Journeys with a Prothean (Year Two)

[notavirtue]

Javik   COURT Unseelie TITLE Border Shark ABLE TO FAST-TRAVEL  Yes. Possesses Maglor's Magic Ring, but doesn't tell anyone RESIDENCE IN 2,701 Caer Scima/The Station RESIDENCE IN 2,702 You can't tie down a banjo man   MAJOR EVENTS   Promotion Following his participation in the war and his work along the borders, Javik is given the title of Captain within the Unseelie army. Treun Javik attends the summer Tourney in Treun, and meets with the Governor again. Amunet Javik learns the secret of Vanessa's Ives possession during Samhain.

YEAR ONE | YEAR TWO | YEAR THREE TIMELINE OF EVENTS SPRING IN 2,701 (Mar, Apr, May) MARCH - The new king of birds brings late snowstorms and a deep freeze to the Drabwurld. Visiting the ruins of Caer Scima, Javik travels with Katsa to assist refugees to the Third Tooth of Dorchadas. Javik visits Vanessa's spire, and once the snow has gone, he visits Damon and his sand worms. Maglor will be gone, having left Javik his magic ring and a shard-palantir. Javik is now the last of the Fellowship of Grumpy Old Men (and a Genie). Aragorn uses the shard-palantir to contact those that also have one. APRIL - Reul's Right Hand, The Winter King and Unseelie General Saber Alter recruits Javik as an officer in the military. Not one to let emotions get control of him, Javik will bust up that harp as soon as he realizes what's going on. Time not spent flipping out about harps will be used to continue patrolling Dorchadas. MAY - No more lockets or fairy rings or monarchs! Javik goes swan hunting, and racks up some cash to fund his travels. He stops in at the new trading post, meeting Vol'jin's brother-of-sorts, Thrall. At the Station he crosses paths with Midna, and they both head south together. Unfortunately, the road to Treun is awfully close to Seelie territories... SUMMER IN 2,701 (Jun, Jul, Aug) JUNE - Javik attends, but does not participate in the tourneys at Treun. He reconnects with Effy, Ben and Hikaru, and meets Diarmuid and Katherine. Athame has her second litter of puppies in the city. Following the tourney he meets with Debal to discuss replacing Vridan's grave marker... and the governor gets to dogsit Prativ for awhile.  JULY - Javik heads south to Leathann, and is entirely unaware of the hangings in Daonna until news reaches that far south. AUGUST - Leathann's Festival of Lights occurs during the second week. Javik attends and observes, and visits the Tower of the Oracle. While there's no obvious mark left behind by Vridan, the design of the tower is reminiscent of the architecture found on Feros and Eden Prime. Returning to the mainland, Javik teams up with Diarmuid to take down some rampant forest golems. FALL IN 2,701 (Sept, Oct, Nov) SEPTEMBER - Language is of no concern to him when people lose the ability to understand one another. He returns to Treun for the wreath festival, and is knee-deep in the resulting riots. 'Wish you were here' postcard material. Ben takes a look through Javik's eyes to check up on him, and Javik doesn't appreciate it. OCTOBER - Samhain! Javik meets Wan (twice), argues with Damon, gets drunk with Unseelie soldiers and the Brucolac, gets harassed by Effy and Archer and dances with Vanessa. He later returns to Vanessa's spire despite her warning against it.  NOVEMBER - After Samhain, Javik makes his yearly trip to Loch Sluagh, to visit the grave of Vridan and replace the marker. Following this he will return to Dorchadas to pick up his duties in the Unseelie army. WINTER IN 2,701/2,702 (Dec, Jan, Feb) DECEMBER - Protheans may have evolved as hunters, but the White Hart gets the drop on him. Javik will be a bear for the remainder of the month. JANUARY - Travelling Dorchadas and/or a bear. FEBRUARY - Travelling Dorchadas. Javik catches up with Katsa at the third spire, Diasbaile. SPRING IN 2,702 (Mar, Apr) MARCH - The skeletons strike while Javik is at Damon's spire. APRIL - Missing fairies. Who cares.

( codes by whambam )( art source )

Comments

SPRING IN 2,701 (Mar, Apr, May)

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late february | closed to maglor

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[cont.]

It was a scene he'd seen a few times now - varren parents and pup all stepping on one another, with someone caught in between. Maglor was well-suited to being in the midst of animals, alien or not.

"I have not seen the castle yet, only heard reports." And if Maglor was asking about his injuries, he'd find a way to keep deflecting the topic. "I am surprised it is still standing. Perhaps this will be the last of anyone declaring it a safe and neutral territory."

Even without a war, the Station had been attacked before. When would people learn that no place was safe?

[bythewaves]

Maglor lets them gambol, sure that Athame & Prativ will curtail any foolishness on the pup's behaviour.

"It is as bad as you have heard." Maglor nods. "I went back in, mother's statues you see - they are still there. We used a protection charm and so they are still standing, but the same cannot be said for the castle.

He eyes Javik with a raised eyebrow. Stop deflecting.

"The Station? It will always be neutral, I think. But it will be harder to live there, this is true. Muscovy and I have claimed one of the rooms for ourselves. Amusingly, the TV is still intact."

He shrugs. "There are no safe places. Only refuges. Javik, how bad?"

[notavirtue]

Well, at least something was still standing there, even it was just art. He supposed they couldn't be bothered to charm the armory or something of that effect, but Javik had vastly different priorities than everyone else.

"Perhaps neither court will claim it, or successfully keep it, but it is not immune by any means." He snorted. "Of course something so useless would survive."

Sorry Maglor, he was slamming your friday pastime and wasn't even sorry about it.

"Not bad," he answered, before plowing on ahead: "Your mother is uninjured?"

[bythewaves]

"Sometimes, you need the useless things" Maglor shrugs. "Perhaps it was so useless that no one noticed it was there."

'Not bad', Maglor knows, can mean many things, but, well. Javik is walking, so... he'll take it.

"Yes - We feared the statues might be destroyed, with as much of herself as she put into them... but they are well, and I got her out in time. Have you need of a healer?"

Or maybe he won't.

[notavirtue]

Javik begged to differ - if it was useless, you didn't need it. It got in the way, and you were better off without it. Unfortunately, it brought up the line of thought that he had survived the Reapers for just that reason. One prothean in stasis was hardly worth digging up, and he'd gone unnoticed while the galaxy passed him by. Useless.

He meant to respond, concerning the statues, but snapped his mouth shut in favor of leveling the elf with a glare.

"No. I received adequate care on the field."

He only nags because he worries~

[bythewaves]

Sometimes, it is the things that everyone thinks are useless that are the most important, but Maglor is from before that happened in his world, and he does not know that story yet.

Instead he crooks an eyebrow up at Javik.

"By whom, my friend? Because if you are the only one who has seen your injuries I must be concerned that you are either hiding something serious or may have missed something."

caring is gross, stop it

[notavirtue]

"A young human woman. She was capable," he said, quick and to the point. "And I am perfectly capable of seeing to my own injuries, Maglor."

Mostly out of habit, and sometimes because he didn't trust aliens to know what was under his armor. The less they knew, the harder it would be for them to kill him. Theoretically. Besides, if he had a serious wound, he would never have called the elf. He would have known instantly, and Javik wouldn't tolerate the meddling.

well so is bleeding all over the floor, you stop it

[bythewaves]

"As long as they are seen to." Maglor allows. "Some injuries are difficult to treat on your own."

Or he could have called and gotten Maglor to take him to a healer, that too.

"And from here? Where will you go?"

MARCH

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APRIL

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MAY

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SWANHUNT 2015 | THIRD SPIRE/DORCHADAS

[notavirtue]

Magic, he'd always assumed, was just science that couldn't be explained. There was always an explanation, even if he lacked the technical expertise to figure it out for himself. More to the point, he didn't ever put his trust in something he didn't fully understand, even if he was guilty of using it. The lockets, while suspect, were useful. The fairy rings made travel a simple matter, like a scaled down version of the mass relays. There were rules in this world that couldn't be ignored, so he adapted as best he could.

When April ticked over to May, however, everyone had to adapt again. Like an overheated rifle or a mass relay controlled by Reapers, the things they took for granted to communicate and travel were now gone. The fairy rings no longer closed distances with a word, and there was talk that some had stepped through one side… and not out the other. Javik made note to avoid the areas where they were grown altogether, out of an abundance of caution. While his locket became unresponsive, he still wore it around his neck, tucked away safely under the collar of his armor. He had strung Maglor’s ring on the chain with it, and that seemed the best place to keep them both.

The loss of the fairy rings forced him to rethink the vague plans of travel he’d come up with after the battle. He wanted to return to Treun, and later Leathann, but both cities seemed infinitely far away now. Contending with Seelie territory was another issue, yet the one he was least concerned about. Let them try. He’d intended to stay at Ariadne’s spire for a longer period of time, but if he wanted to be that far south before it was winter all over again, he needed to get moving.

★★★

And then the swans had arrived. As best they could tell, the birds had flocked in from the south, but once they reached Dorchadas they were nothing short of a nightmare. The forest had survived the fires of an army and the deep freeze of winter, just barely showing hints of life, and now this. Eating crops wasn't bad enough on its own, of course - they made a mess everywhere they went. Some natives took to chasing them off with brooms, only to get bit in return. Gleaming, golden feathers made them look regal, but they had a nasty disposition.

So, Javik had sent Athame and Prativ out to thin the population around the spire before things got bleak. Athame returned to him first, head and tail up proudly as she trotted back with her kill. The swan was still alive when she dropped it at his feet, but when he bent to finish it off, feather and flesh alike turned hard, solidifying into pure gold. Little more than a trinket, now, he could do nothing but stare at it.

It really shouldn't have surprised him. Killing and eating a pest that threatened crops was just too easy. Of course it would turn into gold. Of course, how ridiculous of him to think otherwise. On the bright side, gold had a lot of weight in this world, and there were dozens, if not hundreds of those birds in the forest. You couldn't replace meals with lumps of metal, unfortunately, but at least the swans would serve a purpose.

Armed with his crossbow and two varren, Javik took a sturdy pack horse (really, the only one that didn't try to kick him) and set off into the woods.

TEN ACTUAL YEARS LATER

[boutant]

Swans, of all things. Swans. Ariadne knows perfectly well that they can be dangerous by themselves, not just when they're eating crops (which- what), but honestly. It was another bit of nonsense from the Drabwurld, but seeing as the moon was still happily in the sky and no one was trying to butcher entire castles at the moment, it was almost a relief.

Almost.

Ariadne had sent out bounties as soon as the swan problem had become clear; kill the swans, gain gratitude and their gold bodies. People still had to eat, so hunters were also being offered compensation to hunt actual game instead of the swans, and Ariadne went out into the wild herself. Mounted on her bandersnatch, with Minnie the varren on one side and Brennan the wolf on the other and her own crossbow, they make a good team. It is, as usual, Minnie who catches the scent of her parents first; she drops the stick she had found and decided to drag along and rushes forward, dodging stumps while Ariadne and the others follow at a more sedate pace.

"Javik, is that you?" She can't see him yet; there are a lot of trees, after all.

/brushes off cobwebs

[notavirtue]

The sound of a scuffle greeted her first, as the three varren reunited in a flurry of barks and rough housing. Minnie wasn't so small anymore that her parents could just walk all over her, and the thrill of the hunt had already worked them up. It sounded a lot worse than it actually was, thankfully.

They broke it up when Javik appeared behind them, and Prativ dashed over to Brennan first. Both varren were dirty already from running in the woods, and Athame paused to lick the blood of a swan off her muzzle. Honestly, the birds turning to gold probably drove them crazy, being unable to eat their own kills. So far they hadn't tried to eat the gold, at least.

"Yes, Baroness." Javik arced a brow at the sight of the bandersnatch - like many animals, it seemed when they grew up, they grew up fast.

/sneezes

[boutant]

Minnie, unlike her parents, went to go sniff at Javik and the horse. She wasn't exactly attached -- he wasn't affectionate -- but he was familiar, and she had to make sure that he didn't smell like... whatever it was varren didn't want people to smell like.

Brennan goes to greet Prativ with a sniff and a nudge, tail wagging; he doesn't mind the blood and the dirt, wouldn't be very good at his job if he did. Straton tries to sniff at Athame as Ariadne gets closer, remembering a few of their grooming sessions.

"Any luck with the swans? I just got out here."

gross

[notavirtue]

Javik spared the brief gesture of touching Minnie's head, letting her smell his hand before pulling it away. It was, at best, the most affectionate display he ever gave towards the varren, but it also allowed him a quick background check. That was out of curiosity, of course, and not any concern for her well being. Ariadne was one of the few people he trusted around here, as much as he was capable.

"The varren have killed five so far," he said, watching Prativ decide Brennan passed the test. Whatever test it might have been. "I have gotten two. They bite."

Not that they had teeth, but sometimes it was easy to forget that birds could be real assholes.

:'D

[boutant]

It's all very much the spire and the manor and chasing things around them; Minnie is fairly content, as varren go. Maybe Ariadne should travel with her more often, but she hasn't had cause to in a while.

"Swans are surprisingly angry creatures. Did you know they can break a man's arm with their wings?" Now you do, Javik.

[notavirtue]

Javik frowned, as if thinking for a moment he should've been more cautious in his hunting. It passed, though - he'd already killed enough of them to prove they weren't that much of a threat.

"Then we should break their wings first," he finally said, hefting his crossbow again. "I was following a herd of them south when they smelled your varren."

Herd, gaggle, flock, whatever.

LATE MAY | THE ROAD SOUTH | CLOSED

[notavirtue]

The Station, it seemed, was simply never going to recover. It had taken months for the damage done to it by Ariadne and Shadow monsters to be repaired, and now it looked like a Reaper had fallen on it. The Jabberwok sounded as though it had been just as deadly, and the fact that the hills were missing just solidified that.

Javik was just passing through, thankfully. He’d lived at the Station for a few scant weeks, before the need to travel pulled at him again. It worked in his favor, apparently – he wouldn’t have wanted to be here or at Caer Scima when the battle came down. He lingered long enough to see a few familiar faces, and one in particular took an interest in what he was doing, and where he was going.

While Javik usually preferred to travel alone, the further south he went, the more dangerous things were going to get. Even if Treun was open to Seelie and Unseelie alike, the road there went right up against a lot of Caer Glaem’s territory. Getting that far south without trouble was likely impossible, so he didn’t refuse when Midna suggested they go together. Just to look at her, one wouldn’t think she was cut out for this sort of life. Still, their first conversation had been interesting, and he wanted to see what she was capable of here.

The two varren, Athame and Prativ, often ran ahead. When they brought back small game, Javik added it to the small load the single pack horse he’d purchased was carrying. The horse still shied away from him, but with enough carrots and time, that was changing. At times Javik would fish in the Aster with his bare hands, so they were never really hungry or wanting for food. He kept a sharp eye on the other side of the river, though, watching and waiting for trouble.

It was midday now, and they’d paused for a break, both for themselves and the horse. Once they crossed the Aster, the landscape would give way to the rolling plains of Treun. That, he thought, was the worst place to be. There was nowhere to hide out there, although it did made ambushes difficult.

"Can you see the varren?" He was digging through one of the packs tied to the horse, glancing over at Midna briefly. The pair of them had been gone for a few hours, though they rarely went out too far.

[envoyoftwilight]

In spite of the fall of Caer Scima, Midna was more than a little thrilled just to see Javik. She'd spent a majority of her time in Mair at Ganondorf's behest, but she couldn't simply sit or stand around looking pretty. Until Mair's lord needed her, she found herself interested in the landscape. It'd be hard to gain influence without being a little more 'in the know,' and with Scima, that had already become a bit more difficult than she'd wanted it to be.

All the same, when she learned of Javik's intentions, she couldn't resist wanting to accompany him, regardless of what he thought of her. While she liked him plenty, she was under the impression that perhaps he didn't quite feel the same in return. And she couldn't blame him for that. Few people could, after all, stomach the extended presence of one sarcastic and oft snooty princess. Yet he'd permitted her to attend and perhaps that was out of curiosity.

His beast companions she took almost an immediate like to. It was almost like travelling with a wolf, or shadow kargaroks. Basically she found beauty in even the grotesque and the varren weren't particularly aesthetically pleasing. But she was utterly charmed by them and in their personal companionship almost never stopped with her sly, secretive smile. Having one herself would have proven useful.

Javik himself, was useful, and she had a distinct appreciation for that. She kept her ears attentive, able to pick up on most of the subtle sounds, but when it came down to the truth of things, she couldn't claim to be anywhere near as practical. Even with Link, she'd mostly delegated responsibility. Working with Wan had been a special case and all things considered, Midna still preferred to live a luxurious life, as much as she didn't want to admit to it aloud.

A hand at her hip, when Javik addressed her, Midna was taking in their environment, finding it all too bright for her preference. Although Zelda's kindness had given her the ability to withstand it, that never lasted forever. Consequently, Midna found herself attempting to retreat better beneath her cloak and silently praying for night to fall. She squinted at his question and quickly began an investigative scouting with her eyes.

"...Not from here," she admitted, knowing her eyes weren't so good. "If they are hunting, they will return in their own time." Looking over to Javik, she cocked an eyebrow, "You do not think they are merely hunting, perhaps. What do you propose we do? I doubt they come to a call of 'puppy, puppy, puppy.'" But then to be fair, Link never would have come to that, either.

[notavirtue]

Javik gave her a sidelong look at that answer, before pulling out the map he'd been searching for in his pack. Despite being made of paper, it had held up surprisingly well since imps had given it to him over a year ago. He tried not to think about the fact that magic was probably tied to it, like everything else around here.

"I am not concerned," he said, noting the way she kept herself under that cloak whenever the sun was too bright. Given the time of year, that was more often than not, and she seemed a lot more comfortable after dark. Whatever her species, he didn't question it; having someone else with sharp night vision meant they were that much safer. "Whatever they are doing, they will return. It has simply been longer than usual."

Some cycles he paid attention to, others not so much. Athame's behavior had been off the past few weeks, and only recently was he realizing it was similar to her heat last October. So, the varren being out of sight and out of mind was probably a small blessing. Vanishingly small when he realized another litter was likely on its way. Judging by the way Midna had taken to them, and they to her, he hoped that was at least one pup spoken for.

"If you are hungry, now is the time to eat." Javik didn't intend to make a fire, but their food was walking away as the horse took the opportunity to get away from him.

[envoyoftwilight]

"I don't doubt that animals have a way of finding themselves in danger just as much as their owners, and likely when they least expect it."

It was spoken carefully, but with a distinct blatant demeanour that was so very Midna. Never one for futzing around, the princess had never been much for tact and that seemed to suit her well, especially in Javik's company. Two peas in a pod. Not necessarily the most friendly peas, but what was that saying...? Birds of a feather flock together. Or something like it. And Midna wasn't so blind as to not be capable of seeing that to some degree, Javik was someone she could not only sympathise with, but also agree with on many points.

"No matter," she continued. "You know them best. If you are confident in them, I will be as well." His question caused her to raise an eyebrow. Since Scima's fall and her relocation to Mair, Midna had found much of her appetite either waned or hardly present. If she'd eaten well in the Twilight Realm, she'd certainly grown more accustomed to the lesser finer things in the Drabwurld, especially during travels.

Midna set her gaze on him pointedly, "Are you? I have no knowledge in cooking anything. Or do you even cook what you eat? I would almost think you more interested in your food being raw." Which wasn't even an insult, despite the very convenient way it could have been misconstrued as one. If anything, she was almost... amused by the concept.

[notavirtue]

The wilderness was far more dangerous than a road, even if this one wasn't necessarily paved. Still, even if they came across a larger predator, he wasn't concerned, as he said. They'd make it back eventually - and if they didn't, then so be it.

"There is still salted meat," he said, meeting her pointed look with one of his own. Back home, he'd never eaten in front of anyone. Here, he'd been forced to give up that paranoid habit, especially when travelling with company. There was just no good way to sneak a meal without being even more suspicious. "But you are correct in thinking that I prefer raw over cooking."

Sometimes, after he caught a fish in the river, he'd eat it right then and there. The fresher, the better, even if it wasn't seafood. Pulling the horse back onto the road, he opened the map, spreading it over the horse's pack as a flat surface and squinted at it. At least they were making good time, and the weather had been... behaving. Mud slowed them down more than anything.

"Do not expect me to cook for you," he finally finished, as an after thought. When Javik cast another glance at her, he wound up doing a double take, before frowning at something behind her. They were still some distance off, but someone else was coming up the road.

[envoyoftwilight]

His response was less surprising than the concept that she was right. Naturally there was nothing wrong with her being correct and rather, Midna preferred that. But for her, it'd been nothing more than conjecture and there was something pleasant in knowing that for so little she knew of Javik, she'd been able to draw such an accurate conclusion. For some, eating habits meant nothing, but Midna was as every bit observant and clever as Ganondorf had remarked. That would genuinely come in handy while traversing the Drabwurld.

"Do not expect me to cook for you," he said. Once more a sly curve hooked into her mouth and she had every reason to begin one of several charmingly entitled ways to respond. "Oh, please..."

Yet the way he very pointedly set his attention elsewhere, and so abruptly at that, gave her not only pause, but successfully had her physically turning toward whatever had unpleasantly enraptured him so. "What is it, Javik?" And even as she said it, her insides tensed. Without a doubt the rule of the oh-so-foreign land was to expect the unexpected, and while she was keen on survival, a little more familiar with what she lacked in terms of skills, she had to wonder how long she could keep on 'keeping on' by way of her hair alone.

In other words, she knew she wasn't invincible and her power was nothing in the Drabwurld in comparison to what it was in the Twilight. "...What do you see that I... do not?" she asked a bit quieter as she scrutinised the distance.