The Story of The Believer

[unvarnished]

Hey, ah... I hope I did this right and I'm speaking with anyone who knows Henry.

My name's August and I know him from back home. I just wanted to say hi and thank you all for looking out for him. He's a capable kid, but even the strongest person needs a good friend at their back.

That's about it. Nice to meet you all. [because he knows Henry and he has no doubt the kid managed to make lots of friends here]

Comments

[cloaklikeblood]

Henry's here?

[She was delighted at this news. She was also delighted that she manged to figure out the journals fairly easily]

[unvarnished]

Oh, Ruby. I didn't think about you seeing that, too. [makes sense, though: she's a friend of Henry's]

Yeah, Henry came to find me when I showed up in the woods.

dictated;

[minicaptain]

You're one of Henry's friends?

[ from home, she means. ]

dictated;

[unvarnished]

Yes, I am. I know him pretty well.

dictated;

[minicaptain]

Oh. [ paaaaaause. ] He's my friend, too. [ SHE HOPES at least she considers him a friend and hopes he considers her one, too. ] My name is Naomi.

dictated;

[unvarnished]

Hello, Naomi. Nice to meet you.

[staggeringego]

[ A friend of his from back home, huh? ]

Of course! That's not even a thing you need to thank anyone for. To be honest, I think he's more capable than most of the people here.

[ A pause. ]

I'm James, by the way. Nice to meet you, August.

[unvarnished]

Oh, believe me, I know. He's an amazing kid.

James, huh? I knew another guy named James, once upon a time. [tecnically this is true, since Charming was going by James at the time] He was a very brave person.

[staggeringego]

[ Fastest way to endear yourself to James? Say anything that could in any way inflate that ego of his. ]

Is that so? Sounds like he was a good man...

[ A pause. ]

Though I do have to wonder about the "was" part of that.

[unvarnished]

He still is a good man; he just doesn't go by James anymore.

August forever.

[wolfchild]

You cannot take him.

filter forever

[unvarnished]

... Excuse me?

[wolfchild]

Henry is our ward. He is under the protection of the King in the North. You cannot take him.

[heloise]

He wanted to learn how to ride.

[unvarnished]

A horse, right? How's that going?

[heloise]

[ noalittlelady ]

He is an eager student.

[the_effect_she_has]

You're welcome. Are you ... his dad? [Because seriously, that's who Henry needed.]

[unvarnished]

[he laughs] No, just a very good friend. I do know his mother, though.

[the_effect_she_has]

Okay. Good. Take care of him. He's a good kid.

[secondchances]

What's the relation? [You can never be too careful.]

[unvarnished]

As I said, I'm his friend.

[secondchances]

Friend how?

This filter

[cyan_maid]

Nice to meet you too, sir...how do you know Henry? Is he a relation of yours?

[You sound too old to just be a friend to a kid, buster.]

yepyep

[unvarnished]

In a roundabout way. [have a vague answer, Jane]

[cyan_maid]

[Ugh, those are her least favorite kind.]

A roundabout way, huh? So perhaps an extended relation.

Are you new here?