#so she usually has an apprentice to help guide her where she needs to go

[starrydreamerluna]

Huntrix was formed on a survival show-

-to test the trainees compatibility with rumi and the rest of the public. To see who had the spark to become a demon hunter.

Zoey(14) auditions with a sunlight sisters song she wrote an extended part for so she could rap, because Bobby sent it in for her wanting her to at least try to pursue music.

Mira(16) gets scouted at a dance meet where no one knows who she is so she ends up hiding herself as mira and dying her hair black so no one recognises her on the show.

Rumi(15) was a shoe in obviously, but she'd not guaranteed for the final lineup if the honmoon doesn't resonate with her enough (she can use it still though because the sunlight sisters are still technically active and rumi inherited her mothers claim to use it)

There's a few weeks of the usual training and covering songs before Celine starts being able to whittle down her shortlist and starts encouraging the girls to push themselves to connect with the music theyre performing and think how the audience will connect with it.

Zoey rumi and mira get put together by chance and outperform the other teams in a Sunlight sisters themed challenge/mission where the girls really made the songs their own. Mira choreographs new parts including an improved dancebreak, rumi opts up in her high notes and adlibs but also guides her teammates on harmonies and zoey kills it with her best rap yet.

When it gets down to the final 10 girls one of them gets injured in a practice room and has to pull out after she's found by rumi and Celine, leaving 3 teams of three girls. Celine therefore decides to pull out the final challenge- she wants each team to work with eschother and as much staff as they need to produce a demo debut. What do they want their debut to sound like, what foot are they putting forward? How are they gonna present themselves to their fans?

The ones who resonate the strongest with the honmoon will win their debut. They have 6 weeks. (During which the actual episodes start airing.)

There's a bit of angst and hurt going between the teams and their members, zoey is panicking about her heritage and ability because people are calling her western and her schoolmates are watching her. Mira realises people are starting to figure out who she is, and rumi knows that a demon attacked the trainee that got hurt, trying to prevent the hunters coming together.

before Celine can know for sure who her apprentices may be demons break into rumi, mira and zoeys practice session and they find out about it all because rumi has to defend them. When she gets pinned in comes mira with a steal chair and 14 year old zoey uses her cheerleading experience to kick a few demons back.

Unfortunately they do steal something: zoeys notebook which fucking devastates her. Rumi promises its okay.

Zoey in all her childish dumbassery decides to sneak out that night to go get her notebook back, partly her own drive, partly a tempt by gwi-ma to get her killed once he found out it had a lot of confessions of her anxiety throughout the show.

Mira was on her way back after being confronted by her parents about everything when zoey left. She's so angry at them she decided to cut off contact because she felt so at home in the dorms.

Both of them accidentally unknowingly tear the honmoon and its rumi to the rescue, until yknow. The girls summon their weapons for the first time. They start writing the song then and there, zoey inspired by the sounds of the honmoon for a baseline, mira channeling her want to beat shit up into choreography and rumi's awkward sassy ass coming up with the hook while insulting demons.

Zoey calls in Bobby for support because he's her legal guardian while she's in Korea and he starts helping manage their tasks and they get the demo done with enough time to go on a few more hunts to get the notebook back because Bobby let's it slip how important they are to zoey.

Celine isn't happy with them when she finds them after biting off more than they can chew.

She is incredibly impressed two days later when they perform their song at the live finale and the honmoon soars in recognition of its new guardians.

[swordevotion]

me, tapping lyarrha: ah, i love a former lolth-sworn who has a worse sunlight sensitivity than most drow because it's one of the many parting gifts lolth left her when she defected (:

[wandafiction]

Eleos - Just Us Chapter 107

Warnings: None I Think

Word Count: 3154

Series List | Chapter 106 | Chapter 108

================================

“Thank you for lunch, uncles!” Morgan walks backwards as she waves at Thor and Loki, my hand placed gently on top of her head to help guide her as she walks. 

“Of course mini Stark, tell those two to bring you back as much as possible because we miss seeing you every week.” Thor’s voice echoes around the quiet cafe and Morgan laughs loudly when Loki hits the back of Thor’s head telling him there is no need to shout. 

“I will see you soon little apprentice.” It takes me slightly by surprise how soft Loki’s tone is and how genuine his smile is as well, since he is usually up to no good and all you have to do is look at his little smirk to see it.

“Goodbye point break, bye reindeer games!” Wanda looks at me with a brow raised in question at Morgan’s nicknames for them and I smile shaking my head.

“Who gave them those nicknames honey?” I ask Morgan as we leave the cafe, Wanda’s attention going between the sidewalk and my sister as Morgan walks between us holding one of our hands each.

“Dad of course. I don’t know why but those are the names he gave them. He calls Y/n’s dad Legolas. All his friends have nicknames.”

“Does Y/n have a nickname?” Morgan looks up at me humming as she thinks.

“She does but it's not for other people to know.” Morgan looks across to Wanda, my girlfriend smiling down at her as I keep an eye on the sidewalk making sure we don’t walk into anyone as we are taking up the whole sidewalk. 

“Do I get to know this name, or is it just between you, your dad and your sissy?” Morgan hums, moving her lips to the side as I see the cogs in her brain turning. 

“Eleos.” Morgan states simply before going back to looking ahead and swinging both her arms causing mine and Wanda’s to swing too. 

“Eleos?” Wanda looks at me in question and I simply nod to Morgan and Wanda squeezes her hand gently getting her attention. “Why Eleos?”

“Follow me.” Wanda looks back to me and I shrug my shoulders as Morgan leads us over to central park, even though we came here before going to the cafe, I don’t question it and let her take us where she wants; Wanda seems to think the same thing as she just smiles at the young girl who has gone back to swinging our arms.

I let my arms roam the park as Morgan leads us around the park, down a path I recognize to be leading us to the pond to a specific patch of ground. I smile to myself and the thought of her bringing someone else to this spot that only me and Sarah were allowed to bring her to. To anyone else it might just look like a small patch of grass between two trees in a slightly more secluded corner of the pond, but it's where Morgan comes to unwind.

I take my trench coat off, laying it out on the ground so there is a barrier between us and the cold ground as we all sit down. Morgan stays between me and Wanda, keeping our hands in hers as she rests them on her legs as she sits criss-cross applesauce. I kiss the top of Morgan’s head, looking at Wanda whose other hand is gently twirling the end of some of Morgan’s hair around her finger.

“Eleos is a Greek goddess. She is the goddess of compassion and clemency.” Morgan starts reciting what her dad taught her, her eyes looking over the pond as she does, missing the way Wanda watches and listens to her intently. “Among all the gods she is the most useful to human life in its vic- vici. Sissy what's the word?”

“Vicissitudes.” Morgan finally looks away from the pond to me and then to Wanda, my girlfriend's smile growing as Morgan moves to sit with her back to her so she can still see the pond; Wanda presses a kiss to Morgan’s hair as the young girl continues what she is saying.

“The word means change, and it's normally not a good change. Sissy come cuddle.” 

I chuckle as she keeps interrupting her own story but am quick to sit behind Wanda, my legs laying flat either side of hers and my arms wrapping around her waist as my hand rests on Morgan’s stomach; slouching slightly to rest my chin on Wanda’s shoulder. 

“Anyway, the goddess would be there during these changes and would help humanity through it basically because she was kind and caring and very compassionate. I’m not sure what that word means but dad says it's a good thing to be, so that is what she was. Dad says she was a kind and gentle goddess who would give succor to anyone who asked for it. I’m not sure what the big words mean, but he tells me that sissy is very much like the goddess, always doing good for others and helping all of those who ask for it without hesitation. So that's why sissy is Eleos.” 

“Wow she does sound just like Y/n doesn’t she?” Wanda starts weaving her hands through Morgan’s hair turning her head to kiss my temple as my eyes fill with a few tears.

“She really does. But what does, compassionate mean, and clemency and also succor. Dad tells me all the time about Eleos when I ask and he always says those words but I'm only little and don’t understand.” I chuckle as Morgan turns herself around on Wanda’s legs to face us with a curious gaze.

“So succor means to give support when someone is distressed or going through something that they need support with.” I explain in the easy way I know how.

“So like when we supported you after Sarah and nugget died?” I smile at the nickname, watching as Wanda brushes some of Morgan’s hair behind her ear. 

“Exactly. You and your parents helped me through one of the hardest times in my life. You gave succor when I needed it.” 

“Who is nugget?” Morgan looks at Wanda with a wide smile.

“It was my nickname for Evie.”

“That’s adorable.” Wanda says with a soft smile. “And compassionate little one means that you have understanding of what someone may be going through, even if you have never been through it yourself. You are able to help them in a way that others may not because some people struggle to understand what a person may need or want when they are going through something bad. But there are those, who are compassionate, who may not know how it truly feels but they are able to give more support to a person because their minds are full of understanding.”

“I don’t understand.” Me and Wanda chuckle at the young girl’s confusion, but she is right knowing when someone is compassionate over someone who is just saying things they think you want to hear can be difficult and trying to explain that is even harder.

“Okay, how about this little one. What did most people say to you when you went to Sarah’s funeral?” Wanda asks the question with caution, not sure what Morgan’s reaction will be but I smile when I see how she is going to explain it.

“They said sorry, which is silly because it wasn’t their fault and mom always told me never say sorry if something isn’t your fault.” 

“And how did them saying sorry make you feel?” Morgan’s full attention is on Wanda as I just sit and observe the two of them, already loving the bond between them after only a day nearly 2.

“Well it didn’t make me feel good, it made me more sad.”

“Okay, so we know that your sissy is compassionate so what did Y/n tell you at the funeral.” Morgan hums as she thinks and I kiss Wanda’s cheek, her eyes flicking to mine as I mime out a small thank you and she kisses my forehead in return before her attention goes back to Morgan.

“She told me she would be there for anything I needed and would help to her best abilities whenever I asked for it.” Morgan’s eyes light up as she comes to some understanding in her own mind. “Being compassionate is about making sure that the person knows you will support them and be there, instead of just pushing the problem away. Like when people say sorry.”

“Exactly. So you know what succor and compassionate mean. What was the last word?”

“Clemency.” Wanda hums in thought for a second.

“Clemency is like mercy, or leniency. So you can be merciful to those who have wronged you, or you can have a leniency with them so not quite forgiving them or forgetting what they did but also not making their punishment for their acts worse than they are already getting. So if you were to, let's say, someone did something to hurt you and they got in trouble for it. If you were to forgive them for their acts that hurt you, then you are showing acts of clemency. It is very hard to try and explain because it is a term mostly used in the court of law. So Eleos may have forgiven criminals for acts or shown them mercy when it led to how they got punished for breaking the law.”

“So it's about forgiving people that you think can be forgiven but making sure that they are still punished and told what they did was wrong.” A look of utter confusion passes Morgan’s features making me and Wanda chuckle as we both nod.

“Yeah kind of like that, little one.” Morgan smiles at Wanda then at me.

“Well then sissy is definitely Eleos.” She decides, turning back around to face the pond, a silence falling over us as we all just take in the moment.

The sound of the trees swaying in the wind, branches creaking at the strain of moving one way then back the other. The leaves rustling, the sound building with the wind and slowly dying with it too. The birds sing all their different songs, from high pitched melodies to the low coo of the pigeons; our surroundings never once in silence as the world continues to move around us. The sound of water splashing as the ducks dive below the water, to catch their meal or simply to bathe themselves can also be heard if one is to listen closely enough.

However, in our little spot - where Morgan comes to think and unwind - not a sound can be heard apart from the soft gentle breathing as all three of us simply take in the moment; and hold each other in comfort. I smile as I feel a soft kiss being placed on the side of my head, my attention turning from the pond in front to Wanda who subtly nods to Morgan. My eyes slowly move to look at Morgan who is shivering a little, her body moving so she is sitting sideways on Wanda’s lap, her eyes half closed, letting out a small yawn as she relaxes into Wanda more.

“Why don’t we head back to the house and get some dinner started.” I move my hand to weave through Morgan’s hair as she nods against Wanda’s chest. 

“Can we have Stroganoff?” Morgan’s eyes flutter open as much as they can to look up at me, a tired smile growing on her lips.

“Of course we can honey.”

“Yay.” She whispers cheers causing me to chuckle slightly as Morgan’s eyes move to look up at Wanda. “Can you carry me please sis?”

“Of course, little one. Let's get you back in the warm.”  

I stand up from sitting on the ground, looking out to the pond as Wanda wraps her arms around Morgan’s body slowly standing up. Morgan’s head finds home in Wanda’s neck, her small arms wrapping around the back of her neck and her legs around her waist. Wanda’s arms wrap underneath Morgan’s bum keeping her up, as I pick my coat off of the floor; hanging over my arm since it is now cold and wet from being on the ground. I wrap my arm around Wanda’s shoulder pulling her closer to me as we start making our way out of the park.

“Why don’t you call Karen and have her drop the boys off to mine, and we can have a small family meal before I drop Morgan back off to Papa T’s?” I keep my hand on the small of Wanda’s back helping to guide her through a small crowd of people as she tries to keep Morgan safe and comfortable. 

“My phone is in my back pocket, the passcode is 2800.” I hesitate slightly at her ease to just hand over her phone. 

“Uhm, I can take Morgan and you can just call her if you want.” Wanda furrows her brows in confusion looking up to me, as I continue to lead us out of the park.

“It’s okay, just grab it from my pocket and go into my contacts.” 

“But I don't want to invade your privacy.” I state not looking back at her, as I get us to the crosswalk so we can start heading back to mine. 

“There isn’t anything on my phone that I am not happy for you to see. Here.” Now we have come to a stop Wanda is able to quickly move one hand to her pocket keeping Morgan against her with her other and passes me the phone. 

“Uhm, what's the passcode again?” I anxiously tap the screen, it’s not that I don't trust her, it's more that she trusts me enough to just go on her phone. Sarah and Steph never allowed that. 

“2800.” Wanda wraps her arm back around Morgan, hoisting her up a little as she has started to slip down. I type in the passcode, smiling when the phone unlocks and the home screen is a picture of me running around Natasha’s backyard with the boys. 

“I didn’t know you had a picture of this day.” Wanda hums as I turn the phone to show her the home screen and she smiles widely at me as we start to cross the street once the traffic stops.

“Yeah, you all looked so happy and I couldn’t not take a picture.”

“Can you send this to me?” I question as I open up the contacts searching for Karen’s name.

“Of course I can dorogaya.” I wrap my free arm back around her shoulder as I press the call button lifting the phone to my ear. 

Karen: Hello, Wanda.

Me: Hey, Karen it’s Y/n.

Karen: Oh, hello dear. Is everything okay?

Me: It’s perfect. Me and Wanda were just wondering if you were able to drop the boys around mine so that we could introduce them to Morgan and have a family dinner tonight.

Karen: Of course I can. Just send me your address and I will have them outside the door in the next hour or so,

Me: Thank you Karen. And thank you for keeping an eye on them for the best day or two.

Karen: It's no problem, I love the boys no it was no hassle.

Me: Well thank you anyway.

Karen: Okay, I will get the boys ready to go, just send me the address and we will be there. Oh and say hi to Wanda for me.

Me: Will do, see you soon Karen.

Karen: See you soon dear.

“Karen says hello.” I pass on as I put Wanda’s phone, after sending Karen my address, in my coat pocket, swapping it out for my house keys as we make our way onto my street.

“When can she drop the boys off?” Wanda shifts Morgan to her left hip, her right arm dropping to her side and pulling my left arm down so she can link her hand with mine giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“She said within the next hour or so, but with New York traffic at rush hour she could be longer. But we can cook dinner and just keep it warm in the oven until the boys turn up.” 

Wanda pulls me to a stop before I can walk up the stairs to the house and when I raise an eyebrow in question she tugs my arms down more causing me to bend down and she connects our lips in a soft kiss. When our lips part and I look at her in question she simply shrugs her shoulders, grabbing the keys from my hand and making her way up to the stairs. I shake myself out of my daze of confusion quickly jogging up the few steps, and through the door that Wanda is holding open for me. 

I lean down leaving a small kiss on Wanda’s forehead, as I kick the door closed and start taking my shoes off. Once I have hung my coat up and put my shoes on the rack I make my way to Wanda, to take Morgan from her arms so she can get her coat and shoes off but the moment she goes to move Morgan her small arms grip tighter around Wanda’s neck. 

“Morgan, honey you need to let go of Wanda so she can get herself sorted.” I say softly trying to pry her arms off of Wanda but using her super child strength, it’s ridiculous how strong a young child’s grip can be, she whines shaking her head.

“I wanna stay here.” She nuzzles her face into Wanda’s neck more and I give Wanda an I’m sorry smile and she simply shrugs her shoulders as she kicks her shoes off.

“Looks like I am keeping my coat on.” She turns around bouncing Morgan gently in her arms. “I am going to take her to one of the bedrooms and lay down with her for a while. I think she just wants to be held and sleep. Are you going to join us in our little sleep fest?”

“Maybe later, I'm gonna prep everything for dinner.” Wanda hums with a nod, whispering sweet nothing in Morgan’s ear as she whines a little more.

“I will set an alarm for an hour so I can be up for when the boys will roughly get here.” Wanda presses a few kisses to the side of Morgan’s head as she starts making her way upstairs.

“It’s okay, I will just come and get you once food is ready.”

“Okay. I love you baby.” Her soft voice and words make a small blush grow on my cheeks and a soft smile makes its way onto my lips.

“I love you too princess.” My eyes move to see Morgan’s tiredly open to look at me giving me a small wave.

“Night night.” I chuckle as her eyes flutter closed again and Wanda shifts her back onto her hip more. 

“Night night honey.” I start walking past the stairs as Wanda restarts her journey up them, only to come to a stop again when I hear Morgan tiredly mumble.

“I love you Eleos.”

================================

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ038, writing them down for future reference.

Roy fixed the damaged RV flag after noticing it was torn (the flag led him to Hogator after all, so it's special to him). I like how he is into handiwork, maybe his grandfather taught him? He also knows how to cook curry (as seen in ep 27), so it's good that he knows how to do stuff like this. Murdock also knows how to sew things, so that's something Roy has in common with him.

Mollie handled check-ups for Pokemon on the ship. Mibrim seems more comfortable around her since she refused a check-up once before. Lucky cheers up Mibrim, and Liko comments on how they seem like kindred spirits. Which is furthermore reinforced when Mibrim imitates Lucky when she used Heal Pulse (master and apprentice theme, etc). They are both sensitive to others' feelings.

Also liked seeing that Lizardon and the other fire type Pokemon were exhausted from working in the engine room. It's interesting seeing Pokemon being tired or needing a check-up for things other than battling.

Liko and Mollie end up going to the forest to look for the other Ikkanezumi that wasn't with its partner (though at this point, they still think it's a Wakkanezumi). Liko goes into the cave where the missing Pokemon are and she ends up leaving Mibrim behind. The close up on Liko and Mibrim as Liko says there might still be Pokemon hurt down the cave and Mibrim looking back on Liko as she sees her going deeper in the cave was beautiful.

Mibrim ends up helping though, and Lucky immediately senses what she wants to do since she gives her an egg to bring to Liko. She is growing little by little. She even guided Liko where the Pokemon were in the cave since she could feel exactly where they were by sensing them.

Liko was often hesitating in this episode and tried to convince herself things would be okay even though she actually was unsure. She didn't know which way to go at the crossroad, she initially wasn't sure what to do when the Pokemon weren't eating the egg... I like that she is still shown hesitating even when she is resolute in helping. Nyahoja and Mibrim both helped her though. Nyahoja by protecting her and comforting her, and Mibrim by guiding her and responding to her feelings by learning Heal Pulse. And after the Ikkanezumi healed, they helped her get out of the cave when she wasn't sure what to do. Liko had to deal with things without Mollie (compared to HZ011), and she is still stumbling a bit but the Pokemon are there for her.

Also liked how Mibrim learning Heal Pulse ties back to so many themes of healing and reaching out in the story.. this was the first time Liko commanded Mibrim to use a move and I love that it's a move about healing and support, and a move that works best to uplift others. It also gives more weight to Kabu's message to Liko (that winning and battles aren't everything). I can't wait to see how Mibrim will grow from now on since she is getting braver, too. It's nice that Liko's Pokemon both represent different sides of her (Nyahoja is more fierce/stubborn and can be competitive, while Mibrim is more calm and connects to others' emotions).

The whole crew (even Dot!) came together to move the fallen tree to get to Liko... though Liko managed to get out from another exit thanks to the Ikkanezumi. Mollie was so worried that she ran to Liko to hug her. That was cute! Mollie is usually cool and collected, so seeing her hug Liko like that really shows how much she means to her.

The Ikkanezumi eventually stayed on the ship. And Mibrim and Lucky both ran after them at the end. Mibrim is getting more used to being around others now.

[ao3-chaotic-one]

Oneshot fanfic for @mayodayo

Fuschia and Holly are their OC’s.

Fuschia woke up more anxious than usual, and tried her best to shake the anxiety out of her body while she got ready for the day. She carefully put the brand-new carving supplies in her apron, pulled her untied boots on, and bounded down the stairs. Hunter was already awake at the table, with two plates of food, and two drinks on the table waiting for them. She quietly thanked him, still nervous to be herself around her girlfriend’s father. She knew he was part of the group that refurbished and renovated the entirety of the Boiling Isles, from the mom and pop shops that got destroyed, to the entire government system and how it worked. He was intimidating, but not because he was scary, but because he was smart. She sat across from him, and they ate in mostly silence, besides the occasional question from Hunter. How did she sleep, is she settling in okay, what her favorite color was. She didn’t mind, it felt nice to be cared about for once. Her mother and father only had her to have a miniature version of themselves they could control, and when they lost control, they kicked her out. Holly, being the absolute sweetheart she is, picked Fuschia up from her house using her mother’s signature flower transportation. The look on Boscha’s face when that happened was priceless, and it was a memory she would cherish. But now? She’s finished her meal, and is gathering the cups, plates and utensils, putting them in the sink, to wash later.

“Are you ready to go?” Hunter asked her, making her jump a bit.

“Yeah, I am! Where exactly are we going?” She questioned, walking down the front steps.

“Somewhere magical!” Hunter responded, and Fuschia sighed. She was not going to get a straight answer out of him. He summoned his stave, Waffles, a northeastern bluejay. Thank you Auntie Luz for teaching her about Earth animals. Fuschia gently took out her own palisman, a small, shelled mammal that Auntie Luz had taught her was an Armadillo. Apparently, their shells are super tough, but they have a soft underbelly. The animal resonated within her, and now, has become her palisman, Frodo. She had her cousins, Ayzee and Cate, to thank for the name. She hopped on, and followed Hunter through the thick red brush of the trees of the forest. They flew for a good thirty minutes, stopping to admire the flora and fauna of the rebuilt Isles. Finally, Hunter signaled for them to land once more, and they did. He guided her over the thick roots and through the varying ivies, until they got to a secluded area, curtained with beautiful leaves. He pulled the leaves aside, to reveal a large round stump, surrounded by smaller stumps. On top of the largest one, were two small cubes of palistrom wood.

“What is all this?” Fuschia looked at Hunter curiously.

He blushed, the redness going to the tips of his ears.

“Well, Holly doesn’t want to become a palisman carver, and you have a lot of strong qualities that I feel we need more of in the Isles. I was wondering if you would officially become my apprentice. It would also help explain why you’re around my family so often, and you won’t have to explain your trauma to strangers.” As he was explaining, tears welled in Fuschia’s eyes. She never had somebody believe in her before. She hugged him tightly, and whispered her giddy acceptance. He smiled and ruffled her hair, the way Eda would to him, and guided her to her stump. He gently took her hands in his, and instructed her on how to carve. She giggled to herself, because she had carved Frodo with the help of Eda, Auntie Luz, and Mattholemule. She knew the basics, and she told Hunter so. He wasn’t surprised, and simply took a seat next to her, giving advice as it was needed. They took the whole day together, and carved multiple palismen to be adopted by witches, both young and old. A log of the older witches had their palismen taken from them, and were eager to adopt the small creatures that the duo carved. They spent the evening going around the smaller community in Latissa, donating palismen to those in need of one. Fuschia was amazed with how one small act of kindness could change the world of the witches they were donating to. Hunter, noticing that Fuschia was lost in thought, spoke up.

“Your mom would hate that you’re helping people. That’s a good thing. It means you’re making a difference, and that you’re not like her. Being raised with a certain mindset is hard to break, so kudos to you for managing to do so. I don’t know if this will mean anything, but I am proud of you Fuschia. The rest of your new family is also proud of you.” He was cut off by the small teenager wrapping her arms around him and biting her face in his chest. He felt her shoulders moving, and it was safe to say she was sobbing. He led her away from the people, into a semi-private alley. There, she was able to let it all out, throwing spells at the enforced walls. Her anger, her fear, her sadness, her grief, her pain. She was letting it all out, and Hunter smiled his crooked little smile, and watched in awe, as his daughter’s girlfriend showed how fiercely protective she is of others. As the sun set, her emotions died down, and she was panting in the alleyway.

“Are you feeling better now?” He lightly teased.

“Yeah, actually, I am. I’ve had that pent up for a while. Thank you.” She took a look at her surroundings. “Oh, it’s dark. We should get back home.” She looked at Hunter, and he nodded. She followed him to the takeoff spot in Latissa. Due to the size of the town and population, they have a small area specifically for taking off on palismen. Too many incidents involving people getting accidentally whacked in the head. So, from there, they took off, and flew home. It took them about an hour, and Willow and Holly both greeted them with smiles when they entered through the door. They put dinner on the table, and they chatted about their days. Hunter told Holly about the strength he witnessed from Fuschia, and Willow’s eyes went wide.

“You’re telling me, that two of the strongest young women are living under my roof? That’s so awesome! I’m proud of you both, and if you want, I can help you guys get stronger!!” She smiles and flexes, making Hunter blush. The two girlfriends giggle, and they all finish eating with fun conversations and peaceful energy. They gathered in the living room for a movie night, and Fuschia fell asleep in Holly’s arms, for the first time, feeling completely at peace.

[writing-frenzy]

Misadventures of a Unknowing Tired God, an Unlucky Adventurer Cinnamonroll, and the Feral Good Boi

Summery: (Or, Three different types of Dumbasses against the world, all sharing the braincell at a time.)

So.... I did not expect my story to blow up like it did. I am so glad everyone liked it, so I figured I’d share this one as well. Again, I was inspired by the SAGAU, with the works of @nicebonescomrade and @i-put-the-yan-in-polyandry being so awesome. Though this time, I also put in my own headcannons and worldbuilding, so I hope you guys don’t mind! This story is full of some light hearted, funny adventures of our best boys with reader, though there is some angst here and there. All the same, I hope you all enjoy it!

------------------------------------

Weapon Training

“Here we go, one of these should do the trick.” Bennett says, dumping out a whole lot of books and funny orbs. “Though, you’ll probably at least need to read the magic guide first before you actually start with any spells, and maybe give a few of the apprentice notes a look through.” The seasoned adventurer says, before picking a few of said books out and giving them to you to ready.

“Are you sure I can use these?” You can’t help but ask rather dubiously, picking up one of the books, blinking at how warm it feels to the touch. Razor blinks with you, sniffing one of the books he’s holding as well, before sneezing. You can’t help but laugh when you see the disgusted face he holds, dropping the book back onto the pile without a care.

You had asked the boys about you possible learning a weapon a bit ago, though unsure where to start, not really wanting a blade, but feeling no where near confident with a bow. But after hearing about your hesitance, you really weren’t expecting what Bennett suggested.

“Yeah, Catalysts, especially grimoires and tomes, can be used by anyone as they usually pull on the magic in the book itself and the mental energy of the person using it. Vision bearers are just able to cut down even more on cost of power by using the elemental energy as well.... Hmm, like comparing a Treasure Hoarder Potioneer with Klee; both Catalyst users that focus on exlirs and compounds, but Klee will have them beat in power and stamina usually because of how she has Three energies she can use to impower her weapon, compared to the Treasure Hoarder with only two and a body not as enhanced.” Bennett explains, making you blink.

Huh. So, you’ll never be as scary as Lisa or Klee, but you might be able to run away faster if you ever need to. (you’ve already ran from the purple witch, you do not want to have to ever again. you don’t even want to think about the adorable arson child being after you, ever.)

Looking over the books, you read over them, Bennett answering what he can, while Razor some, someway, builds a fort of books all around you guys. (When did you ever have that many books?)  

But as it is, armed with knowledge, you grab an apprentice note, just in case of any mishaps so that you three can take care of, and say your first spell.

“Whoa!”

“Grrrrrrh”

....

Somehow, the book fort is both on fire and freezing over. Every attempt after that....

“Ah! Hot, Hot!”

“Flowers, lots of flowers.”

Welp... apparent earth can melt, and wind can go more green then you expected.

“Ah, pratice makes perfect, right?’ You can’t help but say to Bennet’s and Razor’s exhausted stares.

(Your practice is now every other day, and you have to feed the two a good, meaty meal afterwards, even as the two teens look half-dead from exhaustion from the day.

More then worth it, after you were able learn to shield your friends from some Treasure Hoarder attacks, even able to heal them a little.)

--------------------------------------------------------

A bit of a Reach

“I’m telling you, I can reach it!” You can’t help but say, even as you glare at how Razor is facing off with the ameno slime, the two seeming to have a conversion with their eyes.

“Watch. Careful. Make sure they no fall.” the wild child actually cautions the slime, to which the creatures bobs their body to, those wide, orange glowing eyes ever so serious.

“Ahhh, come on! Bennett, you know I can- Don’t you pretend to be asleep on me!” You try to at least try and reason with Benny, who can at least get Razor to do what he wants more easily, only to find the boy cuddled in a slime pile, him and the slimes all pretending to be asleep.

Rather terribly at that, seeing how they open an eye every now and then to check if your were watching.

Sometimes, you regretted sharing the joy that is slime pillows with the boys... (But honestly, scenes like this, where you see them being so cute, is honestly worth it.) 

But you will not let this adorableness get to you today! You can climb up this tree, and you will be able to gather eggs for today’s breakfast! You’ve climbed in worst situations, heck, you’ve had to sleep in a tree before. Sure, you’ve fallen from a cliff, which Razor saved you from by catching you before continuing to climb up... But that is different! The tree is not that high!

(In the end, grumbling, you let the large slime follow you up the tree, having to hid your smile a bit; still, it’s nice to know someone cares so much.)

--------------------------------------------------------

Unexpected Hiding Spots.

“This... Will work?” Razor asks question, even as you try and hide your panic.

“We really have no time! The guards will be around here any minute now!” Oh, why did you think it would be such a good idea to wander so close to the city, you know those guys have it out for you since your last ‘visit’. (Not as bad a Liyue at least, but yeah...)

As it is, the best you can do right now is hide in a Barrel and hope for the best.

“Maybe a tree would be better at least maybe? Or we could distract-” Bennet also tries, even as you fit yourself into the barrel as best you can.

“No time! But yes, please distract the best you can!” You can’t help but yelp as you fall in, only to blink as you feel something soft.

Huh?

On Bennet and Razor’s parts, both try and act natural, playing cards on their new ‘table’ as the guards approach.

To the boy’s misfortune, they are apparently suspious, the guards insisting to look in the barrel, while the boys try to do all they can for them not to open it. It unfortunately fails, for the guards to reveal the-

Whooosh!

-Ameno slime stuck in the barrel.

“...Ah, look, I know slimes are cute and all boys, but that doesn’t mean you can keep them as a pet; we’ll look it over this time, but don’t let us catch you trying to barrel another one.” The guard scolds the two dumbfounded boys, who mechincally nod at those words before the patrol leaves.

Just as the slime spits you out.

Windy slime- one interesting texture, that’s for sure. (Though oddly enough, it smells really good.)

-------------------------------------------------------

Nightmares

Each of you have your own inner demon to fight; times where you wake up in the night, sobbing as you remember all the hateful eyes that once stared at you,  from Characters you spent so much time and love on. How the nightmares twist it even so, making it seem like even Razor and Bennett leave you as well.

Those days, you tend to cling a little harder, before you fear you’re going to make them hate you for that too. Bennett always has a too understanding look on his face those days, easily holding your hand, never letting go even as you go about your day. Razor merely takes every chance he has to feed you, gently pinching your waist before frowning, muttering too thin and such at times.

One night, after a nightmare of mobs from the three nations seemed to combine together, your voice hoarse from your screams, Bennet heats you a warm water bottle while Razor covers you with blankets, the three of you quiet for a long time.

“Somedays, I wonder if my luck will get so bad... that no will want me around.” is what breaks the silence, making you look over into such hurt, hollow green eyes, you can’t help but gasp. “That I won’t even have a home to call my own.”

“That all of the adventure guild, that the entirety of Mondstadt will throw me out, and tell me to never come back. That they didn’t want something as unlucky as me to stain their home.” Bennett cried, the memory nightmare still haunting him even as he told you about it. You and Razor drag him over, both you and him teary eyed, Benny started to hiccup as he did.

“Lupical... dead.. gone. Human Lupical and Wolf Lupical... Fighting forever.” Razor whispering, no tears in his own eyes, but oh, the pain in them shining like blood in his ruby eyes, the wound seeming to be rubbed with salt.

It is how you three go to sleep that night; tear stained and tangled around each other, feeling let out and heard in the open.

(No way do you feel healed; more like something drained some pus from an infected wound of sorts, some probably still needing to be pushed out... but it is a start.)

--------------------------------------------------------

Rain Dancer

You watch, eyes nearly alight as you consider the clouds rolling across the skies, the hum of thunder distant but all the more felt as grey covers once blue skies.

“Ah, looks like your luck couldn’t last forever.” Bennett looks so sheepish, rubbing the back of his head, even as green eyes worry over the sight of the coming storm before them. Razor is merely sniffing the air a bit, before motioning you two over to follow, his nose and memory already probably mapping out all the safe places around.

You have thought it once before many a time, but by Teyvat are you glad these boys are the ones traveling with you. (You don’t deserve it, don’t deserve them, but goddamn does someone need to punch whoever gave Bennett his luck, and it might as well be you and Razor.)

But even as you all go to one of the many caves Razor seems to know about, with a friendly Hilchurl Camp nearby even, (probably by the talent domain for Mondstadt then), you can’t help but look out at the incoming rain.

You have an idea; probably a stupid one... A really stupid one.... but an idea.

“Hey, you okay?” is asked, Benny’s voice breaking you from your thoughts, even as you look over to the teen, looking into those ever so warm green eyes, so welcoming and kind, like the warmth of a home’s hearth. (Eyes that see you and do not judge, do not hate, and have only ever been so generous and kind and understanding to you.

“Somedays, I wonder if my luck will get so bad... that no will want me around. That I won’t even have a home to call my own.” 

“Hey Benny, you ever danced in the rain?” You can’t help but ask, watching as lightning of surprise dances through those eyes, before with a laugh, and the Pyro User’s yelp, you drag the other into the storm, the rain gentle on the skin, with no lightning around besides that caught in the green eyes before you. 

The two of you don’t really dance, more like you’re just twirling around, occasionally slipping every so often before you catch each other. You’re pretty sure you’ve at least seen Razor sigh at you two, even as he goes about setting up the cave’s camp. (there was a reason you could consider him the one who mostly holds the braincell.)

But feeling this moment, the cool refreshing feeling of the rain on your skin, the warm hands holding yours, Bennett’s laughs and whoops of joy as you twirl him before he returns the favor, you can’t help but grin. 

You could feel like you can sing; in fact, you do. You don’t remember all of the song, but... that doesn’t matter here.

“~It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, it’s compromise that moves us alooooong!~” You start, your eyes closed, missing how Bennett’s grown wide, how the entire world around you seems to take a breath, Razor’s own eyes wider at the scene before him.

“Wao...”

“~I told you so many times and darling I want mooooooore! I don’t mind spending everyday, out on the corner in the pouring rain, ohhhh!~” the rain almost seems to mist around you, a little circle that seems so peaceful, crystalflies of all elements coming out, a rainbow of color surround two from all around.

“~Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while. and she wiiiiiiiiill be loved.~” Bennett can even see other beings braving the storm, the Hilchurl Camp at the side watching, their bodies relaxed, no weapons in sight as they do. Slimes of all types and sizes seem to hover as close they can, seeming to try and listen in as closely as possible.

And the one at the center of it all, a beautiful, heartfelt smile on your lips, sing to you soul’s content, regardless of all who are listening, before you sing the final verse of what you know.

“~and she will be loooooved!~”

(Just in time too, for the rain to end, and a beautiful rainbow to appear behind the wave of crystalflies.)

--------------

Bennett and Razor: Both smart people in their own ways, both not at all idiots, even with their luck and feralness.

Also Bennett and Razor: Don’t realize just how strange it is that the world loves reader.

XD but yeah, More of my bias is shown here, as one can see. But I was struck with the thought that honestly, unless these two boys take Reader to Wolf Boss, they probably would never, ever realize that Reader is God of Gods, because how they grew up is completely ridiculous.

For Bennet: Oh, the world seems to hate me, why not have someone it loves?

Razor: God of Gods? Food? Lupical?

And Thanks to them, Reader is now also under the impression that they look really similar to this ultra God or something... (And wondering what their ancestors were up to... hopefully nothing like Zesus)

But yeah, I hope you all enjoy it, thank you all for the kindness with this story.

[pendragon-of-chaos]

Like a date?

Arthur Pendragon NNT x Mage Apprentice! FemS/O

Warnings: None

Word count: 1431

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That was amazing!”

Arthur had finished training a few minutes ago, so he went inside the castle searching for Merlin. She was the one in charge of creating enemies for Arthur to train with, and since he had defeated the last ones and the sun hadn’t set yet, maybe he still had time to train some more. He headed to Merlin’s laboratory but when he arrived, he was greeted by his mentor’s apprentice, (Y/N), instead. She was floating in the air, looking like she was sitting on an invisible chair, while carefully manipulating with her hands what looked like a magic circle with various inscriptions, which Arthur couldn’t comprehend. That’s how he ended practicing magic with her while Merlin returned from her investigations.

“Thanks, Arthur”. (Y/N) made the energy bubble which was floating above her hands disappear in an instant, while Arthur kept looking amazed. “In fact, it isn’t a difficult trick, I’m sure you can do it too”. She looked back at Arthur, who was trying to copy her movements.

“It isn’t difficult when your combat specialty is magic. I don’t really know how to use it except for the basic theory. I’ve been using swords since I was a kid”. He was looking at his hands: his palms facing the ceiling, tensing his muscles and flexing his fingers as if he was trying to grab something in the air.

(Y/N) chuckled a little, finding the young king focused expression funny. “Yeah, I suppose you have a point, let me help you”. Smiling, she moved behind him and grabbed his shoulders, guiding him. “First, relax and get comfortable. Having a good posture helps to not be tense and to focus your magic better and easier, just like that”. She let go of his shoulders and leaned forward just a little, letting her head rest on his shoulder, while grabbing now his arms and moving her hands along them. “So you really train with swords. Your face doesn’t match this muscles at first sight”. She stopped to lightly squeeze them, feeling Arthur’s body tensing up again from the sudden compliment. “No need to get nervous! It’s the truth after all”. (Y/N) chuckled again, and kept moving until reaching his hands.

A furious blush appeared on Arthur’s cheeks at her words. “I-I told you!”. He turned his head to the side, facing away from hers. “If you don’t believe me, you can always come see me train… We could even train together!”. He regained his composure slowly, trying to show confidence in his words, even though just a few seconds ago he was as red as a tomato.

“Seems like a good plan. I’ll go someday to train with you. But for now let’s try to do the trick”. (Y/N) took his hands and moved them slowly in the shape of a circle. “I’m sure Merlin has told you this but your magic potential is really great, that’s why I’m sure you can do this. Feel your energy in the palm of your hands, and visualize it taking the form of a sphere in front of you, flowing from your palms”. She let go of his hands, letting Arthur take the lead, and moved back to give him space.

Arthur kept looking at the space forming between his hands, until a soft light started to appear in the center. His lips curved, showing his characteristic happy smile, and his eyes lighted up upon seeing his achievement. “Am I doing it right (Y/N)?”

“You are doing it perfectly, keep going”. (Y/N) reassured him with a nod, still standing behind him while the energy ball grew little by little. In less than a minute Arthur had between his hands a radiant sphere, which wasn’t really powerfull, so the damage risk was minimal. Still, the King looked back at (Y/N) proud of his doing, waiting for a praise.

“I told you, you did it perfectly. Now you just need to train to increase its energy.” (Y/N) sat down next to him with a smile.

“That’s what I’ll do! Just one more question… what am i supposed to do with it now?”

“I usually throw them outside the window so I can test their energy, and to don’t damage anything. They will explode in the air without any major problem. If not, I can just make them dissapear. To do it, you bring your hands closer and-“ (Y/N) automatically closed her eyes when Arthur proceeded to do so, making the sphere explode in the spot.

“Are you ok (Y/N)??”. Arthur looked to his side after opening his eyes, worried he could have hurt her.

“Yes I am, It felt like a breeze”. (Y/N) chuckled. “But maybe you should have let me finish instead of doing it right away”. Arthur blushed embarrased, lowering his head.

“I’m so sorry, you are right… I was excited”. He said while scratching his cheek. “Next time I will be more cautious”

“Don’t worry about it! We can try again whenever you want, however…” (Y/N) looked to the clock hanging from the wall. “It’s getting late, and you told me you were looking for Merlin. Maybe you could try searching for her with my sphere”. She started to float again, taking said sphere from the shelves full of strange ingredients and giving it to Arthur. “You can give it back to me tomorrow since I won’t be using it for the rest of the day”. (Y/N) smiled and sat down again after activating it.

Arthur took it carefully until it floated, still keeping his hands under the sphere just in case it falled. “Are you sure?”

“Completely sure! I don’t need it to practice making potions or magic objects, look”. She showed him a paper sheet with some annotations. They were mostly strange objects, presumably needed to make whatever she wanted to do. Arthur read it fast, stopping when he saw a list under the “Need to get” label, memorizing whatever he could.

“If you say so, then I’ll give it back tomorrow, thanks for your help (Y/N)! Have a good night!”

…

It was early in the morning and Arthur was already heading to Merlin’s laboratory again. In one hand he had (Y/N)’s sphere, and in the other a bunch of flowers (If you could call them that, since their flashy appearance made them look kinda agressive and exotic at the same time) which where labelled as missing in (Y/N)’s list. He turned around the corner and in the other extreme of the long hallway was (Y/N), also heading to her mentor’s laboratory. She saw him, and greeted him as the same time waving her arm.

Arthur walked faster, slightly running, until he was in front of her. “This is for you!”. He offered the objects he was carrying, to the surprise of (Y/N) when she saw the flowers. She made the sphere float and it dissapeared with the snap of her fingers, then she took the flowers and observed them closely.

“I needed this exact same flowers for my experiments! Did you read it when I showed you that paper yesterday? Wait… did you went yesterday at night to get them?”

“That’s exactly what I did! It seemed easy to get, so I did it as a thank you gift. I’m glad I could help you too!”. Flashing a big smile, Arthur opened his eyes when he felt (Y/N) giving him a kiss on the cheek

“Thank you too then” (Y/N) separated from him after a few seconds, with a smile and a slight blush, looking at him. “Even though you didn’t have to do it”

“I did! If not, how was I supposed to thank you?”

“I supposed we could train together as you suggested yesterday, or maybe…-”

“We can do it too! I was going to train right after giving you the sphere and the flowers, would you like to come along?” He smiled cheerfully at her, but saw that (Y/N) wasn’t satisfied with the answer. “Is anything wrong?”

“Don’t misunderstand me. I will gladly train with you, but sometimes going out and relaxing is what I prefer to do…”. (Y/N)’s blush intensified with each word. “Maybe, we could go out someday together…?

“You mean like… a date?”

“O-Only if you want to, you don’t even need to consider it as a-“

“A date it is! Come on, we’ll decide where to go right now. I know a few places you would like thanks to my adventures!”. Arthur continued walking and suggesting places, followed by a goofy smiling (Y/N), wondering how he could be so considerate and cute.

[sylseal]

The Toxin (D&D Fiction, 3.5k words)

Shaking hands grip the wood of the staff, my mouth going dry as I stare into the endless flames in the hollowed-out eyes of the half-skull. I stab the blade-end further into the ground, grunting and gritting my teeth. I feel the flames inside me, like a new bonfire caught on kindling that’s always been there; kindling that’s just needed a spark. I think of my friends, my family. Of Isharna, of Rowan, of Nicky. Melora was supposed to watch over us, but we can’t expect gods to do all the work, right? I look up at the skull as it creaks, that upper jaw rearing back as if opening a nonexistent mouth, and I watch as green-gold flame spews from its-

“Emma!”

I jolted awake, sitting suddenly upright, eyes wide open. My hands were still shaking; I wasn’t in the old forest, about to burn it down as I had dreamed. Instead, I was lying in my bedroll, on a hill overlooking a camp made by the tribe, my tribe.

My family, in a lot of ways.

Sitting next to me, small hands reaching out as if to shake me awake, was Poppy, this little human boy no older than ten. Ruddy brown hair, always has a little dirt on his cheeks, bright green eyes. He was a cute kid, one of the ones that looked up to me, and usually, he had a smile on his face. But tonight, he wore this deadly-serious expression; something was terribly wrong. But, I knew that the less I panicked and showed deep concern, the less he’d panic. So, I beamed at him to cover up my whirlwind of emotions, still left over from my dream. I also took a second to take stock of the time, and I noticed that the sun wasn’t up yet. The moon was on its way down, though, which meant that it was probably sometime in the morning.

“Hey, Pop,” I managed through an exhausted, raspy voice, “What’s up? You’re up early.”

“I-it’s Sovel,” he stammered, “T-they went out hunting a-and ran into something poisonous! N-none of our antidotes are working!”

The color drained from my face immediately as all other thoughts came to a screaming standstill. In moments, I was up, donning the leathers and wolf pelt that denoted my station as our elder’s apprentice. Then, I grabbed my bag, which held all my spell components, my healer’s kit and my medicine kit in it. Finally, I took up my staff, which still had that same damned green-orange flame sitting in the upper-half-skull that was jammed into the top of the staff. I turned back to Poppy and nodded to him.

“Show me,” is all I said. Poppy nodded, and without another word, guided me down from the hill where my bedroll was towards the tribe’s encampment, and then through the maze of tents and campfires.

‘Hunting?’ I can’t help but think to myself on the way, ‘At midnight? What the hells for?’

My mind eventually came upon a possible answer: insomnia. The Earthclaw Tribe were used to adapting to changing environments, such is the nature of living within Melora’s domain, after all. But having to pick up and move entirely to a new forest was grueling and harsh on everyone in the tribe. It would have been natural that some - if not most - would have been unable to sleep from such stress. And, since the burning of our old home was my doing, this situation, technically, was my fault.

The burning was a necessary evil; an infection had taken hold of the forest which we had called home, and none of our magic nor our traditional remedies were able to cure it. Even our elder, my mentor and our head druid, Ebele, was utterly stumped. Desperate to save our home and our people, and to fulfill my role both as an aasimar of Melora and as the forest’s guardian, I sought out the aid of a witch deep in the woods, and I did so alone.

I found her home easily enough, it was a small hut lit by strange yellow torchlight that hung around the outside of the roof’s rim. Thankfully, she was home; after some conversation, and after I bribed her by doing manual labor for her, this witch and I came to the same conclusion: the only way the forest would heal is if it was burned to the ground, and the plague burned with it. Wildfires, the witch explained, were also part of nature’s plan, often times initiated to cure things just like this. The forest would grow back after, but the plague would die off in the cleansing flame.

She gave me this strange staff, with a half-skull for a top and a blade grown into the base. In the eyes of the skull, and along the blade, there swirled an otherworldly green-white flame, something the witch called wildfire. She explained that this magical flame spread easier and was stronger than ordinary fire. Armed with the wildfire and knowing what had to come next, I evacuated our tribe from the forest, and then went to the very heart of our home. And I burned it all, every inch.

It was a necessary evil, I kept telling myself. Yet, as I was following Poppy, regret swelled in my chest and my throat. Now, because we had left, I was responsible for Sovel getting hurt, too. How many more would suffer the consequences of my trust in this mysterious witch?

I was brought back to reality all of a sudden, as we arrived at the right tent; I recognized it as our medical space, where Ebele and I did most of our work. As Poppy and I entered the tent, I noticed several people, each one I recognized, all gathered around a single bedroll on the opposite side of the tent from us. Laying within it, sure enough, was the familiar figure of Sovel. They had a relatively short brown undercut, chocolate eyes, lighter skin, they were lithe and toned with a modest frame, and they had a tuft of hair over the center of their chest like some sort of crest. Their shirt was ruined, having been shredded open by some beast.

They looked agonized, clutching their left shoulder as a black wound, about an inch long and plain as day to see even in the low torchlight, throbbed and spread in dark veins through their arm. Sovel and I had often butted heads on any number of topics, and I was so used to them always being so strong, that seeing them so weak made me pause in fear and just a little horror. That was momentary, though. I couldn’t stand there, dumbfounded; I had to lead.

Everyone looked up at me as we entered; Ebele was out scouting ahead with my older sister Nicole, and wouldn’t be back for two days. That meant I was the only druid in the tribe, and the only authority on how the hells to fix this.

“Alright,” I breathed, swallowing, clearing my head, and focusing as I stepped forwards, “Everyone except Isabella clear the tent. I need privacy for this.” I turned towards Isabella, our botanist, as everyone else followed my command. Isabella was a middle-aged human woman, but you would never guess her age from looks alone; she’s tall and fitter than anyone else in the tribe, with dark hair pulled back into a single braid, and a gorgeous smile that would make even the gods envious of her beauty.

“I need five cloves of rootshirk,” I began to list for her, “three leaves of bloodvine, and four snips of waterskim. I know we were out of bloodvine when last we inventoried, have we been able to grab any since then?”

“Only enough for planting,” Isabella sighed, folding her arms, "but don’t worry, I’ll make it work. The rest, I’ve already got.”

“Good,” I turned back to Sovel, “that’s all. Please, be quick, I’m not sure how much time we’ve got.”  Isabella set her jaw and nodded at that, before vanishing into the night for now. I moved to Sovel’s side, first stabbing my staff into the ground a few feet away, and then I sank down to my knees. I placed my bag down and reached into it for my healer’s kit, first, then my medicine kit. Sovel glanced up at me; up until that point, they had been in such pain that they hadn’t even taken note of me. They were pale and sweating, probably running a fever, but as they looked my way, I put a hand to their forehead to be sure. Yup, feverish alright.

“Mmuh…?” They mumbled, blinking exhaustion out of their eyes and moving to bat my hand away with their good hand, “E-Emma? W-whe-?”

“I’m here to help you, dummy. Now give me a second, I need focus,” I said, my tone brooking no argument as I opened my healer’s kit and began to use Create Water, first to wet a folded cloth, then to fill a glass bottle that was part of the kit. I put the cloth against their forehead as I continued, “Dunno how much you remember, but apparently you went out hunting and got clipped by something toxic. I’m trying to rectify that.” That poison, though...it was worrying. Even though I had only ever lived in one forest, Ebele had demanded I learn as much as I could about the various poisons and animals of the world, because part of my duty as a druid was at least to know this stuff. Yet, as I sat there preparing and unpacking, I realized that that this poison, something so fast-acting and so visibly malevolent, was something I had never seen or heard of before.

I chose not to voice that realization, though. Sovel had enough to worry about right now. To their credit, when I gave them that initial order about silence, they grumbled but, for once, did not argue with me. They give me a dirty look as I put the cloth on their head, but then they actually felt it, and the relief it offered them, and that seemed to make them settle for the moment.

‘Good,’ I thought to myself, ‘I can’t fight the poison and Sovel’s bullshit at the same time.’

“Em,” Isabella regarded me, entering the tent with several tiny bags, which she handed to me. They were all marked with which herb they contained, too, so I didn’t have to waste time.

“Good, thank you,” I nodded to her. She took her leave, and I got to work, taking the herbs and starting to mash them together in a pestle and mortar, one specifically made for druids.

First, I would need a potion to fortify Sovel’s body, to give them a better chance of holding their own against the toxin. Then, I’d need a poultice, one that would actually do the job of healing the infection from the source. If Sovel’s body was fighting the poison from both sides, it would stand a far better chance of healing. I started work on the potion, first. In the meanwhile, though...I looked over and saw Sovel starting to drift into semi-unconsciousness. I couldn’t allow that; if they fell asleep, I knew I might not have been able to wake them back up.

“So, any idea what got you?” I ask, trying to at least have some conversation going. They blink themselves slowly back to awareness.

“Mnn…no? It was dark out…”

“And?” I snort, before rolling my eyes and huffing, “You’re a half-elf, you got darkvision, don’t you?” That line of questioning and sass did not get a reply. After a moment, I looked over and opened my mouth to say something, only to realize that they hadn’t fallen back asleep. They just didn’t want to respond to that particular comment; they looked ashamed, but it was hard to tell from how pale they had gotten.

“Okay, change of subject,” I remarked, switching gears to the other thing on my mind, “what kept you up?”

“You. The tribe. Everything that’s happened.” That one, they answered quickly.

“You mean with the forest? And the wildfire?”

“Yeah. Nicole, too. She’s been distant, and it’s got me worried about her.” Their elaboration got my head going. For an instant, my hands stopped mashing herbs as my own mind flashed with images of Nicky crying, sobbing into me, apologizing for the plague, apologizing for “bringing it on us.” I squeezed her tightly and told her that she didn’t need to apologize, that it wasn’t her fault, and that we were going to be okay. There was no way she possibly could have known the plague would come for us, too.

Then, my thoughts returned to the present. I took a deep breath, and let out a sigh before I continued mashing. By now, I saw that the mixture was turning red and was looking more and more like a fine paste, so I scooped up a small amount of the mix with a spoon and dumped it into the glass bottle from before. That done, I took a long stick from my medicine kit and began to stir the water in the bottle, watching it go from reddish-clear, to solid red...to dark red with golden streaks coursing through it. Smiling, I handed the potion to Sovel, who drank it, though not without giving me the stink eye first. Then, they actually tasted it, and made the same face anyone makes when they smell a skunk. I rolled my eyes and let out a huff of annoyance as I pouted.

“Oh c’mon, it’s not that bad ya big baby.” Even as I said that, I got to work on the poultice next, getting some bandages and lathering the crimson, sloppy mix onto a patch of cotton in thin, translucent layers until the top of the cotton was red with little flecks of gold in it.

“Shut up,” they growled, about to add some other remark before they threw their head back in agony and dropped the glass bottle on the soft bedroll. Their hand shot up to the wound as it flared up suddenly. The dark tendrils in their arm crept further along, like an animal digging its claws in deeper into its prey. I swore under my breath at that, and brushed a lock of orange hair out of my face as I finished work on the cotton. Time, it seemed, was not on our side.

Yet, just as I was about to apply the poultice, I felt something nasty in my gut, something troubling me. Poppy’s words, ‘none of our antidotes are working’ raced through my mind. In that moment, something deep inside my heart immediately knew that this was not going to work. The poultice would fail, and Sovel would be gone by the end of the night. Panic, and a familiar anxiety, began to settle over me, as my hands shook like tent tarps billowing from the wind. 

I almost lost myself then and there, but that same feeling that had told me the poultice wouldn’t work then turned, and I felt a swell of determination. I could not let Sovel die; I was an aasimar of melora, a daughter of mother nature herself. I would not let this thing kill my sibling. It was the same desperation that I felt in the forest when the plague came, and it led me to the same conclusion.

I knew, in that moment, what I had to do.

“Hey,” I asked Sovel as awareness returned to them, “you trust me, right?” They looked perplexed at that question.

“W-wha-? Yeah, of course I trust you, dummy. Why?”

“Good,” I nodded, and took a deep breath while holding the poultice-laden cotton in my left hand. My right hand reached up toward my staff, and from one of those eyeholes in the skull, I called down a little ball of wildfire into my palm. Taking it, I looked back to Sovel, who, while not nearly strong enough to move or try and defend themselves, watched with mild fear as I bathed the cotton in the flame, watching as it took easily, as if it were quite natural.  

Everyone in the tribe feared the flame, and how could I blame them? It had burned down their home, it had, in many ways, seemed to have overtaken my “normal” druidic magic, and many of us simply didn’t know if it originated someplace good or evil. It was unknown, it was terrifying. But, as it happened, I knew in that moment that it was also the only thing that had a chance at curing this infection, and I knew that I had to calm Sovel down in order for that to work. So, I narrowed my eyes at them, and said in no uncertain terms,

“Look, the poultice alone isn’t going to be enough, and I know the flame can heal when I will it to.” They still looked extremely wary, so I continued, “I have healed things with it before, you know I have; you’ve seen me practice things like Cure Wounds since the burning of the forest. You said you trust me, and I don’t plan on letting that trust be in vain.” I was wide-eyed and desperate, praying that this would work. “So...please, let me try this.”

Sovel sat there, staring me down for an uncomfortably long time, before, at last, nodding slowly. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, and whispered a small ‘thank you’ before looking to the flaming poultice. It hadn’t burned any of the red paste, much to my relief and joy. I had willed this particular flame to heal, and though it was tough to control, like any flame, I knew that it was part of my power. That it would, ultimately, listen to me.

I let out a deep breath, little jets of wildfire emerging from the corners of my lips, before I set the cotton, still flaming, on Sovel’s wound. Sovel gasped and whimpered as I held the cotton there. Again, I let out a breath with little swirls of wildfire in it, and I focused. I could feel the flame somehow, feel it spreading into the wound, feel it cleansing it. My hands began to glow a little, and I watched as little traces of green-yellow-white snaked along the dark veins in Sovel’s arm, devouring them as if they were kindling. One by one, more and more of those were consumed by the healing fire, until at last...they were gone. As the last of those black veins were consumed by wildfire, the flames faded back, as if they had been merely flickering tricks of the light. Reaching for my healer’s kit, I grabbed a bandage roll and began to wrap it around Sovel’s arm to pin the poultice and cotton in place.

“Feeling better?” I asked as I continued wrapping, and Sovel came back to full wariness, color returning to their face. 

“I…” they blinked, “...I think so. How did you do that?”

“I told you,” I gave a smug grin and tied off the bandage. I ruffled their hair (causing them to let out a small huff and grumble of annoyance), before explaining, “it does what I will. Be it to harm…or to heal. Now, rest that arm, and keep that poultice on it, we have to make sure that poison doesn’t come back. You sure you don’t have any idea what did that?”

“No,” Sovel sat up, now a little more coherent, “honestly it was just a big shape, I couldn’t make out any clear details, almost like the damn thing was made of water, but completely clear and clean.” My stomach sank a little; any animal intelligent enough to use invisibility magic of all things would not be something we would want to mess around with.

“...Then I think once Ebele is back, it’ll be time to move on from this place. The least dangerous thing it could be is a Displacer Beast that’s developed venom, I’d rather not tangle with even that. In the meantime, I’ll start telling everyone no more going out at night. Let’s not have this happen again.” There was a look of defiance from Sovel for a moment, but then they stopped, probably considering what they just gone through. Then, they slowly nodded in agreement with me. Agreeing with me, this many times in one day? At this point, I wondered if they were going to break a record.

“...Yeah.” They let out a sigh, and I began cleaning up my tools and packing up to leave. “And…Emma?”

“Yeah?” I turned my head to face them, and, for once, saw a smile on their face. A true, genuine smile.

“Thanks, sis.” Those words on those lips, that smile on that face... My anxiety and my fears about finding a new home, for once, were thrust to the back of my mind, where I couldn’t see them.

Maybe, just maybe, I could do this. Maybe, just maybe, it was going to be okay.

[nautiscarader]

Izuocha - fantasy

(Ao3)

- After you, my lady! - Nuh-uh, you were leading the party!

Ochaco and Izuku shared a laughter as the two opened door to their room, trying their best to not damage the outfits they were in.

Izuku, as usual, had an easier job, as he only had to be careful of his plastic sword that made turning just a little bit more problematic. Ochaco. in her pointy hat, a bag of magical supplies and a wooden staff had a few more problems navigating.

But the accessories became less problematic when the two reached the bedroom, and found each other's arms, tasting not only pumpkin juice, but also wine from each other's lips.

- I-Izuku! - Ochaco protested suddenly, after their kiss, much to his distress - Ochaco? - did I do something wrong? - You-you kissed me! - her eyes widened in surprise. - I-I didn't know you have feelings towards me...

It took him a moment to understand what was going on, and that the Halloween party's wine wasn't the reason behind her strange behaviour. She was still in character, a fire mage from the same role-playing game his character was.

And as far as their story was considered, they never shared a kiss, let alone a bed.

- Sorry, I-I couldn't stop myself... - he backed away, trying to chime in. - Well... - she shied away, mimicking his moves - Truth to be told, I-I might have a crush on you too...

Their eyes met again, and soon they were in each other's arms again, exchanging ravenous kisses, while their arms coiled around their backs.

- It-it was that dragon battle, wasn't it? - Ochaco asked - You liked how I made it ate his own firebolt...? - Very... very smart move... - Izuku answered, kissing her neck. - Don't you think I didn't notice how you look at me. - Well, I... I didn't know you were in love with me either - Izuku spoke, trying to hide the irony of his words.

Ochaco dragged her finger across his green tunic, undoing a few buttons.

- Well, now that you know... maybe we can explore it a bit?

And without waiting for his answer, she undid his leathery belt and backpack, her hands quickly getting to his baggy trousers, eager to see if his boxers matched the medieval, fantasy theme. She was not disappointed when she saw green dragons on them.

- O-Ochaco! - he suddenly hid his crotch, and an obvious bulge in his hands - I've never been with a girl... - Oh. - she giggled - Not too many of them in your village? - Not as beautiful as you...

Another kiss, and her red dress slowly slid to the ground, while the couple danced slowly towards their bed, and by the time Ochaco sat on the edge, she was only in her underwear, though those were not going to last long on her body too.

Watching his wide-eyed expression, she unhooked her bra and freed her breasts, before moving to her rather modern panties that hid her sex.

- Izuku... - she spoke in hushed voice -I have to confess too, that, uh... I have never been with a boy. I-I mean, a man!

Her face reddened, as she fumbled her words.

- I've spent all my life in the library, or testing spells, and uh, never really got to, uh socialise.

She spread her legs and dipped her fingers to part her soaking wet lips.

- So, be gentle, please.

Her lips curled just slightly, breaking her would-be-innocent smile, though he was pretty sure that the shivering of her legs was real.

He took her foot and began adoring her leg with butterfly kisses, alternating between her left and right side, slowly venturing upward. He could see the droplets on her folds shining more and more as his lips caressed her body, and her mouth spilled short, needy moans, exactly the same when they made love for the first time...

- M-May I? - he asked, as he placed one kiss on the inside of her thighs, smelling her arousal - Y-Yes! - she stuttered, without having to fake her impatience. He knew that if they weren't acting, by now her fingers would be in hi curly hair, making sure his lips drink all of her juices.

And when he placed his final kiss, she let out a howl, powered by the long warm-up that only has begun. Her hand didn't quite push him against her sex, trying to act her role, but her toying with his hair told Izuku what to do.

He took her folds between his lips and suckled on them gently, while his tongue lapped the juices her twitching sex was overflowing with.

- Ah-Ah, Izuku! Are-Are you sure you have never... Oh, my-

Ochaco moaned and threw her head into the pillow, while her boyfriend caressed her sex.

- No, I was merely an apprentice, I spend all my day woodworking! - Well, then, put those fingers to work...

Ochaco smiled and let ut a sharp gasp when he traced her folds, sliding inside her. Of course, by now she would be floating a few inches above the bed, because her sex was stimulated not only by his fingertips, but also his powers, gently flowing through ever single of her nerve endings.

But even without those powers, her body was coiling and jittery, as Izuku caressed her nether regions, keeping his left hand steady underneath her right thigh, giving her the gentlest of grips that kept her in place.

- H-Here!

With desperation in her voice, Ochaco pointed to her clit, brushing it with her fingers, knowing how much more powerful will his touch be...

- What's that? I've told you, I have never been with a girl before...

He looked up, and watched as her expression changed into an icy, piercing gaze. Unceremoniously she grabbed his smiling face and pressed him against her clit, shouting "dig in!", finally receiving what she wanted.

Her body shook with a climax, coating Izuku's face with her juices, as her hips buckled against his jaw.

- Wow, it's like a magic jewel! - he spoke, cleaning himself up a bit. - You-you can say that... - she giggled.

Izuku leaned forward and cupped her face, as his body gently pushed her into the sheets. He guided his cock and as he pressed its head against her folds, the mage underneath him gasped.

- It's-it's so big! Are you sure you didn't spill my engorgement potion all over it? - No, it's all your work...

Izuku spoke, before he realised how suave he sounded, and when he tried to correct himself, it was too late. Breaking her character, Ochaco closed her legs around his ass, dug her nails into his back and with a quick shove, let him fill her in one, quick swoop.

- I-Izuku! Make me yours, please! Sheath your sword! You-you know what to do...

And he did. He might have been a farm boy, but he could not inhibit his nature... Ochaco gasped as her man claimed her with a deep thrust she helped bring to life, followed by a few shallow thrusts in which he tried acting out his role.

- O-ochaco! You-you are so-so thi-mMM!

His words were cut off by her lips, sucking the air out of his lungs, as if his moans and cries were life-restoring juices.

Rolling his body against hers in slightly erratic manner, Izuku lost himself in her, trying to keep his urges under control - after all, by that point, sparks would be flowing around them to at least some degree, as he was making sure to please her not only with his powers, but also all the others, who lived through him...

Ochaco broke their kiss to cry his name, again and again, as she pushed his face against her breasts, eager to feel his soothing kisses against her bosom, and she received just that, while his arm sneaked underneath her arched body.

He licked the valley between her mounds, while he reached deeper inside her with each thrust, her position only helping him achieve this feat.

- O-Ochaco! I've-I've... - It's-it's okay, Izuku.. - she answered, catching breath, as her chest rose up and down - I'm under a spell...

She mewled her permission a moment before she was pushed back into the bed, with a powerful, final thrust that filled her with a thick stream of his warm, potent seed, and brought her over the edge... and into the air.

The two kissed, as their bodies shook in aftershocks of their peaks, until Izuku broke the kiss only to give her bad news.

- You lost. - Yeah, I know. You are too good...

She gently lowered their joined bodies back onto the bed, where the two lovers rested against each other, peppering their tired bodies with kiss after kiss.

- But seriously, I AM a mage, can't I do that? - she asked, reaching for a tissue box. - Not without grabbing the magic staff. - Izuku quickly added, as he rolled to her side, caressing her breasts - I-I can bring the rulebook, if you want. - Oh, i don't need to...

She got up, and floated herself around, before her fingers coiled around his cock, still oozing with seed that didn't make it to her womb.

- I've got my staff here...

And as her lips closed around him, she began working her magic...

[tallstars-rewrite]

Chapter 29

chapter list / previous / next

Talltail’s vision was blurry from lack of sleep, and the sunlight streaming through the sparse trees stung his eyes. He trailed behind the border patrol of Fawnleap, Aspenfall, Appledawn, and Mistmouse, sniffing and re-sniffing every bush they passed. 

“You already sniffed that tree,” Fawnleap said.

Talltail blinked at him and took a heartbeat too long to respond as he tried to process the sentence. “Just double checking” he mumbled.

“You look like a half chewed badger carcass,” Aspenfall commented. “No offense. But you could probably use another grooming when we get back. StarClan knows I could use a nap too.”

“Thanks for the suggestion.” Talltail replied, not hiding the sharpness in his tone very well. 

Fawnleap looked at him a bit longer. “We’re all a bit nervous on this border, but I think it’s been quiet for a while. Don’t worry so much.'' He was clearly trying to ease Talltail’s obvious nerves, but it wasn’t working.

Talltail would never feel at ease on the border with ShadowClan. He tried not to look for the place where Brackenwing had fallen. Even now he swore ShadowClan scent marked the grass, waiting to see Darkpaw signal another ambush. Mistmouse insisted it was just floating over through the tunnel, and a lone apprentice didn’t make an invasion anyway. Talltail didn’t believe that wretched apprentice cared about his clan's rules. But there was nothing to be done about it. His lack of sleep did make him a little more paranoid than normal, as he constantly second guessed whether his senses could be trusted. Worse was that his clanmates started wondering too.

“Are you still having those nightmares?” Fawnleap whispered after Talltail had finally left the bush alone. “I overheard Briarpaw saying you were having bad dreams. What are they about?”

“Foxes,” Talltail lied, “just a whole load of foxes. I think I fell asleep on moss that smelled of one.”

“I had a fox dream last week!” Fawnleap gasped “It was the size of a deer, but it had a lizard tail for some reason?”

Talltail tuned Fawnleap out as he went on about foxes with lizard feet and wings or whatever nonsense had crept into his head that time. Fawnleap made valiant efforts to engage with Talltail and pretend like everything was still fine between their old friends, when his siblings had both since given up on him. The chatty tom usually did most of the talking himself since Talltail didn’t carry conversations well these days.

When they reached the end of the patrol, Appledawn turned back to him as they started to split off.

“Talltail, we’re going to play leap-stones in the heather meadow, would you like to come? Dawnstripe’s going to meet us there.” She offered

“Yes, the rains have finally been away long enough for the ground to dry. It’s a nice day for it.” Mistmouse encouraged.

Talltail shook his head. “Thanks, but there’s a mole nest I was meaning to check out. I’m going to hunt for a while.”

“Alright, but if you change your mind...We could always use another player.” Appledawn said and the two mollies padded off together after Fawnleap, who had already bounded ahead.

The offer was made out of politeness, he was sure. Talltail watched them go a bit sadly. He did want to go, and lounging in the meadow with the sun right overhead sounded preferable to tracking back through the mole hills. But his restless energy wouldn’t let him be idle and content, no matter how his eyelids drooped.

Mole hills were easy enough to find, but the digging was less fun. Talltail’s nightmares were still floating around in his head, and were unfortunately not as simple as being chased by foxes as he’d told Fawnleap. The scrape of his claws in the shallow soil brought the images he’d seen the night before flashing through his head. In this dream, he’d been digging for moles, or maybe rabbits, sure that if he didn’t make this catch, he would starve and die, and so would everyone else. But his claws turned brittle, cracked and bloody, and became useless to him as if he were trying to claw the ground with wet leaves. 

He hissed in pain as his paw caught on a rock. He wasn’t in the mood for eating moles at all right now. But so persistent were his dreams that he wondered, maybe if he successfully caught a real mole, it would ease the guilt he felt from failing in his dreams. How about that? Guilt for failing a hunt in my dreams, for StarClan’s sake. 

He was thinking so hard about not thinking about his dreams, that he ended up too distracted to catch the field mouse that shot past him. Talltail turned in an instant and leapt after it, letting his instincts guide his claws. If he didn’t catch something soon, he would lose it. But the mouse was gaining on a thick bramble patch he’d never be able to get inside. Suddenly a golden blur shot out and pounced on the creature, Talltail nearly fell over his paws trying to stop himself before he crashed into Dawnstripe. She held the mouse in her jaws and twitched her whiskers in amusement

“That was a close one,” she said as she dropped the limp mouse at her paws. “These bramble patches are such a pain to hunt in, aren’t they?”

“Y-yes. Good catch.” Talltail said. “I...I thought you were meeting Appledawn in the meadow?”

“I will. You don’t want to come?”

Talltail sighed “I told myself I’d catch a few moles on my way back. Still haven't had any luck…”

“There’s a hunting patrol headed back now, the clan will last the day, especially if you take this mouse back.”

“I...just feel better when I’m hunting.” Talltail said hastily. 

Dawnstripe hummed “I still get the feeling you're trying to prove something. But you have, Talltail. You're a warrior now, it’s greenleaf and the clan is cared for. You can have fun sometimes too.”

“Hunting is fun.” Talltail said quickly.

“Yes, but so are other things. Your clanmates feel like you're a stranger sometimes, you know.”

Talltail hung his head in defeat and frustration, but he relented a bit. “Dawnstripe...I feel like I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing as a warrior.”

Dawnstripe blinked at him in confusion “What do you mean? You’re patrolling, and hunting a lot.”

“I know but...Before all my focus was on becoming a warrior. I had a stricter schedule as an apprentice, and an obvious goal to focus my sights on. Now I’ve accomplished it, and I don’t know what my goal is anymore. I don’t know what I should do differently, without you telling me each day what my task is. I hunt when I can, but I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly.”

“You can do independent tasks now.” Dawnstripe replied simply, “Reedfeather will assign you to a specific one when it needs getting done. You are doing what you're supposed to be doing, Talltail.”

Then why doesn’t it feel like enough? He didn’t want to confess to her how unsatisfying his warrior ceremony had been. It would sound like an insult to her, to say what she had been preparing him for wasn’t enough. Especially when he had no idea how to describe why he felt the way he did.

“You’re right, of course Dawnstripe. I guess warrior is still a title I'm not used to.”

“You know if there’s one thing I learned from mentoring you, it's that you are often your own worst enemy. You’re a brilliant hunter, and you only start misstepping when you overexert yourself and over think.”

“If I knew how to turn my thoughts off, I would.” It was harsher then he wanted it to be and he instantly regretted it.

But Dawnstripe didn’t flinch away. She head butted his shoulder affectionately. “I know it troubles you. You know Talltail, even if I’m no longer responsible for you, I am still here. You can talk to me.”

His anxious scent wouldn’t stop giving him away, and he held his tail under his back foot to keep it from lashing in frustration at how transparent he was. “I know, Dawnstripe. That means a lot. But I’ll keep hunting for now, practice keeps my paws busy. I’ll meet you back at camp this evening. I’ll take your mouse back for you. Have fun with Appledawn.”

Dawnstripe gazed at him for a heartbeat longer and padded away towards the meadow. Dawnstripe had done enough for him. He couldn’t ask her to try and ease him anymore.

He returned to hunting moles, but even if he caught one, he knew it wouldn’t really help the itch he felt. 

 The more days went by, the more sure he was that his father really had been right all along. Moor running wasn’t satisfying him, but he didn’t know what would. Perhaps his persistent dreams were telling him that. Whether he was chasing or being chased, he always felt helpless and useless, and he never saved any cat he saw being buried. Running did him no good. He was just never fast enough.

***

Talltail returned to camp in a bad mood. Cloudrunner and Redclaw were unimpressed with him as well. He’d gotten carried away in the team hunt and missed Cloudrunner’s signal to him. He had been so sure that he would have been able to catch that rabbit on his own if he’d just been a little faster. But it had outpaced him and he’d accidentally driven it away from the other two, so the patrol returned with nothing. However short Talltail was with Cloudrunner who had been passive-aggressively scolding him the whole way home, he was more frustrated with himself. He avoided hunting in teams as much as possible these days for a reason. 

To make matters worse, Woollycloud was waiting for him, offering him a friendly smile, but his bushy tail swished anxiously. Here we go, Talltail thought with a subtle eye-roll.

“No luck?” Woollycloud mewed sympathetically. “Well, every cat has bad days.”

“I seem to have a lot of bad days lately.” Talltail mumbled to himself.

“Are you...doing alright Talltail? Dawnstripe tells me you’ve been distracted on team hunts lately and…”

“I understand. I’ll take more solo hunts by myself to make up for it.”

“That’s not what I mean. She’s worried is all.”

“There’s nothing to worry over. I suppose I’m just not as good a hunter as I used to be.”

“You’re not ageing Talltail.” Woollycloud was clearly trying very hard to keep his tone light. “I only get the feeling… events from the past still weigh on you.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it again Woollycloud.” Talltail said through gritted teeth.

 Why was the old tom always badgering him? Couldn’t he be occupied enough with badgering Palebird? He was always trying to coax her into hunts or games. But Talltail didn’t want to be treated like a fragile mouse. 

“I know things have changed very quickly in WindClan. Three moons may not be enough time to recover from a particularly hard passing but--”

“No, maybe it’s not!” Talltail snapped. 

It was always going to come flooding out if he kept getting bothered by some cat. Talltail was a badly built dam ready to burst apart when the current edged one more branch out of place. “Maybe it is for you, to just forget everything my father worked for, let Heatherstar erase it all and just go on like none of it mattered and do nothing about it, but it’s not so easy for me to ignore. It’s not fair. You may be content to lie around and take advantage of Palebird while she can barely feed herself, but I have other things I wish I could focus on!”

Woollycloud flattened his ears. His eyes widened with hurt and Talltail instantly felt a fresh wave of guilt crash over him. That was so unfair! How could you say something like that!? Woollycloud wasn’t conniving, and he would never try to take advantage of any cat. Palebird had lost her best friend and mate on the same day. He was trying to be there for a grieving clanmate however she needed, StarClan knew she needed something, and Talltail certainly wasn’t helping. But he was too angry to take it back, he just wanted Woollycloud to leave him alone and not bother with him anymore. Maybe hurting his feelings was the only thing that would make him see that.

“I just want to help you, Talltail,” Woollycloud's voice cracked.

“Well I can’t be helped! I was always taught that when something goes wrong, I need to do something to fix it. I can’t fix Heatherstar, and I can’t fix the state of the clan. Nothing I do will be enough. You know, It’s not fair for a cat to do something horrible, and then just be allowed to go off and live their life happily, with no one acknowledging what was done wrong. It’s not right, I don’t care what any cat says. I can’t sleep anymore! Something must be done.”

He whipped around to stalk away, leaving Woollycloud standing there. The old tunneler didn’t come after him again. Talltail stopped and stared at his paws as his own words sunk in, he hadn’t dwelled on the thoughts directly but saying them aloud, it made sense. It was the only loose end he couldn’t ever tie up here.

When he lay awake in camp that night, he could not make himself lift his eyes to face the stars. He did not know what he was afraid to see, but he couldn’t do it all the same. The pinpoints of light reminded him of the gaze of that terrible creature in his dream by the Moonstone. That stupid, confusing dream...But it came to him there in the walls of Mothermouth, it couldn’t have meant nothing. With all the time available to him for his mind to wander, he traced his memory back to the nursery tale that had triggered one of his first memorable night terrors. It was a silly story, clearly an exaggerated telling.  But all clan stories came from something, and all of them had meaning buried within. It was about a cat that had returned from the brink of death and all he brought with him was rot, rot eating him from the inside out. He became first a nuisance, and then a real hazard to all of his clanmates. Talltail remembered the desecrated remains of the unstable stone-skinned cat of his dreams, how the very moor wilted and died under its careless touch.

If it was for the best that he left, if he could bring his clan no real good, then let that destructive potential at least be turned on some cat that deserved it.

Maybe that was what it all meant. The restless emptiness he felt... Maybe he could fill it with something else. For just a moment it was snuffed out and replaced with burning fury; the thing that had offered to fill the hollow feeling in his chest before when he sometimes spotted the rogue in his dreams. Cold claws pressed against the hole inside him. This time Talltail did not try to chase it away or suppress it. It wasn’t enough to simply hope that StarClan could punish a cat that had run beyond their skies... Someone had to do more. 

The moor itself had felt strange and hostile for moons. This idea had already taken root in the back of his mind long ago, ever since he woke up to watch the visitor leave from camp, and again the night he got his name, but he’d been too hesitant. Trying, and failing, to be the best warrior wasn’t working. But this was a new direction. Something to look forward to, better than the useless nothing he saw for himself otherwise, dragging himself through day after pointless day. And he’d hold onto this new light as long as he needed to. He could sink his claws into it and hold himself up. It wasn’t just an option, it was the only option.

“Talltail…”

 Talltail looked up. It was Woollycloud again. He’d still been watching him, debating trying to approach a second time. Despite everything, he was persistent as ever.

 “I don’t want to push, I really don’t,” he said, eyes tired and pleading. “Please, if you would just talk to some cat, maybe not me, but--”

“I will Woollycloud.” Talltail replied quickly.

 His tone was surprisingly lighter. It was easier to muster up a more falsely positive tone, as the relief that came from having a new direction in sight washed over him. This had to be what these restless feelings were pointing to. He was sure Sandstone would agree. 

“I promise.” Talltail insisted when Woollycloud eyed him suspiciously, “I know how to make it better. I’m sorry, really I am, for having been such a pain. I owe you a lot. I promise I didn’t mean what I said earlier. I want you to look after my mother.``

“W-what? I mean, thank you Talltail, but...”

“I’ll go talk with Heatherstar. Thank you.” He said and quickly padded off, leaving Woollycloud again to stare after him.

***

Talltail had to quickly admit to himself that speaking to Heatherstar was a lie. He’d just watched Plumclaw stomp away from a discussion with their leader about which tunnels they were allowed to keep open. Heatherstar didn’t look happy herself, but she was firm on the matter. Talltail couldn’t help feeling some frustration towards her as well, for not allowing him to try and uphold his fathers legacy. But who are you kidding? His little voice in his ear hissed, Even if she had let you try, you would have made a mess of things. Heatherstar was protective of her ruling, aware not every cat was happy about it. The last thing she’d want to hear about was a warrior thinking of leaving, so soon after swearing his warriors oath. 

As he stood there facing her den, a rumbling raspy voice made Talltail jump.

“Are you looking for council with our leader, or are you going to stand there like a moon-struck hare all day?”

 Hawkheart was lying in the shadow of an overhanging stone, watching Talltail with his dark yellow gaze.

“I…” Talltail stuttered, “N-No. No, I was just spacing out.”

“Hm.” Hawkheart sounded unconvinced. “Well make up your mind. Doubt left to fester can be dangerous. WindClan needs warriors who know where they belong.”

Talltail stared at the old medicine cat. His words felt too pointed to be without meaning, as if he knew what was on his mind. Perhaps he’d agreed with Talltail’s feelings all along. Hawkheart wanting him to leave wouldn’t surprise him. 

“Why?” challenge creeped into Talltail’s voice, “Do you know what I would want to ask her about?”

“Not exactly, no.” Hawkheart purred, as rough and unfriendly as a purr could be, “I don’t actually know everything. I just have unusually reliable hunches. I’m not going to tell you what to do. But you’d better make some decision. Don’t just stand there with your paws rooted to the ground forever. Cats are starting to look at you funny.”

Talltail looked over his shoulder and saw Heatherstar had glanced in his direction. She blinked questioningly at him, as he stood a couple fox-lengths from her den. He dipped his head to her awkwardly and turned away.

He was never going to get Heatherstar’s blessing. It was foolish to try. He didn’t have the guts to tell her to her face what he was planning to do, because he had to do it no matter what she said. No worthy warrior would think of it, but he never felt like a worthy warrior to begin with. Perhaps the faster he did what he wanted to do, the faster she could forget about him. If WindClan continued on when they lost two great and noble warriors in Sandstone and Brackenwing...then losing one like him was nothing they could not move on from. He padded away.

chapter list / previous / next

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

How about an AU where cinder and Emerald swap places. With Emerald being the fall maiden and Cinder being the thief she found in the street.

send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story

- as a young street kid, Emerald very quickly traded one abusive mother for another

not that she intended to: it was Hazel who found her, starving and alone, and couldn’t bring himself to leave her

Evernight terrified her, Salem and her harsh training even more so, but...she could survive there, if she steeled herself to, and kept herself useful. killing the Fall Maiden and returning with the powers was just a test she had to pass.

so, reaching twenty-one, she’s cold and guarded, shying away from mirrors for fear of seeing her mother’s bitter face staring back at her

- sixteen-year-old Cinder is At Her Fucking Limit

escaping Atlas and returning to Mistral had been hard enough, and for what? she’s still scrounging for scraps, still treated like dirt everywhere she goes. the only difference is, this time she’s not defenseless.

she has a good eye for who might have things worth taking, among the people passing her on the street, and the woman with the nice jacket and the green jewel around her neck looks like a prime target

she stalks her through the city until they’re alone, pulls her sword and goes for her back...and is immediately thrown back by a gust of wind and frozen to the ground

furious and struggling, she looks up and doesn’t know what’s more surprising: the fact that this woman’s eyes are lit up with red fire, or that she doesn’t look angry, just exasperated

“Really, kid? As if I don’t have enough to worry about.”

- Emerald doesn’t like it, but she understands what Hazel felt seeing her: this angry, impulsive kid is going to get herself killed if she’s left alone, so she might as well at least offer to take her in

Cinder is cautious about going with her (after all, the last time a strange woman took her away to another kingdom, she was enslaved and tortured for years), but Emerald hasn’t hurt her, wasn’t even upset by Cinder trying to kill her, so she decides she can take the risk

neither of them say very much on the trip, but Cinder does work up the nerve to ask, “What do you have to do to get those powers?”

Emerald glares back at her from the pilot’s seat. “You can’t do anything. They pass randomly. Either you get lucky, or you don’t. Not that I’d call this luck, anyway,” she adds under her breath.

when they arrive, Emerald guides Cinder into a bow before Salem, keeping a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “My lady, I wish to take on an apprentice.”

Cinder gulps, but forces herself to look the most terrifying person she’s ever met in the eyes. “I...I can fight, if that’s what you need. I learn fast...my lady.”

Salem smiles, mildly intrigued: Emerald has never asked for anything before, let alone anything like this. “Very well. She is your responsibility, Emerald. Make her strong.”

- Cinder slowly grows accustomed to living in Evernight: she is still clearly on the lowest rung of the ladder, but she has a regular training schedule instead of being forced to work, she gets plenty of food and sleep, and Emerald comes to her defense when Watts and Tyrian taunt her, even if she snaps at her to grow a thicker skin after they’ve gone

it takes her a while to get used to her new mentor: Emerald isn’t cruel to her, but she doesn’t pretend to care, either. though...after Rhodes, she thinks she prefers that.

she works more with her swords, but under Emerald’s direct training, she learns to lean more on her Semblance and Fire Dust (“I don’t usually use fire,” Emerald says, as Cinder stares entranced at the fireball in her palm, “but it should be similar enough to work for teaching you.”)

over time, she gets to see all of the Maiden powers in action, but Emerald only uses lightning in front of her once: electrocuting a Grimm to demonstrate its weak point, and stopping once she notices Cinder out of the corner of her eye suddenly pale and cringing

“...Don’t,” she orders when Cinder starts to apologize. “I don’t know what happened to you, and I don’t want to hear it. But you should know that I’m not going to hurt you.”

Cinder looks at her suspiciously, immediately on the defensive. “Yeah? Going to remember that when I make you mad?”

Emerald snorts and glances away. “Well, you’re just a kid.”

she leaves it at that, but Cinder gets the message, and it makes something twist in her stomach. she doesn’t want to trust Emerald, she knows what trust gets her. but she can’t help it. 

a few days later, Cinder starts wearing her hair in a ponytail like hers

- when the time comes for them to target Beacon directly, Cinder has tagged along with Emerald on several assignments, and even successfully pulled off a few on her own

(Emerald would not admit it with a gun to her head, but she spent a lot the time Cinder was away from the castle by herself anxiously pacing and grumbling to herself that the stupid kid better not get herself killed)

Cinder has no qualms about what they’re planning to do, is even looking forward to it, but Emerald is determinedly Not Thinking about how their plan here is going to end in more horrific deaths than she has ever been responsible for

Salem watches them as they board the airship to Vale: Emerald only looking her way to give her a cursory bow of the head and Cinder more timidly copying her, still too nervous around Salem to take her eyes off her when she’s in the room

she knows that Emerald lied to Cinder about how the Maiden powers transfer, and that Cinder’s trust in a mentor has been broken before and will break even more easily a second time. 

she will be watching them very carefully: Emerald’s only weakness is her still-soft heart, and should she ever get cold feet...well. Emerald’s spent all this time preparing a replacement Maiden for her, hasn’t she?

[nanagoswife]

Please, Don't Go. - Chapter 12

DON'T READ FULL TAGS UNLESS YOU WANT POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THIS CHAPTER

Summary: We see reader and Obi-Wan after the duel with Maul, with a small twist. Then, reader and Obi-Wan go through the years until the days of the Clone Wars where a threat arises...

W/C: 5.2k

Warnings: implied intimacy, mature content, decapitation, implied cutting a being in half, death, descriptions of injury, Star Wars swears, explosions, mind manipulation

A/N: I just want to give a heads up, things get pretty dark. I actually had to slightly restrain myself slightly😅. I hope you enjoy?

- - -

The fall was far. The bottom couldn’t even be seen as he looked down. He only looked away when the Sith’s two halves were no longer in sight. Breathing heavily, he retracted the blade of his master’s lightsaber.

Without much more thought, he rushed to where Qui-Gon lay. The Jedi tried to say something but it came out as a small whimper. Surveying the wound, he determined that he would have enough time. So, Obi-Wan lifted his master and slung him across his shoulders.

Unlike getting in, he was far quicker with the red shield timing. It only stopped him once before he was able to rush to where he knew he could get help.

-

You were with Padmé, pacing in the hanger as you hoped it was where the Jedi would meet you. When you heard a pair of running steps join in, you stopped and looked to where you had seen the Jedi chase the Zabrak.

Fear struck you as you saw Obi-Wan carrying Qui-Gon on his shoulders. The look in his eyes was desperate and you immediately called for the medics who were on standby.

They must’ve been right outside because they were there almost immediately. When Obi-Wan met them, he placed his master on the floating gurney.

“You must hurry. He needs immediate treatment so that he’s still alive for Jedi Healers,” he said frantically to the lead medic. They nodded and carted the Jedi off with urgency. Padmé went with them so that it would ensure the quickest way to the best treatment.

Obi-Wan looked on with a worried but, at the same time, relieved expression.

Now alone, you placed a hand on Obi-Wan’s bicep. There was so much tension in his muscles that you thought they would strain if he didn’t relax.

“Are you alright?” You made sure to keep your tone soft. You didn’t know what happened and he could possibly also be hurt.

Finally, Obi-Wan looked at you and the tension from his body let up. His eyes softened and he nodded.

“A few bumps and bruises,” he said quietly as he moved to stand in front of you. Easily, he closed the distance and pulled you against him.

The fear that you didn’t realize you had dissipated as he held you. He was still here. He was alright.

“I love you, Obi,” you say. It was more a way to show how happy you were that he was here. That nothing terrible happened to him. You could only hope that Qui-Gon will be alright.

He exhaled and pressed a kiss to your forehead, “I love you too, Y/N.” He said it with as much meaning as you. And for a few more moments, the two of you held the other, relieved that you are both okay.

-

“I’m proud of you, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said as the previous padawan bowed by the medical bed. His padawan braid was now resting in his master’s hand.

“Thank you, master.”

“And what is to happen with Anakin?” Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan with sincere curiosity.

“It took convincing, but I am to train the boy. They said you were too injured that it would delay his training too long,” Obi-Wan replied almost solemnly.

Qui-Gon felt slightly guilty for the young man. He wouldn’t be able to find himself as a Jedi before having to take in his own padawan. At the same time, he knew that his padawan would take it on with as much enthusiasm as he did with any other assignment. Plus, Qui-Gon would be there to help guide his old padawan.

He placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder, “Congratulations, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

-

“How is he?” you asked when Obi-Wan snuck in by your balcony. It was just close enough to the ground that he could jump up, with a little aid from the force.

Obi-Wan took quick steps to you until he slotted his lips with yours. “He’s doing well,” he said between kissing you. His hands were moving up and down your sides until one of his hands pulled you closer by the small of your back.

“Obi,” you said in a higher pitch as his lips trailed down to your neck. Then, he easily lifted you and you wrapped your legs around his waist. Sometimes you forgot how strong he was when his form was so well hidden beneath his robes.

You couldn’t help but give into it all. Every touch was electric as he slowly moved until your back met a wall. You let out a little gasp at the surprise contact, but you only melted more into him with this. There was something that only heightened your desire for him with this new experience.

“Obi,” you tried again. When he moved back to your neck and throat, you tried to suppress your pleasurable sounds as you said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“After,” is all he said, never pulling away from his attention on you.

“But-“ he cut you off by moving his lips back to yours. It was a silent way of telling you to shut up and just enjoy the moment. Despite your better judgement, you gave in.

-

Playfully, Obi-Wan layed on top of you, causing a giggle to come from you. He pretended to fall asleep and mocked snoring as he rested on you.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” you said as you started to trace circles on his back.

Humming in agreement, Obi-Wan moved so that he was instead propping himself on his elbow, looking down at you. You brushed a hand through his hair and no longer felt the braid or the small bunch of hair at the back of his head. All of it was smooth and there was something about it that you enjoyed just that small bit more.

“I was knighted,” he leaned down then kissed you. “Then, I found out Qui-Gon will make a full recovery,” he kissed you again. “Then, I came back to my beautiful girlfriend who I just enjoyed a very fun activity with,” he kissed you again. “And I think she still has something else to add on to my good day.”

Once again, he kissed you and you let out a groan as you felt a hand drifting over your body.

“Well, you’ll never know if you keep distracting me like this Obi.”

He flashed a cocky grin and pressed one more kiss to your lips before settling himself on his elbows, now giving you his full attention. His eyebrows were raised, imploring you to tell him whatever news you were trying to tell him before.

“I found out that I’m taking over as senator as soon as you and the Jedi Council decide it’s safe. Which means that we’ll both be on Coruscant.”

His cocky grin turned to one of true happiness.

“You can’t escape me now,” Obi-Wan teased before diving his lips back to yours. His desire began to build up again as he once again let his hands roam over the surface of your skin. It didn’t take long before his lips were trailing downward again.

You couldn’t help but always be surprised at how many times Obi-Wan could go in a night. If the two of you were allowed to be more open about it, you were almost sure it would be more. For now, you just enjoyed this moment and forgot about how you were forbidden lovers. The only thing you focused on was your lover who was slowly starting up something that you felt like you had just finished.

-

You and Obi-Wan had set a plan to how the two of you would see each other while he was training Anakin. Usually, there was always at least one night where Qui-Gon would take Anakin and do special meditative and living force connection lessons. It allowed for Obi-Wan to sneak into your apartment and spend the evening with you.

Even if you were busy and had more work to do, he patiently waited for you. That, or he would nag you until you at least came into the bed so that he could cuddle into you while you completed your duties.

“Want cuddles,” he’d say while kneeling beside you at your desk, pressing his forehead into your arm. The more you tried to say no, the more stubborn he got. It sometimes made you curious to see what new methods he would come up with to convince you.

So far, you were never disappointed. He would always hit a mark where, even if you were seeing how creative he could get, you could no longer be able to deny him.

Whenever he had to leave for a mission, the first thing he would do was come and tell you. If he couldn’t do it in person, then he’d send you a message. If he wasn’t there for that one night a week, he’d come see you multiple times.

Sometimes, he was sometimes in the senate. Usually, it was to teach Anakin about the government process of the galaxy. He would bring his padawan to see you so that he could get lessons from a politician that actually could be trusted, in Obi-Wan’s eyes.

Then, there were days where training Anakin would sometimes get to be too much. Obi-Wan would get Qui-Gon or another fellow Jedi to look after him while he said he needed time to meditate and clear his mind. In reality, he would come to you for your calming energy. By the time he left, it may as well have been like he had mediated.

This is what it was like for years. That is, until after Obi-Wan had come back from Geonosis. That day was the one time you weren’t there to join Padmé on whatever adventure she was on. It sounded like it was a good thing you hadn’t.

Anakin had lost an arm, Padmé had a ghastly gash across her back, and Obi-Wan had two lightsaber burns. One of which had caused him to limp until it fully healed.

After this, the Clone War had started. The one thing you, Padmé, and Bail Organa had fought so hard against happening. Another threat was that there were more Sith revealed. It was believed that Dooku was the master, and he had a new apprentice after Darth Maul was struck down by Obi-Wan. The new apprentice’s name, Darth Cosmar.

Obi-Wan had found this all out on Geonosis, but there was still another name that threw off the theory that the Jedi had. For now, until they found more evidence, their focus was on protecting the people of the Republic.

For Obi-Wan, his duty was to spend as much time with you before he was deployed. It was determined that he would be a Jedi general, leading the 212th Clone battalion. Appropriately, he named his ship The Negotiator. You had told him it was the only acceptable name for his flag ship.

So, Obi-Wan spent as much time as he could with you. Since Anakin was now knighted, he no longer had his padawan constantly needing his assistance.

This was everything that happened to get to the point you were now, staring into the eyes of the man you love in the dim morning light. You would’ve stayed in the moment, if it weren’t for the sudden nausea that hit you.

Quickly, you jumped up and ran to the refresher. You could hear Obi-Wan call your name worriedly as you ran to the room. You almost didn’t make it to the toilet before you vomited.

Obi-Wan came in not long after. He knelt beside you and rubbed your back as he made sure you were alright.

How could this be? You were feeling fine just before. Then, after looking back at it, your eyes went wide. No, this can’t be happening. It can’t because it could jeopardize everything. Specifically, it would put everything Obi-Wan has worked to achieve at risk.

“Y/N? What is it?” His tone was filled with concern as he continued to rub your back.

“I… I think,” you were struggling to tell him.

Would he be angry? No, he wouldn’t. Disappointed? Maybe. Either way, you were scared that this would be the reason he would leave you.

Finally, with a deep breath, you told him, “I think I’m pregnant, Obi.”

Looking up at him, you were expecting to see anything except what you did. He was smiling. Bigger than you had ever seen before. The confusion must’ve showed as he brought a hand to your cheek.

“Did you think I would be upset?”

Slowly, you nodded. He chuckled to himself.

“Now, why ever would I be upset? This is by far the happiest moment of my life,” he said before resting a hand on your stomach. He reached out through the force to see if he could feel it’s life force. And, sure enough, there it was.

When you saw the smile on his face, you couldn’t help but laugh in relief.

“Hello there, little one,” he said softly. He brought his eyes to meet yours. “This is the perfect moment.”

Once again, confusion settled over you. What else could there be?

Obi-Wan offered a hand to you, helping you to stand. He brought you back into the room and left you standing awkwardly in the middle of the room as he went into his brown cloak to retrieve something. He hid whatever it was behind his back.

“After a lot of thought, I decided to do this. I was originally planning to do this later, but now seems like the best time,” he said while stepping up in front of you.

There was something in his eyes that, for the first time in years, you couldn’t read.

“I love you so much. And I hope that something like being pregnant will never make you think that I’ll be upset. It was something that I never thought I would be able to bring you, but I wanted to. Now, we have a bright little one on their way,” he said, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

He continued, “Now, this only gives me even more of a reason to do this.” Bringing his hand in front of him, he kept his hand closed as he held it. “I want you to know that I have thought about this extensively. Also, with the war, it’s almost like the galaxy is telling me to do this before it’s too late.”

He opened up his hand and it revealed a beautiful blue crystal attached to a golden necklace. The gold wonderfully wrapped around the crystal to hold it. In a way, it reminded you of Obi-Wan’s eyes that were framed by his auburn hair.

“Will you make me the happiest man alive, and marry me?”

His question forced your eyes from the necklace to his eyes. There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes. Would he really risk his place in the Jedi Order just for you? You already know the answer.

A smile spread across your face, and you said quietly, “Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes,” you said with a happy laugh. Obi-Wan smiled as well before kissing you. He kissed you like it was the first time he ever did.

When you separated, he stepped behind you and put the necklace on you. You smiled as you looked down at the crystal.

“Where did you get this?”

“They found my lightsaber on Naboo,” Obi-Wan said, pressing your back to his chest as he rested his head on your shoulder. “The hilt was practically destroyed, but my previous kyber crystal was intact. So, I used it for you. This way, I’ll always be close to your heart. No matter what.”

Reaching up, you placed a hand on his cheek.

“I wish I could’ve gotten you a ring, but I thought that this would not only be perfect, but also discreet.”

“I love it. I love you,” you say before turning in his arms. “Now, what do you say about crawling back into bed and being lazy for the rest of the day.”

He put a hand over one of yours that lay on his chest, “I would say that sounds like the most wonderful plan, my love.”

-

Darth Cosmar had been after Obi-Wan for months now. At some point, he found out how Obi-Wan had a connection with you. The Sith had figured it out one day when he came to attack you. Thankfully, Obi-Wan had been tasked with protecting you.

He had laughed when he saw the way your Jedi had protected you. The way you grappled to his arm didn’t help when it came to hiding it.

With this knowledge, the blonde haired Sith started to exploit this connection. He had been threatening you often, bringing extreme concern for your safety.

As he was the only Jedi not currently needed on the front lines, Obi-Wan was tasked with protecting you. There were many fear filled nights where you clung to him as you slept. Your growing belly was something that he noticed that he always had an arm over. It was like, even in sleep, he was protecting the baby. You would smile and say how protective he already was of their child.

Thankfully, no actual attempts have been made on your life recently. It didn’t stop Obi-Wan from accompanying you to every little thing that you went through.

You didn’t mind, but there were a few other senators who didn’t take too kindly to it. They thought that talking about the senate secrets in front of him would compromise the Republic. You constantly had to remind them that the Jedi already knew every senate secret there was to know. Also, if they wanted to compromise the senate, wouldn’t they have already done that?

Currently, he was accompanying you on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. There was a matter that you had to discuss with senator Organa, but he wasn’t able to leave his home planet. It was a matter too important that, if it were intercepted, it would cause many issues not just for the senate, but for the whole war effort.

“Remind me why we have to go there and why he can’t come back for a couple days to Coruscant?” Obi-Wan was less than thrilled to leave the city planet. He wouldn’t let you hear anything else for the last few hours.

“Because,” you started, placing a hand on his knee as you sat in the transport, “His wife, Breha, is sick. He’s staying with her until she starts to recover.”

Even though you knew he was worried, you also knew that he really did understand. Darth Cosmar had just been causing so much noise that he was afraid that something would actually happen soon.

“Obi, don’t worry. It’ll be fine. We’re almost there.”

Almost if it were to prove your point, the pilot announced that you were almost there. Qui-Gon came out from the back room and you removed your hand from Obi-Wan’s knee.

“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about this,” Obi-Wan said.

“If it’s bothering you this much, reach out,” Qui-Gon started, “look into the force, Obi-Wan. Maybe it will help you determine if your feeling is right.”

Obi-Wan nodded and closed his eyes, plunging him into a meditative state. He sensed everything around him. He stretched his focus to the rest of the ship where everything was normal. The last place he reached to was the cockpit.

That’s where an odd sensation flooded over him. As far as he was concerned, it was one of his clones that was supposed to be piloting the ship. At least, that’s what he had thought and guaranteed before leaving. Something about their signature seemed off. Almost like it wasn’t theirs…

His eyes snapped open just before the ship was sent in a sudden dive to Alderaan’s moon. Without hesitation, he used his body to shield yours as he wasn’t sure just how quickly they were going to make this unplanned landing.

To his relief, it wasn’t a crash, but a smooth landing.

“Are you alright,” Obi-Wan quickly said, placing a hand on your stomach to feel how the baby was doing.

Concern was plain in both his tone and his expression. You nodded and he helped you from your seat. Both him and Qui-Gon immediately took up protective positions around you when the pilot started to make their way into the room.

Obi-Wan sent his old master a message through the force, telling him what he sensed before all of this happened. Qui-Gon gave him a slight nod and turned his attention to whoever was wearing the clone armour.

“You are a difficult man to find,” the voice said, not directed at any of you. Instead, it was directed behind the three of you.

When you turned, you couldn’t believe your eyes. You never thought you would ever see him again. You thought he was dead.

“Kenth!” You couldn’t help but call out his name. It was almost strange to say his name again.

Meeting your gaze, he gave you a smirk and you could not help but think that he’s hardly changed. Well, except for the now almost all grey hair.

Turning back, the one dressed as a clone now had taken off the helmet. It revealed the blonde hair and sickly yellow eyes that were too painfully familiar.

“Cosmar,” Obi-Wan growled, hand hovering above his lightsaber.

“Oh, don’t soil yourself, Kenobi. I’m not here for you. Well, I wasn’t.” The dark snarl of the Sith never failed to send shivers down your spine. “This man has been throwing a wrench in every plan my master has tried to put forth. Now, I see he was going to once again.”

“Are you not tired of competing against Dooku?” Baize spat out. “I’m surprised you don’t just kill him and properly take your place as the Sith apprentice.”

Shock rippled through both you and the two Jedi. Dooku wasn’t the master? Then who was?

“I now believe, my good Captain, that you have officially crossed a line. You put these innocent, well, mostly innocent lives at risk,” he said while staring directly at you and Obi-Wan. Your Jedi only looked on with a hard expression and was ready to act at any second.

Obi-Wan caught a quick glance at Qui-Gon, and they both nodded together. “If you want her, it won’t happen.

Cosmar laughed. “You stupid Jedi. I don’t want her alive. I have wanted her dead for months.”

Obi-Wan seemed to return the scowl that this Sith wore. There was so much tension that it was becoming unbearable. In nearly an imperceptible move, Obi-Wan nudged you towards Baize. You could see the two Jedi were ready to spring into action, and so was Darth Cosmar.

Baize took your arm and pulled you close to him, ready to run out of the ship if needed.

“Let’s have some fun, shall we?” Before you could think about what the Sith was saying, he sprung towards the Jedi, who both met him with the same ferocity.

Kenth lightly tugged at your arm, “We need to go,” he whispered. Nodding, you let him lead you out of the ship with the sounds of lightsabers clashing behind you. This was the first time in a while that you were truly worried for Obi-Wan.

“I have a ship not far from here. For now we should stay nearby in case they need help,” he said once you were safely off of the ship. When the two Jedi and the Sith came out, though, it wasn’t long before you were fleeing to the ship.

-

This fight was lasting too long. It had moved outside of the ship long ago, but Obi-Wan could see that he previous master was getting tired far quicker than he was. This small moment allowed for Cosmar to push Obi-Wan away, forcing him a good few feet away.

It was too far, as he looked up and was revisited by a familiar memory. Cosmar bested Qui-Gon and drove his saber through the Jedi’s abdomen. Unlike Maul, he didn’t take it back out the same way, but instead drove it upwards, cutting all the way through to the shoulder.

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but yell in both horror and anger. Dark thoughts started to swirl in his mind, but he pushed them aside as he stood back up. He couldn’t turn to the dark with you still alive.

“Still think you can defeat me, Kenobi,” he said in a mocking tone. It only stirred the anger in him more as he watched the Sith smugly smile.

“Oh, that’s not a question,” he replied, calling Qui-Gon’s saber to his other hand. Igniting it, he was highlighted by the green and the blue in the dark of the moon’s night. The two sabers combined put a yellow tint in his eye, and Cosmar actually felt fear rise inside himself.

Before he knew it, Obi-Wan was attacking with a new speed and force. Still, it wasn’t enough to best him.

Once again, Obi-Wan was thrown off and the Jedi and the Sith circled the other.

Then, Darth Cosmar stopped, raising his eyes to the sky, “You’re too late. My plan has worked.”

Confused, Obi-Wan directed his attention to where the Sith was gazing. He saw a Republic ship. Reaching out, he could feel your energy in that direction. He couldn’t be entirely sure if you were on it, or still on the ground.

“Three, two,” Obi-Wan had barely enough time to react to Cosmar’s countdown before the ship burst into flames and exploded in the air. He felt a snap. A snap that he hadn’t felt in years. A snap that brought the painful wrench in his heart.

Obi-Wan collapsed to his knees as he felt it was nearly impossible to breathe. No. This can’t be happening. This can’t be true, but the snap. It couldn’t be faked. A break of a connection can’t be forced. The connection was gone. You and the baby were gone. The thoughts raced in his mind as the pain in his heart grew as the realisation hit him; as the now severed connection left him feeling hollow and empty. There was now a hole in Obi-Wan’s heart.

The thoughts rapidly shifted to a dark place. Pain, suffering, anger, revenge. It all filled his mind as he slowly rose back to his feet. Both lightsabers were still in his hands. Both of these lightsabers would do perfectly. He wanted this man dead. He wanted Cosmar dead. He killed the closest thing he had to a father. He killed his unborn child. He killed you.

As Obi-Wan turned, Darth Cosmar truly showed fear. What he saw that Obi-Wan didn’t, was that the Jedi’s eyes were no longer the cool blue. No, they were now a shining shade of cyber yellow. The former Jedi was breathing heavily and was seething.

Even though he knew that there was more fighting to come, Cosmar never thought he would experience the new power the former Jedi now had. He underestimated the man’s strength that had been dulled down by the teachings of the Jedi. Obi-Wan felt like the force was now electric around him. It gave him a new energy, a new power that he now used.

When he lunged at Cosmar, he relished in the fear that he saw in the Sith’s eyes. It was like he knew what was coming. After a few furious moments, Obi-Wan had brought the Sith apprentice to his knees, his sabers crossed at his neck.

“P-please I beg you!”

Obi-Wan didn’t listen and only scoffed at the attempt of pleading for mercy before he let both blades glide through the man’s neck. There were multiple thuds as he head rolled before his body collapsed. He called the now former Sith’s lightsaber to his hand and connected it to his belt.

He was relishing every feeling around him. The force buzzed almost in excitement as he took on the darkness. There was still doubt in his mind as he looked down at the two bodies before him. In a way, he could still feel the light trying to tug him back, and he couldn’t entirely shove it away. No, he hasn’t fully turned yet, but he was leaning towards it as he took on this new feeling of the force.

“I applaud you, my boy,” a chilling voice suddenly sounded behind him. Out of pure instinct, he ignited his sabers once again, not noticing that he had replaced Qui-Gon’s green for Cosmar’s red one.

Obi-Wan was ready to strike until the figure, with one movement, retracted both blades.

“There’s no need for that, my new apprentice,” he said as he stepped closer. “Join me and I can help you gain true revenge. The true enemy wasn’t Cosmar. The Separatists hired him to kill your fiancé and your unborn child.”

As the cloaked figure came closer, he stopped at the former Sith’s body and nudged it with his boot.

“How did you-”

“I know a great deal of things. Now, if you join me, you can get revenge. For your master, your lover, and your child.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but find himself agreeing. It was all he knew to do. He wanted revenge and he was willing to kill anyone that may have had the slightest connection to this all.

What Obi-Wan didn’t know was that you were watching from behind a ridge not too far from him. You had seen everything along with Kenth. You could even hear the exchange between the cloaked figure and Obi-Wan. Your heart broke as you watched his now yellow eyes take over the once beautiful blues.

Kenth had held you close, keeping you from running to him. “We can’t. He’s too far gone.”

“You don’t know that,” you said as you tried to escape his hold, tears in your eyes.

When the man you loved walked away with the one who was undoubtedly the Sith, your heart shattered. He said he wouldn’t turn because of you. He promised. Could he not feel you through the force anymore? Did the Sith cut off his connection to you?

That’s what it was. Obi-Wan had told you once that, in one of his nightmares, he felt a snap and his connection to you was broken when you had died in the dream. That had to be it. The Sith had to be keeping you from him.

As you looked on, you knew you couldn’t do anything. Baize was right, he was too far gone. Still, you couldn’t help but say, “Please, Obi. Please, don’t go.”

When you had said that, he turned around as if he heard it. Desperately, he looked around to see you, but he saw nothing. It only made the doubt in his head begin to raise. The promise was broken, but you were no longer here. He was going to go through with this. He was going to get revenge for everyone that had been killed by both Cosmar and the Separatists.

- - -

Don't worry. I'm crying too.

@stardancerluv @where-fantasy-meets-reality @jaydenwoo @madmax2003 @mackycat11 @generousrunawaydonut @imabeautifulbutterfly

[sunflowersseemhappy]

May I please have a headcanon of the Main 6 with an MC that loves physical affection and likes to run their hands through their hair, etc.? Thank you!!

Here you go @acefangirl1 ! Thank you for the request, sorry it’s a bit messy my brain is literal mush rn. I may edit this at a later date ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, we’ll see.

Requests are still open, up next main 6 with an apprentice who’s blind.

Much love and enjoy!

 Asra

Asra spent so long after your death craving your touch, sometimes he thought he felt your hand on his shoulder but all he turned around to was a silent shop. Faust helped but part of him always felt empty inside.

When he took that chance to bring you back and it worked? Gods he held you so tight, as if you would vanish at any moment.

When you came back you didn't quite understand 'hugging' but it felt good.

Asra taught you many things in the last three years, it's the main reason you are so physical in your affection. Whenever you struggled with a word he'd envelop your hand in his, and when you walked for the first time he held you just in case, and when you cried tears of frustration he would wipe them away and hug you kissing the top of your head. "You can do this; I know you can."

Your touch to him is like magic, despite any thoughts and feelings he feels in that moment your touch brings him peace and soothes his mind.

You learned quickly that Asra is a big fan of massages, as soon as your hands are rubbing firm circles against his shoulders he's melting down and sighing in relief. For someone usually so at ease he has some tension in those muscles. He insists on giving you a massage afterwards, and he loves to kiss your shoulders and the back of your neck.

You two have this thing you do while out and about together that you'll hold each other’s hands when you are thinking about each other. Asra will take many opportunities to kiss your hand while it's in his own.

When you're lying together in bed you can't keep your hands off each other, it's quite funny because Asra is constantly giggling under your touch and against your lips. It’s not that he’s ticklish, he’s just happy.

His hair is so thick that it always has tangles so you’re extra careful not to tug at it when you run your hands through his locks. Loves when your fingers tickle against his scalp and it is an instant turn on.

Nadia

That night she came to your shop and you placed your hand on her arm, guiding her in…

She’s the countess and it’s a surprise to her when you touch her with such ‘familiarity’ like the two of you are friends. But it’s oddly comforting, no one has touched her in such a manner since she awoke three months ago.

When you touched her arm Nadia’s headache stopped and her skin prickled, she was intrigued.

You’ve helped a lot since that moment, your touch a breath of fresh air as it chases away the headaches. It’s like your own practice in managing your headaches and lost memories flows into her.

On days, the two of you are working together preforming the duties in the palace you are almost constantly linked together by your arms. It’s a refined manner of physical affection that you suggested, but Nadia just likes it for how close it brings you together and how easy it is to peck you on the cheek.

During meetings and the like (when the courtiers are stressing her out) you like to place a hand on her knee soothingly and just give her the slightest smile. Almost as if to say; “I’m here.”

Nadia’s favourite thing is when you get her to rest her head in your lap, talking away as you trace her face with your fingers and loose her hair from all the ornaments and pins that held it in place. A lot of time you end up doing upside down kisses.

Being such a dominant partner Nadia likes the physical affection but can’t help but take over during more heated sessions. She’ll push you against a wall and absolutely devour your face and neck with kisses, what happens next is best left to the imagination…

Julian

He’s spent a long time on the run, seeking comfort with drink instead of with others. You may have been the first person to touch him with good intentions in many years and he is comforted. There’s something about you.

But he doesn’t want to get close, physically, or otherwise. He doesn’t want to hurt you even though he barely knows you, but you touch him, and he loses his resolve to push you away.

When you touch him, he doesn’t feel like a bad person, he just feels like himself. A part of him he thought he lost comes back when he’s with you.

Loves having his hair run through your fingers, it’s so relaxing and perfect that it will send him to sleep. He gets pouty after you use it to make him sleep because he doesn’t need sleep when he has a paper to write!

He really likes it when the two of you are snuggled up together in bed (even though he’s such an insomniac). He's all legs so the two of you are always tangled up when you're hugging. Nonetheless he really likes to lay on top of you, his torso straddled by your legs and rest his chin on your chest and look into your eyes while having a chat.

Loves your kisses but always asks for them “I’ve stolen many things Y/N but I will never steal from you.” You give him plenty of kisses, but he always wants more.

One time he complained that his hand was cramping so much it hurt so you took his hand and kissed it ‘better’. His mind instantly thought ‘more kisses?!’, now he complains about his ‘aches and pains’ all the time.

Muriel

Physical affection?! His guard was most definitely up the first time the two of you met, other than Asra he’s never quite experienced affection (even then there is minimal physical affection between them).

But he does know that Asra trusts you, Asra has told Muriel about you and how kind and good you are. Muriel trusts Asra, so maybe he can trust you too.

The first time you graze his arm he pulls tensely back, but your touch brought warmth to his skin and not pain like he had felt all those years in the Colosseum.

Once he gets used to your physical affection it’s like he’s addicted to your hugs, you hug so often they just blend together. He's a hug machine and doesn't want to stop holding you close to him.

Really likes hugging while you're on top of him. Scared to admit that he loves hugging you when he's partway on top of you, legs wrapped up and head against your chest or the crook of your neck.

One day you decided to jump and hug him from behind, impromptu piggyback ride!

Mumbles incoherently when you give him any kind of affection, you can’t tell if he’s embarrassed or pleased. More often it’s the latter.

You often pecks one of his cheeks with a kiss as you leave for the shop, but on days Muriel feels like he needs more than one he’ll pull you close and let you kiss all over his face. Then he’ll do the same to you, this may or may not have gotten him in the mood.

Further on the above, he whines when you tease him and kiss his face everywhere but his lips. One of the few times he pulls you in for a kiss

Forehead touches, that’s it. Soft, sweet, breaths mingling. Just being there with each other and feeling the world disappear.

Portia

She thinks it’s great you are so physically affectionate, the two of you are ‘affectionate’ buddies and it is an endless cycle of hugs, kisses, hand holding and more hugs.

That first day you met (after the pomegranates went everywhere) and your hand gazed her own, Portia didn’t quite realise how close the two of you would be one day, but she knew you were special!

The past few years where Julian disappeared were hard for her, other than Mazelinka she had no family to speak of around her. So, when you came along bringing physical affection reminiscent of a family member, she thought of you as such.

Physical affection with Portia is giddy and fun, you quickly found out that she really likes to be picked up and spun around (given you’re strong enough, if not she’ll be the one picking you up). Particularly after a long time apart (which for her is after a couple of hours after you last saw one another!) But how could you deny her the joy?

At particularly intimate moments the two of you just rub your noses together and giggle at the ridiculously cute sappy people you are. You’re pretty sure Portia got the idea from Pepi, who also likes to stick her face in yours.

Further to the above, after/during the time you are rubbing your noses together the two of you just messily kiss over each other’s faces. Cue getting in the mood.

Cupping each other’s faces in hands and just soul gazing, feeling breaths wash over each other and mingle, memorising the colours and patterns in each other’s eyes and feeling each blemish over smooth skin. Portia can’t remember her parent’s faces, but no matter what she wants to remember yours.

Loves to just snuggle up and read/sew/or do another homey activity together. You two are close together and get to chat, its terribly mundane but Portia really enjoys it because your head is in her lap and she gets to watch you do something you enjoy while also doing the same thing herself. She imagines it to be something her mother would have done with her.

Lucio

That day you used the blood magic to make him semi-corporeal, he was just about ready to admit defeat and just do the most reckless s**t as a not-ghost to entertain himself.

But when you, the first person in three years to notice him and then touch him, did so he almost lost his mind. He didn’t think he missed physical affection that much, but your touch was better than all his imaginings of eating until he passed out or throwing that huge party he had been planning.

It was a special moment for him, he’s so glad you walked into the palace that day.

Just the simple act of hand holding is what Lucio loves most. It is a must have during his day, reminding him he is finally alive and here. Reminding him that you, you wonderful, amazing person stood by him and helped him be better.

That said he always holds your hand with his real arm, once time when you tried to hold his prosthetic hand the sharp fingers stabbed you in the palm. Even when the sharp plates are off, he’s very wary of holding your hand. You can tell he’s still very sorry, he’s still trying to make up for it.

He loses his mind (there’s a lot of that) when your big spoon him and kiss along his back, shoulders, and neck. He feels protected and vulnerable at the same time and it’s such a jumble of conflicting emotions he can’t help but get in the mood.

Plays footsie with you anytime anywhere, during dinner, meetings, in bed… It’s like a game and whoever wins gets to have the other do whatever they want *wink, wink*. He ‘let’s you win a lot’.

You once took the lead during a slow dance and he was didn’t even complain, so long as your hands are on him… He will let you dip and twirl him all night long.

[mintvender]

Hi there! Can I request the boys' reaction to you being jealous? Maybe Y/N saw someone flirt with the boys'? 💓

Ooh yes, enjoy 🌿💚💚

Harem!AU

BTS’s Reaction to You Getting Jealous

Warning: Slight suggestive moments, killing ( please keep in mind that this story is set in a historical setting where killing was considered to be a normal occurrence)

Masterlist

Kim Taehyung

You and Taehyung were on one of your guys’ rare missions set out by the organization. Even if you are the ruler, your original roots are from the organization so you are obligated to carry a mission when needed. This mission is one of those that is set in a very luxurious brothel. The target is a wellknown business man who has a hobby of meeting up with beauties at night. To say the least, every beauty that is here tonight is more than what meets the eyes. Most would say that they are desperate for money, others would think that they are born from lust, itself; however, whatever way an individual choose to believe, it all comes down to their first night together. Once they have done the deed, those people are forever hooked with those venomous snakes.

Your guys’ organization is very hidden even in the underworld, so all members must wear a covering to prevent exposing their identity. Y/N was wearing a full on mask that represent your alias ‘ Pheonix’. Unlike you, Taehyung chosed to be more revealing and risky, wearing only a thin black veil that can easily be ripped off. Of course, with his not very strong physique, it is extremely risky for him to wear such a frail covering but you decided not to say anything as it is in his right to wear anything he wanted to. But what you are going to do is stick by his side while holding a sword for the rest of the night.

Like any other missions, this one went smoothly. You both managed to finish the guy without anyone noticing courtesy to your deathly abilities and Taehyung’s sharp mind. What didn’t go as plan was that one of the snakes managed to ripped Taehyung’s veil off, revealing his pretty face. Further more, the ‘beauty’ thought that it would be alright to flirt and woo him into her bed. Furious at how daring she was, you decided that it was finally time to end her career. Unsheathing your sword, it only took a few movements of your experienced hand for the deed to be done. Taehyung, confused at what had happened could only offer you a stunned expression. Deciding not to answer him, you sped up your pace, leaving him to run after you. Ignoring him on the way, Taehyung could only pout, trying to get you to forgive him. When he finally managed to forced an answer out of you, he found himself snuggling himself in your hold, trying to persuade you to forgive him; promising that he would not be that reckless again.

“ Y/NNNN, talk to me please? I won’t do it again. I will stick to your side the next time we’re on another mission so forgive me. Please?”

Kim Namjoon

Have you ever have an apprentice that never leaves your side the moment they saw you? Well congratulations, this is one of those scenarios. Recently, you have decided to start enlisting many potential talents for the countless open spots in the various offices. Unsurprisingly, the medicinal department was also short of staff so they were in need of receiving more apprentices. As the head of the department, Namjoon has the final say on who is allowed to enter the department. Lucky for him not for you tho, there are many unpolished gem that wants these positions. Being the wise person he is, he managed to earn the respect of many adolescents on the very first day. All of them were curious children who needed a mentor to help guide them in order to become successful. To Namjoon, there was a particular apprentice that stood out to him. She was very interested in medicine and is highly intelligent in the field so he decided to let her be his private apprentice— who stays by his side every second he is in office and maybe even more.

Anyways, with how much that little girl is staying with Namjoon, it would make sense that she would also accompany him for your monthly checkup as well. The moment you saw that girl walk through the door, you were stunned. Stunned for Namjoon breaking the organization’s rules, and stunned that the girl managed to catch Namjoon’s attention that he was willing to even set his life on the line for her. Before Namjoon could explain the reason of that girl being there, you decided that it was within your right to kick the both of them out. Now, this might be the reason listed above and could be more but for Namjoon, he interpreted your commands as a warning. That if he were to expose his identity, he will absolutely receive none of your help and will have to deal with that on his own.

Acknowledging that you were probably right, he decided to reassigned the girl to another physician after your multiple attempts of ignoring him — not wanting to get in between his problems as it’s too risky. The next time you guys’ had a monthly checkup, the girl was nowhere in sight but your silent treatment still remained firm. Knowing that it was his fault, Namjoon could only apologize and would not do it again. He then slowly walked over to the desk near your bed and began making a concoction of herbs to help calm you down. However, unlike his usual calm self, he had clumsily shattered a few bowls while at it. Y/N could only sighed before bending down and cleaning it up before going over to him to check on his wounds. How could you let your intelligent yet clumsy physician if he were to break things everytime he crawl back to you and apologize?

“ I apologized, Y/N. I was not in my right state of mind to consider the possible risks that it would bring to our organizations. I was too excited when I saw her thesis that I completely lost my rationale.”

Jung Hoseok

Because of his wretched father, Hoseok found himself having to return to his old home every couple of weeks. His father had complained to you that Hoseok was neglecting his maternal family the moment that he was wedded to you. Y/N, not wanting to create a bigger mess, managed to convince Hoseok to return to his home every once in awhile which leads us back to the current situation. Before Hoseok got wedded to Y/N, he already had a fiancé which he has bonded throughout most of his childhood. Of course, Hoseok only saw her as a friend who he has a platonic relationship with or simply a sister, but that was far from what the girl had wanted. His ex-fiancé, Miyoung was studying abroad so she was not immediately notified of him entering the harem but the minute she got informed, she was packing her belongings and heading back.

The trip started out as any other with Hoseok getting greeted the moment he enters the front yard by the matriarch along with his father and countless servants. This time however, the moment he saw Miyoung standing courteously behind his father, Hoseok wanted nothing more than to run for the carriage that had already left. You see, when Miyoung confessed her feelings to him—who did not her and got rejected; she did everything in her power to get engaged to him and that was how she became his fiancé. From that day on, Hoseok’s relationship with her only continued to sour before they were not contacting for months on end when she’s studying abroad. The matriarch—who did not agreed on him marrying Y/N, purposely set the both of them together, wanting the pair to interact together. This idea was not only reckless and unecessary as it it basically threading your position as his spouse and have him cheat on the ruler of the nation. Hoseok’s matriarch had also stupidly decided to invite you to come as well, wanting you to witness the couple’s strong bond personally.

Knowing that you could not deny her offer as they are still one of the major families, you had coincidentally entered the room at the time when Miyoung was being extra touchy. The sight, however, did not stunned you but only made you more confused. Questions began to erupt from your mouth asking about the situation while watching Hoseok desperately trying to escape Miyoung’s grip the moment he saw you. Expectedly, the matriarch’s answer is utter garbage, knowing that this is all a setup. Deciding to just stand there and wait for Hoseok to escape from Miyoung, you observed the main contirbutor’s expressions, silently judging their ability to properly. But the moment Hoseok managed to move within your arm’s length, you could feel his little suprised gasp as you pulled him into your hold before leading him out of the place not before warning to not touch what is yours. On your guys’ way home, Hoseok tried to explain what you had witnessed but instead got the silent treatment. Let’s say that it was extremely daring to touch a assassin’s possessions but a nation’s ruler as well is simply too moronically.

“ It was not what you think, your highness. We may not know each other for long but I’m incredibly loyal! That girl was my fiancé before I got wedded to you but I don’t love her! Please believe me!”

Min Yoongi

You getting jealous with Yoongi would happened on a blue moon as he is frequently seen by your side and that most people inside the palace hate his family too much to hit on him but it does still happen. Like any other day, Yoongi is with you in your office helping you with the minor tasks. Seeing how he was getting comfortable with the tasks you had given him, you decided that it was time for him to interact with some other officers in the smaller departments. Yoongi, of course was extremely nervous but wanted to make you proud so he quickly set off to his destination. The task you assigned was quite simple; getting the finished manuscripts that have been assigned yesterday. Everything seemed to go smoothly but what did not was the officers’ attitude towards Yoongi.

As they were considered to be quite young, they must have not know that the boy that is getting is one of your consorts as Yoongi usually prefers to dress in casual clothing; they decided that it was appropriate to flirt with him during office hours. With him having a more petite and delicate figure, it was extremely easy to turn him into their little doll— well or so they had thought. Sensing their hidden intentions towards him, Yoongi quickly asked for the needed documents before hurriedly making his way back. Unfortunately, before he can make his way past the entrance, a pair of hands grabbed his torso, restricting his movement. The officer began to whisper disgusting words in his hears causing Yoongi to instinctly attemp escape. Thanks to his previous training, he managed to escape their grip and ran out of the office, desperately running back to you.

Unexpedtly the officers decided to chase him, still thinking that his master is some low-rank minister that they could easily persuade. Lucky for them, Yoongi directly ran towards your courtyard but before they managed to realized where he was heading towards, they were caught by the guards that had seen the commotion. The moment that Yoongi ran into you arms, you felt your adrenaline spiked as your poor consort slightly trembles and only offered you faint whimpers as answers to your questions. Deciding that this was not meant for him, you assigned another type of tasks after he ha recovered. To say the least, those officers were never seen again the morning after that.

“ T-t-hey touched me while whispered those erotic words in my ears. I’m sorry, you majesty, I couldn’t acomplished the task when they trapped me in their hold. I began to panicked and...”

Jeon Jungkook

Aside from being a bastard’s child, Jungkook could also be described as an outstanding male from many perspectives. So of course, many girls and eunuchs would be constantly be flirty with the young guard. Many, however, is smart enough to avoid doing said activities around you but there are still some that does not have the brain to think rationally. The longer he is under your teaching, the more polite he becomes. Unfortunately, his seemingly innocent greetings was misunderstood by these brainless fellows which resulted in quite a few episodes of misunderstanding. To Jungkook, he is using the people around him as a tool to help him enhance his logical thinking to not burden you as much but it seemed like his efforts had caused quite the tensions within the harem. Many maids would began to form groups and bet on who would end up with him. The competitions began to become so popular tha it even reaches your ears!

As you became more aware of the gossips within the harem, many are targeted towards your personal bodyguard. As the days goes by, the seemingly pile of gossips about Jungkook became to get bigger until you decided that it would be best to stop his lessons altogether deeming that it was no use to him. As first, Jungkook was quite confused on how sudden you decided to cancel his lessons and ultimately blamed it on himself. Thinking that he had burdened you, Jungkook once again turned into his past self. Hiding his emotions as it does not matter how much he tries to improve on himself if his master does not think that he is worthy.

However, before he gets fully entitled to that state, you managed to come in at the right time and bring him out again. This is however, quite the process as he now want you to be proud of him. His self-esteem would not be as high as before as he had already registered in his mind that he had dissapointed you. Even though the process would take awhile, the end result would be worth it. Jungkook would be his best self yet and is continually striving to make you proud of him.

“ I know that you are dissapoin— you’re not? No, you must be lying! If you aren’t dissapointed then why did you have to stop the lessons. Was I too troublesome? I’m not? Are you sure? You must be accountable to your words and resume our lessons, then!”

Kim Seokjin

As a merchant, Seokjin is known to be skillful in negotiating terms with different customers. Most of the times, it would benefit his business but at the same time, his relationship with you would be on a thin string. As you guys continue to bond, different feelings would naturally develop and jealousy would definately not be excluded.

With the Y/N dynasty being a new dynasty, it would make sense that you have to put in much more effort to gain alliances with the surrounding countries neighbouring you. And of course, one of the princess that was sent as an ambassador had to know the talented merchant in some sort of way. You then found out that the two became friends over their love for jewelry and talking about whatever through the night and into the early mornings. Seeing how closed they were, you decided that it would be incredibly polite for you to ignore them and focus your attention on the rest of your guests and your consorts.

Usually, whenever Seokjin would offer you a flirty comment, you woul jokingly replied back with another one of sort as well but that was not what happened tonight. Your replies towards his jokes were quite distant and cold with you having your attention on someone as but him. Seokjin, who was not used to this treatment soon found out your reasons after the banquet and ultimately decided to tease you which only ended in him whining about how childish you’re being.

“ You’re jealous! Over her? HAH! You must have fallen in love with my handsome face... Why are you not saying anything? You’re ignoring such a handsome face, how could you!”

Park Jimin

Unlike Jungkook who does not care about people who perceive him, Jimin takes the extra mile to make sure that everyone see how beautiful he is. His fame within the harem immediately skyrocketed the moment he took up the title as one of the consort. It was to be expected with how frequent he flirted with the maids whenever he pass by them. Of course, he only think that it was fun to tease them as his main goal is still you after all.

Every year, the entire country would celebrate one of its most important holidays— Seollal, where it is one of the only days where festivals are around every direction you look at, and family would reunite with each other to welcome the new year. Within the palace, however, it is celebrated a little different; a full fledge banquet is arranged on the night before the new year and with Jimin leading the performance. With his skillful moves that had took years to master, everyone can agreed that it was a pleasure to look at. What did not please you was how revealing your consort’s attire was. With every move, the fabric was seemingly getting looser that you would have stop the performance already if you were not the of the highest authority in the room. What made it worse was how much eye contact he managed to make with you during his performance, and to say that you were not angry was simply outright lying.

The moment his performance had ended, you decided that Jimin had been working too hard lately and is in desperate need of relaxing. Thinking that he finally push you off the edge, Jimin happily accept your offer and left. What he had not unexpected was you taking him out on a walk when the banquet had ended. You even had the guts to act like nothing had happened hours before this resulting in him yelling at you before grumpily storming back to his courtyard, sulking in his room. Y/N could only laugh seeing his reaction before running towards his room to comfort the boy, deciding that they have teased him enough.

“ Why are you here? No, don’t you dare enter! GET OUT! Hmph, how dare you pretend like nothing happened and teased about it? Didn’t I say that you are not allowed in here? Hmph, fine, come in.”

Copyright © 2021 MintVender

All rights reserved.

[darkromanceblackburn]

Chromeskull with the teenage reader (15-16) after she runs away from her abusive home. He meets her after she kills someone in self-defense and he takes in as his daugh...I mean apprentice.

Chromeskull x Teenage!Reader (Platonic)

Hunting is the practice of seeking, pursuing, and capturing or killing wild animals, and in Jesse's opinion, humans were just that, especially the female kind. In his 40 years of life, he saw all types of predators; leeches that sucked the life out of people with some good looks and a promise for a good time in luxury hotel rooms.

Many men fell for the doe-like eyes and cute pout, but Jesse saw through the fake facade that tried to impress; he was mute, not blind and he saw right through them, just skin-bags full of bone and guts wrapped up in glittery cocktail dresses.

That's how he found himself into a more abandoned part of Jacksonville with a platinum blonde piggy by his feet with her tits cut off and fingerless; the bitch had the audacity to slap him across the mask. It didn't hurt Jesse, but sure as hell ignited the fire and it was a quick kill in his opinion. Usually, it took hours and he savored each cut of the flesh, but this one took up just one hour.

His car was just outside the deserted building, so he exited to get a black bag from the trunk to stuff the body of that rude piggy, when he heard a cry, more like a whimper coming from across the street from a dark alleyway. Nitrile covered hands were onto the handles of his knives tucked inside his dress-jacket, ready to slice if he had too.

Another whimper.

Probably a homeless person; most likely.

He stepped with precaution across the street and into the alleyway, expecting anything, but the scene before him; a dead body of a man with a switchblade impaled into his neck.

Dying by massive external hemorrhagic.

Brown eye moved from the corpse and his gaze stopped on a much smaller body, this one alive, whimpering into the corner.

It was a female, but inspecting her better, Jesse could tell she was a teenager, perhaps no older than 14? What really pulled onto his curiosity were the bruises and cuts; her lower lip was busted, long bags under her eyes, she probably hasn't slept in days, then the purple almost black bruises on her neck and her shoulder looked so out of place, surely dislocated.

Her dull eyes looked up at him, half-lidded, trying to stay awake, but she was exhausted. Jesse took a step towards her, her lips parting, trying to say something, but her throat hurt and she let sleep overtake her.

Jesse huffed, ready to get back to his actual business and he did that, turning away from her, but stopping, glancing back at her. Jesse wasn't feeling pity, that wasn't his style, but when he glanced back at her, it was like he saw himself.

He wasn't one that has to endure physical abuse directly with fists and kicks, but he knew what it was like to be small and insignificant. That's how he found himself picking up the girl in his arms and marching towards his car, putting her into the backseat.

Most would say that he was getting soft with a piggy, but she was no piggy. In Jesse's book, there was a difference between piggies, women, and little girls. He never went for little girls; sure, he liked them young, but he wasn't one for abducting kids and in his eye, the girl in the backseat was a child.

Jesse sighed, looking at her from the mirror then his gaze moved to the road, starting the engine and driving off into the night.

--------------------------------------

You could feel fingers digging into your neck and you tried to pry them off you, but there was nothing, perhaps an invisible force; all you could see was blackness then a scream pierced your ears.

You jolted up awake from the bizarre nightmare, eyes wide opened and trying to keep your breath even, our eyes taking in your surroundings. You were laying on a bed, very comfortable, unlike the hard mattresses you were used to sleep on. The room was very clean and everything was put together.

Your gaze averted from the luxurious furniture to your hands, seeing them bandaged, as was your shoulder. You were completely confused.

All you remembered was running away from your foster home if you could even call that hellhole home. There was also a guy trying to chase you down and you started to panic. Did he kidnap you? Did he rape you?

You were pulled out of your thoughts when the door opened and in stepped a man; tall, bald, and his face seemed off, but you tried not to stare, knowing it would be rude. He looked at you then he set a silver tray on the nightstand. It was a glass of water and some pills.

'Painkillers. They will help with your headache and shoulder.' an electronic voice spoke, startling you.

You nodded, taking them and gulping the water down, your sore throat still hurting, more so from the bruises on your neck, you were afraid your throat might be broken.

'You know what happened?' that makeshift voice was eerie and it gave you the chills. Maybe the guy was mute.

"I run away from the foster home. All I remember before I blacked out was someone trying to crush my neck." you replied with a raspy voice, trying not to force yourself that much.

'You killed a guy.'

Your eyes widened at that; sure you did remember that you tried to fight back, but killing?

"I-I.....I was afraid." Your response was pretty dull and the man huffed.

'No shit. What's your name?'

"[Name]..." you replied, looking down.

'Jesse Cromeans.'

There was a dead silence following then he moved towards the door.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?" you asked, a bit afraid.

He stopped and turned to look at you over his broad shoulder.

'Work. You should rest.'

With that, he left you all alone and all you could do was lay back on the bed and rest, millions of thoughts running through your head. At one point you were afraid because you don't know him and the other part was a little relieved. You guessed that if he wanted you dead he would have left you in that alleyway and he wouldn't bother himself to patch you up.

-----------------------------------------------

Jesse was leaning into the armchair, scrolling down the information about you that Spann sends him. Your father was unknown and your mother died of a drug overdose, and since you had no relatives you were left in a foster home. He could only guess what kind of life you had in there.

Taking a sip of whiskey Jesse debated what he should do with you; surely you were no piggy and children weren't into his type of victim list. In his eye, children were only pups, little things that still needed to learn to walk through life and make a choice.

You were still a pup, an innocent little thing that had experienced probably things adults haven't. He knows what is like to experience the morbid at a fragile age, but he ignored the memories. It was the past.

Then one idea crossed him. Adopting you?

Sure, he always wanted to experience fatherhood, but ever since his wife blew her brains out, killing herself and the child, not to mention the events that made him lose his face, he gave up on that dream.

What women would be willing to have a family with him?

Maybe he didn't need one. He had you and slowly he started to think of yourself as his daughter. He always wanted to have a baby girl, one that he can protect and guide in life so she wouldn't end up like these piggies that waltzed the streets at night in skimpy clothes.

No way were you going to end up like that. You weren't a piggy.

All you needed was someone who could guide you in life.

[lovelyjasmari]

KHOC Week 2021 ~ Day 1

@khoc-week​

Day 1 ~ Strength

Hello Everyone!

It’s great to be participating again in KHOC Week for the third year in a row! This year, I’ll be focusing on two in particular. Many of you already are familiar with my primary oc Kalai; elegant adventurer, noble warrior, daughter of the Whirlwind Lancer. But this year, I’ll also be showing off more of her grandmother, Anila.

At 88, Anila is my oldest oc and has had a very incredible life. Spending her early years as a keyblade wielder and training beside Eraqus, Xehanort and the other Scala kids before setting off on her own as a young adult to traverse the countless worlds, then settling down in Radiant Garden where she becomes a wife, a mother, eventually a grandmother and even politician! 

Of course, Anila has had her share of heartbreaks and tragedies, but her heart has always remained hopeful and even in old age, retains a youthful spirit that inspires those around her. To kick off this week, here’s a snippet highlighting the relationship between Kalai and Anila and how the latter gives inspiration to her granddaughter. 

Mindful and Free ~ 2834 Word Count

This was a long shot. She had never visited any place in Radiant Garden outside the capital. But thankfully, those she spoke to seemed to know exactly where she needed to go. Kalai walked along a long dirt road, leading further away from town. The sound of morning doves took her deeper into the woods as the sounds of the bustling village fell away. After a time, she came across a fine stone cottage, mantled in ivy. Wildflowers lined the pathway leading to the door, which was open.

A rustling noise followed Kalai as she came closer to the house. An orange cat sprang towards her from the bushes. It startled Kalai, but she did not call out. She simply looked down at the creature, who, with a few blinks and mews, circled her feet before running back into the house. After collecting herself, Kalai wondered if the cat was guiding her to her destination, and she smiled to herself at the thought.

~~~

Despite the early hour, Lady Anila was awake and ready for whatever the day had in store for her. She opened her windows as well as the front door to let in the daylight, and wasn’t surprised when her cat made a beeline for the door. Outside, she could hear the cat mewing at something, piquing her curiosity. 

“Lisi, what are you…oh!”

When Lady Anila stepped outside the doorway, she wasn’t sure what to expect, but she certainly did not expect to see her granddaughter waiting outside for her. Not that such a thing was ever unwelcome. Months had passed since their last meeting. They both immediately rushed towards each other. Each took the other into her arms, and they wholeheartedly embraced each other.

“Does your father know you’ve come here?” Lady Anila asked as she held her granddaughter close.

“He doesn’t,” Kalai replied. “No one in the castle knows I’m here, but...I needed to see you, Grandma. I need your advice.”

The two women pulled apart from each other ever so slightly and their identical eyes locked. Lady Anila replied, “well I’m always glad to help you if I can.” The elder woman smiled. “What has…” 

A beam of the morning sunlight found the silver cuff decorating Kalai’s arm, causing it to shimmer more brightly than usual. The brightness immediately caught Lady Anila’s attention and stopped her mid-sentence. It was so similar to a cuff that encircled her own arm for decades, in her previous life, before Radiant Garden. She reached for her dear granddaughter’s wrist, bringing the cuff closer to her face. She gazed upon it with wonder and a tiny hint of concern. Kalai did not resist her grandmother’s inspection of the cuff, as Lady Anila continued running her fingers along the intricate design. A plethora of thoughts swarmed her mind. But she wanted to be certain.  

“Kalai, how did you get this?”

Kalai did not respond with words. Gently pulling her arm away from her beloved grandmother, she stepped back and extended her cuffed hand, summoning Graceful Destiny in a beam of light. Lady Anila took one look at the keyblade and became overwhelmed with emotion. A flood of memories revived themselves and danced inside her mind. Yes, it was just as she suspected, and in her heart, she had always hoped something like this would one day happen. But after having a son more interested in lances and never taking on an apprentice, she felt that her hopes would never be. Now before her eyes, she could see her legacy, which would surely continue long after she departed this world. Lady Anila couldn’t be happier and nearly suffocated her granddaughter in another embrace, holding back tears. 

The words began spilling out of her. “I gave up my keyblade decades ago. And with it, my hopes that I’d have a successor, someone to carry on my legacy.” Lady Anila gazed at Kalai, eyes shining with affection and pride. “With this, my dear, you’ve revived my hopes. This is so incredible, do you know what this means for you?”

“But...grandma…” Praise from her grandmother, though well-intentioned, only added to Kalai’s anxiety. “I came here because I’m not sure about wielding a keyblade. My Master has faith in me, and of course, Dad has faith in me. But I’m not sure if I have as much faith in myself.” 

Lady Anila nodded, remembering all too well her own uncertainty when, as a little girl, she was bequeathed with the power of the keyblade. And she remembered all too well her continued fears as she went through her training and her Mark of Mastery. 

“I understand,” she said. “You might be unsure now, but it doesn’t mean you’ll always be that way. Come inside child.”

Placing her arm around her granddaughter, Lady Anila led Kalai inside as her cat followed behind them. Memorabilia from decades of exploits and adventure was on display for Kalai to see. Unique treasures and cases filled with rare multilingual tomes spoke to the very rich life her grandmother had lived. Kalai sat at a table by a window overlooking the sea while Lady Anila poured tea for them. The white cat purred, nuzzling her owner’s leg and was rewarded with a bowl of milk. Lady Anila smiled down at the cat, then back at Kalai.

“Lisi is my companion when I’m not in the capital, named after my old friend from my days in Scala,” she explained as she sat down. “So, tell me about your keyblade. Are you training? Do you have a Master?” 

“I do have a Master who’s training me,” Kalai replied. “I live with her now. Her name is Aqua.”

“Aqua!” The elder woman’s eyes lit up. “I know her, she was one of Eraqus and Ilysia's wards. And a boy named Terra.”

“I know Terra!” Kalai smiled. “He lives with us too!”

“I haven’t seen either of them since they were little ones. But Eraqus trained them, so I know you’re in good hands. Which brings me to my next question…” she continued delicately, taking a long, measured sip of her tea. “Why do you not have any faith in yourself?”

Kalai let out a long sigh, turning her cup in her hands as she thought about how to best explain herself. But her grandmother already understood.

“Does this perhaps have anything to do with the...unfortunate events in your past,” Lady Anila gently said. The elder and the younger’s eyes met again, light catching their dark irises in the exact same manner.

“That is part of it,” Kalai replied. “I have another Master, sort of. He’s a former master, but he gives us advice. Yesterday I found out that he secretly doesn’t trust me, because of my past association with Xehanort.”

“Is that so?” Lady Anila chuckled. “If that’s all, then I would also be unworthy of trust since we were once friends.”

“But you knew him before he was a darkness-soaked tyrant. And let’s be honest, grandma.” Kalai lowered her head as a sudden recollection shamed her. “It’s not like I was without my own darkness before he came along. That’s what I’m unsure of. I don’t want to be a keyblade wielder like him. Am I even worthy of a keyblade? Considering everything that’s happened?”

“Hmmm…” Lady Anila placed her cup back on the table, not answering right away. She was thinking of an instance, decades ago, when she sat in her classroom as one of the Masters explained how darkness manifested itself in people’s hearts. She was quiet and thoughtful for so long, Kalai became concerned.

“Grandma?” she called out to her.

Lady Anila breathed deeply, and spoke with great care and intention. “You say you don’t want to be like Xehanort.” said the elder woman. “That would imply you’re afraid that there is still enough darkness in your heart to hold sway over you.”

“Yes. That’s what Master Yen Sid is worried about.”

“Yen Sid?!” Lady Anila laughed. “The sorcerer? That’s your other master?”

“You knew him too?”

“I did, and I should have known. His stance on light and dark has always been very black and white. Eraqus too.” 

“Isn’t it though? Black and white?”

“Not exactly. Granted, my stance on light and dark is more nuanced for a Master of our generation. But I wasn’t always that way.” Lady Anila took another sip of her tea, then surveyed her granddaughter’s face with great tenderness. “Have I ever told you why I chose to relinquish my role as Keyblade Master?”

“No,” Kalai shook her head. “I don’t think you have.”

“When Terra and Aqua were still little, I went with Eraqus and Ilysia to the Realm of Darkness. We were searching for Xehanort, whom Yen Sid had given us reason to believe was trapped there. It ended up being the final mission we ever went on.”

“Why? What happened?” Kalai asked, although from the downcast look in her grandmother’s eyes, Kalai felt she could make an educated guess. 

“Long story short, we found him, but we were cornered by a large Heartless. Ilysia knew our options were few. So using a special keyblade, she opened a portal to the Realm of Light but placed herself in front of the monster to help us escape.” The elder woman closed her eyes. “For years...she and Eraqus ruled Scala together, yet her sacrifice that day was the noblest action of her entire life…” The horrific final image she had of her friend alive caused her lip to quiver. “...and her last.”

“Grandma...I’m so sorry…”

“Eraqus was never the same. Neither was our relationship with Xehanort. As for me, the grief was too much to bear, especially due to the tragedies darkness had brought upon me. My father was also a Master, struck down like many of my companions. Now darkness had taken my dearest friend. With all the pinned-up sorrow I kept in my heart over the years from what darkness had taken from me, I knew it was only a matter of time before the darkness took me as well. And in that fear, I vowed never to use my keyblade again.”

After this, there was a long silence, cut only by the distant sound of waves outside the window and the occasional mews of Lisi. Looking at her grandmother, Kalai saw immeasurable wisdom. But as a child, her father would often say that the most important life lessons were often bitter ones. And for every inch of wisdom Lady Anila possessed, there was sorrow to accompany it. To be named a Keyblade Master was the greatest honor that could be bestowed upon a warrior of light. To be worthy of such a title, the strength of one’s heart had to be beyond measure, the resolve unwavering. 

And yet, her grandmother had felt compelled to doff that mantle out of fear of the darkness growing in her heart. Even in her old age, she could see her grandmother was a strong person, with a kind disposition. So whatever darkness she had, it must have been extremely powerful to make such a decision. Kalai thought about when her mother had died, and the rage she felt when she had been excluded from the funeral. Such turmoil remained with her for a long time after the fact, even now. Would her dark feelings eventually compel her to abandon her keyblade as well?

“In those days, one of the first lessons drilled into a prospective Master was the ways darkness is manifested, the negative emotions that in and of themselves are considered darkness, that become darkness over time.” she continued. “However, the real lesson, that I did not come to learn until decades later, is that those emotions aren’t darkness at all. They’re as much a part of the human experience as happiness and love. It’s not realistic to think you can erase those feelings.”

“Sometimes, I feel like my heart is still ruled by my darker feelings,” Kalai admitted. “Remember how much I hated my sisters? Because just looking at them reminded me of how much my stepfather hurt me.”

“I remember.” Lady Anila smiled a little. “But in time, your heart opened up to them. Having dark feelings is not a problem, it’s holding onto them that’s the problem. That was Xehanort’s folly, but I know for certain it will not be you’s.” 

“How can you know that?”

“Because I’ve seen the effect darkness has had on you. I’ve seen you almost on the brink of losing yourself. And yet, you refused to let it destroy you.” 

Lady Anila took her granddaughter’s hand with a sigh. “Kalai, whatever dark feelings you have, you are stronger than them. If I had understood that about myself sooner, I might still be wielding my keyblade, even at my age. I might have had more I could offer you beyond advice. Please don’t wait until you’re my age to realize something so simple.”

“So you think Master Yen Sid is wrong about me?”

“Please understand, in our time, we had a lot of reasons to fear darkness. Of the eleven in our original class, only six of us survived our training and became Masters. And of those six, only I, Yen Sid, and another of our friends still lives. However, It doesn’t mean I think he’s right to hold your past over you.”

“So what should I do?” Kalai asked. 

“Continue what you’re doing now, my dear.” Lady Anila replied. “Listen to what Aqua tells you and strive to be the best wielder that you can be. As for your darker feelings, acknowledge them, but do not embrace them. And when you do that, you’ll learn to stop worrying and realize what’s most important. In time, I’m certain that Yen Sid will see the good in your heart.”

“I hope so.”

They talked about other things, like Kalai’s training and how it compared to Lady Anila’s. Kalai learned that Kairi’s grandmother had also once been a Master and trained beside her own grandmother when they were young. And nearly eighty years later, they were still friends. 

“I guess it makes sense that our granddaughters would also be friends and inherit our gift.”

“Kairi has been having doubts herself. ”Kalai thoughtfully leaned her face into one of her hands.  “We try to encourage her and I’m certain her grandma is proud of her.”

“She is, and I am proud of you too, Kalai. With your keyblade, I know you will do amazing things.”

Kalai stayed with Lady Anila a little while longer. Lisi sat purring in her lap as she was told more stories of her grandmother’s life in Scala. Soon enough, she felt her confidence returning but when she was asked if she would try to become a Master herself, she laughed.

“I doubt it,” she replied. “I’ve only had my keyblade for two months and from what you’ve told me, the Mark of Mastery sounds dangerous.”

“I understand. Perhaps you’ll feel differently after a few years of training.” Finally, when Kalai felt that she had stayed long enough, Lady Anila guided her to one of her bookcases. “Before you return, there is one last thing I wish to show you.” 

She pulled out a large tome bound in dark leather, taking out something that was marking one of the pages. A purple star-shaped charm dangled in her hand. Kalai recognized it at once, it was very similar to the ones carried by Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. 

“It’s a Wayfinder,” she told her. “It was given to me a very long time ago, I was much younger than you when it was given to me.” She stared at the charm somewhat wistfully. “The Wayfinder serves as a good luck charm and for the longest time, it decorated my keyblade as the chain. Even without a keyblade, it still holds a lot of meaning to me.”

But when she handed the Wayfinder to her granddaughter, she would not accept it. 

“I couldn’t possibly take something so important.” 

“That’s exactly why I want to give it to you. In a way, it represents my life before coming to Radiant Garden, my hopes as a young girl. But these days, I have a new purpose in my life.” She pressed the Wayfinder back into her hand with a little smile. “As do you.” 

Kalai took the charm. The lustrous purple seashells reflected softly in the light, casting itself upon her face. A little smile slowly pulled at her lips as her grandmother’s words began to reach her heart. Darkness was never her choice, it wouldn’t be her choice now. With her keyblade, she had even more reason for her heart to remain strong. Even if it was just her stubbornness driving her, it didn’t matter. 

In a way, this pretty little charm represented far more than a means for good luck. This Wayfinder symbolized her grandmother’s faith, and more than anything, Kalai wanted to be at least worthy of that.