The Chained Watcher

The Freedom to Choose

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I think I've nailed down why these chapters are slow as molasses. The things I enjoy writing the most are fluffy mischief and curious exploration. Too much caution and wariness in these parts for my tastes. Eh, the more you learn, am I right? I'll just have to try to avoid dipping too far into it for too long in the future.

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Wanderlust is a wonderful, terrible thing to possess.

On one hand, the world has so many wonderful, amazing things to see that you would never see if you didn't brave the great unknown. Proud mountains piercing the sky, collecting rings of cloud, begging for a brave soul to challenge their peaks. Bottomless oceans with hidden treasures, luring the foolish to tread the depths with promises of endless bounties. All this and more, calling the free spirited to wander.

But for all the wonders of the world, one cannot ignore the dangers present within, from both nature and man. Bloodthirsty monsters, bloodthirsty bandits, natural disasters, hostile people, and all sorts of environmental hazards both mundane and magical lurk behind the beauty, waiting to claim the lives of the adventurous souls too enamored by the beauty to notice the danger.

He worries for them.

Watching his friends running around through the woods, much too carefree for a pet pantheon world, Grian both enjoys their indomitable spirit and worries for their safety. That curiosity is something he loves about them, something he wants to protect at all costs, but it puts them at risk of getting hurt so terrifyingly often, he can't help but worry.

Like now, where they're treating the Watcher pantheon as something that can be avoided just by leaving the temples alone. He's been on the other end of these things before, he knows just how much attention some of the Watchers pay to strange goings on that catch the attention of their priests. Catching too much attention will result in a Watcher checking out the area for something interesting.

But he can't stop them from going out and putting themselves in danger, so the only option is to go with them and make sure they don't get themselves killed doing something stupid. If a Watcher shows up and threatens their safety, he'll just have to murder it, consequences be damned.

Well, at least they listened to him when he told them to stay out of the air. If anything would catch a nearby Watcher's attention, it would be the flying wingless sapients propelling themselves with noisy rockets.

He hops from branch to branch, trying to shake off the urge to pace. The travel game they're playing to pass the time is another variant of tag, but with snowballs instead of physical contact. That prevents those of them more adept at tree-hopping from staying perpetually out of reach of the less nimble Hermits, and adds the danger of someone dodging a snowball and leaving you directly in its path. Makes for a much more entertaining walk than a silent traipse through the woods.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots one flying towards him, right on course to smack straight into his ear. He catches a branch above himself, curling his lower body up nimbly and using his momentum to toss himself up in the air and over the snowball. Smugly, he turns to smirk at the thrower-

Splat.

With almost comical slowness, the second snowball he hadn't noticed slid down his face, as he stared blankly at the snickering Hermit. He settles onto the branch, right side up again, and wipes the flakes of snow from his eyelashes in exaggerated motions, maintaining eye contact.

Taking a deep breath, he gives them a joking glare and threatens, "If we didn't have the 'no tag backs' rule in place, I'd hit you with so much snow you'd get mistaken for a snowman."