Day Four of the October One-shot Challenge! This is a request-based chapter. Hello, fox tamer 113! :) You asked for a chapter about Polaris, and I'd be happy to write one. The last chapter I really consider being genuinely about Polaris was the Not-Egg Hunt (chapter 14), which, like you said, was a ways away from chapter 55. I'll definitely be writing more about the entire cast in a spread out manner from now on.

If you have any other requests or suggestions – anyone – I'd be happy to hear them. Sometimes, I run out of ideas, and that's occasionally why Lara/Jay take up most of the one-shots. But I'd love to write more about Polaris, Jinx, QuickSilver, the gods, interactions with the Mianitees, etc. I just don't have ideas most of the time.

I'm going to put up two chapters today for you, fox tamer 113, because it was a bit difficult coming up with a Halloween-related chapter for Polaris. The second chapter is going to be more based around Polaris, QuickSilver, and (spoilers) their triplets. I hope you enjoy both of them, and know that I will get around to be a bit more spread out in terms of character-based chapters. If you have any more requests or suggests, always feel free to post them or send me a message if you want. I'm always open to listening!

(Also, I still see you bakersgonnabake. I've been trying for a while to come up with the details for your prompt.)


Polaris doesn't know what to make of witches. That said, Polaris has never actually met a witch. She can only go off of what the others tell her about them, or what she's seen of them from afar. They aren't the most attractive-looking creatures, but they're definitely intriguing.

Jordan doesn't like them very much and panics when one gets close to his house, despite him being able to easily take them out via ranged weapons like a bow. The pirates don't like them because the witches can poison them, and apparently, the pirates don't carry milk to cure the poison. Lara and Jace are immune to the poison, but still find witches to be an annoyance, which Jace swiftly gets rid of whenever he's in the vicinity of one. Polaris has decided that the only good time for witches is during a Purge since they can distract or poison the others while Jordan gets away safely.

When Jordan is strip-mining with Tucker and Tom one day and Polaris is left at the house alone, she wanders outside when a witch walks into the yard. The witch doesn't seem to notice her at first. She's a lot smaller than it is. Once, Sonja had joked that Polaris could look like a black cat in comparison to a witch because of her dark scales and "large-cat" current body size. Polaris watches the witch for a long moment, observing it, until it moves again. When it moves, its robes sway, and Polaris' attention immediately goes to the sudden, familiar motion. It's like Jordan's pant leg, or like Lara's robes. Daringly, she reaches forward and swipes at the witch's clothes. The witch turns its attention to her. Polaris glances up at it as well, half-expecting to get a response. When it doesn't respond, she claws again.

This time, the witch doesn't seem to appreciate her game. Before Polaris can even untangle her talons from the cloth, a potion is dumped over top of her. She hisses and reels back, ripping the witch's robes as she rears away from the contents dumped over her body. Some of the potion falls into her mouth when she opens it to loose a protesting squawk. The thick brew that coats her tongue, rushing down her throat, is acrid and acidic.

"Pest," the witch growls. "I just fixed these!"

Polaris whines and backs away from the witch. Her legs feel tingly, but she doesn't feel like she's in pain. Her belly aches, though, and her wings feel harder to lift where the potion has soaked them. She doesn't know what kind of potion the witch has thrown onto her, but it's not one that feels nice. Was it poison, though? Is she going to die?

She continues to back away until she hears a loud, furious snarl behind her. Warily, she turns her gaze to the creature and notices that it's an enderman. The tall, lanky figure is standing over her, its gleaming eyes in the direction of the witch and its mouth open into a large, terrifying growl that seems to come from deep within its chest. When the witch tosses a potion toward it, the enderman lifts Polaris and teleports away before the potion can even reach them.

The endermen reappears with Polaris elsewhere, and it takes Polaris a moment to recognize the End. She has only been to her home realm a few times, and never without Jordan present at her side. Ianite is still absent from the End, so there is no one there with Polaris aside from the perhaps millions of endermen, who have now flocked over to see her. All of them look identical to the one holding her, and they all speak in the same language. Different ones have different tones of hushed conversation.

This is Sister.

Sister has returned.

She does not belong with us. She belongs with her mortal.

Did we not help Mianite's Guardian to ensure her safety and her arrival?

We did, but he will long for her company if we keep her away from him for too long. Mortals are tiring creatures. They are strange creatures.

Does she understand us still?

Does she?

Polaris squirms in the arms holding her until she's set down on the endstone below her. She walks in circles, staring up at the haunting around her with wide, curious eyes. Syrreth had mentioned brothers to her. Are these Syrreth's brothers? Is that why she can understand their language so well? She lets out a tiny roar, hoping to let them know that, yes, she does understand.

Hello, Sister.

Can you speak to us again?

Polaris shakes her head and lets out a few growls, trying idly to balance on her back legs as they are. She has tried the same position multiple times in Jordan's presence, but she can never balance long on her hind legs. It rewards her a laugh from Jordan, though. The endermen seem equally amused because they let out noises that Polaris thinks sound like a laugh – or could, if they could actually make a laughing sound. The endermen seem pleased that she's attempting to mimic them.

Did the witch harm you, Sister?

Polaris shakes her head again.

One of the endermen step forward with a red flower in its hands and offers it to her. Polaris blinks at the flower for a moment. She has seen golems offer flowers, but never endermen. Deciding to be respectful and polite, she carefully draws back onto her hind legs and leans forward, taking the stem between her teeth. She waves her tail as she sits back. The flower stays tucked between her jaws.

Mortals say flowers make pain easier.

Red is a wonderful color.

When it is not a sad color.

Polaris makes a happy noise at the back of her throat. She thinks they must be considering Syrreth. They seem sad now. She doesn't like them being sad, because they're calling her their sister and that means that they're her brothers. She doesn't want her brothers to be sad. She wants her brothers to be happy, and to visit her more, and to play games with her because she can sometimes get bored when no one is around.

Her mortal is home now. He has killed the vile creature that attacked her.

Is he concerned?

Yes. Poison does not affect creatures like Sister, though. It would take a more potent poison to even bother her.

I shall return her.

Yes.

When the enderman picks Polaris up again, Polaris tightens her hold on the poppy in her mouth. She doesn't want to lose the gift she's been given from her brother during the process of the teleportation. The endermen have been kind to her, all of them. She waits until they vanish and reappear before carefully setting the flower down, long enough to nuzzle her snout against the enderman's cheek. She quickly lifts the flower, hops from its arms, and climbs up onto Jordan's lap.

"There you are, Polaris," Jordan breathes. "What are you soaked in? Is that poison? Are you okay?"

Polaris blinks up at him, hoping down from his lap in an effort not to get him poisoned just by contact. He scoops her up again, though. "You're fine. I'm not getting it in anywhere, and I don't have open wounds. You're not going to poison me, Polaris," he tells her.

She watches him for a moment before dropping the poppy into his lap. He smiles. "They gave you a present, huh? Lara said something like this might happen. I'm glad they're being good to you. Maybe I'll hang back from going to the End or after any of them for a while. I think I have enough enderpearls for a while. Walking won't kill me."

She purrs and nuzzles his neck, listening to the enderman who had brought her teleport away from the house. She doesn't turn to look back. Jordan has killed that nasty witch, and the endermen will likely be back to check on her. Jordan is going to place nice with her brothers, too, so everyone can be happy.

But after having met a witch, Polaris really doesn't think witches are nice.