The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

It was not a saying that applied to most orphans.

Perhaps most of all, it was relevant to the nobility. Those privy to the powers of Fearshaping, bringing their nightmares into reality. As if to mock the very Fears that eternally haunted all elves.

Wealthy merchants? Surely the saying applied to them. Fighting coin by coin to amass a fortune, they danced at the edge of the nobility’s whims. It was a long way down if they slipped, and when they did, many never rose again.

Shiver watched as the candle before her cast dancing shadows on the walls of the Trobid home. Vale lay sleeping on a bed nearby, exhausted from the events of the day. Marta had brought them back home, washed them up, and tended to their injuries. When Shiver had attempted to return to her cave, the giant had picked her up by her waist and locked her in a room with Vale.

The reason why she ran so hard and far from Marta and Pov’s kindness throughout the years was simple.

There was nothing more addicting to someone abandoned, cast aside on the street, or in a cave in her case, than unconditional, unwarranted love.

Even the sweet relief brought by Tranquillity that had reduced many an elf to shells of themselves wasn’t as alluring.

She resented herself for it. Seeing Marta relinquish her relics to the guild for her sake, amassed through countless painstaking excursions into the bitter winterlands. Pov, in the expedition contracts bargained with the guild, undoubtably at his own expense.

She resented herself for the sacrifices they had made for her. They demanded nothing. A part of her wanted to resign herself to her selfish wishes, and to live with them, like they had suggested countless times.

She just bowed her head, as Marta closed the door with a gentle click.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

It was not a saying for an orphan, abandoned, cast away in a cave.

For she had never managed to get very far from the ground for her falls to hurt.

It was a simple matter of returning home, to a familiar misery.

For the very first time, Shiver felt like she had fallen from a heaven that she didn’t deserve.

---

Vale woke from her nightmares to a pair of shining cerulean eyes, comically close to her own.

She yelped, and leapt backwards, scattering her sheets.

‘Morning my lady. We have a very busy day today. You see, Marta is cooking us dinner, and we’re going to help her.’

Vale let out a loud grown and covered herself with her sheets again.

‘Shiver the sun barely just rose! Besides, I’m sure Marta and Pov can sort out their own dinner. Can’t a lady get a bit of rest!’

She sighed, snuggling into her pillow with contentment. Shiver paused, her eyes traced Vale’s form.

One last chance then.

‘I think we should make it up to the both of them.’

‘I’m sure they’ll be fine. They chose to help us, we didn’t ask for it. Now let me sl-‘

In an instant, Shiver began dragging Vale out of her bed, heedless to her cries or efforts to cling onto her covers.

‘My you two are lively this morning? Sleep well?’

Pov knocked and entered the room. Shiver avoided his gaze and redoubled her efforts to push Vale out of her bed.

‘Oh Poverty, thank heavens you’re here. Please tell her to stop, Shiver’s being positively feral!’

Poverty let out a hearty laugh.

‘She usually is. Shiver?’

He waited as the girl continued to free Vale from her covers in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, her efforts slowed.

‘Someone has to get dinner together today.’

‘You’re staying for dinner?’

Pov’s mouth fell at her words and his eyes bulged in shock. Shiver redoubled her efforts, finally wrangling Vale out of her blankets. Shiver dragged her past Pov.

‘Shiver you’re finally staying for din-‘

Shiver shut the door in Pov’s face.

‘Why are we in such a ru- mmf mmmff‘

‘It’s a surprise.’

Shiver pinched Vale’s lips together pulling her through the front door while sporting a familiar grin.

Vale was glad to see the orphan regain some of her characteristic mirth. Shiver had been silent the entire time Marta tended to their wounds the day before. She hadn’t uttered a word even after Marta had left, despite Vale’s efforts to discuss what they had seen.

However, as she saw the grin linger on the orphan’s face, her joy turned into confusion. She started to wonder… just what awaited her that had Shiver looking so happy.

Her confusion gradually turned into looming terror as she pondered what Shiver had planned for them.

As she quickly discovered, she should have listened to her gut.

---

‘Oh, how wonderfully industrial! I’ve never seen a “lift” like this before.’

The lift carried Vale and Shiver down to Brimstone’s docks, which brimmed with activity. It was powered by a coalfire engine, a recent invention straight from Brimstone itself. Vale brimmed with curiosity as she took in the sights and sounds around her.

The lift stuttered to a stop as it reached the foot of the cliff.

The pair squeezed through the bustling crowd, finally arriving at a stall.

A hunched, bald man shouted prices with a tremendous voice into the crowd before him.

‘Get yer soldiercrabs here! Only twenty silver! Boiled and slaughtered so they don’t get yer balls like they did mine!’

The old man cackled, waving an enormous crab the size of his entire torso at the crowd. Vale gasped in astonishment. Upon noticing them, the hunched man shot them a greasy grin and gave them a bow which produced a symphony of popping noises. Shiver winced, rubbing at her own back.

‘Welcome ladies, to me ‘umble establishment. Shiver! Looking for work, are ye?’

Shiver returned an exaggerated bow to the vendor.

‘No, no – we’re paying customers today Pince.’

‘Well! Why didn’t ye just say so!’

Vale stared incredulously as the pair of them erupted into raucous laughter.

‘Only the freshest of the bunch for ye!’

Shiver’s eyes twinkled as she shared a grin with the crab salesman.

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‘Indeed, and this here young lass will have the privilege of picking them out. She has an eye for seafood, isn’t that right Vale?’

Vale nodded enthusiastically before catching herself. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Shiver with suspicion.

The old man chuckled, nodding his head and ushering them through his small storefront lined with crabs around him.

‘Is that so, is that so. It’s lovely to meet yer young lady, after me if you please.’

Vale followed the man, as they came upon a muddy pit brimming with crabs at the back of the store. Despite the small storefront, the pit was sizeable, housing a number of the creatures.

‘They’re enormous, hmm I wonder which would be the best pick. That one over th-‘

Before she could react, Shiver grabbed Vale’s calves, upending her straight into the crab pit. She screamed as she plummeted straight into the mud. The crabs, used to this occurrence, scuttled right out of the way.

‘I see yer got another one Shiv? Been a while since you’ve brought ‘nother orphan around. A right lady this one is, introduce her to Princess Penelope yer should.’

Pincer pointed at a crab in the distance bobbing with a muddied pink ribbon under a little hut aptly named “Princess Penelope”.

‘Will do Pince, what’s the best 5 silver will get? It’s all I’ve got.’

The pair of them ignored Vale’s screams from the pit, utterly focused on the bargain.

‘I’ll give yer ol’ Richard. You’ll need a big one if yer finally having that dinner with them.’

Shiver looked abashed. The pair of them spat in their hands and sealed the deal with a handshake.

‘Don’t tell me Pov’s gone around ratting me out, already. He talks too much. Taking that unit for five silver would be outright theft though, I’d never do that to you. We’ll do you a favour and round up a couple to save you the trouble.’

Pince nodded in gratitude with a wide smile, the gaps in his teeth on grand display.

‘That’s our Shiver! Always a thoughtful one. Just around thirty-five would do yer right.’

‘Shiver! What is the meaning of this! How dare yo-‘

Shiver walked over to the fenced pit edge to look down at the squirming Vale, thoroughly covered in mud. With a lithe leap, she fell into the mud beside her, gracing her with another layer of filth. As Vale recoiled, she fell onto her backside, squishing an unfortunate crab which promptly pinched her bottom in retaliation. Furious tears fell unbidden from her eyes as she squirmed away into the path of other scuttling crabs. Shiver stood over her in the mud of the pit, as she did to all of the other orphans she had mentored, like young Blaze. Each time, it was a slightly varied speech – whatever they needed to hear. A reality check.

‘Lesson one.’

She paced before a gaping Vale.

‘Trust no one. I don’t care who you were in your past life, whether you were a queen, princess, lady or bloody crab-saint- ’

Princess Penelope snapped her pincers at her in indignation, resenting the comparison.

‘You have no one now. You are no one. Did you think you could waltz into the city and own it? Take advantage of the kindness of others? That was certainly how you were acting.’

Shiver halted in front of the wide-eyed Vale.

‘You seemed to believe that you were entitled to the sacrifices Marta and Pov made yesterday. Perfectly content to sleep in.’

‘Hey now, that’s unf-‘

In response, Shiver idly flicked another small crab at her she Vale screamed and scuttled back. She resumed her pacing.

‘Did you intend to make it up to them at all? Give me an answer. I swear, if the thought genuinely crossed your mind, I’ll get on my knees, apologise, clean you up myself and serve you the best crab stew you’ve had in your life.’

Vale blushed. After the events of the past day, all she had wanted to do was burry her head in a pillow and sleep the rest of her exhaustion away. She hadn’t thought to repay Pov and Marta for bailing them out.

Shiver knew it. At least she had the character to admit it, with her silence.

Shiver finally stopped pacing, staring her down.

‘We were both at fault for getting made yesterday. But, my lady. You act like your life hasn’t changed at all. When you live on the streets, you’ll need to get your hands dirty and earn your own keep. If you don’t repay your debts, no one will look out for you. Wretches like us have nothing to offer, after all.’

Vale fell silent, Shiver seemingly having struck a chord. She sighed, squatting next to Vale, noticing a curious lack of protesting or fresh tears.

Perhaps there was hope for her after all. She has grit.

Shiver nodded briskly and walked towards the pit wall.

‘Why are you doing this? Why bother helping me in the first place?’

In response, Shiver picked up a tiny crab that squirmed between her fingers.

‘You’re like this crab.’

Vale simply raised one of her frustratingly well-defined eyebrows.

‘Helpless and squirming in the mud.’

Shiver shot Princess Penelope a deferential bow as she noticed a certain pink ribbon drawing inconspicuously closer, a claw raised in protest. Her highness didn’t squirm, she glided.

Vale just sighed, seeming to understand she wasn’t getting anything more substantial out of her. Shiver clapped her hands together.

‘Now! Let’s get to work shall we. Your first task, is to catch thirty-five of those whiteshell crabs over there.’

Shiver pointed to a white crab cautiously watching them while it stood immobile.

‘…with my hands?’

‘Yep. Well, go on.’

After a pause, Vale crept up to the crab hesitantly, letting out a yelp as the grab demonstrated surprising dexterity and speed, scuttling out of her reach as she came within grabbing distance.

Turning to express her frustration at Shiver, she noticed Pincer walk into the tent, crab swinging in hand.

‘Done with yer speech are ye? This one took to it quick, maybe there’s hope yet ay?’

‘You do this to the other orphans? You- you devil!’

Shiver looked at her aghast.

‘Do this to them? Nightmares, no. They all receive fair compensation.’

The old man chuckled, looking affectionately at his crabs. He was carrying a folding chair which he snapped open, placing at the edge of the pit. Shiver promptly leapt out of the pit and into the chair.

‘The usual Shiv?’

‘I can always depend on you Pince.’

‘Aye, aye. Thought you’d like one. Here ya go.’

Shiver promptly stuck the popsicle Pincer produced into her mouth, lounging on the chair. Vale sputtered, turning hesitantly to the crabs. There was no reasoning with Shiver and she knew it.

Vale rounded on the whitecrab again, running at it to no avail.

‘Maybe you should try another strategy! Acting like a crab worked really well for me.’

‘Aye Shiver, yer make an irresistible crab.’

Shiver beamed at Pince.

It was going to be a long day.

----

‘Careful of Richard! He packs a pinch.’

The sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow into the tent and onto the gigantic soldiercrab that had emerged from his slumber. Vale also noticed for the first time how the glow of the sun took on a distinctly crab-like orange hue when it was setting. She was slowly slipping into crab-filled insanity.

‘Oh and Penelope gets sassy if you get too close to her hut. Princesses, am I right?’

Vale was on her final catch now. After changing tack multiple times and getting pinched double that, she had finally found a reliable way to round up the whitecrabs. Cornering them after tiring them out had worked, not that Shiver had helped in the slightest. They seemed to be wary of the larger soldercrabs like Richard– a fear she shared – which she used to her advantage when cornering them. Her legs burned and her fingers were marred with cuts and bruises from outraged crustaceans.

Picking up the last crab breathlessly, and ignoring its errant pinching, Vale lobbed it at Shiver, who deftly caught it, binding its claws and placing it in a crate beside her.

Expecting more ridicule, she was surprised when Shiver instead extended her some water and a smile. Her tummy grumbled as she struggled to climb out of the pit.

Shiver led her to a bucket of cold water and a tattered curtain in the corner of the pit, but Vale was too tired and relieved to protest. Pince was nowhere to be seen, so she promptly removed her clothes and washed off the mud that was drying, wincing at the cold. She clumsily poured the water over her, and gritting her teeth as she put back on her mud-covered clothing. Shiver hummed to herself.

Not what I expected. She adapts quickly.

‘All done?’

‘Now, time to catch ol’ Richard!’

Vale’s tears started flowing.

‘There there… I was just joking. It’s time for me to earn my keep now. We both have to atone after all.’

She grabbed some coils of rope resting on the fence and leapt straight into the crab pit, approaching Richard with care. Vale watched on with wide eyes. She had made sure to give the gargantuan crab a wide berth, using him strategically to catch the smaller whitecrabs. She drew closer with confidence, bending her knees and staying on the balls of her feet as she came within Richard’s reach.

All of Vale’s chasing has made the mud more uneven than it had been originally.

Shiver paid the slippery, uneven surface no heed.

‘Sorry big guy, Marta’s hungry.’

She lunged, pivoting fluidly as she dodged a furious pincer. Vale had no doubt that a single “pinch” from Richard would leave bones broken. Shiver leapt behind the crab, demonstrating impressive agility, driving the helpless crab headfirst into the mud. She wasted no time securing one of his pincers before he managed to break free. His remaining pincer shot forward in an attempt to crush Shiver’s skull. With a flick of her foot, she sent him off course and flying back-first into the mud.

Richard helplessly struggled as ten of his armored feet scythed the air before him. Vale shuddered at the sight while Shiver fearlessly placed a foot in the center of his body to hold him down while securing his remaining pincer. Out of danger, Shiver she tied him up more securely, and hefted him onto her shoulder – a feat she would thought impossible for the lean girl. Princess Penelope scuttled about helplessly in anger and rage as her greatest knight was unceremoniously lifted out of the pit to meet his grueling fate at the foot of Marta’s dining table.

Shiver shot the gaping Vale a wink. She had taken care of that monster almost instantly.

‘Excited to have crab for dinner?’

---