be rid of that place. Now, she was free from it but as a prisoner somewhere far worse.

Gods that made more tears spill. All her complaints and dislike of the town seemed petty. She’d give anything to go back to the dull life she was living yesterday, to wake up and have today have been some terrible dream. Sure, she resented being stuck there and today had been the worst day by far, but at least there had been a chance of escape, to return to the place that it brought her joy. Now she was stuck in one place forever, with one who appeared to have much the same entitlement as Jordan towards her. She took a shaky breath in. Where were such thoughts going to get her? Hopeless and ready to give in and break? She could not think such things. She had experienced a sudden loss of freedom before, and if her life had been changed in such a way before, that meant it could happen again. She would, one day, be free again. This was not her fate.

Part of her already was free, the part that had always stayed with the ocean and her old life she craved for. The same part that remained with the brother that was satisfied knowing he was free. After all, no matter what was done to imprison her, her heart would remain free. So would keep her hopes, her dreams, they would not be crushed. No matter what this Beast tried, she would not break. This place was not going to be her home, it would not win her heart. Her heart could not be won by monstrous force, and if two people needed to learn that today then so be it.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #skipper redbeard #tom syndicate #martha the mystic

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter Three - That's Not a Nightingale

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

There were still a good few hours before the sun was due to set as Redbeard was hooking up their horse, Phillipe, to the cart that he had now safely loaded up. Enough light left that the first leg of the journey would be doable, but also close enough to dark that he knew Capsize would worry. It was silly, he had made the journey enough time to know that it was safe, and she was the one that plotted his route so surely, she knew in her head that it was safe and straightforward, but still every time she worried. Since he couldn’t exactly stop her from doing so, he had taken it as a positive, a sign that she truly would miss him if he disappeared forever, rather than her just thinking he’ll get himself into trouble in even the simplest of situations.

“We’re not going to get into trouble, are we boy?” He said with a laugh to Phillipe. He could swear as the animal snorted, it was actually sighing attempting to respond in opposition. The traitor always agreed with Capsize, and frankly he thinks she bribes him. Though, of course, that was silly. Their horse didn’t really have a complex opinion on the two, but Redbeard spent enough time alone with him that he possibly personified him a little too much. That did pose the question as to why he thought he typically agreed with Capsize rather than himself, but he was going to use his better judgement and not think too deeply about that. “Bit bigger load than last time. Shouldn’t be too heavy for you, but we’ll figure out more rest stops if it is.”

He took the whinnying as approval as he tested that the ropes and straps attached to the harness were properly secured. He wanted to figure out a few more rest stops anyway, for when he and Capsize could finally move from this town. There would still be the possibility of her not being able to ride for very long, after all. Her leg had been healing well, she rarely needed the pain relief tinctures anymore and she clearly walked more than she had in the first few months after the accident, but he had some doubt that she’d be able to ride for as long as he typically did between rest stops. So, even if that was just a feeling, he'd need to figure out a few more stops for the route, even if just for a temporary pause rather than a camp. And figuring it out on the next few trips would be far preferable to having to do it while travelling with Capsize.

Thinking of Capsize, he wondered how her task had been going. While retrieving the sellable items from the cellar that they had been using as a workshop, she had been at her worktable tinkering away at the lockbox, occasionally muttering what he was sure were curses under her breath. Of course, he’d tried to assure her she didn’t need to fix it, but she’d batted him away with a playful reassurance of having it handled. And, of course, he had no doubts that she did, but he would need to leave soon. He didn’t want that to be without probably saying goodbye, but he had a half-hearted worry that if she was not finished, she may try and insist he stay until she was. He honestly had no idea if this was a situation where her stubbornness would win out or her logical side of not wanting him to either be late or travel in the dark would, nor if he’d have the heart to argue with either decision. But he couldn’t just stand about waiting for her to possibly emerge.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” He said to Phillipe, who seemed overall neutral about the man walking away. The horse was already paying far more attention to the sparse grass on the road. Redbeard walked off the road onto the small path in their garden that looped around their house to the cellar door. However, he would not actually make it inside before his attention was caught by a call.

“Redbeard! Glad I managed to catch you!” Jordan called out from the bottom of the path. He had cleaned himself up since his late morning meeting with Capsize. Though he still carried his bow, he had sold his prey of the day, no longer carrying them from his belt, and he had also changed most of his clothes. The only thing he was wearing from earlier in the day was his long red coat, which he was rarely seen without. Yes, from his clothes to his hair to his general stance, Jordan had put enough into looking good at this particular moment. He hadn’t fully dressed up, this wasn’t his proposal after all, but he looked far more cleaned up than he typically would in the late afternoon. Redbeard noticed the oddity and was unsure what to make of it as he approached the man. He certainly got along with the champion far better than Capsize, but he couldn’t help but be slightly weary considering his sister’s words about the man earlier in the day.

“Well, you got here just in time,” He said, well-practiced in hiding uncertainty beneath a smile and a good demeanour. For Jordan to want to see him right before he left town, it was unusual but not out of the question. Typically, he would see the man more casually, going to the tavern for a few drinks, but he did on occasion see him before leaving to ask for things from the city. Despite how the champion seemed quite happy within the town, he, like everyone, occasionally wanted things unavailable in such an isolated place and Redbeard was more than happy to bring them up for him. But he didn’t think that was the current reason for him being here. He looked, somewhat uncharacteristically, nervous. “Must be something important, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look nervous.”

“It’s pretty important, yes,” He said, wishing his nerves were not so obvious. He had no reason to think this won’t go his way, and yet he couldn’t shake them. The siblings were extremely close, that’s the reason he was doing this, but it also meant if this went wrong his chances with Capsize could be snuffed. Though, of course, that wouldn’t happen, he just needed to get the words out. “I’d… I’d like your blessing to marry Capsize.”

“Huh?” He almost thought he was hearing things because the request had come out of absolutely nowhere. And worse, as it dawned on him that he had in fact heard correctly, he had no idea how he was meant to respond to the request. He liked Jordan well-enough, from what he could tell he was nice enough, and he certainly didn’t want to upset the lad, but he also knew his sister couldn’t stand him. She avoided saying so through words, skirting the issue as best she could, but she was not a good liar. Her, what he was going to charitably call annoyance, shone through every time she talked about the man. Yet, somehow, he wanted to marry her. Had he just stepped into another universe? “You want to marry Capsize?”

“Yes! I’ve never met a woman as perfect as she is,” Redbeard barely managed to hold back a laugh, not wanting to disparage the man who seemed to be expressing genuine feelings. But his description of Capsize versus her own of him a few hours earlier was tickling. Of course, it was less funny considering she had occasionally complained of him not seeing her as a person, and his description of her as ‘perfect’, but he tried to quell that concern as each one just misunderstanding the other. Still, he had no idea how exactly he should respond. He could give his blessing, but as soon as Capsize found out she’d be pissed, which was something he didn’t particularly want to deal with or found particularly fair for either party. Jordan could feel his hesitation, setting a worry in him that felt wrong. There was no reason he could see that he would say no. He’d built a friendship with him, not hard when he could get discounted drinks at the tavern, and even he had to be able to see how perfect he and Capsize were for each other. “I’ll treat her as brilliantly as she deserves, she’ll never want for anything. I just, I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”

“I’m not doubting that I just… Well, I’m not going to stop you. If you can get Capsize to agree, obviously you can marry her,” Redbeard felt like that was a pretty big if given that she barely wanted to talk to him, let alone enter a committed relationship with the man. However, Jordan’s face lit up and he felt a twinge of guilt. Both men had a very different vision of how a proposal to Capsize would go, and though neither knew what the other was thinking, Redbeard could not imagine Jordan was picturing the sort of disaster he was. There was absolutely no way she was going to say yes, that was so clear to him, but he didn’t exactly want to say that. It felt undermining to his sister to say what he thought she would do, even if he was sure he’d get an earful of complaints from her later. Also, he was leaving so he didn’t have time for a half an hour conversation explaining to Jordan that Capsize didn’t like him.

“You won’t regret this! You’ll see when you get back, we’re going to be the perfect couple!” Jordan said, forgetting he had ever been nervous about the situation. He had her brother’s approval, which meant he didn’t need to worry about any sudden rug pull after the man returned that would sour the start of his marriage. He had to start preparing the proposal, make it as great as Capsize would expect from him. So, he rushed off, intending to see how Tucker was coming along with his side of the preparations.

Redbeard, now left alone walking back towards the cellar, contemplated if he had just made a massive mistake. He didn’t want to say no, he both didn’t want to start an argument and didn’t particularly want to act like he could forbid his sister from doing something, but he felt a little like he had taken anyway her scapegoat for whenever she was confronted by the proposal. Maybe, he thought, he should warn her about it, tell her before it was a shock. But what good would that really do? She’d just get annoyed, since she certainly wasn’t going to feel able to confront the man about it, and she was already routinely stressed enough. They certainly weren’t currently in a relationship, so if they weren’t even dating, so he assumed that a proposal had to be a while away. Plenty of time to warn Capsize and get her prepared for that disaster once he got back. He had no idea how wrong that assumption was.

Before he had time to think any more on the situation, the cellar doors opened in front of him, Capsize emerging with a smile. He could only feel relieved that she had not exited half a minute earlier, as he could not imagine had that would’ve gone. Yes, he decided, perhaps against his better judgement, that he was going to keep his conversation with Jordan a secret. No point souring their last few minutes together for the next few weeks. He much preferred leaving on a positive note. And she looked happy, how could he spoil that? The reason for the joy on her features became clear as day as in her left hand she held up, wrapped in a semi-transparent fabric, was the lockbox.

“You fixed it!” He said, not intending to sound so surprised. She fixed trinkets all the time, it was literally her job, but she had never done it so fast, nor on something quite so explosive, but that wasn’t a reason to doubt her abilities. If she ever got such a notion from him, she wouldn’t appreciate it. Not that he would dream of doing such a thing, she was far more competent than him and he was quite okay with that. He knew the moment they were out of this town, she’d be in charge of the market stuff too, and he was honestly just looking forward to her being the captain again. It was not that he particularly minded being in charge, he just felt like it should be Capsize.

“Pretty sure I have! Just leave the fabric on, I think the glyphs are resetting when they’re touched,” She said as she handed it over to him carefully. She couldn’t say for sure that was the problem, magic was mysterious and annoying after all, but it was her best guess as to why the object had decided to once again explode that morning. She almost wished she had more time to figure out the mechanics, almost. Mostly she was glad to see the thing gone. The twinge of sadness as she handed it over was not due to losing the box, but rather the fact that this was it. He was leaving for another three weeks. Obviously, he’d be back, and it would be faster than she expected, but she never quite got used to being alone, to this town where it seemed no one really seemed to understand her nor want to.

“Well, I’ll do my best to find someone who wants the devil box,” He said with a laugh, attempting to hide his own sadness about leaving. He didn’t need to show that, it was better to not make her worry anymore than she was already going to. He appreciated her worrying, it meant that she missed him, though she always claimed it was because she didn’t like him being alone with his run of luck. But he knew it was because she missed him, after all she trusted the routes she planned to be safe, she just didn’t want to admit such a thing. Not that he had ever asked, but he could tell these sorts of things, some people just had their feelings written on their face. And yes, he was correct. Capsize knew she was going to miss him dreadfully and the worry was coming in waves with all the possible reasons he might never return circling through her brain.

“Have you got everything?” She asked as the two began to walk towards the cart. She knew she didn’t really need to ask the question, as focused as she was on the lockbox, she hadn’t missed him carrying the boxed-up trinkets and furniture pieces out of the cellar. And while there was now a tarp covering the loaded-up cart, she knew from a quick look around herself before exiting that he hadn’t missed anything. She just wanted him here a little longer, and that was the only thing she could ask. He didn’t need to change as he had packed his nicer clothes for when he arrived, and he had on a thick enough coat for a journey that would take him through autumn nights, the long green one that he had had for so long yet still didn’t look worn despite everything. And she sincerely doubted he had forgotten to pack the saddle bags currently on Phillipe.

“Of course, but I can check again if you’d like,” He said, knowing that a couple of checks had never done any harm. Capsize, however, quickly shook her head.

“No, I trust you,” She said without any hesitation in the statement, though her words still sounded a little unsure. She wanted him to not leave for as long as possible, but logically she knew such a thing was silly. There wasn’t time to keep him here to recheck everything. While there was still a good couple of hours until sunset, that still meant a good portion of his travel through the woods would be in darkness, she didn’t particularly want to make that longer. Though she hadn’t travelled in them, the most she had done being travelling to them and back on days when she truly couldn’t stand being in the town anymore, she was sure there was something wrong with those woods. She couldn’t exactly investigate that feeling, she was typically walking, and the journey there and back already made her leg burn and complain, and she also guessed that she shouldn’t investigate such a feeling, but it bothered her. It felt like staring into a haunting, being so close to something impossibly and unexplainably dangerous. And, of course, everyone knew about the predators in there. As much as she hated listening to Jordan talk about his hunting, he’d mentioned enough that she knew that there were dangerous animals, even if they typically minded their own business. That, though mundane, was enough a reason itself to want her brother in there for as short a time as possible. “Just make sure to stay on the route. I don’t trust the woods.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of letting the terrifying monster in the woods get me!” He jokingly mocked as he unbuckled and lifted part of the tarp to find a place for the last item. He only chuckled more at Capsize mildly annoyed sigh. She was too superstitious by half, which never failed to amuse him. Superstitions were expected of sailors, and heck he had some of his own like still wearing the amulet bearing Lady Ianite’s symbol meant to bring safe waters despite having been years now since he’d been on them, but in this situation there was really no reason for her to worry. He’d been through the woods enough to know they were perfectly safe. The road was well used, and the predators had little reason to bother people when there was easier prey already in the woods. Honestly, he saw absolutely no reason to fear the journey. As he found a free and secure spot and began resecuring the tarp, he saw in his peripheral vision her approach Phillipe, who of course greeted her with a cheerful whinny, the absolute traitor.

“When my brother gets himself got by a monster, you come and find me, so it doesn’t get you too. Alright Phillipe?” She said with a gentle rub of his neck. Redbeard laughed quietly at her words, wondering how he’d rank compared to the horse. He could almost hear her joking that Phillipe was practically family if he ever asked such a question, but she would be joking at least, he hoped. Well, at least if for whatever reason he was attacked by a bear or something, the horse will miraculously have understood what Capsize was telling him and get her assistance.

“I’ll await your rescue from the bear’s den!” He said, far too loud but neither of them cared and they devolved into laughter. For the briefest moment, they both forgot that they were about to be separated. As he walked around, to her and the horse, and less literally towards leaving, the laughter quieted. When they were next to each other, she gave him a soft smile, pulling him into a hug.

“Come back safe, okay.”

“I wouldn’t dream of anything else,” He said, softly and without a doubt in his mind. Everything was going to be fine, there was no reason to believe otherwise. As they parted, Capsize looked more stoic, biting her worries down and trying to look like she was focused on business.

“I told Jeriah you’d get him a couple bottles of liquor.”

“Easily done. Any personal requests?” He hoped she’d have a few, though she typically didn’t. He knew there were things she wanted, things that would help quell her boredom, but she never actually asked for any of them. Well, he’d figure out gifts for her even without her direct requests, it would just be nice for his sister to admit she wanted something.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Well, if you insist. So just a bit more alcohol than usual and a rose,” He said with a smirk as he saw Capsize’s nose scrunch. Eventually continuous buying her the flower would get old, but that was not today.

“You’re the worst,” She said with an amused shaking of her head, smiling despite her words.

“I know,” Redbeard said with a chuckle as she climbed into the saddle. He was glad, as always, to part with a joke and a smile. “See you in three weeks.”

🌹 🌹 🌹

Hours had passed, night having long since fallen as Redbeard had unexpectedly come to an impasse. Having reached a fork in the road, he held his map close to a lantern, but not as one might suspect to check which way he was supposed to travel, as he knew that perfectly well. It was rather that the way he was meant to travel was blocked by a fallen tree which he had no chance of getting past or moving. So, for the first time he was studying the map beyond his sister’s carefully marked route, hoping that the other direction would, at some point, join back up to his usual route. He didn’t particularly want to have to plan out a full new route, especially as it would most certainly be much more roundabout than Capsize’s, but he was fearing that might be his only choice. It was with a shaky hand that he traced along the map, following the unknown fork to see exactly where it went.

The path he traced didn’t make sense. It appeared to be completely superfluous, just a longer route to the next fork he would hit after this one, with only one branch with the long road itself, where the other path led to a dead end. And it was a much longer route, going far into the woods before returning to the original road. He bet it would take an extra hour, but he couldn’t complain at actually having an accessible route. As much as he was confused by the existence of such a thing, at least he now had a path forward.

“Come on, Phillipe, let’s get going,” He said, folding the map and putting it into his pocket, knowing he’d need to reference it again before he found his way back onto his usual route. As he guided the horse towards the unblocked path, Phillipe hesitated for a moment. He had to admit, he also had some hesitations about the path as it certainly looked in worse repair than the usual one, disregarding the tree of course, but he didn’t exactly have much of a choice. He gently patted his neck. “I know, it looks bad, but the sooner you move, the sooner we’ll be back on the normal path.”

As if understanding, the horse began to move again, turning onto the unfamiliar path. Slowly, but at least they were moving.

It didn’t seem all that bad at first, as it seemed just as a less frequented road through the woods would, bumpy and filled with an uncomfortable sense of foreboding as Redbeard couldn’t quite be sure of the direction being correct. But he had felt the same on his first journey through the woods on the normal route, it was just a fear of getting lost while being none the wiser. And that was how it seemed for the first ten minutes. However, the further in he travelled, the more the pit in his stomach grew.

The trees started to get wilder, none of them blocking the path, but branches hung down and jutted out at odd angles that felt like they were grasping out for him. Without leaves, he almost mistook them for fingers and claws despite how nonsensical such a thing was. A bitter rain had begun to fall, not heavy enough for its impact to hurt, though the cold certainly wasn’t pleasant, but it did obscure his vision. He could barely see beyond the small circle of light illuminated by his lantern. That was a worrying problem as, if it didn’t clear up by the time he reached the turn, he wouldn’t be able to check the map to make sure he headed back to the main road rather than down the dead end.

Worse, as he tried not to dwell on his nerves of possibly heading in the wrong direction, he became acutely aware of just how little he could hear. With the noise of Phillipe, the cart, and now the rain, he could barely hear anything, and if there was one thing you didn’t want while in the woods, it was both limited vision and hearing. He didn’t exactly fear much from the woods normally, he knew them well enough to know the few places he needed to be careful. But here, he felt vulnerable and that was only made worse by having such limited senses. Because, as much as he always mocked the idea of getting into trouble on the journey, he was sure he could hear something moving.

He knew he was being ridiculous, just giving into his fears and that it wasn’t good when he was already on edge, but he could swear there were things moving through the overgrowth of the trees. He felt like he needed to hear, to know what was approaching. And he found himself straining to make out any hint of a noise or sight of what was lurking in the darkness. Because he was hearing something, some movement through the trees, low growls that made his heart race. Even if it was sure to be his imagination, he was hearing something.

A howl pierced through the noise, far too close for comfort, others joining from further away. How many were there? He felt his heart racing as he realised he was in the middle of a pack. Of course, it wasn’t exactly common for them to attack people, but that wasn’t comforting him when they were so close. It was odd, despite all his actual knowledge, it was as if he knew in his gut that he knew that he was not safe this time. A feeling unfortunately proven true when a wolf leapt out towards him, barely missing its mark.

“Shit!” He hit the reins, Phillipe quickly breaking into a run as he too did not feel like getting torn apart by wolves. Having strained to hear before, Redbeard now felt as though he could hear nothing but the wolves hot on their tail. He needed to stay ahead of them, he didn’t have time to think or second guess. He had no idea how long Phillipe would be able to keep up a full sprint, he just had to hope it would be long enough for the vicious animals to lose interest.

His mind rushed through the ways he could deter the animals, so much so that he barely noticed the fork in the road ahead. He forced a turn quickly muttering apologies as Phillipe barely managed to turn while actually remaining on the road. He had no idea which path he was now travelling down, the one leading back to the usual route or the odd dead end. It was not as if he had the time to check such a thing and it likely didn’t matter anyway. He was still hours away from a rest stop, away from light or other people that might scare off the pack. Unless he could think of something himself to scare them, this was purely a game of stamina. What chance did they really have of winning such a contest?

The further they were chased, the more the path grew unseemly. It felt as though they were travelling over terrain so uneven that the cart could fall or break a wheel at any moment. The trees seemed to become brambles, thorns sticking out of the branches that were stretching ever closer to the road. All the while the rain fell, the intensity increasing and making it ever harder to guide the panicking horse to make sure he didn’t run headfirst into thorns. There should’ve been no way he should be able to outrace the wolves, he knew that even as he desperately tried to flee. But that was not the only impossible thing that happened over the next few moments.

As the plant life suddenly peeled away into a far more open area, the wolves skidded to a stop. They whined, and quickly fled seemingly for no reason. He tugged on the reins, slowing their speed as he tried to calm the still spooked horse. Redbeard looked back to try and figure out what might have caused such a reaction from the wolves, and it was then he realised he had not ridden into a natural clearing. Consumed by some of the brambles were a rusted gate, forever stuck open but apparently still acting as a barrier as none of the wolves’ paw prints passed where it would stand if it were shut. Confused by the oddity, he rode forward a little more, not feeling completely safe to dismount yet. And then, even through the rain, he saw that this was not merely some gated clearing, some overgrown private garden, as ahead of him stood a castle. A castle that for some reason was not marked on his map. Why would such an estate not be marked? What kind of oddity had he stumbled into? He had no idea if he should be weary or grateful for the possible shelter. He settled on the latter, if only since he would prefer not to be out in the rain while waiting out daybreak.

He slipped off Phillipe, taking a hold of the lantern and going to unbuckle him from the cart. He’d come back and put him in a stable if this place had one and the owners let him, assuming this place had owners. It didn’t exactly look occupied, with the state of the overgrown plants and the rusted gate, but it also didn’t look abandoned. The building looked strong, no sign of it being left to disrepair despite that clearing being true of the gardens as large thorny bushes stood overground throughout. He almost hesitated to let Phillipe wander on his own, in case he stumbled into one, but he had at least a little confidence in the animal to not wander into danger.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” He said, as if such reassurance would mean anything to a horse. Yet he did find it necessary to say, as if he was actually reassuring himself that he would re-emerge from the building.

As he wandered closer to the castle’s imposing doors, the lantern illuminated one of the bushes. Unlike what he had assumed, they weren’t just barren brambles. In fact, he almost laughed despite his dire situation as before him was a rosebush. The thorns surrounding him were filled with the flowers that he sought out to annoy Capsize. Honestly, he’d never seen such big flowers this late in autumn, most had wilted by this month. What he was looking at was far nicer than any he would get at the market this time of year, and perhaps for most of the year. He felt for the small knife in his pocket, carefully reaching for one of the flowers while avoiding the thorns. He knew he shouldn’t do this, that he’d need to come up with some excuse if this place wasn’t abandoned, but how could he not want to take such a beautiful flower back home? With the cutting technique he’s learnt from the old flower seller at the market, it should last for months as all the others had, so there wouldn’t be a worry of it wilting before he got home to Capsize. Surely the owners would understand and if they didn’t, he could pay for it.

As the flower separated from the bush, he pulled a handkerchief to wrap the stem, and with the flower now in hand, he walked up the steps towards the entrance. He reached up, knocked as hard as he could to be heard over the storm, only for the door to creak open upon his touch. Had he really hit it that hard? He must’ve done, but it felt odd that his mere knocking could’ve caused such heavy wood to shift. But, not wanting to spend another moment in the rain, he headed inside despite such uncertainty.

The room before him was by far the fanciest he had ever been in. Even with the darkness he could tell such a thing. Though it seemed as though it was not too taken care of, with dust floating in his lantern light, clearly this was a grand place. He felt lost, more so than he had outside, as he stood in the quiet entrance hall, wondering if another person had been in here for years.

“Hello?” He called out into the darkness, his voice travelling through the building. He was acutely aware of how much power someone who resided in such a place would have. Though if there was someone of such power so close to the town, he surely should’ve heard of them, so it seemed more likely that the place was just abandoned. But then he heard it, quiet but most definitely a noise. Someone or something was in this building. But how was he meant to confront such a fact when he was not supposed to be here? He strayed a little closer to the noise, hoping he could figure out if it was being made by people. “I was chased by a pack of wolves through the woods, and I don’t think I’ll be able to find my way back to my normal route through the rain. I was hoping I could have a place to stay until morning.”

There was silence at first. In fact, for long enough that he almost thought he might have imagined the noises originally. Maybe he was just still on edge and imagining things. That wouldn’t be impossible. However, as he stood in the darkened room, he saw a dim light from one of the doorways. That wasn’t there when he walked in. Someone was here. He took a cautious step towards it, hearing hushed conversation as he approached.

“Don’t you dare! The amount of trouble we’ll get into!”

“Oh, come off it, she’ll never know!” He heard a man reply to a woman. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting his presence to cause anyone any problems. He’d be happy to sleep in a stable if staying inside would cause them trouble, but he hesitated to speak when he was eavesdropping. Maybe he should just call out again in general? However, before he could do that, there was a noise that began to approach him, but it was not one he would say it sounded like footsteps. It sounded more akin to Capsize’s cane hitting the ground, a single object hitting the ground as opposed to multiple. He wasn’t quite sure what could be making such a noise without anything else accompanying it, after all he heard voices that should mean people so there should be footsteps. However, when what was making the noise came into view, Redbeard stumbled backwards slightly, dropping his lantern in disbelief that he was seeing something blatantly impossible. “Of course, you can stay here! We’d be more than happy to host you! You’ll never have stayed in a nicer place!”

“Errrr…” What all that could escape from him. In front of him ‘stood’ a candelabra, one beautifully carved from gold to look like a man in finery holding two candles with a third sat on his head. To carve such a design must’ve taken tens of hours, but that was not the focus of his mind. Rather the fact that he moved and spoke. The candelabra spoke. If Redbeard had been a more cautious man, a more logical man, he likely would’ve fled at such a sight. Yet, his mind did not bring him fear, but rather a question he had often found himself asking. “Am I drunk?”

“No! At least not yet! I’d be more than happy to find you a fine vintage while you dry off,” The candelabra answered the rhetorical question, his offer and general welcoming nature putting Redbeard at ease despite how he was literally talking to a piece of furniture. He wondered briefly if he had hit his head at some point, and this was merely some fantasy cooked up by his dreams after such an injury, but he decided that even being able to consider such a thing likely meant it hadn’t happened. And if he was stuck in a dream, hopefully he’d dream up some nice booze. Before he could laugh at his own thought, and accept the offer he really couldn’t refuse, an ornate table clock approached.

“No! Thomas do not give this man any alcohol,” The clock, apparently the woman he had overheard, said. She too looked incredibly well made, with wood he guessed in the dim light to be hawthorn embellished with silver inlaid into spiral engravings. He could see a winding key on her back, though he had little idea what it was for as, while her face had painted features that were looking intensely annoyed at the candelabra that he guessed was Thomas, it lacked any actual clock hands that would need to be wound. And she was annoyed, not that Tom ever knew her to have any other emotion, because letting this man stay was going to end in disaster. She knew it would. How could it go any other way? But Tom didn’t just want to stay quiet and let the man leave, because why on earth would he actually listen for once?

He was not the only person not listening to the clock at that moment, as Redbeard had begun to look in fascination. For one object to talk, that was slightly terrifying, but more than one and he had clearly stumbled into some place enchanted. He wished more than he ever had on any journey that Capsize was with him as this place would give her enough excitement to almost make up for the amount of boredom she'd spent her time in the town experiencing. He only got drawn out of his thoughts when the clock he was staring at started trying, despite clearly lacking the ability, to shove him back towards the door.

“It was very nice to meet you, but you really can’t stay here.”

“If I can’t stay in the castle, could I at least stay in a stable or an outbuilding? Just until the storm clears, so I can drive off the wolves if I need to.”

“Well, I suppose if you’re quiet that—”

“Oh shush, you Mystic busybody,” Tom said, getting her away from the man simply by beginning to shoo as his flames got uncomfortably close to her. This was the first person that had come here in years, he wasn’t about to let this golden opportunity slip out of his hands. What Princess Fluffles didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, and what she did know might fix this whole situation if they played their cards right. “Please, right this way sir. No point sending you out into the cold without drying off first.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” He said, deciding not to question the hospitality when he was beginning to realise just how soaked he was. He followed ‘Thomas’ as he gestured towards and then hopped into a room. He didn’t know what he had stumbled into, this place where furniture talked, but that wasn’t any reason to leave. With the way the storm was progressing he was going to lose time on the journey from needing to dry his clothes wherever he rested next, doing so in a castle just seemed like a nice option.

As the two men disappeared into the next room, the clock followed after a slight hesitation. She needed to at least try and stop this. She’d come up with a way to persuade the man to leave, hopefully without returning with a mob. However, as she followed, she didn’t notice, as the two men hadn’t, the figure lurking in the shadows on the landing above. Far bigger than any human, just watching and quietly seething at the trespasser in her castle.

As Tom entered the drawing room, the fireplace roared to life. Redbeard looked in amazement, wondering what it took for a place to have magic to just react to a presence. The small amount he had seen from the trinkets Capsize repaired always needed to at least be touched, but this didn’t even need that. He could’ve never imagined actually seeing such a thing. But he had also never imagined being ushered towards a chair by a talking candelabra so perhaps he needed to stop being surprised by comparatively mundane things. Before sitting, he shrugged off his coat, realising with a little annoyance that the rain had soaked through and into his shirt. What would he have done if he hadn’t found shelter? He grateful took the seat by the fire, the warmth as welcome as it ever could be. With the man clearly relaxing, Tom decided to start work on his master plan.

“See, much better than a musty old stable. Is there anything else you need? Food, drink?”

“My horse is still out in the rain. I’d appreciate him being given shelter.”

“Of course! We’ll give him shelter, get him fed and watered. Martha, make yourself useful will you?”

“Why on earth should I help a trespassing thief?” The clock said, eyes locked onto the rose in the man’s hand.

“Oh, come off it, no one cares about those bushes,” Came a new voice as a small plant pot hopped into the room. She spoke with a younger cadence than the clock and the candelabra, though Redbeard wasn’t sure if that at all made sense, and looked less ornate, just a simple brown clay pot with facial features carved in, but that was more than made up by the number of colourful and beautiful flowers growing within. Much like the roses outside, most of the flowers were certainly not ones currently in season, but that was the least of the oddities about this place. He appreciated being defended, mostly since he couldn’t exactly put the rose back now, he’d already cut it from the bush. The clock glared at the plant pot. How did none of them see that they needed to get this man out? The plant pot thought little of the glare, instead getting as close to the man as possible. “I can get you something nicer if you want, the rose bushes have taken over most of the garden but there’s still some other flowers growing! I bet there’s enough for a bouquet still if you--”

“I know you’re excited, but don’t leap up at the man Alyssa,” A snuffbox said as he came into the room, a little slower than his daughter. Similar to the candelabra, he was crafted from gold, though at least half of him was embellished with green crystals. Much like the other furniture pieces, he had facial features, though they were more hidden among the design than any of the others’ were. On his lid was a coat of arms that Redbeard didn’t recognise, which was not out of the question, he wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable on such things, but certainly could be of note to the castle he also hadn’t heard of the existence of.

The snuffbox himself was more excited than he was letting on. How could he not be excited about the first person he’d seen in gods knows how many years? But he worried about his daughter jumping up in such a way. She was fragile. He was always scared she might crack or break, and what such a thing could mean if they ever fixed this curse. Tom decided to spin the caution once again towards the obvious end goal here.

“Yeah, Batty, you don’t want to jump up and crush the rose. How can you help him craft a beautiful romantic bouquet if you ruin the first flower?” Tom said, knowing Alyssa would stick her tongue out or shove him if she could. Redbeard almost immediately laughed at his words, not meaning to but unable to hold back the reaction given how far from reality the idea of him wanting a romantic bouquet was. The candelabra smirked. This was a good sign. He hopped forward, thinking about how to phrase his next question without scaring the man off. “Is it really that funny? A handsome guy like you not into romance then?”

“Well, I’m not against it, but the rose is for my sister,” He was pretty used to the questions about if the roses he brought were for a sweetheart back home, though they still made him laugh. He was less used to being called handsome. He didn’t exactly think he was unattractive, but unruly ginger hair and heterochromia with one bright green and one deep red eye hadn’t gained him many compliments. If he weren’t currently talking to a piece of furniture, he’d assume he was being flirted with. He supposed he shouldn’t write that off, but he had no idea how such a relationship would work. If they weren’t made of metal, Tom’s eyes would’ve lit up at the mention of a sister.

“A sister you say? Is she interested in romance?” He asked, being far too forward for the taste of everyone else in the room, but he would not receive an answer. Before Redbeard could question as to why he could possibly want to know about his sister’s relationship status, loud footsteps began to approach the room.

The fire began to flicker and shake as if a great wind was whipping through the room. It made no sense, as the air was still and even if it wasn’t magic fire shouldn’t be affected by such a thing, but that was what made it all the more uneasy. The furniture fell silent, the clock not slipping the ‘I told you so’s that she had on her lips, instead just hoping the Mistress would pass by, that the trouble she had predicted would not come to pass. Redbeard knew something was wrong, obviously anyone would at this moment. He stood cautiously, taking his coat in hand as he did, almost sensing the upcoming need to flee.

By the time the footsteps stood outside the door, the fire had completely blown out, alongside Tom’s candles. There was still some dim light remaining, from the embers and a tiny amount from the outside, but that did little to light up the figure that threw open the door. It was large, large enough to block the entire doorway if it were not currently on all fours. From the size, he would assume he was looking at a bear, grizzly or bigger, but the build was wrong, not to mention it had horns. Whatever he was looking at, it was not a normal animal, and it was growling at him. He didn’t dare move. No one dared to move except the snuffbox.

“Why is a stranger here?” The Beast growled, Redbeard trying not to react to hearing it speak. It spoke with a woman’s voice, though one that sounded as if it had not been used in many a year. The snuffbox approached with caution, knowing how quickly this could go wrong. He could not allow the Beast to be harmed, but at the same time he couldn’t let her harm an innocent traveller.

“He’s just an unlucky traveller, seeking shelter from—” A growl cut him off as he was stepped over by the Beast that he was trying to reassure. How long had it been since she had listened to him? Even before the curse, her doing so had been happening less and less. But who wouldn’t try in such a desperate situation? She approached Redbeard, who tried badly to disguise his nervous steps back. Was it too late to take his chances with the wolves?

“You are not welcome here,” She growled as she stalked closer. He could see a little aside from a basic outline, but he could hear claws scraping against hardwood with every movement of her limbs. He had never felt so vulnerable, been in a situation where it was so clear that he was prey. And he knew he had to flee, to get out of this place while he had the chance. But he wasn’t sure if he even had a chance anymore. She was blocking the doorway, to get out he’d need to pass her. And what chance did he really have of that?

The next to approach the creature was the clock. She was already annoyed that the others had allowed the situation to progress this far, she was not about to let something even worse come to fruition.

“Yes, I told everyone as much, and this is precisely why I was about to escort him out! If you’ll just—” She was cut off by a much louder roar, barely getting out of the way before the Beast batted at her, a giant pawed hand swiping through the space where she had been. Redbeard barely held his nerve at the sight, at seeing the terrible thing that could soon be aimed at him and seeing perhaps his only hope at escape dashed. And now, the attention of the Beast was completely on him.

“Who are you? How did you find your way here?” She was close enough to grasp him now. A single wrong move and she would have him.

“I’m just a merchant, my usual route was blocked so I took another one and it led here,” His usual way with words and excuses were nowhere in such a situation as there was no excuse he could muster. If the truth that this was truly an accident didn’t save him, then what could? He tried to further back away, but he had no way to get away from the Beast now she was so close. Maybe if he tried to run? But he was sure that such a creature would be faster than him. Another step back caused him to stumble slightly, not enough to fall, but enough for his amulet to shift out from his shirt. She growled at the sight of it.

“You came looking for the Beast? She sent you to stare at the great monster?!” She would not believe this to be some accident, not when he wore the symbol of that goddess, of the one who cursed her into this form. No one came here, no one had since the curse had begun. But now one with that symbol came through the doors and she was meant to believe he had just stumbled across the place?

“No! I don’t know what you’re talking about! I swear I just came here looking for shelter!” For once, Redbeard was not lying or exaggerating. He was far too scared for any of that. Yet, it was also this moment where his words were being disbelieved more than any other in his life. His desperate pleads fell on deaf ears, the Beast took a hold of him by the chest. He dropped what he was holding, attempting fruitlessly with both hands to pry to claws off himself.

“You want shelter? I’ll give you shelter!” For a moment, she held him close to her face, and he saw everything. He saw the Beast’s face bared in anger towards him, and he felt more terror than he had before in his life. But there was no way for him to escape. He could only struggle and beg for mercy as the Beast half-carried, half-dragged him out of the room. She would not let him go. She wouldn’t let him escape. As she left with the terrified man in tow, she slammed the door closed, leaving the furniture in the darkness, the only sight of the man’s brief time in that room an abandoned coat and rose.

Outside, still in the rain, the horse heard the roars. As any animal would, it spooked, running out of the rusted open gate and back towards the safety of home.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #skipper redbeard #jordan captainsparklez #tom syndicate #martha the mystic #alyssa screziato #mot screziato

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Chapter One - Capsize

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Jeriah, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

One crisp autumn morning, a young woman walked on the small path from her home to the small town it sat on the edge of. Her curly ponytail and blue light coat blew in the light breeze. ‘At least the weather is pleasant’ she thought as she made the short walk, a boot on the ground followed by a boot and a cane. The weather seemed to be the only thing that changed day to day since herself and her brother came to this dull little town on the recommendation of Lady Ianite. However, she still needed to continue her own life else she’d get stuck in a runt that would eat anyway at her. She couldn’t let that happen. Sure, the drudgery of the past couple of years had been eating away at her, but it would only get worse if she didn’t try to continue some level of a normal life.

As she entered, those around her were also beginning their daily business. The same greetings as always hit her ears, once again making her question if she was somehow stuck in a loop of the same day. Neighbours greeted each other through opening windows and doors, those going about their daily business outside the home joining in groups to talk as they completed their errands. Capsize was one of the few walking alone, something she was perfectly fine with. As much as she missed the near constant companionship she used to have, she could make do with her own thoughts. Given the whisperings she often overheard, she doubted anyone here would make for good company anyway. After all, she had only been walking a few minutes and she already felt the stares.

The smell of fresh bread hit her as she passed the bakery, its owner performing the same opening routine as ever. The same time, the same stock, the same amount. She had long since learnt what the bakery had to offer, which she supposed was good though she didn’t need anything today. In fact, every shop and market stall in town was remarkably consistent in their stock, admittedly a convenient trait, but she still missed the unpredictability of near constant travel. The docks had been ever changing, and with them the items she had access to. It was something she didn’t even realise she would miss until her injury had forced a more permanent home and, suddenly, she didn’t have such experiences anymore. And left was a desire for anything interesting at all to happen.

“Good morning, Capsize!” The baker greeted as he happened to open his door just as she passed, stopping her in her tracks.

“Oh! Good morning,” She said with a polite smile. She tried her best to stay on at least polite terms with the town’s shopkeepers, having been a merchant herself she understood the importance of maintaining such a relationship. However, she knew it was just polite. They would greet her as she passed, and she would greet them back, but otherwise there was not much difference with them and everyone else in town. Though they at least tended to wait until she was out of earshot to talk about her.

“Where are you headed today?” He said in such a tone that she couldn’t tell if he was filling the silence or genuinely interested. She decided, perhaps overly optimistic, to assume it was the latter. After all, what was the harm in answering genuinely?

“I’m going to visit Jeriah. I need to return a book I borrowed, a story about—”

“That’s nice. Hurry up back there with the baguettes!” He cut her off, immediately turning his focus back to his work. Capsize couldn’t begrudge him, though she also couldn’t help but lightly sigh. He had better things to do than to listen to her, but it would be nice for someone to listen to her. Well, at least there was Jeriah, who she should probably get a move on to if she wanted to see him before he left. No point in lingering when she had things to do.

As she began to walk again, once again left to her own thoughts, the townsfolk began to take notice of her. Since she and her brother had moved into town, she had been quite the source of gossip. Originally it had just been curiosity, after all it was incredibly rare for newcomers to arrive. The whole story, or rather multiple apparent full stories filled with half-truths, misconceptions, and complete fabrications, had spread through the town like wildfire. The siblings were certainly merchants, as her brother still travelled for a few weeks every season or two to sell goods. However, their exact activities and types of goods prior to moving here sold changed wildly depending on who was telling the story.

Then, of course, there was her connection to Lady Ianite. She admittedly had not realised what a big deal it would be to the town that she had communicated with the goddess. She had thought that with the two known champions of the gods living in the town that they would be used to such a relationship with the gods. However, it seemed the gods were not the most communicative towards their champions, with the title itself having little meaning in a time of such peace. She was the only person in decades to have had a conversation with the goddess, which had just attracted her more attention, especially from the champions, that she really wasn’t interested in.

Then there were the questions about her leg. None of the questions were to her face, they had a little more tact than that, but the cane ever present by her right side was the cause of some hushed questioning. It was known that she was injured in some way prior to arriving in town, which was one of the few things either of the siblings has mentioned on the topic. However, none had deemed it appropriate to question them any further as they assumed it would be a sensitive topic. Though that didn’t stop them from gossiping and speculating.

However, despite many things about her being mysterious, there was one thing about Capsize was her appearance. With bronze skin, long brown hair, and brown eyes, she stood out from the crowd, it was undeniable that she was beautiful. Much to her own annoyance, this was the fact that attracted the most attention to her, both in the form of gossip and in men trying to attract her attention. Yes, she was in the mind of many the most beautiful girl in town, it was just a shame that she was…

“It’s a shame she’s so odd,” Capsize heard among the normal marketplace chatter. It was an annoyingly common thing for her to hear not quite whispered. She knew what people thought of her, that much of the things she enjoyed and her general personality made her seem strange to most of those in the town. And truly she didn’t mind, it was their opinion, but would it kill them to discuss that opinion a bit quieter? The inane talking of people buying and selling in the market was easier to listen to, though it put uneasy lingering thoughts in her head of what life she had here. A thought that was hard to shift past.

Thankfully she didn’t have far to walk, and the nosy onlookers couldn’t enter a private residence, so she’d have peace from them. Though it didn’t make the rest of the walk any more pleasant, as so many of the comments about her were bad enough for her to take notice. Those not talking about how strange they found her were instead discussing her appearance which, despite the comments being positive, felt just as uncomfortable. They never cared to talk to her, just about her. That was tolerable when talking about her being odd, but something about them discussing her appearance when never trying to actually get to know her was mildly infuriating. But once she was inside, not actively hearing the comments, they’d be easy enough to ignore. That’s what she reminded herself of when she was still hearing such things while knocking on Jeriah’s door.

 “Ah Capsize, I was wondering when you’d show up. Come in,” The older man greeted her when he finally opened the door. He spoke as if they had an appointment, rather than Capsize just turning up every few days because she’s finished the last book she borrowed. He gave a small smile which, from the corner of her eyes, she saw become an intense glare to the outside once she passed him. He slammed the door shut far faster than he had opened it, living up to the image of the town’s misanthrope that she always heard him described as. She wondered who exactly had been following her, though trying to guess such a thing just based off his reaction would be difficult as he would’ve reacted the same for nearly everyone in town. It was apparently quite the shock that she had befriended the man, though she assumed that was due to the townsfolk spending as little time getting to know him as they did her. While he was perhaps curt at time, Capsize hadn’t found him to be nearly as abrasive as most seemed to think. “So, you’ve finished the book?”

“I couldn’t put it down,” She said, with a genuine tone of joy that she often had when talking about books. One of the few good things she had to say about moving here was the sudden amount of free time she had to read, even if she found the speed that she could get through books a little alarming considering the limited amount she had access to. Obviously, she could reread them, and she had already reread a couple that had become her favourites, but the books were also her only access to anything new, to any sort of unpredictability. Maybe it didn’t make much sense, but she was slightly anxious for the moment when she had read all the books that she had access to. “It didn’t seem like the sort of story you’d read though. You never really struck me as the type to like such romantic endings.”

She said as she pulled the borrowed book from the canvas bag that she carried over her shoulder. She didn’t mean it as an insult towards either the man or the book, she just found it curious that he owned it at all. She had read a good number of the books in his collection now, and most of them were books she could very much see Jeriah reading. Not dour, but certainly serious and typically grounded in realism. Yet there was a small number, like the one she was currently holding, that were far more fantastical and focused on romance and adventure. It wasn’t that they were bad, in fact she quite enjoyed all of them, but she could not picture Jeriah reading them.

“It isn’t, I don’t even remember picking it up. Honestly, I think some of these must’ve been here when I moved in,” He said, a little unsure about the explanation, but not having a better one. Books were expensive, so he wasn’t exactly in the business of picking them up when he wasn’t interested in them, so it seemed most likely that he had added them to his collection upon finding them left behind. Yet that explanation didn’t sit quite right with him. He felt as if he should remember if that was the case, however just trying to remember where or why he got the books just drew a blank. A gap in his memory that he both didn’t want to think too much about, just none of less itched as if it was something he really should try to remember. However, where he actually got the books didn’t matter all that much to him now that they were actually seeing use. “I suppose you’ll be wanting another before I leave. Anything particular in mind?”

“Something long. You and Red are both leaving, I’m going to be bored out of my mind,” She said with a slight chuckle, her tone attempting to cover the genuine sadness at the situation. It wasn’t just the fact she was going to be stuck for nearly a month without the only two people in town who were genuinely friendly towards her, though that was certainly part of it, Capsize missed being able to travel. Her whole life had been spent on a ship, always travelling and never staying still, only to be stopped by one single split-second decision. Now she couldn’t even manage the three-day ride to the city market Red travelled to so they could continue making a living. Of course, her leg wouldn’t have been any trouble if they hadn’t moved somewhere so remote. There were times when she truly regretted listening to Ianite’s recommendation to come here, which she assumed the goddess herself sensed as there were many months now when she didn’t talk to Capsize at all. The whole situation tugged at her. It wasn’t exactly spirit breaking, if there was such a situation that could break her spirit, she hadn’t encountered it yet, but at times she felt a lingering sadness. Sure, she was technically lucky, had the situation gone even a little differently she could’ve lost her leg, or someone could’ve lost their life, but she didn’t often feel it. Some days she just longed desperately to escape. “Some kind of adventure, like maybe…”

She trailed off as Jeriah took the book from her, unsure if asking for the same book three times was reasonable. She just liked the story, as much as she’d already read it twice it itched at her mind as she just wanted to pour over the pages and be lost in that world. Yet she almost questioned her own thoughts as she knew, inevitably, she would get annoyed at there not being anything new for the whole time she’ll be alone. However, despite her own hesitance and not actually saying what she wanted out loud, he understood what she was actually trying to request. Though he shook his head slightly as he turned towards his bookshelf, she reminded him a little too much of himself sometimes. That was in fact why he had been so willing to talk to her when she first came to town. And it had been quite nice to actually have someone to talk to. However, she was far too stubborn, he thought as he looked through the titles to find exactly what he was looking for.

“You can borrow this, it should hopefully last you longer than a day,” He said, handing her one of the thicker books that he owned. Honestly, he wasn’t actually sure how long it would take her to read it. He knew it would be before he returned, but that was honestly the most he could say. Capsize took it with some curiosity, the expression that she often had when being presented with a new book. She was tempted to open it immediately, to see the first few lines, however she didn’t think she had the time today. Rather she had all the time in the world, but she knew Jeriah was meant to be leaving to meet with the small militia he had founded long before this so she didn’t want to take up too much of his time that he could use to prepare for the journey. That and she did want to see her own brother before he also left town. However, he wasn’t actually done yet. “And this is for you to keep.”

“No, Jeriah, I can’t,” She tried to object as he offered the exact book she had been thinking about. As much as she loved the story, she couldn’t just take it. It felt wrong.

“Yes, you can, and in fact I insist. You’ve gotten far more enjoyment out of it than I ever have,” He said, attempting to get her to take it. She had rambled about the story for what felt like hours, and possibly might have been, meanwhile he had barely given it a glance before she had picked it from the shelf herself out of curiosity. However, he had already predicted that she would be stubborn about this. “But, if you’re going to insist you won’t take it for free, then there’s a couple of things you can do for me in exchange.”

“Of course! What do you need?” Capsize said, perking up. He almost sighed, because he really intended for it to be a gift, but she had a merchant’s brain. At least, that’s what Jeriah attributed to her being rather bad at taking gifts and preferring deals and exchanges. He found it a little frustrating, as he felt like he was short-changing her, but it was obvious she didn’t feel that way.

“Firstly, get your brother to pick me up some liquor, everything sold in this town is swill,” He said, with the knowledge that it wouldn’t be much effort for the man. There were only two things Redbeard reliably brought back from the city, one was a rose, which he brought back without fail to annoy his sister, and the other was a few bottles of high-quality alcohol. Capsize nodded, making the mental note to tell him to grab a few more bottles than usual. Though she still felt she was getting far too good a deal, which was actually the point, but Jeriah thankfully had a way to make that a tad less obvious. “Secondly, I haven’t been to the town I need to travel to for a few years and, and frankly I’d prefer not to get lost on the way. But I know you plot your brother’s route, so I’d very much appreciate your help in plotting my own.”

“It’d be my pleasure. You got a map you can show me?” She said with a smile, placing the book she’s currently holding down on the closest table so as to not be distracted by it. Jeriah smiled too, placing the book that was now hers on top of the other. As he left the room to collect the map that he hadn’t yet packed, he found himself thankful that he had started with the books. After all, if he had begun by asking her to plot his route as he had originally intended, it would’ve been far harder to convince her this was a trade.

🌹 🌹 🌹

It was a while later, on the far side of town, that a bird in flight was struck by an arrow. As it lost life in an instant, it plummeted towards the ground and towards two expectant men. One was rushing forward, adjusting his glasses as he lent down to check the fallen animal. The other was a good few steps behind, a man in a long, red coat and holding a bow. Both men had a few fresh kills hanging from their belts, though the man in the red coat had a good number more. Still, he felt little need to check on his most recent target as he was quite certain the shot had been successful as all the others had. His talent was absolute, so why spend time rushing about to check?

“Another shot right on target!” Tucker said with excitement which was perhaps a little over the top considering that Jordan never missed a shot. Of course, him literally never missing a shot was actually the remarkable thing. In all his time shooting, be it hunting or merely target practice, he had never missed a shot from a ranged weapon. Be it from a bow, crossbow, gun, or even a sling, his shot always landed. Consequently, there wasn’t a beast he had ever hunted that he hadn’t taken down. Despite how often he did such a feat, he never tired of hearing the compliments, of seeing admiration on everyone’s faces. “Seriously, it’s no wonder that you’re a god’s champion! You must be the best shot in the world!”

“I know. And it’s a good thing too since I’ll need to take down something big for my wedding feast,” He said, a smile wide on his face as he imagined the kind of impressive creature that would be good enough for such an event. It would need to be something big, something grand, not like the birds he and Tucker had been shooting down today. He wanted something rare, impressive. Only the very best would do. For his part, Tucker was momentarily confused. Jordan had not actually mentioned marriage prior to this point. However, the idea of his friend actually getting married was far too exciting to continue being confused.

“You’re finally gonna ask someone? Who’s the lucky one? I think everyone in town wants to be with you!” He said, far too excited to consider if his words were actually true or not. Of course, Jordan wasn’t thinking about that either. His future bride was already decided, not a single other person in consideration. He just needed to ask her, and of course she’d say yes when he did, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be room for a little wooing before the proposal.

“Obviously, the most beautiful girl in town. The only person as blessed by Lady Ianite as I am,” He said loudly and with a large smile as if already announcing to everyone. A few people who had been going about their daily business had begun paying attention to him, giving him at least a small audience beyond just his fellow champion. So much was lucky as his fellow champion did not look quite as excited as he perhaps should. After all, his words were pointing towards only one person, the woman in question was completely undoubtable, but that made him all the more confused.

“Capsize? But isn’t she—”

“Completely beautiful and the only person to have heard my Lady’s voice in over a decade?”

“Yes, but are you two actually—”

“Perfect for each other are the words I’d use. Remember that gift she gave me? She hasn’t given such a thing to anyone else in town, so clearly, she feels the same way.”

“Actually, I think she… Are you completely sure about this?”

“Of course, I’m sure, Tucker! I’ve been sure since the moment I saw her!” Yes, he knew Capsize was the only one for him. When he learned that two followers of his Lady would be moving into town, he had already been excited. Seeing one of them was such a beautiful woman had basically smitten him on the spot. He’d only fallen further in love with her when she had mentioned talking to his Lady, and just mentioning it off as if it was no big deal to her. How could he have not fallen in love with her? And sure, a lot of people in town described her as weird or strange, but that just meant less competition for him. “I’m going to marry her, just you watch!”

“Of course! Whatever help you need just let me know!” He said with excitement. He was a little unsure exactly how this was going to go, but he certainly was going to miss it. There was a good chance that this was going to be chaotic, so he’d need to support his friend. Going after the only person in town that wasn’t already heads-over-heels for him could end up crushing him if it went wrong. That and Jordan wasn’t exactly the most perceptive person as demonstrated by him being too busy adjusting his bow string to notice the woman he planned to marry walking past, her nose buried in the book she now owned that she was holding carefully in one hand. By the time he actually managed to get his friend’s attention, she was already halfway through the market crowd. This sent the two men running hoping they could push through in time to reach her. As they moved, the crowd continued discussing their everyday life, but at the same time gossiping about the woman who was both so beautiful and so odd to them. This was almost completely ignored by the men as they tried to push through. However, while she tried her best to pretend she couldn’t hear any of it, Capsize found herself listening far too much to the chatter behind her, longing for any short of confirmation that there was more to life than what she was currently experiencing.

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefox/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #jeriah (mianite) #jordan captainsparklez #tucker iijeriichoii

[coolcattime]

Home and Free: Prologue

Characters: Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefox, Skipper Redbeard, Jordan Captainsparklez, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Martha the Mystic, Mot Screziato, Alyssa Countybat, Waglington, Farmer Steve, Prince Andor, Lady Ianite (mentioned)

Relationship: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefox, Captain Capsize/Jordan Captainsparklez (onesided)

AO3 Link

Full Story Tag

Once upon a time in the land of the gods, there was a small kingdom ruled by a young princess. The Princess lived in a shining castle and had everything her heart could desire. In her case, her heart’s desire was to educate herself in magic, to learn everything possible on such matters no matter the cost. She surrounded herself with the greatest minds and oldest tomes to further her pursuits. However, the more she researched the more callous she grew to those outside of her immediate interest. She grew selfish, and unkind to anyone she did not see as furthering her interests.

One winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle. Desiring shelter from the bitter cold, she offered the Princess a single rose in exchange for hospitality. The Princess, disinterested in such a simple gift and seeing no way the haggard woman could aid her pursuits, turned her away without sympathy. The woman warned her not to be deceived by appearances, that even simple things can hold magic and beauty is not a surface value to judge by. However, again the Princess dismissed her.

It was then that the woman’s age and ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful goddess. The Princess tried desperately to apologise. However, it was too late. The Goddess had seen that there was no love in her heart and, as punishment for her cruelty, she transformed her into a hideous beast and placed a powerful curse on the castle and all who lived there.

Ashamed of her monstrous form, the Beast concealed herself in her castle. As the memories and knowledge of her faded from the outside world, a magic mirror became her only connection to it, a place where she could no longer belong.

True to the Goddess’ words, the Rose she had offered was no ordinary flower. Truly an enchanted rose, it would bloom for many a year, serving as a dwindling clock. If she could learn to love another and have them love her in return before the final petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If she failed to do so, she would remain forever a beast.

Years passed, for all her research the spell’s conditions were absolute. Only by mutual love could it be broken. And thus, she fell into despair, all hope lost. For who could ever learn to love a beast?

#mianite #mianite fanfiction #cat's fanfiction #sonja firefox #sonja firefoxx/captain capsize #captain capsize #mianite batb au #this is very short but more is to come #just as soon as i type it up 😅

[kiwibirdlafayette]

ive been tryin to find voiceclaims for the s2 npcs and somehow for martha ive landed and cant move from zombiecleo being her voice and honestly. Im not mad

#cleo just has like. the kind of british accent i imagine martha has #martha the mystic #ramblings from the heartsgone #for context catchin up on mianite batb AU and i like to hear the dialogue in my head :D #additionally: #andor. merlin from bcc merlin #capsize and red both have scottish accents #mot. irish like a higher pitched hozier