The Rescue of Junie, for "Finish It" Bingo and several requests.

[aldersprig]

Never Try to Steal a Dweomer
Backpack Gremlins ( LJ)
Hunting Junie I ( LJ)
Hunting Junie II ( LJ)
Hunting Junie III ( LJ)
Red Covers ( LJ)
Bounty ( LJ)
Team D ( LJ)
Victimization ( LJ)

This runs to 3800 words. There was a man - a human man, a bog-standard boring kidnapping human, normal and plain as they came - picking up an unconscious dweomer child, and

Comments

[lilfluff]

Ooh!

Hurrah! (And someone has enough survival instincts not to hang around just as soon as Junie's safe)

[aldersprig]

:-D He's no dummy!!

[kelkyag]

It's so very you to finish up a thread while dropping even more loose threads hither, thither and yon. Who called the bees (the pixy might know?), and did the bees get anyone before they hit the shield? (Like, say, the policeman who appears out of nowhere, is hit in the belt by a gremlin emp, and disappears from the story.) Who poisoned(?) the harpies? Why are the kids all rilled up, and why did the troll kid stop growling and stalk off down Orin's intended path? What's this about Junie having a history of exploding -- when has that happened?!?

Some possibly inconsistencies, or things that I might just be fuddled about:
-- Earlier segments suggested that the old man (birdwatcher? with dog?) was some sort of religious fanatic, but this segment ... reads like he's a child molester, and/or eats human children? Or maybe that's about his diety's taste in sacrifices. The unnamed not-human seems to have a more solid idea than I do.
--
-- Being a "anomalous individuals" in the eyes of the "home office" is something one can

[aldersprig]

Also, I was very pleased with myself with wrapping up a plotline. *sulks*

[kelkyag]

You did wrap up a plotline! Junie is no longer out there somewhere with some kidnapper on a cliffhanger. You just *also* opened a lot of questions. :) Answers often beget more questions; not everything can be answered in the scope of a short story. And you had a ton of threads open in this one already to pull back together. (And I'm under the impression that inspiration to write Dragons Next Door is relatively rare for you, so I'm delighted you got back to this one at all. And it feels "on tone", if that makes sense, where a background piece or two when you didn't really have inspiration for them didn't.)

I am very fond of this 'verse and tend to Pay Attention; sometimes that seems to come across as helpful and sometimes it does not. I am sorry it came across badly this time. Figuring out when it's likely to read badly and avoid that is ... still a work in progress.

[aldersprig]

*noses* you didn't come across badly, I just was afraid you were saying I hadn't wrapped something up!

(also, getting used to typing on the bus and dealing with the results later is a wee bit frustrating)

So many people asked for this one, it sort of got me excited :-D :-D

[aldersprig]

Ooh, who called the bees was supposed to be in there, darn it, sorry that wasn't clear (The creepshow) (Also handled poisoning the harpies) And the kids were riled up 'cause someone took Junie. And the troll kid saw the bees coming.

Junie has only ever exploded off-camera. But it's reasonable for a little kid who will be very powerful.

...Ooh, I forgot I put that 'I might be human' line in there. Maybe that was uncertainty on his part?

Stupid typing on a tablet... *mutters* thanks for catches.

I screwed up the names on Team A, sigh. Thanks.

I forgot about othersight? Also, in Kel's defense, things were a little busy about then.

[kelkyag]

Junie has only ever exploded off-camera. But it's reasonable for a little kid who will be very powerful.

Yes, that was clear. But also clearly it has happened before "now" -- and I'd guess not at school, even when she was coming home super-stressed. When it has happened before is outside the scope of this story. And I am CURIOUS, and it goes on the list of things to ask about if an appropriate prompting occasion presents itself.

Maybe that was uncertainty on his part?

Or he may have been rolling with Kel's assertion, as at that point it he had not committed to coming out as non-human, and may well not know what gremlins can see (or how easily -- maybe Kel has to put serious work into that othersight). Thus the hairy eyeball with no specific question. :)

And the troll kid saw the bees coming.This would be more clear to me if Orin then saw/commented on the bees (maybe even followed the troll out of the area, if he's feeling so bold). At that point ... the Team A male has referenced something to see to the Team A female, but we

[aldersprig]

Aaah, re. Junie.

I think it's probably been happening for a couple years now.

~

Our not-human has many secrets. he's practically a Mysterious Stranger.

~

Maybe Orin should notice the bees then...

Still a work in progress!! I did not edit this one as thoroughly as a commission or a Patreon story... clearly.

[kelkyag]

Our not-human has many secrets. he's practically a Mysterious Stranger.
Is! Questions and curiosity abound!

Still a work in progress!!
I meant my tact in expressing these things rather than the story.

[sauergeek]

The gremlins pantsed a cop! (Or, at least, they tried. Hope he survived the stinging infestation...)

It looks like Junie finally gets properly rescued. And yet, we still have Teams A, B, and C out and about to make another try later, our nameless kidnapper-turned-cavalry as an enigma (and one that Aud, Sage, the Smiths, and the gremlins all will want to talk to), Donnie still stuck in the van (maybe someone can nab him and find out what's up?), someone able to take out harpies and others, someone (possibly the same someone?) able to summon up stinging insects from who-knows-how-far-away and direct them to a moving target...

I can only hope that at least some of this gets addressed by the police performing a recto-cranial extraction and actually investigating this time.