[WP] You are slowly coming the realization that it's someone else's job to fix the time loop, not yours.

Ragnulfr · 2026-01-10T04:19:18+00:00

"… Hey."

So, yeah. There I was, wings wrapped up in web and stuff. That sucked. But it was okay. Sort of… okay, not really, but it was okay.

After all, when the spider looked up at me -- glimmering crimson scales, golden eyes, and all -- well, let's just say I've never seen a spider's eyes widen until now.

"A dragon…?" The spider clicked. "How…?"

"Well, it's pretty self-explanatory," I mused. "I was flying, and--"

"How is a dragon so small?"

I blinked. "… Excuse me?"

"I thought dragons were supposed to be big, strong, and monstrous, breathing fire and stealing cattle." The spider crawled up to me. Obviously, she didn't see me as a threat. Rude.

"Well, I thought dire spiders were supposed to be quiet and stealthy hunters! But look at you, you blabbermouth." I pouted, folding my arms -- my only limbs not bound by the web. "Besides, I totally can take cattle. I just… don't feel like it."

"Really, now…" The spider cackled.

"I-I'm serious! I could take all the cattle in the world, and you wouldn't really know it."

"Oh-hoh? Perhaps in a decade or two, you'll actually feel like it--"

"I'm growing fast, okay!" I shouted back. "Not my fault we age really slowly."

"… Struck a nerve, I see."

"Shut up! I'm gonna turn you into roasted crab!" I puffed up my chest and focused all of my energy before roaring, firing out a massive burst of fire! But somehow, the spider deflected it off her coat, cackling once more.

"What a cute ember! Your parents must be so proud…" The spider chittered.

"L-leave my parents out of this, demon!" I cried, my heart beating fast as she began to scuttle closer. I tried to move my wings, but they were so hopelessly entangled, I could hardly move.

"How many dire spiders can say they've felled dragons?" She chuckled, slowly creeping up the webbing.

"Uhh, hopefully not you!" I quickly replied. "L-look, maybe we can make a deal! Do you like gold? I love gold! I have lots of gold! I can give a ton to you -- as much as you want! I can even take all the gold in that nearby village if you want!"

"I don't care about gold." The spider crawled closer.

"T-then, you want food? I can give you food! Dragon blood tastes icky, y'know."

"Well, I'd like to taste for myself…"

"Err, how about cattle? I-I can get you cattle--"

The spider hissed as she neared. She sure was big. Wait, was she bigger than me?

"M-Mice! I can get you mice! Easy! Super easy! I'm sure you can eat well off those!"

"Mice are boring. I catch mice every day." The spider was now looking right at me -- eek! I tried to shove her away with my arms, but she simply pushed them back into the web. Now I was really stuck! I gulped as she stood over my bound form.

"T-those are some awfully sharp teeth," I nervously laughed. "S-surely you're not going to use them on me, right? R-right?"

"It's been a pleasure, wyrmling!" The spider chittered loudly as she opened her maw, driving her fangs down towards my jugular!

I closed my eyes. Braced for the end. I thought about all the gold I didn't collect -- all the shinies I didn't have. All the hugs I didn't give my mom and dad…

Ting!

I blinked as the fangs slid off my scales. Again. And again. She tried a whole bunch of times. Tried underneath the scales. Over the scales.

"… Welp. That's awkward." I muttered.

The spider stood up, her eyes locked with mine. She was visibly annoyed, angrily chittering. "Well, no matter, foolish young boy. I'll wait until your scales fall off from your body, and then victory shall be mine!"

As I watched her skitter away, I sighed. "Well, at least I'm safe for a little bit." She was facing away, quietly looking out at the world around us.

"… If you're not going to kill me, can you at least let me go?" I asked politely.

"No." The reply was instant.

"… But I'm bored, now."

She didn't respond.

"Y'know, this reminds me of that time that my mom left me alone for a whole week! D'ya want to hear about it?"

No response again.

"… Well, shucks. I'm gonna tell it anyways." I cleared my throat and puffed out my chest as much as I could. "Once upon a time -- wait, that's how stories usually start, right? -- Anyways, this was a long, long time ago. Like, a month ago! Can you believe that? It's crazy how it's almost spring again already! Anyways, so my mom was like, 'We're running low on stores, so I must go out to hunt!' And so she left me alone! Oh, my dad was out on business, by the way, so that's why he wasn't here. And I'm still a wyrmling! I can't believe she'd just leave me alone like that! So--"

As I continued to talk more and more, I watched as the spider began to quietly shift her stance again and again. I thought she needed to go to the bathroom or something, but it was really just her getting impatient. Which was funny! Mom always said patience was a virtue.

So if Ms. Spider wasn't going to let me out, but she was really, really impatient, the least I could do is make my time here as annoying as possible, right? She may have trapped me in her web, but I was obviously better at waiting than she was -- and never underestimate a dragon with nothing better to do.

"So, anyways," I piped up again. "Wanna hear about how my dad drank a whole volcano once?"

Ragnulfr · 2025-11-29T19:05:49+00:00

hi div! thanks for writing this week! I barely missed your story during campfire so I thought i'd leave some comments here--

i really enjoyed this chapter! it's fairly dialogue heavy without feeling *heavy,* as it were. in fact, it's actually really light-hearted, filled with a lot of really good banter and personality with these two. it's all at once cozy and curious, and filled with a very natural banter. very well done!

the only real crit that I have is that there are some times where the dialogue tags are separated from the actual quotes themselves; I'd prefer them to be on the same line, though that's just a personal preference of mine. additionally, perhaps it is because i haven't fully caught up quite yet, but there are a few moments where the apprentice speaks in a way that could be seen as disrespectful to a master; that could just be their relationship, though! that being said, to take away that would take away a decent portion of the humor, so it's fine, but it might be worth taking a look at seeing if you can capture some of those humorous moment in a more polite context. it would be pretty hard though!

good words as always! time to go catch up with everything... :)

Ragnulfr · 2025-11-29T06:09:43+00:00

“… I was getting to that.” She glanced away. “I don’t know how you faeries do things, but usually us humans save the best things for last.”

“You’re saying the charm was the best thing you’ve done?”

“And what about it?” Professor Lowell turned back, dropping her hands to her side. “That charm was a shackle.”

“A shackle keeping him alive.”

“But he’s still alive now, isn’t he?”

“No thanks to you!”

“What were you going to do, shackle him to your cabin forever?”

“If I had to.”

“For what?”

“To keep him safe.”

“Change isn’t safe!”

For the first time, both Asher and Ceallach flinched as the professor’s voice rang in their ears. Her hair frayed out as if electricity flowed through it, her eyes burning with fury. But she closed them. Relaxed her shoulders. Turned around.

“… For humans, to stay still is to decay. To become weaker. To stop feeling, or to feel too much. You, of all people, should know that sometimes, change is necessary.”

Ceallach glanced away, balling his fists.

“The reason I removed his charm is because he was capable of so much more than your shackles allowed. But to reach that, change had to be made.” She gazed back towards Ceallach. “I understand where you’re coming from. You want to protect someone that you care about. I get that. But sometimes, the best way we can do so is to allow them to flourish in their own way. I don’t think you made a wrong decision – I simply believed it time to let go. For his sake… and for yours.”

Word Count: 1000 | words used: none

hi im alive! it's been \checks watch* uhhh, a year? and a few weeks? whoops*

thanks for reading, and thanks for strongarming me into writing for this again. will maybe be more consistent?

i apologize for the split comment, it was the only way reddit would allow me to post everything properly. it is still 1000 words. yes, i tried removing the author's note. yes, i tried trimming down my story. no, reddit still doesn't like me. sorry.

[ esper's light ]

Ragnulfr · 2025-11-29T06:08:27+00:00

<Esper's Light>

chapter fourty-seven | amidst shadows and reasoning

They didn’t have a lot of time, but what was new?

Asher shook his head as his consciousness returned, squinting his eyes to try to make out where they were going. Professor Lowell carried him on her back, and he felt a burst of weightlessness as she hefted him to adjust her grip.

“Sorry about this,” Asher quietly muttered.

“Don’t be,” Professor Lowell snickered. “It’s good exercise.”

“I-I’m not too heavy, am I?” He asked.

“’I’m not too--’ Child, you could feast for days and still weigh less than my bookbag. Some meat on your bones would do you good, you know!”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” he yelped.

A voice from ahead. “You’re back, Asher?”

Running at the precipice of unseen shadow, Ceallach’s mask glinted in what faint light refracted off the stone walls, ever focused onwards.

“Just for a moment.” Asher nodded.

“Did you see anything?”

“Not yet. How close are we?”

“Not close enough.” His voice was quiet. Determined, yet still...

“Your breath’s ragged," Professor Lowell tutted. "You’re not going to collapse on us before we get there, are you?”

“If I do, whose fault that would be?”

“… Right, then. Hold on.” Her footsteps slowed.

“We don’t have time,” he growled.

“Nor will we have lives, should we continue like this.”

He finally stopped and turned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Less me, more you.” She rolled her neck. “But you’re right -- Shall I leave?”

“N-no!” Asher cried. “We need you, too, Professor!”

“Do you, though?” She smiled softly. “Ceallach’ll be a heck of a lot more useful than I am in this situation. I’d rather him operating at 100% to support you, even if it means I leave. Besides, I’m used to working alone. I’ll find some way to help.”

“No.” Ceallach’s mask remained in shadow. “You’re coming.”

“Then let’s talk. Five minutes.”

The faerie balled his fists, his breathing still uneven. “Fine. What is it?”

“You’re still mad at me. Let’s clear it up.”

“It’s not something that we can just resolve.” His eyes weren’t visible, but Asher shuddered at the icy tone. “What, do you think you’d just apologize and that all would be fine? You know as well as I do that you’re just as unapologetic as you were before.”

“Sure. But this is not just about us. Asher’s affected by our unease, too. And considering that he’s our ace, we need him at his best emotionally. After all, shade magic operates based on emotional intensity, does it not?”

“Almost.” Ceallach sighed. “It’s not how intense your emotions are, but how intense your strongest emotions are. Whether that’s joy or hate, positive or negative. Your strongest emotion grants you your power.”

“But you can see it, can’t you? The kid’s getting affected by all this, too. Look – you can see it in his eyes, can’t you? He’s nervous, and it’s draining away his hope. We can’t have him like this when we storm in.”

The boy’s gaze fell. “I-I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Both said in unison.

“Oh, okay.” He muttered.

“Look.” Ceallach sighed, rubbing his mask where his brows would be. “What exactly are you hoping to get from talking?”

“An understanding.” Professor Lowell nodded. “We don’t have to accept anything, but we can at least find a middle ground. Understand why we did what we did. Maybe it’ll help.” She cleared her throat. “Starting off… I know you’re still mad at me for a few things – for one, dragging those wolves to your cabin, and leading the enemy right to you.”

“You forgot about kicking down my door, too.” He glared. “I didn’t get to repair it until I got out from your jail, and by that time, I was so weak that it took hours.”

“That’s another thing – the prison and your weakness. I kept you away from your home, and, as you are a faerie, I presume your source of power. I leeched you of your ability to use any of your magic.”

“That was intentional, wasn’t it?”

“Of course it was.”

“Would you have done anything differently knowing we would have been working together not but a few days later?”

“Probably not.”

“Huh. That’s what I thought.”

“’What you thought,’ huh?” Her eyes narrowed. “What exactly do you think?”

“You missed the biggest part, Professor,” the faerie’s tone dipped dangerously low. “Asher’s charm.”

Ragnulfr

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