[IC] Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

[Raz_Fox]

Kazelia!

Here’s the problem: there are nice cleared fields all around the village. No trees. If Dandy had a little more time, she could keep making shields, cause burning squash and corn to rain all over, but Eska isn’t going to give you time.

You have just enough time for the realization to hit you like a brick. But by the time you realize you should do something, it’s already too late. Far too late.

The stagecoach explodes.

How can I describe it? The sudden lurch in your stomach as you tumble into empty space? The sudden wumpf that sears your blue skin? The sound reverberating in your ears, drowning out the fire? How you land in a cabbage patch, which definitely saved your life by giving you a soft landing?

(If you get any more unreal, you’ll start unexisting when people aren’t looking at you, and won’t that be awkward?)

+Pathetic.+

You’ve got no lance. No friends. No strength. You can’t throw her back into the void for fear of hurting Adila somehow. You’re at the bottom of the world, and Eska’s still digging a grave for you.

+I suppose if I’m going to be a dragon, I should do it properly.+

She’s nothing like Adila. Adila is considerate, doesn’t jam her words into your head like rusty forks, would never hurt you and make you this helpless.

+And what’s more traditional than capturing a princess?+

You lift your head, taking all of your strength, and see her holding the limp body of... Dandy. No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening.

+Don’t worry, Kaze, I’ll take good care of her.+

And you struggle to your feet, only to be knocked down again by the tempest of her wings as she gains altitude.

***

Alina!

As you get closer, you get a hunch that you didn’t just see Adila saving Dandy from the Riders. I mean, it’d be nice if that was what had happened! It would make sense.

But she would never leave Kazelia behind. And Kazelia... she looks bad, Alina. Really bad.

She needs healing.

Healing you don’t have.

This doesn’t make sense! There’s bits of stagecoach all over the place, and Rita’s pulling another Rider out from under debris, and if you had your lights you could save her.

Sure, it’d be cold, probably nasty Riderish healing, but the moral high ground is a really lonely place to watch your friends drown from.

***

Adila!

A murmur runs through the crowd. Dragon. Dragon. Go ahead and take the kids to the storm cellar. Dragon overhead.

The dragon (who looks terribly familiar) spits blue fire from so, so high, and swoops down like a falcon. There’s tension in the air. Fear. Dragons are scary.

Then it takes off, holding something, and the tension releases. Phew. Just hunting far from home. See that, kids? That’s a real dragon! Maybe one day you’ll take a trip to the Ridgeback and see them up close! As always, people aren’t so scared of dragons on their terms.

(But it did look familiar...)

“Thank you very much, wild girl,” the Ringmaster said, trying to bring attention back. Worried and/or awed people don’t buy things from the concessions stand. “Say, before you go, do you happen to have any uphun?”

[Thanqol]

Adila!

A murmur runs through the crowd. Dragon. Dragon. Go ahead and take the kids to the storm cellar. Dragon overhead.

The dragon (who looks terribly familiar) spits blue fire from so, so high, and swoops down like a falcon. There’s tension in the air. Fear. Dragons are scary.

Then it takes off, holding something, and the tension releases. Phew. Just hunting far from home. See that, kids? That’s a real dragon! Maybe one day you’ll take a trip to the Ridgeback and see them up close! As always, people aren’t so scared of dragons on their terms.

(But it did look familiar...)

“Thank you very much, wild girl,” the Ringmaster said, trying to bring attention back. Worried and/or awed people don’t buy things from the concessions stand. “Say, before you go, do you happen to have any uphun?”

Pathetically failing to overcome an ordinary human girl and getting lifted up above the ground like a trophy, was embarrassing in its own right, but that's not what really threw Adila. What startled her was that everyone had taken their attention off her to watch the dragon in flight. Even the lady holding her seemed to forget all about her to trace its arc through the sky.

She felt... invisible.

Nobody was looking to her at all

Not out of fear or hope or even contempt. There were no expectations on her at all. She wasn't expected to go up against that dragon. She wasn't even expected to be the centre of a carnival sideshow for five minutes. It was...

It was like she hadn't just given up being a dragon.

It was like she wasn't a princess any more either.

"Uh..." she croaked, mouth dry, as distracted gazes turned to her. "W-what's uphun?"

[PhoeKun]

The moral high ground? Oh no. It's much worse than that. Alina didn't forsake her lights because she was making some kind of principled stand or something noble like that. If that was the case it'd be some kind of cold comfort in this moment, at least. But no. She left her lights behind because she was scared of the thing they'd replaced Green with. She was scared to carry something she thought might be a piece of Oberon with her, scared that he'd be watching her through it. Now she had nothing to help Kazelia with, not even horrid cold Rider healing. Because she was afraid.

"Oh no, Kazelia..." she whimpers and clutches the much stronger girl's hand, "What... what happened. Oh no. Oh no. Don't, d-don't worry, everything's going to..."

She can't say that. She can't possibly finish that sentence. Everything would be fine? Everything would be ok? No. No it wouldn't. Everything's... everything's falling apart. She's so scared she can't even move anymore, except to tremble. Her world has been completely upended. Everything good in her life, all of the things that make it worth living are being taken from her or they're rotting away. Look at Kazelia! Look at the way she's-- it's happening again. Ourania help, it's happening to her now. Who? What? Why?

What's she supposed to do? Every decision she makes takes things from bad to worse. Following her heart is supposed to be her strength. It's the one thing she had left to believe in after she'd realized that Ourania wasn't coming to her rescue, maybe ever. But every choice her heart's made has brought things from bad to worse to now outright catastrophe. Jedad was missing its Princess and its Husband because she'd put her family ahead of stopping Ninian. She'd been captured, she'd let Jess get captured, because she fought to protect her sister without looking for help or trying to find a calmer solution even if it might've hurt Jessamine's feelings. She'd run away from her own lights in terror of the wrongness that was oozing from that fake crystal. Alina's heart was worse than useless. And if that was true, then... she...

She hugs Kazelia close, squeezing so that she'll feel it and know she's still real, because that's the only thing she can do. And she cries harder than she can ever remember doing in her life.

[Anarion]

When you see Kazelia, she seems to flicker for a moment, like she's translucent. She's there, she's on the ground of the stagecoach, but then she doesn't so much impact the ground as glitch for a second, skip a few frames as she becomes hard to see. Maybe reality ran out of animation budget for her in this scene, blew it all on Eskagon instead, but whatever the reason, she flies off the stagecoach, fades out, and then there she is on the ground, struggling to get hear bearings and you're suddenly on top of her and hugging her.

But you know something, that was just the thing that Kazelia needed. She holds onto Alina with a fierce grip, pulling her close. Her hands are cold and little crystals of ice form on the back of the silk dress as Kazelia grips fiercely and makes no effort to control her powers. She just holds on. Dandy was gone, her spear broken, her body ached everywhere. But Alina was here, hugging her, and crying. Somehow that was both the greatest light possible in her life and a source of shame. Kazelia had not rescued her friend, and yet here Alina was hugging her when everything was in shambles around her.

She should be saying something about Eska being back and being that dragon, something about how she could tell it was connected to Adila, that they had done something to Adila. That Dandy had been kidnapped. She should tell Alina about the witch she met and the chance that the Hecatians might help, but also that Oberon was messing with the leylines. All these things she should be doing, but right now she doesn't talk. She just holds Alina close in a chilly hug and squeezes back until Alina stops crying and they can both catch their breath.

[Raz_Fox]

Rita!

This is so bad. This is so bad. Your bestest friend in the whole wide world is sobbing her guts out over the princess who comforted you in the snow, the Rider who saved Askaia from her own sisters. Your friend.

Also, Cleo’s still here. It looks like the blanket she was wrapped up in helped save her, but she still hit her head hard and definitely needs someone to take a look at her. And Kazelia’s hurt and Alina’s falling apart which means, okay, lift with your knees, Rita, lift with your— oh gosh is she made out of bricks

“Okay, girlfriends,” you manage to squeak, staggering past them, trying not to fall over, “no more crouching! No more sobbing! We— shoot— we gotta, gotta get in cover! In case Goldie shows up!”

If you’re standing in the middle of a cabbage field when the dragon shows up, you’ll be toast.

***

Adila!

Oh. Oh no. You instantly realize from the change in the air that you have made a Mistake. You have blundered right into a trap. The children are giggling. The Ringmaster is grinning. You are doomed.

“Not much,” she says, reveling in it. “What’s up with you?”

Ba-dum-tish. There’s laughter and merriment at your expense, and you’re helped down off the stage and given a voucher for a half-off shaved ice for being a good sport.

Which would be useful if you, you know. Had money. But a whole bunch of security measures would kick in if someone who was not, in fact, a dragon tried to access your bank account. They seemed like a good idea at the time! You thought you’d always be a dragon, after all.

So you’re probably moping at least a little bit when you see the stragglers limping into town. There’s Kazelia and Alina, clinging to each other, and Rita, absolutely red in the face and trying desperately not to drop Cleo on the ground. And they look, in general, like they’ve had the worst day imaginable.

“And welcome back Princess Alina,” the Ringmaster says, behind you, and there’s an explosion of confetti as “Alina” does a cartwheel back onto the stage, and then asks the children to come up so she can teach them her favoritest dance, the Iluminan Waltz!

[Thanqol]

Adila's heart hurt.

It wasn't empty. It wasn't sad. It wasn't heavy. She knew all those emotions; she'd carried them around for years. This was new. It was pounding louder and louder, hitting her ribs like it was angry.

And wasn't it angry? Wasn't it right to be angry?

No! It was still okay! She'd underestimated what it had taken to be a good human princess but she could still manage it - she just needed more practice. More training. If she put in the hard work and effort then sooner or later she'd become everything she wanted to be! It's not like I gave up on them! It's not like that! I'm still me, I'm still fighting, it's not like I can offer anything more than that! I didn't abandon them, n-not even for a second, and besides this is my dream and isn't that important too?! Everything will be perfect soon, I just need to spend a c-couple of m-months...

MONTHS?!?

The lie outraged her. Months!? To go from a failed swineherd to a dragonslayer? Try years! Years of this! Years of awful hair! Years of bee stings and itchy skin! Years of seeing your friends like this! If you could manage it at all!

The little light burned hotter and hotter by the side of her head, silver light condensing and crackling, wisps of glittering flames rolling around it.

This was a stupid dream. It hadn't solved anything! She was just smaller and dirtier and weaker and irrelevant! And worst of all she was still herself, she hadn't escaped at all!

It wasn't hurt in her heart, she realized. It was heat. She felt like she was burning up from the inside. It felt like she had more fire inside her than when she was a dragon.

She turned on her heel. She threw the shaved ice voucher on the ground and stomped on it like it was responsible for all this. She marched through the town, following unflinchingly the path of that distant winged shape.

She didn't know what she wanted but she knew for certain it was not this.

[PhoeKun]

"Don't listen to her, children."

Alina's voice quivers with not remotely contained self loathing. No more. Please, no more. She reaches for her head with trembling fingers and tears the ridiculous hair tie off. Several hairs come painfully with it, but she doesn't even care enough to wince. She lets the rest of it fall however it wants to and her curls reassert themselves without her knowledge or permission.

"Alina Cascade can't teach you anything; she's a useless, stupid fool who only makes things worse!"

Her tears haven't stopped since she found Kazelia, but now they turn hot and angry. She's so stupid. So pathetic! Rita was right: she doesn't deserve to be pretty or... or... she claws at her stupid, awful sleeve and with a loud ripping sound pulls one of the slashes of fabric free. She wipes at her face with it in a kind of mad desperation, smearing makeup and finally smudging it away. Asteria's makeover falls away bit by bit, but none of it makes her feel any better. All she's doing is becoming more Alina, and that means being more of a failure.

"I... she let her mother get hurt! And her precious little sisters, too! Everyone would still have homes and happy families if it weren't for m-- her! She can't protect you from Oberon! She's too frightened to even use her lights against him! She's cowardly, selfish, pathetic and weak! S-so don't, don't you, don't... don't you dare. Don't. Please don't. Don't look up to Alina Cascade. She's a bad person. She's the very worst person there is. Don't let her hurt you anymore. Please..."

Her back is freezing solid, but she doesn't dare let go of Kazelia at this point. Without that support, she'd fall over right here and now. And if she fell over now, she'd never get back up again. Not that she deserves to stand. She sold out Feloria, after all, just because a scary man touched her. A real princess would never have fallen like she did...

[Anarion]

Her back is freezing solid, but she doesn't dare let go of Kazelia at this point. Without that support, she'd fall over right here and now. And if she fell over now, she'd never get back up again. Not that she deserves to stand. She sold out Feloria, after all, just because a scary man touched her. A real princess would never have fallen like she did...

There is no force in Hyperborea that could make Kazelia let you fall, Alina. Not Oberon, not Ourania, not anybody. You've been a light for her in the world, and now she sees that you're hurt and she hurts for you. In her heart, she blames herself because she wasn't strong enough, fast enough, or skillful enough to stop Asteria and the huntresses from capturing you and doing whatever it is they've done that brought you to this.

But tell me something. Have you told her that you met Oberon yet? Probably not, it's been kind of chaotic. So right now, she just knows that you've been hurt, and she's hurting for you and with you until you get better. But when you do tell her, then she'll burn with fury. What Oberon has done to her sisters is a known thing, something to fix. What Oberon did to Helya was enraging, but Helya's coldness was all her own and theirs was a contest of strength against strength. And what he did to Jessamine you undid and earned Kazelia's awe in far greater measure than her anger at Oberon. But to you, to hurt you like this, she will do whatever it takes to make sure he can never do it again. So, have you told her?

[Raz_Fox]

Eska!

+You can go ahead and scream now.+

Being a dragon is the sort of thing you didn’t know you wanted until it happened to you. Being a girl for all those years was, in hindsight? Totally overrated. You didn’t even get the outrageous strength of Kaja or the magical prowess of Azora and Kazelia. Just your mind. Your brilliant, unappreciated mind.

Well, now you finally have a body as potent as your mind, and you have ideas for how to regain fine motor control. It’s time for Hobling Keep to fall under new management.

There’s only one problem: you overextended like an imbecile. Azora gave you one job. One job! Stop anyone from going to the witch school who wasn’t on Father’s business. And instead you chased your despicable, heartless, traitorous sister out of the labyrinth of hidden paths back out into the world proper, nearly got yourself ganged up on by all the princesses she was surrounding herself with for protection, and now you can’t go back to guard the paths without the help of a witch.

So you might as well take out your bad mood on someone. You open your jaws and huff out hot breath onto the silly little Felorian’s face, letting it wash over her and her stupid frizzy hair. Your tail slowly constricts around her, and still she looks up at you with that bovine placidity. Bah!

“If you surrender,” she says, speaking slowly in her silly little drawl, “we’ll take that into account when we assign you community service.”

+Did I drop you on your head??+ You dangle her upside-down to show off how easily you could do just that. +You are helpless, in the clutches of a dragon who might just decide to eat you, and, did I mention, your putrid pastel kingdom is going to burn to the ground! I’d suggest you give me a reason not to get rid of you permanently.+

The fire sparks at the back of your throat. How delightful being able to breathe fire is! It’s like flexing a muscle you never knew you had. Oh, when she’d first come to, she’d tried to get all the foliage to help her, vines and grass and branches—

And how gloriously it had all burned!

Why hadn’t the stupid Watch dragon princess appreciated this? That ungrateful idiot deserved whatever happened to her now.

“You are up against the bravest princesses in all of Hyperborea,” she says, still full of stupid defiance. “Alina and Jessamine Cascade. Kazelia Swiftlance. Rita von Catabas. And Adila of the Watch! You are outnumbered and outmatched. Their souls are much clearer than yours. Surrendering now is your only option that doesn’t lead to needless suffering.”

You laugh, wagging your tail from side to side until she goes all cross-eyed, overcome with amusement.

+The Cascades are our prisoners!+ A lie, given that you saw Alina charging off towards you, but she didn’t need to know that. +Kazelia wasn’t even strong enough to save you. And Adila...+ You pretend to examine your claws. +I’m afraid she’s never going to be saving anyone, ever again.+

You crane your sinuous neck back until your head faces her upside-down, and you pull your lips back from your beautiful teeth. +Or did you not recognize this skin?+ It’s a shame you still somewhat resemble her, but the longer you wear this skin, Azora assured you, the more you’ll look properly like yourself.

There we go. You finally found the right tool for the job. Hot pinprick tears fill her eyes, and the burnt foliage all around you feebly twitches, trying to answer her call. Isn’t it funny? Oh, how your great big dragonish heart is filled with warm, leaping glee to see her miserable face.

+She screamed.+

“You’re evil,” the princess hisses between gritted teeth. “Your heart is clogged with it. And evil dragons—“

You cut her off, wrapping your tail tightly enough around her head that she’d probably blow a gasket trying to move her jaw. There’s nothing better than the sight of a princess desperate to tell you off and unable to do anything about it.

+Evil dragons get everything they want. And there is so much I want, princess. Now, let’s talk about your magic school...+

***

Lucine Whitecapley

Every kingdom in Hyperborea has their own virtues that they aspire to. In Rowan, everyone from the youngest boy to the oldest crone takes pride in self-sufficiency; even as they come together in community, they boast that even alone they could survive on those wide and lovely plains. In Hobling, the goblins sing their choruses on the virtues of cunning and innovation; the women of Jedad aspire to ambition and grace alike, and the cats of Askaia treasure fluffiness and languor.

And in Ilumina, you stand by your princess and her honor.

Maeve gasps for really real, looking like the heckler had just slapped her in the face and then followed it up by punching her right in the kidneys. Michelle pokes her head back out from backstage, Sebastian storms out looking ready to duel somebody with his prop sword, and Sara— Sara, no, where did you get the glass bat from, stop slapping it menacingly into your hand, you’re going to scare the kids.

You pirouette off the stage, landing perfectly on one leg, your coat billowing about you like wings, one hand tipping your hat’s brim.

“In this community,” you say, using your Ominous Voice, “we defend the honor of our Princess-Promised.”

“She’s not just graceful,” Maeve says, her skirts billowing as she twirls to your side. “She sees the inner beauty of everyone she meets!” Especially, rumor goes, very tall women, but that’s beside the point. “No matter how wretched they might feel, she can see the good in their hearts like they were made of the clearest glass!”

“Oberon Greymane is a coward,” Sebastian snarls, the crowd parting before his black boots. “He picked a fight with a princess just trying to make a stranger happy, overthrew a kingdom over a slight, and sends armies alongside his terrible children because he’s afraid they’ll lose when they meet real Hyperborean princesses.”

“I met her once,” Michelle says, softly, playing with her hair. “She looked so beautiful. And she smiled and told me I should use my talents to help everyone I could, and gave me a seashell.” She pulls out, from under her devil’s costume, that same seashell on a necklace, where it had rested close by her heart. A reminder that Alina Cascade cared.

“...” You manage to interpose yourself between Sara and this heckler’s vulnerable kneecaps.

Smoothly, holding her back, you continue, “she’s not perfect. And if you’ve been disappointed by her, I’m sorry to hear that. But she’s out there right now trying to do what she can to save Ilumina from him, even though he’s a terrifying, petty, vicious tyrant, and if you don’t respect that, you’re not welcome to share our company, Rider-friend.” How could you ignore the fact that this boor was hand-in-hand with an actual Rider? It was always awkward when you saw one of them here, but they’d never interrupted your shows. Not until now.

“Lucine,” Maeve gasps, tugging at your sleeve. “Lucine, this is important—“

“I’ll say it’s important!” You’re on a roll now. “Anyone who says such ignorant things about our princess should have to walk a mile in her shoes! She might not be perfect, but she’s not a bad person! She fails, but she never gives up!” You’re trying not to cry, you’re so worked up. “I get up every morning and keep doing my best to bring happiness to this kingdom because I know she’s out there doing her best, and if I were to do anything less, it would be—“

“I think it’s her,” Maeve hisses. You stumble over your next couple of words as your train of thought comes to a crashing halt. She does... have the curls... and the dainty face... and the... oh. Oh.

You whip your coat off and wrap it around her shivering shoulders, and her friend’s arm (why is she with...??) and then drop to one knee and take her hand in your hands, pressing the back of her palm to your forehead. Sebastian kneels beside you, pulling off his white wig, still in the blue makeup. “Your majesty. I... I meant every word,” you say, lamely aware you just yelled at your hero for not loving herself. “You have failed. But the fact that you keep trying, that you don’t give up, that you struggle to make things better even when they’re this awful... that’s what gives us all the strength to keep going. So please. Don’t say such awful things about yourself. It does not become a princess to lie.”

You’re vaguely aware that, behind you, the crowd is enthralled; that Michelle is awestruck; that Maeve is blushing like a tomato to be standing in front of her idol while wearing stage makeup and a tin crown with bits of crystal with colored backing for lights; and that Sara is slowly lowering the bat.

***

Adila!

You might not have a clue where you’re going, you might have sore feet that are beginning to blister, you might be thirsty and overheated, but you have one thing: resolve. That’s what carries you over the hill, past the little shrine, over the bridge, down the ravine, and into the thicket of— that was a loud roaring sound. A very loud. Bone-shakingly loud. And it’s starting to rain, grey-silver lances of rain spitting from an overcast sky, a storm front rolling in.

The dragon is upon you as you wipe water from your face and try to think of a place to retreat to and gather information. A heroic Watchwoman is a dead one. And this is the sort of scenario that gives the truth to that saying.

There is an incoherent, pained, furious howling in your head, breaking right through your skull to batter you senseless. You can hardly think! The dragon shoves a tree out of her way and it nearly crashes right on top of you. Thunder cracks overhead. And the noise in your head stops with horrible swiftness.

+you+

It’s only familiarity with your own body language that saves you— the way she pulls back for a moment before lunging, bringing her jaws together with enough force to bite a tree in half. She gouges at the earth with unrestrained power, leaving you scrabbling and leaping and using all of your strength not to die, and there is a part of you that is exultant and madly laughing at the challenge, and most of the rest of you is screaming in mortal terror.

Then she knocks your legs out from under you with her tail, and you fall flat on your face so hard that you’re pretty sure you broke your nose, and that’s it. Here it is. You’re going to die.

Lightning rips through the air, and thunder booms immediately after, and the dragon’s fury is driven like a spike through your skull, and she... you feel the flattening surge of her wings, experience her incoherent fury filling up your mouth and limbs and lungs, rattle limply as she slams back down to earth.

...she tried to attack the storm, you realize. The actual storm.

You lie there, desperately gambling everything, and you hit the jackpot: the sound of her terrible howls and the slam of her telepathic agony and the tremors of her shattering blows fade off into the storm, which is already beginning to moderate itself, having thrown all its potency into its vanguard. You are muddy, bloody, full of the adrenaline high of not dying and the horrible sickening gut-drop of “I nearly actually for real died and only sheer dumb luck saved me” all mixed up together. It’s still raining on you.

That’s the power of a dragon out of her mind. And that’s the kind of power you handed Oberon in exchange for hair (muddy, tangled, a disaster) and being weak (pretty overrated tbh) and small and not being a dragon anymore.

[Thanqol]

She didn't know how to cry properly.

How do you mess that up, Adila? You can't even be weak properly. You should at least be able to manage a sob or two, not just this weird, empty, dry heaving. It was like the she was being squeezed from both ends and everything was compressing into her neck. How long was this supposed to go on for? Was she supposed to stop now, brush herself down and g-go back out on patrol? Before somebody came and saw her?

Oh Ourania please let nobody see me...

She couldn't stop that dragon any more than she could stop the storm. Not in months, not in years, not in lifetimes. Even if she gathered all the Watch and lead them here clad in the b-bronze she couldn't - and it wasn't like they'd follow her now. And that meant that she couldn't pretend any longer. She'd betrayed Princess Dandy. She'd betrayed Alina. She'd betrayed Kazelia. Determination or no she'd abandoned them and the second they saw her they'd know. And... and

She'd abandoned herself.

She'd never seen a live dragon before. Never seen one move. She'd obsessed over humans... athletes and acrobats and warriors and everything that made them strong and beautiful. Of course she'd never move as gracefully as those dancers! Of course she'd never move with the precision of those duelists! But why had she taken that to mean she shouldn't move at all? Her thoughts were breaking down; the dragon had been so fast, so fluid, so perfect - she had never known anything that large could move like that. Every coil of muscle and thoughtlessly perfect step and sweep of her tail - there was no clumsiness there. There were no mistakes. She hadn't fallen over or destroyed anything she hadn't set out to destroy. And she didn't need a devil house to move like that. Oh, Ourania! Why had she been so stupid!

The secret she'd tried to conceal from herself bubbled up into the front of her brain. It forced her to look at it. She'd been happy wearing the Devil House! She'd never been happier in all her life! She'd never moved faster in all her life, never felt so free, never felt so powerful and deadly and herself...

And she'd thought that she'd never be able to be that free again without becoming wicked and cruel and destroying everything she loved...

But it was pointless!

She could have been like that at any time!

She could have moved that fast! She could have been strong and proud and confident whenever she wanted! She didn't need to go mad to do it! She didn't need to put that spike into her head! That was just how dragons were meant to move, the House had nothing to do with it! And she'd thrown herself away because she'd thought that she'd be tempted into wearing the House again just for another taste of that motion when it was hers all along!

There was a bright side though.

She'd finally figured out how to cry properly.

[Anarion]

Rider-friend.”

...

“Your majesty. I... I meant every word,” you say, lamely aware you just yelled at your hero for not loving herself. “You have failed. But the fact that you keep trying, that you don’t give up, that you struggle to make things better even when they’re this awful... that’s what gives us all the strength to keep going. So please. Don’t say such awful things about yourself. It does not become a princess to lie.”

Kazelia didn't have it in her to even be stung that Rider-friend was just a general insult. As far as she knew, she was the only one that didn't serve Oberon. So even some traveling merchant or craftswoman was ultimately still bring resources to Oberon's cause and disarming people about his threat. But she hoped for more.

"Oberon Greymane IS a coward, and I hope that someday more Riders than just me are free to say that and that Rider friend is a compliment to all good people of Hyperborea" Kazelia says, as she holds onto Alina. "I think my father is a coward and a liar, who makes Hyperborea believe that he's just another ruler playing by the same rules as everyone else while he's actually corrupting the land and aiming to overthrow Ourania. And as for me..." Kazelia looks down at Alina as she speaks now.

"...as for me, I respect Alina Cascade because she's a light of hope in this world. With everything that happened to her, she still tries to protect the people she loves. She holds herself to an impossibly high standard and gives everything she has to try to ease the pain of others. She never closes off her heart and lets herself feel what other people are feeling and...and she's kind and vulnerable and understanding in a way that I struggle with every day."

That was hard, Alina. You can feel Kazelia's arms, her normally so strong arms that wield her lance with precision, shaking a little around you. You might wonder what brought her to that. Maybe she's just tired and hurt and caught up in the moment with the audience. Maybe she's more hurt than you realize and she needs to let you know in her way that she's still here. Maybe she's a little upset at what you just said and wants you to know how she sees you? But all the same, you can tell that she's trying in her way to connect with you.

[PhoeKun]

"You don't understand, I..."

The words freeze in her mouth just like the tears are freezing on her cheeks. The coldness of Kazelia's body (which is real and also loved, she swears) contrasts with the warmth of the forehead pressing into the back of her hand and the fervent stares of these people from Home. Don't they understand how cruel they're all being? She did give up! She did! Alina was ready to fight a dozen dragons all at once, just so they'd rip her to shreds and have done with her. The only other choice she had left was being Oberon's puppet. She didn't even had a preference at this point, just let her sink into oblivion in peace!

Do they not understand that they're forcing her to feel and care all over again? Now she had to find some way to betray Oberon. Now she had to throw everything she had into winning, into really winning, despite the horrible claws of terror gouging out her heart every second she was here. Now she had to try again. Didn't they understand she couldn't tear down their world like that? She's a Rider with a heart made of ice and no song to keep it beating, she's Alina Cascade! She's a princess, which means she must always be beautiful. And these people are exactly why.

If only they hadn't recognized her. If only they'd written her off as some heckler so it'd be safe to keep hating herself without tearing their hearts to pieces in the process. But of course they'd gone and proven themselves to be true Illuminans instead, and Alina wasn't remotely brave enough to hate them for it. She holds onto Kazelia, even now. Her arms and legs are starting to shiver almost uncontrollably, but she won't stop giving her warmth and her touch to prove that Kazelia is real and here because it's the only medicine she's got to give. And now that she's trying again, she can't afford to do anything other than her best for every person that she sees. She drags the pair of them, with difficulty but with poise, out of the grip of those soft hands and over to a place to sit.

Alina looks over at the girl who's dressed up to look like her. Goodness, but there have been a lot of Alinas in her life lately. This one's costume was a little cheap, even honestly compared to the "Alina" she swapped jokes with in that Jedadi bar. But she looks so pure, blushing like that, and smells so much like home that the Princess can't help but like her best of all of them.

"I'm sorry," she says through a watery smile, "I must be very tired. It's been... a while since I've really rested. Would it be all right if I asked you to dance?"

[Raz_Fox]

A Musical Interlude

Let’s go to the garden, that’s what you told me
The tulips are blooming in even rows
I’ll love you forever, that’s how you left me
The daisies are growing between my toes

Two communities are doing what they do best. The Iluminan performers are performing for a royal audience now, and they’re pulling out their best material. A ballet between Maeve and Sebastian, hastily remade into the River King, a reminder of how Alina was chosen to be the Princess-Promised. Lucine backstage, digging out the fireworks. And Michelle breaking out her other talent as a physical therapist, helping Alina release the tension in her muscles and offering Kazelia advice on how to care for her own odd injury.

And the Felorians? There’s nothing the Felorians like more than an excuse to celebrate. Alina is half-buried in a family quilt brought out for the occasion, trying to juggle a bowl of spiced pumpkin soup with Rita’s insistence on being in her lap. And also in her face. Very much in her face, looking reproachful as only a kitty can that Alina would say such things about her best friend.

Feel free to count this as Filling your Belly with friends, the both of you, between the hearty food and the well-meaning medical attention.

I’m still here, right where you left me
I’m still here, just lying around
Watching the world go on without me
Until the day I’m finally found

You don’t have a plan. There’s so much going on. There are people who need saving from a mad dragon. There is a friend who needs saving from a new and wicked dragon. There is a witch who is wanted by Oberon, and a princess (and a sister) in his clutches, and an evil plot to thwart.

But right now?

Right now a woman with hands like faded parchment is singing a Felorian ballad, soft and low, while plucking the strings of a guitar, while Maeve returns to the stage for a solo encore, carrying an old ribbon with her, but... oh, she moves so well with it that it almost looks like Alina is on the stage, back when she was fearless and daring and stealing royal jewels.

I know you’ve forgotten, I know that you’re busy
I know there’s so many things to do
I just wish that you’d come and tell me you missed me
Just tell me you waited too

You’re the one who happens to notice, Kazelia. A young woman trudging, exhausted and filthy, back into town. Her face is streaked with mud and blood and tears, and when she looks at you, it’s with mingled longing and apprehension. Which is why you wave her over, right?

There are blankets and bowls and friends here. There is a small, soft, good place here. The kind that would be ruined by a rampaging dragon in hardly any time at all. But the kind of place that is still here, despite everything your father has done.

The song ends, Maeve takes a bow, tears glistening on her own cheeks, overwhelmed with bittersweetness. And the rain starts to fall, and people begin moving chairs, and Lucine stashes the fireworks away, and you all have choices to make about where you want to find shelter from the rain— in a farmhouse, or a circus wagon, or around a family’s kitchen table.

But you’re here. And despite everything... it’s still you. Still the four of you, fighting against the odds.

[Anarion]

This is the sort of beauty that makes Hyperborea itself. The beauty of people together through little things. The joy of laughter shared with friends. The way that a simple squash soup can be the most delicious thing you've ever eaten because it's hot and fresh, you're hungry, and you're sharing it. So you're darn right that when a girl comes trudging into town looking all beaten up from the outside, Kazelia waves her over to join them. The more the merrier. They deserve a moment of respite. All the more so because Feloria is in danger and it's worth remembering what they're all trying to protect.

Also, let's be real, if Eskagon had pushed her advantage and gone for the finisher instead of the kidnap taunt, Kazelia might have been lost. So, a break is needed, some time for recovery.

Kazelia will urge them to take the farmhouse somewhere nearby. Sheltered, quiet, easy to have a conversation and stay dry during the storm. She'd like to know where that new girl came from and what she's seen. It hasn't exactly been safe to wander around Feloria. So, she will call to the new traveler, after they've eaten, enjoyed the show, let the music wind up and are moving to shelter. "Hey, you there, wild girl. Want to join us? I'd like to know which way you came from. Did you see a dark, starry-eyed dragon fly off anywhere? She took away a friend of ours and we're going to need to track her down once we've rested."

[Thanqol]

Adila - and it was just Adila now, if she even deserved that name still - walked through the darkness.

She tried to count how many steps her petrified legs could carry her before she had to stop or fall. She tried crawling for a while but made such little progress she got back on legs that couldn't take it. It was late in the night and late into the storm. The rain blinded her and her lantern dragged along the ground just in front of her, illuminating nothing more than her next step. Each next step... going towards -

For a while she'd hoped that no one would find her. For a while she'd hoped that she wouldn't need to be found. But those wishes had dissolved in the mud with all her other stupid wishes. Instead she'd reached for her little light and wrapped herself around it. She clung to the warmth with a strength that not even the storm could prise loose.

But it slipped out of her fingers all the same. And she followed it. Through the howling wind and rain she followed that glittering, faded light because she wanted it more than she deserved to be crushed by shame. Every time she slipped and fell into the dark she couldn't stop her stupid body from dragging itself back after that spark. She hated it, of course. She knew what it was dragging her towards, knew what it was going to make her say, what it was going to rip out of her. But it was the only light she had. So she followed it, like an ancient dog determined to go for one last walk.

Then all at once she wasn't being rained on any more. Before she could process it she was somewhere dry and warm and her friends were there and they didn't know what she'd done and was this heaven? She couldn't imagine anything so beautiful. She couldn't even see her light any more because it seemed to be everywhere.

But all the same it didn't let her off the hook.

"I screwed up," she said in a familiar voice as soaking eyes broke the world broke into multi-coloured crystals. "I screwed up and I'm so sorry."

[PhoeKun]

There is more to magic than little lights or the awesome power of the void beyond the edge of the world. It's not just lasers or chill winds, it's not the shields and pathways and flashy spells of Hecatia University, nor is it the kind of witchcraft that can pull the skin off of someone and leave them an entirely new person. Those things are part of magic, but all things told the represent the weakest and least impressive form of the art.

There is deep magic in kindness shown from those who have the right to be outraged. There is magic in dancing and music, and the soft fur of a cat, or the reproachful stare of a best friend who hurts because you hurt. There's magic in her silence too, when she knows you need a lecture and a reminder of what's important in the world but knows you need the magic of warm pumpkin soup more. And you, dearest friends, are probably sitting at home thinking to yourself, "These things are not magic. Maybe they feel that way sometimes when you are tired or sad, but they do not do things the way that real magic does. To cast spells, ask a witch!" But here you are wrong. The threat of Oberon Greymane is the way he takes and ruins everything worth loving. He steals more than treasures, but the things you treasure about what's gone missing. In front of him, your favorite thing in all the wide world might become so scary and painful that you never find joy in it again, only the reminders of how and when he hurt you. This is deep magic, and strong. But deeper still runs the magic of softness and warmth that says, "Care anyway. Love anyway. Try anyway."

So it is with Alina Cascade. Here is a Princess who has suffered more than most, and who more than once has teetered on the very edge of giving up forever. But her people love her still, and it turns out that matters so much more than the many cuts and hurts her heart has felt. The core of her is strong. The core of Alina is love, and for as long as that is true, I think it is alright for the rest of us to have hope for Hyperborea. She wants to stand outside in the storm, but Kazelia seeks shelter in the farmhouse, so that's where she goes too. But not before she takes both of Maeve's hands in hers, and smiles softly as a distant rainbow.

"You dance beautifully. Thank you." she says, and kisses the girl who's dressed like her on the forehead.

It's enough to pull Alina from her troubles, for a time. It's enough to get her paying attention to the world around her again. She has soft words and praise for every member of the circus that day, and kind eyes for the strange girl who wanders into their midst looking for all the world as if she might shatter at any moment. It's enough that when that same girl speaks, Alina startles instead of retreating inwards, and reaches out to touch her hand.

"...Adila?"

[Thanqol]

Time was back. In the darkness and rain when she had been locked up with nothing but herself it felt like the moment could go on forever with no forwards or backwards. The falls had been meaningless, unnumbered, her attempts to count steps had been lashed from her by the horizontal rain. She couldn't drift past this moment with nothing but the stubborn refusal to stop moving. She had to somehow be more than that right now; she had to somehow create words when all she had were tears.

And in some moments that strange conjuration worked. Some moments she was totally coherent, speaking reasonably and clearly, and then the next she was again nothing but water. The words came like an almost-storm; some moments sunlight and some moments rain.

"I didn't tell you what happened when I wore the Devil House," she said, starting from the beginning in the manner of issuing a report because it was the only way to stop the words from all coming out at once in another inarticulate sob. "I hurt the Snake Husband more than I should have, and I wasn't going to stop. I was going to... but then Dandy stopped me. Got it off my head. Thought that I was possessed, and I was. But what I didn't tell anyone was that I had beaten the possession in less than two minutes. It wasn't controlling me, I was controlling it. All it did was lower my inhibitions and... and I didn't want to stop. I wanted to use my power... show off... I just wanted to move like the world wasn't made of eggshells and all it did was made it easy for me to be okay with that. I threw all of my negative emotions away for just a little while because I wanted to and it felt so good I never wanted to go back..."

Storm and rain and howling wind. Just because she was inside didn't mean she was out of it yet. No fire could dry her when her heart was underwater.

"It felt like the first time I ever got to be myself, and as soon as I got that freedom the first thing I did was hurt people. I don't want that - but I do! I want to be able to be myself without holding back but not if it comes at the expense of the people I love! So when I had the opportunity to just - just, get rid of the whole question by making it so that I'd never get to be myself and so wouldn't be tempted... I took it. I can't even say I took it without thinking because I thought I could do it, I thought that if I could just be someone else, thought that if I could still rescue everyone and be a hero then it wouldn't be a mistake. That it would be okay t-to abandon myself if I didn't abandon everyone else. So I went to fight the dragon by myself and..."

How could she explain it? The entire concept was inarticulate in her mouth, inarticulate in her thoughts. She couldn't have said it telepathically, let alone with these words. It had fought the storm and it had felt like it might win. That it had a place among the clouds and lightning.

"I don't know how to... imagine walking on crutches your whole life and then seeing a dancer for the first time. I didn't know I could move like that... that I could, without the harness - that dragons could just..." the words weren't there. She still hadn't processed what she'd seen. She tried to bring it to words that she understood but they didn't feel entirely right. "I'd made a mistake. Being someone else didn't stop me from wanting to be myself, and I didn't even choose to be someone who was worth anything. I saw how you looked... that you had been crying... and I wasn't able to help. I tried to give up myself to stop my friends from being hurt and now I have neither."

It wasn't right. It was a stupid story with inconsistencies looming like moonshadows through torn clouds, fragments of a sky she couldn't see or understand, but these were all the words she had. She didn't fully understand why she had done everything, why she hurt so badly, why everything had gone like this. She'd done her best though she wished... she didn't know what she wished.

[Anarion]

When Alina extends her hand and says "Adila" there is an indigo flush to Kazelia's cheeks that's hidden by their little fire. How had she missed it? She'd been able to tell that Eskagon was linked to Adila, to see a little piece of the magic going on there. Was her power as a Rider really just skin deep? Here was Adila, and she'd waived her over for a bowl of food and a conversation like a total stranger. Why hadn't she seen it?

And then there's rain and shelter and words tumbling out of Adila like the clouds bursting above are mirrors of her soul. Reflections of old words, old ideas shattered and refracted in new firelight. What had Adila been before? Kazelia had thought, after Askaia, that Adila was practiced, skillful, confident in herself and burdened by always being the one to have to help others. Had she been inexperienced instead? Believing in her strength because nothing had ever challenged it? In Jedad, she'd been so confident, even challenging the Watch itself, asking Kazelia to follow her code. Had that been the only path she'd known? Had she followed those codes out of fear, never knowing another way?

Questions tumble through Kazelia's mind. Worries, fears for her friend, confrontations that ought to happen but that now, as Adila was, crying and tired, confused and hurt, there were words that Kazelia couldn't bring herself to say. And how could she? A hypocrite, whose freedom was often cruelty and mockery and dark power that had made Alina look so utterly terrified the one time she had used it. How could she tell Adila that she was holding herself back when that was all Kazelia tried to do constantly? She could only keep trying, and maybe that was all that needed to be said.

"Adila" Kazelia's voice is just. Softer than you've heard her, barely over the crackling firelight, and she's crying too, cold icy tears gathering in little crystals at the corners of her starry eyes. She puts a hand on your shoulder, Adila. It's cold, it makes you shiver in a way that a dragon wouldn't, and maybe this is why so many other people are scared of Riders? But it's soft too, and she's looking you in the eyes. "You're trying to find what you want, Adila. Even though this wasn't what you thought, you're trying. That's worth doing. Please, don't ever give up."

[PhoeKun]

Alina stands up and retrieves a hairbrush off the nearby table. She gently grabs Adila's hand in hers and tugs her onto the chair she'd just been sitting in, where she wraps the dragon-gone-girl in a fresh blanket. Normally, she'd use her light for any or all of these things. Sooner or later, somebody would notice, or else they'd finally choose to comment on it. She'd talk about that when it happened. Until then, there are other more important things for her to do.

Small, warm fingers massage Adila's neck until they feel the muscles loosen underneath them. How soft she is like this. How fragile she feels to Alina compared to the grand body she'd had before. But she says nothing of it, not even with her eyes, and moves on to her friend's new hair. Expertly, she picks out the bits of twig and leaf and grass and rock and... a bit of snake skin (which is strange) without ever pulling on the tangles. Then she sets the brush to work. She starts at the bottom, with tiny little strokes to soothe the wet mess back into something pretty again without jerking Adila's head around. Slowly, she works her way up to the top of the head with the practiced ease of somebody who's done this a thousand times before, because Alina Cascade has never been one to leave the care of her little sisters to the palace maids, but insisted on doing as much as she could herself. Second after second, stroke after stroke, she turns Adila back from a wild girl having the worst day of her life into the sort of beauty she must have actually dreamed of being.

Even Kazelia is crying. Can you see it, Adila? Can you see the connection you have to these hearts, do you feel how special it is? Alina leans forward, wraps her arms around Adila, and plants a soft kiss on the top of her head. Come now Adila, what is it you don't have again? She doesn't say this out loud, either. It's not her place to choose the lesson, or to tell her friend what the best shape for her body really was. That's a personal thing, and Alina has no experience with being a dragon and little enough with suddenly not being one either ever be able to say 'Now this is what you must do'. But even without that experience, and even without her lantern, it doesn't mean she can't light up the way.

"Tell me again about your dreams, Adila. You told me once you wanted to be a wife, a mother, and a Brightball star. I thought it was a beautiful dream, and it lifted me up just to imagine it. Do you remember? What are you dreaming about right now?"

[Thanqol]

"Adila" Kazelia's voice is just. Softer than you've heard her, barely over the crackling firelight, and she's crying too, cold icy tears gathering in little crystals at the corners of her starry eyes. She puts a hand on your shoulder, Adila. It's cold, it makes you shiver in a way that a dragon wouldn't, and maybe this is why so many other people are scared of Riders? But it's soft too, and she's looking you in the eyes. "You're trying to find what you want, Adila. Even though this wasn't what you thought, you're trying. That's worth doing. Please, don't ever give up."

Adila had no idea what she expected to find here, but the last thing she ever would have thought was a mirror. She'd never imagined that anyone else hurt exactly like this - that she wasn't the only scary monster with too much kindness. But that was exactly what she saw in the eyes of Princess Kazelia and her mind finally connected it all together, and how Kazelia had been trying as hard as she was... and...

She'd been so self absorbed, she just hadn't seen. She pulled Kazelia into an embrace and cried into her shoulder and it was cold but it was still warmer than being alone.

"Tell me again about your dreams, Adila. You told me once you wanted to be a wife, a mother, and a Brightball star. I thought it was a beautiful dream, and it lifted me up just to imagine it. Do you remember? What are you dreaming about right now?"

It was a long time before Adila could come back to herself, but so much of that was down to touch. Alina's gentle hands opened fortresses of tension and weariness and the whole human body seemed to fall apart underneath. She felt like she could have dragged herself forwards forever no matter how weary her body was before, but now she couldn't even imagine motion. It unraveled along with every tangle of hair, not relaxing but being relaxed.

But dreams... she'd lost so many of them. She'd just let them wash out of her like dye. She couldn't imagine having a wish given how her wishes had turned out...

But somehow Alina's words walked right back into her empty heart and settled into place exactly like they'd never left.

"I still want that," she managed, strange clarity of voice returning. "I still want those things, but I see them differently now. I want... I don't know, I don't know how to get to there and still be myself," even though she could speak she felt like she was guessing at what to say. "But if I get there by being someone else... I want it so much but I miss me too. I miss the person I used to be from just a few years ago. I want that person's dreams again, from when I thought it was possible."

[PhoeKun]

Alina runs her clever fingers all the way through Adila's hair, brushing against the neck as she gathers the dark locks together to begin the process of plaiting them. Up and around, over and under, Alina weaves her friend's hair into a gorgeous braid in the traditional Illuminan style that will keep her from returning to that painful, tangled mess even if she immediately runs out the door and goes on another ill-fated adventure. She hums softly while she works; the tune is something that Kazelia has heard once before, when the sun rose early because she knew she was needed. It's softer this time, less dramatic. But hopefully it's still a song to soothe a wounded heart.

And even though Alina's focus is on Adila right now, she takes the time to look up at Kazelia and offer her a tiny smile that's just for her. To say without using up her words that this moment belongs to her as much as it does Adila. Any of this or all of it could belong to her as well; she need only ask. You can miss it easily, small as she is, but Alina is an expert older sister. And unlike some people we may know, her makeovers are always sincere. At last, Alina finishes her work and pauses to admire the result. Yes, this is good. She'd have to find a way to replicate this feeling later, if Adila ever changes back. Next, she wanders across the room to the table again. It's a lucky thing there are so many Illuminans living here today; it means that even a farmhouse has more than its fair share of makeup.

She bends in front of Adila and gently dabs red onto her cheeks, pink onto her lips, and black-and-gold around her eyes. There, that's good: a princess must always be beautiful, after all.

"...Adila, do you know what it means to carry a Light of Illumina?" Alina's fingers start shaking and she has to pause to make sure she doesn't ruin everything. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "It means my home has seen inside your heart, and found you worthy. It means that you are a Princess of Illumina. And no matter what else you might be, or what mistakes you make, you will always have a home in Illumina."

Oh, it's no good. She's shaking now. Alina wipes a tear away from her eye. Outside, lightning flashes brilliantly through the window, and the sounds of the rain lash against the roof and walls of the little farmhouse. Alina takes a step backwards toward the door. Then another, and another, until she's standing by herself on the threshold. That's where she manages another smile, and holds out her hand.

"Can you stand? Come with me, Princess. Today, we... we both made mistakes that feel unforgivable. B-but we're lucky; there's a storm tonight. Let me teach you how to wash away the guilt. Come and dance with me, Adila."

[Anarion]

Kazelia watches with rapt attention. She wants that. She wants the sort of tender ministration that Alina gives. She had always known Alina was gentle and kind, she'd just said it to an entire theater troupe for goodness sake! But the way she was caring for Adila, it was different, a kind of gentleness and surrender to someone else that Kazelia hadn't really known she'd wanted but seeing it filled her all the way up with an ache to experience that. She imagined letting all her long white hair loose and free and Alina brushing it carefully, smoothing it down and clear, running her fingers delicately through it as Kazelia's tension melted away. She did see Alina's glance. This is Adila's moment, so she didn't say anything, but you can see her blush and look longingly in response to that glance, Alina, in a way that screams yes, I'd like a turn! I'd like that very much! without the need for words.

She knows it's not her turn just now though. And even though it's cold and her shoulder is still a little see-through, she goes to the door. To partake in the dance if joining is for her too, or to watch and remember if hers is for another time.

[Thanqol]

"...Adila, do you know what it means to carry a Light of Illumina?" Alina's fingers start shaking and she has to pause to make sure she doesn't ruin everything. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "It means my home has seen inside your heart, and found you worthy. It means that you are a Princess of Illumina. And no matter what else you might be, or what mistakes you make, you will always have a home in Illumina."

Oh, it's no good. She's shaking now. Alina wipes a tear away from her eye. Outside, lightning flashes brilliantly through the window, and the sounds of the rain lash against the roof and walls of the little farmhouse. Alina takes a step backwards toward the door. Then another, and another, until she's standing by herself on the threshold. That's where she manages another smile, and holds out her hand.

"Can you stand? Come with me, Princess. Today, we... we both made mistakes that feel unforgivable. B-but we're lucky; there's a storm tonight. Let me teach you how to wash away the guilt. Come and dance with me, Adila."

Adila flinches. G-go back out there? There was nothing out there, just rain and mud and cold - and, and she didn't want to go back! She didn't want to go back into that big, miserable world when she'd finally escaped from it! She wasn't strong enough to go back into that cold, wasn't strong enough to manage even one more step... and besides... "I... I don't think I can..." she started to mumble - but before she could even articulate her misery she was shockingly betrayed.

Her silver light coalesced again, wrapping in from everywhere until it was a glittering and sparking ball, and it soared across the room to nest atop Princess Alina's head right where her crown was supposed to be. It ruffled and cascaded glittering sparks, like a bird preening its feathers, and Adila let out a long groan as she realized that she still didn't know how to disobey it.

She felt every muscle in her knees and thighs as she pulled herself back to her feet one more time. She almost rubbed her eyes but caught herself before she ruined her new makeup. She took a breath that she felt all the way in her toes and took an unsteady few steps towards the door.

Kazelia watches with rapt attention. She wants that. She wants the sort of tender ministration that Alina gives. She had always known Alina was gentle and kind, she'd just said it to an entire theater troupe for goodness sake! But the way she was caring for Adila, it was different, a kind of gentleness and surrender to someone else that Kazelia hadn't really known she'd wanted but seeing it filled her all the way up with an ache to experience that. She imagined letting all her long white hair loose and free and Alina brushing it carefully, smoothing it down and clear, running her fingers delicately through it as Kazelia's tension melted away. She did see Alina's glance. This is Adila's moment, so she didn't say anything, but you can see her blush and look longingly in response to that glance, Alina, in a way that screams yes, I'd like a turn! I'd like that very much! without the need for words.

She knows it's not her turn just now though. And even though it's cold and her shoulder is still a little see-through, she goes to the door. To partake in the dance if joining is for her too, or to watch and remember if hers is for another time.

But it wasn't that relentless little light that made Adila reach out and take Kazelia's hand when she noticed her uncertainty and hesitation. She didn't need to be prompted to drag the Rider Princess to this dance. She did take a moment to remember that she needed to say the words rather than just think them, and the conscious effort somehow made them feel more real. "Come with us, Princess Kazelia," she said in a voice that was still too raw and ragged. "You're as much a part of this as we are."

[Raz_Fox]

Rita von Catabas!

You are fine. See how fine you are? How aggressively, loudly Fine you are! Everything’s fine over here! You just went ahead and had Cleo put into the custody of the village sheriff and got her looked at to make sure she hadn’t broken anything, you know, being in an exploding stagecoach and all. And now look how fine you are! Everything is peachy and fine.

Can you even imagine how selfish it would be not to be fine? Alina was hurt by the worst person in all of Hyperborea! Kazelia just got set on fire! Everything is falling apart and being upset about how your best friend (who shared things with you back home) doesn’t care about the things she’s done... it’s okay!

You are being a big, mature cat who doesn’t make things worse for her friends by having gross emotions at them when they’re emotionally vulnerable! Alina has been through enough and you are not making her feel any worse, which is why you walk past her with your tail held high and hop up onto a post in the farmhouse.

Look! You’re aggressively bathing yourself! Only a totally fine kitty princess would be licking herself all over and not dancing with her friends because apparently she’s garbage who doesn’t count for anything—

Whoops! Haha! Let’s lick that thought away! Everything is fine.

[PhoeKun]

Alina flinches when she sees Rita. There is no point in being somebody's best friend if you can't tell something is bothering her after an evening of sulky stares and aggressive grooming. There's even less point in being her best friend if you'd let something silly like being on the edge of total collapse yourself, or already having to dig down to pick your other friends back up off the ground keep you from doing what you can to tend to her, too. There's also another rule of friendship, less often invoked, that says if you do not want to dance with your friends in the rain you ought not turn yourself into an easily-picked-up cat. Alina snags her very bestest best friend on her way out with all the poise and grace expected of her station, and doesn't even wince at the scratches she gets as she drags her out into the rain with everybody else.

"No hanging back this time Rita. This is for you, too."

Thunder peals in the sky above. The rain is relentless, and freezing cold. She hunches over to keep Rita dry (or dryish anyway), and the shock of it shows on her face. This is not her storm; this is his. She's dragged forcibly back to that tent and that feeling, with his voice in her ears and his fingers around her face and no, no, no, he can't take this from her, he can't have ruined this. She has to, she has to, she... notices Adila's silver light. She hugs Rita. She can move. She's not alone. She remembers how to breathe again.

Even still, thinking of Oberon is another unpleasant reminder that many people do not share her fondness for wet hair and wetter clothes, that they don't relish this chill because they can't see far enough to look forward to the feeling of drying by the fire and letting the warmth creep over every part of you that comes after.

"...Hey Adila," her voice trembles a little more than she'd hoped it would, "Let's have a quick lesson before we begin, ok? Reach out with your heart, here toward your light. It's just the same as when you've used it to hold or grab things, but this time stretch out with it. This is your guardian; it won't suffer you to come to harm, so long as it knows what you want."

And she finally lets go of Rita so she can spread her arms in a helpful demonstration. Come on, push little light. You can take more shapes than this! Alina can't do more than nudge a light that doesn't belong to her, but maybe this time a nudge is just enough. The silver glow becomes a shield that floats helpfully over the head of its owner again and protects her from the worst the rain has to offer. Alina smiles again.

Next, she bows. Her left leg hooks behind her right and her back sweeps low as she pushes her arms to either side of her again in little expanding circle motions. Her hair flops in a big wet mass off of her neck and sweeps against the ground. Then she rises and holds out one hand to Adila.

"Don't worry, any of you. I'll lead; all you have to do is follow."

What comes next is motion. Alina raises on her tiptoes and raises her right leg high up behind her until she's doing a split standing up, grabs Adila by the hand, and pulls her close as she swings her leg back down. One step forward, two steps right. One step backward, two steps left. Alina leans forward and pushes Adila back off of one leg, perhaps enjoying for the moment that for once she actually can push her in any direction at all, smile on her face the entire time. And together, as friends, they twirl. She goes slowly so as not to tax those tired legs, big long looping spirals carrying them over to Kazelia, where Alina pivots and extends her arm away from Adila's and bows again before detaching and latching herself onto the Rider Princess instead.

Brr, cold. But no matter! Now Alina is careful of that faded shoulder. She moves faster through the steps but pushes less, and always leans into Kazelia's strong side. Together, they leap through puddles like a pair of deer, they step, they spin, and Alina leans back with her spine curved almost impossibly so that she sees Rita there behind her, trusting in the power of that arm to wield her like a lance and keep her from tumbling over into the mud. Her left leg curves over her head and she flips herself over without ever leaving the ground. When she steps up again, she pushes up with both hands on Kazelia's waist. She doesn't have the power to actually lift her, but if her friend would... just... jump! Yes, thank you, she holds up her up into the rain, pinnacle of Illuminan beauty for exactly a second and a half. Then her tiny arms betray her and both princesses are landbound again, spinning their way over to Rita. Alina releases and takes her third partner.

Now here is someone who already knows the dance. And who, as far as Alina knows at least, has no hurting places on her body for Alina to be mindful of. No, here the danger is just the heart. Alina locks eyes with her best friend and never once looks away, even when she starts to blush, asking with her eyes what she's done, how Rita is hurt, because all she can see is that she is without being able to piece together the thought that cut her so. But oh! How they dance! They race and circle around the others, almost flying and so in sync that each can anticipate the other's leans and leaps almost before they start them. They are motion. They are dance. They are quick and graceful, and coming closer and closer still.

This time, Alina does not bounce back to a new partner, but instead reaches out and links Adila's arm in her free one. She glances over to Rita, confident in the moment, and smiles brighter than even the silver light hanging above this whole thing to see her reach and grab Kazelia. They make a circle, these four, spinning slowly in a much less stately, much sillier dance. Together. And Alina, cold as she is and so soaked that even the dampness of her hair is starting to get wet, starts to laugh. There's magic in that too, isn't there? Tired, hurting, upset, faded, cold, or horribly sad as any of you may be, isn't this still in its way kind of fun? Feel the blood moving through your body! Feel your arms and legs loosen even in the cold and wet! Feel your heart beat, know that you're together, and that you are alive.

"Adila." she says at last, breathless, " I don't know how long it will take, but there will come a day when the shape of you exactly matches what's in your heart. And on that day, you'll be so beautiful there won't be a thing I can do to improve you. And on that day, we'll dance again. You're not... you're not alone."

[Thanqol]

Every step in the dance was like a heart attack. Even slowly, even though she was completely following the lead and control of Alina. It felt like she was going to collapse in terror and teardrops and the only thing that stopped her was that there was nothing left to cry.

Dancing, after all, was how this had all gotten started.

*

It had taken a years savings to buy the Askatian transformation spell. It had taken months of study, using every day off she could get, to adapt it to her body and learn how to cast it. So there was no time to waste when she finally - finally! - had it. Her heart had been filled with joy, filled with fire, and she had set off in search of music. Music! How wicked it was! How it got inside her mind as surely as wine and got inside her heart as surely as love! Rich and flowing and warm, sun-scorched music, it was just as persuasive and just as invasive as the Devil House. She'd let herself relax into it. She'd let her legs carry her where the beat took them, step step, crunch crunch. She'd spun when the music had spun her, whirling and spinning like a dervish, and down came the supports. She'd leapt into the air with nothing to hold her back and it felt like flight but better because the wind beneath her wings had been made of silk...

It had been perfect - until the music stopped. And she looked behind her and saw a destroyed house, a ruined market, terrified people...

She'd resolved to be more careful. That meant no more dancing. It was the first resolution of many.

*

This dance was... honestly, it was terrible in comparison. It was slow. She was sore. She was very aware that she was being lead and being babied, and was just as aware that she needed that because she still missed half her steps and stumbled constantly despite the graceful arms and wise guidance of Alina. But Alina had her transfixed with her eyes, and she had already shown her how to change her heart into a different shape, so she couldn't break away - she wasn't allowed to break away. So she was dragged through the terrible, failed, clumsy, controlled graceless dance, step by step. Compared to her first dance it was like a jail cell and if she had not missed her true body before she would have now.

But far more important than the... mere technical things that were going wrong was the fact that she was doing it at all. Every step, right or wrong, was an impossibility. It was the breaking of a rule, stepping into parts of herself that she had decided were to be closed forever. She wasn't just dancing, she was dancing back in time, pushed backwards in time, and oh, she was falling backwards too, and without fear because she knew that Alina would catch her no matter what...

This wasn't the dance she wanted... but it was the dance that showed her how much she wanted to dance.

[Anarion]

Kazelia watched with a kind of awe as Alina took Adila through the first round of the dance. She thought about trying to join Rita, who seemed to know the steps, but the cat princess was distracted and Kazelia wanted to see the dance herself, to feel it before she started doing it. Unlike the others, she wasn't cold. Riders were already so cold, and the blizzard of Askaia had parted itself around her, what was a little frigid rain to the numbness of the void? But even though she didn't feel uncomfortable, the rain made her shoulder ache. It ached in time with each drop from the sky, like each little bit of ice resonated with it, made it stronger and deeper, made her want to forget everything. And so she kept her attention rapt on the light.

Then it was Kazelia's turn. She was, clumsy in a different way than Adila. Overeager perhaps, her powers and her chill making her more slippery than might be expected. It was embarrassing, frustrating even that she could be so strong and fast yet lack grace in this world. So she surrendered herself to Alina, let her lead, tried not to move anywhere she wasn't moved by a gentle hand or a light tug. She got it when she was urged to jump though, could see that Alina was ready and did lift herself off the ground, only cheating a teeny tiny bit with her magic to make a little ice ramp to slide on for the lift. That was magical, being suspended in the storm by Alina, without her lights (where were they anyway?), without anything but her little frame perfectly positioned for the dance. And then she was coming down, finishing, passing off to Rita.

That was a truly expert show from Rita and Alina, and Kazelia simply stared in awe, nevermind the storm and the water, her cloak draped about her. She was so rapt, she nearly missed Rita's arm reaching for hers, and she made her stumble into something of an impromptu step as they fell into the four person dance and laughed. It was joyous, it was free, and at the end of it as they moved in their circle, Kazelia started, almost unbidden, to sing a wordless melody of flowing water and endless dancing.

[Raz_Fox]

Rita!

Uuuuugh you can’t resist a dance! How did she know? Especially not an Askaian circle dance! You whoop and jump off the ground and dangle from the arms of your friends for a moment.

Like. It’s still bothering you, even as Alina’s bounced back and being a perfect princess, like always, way too good and perfect for you, but also... like, she can’t have noticed your downcast eyes earlier, or your disconsolate yowl at being picked up. You’re so sneaky.

(She totally noticed. Who are you kidding?)

But if she can shrug off Oberon you can shrug off being unimportant! So you whoop it up with the best of them and when the dance comes to an end, you wrap Kazelia up in a great big hug, even while she sings so beautifully.

You like Kazelia a lot, and thus far, she hasn’t implied that saving your family and home was worthless to her heart, so she gets double nuzzles! And also the warming, healing vibrations of “I love you so much” purring. (So there.)

[PhoeKun]

A fresh hug for Adila (and maybe if she needs it some help getting her back inside to warm up, because it really is the best part of something like this and she should not miss it). Another hug for Kazelia, who deserves it as much as anyone. But Alina, breathless and drenched, seems also mostly out of words. She quietly shuffles closer to Rita and, seeing her snuggled so close to Kazelia, finally opens her mouth to speak again. What happens instead is that her face twists into a look of hurt before she quickly casts her eyes to the ground instead. Which is rich, isn't it? That she'd be the one to act wounded right now?

She inches closer again. A little more. More than that. She's too close to be comfortable now, and still she doesn't have anything to say. Not 'I'm sorry' or 'Did you have fun?' or 'Please Rita, forgive me I know I am the biggest jerk ever'. The nerve of some people. She just stands there with that awful look on her face not making a sound, and when that doesn't work she slumps against a wall and mutely sits too close instead.

"...Kazelia?" No, wrong name, try again dummy, "Would you mind... giving us a minute? I... need to talk to Rita."

[Anarion]

Kazelia likes Rita too. There's a sincerity to her, and so, although she's a bit surprised by the sudden hugs, she returns them in kind. That lasts for a hot minute, relaxing after the song and dance are finished, and then Alina says she needs to talk and it sounds important. Like something special between her and Rita. Kazelia looks worried for just a second, but then nods. "Of course, Alina, I'll go help Adila dry off. You can Rita can talk about whatever you need."

She slowly extracts Rita from her nuzzles (is she nuzzling harder now? Maybe she's trying to avoid Alina, but that won't work) and then heads inside, where, if Adila will allow it, Kazelia will use one of their travel blankets to slowly and carefully pat down Adila's wet hair. She's no Alina, but it seems a good time to warm herself by the fire and share a moment. She does look like she's struggling with not saying something though, which is because she's trying not to bring up Eska but also feeling like she probably has to at some point. But just a little longer of enjoying time together first, maybe?