elizabeth_oswald

Chapter Sixty – Well, Well, Wellington

The children all split up to look for the missing feline, with Geraldine scouring the girl’s hall, Isidor looking around by the boy’s rooms, Suzanne searching the classrooms, Abbington heading for the stables and the pasture out back, and Thaniel assigned to the dining hall and the kitchen area. They all agreed that they would look around quickly, then return to the dining hall if they found no sign of Miss Cupcakes. If anyone was missing after fifteen minutes, the rest of them would go t...

Chapter Fifty-nine – Sew Many Problems

Mrs. Farrier looked up as the small group entered her workroom, a smile deepening the creases around her mouth and eyes. Those creases were well-worn and confident, as if they knew they were welcome, and their owner had no interest in wasting time and effort trying to be rid of them.

“There you are, children,” she said, lifting a finger capped with a little silver thimble. “Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

Everyone nodded, and her eyes twinkled. “Mr. Farrier loves pancake ...

Chapter Fifty-eight - Midnight and Maple Syrup

“What are you?”

Pandy could have said the words along with the boy who was staring at her so intently. How many people had said it to her by now? Way too many, which meant she was doing a very poor job of pretending to be a rabbit. Not that she should have expected anything else. After all, it wasn’t like she’d ever been good at anything before, so why should this be any different?

She just stared mutely up at Isidor, though, red eyes meeting black ones in the depths of on...

Chapter Fifty-seven – Don’t Make That Face Or…

Dinner was salad, chicken, tea, and a tiny cupcake with a fresh cherry precariously balanced on a mound of icing. Mr. Farrier introduced himself, pretending it was the first time he’d met either Thaniel or Pandy, then proceeded to make the children feel welcome and safe by telling them stories about his life as he prepared dough for the next day’s bread. By the time they’d all finished eating, Thaniel and Geraldine were nearly asleep in their cupcakes, and the school was quiet.

Is...

Chapter Fifty-six – Lectures and Leftovers

Thaniel and Eleanor both opened their mouths to answer, but once again, Isidor took the lead. He glanced from Eleanor to Pandy, then said, “She went to get help some time ago. She told us to stay here until she got back.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, and he hummed softly in acknowledgement. “And what happened here?” He finished flipping through the book, then reached up as if placing it on a shelf. It vanished as it left his hand, making Thaniel give a smal...

Chapter Fifty-five – Secrets and Surprises

Predictably, Thaniel pulled away from her, eyes wide as he stared from Pandy to the disturbed soil that was all that remained of Ms. Wellington. The Tarroot seemed satisfied with its meal, and the few roots that were still visible lay quiescent.

“What…happened?” Thaniel whispered, tears pouring down his face. “I saw Bunny biting her…your? hand, and then-” He bit his lip, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs.

Pandy sat up rather shakily, only realizing just how naked ...

Chapter Fifty-four - Shifting Faces

Pandy hopped faster than she had ever hopped before. Rabbits were built for speed, not stamina, but Pandy didn’t have to worry about running out of breath or having lactose acid build up in her muscles. Or was that lactic, and lactose was the stuff in milk? Whatever, she didn’t care about it. No, she just had to stay back far enough that the evil Fire mage-teacher didn’t notice she was back there. Because no matter what her intelligence score was, Pandy wasn’t an idiot, and s...

(Probably) no chapter tomorrow

My uncle's visitation and funeral are tomorrow, and I doubt I'll be able to write, even if I have time. Sometimes it helps me feel better, so we'll see. Hug your people, huh?

Chapter Fifty-three – Perfectly Peaceful Panic

As the students walked, the various groups split off, taking side trails. While the main path was fairly wide, more than large enough for any normal-sized human to walk comfortably, these trails had probably been created by the repeated passage of animals like deer, rabbits, and chupacabra. Not that chupacabra were real, even here – at least as far as Pandy knew – but they seemed as likely as anything else to have made the winding dirt paths.

It didn’t take long for Ms. Wellington...

Chapter Fifty-two – Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

For the first time, Mrs. Lovett looked up, frowning slightly. Pandy guessed that while she’d taught this particular lesson many, many times, having a pet in the room was a first. She actually looked conflicted for a moment, then stood and crossed to King Micah. Leaning down, she murmured quietly in his ear, and he looked momentarily rebellious before breaking out into a grin. Straightening, the teacher looked at Thaniel.

“Whenever you are traveling, King Micah will take care of your...

Chapter Fifty-one - Libraries and Laws

Professor Beeswick – and what kind of name was that for a dragon? – was standing near the front desk, slightly metallic eyes lingering on the children as they moved around the library. As his focus shifted, each child’s shoulders hunched slightly, and they glanced around, very much like rabbits sensing the gaze of a circling hawk.

Pandy sidled up next to a low bookshelf containing what looked like picture books for children. The slim spines were brightly colored, and contained tit...

Chapter Fifty – Tales From the Hoard

Two more days passed in much the same way, and all of the students settled into their routine, as did Pandy. Each evening, she passed the time improving her skills, until she reached level nineteen in both Bite and Minor Heal. In Gacha Love, twenty was the highest possible level, and Clara gained several extra points in the associated stat when she reached it.

Pandy was excited to find out if the same was true here, and if so, what kind of reward she would get. Unfortunately, i...

Broken Knife Afterword and Rounding Up

This is the 'chapter' Royal Road will get tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure you all got it first. It's mostly stuff I've said here before, but not recently, and not specifically relating to TBK.

For me, stories tend to start with characters, not plot. I was talking to my husband one day and kobolds came up. I mentioned that I preferred the dog-like kobolds, mainly because my first exposure to anything called a kobold was in Ragnarok Online, yonks ago. (If ...

Chapter Forty-nine - Wither You Like It or Not

The next day was much like the first, except that the students moved through the halls with more confidence. Fewer students could be seen staring at their notebooks or scribbled maps, and almost everyone was on time for breakfast. Like dinner, only the live-in students ate breakfast at the school, and there were only a few teachers to watch over the smaller number of students. It was far less formal than dinner, and consisted of only one course, with all the food delivered at once.

The ...

Chapter Forty-eight - Like Fire and Water

Thaniel led everyone to the training ground, where they found several other students, many of them sparring. It was a bit startling to see so many ten-year-olds wielding swords, especially since they seemed to be quite good at it, at least to Pandy’s inexpert gaze. It looked like the scenes of sword-fighting she’d seen in movies, anyway, except not quite as fast, and entirely lacking in jumping over fallen objects or throwing chairs at each other.

A few of the older students were al...

Chapter Forty-seven - Dine and Dish

Dinner consisted of five courses, starting with a mushroom tartlet that none of the children liked, though only Thaniel and Geraldine actually tossed them onto the floor for their pets. Miss Cupcakes gave the squishy gray thing a single sniff and turned up her nose, so Pandy got to eat both of them. The cobb salad went over a bit better, and Pandy had her own, so she didn’t mind that Thaniel only gave her the tomatoes. Soup was something that smelled fishy, but Pandy didn’t get to try it,...

Chapter Forty-six - Well, That's Not Right

The children chorused a greeting, though the new boy, Abbington, slumped visibly in his chair, and his voice was barely audible. Ms. Wellington gave her tight smile again, and turned to Mr. Rowe, who had stood and now held his papers to his chest. She acknowledged his presence with a regal dip of her head, then focused on the children again.

“Come with me, then,” she said, and departed as abruptly as she’d entered, the sound of her shoes the only sign that she’d been in the room...

Royal Road advice!

It's time to get Lucky Rabbit submitted, and I always struggle with how to describe a story, and what categories to put it in.

Here's my description so far:

When Pandy meets Truck-kun, she never expects to be catapulted into the world of her favorite otome video game, Gacha Love. Then, rather than becoming the hero, the villain, or even a background character who could safely eat popcorn while watching the show, she takes over the body of a rabbit. Not j...