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Alabaster was watchful as Amazon went about enjoying the festivities, Arcane following close behind, weaving between strangers to stay near the wyngling. Warptide night seemed peaceful, but anyone worth their salt knew that danger lurked just beyond the borders of the nova tree's power. The spites around Wynsiph had been growing restless for some reason, and ever since her return, she'd been trying to keep track of them. After all, spites were drawn to magical energy, so an enormous magical power had to be making them so antsy.

As Alabaster became lost in thought, her eyes fixed on her sister and their coatala, then felt the runeboo that clung to her shoulders stiffen.

"What is it, Ada?" she hummed thoughtfully, reaching up to scratch the runeboo's chin. It swatted away her claws with something akin to a growl. At the same time, she heard Amazon say, "Woah, Arcane, what's wrong?"

Alabaster looked down to see that the coatala's fur was standing on end. Arcane's gaze was fixed down a street which otherwise looked fairly quiet, with some wyngrew walking it to get to and from the warptide festivities.

"Amazon," Alabaster said sharply, suddenly getting a sinking feeling in her gut. "I think we should start heading back to the Nook. Come on, if you want any more candy I can buy you some later."

"But I wanna go check out more booths! And I heard Mister Rudy was handing out the big gummy boo packs this year!" Amazon's voice was more urging than complaining as she kept walking towards Rudy's booth, where he had some warptide wares set up, masks and face paints for any wynglings who wanted to dress up but didn't have the money to pay for more expensive costumes. Alabaster felt bad suddenly that she had neglected to ask Amazon if she wanted to dress up for warptide. Now that she was grown up and had a fairly steady source of income, she could have bought Amazon a costume.

She shook off her guilt as she leaned down, picking up Amazon easily by grabbing her under her arms and hefting her up. "Hey!" Amazon huffed, squirming to get away. "Lemme down, I wanna go get some more candy before we go! Please, Alabaster, pleeeeaaaaase!"

"Amazon, I don't -"

CRASH! BANG! CRASH-CLANG-CLASH-CRASH!

Alabaster whirled around to gaze, wide-eyed, at the street where Arcane had just been staring. The noises came from that direction, and it was suddenly apparent why.

A giant, monstrous serpent, black-bodied with a white face and piercing blue eyes, smashed against a wall, scrambling with its long-taloned toes to climb a bit up the wall to start making the sharp turn down the alley. Alabaster didn't know where the first scream came from, but she wasn't paying attention by that point. Her first prerogative was to get her twin sister the fuck out of the town square and away from that thing.

She pushed with the tide of wyngrew rushing to flee, skirting around anyone that fell in the chaos. She wasn't going to stop to help up a stranger in this situation. She had to get Amazon out. It was reassuring to see Arcane in front of her occasionally, flitting through the crowd then turning to look back and wait for the two of them, like she was leading the way.

The crowd began to thin out as they got farther from the plaza, some people filtering out as they went down alleys and back streets. Alabaster hardened her heart against the fear that threatened to creep in, noticing shadows of spites as the braver ones of them crawled their way into town.

"I want to fight! We need to fight for Wynsiph!"

As soon as Alabaster's ears cleared of the white noise of determination, she heard the words from Amazon that made her stomach lurch. Did her sister not realize how small she was? How easily that thing could crush her? How traumatizing any sort of run-in with a spite could be, let alone that... thing? The over-sized... deelagun?

"No."

Alabaster's short, clipped answer left no room for argument, but Amazon still struggled to get out of her grip.

"You're just being a scaredy-cat! We can take it on together! Come on! Even if you aren't going to fight it I will!"

"Amazon!"

Alabaster raised her voice over her sister's, clutching her tightly so she wouldn't escape. She didn't know what she would do if Amazon got hurt because she let her get away. She didn't doubt that Amazon would go try to fight it, but she dreaded to think of what would happen when she actually came face to face with the beast.

Silence filled the space between them as they followed a trail of others back to the nook, straggling wynglings being carried by frightened parents and terrified adults who had no other place to go, nothing else to do. She glanced back as she left the town, and her heart tried to speed up but again, she steeled herself against fear. She would not be one of the ones contributing to the tide of terror that was egging the spites on.

She almost lost her hold on herself when she looked back and saw it, looming above the roofs, clinging to the tallest branches of the nova tree and blasting blue fire into the plaza. She saw other shapes flying around its head, slicing at it wherever they could. Something in her shifted, then, but she kept marching forward on the path. Amazon came first.

As soon as the last stragglers made it through the nook's door, it was shut behind them, some wyngrew posted outside to guard the nook.

Alabaster huffed out a sigh as she finally let go of Amazon, who immediately skittered a distance away and whirled around on Alabaster, chest heaving with the effort she had put into trying to get away from Alabaster. The runeboo around Alabaster's shoulders hopped down to stand beside her, staring Amazon down. "This isn't fair, Alabaster!" Arcane delicately stepped around Alabaster, sitting carefully beside Amazon and looking from her to Alabaster, then blinking slowly. "I wanted to go out there and help! I bet they need everything they can get fighting that thing! It was huge! You didn't have any right to stop me from -"

"Amazon."

Alabaster heaved another sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose for just a moment, her eyes closed as she tried to gather her thoughts. Then she looked back at Amazon, eyebrows drawn, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to go fight."

"What?" Amazon looked stricken suddenly, the fight in her flickering for a moment. Then it returned, full-force, burning in her eyes. "Then take me! I can go get my best sword!"

"All of yours swords are wooden, Amazon! And you are a child! I know you might think this isn't fair, but I'm an adult now and you aren't!" Alabaster sucked in a breath, waiting for Amazon's reaction. All she got was a knitted brow and a hard stare. "This is something I won't argue on with you, Amazon. You are staying here. But I know how to fight, and I'm big enough to. We may be the same age, but you're still a child. I know how you feel. But I promise, I'll do enough keeping the town safe for the both of us, okay? It would just help me a lot to know you're gonna be here, safe, when I get back. Can you please stay safe for me, Amazon?"

Amazon stared at Alabaster for a long time, then swung her head around to look away, unable to look at her sister any longer. Alabaster sighed, knowing her sister would probably try to get out any chance she got, but she would have to trust the adults in the nook to make sure she didn't made it out of the walls of the safe haven.

"I'll come back with something neat for you. Like a spite tooth, or something. Just be good. I'll leave Arcane with you to make sure you stay put, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Amazon huffed out a response, ears drooping. She looked back at Alabaster, mouth drawn in a thin line. Alabaster almost thought she wasn't going to say anything, then she blurted out, "You stay safe enough to bring me back one of those spite teeth! And maybe I'll come and get it from you!"

"Okay, if you say so," Alabaster chuckled, brushing off her shorts before heading to the door. "And hey," she said, turning halfway around at the last minute to shoot Amazon a wink and a finger gun, "have a little faith in your big sister, okay?"

____________________________

1,441 words
Alabaster has joined the battle party!

18 / 1635
art and alabaster
amazon
species

Description
Alabaster was watchful as Amazon went about enjoying the festivities, Arcane following close behind, weaving between strangers to stay near the wyngling. Warptide night seemed peaceful, but anyone worth their salt knew that danger lurked just beyond the borders of the nova tree's power. The spites around Wynsiph had been growing restless for some reason, and ever since her return, she'd been trying to keep track of them. After all, spites were drawn to magical energy, so an enormous magical power had to be making them so antsy.

As Alabaster became lost in thought, her eyes fixed on her sister and their coatala, then felt the runeboo that clung to her shoulders stiffen.

"What is it, Ada?" she hummed thoughtfully, reaching up to scratch the runeboo's chin. It swatted away her claws with something akin to a growl. At the same time, she heard Amazon say, "Woah, Arcane, what's wrong?"

Alabaster looked down to see that the coatala's fur was standing on end. Arcane's gaze was fixed down a street which otherwise looked fairly quiet, with some wyngrew walking it to get to and from the warptide festivities.

"Amazon," Alabaster said sharply, suddenly getting a sinking feeling in her gut. "I think we should start heading back to the Nook. Come on, if you want any more candy I can buy you some later."

"But I wanna go check out more booths! And I heard Mister Rudy was handing out the big gummy boo packs this year!" Amazon's voice was more urging than complaining as she kept walking towards Rudy's booth, where he had some warptide wares set up, masks and face paints for any wynglings who wanted to dress up but didn't have the money to pay for more expensive costumes. Alabaster felt bad suddenly that she had neglected to ask Amazon if she wanted to dress up for warptide. Now that she was grown up and had a fairly steady source of income, she could have bought Amazon a costume.

She shook off her guilt as she leaned down, picking up Amazon easily by grabbing her under her arms and hefting her up. "Hey!" Amazon huffed, squirming to get away. "Lemme down, I wanna go get some more candy before we go! Please, Alabaster, pleeeeaaaaase!"

"Amazon, I don't -"

CRASH! BANG! CRASH-CLANG-CLASH-CRASH!

Alabaster whirled around to gaze, wide-eyed, at the street where Arcane had just been staring. The noises came from that direction, and it was suddenly apparent why.

A giant, monstrous serpent, black-bodied with a white face and piercing blue eyes, smashed against a wall, scrambling with its long-taloned toes to climb a bit up the wall to start making the sharp turn down the alley. Alabaster didn't know where the first scream came from, but she wasn't paying attention by that point. Her first prerogative was to get her twin sister the fuck out of the town square and away from that thing.

She pushed with the tide of wyngrew rushing to flee, skirting around anyone that fell in the chaos. She wasn't going to stop to help up a stranger in this situation. She had to get Amazon out. It was reassuring to see Arcane in front of her occasionally, flitting through the crowd then turning to look back and wait for the two of them, like she was leading the way.

The crowd began to thin out as they got farther from the plaza, some people filtering out as they went down alleys and back streets. Alabaster hardened her heart against the fear that threatened to creep in, noticing shadows of spites as the braver ones of them crawled their way into town.

"I want to fight! We need to fight for Wynsiph!"

As soon as Alabaster's ears cleared of the white noise of determination, she heard the words from Amazon that made her stomach lurch. Did her sister not realize how small she was? How easily that thing could crush her? How traumatizing any sort of run-in with a spite could be, let alone that... thing? The over-sized... deelagun?

"No."

Alabaster's short, clipped answer left no room for argument, but Amazon still struggled to get out of her grip.

"You're just being a scaredy-cat! We can take it on together! Come on! Even if you aren't going to fight it I will!"

"Amazon!"

Alabaster raised her voice over her sister's, clutching her tightly so she wouldn't escape. She didn't know what she would do if Amazon got hurt because she let her get away. She didn't doubt that Amazon would go try to fight it, but she dreaded to think of what would happen when she actually came face to face with the beast.

Silence filled the space between them as they followed a trail of others back to the nook, straggling wynglings being carried by frightened parents and terrified adults who had no other place to go, nothing else to do. She glanced back as she left the town, and her heart tried to speed up but again, she steeled herself against fear. She would not be one of the ones contributing to the tide of terror that was egging the spites on.

She almost lost her hold on herself when she looked back and saw it, looming above the roofs, clinging to the tallest branches of the nova tree and blasting blue fire into the plaza. She saw other shapes flying around its head, slicing at it wherever they could. Something in her shifted, then, but she kept marching forward on the path. Amazon came first.

As soon as the last stragglers made it through the nook's door, it was shut behind them, some wyngrew posted outside to guard the nook.

Alabaster huffed out a sigh as she finally let go of Amazon, who immediately skittered a distance away and whirled around on Alabaster, chest heaving with the effort she had put into trying to get away from Alabaster. The runeboo around Alabaster's shoulders hopped down to stand beside her, staring Amazon down. "This isn't fair, Alabaster!" Arcane delicately stepped around Alabaster, sitting carefully beside Amazon and looking from her to Alabaster, then blinking slowly. "I wanted to go out there and help! I bet they need everything they can get fighting that thing! It was huge! You didn't have any right to stop me from -"

"Amazon."

Alabaster heaved another sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose for just a moment, her eyes closed as she tried to gather her thoughts. Then she looked back at Amazon, eyebrows drawn, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to go fight."

"What?" Amazon looked stricken suddenly, the fight in her flickering for a moment. Then it returned, full-force, burning in her eyes. "Then take me! I can go get my best sword!"

"All of yours swords are wooden, Amazon! And you are a child! I know you might think this isn't fair, but I'm an adult now and you aren't!" Alabaster sucked in a breath, waiting for Amazon's reaction. All she got was a knitted brow and a hard stare. "This is something I won't argue on with you, Amazon. You are staying here. But I know how to fight, and I'm big enough to. We may be the same age, but you're still a child. I know how you feel. But I promise, I'll do enough keeping the town safe for the both of us, okay? It would just help me a lot to know you're gonna be here, safe, when I get back. Can you please stay safe for me, Amazon?"

Amazon stared at Alabaster for a long time, then swung her head around to look away, unable to look at her sister any longer. Alabaster sighed, knowing her sister would probably try to get out any chance she got, but she would have to trust the adults in the nook to make sure she didn't made it out of the walls of the safe haven.

"I'll come back with something neat for you. Like a spite tooth, or something. Just be good. I'll leave Arcane with you to make sure you stay put, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Amazon huffed out a response, ears drooping. She looked back at Alabaster, mouth drawn in a thin line. Alabaster almost thought she wasn't going to say anything, then she blurted out, "You stay safe enough to bring me back one of those spite teeth! And maybe I'll come and get it from you!"

"Okay, if you say so," Alabaster chuckled, brushing off her shorts before heading to the door. "And hey," she said, turning halfway around at the last minute to shoot Amazon a wink and a finger gun, "have a little faith in your big sister, okay?"

____________________________

1,441 words
Alabaster has joined the battle party!

18 / 1635
art and alabaster
amazon
species