Happy St. Patrick's day!
Alright guys, I've got the next chapter for you!
So, I'm a bit upset about the outcome of the last chapter. I mean... Guys. I got absolutely no reviews. I know I posted in the middle of the week instead of on Saturday, but still! I'm doing that again, and I'd rather not go through another week with no reviews. I mean, if you didn't like it, that's fine. But could you at least tell me so I won't do anything like that again? Please and thank you!
Alright, now that I've got that off my chest, I want to let you know that this is a bit weird. I wanted to write something for St. Patrick's day, so I asked my friend to give me a prompt. She gave me this, so I worked with her to expand this story. And here it is. You'll understand what I mean later.
WARNING: Lots of blood, but not in the descriptive or "lots of fighting" sense.
Disclaimer: Ugh, no, I don't own rotg! It's the same thing, every time, and I just... UHHHH! Oh, but the OCs are mine. :)
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In Violet's defense, she'd been absolutely exhausted. She'd been trying to grow flowers and bring Spring to the world for almost a month now, but the cold Winter winds just kept blowing her away. It took all of her power just to keep the world from freezing over in an ice age. Apparently, there was a new Winter spirit who was born around the same time as she, and he was having as much trouble as her in harnessing his powers.
So no one could blame her when she curled up in a meadow deep inside the Warren after weeks of fighting with the wind and slept with no concept of time at all. Sadly, that didn't mean she wouldn't pay for her lack of knowledge.
Violet was awoken quite unceremoniously by a (very painful) pinch on the arm. She yelped and lashed out on instinct, her fist making contact with something soft, a cry of pain being the response. By the time her mind had actually woken up, she was a few feet away from the pile of weakly writhing limbs on the floor, completely entangled in a grove of shamrocks and clovers.
"Ow, Violet!" Aaron growled, slightly muffled by the hand holding his nose. "The heck was that for?"
For a moment, Violet just stared, before crossing her arms and glaring back at him. "What do you mean, 'the heck was that for'?" She yelled right back. "You pinched me to wake me up, that's what you get. Really, you should know better!"
"Well, it's St. Patrick's day and you're not wearing green, so my pinch was justified!" Aaron declared, still clutching at his nose and trying to escape from his green trap. He himself was wearing a long-sleeved, grass green shirt that was rather loose, but still seemed to accentuate his muscles. Other than that, he looked like he usually did, with dark jeans and dark unruly hair. Of course, it looks like a bit of blood is starting to stain his shirt. But Violet doesn't really notice, too angry with him to care.
"Seriously?!" She cried in frustration, throwing her arms in the air. "I've been running around the world, trying to get rid of the cold and bring about Spring. I just got back a few hours ago and laid down for some much-needed rest. And you just come here and pinch me! It's not even supposed to be a pinch!"
Aaron raised an eyebrow, gawking at her. "What are you talking about? Of course it's a pinch! What else would it be?" He asked in exasperation.
Violet rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "It's supposed to be a punch! Pinches are for birthdays. You know, a pinch to grow an inch? St. Patrick's day is a punch if you don't wear green."
Aaron scoffed, though it looked a bit silly with half of his face covered, his nose still bleeding. "Where did you learn about St. Patrick's day?" He asked, half sarcastic, half curious.
Violet quickly looked away, focusing on the ground. She mumbled a reply, but her voice was too low to be heard.
Aaron couldn't help but smirk. "What? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." He said cheekily. She mumbled something again, a little louder, but still unable to be heard. He sighed and shook his head, feigning annoyance. "Come on, Violet, you've gotta speak up."
"Bunny told me about it, okay?" Violet finally gave in, looking up to glare at him, but her cheeks were glowing a bright red. Literally glowing. For some reason, when Violet blushed, her cheeks actually started glowing red, making the blush quite prominent and impossible to hide.
Aaron couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. He loved that blush. It was the greatest thing ever. "Seriously, I would've thought you'd have learned by now that he likes making things more violent! I mean, you live with him and all!" He exclaimed in between laughs, completely ignoring the pain that it brought.
Violet glared at him, her blush growing so that her entire face and neck were glowing a bright red. She literally looked like a tomato with a light bulb stuck in it. Even her eyes added to the look, looking like bright green stems. She hated when this happened. Seriously, why did MiM have to make her like this? It was SO unfair. And embarrassing!
She bit the inside of her cheek, something she did whenever she was nervous, embarrassed, worried, upset, angry, sad, scared, annoyed... Well, just about whenever she had a bad emotion of some sort. It was a bad habit she'd had for as long as she can remember. Anyway, she was biting the inside of her cheek, thinking of a way to get out of this mess, when an idea popped into her head.
Aaron suddenly found himself being released from the wild green plants that had captured him. His laughter died off and he looked up at Violet warily. He didn't expect her to reach down and pull him to his feet, or for her to start dragging him quickly through the Warren.
"Wha... Where are we going? And why aren't you trying to kill me?" Aaron asked warily, watching Violet carefully.
Violet rolled her eyes, but didn't look back at Aaron, electing to instead keep facing ahead. "I can do that later. Right now, we're going to find the leprechaun. Then he can tell us who's right." She said with determination.
Aaron stared at her back, having absolutely no clue as to what to say. "Can we at least grab something for my nose first?" He finally asked, pulling his hand away and wincing at the amount of blood staining it before returning it to its original position. "I think you broke it."
Violet glanced back and frowned at him. "That was completely your own fault, I just want you to know that." She stated, before turning and pulling him along in a different direction.
It wasn't long before they found themselves next to one of the bends in the rainbow river. Except, it wasn't rainbow. Instead, it was colored with dozens of shades of green, from mint green, to spring green, to chartreuse, to live green, to olive green, to forest green, and absolutely every color in between. It's an amazing site, a display that no mortal could ever create. Of course, this was no regular river, and it was indeed swirling in an amazing array of greens. It also must have been decked out in magic, as the eggs hopping out of it were covered in a large assortment of colors, not just green.
It was here that Violet stopped, dragging Aaron down next to her. Very gently, she pulled his hand away, wincing at the bloody mess that was his nose. A part of her wanted to apologize, but another part of her refused to let her show such weakness. There was just something about apologizing that she couldn't do. It made her feel weak, and she hated the idea of admitting she was wrong. So, in the end, she kept the apology to herself, focusing instead on cleaning up the thing she would be apologizing for.
A bush of Lamb's Ear grew next to her, and she reached over to carefully tear off a leaf. She tensed up, gritting her teeth against the pain as she dipped the leaf into the water. Aaron watched her carefully, pursing his lips to keep himself from wincing at her pain. He wanted to stop her now, but he knew she wouldn't listen to him. Even if she wouldn't say it, he knew she was sorry for what she did. She would never hurt him on purpose, it just wasn't something she would do. But he knew she'd want to make it right again, and apparently, she didn't care if she hurt herself in the process.
Violet pulled the dripping leaf from the stream and moved it to Aaron's face, gently washing away the blood. Aaron winced at the pain, but didn't say anything. Surprisingly, the leaf made is so that the water wasn't staining his skin, which he was thankful for. Must be some special property of the plant or something. He relished in the good news, knowing that more pain was on the way.
Violet finished cleaning the wound and took a deep breath. "I have to set it now. Are you ready?" She asked gently, already lifting her hands to his face.
He winced again as her hands delicately touched his nose, but gave a slight noise, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut to get ready for the pain. Violet, being the person she was, didn't even count off before giving a quick jerk of her wrist and snapping the bone back into place. Aaron, despite himself, couldn't help but cry out in pain. A new Lamb's Ear leaf was applied to his nose to stop the bleeding, and Aaron could see through his haze of pain the agony decorating Violet's face as well. But he didn't have a chance to say anything (what he would have said, he didn't know; maybe a thank you?) because Violet was again pulling him to his feet, making the Lamb's Ear disappear back into the ground as she did so.
"Come on, we have to find the leprechaun!" Violet exclaimed, and for the first time, Aaron knew that Violet was used to hiding her pain. What sort of pain she hid, he didn't know, and it broke his heart to think about. He wished that he knew, but he knew she wouldn't tell him. That was just the kind of person she was, never letting people know what she was truly feeling inside.
He shook his head, clearing his head of such thoughts as she started dragging him along. "Shouldn't we wait for this to stop bleeding?" Aaron asked with a laugh, making sure to add a joking tone so that she would realize that was what it was.
Violet glanced back at him, glancing him over. If she was to be truthful with herself, he really didn't look too great and should really take a break, but she knew that if they sat down, they'd have to think about what she'd done to him earlier, and she'd didn't want to do that because then she would want to apologize even more, and that was not happening.
So instead, she rolled her eyes and grinned. "Oh, stop being such a wimp! Or are you afraid you'll be proven wrong?" She asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Aaron scoffed and stood just a bit taller. "You wish!"
And just like that, they were back to their usual banter, racing each other to the tunnels that led all across the world. They ran into the Europe one, laughing in pure joy as they made the necessary turns to reach Dublin, Ireland. The two pause a moment, looking around, trying to decide where to start.
"Do you even know where the leprechaun is?" Aaron asked, trying to find some sign of the green-wearing legend. Sadly, it seemed that finding said person would be harder than they thought. Being St. Patrick's day, everyone was wearing green, and being in Ireland, almost everyone had red hair of some shade. Which meant that everyone looked like a leprechaun.
"Just... look for a really short person. Or better yet, you've met him before, haven't you?" She said, turning to Aaron with expectant eyes.
He quickly raised his hands, taking a step back. "Hey, don't look at me! I've never met the man!" Violet opened her mouth to say something, but Aaron cut her off. "There are dozens of spirits, and I haven't been alive long enough to meet all of them. Plus, the leprechaun is a bit socially awkward from what I've been told. He hates coming out unless its his holiday, and even then he stays out of everybody's way."
Violet sighed, going back to looking around, hoping to see some sign of the legend. After a few minutes with no progress, she noticed a rainbow in the sky, and her face lit up in an idea. "Hey, why don't we just find the end of the rainbow?" She asked, pointing.
Aaron followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that'll work?" He asked, not trying to hide his doubt. "I'm pretty sure all that stuff about the end of the rainbow is just a myth."
Violet rolled her eyes and started walking in the direction where it looked like the rainbow ended. "Hey, you never know. You're supposed to be a myth, but you're here." She argued, counting in her head to see how long it would take for Aaron to follow.
It took exactly seventeen seconds. "That is completely irrelevant!" He exclaimed, running so that he was walking next to Violet. "Those are two completely separate concepts. I'm an actual person, just like the leprechaun. The little details, like rainbows and pots of gold, are little additions that aren't necessarily true."
Violet shook her head but couldn't hide her smirk. "Well, I guess you're right, seeing as you're not a chubby little baby with wings, flying around in a diaper and shooting people with arrows."
Aaron groaned, his head rolling back in his annoyance. "Oh no, don't even start with me. I hate that description of me. Seriously, where do they even get it from?" Aaron said, throwing his arms in the air exaggeratedly.
Violet can't help it. She burst out laughing, pausing a moment as she kneeled over. Aaron glared at her, crossing her arms as his face pulled into a pout. After a few moments, Violet was able to take a deep breath and pull herself together, though she couldn't stop her giggles completely.
"Come on, lover boy. Let's go find the leprechaun." She said, before taking off at a sprint towards the rainbow's end, giving Aaron no chance to respond as he sprinted to keep up with her.
It took almost three hours to. Reach their destination. How the rainbow hadn't disappeared by then, neither child would ever know. But it hadn't, and Aaron found himself staring with a gaping mouth at the rainbow's end, while Violet was jumping up and down with excitement.
"I can't believe it." Aaron murmured to himself. "I just can't believe it. There's an actual end to the rainbow."
Violet patted him on the shoulder, still grinning like a maniac. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone that I was completely right and you were completely wrong."
Aaron glared at her. "Oh, shut up." He growled, crossing his arms again in a pout. "You still haven't been proven right. We need to find the leprechaun first, and if we don't find him here, there was no point in any of this."
Violet rolled her eyes and sighed. "My, you're really a stick-in-the-mud, aren't you? He's sure to show up. Plus," her eyes gained a mischievous glint as she walked slowly towards the big black cauldron sitting at the end of the colorful arc. "I think I know how to get him to come."
Aaron's eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment. Then it seemed to click what she was doing, and his eyes widened to the size of oranges. "Oh no, don't you dare. You've had some pretty stupid ideas in the past, but this is your absolute worst." He said nervously.
She smiled in that mischievous way that always made Aaron cringe. "What? I thought you didn't believe in any of those little details of the myth." She jibed, eyes sparkling in excitement as she moved closer and closer to the pot.
"I normally wouldn't, but it's better not to test it." Upon realizing that Violet wasn't stopping, he continued in a much more frantic voice. "Do you know how stupid it is to touch the leprechaun gold? He'll tear you apart!"
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart." Violet said nonchalantly, taking that last step towards the pot. "I'll be perfectly fine, and the leprechaun will be able to tell us how you deal with someone not wearing green." And with that, she reached out an laid a careful hand on the gold laid out in the pot.
It wasn't a second before all hell broke loose.
The gold sprung from the pot and wrapped around Violet's arm, somehow turning into a rope-like thing that moved of its own accord. Violet cried out and tried to yank her arm back, but the golden rope just gripped her tighter and moved up her arm faster. A scream erupted from her throat as a second rope reached down to grab her leg as well.
Aaron was by her side in a second, yanking at the golden trap in an attempt to get his friend free. It didn't seem to like that, a chord lashing out to grab Aaron's wrists. And pulled against it, and the thing was obviously having more trouble holding onto Aaron, but it still held tight, slowly weaving around his form as well.
Violet screamed again as she found her legs pulled out from under her. Her head banged against the side of the cauldron, and stars filled her vision. Dang it, why did she have to be so curious?! She might as well be a cat, because the curiosity was about to kill her.
But it seemed that the luck of the day was still on their side. Just as Violet was about to admit defeat, the vines stopped moving. Slowly, she opened her eyes, which she had closed in fear of the situation, and turned her head as best as she could to find out why. and froze in shock.
Standing just a few feet away, watching as the golden tendrils held onto the two spirits tightly, was a woman... Or man? She/he was a tiny bit taller than the normal, but she wasn't too extremely tall. She was wearing a white skirt that went just past her and a bright yellow shirt. Her skin was rather pale, and she had a rather lanky build.
All of that was fine, normal. It was her face where things got a bit strange.
The basics were normal enough. Bright chartreuse eyes that sparkled like diamonds, a sweet heart-shaped face, a tiny sprinkling of freckles, and curly red hair pulled back in a ponytail. All of that was fine, completely normal. It was the beard that swirled from her chin to her upper chest that was odd.
And now you understand why Violet couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.
Luckily, that was when she spoke, and Violet decided she was definitely female, both from her voice and the way she spoke. "What do you think you're doing, touching my gold? Did I say you could touch my gold? No. So why are you touching my gold, huh?" She demanded, popping out a hip and laying her hand on it as she watched them.
The two just stared, Violet with her mouth gaping, Aaron with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. The woman's glare intensified, her face taking on an angry red hue.
"If you're not gonna say anything, I have no reason to keep you alive." She said haughtily, turning away and heading in the opposite direction. The tendrils of gold started tightening, cutting off the spirits' circulations.
"Wait!" Aaron cried, desperately trying to get free of the gold's deadly grip. "We're sorry, we were just trying to find the leprechaun to ask him a question!"
"Please let us go!" Violet added, almost frantically. The tendrils were covering her so completely that she couldn't even struggle anymore. One of the vines reached up and wrapped around her mouth, cutting off her ability to speak.
Apparently, they said something wrong because the woman tensed. "What did you just call me?" She hissed, continuing before either victim could answer. "Did you just call me a man?"
Aaron eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, before widening in fear and surprise. "Oh, gosh... I am SO sorry! I just thought... Everyone said... No one ever told me you'd be a girl, and I thought you'd be wearing green, and I am SO sorry!" He apologized, and though it probably came out as frantic, he really meant it. He shouldn't have just presumed her to be a man because of stories. People always thought of him as a baby. It was an unfair stereotype that he'd fallen into.
The woman eyed him carefully, as if trying to see a lie, but after a few seconds, her eyes softened. With a wave of her hand, the golden vines let the two go. Violet scrambled to her feet clutching at her throat and gasping for breath. Aaron went over to her, holing her arm in support as she caught her breath.
"You're different." The leprechaun spoke, and Aaron looked back at her, meeting her gentle eyes. "It's like you understand. Who are you?"
Aaron smiled and reached out a hand. "I'm Aaron Truelove, though most people know me as Cupid." His nose wrinkled at the name.
The leprechaun laughed and shook his hand. "And I'm Lacy P. Goldsmith, better known as the leprechaun." She said kindly.
Aaron pulled his hand back and gestured to Violet. "And this is Violet Blossom. She's the spirit of Spring." Aaron said, smiling at his friend.
Violet gave a timid smile and reached out her hand in a gesture that mirrored Aaron's. "It's nice to meet you." She said in a slightly shy voice. She'd been perfectly ready and willing to meet the leprechaun earlier, but not that she was there, she couldn't help but feel a bit shy.
Lacy looked at Violet with a kind smile, but as soon as her eyes landed on the girl and took in the details of her features, the smile was gone, darkening into a dangerous scowl. The hand that she'd been reaching out to take hers pulled back quickly, as if they'd been about to touch a flame.
"You." She growled darkly. "You're supposed to be dead."
Violet froze, eyes widening and hands shaking in fear. "Wh-what?" She stammered, her voice barely a whisper. Dead? When was she supposed to die? And why would this woman want her dead? What did she do wrong?
"What are you talking about?" Aaron growled back, his voice low and just as dangerous.
"She," Lacy hissed, "is supposed to be dead. She was supposed to die a long time ago. She's not supposed to be here, especially not here alive."
"You must be thinking of somebody else." Aaron said. "Violet's done nothing to deserve death. I've known her almost her entire life, and I know for a fact she's one of the most innocent people you'll ever meet."
Lacy's eyes narrowed as she glared at Violet, and the younger girl felt as if those yellow-green eyes could see into her very soul, as if they knew more about her than she knew about herself. Her hand sought out Aaron's, grabbing it and holding on for dear life. Aaron squeezed her hand tightly, and she knew without looking that his expression was protective and dangerous.
It seemed like ages before Lacy moved, but when she finally did, she took a step back, her eyes not moving from Violet's. "You may not remember what you did, but that doesn't mean your sins are erased. You can change your name, your face, your present and even your past, but the sin you committed will forever be imprinted on your soul."
And then she was gone. Violet stared after her, eyes wider than she thought possible, body shaking so much that it was very visible to anyone who just glanced at her. She let her legs gave way beneath her, and Aaron went down with her, gently holding her arms.
"The heck was the about?" Aaron muttered, watching the place she had been standing just moments ago.
Violet just shook her head, unable to speak from the fear still shooting through her. It was as if Lacy knew more about her than she knew about herself. Like she knew her from another place... But that wasn't possible. They'd never met before, ever. Violet would remember an encounter like that.
Violet took a deep breath, then spoke in a low voice. "You know, we never found out the answer to our question."
Aaron gave her an odd look. "What?" He asked, completely confused.
Violet let a small smile crawl across her face. "Our question. Is it punch or pinch if someone isn't wearing green on St. Patrick's day?"
For a moment, Aaron just stared at her. Then he burst out laughing, pulling the two of them to their feet. "It's pinch. For sure." He said, still chuckling.
"No way, definitely punch. Which, by the way, you soon might receive." She said, turning and begging the return walk to Dublin.
Aaron's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Violet turned and, walking backwards, pointed at Aaron's shirt. "Your green is almost completely covered in blood." She stated with a smirk.
Aaron glanced down, taking in his almost-completely-red shirt and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because you already punched me!" He sighed and ran to catch up with Violet. "I can't believed I looked like that for a first impression."
"I think it's adorable. Shows that you got beat up by a girl." Violet said with a smirk.
Aaron's eyes narrowed. "You know, I think I forgot to punch you for not wearing green. Why don't you stand still for a moment and take the hit?"
Violet moved away from Aaron, eyes widening, but smile staying on her face. "No way, you already got me for that!" She exclaimed.
Aaron smirked. "Ah, but see, you're saying that it's a punch, not a pinch. So I haven't gotten you yet."
"You'll have to catch me first!" Violet sing-songed, before turning and taking to the air, flying as fast as she could towards Dublin.
Aaron laughed and took off after her, chasing her across the emerald fields of Ireland.
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Happy St. Patrick's day!
So, what did you think? Good, bad, decent? What did you think about the beard? Her having the beard was my friend's idea (I swear, she's mental), but the stuff that goes with it was mine. The punch or pinch fight came from a fight we actually had the morning of St. Patrick's day for no reason except to have it. But don't worry, I know I'm right. It's a punch. ;)
Anyway, there's a lot I'd like to hear your opinions about with this story. What did you think about that little blast from the past? A bit dramatic, or maybe not so much? What do you think it means? And her face glowing red when she's embarrassed? Yeah, that one was my idea... I got bored. And what do you think about Lacy? A bit of a twist on the leprechaun story. Maybe. Not too twisty. But hey, the leprechaun is a girl and doesn't actually wear green! There was actually a bit more I wanted to say about her, but maybe in another story. Really, things just sort of spill out on the page how they want. I have no control.
Seriously, I want to hear from you guys. Please, PLEASE review. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you want to see, ideas you have, who you like, who you want to see more of, requests, prompts, say hi, ANYTHING! But please, PLEASE review! It makes me feel good about myself, even if it's bad! You can even review past chapters, I'd love that!
I'm going to stop with these questions. Nobody's answering them. I just thought we could gey to know each other better, but... Whatever. I don't mind. All of this is up to you.
I'll try to have another chapter out by next week. I have some ideas, but I think I need to make more characters for them to happen.
Ta for now!
~*Fantasy Forger*~