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pineislandTitle: look at the stars
Fandom: His Dark Materials
Characters: OC - Mary Brigid Mohan & Orion; OC - Benjamin Mohan & Ananiel; Canon - Lord John Faa (mentioned)
Rating: T - Teen & Up Audiences
Warnings: Mary Brigid is a severed child, if you know what that means
Word Count: 497
Prompt:fandomocweekly "Warmth" + sweetandshort 10/20: confused, depressed, empty, escape, hands, hurt, invisible, unbearable, vision, surrender (I love trying to see how many prompts I can fit into as short a fic as possible.)
Last time Mary Brigid saw Orion, he was flickering desperately from form to form to form: badger to wolf to bear, anything to claw through the mesh cage that held them on either side of the blade, sharp and terrible. Then she saw it fall, swift and merciless.
Then she saw nothing at all for a long time.
Still, she knew him when she saw him now in his unfamiliar goose form. Even amid a ragged flock of dæmon-geese, she knew which one was Orion the way she’d know which hand was her own. Even if it had been cut away from her.
Orion flopped down to her, ungainly as a goose. She held her mittened hands out to catch him and he changed mid-flight to his old favorite form, a tiny sugar glider. Mary Brigid nuzzled him, tucked him against her neck where he always slept before… before the lab, before the cage, before the blade.
“Don’t cry now, gal.” Benjamin’s voice was choked and his magpie dæmon cawed in distress. “Your tears will freeze to your face.”
He wiped at Mary Brigid’s cheeks and then his own. For three days, he had carried her through the never ending arctic night, away from Bolvangar, under the glimmer and snap of the aurora. He’d pointed up at the sky, shown her the three stars that made up Orion’s Belt, saying, “There he is, gal. You can always find him and he’ll always find you.”
Now here he was and Mary Brigid felt nothing. It was too cold, maybe, to feel anything. She couldn’t feel her nose or her fingers. Of course she was crying.
Around them, other children like her, other severed children who survived, found their stolen dæmons amid the flock, and the geese changed back into their old favorite forms. Mary Brigid saw cats and squirrels and a red setter who would have been beautiful, but his coat was mangy and dull. She knew the light had gone out of her eyes, too - her’s and Orion’s both. The unseen thread that tied them together was broken.
She sank to the ground, cradling Orion against herself.
“Gyptians,” called one of the men, his crow dæmon perched on his shoulder. “We’re still days from Trollesund and safety. Gather your charges.”
Benjamin easily scooped Mary Brigid into his arms. He was tall and lanky but she had grown thin in the lab, refusing food until the nurses stuck a needle in her arm that dripped nutrients directly into her veins.
“Try to be something bigger,” Ananiel clucked to Orion. “Something to keep her warm. We can carry you.”
Still small, Orion crawled under Mary Brigid’s coat. It was coal silk, too flimsy for the frozen chill, and Benjamin had wrapped his own knit scarf around her neck. Tucked deeply under her winter clothes, Orion changed into a badger: big and warm, with long claws he dug into her sweater.
He would never be taken away from her again.
Title: finally home
Fandom: His Dark Materials
Characters: OC - Mary Brigid Mohan & Orion; OC - Benjamin Mohan & Ananiel
Rating: G - General audiences
Word Count: 30
Prompt:fffc Little Special s210: "let's dance"
Notes: After returning home from Bolvangar, the Gyptians take in children (severed and whole) who don't have families to return to. Mary Brigid is adopted by Benjamin's mother, Ma Mohan.
Benjamin scooped Mary Brigid in his arms while Ananiel flapped her wings and Orion chirped in the rafters. He danced her around the galley kitchen.
"Welcome home, Mary Brigid Mohan!"
Fandom: His Dark Materials
Characters: OC - Mary Brigid Mohan & Orion; OC - Benjamin Mohan & Ananiel; Canon - Lord John Faa (mentioned)
Rating: T - Teen & Up Audiences
Warnings: Mary Brigid is a severed child, if you know what that means
Word Count: 497
Prompt:
fandomocweekly "Warmth" + sweetandshort 10/20: confused, depressed, empty, escape, hands, hurt, invisible, unbearable, vision, surrender (I love trying to see how many prompts I can fit into as short a fic as possible.)Last time Mary Brigid saw Orion, he was flickering desperately from form to form to form: badger to wolf to bear, anything to claw through the mesh cage that held them on either side of the blade, sharp and terrible. Then she saw it fall, swift and merciless.
Then she saw nothing at all for a long time.
Still, she knew him when she saw him now in his unfamiliar goose form. Even amid a ragged flock of dæmon-geese, she knew which one was Orion the way she’d know which hand was her own. Even if it had been cut away from her.
Orion flopped down to her, ungainly as a goose. She held her mittened hands out to catch him and he changed mid-flight to his old favorite form, a tiny sugar glider. Mary Brigid nuzzled him, tucked him against her neck where he always slept before… before the lab, before the cage, before the blade.
“Don’t cry now, gal.” Benjamin’s voice was choked and his magpie dæmon cawed in distress. “Your tears will freeze to your face.”
He wiped at Mary Brigid’s cheeks and then his own. For three days, he had carried her through the never ending arctic night, away from Bolvangar, under the glimmer and snap of the aurora. He’d pointed up at the sky, shown her the three stars that made up Orion’s Belt, saying, “There he is, gal. You can always find him and he’ll always find you.”
Now here he was and Mary Brigid felt nothing. It was too cold, maybe, to feel anything. She couldn’t feel her nose or her fingers. Of course she was crying.
Around them, other children like her, other severed children who survived, found their stolen dæmons amid the flock, and the geese changed back into their old favorite forms. Mary Brigid saw cats and squirrels and a red setter who would have been beautiful, but his coat was mangy and dull. She knew the light had gone out of her eyes, too - her’s and Orion’s both. The unseen thread that tied them together was broken.
She sank to the ground, cradling Orion against herself.
“Gyptians,” called one of the men, his crow dæmon perched on his shoulder. “We’re still days from Trollesund and safety. Gather your charges.”
Benjamin easily scooped Mary Brigid into his arms. He was tall and lanky but she had grown thin in the lab, refusing food until the nurses stuck a needle in her arm that dripped nutrients directly into her veins.
“Try to be something bigger,” Ananiel clucked to Orion. “Something to keep her warm. We can carry you.”
Still small, Orion crawled under Mary Brigid’s coat. It was coal silk, too flimsy for the frozen chill, and Benjamin had wrapped his own knit scarf around her neck. Tucked deeply under her winter clothes, Orion changed into a badger: big and warm, with long claws he dug into her sweater.
He would never be taken away from her again.
Title: finally home
Fandom: His Dark Materials
Characters: OC - Mary Brigid Mohan & Orion; OC - Benjamin Mohan & Ananiel
Rating: G - General audiences
Word Count: 30
Prompt:
fffc Little Special s210: "let's dance"Notes: After returning home from Bolvangar, the Gyptians take in children (severed and whole) who don't have families to return to. Mary Brigid is adopted by Benjamin's mother, Ma Mohan.
Benjamin scooped Mary Brigid in his arms while Ananiel flapped her wings and Orion chirped in the rafters. He danced her around the galley kitchen.
"Welcome home, Mary Brigid Mohan!"
