A forest that was not there yesterday

[unprophesied_of_ages]

The Lord Ruler is in his palace, when he sees a sight he hasn't seen in centuries. Trees, sunlight...is he hallucinating? The fact that there's a forest in his living room isn't the surprising part. The fact that there's a forest on his planet is. As soon as he walks through the door to where his living room isn't, it's definitely not a hallucination.

His stores of Allomantic metals abruptly disappear. They're still physically there, but the power is completely gone. He immediately turns to go back, only to see more forest.

At least his Feruchemy still works—he can tell because he's still alive—but that won't last him forever. He only has so much stored youth, and without both sets of abilities he can't replenish it. He hasn't been in so much danger since the beheading that one time. Returning to Scadrial is the highest and currently only priority. If spontaneous forests are a thing, he needs to find someone who can explain them and more importantly how to get back.

The next few hours are spent walking in an essentially randomly chosen direction, with the sun to his right. He's quite certain that suns are supposed to be moving across the sky, but that's not a pressing emergency. He already knew he wasn't on his own planet when he saw proper trees and plants instead of ash-covered monstrosities. Whenever he calls out, nobody responds. If it's an empty spontaneous forest, he's probably doomed.

After some time, he hears his stomach growl. He hasn't seen much that looks edible, but possibly that's just because he's not used to real plants. Berries. Berries used to exist. Those berries look tasty, and if they're poisonous it's not like he needs to worry about it. As always, he has a truly ridiculous amount of stored health in his gold jewelry. Tapping gold just in case, he eats a handful.

Comments

[unprophesied_of_ages]

He's still deaf. For pretty much exactly this reason. But he saw her mouth move, and he can guess what one-syllable command that might have been.

"No," he meets her eyes, "You stop."

[alicornucopia]

She stands there.

(Someone behind him opens the electrocuting door without getting electrocuted and tries to brain him with an object that becomes suddenly many times heavier when it connects with his head.)

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Oh good, it worked. He would have felt somewhat silly if it hadn't.
While Alendi's looking over to see whether the smaller fairy's wibbling has intensified, he meets with yet another blunt impact.

He peels himself off the floor and directs the Queen, "Don't let anyone interfere with me." Then he rushes to grab her and jump for the gate.

[imeanforever]

"Hold!" the Queen calls at the top of her lungs in a trembling voice. She is unable to resist grabbing. He jumps without interference.

And he's back in Scadrial, and Promise closes the gate and stares at the queen and trembles. (Yellow covers his eyes and squeaks.)

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"I've told her to stop," Alendi says on the off chance that Promise isn't deaf right now, and gestures in case she is. "I...haven't really thought about what orders happen now."

[imeanforever]

Promise can't hear him.

"Can you hear?" she asks Alendi. "Make her forget my name, see if it works."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Alendi can; he reactivated his hearing after the gate closed. He pulls out the spike (mercifully missed when they were searching him for removable items) and inserts it into his shiny new minion.

"Store Promise's name in this piece of copper," he says, holding an unused ring against her hand. "Nod when you've figured out how and done it."

[imeanforever]

The queen nods.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Do you know her name now?
For future reference, never lie to either of us."

[imeanforever]

The queen cannot answer, because that was not an order or a permission.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Hmph. The Lord Ruler is used to minions who are capable of understanding orders at a much higher level than fairy vassalization does, but whatever.

"Tell me whether you know her name."

[imeanforever]

"Yes."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Alendi tries to signal "yes" to Promise without implying that "yes, it worked."

He returns the spike to it previous position. "If I sent you to collect a certain fairy who has irked me, one who has defenses sufficient to capture unprepared intruders, how likely would you be to be succeed?
Answer any question we ask you."

[imeanforever]

"I have never failed at collecting someone I sought," says the queen faintly.

"Let her breathe," Promise says. "Snap your fingers if she knows my name."

[unprophesied_of_ages]

He does. Presumably if Promise noticed that the Queen is under an order preventing her from breathing she is also aware that there aren't any orders coming. Redundant deafness is understandable, though.

"You can breathe.
Who fed me while I was captured?"

[imeanforever]

The queen breathes. "I, my Nighteyes and my Spellwhip."

"Tell her never to give me orders and snap your fingers when you've done it," Promise says.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

Is that an order he wants to give? Yes. Definitely. Especially since he can overturn it if he ever needs to.
"Do not give Promise any orders," he snaps his fingers again. "Or Yellow. And if you ever happen to see Nighteyes or Spellwhip, make them never give me any orders or attempt to get out of that order."

[imeanforever]

"That's Yellow, this is Alendi," Promise adds helpfully, pointing them out. "Alendi, this will go faster if I can command her too; if I send Yellow out of the room will you make her state her name?"

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Of course."

[imeanforever]

Promise gestures at Yellow; he wobbles to his feet and follows her through the wall. Promise is back presently.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"State your name."

[imeanforever]

The queen does nothing. To the extent that any expression may be read in solid-colored cobalt blue eyes, she looks relieved.

"...Did you manage to forget your own name?" Promise asks.

"Yes," breathes the Queen.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"In that case, you're ordered to do whatever Promise tells you to."

This is pretty acceptable, actually. It means the Queen ultimately answers to precisely one person, and Promise is going to be permanently dependent on mortals to control her.

[imeanforever]

"Describe what your court will be doing in the wake of your disappearance."

"Those who were not in range of my voice will be doing their best to order out all those I commanded to hold. They will be seeking your gates so that my Arcane may force them open. They will look for anyone who may have been working with you," the queen says. "Assessing and repairing damage and injury and transformations."

"How long will it take Arcane to find a gate and force it?"

"He has done this in as little as an hour before."

"Will he start with the one Alendi went through?"

"Yes."

"Who besides you knows Arcane's name?"

"Spellwhip and Cirrus."

"Where will they be?"

"Spellwhip in the massage lounge until someone releases him. Cirrus in the retreat thirty miles east."

"I am going to open a small gate within shouting distance of Arcane. Tell him to take no new action; apply that to any other vassals who hear you. I'll do the same near Spellwhip. Will someone be going to fetch Cirrus?"

"Yes."

"Describe the retreat enough that I can make a gate there."

"It sits in a valley surrounded by two streams, one which runs from the red mountains and one which runs from a white marble spring. It is twilight there. The clouds are what gives Cirrus his nickname."

Promise draws a line on a wall she has not yet covered with lines and dots. She touches several spots along this line. "When one of those settles you'll do the same thing to Cirrus. Who know Spellwhip and Cirrus's names?"

There follows a dizzying nest of mutual and circular and dead-ended vassalizations; Promise eventually makes the queen draw a chart, which activity is interspersed with the use of occasional gate-settlings as escape routes for queenly orders are cut off. Eventually Promise has checked off all the ends on her chart.

[unprophesied_of_ages]

"Is there anyone else who can force a gate?" Alendi asks. Over the course of the collection they'll probably catch most of the important players, but it's best to be sure.

Once he's not needed for the sorcery, Alendi sets about returning his borrowed spikes and resupplying his and Promise's metalminds. He decides not to go find where he left his name; that seems like it would be more of a vulnerability than an asset most of the time.
He is back by the time the chart is complete.