Drabble 324

Finished on time at 6:58 but not uploaded until later.

Aengus had finally found the location for the portal, or at least he said he had. He was stood there looking awful proud of himself, although Blue couldn't see anything there. “Well..?” inquired Aengus, uncomfortably.

“Well?” asked Blue, sharply.

“I've opened a doorway,” explained Aengus; “you can pass through it now.”

“Well I don't see anything,” snapped Blue.

“Well of course you don't see anything,” sighed Aengus. “Can you see magick? No? Well then you're just going to have to take my word for it. Now hurry up and go through, I can't hold the passage open forever, you know.”

Drabble 323

This one was a day late. I went to bed really, really early that night due to a migraine and developing tonsillitis to boot. So, strike 11. We will ignore that I could have just lied and pretended it just hadn't been uploaded like the others because I would rather not have you all think that I'm actually an honourable person.

“Weren't we supposed to be doing something?” asked Araziel. Aengus had finished dealing with the leprechaun and sent it on its way, and was now sat in the grass staring at the sky, not really doing anything. “Yeah, but I think the Author's dying. We'll have to wait and see what happens,” replied Blue.

“I somehow doubt that the Author is actually dying,” said Araziel.

“They probably are just being melodramatic,” Blue conceded, “but on the off chance that they're not, I really think we need to prepare ourselves for the eventuality that we will no longer have an Author.”

Drabble 322

Finished on time (sort of) at 7:04 but not uploaded.

“How long is this going to take?” snapped Blue. He was watching Aengus as he searched through the shrubbery, for what Blue had no idea. “There should be a sign around here somewhere, something to let me know that a doorway can be opened here,” Aengus murmured.

“Well it's taking too long,” spat Blue. “I'm starting to wonder whether you really can get us out of here.”

“I can,” hissed Aengus, “but I can't open a doorway just anywhere. It needs to be at a place where this world connects to yours, or we could end up just about anywhere."

Drabble 321

 Finished 6:50 but not uploaded.

Aengus had taken the leprechaun aside, apparently to have some very stern words. Blue was a little doubtful as to whether the leprechaun would listen to him, but he hadn't said anything about it as he'd dragged the leprechaun into the trees to talk. Araziel was busy trying to calm Raven's horse, and Blue had been left with nothing to do but stand around and wait. Eventually Aengus returned with a very grumpy looking leprechaun, which he promptly sent on its way. “I still think you should have let me beat it to a pulp,” spat Blue, glaring after it.

Drabble 320

This was finished on time at 7:00 exactly, but wasn't uploaded. And yes, I AM about to upload a bunch of these that were written and not posted.

“Where is our grossly incompetent Author?” asked Blue.

“I don't know, sleeping?” suggested Araziel. Blue snorted, a rather inelegant sound, and replied, “Our Author doesn't sleep.”

“Everybody sleeps, Blue,” argued Araziel, “otherwise they would die.”

“Maybe that's what happened to the Author?” said Blue. “We know they don't sleep. So maybe they died.”

“Would we even still be existing if the Author were dead?” asked Araziel.

“Hey, I am not in the mood to talk philosophy with you,” snapped Blue. “All I know is for some reason or another, our Author is not doing what they're suppose to be doing.”

Drabble 319

This was finished at 7:21, but then I went to sleep without uploading. It was slightly late anyway, so we'll call this strike 10.

Blue snook up behind the leprechaun, picked it up by the back of its jacket and shook it. Raven's horse immediately tried to bolt, but Araziel caught the rope and pulled her back. 'Right, elf' Blue reminded himself, 'inhuman strength'. “We need to have a talk,” he told the leprechaun. It squirmed and twisted in his grip, eventually managing to turn enough to get Blue's hand into its mouth and bite down. He dropped it, giving the leprechaun the chance to flee into the woods, but Aengus stepped out from behind a tree and caught it as it passed him.

Drabble 318

 Finished 7:01.

They found the leprechaun after what felt to Blue like a couple of hours of searching, though no time seemed to have passed in the forest. Blue was sure that their time there was going to have ruined his internal time keeping, but that was hardly a priority right them. The leprechaun was moving through the woods to some unknown location, pulling Raven's horse along by a rope, completely unaware of their presence, one of the easiest targets that Blue could have asked for. And Blue had no knife with which to sneak up behind him and slit his throat.

Drabble 317

 Finished 6:46.

Raven was awake and sulking when Anansi came to fetch him the next morning. The sun wasn't up yet, although it wasn't like Raven could see that from within the dungeons. He refused to look at Anansi, even as he unchained him from the wall and slipped an arm around his waist. “This will all be done with soon enough,” he said, softly, “and then everything can go back to normal. You should come back home, Ray; we've missed you.” Raven pushed Anansi away, removing his hand roughly from his back, and said, lifelessly, “No, it won't. Not for me.”

Drabble 316

Finished 7:01.

Aengus hadn't looked particularly impressed when, upon learning that he had seen a winged horse wandering about the woods, or rather being led through the woods by a leprechaun, anyway, Blue had demanded that they find it before they left. Araziel had considered declaring the horse a lost cause and demanding they go straight back home, but Blue had shot her a withering look before she had been able to say anything. “I don't like that leprechaun,” Blue had said resolutely as they had set off to find them. “I don't like it and I want to see it suffer.”

Drabble 315

Finished 6:46.

Blue and Araziel were just about ready to get out of there and never go back, and Araziel had already started pestering Aengus about how, precisely, they were going to do that. “Somebody needs to open a passageway between the worlds at a point where this world links to yours,” Aengus explained. “I can do that, if we can get to an appropriate location, but I can't guarantee that you'll never return here.”

“Just one more question, before we leave here,” said Blue, getting up and stretching his legs. “Have you seen a winged horse wandering about these woods anywhere?”

Drabble 314

Finished 7:12. Late, I know. I'm not sure whether this should count as a strike or not. Strike 9.5, maybe?

“Our Author still isn't getting much done, are they?” asked Blue.

“They didn't even send us any wine this time,” moaned Araziel, and Blue wasn't feeling brave enough to tell her that it was probably for her own good. Aengus was still sat away from them, clearly not used to having to deal with the Author's incompetence, and Blue was starting to feel a little sorry for him. “You know, the time will pass quicker if you join in on the conversation,” Blue shouted over, and Aengus grunted in acknowledgement but made no move to get up and join them.

Drabble 313

Finished 7:06. Yes, I was frantically rushing to get this written at the last minute, how could you tell?

“Where is out Author?” snapped Araziel. She was starting to get tired of all of these disappearance. Her yelling and angry muttering had even managed to frighten Aengus a little, and he had gone to sit some way along the path. “I think they were supposed to be doing this NaNoWriMo thing,” said Blue, who had sat down beneath a tree and was doodling in the dirt with a twig. “That is no excuse,” snapped Araziel, and down the path Aengus flinched. “Well, our Author never needed an excuse to slack off before,” said Blue, throwing his twig at Araziel.

Drabble 312

This was finished before 7:00 but couldn't be uploaded due to technical difficulties.

Raven continued to follow Anansi around while he made the last few necessary arrangements for the morning, keeping his head down and carefully taking in everything Anansi said. He kept quiet even as Anansi led him back to the dungeons for the night. He hadn't figured out a way to get the upper hand over Anansi yet, and it was making him nervous. “You're welcome to come home, you know,” Anansi said as he fastened the chains around Raven's wrists once again, “when all of this is over.”

“That's not my home,” Raven said sharply, refusing to look at Anansi.

Drabble 311

Finished 6:53.

Anansi turned to Raven, his head tilted to one side slightly, and said, “Why did you leave?”

“That isn't an answer, Anansi,” snapped Raven.

“Perhaps you should ask a better question then,” said Anansi. He tried to wrap an arm around Raven's back but Raven stepped away out of his reach. “Why did you stay?” he asked again. “Why didn't you leave with me?”

“It's a good job with good pay,” Anansi shrugged.

“And it doesn't bother you? Being His Majesty's attack dog?” spat Raven, a little more sharply than he'd intended.

“Why would it?” asked Anansi, remaining frustratingly calm.

Drabble 310

Finished 7:01.

Anansi was outside with his soldiers, going over their plans for the morning when they would set out for General Mary-Tzu's camp. Raven was following him, silently trying to judge how long it would take him to scale the manor walls and whether or not he could outrun Anansi. With so many guards and soldiers about the place he didn't particularly like his odds, but by that point he was nearly desperate enough to try it. “Just one question, while I still have the chance to ask it,” Raven said, tapping Anansi to get his attention; “Why did you stay?”

Drabble 309

 Finished 6:47.

Raven was desperately trying to pull his hair back, and having no such luck. “You should keep it down,” said Anansi, “it suits you better that way.”

“I'll make sure to keep that in mind,” Raven snapped. He managed to get most of his hair back off of his face and knotted the string. “I get the impression you don't care for me any more,” said Anansi.

“I wonder why that might be,” bit Raven, sarcastically.

“Yes, so do I,” replied Anansi, entirely sincere; “you've changed so much since I saw you last, it's like I hardly know you now.”

Drabble 308

Finished 6:59.

Araziel was managing to stay far calmer than Blue was. She pushed Blue back into a sitting position and approached Aengus cautiously. “Would I be correct in assuming that you could let us out?” she asked.

“It would be inadvisable to assume anything,” replied Aengus.

“Are we going to get any straight answers from you?” Araziel snapped.

“You might, if you ask some straight questions.”

“Can You Let Us Out Of Here?” Araziel ground out, emphasising every word.

“I might be able to, so long as other factors don't interfere.” This time it was Blue's turn to hold Araziel back.

Drabble 307

Finished 7:04.

Blue tried to run away again almost immediately, and Araziel was barely able to catch him before he did. “No, no, no!” he snapped. “I am not dealing with this. Not now, not today. I just want to go home and drink myself into a stupor.”

“Well that might be a little difficult,” Aengus told him, cheerily. “Mortals can't come and go from here as they wish – you needed somebody to bring you here, and you'll need somebody to let you out.” Blue took a moment to consider what he'd said, and concluded that he really didn't like that place.

Drabble 306

Finished 6:11.

Aengus was stood hmm'ing, obviously looking for some way out of answering the question. Araziel was starting to get impatient, and snapped, “Just get on and answer already!”

“Alright; I'm not going to get out of this one, am I?” said Aengus, rubbing the back of his neck with an open palm. “No, you're not, so quit stalling,” Araziel hissed. For a moment Aengus looked like he might just run away instead, but after a moment he just sighed and said, “I am a barghest, a member of the Unseelie court, and you are in the domain of the fae.”

Drabble 305

Finished 6:59. I really shouldn't be trying to do this at the same time as NaNoWriMo.

When Araziel had finally gotten Blue to calm down enough to actually have most of a conversation, they sat down beneath the largest tree that was nearby while Aengus remained standing a few paces away. “You still haven't told me what you are, or what this place is and what we're all doing here,” Araziel pointed out.

“No, I don't suppose I have,” replied Aengus.

“Then stop beating around the bush and just tell us already!” snapped Araziel.

“Tell you what?” asked Aengus.

“For the love of of all that is good, just tell us already exactly what you are!”