Tigra
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Chapter 210: And Then There Were Two
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 19:17:35 +0000 UTC“As you have all probably heard by now, there is a storm coming. As you can most likely hear, it has already started. Raulf is convinced it is going to be a bad one, a long one. You know how it goes in winter proper.” Nunuk said, addressing them all in the hall just as dinner was finishing up. Everyone had heard by now, but what had remained a mystery was if they would decide to ride it out or turn in. It seemed the decision had been made.
“Gonna get proper cold then? Like two years ago?”
“According to Raulf, more like the really nasty one nearly a decade ago,” Nunuk affirmed with a solemn nod. That meant it would be cold enough they might not have a choice at all even if they could keep getting at the fuel, which normally would have been doubtful, but Tom might change that fact. Honestly it made Sapphire wonder if even the human would be fine. They knew there were limits to what cold he could handle, even if they were extreme.
‘Eh surely he will be fine huddling around a fire.’
“But we got so much to do, months worth of work,” Tink protested, quite loudly so all could hear.
“And a few weeks asleep will not topple your house of cards. Even if we had rather hoped it would not come so soon.”
“Yeah, it’s not even been two months since the last hunt, shouldn’t be this cold already, should it?” Bo questioned, voice still raised but tone more respectful. Sapphire knew she was from further south before she had moved to the capital, so this might be the hardest winter she had ever had before.
“It is uncommon, but far from unheard of. The winter storms do as they please.” Nunuk replied kindly, it was not Bo’s fault she did not know after all.
“I still think it is because the island is hanging much lower,” Edita spoke up, earning a few odd looks. “... Sorry it is just. Me and Tom… They just do.”
“It may very well be so, Edita. We can hardly tell at the moment. Now see to what duties you have and secure your works for the slumber. I don’t want to wake up to fouled silks and a mess like no other. In the evening tomorrow the tea shall be brewed. We have two guardians this year, so do not fret, we shall see the light of day again soon.”
“Honestly, yeah I’m sick of only seeing the sun peek through the slits,” Jacky joked with a cocky grin.
“Well it will be some time before we get to see any sun again, but I suppose it is indeed true that the day will come sooner while sleeping.”
“See, she gets it.”
The table gave Jacky a bit of a stink eye which she bore quite well all things considered. Nunuk paused for a moment. ‘Someone is winning the prank war, I guess.’
“Yes… Very well, you all know what to do, it is not your first winter. That is all,” Nunuk finished up, sitting back down in her chair and throwing a sideways glance to Dakota, sitting at her side.
Who knew? Maybe next year it would be Dakota making such announcements.
They all got ready to leave the tables and set about whatever they had planned. Sapphire didn’t have any chores tonight, though perhaps she would help Essy and Ray pack away their sewing work to safeguard it. It wouldn’t do to just leave it laying around for days or weeks.
“Sorry,” Bo said in a gentle tone that had the huntresses looking to see if anything was wrong. “How exactly does one prepare for winter?”
“Ho, someone is used to living the highlife, aren’t they?” Jacky chuckled, clearly still in a good mood.
“Not really, no, but perhaps better than some. Not like we got snow where I grew up, and I didn’t try it in the capital, there was plenty to do. But what, do you just drink a cup of magic tea and see you all in a week or two?”
“Not too far off the mark if we are being honest,” Sapphire admitted as some people started to sit back down. Pho too seemed to be paying attention which had Sapphire even more confused, but it wasn’t as if poor folk all slept through the winter, or even the commoners. There was work to do, even when it was freezing after all. Especially in a big city. “Do you know what the tea is?”
“Tree bark,” Pho added quickly, eager to earn an easy point on her gathering skills.
“Heaven oak bark, the big trees you see over most of the kingdom, if it’s not too hot or cold,” Sapphire carried on, Bo just nodding and waiting for the point.
“They were a gift to our people, from Kalador. Well, really he shared the gift the dragons got from their ancient ancestor the silver dragons. You know, the one you might have heard a bedtime story about.”
“Yeah, heard of them. Don’t believe it much, though. Isn’t there a different tale on how it all happened in each keep?”
“Well luckily we are a rather learned keep thanks to Apuma… that and we have a big book with ‘Property of the Inquisition’ written on the front page, so I think we’re right,” Sapphire said with a chuckle, Bo looking like she agreed with that logic. “But yes, the gift of hibernation. To be untouched by the cold, aside from falling into a deep slumber of course. Dragons can do it from birth. We cannot. Something about us living further south and hiding underground and things, when it got too cold.
“Anywho, to help us spread far and wide across the world, Kalador imbued an old oak with the soul of one of the very last silver dragons. Some say it was the last one. And from the acorns came the heaven oaks. Didn’t they teach you that back in school?”
“Didn’t get much schooling and that’s definitely not the story I heard,” Bo retorted with a shrug. It didn’t look like she planned on challenging any of it though. Perhaps their own loremaster had not been much good. Sapphire could certainly remember the odd tale or two from back home. She’d made a damn fool of herself in the capital once when she claimed that Unicorns only lived where there were heaven oak. But how was she supposed to know they were suckers for just about any sort of tree?
“Well then in that case. After the creation of the heaven oak the dragons and dragonettes carried them far and wide, as far as they could take them. Along with all sorts of other things, deer, boar, even wolves. To bring more life to the world. Back then only a few islands had real life on them. Actually if ever we find a new barren island, we are supposed to put trees and grass and stuff on it I think. I haven’t ever heard of that happening though.”
“I have,” Bo went with a shrug. “Big talk at the tavern. Tiny little thing, not even a kilometer across. Don’t think you are gonna get many trees on that.”
“Huh, how about that?” Saph replied, genuinely surprised. She couldn’t remember hearing anyone claim they’d even seen a new island… then again maybe it was a chunk that fell off, that seemed more likely.
“Sapphire, if you had paid a little more attention, you’d know there’s been loads of islands popping up,” Fengi then added with a little bit of condescension to her tone.
“In Apuma’s storybooks, Fengi. Gotta take those things with enough salt to pickle a Tirox,” Sapphire countered. Those hardly counted as evidence.
“The flying castle turned out to be mostly right, didn’t it?”
“I… Very well, there are loads of new islands,” Sapphire yielded with a sigh.
“I didn’t say that,” Fengi protested.
“So what about the tea?” Bo interrupted, clearly wishing to get back to the point.
“Right, yes, tea. In order to borrow the gift we debark the trees, it has to be nice fresh bark, preferably without too much crud in it. Remember when we went foraging for it before winter?
“Don’t hurt the trees, clean cut, don’t rip it off, be gentle,” Bo recited from memory, clearly casting her mind back to that rather tedious day.
“Yes, exactly. We tend to harvest every year because it is hardly a problem for us, but in the capital you might get dried bark or even powder. No matter what you got, you just soak it in boiling water for a few hours and drink the result… that’s about it really.”
“Gotta suck if it’s too cold to boil water. Wait no duh, just make it ahead of time… wait, why didn’t we do that?” Pho broke out, looking around at all of them.
“It must be freshly brewed or it won’t work right. And you don’t wanna be half frozen, I can assure you of that,” Fengi replied on Sapphire’s behalf.
“Oh right… yeah you’d like… wake up halfway decomposed or something. Wait, would that turn you into a darkling?”
“No, you would just be dead. Hopefully you wouldn’t be awake to feel it. I bet you it would be quite painful,” Sapphire said with a shrug, hoping it would drive home the point of ‘don’t do that.’ But she didn’t actually know what would happen.
“Yikes, sucks to not be a dragon, I guess… but like who is gonna take care of the animals and stuff? I used to do that back home. Big jacket out for half an hour tops, then back in to the fires,” Pho questioned, with her signature annoyance that something didn’t make sense to her.
“Tom and Rachuck shall,” Fengi added with a smile. Sapphire couldn’t help but smirk as well. That was right. The boys would have to handle the shit, and carrying the heavy sacks and buckets of feed around. Not them, no can do.
“Oh right, magic human, how could I forget… hehe to think he’ll be shoveling hogshit. Mister ‘I am the saviour of the universe.’ ”
“I don’t think he ever actually said that,” Fengi added a little less enthusiastically.
“Oh you know what I mean, and he sure believes it.”
“To be fair, he’s never been scared to work for a living. Behave and maybe you’ll get to work security for him or something. He needs someone to take the bolt on a bad day, I think, and Jacky is much too valuable,” Sapphire said sarcastically, trying not to grin too too much.
“Hey, I’m worth a bit more than just a meatshield,” Pho objected as Bo slowly started inching away from the smaller greenhorn.
“Prove it, what shape are the leaves of Ingerroot?” Sapphire questioned, still grinning.
“Uhm… like a pointy oval-y sorta thing?” Pho tried and faltered. She obviously didn’t have a fucking clue.
“They are three pointed clovers,” Sapphire corrected. “Fail, you get to be a meatshield.”
“Ahr dangit.”
“To be perfectly honest, Pho, maybe beating someone who gets too close over the head with a mace is more your calling than gathering roots for dinner,” Bo added very diplomatically.
“I mean when you put it like that.”
“She’s gonna need to get a bit bigger than me to be much good at that either,” Fengi added with a snicker.
“Hey, I could be a killer messenger or something like that. Did it back in the city once I got a few races under my skirt,” she bragged, and Sapphire had to admit, she was quick and she sure was nimble. She would make a great in town courier. Out here though, endurance was the name of the game. She herself would never challenge Jacky to a race over 50 kilometers for example, no way. But running packages around Bartelion, then they were talking. There was still one important problem for the young green horn though.
“Gotta work a little on your navigation for that one I think.”
“We only really have three destinations on the island, I’m sure she will figure it out,” Fengi once more chided, reveling in having someone to pick on a little.
“Fuck. You.”
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Tom wasn’t quite sure what he had been expecting out of this whole ‘going to sleep’ thing, but it all seemed pretty chill. They had the big cauldron on in the kitchen, you went and got a mug, drank it all, then went on up to your room and waited for it to work. They had given a quick prayer together before they started it all, for protection and all that. But according to Jacky they weren’t particularly worried since they had a nice keep and people to watch over them.
If you lived in a leaky hut in the capital, then the prayers suddenly took on quite a different meaning. As for what to make of himself, he hadn’t been quite sure. Was he supposed to hug Jacky till she fell asleep in bed? Did he need to like, rub her down with holy oils or something? But no, as it turned out, no such luck. He just had to leave her be and most importantly not warm her up. Supposedly everyone would hibernate soundly until such a time as they got warm enough to break the sleep. It wasn’t a spell or anything, but rather supposedly a natural process.
Tom guessed it maybe worked a bit like those crocodiles that could happily sleep frozen in ice without being too bothered about it. But since the gift was borrowed, if they did thaw out again, so to speak, they would need to drink the tea anew.
They had plenty of bark to spare, so it wasn’t a big deal if it happened, but that was one of the things Tom and Rachuck had to watch for. If anyone was waking up, they would be opening the shutters to cool down the various rooms quickly. Of course they would later have to shut them all again to keep the storm out, and during their rounds, which Rachuck insisted on, they would have to check for if any water had made it inside.
On the list of bad mornings, waking up with a frostbitten face thanks to a block of ice having taken up residence had to place pretty high.
Speaking of bad mornings, Tom had been scheming. The morning before he’d been greeted with wet socks in his boots, which had really fucking sucked. He had dry ones of course, but he had needed to dry out the boots too. This naturally called for revenge.
His first idea had been to decorate Jacky some more using the permanent marker. Perhaps tie her up good. But the marker might end up actually being sorta permanent if left for a few weeks, and being hogtied for a week was sure to lead to the mother of all backaches. He could of course do it just before she was going to wake up, but really he had to come up with something better.
He supposed he did have quite a while to work it out. They were only planning on sleeping through the worst of the storm and possibly the worst of the cold which may follow, which would be up to Rachuck’s discretion. It wasn’t as if they were limited on food or fuel, so they might as well put in some work. Of course there was the lack of charcoal for the smithy, but that was at least a solvable problem.
“So what are you thinking about now?” Jacky questioned, laying under the covers, likely twiddling her thumbs and waiting for something to happen.
“Charcoal… and wet socks,” Tom answer truthfully as he sat on the chair by the small table.
“I swear to your gods and mine, if I wake up looking like a darkling you will have to invent a new way for you to eat again.”
“I would never do something like that,” he replied as sarcastically as possible. Jacky did her best to kill him by staring. “But I am currently one down I think.”
“No we are even, you started it.”
“Hmmmm… but hanging me out that window really has to count for two.”
“How was I supposed to know you were having one of those odd dreams? Normally you like talk and writhe about and stuff.”
“I was sleeping in the dream as well.”
“... I didn’t even know you could do that. So, were you like twice as rested when you came back inside?”
“I think so, yes. But that probably had more to do with the freezing wind… That was fucking cold you know.”
“I’m about to have you beat, gonna freeze my tail off.”
“How does it feel actually? You normally get all shitty when you get cold.”
“That’s one way to put it. You start to shake like Kiran when he got into the candies.”
“Yeah, making my muscles work keeps me warm.”
“Shit… that’s actually kinda smart, why don’t we do that?”
“You shiver a bit, don’t you?”
“More like try to rub some heat back into your skin, before your arms stop working.”
“Right, yeah, actually I remember that. Joelina had a bad run in with some snow.”
“Ahr, poor woman,” Jacky replied sarcastically. Tom couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Something like that. Still waiting for the finale of that saga, since you so rudely interrupted last time.”
“Again, didn’t mean to. I am actually sorry about that one. At least you didn’t end up crying when you were dangling from the rope like some naughty child that’s been hung up to dry.”
“Creative punishment that one.”
“Simple yet effective… but no joke, it’s cold as hell. This isn’t very nice,” Jacky added on a more serious note. “You do sorta feel like you are gonna die each time. But just like freezing to death, it’s when you stop feeling things you should really worry.”
“I bet. Sounds about right with what I know for us humans, only I’m pretty sure we kick the bucket long before you when it comes to core temperature.”
“You sound like Edita now, with your cores and your units and assemblies. No one talks like that.”
“I’m an engineer, I’ve talked like that since I got diagnosed with the knack.”
“The what now?”
“It’s an old joke from a comic strip… I guess you don’t have comics here either, now do you?”
“I have no clue what the fuck you are on about… like usual.”
“Right… I don’t actually think I have any with me. That’s a bit of a shame.”
“What are they?”
“Just uhm… funny pictures printed on a page. Like you would have us two talking to each other, you have a picture of us, then text to show what we are saying. Then you go picture by picture to show the conversation. Normally it’s a pretty short thing, a joke or something else funny. Some make whole books with pictures and text like that.”
“A whole book done with pictures… With something like that even I could be a scholar.”
“The head archivist of Donald Duck. You even have the color scheme. If we add a little yellow that is.”
“Hey, no arts and crafts, I’m warning you.”
“Ooooh don’t worry… you wouldn’t be able to stop me anyway.”
“No, but I can retaliate with a vengeance.”
“That’s a problem for future me,” Tom chuckled, leaning back in the chair. It was getting quite nippy in here by now. Outside the wind was doing its best to keep them from speaking in low voices. They continued to chat about this and that for a while longer. Who is Donald Duck? Who at the keep would have to be Goofy? Whether or not Disney might be able to come after them for copyright infringement across dimensions were they to print his likeness.
She slowly grew more weary, taking longer to respond. She started to get confused about what it was they were talking about. By the end they were mostly just talking to stay awake. Then Jacky grew silent, eyes still open like she truly had just died. It was very unnerving. Tom could even feel a pang in his chest, even though he knew she was fine.
Calmly, he got up and walked to her side and with a hand slid her eyes closed. He gave her a quick peck on the side of the snout, tucked in the sheets one last time, and turned to leave, letting the shutters stay open for now. They would close those up later once the whole bedroom floor had cooled down sufficiently.
It felt so strange to walk out into the cold and nearly lifeless hallway. It was so very quiet, save for the howling wind. ‘Some horror house this is turning into… actually, I wonder if there are ghosts about? Place is older than the states, loootta people died here… eh I’m sure they would have brought up any hauntings. Or gone Ghostbusters on the poor things if there were any… Damn, I wonder if there are Van Helsing dragonettes to deal with nasty spirits and shit? Anywho what to do now?’
He looked up and down the barely lit hallway. Fetching a torch of the electrical variety seemed like a pretty good idea, and maybe getting comfortable somewhere down below so he could work someplace fairly warm without messing too much with the floors above. The kitchen sounded like a decent option for the new home office actually. He should see about getting that sorted out.
---
“Hatches and shutters barred and secure?” Rachuck questioned, authoritative as ever. Tom had perhaps hoped that with it being just the two of them the captain would get a little less professional, but apparently it was opposite day.
“Yup, got all the shutters, everyone’s eyes are closed, sheets tucked in, and given a goodnight kiss,” Tom replied deadpan, finally managing to give Rachuck some pause as he looked up to stare blankly at the human.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Full royal treatment, sleeping princesses, the lot of them,” Tom carried on. He was of course joking, but he had made sure everyone at least looked mostly comfortable. Pho had been laying on her side, sprawled across her bed. With the position her neck had been in, Tom had taken pity and fixed it for her. Other than that though, mostly it was just a matter of closing shutters and securing them.
“You kissed… everyone here? That is that thing you do where you sort of… strangely lick Jacky, no?”
“I don’t lick them. Just you know, like you would a kid.”
“You lick children?!” Rachuck broke out, outrage starting to seep into his otherwise very orderly self.
Tom cracked and started to chuckle. “Nooo, I’m taking the piss, don’t worry. Everything is good. The storm is getting worse though.”
Rachuck just stared at him for a moment before shaking his head, “Unbelievable. Jokes in a time like this.”
“Dude, we’re alone on night guard duty for at least a week or two, and what’s gonna come crashing through those doors? A white dragon? Pretty sure most of those out there ain’t too inclined to work with the bad guys seeing as the good ones pamper them so much.”
“They may be quite scarce, but I can assure you white dragon brigands do exist.”
“Well in that case we’ll bribe them. Not like we could fight that off anyway… well, maybe actually… No nooo forget I said that,” Tom backpedaled, realizing the possible mistake he had made by giving the paranoid captain an opening, but much to his relief Rachuck shook his head.
“No we cannot face such a threat, and in any case it would be extremely unlikely to come to pass… and to have any chance of victory they must be lured inside, so we would have time to prepare an ambush.”
‘God dammit, Rachuck.’
“But of much greater import is the storm. If it is to grow as strong as Raulf feared, we may need to fear for the roof. That could mean water getting inside, and shutters may also be blown away endangering those inside.”
“If that is such a big deal, why not make everyone sleep in the grand hall? Also aren’t they all frozen solid? Or will be soon at least. What’s a little wind and rain gonna do as long as we fix it?”
“Nothing, but we must fix it. Sheets would need to be dried too, naturally, to err on the side of caution. And we do not sleep together in the grand hall for the same reason you do not store all of your eggs in the same basket… Cruel as the analogy is.”
“Right… gotcha,” Tom replied, making it clear that he was less than convinced. “So what, do the rounds, if anything is wrong get the other one and set about fixing it? Doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It is not. I used to do the duty myself, and I had plenty of time leftover for reading and practice.”
“Oh yeah you got your new sword to play with too now, that’s gotta be exciting.”
“Practice, not play, Tom… but yes I must admit I am looking forward to mastering it. You too could use some practice, could you not?” the captain questioned, Tom sensing a bit of hopefulness in his voice.
‘Ahr so you do like the idea of not being completely alone then.’
“Perhaps… of course there are many things I could use a hand with,” Tom replied, trying to insinuate he would be willing to consider some sort of exchange.
“Naturally… I believe we can come to some sort of a solution then.”
“Two rounds a day and I promise an hour to sparing?” Tom offered, hoping that would be enough to seal the deal. He needed the captain if he was to have any hope of getting Project Christmas sorted out.
“Two of your hours,” the captain countered, raising his head dignifiedly.
“90 minutes, I’m way behind schedule already.”
“Is that not less than an hour?” the captain questioned skeptically, worried he was being taken for a fool.
“No 60 minutes to an hour, so an hour and a half. Final offer, I’m busy”
“Aren’t we all… Very well then. I must say being able to divide one’s time so easily is quite the gift. Normally the hourglass would have to do.”
“The clock might be wrong, but she still times just fine.”
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Very well then chapter 210, another milestone of a sorts. Getting into the proper depths of winter now. Fingers crossed I can keep it sorta interesting. if not, well shit, you're getting the two boys with the run of the keep for at least a few chapters.
Don't forget that 210 means a special, it should be up by the time you are reading this. Go give it a read I promise plenty of action in that one.
Comments
Michael Halpern
so tiny islands are a thing...
Michael Halpern
i mean if Tom has to travel in disguise, he won't be able to have his revolver in the open so being able to use a sword, or better yet a sword and small shield will be useful
