TRP: Gavi, Timur, and Graverunners (Cave Mother)

[Setting: Day 268, reunion beach]

Soon as the boat started scraping against sand, Gavi was off
over the side and headed for Timur. Her baby boy. He ran to meet her too, and
soon as they were close enough she squeezed him in a fierce hug. "You're
okay," she said. More to herself than Timur. She pulled back, looking him
over. "You hurt anywhere?" she demanded, starting to look him over
herself. Didn't see any wounds, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any.

**COYOTE**

Timur nodded, then went right back to clinging to her.
"I'm fine, mama." He stared at the ground and choked out, "They
killed Cousin Levi, though."

**ABBY**

Levi. Gavi held Timur tight, stroking his hair. She'd hoped
that wouldn't happen. Hoped that Levi'd get the chance she had. But now... One
more soul to free from Gruumsh's hell.

"It's..." it wasn't all right. It couldn't be all
right. "That's fucked up. He was... he was good to us." She scrubbed
at her face, her eyes. So many of her family, dead now. It was a feeling she
never got used to.

**COYOTE**

Timur stood awkward aside, eyes downcast. He didn’t think
he’d ever seen his mama cry before. His hands fisted. “They’re not even sorry,”
he said.

**ABBY**

Gavi winced. Yeah. They wouldn't be. "Hey," she
said softly, resting her hand on Timur's shoulder. "Let's go talk
somewhere quieter huh?" There was a little shady area, free of any other
reuniting families. Gavi nudged them both over that way. "There's some stuff
I've been meaning to talk to you about."

**COYOTE**

Timur went, reluctantly. He rubbed his arms nervously.

His uncle, however, said he was a man now, and needed to act
like a man. Maybe his mom needed him for something. Needed his help to avenge
his cousin.

**ABBY**

Gavi took a second, trying to think how to start. She'd been
so busy fumbling around, trying to find her own way-- hadn't really been
checking in with Timur to see where he was at. And now... "Hey," she
said, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Y'know I love you right? And I
love-- loved Levi too. That's our family and, I want to see them happy and
healthy, just as much as you do. Okay?"

**COYOTE**

Timur nodded uncertainly, suddenly suspicious.

**ABBY**

Gavi could see the look on Timur's face and she just knew
this was gonna get ugly. God. Oh hey on that note-- Iomedae I don't know what
the fuck I'm doing. Please give me a hand.

Now to tear down the mindset she'd spent all of Timur's life
building up. "But see the thing is Timur, I don't think that... what Levi,
or Immanuel, was doing was... right for our people," she said slowly.
"Do you follow?"

**COYOTE**

Timur faltered. His hands stayed fisted, and he averted his
eyes.

This was exactly what Cousin Levi said his mama would do.
“But,” Timur said, then didn’t know what to say.

**ABBY**

Gavi waited a moment for Timur to finish his thought. When
he didn't, she tilted her head. "But what?" she prompted gently.
"You can talk to me Timur. I'll listen."

**COYOTE**

“Cousin Levi was trying to help our folks. You know he was.
And— and Uncle Immanuel, too. This is— this is what Cousin Levi said you’d say.
He said—“ Timur felt his face twist up. “He said you’d gotten... all soft
inside, like a rotten peach.”

**ABBY**

Gavi ran her hand through her hair, letting out a long
breath. "Yeah. He would say that," she said, soft and sad.
"Listen. Timur... I've been doing a lot of thinkin' lately. And... your
cousins-- your uncle too for that matter, I don't think they appreciate where
I'm going with it. So just... bear with me a little bit okay? I'm gonna try to
explain it. I want you to understand why I'm... soft. Okay?"

**COYOTE**

Timur nodded tightly.

**ABBY**

Gavi nodded back. Right. Okay. "All right," she
said. "I told you about... how I died, right? Just for a minute, Luci
saved me. And... I saw what the afterlife was like for us."

**COYOTE**

“Okay, but—“ Timur rushed to explain. “Levi talked to me
about that, too. You know Old Yenk? Down by the river? He died not but last
winter, fell in the river, and then the healers warmed him up and he came right
back to life. Right? And he said the afterlife is full of, um, virgins, and
stuff, but then Daddy— then Daddy said Old Yenk was full of horse-shit and
probably hit his head and saw stuff that wasn’t real. So. So, the stuff you
saw... I mean, Mama, I don’t mean no disrespect, but. But.” He waved his hands.
“I think you probably just hit your head like Old Yenk. How come you think you
know? You can’t know. You can’t.”

He stopped, breathless after his rant, to see what she’d
say.

**ABBY**

Gavi'd waited too long to talk to Timur. Waited too long and
Levi'd beat her to it. "I know what I saw," she said. "And you
know well as I do what they tell us the afterlife's like right? Young, full of
fighting spirit, and constantly having enemies to take it out on. That's what I
saw, Timur. Except the orc there weren't happy."

She paused, resting her hands on Timur's shoulders and
looking into his eyes intently. "Think about it. What kinda afterlife
would you want? Maybe something peaceful, quiet, with good earth to grow plants
in. There's gods out there that'd give it to you."

**COYOTE**

"Okay, but-- the fighting-- that's what we're supposed
to want," Timur said. "'Course that's what we're supposed to get.
That's what's good."

**ABBY**

"Timur, motek." Gavi rubbed his arm. "Can you
look me in the eye and tell me that you do want it?"

**COYOTE**Last
Tuesday at 5:56 PM

"Okay, but-- you're not listening!" Timur said.
"It's not about... it isn't..."

**ABBY**

"Hey, hey I'm sorry. I'm listening," Gavi said. It
looked like she might be getting through. Just, had to keep being careful.
"C'mon. Talk to me. What's it about?"

**COYOTE**

Timur hunched his shoulders. "It's not about... what...
I want. You're s'pose to like certain things. Like Uncle Bloodgrut always
said."

**ABBY**

Gavi studied her son for a second. She'd done this to him.
It broke her heart. "See, Timur, your uncle... he's bought into
Gruumsh's..." bullshit "...teachings real hard. And I did too, and we
brought you up to believe 'em too." She chewed on her lip a second. Now
how to put this next part. "But the thing is, I started questioning that
after... what I saw. And... I got a new god. One that won't look down on me for
protecting my son." Her expression flashed cold and bitter for a second, and
she found herself rubbing her thumb against the scar on Timur's throat.

"I'm happier here, Timur. I'm still working on figuring
out who the hell I am, if I'm not Gruuman, but I'm liking this person I'm
finding under all that shit. And I just want... I want you to see that too. See
that you're just perfect the way you are."

**COYOTE**

Timur's hands clenched so tight he practically vibrated with
anger. "I don't care about Gruumsh," he cried out. "But-- they
killed Cousin Levi! They killed him, and they killed Uncle Gruts, and-- and you
don't even care! You're not even angry!"

He backed away, and kept backing away.

"You would've been angry before," Timur blurted
out. "Cousin Levi was right. That rot got right to your head."

And then he bolted, heading straight into the woods.

**ABBY**

"Timur-- Timur wait!" Gavi ran after him. She
couldn't lose Timur too. She couldn't. "Come back, please!"

**COYOTE**

Timur ran, and kept running, skipping over fallen logs and
ducking under broken branches. He kept running long after his mom's cries went
silent behind him.

By the time he stopped, the forest had gone dark around him.
He bent over, breathing so hard it burned his throat.

He turned in a circle. He had gone so far he wasn't sure
where the Sanctuary was-- where anything was. He wasn't even sure where the
path was, where he'd come from. He faltered, trying to retrace his steps, but
there were no footprints, nothing showing behind him.

Faintly, he heard a voice.

He froze, listening hard. The voice sounded the soft murmur
of wind chimes and leaves rustling... but it sounded like it was speaking.
Saying something, maybe, though he couldn't make out the words, not quite.

He turned slowly in a circle, then drifted in the direction
of the voice.

He could almost make out what the voice was saying. Maybe if
he got just a little closer, he thought, dazed. It sounded... it sounded like
his name.

There was a light coming from the woods. Timur followed it,
and disappeared deeper into the trees.

**ABBY**

"Timur? Timur! Where are you! Motek I'm sorry, don't
run off like this! Come back! Be mad at me all you want just come back!"

Gavi didn't know how long she tromped through the woods,
calling things like that. But no Timur. Useless. Had to get help. Someone who,
who was better at tracking and woodsy shit than she was.

Gavi fumbled back through the brush towards the beach.
Someone there oughta be able to help. Get her son back. She had to get her son
back.

She almost plowed into the pair before seeing them and
stopping, recognizing them a second later. Hansel's human kids.
"Luci!" She grabbed the younger woman's arm, wild and desperate.
"You gotta help. Timur-- he got mad, he ran off, I can't find him
and--" her voice broke-- "I'm scared. I'm scared he's gonna go back
to Immanuel and he's already killed my son once."

**IZZY**

Luci jumped when Gavi came tumbling out of the brush, and
grabbed onto Jonn's arm reflexively. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him
pull his knife, but they both recognized Gavi quickly enough that no one got
hurt.

She stared at the explanation. She should ... get Hansel,
she knew. But she also knew that time was precious when children were missing,
and she had a spell that should be able to help more than Hansel would be able
to.

"Okay," she said simply. "We'll find
him."

The spell, unfortunately, couldn't locate Timur. She
frowned, and had Gavi lead her back to where he had last been seen -- Jonn
staying close at her side, looking nervous and wary -- then managed to find
some tracks. She'd learned how to from an older cleric, when she was young. It
had largely been to identify tracks, because she had a fleeting, fervent
interest in the topic, but included tracking, as well, and she seemed to have
retained much of the skill.

She used a cantrip to make her staff glow, and light the
path, and followed it carefully until the spell caught onto him. Then she moved
more swiftly, with Gavi in tow and Jonn by her side.

**ABBY**

Gavi had her javelin out and was spinning it, pacing back
and forth while Luci looked for the trail. They had to find him. They just had
to. She bit her tongue to keep from talking. Snapping, asking questions-- hell
if Gavi knew what'd end up coming out of her mouth.

Then Luci started moving. She stashed her javelin fast
enough she nearly stabbed herself with it, barely holding herself back from
tripping over Luci's heels as she followed. "Where's he headed?" she
asked lowly. "He's not going to the Sanctuary is he?"

**COYOTE**

The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it got.
Ahead, the trees split into a clearing. A glen with a fallen log.

Faintly, ahead, there was a noise: A rustling sound, almost
like a voice, but not quite. Achingly familiar, somehow. There was a faint
light through the trees ahead leading to a cave.

**IZZY**

Luci frowned, concentrating. She wasn't sure; she couldn't
remember which direction the Sanctuary would be, from here. "Um," she
said, and before she could make it any further, she spotted the clearing, and
the light. They were getting closer. "No. There."

She went straight for the cave, Jonn gripping her arm and
making a low sound like an unhappy cat, but going along.

**ABBY**

Gavi nodded shortly. This was better. Something about it
was... off. In a good way? The weird noises echoing from the cave probably, but
it wasn't the Sanctuary. And if this cave was haunted or something-- they could
just kill it and get her son back. I'd be fine.

Even though somewhere, in her rotting bones, Gavi didn't
feel like whatever was in that cave meant her any harm.

**COYOTE**

The cave dropped off sharply into a black pit. A cool air
blew from the cave with a sickly sweet smell-- almost like rotting meat.

Luci's staff lit the area ahead. An enormous spider shrank
against the wall. Other animals-- an enormous boar, a collection of badgers,
and a small army of mice, skittered out of the way as well. They watched the
three humanoids with wide eyes glittering in the glittering in the light. They
seemed calm; almost dazed.

**IZZY**

Luci kept walking in the direction of Timur, undaunted. Jonn
gave a quiet ehhh and glanced at Gavi uncertainly, following.

**ABBY**

Gavi tried to give a reassuring smile, turned out more like
a grimace. "Is he close?" she asked lowly, glancing at the animals.
Something was up. She wanted to get Timur and get out.

**IZZY**

"Getting closer," Luci promised, ignoring the
beasts and the unpleasant smell.

Then, unfortunately, they reached a dirt wall. A dead end.
She eyed it, and after a second, realized she should say something. "He's
beyond this. Twenty feet, maybe. Not moving any longer." It was getting
... weaker, somehow, though. She didn't say that part.

She dropped the location spell in order to feel for magic.
Something very powerful -- enchantment, like the spells in her staff.

"Dig," she said. It could be urgent. She didn't
know why the location spell would have flagged. "He's beyond the wall.
Dig."

**ABBY**

Twenty feet. Gavi pulled out her warhammer and slammed it
into the wall. Should be deep enough that it'd be safe. For now. "Hang on
Timur! We're coming!" she yelled, and pulled back to smash open the dirt
separating her from her son once more.

**COYOTE**

The dirt wall crumbled, opening to the other side.

The room was stagnant. It reeked like old flesh, trapped
inside for centuries. The room was filled with bones.

In the center of the room, there lay a hole roughly six feet
across and six feet deep. There were animals in the hole-- two boars and a
wolf-- digging. The wolf was emaciated, as if it had been digging for days. It
was clear the hole had been dug by animal claws: the edges were ragged, and
dead animals littered the room, some so old they were nothing but bone, others
withered and rotting.

Timur dug on his hands and knees. His eyes were fixed on the
bottom of the hole.

A voice called Gavi, whispering in her ear. The words didn't
make sense, but she knew what she had to do:

She needed to get into the hole.

She needed to dig.

**ABBY**

Gavi's axe slipped from her fingers, clattering to the
ground. She strode forwards, jumping down to the bottom of the hole, and began
digging. The stone had no give, but that didn't matter. She dug. And dug.

**IZZY**

Oh. Oh, well that wasn't any good. Alarmed, Luci tried to
dispel the enchantment, but it didn't do anything; the magic was too powerful.
She should ... get help. From who? Perhaps Mishka or Goro or could teleport
them both away from the cave. The effect didn't appear to extend beyond the
wall.

She squeezed her staff. Hm. "Gavi!" She tapped it
against the cave floor. "Stop!"

Gavi stopped. Then, when the spell wore off, she started
digging again.

"Fuck," she muttered. Another idea. She took
Jonn's hand and pulled him away, further from where the dirt wall had been
breached. Tapped her staff again. "Come!"

**ABBY**

Gavi stood and climbed out of the pit, obediently exiting
the room and going to Luci and Jonn.

And then the command wore off and she jerked, suddenly back
to her senses. "Timur!" she cried, starting to move back in. Luci and
Jonn's hands on her arms, and her own good sense, caught her before she could
cross the barrier. She'd just get sucked back in. But these two... "You
gotta go back and get Timur," she said, desperate. "Please."

**IZZY**

Luci nodded. She tapped her staff a third time, and focused
on Timur. "Come!"

**COYOTE**

Timur stumbled out of the hole. He padded over to Luci, his
feet bare and bloody, his fingernails broken or missing.

Once out of the room, he swayed, then turned to go back
inside.

**ABBY**

Gavi made a high pitched distressed noise and grabbed for
him, hauling him further back from the cave. "Timur? Timur c'mon. Snap out
of it. It's your Mama. I'm right here."

**IZZY**

Jonn moved slightly and quickly to put himself between Timur
and the wall, keeping hold of Luci's hand.

**COYOTE**

Timur stared, dazed, at his mother-- then his eyes focused.
"Mama," he said. His voice was slurred. "Mama. She's trapped in
the stone. We gotta dig."

**ABBY**

Well that was worrying. How much of her son did Gavi have
back? "Motek look at your hands," she said gently. "You ain't
gonna do her any more good digging like that."

**COYOTE**

Timur swayed, then reached for Gavi's warhammer.

**ABBY**

Gavi caught his hand, and pulled him further from the cave.
"I ain't sure that'll do much good either. Let's get back with the others,
maybe one of them'll have an idea. Alright?"

**IZZY**

Luci took a few steps to catch up, pulling Jonn along. She
tapped her staff against Timur's shoulder to get his attention. "Timur.
Timur, who's in the stone?"

**COYOTE**

Timur let out a sob. Tears ran down his face, mixing with
the red clay on his cheeks. "She's all alone. Mother. She can't get out.
She wants her children."

**ABBY**

The back of Gavi's neck prickled. Something was fucked here.
"What does she want her children for?" she asked, still guiding Timur
away from the cave. Work 'em to death in a deep dark hole, looked like.

**COYOTE**

Timur didn't answer. "Mother," he said instead.
"Mother, mother, mother." He looked up at Gavi with glassy eyes.
"All mothers want their babies, Mama. Don't they?"

**ABBY**

Gavi shot a look back at the cave. "Yeah, yeah they
do," she said tightly. How far'd they have to go before he snapped out of
it? "Don't worry though. I got you. I'm gonna take good care of you. All
right?"

**COYOTE**

Timur followed obediently, staring straight ahead with the
same blank-eyed look. "The others will help," he said faintly.
"Ish kama?" How many orcs?

**ABBY**

Orcs. It made sense-- Gavi'd fallen to the spell too, while
Jonn and Luci had been fine. Still sent a chill down her spine. "Uh.
I'm... not sure. How many orcs... where?"

**COYOTE**

"With the others."

**IZZY**

"Don't answer that," Luci said abruptly.

**ABBY**

Gavi glanced at Luci, and back at Timur. Yeah. Yeah that did
sound like a good idea. She didn't say anything instead, just kept trudging on,
watching for any sign that Timur was coming back to himself.

**COYOTE**

Timur continued padding along. He slowly scanned the area
outside the cave, then continued walking.

**IZZY**

"Gavi?" Luci stopped at the mouth of the cave.
"Can I talk to you, for a moment -- privately?" She glanced at Jonn,
and he nervously went to stand by Timur.

**ABBY**

Gavi reluctantly took her hand off Timur's shoulder.
"Take care of him," she said to Jonn before following Luci off.

**IZZY**

Luci lowered her voice. "He's still under some sort of
enchantment. It's ... odd, however. It's very powerful." She looked over
at him uneasily. "It's like what's in my staff -- compulsion magic. I'm
not certain he's himself. And I can't dispel it. Maybe Goro can."

**ABBY**

Gavi ran her hand through her hair, glancing over at Timur
too. "I don't got any better fucking ideas," she said tightly.
"Do you got any idea what that thing was? And what the fuck it did to my
son?"

**IZZY**

"No. Not really. I'm going to go look at it," she
said. "You should get him to Goro."

**ABBY**

"You sure that's a good idea? What if you end up... you
know." She waggled her scraped up fingers at Luci.

**IZZY**

Luci shrugged.

**ABBY**

"Y'know you and that staff's the only reason we got out
too," Gavi pointed out. "Look, I know I ain't the paragon of not
doing stupid shit but maybe uh, maybe try to figure a way to be a bit safer
before diving right in."

**IZZY**

"Mm." Luci had already decided that she was going
to do it and how, she just didn't feel like explaining herself. She sighed and
got through it. "I'm quite resistant to magic like this. I'll cast a spell
to bolster myself. And Jonn has rope. He can tie me off, and if I don't resist
it, he'll pull me away. It will be fine." She paused. "Um. Maybe tell
Mishka where we are, when you get back to camp, though. Just in case."

**ABBY**

Right. Gavi let out a breath. "Yeah, yeah I'll tell the
fucking pansy," she said. "And if none of ya'll come back at a decent
time I'll-- I dunno-- I'll figure something out."

**IZZY**

"Tell Hansel," she said. "And Vaala. And
don't insult my stepfather."

She turned and went back into the cave, leading a
distressed-looking Jonn with her.

**ABBY**

Gavi almost grinned for a second. Tough girl. "Don't
worry, we'll make sure you don't stay trapped if you get that way," she
called after Jonn. Which probably wasn't as reassuring as she was trying to
make it? Well. Best she could do. Now she just had to get Timur back to camp,
fill in the others, and pray that whatever it was in his mind had cleared up or
was cast out before too long.

**IZZY**

Luci went back to the dirt wall. She knew Jonn had heard her
plan, because he started unlooping rope from his belt reluctantly.

"You're just gonna fuckin' do this either way, aren't
you," he asked.

"No. I'm only going to do it if you help."

He made an unhappy sound and tied a loop around his waist,
then parceled out some rope -- peering into the cavern to judge the distance --
and tied them together firmly. Luci pulled a ribbon from her wrist to tie her
hair back, and passed him her staff. He wouldn't be able to use it without the
attunement, unfortunately, but she didn't need it being dropped in the cavern
if she did succumb to the enchantment.

The first time, she did.

Dig. She had to dig. Her brother pulled her out, and she
shook it off, dazed. There was dirt under her fingernails, but he had pulled
her back before she'd gotten too far.

"I'm okay," she promised, and tried again.

DIG. It was stronger this time. She could tell. Her hands
came away with broken nails, and she was annoyed. She cuffed up her sleeves.

"Luci," Jonn pleaded.

"I'm okay." She didn't tell him it was stronger.
Once more, she told herself. Then she would stop. She had an escape plan, and
she would be fine, she just didn't want to upset Jonn any further. "One
more, okay?"

"Okay." He wasn't happy about it.

She steeled herself and stepped into the cavern again.

No compulsion.

She walked over to the stone to inspect it.

**COYOTE**

The stone was plain. It looked as though it had been
scratched for centuries by dull, blunt fingernails and claws. Old blood and
grime caked the dirt.

There was nothing carved into the stone. However, there was
a symbol written on the stone, smeared there by Timur:

Luci, who speaks Orcish, is able to recognize this symbol as
the Orcish symbol for "home."

**IZZY**

Luci traced her fingers over the symbol, tiling her head.
She pulled a notebook out of her bag, and sketched her closest approximation of
the rune -- she recognized it, but in case there was some minute difference
that she wasn't picking up on, right now, she wanted a copy.

"Luci!" Jonn called.

"I'm okay!" she called back, frustrated. She
looked around the cavern for anything more that might be intriguing or helpful.

**COYOTE**

It was a cave. There were rocks, and also some bones.

**IZZY**

She wrinkled her nose a bit, looking around. It was dark
without her staff, and the air was unpleasant. Tucking her book away, she noted
that the majority of the humanoid skulls seemed to have tusks. The symbol kept
tickling at something in the back of her head, but she couldn't place it. There
didn't seem to be anything more to learn, however. She backed out, frowning.
She'd talk to Goro about it; he might know. Or Ombre. Or Mishka -- he often
knew odd, esoteric things, though she wasn't always sure that he had them
right.

Jonn hugged her tight, once she came out.

"Jonn, I'm fine," she insisted.

He was still upset. He didn't untie them, and pulled her out
after giving her staff back. "You should heal your hands."

"What? Oh. It's minor. It isn't worth the magic."

He grimaced and led her back towards camp.

**ABBY**

Gavi picked her way back to camp, taking her time to make
sure Timur didn't trip over anything. The further they got from the cave, the
more her stomach sank. No change. No change. No change.

She went to find Mishka. That's who Luci'd mentioned first.
She found him circling around and gave a sharp whistle, waving at him.
"Hey pricha!" she yelled. Jogged over, tugging Timur. "Your
stepkids are investigating some sort of fucking weird cave that compels people
to climb in this pit and dig," she said shortly. "Timur got caught
and ain't shook it off yet. Any questions?"

**COYOTE**

"My step-- my wha-- Roddy and Luci--?" Mishka
double-checked over his shoulder. Nope, Roddy was within eyesight. "Luci
and Jonn?" Oh god. Jonn never made any dangerous situation better. Mishka
danced in front of her to stop her. "Whoa, whoa. Where? Can you lead me
there?"

**ABBY**

"Yep but first I gotta go see if Vaala or Goro can do
anything for Timur." Gavi smoothed down her son's hair, glancing around.
"You know where they're at?"

**COYOTE**

"What? No. You have to show me where they are, first.
Hey, hey," Mishka said. "Don't--"

And then he caught sight of Timur, and his eyes narrowed. He
bent, a little, inspecting him, taking in the wide, blank eyes, the
dazed-yet-focused look of someone who had been given a magical command.

Timur's eyes focused on Mishka, and Mishka jerked back.
"Uh," Mishka said.

**ABBY**

"Hey they'll live for ten minutes while I take care of
my son," she snapped irritably. Where was that fucking cleric-- "HEY!
Goro!"

Gavi left Mishka to do whatever it is he was gonna do and
guided Timur over to where Goro was kicking at the sand. "Lissen there's
some sort of thing in a cave compelling things to dig it out over that way,
Timur got magicked, d'you think you can snap him out of it?" she asked,
tight and urgent.

**LINA**

Goro scowled and squinted at her. "Wait, what?"

**ABBY**

Gavi tugged Timur over and planted him between them.
"Timur. Compulsion magic. Fix it."

**LINA**

"Oh, sorry, I don't speak Demanding Bitch. You wanna
try asking nicely?"

He didn't wait, though, to examine Timur. He snapped his
fingers in front of the boy's face. "What's going on, kid?"

**COYOTE**

Timur’s eyes focused on Goro, pupils narrowing as though
he’d been exposed to bright light.

He threw himself at Goro, knocking into him hard, fingers
scrabbling at Goro’s throat as he shrieked.

**ABBY**

Of all things Gavi'd thought might happen-- this sure hadn't
been one of them. "Hey, hey!" Gavi grabbed Timur, pulling him off
Goro and holding her son against her. "Timur! Timur calm down." It
was no good. Timur, her sweet boy who never wanted to hurt a fly, wouldn't quit
reaching for Goro, trying to strangle him.

Gavi was starting to hate that voice in the cave.

**LINA**

Goro stumbled backwards, thrown off balance, and landed on
his ass.

"The fuck," he coughed.

**ABBY**

"Hey your guess is as good as mine." Timur wasn't
really struggling to get away, Gavi realized. Just kept grabbing for Goro. She
made sure they stayed out of arm's reach. "This shit's new," she
said, voice tight and concerned. "He was digging before, then just... real
passive. Ain't been violent till now."

**LINA**

Thanks for the fucking explanation, finally, Goro thought,
rubbing his neck. Didn't want to waste the breath ragging on Gavi, though. He
was too perplexed by whatever the hell was going on with Timur. A cave,
compelling people to dig, and also to attack him specifically. Sure, alright.

Goro pushed himself up into a crouch. He stared at Timur a
minute, then bowed his head, whispering in Celestial.

He still felt wrung dry. Wasn't ready for this shit. Took
him a long ass time, concentrating. Praying. He felt a headache gathering
behind his eyes, probably from all his frowning.

Finally, he felt the magic flow warm through his chest. He
opened his eyes and looked up at Timur again, speaking the final words of the
spell.

**COYOTE**

The magic washed over Timur. Despite its strength, nothing
changed.

**ABBY**

Gavi gave it a couple seconds. Maybe it just took time to
sink in. But Timur kept struggling. "It didn't work," she said.
"Why didn't it fucking work?!"

**LINA**

Goro let out a small, discouraged sound, and slouched.

**ABBY**

"You got something else though right?" Gavi asked.
Getting desperate now. "C'mon you're supposed to be some kind of fucking
cleric. You gotta have something else you can do!"

**IZZY**

Luci had nearly intervened before, but then held herself and
Jonn back. Gavi had Timur -- the situation wasn't escalating and no one seemed
to be in danger. But Goro looked defeated enough, and Gavi was shouting at him,
and that wasn't acceptable. When she stepped forward, Jonn was right next to
her, and he knelt next to Goro like he wanted to help Goro up, but his fingers
danced anxiously and he didn't touch Goro.

Quietly, but firmly, Luci said, "That's enough. He
tried. I tried. Whatever has Timur is more powerful than either of us. I'm
sorry for that, but there is no reason to berate anyone."

She shifted her staff and planted it in the ground where
Goro could use it to pull himself up. Just from looking at him, now, she could
tell he hadn't slept well. Frankly, she was surprised he could cast at all.

**LINA**

Ah, those Sterling kids. Fucking nice of 'em. Goro hated
accepting a hand up, but he didn't like the idea of struggling to his feet in
front of everyone, either, and he didn't want Luci or Jonn to feel brushed off.
Taking the help won out. He grabbed Luci's staff with one hand, and Jonn's
forearm with the other, and dragged himself up.

"Thanks," he said quietly, still watching Timur
warily. God, that was fuckin' disappointing. He'd thrown everything he had into
that spell. He swiped a hand over his face.

**ABBY**

Gavi let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. Yeah you're right.
Sorry. It's just... this is my fucking son." Her voice cracked. Dug her
heels in the dirt and yanked backwards as Timur gave a particularly vicious
lunge. She grit her teeth, clapping her hand over his eyes. Maybe if he didn't
see Goro he-- or the mother-- would calm the fuck down.

**COYOTE**

Timur made a vague, puzzled noise and tried to push her hand
away, then stopped when it didn’t move.

**ABBY**

Oh thank god it worked. "Hey. S'okay." Gavi wanted
to stroke his hair but. Even if he wasn't struggling, Gavi felt it was better
to keep him held tight. "Look. This Mother-- can you ask her some things for
me?"

**COYOTE**

Timur made a vague, puzzled noise again.

**ABBY**

Okay. Not ideal but Gavi had to do something. "Hey,
somebody go get... Hansel or that Goliath woman, or Joan or something. Somebody
to hang onto Timur for me," she said.

**COYOTE**

Mishka moved to intercept. "Hey. Hang on. Gavi,
don't..."

**ABBY**

Gavi stared him down. "Don't fucking what?" she
said challengingly.

**COYOTE**

She looked pissed. Which Mishka got-- yeah, he absolutely
understood that. Her fuckin' kid was in danger. Mishka didn't get the whole
'kid' thing, but he understood wanting to protect family.

"Look," Mishka said, lowering his voice.
"What are you gonna do?"

**ABBY**

"Smash that fucking coffin open so she'll get out of my
son's fucking head."

**COYOTE**

Luci and Jonn were taking Goro away. Mishka had a split
second to feel relief (no chance of the mystery kid attacking Goro again, that
was good) mixed with apprehension.

He needed to talk Gavi down, but he wasn't fucking sure he
could.

"Gavi, Gavi, Gavi," he said. "Wait. Hang on.
Listen. I know you're pissed--" Wrong track. "I know you want to save
your kid. But, let me tell you, as a person who has done a lot of stupid
fucking shit with good intentions, let me tell you, you need to stop and think
this out. You need to consider the consequences. Before you do things. Because
otherwise-- otherwise--"

**ABBY**

"Otherwise what?" Gavi snapped. "You wanna
bet if I let my boy go he won't go after Goro again? Or you? I gotta do something."
Her voice cracked, pain and fear coming out from behind the fury. "I gotta
help him."

**COYOTE**

"Okay, but." Mishka's jaw clenched until his teeth
ached. He put himself in front of her so that if she wanted to get past him, she'd
have to shove him away, though he knew it looked fucking ridiculous,
considering she was a full-grown orc."If you-- Gavi, if you go and do shit
without thinking about it, it'll come back on you. You don't know what smashing
that fucking stone will do. It could hurt him worse. Trust me. I have fucking
been there."

**ABBY**

"Do you got any better ideas?" Gavi demanded.
"I can't just... I can't leave him like this."

**COYOTE**

Yes. Okay. Mishka always had ideas.

"We tie him up," Mishka said. "Gently. I'll
show you how so it doesn't hurt or damage him. Then we blindfold him, alright?
And we can take watches looking after him. And then in the morning... in the
morning, we can have the clerics try stronger healing spells. Better healing
spells. Different healing spells. And then if none of them work--"

He paused.

"And then if none of them work, several of us can go to
the cave with the stone. And you can smash it while we stand outside.
Alright?"

**ABBY**

Gavi clenched her jaw. She didn't want to wait. She wanted
to take care of it. She wanted to take care of her son. It... made sense
though. She fucking hated it but. It made good sense.  "Fine," she said. "We'll.
We'll do that." She kissed Timur's head. "It's okay motek," she
murmured. "We'll take care of you."

**COYOTE**

Mishka slumped, a little, in relief. Thank Corellon. His
next options were hitting her in the head or... maybe stealing her kid and
running off with him, then asking Hansel for help.

"Okay," Mishka said, leading the way to his pack,
where he pulled out a long length of soft rope. "We'll make sure your kid
is safe."

**ABBY**

Gavi nodded shortly. Mishka was a jackass, but she believed
him when he said he wanted to help. These were good people, and they'd help her
watch out for Timur.

"Hear that, Timur? We got you. We got you," she
murmured, rocking him lightly before reaching for the rope.

[END]