Chapter Text
Chapter one: arrival
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Gurjin sits in the carriage with a soft smile on his face. He’s on his way to the castle, feeling proud- daresay cocky. He’s been personally chosen by the Skeksis to become a castle guard (whether it’s because of familial ties with Maudra Laesid, he can’t say, but he’s proud nonetheless
Unum and unum of training has led to this and now he finally gets to do what he’s always dreamt of! Amidst his excitement, it’s relevant to consider the guards’ lack of Drenchen faces- it’s quite daunting, but serves to make Gurjin feel even more pleased with himself, silently vowing to make a good impression for the sake of his clan and his family.
He looks around the carriage with curiosity, wondering about the gelfling around him. Four Vapran, two Stonewood, five Spriton. Including himself that would be twelve new guards. He wonders if there would be others, embarrassed to say he doesn’t know much about how he will start. He looks out of the carriage window as they approach the magnificent structure, tall and twisted, with towers reaching skyward.
When the carriage finally comes to a halt he suddenly feels a small burst of nervousness, a feeling he seldom falls victim to. He steps out with the other new recruits, unsure of what exactly he should be doing. He assumes the captain will arrive soon, but what then? He stands awkwardly as some other new guards converse with one another. He spots a stonewood guard with thick and frizzy brown hair sticking from his helmet. He quickly tires of his blank face and sighs as he attempts to loosen up. Despite his efforts, his muscles tense as the captain marches into the room, his presence carrying with it an aura of authority. He introduces himself as Captain Ordon, but it isn’t as though they don’t already know- he’s practically a legend. Ordon, hero of Stone-in-the-Wood, Ordon, the spitter slayer- Gurjin had heard it all. Once again, the Drenchen is pulled from his thoughts as the captain stops in front of him, looking up at his straight posture and strong frame.
"What’s your name?" Ordon asks bluntly.
"Gurjin, sir." the Drenchen responds promptly. The captain eyes him for a moment more, noting that he may be quite the addition to his guard, considering his intimidating stature. Gurjin watches as the captain paces back and forth, hoping for the best. It’s now that Gurjin notices the guard standing across from him, the same frizzy haired one from before. He’s staring. He wants be irritated by his gawking, but he’d done the same just a few minutes prior, so he really has no right. This guard clearly isn’t new, his uniform old and worn. Gurjin chooses not to think much of it, it seems he’s just getting a look at everyone. The Drenchen finds himself continuing to watch in curiosity as the captain moves up behind the gawky guard. He says something, but the gelfling doesn’t react, still taking in the new faces. The captain promptly smacks the Stonewood guard upside his head, his helmet loosely falling over his eyes. He quickly adjusts himself, looking to the captain to repeat himself. Gurjin finds himself chuckling quietly at the gelfling, a little disappointed that he’s too far to hear their conversation.
"I told you to bring the recruits to their bunks- Adin already left with his group!" Ordon says, his voice sounding rather annoyed. The Stonewood nods, grappling for the parchment he’d been given with the recruits and bunk rooms assigned to them. He clumsily staggers forward as the captain gives him a small shove. Gurjin scoffs, this oaf seems utterly incompetent- perhaps making a good impression won’t be so difficult. The Stonewood guard steps up to the small group and gives a small smile.
"Hello, there. I’m Rian." He smiles. "You all just follow me, I’ll take you to where you’ll be staying." He says clearly, his voice deep and relaxed. He seems rather comfortable here, like he’s been here a while, although Gurjin reckons he can’t be any older than himself. The gelfling begins walking, his strides long and lax. He’s quite the character
"I’m Nora."A new recruit shyly blurts as she trails up next to the Stonewood.
"It’s nice to meet you." He nods politely, giving her a charming but respectful smile. Nora grins, turning her face away for a moment to hide her pink cheeks. Gurjin can hardly understand why she’d fluster over that, she doesn’t even know him- it’s not as though he’s that handsome either.
"It’s nice to meet you as well. You have a very pretty name, by the way." She squeaks back. Rian gives her another soft nod, thanking her before turning to the group, now walking backwards through the halls.
"The castle can be hard to navigate at first, but it does get easier." He explains, "the most important places for you to know now are the training hall, which is back the way we came to the left, the bath room which is just passed the the training hall and the meal hall which is up ahead and a few minutes down that hall." Rian chuckles, pointing down a corridor as they pass it.
"Lots of halls." One gelfling jokingly huffs.
"Many." Rian affirms. "All of you will be bunked with more experienced recruits, they’ll help you with getting around and acting proper." Rian assures the group, obviously intimidated by the size of the castle. Still facing the group, he pulls out his parchment once again. He studies it for a few moments, trying to decide where he should start, still haphazardly strolling backwards. "Hm.. here we have.... ah- Nora." Rian smiles to the gelfling who had previously introduced herself. "You are bunking with.. Eedie ." He informs, knocking on the door politely. He waits for a response from the girl inside before peeking in to send in the new recruit. The girl gives him a sweet wave as Eedie introduces herself. With that done, he continues scrolling his eyes through the list, moving on, and pairing up the girls in their rooms. Gurjin watches in confusion as he interacts with the newbies. He gives them all the same dopey smile. Half the girls give him googly eyes but he hardly even notices. He must be quite dense, Gurjin thinks to himself. Still managing the shrinking group, Rian pairs the final girl with her roommate, politely pulling her from the little crowd. "You’re with Nidria.." he looks up the the recruit, "word of advice, do not ask about her hair. She wears it like that on purpose." Rian chuckles, obviously speaking from experience. He earns scattered giggles from what’s left of group as they continue on their way. It takes a while but they get to the last few gelfling, now in the boys dormitory. Rian gives a loud yawn, abandoning any professionalism he may have had. "If you ever get lost, you’ll know the girls' dormitory from the boys’ because this hall always reeks like sweaty bullocks- thanks to an unnamed gelfling." Rian trails off in a way Gurjin can only assume is meant to be humorous. "It’s Tolyn, in case you were wondering." Rian admits anyway, "Stinking bastard, that one." He grumbles under his breath, reading through his paper to see which poor soul is to be damned. "Which ones Gilli?" the Stonewood soldier asks, scanning the faces of the men. A skinny Spriton steps forward. Rian frowns at the unfortunate luck."Well, you’ll be staying with Tolyn." Rian says with slight pity. "Thra be clement." Rian smiles sympathetically. The gelfling looks to Rian with a worried expression as he turns to the door."Don’t worry, you’re both Spriton, maybe you two can talk about-" Rian shrugs, "I dunno- knock-knee or something." Rian grunts as he roughly kicks the base of the door. "Tolyn!" Rian shouts. He waits in silence for a moment before sighing, turning to the Spriton, "He’ll be out in a minute." He explains looking to the list once more as he moves on, only a couple more guards left."So which one is Ari?" He asks, the smaller of the two gelfling stepping forward, Rian stares for a second. "Uh- yes, right, you’re bunked up here with Palis." Rian stammers with a smile, as he knocks and quickly informs Palis of his new roommate. The two greet each other respectfully, Palis shutting the door as he helps Ari with his bag. Rian takes a breath as he stares at the shut door, feeling the tall Drenchen’s eyes on his back. He turns to him and looks to his page. "Gurjin, yes?" he asks, a little intimidated that this gelfling - that was meant to be somewhat of an underling- is much larger than himself. The Drenchen nods, unsure of how he feels about this guard. He’s been nice enough so far, but he seems as though he doesn’t care too much about his position. "Right, well- our room is just at the end, here." he nods stepping a few meters down the hall and opening the door to let them both in. Gurjin takes in his surroundings as he enters, looking to the messy desktop and dresser. Above the dresser are some illustrated posters- although upon closer inspection they’re just old flyers for a stonewood festival, it looks like. He turns to his right to find a bunk bed, the beds partially dugout into the wall- most likely to save space. He steps over, taking his bag and automatically setting it down on the bottom bunk. "Oh- Erm.." Rian starts.
"You’re a Stonewood, you climb, don’t you?" Gurjin says, his tone only slightly playful. Rian stares for a moment, he can’t exactly tell if he’s joking or not- Stonewood gelfling are known to be quick up a tree but this seems a little offhanded.
"On occasion." He responds, unable to keep himself from squeezing in some sarcasm. Gurjin doesn’t respond, turning to his back to begin unpacking. Rian watches awkwardly. "Uh- you can put your clothing and other belongings in that dresser. The bottom drawer’s mine." Rian says a bit awkwardly. His performative humour clearly faltering.
"Thanks." Gurjin answers politely, not having it in him to be rude without a proper cause.
"So you’ve come all the way from the swamps then?" Rian asks, simply to break the silence. Gurjin only nods as he pulls some gear from his knapsack, clearly not too interested in Rian’s small talk."I’ve always wanted to visit.. I hear it’s lovely in spring." Rian adds, trying once more to make conversation.
"Mhm." Is the only response he receives. Rian takes a breath, giving an awkward stretch as he tries to collect some more useful thoughts.
"Well, I reckon you should get your uniform on, Captain wants us in the training hall in an hour." Rian nods, smiling awkwardly. Gurjin takes his armour out, not making eye contact. He’s already in the appropriate shirt and trousers, but he’s missing his leathers. The Drenchen sighs and begins pulling on the leather straps, fastening his chest piece, his spaulders over top. Rian watches tentatively, looking for error before plainly spotting one. "You need to be tucking your straps away."Rian says, trying his best to be playful. Gurjin looks back at him.
"Why’s that?" He asks, unsure if he should trust the advice.
"It’s not safe to have things hanging off of you, silly." Rian answers, his lips curling into a smile.
"You’re pulling my leg, I’ve never heard that." The Drenchen squints. Rian sighs, pulling his raggedy cloak back to show his straps safely tucked away. Rian then steps up to Gurjin, reaching forward and quickly yanking him by the armour belt, the buckle unhooking, allowing the strap to be quickly tightened around his chest and shoulder.
"If that happened in a fight, your shoulder’s mobility would be compromised. Then they can drag you forward and-" Rian thrusts his hand forward, making a stupid squelch noise as he pretends to stab the Drenchen. Gurjin shoves the Stonewood away.
"Get off of me." He grunts, reluctantly fixing the buckle and tucking his straps out of reach.
"I’m just kidding around, I’m supposed to be looking after you, don’t you know." Rian explains, crossing his arms to seem aloof.
"I haven’t asked you to."Gurjin scoffs as he continues getting ready. Rian sighs.
"Ah, but the captain has. You’re new, and I’m not. I’m simply here to keep you from being skinned alive." Rian teases, his arms still crossed over his chest. The Drenchen only shakes his head.
"I’ve trained hard to be here.. I’m no childling." The Drenchen says as he straightens himself out. Rian can’t help but roll his eyes.
"I swear I’ll be off your back once you know your way around." Rian says, a little disappointed at his inability to connect with his new roommate. Gurjin gives a reluctant nod.
"Fine." The Drenchen sighs. Rian gives a nod stepping out of the room and beginning down the hall. Gurjin follows, his steps heavy and tired. Rian watches the Drenchen as he walks, taking in his features. Rian hasn’t much exposure to Thra. He knows only the castle and Stone-in-the-Wood- which admittedly is more than some ever know- but the fact remains, he knows little to nothing of the Drenchen Clan. He carefully examines his skin. The skin looks tough yet smooth, stretched over his knuckles the way cushion moss clings tight to stone. His eyes shift to his hair next, he’s never seen it worn that way before- loose braids, and hair tangled into thick tufts.
"What?" A deep voice drags Rian from his thoughts. Rian’s eyes shift from his hair to his face.
"Sorry?" Rian asks, unsure of what he’s done.
"You’re just looking at me." Then Drenchen says coldly, his bright amber eyes narrowing.
"I just don’t know many Drenchens." Rian responds, trying to remain pleasant.
"I can tell." The Drenchen responds. The Stonewood frowns, understanding that staring isn’t all too polite.
"Sorry." Rian grumbles, looking back down the hall. He takes a large stride ahead to avoid awkwardly standing right to Gurjin’s side. He listens to the sound of his boots, the heel producing a satisfying clack against the stone. He quickly notices that the sound is singular. He looks back for a moment wondering if Gurjin had fallen behind. Seeing that the tall Drenchen is still there, he looks to his boots- or lack there of. He feels his mind flood with curiosity, but bites his burning tongue rather than ask of it. He once again turns back to face forward.
It’s only a moment later that he squints. His ear twitches and flicks wildly, locating a sound down the hall. Gurjin watches his stupid ears take in the noise- squeaking, quiet foreign chatter, and the sound of small wooden wheels against stone. The Stonewood’s lips curl into a smile as a cart of treats turns the corner in their direction. Gurjin notices a little skip in the boys step as he approaches. The podlings frown the moment Rian comes into view.
"Babbon! Niya zol!" One shouts as Rian approaches.
"Now, what are you on about?" Rian asks with a smile, putting his hands on the edge of the cart to slow their very sudden (and understandable) rush.
"No!" One shouts, yanking the cart from his grasp. The other podling immediately points an accusing finger at the Stonewood. "Ich na zoli!" the podling demands, frantically pointing from Rian, back to the cart.
"Put what back?" Rian repeats, long familiar with that particular podling phrase. "I haven’t taken anything! See?" he says coyly, raising his hands to present his empty palms. The podling looks to him and grumbles, giving Rian a glare over his shoulder as he begins pushing the cart once more. Rian gives Gurjin a quick smile as he continues walking. Once they’re out of sight, Rian opens his cloak to reveal a few pastries he’d managed to snag. Gurjin scoffs.
"You’re going to be a bad influence, aren’t you?" he says, rolling his eyes. Rian looks to him with an eyebrow raised.
"Hmm," he shrugs, "So I guess you don’t want any?" He teases, lifting one to wave under the Drenchen’s nose. Gurjin swats the boys hand, the small fluffy pastry splatting on the floor. "Well, there’s no need to be rude." Rian teases. He gives the pastry a forlorn look, knowing well that it’s crawly food now. He looks back to his arms to see what else he’d snagged. He clucks his tongue. "Yesmit, guess I didn’t look before I grabbed." He frowns, holding up a seemingly normal bun. Gurjin cocks his head, obviously hinting for Rian to explain himself. "They mark these ones- see that slit at the top? the ones no good." Rian says, carefully tearing the bun open to reveal its filling, crunchy insects scattered throughout the dough. The stonewood makes a silly gag noise before throwing the buggy bun over the rail. It’ll fall into the river below and some lucky fish will have it. Rian takes his last pastry, taking a bite as he walks."Lighten up." Rian says through a full mouth. Gurjin glances down at the boy still chewing. He can’t help but sport a small sneer as the boy stuffs his face full, a bit of jelly smeared on his lip.
"How old are you?" Gurjin asks with a soft scowl. Rian swallows what’s in his mouth to speak properly.
"Just turned eighteen." He says with a grin, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"You’re younger than me." Gurjin responds, the Stonewood’s expression falling a tad.
"Figured as much, you look older." Rian nods to him, referencing his height.
"Eighteen you said?" Gurjin asks, stifling a chuckle.
"Yes, why?" Rian responds cautiously while Gurjin’s chortling continues.
"It’s just funny that you’ll stay that height." Gurjin laughs, saying it aloud only proving to make in funnier. Rian’s face sours, he’s not much smaller than the average stonewood. His father is a few inches taller than him, he’ll most likely stop growing when he gets there.
"I will not, I still have growing to do." Rian argues, Gurjin only laughs harder.
"Gelfling stop growing at 16, idiot." Gurjin smiles, looking down on the boy. Rian’s cheeks burn red.
"That’s only a myth!" Rian blurts, clearly flustered at this claim.
"You really think you’ll get taller?" Gurjin asks, still amused. When Rian gives an affirmative nod, Gurjin’s grin only widens "When we get back I’ll mark your height, so we can monitor your ‘growth’."Gurjin chuckles, Rian’s confidence sinking slightly. He isn’t that short. He’s not far from average- for a Stonewood that is- he gives a sigh as they turn the corner to the training hall. It’s rather large, but somewhat empty. He notes the equipment tucked away into the corners. Dull spears and racks of wooden sparring swords. Rian gives a proud smile as he sees the captain. He walks up to his side, leaving Gurjin to observe.
"All the guards have met their roommates." Rian grins, nudging the older Stonewood. "You can take the placement plan if you need it back."Rian says confidently, holding out the parchment he’d been given. The Captain doesn’t take it. Rian frowns, changing the subject. "Are you excited to visit the village? It’s been sometime since we last saw everyone." Rian asks, figuring he’s come across common ground. Gurjin’s ears twitch as he struggles to pick up their conversation. He watches as Rian speaks, the conversation is clearly one sided, the Captain not taking his eyes from the recruits entering the room. The young Stonewood becomes slightly discouraged, still making an attempt to speak, when the captain suddenly opens his mouth.
"Where should you be, soldier?" The captain says coldly, his face unchanged from when he arrived. Rian’s weak smile drops.
"Not here." He simply nods, reciting the answer as though it’s been repeated before. He promptly sees himself back to the Drenchen, walking across the room with pink cheeks of embarrassment.
"That looked painful. What was that?" Gurjin asks, looking to Rian’s disappointed expression.
"Just some Erm- friendly banter." Rian responds, unwilling to come up with something more snide. "Go line up with the other newbies, I’m meant to be elsewhere. I’ll be back for you later." Rian says, his tone slightly less enthusiastic than before. Gurjin finds himself curious about this Stonewood. He seems to have an odd relationship with the captain from what he’s seen. He wonders about that for a short while.
****
After an incredibly boring orientation to the guard, Gurjin finds himself waiting on Rian to return. Nearly half the guards have already left by the time he arrives, leaving Gurjin frustrated with his poor punctuality. "I was looking for you." Gurjin says, his face unamused. "Where were you?" Gurjin asks, his lip twitching in aggravation. The Stonewood passes him with out a glance. He continues on to a wooden board on the wall with a large piece of parchment pinned to it.
"Uh-huh, right, right, let’s take a look at our schedule." Rian says, completely ignoring his sorry timing. He steps up between a few other guards and looks for his name. He finds it crossed out with another guards name replacing his. With furrowed brows, his eyes move down the list until they land on a similarly crossed out name, only vice versa. When he looks to the time, he sees he’s been switched to a night shift last minute. He turns to the captain who makes brief eye contact before turning away. Rian scoffs."Of course!" Rian exclaims, "that’s what I get, I guess." Rian sighs, seeming more disappointed than anything. He turns away from the board. Gurjin’s eyes narrow at the Stonewood. He simply cannot wrap his mind around the enigmatic gelfling. He figures the guard is just hard to read."Come along then." Rian grumbles as he walks, Gurjin tiredly following him.
"Where are we going?" Gurjin asks.
"We’re going to get something to eat." Rian explains simply.
"Why so early?" Gurjin asks further.
"So we can get a couple hours of sleep before our patrol." Rian sighs, "we’ve been moved to the night watch." He frowns to his feet, not as fond of that particular shift.
"And that was your doing, was it? What- bothering the captain the way you did?" The Drenchen scowls, a little frustrated that his first ever patrol will be in the middle of the night because of his roommate.
"...yes." The Stonewood answers.
"Great." Gurjin shakes his head. He doesn’t look forward to enduring the consequences of this gelfling’s bad luck.
"...so who did Ordon pick on, then?" Rian asks curiously, not looking up from the floor in front of him.
"Huh?" Gurjin asks, confused as to what Rian’s after.
"Every time we get new recruits, he chooses someone to pick on. Was it Gilli? It’s usually the smaller ones." Rian explains. Gurjin gives a soft nod, surprised at Rian’s lucky guess.
"Erm- yes, he picked on Gilli." Gurjin answers.
"Let me guess, for his posture?" Rian asks, "he has timid posture." Says the Stonewood. Gurjin is even more impressed at Rian’s accuracy.
"Yes, actually." Gurjin furrows his brow.
"I usually like to be there for it but I-.. I had to be elsewhere for a little while." Rian gives a nod, a little disappointed he missed the orientation. Gurjin doesn’t respond to Rian, not caring to ask where he’d been. They spend the rest of their walk in silence, eventually entering the large meal hall. The smell of food lingers in the air- although Gurjin can’t say it smells all too appetizing. They step up to the counter, a group of podling stirring an odd looking soup. They promptly fill two wooden bowls, dropping a spoon in each and handing them over. Rian nods to the podlings politely before finding a seat, Gurjin still staring at the sludgy concoction. He sits down and gives it a smell, not too eager to ingest such a substance.
"What is this?"Gurjin asks, poking at a... well- to be truthful, Gurjin doesn’t know what it is. Rian laughs.
"Ha! Who knows?" Rian shrugs, already at peace with what they’re fed.
"Is it always like this?" Gurjin asks, praying to Thra he doesn’t have to deal with this every day.
"What, soup? It’s usually soup, although I know for a fact half of it is just Skeksis leftovers in broth." Rian smiles, taking a spoonful of thra-knows-what."Try not to think about it." The Stonewood advises through a full mouth. Gurjin looks to his bowl and takes a deep breath, willing himself to eat it. He lifts the spoon to his mouth cringing at the strange texture. He struggles to swallow but ultimately gets the first bite down. Rian chuckles.
"Looks like someone’s used to good home cooking. Ah- what I wouldn’t do to be back in stone-in-the-wood, my mothers an excellent cook." Rian reminisces, quickly eating what’s left in his bowl to be done with it. Gurjin envies this gelflings strong stomach as he forces down another bite. He begins to understand why the Stonewood steals treats instead.
"How do you eat it so easily?" Gurjin asks.
"There’s no easy way to eat it, Gurjin, you just do." Rian puts it simply. "Now hurry up, we’re losing sleep." Rian rushes. Watching as Gurjin quickly downs his bowl, getting rid of it as fast as he’s able. Gurjin admittedly gives a short gag at a suspicious crunch within the soup, but forces himself to swallow it regardless."Great." Rian says flatly. He gives a short burp, standing up with a deep and tired inhale. He takes Gurjin’s bowl with his own and places it with the other dirty dishes. Rian once again leads Gurjin to their room, but when they enter Gurjin goes straight for the desk, grabbing a charcoal stick as rian removes his helmet. He then promptly forces Rian’s back against the wall. Gurjin freezes. This must be the first time Gurjin’s really looked at Rian. He hadn’t noticed his features until now. Perhaps because of his helmet. His entire forehead and eyelids are naturally tinted blue, not to mention his exceptionally vibrant eyes. It takes him aback for a moment. Rian stares at him wide eyed absolutely dumbfounded. His brows furrow as Gurjin snaps out of it, quickly marking the Stonewood’s height before releasing him.
"..monitoring your growth. remember?" Gurjin explains. Rian takes a large step away, turning his face away as he feels it heat up.
"..okay." He clears his throat. Quickly setting the room up for bed, drawing a dark curtain over the sunlit window. He removes his armour in the dark and changes into more comfortable clothes. He turns to look at Gurjin but sees nothing in the dark room. Gurjins bright eyes-much more accustomed to the low light- see the Stonewood stare, but he can tell by the way his eyes flicker around that he can’t actually see much. He watches the boy give up his gawping and climb up to his (new) bed. Gurjin does the same. The boys try their best to get some rest, both gelflings minds clouded with thought.