Wordcount: 558 words
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Summary: May and the Fleet Commander have a talk about fairy tales and archetypes.
NOTE: This is the first draft of a story, so it will most likely contain plot holes, retcons, and other inconsistencies. I’ll come back and fix things once the story (or arc) is complete!
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Ultimatums and Breaking the Rules
There was a rustle of fabric and the fleet commander looked over, expecting to see his second in command. Instead he saw a teenager that’d he’d come to recognize and her black foxhawk. They were both silent for a moment and then he gestured for her to sit down.
“I see you made it back.” He said as she sat down, Baron standing behind her. “And my patrol?”
“They’re a day behind us.” May said.
“So, what did the oracle say?” He asked.
“It said you are a very long way from home.”
“Ah.” He waited for a moment. “Anything else?”
“It said you came chasing fairytales.” She said finally and the black foxhawks eyes glinted oddly in the firelight.
“Maybe we did,” he admitted, “but we found them.”
“No you did not,” she said. “There are no fairytales, no evil sorcerers, no oracles, no lands across the sea. There is nothing here for you to find.”
“That’s not true.” He said, perturbed.
“You’re forgotten the first rules of fairytales.” May said. “Everyone knows they’re just stories.”
“Not when I have proof.” He smiled.
“But you don’t.” May said, cold and calm. “All you have is the story of a man who went to sea chasing fairytales and myths and dreams.”
“And when I come back?” He laughed dismissively.
“You will not.”
There was another long pause and all of the humor went out of the fleet commander. He stared across the table at the teenager and the fledging, both of whom looked slightly darker and more threatening than before.
“The oracle told you that?” He asked.
“You have come to Avalon,” May said, “you have found your fairytales. You have woven yourself into the story as a hero, but what does that leave you?” She looked at him. “If this is really Avalon, then you were lost the moment you stepped off the boat.”
“But it’s not,” the fleet commander said. “It’s not a fairytale, it’s real. We sailed here, we’ll sail home and there’s nothing you can do to stop us. Your boats are not deep enough to survive the waves, your foxhawks will not fly out over the water, deny it all you want but your time as myth is over.”
“There are more dangers in the sea than you could dream of.” May said, bemused. “You can’t pick and choose your fairytales commander, what makes you think you can escape that easily?”
He stared at her long and hard. “If you could, you would have destroyed the fleet before it got here or since it’s been here. Why would I put any faith in the idea that you will destroy me when I leave?”
“I will not do anything,” said May, “I just came to remind you that there are other dangers in quests than just the dragons. If you think you can go home, then try. If not, then burn your ships and end this war. Before anyone else has to die.”
“I am not the monster you came looking for,” she said, meeting his eye, “If you have learned nothing else you know that now. You came chasing a fairytale, but you found the wrong one. You’re the villain here, not me, the dark army from beyond the sea. And there’s only one end left for you to find in this story.”
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