Chapter Text
You weren’t looking for them.
If anything, you’d been avoiding roads, camps, voices, anything that could pull attention the wrong way. Years undercover had taught you how thin the line was between invisible and dead.
The mountains had stripped you down to instinct. Snowmelt water. Dried fish. Names you didn’t use anymore.
Tonight was supposed to be quiet. Then from the breeze came a wift of smoke. Not careless. Controlled. Low-burning pine, shielded from wind. Someone who knew the forest and not draw attention on themselves.
You circle wide before you see them.
Five figures around the fire, the back of one large man or creature hunched over, another man's figured covered in front, some what seemed to be members of the Candescent Creed, which was odd in of itself, and a... wolf? Familiar, in its shape. But no, it couldn't be.
They were all awake in hushed conversations.
You don’t move, careful to think of your way around before the wolf moves. Its head lifts, ears pricking forward, body tensing in a way that sends a familiar chill down your spine.
A voice that haunts your dreams rises in the silence of the forest.
“We’ve got company,” Kattigan says calmly.
Not loud. Not startled. Certain.
Your breath catches as you take a small step back in shock. No, not him, it couldn't be–
Another voice cuts through the quiet as the group in now at attention. This time the voice that pushes forward is female, also familiar. “We know you're out there. So you can either show yourself or deal with wolfie here. Your choice."
You exhale once, slow, then step forward into the firelight.
Hands open. Weapons visible but untouched. You let the hood fall back just enough for your face to be seen.
The reaction is immediate.
For half a heartbeat, Thimble's gaze is sharp, assessing. Then, her eyes widen, breath catching hard enough that you hear it over the fire.
“…Shadow?” she gasps.
She’s flies over in an instant, crossing the space between you before anyone else can react. She stares at your face, searching, cataloging, then lets out a breath that sounds dangerously close to a laugh.
“Shadow,” she says again, louder now. “Holy shit!”
The rest of the group now turns to where you've appeared.
"Shadow? Who is- Shaper!" A familiar, deep accent rings through your ears as Teor turns and recognizes you immediately.
He rushes forward, boots thudding against the ground as he closes the distance in three long strides. His eyes are wide, almost disbelieving, like he’s staring at something that shouldn’t exist.
“How are you alive?" He says, his full mane now greying, a new scar or two since you last saw him. But strong. Still strong and wise and the face of a friend that you can't help but feel at ease with.
"Some healing poultices and a shit ton of luck. I nearly died before Bloom found me. She healed me just enough to get us out of the battlefield but she got caught while I was resting under some tree branches and–" I let out harsh breath as I look down. "Anyways. I've survived. But they were still after me so I hid."
He stops in front of you, staring, and then his hands are on your forearm, grip solid and familiar, pulling you forward into a crushing embrace that knocks the air from your lungs.
“You’re alive,” he breathes. “That is what matters."
You let yourself lean into it, just for a second, before returning the clasp, grounding yourself in the solid reality of him. “Still breathing,” you murmur.
Teor laughs, sharp and incredulous, and pulls back enough to look at you properly, hands still braced on your shoulders. “And what is this shadow Thimble speaks of?" He looks over at the pixie, still hovering by.
“Its their cover. Thjazi thought it best to hide their real identify so that the Tachonis wouldn't find them as easy." Thimble says, settling on my shoulder. "Which reminds me..."
A silence fills the space as I turn to look to my friend. "What?"
"Do they not know?" Teor says, glancing between me and Thimble.
"Know what?" I speak again. "What happened?"
Thimble carefully places her hand on my shoulder as she sits, eyes downcast. "Thjazi– he's–" she takes a deep breath. "He's dead."
I freeze then, my body turning to ice as the man who saved my life, who gave my life new meaning and direction was suddenly... gone. "What do you mean dead? Who." I say quieter than I mean to.
"Casimir and the Tachonis. The whole fucking Sundered Houses. They killed him in front of all of Dol-Makjar and we couldn't save him." Thimble's voice trembles, devastation lacing every word. I knew what this meant to her, what it means to all of us here.
A rage, steady burning grew within me. Once silent, never too consuming, now flushes over my skin as my eyes dart to the unfamiliar faces in the group. "Then why are you with these two? Are they your prisoners? Were they involved?" My voice does not rise, but my anger does. A quiet storm as I slowly inch forward towards the young man with glowing tattoos, and the demon by his side. Candescent Creed. Sundered House.
"Oh! We did not– we were not–" The younger man speaks first, a nervous edge to his polished voice as he shifts his body back.
The demon in the baby blue frilled dress steps forward, hands out gesturing wildly as she covers the boy. "Hi! I'm Tyranny, this is Wick. We totally weren't involved in that stuff. Wick here actually tried to help Hal and everything, but well, things didn't going to plan so Thjazi still died and all. Unfortunately. Sorry." She adds posthumously. Her bluntness shoots through as the last of her words settle into my stomach.
Thjazi, dead.
The once silent man from earlier finally interjects, a person I had been avoiding facing since I first heard him speak out.
"These two are harmless, mostly. Casimir and those lordy bastards are the ones who are to blame here." His gravely tone hits me with a sharpness I'd not felt in a while. Not since I last laid eyes on the man I once called my best friend, my comrade. The man I trusted more than anyone, until I didn't.
I don't speak for a moment as I let my eyes shift towards his still form. Still a hunter, he stands just outside the group, always assessing and calculating. But there's a wall now, one that's been built since I last saw him, and I know that if I saw myself reflected back in his eyes, I'd see the same.
"Vale." I don't break my gaze.
"Shadow." He says in a bored, near mocking tone. But in it, a small crack. His gaze is soft.
Our stare off lasts a moment before I pull my focus towards the group, assessing.
I could still feel his gaze burning into the side of my head.
I watch Thimble move off my shoulder, now flying in front of my vision as I speak. "Why are you out here then? If Thjazi's gone, are you running?"
"Casimir." Thimble says, venom lacing every syllable. "Fucking bastard's gonna get what's comin' to him."
I nod, understanding, "Good."
"What about you? Why are you here in the woods alone?" Teor speaks up, gesturing for me to sit as the group shifts back to the logs, tensions easing. I still stand, not planning to stay much longer if I can help it.
"Been undercover for some years, was helping Thjazi. We were working on finding some... items, but I hit a dead end recently." I keep my focus on the fire. "Been trying to find my way back to reassess. Pick up new leads, anything." I can still hear the forest around me, the people, but I'm on edge. Even if they were old comrades, friends at one time, there are too many variables here.
"What items?" Kattigan's voice pops up from my left, the same calm and gravely tone picking at my nerves once again. The way he acts so nonchalant makes me want to–
My thoughts are cut off by Thimble. "Yeah, maybe it'll give us some clues or why those asshole Houses decided to act against him now! He kept your work with him pretty secret, even from me. I only knew the bare minimum." Her face fills with hesitancy and doubt, her voice tinged with slight regret. Or resentment? I can't tell.
I guess anyone in Thjazi's circle is now a suspect to Thimble, thanks to Casimir.
I look around the group, tense. "Thimble's the only one I'd be okay sharing this information with. No offense Teor, but I haven't seen most of you in years and some of you I have high fucking doubts about so... as much as I'd like to just share information willy nilly that I promised Thjazi I'd guard with my life, I'd rather not."
I could see the ease of Thimble's shoulders at that.
"What is willy ni–" Teor starts, confusion as his features before he's cut off.
"Still keeping secrets then ey?" A gruff chuckle from Kattigan.
"That's fucking rich coming from you." I snap back, my gaze boring into his face. New wrinkles, new greys. Same eyes. My jaw tense as I try, and fail, to not notice.
"Okay, what the hell is up with the two of you? Last I knew you guys were attached the hip in the Rebellion." Thimble says as she flutters up between our line of sight, hands up in placation.
"Yes, we were all quite close." Teor says eyes darting between me and Kattigan. He knew why, but doesn't dare say a word. He lets the tension hang in the air instead, lets us work things out like he always did.
Which they never did.
"Well, now we're not. So. Guess that clears things up." I turn around and walk towards the tree line. "Thimble, if you want that info then I'll tell you now. But after that I'm gone."
"Wait!" Thimble says rushing up. "Hold on, you said your lead went cold right? Why don't you come with us? We could use the extra help and maybe you can find some answers." She pauses, gaze down at a charm on her side. A fairy charm. "He... Thjazi kept a lot of secrets, and you were one of the biggest ones. Maybe you could help us figure this thing out, avenge him. Set this right."
With Thjazi gone, I had to revaluate. Regroup. And I can't do that here, not with the man that made emotions boil so quickly, ones that I'd long since shoved and locked away. No, I need to get out of here soon.
"Thimble I- I don't know. I'm used to the shadows, I don't do whatever the hell this is anymore." I say, tone softening at the pixie.
"It is true, we could use your assistance. Even if you are of the shadows, you once were of the light with us. You worked such shadows alongside us. You can once again no?" Teor says, hopeful. "And truthfully, I would much like to know of your life since I have last seen you. I had thought you dead this entire time."
My jaw tenses, eyes looking out to the forest ahead. Familiar, comfortable, the loneliness that's become a balm and a shield against the cruelty of the world after the Shaper's War. Being in such company again would bring heartache just like before. Just like now. Just like Thjazi.
"Fuck." I let out with a harsh sigh. "Fine. For Thjazi. And truthfully, I just want to watch those fuckers that killed him rot."
I turn, Teor now standing as his arm reaches around my shoulders to drag me across the camp. "Wonderful! Come, sit. Tell us then, what came of you after the final battle?"
I sit down, but my body and mind still on high alert as I slowly tell my story. I keep certain details out due to our mixed company, while my eyes actively avoid the brown ones from across the fire.
Now set on a new path without much choice, what came from here... only time would tell.