The SSSS Scriptorium

[LooNEY_DAC]

And again...

Alphabet Soup
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent” fanfic collection
Series 2, Part 9
Complete Links to Complete Links post

Spoiler: Into the Silent World • show

The great door shut and latched with a reassuringly solid Klong, the operator turning to give the conductor a thumbs-up.

There was a painful squeal of feedback when the conductor flipped the PA system on.

“Good evening, and welcome to the Sveavägen express train straight to the Öresundbron base.”

Sigrun Eide looked around at her fellow passengers on the Dalahästen, automatically assessing how they’d stack up in a fight, if need be. There weren’t very many tonight; only six, including herself.

“We should reach our destination in approximately 16 hours but you’ll surely be sleeping through most of it.”

Sigrun’s eyes lit first on Emil, standing with a couple of others his own age, and she bit back a smile. She’d grown oddly fond of him during her time with his Cleansing unit; enough so that she’d been sufficiently irked at their mishandling of him to request that he return with her to Dalsnes as part of the reciprocal aid between the two nations, and doubly irked at their barely restrained eagerness to be rid of him. He’d acquit himself creditably if they came to grief; she herself would make certain of it.

“By the time we reach the high danger areas of the far south the sun will already be rising and providing us with shelter.”

The two youths Emil was standing with were a pair of Finn cousins bound for Bornholm from the far-off outpost of Keu-something-or-other. The fuzzy-headed girl had chattered away at Sigrun about it earlier, but she had run on so fast that Sigrun had only caught maybe one word in three. Little Fuzzy-Head wasn’t immune though, which made her a liability if it came to a battle. Her cousin, the Living Twig, was both immune and combat experienced, since he was a night scout, but he only spoke Finnish, which would make communication hard.

“And we just received word about a sudden change in the weather! Looks as if the moon will share its light with us after all.”

The tall redheaded Icelander trying to shrink into a corner perked up at this. By the mask hanging around his neck, Sigrun presumed that he was another non-immune. He looked the panicky sort, too; if she had her way, he’d be kept as far away from any action as he could get.

“Which lowers tonight’s hazard prognosis to only 7 out of 10!”

Sigrun’s head snapped around to look at the conductor, who smiled calmly back at her. Only 7 out of 10? Only?

“It’ll be a bumpy ride, but not more so than usual. I hope you’ll all have good night’s sleep and a pleasant ride! Thank you.”

Sigrun looked over at the last passenger, a massive wall of Danish enigma who had muttered something non-committal in response to her greeting earlier. The risk assessment for their journey did not seem to have fazed him unduly, so maybe Sigrun herself was overreacting.

“Now kindly move to your designated sleeping areas.”

*

When the derailment came, Sigrun was awake and ready, thanks to Lalli and Emil. Tuuri and the Icelander had both been sleeping soundly, while the Dane had been reading with a small and discreet penlight.

“You!” Sigrun pointed at the Dane, then to the non-immunes. “Dane! Stay back here with the helpless babies!” Then she, Emil and Lalli were running into the foyer compartment, shutting the door behind them.

The battle was already well and truly under way: most of the train guards were already down, but some were still fighting against a swarm of vicious grosslings. Picking up discarded weapons, the Hunter, the Cleanser and the Scout threw themselves into the fray with such desperate ferocity that the grosslings were visibly taken aback.

The few minutes that were left until sunrise came always seemed like an equal number of years to Emil afterwards, but they survived.

*

None of the guards were well enough to travel, and staying with the train after nightfall was certain death, so Emil gave the conductor one of his grenades and showed her how to use it.

“What’s your name?” Sigrun asked her solemnly.

“Agneta.” The conductor’s voice was steady.

“I shall remember, Agneta.”

*

The six passengers and three cats were out of earshot of the train before Sigrun brought them to a halt.

“We’re in deep trouble, folks,” she told her impromptu crew. “If I’m right, we’re at least ten days’ walk from the Cleansed areas around Mora, and probably much further. Öresundbron is nearer, but to get there we’d need to go through the worst troll country in Sweden. Either way, we’re going to have to fight our way to safety. We’ll have to push ourselves not to our limits but past them from now until we see the walls of Mora if we want to survive, but I know we can do this. Now, let’s get moving again!”

The little band fled northward toward the only safety they had any prayer of reaching...

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

And here’s another AU that doesn’t follow the comic storyline.

[Buteo]

A higher emphasis on action than in canon, LooNEY? I like those too!
*waits happily for more*

[Lazy8]

...and that marks the last thing that's going into the Index for April 2017. As always, any corrections are welcome.

[Dire]

fell off the face of the planet for a while, but back with a new chapter to an old fic:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/5882653/chapters/23901885

ETA - Just checked out the Index for the first time and it's freaking awesome. Thanks for maintaining that for everyone, Lazy8.

((depressing comment ahead))
I didn't get that specific with it in in the author comments but the long hiatus was actually a result of my mom dying last July, and just feeling too bummed out to do anything creative for a while. Getting back to posting again makes me legitimately very happy so it's super nice to be back.

[Róisín]

Dire, I'm glad to see you back here, and sorry for your grief, as I am sure will be many others here. Being creative is good for the soul, I think, and may help with rebuilding life. *offers hugs*

[Abprallen]

My deepest sympathies, Dire!


Aand a shameless plug because I just spent the last few hours of my life putting this together, damn it!
(Read authors note for reason why. Despite my pain I'm laughing pretty hard over it)
New digs chapter nine! Finally! It's here!

[Buteo]

Dire, so sorry for your loss. It's heartening to see you back. *hugs if you want them*

[LooNEY_DAC]

Alphabet Soup
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent” fanfic collection
Series 3, Part 9
Complete Links to Complete Links post

Spoiler: The Interesting Thing • show

“You know, your grandfather would be really annoyed to see you treating his things so casually.”

The boy had contorted himself into such a convoluted resting position in the high-backed chair near the fireplace that most people would have sworn that it would be impossible for him to leap anywhere, but they would be wrong, because he did. Fortunately, the explosive reaction to his uncle’s calm statement left the quite fragile volume he was reading undamaged.

Eventually, the boy righted himself, looking abashedly up at his uncle and asking, “Does that mean you’re going to tell him?”

The man adopted a determinedly serious and pensive mien, gazing somewhere off to the boy’s left. “Our family places great importance upon kindness. However, I cannot afford to be unthinkingly kind; I’m a general. If I do someone a supposed kindness, it may well cost them or someone else their life.” He shot the boy a Look. “In the same way, a seemingly kind permissiveness might lead to the loss of irreplaceable things--unless I can be assured that those things will be treated more respectfully in future.”

“Will you credit such assurance as I can give?” the boy asked in reply.

His uncle smiled. “Shall we put it to the test?”

*

“The interesting thing about a book is that whatever tale it has to tell has already happened--that is, the end is already written and set in stone. However, while it has already happened, the story is also simultaneously happening in your mind as you read it, like one of your father’s radio dramas.”

They were seated near the fire, though they left the Old Man’s seat empty out of unconscious habit.

“Books can take you anywhere you desire to go, which is fortunate for those with a yen to travel but not the means.” The man looked at his nephew. “Your grandfather has read, and still reads, many volumes on the settlement at Keuruu, for example.”

“He’ll never get to Finland; not at his age.” The boy’s tone was rather wistful, for he himself often wondered about that far-off land, and the people who had touched his grandfather so deeply that the Old Man was still moved by it.

The man looked at the boy solemnly. “So he knows, and it eats at him every now and again. As for me, I consider it a hidden blessing.”

“What?”

“Your father’s name is Ulf. That was also the name of your grandfather’s grandmother’s grandfather, who escaped the Outbreak with his son’s family. We have his photo, and we know that much about him, but almost nothing else. What did he do in the Old World? Where had he lived, visited and seen? Who were his friends? You see, the man that Ulf was has been swallowed by the years and is lost to time.

“Your grandfather will be known in Sweden for the Twin Triumphs of Kristinehamn-Karlstad, but what else of him will be known? He has written many letters to the Hotakainens; in these letters, he has revealed who he is in a way he might not to any other. If he actually went to Finland and the Hotakainens, would he keep writing? To whom? And would they be as candid as his letters to Lalli Hotakainen especially are?”

The boy cocked his head in puzzlement. “I... don’t think I get what you mean.”

“I mean that your grandfather, my father, is worth being remembered for who he was, in addition to what he’s done. What better way for those who will come after us to know him than through the letters he writes?”

“I never thought of it that way.”

“The good thing about youth is that you’ll have time to think of all these gloomy things. But tell me, what part of that venerable tome had you so fascinated earlier?”

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

Can you feel the meta?

Really, I just wanted to write a story where Aku isn’t a jerk.

[Lazy8]

Okay, gonna try to wrap up the Paranormal Investigators AU...

An Epic Age

[wavewright62]

I bring another chapter in the superhero AU saga, chapter entitled "Lalli to the Rescue."  (Because he does so, twice.)
 Reynir is hopelessly lost in the dream realm but flees in a panic when Pastor A offers him some coffee and cake.  Onni gets to release his inner smooth-talking charmer...or not.  Several trolls were harmed in the writing of this chapter, but the gore is probably below trigger levels.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/6610714/chapters/24044619

[Grade E cat]

Nice! I started reading it during my idea drought a couple weeks ago and I'm liking it despite not exactly being a superhero person. I have yet to catch up to the latest chapter, though.

[wavewright62]

And now for something complet...um, a different challenge, my contribution for the Letter I in the Alphabet Soup, "Impossible."
http://archiveofourown.org/works/10844238

This features Stig Västerström tucking in little Mia for the night.

[Róisín]

Wavewright, that is starkly possible. Good story!

[Lazy8]

Here, have a bit of a prequel.

A Forest

(And just a heads-up, my next thing in this challenge is also going to be of the "adult material" variety, so no G on the main forum.)

[LooNEY_DAC]

Alphabet Soup
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent” fanfic collection
Series 1, Part 10
Complete Links to Complete Links post

Spoiler: A Jaundiced Eye • show

There was a crooked man...

The Crooked Man lived on the edge of the big, dark, scary forest, and went into its gloomy depths whenever he felt like it, for he was old, so he wasn’t afraid. Bears and wolves and Bear Warriors lurked in the gloomy depths of the big, dark, scary forest, but the Crooked Man had once been a Bear Warrior himself, until he got so old and so crooked that he had to retire.

The Crooked Man was very unhappy about having to retire, but he stayed friends with some of the younger Bear Warriors, and sometimes, he would join them in the gloomy depths of the big, dark, scary forest for the Bear Warriors’ Picnic. Those were good times for all involved, as the Crooked Man’s crooked tales were always fun to hear.

Another friend of the Crooked Man’s was Captain Ása Hardardóttir. The Crooked Man had also known her father, Hörður the Hoarder, with whom the Crooked Man had got along very well. The three had had a number of adventures together many years before, which sometimes featured in the Crooked Man’s crooked tales.

The Crooked Man didn’t see Ása very often anymore, so he was surprised to come home from the latest Bear Warriors’ Picnic to find her waiting for him.

And he wove a crooked web...

The Crooked Man went into the big dark, scary forest again the next day, looking for the hidden abode of three Bear Warriors of great renown: Sigrun, the fiercest Bear Warrior ever ever ever; Mikkel, the general dogs-body of the trio; and Lalli, their Cub Scout and pet cat. He knew when he was getting close because all the wolf and bear tracks swerved aside.

When the Crooked Man came to their door at last, he found they had a guest: Emil “Goldilocks” Västerström, a well-mannered young man (when he remembered to be) who had impressed the three Bear Warriors with his good manners and become good friends with Lalli the Cub Scout.

At first, the Crooked Man was displeased, for he wanted to talk business with Sigrun especially, but after some reflection, he realized the boy’s being there was a stroke of fortune, since Mikkel knew a bit too much about the downsides of what the Crooked Man wanted them to do.

“Some young man with more hair than wit has taken up residence in the old Olsen place,” the Crooked Man told Sigrun.

Emil, well-mannered though he was, could not help gasping at this, though he clapped his hand over his mouth to muffle the noise. Even so, the Crooked Man heard, and turned to look at Emil where he sat beside Lalli.

Fortunately, Mikkel asked the question that had immediately come into Emil’s mind. “The haunted Olsen place? And the ghosts didn’t drive him off?”

“Apparently not, for he has lived there for three months now,” the Crooked Man replied. “Now, old Olsen left a few things behind that he had borrowed from others, and now that someone is living in his house, these things can be returned without undue trouble.”

“But we like undue trouble,” Sigrun protested.

“Well,” the Crooked Man said, “some of these things are quite valuable, and anyone who brought them back to their owners might fall afoul of the thieves and robbers we Bear Warriors are always fighting in the gloomy depths of the big, dark, scary forest.”

The thought of fighting off thieves and robbers perked Sigrun up considerably. “So, you want us to bring you the stuff?”

“As soon as you can arrange it, which is why I would like you to have young “Goldilocks” Västerström here be the one to talk with the new resident of the old place. Such a well-mannered young man should know just how to phrase such a request so that the new resident will yield up the items without pause.”

Emil swallowed hard at the smile on the Crooked Man’s face...

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

And here’s where the Cat, “Goldilocks” and the Ghosts start coming together.

* LooNEY_DAC laughs maniacally

ETA: ...and apparently the "me" command doesn't like being in the spoiler tag. *shrug*