self-indulgent /sɛlf ɪndʌldʒənt/. adj. 1: This.
Another entry in my ongoing quest to resurrect all of the poor parental figures who got offed in order to create great orphan protagonists.
This will be updated once a week, on Monday nights. All of the chapters are already drafted—they just need to be edited (the second half more than the first half). I do start my fall semester in mid-August, so I might have to reevaluate that schedule at some point, but that's the plan for now.
The fic title and chapter titles are lines from the song "Father to Son," by Phil Collins.
Thank you as always to my sister for being an amazing editor.
Chapter One:
cause all the things you thought were safe, now they're gone
Ordon had thought it was the end.
As he had been dragged down into the pit, trapped in the painful grip of skekMal the Hunter, he had shouted the best advice he had at his son. It was the culmination of everything he could have ever hoped to have taught him—could ever hope for him.
"Be brave."
If this was it, he needed Rian to know.
No sooner have the words come out of his mouth, however, when something unexpected occurs: a gelfling girl flies over the pit, stretches her hands out toward him, and shouts for him to grab on.
His moment of hesitation is almost too long—it is almost too late—but he manages to lock arms with the girl, and between her fluttering her wings with all her strength and him kicking skekMal several times as hard as he can, the Hunter loosens his grip. Suddenly pulling against no resistance, the two gelfling go flying, barely clearing the edge of the pit and rolling to a painful stop.
Ordon scrambles upright. Rian is grabbing his arm, simultaneously trying to reach out and help the girl up, frantically asking if they are alright. Ordon absently responds that he is fine, focused on watching the Hunter sink under, the skeksis bellowing in rage and fighting anew to be free. They make eye contact one final time, and then the Hunter is gone.
The Captain of the Guard finally directs his attention back on his son, who is staring at him in shock. They both begin to laugh, the terror and adrenaline releasing in hysteria. They embrace tightly, still laughing, half-formed and mostly-nonsensical affirmations of pride and affection spilling out.
They finally let go of each other, and, still chuckling, Ordon turns to face his savior. She is a Grottan, if he isn't mistaken, and she is wiping at tears that have accumulated in her eyes as she too giggles wetly. A podling pats her shoulder and babbles in excitement.
"It seems I owe you my life. Thank you, my lady." Ordon says, bowing his head in gratitude and respect.
Wiping at her eyes one last time with her sleeve, the girl calms and responds with a gentle smile, "You're welcome. You must be Rian's father."
Ordon quirks a brow, and glances at his smiling son. "I am. Do you two know each other?"
"Oh, yes!" The girl clasps her hands together and smiles brilliantly. "I'm Deet! Rian and I met at Stone-in-the-Wood."
Rian rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I sort of cut in front of her to see Maudra Fara. We ran into each other again afterward." The young gelfling smiles then. "Luckily for me, she doesn't seem to be the type to hold a grudge."
"I see." Ordon can see his son's blush. He looks over to Deet to see her giving Rian a fond smile. That's all, hm? He continues, "Well, then. Thank you, Deet. Without you, I would be Gobbler feed right now."
Rian snorts without humor. "Just like—"
A squelching sound, rustling, and a whoosh of air, and Rian's voice cuts off.
Turning his head, Ordon just manages to catch the wide-eyed look on his son's face as he is yanked into the air and away by the still-living Hunter. But then the skeksis is bounding through the trees, Rian's terrified yells already fading, almost out of sight before Ordon can even scramble to his feet.
"Rian!" His shout drowns out Deet's own cry of alarm. He runs desperately for the woods, sprinting with all his might.
Not watching where he is putting his feet on the forest floor, he trips and lands painfully on his hands and knees. Terror threatens to choke him as he realizes he can barely hear his son's cries, and with another half-moment they fade completely.
He slams his fists into the ground in rage. "No!" he roars, the word tearing at his throat.
Ordon knows the Hunter. Many do not know of the Hunter's existence, or think he is a myth, but Ordon had heard of him from the previous Captain of the Guard and had seen the skeksis in action once before. He knows with absolute certainty—the Hunter is too fast. Too skilled at hiding his own tracks. The skeksis is gone.
Ordon's son is gone.
Thank you for reading, and see you next week!