Original Character Battle RP Tournament - Anyone want to give it a go?

[mshcherbatskaya]

Overall, I was pleased with all these entries. In my opinion, you all did a great job of portraying your opponent's character with as much depth as you did your own. If I could have made a wish, there would have been a bit more of psychological horror, or maybe something a bit Lovecraftian, but that's my taste.

JoJo vs. NewClassic - in this one I kind of feel like the judges in the Great British Bake-Off, when they puzzle over whether to go with "Ambitious but Flawed" or "Less Impressive but Perfectly Executed."

JoJo had solid, clean writing throughout, good storytelling and fight mechanics. I was never confused as to what was happening, and the ending seemed properly earned. I do wish, however, that you had made more use of the horror aspects of the setting, and maybe taken the opportunity to explore your character's mental state more.

NewClassic - More depth of character, a nice horror-genre bit with the phantom touches - I liked that because it was subtle and creepy, not smashcut jumpscare. But, dude, what was up with the flip-flopping between present and past tense? I don't know if it was deliberate technique you were attempting, but the tense-switch didn't appear with any discernible pattern, it pretty much looked like someone who kept forgetting they'd made the decision to write in present tense. Also - and I say this with the deepest respect for the freedom of the author to express what is in their heart - WTF bear? I mean, I expect to see any number of things in a haunted sanitorium, a bear is not one of them. I just alt-tabbed back to the story to be sure that the small amount of totally-legal-in-my-state-yay cannabis I had consumed had not monkeyed with my memory. Nope, there is definitely a bear in that there haunted asylum. An eyeless zombie bear? Ooo-kaaaayyy.

I'm voting JoJo on this, for clean execution. Taiga is my winner here.


Demonjazz vs Thomas Barnsley - I'm going with Thomas Barnsley and Gilgamoc on this one.

Thomas did a good job with his opponent's POV as well as his own, and the twist ending genuinely surprised me. Narratively, it was clean and clear.

Demonjazz, your piece went a little crazypants at the end there. Just I was doing a wtf-bear? in the above battle, I was what-the-headless-horseman here. Also, this piece really needed one more proofreading pass. I try not to hump the MLA style manual too much, if the grammar slides too far out of alignment, then the meaning of the sentence can be obscured and that breaks a reader out of the story.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Wait - did we not get a judgement from @Khedive Rex?

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

Wait - did we not get a judgement from @Khedive Rex?

if he doesn't respond I suppose I could judge this round for the 3rd vote

 

[Khedive Rex]

Criticism 1 of 4.

Spoiler: JoJo

There are a couple important things to say about this story, a couple places where it fell a little flat for me. I want to talk about your pacing, I want to talk about your use of scenery, I want to talk about your incorporation of theme. But, the most chiefly important thing in my mind was the charaterization, and that's what I'm gonna tackle first.

I want to say from the outset that I really like the creativity that went into crafting Taiga and Kosa, as abstract characters independant of any single story. We don't see a lot of wildmen/wildwomen in ratings wars, the meta tends to lend itself more to fantasy and sci-fi. Proposing a tribal warrior largely rooted in the real world sentiments and experiences of that time period was a unique decision and it set you apart from the outset. Having her primary psychological motifs wrapped up in guilt and concerns about her dark past wasn't the most hugely exciting thing to me, I'd have preferred to see you center the character around duties, responsibility, loyalty to her tribe - keep her dark past but turn it into a redemption arch where she's working tirelessly to have this moment that she's welcomed back around the campfire again, and people don't whisper about her history anymore. You instead chose to give her dark past it's own identity in the form of Kosa the wind spirit and, while it isn't what I would have done, I think its inspired in it's own right. Kosa is a supremely satisfying character, both as a natural foil to Taiga and as a suspicious entity with it's own unclear motivations. They're such opposite characters, but they're also each others only "friends" so to speak and they're the only people really capable of nurturing and growing each other as people, even though they hardly look at any situation the same way. There's a lot of good stuff in there.

The very clever design of these characters is what made the very weak execution of them in this story especially dissapointing.

The characterzation of Taiga left her feeling a lot weaker in my mind then I was happy about. All characters have to grapple with moments of weakness and some personal insecurities that haunt them, but there isn't a single moment in this story where Taiga is proud of herself, or confident in her skills. You don't even get the adrenaline rushes of a designed-weak character who survives another day by the whims of chance. She starts the story by cussing out Kosa and immediately regretting it. She goes on to reflect about how sorry her life has been. She gets let out of her cage (instead of breaking out) and proceeds to follow creepy doctor ghost sheepishly, of her own free will, into a terrible operating room for really no reason. She decides there to stand up for herself and does so by running away like a frightened child. She gets outside, regrets cussing out Kosa and then meets Gremlin. In her conversation with Gremln she has nothing snappy to say and very much appears as the subjugated party, the one outside the know, the one who's out of her depths. That lasts a couple of minutes and she's running for her life again. This girl hunts Mammoths! Wheres the strength, the courage, the natural resilience? In the first proactive move of the story she sets a trap for her pursuer. But it doesn't work and that sets her into a tail spin where she's too flustered to try another trick. Finally, Kosa comes back and tells her how to kill Gremlin. She follows the order, it works, Kosa and her hug out their differences and the story ends.

In the whole story there isn't a defining character moment for Taiga, a place were she really shines as herself and tackles a situation as only she could. Instead, the whole story is spent with her doubting herself and letting insecurities weigh her down. I wanted to see a much braver Taiga. I wanted to see the hallmark, ice-age, tribal, warrior princess. And in that regard, I was dissapointed. It's worth noting though that you have two whole characters at your disposal. And while one got a weak character portrayl, the other got none at all.

It was a mistake dismissing Kosa in the first scene of the battle. These are two characters that need each other. Kosa is hollow without a human element to contrast him with. Taiga suffered from the absence of vibrancy and oddity that Kosa could have provided. When you sent him away, I wondered if he was going to be the narrator of the story, which would have been a great angle and provided an excuse for the morose emphasis on Taiga's insecurities. Watched from the third party perspective of Kosa, Taiga's personal weakness could have read much differently. And that format of narrative would have let you establish the relationship between the two of them much more clearly. A peek into Kosa's mind and what he really thinks about Taiga would have been delightful. When it became clear that wasn't happening, I wondered if Kosa was gonna play a helpful interference role in the story, to provide insight into his powers and how he operates alone. In the end, you provided no charaterization for Kosa at all. Which is an absolute shame because Kosa is a lot more colorful than Taiga. As a general question of principles, you shouldn't have two characters if you plan to ignore one of them. I was dissapointed by Kosa's absence in this story.

The last point about characterization I want to make regards Gremlin. It isn't easy to play an opponent's character, especially in the first round of the tournament before you've had the chance to see what they're really about. So I count this against you least. But it's worth bringing up that Gremlin didn't come across as a complex entity with his own motivations. He came across as a plot device. The two things that especially stand out to me, unanswered questions brought up by the story, are as follows:

1) What was Gremlin going to offer Taiga? In their initial discussion Gremlin explains that it's a death match and he wants his wish for winning and that means he's gonna try to kill Kosa. Then he goes on to say "They put us in here to fight. Only one of us can walk out the winner. But that doesn't mean we have to top each other or anything. Come quietly, and you'll be back out chasing mammoths in no time. It's win-win, no?"

Where was that going? It gets abandoned in the next paragraph and is never brought up again. It seems like Gremlin is offering an alternative to fighting to the death. The only other way I can interpret it is Gremlin, full of bravado, saying "Hey, I'm gonna kill you. Just, don't fight me. Let it happen." And in what way is that a win-win? This portion of the conversation left me confused. I found myself thinking about it long after the story had moved on. And by never resolving or addressing it again, you leave me with unanswered questions about the character of Gremlin.

2) How does Taiga outrun Gremlin? So completely as to have extra time to make a pitfall trap? In the fight sequences with Gremlin you emphasize his incredible speed. It's the advantage he has over Taiga that makes him insurmountable. But when it comes time for Taiga to run away, she's obviously able to outpace him by quite a distance. I'm not opposed to it, there are ways to explain it, you could have said Gremlin was fast of arm but not of leg and I would have shrugged it off. You could have talked about Taiga's experience in rough terrain giving her an advantage. There's lots of ways you could have resolved the question, but you did't address it. And I'm left thinking "Gremlin is super-humanely fast, far too swift to fight. But he can't catch up to an injured woman running in the dark." Which doesn't quite equate.

So that's what I've got to say about characterization, which is the bulk of the criticism I have to provide. We'll move to more technical aspects of the story, which should roll much quicker than the inherently squishy subject of character.

Pacing:

Your story didn't tarry, and it wasn't overly summary. Speed or the absence there-of wasn't the issue here. The thing that bothered me is that your story lacked a building action, a falling action and a centralized climax. The action didn't lead into itself, it didn't grow. And when it was resolved, it didn't feel like the culmination of the things that came before. Your story's first conflict is with the ghost. That obstacle doesn't grow in intensity, it just kind of shows up without deep character investment. You resolve it by running away and it doesn't ever factor into the story again. So the energy and investment that we put into that conflict as a reader gets tossed to the side without any real satisfactory resolution. The same can be said of the fight with Gremlin, which comes up quickly without a lot of exposition or exploration by the narrator. And without that deep examination and slow grow of intensity, when Gremlin is finally dispatched it means much less than it should.

Scenery:

There were places where I had trouble imagining the immediate environment. This was especially prominent during Taiga's race away from Gremlin. You describe her coming across a large sunken basin. I imagined you on the roof. But then I believe you went on to say you weren't on the roof. But then you describe Taiga as holding on to a ledge. Not knowing where this section of the battle took place weakened the conflict for me substantially, because I couldn't correctly imagine it. I couldn't put myself in the scene and attempt to anticipate.

Theme:

There were only very weak ties to the haunted insane asylum theme. You revealed one of your characters as a ghost but, after Taiga ran away from him, the haunting element of the story played no further role. The ultimate conflict could have taken place anywhere. The only defining part of it was a roof with a sunken pit in it and a tremendous amount of settings would have fit that criteria. While you do acknowledge ghosts, it was very much concentrated to the beginning of the story and played no part in the intended climax. Which to me doesn't quite satisfy the criteria of the match.

 

[Khedive Rex]

I've submitted my judgement for the round and will continue to doll out criticism. Thank you all for your patience.

 

[Demonjazz]

To clarify why a Dullahan was there. Originally, the Dullahan was just going to be a zombie-like creature in a suit of armor that stalked the halls of the asylum. A knight who came there to be treated and got turned into a monster. I thought this was super fucking boring when I started writing it though. And was like, hey... Black Arrow is Irish. Knights are a bit like Dullahans, and Dullahans are Irish! THEMATIC!
In retrospect, I probably should have made the Dullahan like a zombieman stitched to the horse to better fit the setting. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

OK, here are the results
JoJo vs. NewClassic - NewClassic wins 2-1
Thomas Barnsley vs. Demonjazz - Thomas Barnsley wins 2-1

Which leaves us with three advancing on to the next round, which doesn't really work. So here is what I propose - second bracket. JoJo vs. Demonjazz, and the winner is the fourth contestant in the next round. Does that work for people? Or do you just want to do a three-way battle next round?

 

[Demonjazz]

Honestly, I'd rather not hold up everyone else, and just get it on with a three way fight, but that's just me. Plus, three way fights are where it's at.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Which leaves us with three advancing on to the next round, which doesn't really work. So here is what I propose - second bracket. JoJo vs. Demonjazz, and the winner is the fourth contestant in the next round. Does that work for people? Or do you just want to do a three-way battle next round?

I'm a fan of double elimination bracket being used as a by-breaker. I also think more writing is a good thing, given the format.

That said, I can see how it would feel unfair to whoever loses this next round, but I wouldn't mind personally. So, I vote for the second bracket.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

I vote for the second bracket too, but if I can make a suggestion it should be in another setting. being in the Asylum again could be kind of repetitive

 

[JoJo]

It feels a little soon for the finale, TF's character hasn't even been in a fight yet. I vote for a second bracket.

 

[Thomas Barnsley]

I assumed one of the three remaining would get a bye, resulting in two more single fight rounds. I don't really mind though.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Okay, then! Demonjazz vs. JoJo it is! And this time, the genre is High Fantasy. Specifically, you find yourselves in a Fairy Forest. The Fair Folk are capricious, curious, and liable to take offense at just about anything. Don't let their diminutive size deceive you. They possess powerful magics, and they may not look kindly on you blundering and fighting your way through their woods.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Hey, @Jojo and @Demonjazz, how is the writing coming along? How much longer do you need?

 

[JoJo]

Hey, @Jojo and @Demonjazz, how is the writing coming along? How much longer do you need?

At least another week I'd say, been busy with family stuff over the Christmas period. I can work with whatever deadline you set, though.

 

[Thomas Barnsley]

Criticism 1 of 4.

Spoiler: JoJo

There are a couple important things to say about this story, a couple places where it fell a little flat for me. I want to talk about your pacing, I want to talk about your use of scenery, I want to talk about your incorporation of theme. But, the most chiefly important thing in my mind was the charaterization, and that's what I'm gonna tackle first.

I want to say from the outset that I really like the creativity that went into crafting Taiga and Kosa, as abstract characters independant of any single story. We don't see a lot of wildmen/wildwomen in ratings wars, the meta tends to lend itself more to fantasy and sci-fi. Proposing a tribal warrior largely rooted in the real world sentiments and experiences of that time period was a unique decision and it set you apart from the outset. Having her primary psychological motifs wrapped up in guilt and concerns about her dark past wasn't the most hugely exciting thing to me, I'd have preferred to see you center the character around duties, responsibility, loyalty to her tribe - keep her dark past but turn it into a redemption arch where she's working tirelessly to have this moment that she's welcomed back around the campfire again, and people don't whisper about her history anymore. You instead chose to give her dark past it's own identity in the form of Kosa the wind spirit and, while it isn't what I would have done, I think its inspired in it's own right. Kosa is a supremely satisfying character, both as a natural foil to Taiga and as a suspicious entity with it's own unclear motivations. They're such opposite characters, but they're also each others only "friends" so to speak and they're the only people really capable of nurturing and growing each other as people, even though they hardly look at any situation the same way. There's a lot of good stuff in there.

The very clever design of these characters is what made the very weak execution of them in this story especially dissapointing.

The characterzation of Taiga left her feeling a lot weaker in my mind then I was happy about. All characters have to grapple with moments of weakness and some personal insecurities that haunt them, but there isn't a single moment in this story where Taiga is proud of herself, or confident in her skills. You don't even get the adrenaline rushes of a designed-weak character who survives another day by the whims of chance. She starts the story by cussing out Kosa and immediately regretting it. She goes on to reflect about how sorry her life has been. She gets let out of her cage (instead of breaking out) and proceeds to follow creepy doctor ghost sheepishly, of her own free will, into a terrible operating room for really no reason. She decides there to stand up for herself and does so by running away like a frightened child. She gets outside, regrets cussing out Kosa and then meets Gremlin. In her conversation with Gremln she has nothing snappy to say and very much appears as the subjugated party, the one outside the know, the one who's out of her depths. That lasts a couple of minutes and she's running for her life again. This girl hunts Mammoths! Wheres the strength, the courage, the natural resilience? In the first proactive move of the story she sets a trap for her pursuer. But it doesn't work and that sets her into a tail spin where she's too flustered to try another trick. Finally, Kosa comes back and tells her how to kill Gremlin. She follows the order, it works, Kosa and her hug out their differences and the story ends.

In the whole story there isn't a defining character moment for Taiga, a place were she really shines as herself and tackles a situation as only she could. Instead, the whole story is spent with her doubting herself and letting insecurities weigh her down. I wanted to see a much braver Taiga. I wanted to see the hallmark, ice-age, tribal, warrior princess. And in that regard, I was dissapointed. It's worth noting though that you have two whole characters at your disposal. And while one got a weak character portrayl, the other got none at all.

It was a mistake dismissing Kosa in the first scene of the battle. These are two characters that need each other. Kosa is hollow without a human element to contrast him with. Taiga suffered from the absence of vibrancy and oddity that Kosa could have provided. When you sent him away, I wondered if he was going to be the narrator of the story, which would have been a great angle and provided an excuse for the morose emphasis on Taiga's insecurities. Watched from the third party perspective of Kosa, Taiga's personal weakness could have read much differently. And that format of narrative would have let you establish the relationship between the two of them much more clearly. A peek into Kosa's mind and what he really thinks about Taiga would have been delightful. When it became clear that wasn't happening, I wondered if Kosa was gonna play a helpful interference role in the story, to provide insight into his powers and how he operates alone. In the end, you provided no charaterization for Kosa at all. Which is an absolute shame because Kosa is a lot more colorful than Taiga. As a general question of principles, you shouldn't have two characters if you plan to ignore one of them. I was dissapointed by Kosa's absence in this story.

The last point about characterization I want to make regards Gremlin. It isn't easy to play an opponent's character, especially in the first round of the tournament before you've had the chance to see what they're really about. So I count this against you least. But it's worth bringing up that Gremlin didn't come across as a complex entity with his own motivations. He came across as a plot device. The two things that especially stand out to me, unanswered questions brought up by the story, are as follows:

1) What was Gremlin going to offer Taiga? In their initial discussion Gremlin explains that it's a death match and he wants his wish for winning and that means he's gonna try to kill Kosa. Then he goes on to say "They put us in here to fight. Only one of us can walk out the winner. But that doesn't mean we have to top each other or anything. Come quietly, and you'll be back out chasing mammoths in no time. It's win-win, no?"

Where was that going? It gets abandoned in the next paragraph and is never brought up again. It seems like Gremlin is offering an alternative to fighting to the death. The only other way I can interpret it is Gremlin, full of bravado, saying "Hey, I'm gonna kill you. Just, don't fight me. Let it happen." And in what way is that a win-win? This portion of the conversation left me confused. I found myself thinking about it long after the story had moved on. And by never resolving or addressing it again, you leave me with unanswered questions about the character of Gremlin.

2) How does Taiga outrun Gremlin? So completely as to have extra time to make a pitfall trap? In the fight sequences with Gremlin you emphasize his incredible speed. It's the advantage he has over Taiga that makes him insurmountable. But when it comes time for Taiga to run away, she's obviously able to outpace him by quite a distance. I'm not opposed to it, there are ways to explain it, you could have said Gremlin was fast of arm but not of leg and I would have shrugged it off. You could have talked about Taiga's experience in rough terrain giving her an advantage. There's lots of ways you could have resolved the question, but you did't address it. And I'm left thinking "Gremlin is super-humanely fast, far too swift to fight. But he can't catch up to an injured woman running in the dark." Which doesn't quite equate.

So that's what I've got to say about characterization, which is the bulk of the criticism I have to provide. We'll move to more technical aspects of the story, which should roll much quicker than the inherently squishy subject of character.

Pacing:

Your story didn't tarry, and it wasn't overly summary. Speed or the absence there-of wasn't the issue here. The thing that bothered me is that your story lacked a building action, a falling action and a centralized climax. The action didn't lead into itself, it didn't grow. And when it was resolved, it didn't feel like the culmination of the things that came before. Your story's first conflict is with the ghost. That obstacle doesn't grow in intensity, it just kind of shows up without deep character investment. You resolve it by running away and it doesn't ever factor into the story again. So the energy and investment that we put into that conflict as a reader gets tossed to the side without any real satisfactory resolution. The same can be said of the fight with Gremlin, which comes up quickly without a lot of exposition or exploration by the narrator. And without that deep examination and slow grow of intensity, when Gremlin is finally dispatched it means much less than it should.

Scenery:

There were places where I had trouble imagining the immediate environment. This was especially prominent during Taiga's race away from Gremlin. You describe her coming across a large sunken basin. I imagined you on the roof. But then I believe you went on to say you weren't on the roof. But then you describe Taiga as holding on to a ledge. Not knowing where this section of the battle took place weakened the conflict for me substantially, because I couldn't correctly imagine it. I couldn't put myself in the scene and attempt to anticipate.

Theme:

There were only very weak ties to the haunted insane asylum theme. You revealed one of your characters as a ghost but, after Taiga ran away from him, the haunting element of the story played no further role. The ultimate conflict could have taken place anywhere. The only defining part of it was a roof with a sunken pit in it and a tremendous amount of settings would have fit that criteria. While you do acknowledge ghosts, it was very much concentrated to the beginning of the story and played no part in the intended climax. Which to me doesn't quite satisfy the criteria of the match.

Are you still writing these, Rex? I'm very eager to see such an in depth analysis of my story, if you're still keen to work on them.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

I'm going to close this round on Jan 14.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

BTW, feel free to goof around the Library and RP and stuff if you aren't currently engaged in the battle.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

OK, @JoJo and @Demonjazz, time to post your stories!

 

[JoJo]

Been busier than I expected with work to meet an end-of-month deadline, having to work overtime and weekends, so this is going to be short and sweet. Take it as you will.

Spoiler: Taiga vs Duke

[HEADING=1]Taiga vs Duke[/HEADING]​

Taiga awoke to the taste of dirt. She stirred and reached up to her chest, feeling for the wound. To her surprise, there was nothing.

She pulled herself into a sitting position and began to fumble around for her spear. Kosa sat beside her, having regained his familiar rodent form.

"It got broken, remember?" he pointed out. Taiga sighed in recollection and slowly rose to her feet. The forest around them was a point in favour compared to where they had just escaped from. Trees, Taiga could work with. Even if they weren't quite the sort she recognised from home.

~​

The loose soil beneath Duke's palms was a surprise. He drew himself up onto his knees, checking his pulse just to make sure he wasn't really dead.

"Well, this is mighty nice," he said to himself. It was certainly an improvement on the asylum, even if he had no idea how he had got here. There was even a hint of something like fried bacon in the air. He wandered into the brush, curious to find the source of the aroma.

~​

"I'm sure I've seen that rock before," Kosa whined. He would follow Taiga to the ends of the Earth and back again, but even he would be the first to admit her sense of direction wasn't always her strongest point.

"Well, why don't you fly up above the trees and see where we are, then?" Taiga replied tersely. Her injured shoulder was aching again. Kosa could tell, as if it was his own wound. He decided it would be best not to argue, and transformed into a crow, fluttering into the branches above.

The forest went on without end. Or at least, that was what Kosa first thought when he soared above the treetops, scanning for any sign of a change in terrain. It was only as he noticed a particularly tall tree out of the corner of his left eye, and then the same again over his right wing, that he realised that it

Then, he caught the scent of something on the wind. The faint aroma of red meat roasting over an open fire, and a lot more which he didn't recognise. He swooped back down to where Taiga waited.

"I've found something!"

~​

Table upon table overflowed with the largest collection of food Taiga had ever seen. Countless varieties of salmon, red meat and stuffed game birds were piled on top of each other. Jellied tentacles of giant squid jostled for space with mountains fried parsnips, and in the centre of the clearing lay the prize of the feast: an entire roasted boar set on a spit. It was only as she took this all in, that Taiga realised just how long it was since she had eaten.

"Gonna take a bite?" Kosa whispered in her ear.

"I don't know... we don't even know who it belongs to."

"There's nobody here. Besides, no one who could eat all of this could ever miss a few mouthfuls!"

Taiga couldn't argue with that logic, and so she reached down to pick up a leg of boar. She took a hesitant bite, letting the juice dribble down her chin. Kosa meanwhile watched her with eager eyes -- he might not strictly be able to eat himself, but he could share in the delicious sensations.

"It's pretty good!" Taiga said through a mouthful of boar. There was an odd tingling sensation on her tongue as she swallowed the first bite, though not unpleasant. She took another, and suddenly felt a wave of nausea.

"What's... happening?" Kosa mumbled, his words slurred. Taiga leant on the table for support, but her legs gave way and the ground rushed up to meet her. The last thing she saw was a blinding light. And then everything went dark.

~​

The next thing Taiga knew, she found herself bound to a chair in an elaborate chamber. The walls appeared to have been built from compacted soil, but grand marble pillars lined the corners and tapestries had been hung up, presumably to hide the worst of the mud. Opposite her, a pale faced man struggled in a similar position. Kosa remained in her hood, his crow claws sunk deep into her neck.

"I am Prince Cadeyrn, and this is my feast." The high-pitched voice came from a small creature in the centre of the chamber. His youthful face was half-concealed by a mess of straw-coloured hair. He snapped his fingers and suddenly he was beside Taiga, running his fingers down her cheek.

"Get away from h...!" Kosa started to say, before his beak suddenly snapped shut as if held by glue.

"What a fascinating little imp. I thought your kind had gone extinct millennia ago. Behave, or I may add you to my collection."

Kosa reluctantly settled down on Taiga's shoulder again, though she could still feel his little body seething with anger. Cadeyrn seemed unperturbed.

"The laws of the Kingdom of Faerie clearly state that any who dare to help themselves to the royal banquet shall be at my mercy. One little piglet in a day is good fortune. Two is unbelievable luck!" He grinned at his two captives. "Tell you what. I'll make you compete in a game of wits. How does that sound?"

"Let me guess, you want us to fight each other?" Taiga asked between gritted teeth.

"Nothing so brutish. Just a few riddles. The winner goes free. The loser has to stay here and be my permanent guest."

"Now you just listen here..." Duke began to say.

"Or what? You'll shoot me with that little toy. Don't bother." Cadeyrn straightened up. "Answer this," he began. "Kings and queens may cling to power and the jester has his call. But, as you may discover, the common one outranks them all. Easy, right?"

Taiga and Kosa looked blankly at one another. Taiga hadn't even understood half of the words he spoke, and before she had a chance of open her mouth, Duke had already raised his hand.

"Easy! An ace."

"Excellent!" Cadeyrn grinned. "One point to you."

"That's not fair!" Kosa injected. "How can we guess something we don't know about?"

Cadeyrn shot him an icy glare.

"Fine. Even an uncultured gust like you should be able to get this. The more you have of it, the less you see. What is it?"

Taiga racked her brains. This sort of game had been very popular among the elderfolk of her tribe, but she had never had the patience to play for long. Now it was all for nothing. Nothing...

"It's nothing!" she exclaimed. "There more you have of it, there's less to see, right?"

"Very good. Even scores." Cadeyrn said, grinning from ear-to-ear. "One final question. Answer truthfully, or it's dinner with Puggles and I until the end of time. Tell me... what is your greatest secret?"

The words caught in Taiga's throat. Not long ago, she might have told a tale of the time she had snatched up an offering from a sacred grove, because she was hungry. Or perhaps even that on the man she had killed with her own hands. But there was something else that had been nagging her.

"I call myself a hero. The Black Arrow. But I've never even fired my gun at a living human being before."

"Interesting. Very interesting," Cadeyrn said, tilting his head. He turned back to Taiga. "Oh, there's a lot you have hidden away there. But why don't you tell your little spirit friend here the truth?"

"What is he talking about, Taiga?" Kosa asked, wide-eyed.

"Tell him. In fact, tell us all, if you ever want to leave here alive."

Taiga bowed her head, unable to meet Kosa's gaze.

"I... I don't want to be soulbound anymore."

"What?!" Kosa cried. Cadeyrn fell into peals of laughter.

"Really? Oh, my. How unfortunate. You may go." He looked back at Duke, who was gripping the arms of his chair so tight that his knuckles had turned white. "You and me, we're going to have a lot of fun together!"

~​

Back in the library, Taiga had been shown to her new quarters. They weren't that different from the medical bay in which she had spent the first night, except the walls had been painted an odd shade of yellow. She curled up in the unfamiliar bed, pulling the blanket over her head so that she could pretend she was back in her village again.

"Is it true?" Kosa whispered in her ear.

"Is what true?"

"Do you really want to get rid of me."

Taiga sighed.

"Don't you sometimes wish we had our own lives?" she asked. "You could fly anywhere you wanted. Be free as you once were. I could even take a man. Start a family." She saw the horrified expression on his rodent face. "We could still be friends and see each other whenever we wanted," she added quickly.

"Free to be lonely again." Kosa pouted, or at least as close as rat could attempt to a pout. He snuggled against her chest. "Well, I don't care if you want to get rid of me. I still love you more than anything else in the world!"

"I know," Taiga said in a quiet voice. "That's the problem."