Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     The members of Carnivàle LeCroux trudge along a muddy road, everyone doing their best not to step in the dark puddles that lay in the bottom of previous wagon wheel tracks, and the hoof prints from the horses that had pulled them. Torbek, Gricko, accompanied as usual by Hootsie, and Morning Frost take up the rear, with the two goblinoids jabbering on about something inconsequential. Hootsie cheerily plods along between Gricko and Frost, occasionally going out of her way to splash in a muddy puddle; much to the displeasure of Frost, who would always prefer to keep both his fur and robes clean and dry if possible. 

     Speaking of Frost, for a while now he’s been watching the figure walking a few yards ahead of the group. They had been ahead of them all for quite a while now, but the Krew just keeps getting closer. The closer they get the more clear it becomes to Frost that this person has quite the limp, but also a familiar gait. The walking patterns of a creature digitigrade but bipedal. The swishing of a long tail beneath the hooded cloak. A Tabaxi. The first that Frost has seen in quite a while.

     From the way their conversation has slowed, Gideon and Kremy at the front of the group seem to also be paying more attention to the hooded figure before them. Twig, on the other hand, hasn’t seemed to notice, or at least doesn’t care, from the way she’s intently listening to Torbek and Gricko’s chatter, and occasionally chiming in, from her perch atop Gideon’s shoulder. Kremy briefly glances back over his shoulder at Frost, motioning to have him come up to the front, before turning back to Gideon to resume their hushed conversation. Morning Frost deftly slides up in between Kremy and Gideon, as the alligator acknowledges his presence without looking at him.

     “You reckon that’s a Tabaxi up there, Frosty?”

     Frost nods and hums softly in confirmation, “Mhm, I’m almost entirely positive.”

     “Injured?”

     “That seems to be the case, yes. A limp is as good of a hint as anything.”

     “Right.” Kremy glances to Frost, then to Gideon, “Have we severely pissed anybody off recently? Does this have the possibility of being a trap of some sort?”

     Gideon squints slightly as he thinks about the question for a second or two before he answers, “I mean, I don’t think so. At least not so much as to set a trap on some random road. And I feel like if somebody was stalking us to ambush us or somethin’, we would’ve noticed a long time ago now; either one of us especially probably woulda been able to pick up if this fella was actin’ sketchy at all.”

     Frost nods, and brings a hand up to gently rake his claws through the thick fur of his beard in thought, “I agree. I believe if this, uh, this, presumably, Tabaxi, were planning to attack us they either would have done it by now, or would at least be keeping a closer eye on us. As far as I can tell they haven’t so much as glanced back at us once, which is astonishing considering how loud Gricko and Torbek can get back there.”

     At the mention of his name, Gricko turns his attention to the conversation happening at the front of the troupe, “Hold on Torbek, I think we’re being insulted.” He scrambles up to the three men walking ahead of them, with Hootsie and Torbek in tow.

     “Guyyyyss, is everybody talking about Torbek behind Torbek’s back againnnnnn?”

     Kremy looks back at the two goblinoids and steps to the side a bit to make some room for them, “Well- No, not quite. We’re just talkin’ about this fella up ahead.” And he motions with his head towards the cloaked individual limping down the road.

     Frost and Gideon also make a quick sidestep, so the five of them can all walk alongside each other, Frost speaking again, “Yes, I believe we’re trying to decide whether to interact with this person or not?” He looks at Kremy expectantly, who nods.

     “Yeah. They seem injured, but I’m also worried it could be an act because they’re trying to trap or ambush us, or somethin’ like that. But none of us can remember who’s pissed off at us lately, so we’re unsure.”

     Gricko screws up his face and hums, tapping a finger on his chin thoughtfully, “Hmmm, yes that is a bit of a dilemma, isn’t it… Oh! Maybe it’s both? They could be planning a trap for us BUT they are still in fact hurt. So maybe if we try to help them, they’ll change their mind on attacking us? And most people won’t pick a fight with five people - and an adorable little owlbear,” he looks at Hootsie and coos affectionately, petting her head, “if they’re already a bit beat up, ya know?”

     “Yes, I was going to mention that as well, Gricko. There’s simply too many of us, it’s- it’s illogical to think one injured person would try to fight all of us. And I haven’t seen or heard any sign of people in the woods around us, I doubt it’s a trap at this point.” Frost gestures to the shaded trees lining each side of the road as he speaks, to accentuate his point to Kremy.

     Twig pipes up after taking a few moments to carefully listen, “I think that if someone needs help, we should help ‘em. I’ve got soup ‘n’ stuff in the inn if they’re hungry!” she chirps, patting the acorn satchel on her side and smiling widely at Gricko, Frost, and Kremy.

     Gideon glances up at Twig and reaches up to pat her leg, “I think that’s a swell idea, Twigsy! And hey, if that scrawny little thing tries to fight us, we’ll just kick their ass, ‘cause we’re the strongest damn carnival in all of Avantris.” He lifts up the arm opposite of the shoulder Twig sits atop and flexes, grinning confidently over at Kremy.

     “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Gricko bounds out in front of his friends and quickly turns on his heel to walk backwards, “We should go and offer help! Who knows, maybe they have some useful skills or information.” He waggles his eyebrows and winks exaggeratedly at Kremy, who sighs.

     “Alright fellas, I concede, let’s go.”

     Gricko does a slight hop in the middle of his walk and claps his hands together, looking at the Genasi, “Oh, but Gideon, how do you know they’re scrawny? They’re all covered up with that cloak!”

     Gideon barks out a quick laugh, “Why- just look at ‘em! Even with the cloak you can tell those shoulders are bonier than Torbek around a cardboard cutout!”

     The five of them erupt into laughter while Torbek groans and briefly tries to defend himself, before just settling with a, “Welllllll, you’re not exactly wroooooong…” and eventually laughing along. 

     Everyone stands and waits for Gricko, who has doubled over, holding his stomach, as he howls his laughs until tears form in his eyes.

     After the laughter dies down and Gricko is upright again, still chuckling a bit, Frost sniffles lightly and clears his throat, habitually straightening his robes, “Ah, that was a good one, Gideon. But really, let’s get going.” Gricko nods, spins back around, and takes his apparent new spot at the head of the group and begins to march along the muddy, rain-soaked trail.

     And so, the gang picks up their pace and makes their way up the road, to greet the limping Tabaxi ahead of their path.

Chapter Text

     A young Tabaxi slowly walks along a wagon-worn road, his paws caked in mud and various other bits of detritus. With every step, a burst of pain shoots up his right leg from his ankle. He’s exhausted, but he can’t risk stopping to rest, because he may not have the strength to get moving again. His cloak is damp from previous rain storms and takes more heat from his body than it gives, but he wouldn’t dare part with it. His stomach growls and he winces at the accompanying hunger pang. He’s been so focused on keeping his senses open for danger or potential prey in the woods that he doesn’t notice the group of six, that he had previously chosen to ignore because they didn’t seem to be a threat, coming up behind him until they’re only a few feet away.

     He suddenly snaps to attention and whirls around as he realizes the voices from before are now much closer. He pins his ears back beneath his hood and bares his teeth, hissing loudly in warning. The people stop and a couple of them hold out their hands as he takes a few steps back, growling lowly in his throat as his eyes dart between each member at the front.

     “Woahhh, hey, settle down there little guy, it’s alright. We just wanted to check in ‘cause you seemed hurt, okay?” says a slender man covered in scales, with a long, toothy maw. “My name is Kremy LeCroux, and these are my compatriots.” The reptilian man takes a single step forward, putting one clawed hand to his chest while the other gestures to the rest of the group.The Tabaxi hisses and spits at him, his puffed up tail lashing behind him underneath his cape, taking a few more steps back. Kremy drops his hands and looks to the larger Tabaxi at his side, who meets his eyes and nods. Kremy slips back behind the other feline man, who steps forward with his ears slightly lowered and tail gently swishing from side to side, trying to appear calm and friendly. Then, the defensive Tabaxi hears a voice in his head.

     “ Hello, my name is Morning Frost, I- please calm down- ” Frost reaches a hand out as the scared Tabaxi whips his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. “ I’m the fellow Tabaxi right in front of you, don’t worry. I am speaking to you inside your mind from my own. ” The small Tabaxi looks up at him, relaxing ever so slightly, and his ears perk up just a little bit in curiosity. “ Please don’t be afraid of my friends and I, we do not wish to hurt you. Quite the opposite in fact, we deduced that you are already injured and wanted to offer our help. Is that alright with you? ” The Tabaxi peers up at Frost from below his hood, and thinks his response.

     “ Please. It hurts. ”

—

     Frost nods as he hears the response and holds his hand out in Gricko’s direction, “Bananya.” Gricko summons up a bananya and passes it to Frost, who peels it about halfway and holds it out to the small, brown cat-person. He leans forward cautiously and gives the bananya a curious sniff before leaning back and wrinkling his nose, shaking his head. Frost frowns slightly, confused, and dips back into the other Tabaxi’s mind, “ What’s wrong? ”

     “ Meat. I eat meat. That’s not meat. ”

     Frost hums and hands the bananya back to Gricko, speaking aloud, “Well, I believe there’s an inn in the next town, why don’t you join us? We’ll get you something you can eat and we can take a look at your injuries, if that’s alright.” He tilts his head slightly, carefully looking at the other Tabaxi’s face. The small Tabaxi holds eye contact with Frost for a few seconds before he eventually nods.

     Gideon takes a step forward, “Want me to carry ya, little buddy? That leg looks pretty darn sore.”

     Frost watches as the stranger eyes the Genasi suspiciously and reenters the mind of this young Tabaxi, “ Don’t worry, you can trust him. And he’s actually quite warm, if you’re cold from the rain.”

     The apparent new temporary addition to the party glances at Frost then looks back at Gideon, giving him a short nod. Gideon then turns and crouches down, so Twig can hop off his shoulder, and the Brownie motions for the Tabaxi to get on the half-Genie’s back, giving him a warm smile. The injured Tabaxi cautiously steps forward and wraps his arms around Gideon’s neck, the large man carefully hooking his arms under the feline’s legs and hoisting him as he stands, “Hup- Alrighty, let’s get goin’!” He turns his head to the person now riding on his back, “Oh yeah, name’s Gideon by the way. I reckon Frosty told you his name since he was speakin’ to ya in your mind ‘n’ such. Anyway, the little one’s Twig, other little one is Gricko, and that big ol’ guy in the back is Torbek. And there’s Hootsie, of course.” He tilts his head to each member of the group in succession as he tells the Tabaxi their names. Gricko grins toothily and waves excitedly. Twig smiles again at the new Tabaxi whilst mounting Hootsie’s back to ride atop her in place of Gideon’s shoulder.

     “Are we going now? Torbek is hungryyyyyy…”

—

     At the sound of this new voice the Tabaxi turns his head to finally look at the looming, hairy figure at the back of the group and a jolt of fear slams directly into his gut. He starts squirming against Gideon’s back, his instincts screaming at him to run, to flee from this obviously predatory animal that is so much larger than he is. He hisses when he can’t escape the man’s grasp, desperately trying to push himself off of the person carrying him.

     “Wo-hoah, hey, settle down! Watch your claws, kid! Frosty, what’s his deal?!” Gideon shouts to both Tabaxi, trying to readjust the smaller’s positioning on his back.

     Frost quickly scans over the new Tabaxi, looking at his puffed up tail and pinned back ears. He looks to the kit’s eyes and sees the wild fear, following his gaze to Torbek and putting the pieces together, “He’s afraid of Torbek.”

     “Ohhhhh noooooo, Torbek is soooooo sorryyyyy, Torbek will tryyyy to be less scaryyyy…” Saying this, Torbek tries to shrink down and make himself appear smaller, and gives the Tabaxi atop Gideon’s back a sad, apologetic look.

     “Yeah that’s fair, he is kinda freaky to look at for the first time but he’s almost entirely harmless, so I wouldn’t worry about ‘im. It’s alright, little buddy, promise.” Gideon gently pats the young Tabaxi’s uninjured leg in an attempt to reassure him.

     “Yes, exactly, Gideon. Torbek is nothing to be afraid of, I assure you.”

     “Well, nothin’ to be afraid of outside of looks, that is.” Kremy quips, earning a few chuckles from the group and a sad groan from the Bugbear in question.

     At the reassuring words from Gideon, Frost, and Kremy, Torbek’s attempt to seem less threatening, and the generally calm energy from everybody else, the skittish Tabaxi finally calms, his fur settling and his ears returning to their standard upright position.

     “Shall we get going, then?”

     Gideon nods at Frost, and the two of them and Kremy take the lead in their little congregation once more, seven people following the muddy wagon trail to the next town, the new figure on Gideon’s back keeping his eyes and ears directed to the woods that surround them.

Chapter Text

     A young Tabaxi fights against sleep whilst being carried on the back of a fire Genasi, the man’s body radiating much-needed heat into his own, recent rain storms having sapped a lot of the normal warmth from his fur. Close to the Genasi walks another Tabaxi; older, with vibrant orange fur and stark black stripes. He keeps a close eye on the frail figure on his friend’s back, making sure he keeps calm. An ear flicks and rotates back slightly, as small footsteps patter up behind him, Gricko squeezing himself between Frost and Gideon, looking up past Gideon to the cat-person on his back, “Oh yeah! I forgot to ask, what’s your name? ‘Cause we’ve already told you all of ours, do you have one?”

     The weary Tabaxi turns his head to stare down at the Goblin, squinting at him slightly in confusion and shakes his head.

     “Really? How? Most everyone has a name. Did you forget? Do we need to go on an adventure to get your memory of your name back?” Gricko asks these questions rapid-fire, clearly getting himself excited at the thought of a quest as his volume raises, only to be shut down by another head shake from his newest party member.

     He lowers his voice back down to a standard speaking volume, “So… you never got one, then? From your parents?” Gricko gazes up to the thin individual, who narrows his eyes in a glare and turns his head to stare off in front of the group, his tail flicking irritably beneath his cloak.

     Gideon glances back at the Tabaxi he’s carrying, “Well, you’re gonna be with us for a while I’m pretty sure, so we’re gonna hafta call ya somethin’ .”

     “Gideon is right. We can’t just say ‘hey, you’ this whole time or ‘the new guy’, that- that’d just be ridiculous. At the very least it would be easiest for you to have some sort of nickname. Are you alright with that?” The Tabaxi looks over at Frost and stares at him for a moment before nodding.

     Gricko claps, “Oh, yay! That means we get to choose, right? Also, I think it’s best that we settle this soon because I think the author is getting really tired of just having to say variations of ‘the Tabaxi’ this and ‘the Tabaxi’ that.”

     The entire party halts, all heads turning to Gricko, including their newest member, with wildly confused looks and a chorus of incredulous “What?”’s coming from his friends.

     Frost sighs, “Gricko, are you seeing visions of other realities and dimensions again?”

     Gricko hangs his head and kicks at a pebble on the ground, “Yeah… Sorry Frosty. ‘S gone now, though. What’d I even say? Something about an author? I don’t think we’ve ever met any authors…”

     “I believe it’s best not to dwell on it, lest we all go insane. Anyways, a name for our new companion? Anyone have an idea?”

     “Well, I’ve been thinkin’ some up, actually. Was thinkin’ just somethin’ simple like Tabs, Lil Tabs, Tabsy, ‘cause he’s a Tabaxi, y’know? How’s that sound, buddy?” Gideon readjusts the Tabaxi’s positioning on his back again to try and get the point across, looking back at him. The Tabaxi thinks for a moment before shrugging and giving a nod of approval, holding up a single clawed… finger? Paw bean? Paw-finger? Digit. He holds up a single clawed digit to show that he prefers the first of Gideon’s suggestions. 

     Gideon grins at him, Tabs, “Well, alright! Tabs it is, then! Still gonna probably call you Tabsy sometimes, though, like how I do with Twig.” Tabs looks over his shoulder at Twig, still riding atop Hootsie, who waves at him, then looks back at Gideon and nods.

     Kremy steps up in front of Gideon and Frost, habitually smoothing the lapels of his suit, “Alright fellas I’m glad we got that settled, can we keep goin’ now? I’m startin’ to feel real cold out here.”

     “Of course, sorry Krem.” Gideon takes stride behind the gator and everyone gets moving down the road again. Gideon tilts his head back to loudly and conspiratorially whisper to Tabs, “He’s cold-blooded, so he starts getting grumpy when it’s too cold out ‘cause it makes him all tired.”

     Kremy scoffs and looks over his shoulder to playfully swat at Gideon, “Oh sure, Gid, just go on tellin’ the new guy all my secret weaknesses. What next, you’re gonna tell him about Frost’s weird thing about never taking his shoes off?”

     Frost frowns as Gideon chuckles and he and Kremy smile at each other fondly, “It’s not weird, it’s hygienic.”

      “Suuure, Frosty. Just admit that you don’t like gettin’ your little pawsies wet.” Gideon gives the tiger a mischievous grin as Frost rolls his eyes, crossing his arms and not even trying to hide the small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Tabs looks down over Gideon’s shoulder at his own paws, soaked and thoroughly caked in mud, leaves, and other various little bits of plant matter and detritus.

     Frost follows his gaze and hums lightly in disapproval, “Yeah, you… you definitely need a bath.”

     “Ooohhh, Frost!! I’ve got so many nice soaps ‘n’ stuff in my inn, we could make him smell so nice!” Twig shouts excitedly, grinning widely at her taller companions.

     Kremy smiles and looks back at her, “Yeah? You wanna give our new friend here a proper little spa night? I wouldn’t mind a hot bath, now that I think about it…”

     “Yeah, let’s do it!!!”

     “Mmmmm, Torbek could use a spaa niiiight…”

     “Shut the hell up, Torbek, you always need a spa night. I mean, really, I’m still baffled by how you manage to get so filthy so quickly.”

     “Torbek doesn’t know what to sayyyy, Mr. Kremy, it’s an art…!”

     “Uh-huh, and you sure are talented.”

     “Torbek knows that that’s meant to be insulting, but Torbek will take the compliment anywayyys. Thaaaank you, Mr. Kremy!”

     Gricko nudges Torbek’s calf with his elbow and waggles his eyebrows, “I mean, Torbek’s kinda naturally filthy anyway, if ya know what I mean.” Him and Torbek both laugh and start jabbering to each other in Goblin, snickering and giving each other mischievous, knowing looks.

     Kremy chuckles and shakes his head, facing forward once again to keep leading the group onwards to the next town. Tabs looks over at Frost, confused, who just smiles and shakes his head, shrugging. Tabs huffs lightly, almost in laughter, and lays his head back down on his arm slung over Gideon’s shoulder, and goes back to watching the sides of the road they all walk down.