Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 9)

(Aww that’s super sweet thank you <3 honestly I kind of joke that I raised myself because they just kind of ignored me unless I did something wrong but I was very much the keep-the-peace-please-don’t-be-mad-anymore vibe that Ky has regarding conflict lol so it was whatever. But I definitely feel like I self-parented. So glad to know I am good at raising kids xD)
(Also the talk ended up going surprisingly well which is why I disappeared for so long and she definitely heard me ramble about this RP for a solid ten minutes lol)

“Apparently centuries ago the gods threw a hissy fit for a decade and just plunged this whole region into perpetual night. And the trolls before and after massacred thousands of people. But that was all sudden when the gods were still awake. So we don’t know if there’s gonna be another extinction event or not,” Pratik recounted, drumming his fingertips on his knee absently.

Aw I'm so glad to hear it went well! I hoped it would)

Ada wrinkled her nose. "Oh, that doesn't sound fun at all." She hesitated. "I would really, really like to be getting home, then."

“Me too.”

Pratik glanced over and was alarmed to see how vulnerable Ky suddenly looked. It was as if every bit of her annoyance and anxiety had somehow turned into despair and left her looking as if she wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her where she sat.

“It’ll be ok—“ Pratik started.

“Don’t,” she interrupted, glaring even though they both knew she wasn’t actually glaring at him. “Don’t tell me everything is going to be okay and I’m overreacting and I’m dumb and just hush and pretend like nothing is wrong. I’m not stupid. And something is very wrong.”

Gaius returned with a stack of books cradled in his jacket, which he spilled as gently as he could onto the table and then sat down.
"You can go home with me," Ada suggested quietly. "We can get you passage to your old home, maybe. Far away from here."

Ky glanced from Ada to Gaius then back again and shrugged, ready for this conversation to be over. If Gaius ever decided to stop being self-absorbed she certainly didn’t want him hearing how desperately she wanted to leave this hellscape.

"We'll talk later," she promised.
"Milord!" A tiny, tiny old woman with a shock of curly white hair strode into the library in her nightclothes, followed by the man Ky had spoken to and three others. "I hear you have need of the Tale Masters."
Gaius looked up. "Ah, Yra. Thank you so much for coming--sorry to wake you at this hour. I have something fascinating to share with you." He gestured for them to come closer.

Ky was immediately interested. So this was the legendary Yra. She committed her every feature to memory and watched her, deciding it was easier to focus on Sara’s task in learning how to befriend Yra than it was Gaius’s task to memorize millennia of folktales in an hour.

Tale Master Yra looked to be about sixty years old and only stood as high as the table. She wore an elegant green dressing gown over a white shift as well as a pair of warm fur slippers and stockings. Her eyes were bright blue and extremely attentive, and her face was surprisingly smooth for a woman of her age.
"Lay it on me," she said as one of the other Tale Masters pulled up a chair for her. Gaius launched into an enthusiastic explanation of everything that happened, starting with Rönn and progressing to what they were currently researching.

(She reminds of a v smol field mouse vibes lol)

Ky left the book open on her lap but didn’t make any effort to pretend that she was reading it now. Instead she listened to the summary and watched to see how the Tale Masters were taking the info and also trying to add all the next facts to her brain, since Gaius apparently didn’t think the librarians were stupid and was actually explaining himself and treating them like real people.

Pratik watched quietly, making sure his energy was calm and his persona was small. Out of the way. Out of attention. That was usually a good strategy to get to stay somewhere you weren’t sure you were wanted — just make people forget about you entirely.

(Yes I love that!!)

When Gaius finished, the Tale Masters were all silent for a moment. Yra blinked at him, then turned to Ky and Pratik. "You both saw this troll?" she asked. "Or the Marrow Man? Or both?"

Pratik shook his head. “I only saw Marrow—“

“Rönn,” Ky interrupted tersely. They weren’t going to revert to objectifying Rönn — at least not in front of her. He was the whole reason they even knew about the troll in the first place.

“Rönn,” Pratik conceded, dipping his head. “But I saw the prints outside from the troll and the wreckage he left behind. Ky saw them both.”

Ky nodded in agreement.

Yra nodded slowly. "Well. Wow. I'm gonna have to ask a lot more about that, particularly from you, young miss--" She pointed at Ky. "--since you're the one who made contact with, er, Rönn. And I'm inclined to believe all of you. What do you think?" She turned back to the other Tale Masters. Two others nodded in agreement while the last two were skeptically silent. "Right, well, we seem to be a bit split. You two can go back to bed if you want. The rest of us would be delighted to help out on this, Gaius." She paused. "Though I do ask that I get some more sleep before daybreak."
"Of course, of course." Gaius nodded quickly, then looked to Ky and the others. "Would you care to stay and help?"

Depends. Do you still think I ‘need assistance’? Ky was careful not to say that aloud. Instead she dipped her head. “Sure.” She could always change her mind and dramatically stomp off later if he kept being a jerk. And, well, maybe she was overreacting a bit. She had been a bit volatile since the attack, and doubly so after Zander left. Maybe she was the one being a bitch. That made more sense anyway. She was getting opinionated rather than obedient. She needed to get that back in check.

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Pratik said with a grin. He was a little uneasy about it all, but certainly wasn’t going to admit that or drop this until he got batted away. And, well, he could probably get Ky to fill him in later even if he lost his welcome somehow.

Gaius nodded, satisfied. "We're looking for any accounts on how long it takes a god to wake," he informed everyone. "And what might happen if that occurs. We know about earthquakes and troll attacks, but we need more specifics."

“Have they gone to sleep before?” Ky asked. “Or, er, when?”

Or was this assistance that was beneath him?

She shook the thought away. Why was she being this petty about an off handed comment? He’d probably forgotten already. She must just be tired. And cranky. And her abdomen had been hurting her a lot today anyhow and making her hungry for sweets — and she was confused and unappreciative about her body rebelling like this. She needed to stop being a bitch. This was most definitely a her-thing.