Fated Feather
Captain Tjakhlune Hawke has only one goal in her life; she wants to catch a man with no name, and she'll go to any length or time to do it.
We had stolen the texts of Aristotle because History said we would.—Malevin
After being wronged by a man long ago, Captain Hawke resolved to see him punished. Holding the same power of Time Travel as the man she hunts, she now lives in an endless pursuit of him across time, causing many historical events in the process. The crew that supports her has been drawn from the hopeless of various ages. Now, though, things have finally reached a critical point: the hunt is killing her, and her enemy knows it. Given how long as he has eluded her, her time may run out before she can claim victory. Meanwhile, her crew is finally being forced to face the mysteries surrounding her grudge and abilities.
A Mundane Fantastic character piece, centered on numerous Driving Questions.
Read it here.
- Aborted Arc: The original flashback-based chapter 6 was dropped nearly halfway through, removed, and replaced.
- Alone in a Crowd: Laryk, standing off on her own while Hawke fights Kaanis and the others watch because Hawke had just cast her out of the crew.
- Animal Theme Naming: Hawke's crew members are named after birds; Wolfe's after canids.
- Blood From the Mouth: Hawke, strained by time travel.
- Broken Pedestal: Chapter 7.
- The Chessmaster: Wolfe.
- The Conscience: Laryk.
- Dating Catwoman: Raivyn and Kaanis.
- Dead Little Sister: Much of the crew's fairly dark commitment to hunting wolf stems from an event discussed in flashback where a crate taken from Wolfe contained Krayne's dead body.
- Deadly Upgrade: Hawke's use of her ability to time travel is killing her.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Subverted when Hawke abandons the warmth she'd begun to show her crew in response to Lywren's association with Wolfe.
- Designated Hero: Captain Hawke (and her crew) are not presented as having performed any unambiguously righteous acts, despite their image as righteous crusaders.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Laryk though Hawke responds vindictively to the revelation.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Hawke.
- The Dragon: Kaanis.
- Fish Out of Temporal Water: Lywren, until Chapter 4.
- The Gadfly: Yote.
- Genki Girl: Bowern.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: Hawke, Raivyn, and Malevin.
- Hidden Depths: Wolfe.
- Hot Librarian: Lywren.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Hawke.
- Jerkass Woobie: Hawke.
- Lady of War: Hawke and Raivyn.
- Lampshade Hanging: "You have so many names that you don't have a name? That's ridiculous."
- Les Yay: Raivyn and Hawke.
- Meaningful Name: Almost everyone.
- My Nayme Is: The Meaningful Names of both crews are purposefully misspelled.
- Not So Invincible After All: Hawke seems all but untouchable, but her obsessive pursuit is killing her.
- Number Two: Raivyn and Kaanis.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Bowern, except when her unique perspective renders her the only one capable of seeing how horrible things are.
- The Pollyanna: Bowern.
- Posthumous Character: Krayne.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Excepting matters made personally important to the Captain by Laryk, Captain Hawke and her crew ignore notions of objective morality in favor of whatever suits Hawke.
- The Psycho Rangers: Wolfe's crew.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Wolfe's crew.
- Shown Their Work: The art, architecture, and backstories..
- Stable Time Loop: All changes made to history are the fulfillment of actions the characters were "supposed" to have taken.
- This Is Sparta: "Bring. Me. Lywren."
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Krayne.
- Undying Loyalty: Raivyn.
- The Watson: Lywren.
- Wham! Episode: Chapter 7,
when Hawke casts Laryk out of the crew.
- With Us or Against Us: There is little or no tolerance for any that take any issue with Hawke's will.
- Woman Scorned: Hawke.
- The Wonka: Bowern.