Play-Test Episode: "Ariel's Fate"

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ariel tells Ivy about her idea. Ivy is listening, though the tall woman is hard to read… and she may come across as a little intimidating. She remains focused on her work, only humming an "mm-hmm" sound to let Ariel know she's listening.

As soon Ariel proposes her solution to her claws getting in her way, Ivy perks up. "I was just thinking the same thing!" She looks toward the sky, and points to the plain blue yonder as she speaks. "The claws would flip back…" She moves her hand, as if when looking at the sky she can see the design in her mind. (Perhaps Ariel's father would see it, too.) "…to the center of your arm guard. I could add a strip of thick hide at the center, and the claws can hook into that." She turns her gaze from the imagined sketch and faces Ariel. "Then your claws won't flop around when you want them to stay put."

As she gets back to work, she eagerly eyes the hyena's paws. The limbs have already been skinned and are currently drying, though Ivy didn't actually have any sophisticated plans for them.



MARIYA

When Mariya follows Violet into the cave, her seawater gown reflects violet light emanating from the plants on Violet's dress. At first, Mariya isn't sure what the little violet sparks in her gown are. But suddenly, the violet light is gone, and Mariya understands it is phosphorous. She watches the cyan sparkles move about her gown, then looks back to Violet.

Only, Violet is no longer there—or rather, no longer human.

For the first time, Mariya sees what it was like for a human to look upon her in her pixie form. Violet's dress is reduced to a single violet-colored blossom. It is all she needs to cover her tiny winged body.

"Is this your first time?" she asks.

 

[Noma Galway]

"Yes," I say softly, looking at Violet with something akin to awe. "Is that really how small we are?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Yeah," she says. "But for the past thirteen years, all my friends have been human. My parents made me big like them, I guess so they'd think of me as one of them. They keep this island beautiful, and mostly untouched by human civilization. I guess that's why I was sent to help them.

"But I can't remember the last time I've been around another pixie. Why don't you turn back? We can fly over the island. It's very beautiful from way, way up!"

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I can't help but grin when Ivy succumbs to the throes of creativity, seeing clothes patterns in the sky above us that I can only imagine from what she says aloud. "That sounds perfect! Shall I leave you to it, or would you like a hand? Two of us can get things done faster than one."

 

[Noma Galway]

I think for a moment, slightly confused. "I don't have wings. I don't think I can fly." I frown and shut my eyes, willing myself down to my normal size. "See?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ivy hesitates, then says, "Normally, I would tell you I work alone, but you have enough fashion sense that I trust you can be useful. Let me take a few measurements, then you can steady the materials while I cut and stitch." She looks at the sun. "If we make good time, I'll walk you through the left glove as I work the right."


MARIYA

Violet flutters down as Mariya sinks into her dissolving gown. Once the steam clears, Mariya stands inches tall with her pixie-sized silk gown clinging to her body, soaking wet.

The fairy giggles. "Thalia could fly. Oh… she's your sister. But you don't know her." She suddenly becomes much more serious. "No… you haven't met any of your sisters. You were never taught." Violet perks up again—"I can!"

Mariya can't help but notice that the way the fairy's emotional state switches so quickly and easily. As a muse, she is able to contain her emotions. She can pour her feelings into a song, but in conversation, she can remain poised. Whether this is the difference between a fairy and a muse, or the difference from being raised in a castle versus the wild, Mariya cannot be certain.
​

"I can teach you," Violet says. "Thalia told me the trick. It's her power over wind." She takes the hem of Mariya's gown and squeezes it. Water comes out. "Wind can dry your outfit, too. I know it can. It was a hundred years ago—maybe two—but I saw her do it. She couldn't get big like you, but we were in the rain. I couldn't fly, but then Thalia had a breeze go around her. It was a warm wind. Here I was with my useless wings, my clothes stinky with mud because I wouldn't run around naked like the sugarplums… and Thalia dried us off.

"Lily said you can make lightning, so I'll bet wind is easier. It's gentler than lightning, so you just… like this—"

A large stalactite plunges into the ground a few feet away from the two pixies. The impact sounds like thunder.

"—see? That's how you are when you cast lighting, right? Or even a really strong wind? But the wind that dries your clothes and makes you fly, that's gentle, like this—"

Grains of sand roll between Mariya's feet and from other directions—toward Violet. After a short while, Violet is standing on a mound just over an inch high. The sand keeps coming as she speaks.

"Rocks take energy, and I can goof up the spell. Sand is effortless. It's not a battle spell." Violet is up to her knees in sand, and the mound has lifted her a few inches above Mariya. "It is gentle. Just a small hint of the true power of my magic." Mariya now sees that Violet is sitting in a little throne. Behind her, castle walls—sandcastle walls—are forming. "This spell is useful for entertaining tourist children at the beach. They don't know I'm a big fairy, or that I'm using magic to keep their sandcastles from falling over. The gentlest magic—to a human—is like us, so subtle that humans may not even notice.

"Try casting wind now. Make it so gentle that you can dry your gown without knocking over my sandcastle. If you succeed, direct the wind beneath you. Think of yourself as one with the wind.

"That 'one-with-the-wind' thing is Thalia's words. I don't know how to be one with the wind. That's why I have wings."

 

[Noma Galway]

On instinct, I begin to vocalize softly. Steam swirls around me as my dress dries off, and I trail off, realizing my song is not necessary for calling so soft. I direct the small stream of air below me and begin to float up. I stop the flow and begin to fall again, but soon I find the balance, swaying gently in the air.

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I smile when Ivy compliments my fashion sense. I guess building my skill at sewing my own dresses for years before coming out here has paid off! "Thanks! Just tell me what you need me to do." No matter what my skill level might be, I know to trust an older, wiser head.

I stay quiet and keep my hands steady as we work, not wanting to distract Ivy with conversation -- or myself for that matter.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ivy sees that Ariel knows where to place her hands in order to help. She doesn't need as much direction as Ivy had expected.

"You seem to know what you're doing. Why don't you work on the cloak while I finish the dress? I'll still talk you through the gloves, though, just to ensure the gloves match. And come to think of it, I'll handle the left glove and have you take the right."



MARIYA

Violet sees that Mariya has control of the wind. "Hmm… you make it look so easy. Let's go this way."

She leads Mariya to a small hole that leads up and out of the cave. From this direction, no one can see the two pixies leaving the cave. "We'll get good and high up before we fly over them. I don't show my wings in front of my friends. I mean… they know I'm a fairy. I just…"

Violet's serious tone is cut off by a giggle.

"Why talk about flying high when I can just shut up and do it? Your first flight! I'm so excited for you!"

If Mariya is willing, Violet lifts off into the sky. From such a height, the humans look tiny.

Violet points out tourist areas along the shore, the volcano to the north, the Tigerwood Forest—"That's a tigerwood tree! With the bright orange leaves. If we fly lower, you can see the bark. It's striped, but black and white, not orange. Why didn't they call it zebrawood?" When they fly over a nude beach along the southwestern shore, Violet asks if Mariya wants to take a closer look. Her facial expression suggests she would rather not.

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

"I think I'd be better off working with the dress, if that's okay with you," I say. "Cloaks are a bit outside my area of expertise. It's not like I've needed to make them here, after all. And at home we just bought them."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ivy seems taken aback at first, but as her eyes widen so does her grin. "No wonder you seem so sure of your hands. Well, if dress-making is your specialty, go ahead and finish the job. I think you can predict how it will look when it's complete. I had some ideas for your cloak anyway, so I'll just run with that plan."

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I nod, turning toward the half-finished dress. "Sounds good to me!"

As I look at the pieces Ivy cut out and has partially sewn, I can see the look she was going for and how to continue with it. A smile stays on my face as I fall into a rhythm with my sewing. After a while I lose track of time. But then the dress is done, and I hold it up triumphantly for inspection. "There! How does it look?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ivy stands up with the finished cloak. As Ariel sees the woman at her full height, she recalls Lily referring to this woman as The Ivy Tower. When she speaks, Ariel remembers the phrase gentle giantess being applied to Ivy a couple times.

"Try it on," she says, holding the cloak out. But she isn't referring to the cloak only. The cloak is to screen Ariel from view of the men. "The dress, the cloak… try the whole outfit. Then we make the gloves!"


* * *


The sun is still warm, and just low enough that it's best not to look up when facing west. In two hours, maybe close to three, the sun will set.

Of course, no one will go anywhere until Mariya emerges from the cave. None of the humans are aware that the two pixies are flying, and some are unaware of Mariya's ability to fly or that Violet is a "demigoddess."


((I still think I should call the form "semi-goddess," since demigoddess means something else. But if everyone's cool with demigoddess being used this way, I won't worry about it. It's just a name needed for my narrative anyway. Characters will likely just call her by name, or call it "being big" as Violet does.))

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I find a more secluded spot to change, wriggling out of my lighter dress and into the heavier garments. The heat feels much more oppressive under the hyena's heavy fur. I return to Ivy and turn slowly on the spot to let her see me from every angle. "I imagine they'll be more comfortable once I'm somewhere it's not so hot!"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

ARIEL

Ivy says, "Oh! If you're complaining about the heat already, I believe you'll be warm enough on the mountain. Why don't you change back then, and we'll start on the gloves."

Lily and Heather look on as Ariel shows off her new outfit. Heather thinks it looks good with the jackalope boots. Before Ariel goes back to change, Lily suggests, "You might want to be wearing that when you leave. If your goddess is having you go to her daughter instead of a ship, I have a feeling it's gonna be a really short trip to the mountain."

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I nod as I pull off the cloak. "My thoughts exactly. I just don't want to overheat while I'm waiting."

Ducking back into seclusion, I quickly change back and return to work with Ivy. Making gloves is a bit trickier than I'd anticipated -- probably because I need to remember to mirror everything she does rather than just mimicking it. It seems to be coming together nicely, though; there isn't that much difference between her work and mine. Nothing that'll make wearing the gloves uncomfortable, or any more complicated than it should be.

 

[Noma Galway]

I fly around with Violet for a while, to get the hang of it, but after a little while I say, "We should probably get back to the others."

 

[Ruby]

Fenella

Hi, I'm looking for Mariya. Well, she is my muse. I hear there's a chance of new costumes, and gloves? We royal princesses always wear gloves you know. I wonder whether to follow my muse into that cave...

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

FENELLA / MARIYA

When Mariya returns, Violet reverts to her human sized form. She says to Mariya, "You might feel disoriented the first few times, but eventually changing form becomes second nature. I prefer to be like this around humans. But I do enjoy my pixie form when my friends are not around."

She hesitates when stepping toward where Rose and Susan are sitting.

"I'm over 300 years old, and my best friends are almost 30. They're starting to look older than me. My best friends for the past thirteen years are human. Before that, I avoided them." She sees Fenella heading to the cave to find Mariya. "How do you do it? I mean, how do you watch your human friends grow old while you don't?"


((Violet can't tell Mariya is 18. Both pixies look about the same age, though a human ignorant of pixie life spans might think Violet is a few years older than Mariya.))


ARIEL

When the gloves are finished, both look identical, except for one barely-noticable difference on the left glove. Ivy explains it is not a mistake. She shows Ariel a leather attachment.

"In case you ever learn the art of falconing, you can attach this piece to the left glove," she says. She stores the attachment in a pocket on the inside of Ariel's cloak. "You won't even feel it, so try not to forget it's there. As for the claws…"

Her hands are too large for the gloves, so she calls Lily over. Lily takes one look at the design and says, "Yeah, I get it." She tries on the left glove and asks Ariel, "Is this your invention?" She asks Ariel to wear the glove on the right, and to do as she does. With a snapping motion—a quick back-and-forth flick of the wrist—the claws unhook from the strap in the center of the arm guard, and flip over Lily's hand.

Lily makes an attacking motion. There is a light whoosh as Lily shreds her imaginary target to ribbons.

She carefully hooks the claws back into place and removes the glove, though she waits to make sure Ariel isn't about to attempt a claw attack before getting too close. When Ariel is ready to take her glove, Lily compliments her on her ingenuity. "I'm just a little jealous," she says. Ivy says there are enough paws on the silver back for a second pair.

 

[Ireth]

Ariel

I grin at our finished handiwork, and listen in interest as Ivy explains her addition to my left glove. "That could be interesting. My dad knows a spell for taming animals that I haven't yet seen him perform. It could come in handy!"

When Lily comes over and asks about the gloves, I smile and nod. "Yup! It was a collaboration, really. We both had the same idea."

I put on the gloves and take a few steps away, making sure nobody's within arm's reach as I practice clawing at the air like Lily showed me.

Eh, so it'll take a while to get used to. I don't mind. I have my bow and dagger to use in the interim. This is really a last resort kind of thing.