Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The second sun was setting over the horizon, leaving threads of orange and red streaking through the deepening lavender of the evening sky. Like eyes winking, stars were beginning to pop into view in the dim light of the Dying Sun.

Waves lapped gently at the rock Rian stood on as he packed up his fishing gear, carefully putting away his bait casting net in a wooden bucket, his bow looped over his shoulder. Normally he would’ve had company while fishing, but Deet had been needed elsewhere on the island and his friends had already had other plans. He wasn’t alone, actually, but his temporary team had fled to the beach and the forest hours ago, bored by the slow pace of fishing. Honestly, all that waiting drove him a little crazy as well, but he was supposed to be setting a good example. His inherent impatience was the main reason he chose to use a fishing bow instead of a pole.

Out past the breakers he could see a few of the fishing boats coming back toward the hidden port of Unsea Quay, and he waved to the Gelfling on board. Hopefully they had done a better job that day out among the coral reefs and sand bars than he had done on the shore. The only fish he had caught had been a quarrelfin, too small to keep. He had thrown it back to grow for another day. Lucky fish.

Stepping over the rocks back toward shore, Rian put two fingers in his mouth and blasted a whistle into the evening calm. There was a flurry of laughter, and leaves and branches rustled further in the evergreen forest. Silver-blond hair flashed before a dark camouflaged hood was pulled up, and he caught a shadow run and dive beneath a fluffy fern. A single sweeping trill of a whistle answered him, but nothing emerged from the undergrowth. He supposed there was nothing wrong with giving them a couple more minutes of freedom.

Jumping from the rocks onto the beach, he caught his balance as his boots sunk into the rocky sand. Rian wasn’t surprised to see that one childling out of the three he had brought with him had decided not to dash off into the forest.

His own son, Jen, sat nestled in the roots of a massive borra tree, a book almost as big as he was spread out in his lap. Rian had carried it out to the beach for him, but Jen was strong enough to drag it around for very short distances. He turned one embroidered page as Rian approached but didn’t look up at his father.

“Anything interesting?” Rian asked, tilting his head to the side. He set the bucket down so he could pick up the sheathed sword that was leaning against the tree and slip it onto his back, next to the bow.

“Lots,” Jen said, his dark blue eyes still trained on the words even as the light faded.

“Like…?”

“Stuff,” Jen replied absently.

Rian’s mouth quirked into a smile. It wasn’t rare to completely lose Jen in a book like that. Quick-witted and blessed (or perhaps cursed, seeing the intensity of it) with a love of learning, he was racing through all of the books that the Gelfling and other creatures of Thra had managed to secret away to Verdanth Isle during the Escape. Luckily Brea often wrote new ones, but Rian worried that she wouldn’t be able to write them fast enough to satisfy Jen. Not that he would ever mention that to her. No, Rian was always quite happy to avoid a death glare from his heart-sister.

“I’m going to go find the others,” Rian said, reaching down to ruffle Jen’s hair. “Once I get back, we’ll need to go home. Your mother will be waiting for us, and we’ll need to help her with supper.”

The only response he got was a slow nod from Jen.

Rian stepped into the forest, looking around for two childlings. His mottled grey, white, and blue clothes didn’t blend in as well as they did against the surf, but in the twilight, they did a decent job at concealing him. Still, his quarry was wearing green and black and brown, and they would be nigh impossible to find if they decided to hide from him.

“Kira, Dex! Time to go.”

“No, please five more moments!” Dex’s pleading voice came from somewhere overhead, and Rian looked up into the bows of the nearest corpath tree. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to climb up to fetch down Syrel and Elith’s boy.

“No way. Your parents will start wondering if an arduff got you if I don’t get you home soon, and I don’t need your mother to take a swipe at me with that spear of hers,” Rian said to the branches. If he squinted, he could just make out Dex among the spindly light green needles, a tiny dark shape pressed against the trunk of the tree. “Where’s Kira?”

“Talking to something,” Dex said, “And I wouldn’t get eat by an arduff. I’ve got my sword.”

Right, and it was completely made of soft wiffel wood. The worst wound he would give an arduff would be a splinter in its massive paw right before he was eaten. Rian gave a mock sagely nod. “Ah, yes, you’re very mighty, now let’s go.”

With a grumble, Dex began to swing down from the tree, making Rian nervous with his recklessness. When he was on the lowest branch, he dove off the tree and landed in a forward roll before bouncing up onto his feet. He bowed to a non-existent audience and looked back at Rian with a toothy grin.

“Can you—maybe next time you don’t fly out of the tree like that.” Since he had nearly given Rian a heart attack…

“I fell good,” Dex said with a shrug. He darted off and under a bush. “I’ll find Kira!”

“Mm, sure you will.” Rian suspected this was just an excuse to stay in the beachfront woods longer. While they all lived in Umbra, a village tucked deeper in the woods, the trees closest to the beach had a certain appeal to the childlings of the island. It was probably the skitter crabs and corpath nuts they could find in the highest branches.

Rian stepped through the forest, his footsteps nearly silent on the carpet of corpath needles. “Kira! It’s time to go home. Kira…?”

A spurt of giggles burbles from his right before it was quickly cut off. Something made a chirping noise and the giggles began again.

“Katavra, I mean it,” Rian said, using Kira’s true name. Kira was a nickname that Hup had given her as a baby, and it had stuck. “Let’s go, both of you.”

With not a small amount of grumbling, Dex reappeared from the undergrowth with Kira following behind him. She had her small arms wrapped around a thin, slick-furred animal that was shaped like a tube. It wriggled in her arms, its short tail bobbling as its triangular head arched back, allowing it to lick Kira’s chin.

Rian’s mouth fell open and his hands reached toward Kira before he stopped himself, not wanting to scare the hretim she was holding. A distressed grunt escaped him. She laughed again as she walked up to Rian, all smiles, dirt and moss and twigs in her silver and green hair.

“Told you I’d get her,” Dex said proudly, his hands on his hips, chest thrust out.

“And I got Peachberry,” Kira said, snuggling her cheek against the top of the hretim’s head. It made another chirping noise and opened its mouth, revealing two long fangs that it used to catch and kill birds.

“Yeah, I see, let’s put the venom-filled beast down, all right?” Rian said, tension lacing his forced calm tone.

“But I like her,” Kira said, giving the hretim another hug. It gurgled and snuggled into her neck before glowering over at Rian.

“Um, I gathered that,” Rian said, putting his hand on his shoulder as he resisted grabbing the hilt of his sword. “But don’t you think she’d be happier here? She won’t like it back at Umbra, we don’t have any other hretim there. She’ll be lonely.” And potentially deadly. A bite from a hretim was enough to knock out an adult Gelfling, and it was often fatal for a childling. Hence why Rian was nearly coming out of his skin with his need to protect Kira.

“She’ll be the first,” Kira said happily. She stared to walk out of the forest, back toward Jen and the beach, and Rian almost reached out for her. The hretim hissed and its stubby tail bobbled, forcing Rian to drop his hand.

“I think your father said you couldn’t have any more animal friends in your house,” Rian said, scrambling for any reason to get her to leave the hretim behind. “So let’s leave Peachberry, please?”

Kira’s bottom lip poked out, and she hugged the hretim one last time. She set it on the ground and made a series of sounds in the speech of animals, her own special gift. It chirped again, eerily like the birds it hunted, and waddled off into the woods. Rian let out a breath and picked up Kira, settling her on his shoulders. She laughed and hugged him around the head.

“Let's agree to never, ever pick up a hretim again. Okay?"

“Yep.”

“Right…”

They collected Jen and his book from the edge of the forest with only a little protest from the boy and began to head back toward the village, following one of the many faint paths. Rian pulled out a cloak that was the same color as the childlings’ clothing and yanked it on.

One thing their island valued above all else was camouflage. It was essential, just in case one of the guards and spotters missed a crystal bat overhead. So far, only a few of the flying devils had made it anywhere near the island, and all of them had been cast into the sea long before by the Trillings who kept the waters around the island safe. While everyone was fairly certain the Skeksis would never be able to reach Verdanth Island even if they found out about it since it was tucked behind barrier reefs and a slew of sandbars, there was always that slim chance hovering over them.

The walk back to Umbra was uneventful yet stealthy as each of the children tried to outdo each other by seeing who could be the quietest just for the fun of it. As they got closer to the village, flickerflits began to glow, their soft green light pulsing in the darkness as they flew around in the twilight. Music and conversation began to burble into the forest along with the steady sound of a crashing waterfall, and the smells of cooking fires and hot meals drifted into the woods, drawing the fishing crew toward home.

Kira grabbed Jen’s hand and cawed into the air as she darted ahead, dragging the dark-haired boy behind her. A couple birds swooped down and around them, drawn to Kira’s voice. Dex followed behind, doing a cartwheel, his strawberry blond and dark purple striped hair standing up straight from his head as he found his feet again.

The woods opened onto something akin to a clearing, with a tall waterfall and cliff face acting as the centerpiece. While not immediately noticeable, closer inspection would show that the structures that looked like huge boulders beside the waterfall were actually Podling houses in disguise. In the treetops, high above, there were Drenchen-style tree houses, some of which had Vapran, Stonewood, or Dousan flair to them. A few of the homes that had been carved into the side of the cliff face were currently uncovered as Gelfling worked in their balcony gardens or enjoyed the night breeze. Later, they would be covered completely, hiding any fires from prying eyes. At the moment, Thra folk were coming back from wherever they had been working that day, whether out in the fields or down by the sea or in the mines,

A few Gelfling and Podlings called out or waved as Rian and the childlings made their way toward the waterfall, and Rian responded in kind. There were some Trilling who also made the village home, but they were fewer since most of the Trilling lived in the two other villages on the island.

Taller than most Gelfling (except Gurjin…) by a couple hands and mostly covered in thick soft fur in shades of green, gray, and blue, the Trilling were the folk who had been living on Verdanth Island when the Sifa first discovered it. They were a stockier lot than the Gelfling, and stronger as well, though far less nimble and quick. Besides the Gelfling, Podlings, and Trillings, there were also a few Arathim on the island, but they lived in a cave system on the eastern side of the island.

Jen pulled away from Kira and fell back to walk beside Rian as they all approached the waterfall and took a left, going behind it and into the Great Hall of Umbra. Overwhelmingly massive, the Great Hall a large hollowed out space behind the waterfall that swept up toward the top of the cliff, the ceiling held up by naturally occurring pillars. The levels that had been carved out around it had been done by Gelfling, Trilling and Podling hand over a few years, and each held homes for the Thra folk who chose to live in the hidden village. Torches and glowlights of various kinds that had been brought along with the refugees lit the space, creating a warm, multi-colored space.

They hadn’t stepped far into the Great Hall when someone hurtled past Rian and grabbed up Kira, tossing her into the air. She let out a shriek of laughter, and Jen stepped closer to Rian, grabbing his hand, as Gurjin caught his daughter on her way down.

“You said you were going to pick berries! Where’re my berries?” he asked, a fake frown on his face as he turned her upside down and then rightside up. Kira squealed and grabbed his arm, grinning. Gurjin tossed a look back at Rian. “And you don’t have any fish! What’ve you been doing all day, napping?”

“Not a good day for fishing,” Rian said, shrugging.

“Do me, do me!” Dex begged, grabbing at Gurjin’s sleeve as he set Kira’s on the ground.

“Ah, I think I threw my arms out,” Gurjin teased, shaking his head and letting his arms go limp. “See?”

Dex shook Gurjin’s arm, waving it about, until Gurjin reached out and playfully cupped the top of his head. He turned toward Rian. “Did you even catch anything?”

“Not much, just one with the net.”

“And it was too little,” Dex piped in.

Rian glanced at the boy and then back at Gurjin. “Anything wrong on the perimeter?”

“Not a thing,” Gurjin said, “Quiet all along the arduff territories, and I heard from Hup that the quadroth only left its nest to hunt fish today.”

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t catch anything,” Rian said.

“Or maybe you should just admit that you’re terrible at fishing.”

Rian rolled his eyes and gave his best friend a shove. “I’m not that bad!”

“I guess, if you’re trying to catch water, you do just fine.”

They exchanged a few more good-natured insults as they started up the curved path to the upper levels of the cavern. On the third level, they parted ways with Gurjin taking Kira as well as Dex to their homes higher up. Rian and Jen peeled away and headed down a short corridor and into an area that was lit with yellow lights with spots of bright blue moss on the walls. Cave-growing plants sprouted from the walls and rock, and water trickled down one wall, collecting in a pool that held tiny pale fish. There was a hole in the wall that allowed part of the very shallow pool to stretch into their home.

Rian set his net bucket down and opened the intricately carved door to their home. Not a moment later, Cerik barreled out the door and collided with his middle. Tiny and sprightly, Cerik was Rian and Deet’s younger son. He had Deet’s pale hair color, green and near-white with only a hint of Rian’s blue, and but it was sleek and tamed like Rian’s. His skin was a darker green than Deet’s, and his eyes were big and deep green with hints of yellow. He squeezed Rian’s middle and then leapt at Jen, catching his older brother in a hug.

“Catch anything?” Cerik signed as he let go of Jen, his fingers dancing in patterns through the air.

“Well, that’s a good question,” Rian answered, signing it at the same time. Now that he wasn’t grappled, Jen hurried inside, racing past Cerik.

“I want to fish! I’d catch something.” Cerik grinned and tilted his head to the side with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

“If you didn’t have a cold, I would’ve taken you today,” Rian said. He reached out and put a hand on his youngest’s forehead. “You’re still warm…”

Cerik made a face and pushed Rian’s hand away before grabbing a couple of his fingers. He pulled Rian inside and then darted off toward the other side of the room where Deet had already started preparing the evening meal.

Without taking off his sword or bow, Rian headed over and looped his arms around her from behind, his hands resting on her round stomach as he dropped his chin to her shoulder. It wouldn’t be too many more unum before their family of four was a family of five.

“You smell like lowtide,” she teased, her hands working steadily as she chopped up tuberroots.

“Always so kind,” he said with a smirk, “Why not try, ‘I’m so glad to see you, my true heart, I missed you all day long, since the very moment you walked out the door.’ Because that’s what I was going to say, you know.”

Deet laughed, leaning her head back for a moment to rest against his chest. “That is so strange, that was going to be the next thing I said.”

He nuzzled her and kissed her cheek. “Your son spent the whole day reading. It was impressive.”

Deet smiled as she stepped out of his grasp and returned the kiss with a quick one of her own. “And he’s cleverer for it.”

“This is why people think he and Kira were swapped at birth.”

“That certainly wasn’t the case,” Deet said with a bright smile.

“Kira likes reading, just not as much as me,” Jen said. He was sitting in the middle of their den, a new book open on the floor while Cerik sat beside him, playing with a toy nurloc.

“How about you come help me with dinner so your mother can rest for a while?” Rian said, glancing at Deet. She wouldn’t say anything about it, but she looked tired after a long day and he knew that being pregnant with their third child was wearing on her as well.

“I’m fine, really,” Deet said softly, putting her hand over his.

“I know,” Rian said. He smiled brightly and wished that she didn’t see the worry he was attempting to hide. Judging by the concern on her own face, she did. “But I just really want to cook. A lot. Jen, come help me!”

Jen grumbled but got up and wandered over, looking unamused. Deet pursed her lips. “I’m only going to sit down for a few moments. There’s tuber stew and I was going to make a salad…”

“We’ve got it,” Rian said, setting his weapons down near the table before he got to work on hopefully not ruining dinner.

Chapter Text

Deet was already up and moving about her family’s small home when Jen wandered into the den, rubbing his eyes, a scroll tucked under his arm. He gave her a sleepy wave and a smile before he trod over to one of the windows. Climbing up onto the wide window seat, he cracked the cloth so the dim morning light could get in.

Ever since she was a childling herself, Deet always seemed to wake before the rest of her family. Maybe she simply enjoyed those quiet moments to herself before her world truly awakened.

While their home was technically inside of rock and stone, it was built toward the side of the mountain, like many of the homes inside of Umbra proper. It allowed for windows and a rough, wide balcony area subtly carved into the mountainside where they could grow herbs and other plants in the sunshine while still cultivating cave plants like edible moss indoors. Deet and Rian’s home melded the Grottan and Stonewood dwelling styles as much as possible, and decorations and touches from both clans, as well as others, filled their home.

Yawning, Deet walked over and sat down beside Jen, drawing her bare feet up onto the windowseat’s thick pillow. He already had the scroll open across his knees.

“That looks like it’s in Trilling,” she said, reaching out to brush a finger over the thin-lined drawing of a bird on the side of the page.

“Mhmm,” Jen said, “K’par said I could borrow it for a few days.”

“What’s it about?” She was still learning some of the intricacies of the Trilling’s written language, but Jen had soaked it in like one of the sponges the Sifa pulled from the sea, though he had been learning it since he could read. Actually, he seemed to draw in all sorts of learning, and if he had his way, he would probably follow the librarians around all day or listen to Brea go on endlessly about one topic or another. He enjoyed lessons more than most childlings, and he never seemed drawn to adventure like Kira and Dex, his closest friends. However, they did tend to drag him along on said adventures anyways.

“Different kinds of birds on the western coast,” he said, explaining the nature of the scroll.

Deet smiled. “I suppose I should’ve guessed that from the drawings.”

“They could’ve just been drawings,” Jen said gently, nuzzling into her side.

She hugged him back and settled her back against the stone wall. Jen glanced over at her and focused in on her rounded stomach before meeting her eyes.

“Can that one be a girl?"

Deet laughed. “I think that’s the fourth time you’ve asked for that, and again, I have to remind you I don’t have control over that.”

Jen pursed his lips and looked back down at the scroll. “I think you could. Maybe. If you thought about it really hard.”

“Oh?” Deet said, trying not to smile.

“I just want the baby to be a girl. A nice one. One who isn’t so…”

“Very rambunctious?” Deet asked.

As if roused by their discussion, Cerik ran into the room, skidding to a halt. He stood for a moment in the middle of the room, mischief in his big green eyes.

“Good morning, little trouble,” Deet said, signing the words at the same time.

“Morning, where’s Da?”

“Still asleep.”

“Like you should be,” Jen added, turning his attention back to the scroll in his lap.

Cerik grinned at Deet, ignoring Jen. He barreled through the room, jumping off a large ornate whetstone and nearly kicking over an urn. He scurried into the sleeping room that Deet and Rian shared, and a moment later, they could hear Rian’s muffled yelling.

Deet reached over and rested a hand on Jen’s head for a moment. “You know, even it’s a girl, Jen, she might also be very, well, active. Kira’s not exactly meek and quiet.”

Jen ducked out from under her hand, his finger trailing along a line of letters. “I know, but I feel like my own little sister might be quiet. Or at least sweet.”

“Cerik can be sweet,” Deet said, defending her current youngest. “You’re just so very different from each other that sometimes it’s hard for you to see his sweetness.”

“He’s as sweet as puckroot,” Jen said, “Remember a few days ago, when he threw my notebook off the balcony into the Great Hall? And that time he broke all my charcoals.”

Deet sighed. “That one was an accident. And he was punished for throwing your notebook.”

“I’m simply saying, a nice little sister would be appreciated.”

“Hmm, well, how about you think very hard on that,” Deet said, stroking his hair. “Maybe it’ll happen.”

Jen gave a small smile. “I could play her music. And maybe she’ll like it, too.” He shrugged. “All of us like music.”

Deet grinned. “It can be something you all have in common!” While Jen favored the firca, Cerik liked playing the double drums. Perhaps the new little one would like to sing or there were so many other instruments.

Laughter spilled out of her and Rian’s den before Rian himself appeared, Cerik hanging off his back, arms tight around his father’s neck. Messy-haired and sleepy-eyed, Rian was holding Cerik’s arms so their youngest didn’t choke him. “Morning,” he said, meeting Deet’s gaze.

“Good morning,” she replied, a hint of laughter in her voice. “You seem to have a growth.”

“Right? Strangest thing, I didn’t have it last night, did I?” He reached back to tickle Cerik, who twitched away, wriggling happily.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Deet said, “At least I didn’t notice it.”

“I guess I’ll just have to squish it…” With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Rian began to slowly back toward the wall, as if to squash Cerik.

The childling let go and slid to the ground, his fingers already signing. “Can I help you on patrol today?”

“First you strangle me, then you want to help me? That’s an odd combination,” Rian teased. He walked over to Deet and Jen, where he pressed a kiss to the top of Jen’s head before kissing Deet on the cheek. Tilting her head to the side, she reached out and squeezed Rian’s forearm.

“You have lessons today,” Deet said to Cerik as he wandered toward them, “Remember?”

He made a face and leaned backward, exaggerating his displeasure. “Noooo. Nope, I don’t.”

“No, you don’t remember, or no, you aren’t going?” Rian asked. He settled onto the space beside Deet on the windowseat and drew her into his arms, leaning back against the wall.

“Both.”

“How about after you’re done with your lessons and everyone is home, we can all go for a walk to one of the waterfalls?” Deet suggested, making peace before her stubborn son could really dig in his heels and start a proper argument. It would be nice, in any case, to go outside after a long day in the healing halls. While she had spent her entire early life in the Caves of Grot, she had grown a love of the outdoors, somewhat out of necessity but mostly because of all the beauty to be found in nature beyond the underground.

“Which one?” Cerik asked with a suspicious look, like this was some trick to get him to attend his lessons without a fight.

Rian rested his chin on the top of Deet’s head. “Jen, do you have a suggestion?”

“The Rippling Scarf,” Jen said absently, most of his attention still on the scroll. He looked up and offered a small smile. “It’s close, we can get back before dark, and it has those rocks you like so much, Cer.”

Cerik beamed. “Yes, yes, that one!”

“Is that too far for you?” Rian asked, his lips close to Deet’s ear.

“Definitely not.” She patted his arm, amused by his overprotective spirit.

With a plan in mind, it was time for breakfast, which was an assortment of eggs, mosses, oatmeal, honey, and fruits. Deet and Rian worked together to fix the meal with Jen occasionally helping.

Rian chopped up a sweet-tart fruit called a gara into thin slices. “Maybe you should take the day to relax, Deet. You’ve been working so hard lately.”

“And maybe you should stop worrying for just a little while.”

Rian gave her a long-suffering look as she moved through their small home, gathering some of the herbs that hung from the low stone ceiling. He knew that encouraging her to take it easy most likely wouldn’t be successful, but he had to try. As one of the village’s main healers, she was almost always busy.

While Verdanth Isle was a beautiful place to live, it was also rugged and full of dangers. Injuries and other mishaps were everyday occurrences, and Deet was always running around trying to help everyone. It was simply in her nature, and her healing touch, a remnant of the Sanctuary Tree’s double-edged gift that had nearly killed her, also made the job easier for her.

Still, it was taxing on her, and in her condition, Rian would have preferred if some of the other healers would step up and give her a break.

“Are you going to be patrolling with Syrel or Gurjin today? Or someone else?” Deet asked over her shoulder as she plucked another bundle of wort root from the ceiling. She tossed it into her bag and tapped her chin as she considered what else she would need.

“Gurjin,” Rian replied, drawing out his best friend’s name, “We have the southern beach route.” Meaning they were supposed to keep an eye out to the sea south of the tip of the island. He would need to be sharp and on task today, without any distractions. Everyone knew that if the Skeksis came, it would most likely be from the south and their main attacker would be SkekSa.

Deet sprinkled some ground up herbs over the hardboiled eggs from the previous evening’s meal. “Are you going to escort me to the healing halls before you go?”

He smiled, unashamed. “I thought I’d do something like that, yes.”

Deet laughed. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind the company...”