Archive of Our Own

You clutched the weathered robe covering your tall form closer to yourself. The humidity of the area was nearly suffocating, and heavy fog seemed to surround you as if to mock your efforts of finding a suitable place to rest. Carefully, you stepped over any plants you found foreign, only occasionally bumping into a particularly low-hanging branch.

Ever since you arrived in this forest, it has been nothing but trouble. You honestly could not count how many scrapes and scratches there were to your legs now, tearing through the lower part of your thin pants. In all honesty, you were quite the realist when it comes to the possibility of magic. After all, everything that did seem like sorcery of some type turned out to be a fake trick or a hoax. However, after waking up here when you were just in a modern-day museum appeared to faze you in this belief. 

While you wouldn’t say you were a thief, as that was a bit too self-deprecating for your liking, your presence was well-known around the city you inhabited as the person that stole without ever leaving a trace. You would say that this act of stealing was justified due to the low income you were suffering at the current moment. Your acts of burglary was centered around the more rich folk that lived in your city. It was surprisingly easy hacking into their central security systems, which you supposed was their own fault to begin with. However, you were only able to steal small amounts before they upped their defenses, and soon the whole wealthy neighborhood was protected against this unknown thief.

Rent was difficult to pay off, and even your full-time job was hardly able to cover your living expenses. As embarrassing as it was to admit, you were desperate. While you hated the prospect of robbing a public browsing place, you browsed the museum during one of your off-days and found a variety of jewels and shiny trinkets that would be enough to land you in the spot of well-deserved luxury. So, after concocting a rigorous plan, you decided to visit the museum during the next night while covered in your black garb and cloak to shield from the pounding rain that unhelpfully decided to pour at that specific time.

Avoiding the relaxed night guard, you tip-toed through the silent building, the only sounds coming from the soft drips of water sliding off of your clothing. While you were in the more private areas of the museum, restricted to the public and only to employees, your eyes caught a locked door just beside a few boxes of unknown displays. Sneaking over, your hands dug into your pockets and pulled out a set of lockpicks. Choosing one, the lock clicked to allow you inside following the soft clinks you made attempting to open it.

Pressing the door slightly in and grabbing the small handheld flashlight at your waist, you flicked it on and made sure to close the door behind you. It was dim and musty from years of obvious neglect, but after pushing through several annoying boxes of worthless junk, you found something that immediately caught your eye. In the center of the dusty closet was an ajar display case with a gorgeous necklace inside, lined with gold, silver, and so many gemstones that shone under the beacon of your flashlight.

Making sure no traps were set for burglars like you, you walked over to the case and opened the small door all the way to get a better look at it. The flashlight you held assisted the necklace in glittering more and examining it further proved that the whole thing was rather large. You could almost describe the proportions being like extravagant jewelry someone would find in the Egyptian section.

You sat your flashlight down on the top of the case and lightly held the necklace in your palms. Looking it over, you concluded that this piece of jewelry could cash you in several thousand dollars, as it looked priceless and valuable. But, you also concluded it couldn’t hurt to try on the necklace and see how you would look in it.

You slid it over your head and examined your mirror image in the reflection case. It was gorgeous hanging around your neck, shimmering with a near ethereal glow. That initial strike of awe dissipated when you felt more sleepier, more heavy. The corners of your eyes grew dark, and before you even had the chance to take the piece of jewelry off, your body came crashing down to the marble floor, everything going black when you finally closed your eyes.

When you came to, you found yourself not on a marble floor or even a jail cell, but on a mossy bedding. That leads to where you are now, stumbling over logs, plant life, and creatures that were unknown to the planet you were on just a few minutes ago. All the while, the gorgeous necklace hung down your neck, mostly covered by the robe that was protecting you from the harsh vegetation.

Stumbling clumsily around, you heard soft muttering coming from nearby. While you couldn’t pinpoint what they were exactly saying, you decided to go closer to the noise. Maybe the locals around here could help you out! Hiding in a thick bush, you peeked through to see the people talking.

Well, it wasn’t exactly people like you were expecting. Despite being humanoid in general shape, they had long, elf-like ears that twitched slightly when they expressed certain emotions, mouths similar to a muzzle in shape, tinted a dark green to match their brown skin, and the most important thing…

They were really fucking tiny.

“See, I told you that Landstriders are awful in places like this, especially for pulling things. And now,” the taller woman spoke to a smaller one, her voice slightly gravelly. “Our crops are everywhere! It’s going to take forever to pick them all up, and we only have an hour or so left to get back to Stone-in-the-Wood!”

The smaller one dipped her head, a frown present on her face. She replied in a more hushed tone, “I’m-I’m really sorry, Allia! I honestly thought that this way would be much faster! Ugh, I’m so dumb!” She pulled her short hair in frustration before the taller one, Allia, stopped her.

“No, no. It’s-,” she looked down, before a sympathetic smile crossed her face. “It’s fine, Ulih! We just need to hurry up a bit faster!” At that, the smaller one, Ulih, sniffed and nodded in agreement. As both swiftly started to pick up their dropped crops, you contemplated as to whether or not to help them.

For one, they were foreign creatures to you. For all you knew, they could be hostile and, quite frankly, you weren’t in the mood to be cut up in bite-sized human bits today. On the other hand, it does look like they’re in a rush and need to go to...whatever “Stone-in-the-Wood” is. Maybe if you’re polite enough, you can learn more about them, where you’re at, and why you’re here in the first place.

So, you sat aside your own self-preservation and carefully stood up from your hiding place. Going closer as to not scare them, you accidentally stepped on a twig in your path (shit shit fuck.) Ulih perked up her pointed ears and swiftly turned around, her pupils dilating at the sight of you. Her mouth fell agape and she steadily walked backwards, before tripping over herself and landing next to Allia. Her fast muttering confused Allia, trying to decipher what she was saying before she pointed straight at you.

“M-monster! Monster!” She yelled out, and Allia quickly looked over her shoulder to find you, trying to make yourself smaller and give them some distance due to the surprise at your arrival. It hurt a bit, but you understood them; you’d probably do the same in their shoes.

However, what you did not expect was Allia brandishing a miniature silver blade, dangerously pointed at the tip, towards your direction.

“Get back, beast! I’ll kill you if you so much as move an inch!” She hissed, trying her best to look as menacing as possible. It worked, as you shrunk lower and stood still.

“Gah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you two!” You held up a hand in defense. You knew that, despite one handling a knife, your more powerful muscles could take the two in a fight if it happened, but peacefully conversating was at the forefront of your mind right now.

Ulih gasped quietly, her eyebrows shooting upwards. “You...you can talk?” She asked. You looked at Allia’s approval to move, to which she nudged her knife at you to speak.

“Well, I mean, yeah. I’m sort of surprised you guys can speak English, considering how different we are from each other,” you replied, shrinking backwards as Allia tensed at the last statement. She was about to shout, probably in offense, but Ulih interrupted her.

“English? What’s that?” She questioned, standing up and moving behind Allia. You could tell she was still wary, but was definitely more curious than she was before.

You were confused too, since they were speaking in the same language as you were. “Wait, wait, you mean you guys don’t know English? Then what language are you talking in?” You responded back, which made the two of them glance at each other. You could tell on their faces they thought you were dumb, or at least some variation of it.

“We speak Gelfling, dumbass. Seems like you do too,” Allia spat. While you were sort of insulted by the crude jab, you were much more interested in what a Gelfling was. So, you asked, and you could tell Allia was about to make another snarky comment before Ulih let out a soft giggle.

“We’re Gelflings, silly! You can tell since we’re pretty much the only ones on Thra with pointy ears!” To affirm this, she pulled her ears jokingly. But at this, her eyes narrowed and she looked closer at your face. “But after seeing you, are you, like, some mutated Gelfling or something? You look sort of like us, but you’re way too tall, your face is all smooshed in, and...holy shit! Are you a guy? You don’t have wings!” Before Ulih could continue rambling on, Allia pulled at her ear, similar to how a mother would do to her child, and told Ulih to stop blabbering and let her ask the questions. What the two didn’t expect was your voice to pipe up again.

“No? I’m a human, and also-” You tapped your back a bit with one hand. Sure enough, no wings. “None of my kind has wings to begin with. You guys do?” At this, Ulih nodded and Allia allowed her to speak, letting out an audible, exhausted sigh and rolling her eyes.

“Mhm! Look at this! Allia, show them yours too!” Ulih instructed Allia, and to your slight shock, a pair of translucent wings popped up from Ulih’s spine as she hovered slightly over the ground, her wings beating fast at the soggy ground like a hummingbird. Allia, with reluctancey, also sprouted a pair of wings from the same region as Ulih’s, but she stayed on the ground with her knife moderately tipped downwards and a clenched fist at her side. The distinction between their wings was that Ulih's was a lighter-green hue compared to Allia’s dark shade of transparent red. When Ulih landed back on the ground, the pair folded their wings back into their tattered cloaks while you blinked a few.

Your awestruck state was broken when Allia turned back to Ulih, one of her hands on her hips. “Enough with this, Ulih. We need to get back to Stone-in-the-Wood; we don’t have time for any more lolly-gagging,” she instructed. It seemed like Allia completely forgot about your presence, due to you not posing a threat to them, but quickly glared at Ulih once she spoke towards you.

“Hey, want to help us out? You look worn-out, with all the barbs stuck to you!” She chuckled, and Allia swiftly gave her attention back to Ulih.

“Uli-!” Allia was in the middle of her hushed scolding when she was interrupted (once again), but by you this time.

Ultimately, you decide to nod in agreement. “Sure! But can you take me to the next town? And maybe tell me more about...Thra? Is that where we are?” Ulih nodded, and Allia groaned loudly when the former agreed to your terms. However, she did nothing to stop your assistance.

While still hunched over as to not appear threatening, your help picking up the dropped crops made the whole process much faster with your longer arms and legs. While Allia would refuse to admit it, she was thankful for your help, which Ulih would whisper in your ear.

When the two got back into their cart, since you were too big to fit inside, you decided to follow along and help push the cart when it got stuck in a ditch or by a branch. Meanwhile, Allia was handling the cart’s primitive driving mechanism while Ulih taught you about some things on Thra. It was a planet, for one, and while you couldn’t see them right now due to the overhanging, there were three suns and moons. There were also seven clans of Gelflings, with her and Allia being Stonewoods. She also went over the biological differences between the Gelflings, important geographical spots, history, and what intrigued you the most, was the Lords that ruled over the main thing that powered the planet: the Crystal of Truth. By Ulih’s descriptions, they sounded decrepit and way too old, with intimidating bird-like features, but since they protected the Crystal they were well-respected and worshipped.

In return, you told Ulih and Allia more about humans, Earth and its singular sun and moon (Ulih got a kick out of that), wars, and to their intrigue, advancements made in living and technology. It even seemed like Allia was listening, her ear tilting back to listen whenever something caught her attention.

Soon enough, the thick vegetation departed enough to reveal the threshold to a medium-sized village, with small huts that were nearly indistinguishable to the trees that surrounded them. Other Gelfling creatures could be seen out and about on their daily business, and others simply relaxing at a few sparse open bars here and there. You remained behind the cart while Ulih and Allia hopped off. Thankfully, the trio of you was at the edge of the village and was generally hidden from any of the Gelflings’ lines of sight.

Allia turned around to face you. “Alright, you stay here where nobody can see you. I don’t want anyone starting a witch hunt over you while I’m talking to Maudra Fara,” she instructed. You had also learned about the Maudras and how Stone-in-the-Wood’s was a strict, but generally fair overseer. Allia then whirled around to where Ulih was at, close beside her. “Go ahead and bring the food to the diner. I...don’t want to see one of our Lords when they get hungry.” Ulih nodded, and with that, Allia rushed off into the town square.

You were originally planning on doing what Allia instructed (more like commanded, now thinking about it) but in the corner of your eye, you saw Ulih grow a sneaky grin.

“Hey, Gelfling-thing!” Ulih caught your attention. Guess she already forgot about the whole “human” talk you three had, to your miniscule annoyance. “Let’s go around the village borders and sneak into the diner! I want you to see one of the Lords for yourself!”

Immediately, you shook your head. “Oh, no, no! I am not doing that,” you denied. “Do you not remember Allia pulling a goddamn knife at my throat? She would kill me!” Ulih giggled, to your now less-than-miniscule annoyance.

“Don’t worry so much! Since, you can just sit in the back row or something. You’re probably starving anyways!” You hated to admit it, but she was right on the last part. Letting out an intentionally long groan, you responded.

“Do you promise to protect me if Allia does decide to disembowel me?”

“Yep!”

“Then it’s a deal.”

The two of you made sure not to make too much sound while going around the edge of the village. It appeared that mostly everyone, even the guards, were in a rush to prepare for the Lords’ arrival. No-one gave you two a passing glance, and the large shrubbery helped immensely with that. Before you even knew it, a large building loomed over the both of you, surprisingly a good height for a human in comparison to the smaller houses in Stone-in-the-Wood. 

Rolling her little cart over, Ulih gave you a motion to hide for a few seconds as she brung out some workers to assist her in carrying in the food. Once everybody except for Ulih was inside and the cart was barren, she waved for you to come out.

“Alright, there’s a good seat near the corner! Lean down a bit and make sure your cloak is covering you completely; I’ll bring you some food personally once the Lords arrive,” she told you. While you still had the nagging thought to go back to where Allia instructed you to stay, your pure curiosity overwhelmed your rational reasoning.

“Show me the way then,” you sighed. Ulih opened the back door to let you inside (with your legs covered; you tried to look much shorter than you actually was.) Instantly, the scent of fresh cider and liquors, warm food and soup, and the laughter combined with excited chatting welcomed you.

The diner was generally packed with Gelflings, all at different wooden tables filled with delicious-looking food. You held your stomach, your mouth practically watering at the sight of the cooked meats and salads laid out in front of nearly everybody. Behind you, Ulih had to push you away from the sight of it all and towards a barren-looking spot, in the dark corner of the full diner.

Sitting down on the soft bench covering, you noticed how utterly sore your legs felt and relaxed at the tension finally relieving. “Stay here! I’ll be in the back if you need anything!” Ulih told you, before running off. You only knew two Gelfling as of right now, and already you can notice a pattern of them speaking and running away shortly after.

However, you tried your best to ignore the hunger pains welling up in your gut and examined the beautiful necklace hanging around your throat. You never really got the chance to look over it thoroughly, unless you count the short-lived moment you had preceding being knocked out cold. Sure enough, it was still nice to look at. With the white marbled gems encrusted into the gold centerpiece, lined with silver to make it stand out, it was perfect.

You just noticed something odd, though. In the middle of the piece of jewelry was a hole where a much larger jewel would be placed in, but it was empty. You supposed that it was due to simple old age, but now looking back on it, you found it much more strange that immediately after you put on the necklace, you conked out....

Loud, poignant cries interrupted your inspection and you quickly placed the necklace back around your neck, trying your best to hide it. Most of the voices outside were happily welcoming new guests that just rolled in, by the sounds of it. By the hushed whispers and exhilarated chitters that escalated in the diner, your heart raced with nervous excitement. With every resounding step and head turned to the front entrance, you could only guess it was-

Holy shit, were these small vultures Thra’s Lords everyone clambered about?

Of course, you showed no visible disrespect, simply sliding down further into your seat to remain unnoticed. But the tallest of the two couldn’t have been more than 5 feet, and both looked like they were going to fall dead any moment now with all the wrinkles that lined their faces!

One of them must have had a terrible vision problem, as their beak was lined with not one or two pairs of glasses, but three of them! His robes looked weathered and worn, but layers upon layers of fabric gave him a more pronounced form. It appeared he did most of the talking, but his near-pompous way of speaking left a bad taste in your mouth. However, he was charismatic, and the crowd bowed and welcomed him.

The other was much more...interesting, at least in your eyes. His beak was tilted more downwards and, obviously, much shorter than his talkative comrade. Bags under his deep blue eyes gave way to his bored expression, further implemented by his general poker face. His gloved talons fussed with the unmeasurable amount of lockets, jewelry, and other eye-catching trinkets that held onto his slightly-more intricate robes. It was clear he didn’t want to be here, and you felt awkward due to being the only person in the room who seemed to notice that. But, something else caught your eye on his side.

In one of his many satchels, a lavender light shined through the leather. Blinking a few times to register this odd sight, you felt a tingle in the familiar spot of where your necklace was. As the two Lords, Skeksis as the Gelflings call them, sat down at a large, private table, you swiftly took out the necklace again.

You couldn’t count how many times you were shocked today, but your eyes still conveyed a sense of surprise at the originally empty hole where the large gemstone should be dimly glowing. Putting it up in comparison, despite you being a bit more farther away from them, you can tell the satchel and necklace glowed with the same color of light.

You tucked it away just in time for Ulih to come over and sit down a plate of food in front of you. “What do you think about them?” She asked. “Pretty cool or what, huh?”

“Or what,” you murmured, continuing on. “Say, Ulih, what are their names? I don’t want to mix them up by calling every single one Lord or something.”

Ulih leaned on the table a bit and pointed towards the pompous one, who, despite being out of range, his voice still rang out across the diner as he seemed to whine over the travel getting here. “That’s the Scroll Keeper! He’s made pretty much all of our history books along with holding a library that’s said to be as large as 40 villages! Allia may not look like it, but she hopes one day to be an apprentice to him and help write accounts on his behalf. She’s a nerd, but I still gotta’ love my wife, no matter what interests she has!”

Ulih then focused onto the Skeksis next to the Scroll Keeper, who was absentmindedly nodding along and groaning at the clearly-exaggerated parts of his companion’s tales. “And that is the Treasurer! He hardly ever talks, but to each their own! You can also see he doesn’t really like hearing stories, with how he never seems to pay attention to what the other Lords are saying!”

“He keeps Thra’s largest collection of valuables inside the Castle, and is the main one besides the Collector, who’d rather prefer to organize them rather than keep them, to keep any tithes they deem suitable! Everything else is given to the Maudras or All-Maudra,” Ulih said, wrapping up her explanation before walking off to tend to other Gelflings.

While both were interesting as it was, due to how utterly bizarre they looked, you were more focused on the Treasurer and what his connection was with your necklace. You could see the Treasurer look down at his satchel while the Scroll Keeper rambled on, and visibly raised his (near non-existent) eyebrows when he saw the same light you noticed earlier glow with much more intensity.

You sunk further into your bench when he began to look around wildly, not caring if anyone saw him as suspicious (everyone was too keen on listening to Scroll Keeper’s obvious tall-tales anyways.) He grumbled inaudibly and fussed more with his hands. He let out a small hiss at Scroll Keeper when he stood up from their more luxuriously-decorated desk and nudged the Treasurer out of his annoyed stupor.

“Come now! We need to hurry and get the tithings done. Otherwise, the Maudra here might just think we skipped her village!” Scroll Keeper’s attempt at humor was accepted with everyone but the Treasurer and yourself. You don’t know why, since you were told to never judge a book by it’s cover, but you couldn’t shake off the feeling that the Skeksis just weren’t...trustworthy enough to your liking.

The Treasurer just huffed in response, and let out a harsher growl when the Scroll Keeper pushed him up and away towards the door, everyone else following a respectable distance behind them. No doubt they were going to get ready for the ceremony as well. But, you noticed something extremely convenient laying on their previously-occupied table.

The same light shone brightly from the satchel that the Treasurer accidentally left behind. While everybody else was busy following the Skeksis out of the door, you left behind your untouched food and snuck your way up to the table and made sure no-one else could see you. You still hated the awful feeling of stealing from someone else, but maybe whatever this thing that glowed so brightly could bring you back home?

Unlocking the satchel with ease, you opened it to find an abundant amount of gold coins and, no doubt what was causing the small beacon, a light purple gemstone roughly the size as the hole in your necklace. Bingo! Taking it out, you examined it a bit and found that it was indeed the perfect size. Just as you tucked it away in one of your cloak’s pockets, you felt the hairs on the back of your neck raise. An uncomfortable hush set around you as you turned around to face the crowd of Gelfling near the entrance.

The Treasurer was setting his piercing gaze right onto you.

Fuck, you should’ve known better! Immediately, you raced off the small ledge that held up the private table and back to where you entered from. Ulih came out of the kitchen just as you rushed past her. She yelled for you to come back, but the only thing on your mind was self-preservation at that moment.

Bursting through the diner’s back-doors, you ran right past the empty cart and back out into the village’s borders. Despite your consciousness telling you that this was extremely dangerous, your legs were on automatic as you raced through the unexplored forest in a panic. Your heartbeat quickened to a concerning amount, and soon sweat began dripping down your beat-red forehead. Was this what a deer feels when they’re being chased by a wolf? You wonder in your rushed mind. 

You didn’t know how far you were from Stone-in-the-Wood, but eventually you ended up at the edge of a clear pond. You wobbled over and landed with a crash onto your back, the exhilaration finally disappearing. Your chest heaved as you pondered over whether this was a good idea or not. As of right now, you were leaning more onto the latter side of things. Closing your eyes, you took deep breaths before sitting back up again. Your legs were screaming in pain and you still wheezed with how fast you ran off. Your hair was a mess now, and your clothes were nearly tattered. Blinking and still trying to comprehend what you just did, you dug into your pocket and took out the gemstone.

Taking off the necklace, you examined them together. Both were more radiant than ever, and the gem was the perfect size to fit inside the barren middle of the necklace. You were still juggling over the fact that stealing from one of the Lords of this planet was a very sound decision or not, but you hoped that maybe once you sat the jewel in its’ correct place, you could go home and forget all of this ever happened.

Your fingers trembled as you heard the jewel click perfectly into its’ intended spot. Shutting your eyes, you grimaced when the light flashed before you, everything turning to a flash of white before turning back to normal. You opened your eyes, and clenched the necklace tighter. You, a complete foreigner, were still here, on Thra, with a possible bounty over your head. Your teeth scraped your bottom lips in frustration, tears threatening to spill down your reddened cheeks. You were completely screwed anyways. At that moment, any semblance of anger or hopelessness gave way to fear when you heard a resonant sound of a twig snapping behind you.

“You, you.”

As embarrassing as it was, you let out a surprised shriek and nearly tumbled into the water as you turned to face the Treasurer, glaring you down with a snarl etched into his face.

You hated begging like this, but the Treasurer does look intimidating with small strands of messy hair converging out from under his red hood, and talons instinctively flexing in what could only be a sign of rage.

“I-I’m so sorry! I’m not around here! I promise, I meant you or anyone else no-”

“You, you, aren’t Gelfling.”

That stopped you in your tracks. You looked up to see the once maddened face of the Treasurer look in utter confusion and disbelief.

“No, no, don’t have pointy earsss,” he registered, sticking a talon at the sides of your head. “Mm, no, no, muzzzle. And not, not, ssshort.”

The way he talked was peculiar to you. He seemed to repeat certain words while elongating others, almost like a snake. Maybe this was why he didn’t like to talk much? It slightly disturbed you, with his hoarse voice and focused gaze, but you found that it was mainly...endearing, in some way you couldn’t describe.

“I...Yes, like I said, I’m not from Thra,” you explained, which appeared to peak his curiosity more. “My kind are called humans. I come from a planet named Earth, which I believe is very, very far from here.” The Treasurer blinked a few times.

“Humansss? Hu...mansss. Earth.” At first, you didn’t know why he was muttering those specific words you had literally just said, before it hit you that he must be trying to get used to saying it. Strangely, you found this endeavor kind of cute. Kind of.

Oh dear god, you must be going insane.

Finally, the Treasurer nodded. “Ssskeksssiss. I’m, I’m Ssskeksssiss. Already know,” he hissed out. He turned his attention to your feet, his eyes widening as he reached out. Next to your legs was the necklace you had, now in the palms of the thin Skeksis. His grin stretched out across his creased visage.

“My, my necklace! Lossst it, it many trinesss ago!” His eyes wildly scanned over the jewelry, his happiness and excitement over his lost necklace finally being found. It was almost infectious, if not for the still awkward tension hanging around you.

You hadn’t noticed much of what his small pupils looked like before you met him here, but you realized as he got closer to your face that they were shaped almost like pound signs. Only if you looked real hard though, which wasn’t that difficult for you as his beak was nearly touching your nose.

“How? Where did, did you, you find it, it at, at?” He stuttered out, his head quirked in a near identical way to an inquisitive bird. You tried your best to avoid his gaze as you awkwardly chuckled.

“Um, that’s sorta the problem. Like I said, I’m not around here. I seriously have no idea how your necklace ended up on my planet, but once I found it, I went unconscious. Next thing I knew, I was here in this forest,” you tried your best to explain. He still looked a bit baffled, but just in case, you tacked on, “I think it might be the cause of magic. But I tried to use that gemstone you had to get home, but it didn’t work.”

The Treasurer blinked, before looking downwards at his necklace. “Magic inhabitsss Thra like, like worms to, to dirt, dirt,” he explained. “What, what you, you sssay isss very, very plausssible.”

The two of you stayed quiet for a few moments. Truth be told, it was incredibly weird to be sitting beside one of the rulers of an entire planet when just a few hours ago you lived in a dingy apartment complex. Finally, the Treasurer perked up.

“You’re very, very interesssting! Never in, in my, my life have I, I ssseen sssomeone asss ssstrange asss you, you!” A small part of you felt insulted at the strange bit, but by the genuine smile plastered on the Treasurer’s face, you felt...fuzzy inside.

“Um, thanks! I’m honored to catch your eye, my Lord,” you bowed as much as you could while still sitting cross-legged on the soft grass beneath you.

“Ssskekssshod.”

“I-wait, what?”

“My, my name isss ssskekSsshod. Yoursss?”

You blinked a few times. From Ulih and Allia’s descriptions of them, the Lords were regal and to be respected. They never mentioned anything about their actual names, so you felt weird being so close to what could be considered a king on Thra already. It just so happens that that king is messing around with the necklace, holding it up and smiling whenever the sun(s) cascade on it to make it glimmer. You still had no idea why you were feeling these types of emotions when just minutes before you were being chased after him.

But, you tell him, to which he gave you a nod of apparent approval.

“It, it sssoundsss nice, nice! It, it sssuitsss you, you,” he complimented, and that fuzzy feeling grew exponentially. Were you two...bonding together? That idea is confirmed when skekShod points a finger for you to come over. Not knowing what else to do, you complied.

He spun you around so your back faced him, and you were about to question what he was doing when he combed his claws through your hair. A few quick combs made your hair much more accessible to accessorize.

“You, you have, have nice, nice hair! I, I ussed to, to asss well, well,” he commented, pulling out one of his many bags and opening it up to reveal an actual comb on top of a variety of clip-ons. “But, but! I, I look much, much better than, than the, the othersss.”

You guessed that the “others” he was talking about were the numerous Skeksis that ruled alongside him. You couldn’t help but chuckle at his bluntness, slapping a hand over your mouth as your eyes widened in horror. What if skekShod took your laughter as something rude or derogatory? But that quickly subsided when he chuckled at your reaction.

“No, no! I, I like, like your, your laugh. Isss cute!” He chortled, and you grinned sheepishly back. You couldn’t believe it, but sitting here next to skekShod has been the most peaceful thing since you arrived here. You didn’t really know how to respond further, so the two of you, despite your massive differences, sat in tranquil silence. The only noise that escaped was your combined soft breathing, the wind blowing through the trees above, and the slight clacks of skekShod’s bag whenever he goes to retrieve another trinket to put in your hair.

Time flashed by in your perspective, because before you knew it skekShod was pulling away to examine his work. “Ah! You, you look, look fantassstic! Here, here!” He stammered, grabbing a small pocket mirror from another one of his satchels and handing it to you.

Putting in front of your face, you blinked a couple of times in shock. Your hair, while still previously nice even with all the mess, looked astonishing now! skekShod placed a variety of small gemstones and pearls, all milky white that reflected perfectly against your mirror image. He also had a few tiny, decorative flowers that, while still fake, looked nearly lifelike!

“This-This is fantastic, skekShod! I don’t know what to say!” You stammered out a response, to which the Skeksis...blushed? You swore you saw a faint streak of pink flash across his face before he covered his face, clearly pretending to itch.

“You, you like, like it, it?” He let out his usual stutter, although it took on a more fitting tone of being flustered. Admittedly, for someone who looked like a prune, it was adorable, but you’d rather not say that out loud in case he thought you were patronizing him.

“Sure I do! You did an amazing job on this, skekShod! Thank you!” You smiled, and at that, you noticed his talons seemed to dig just a bit deeper in his robed lap, and his eyes rapidly moving as to not look directly at you.

“I, I know, know. You’re welcome,” he replied, near silent. The two of you stayed like that for just a bit, prior to him perking back up when he spotted the necklace near the both of you. Leaning over and clutching it, he glanced over the sparkling center jewel and the other gems that lined the piece of jewelry. Afterwards, he scooted a tad closer to you and raised up the necklace.

“Put, put head, head down, down,” he ordered, and while confused, you did as he said. Shifting the necklace so as to not disturb the ornaments in your hair, skekShod wrapped the carcanet back around your throat. You gazed up at him, baffled as to why he would give you something that he apparently lost a long time ago. He caught the drift immediately, soon vocalizing in his own special way once more.

“You’re very, very pretty with, with it, it. Sssince,” he shrugged, almost unnoticeable if the fabric around his shoulders were heavier. “You, you helped me, me find, find it, it. Consssider thisss a, a presssent.” You averted your eyes back onto the carcanet around your neck. While it didn’t help you return to Earth, it was still a damn fine-looking necklace. So, you nodded happily.

“Um, thank you, again! I know I shouldn’t question all this kindness, but-,” you trailed off a few until you picked back up. “Why have you been so nice to a foreigner like me? We’ve just met, but I still have the lingering feeling that I’m just causing trouble.”

At this, skekShod immediately shook his head. “No, no trouble! I, I...usss Lordsss have, have duty to, to watch over Thra. That, that includesss life, life living on, on it, it,” he explained. “Even if, if they, they are, are alien to, to us, us.”

A small moment of quiet hung over the two of you, and while the smart part of your brain practically screamed for you to just thank him again for his services and rush away from his presence, the more emotional side of yourself was triggered when you saw the slight jitters that vibrated skekShod. He still looked awfully nervous, if not more so. Even the way he rubbed his clawed fingers together reeked of anxiousness. Reaching over, you grasped his hand in the softest grip you could muster.

skekShod went still as you rubbed your thumb over the back of his hand, your palm touching the calloused, worn ones of the Skeksis Lord. By his reaction, it made you certain of one thing, something that through your years of living are experienced by so many people. And while you couldn’t say in your perspective, but maybe you as well. You had no idea what you were doing, but then again, when did you ever?

“SkekShod, if it’s not rude to ask,” you began, voice hushed. “Have you ever had someone...treat you nicely? As a person?” You felt almost like a therapist with the way you just spoke. However, the way the Skeksis’ eyes seemed to glaze over and mouth twitching at the corners, you were still bewildered when he shook his head no. While he remained silent, his grip around your hand began to grow tighter.

You were not the best person to go to when someone needs professional help, but you gave skekShod the only thing you knew what to give him. Wrapping your arms around his lower body while still remaining gentle enough not to startle him, you scooted over and leaned into his hitched sobs. They were barely audible, but the way his chest seemed to hiccup every time he let out a soft noise, you can presume you’re right. You weren’t the type to randomly hug people or be the receiver of these kinds of platonic affection, but the way skekShod’s talons gripped at the back of your cloak gave you enough reason not to pull away.

The two of you stayed like that for a bit, allowing one of the Lords of Thra to show emotion with nobody else around to judge. Finally, once the suns overhead began to grow dim as evening approached, skekShod let out a drawn-out sigh before releasing his hold on you. He dabbled one of the fabric strips upon his robes to his eyes, wiping away any remaining tears. You gave him some space to breathe, which he gladly accepted.

You assisted him with packing his accessories up, but when you offered your hair trinkets back to him, you were told that would be needless. That made your interest develop more into what that meant for you. All the meanwhile, he kept relatively close to you, which you found understandable in his circumstance.

What got to you the most, though, was when skekShod shed some light on the heavy atmosphere around the both of you and admitted he straight-up left the Scroll Keeper to do the tithings by himself.

“Wait! You mean to tell me that all this time, that other Lord was being bombarded with Gelflings worshipping the ground he walks on? Today must’ve been hell for him!” You laughed, followed by skekShod’s chortle.

“Yesss, it’sss the, the truth, truth! He, he dessserved it, it! Alwaysss a, a ssstuck-up prude!”

This week, you would’ve never thought you’d wake up in a completely different world just to find out one of the rulers have been one of the kindest people you’ve ever met! And they’re not even a person! Soon, he clicked his original satchel back to its’ intended spot and began walking back to Stone-in-the-Wood. You were about to go a different way when skekShod noticed.

“Endlesss Foressst, not, not sssafe at, at night. Come, come with, with me, me and, and Ssscroll Keeper. We, we need, need to, to tell the, the Emperor of, of your, your exissstence,” skekShod waved you over to his side. You were a bit concerned about this.

“How will the Scroll Keeper react? Will he mind?” You asked.

“No, no. If, if he, he doesss, he, he better keep, keep his, his mouth ssshut.” Once again, he beckoned you to follow him, and with his encouragement, you followed skekShod through the trail you two created and back to Stone-in-the-Wood, and eventually, the Castle of the Crystal.

As a Skeksis, his pride and ego is the only thing restraining him from telling you about his actual feelings. Yes, he was enraged at first that someone would dare thieve from him, but seeing you huddled up in fear with those large eyes and unique features, something strange clicked inside him.

He still can’t describe what it is, but he feels amazing if you so much as give a passing glance to him. It’s not just your appearance, but the empathy and compassion you shared to him was what made his heart flutter. And when you so much as touched him, it felt like everything else didn’t matter, and that you were the one person who didn’t worship him or spat at him like his other Skeksis brethren did behind closed doors. You treated him with love, pure love, and by Thra’s might alone, he was the only one who was going to have it.

Because, my dear, you might not have known it at the time, but when you placed your hand into his, the two of you became inseparable. No matter what, he wasn’t going to let anyone else take you away from him. You were his precious, rare diamond in his eyes.

He is the Treasurer after all. And once something has caught his unbridled attention, it is his forever.