Chapter Text
Flying.
He was flying.
He would have to tell father, he was finally flying on his own; he would be so excited!
But--
But then he was falling.
Screaming uselessly, the wind stealing the breath from his lungs.
He couldn’t breathe.
Oh gods, he couldn’t breathe.
Tumbling end over end through the sky, scrambling for any kind of purchase to right himself.
His wings flapped in vain.
He wasn’t ready.
He didn’t see the ground coming, only the beautiful blue above.
But he felt it.
And that, he couldn’t forget.
--
He woke with a start, tears in his eyes and blankets crumpled in his fists, his entire body shaking with phantom pains radiating from the perfect scars on his back. He sat up with his knees to his chest, head hanging between them until it felt like his spine could rip out of his skin.
Nightmares like this were nothing new. In fact, they had run through his mind so many times they were practically burned into his consciousness.
He never knew what they meant, probably some symbolic jargon that he couldn’t be bothered to learn about, but sometimes he wished someone could tell him; then at least he would have some explanation.
This one was worse than usual. He really didn’t feel like getting up.
But, no rest for the weary as they say, so he begrudgingly got out of his terribly comfortable bed and got dressed for the day.
Putting his hat on his head and his badge on his vest, he took a breath and prepared for the long day this was bound to be.
After all, Tumble Town needed its sheriff, and Jimmy wasn’t one to keep the people waiting.
🗲
He took one last breath and put a smile on his face, pushing the door open and walking out into the blazing sun.
He tipped his hat to a few people passing by, earning friendly waves and smiles from some of the townsfolk and giggles from the children running past. Greeting the residents of Tumble Town was always a surefire way to improve Jimmy’s morning, and although he woke up before most of the town, many of them still decided to get an early start on the day’s work so they could get the most out of the daylight they had.
While they certainly weren’t starved for daylight in the mesa, it was still smart to put it to good use; there was plenty of work to do, when all’s said and done.
Speaking of work…
He put his hands in his pockets and started the short stroll down to the jailhouse, whistling along to some tune coming out of the saloon, occasionally nodding and giving a casual “mornin’” to people he passed.
He got to the building less than a minute later and went through the side door into his office, still humming along to the faint sounds of the waking town outside. He shut the door and turned to his desk, sighing and slumping his shoulders at all the paperwork still on it from previous sessions of effort.
He tried to get it done, he really did, but something always interrupted his progress; between citizens needing help with personal tasks and the recent problem of bandits relentlessly raiding the town, he could never get through it before more came along.
Which of course led to this, a giant pile of important looking forms sitting smugly on his desk.
He glared at them for a solid minute before admitting defeat and shuffling over to his chair, pulling out a pen and grabbing the paper on top of the pile.
A long day indeed.
🗲
After a few hours of miraculously uninterrupted work, Jimmy had sifted through and signed more than half the stack and was beyond ready to take a break. He picked up the last paper for the time being and was preparing to sign some document or form, before realizing that it was neither; it was a letter, signed with only the name Glimmer Grove in a curling font.
Huh. Don’t get letters often. Must be important.
He stared at the ornate wax seal, a flower of some kind crossing over a beautiful swirling sword. Even the wax was intricately and intentionally placed, a perfect circle of dusty pink varnish with little spots of dark grey that almost looked like flowers speckled throughout.
He considered taking his break now and dealing with this once he came back, but after a moment’s deliberation he grabbed a dagger out of his drawer and ripped open the top of the envelope, pulling out the paper inside and unfolding it. He read the first line:
Dear emperor James of Tumble Town,
He stopped immediately.
That was unexpected.
No one ever called him James, and he was certainly no emperor.
That wasn’t to say Jimmy didn’t have his fair share of power in Tumble Town, but he was a sheriff; a protector, not a ruler.
And how did these people know his name anyway?
It has come to the attention of the royal council that many of the leaders in the surrounding areas are unnecessarily divided in their efforts of growth and expansion.
Jimmy didn’t even really know what half those words meant, but growth was good, so he read on.
We in the allied empires of Glimmer Grove and Dawn have taken this into consideration and begun work on more thoroughly connecting our various settlements through the alliance of one leader to another.
So, this fancy letter was to ask him… if he wanted to be friends? It was oddly formal if that was the case, but they never turned down new buddies in Tumble Town.
Due to the nature of these efforts, your presence is requested at the Glimmer Grove meeting hall before mid-sun on the first day of the week. Your attendance is not mandatory, but we cannot ensure the safety of your empire or your personal being if you choose to neglect this request.
As always, we wish only to bring these empires together, but our ability to incorporate your empire in our endeavors relies on your appearance, so do consider this an official summon and thoroughly deliberate your decision.
Best wishes,
Princess Katherine of Glimmer Grove and Princess Gemini of Dawn
⚜
Well.
That’s strange.
He read over it again, and again for good measure.
He didn’t miss the subtle threat.
“We cannot ensure the safety of your empire or your personal being if you choose to neglect this request.”
It made him a bit uneasy, but the Sheriff would not be threatened into going to some meeting with a bunch of stuck-up emperors.
But we could use the alliances…
But it was disrespectful! No one disrespects the sheriff, let alone a couple princesses that have probably never seen a tool in their lives.
But it could be useful, we can’t do everything on our own…
But he could! He didn’t need alliances or emperors; Tumble Town had done perfectly fine before, why should they reach out now?
But…
But, but, but. The reasons swirled around his head, why he should, why he shouldn’t. Eventually he slammed his hands on the desk and shot out of his chair, grabbing his hat from the hook by the door and shutting it behind him. He scurried past the tool smith’s and made a beeline for the saloon; he always got his best advice there.
🗲
Really, there were only two places Martyn could be: his house, or the saloon. This morning, it just so happened to be the latter.
Jimmy pushed open the swinging doors and immediately saw the old sheriff passed out on the counter, white and grey streaked hair falling into his face. He rolled his eyes at the fact that he had likely spent yet another night here.
He gave the bartender a nod and went over to sit on the stool next to the sleeping man, catching a glass of water a moment later and tapping it twice in front of Martyn’s face.
It was always a toss-up over how long it would take to wake him up, but today seemed to be a decent one, only taking a minute or so for him to raise his head and give a lopsided smile, crows’ feet crinkling in the corners of his eyes.
“Jimmy! How are you kid? Haven’t seen you in ages!” He threw his arms out to the sides, smacking the counter with the motion.
“You saw me yesterday, Martyn, you came into my office to talk about how strange sand is.” The old man had thought up some odd conversation topics, but that had been more bizarre than usual.
“Oh. Right. Well then—" he straightened his back and took a swig of water before slamming the cup back down on the table—“what d’ya need son? Sheriff problems?” The old man wasn’t the best at dealing with non-sheriff problems, so he always asked, in hopes that it was something he knew how to help with.
“Uh, not exactly?” Martyn’s smile faltered slightly; it seemed this wouldn’t be something he could easily handle. “It’s more so a general… um… ruler problem?” Jimmy cringed as he settled on the words. He had never considered himself a ruler, which was why he was asking for advice in the first place, but saying it so plainly just felt wrong.
Martyn looked surprised; Jimmy had never called himself anything but the sheriff before, not even something so vague. The protector of Tumble Town maybe, but that was always just for theatrics when he felt like making the local kids giggle.
“Oh, uh… you know I ain’t too good with all that, kid…” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, the table suddenly looking very interesting.
“I know, I’m not either, that’s why I’m askin!” He buried his face in his hands before running them through his hair, staring intensely at the glass on the counter with his brows furrowed, as if it could solve all his problems if he glared long enough.
Martyn hated seeing his old deputy like this, so confused and frustrated. He didn’t know much about much, but…
“Well, I s’pose I could always take a shot at it…” Jimmy looked up at him and let out a relieved sigh, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “What seems to be the problem?”
Jimmy fished the letter out of his pocket before handing it over and explaining the predicament.
“I’m just not sure if I should go or not. Allies can be useful, but…” His focus wandered the room as he waited for Martyn to finish reading.
“Huh…” His eyes snapped back to his sheriff’s face, scrunched up in thought.
“…So? What do I do?” He asked.
“Well kid, I don’t know what a whole lot of these words mean, but it sounds like a good idea to at least make an appearance,”
Jimmy sighed and slumped against the back of the barstool.
“But they threatened Tumble Town, Martyn! I can’t do what they say after they’ve disrespected me!” He folded his arms across his chest, resolve cracking when he heard the old Sheriff sigh.
“Listen Tim, it ain’t all about who’s respectin’ ya and who’s not, it’s about what’s best for Tumble Town.” He sat up straighter and put his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “This sounds to me like as good an opportunity as ever for some growth around here. If it ends up bein’ a bad idea you can always come on back, but you may as well try,”
Jimmy hung his head and huffed out a breath of air.
“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt…” He mumbled, earning a laugh and a hearty slap on the back from the old Sheriff.
“Atta boy! I know you’ll make the best decision for Tumble Town, don’t worry!” Martyn was practically beaming, and Jimmy couldn’t help but smile as well.
“You better get goin’ if you wanna get there in time, good luck kiddo!” Jimmy looked at him confusedly, tilting his head slightly.
He must think it’s the first of the week, poor guy.
“Martyn, it’s the end of the week, not the first. The meeting is tomorrow.” The man squinted back at him, looking very confused.
“Nah kid, pretty sure it’s the first today.”
“How much’ve you had to drink? It’s definitely the last of the week.”
“No no, it’s the first. That meetin’ is today.”
“No, it’s—” The bartender cleared her throat and both sheriffs turned to look.
“If I may interject…” They nodded in unison. “It’s the first.” She said, before taking Martyn’s cup and walking away.
The two stared for a moment before glancing at each other and promptly bursting out in laughter.
This was what Jimmy loved about being around the old Sheriff. It was so hard to be in a bad mood around him.
A few minutes of joking later, they had finally calmed down enough that Martyn pushed himself up and cracked his back, slinging his arm around Jimmy’s shoulder and leading them out of the saloon.
“Now you take Bullseye and scurry on over to that fancy-shmancy meetin’, eh?” Martyn said, and patted him on the back so hard his hat almost fell off.
He righted it again and nodded. “Yea yea, I’ll grab him. He’ll be excited to get out of town for once.” He gazed off to where the stables were, anticipation building. It had been a while since he’d been riding.
“Hey.” Jimmy looked back as Martyn’s hands settled on his shoulders. “I know I don’t say it often, but I’m proud of you, son. You’ve done Tumble Town good, and I’m sure you’ll be the best darn Sheriff at that meetin’, you hear?”
Jimmy always knew Martyn was proud of him. He said it constantly, despite what he might claim, and it had always been clear that the old Sheriff trusted him to make the right decisions. Even still, it always felt nice to know that he had done something right.
“I got it, Sheriff.” He smiled. Martyn pulled him in for a quick hug and a pat on the back, before barking at him to get to the meeting before he was late.
He tipped his hat and turned for the stables, speed growing until he was all but sprinting through the doors. Giving a short nod to the stable hand, he fitted his saddle onto Bullseye and led him out into the scorching midday sun. He jumped onto his back and leaned down to his ear.
“Ready to go for a ride?”