## Preface

Kiss the Wild
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57166531.

Rating:
  General Audiences
Archive Warning:
  No Archive Warnings Apply
Category:
  F/M
Fandom:
  Slay the Princess (Visual Novel)
Relationships:
  The Player | The Hero/The Wild (Slay the Princess), The Player | The Hero/The Princess (Slay the Princess), The Player | The Hero/The Wounded Wild (Slay the Princess), The Wounded Wild / Voice of the Hero (Slay the Princess), The Wounded Wild / Voice of the Opportunist (Slay the Princess), The Wounded Wild / Voice of the Stubborn (Slay the Princess), The Long Quiet/The Wild (Slay the Princess), The Long Quiet/The Wounded Wild (Slay the Princess)
Characters:
  The Wild (Slay the Princess), The Wounded Wild (Slay the Princess), The Player | The Hero (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Hero (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Opportunist (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Stubborn (Slay the Princess), The Narrator (Slay the Princess), The Princess (Slay the Princess)
Additional Tags:
  Hurt/Comfort, Forgiveness, Romantic Angst, Kissing, Manipulative Narrator, The Narrator knows how the Princess works and is not above using manipulation to achieve his goal, Shifty calls Wild a curious heart and I thought that'd be fun to incorporate in her characterisation, They both want to forgive and forget but they have three lifetimes of baggage, The Voices are all on board with saving her though Opportunist isn't very committed, lots of mentions of wild's heart that double as both metaphorical and literal, the kiss is hardly the focus of this one but on the other hand it does all kind of lead up to it, and this story is what I came up with when I asked myself what if you could kiss the Wild, so we're keeping the title, Wounded Wild has the most beautiful and heartwarming smile in the game, and that smile does show up a few times, Angst with a Happy Ending
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 3 of Kiss the Princess
Stats:
  Published: 2024-07-06 Words: 5,767 Chapters: 1/1

# Kiss the Wild

by Vickysaurus

Summary

> The Slayer cuts both himself and the Wild free, but it's a long, difficult journey to leave the cabin, the Narrator is trying to convince him the Princess is weakening fast, and forgiveness isn't easy when you both have three lifetimes of baggage. Can they overcome their obstacles, baggage, and the Narrator's manipulation?

> (What if you could kiss the Wild?)

Notes

> What if Shifty was just a bit more patient and let things play out between Wounded Wild and the Slayer? This one starts as you cut yourself free from the Wild. The first couple lines are taken from the game, but it branches off pretty quickly.

See the end of the work for more notes

## Kiss the Wild

The Narrator: "Despite the Princess's attempts to keep you stuck together, you keep remembering. You remember the loathing and animosity you've shared with the Princess, the pain and the anger and the betrayal. And you start to remember something else, too. You remember that you are a distinct being with a finite form and a mortal body. And you can feel it. There's a shifting of the space around you, the infinitesimal movement of your molecules rearranging back into the shape of what you're meant to be."

The Princess: "Maybe bygones can't be bygones! I don't know why I ever wanted to share a body with you of all things, it's like my very soul reeks of yours! That was horrible! This is better! Finally, I'll be able to hurt you like you deserve... But I wish I didn't have to..."

The Narrator: “Some divisions, when sown, can never truly be mended. A cavernous gash rips across whatever it was you thought you were. A cabin comes into being among the trees. It approaches and swallows you whole. You find yourself, blade in hand, exactly where you need to be. At the centre of it all is the Princess, a wooden and fleshy heart beating with an unbroken rhythm. You’re filled with a sense of purpose. Slay her. End this, once and for all.”

The Princess: “Kill me, then, if you hate me so much. Just get it over with…”

Voice of the Stubborn: “This doesn’t feel like a fight. This isn’t what I wanted. Where’s the victory in this?”

Voice of the Opportunist: “Well, this should be easy! If you’re… sure about it. I mean, what’s the point of being king of the hill if there’s no-one around to be better than? We’d just be sitting on a hill.”

Voice of the Hero: “Do we have to do this?”

The Narrator: “You have to. You know you have to.”

• “I've never wanted to kill you. Not really. But we can’t be a single being either. I had to free myself, and I’m gonna do the same for you.” [Cut the Princess free]

The Narrator: “You devious little bastard. If you think I’m going to just let you free her, you have another thing coming.”

Hero: “And that other thing is…?”

The Narrator: “You’ll just have to wait and find out when it happens.”

Stubborn: “Just ignore Him. What’s He going to do, lecture us into submission? He can talk all He wants.”

Opportunist: “He’s weak. Thinks He can boss us around when He doesn’t have any authority. We’re clearly the ones in charge around here, so we can do whatever we like!”

Hero: “We’re not cutting too much of her off, are we? It’s so hard to tell when everything is wood and flesh… What if those roots we cut were her legs? They look like legs.”

Opportunist: “If she can’t use ‘em, she can lose ‘em.”

Hero: “Are we hurting her? She looks like she’s in pain but trying to keep a brave face about it.”

Stubborn: “Remember that big fight we had? We know she’s strong and can handle anything we can throw at her. Pain doesn’t matter, freedom does.”

Opportunist: “Besides, don’t you think she deserves a little receipt for the crushing incident?”

The Narrator: “With a final cut of the blade, you slice through the last of the fleshy roots. The Princess… smiles at you through the tears. I do hope that smile was worth dooming the world for.”

The Princess: “I didn’t think you would do that. After everything.”

• “Do you remember the very first thing I ever said to you? That very first time?”

The Narrator: “The Princess casts down her eyes.”

The Princess: “You said you were here to save me.”

Opportunist: “Did we say that? We should learn not to make promises like that. At least I’m here now to keep us from saying silly things.”

• “And then I did a piss-poor job of it, time and again. I let myself be manipulated by Him, I was overcome by fear and hatred. After that first time, I was so angry and afraid, it was like I just wanted to hurt you before you could hurt me again. I made you into my enemy. But it's pretty hard to still feel about you that way after how connected we were. This time, I’m here to save you.”

The Narrator: “You lift the Princess by the armpits, her skin feeling sturdy, almost like a thick plant stem. You carry her through the vast, underground space, but she is heavier than what’s left of her would suggest, and the wet wood under your feet shifts and writhes, trying to keep you two at the centre, to trip you up, unwilling to let you go.”

Opportunist: “What are her bones made out of, lead?”

Hero: “Looks more like wood to me.”

Stubborn: “It doesn’t matter, we’ll just have to steel ourselves and keep going! Firm treads, one foot in front of the other. If the Princess’s claws couldn’t beat us her weight sure won’t!”

Hero: “Yeah, we’ll walk on no matter what, but we should keep a close eye on her, she’s so badly wounded.”

The Narrator: “The Princess can’t bring herself to meet your eyes. When her voice finally comes, it’s even softer than before, barely a whisper.”

The Princess: “Thank you… But I should be the one who’s sorry. I kept hurting you too, and I really enjoyed it most of the time. When you freed yourself from our union, I told you I couldn’t wait to hurt you again, like you deserved. What does that say about me?”

Stubborn: “It says her spirit is strong and she doesn't suffer herself to be slighted! She’ll make a mighty foe indeed once she heals up.”

Opportunist: “It says she’s always on the look-out for another angle to strike from. Woman after my own heart, really.”

Hero: “It doesn’t matter what it says about her if we can’t get her out of here. Don’t you think she sounds really weak?”

The Narrator: “Now that you mention it, both her voice and heartbeat are getting a bit quiet, aren't they? And though you’ve almost made it across the cavernous basement, it’s a long way up to the surface. Maybe you’ve signed up for a fool’s errand.”

• “ We’ll have time enough for apologies later. How are you feeling? Are you in pain?”

The Princess: “A little bit…”

Hero: “Remember how she didn’t even flinch when we cut her arm off? If she says she’s in a little bit of pain, it must be agony.”

The Narrator: “Well, look at her. Wouldn’t you be in her state? She shudders in your arms, fresh tears appearing in her eyes.”

The Princess: “Never… ugh… mind me. Why are there so many staircases?”

The Narrator: “You take a moment to pause from your heavy labour to look around and realise she’s right. There’s not just one staircase up, but dozens, if not hundreds, all around the basement. And they’re not so much staircases as narrow crevices in the wall where the irregular roots allow a rough path upward. Of course, any of them could be dead ends.”

Stubborn: “Dead ends won’t stop us, we’ll cut our way through if we have to! Just pick one and start climbing.”

Opportunist: “Now hold on, when there’s this many options some are bound to be better than others. We should have a good look at all of them, see what we can tell about them, if any are a smooth climb, or if we can see light or smell a breeze coming down. Work smarter, not harder, boys.”

Hero: “And while we’re spending our time inspecting stairs, the Princess could die. I say we just go with the nearest one.”

Stubborn: “Yeah, stop wasting our time thinking and start climbing.”

The Narrator: “The Princess, her heartbeat weak and irregular, looks around with a quizzical look on her face.”

The Princess: “Did new staircases grow? There’s never been multiple ones before. Are these roots trying to keep us from escaping?”

• “It feels like they’ve been trying to stop me walking too. But can they do that on their own? I thought you controlled them.”

Opportunist: “Oh, is she trying to use them to stop us?”

Stubborn: “Shut up, she’s above base trickery like that!”

Opportunist: “So I take it you don’t remember the sand in the eyes?”

The Princess: “They were part of us when we were… us. Everything here was. But now they’re all that’s left of that union and maybe they feel… lonely without us. It's so cold and empty to be alone. They’re just as alive as we are, I think they could act on their own. When I, um, called upon them to crush us they did obey me, but it wasn’t like they were a part of me yet. I didn’t control them directly, I just gave them a command. They must be trying to confuse us by making more staircases.”

Hero: “Maybe the one we walked to is the original, the real staircase! Think about it, if we could already see it from back there we know it’s been here for a while.”

Opportunist: “Okay, but it’s not like we had that good a look at the room. I really think we should take a good stock of the situation, look around first. This one's all twisted up, who knows if it goes anywhere at all.”

Stubborn: “Screw the others, we need action, and this staircase is as good as any!”

• [Start climbing the nearest staircase]

The Narrator: “You begin your arduous climb up over the rough roots that make up the narrow, twisting, crevice-like staircase. If the walk was heavy, this is exhausting. Carrying the Princess’s heavy weight and cumbersome bulk requires both your hands, though they’d be much help climbing. Soon enough you’re not sure how long you can even keep standing.”

Stubborn: “I don’t care, we keep going.”

Opportunist: “This’d be easier if we left her behind and went ahead to explore. See if this really does go to the surface.”

Hero: “We can’t leave her behind. She’s so weak, if she… if she dies we should at least keep her company.”

• “I’m getting you out of here, don’t worry.”

The Princess: “I… know you will try. Thank you. It’s… incredibly sweet of you.”

Hero: “She doesn’t believe she’ll make it out of here herself, does she?”

Stubborn: “Don’t waste our breath talking, we need to focus on climbing!”

• “You’re gonna make it. You’re gonna make it, and you’re gonna live.”

The Narrator: “But you doubt it yourself, don’t you? The Princess probably doesn’t have much time left. A quiver goes through her sturdy skin. She smiles sadly at you.”

The Princess: “Maybe. I hope I’ll last long enough to see the stars and the trees with my own eyes. Feel the grass and the breeze...”

The Narrator: “Her heartbeat is so very weak now. Is her body already starting to go cold in your arms?”

Opportunist: “No no no, none of that, there’s gotta be a way to get us out of here fast, some kind of secret tunnel maybe.”

Stubborn: “The only way out is to climb faster, and that’d be easier if you stopped wasting our focus and our breath on things that don’t matter!”

Hero: “Don’t let her give up hope, she has to hold on.”

• “You’re gonna see all the stars and trees you could ever dream of. In fact, I’m gonna find the very nicest trees, on the edge of a beautiful clearing under the stars, and plant you there.”

Opportunist: “Plant her?”

The Narrator: “Plant her?”

Hero: “Well, I mean, she is kind of a plant person now, right? She has roots and branches and all. Maybe she can regrow if we plant her.”

• “Would that work? Would you regrow if I replanted you?”

The Narrator: “The Princess furrows her brow even as her eyes have trouble focusing.”

The Princess: “I… don’t know? Maybe? I think so.”

• “Then I’ll find the most beautiful place in the forest, and that's where I’ll plant you. And when the weather is dry, I’ll come water you. The Sun will shine on you and you’ll grow leaves and flowers, and before you know it you’ll heal and be a great and powerful Princess of trees.”

The Narrator: “A tear drops from the Princess’s weary eye as she smiles.”

The Princess: “That sounds really lovely. Outside, my roots stretching anywhere I want, all peaceful and comfortable in the Sun, with birds and all kinds of bugs and other creatures visiting, and you as my gardener… But I don’t have enough time left.”

• “Don’t say that, you know you’re going to make it.”

The Narrator: “But you don’t really believe that, do you? And neither does she. She tries to laugh wryly, but she doesn’t have the strength left in her body and it only comes out as a dry hackle.”

The Princess: “Look at me. There’s not much left of me now, my darling. This is incredibly sweet of you, but it won’t be enough. I’m too weak. But maybe… I died twice before, didn’t I? What if I came back for a fourth round? I wonder what I would become this time?”

The Narrator: “But you can both feel that there won’t be another repeat. You instinctively know that if, no, when the Princess finally dies this time, it will truly be the end, and the world will be saved despite your actions.”

Hero: “You don’t have to sound so gleeful about it.”

The Narrator: “Oh, I’m so sorry for being happy the world won’t be destroyed after all.”

Hero: “Cruelty is a bad look, even if you think your cause is just.”

The Narrator: “I’m just telling you the truth, little Voice. She’s not going to make it. Her heartbeats are barely audible now. Each one of her warm breaths, which smell of old wood mulched into fresh earth, feel weaker than the last as they brush over your shoulder. She hangs her head, long hair falling over her face.”

Hero: “I hate to say it, but I think He might be right. It’d be a miracle if we got her to the surface alive…”

Stubborn: “If you’re gonna keep distracting me with pointless talk, at least stop saying total bullshit.”

Opportunist: “Sorry big guy, I think we’re out of options here.”

Stubborn: “We don’t need options, and neither does she! She’s the greatest foe we’ve ever faced! She ripped our flesh, and hers too, from its bones with her teeth without a flinch, and you lot think she’s weak?”

The Narrator: “In case you hadn’t noticed, she was a lot more… complete at the time.”

Stubborn: “She doesn’t need anything but- Actually, the Princess needs to hear this too, I can’t bear hearing her talk total balls. Someone else focus on the climbing and you, choosy guy, repeat after me:”

• “Stop talking like you’ve got one foot in the grave! You are strong enough to rip this world apart! You were unarmed in more ways than one when I came at you from behind with a blade, and you still fought me to a draw! Your claws and teeth wrote powerful poetry with my blood, and you laughed as you drew it! T ogether we were everything. You want me to look at you? When I look at you, all I see is that brave, powerful heart, pounding mightily, and every single beat roars at me that you will recover, and that when you do our next battle will be glorious indeed! Understand this, Princess, you and I were made for each other and you’re not dying except by my hand, while I’m right there dying by yours!”

The Narrator: “The Princess… Looks stunned, her eyes wide.”

Hero: “Woah. But she does look much better! Her skin's got goosebumps all over it, it's like she's glowing, and do you hear the power behind her heartbeat? I think you were right!”

Stubborn: “I know. So stop being a bunch of unbaked gingerbread men and quit the moping already.”

Opportunist: “Hurray, great, well done, team. Now can you take over again? This climbing really sucks.”

The Princess: “Yeah. Yeah, actually you’re right, I shouldn’t give up, I don’t know what came over me! I’m gonna live, I’m gonna make it – actually we’re gonna make it, because you’re strong and you're gonna keep climbing. We can do this.”

The Narrator: “But you don’t really believe… no, you do, don’t you?”

Hero: “Yeah we do. He’s right, I don’t know why we thought she was dying, just look at that determined look on her face. She squeezes our shoulder encouragingly with those arm root tendril things of hers. Heh, slimy.”

The Narrator: “Unbelievable. You really are keen to destroy the world, aren’t you? Here you are, she’s completely at your mercy. Her heart is literally bared to you, there couldn’t be a more perfect opportunity to stab her in it and slay her!”

• “If her heart is literally bared to me, it’s the perfect opportunity to give it the love and care she deserves!”

The Narrator: “The Princess makes an inarticulate noise and you swear you can see her blush in the darkness, her heart pounding rapidly.”

• “I, uh, said that out loud, didn’t I?”

The Narrator: “The Princess just nods, suddenly keenly interested in the root wall to her left. You become quite aware of the way her hair rests on your shoulder and the warmth of her sturdy skin.”

Opportunist: “That’s embarrassing. We should learn to hold our tongue and not let things like that slip.”

Hero: “It was kind of sweet, though.”

• “Sorry, I was just arguing with the voice in my head. You know the one.”

The Princess: “Oh, that one? He doesn’t belong with you, does He? The others seemed like aspects of your personality, but that one was an intruder. How did He end up in your head? Where did He come from?”

Opportunist: “That’s a really good question, how did you end up in our head?”

The Narrator: “I just did.”

Opportunist: “Come on, that’s not even a good evasive answer. You can do better than that.”

The Narrator: “It’s none of your business, really. All you need to know is I came to you to be your guide on your very easy mission to save the entire world. A mission you are doing everything to fail at.”

• “I don’t know, and He refuses to tell me. He’s convinced you want to destroy the world.”

The Princess: “Why would I do that? I haven’t even seen it yet, not really. And there’s so much of it I want to see, so much time locked away to make up for. So many things, so many places to discover. I’ve never even felt the sunlight on my skin or seen a bug or heard the sound of a brook. Destroying it all would be such a waste.”

The Narrator: “Wanting has little to do with it. She will destroy the world.”

• “He thinks it doesn’t matter if you want to destroy the world, you just will.”

The Princess: “How? Despite your peptalk earlier, I really don’t think I’m capable of ripping the world apart. Has He shown you any evidence of His claims?”

The Narrator: “You shake your head, but you shouldn’t need evidence when it’s so blindingly obvious and the stakes are so high. But no matter what I say, you try to climb on. Only the ‘stairs’ have leveled off and are now twisting and branching into multiple narrow paths.”

Stubborn: “More of these accursed tries to slow us down! Let these roots try and crush us again if they wanna stop us instead!”

The Princess: “There has to be a way out of this maze… I wonder… Maybe I could help find it.”

• “How?”

The Princess: “Make a cut into the roots and let me connect with them. Maybe I could see the paths ahead, or even move the roots aside.”

Stubborn: “Isn't that’s exactly what those damn roots want? We’re not giving in to them.”

Opportunist: “Yyyyeah, I vote no. What if she’s playing the long game? Maybe she and the roots were in cahoots all along to try and get her all re-networked? If we let her have that kind of power again, she could use it to crush us or make us lose our identities again. And I like being me.”

Hero: “She thanked us when we cut her out, though. She doesn’t want to be networked any more.”

Opportunist: “Could be a clever act and a long con. Or she changed her mind, I do that all the time! It’s important to remain flexible.”

Hero: “I’m actually more worried about the roots controlling her than the other way around.”

• “What if you lose yourself again? I like who you are now much better than who you were when we were connected.”

The Princess: “Then I’ll have to trust you to free me again. No matter what I say or do. The last thing I want is to get stuck again. This place was made for both of us, but by myself it’s just another basement prison. I trust you to save me, if I need it.”

• "Okay. I'll watch out for you." [Cut into the roots and let the Princess connect]

The Narrator: “You take the pristine blade to the roots, revealing their fleshy fibres. The Princess extends what remains of her right arm, the tendrils touching one another. Their… fluids merge and after a moment, they start growing into one. The roots react eagerly and pull on her arm, trying to reel her in, but you brace yourself to keep the rest of her body from merging into the wall. The Princess’s eyes go blank.”

The Princess: “I am a path in the woods. I have no beginning, and I have no end, but something sits outside me and tries to hold me back from attaining my true form. He has a hold on my heart, preventing me from becoming what I need to become.”

Hero: “Ohhh dear, here we go again.”

Stubborn: “I told you we shouldn’t have let her connect!”

Opportunist: “Now now, the bossman knows I’ve been behind him all along, so let’s just see how this decision plays out. But let’s keep the blade very ready for more cutting. Into her heart, if needed.”

The Narrator: “As the Princess’s mind is lost amidst the endless roots, they begin to grow, the narrow space becoming even narrower. You’d best start listening to that stabby voice now and slay her before it’s too late.”

• "Princess?" [Give her a moment to make this work.]

The Princess: “The outsider tries to keep my heart separate from my tendrils, as if it belonged to him. His small, solitary mind contemplates betrayal, never considering he could have been part of all this too.”

The Narrator: “The roots have already turned this tunnel into a tiny, cut-off chamber. There is no more escape, they are starting to press in on you, even as they try to pull the Princess away.”

• “Wake up! Remember what you were trying to do!” [Cut her loose. Again.]

The Narrator: “But when you take the blade to her arm, you find the tendrils connecting her to the roots are much tougher and woodier than before. The pristine blade is having great difficulty slicing through them, and you don’t have much strength to spare while holding her back.”

The Princess: “The nasty intruder tries to sever the connections, but only because he cannot understand my true potential. He glimpsed and rejected it, his mind too small and selfish to understand true unity. But he is powerless against my roots, and will finally get what he deserves for keeping me held back. He will not keep my heart to himself!”

The Narrator: “As you frantically try to saw through her tough wooden tendrils, you feel the roots pressing in on your back, your head, forcing you into a squatting position as they yearningly reach for the Princess.”

Hero: “I'd really love to go just one day without being crushed...”

Stubborn: “Keep pulling her out, the roots will not have her!”

Opportunist: “Okay, I get what we’re going for here, but have we considered pivoting our strategy? Pivoting the knife around and stabbing her heart instead, for example?”

The Narrator: “Suddenly, as the roots start to wring themselves around your neck, they stop.”

The Princess: “No, that’s not right. This is not how I’m supposed to be. We tried this, and we rejected it. I'm supposed to be free.”

The Princess: “I can’t go back to that! I can’t reject this beauty, this potential, I can't be alone again! I can’t let go, I can’t fall back into that abyss, not after being something as beautiful as this!”

Stubborn: “Keep holding her, she’ll get through this!”

• “Let go. You will not fall far, I’ve got you. You will not be alone.”

The Princess: “This isn’t beautiful, this is just another prison. The outsider… You taught me that.”

The Narrator: “The Princess’s eyes focus on yours and the roots retreat, the pressure on you decreasing. Suddenly, your blade can slice through the tendrils like butter, freeing the Princess with ease. She falls into your arms, sturdy yet warm skin and damaged bark on yours. She looks as if she just woke up from a deep dream, blinking a few times, taking in her surroundings as the roots come to a rest. You brush some of her long, silky hair out of her face and tuck it behind her branches.”

Opportunist: “Look at that, she came back to her senses. Told you we didn’t need to interfere with her plan.”

• “Are you… you again?”

The Princess: “Yes, I am. I’m sorry, my darling, there was a lot more will left in the roots than I expected. And they... called out to a part of me that didn’t want to be free, that just wanted to stay here. Thank you for reminding me who I am.”

Hero: “I get it. When we were connected it felt… good. Warm and powerful. It was wrong, but it felt right too. No wonder she was tempted to stay that way.”

The Princess: “The left path leads to the surface. It’s not far now.”

Hero: “Almost there! By the way, did you notice she called us darling?”

Opportunist: “That's the second time, I’m keeping count.”

The Narrator: “As you climb through the twists and turns of the root staircase, the silence is broken by the Princess as she rests her head on your shoulder, silky hair and little branches brushing through feathers.”

The Princess: “Hey. You talked about our next battle before, and that we’d die by each other’s hands… I just want you to know, I don’t want that for us. I’m done with that.”

Stubborn: “What? But… it’s like we’re made for each other.”

Hero: “But are we made just for fighting each other?”

Stubborn: “What else is there to do with such a mighty foe? How can we… not fight her?”

• “I get it. We’ve fought way too much already, haven’t we?”

The Princess: “When we were one, and you started looking back at all that hate and resentment we held, I told you we can’t go back to that. Turns out we could. I went back to it myself immediately. I’m… not proud of what I said to you when you freed yourself. Maybe what I should’ve said is, I don’t want to go back to that. There’s been far too much of it already. I wanna see what happens when we let go of the hate and the pettiness and the revenge and the pain instead. Can you forgive me? For the things I’ve done to you? For the crushing and everything else?”

Hero: “I really want to… But she did hurt us a lot. I don’t think we can just ignore those feelings.”

Stubborn: “Don’t ignore them, conquer them! If we can’t fight her, then we will fight our second-greatest foe, the pain and the mistakes we’ve made! We can look that hate in the eye, and punch it right in the face! We’ll fight our next battle on the same side!”

Opportunist: “Oh, he’s back. Never one to let things get to you, are ya?”

• “I really want to forgive you. I think I can. But… it will take me time. What about you? Can you forgive me? I was the one who first betrayed you… Me attacking you in what got you to crush us in the first place.”

The Narrator: “The Princess smiles sadly.”

The Princess: “I think I feel that way too. So much happened, and I’d love to pretend like we just met for the first time, but we didn’t. But we can work on forgiveness… together, you and I.”

Hero: “Oh, I really like how that sounds.”

Stubborn: “Yes! The Princess and us, the greatest alliance ever forged in the fires of conflict! Nothing and no-one can stand in our way!”

• “Together. Do you think you and I could be… you and I?”

The Narrator: “Ugh, you are really committed to letting her destroy the world, aren’t you? The Princess’s smile is… radiant. And why wouldn’t it be? You’ve reached the cabin, she can almost begin her apocalyptic destiny.”

Hero: “You did it, big guy! I really wasn’t sure we’d make it up here!”

Stubborn: “You underestimate our power, as usual. I never had any doubt.”

The Narrator: “As you step into the cabin, towards the door, holding the Princess at your side, you feel a soft, warm touch on your cheek. Yuck. A kiss.”

Hero: “Did she do that?”

The Narrator: “As you turn to her, almost stumbling over your own feet, the Princess looks away innocently, a huge grin on her blushing face.”

The Princess: “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

• “Nothing, I’m sure. But… we made it.” [Open the door]

The Narrator: “You open the door into the starry night, your exhaustion finally catching up to you as you gently lay the Princess down on the hillside before letting yourself drop at her side, your heavy climb finally over. You bloodthirsty bastards.”

The Princess: “It’s… so much more beautiful than I thought. The sky is so big, and there are so many stars in it… And the trees, I remember some of them but there are so many more, and look how many kinds there are. I wonder if there are any birds in them, I’d love to look at a bird! Or… look at another bird maybe? Are you a bird? Actually, what are you? I really like you but you seem so different from me and I haven’t even asked what you are yet. Do other birds look like you? That would be...”

The Narrator: “The Princess pauses and smiles softly as she notices you recovering from your exertion.”

The Princess: “I’m sorry, this is just so much at once. Thank you, my darling. You promised you’d save me and you did.”

Hero: “We stumbled a bit along the way, but we made true on our promise in the end.”

Opportunist: “Never doubt the bossman, I’m sure it was all part of his plan. So, what’s next?”

Stubborn: “Next we find the most beautiful spot in the world to plant her and let her regrow into a mighty goddess of nature, of course. But first, we should ask her something…”

• “May I kiss you?”

The Narrator: “No, you absolutely may not! That is, in fact, the thing you are least allowed to do here!”

Hero: “We weren’t asking you.”

The Narrator: “Well, you should be. If you had just listened to me, the world wouldn’t be about to…”

Opportunist: “Where’d He go? Did He leave?”

Stubborn: “No-one likes a sore loser.”

Hero: “Guess I’ll do the honours, then. So the Princess is blushing deeply, right, and she nods at us. Actually I think she looks a little impatient, her heart thumping eagerly. So we pick her up and lay her on our chest, right. Her wooden ribs are kind of poking us, but it’s alright because it feels, like, incredible to have her this close. She's warm, her earthy breath gently blows over our face and her heartbeat reverberates in our own chest. We, um, kind of lose our nerve now that she’s centimetres away, ‘cause she’s really pretty, and we just awkwardly giggle at her.”

Stubborn: “We steel ourselves and kiss her!”

Hero: “Right, thanks. Yeah, we close the distance slowly and her lips are just like, so soft it’s barely a ghost of a touch at first. But it’s still like a jolt of electricity goes through our body. She presses closer to us and it’s like… Like the best part of when we were connected. That warm, soft feeling like everything will be alright and she’s everywhere around us. Our hearts loudly pound together, so close to each other, and we gently run a hand through her silky hair. Everything is soft, everything is good. Our lips part and she smiles that radiant smile at us as she touches her forehead to ours.”

The Princess: “That was… really nice. Is this what love feels like? But… I thought it was supposed to feel warm. Why do I feel so cold?”

But you do not get a chance to respond. Something has taken her away, and left something else in her place. Your memories return.

Hero: "She's gone... Where did she go? Should we try and find her? And there's that mirror again, why is it here? Why now?!"

• "We... we did it. We made peace with her, it worked! We came together and let love win, even after we picked a fight with her and she crushed us!"

Stubborn: "Yeah, we did, and it was a good fight too, but now she's gone and that mirror's in the way! Smash it and then we can go find her!"

• "It's okay, she's not far away. I'll... see her again soon. And you... you've done so well, helping me get here. Thank you."

Opportunist: "Hear that? The bossman's proud of us, boys."

Hero: "Yeah, thanks. I... don't know what's going on or what's come over you, but if you say we did well and everything's alright that's all I need."

## Afterword

End Notes

> Sorry about that ending, don’t be too angry at Shifty for it, she already showed much more patience than usual here. Sometimes she just needs to sit back a little and let a situation develop more, you know, get a more extended perspective. If you want an alternate ending where she has the patience to wait for decades for a vessel’s full story, I did recently do some art depicting TLQ helping the Wild regrow:

> It can be found at https://www.tumblr.com/vickysaurus-art/754821741640105984/to-heal-the-wounded-wild-simply-find-a-spot-with?source=share

> The illustration of the cheek kiss is over at https://www.tumblr.com/vickysaurus-art/755378232837144576/narrator-as-you-step-into-the-cabin-towards-the

> Remember to leave a comment and let me know what you think! Comments are a writer's lifeblood.

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