MY ONE-SHOTS

Summary: Commander Tiffany Solestrider's mind works in odd ways. She likes reanalyzing old information and adapting it to new circumstances. New that Eir was starved prior to death spurs her to rescue the others before they die of starvation, and as a result, she gets there sooner... but not in time to prevent that malicious seed of Mordremoth's. Just in time enough that Zojja and Logan are in better shape... but, as it turns out, that's all they need. That, and Tiffany's unyielding refusal to kill her best friend. Uh, no.

Chapter twelve: Repetition

Authors Notes:

Yes, I should be writing the Tassof Series... even I know I should writing the Tassof Series... I even want to write the Tassof Series... but I'm feeling inspired for this one right now. Sorry.

Oohh, this is fun. I've missed writing Canach. I don't get the chance much at all in the Tassof Series. He's also the only one that I can't have show up in that series too soon, because character development in LS1, so I have no idea how he'd act prior to that. So, until Southsun, no Canach... wah.

Okay, here's the story now:

"Just go. I'll catch up. I swear to you, I'm not going to die out here. Not until I see Mordremoth fall."

"Take whatever time you need. Catch up as soon as you can." Commander Tiffany Solestrider's words are kind and soft, but inside she is struggling to repress her true emotions - mainly shock, for now. But the grief will come, and she is going to be very busy - she won't have time for grieving. Maybe after this dragon is dead. Tiffany knows from experience that grief can either be incapacitating or else productive, depending on when and how you channel it.

With Forgal, she'd curled up inside herself for days. Weeks. Later, with Tonn, she'd channeled it into productivity - hunting down Zhaitan's Eyes and Mouths and powerful lieutenants. Afterward, however, the grief was hollow. She'd pushed it so much into fighting that she hadn't been able to experience the grief when somebody dies. She couldn't properly mourn him.

But more people will die - Logan and Trahearne and Zojja and maybe more - if she doesn't take the Tonn route.

Tiffany turns to her team. "Listen up. I need a volunteer to stay behind. Braham will get his time, but he needs someone to watch his back."

"I was already planning to, Commander," Rox assures her. "Braham and I have been through too much for me to just leave him like this. Go on ahead. I'll make sure we find you... after Braham makes his peace with Eir."

"Thanks, Rox," Tiffany says gratefully. "Everyone esle, move out. The rest of our friends are still out there... Eir said she'd been starved - we have no idea how long it will take us to reach the others. If they are treated in the same way... The egg and Mordremoth can wait until we rescue them. Priority one: search and rescue."

"Understood, Commander," Rytlock nods. "Let's go."

"Do you think Caithe is here?"

Tiffany sighs, rubbing her temples. "I am almost positive. She has the egg, but that's not my concern at the moment. My concern is whether Mordremoth has taken her over. If he has, we'll put her down. If he hasn't... we'll work from there."

"Get the egg and run!" Rytlock roars as he charges in to engage the Vinetooth-Faoalin. Tiffany ignores him, an arrow whistling from her bow and piercing Faolain's face. This is productively channeling grief, and she replays the scene of Faolain's betrayal of Eir mentally.

Caithe, who'd stumbled to the ground, leaps to her feet, surprise in her eyes.

"Caithe, are you alright?" Tiffany demands.

"Commander, I - "

"Fight now, talk later!" Tiffany snaps, relief coursing through her as the sylvari turns her attention to the Vinetooth. Caithe hasn't turned.

Faolain roars, charging through the group to the egg, but Caithe shadowsteps, and again, whisking the egg out of the Mordrem's way. Then she returns to the fight, leaving the egg safely who-knows-where.

Faolain turns her attention to Ruka the Wanderer. If Tiffany had known more about the Exalted, she would have known that Faolain's new form was designed to take them out. She also has no way of knowing that Ruka is experienced at dealing with these special Mordrem.

As it is, the fight between the two is exceptional in the fact that Tiffany has never seen a Vinetooth or and Exalted fight before, and certainly not fight each other, but no more.

Faolain is, of course, quickly defeated - Caithe knows all her secrets, despite the Nightmare sylvari turning.

As the Vinetooth collapses, finally, Tiffany turns to Caithe. "Why did you take the egg?"

Caithe opens her mouth as if to speak, changes her mind, and closes it again. She shakes her head.

"She's being bombarded on all sides by questions and demands," Canach points out, "and she has a dragon inside her head. That's enough to make anyone suspicious of everyone's motives - and from what I've heard, she's never been the trusting sort. Oh! And she just had to help kill her former beloved."

Tiffany sighs. "Just... we don't have the time, Caithe. My top priority is rescuing Logan, Zojja, and Trahearne. I need to know if the egg will be taken to Mordremoth - accidentally or not - if left with you."

"Tarir is near," Ruka speaks up. "It was designed to protect the egg as it hatches. It should be brought there."

"Tarir!" Caithe says, brightening. "Yes, the egg needs to be brought to Tarir."

"Has it... chosen you?" Ruka queries.

"Chosen me? No," Caithe replies, shaking her head. "My Wyld Hunt is to bring the egg - I... I don't know... South. That's all I know - south and west."

"That is the direction of Tarir," Ruka nods.

"And Mordremoth," Canach inserts.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Tiffany exclaims, addressing Caithe. "That changes everything! If it's your Wyld Hunt I can hardly interfere - why didn't you tell us? You know you can trust us!"

"I... I don't know," Caithe says slowly.

"Mordremoth," Canach reminds them dryly. "I am quite certain he can reach all sylvari at all times - his... ability is not limited to the jungle. He planned the Pact's crash and the takeover of the sylvari to be in sync. And he is not just a mental battering ram, either - he is capable of subtle manipulation. He's playing us all like harps."

Tiffany winces at the mental image of Canach playing a harp, then shakes her head. "Alright, Caithe. Take the egg to Tarir - and then maybe join up with Braham and Rox when they come, if you want to join us later."

"Why aren't Braham and Rox with you now?" Caithe wonders.

Silence falls as the group realizes that Caithe doesn't know. "I'll... you tell this one, Rytlock," Tiffany says at last.

"I assume you know about the crash and the Pact prisoners taken?" Rytlock checks.

"Yes," Caithe nods promptly.

"We caught up with Eir not long ago and tried to rescue her, but Faolain - uncorrupted Faolain, mind you - turned on her. She didn't survive."

Caithe blinks in shock. "Eir? Faolain killed Eir?" she demands.

"Effectively," Tiffany answers with a grimace.

Caithe's eyes are full of anger - something quite new, in Tiffany's experience. "I'll take the egg to Tarir - but I want my shot at Mordremoth."

"Don't we all?" Canach agrees.

"Which way now, Commander?" Marjory asks as Caithe shadowsteps away.

"We'll head south. It's the only direction they could have gone, and until Rox returns we don't have a tracker. I don't know where the prisoners are being taken, but 'close to Mordremoth' is as good a guess as any."

"I can lead you right to him," Canach promises. "Mental invasions are good for something, it seems," he adds sarcastically.

"Hey, where's Taimi?" Kasmeer asks.

Tiffany stops and looks around. "Taimi's missing," she notes in disbelief. "Out here? She chose now to wander off?"

"You assume she went willingly and didn't just lose us around a turn and wasn't kidnapped by Mordrem," Canach replies dryly.

"She would've shouted or made some noise in that case," Tiffany reminds him. "She's good at making noise."

"I'm not sure if you were complimenting her or insulting her, so I won't comment," Canach says.

Tiffany sighs. "Split up," she says with a wince. "Meet up back on the road, and shout if you find her. Don't go too far. I'll check up on the hill."

After fighting through a few Mordrem, wondering how in the world Taimi got through here, and carefully avoiding a few traps, Tiffany finds the tiny asura in a room that has five golden spires.

After helping her power on what Taimi calls a 'data station,' a map powers on and an Exalted appears, introduces himself as Kiru, and proceeds to tell them all about the features of the map.

"Well, knowing where Mordremoth is is a head start," Tiffany says. "I just wish it would show us the prisoner caravan, too."

"Is that all you can think about?" Taimi sighs. "We just discovered the location of Rata Novus."

Tiffany turns to Taimi. "Priority one: Search and rescue. We can go to Rata Novus later - it's been there for ages, it won't go away just because we're prioritizing some other things first."

Taimi seems to wilt. "Fine," she sighs. "I'll just tell some other asura so I can get Phlunted again."

"Don't be silly. We'll keep this one secret."

Tiffany leads Taimi back to the group, who are happy to see that Taimi is alright.

"Braham!" Taimi squeals. "Oh my ears, you're back! I missed you so much!" Then, her mouth drops open. "You're bald," she says, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"Easy there, Miss Genius," Braham retorts. "I missed you too."

Tiffany glances around and sees that Caithe and Rox are here, too.

"Rox, what can you tell me about the trail?"

"I don't think we're on their trail. We got wind of a prisoner caravan in Tarir, but it's not theirs. Not as many prisoners or Mordrem."

"Alright," Tiffany nods, thinking. "Let's follow it, though. We can rescue some people, and we might get some intel on where Mordremoth takes his prisoners. They might be heading to the same place."

"Alright," Rox nods. "Let's go."

"Yes. Marshal Trahearne, Zojja, and Captain Thackeray created a diversion so a few of us could escape." Lieutenant Morris is tired, and her voice has a defeated and hopeless feel to it.

"You were with them!" Tiffany exclaims excitedly. "Are they here?"

"I'm afraid not. They sacrificed their own chance at freedom so we could get away. The Mordrem took them."

Tiffany nods. "Were they alright?"

Lieutenant Morris grins wryly. "Marshal Trahearne seemed perfectly himself, Commander. I couldn't tell him from somebody not affected by the dragon. They were all fine... at least mentally. Physically... not so much. We were kept without light, food or water, and were told in great detail what the dragon had in store for us..." she shudders. "They left half of it up to our imagination, but what they hinted at... I'm afraid to sleep at night."

"This is serious," Tiffany frowns. "Do you know where they went?"

"I was too out of it. Magister Humli would know - he was the last to escape. He isn't here, though - he led a group after a monster that had been attacking our camp. They went through the mushroom-lit passage there."

"I'll leave some of my - wait." Tiffany frowns. "How could he lead a group to kill it if you didn't have weapons? And how could you have weapons if you'd just been imprisoned?"

"I think Mordremoth let us escape on purpose. Everything fit into place too well. The distraction shouldn't have worked as well as it did - the Mordrem are much too vigilant to all leave their posts. Our weapons were kept within sight of us, so we grabbed them and ran. I didn't think about it until later, but..."

Tiffany grimaces. "We need to rescue them. Fast. Canach was right, the dragon is playing us like harps. Braham! Let's go rescue Magister Humli, then we'll take off after this prisoner caravan. The rest of you, stay here and protect these people."

"On it, Commander."

"I spoke to the Magister before he died. He told me the caravan was headed south. Let's go."

"Caithe and I found the trail not far from the camp," Rox speaks up. "It's fresh and clear - these escapees haven't been free for long."

"Good," Tiffany nods. "Let's move."

A day later, the tracks are no fresher.

"They're keeping ahead of us - but barely," Rox reports.

"That or Mordremoth has found a way to fake tracks," Canach puts in. "He's playing us like harps."

"Is this going to become Mordremoth's signature?" Rytlock grumbles. "'The harp player was here?'"

Tiffany fights to hold in her laughter. 'This is a serious topic!' she scolds herself. "This is no laughing matter, Rytlock," she says aloud. "We have no choice but to continue on. Mordremoth might be the jungle, but I doubt he can fake footprints. Everything matches up so far. Maybe he'll get overconfident - we can use overconfidence to our advantage."

"Just make sure we don't get overconfident," the charr retorts.

Tiffany sighs and nods. "Stay vigilant."

"You just had to find a way to say that while slipping in the name of your Order, didn't you, Commander?" Rox sighs.

Tiffany smirks. "This is why nobody but Trahearne could've led the Pact, you know. I'm horribly biased."

The tracks lead them farther and farther south, and everyone is getting jumpy. Especially Canach and Caithe - they jerk at small noises, Canach seems extra irritable and Caithe is quiet - even moreso than normal. Nobody has to guess why.

"I hate to get people's hopes up," Rox says after a day or so, "but the tracks show signs of being more recent. I think they're slowing."

"Good," Tiffany says. "Unless... is it another trap?"

"No way to know for sure," Rytlock snarls. "We're going in anyway."

Tiffany nods fervently. "Lead the way, Rox."

Tiffany sighs in - well, relative relief. "She's much worse than Logan, but she's conscious," Tiffany reports.

"Oh, good," Kasmeer sighs. "I was afraid - well, who knows what those Blighting Trees can do."

"Who knows, indeed," Logan agrees. He is very pale, thin and weak, but he is standing. On the other hand, Zojja is barely conscious, and she seems delirious.

"Does anyone have water?" Tiffany asks anxiously, holding the tiny asura in her arms as Zojja mutters under her breath.

Rox steps forward with a canteen of water. It is rather hard, they realize, to make somebody drink who is this out of it, and after a moment Kasmeer steps forward and does some magic trick to spell the water directly into Zojja's stomach.

"Can you take care of them, Kas?" Tiffany asks. "Don't think I'm going to let you come along, Logan - you're dead on your feet," she adds when Logan opens his mouth to protest.

"Sure thing, Commander," Kasmeer nods. "I don't think Zojja can survive portaling, though - we'll have to stay here."

"That's fine," Tiffany nods, glancing around. Where is Trahearne? Who knows what lack of food and water do to sylvari - but lack of sunlight has always been bad for plants. "Just keep them hidden." It goes without saying to make sure they have enough food and water - supplies that the team has plenty of. "Marjory, stay with Kasmeer. The rest of you, with me."

Rox tracks the last prisoner for quite a ways before they finally find Trahearne.

Tiffany quickly takes in the surroundings, looking for enemies. Only when she can see there aren't any surprise ambushes does she allow herself to focus on her friend.

As she hurries up to check on him, she notices he looks quite wilted - literally. She grimaces. "Trahearne, can you hear me?" she asks, hoping against hope that he is alright. He seems conscious, but he also seems to be being forcibly held upright.

"Commander?" the sylvari says, and Tiffany can hear the note of relief in his voice. "The Pact, is it - "

Tiffany almost smiles. "Only you would ask after the Pact when you're in this state, my friend," she tells him. "We can worry about the Pact later - we need to get you out of here."

Trahearne shakes his head. "You can't. I am part of the jungle dragon now."

Tiffany huffs. "Says who? Mordremoth? I say any tie can be broken, if you try hard enough."

"No, Commander, I think he's serious," Canach says sarcastically. "He's literally grafted into Mordremoth."

Trahearne just nods.

Tiffany snarls in frustration, in a good imitation of Rytlock having a bad day. "Alright, so what can we do?"

"Secondary priority; kill the dragon," Canach supplies.

"It's too late," Trahearne informs him. "It is everywhere."

"So, we burn every field and fell every forest," Braham shrugs. "Shouldn't be too hard if we organize the Pact and - "

"No," Trahearne sighs. "It'll just grow back. The roots have spread too far."

Tiffany thinks for a moment. There has to be a way. Tiffany is fond of looking for the simplest explanation first, so she thinks back to the other times Elder Dragons have been fought. Her mind settles on Kralkatorrik - Destiny's Edge would have beaten it if Rytlock had got the Dragonsblood Spear into it. Countering an Elder Dragon with it's own... "alright then, we strike back mentally." She resists the urge to add a 'somehow' on the end.

"Sound strategy, Commander." Tiffany can hear the smug delight in Canach's voice. "Attack the dragon the same way it's been attacking us? Brilliant."

And then of course Mordremoth has to add his two cents, which makes all the sylvari wince. Canach's succinct "you don't need a translator to understand that" is patently obvious.

Trahearne nods. "Yes... that can work. And I... my connection can prove the access you need."

Tiffany resists the urge to ask how in the world will that work, since it's only Trahearne that has this connection, but she trusts the sylvari. She nods.

"Your minds will make the journey, but your bodies will remain here," Trahearne tells them. "And I... I can only concentrate enough to bring a few of you into Mordremoth's mind."

Tiffany grimaces. "Alright..." she glances through her team. She has to pick based on mental fortitude... so Caithe and Canach would be prime choices, for obvious reasons. However, the two of them might be extra susceptible within this particular dragon's mind. On the other hand, she isn't sure what exactly is required of a person's mind to attack another's - self-confidence might impact the fight as much as anything else. So might intelligence, she notes as her gaze falls on Taimi. She does realize that Taimi and Braham, being the youngest and not out of their teens yet, might be a bit flighty and unpredictable mentally... although, that could be exactly what she wants.

Sylvari never 'grow up,' so Mordremoth might not know how to deal with the minds of youngsters, which is certainly a point in favor of bringing Taimi along, at least, given her precociousness even for asura, and the tiny genius is also very self-confident and even pushy, at times, signifying her will.

Rox is a bit too gentle, Tiffany decides, and Tiffany just gets the overall feeling that the charr wouldn't do well in a mental battle. On the other hand, Rytlock has been dealing with what he calls voices in his head, and is also rather familiar with the Mists and other such unpredictable things, not to mention he's Rytlock and that's always a point in his favor.

Now she is back to Canach and Caithe, and while she would be happy bringing both of them along, five is hardly 'a few of you,' and Tiffany decides that four might even be stretching it. All told, she is more sure of Canach's mental capability than Caithe's, not to mention Canach is the kind of unpredictable individual that might baffle Mordremoth, whereas one of Caithe's defining traits is her secretiveness, not something that will help when this is a mental battle.

"If any of you want to stay behind, I won't force you to come with me," Tiffany says finally. "I get the feeling that would be the exact wrong thing to do when we're dealing with an up-and-coming mental battle. Trahearne, how many can you handle?"

"Three, maybe four at a stretch," the sylvari frowns.

Tiffany nods. "Alright..." suddenly, she wonders about her own mental traits. She considers the traits she has included in her impromptu test - force of will, unpredictability, intelligence, self-confidence, and experience. She is self-confident, she knows, and she wonders if having the idea for the Pact can be considered unpredictable - it is certainly thinking outside the box, she notes, and she supposes that is a good thing in this scenario. Force of will... she'd never particularly displayed anything like a strong will, but never a weak one, either. That's untested ground, she decides. Intelligence she is sure somebody else would have to test her on, and she is quite certain that she has absolutely zero experience in this arena.

So that's Canach, Taimi and Rytlock, then. That's fine by her. "Alright," she says again. "Rytlock, Taimi and Canach, do you think you're up to handling an Elder Dragon?"

Taimi squeaks in surprise, Rytlock huffs as if in annoyance, but nods, and Canach declares a vehement yes, by which time Taimi has recovered her surprise.

"But why me?" she asks finally.

"Do you not want to?" Tiffany asks.

"No, I do, but - but you think I can handle it?"

"The factors I considered when choosing you were purely mental," Tiffany explains. "Things like self-confidence, intelligence, experience with mental attacks or whatever it is that Mordremoth does, force of will, obviously, that sort of thing."

"Oh," Taimi nods. "I can do it."

Tiffany notices that Trahearne is looking slightly uncertain when Caithe asks, "what about you, Commander?"

"I have, to the best of my ability, judged myself better at fighting physically than mentally," Tiffany explains. "Given the criteria I just mentioned, I'm not at all sure I would be as fit in this mental battle as the three of you - and like I just said, self-confidence is a factor I considered."

Taimi looks shocked and even Canach seems slightly surprised. Rytlock just huffs. "Well, lets get on with it, then," he grumbles.

Trahearne, looking much more certain now, closes his eyes as an intent look spreads across his face. The three Tiffany had chosen collapse bonelessly on the floor before anyone can react, but they seem to be fine except for the obvious absence of their minds. Trahearne is very much preoccupied, and the cavern is silent as the rest of the group keep silent watch as the invisible, mental duel progresses.

It lasts quite a long time, and Tiffany wonders if time passes differently in Mordremoth's mind.

All of a sudden, Caithe straightens with a cry of joy, Trahearne opens his eyes as the intent, focusing look passes, and the three mental fighters slowly get to their feet. Taimi, in particular, seems slightly forlorn as she stumbles when she tries to take a step, and Tiffany can guess how different the mental battle was for her.

But while the others - particularly Caithe and Canach - are exclaiming over the dragon's death, Tiffany is back to priority one: rescue. She carefully studies the construction of the thick vines wrapped around Trahearne, wondering what to do about them and how to get Trahearne un-attached to the dragon.

Then, she notices a strained look on Trahearne's face. "Are you alright?" she asks in concern, and he grimaces.

"Not... particularly, Commander," he says wryly. "I... Caladbolg is near, I can feel it. Can you bring it here?"

"Of course," Tiffany says instantly. She glances around for it, and sees it not far off. She almost gasps when she sees the shattered condition it is in, and lifts it with care. It is hardly longer than a long knife, and strangely light for its size. She returns to her friend for further instructions.

"Quickly now," Trahearne says, and his voice seems strained. It's as if he still hears Mordremoth's voice. "Use it... use it on me."

"NO!" Tiffany snaps, drowinig out the rest of his sentence. "No indeed, Marshal Trahearne! I can't believe you'd say such a thing! There is absolutely no way I'm going to - to - just no!"

"I... I appreciate the sentiment," Trahearne replies, "but it really must be done."

"Nope. Not gonna happen. Mordremoth is dead and gone and there is absolutely no reason you can ever say that will make me do it. I'd ask if I was dreaming, but even my worst nightmare couldn't come up with this."

"Mordremoth is alive... I still hear its voice. Mordremoth... planted a terrible seed, a last hateful trace of itself... you have to do it, Commander. Before it grows, before Mordremoth reclaims what it has - " Trahearne cuts off, inhaling sharply.

Thinking fast, Tiffany tries to figure out how to deal with this. "Yeah, yeah and what does killing you have to do with this?" she asks. "We'll just kill Mordremoth again. Same way as before, only this time, no escape route."

"I - can't - " Trahearne manages to say, and Tiffany frowns.

"Let me guess, this is the 'connection' used to get into Mordremoth's mind earlier, and so nobody else could possibly provide the same," she guesses. "Alright, other methods of entering an Elder Dragon's mind, other methods..." she does think out loud when under pressure.

"Snaff's laurel," Caithe recalls.

"Yeah, and that's absolutely no help in the here and now," Tiffany snaps. "Not unless one of you has one of those magic portable gates on you."

"Zojja," is all Trahearne says.

"Hold on, Trahearne, we'll get you out of this," Tiffany says, her voice rock steady, and then she zips down the tunnel faster than her feet can carry her (which makes absolutely no sense, but that's what happens) back toward the place where Kasmeer is taking care of Logan and Zojja.

She tires out quite quickly, but they aren't far, and she gasps, "porta-gate-thing," to Logan.

'Porta-gate-thing?' Logan mouths in confusion.

Zojja, who seems to be not nearly in so much trouble and at least partially conscious and no longer delirious, speaks. "Hole-n-pocker," she slurrs, on the edge of consciousness.

"Oh that thing," Logan notes intelligently. He fishes it out from somewhere and hands it to Tiffany. "Why?"

"Trahearne's in trouble, we need one of Snaff's laurel things to use on Mordremoth," she explains quickly as she expands the gate. "Know where it is? Was gonna head to Zojja' lab, but I don't want to be gone for too long - "

"Big Snaff," Zojja mumbles. "Passrd. Gholem."

"There's a nasty golem in the lab that will threaten to kill you in disgusting ways if you mention Snaff until you give the password," Logan translates rapidly. "It can show you where that sort of thing is."

"Got it," Tiffany nods, and jumps through the gate.

On the other side, Tiffany snarls the password - Big Snaff - at every golem she sees until one repeats it back to her. She follows it to a sliding door panel, glances around for the glint of gold for the laurel, and sees a pair - one quite dusty and old-looking, another quite new, and she snatches both before returning through the gate. "They work together, right?" she asks Logan.

He nods, and Tiffany turns to run, but her first step takes her a good ten yards further than it should have. Kasmeer's portal, of course. She continues running, but that portal might have saved lives. She is out of breath and her side is killing her by the time she returns, but Rytlock and Caithe instantly, after a moment of surprise that Tiffany had actually found the laurels, seize upon them and start talking.

Tiffany just stumbles over to Trahearne, whose eyes are closed. His breathing is shallow and he isn't moving.

"It's alright, we're about to defeat Mordremoth for good," Tiffany whispers to him. "Just hold on a minute longer. You can do it. You've led the Pact to victory multiple times, you can do it."

"Use his name, Commander, it helps," Canach tells her, and she does.

"Trahearne," she says softly. "You are strong. You can do it. Did you know that your name, Trahearne, literaly means 'strong?' You can do it. You are a doer of impossible things, my friend. It took you forever, but you completed your Wyld Hunt, no matter how you thought it couldn't be done, you did it. You can do this, Trahearne. You can do it. And then we can go killing other Elder Dragons, and free Tyria from their iron grasp, and we'll do it together, Trahearne, and I don't know what I'll ever do if you die, but I need you. You can do it, you can oust this meddlesome dragon, and then you'll be free. You've done it all this time, you can last a little longer, Trahearne."

"Commander, you need to use the other end of the laurel," a voice says in her ear. Tiffany flinches in surprise, but nods. "How?"

Caithe grimaces. "Not entirely sure on the details, but - "

"Zojja showed me how these work, once," Taimi says. "You need to become what your enemy - that's Mordremoth - is not. And then you... well, I think you..."

"I'll figure it out," Tiffany agrees, and takes the laurel despite the twist of fear in her stomach. Become what Mordremoth is not? How? She places it on her head and closes her eyes. A moment later, she sees the dragon.

A thousand points of light, all flying tightly in a single sphere, all disconnected (which disconcerts Tiffany for some unidentifiable reason), and a single point in the middle

Mordremoth.

That single point in the middle. She stares at it, wonders what it is like inside. As she looks, she realizes that it is really two points, or two points attached to each other.

She doesn't have to think long to figure out what this is. She knows which one is Trahearne, she can feel him - tired but determined, fighting a losing battle, sheer determination and willpower keeping him from being completely absorbed by the other dot - hunger, rage, an iron will, determined to rule its subjects so tightly they have no free will but Mordremoth's.

Tiffany feels the strongest pull toward Trahearne, but that is just because it is Trahearne wearing the other laurel. She can't get in to Mordremoth's mind from here, but she is drawn into Trahearne's, and sees the same scene, but with different emotions.

This is the scene from Trahearne's perspective - Mordremoth is a terror, a vile parasite, a disease that will not be denied its fill. It is inevitable. Trahearne himself feels determination, fueled by self-confidence and a touch of hope, and love - for Tyria, for his friends, for the Pact, for everything he has worked to build.

And Tiffany knows, suddenly. Become what Mordremoth is not. Love, of course. Love and trust and all those qualities that bind people together on the deepest level, none of which Mordremoth is.

And Tiffany can quite easily get into Mordremoth's mind from here, so she does.

And is instantly surrounded by all that Mordremoth truly is - Trahearne has the right of it, it seems - a parasite, a disease - but also all-encompassing rage. It is, Tiffany notes, most likely the only emotion Mordremoth is capable of feeling. Rage, anger, fury. Mostly centered around Trahearne at the moment. Well. The opposite of anger is love, and so Tiffany becomes that - and, just to spite Mordremoth (and because its what she's worried about most at the moment) centered around Trahearne.

Worry, concern, care for her friend. All symptoms of the quite deadly disease of love. Determination, and a touch of love-born anger on his behalf - righteous fury, a need to avenge this whole disaster with Mordremoth at the center. She pulls on the grief that is there, hidden away because it's not quite needed yet, but generated when Trahearne told her to do that, she draws on it, feeds on it, becomes a weeping mess at considering the future without him. Out of that grows determination to never see it happen, righteous rage at the dragon that would dare try to do such a thing to anyone - and the worry and concern over what Trahearne is going through right now.

Mordremoth howls, unable to stand all these vast emotions born of love. Mordremoth focuses on her, pressing on her, feeding her anger born of hatred, fury born of denial, rage born of frustration.

Tiffany counters with worry born of love, trust born of friendship, concern born of empathy.

And she feels other minds around her - one intelligent, eager to prove herself, another ferocious and skillful, and another with a simmering hatred of the dragon. They move on, but now Mordremoth's hatred and rage grow, and exponentially when Tiffany bothers him with her love and care for her friends. She is an irritation in Mordremoth's mind, a behind-the-scenes itch as oppose to the actors of Taimi, Rytlock and Canach that take the dragon's attention and hit where it hurts.

Tiffany has done her job - distract the dragon so that the others can enter the seed of Mordremoth's remains. But she stays, irritating the dragon, distracting it. She tells it how mad she is at what it is doing, throwing all her love and concern and worry at Mordremoth, daring it to counter her, presenting her argument and telling it to stop already. She does need some structure for this, and telling Mordremoth all her woes and why is the best one she can think of, and a pretty good one, too.

Mordremoth seems to agree with her on that - its rage increases proportional to the emotion in Tiffany's arguments, and as its rage increases, so the depth of her love for her friend becomes more irritating to it, more disturbing and mentally unbalancing.

The parasite of hatred cannot get into her, not filled to the brim of love as she is. She is immune, and she utilizes this to the fullest extent.

Then, just to make Mordremoth madder, she taps into her love for the three battling the dragon on a more obvious front.

Taimi, funny and quirky and young and in so much danger here. Rytlock, grumpy and occasionally snarky and with a healthy dislike of Elder Dragons in general, but no other emotion concerning them, and therefore vulnerable to Mordremoth's tactics. Canach, snarky and sarcastic and rebellious against the dragon but also with a conflicting past that might make him uncertain.

All reasons to love, and all reasons to worry. Combined with the more cultivated love and worry because of Trahearne, she throws these at the Elder Dragon. 'See what you're doing?' she demands with all her heart.

Mordremoth is incensed. Mordremoth's hatred burns. Tiffany, covered in love, flinches away from the hatred, so different to her own. She wonders if she has become powerful enough for Mordremoth to reverse the tactics and invade her - but she does not desire hatred. It is not a gaping hole within her the way love is within Mordremoth.

The origin of an emotion is as important as the emotion itself - she and Mordremoth both feel anger, but for different reasons. Mordremoth's is born of frustration, Tiffany's of worry and love.

Righteous indignation at the dragon is not nearly as effective at countering Mordremoth as love and worry and concern, which might be where she is wobbling. She is working herself up into a frenzy, and drawing too much rage at the dragon, and she is becoming less effective.

So she focuses on memories - fighting beside Trahearne, encouraging him when he lost hope, the joy she felt for him when he finally completed his Wyld Hunt. The awe and appreciation for his study as he deftly exploited his knowledge of Orr for the Pact's benefit, her astounded surprise at the level of detail he had learned.

Coaxing him out of the airship always docked at Fort Trinity, pulling him out of his wish to be alone and encouraging him to face the crowds. Her amusement that he can always be found on the airship, always, because that is his hideout and it's funny.

Putting him on the spot on Claw Island, telling him he would be a good leader of the Pact, pointing out why he is almost the only person who could, and then watching as he goes and proves her right, he is one of the best leaders around. So what he'd never done it before, he's a natural-born leader. Pride that she'd identified this in him, that she'd drawn it out and made use of it.

The dragon hates her guts. Tiffany had, inadvertently or no, made Trahearne into the fiercely determined self he is now, this completely unique being that has no wish at all to be subject to an Elder Dragon.

Tiffany is happy with that. This dragon hates her for the very qualities she is dwelling in to make it angrier. She is good at this.

And then Mordremoth focuses within itself, and Tiffany guesses that it is dying, and she prods it with her love again - love of those it is fighting, specifically - distracting it again.

She notes that it is less powerful, it is torn in different directions, is confused and doesn't know what to do, and this time she puts her emotion in the dragon, seeding her love throughout it.

Mordremoth, unable to take it anymore, besieged from all sides by this foreign emotion, succumbs to the superior power of love. With its host rejecting it, it crumbles into nothingness, and Tiffany is pushed out of the dragon's mind as it dies.

Tiffany wonders how to get out from here, and suddenly she isn't in anybody's mind anymore. She blinks at the cavern with all her friends beaming at her, and realizes somebody had taken the laurel off.

She looks at Trahearne, and is exceedingly relieved to see him looking perfectly alright. But she has to ask. "Is it gone?"

Trahearne nods, joy in his face, and Tiffany smiles. "We did it!" she says triumphantly. "We did it."

Author's Notes:

HA! Take that! Take that! TAKE THAT, ANET! I found a way around it! I did! Ha! I used your very own methods, too! I followed the rules! Ha! Take that!

Also, if you were wondering why I called this chapter Repetition, it's because Tiffany keeps using ideas that have already been introduced. In the game, nobody even mentioned the fact that the other prisoners might be starving, too, and nobody thought of going into Mordremoth's mind again because that 'failed' before, and nobody thought of the laurel either because that also 'failed' before. So Tiffany's just re-using other people's ideas.

Oh, and I accidentally proved Dumbledore right. 'Love is the power the Dark Lord dragon knows not.' Ha.