I need help turning Dermott into a hawk

[tzigone]

I have a few fic ideas floating around in my head.  One of my favorites involves Maeve's parents.  But to use them/this idea, I really must work out the mechanics of when Dermott was transformed into a hawk, and I'm having trouble with it.  I know what I want them to think/believe, but I don't know how to make it happen.  I would love some help in this area.

To be honest, I've always had trouble coming up with a scenario where Rumina turns Dermott into a hawk instead of killing him.  Why does she do that?  Why a hawk?  I've searched for Arabian/Persian symbolism for hawks to see if that would give me a reason, but have so far come up empty.  I know Rumina likes to play with victims, but that's the ones that have meaning to her, isn't it?  Else they get fried like her servant/slave.  Besides, she didn't play with Dermott - or at lest, didn't keep him to play with.

Here's my list of criteria (spoiler involved):

• There are no other magic users in the area besides Turok and Rumina.  Maeve knows that she has the gift, but cannot (and will not try to) actively do any magic.
  
• Dermott was not trying to defend Maeve when transformed (though he may be trying to defend another). I don't want any sense of guilt from Maeve. She completely (and correctly) blames Rumina.
• The villagers/townsfolk should know that Rumina is a sorceress by time it's all over.
• The villagers/townsfolk must think that Rumina killed Dermott
• Maeve must interact with Rumina at some point either before or during Dermott's transformation.  Rumina has to know they are siblings.  We know Rumina saw her because she looked familiar and we know Maeve expected to be remembered.
• Rumina, Dermott, and Maeve were all at least late teens at the time - functioning as adults.

Here are a few extra details that I don't think will help, but I'll include anyway.

• Time period is late 8th century
• Maeve and Dermott's father is a metalworker, and skilled enough to work in bronze; fairly well off.  His daughters, as well as sons, were taught his trade and how to fight.
  
• Maeve and Dermott are third and fourth of five surviving children and are 1-2 years apart in age, with Dermott younger
• Place is likely a monastic town (possibly Coleraine/Cúil Rathain)
  

[banmaixanh]

It sounds like you want to write a deep story about Maeve, Dermott and Rumina. Not sure if it can match your story but how about Rumina likes Dermott? But Dermott doesn't like her. - just like Sinbad. She gets angry and turns Dermott to a hawk in the purpose of keeping him as her pet forever. Maeve has the gift so she is able to know Rumina isn't a good girl and doesn't want Dermott to be close with that girl and it causes the conflict between the girls. When Rumina kidnaps Dermott and has the plan to turn him to a hawk Maeve appears and tries to stop it from happening but she fails. All she can do just free Dermott from Rumina's cage. In order to save Dermott from Rumina, Maeve and Dermott leave their homeland and try to find out the way to free Dermott from the curse. After a long time, Rumina already forget what happened in the past so when she meets Maeve again she doesn't recognize her.

Uhm, I don't know it's what you want but it's what I have in mind after reading your questions and your criteria of your fic. Look forward to read your fic soon.

[tzigone]

Actually, it's not about Rumina at all. This is just one important bit of backstory for a story set during the series. The main gist of the story idea (which would not be immediately revealed) is this: Their parents believe, truly believe, that Dermott is dead and Maeve has gone mad with grief. They believe she's living in a delusion, refusing to accept her loss. Believing this, they've essentially lost two of their children, because Maeve will not give up on Dermott and leaves to find Rumina and has not spoken with her parents since. They aren't evil or stupid, they're just wrong. And that wrongness, that view of Maeve, has not only affected her relationship with them, but every relationship forward. She tells no one the truth because her own family didn't believe her, so why would anyone else. She can't stand the idea of anyone else looking at her like she's broken, mad. Also, she can't have anyone trying to stop her from fulfilling her task, as they might do if they knew her reason, but believed it false.

But for this work, I absolutely must plot out a scenario where Dermott being dead is a logical, reasonable, belief because I don't want her parents to be narrow-minded fools. That's part of the tragedy of it.

I did consider Rumina having an attraction to Dermott, but I thought she'd remember him if that was the case. I mean, she never tried to turn Sinbad into a pet (though I do now have in my head the idea that her cat, Cicero is another former infatuation - thanks for that). I really want it to be something that was completely insignificant and forgettable to Rumina, but ended up encompassing Maeve and Dermott's entire lives.

[MJ]

There is one episode where Rumina changed her former beau's into monsters for her amusement, and she has to have learned that somewhere... And Maeve's magic does seem to be closely connected to her emotions.

Considering your stipulations how about Rumina's mother fled Turok, taking her daughter with her. She makes Rumina promise not to use magic as it will give Turok a handle on finding them. But Rumina is spoiled and bored, not taking to life in a foreign village easily. She doesn't want to make friends with the locals who she describes as dull peasants, so the locals don't really take a shine to her either. So Rumina starts wandering away from the village and practicing her magic. Monsters start appearing in the town at the same time as their youngsters are disappearing as they roam the hills about the town, there are even some dead bodies, half eaten by the creatures who keep showing up at the village. The townfolk try to keep everyone indoors but the flocks and fields need tending, water needs to be fetched (ore needs to be mined?) etc. So one day their youngest sibling catches a fever, so desperate Maeve's mother sends her other four children out in two teams of two to find medicinal herbs (Or a sheep got stuck, or water needed fetching, or old granny whatsherface needed to be brought a meal) so Dermott and Maeve go out together. In a meadow they stumble upon Rumina reading a book. This is weird as all non-essential outside activities have been suspended. So Dermott's all: "Oh good that we found you, we should stick together." And he reaches for her hand to help her up. Maeve lags back a bit, hand on her sword-hilt because she doesn't trust this and dread is creeping up her spine. Rumina smiles, she had wanted to try out another variation of her favourite spell. As Rumina send her spell towards Dermott, Maeve lunges forward, the hand not on her sword stretched out in front of her and in her desperation shoots off some magic of her own. The two beams cross but Rumina's goes through Maeve's and hits Dermott. Maeve's magic was too unfocused and weak from lack of training to deflect the evil magic but it is pure enough to strip the evil from the spell, making Dermott into an animal rather then a monster. Maeve immediately attacks Rumina with her sword but the latter just laughs and turns herself into a whirlwind (she's actually quite upset that her spell had been subverted and that there was another magic user, which is why she chose to leave and think rather than kill Maeve.)
Maeve is upset and sees that Dermott has disappeared. She runs back to her parent's house and tells them that Rumina has killed Dermott. They believe her. That night Maeve starts dreaming that Dermott is speaking to her. That goes on for a while until she can even hear him when she's awake. She tells her parents and they're convinced Maeve is going mad with grief at having seen her brother killed. Eventually Maeve starts to believe it is the hawk who is talking to her, that Dermott is not dead but instead transformed. Her parents think this is still the grief talking and that Maeve is descending further and further into madness.

Does that fit?

[tzigone]

Thanks for the suggestion, but that won't work because it places Rumina a child - I want them all adults. Plus it's too much of Rumina's life to me - being taken from her father, in a new place, etc. I really want it all to be such a non-event to her. Very forgettable and routine. If she's been taken away, the place she's taken to would be too memorable. Plus it's too much about Rumina. This isn't about her, her feelings or thoughts. My plan is she and Turok were just there a few days (up to a couple weeks) hunting down a magical artifact in a primitive backwater.

And it's important to me that Maeve never think Dermott is killed. Her story is the same from the start, but they don't believe her. She has to feel her parents' lack of belief in her, and if they are just believing one of the two mutually-contradictory things she told them, they're still believing her.

Talking here has given me a couple ideas, though. I think will have Dermott and Maeve get caught by Rumina (who didn't want to go into the filthy cave or where ever the artifact was). They want no witnesses to their "theft" (actually, no one knew it was there, so it's more finders-keepers, but they don't want to risk anyone important knowing they have the artifact or they don't want anyone else going after it, too), so kill anyone who shows up. But Rumina's bored, so decides to play with them first. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo and Dermott's transformed. She'll start on a slow death for Maeve, but then Turok's done and she's distracted and she might think she's finished off unconscious Maeve (or just doesn't care, since they're done) so away they go. Someone in the distance saw what was happening (ran towards them, but Turok and Rumina were gone by time they arrived) and it looked to them like Dermott was disintegrated. It's a complete non-event for Rumina. I just have decide if it was unfortunate circumstance that brought Dermott and Maeve to their attention or if they were spying because one or both of them (probably Dermott if one, since he seems to have a very strong sensitivity/judgement when magic is involved - see the ghost Prince, the Trickster, etc.) thought they felt wrong and were up to no good and decided to follow. I know it doesn't have tons of drama, but it's not meant to; I want something more in the flavor of her disintegrating her slave than of her fixation with Sinbad. Something she forgets as soon as it's done.