Written on 11/1/2025
Teen & Up, Jake English & GCATavrosprite Nitram
> Go back?Summary:
While out of sight, Jake English begins to make friends with his fellow Page. A two-part prologue for Quixotic Escapades on Earth C.
Inbetween all of the noise, the energy, the excitement...
Somewhere, on a planet, lands shaped into mounds and canyons full of xenon...
Someone, a boy in custard-colored attire, goes on an adventure.
In reality, this is far from an adventure. Adventures are full of bravery, high stakes, discoveries, and the such. What he's subjecting himself to is none of the above. An escape, perhaps, as he simply wanders around, to both think and to get away from his thoughts. Contradictory goals befitting of an enigma such as him. A lonely, lonely enigma.
Lonely, though not truly alone. For if one were to retrace all of his steps, they would find that his closest three friends are gathered in one place. Their group, finally gathering their bearings after the battles they’ve gone through, and only branching off for smaller periods of time to find the things they’ve left behind.
However, this boy in particular, of whom goes by the name Jake English, seems to have branched off for too long, for too far. Grass and dirt move and erode underneath his orange shoes as he mindlessly walks. One could ask him where to, and if he were honest, he would admit that not even he knew.
But Jake is not a very honest person, a nagging, familiar voice in the back of his mind reminds him. So, in order to avoid any questions of the like, he continues walking. He rips his gaze away from the ground beneath him, and stares straight ahead. At least this way, he looks slightly more composed. Much less of a wuss.
As much as the action does for Jake's image, alas, as proven a few minutes of wandering aimlessly later, it comes to bite him in the ass. Too busy distracting himself to notice, Jake's foot snags on something solid, and gravity yanks him forward, tripping him and lands him face first onto the earth. Muttering curses under his breath, he winces as the pain from the landing starts to sting.
Pushing himself up onto his elbows, and into a sitting position, Jake looks around for whatever in the world could've tripped him up like this. Turning to face the offending object, he sees... A pair of horns, oddly reminiscent of a bull's. The sight guides his gaze to the possessor of them. A certain, sleeping sprite. Tavrosprite. Or, GCATavrosprite now, he supposes.
Jake scoots closer to his asleep companion. He didn't harm the poor guy as he slept, did he? Jake looks GCATavrosprite over, as the sprite furrows his brow and shifts into a more comfortable sleeping position, still unconscious. Hmm. Seems not. Either way, Tavros is quite a heavy sleeper. Having slept through all of the commotion and all that. Stayed still, too— No sleepwalking, tossing, turning, or anything.
Unmoving and unmoved. That means no one came back to get Tavros. Well, perhaps not on purpose, as everyone was literally engaged in a life-or-death fight a many minutes prior. Although, it’s still sad to think about.
It gets Jake thinking, the gears in his mind turning, recalling to simpler times. His friends have always had his back, back then. Bailing him out of the stupidest situations, only to watch him get him entangled in even more. It's shameful and embarrassing now, but he was okay with it. At least he had other people to count on.
Tavros, here, however... If he did have people to count on, they sure as hell aren't here right now. After all of the good things Tavros has said to Jake, and how hard he tried to support the Page despite his apparent confusion, he was still left behind. Such unjust treatment is unfair. Tavros didn’t deserve that— No one did.
...Gosh. Someone should help him, right? Innocent fellows like Tavros should be saved, celebrated, even. But there’s no one else out here to save Tavros from this dastardly situation. Jake may be the farthest thing from a brave hero, but right now, it's up to him to make things right, whether he likes it or not. Argh.
Maybe, after all of his recent fuckups, the universe is just gifting him one more chance to put more good in the world, to make it up to everyone. Or maybe it just sounds better put that way, almost like he's doing something important. But that doesn't matter now. Deciding to take this first baby step towards redemption, Jake prepares to carry Tavros out of here. He rolls up his nonexistent sleeves, gently turns the sprite to be laying flat on the ground, and—
—he goes still at the voice of a friend in search of him. A friend, who Jake respects and feels incredibly sorry towards, also happens to be someone he is not exactly delighted to encounter, interact with, nor confront right now. Curses.
The friend in question, Dirk Strider, walks closer and closer, eventually seeing the whole scene for himself— Jake, sporting one of the most forced smiles known to man, kneeling by Tavros’s side, and staring at Dirk. In confusion, Dirk resorts to simply standing there.
As Jake fumbles through his poor excuse of a greeting, Dirk just... stares at him. Lacking a proper contribution to the conversation they've found themselves in, Jake stares back, as if they were engaged in a staring contest. It just so happens that no one could tell if Dirk was blinking or not, and that this has to be one of the most awkwardest competitions ever.
A moment passes between the two. Jake wonders what he should say.
Jake trails off, voice dying in his throat. He looks at Dirk for something, a look of approval— Anything. All he is greeted with is a blank look, Dirk's mouth pressed so firmly into a line it almost borders on a very sad pout.
Redirecting his focus back to Tavros, Jake racks his brain for some kind of guidance. The movies he’s watched have a method of how they did this. Surely there has to be some accuracy found in them. After a second, Jake nods to himself in some kind of understanding. He proceeds to place his arms underneath Tavros’s upper back and.. behind wherever the boy’s knees were supposed to be. A spritely tail instead of actual legs.. Strange, isn’t it?
Exerting himself to get up from his knees, troll in arms, Jake wobbles, before standing and successfully lifting Tavros off the ground. Jeez. Actors make things look so easy, sometimes.
Dirk jumps up, floating slightly above the land, and nodding in acknowledgement once Jake does the same. The Prince takes proper flight, soaring into the open skies, and the Page follows suit, carrying his friend in his arms.